Hell, Sheol, Hades...

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oyster67

Senior Member
May 24, 2014
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The corollary is the living dead, zombies. We shouldn't base our theology on B-movies.
Agree.
We should base it on the words of warning spoken by Jesus:
Matthew 25:46
“And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.”
 

TheDivineWatermark

Well-known member
Aug 3, 2018
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Bible definitely places The New Heaven and New Earth after the Millennial age.
I would rely on context to determine the time of any "Age to Come", though. I would say that the Millennium and the Final State are both coming ages.
Yes, and when they are being spoken of (-together [such as Eph2:7]) the PLURAL is used: "the AGES [PLURAL] coming".




When the disciples asked Jesus the question in Matt24:3 (re: "the END [SINGULAR] of the AGE [SINGULAR]"), it was BASED ON what He had ALREADY spoken to them about in Matt13:24,30,39,40,49-50 (when the ANGELS will "REAP"--and speaking of "STILL-LIVING" persons at the time-frame being spoken of);

In the PREVIOUS chapter (Mt12), Jesus had just referred to what takes place FOLLOWING "the END [SINGULAR] of the AGE [SINGULAR]," when He spoke of "the AGE [SINGULAR] to come" (which they rightly understood to be what WE now call "the promised and prophesied EARTHLY Millennial Kingdom age"--during which time there remains the POSSIBLITY of HUMAN BEINGS to "speaketh against the Holy Spirit"... which does not take place / cannot be committed by [glorified / perfected] ppl existing in the NHNE)--v.32
 

oyster67

Senior Member
May 24, 2014
11,887
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.
The homes I grew up in as a country boy had fireplaces and wood stoves.
They were very nice in the winter but I had to keep some distance between
them and myself because their radiant heat was too much to bear up close.


The rich man in the story told at Luke 16:19-31 is said to be in fire but not
said to be on fire like a human torch; and the flames aren't so dense that he
can't see Abraham and Lazarus: so I'm guessing the man is experiencing
discomfort from radiant heat rather than himself roasting like a pig on a spit.
Still; I wouldn't want to be in his circumstances till the end of even one day
let alone the end of an age: any age.
_
I always feel sorry for that poor worm. What did he do? :oops:
 

Webers.Home

Well-known member
May 28, 2018
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Oregon
.
Rev 20:14 . . And death and hell was cast into the lake of fire.

The Greek word translated hell in that verse is haides (a.i.a. hades) which in
Hellenistic philosophy is an afterlife facility where all the dead went: the
good dead as well as the bad dead regardless of age, race, gender, and/or
religious preference.

* The Jews spent some time under the thumb of Greek culture so it's no
surprise they would pick up some of their afterlife terminology.

Anyway by the time of the event depicted by Rev 20:11-15, haides will be
empty and its purpose obsolete having been replaced by the lake of
fire.

FAQ: According to Rev 20:14, John saw death discarded in a lake of fire.
Well; death is an abstract. How then can it be spoken of as an object that
can be picked up and thrown like a baseball or a javelin?

REPLY: That passage is likely speaking of death as a category consisting of
everything and anything one can possibly imagine that God considers dead
to Himself, i.e. whatever it is with which and/or with whom, He prefers not
to associate-- including the father of death, i.e. that old dragon the Serpent
from back in the book of Genesis.

In that respect, the lake of fire could be thought of as a sanitary landfill, viz:
there's a really big Spring cleaning pending on God's to-do list.
_
 

oyster67

Senior Member
May 24, 2014
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during which time there remains the POSSIBLITY of HUMAN BEINGS to "speaketh against the Holy Spirit"... which does not take place / cannot be committed by [glorified / perfected] ppl existing in the NHNE)--v.32
Yes, agree.
Some of us will be glorified before the Millennial Age also. Is there any Scripture that describes people getting glorified after the Millennium?
 

Magenta

Senior Member
Jul 3, 2015
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The testimony of Arnobius (died c. 330 A.D), demonstrates how belief in the Biblical
doctrine of the conditional immortality of the soul became corrupted with Greek ideas
associated with punishment of the so-called immortal soul in the eternal fires of Hades.


Arnobius believed in annihilationalism; which it to say that the penalty of the wicked is
a form of `everlasting destruction', in the sense that the destruction of the impenitent
sinner has an everlasting result, which is eternal death, or annihilation. However, he also
imbibed elements of pagan philosophy, in the idea that at death the soul is punished in
Hades for an indefinite period of time, at which it is tormented in the flames of hell
according to the punishment which is due to it. His account of the punishment which
is meted out to the wicked gives us one of the first extant records which depicts the
wicked as suffering in hell for indeterminate periods according to the gravity of their sin,
which thus depicts God as delighting in the torment of the wicked, so that satisfaction
might be made to God as an atonement for their sin.


Arnobius' account formed the basis of later `orthodox' Protestant theology which portrays
the souls of the lost as suffering in torment in hell-fire for eternity - and which later also
coalesced in the Catholic Church under Pope Gregory I (c. 540 A.D - 604 A.D, who is also called
`the Great'). He was the first Pope who came from a monastic background, wrote voluminously,
and following in the footsteps of Augustine, who had previously written copious amounts of
material on this subject one hundred years before him, gave the doctrine of the natural
immortality of the soul and the eternal punishing of the wicked in the eternal fires of hell the
official sanction of the Church. He was canonized as a Saint, is regarded as a Doctor of the Church,
and is often credited with founding the medieval papacy.


By the early sixteenth century, this belief had become so entrenched within the Catholic Church,
that in the convening of the 5th Lateran Council in 1513, Pope Leo X condemned the doctrine of
the conditional mortality of the soul as abject heresy. By contrast, the early Church Fathers were
aware of the Platonizing influences which were already threatening the infant Church when the
disciples of Christ were still alive, and strenuously resisted this, for as this exhortation from Ignatius
Theophorus (c. 30 - c. 107 A.D.) demonstrates, they believed that when we die we `sleep together'
in the dust of the earth, and then `awake together as the stewards, and associates, and servants of
God' when Christ returns:


`Labour together with one another; strive in company together; run together; suffer together;
sleep together [in death]; and awake together [in the resurrection], as the stewards, and
associates, and servants of God.' (`Epistle to Polycarp', Ignatius, A.N.F, ch. 6)


The Syriac translation of `awake together' has been translated as `rise together', which indicates
that it is indeed death which Ignatius was speaking of when he used the word `sleep'. Ignatius
suffered martyrdom during the reign of the Roman Emperor Trajan, (98 -117 A.D.) and wrote this
epistle to Polycarp (69 - 155 A.D), who suffered martyrdom in 155 A.D for his faith. Both men are
reputed to have sat at the feet of John, the `beloved disciple of Christ'. John also testified to this
same belief, for he tells us in his gospel that when Christ described Lazurus as `sleeping' in the
grave, His disciples believed that He was speaking of natural sleep: `Our friend Lazarus sleeps;
but I go, that I may awake him out of sleep. Then said his disciples, Lord, if he sleep, he shall
do well. Nevertheless Jesus spoke of his death: but they thought that he had spoken of taking
of rest in sleep. Then said Jesus unto them plainly, "Lazarus is dead".' (John 11: 13 - 14)


Obviously, John `the beloved disciple of Christ' was instructed by Jesus Himself of this doctrine. The
apostle Paul was a contemporary of John, and was in agreement with John on this doctrine. Ignatius
and Polycarp were students of John and received this doctrine from him, for the Ignatian epistle to
Polycarp reveals that not only were the two men close friends, but Polycarp received instruction from
Ignatius, and the two men were in agreement on this doctrine. Therefore we have an unbroken testimony
of witnesses from Jesus Himself, to John, the apostle Paul and the early Church Fathers Ignatius and
Polycarp, who all taught that we `sleep' in the grave until the Resurrection, at which time our corruptible
bodies are rendered incorruptible, and we `put on' immortality (1 Cor. 15: 51 - 58).
source
 

oyster67

Senior Member
May 24, 2014
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Obviously, John `the beloved disciple of Christ' was instructed by Jesus Himself of this doctrine.
Yes he was...
Matthew 25:46
“And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.”
 

Magenta

Senior Member
Jul 3, 2015
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Psalm 37:38
But transgressors will be altogether destroyed;
The posterity of the wicked will be cut off.

Proverbs 14:11
The house of the wicked will be destroyed,
But the tent of the upright will flourish.

Psalm 94:23
He has brought back their wickedness upon them
And will destroy them in their evil;
The Lord our God will destroy them.

Psalm 92:7
That when the wicked sprouted up like grass
And all who did iniquity flourished,
It was only that they might be destroyed forevermore.

Romans 9:22
What if God, although willing to demonstrate His wrath and to make His power
known, endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction?

Philippians 3:19
whose end is destruction, whose god is their appetite, and whose
glory is in their shame, who set their minds on earthly things.

2 Peter 2:12
But these, like unreasoning animals, born as creatures of instinct to be captured and killed,
reviling where they have no knowledge, will in the destruction of those creatures also be destroyed,

2 Peter 3:7
But by His word the present heavens and earth are being reserved for fire,
kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.

Jude 1:10
But these men revile the things which they do not understand; and the things which
they know by instinct, like unreasoning animals, by these things they are destroyed.

Galatians 6:8
The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction;
the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.


Philippians 1:28 and 3:18-19 teaches that non-believers will be destroyed.
Nevertheless, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ.
Then, whether I come and see you or only hear about you in my absence, I will
know that you stand firm in one spirit, contending side by side for the faith of
the gospel, without being frightened in any way by those who oppose you.
This is a sign to them that they will be destroyed, but that you will be saved—and that by God.

For as I have often told you before, and now say again even with tears:
Many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their end is destruction...


2 Thessalonians 2:10
“They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved.”


 

Magenta

Senior Member
Jul 3, 2015
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It's a nice picture and I really like it, but the wording isn't accurate.
What book are you reading???

This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death Deuteronomy 30:19a

For our God is a consuming fire. Hebrews 12:29

God alone is immortal 1 Timothy 6:16a

There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the One who is able to save and destroy. James 4:12a

All who sin apart from the law will also perish apart from the law Romans 2:12a

And now He has revealed this grace through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has
abolished death and illuminated the way to life and immortality through the gospel, 2 Timothy 1:10


And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather
fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell. Matthew 10:28


The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. John 10:10a

I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. John 10:10b


Our God is a Consuming Fire
:)
 

oyster67

Senior Member
May 24, 2014
11,887
8,705
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Psalm 37:38
But transgressors will be altogether destroyed;
The posterity of the wicked will be cut off.


Proverbs 14:11
The house of the wicked will be destroyed,
But the tent of the upright will flourish.


Psalm 94:23
He has brought back their wickedness upon them
And will destroy them in their evil;
The Lord our God will destroy them.


Psalm 92:7
That when the wicked sprouted up like grass
And all who did iniquity flourished,
It was only that they might be destroyed forevermore.


Romans 9:22
What if God, although willing to demonstrate His wrath and to make His power
known, endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction?


Philippians 3:19
whose end is destruction, whose god is their appetite, and whose
glory is in their shame, who set their minds on earthly things.


2 Peter 2:12
But these, like unreasoning animals, born as creatures of instinct to be captured and killed,
reviling where they have no knowledge, will in the destruction of those creatures also be destroyed,


2 Peter 3:7
But by His word the present heavens and earth are being reserved for fire,
kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.


Jude 1:10
But these men revile the things which they do not understand; and the things which
they know by instinct, like unreasoning animals, by these things they are destroyed.


Galatians 6:8
The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction;
the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.


Philippians 1:28 and 3:18-19 teaches that non-believers will be destroyed.
Nevertheless, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ.
Then, whether I come and see you or only hear about you in my absence, I will
know that you stand firm in one spirit, contending side by side for the faith of
the gospel, without being frightened in any way by those who oppose you.
This is a sign to them that they will be destroyed, but that you will be saved—and that by God.


For as I have often told you before, and now say again even with tears:
Many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their end is destruction...


2 Thessalonians 2:10
“They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved.”
Nice concordance study on "Destruction" and "Destroy". Now let's talk about the resurrections that follow.

John 5:29
“And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.”

Job 19:26
“And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God:”
 

oyster67

Senior Member
May 24, 2014
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There are very few verses that say anything like that, and most of the few are from a highly symbolic book
written in apocalyptic language.
There is nothing symbolic or cryptic or mysterious about the words of Jesus.
Matthew 25:46
“And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.”

No one is questioning the reality of our perishing bodies, but that is not the end of the story.
Job 19:26
“And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God:”
Daniel 12:2
“And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.”

The Bible speaks of two resurrections, not just one.
 

Mem

Senior Member
Sep 23, 2014
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Agree.
We should base it on the words of warning spoken by Jesus:
Matthew 25:46
“And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.”
But there's always that your idea of punishment is another's cruel and unusual torture.
 

HeIsHere

Well-known member
May 21, 2022
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But there's always that your idea of punishment is another's cruel and unusual torture.
I find it very troubling, how untroubled people are of the idea of everlasting torture.
 

TheDivineWatermark

Well-known member
Aug 3, 2018
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There is nothing symbolic or cryptic or mysterious about the words of Jesus.
Matthew 25:46
“And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.”
Right... to the same place that it's said (in verse 41) is "having been prepared FOR the devil and the angels of him"... and (as Rev20:[8,]10 tells us) he/Satan/the devil is not thrown into the lake of fire UNTIL he is loosed out from his prison [after the 1000 yrs], and then it is said of him (and the other two ['beast' and 'false prophet' humans], who will already be there) "and THEY SHALL BE TORMENTED unto the ages [plural] of the ages [plural]"
 

Mem

Senior Member
Sep 23, 2014
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I find it very troubling, how untroubled people are of the idea of everlasting torture.
I find it troubling how people can poo-poo death is if it were nothing to fear, in spite of the scripture, "... so that by His death He might destroy him who holds the power of death, that is, the devil, 15and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death." and think they do good make death even more fearful. The better to hold those who all their lives are held slavery by their fear of death, perhaps?
 

2ndTimeIsTheCharm

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Feb 17, 2023
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What book are you reading???

This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death Deuteronomy 30:19a

For our God is a consuming fire. Hebrews 12:29

God alone is immortal 1 Timothy 6:16a

There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the One who is able to save and destroy. James 4:12a

All who sin apart from the law will also perish apart from the law Romans 2:12a

And now He has revealed this grace through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has
abolished death and illuminated the way to life and immortality through the gospel, 2 Timothy 1:10


And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather
fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell. Matthew 10:28


The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. John 10:10a

I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. John 10:10b


Our God is a Consuming Fire
:)
Yeah, and it's still not accurate because you're only including verses that give the impression that unsaved people will just get annihilated. Where are the verses that tell of their perpetual punishment?

It's dangerous to give that false impression that unsaved people can just continue to reject God because they'll think, "I don't have to follow God, so I'll just keep living my life without Him and continue to sin. Because when I die, I'm just going to cease to exist!" BUT THAT ISN'T TRUE. The Bible is very plain about it, that they will suffer for the rest of forever.

I know you must think perpetual punishment is too cruel but this is God's universe and His rules. We just live in it.
 

TheDivineWatermark

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Aug 3, 2018
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"... so that by His death He might destroy him who holds the power of death, that is, the devil,
G2673 "destroy" - καταργέω katargéō -

1. to render idle, unemployed, inactive, inoperative: τήν γῆν, to deprive of its strength, make barren (A. V. cumber), Luke 13:7; to cause a person or a thing to have no further efficiency; to deprive of force, influence, power (A. V. bring to nought, make of none effect): τί, Romans 3:3; 1 Corinthians 1:28; τινα, 1 Corinthians 2:6 (but in passive); diabolic powers, 1 Corinthians 15:24 (Justin Martyr, Apology 2, 6); Antichrist, 2 Thessalonians 2:8; τόν θάνατον, 2 Timothy 1:10 (Epistle of Barnabas 5, 6 [ET]); τόν διάβολον, Hebrews 2:14

-- https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/g2673/kjv/tr/0-1/


[bold mine]



Heb2:14 -

Forasmuch G1893 then G3767 as the children G3813 are partakers G2841 of flesh G4561 and G2532 blood, G129 he G3348 ➔ also G2532 himself G846 likewise G3898 took part G3348 of the same; G846 that G2443 through G1223 death G2288 he might destroy G2673 him that had G2192 the power G2904 of death, G2288 that is, G5123 the devil; G1228
 

Mem

Senior Member
Sep 23, 2014
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I know you must think perpetual punishment is too cruel but this is God's universe and His rules. We just live in it.
Using logical fallacy termed 'appeal to authority' when you cannot presume to speak for said authority. In a sense, you have assumed your judgment that this is the Lord's way so it must be so is effectively placing yourself in His place of authority.

G2673 "destroy" - καταργέω katargéō -

1. to render idle, unemployed, inactive, inoperative: τήν γῆν, to deprive of its strength, make barren (A. V. cumber), Luke 13:7; to cause a person or a thing to have no further efficiency; to deprive of force, influence, power (A. V. bring to nought, make of none effect): τί, Romans 3:3; 1 Corinthians 1:28; τινα, 1 Corinthians 2:6 (but in passive); diabolic powers, 1 Corinthians 15:24 (Justin Martyr, Apology 2, 6); Antichrist, 2 Thessalonians 2:8; τόν θάνατον, 2 Timothy 1:10 (Epistle of Barnabas 5, 6 [ET]); τόν διάβολον, Hebrews 2:14

-- https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/g2673/kjv/tr/0-1/


[bold mine]



Heb2:14 -

Forasmuch G1893 then G3767 as the children G3813 are partakers G2841 of flesh G4561 and G2532 blood, G129 he G3348 ➔ also G2532 himself G846 likewise G3898 took part G3348 of the same; G846 that G2443 through G1223 death G2288 he might destroy G2673 him that had G2192 the power G2904 of death, G2288 that is, G5123 the devil; G1228
That goes for your opinion also.
 

2ndTimeIsTheCharm

Well-known member
Feb 17, 2023
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But there's always that your idea of punishment is another's cruel and unusual torture.

Yeah, the thought of eternal punishment does sound excessively cruel but your argument isn't with people, it's with God - He's the one that set those rules of what's fair and unfair and made those rules very clear.

You also have to trust God that He knows what is in the heart of every person who rejects Him.

It does say in the Bible that in the end times, even though all those judgments will fall on those who refuse to get saved, they will still be unrepentant. They would rather die than give their life over to the Lord. And God is not going to force them. Hence their sentence.
 

2ndTimeIsTheCharm

Well-known member
Feb 17, 2023
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Using logical fallacy termed 'appeal to authority' when you cannot presume to speak for said authority. In a sense, you have assumed your judgment that this is the Lord's way so it must be so is effectively placing yourself in His place of authority.

You can just read the judgements for yourself in the Bible. The punishment is conscious torment for those who reject God. Really, your argument is with God, not me.