The Hell of the Bible Explained!

Some deny the existence of hell, but the Bible clearly teaches it, in both the Old Testament and the New Testament.

MANY MISUNDERSTAND the subject, and some still hold to the heathen doctrine of eternal torture, which was attached to Christianity early in the Dark Ages, and so they believe in hell as viewed by the heathen instead of in the hell of the inspired Word of God.

• It's important that we examine carefully and learn thoroughly the Bible teachings on hell. The only Old Testament word translated hell is sheol, to which the New Testament word Hades corresponds. In the King James Version the Old Testament word, sheol and the New Testament word, hades are translated hell 41 times, grave 32 times and pit 3 times. Frequently when translated hell, the margin reads, “or, the grave,” or vice versa (Psa. 49: 15; Jonah 2: 1, 2).
• Contrary to the idea that hell is a place of fire and torture the Bible says, “there is no work, or device, or knowledge, or wisdom, in the grave [sheol], where you are going”; “in death there is no remembrance of you. In the grave [sheol] who shall give You thanks”; “the grave [sheol] cannot praise You: death cannot celebrate You” (Eccl. 9: 10; Psa. 6:5).
• Good people, as well as bad, go to sheol (hell) at death. Jesus “poured out His soul to death” (Matt. 26: 38), and descended to hell, but “His soul [His being] was not left in hell” (Acts 2: 27, 31).
• In Old English the word hell simply meant to hide or to cover. To "hell potatoes" meant to plant and cover them with earth. The word hell is properly used as signifying the secret or hidden condition of the dead. It had no reference whatever to a place of torture until that meaning was attached to it from heathen superstitions and theologians of the Dark Ages.
• When God told Adam of sin’s penalty, He did not say “In the day that you eat of it you shall live forever in torture,” but He told him the truth: “you shall surely die, i.e., cease to live” (Gen. 2: 17).
• Contradicting God, Satan told the first lie (John 8: 44), “You will not surely die” (Gen. 3: 4), by which he has since deceived many into believing that the dead are not really dead, but that at death they live on, and without waiting for the resurrection day (John 5: 28), go directly into heaven or into eternal torment.
• The Bible states plainly that “the soul who sins shall die” (Ezek. 18: 4); that “the wages of sin is death” [cessation of life, not life in torment]. On the other hand, the gift of God is eternal life (Rom. 6: 23) through Jesus Christ.
• Do you not see, that if the penalty against Adam and his race had been eternal torment, Jesus would have had to suffer an eternity of torture to redeem the human race? On the contrary, the “wages of sin is death,” “Christ died for our sins,” He tasted death for every man; and He “was raised from the dead” (1 Cor. 15: 3, 4). God through Christ ransoms all, not from eternal torture, but “from the power of the grave [sheol]” (Hos. 13: 14).
• Eventually “all that are in the grave shall hear His [Jesus’] voice, and shall come forth” (John 5: 28, 29 RSV). When sheol or hades delivers up all who sleep in Adamic death, sheol and hades will forever cease to exist. “O grave [sheol] I will be your destruction.”
• Sodom and Gomorrah are set forth by God “as an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire” (Jude 7) then; the fire that is not burning any longer did destroy those cities, and brought upon them destruction. These will be awakened in the world’s judgment day (John 5: 28). However, they will not be reinstated to their former wicked condition.
• The word translated “tormented” in Rev. 20: 10 should have been rendered “tested” or “examined;” the devil, the beast and the false prophet will be examined forever by the righteous, and recognized as deserving destruction.
• The wicked “shall be punished with everlasting destruction” (2 Thessalonians 1: 9). Moreover, they “shall go away into everlasting punishment” [not everlasting life in torture, but death], (Matt. 25:46); “for sin, when it is finished, brings forth death” (James 1: 15); everlasting death is everlasting punishment. But the righteous only will have life eternal (John 3: 36).
• “God is love” and He desires us to “worship Him in spirit and in truth,” out of love for Him, not because of fear of punishment now and in the hereafter.

some still hold to the heathen doctrine of eternal torture

Some deny the existence of hell, but the Bible clearly teaches it, in both the Old Testament and the New Testament.

MANY MISUNDERSTAND the subject, and some still hold to the heathen doctrine of eternal torture, which was attached to Christianity early in the Dark Ages, and so they believe in hell as viewed by the heathen instead of in the hell of the inspired Word of God.

• It's important that we examine carefully and learn thoroughly the Bible teachings on hell. The only Old Testament word translated hell is sheol, to which the New Testament word Hades corresponds. In the King James Version the Old Testament word, sheol and the New Testament word, hades are translated hell 41 times, grave 32 times and pit 3 times. Frequently when translated hell, the margin reads, “or, the grave,” or vice versa (Psa. 49: 15; Jonah 2: 1, 2).
• Contrary to the idea that hell is a place of fire and torture the Bible says, “there is no work, or device, or knowledge, or wisdom, in the grave [sheol], where you are going”; “in death there is no remembrance of you. In the grave [sheol] who shall give You thanks”; “the grave [sheol] cannot praise You: death cannot celebrate You” (Eccl. 9: 10; Psa. 6:5).
• Good people, as well as bad, go to sheol (hell) at death. Jesus “poured out His soul to death” (Matt. 26: 38), and descended to hell, but “His soul [His being] was not left in hell” (Acts 2: 27, 31).
• In Old English the word hell simply meant to hide or to cover. To "hell potatoes" meant to plant and cover them with earth. The word hell is properly used as signifying the secret or hidden condition of the dead. It had no reference whatever to a place of torture until that meaning was attached to it from heathen superstitions and theologians of the Dark Ages.
• When God told Adam of sin’s penalty, He did not say “In the day that you eat of it you shall live forever in torture,” but He told him the truth: “you shall surely die, i.e., cease to live” (Gen. 2: 17).
• Contradicting God, Satan told the first lie (John 8: 44), “You will not surely die” (Gen. 3: 4), by which he has since deceived many into believing that the dead are not really dead, but that at death they live on, and without waiting for the resurrection day (John 5: 28), go directly into heaven or into eternal torment.
• The Bible states plainly that “the soul who sins shall die” (Ezek. 18: 4); that “the wages of sin is death” [cessation of life, not life in torment]. On the other hand, the gift of God is eternal life (Rom. 6: 23) through Jesus Christ.
• Do you not see, that if the penalty against Adam and his race had been eternal torment, Jesus would have had to suffer an eternity of torture to redeem the human race? On the contrary, the “wages of sin is death,” “Christ died for our sins,” He tasted death for every man; and He “was raised from the dead” (1 Cor. 15: 3, 4). God through Christ ransoms all, not from eternal torture, but “from the power of the grave [sheol]” (Hos. 13: 14).
• Eventually “all that are in the grave shall hear His [Jesus’] voice, and shall come forth” (John 5: 28, 29 RSV). When sheol or hades delivers up all who sleep in Adamic death, sheol and hades will forever cease to exist. “O grave [sheol] I will be your destruction.”
• Sodom and Gomorrah are set forth by God “as an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire” (Jude 7) then; the fire that is not burning any longer did destroy those cities, and brought upon them destruction. These will be awakened in the world’s judgment day (John 5: 28). However, they will not be reinstated to their former wicked condition.
• The word translated “tormented” in Rev. 20: 10 should have been rendered “tested” or “examined;” the devil, the beast and the false prophet will be examined forever by the righteous, and recognized as deserving destruction.
• The wicked “shall be punished with everlasting destruction” (2 Thessalonians 1: 9). Moreover, they “shall go away into everlasting punishment” [not everlasting life in torture, but death], (Matt. 25:46); “for sin, when it is finished, brings forth death” (James 1: 15); everlasting death is everlasting punishment. But the righteous only will have life eternal (John 3: 36).
• “God is love” and He desires us to “worship Him in spirit and in truth,” out of love for Him, not because of fear of punishment now and in the hereafter.

Luke 16:23,24
23 And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.
24 And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.

That's a parable about the judgement on Judah after their rejection of the Messiah. In Hell in the ground to be seen by God no more. The dip the tip of his finger in water to cool my tongue - refers to angry words spoken by the Jewish Priests against Jesus - if cool my tongue refers to a request to put out eternal fires in a pagan Hell then the tip of the tongue being cooled would be irrelevant

You made this interpretation up in your mind out of thin air.

Jesus preached at least 38 Parables.

In how many of those Parables did He use a person's proper name?

Some deny the existence of hell, but the Bible clearly teaches it, in both the Old Testament and the New Testament.

MANY MISUNDERSTAND the subject, and some still hold to the heathen doctrine of eternal torture, which was attached to Christianity early in the Dark Ages, and so they believe in hell as viewed by the heathen instead of in the hell of the inspired Word of God.

• It's important that we examine carefully and learn thoroughly the Bible teachings on hell. The only Old Testament word translated hell is sheol, to which the New Testament word Hades corresponds. In the King James Version the Old Testament word, sheol and the New Testament word, hades are translated hell 41 times, grave 32 times and pit 3 times. Frequently when translated hell, the margin reads, “or, the grave,” or vice versa (Psa. 49: 15; Jonah 2: 1, 2).
• Contrary to the idea that hell is a place of fire and torture the Bible says, “there is no work, or device, or knowledge, or wisdom, in the grave [sheol], where you are going”; “in death there is no remembrance of you. In the grave [sheol] who shall give You thanks”; “the grave [sheol] cannot praise You: death cannot celebrate You” (Eccl. 9: 10; Psa. 6:5).
• Good people, as well as bad, go to sheol (hell) at death. Jesus “poured out His soul to death” (Matt. 26: 38), and descended to hell, but “His soul [His being] was not left in hell” (Acts 2: 27, 31).
• In Old English the word hell simply meant to hide or to cover. To "hell potatoes" meant to plant and cover them with earth. The word hell is properly used as signifying the secret or hidden condition of the dead. It had no reference whatever to a place of torture until that meaning was attached to it from heathen superstitions and theologians of the Dark Ages.
• When God told Adam of sin’s penalty, He did not say “In the day that you eat of it you shall live forever in torture,” but He told him the truth: “you shall surely die, i.e., cease to live” (Gen. 2: 17).
• Contradicting God, Satan told the first lie (John 8: 44), “You will not surely die” (Gen. 3: 4), by which he has since deceived many into believing that the dead are not really dead, but that at death they live on, and without waiting for the resurrection day (John 5: 28), go directly into heaven or into eternal torment.
• The Bible states plainly that “the soul who sins shall die” (Ezek. 18: 4); that “the wages of sin is death” [cessation of life, not life in torment]. On the other hand, the gift of God is eternal life (Rom. 6: 23) through Jesus Christ.
• Do you not see, that if the penalty against Adam and his race had been eternal torment, Jesus would have had to suffer an eternity of torture to redeem the human race? On the contrary, the “wages of sin is death,” “Christ died for our sins,” He tasted death for every man; and He “was raised from the dead” (1 Cor. 15: 3, 4). God through Christ ransoms all, not from eternal torture, but “from the power of the grave [sheol]” (Hos. 13: 14).
• Eventually “all that are in the grave shall hear His [Jesus’] voice, and shall come forth” (John 5: 28, 29 RSV). When sheol or hades delivers up all who sleep in Adamic death, sheol and hades will forever cease to exist. “O grave [sheol] I will be your destruction.”
• Sodom and Gomorrah are set forth by God “as an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire” (Jude 7) then; the fire that is not burning any longer did destroy those cities, and brought upon them destruction. These will be awakened in the world’s judgment day (John 5: 28). However, they will not be reinstated to their former wicked condition.
• The word translated “tormented” in Rev. 20: 10 should have been rendered “tested” or “examined;” the devil, the beast and the false prophet will be examined forever by the righteous, and recognized as deserving destruction.
• The wicked “shall be punished with everlasting destruction” (2 Thessalonians 1: 9). Moreover, they “shall go away into everlasting punishment” [not everlasting life in torture, but death], (Matt. 25:46); “for sin, when it is finished, brings forth death” (James 1: 15); everlasting death is everlasting punishment. But the righteous only will have life eternal (John 3: 36).
• “God is love” and He desires us to “worship Him in spirit and in truth,” out of love for Him, not because of fear of punishment now and in the hereafter.

Well a wise man will learn and a proud man will dig his heels in to his pagan belief

The bible references hell no less than 54 times. It's not made up, nor is it some metaphor. Hell is a literal place and the bible describes it fully.

Just wrong. Jesus took the sins of mankind into His mortal body as a sacrifice for the sins of mortal man. That sin filled body was left in the grave as Jesus rose from the dead.

Mankind's real problem is not that he has sinned. It is that he is dead. There is no opportunity for anyone to be made alive after they have rejected the Lord Jesus in this life. Death is the consequence of sin. Jesus had to die to pay the price of sin and had to rise again so that mankind may be be alive again. It's not automatic. It is he who has the Son who has life. Those who do not have the Son are dead in trespass and sin.

Death has never meant the end of existence. It is separation from God. God warned Adam not to eat from the Tree of the knowledge of Good and Evil. God said that the day Adam ate he would surely die. Yet Adam was physically alive and still had an active soul. However, he hid from God because of his now sinful nature.

Unbelievers will be no more desirous of being in heaven in the next life than they are in this life.

You seem to forget that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. One of the symptoms of the corruption of the current generation is a lack of respect for authority. Some change their tune when they face years in prison. Unbelievers need to be convicted of sin. That's God's incentive to seek salvation. If there is no hell (in the sense used traditionally) then who cares? "Let's eat and drink for tomorrow we die".

To "hell potatoes" meant to plant and cover them with earth.

Do a word study of the Greek and Hebrew words translated as hell, put the time in and study and you will have your answer, rather than sticking with what we have been taught and told, study it.

You are right about the word "hell". A lot of what we think of is coloured by the imagery of Dante's Inferno, which was also entitled "A Divine Comedy". The Roman Catholic organisation latched onto this as it was a tool to terrify those who questioned Rome's authority. However, while Satan does not have a tail and horns, he is real enough. His end is the lake of fire. Those who are not born again face an eternity of separation from God in torment. Men choose their destiny. They mock God and ridicule His people. They will have eternity to regret their folly.

God is a God of equity - an eye for an eye. How much sin does a man have to commit to justify eternal punishment? In fact God will show mercy over justice at times, he never goes the opposite way. The eternal punishment doctrine is why people become atheists - they see God as an unjust tyrant.

I agree about the reality of the Devil and the lake of fire, but I see it as destruction of the person , never to have eternity with God

Do a word study of the Greek and Hebrew words translated as hell, put the time in and study and you will have your answer, rather than sticking with what we have been taught and told, study it.

Some deny the existence of hell, but the Bible clearly teaches it, in both the Old Testament and the New Testament.

MANY MISUNDERSTAND the subject, and some still hold to the heathen doctrine of eternal torture, which was attached to Christianity early in the Dark Ages, and so they believe in hell as viewed by the heathen instead of in the hell of the inspired Word of God.

• It's important that we examine carefully and learn thoroughly the Bible teachings on hell. The only Old Testament word translated hell is sheol, to which the New Testament word Hades corresponds. In the King James Version the Old Testament word, sheol and the New Testament word, hades are translated hell 41 times, grave 32 times and pit 3 times. Frequently when translated hell, the margin reads, “or, the grave,” or vice versa (Psa. 49: 15; Jonah 2: 1, 2).
• Contrary to the idea that hell is a place of fire and torture the Bible says, “there is no work, or device, or knowledge, or wisdom, in the grave [sheol], where you are going”; “in death there is no remembrance of you. In the grave [sheol] who shall give You thanks”; “the grave [sheol] cannot praise You: death cannot celebrate You” (Eccl. 9: 10; Psa. 6:5).
• Good people, as well as bad, go to sheol (hell) at death. Jesus “poured out His soul to death” (Matt. 26: 38), and descended to hell, but “His soul [His being] was not left in hell” (Acts 2: 27, 31).
• In Old English the word hell simply meant to hide or to cover. To "hell potatoes" meant to plant and cover them with earth. The word hell is properly used as signifying the secret or hidden condition of the dead. It had no reference whatever to a place of torture until that meaning was attached to it from heathen superstitions and theologians of the Dark Ages.
• When God told Adam of sin’s penalty, He did not say “In the day that you eat of it you shall live forever in torture,” but He told him the truth: “you shall surely die, i.e., cease to live” (Gen. 2: 17).
• Contradicting God, Satan told the first lie (John 8: 44), “You will not surely die” (Gen. 3: 4), by which he has since deceived many into believing that the dead are not really dead, but that at death they live on, and without waiting for the resurrection day (John 5: 28), go directly into heaven or into eternal torment.
• The Bible states plainly that “the soul who sins shall die” (Ezek. 18: 4); that “the wages of sin is death” [cessation of life, not life in torment]. On the other hand, the gift of God is eternal life (Rom. 6: 23) through Jesus Christ.
• Do you not see, that if the penalty against Adam and his race had been eternal torment, Jesus would have had to suffer an eternity of torture to redeem the human race? On the contrary, the “wages of sin is death,” “Christ died for our sins,” He tasted death for every man; and He “was raised from the dead” (1 Cor. 15: 3, 4). God through Christ ransoms all, not from eternal torture, but “from the power of the grave [sheol]” (Hos. 13: 14).
• Eventually “all that are in the grave shall hear His [Jesus’] voice, and shall come forth” (John 5: 28, 29 RSV). When sheol or hades delivers up all who sleep in Adamic death, sheol and hades will forever cease to exist. “O grave [sheol] I will be your destruction.”
• Sodom and Gomorrah are set forth by God “as an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire” (Jude 7) then; the fire that is not burning any longer did destroy those cities, and brought upon them destruction. These will be awakened in the world’s judgment day (John 5: 28). However, they will not be reinstated to their former wicked condition.
• The word translated “tormented” in Rev. 20: 10 should have been rendered “tested” or “examined;” the devil, the beast and the false prophet will be examined forever by the righteous, and recognized as deserving destruction.
• The wicked “shall be punished with everlasting destruction” (2 Thessalonians 1: 9). Moreover, they “shall go away into everlasting punishment” [not everlasting life in torture, but death], (Matt. 25:46); “for sin, when it is finished, brings forth death” (James 1: 15); everlasting death is everlasting punishment. But the righteous only will have life eternal (John 3: 36).
• “God is love” and He desires us to “worship Him in spirit and in truth,” out of love for Him, not because of fear of punishment now and in the hereafter.