What does the Bible teach about hell?

You probably have heard that pastors and preachers teach that the "good" christians go to heaven and the wicked to hell. And most teach that your soul will never die, but continue to excist forever either in heaven or hell.
And they picture heaven as a perfect place where everybody is happy and hell where everybody is completely miserable and they are burned and tortured forever and ever. But is this really what the Bible teach? First I want to tell you in short what the Bible in fact teaches about hell.

1. The Bible mention a hell, but it is not a place down in the center of the earth, it is an act going to happen on the surface of this planet. The purpose of this hell-act is to erase all sin, sinners, the devil and his demons forever. This is in order for God to make sure that sin and affliction will not arise a second time as sin and disobediance to God only leads to destruction.

2. The Bibel teaches us that the sinners will DIE, and NOT be tortured forever. "Sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death." James 1:15. "
But prior to the 2.death as the bible calls it He will have to punish the sinners according to their deeds. This is because God is just and has to punish people differently based on their bad deeds, and to make sure that dictators for instance will not get away without first paying for their wicked deeds.

3. This will be the sadest day in the worlds history, because everybody will be weeping, the unsaved, the saved, Gods angels and even God himself. Although sad and strange act for God (according to the Bible), as it is completely out of character for Him as it states "God is not willing that anyone should perish, but for all to come to repentance." and " God so loved the world (each and every humanbeing) that he gave his only begotten son (Jesus) so that whoever believes in Him should not die but have everlasting life" John 3.16.

The teaching of an everlasting torture for the unsaved is not in the Bible and yet it has been used as a scare tactic for hundreds of years. God do not force anyone to follow Him, it is a free choice. .

Read more at:

www.helltruth.com

DISCUSSION

WHAT DOES THE BIBLE TEACH ABOUT HELL:

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the words of our Lord - Mat 10:28 And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.

Yes, he could not have said it any clearer than that. Both soul and body will be destroyed (burnt up) in hellfire on the day of judgement. It goes hand in hand with verse in Malachi 4:
"Surely the day is coming; it will burn like a furnace. All the arrogant and every evildoer will be stubble, and that day that is coming will set them on fire," says the LORD Almighty. "Not a root or a branch will be left to them. 2 But for you who revere my name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings. And you will go out and leap like calves released from the stall. 3 Then you will trample down the wicked; they will be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day when I do these things," says the LORD Almighty.

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read this encounter of "the rich man and lazerous"...Jesus described a rich man opening his eyes being in torment after descending

Lets take a look at the PARABLE about "The Rich Man and Lazarus" you used in order to support your view of hell. Because that's what it is, a parable. It is not supposed to be taken literally, and definately not to base any conclusion over such a serious matter as the judgement. If you take it literally, do you also believe that Abraham's bosom is heaven and that people in heaven can talk to people in hell? Some paradise that would be! If you want to read more about what this parable really mean, and why it can not be used as an argument to support the view of an everlasting hellfire, please check out this link:

http://www.helltruth.com/QuestionsAnswers/TheRichManLazarus/tabid/236/Default.aspx

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Jesus said in the bible that he went to the heart of the earth before he rose from the dead...which in acts its (Acts 2:24 Whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death: because it was not possible that he should be holden of it.) "PAINS" the Greek word "odin" means pain, sorrow, travail...other versions says "horrors of death"


I have heard that "heart of the earth" does not mean the literal center of the earth, but rather that Jesus was to suffer for 3 days and 3 nights in the clutches of the evilness in this world. His suffering lasted for 3 days and nights all in all including the torture he went through prior to his crucifixion. If Jesus went to hell for 3 days and 3 nights after dying on the cross he would still be there on the day of the recurrection.
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If death was just blackness there could be only one death - Rev 21:8 But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death

but this is the second death and death is a great word for it because you will never ever leave...the greek word for brimstone can also mean "sulpher
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I have never said I denied that there will be a hellfire, the Bible is pretty clear on that point. What I am saying though is that the sinners will not continue to burn for eternity. After their indivudual punishment however they will all burn up and be annihilated. This is the second death, and they will never have another chance of receiving eternal life.
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you think in your heart possibly as a human argument "how could it be?" he will judge you according to your deeds and im sure that when you see God in all his Holiness you will have no doubt you deserve and eternity of hell...


No! I don't think anyone, not even the devil deserves to be tortured in agonizing, unbearable pain for eternity. Do you really think that all those billions of people who will not be granted eternal life deserves to burn forever? I have a hard time believeing that...
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the greek word for everlasting here is "aionos" according to this greek -english dictionary it is a word that means perpetual, (used of past time, or past and future)- eternal, forever, everlasting, world(began)

basically means eternally enduring, never stopping....eternal fire, prepared for the devil and his angels


I think We must let the Bible explain itself. Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed with everlasting, or eternal, fire (Jude 7), and that fire turned them "into ashes" as a warning to "those that after should live ungodly," 2 Peter 2:6. These cities are not burning today. The fire went out after everything was burned out. Likewise, everlasting fire will go out after it has turned the wicked to ashes (Malachi 4:3). The effects of the fire are everlasting, but not the burning itself. (From helltruth.com)
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KJV: And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.


Again as I have told you before, there will be a burning, and how long the burning or punishment will be is individual, which means that the devil probably will burn the longest. How long, only God knows. But the word forever is used many times in the Bible to illustrate a period of time. It often means, until the end of 'life'. Which means this verse could mean that the devil, the beast and the false prophet will be punished for several days, becuase of their great and many sins, before they eventually burn up as I showed you earlier in another verse.
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you say how can God hate if God is love...well if God loves that which is Holy he must hate that which is unholy...and through Christ we can be made Holy


You make it sound like God can not love us unless we are perfect through Christ. While the Bible clearly says "But God demonstrates his own love towards us , in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us" (Rom 5:8 ). God loves us even when we sin and disobay him, that does not mean that he does not hate our sins. But in John 3:16 it says: For God so LOVED THE WORLD (which means every single sinful soul) that he gave his only begotten son....God does not hate us because we are unholy, but he can not grant us eternal life because that would mean that He would not be able to rid the world of evil and sin (while save as many souls as he possibly can) which is his overall purpose.
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whom shall be punished in everlasting destruction is destruction that never ends - 2thessalonians 1:8 In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ:
1:9 Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power;


If you destroy something, how can you keep destroying it over and over again? And why would God after he has destroyed all sinners and the devil and demons, willfully continue to keep them alive just to destroy them over and over and over again? Gods purpose is to rid the universe of all evil and sin once and for all. So why on earth would he deliberately choose to let sin and evil and pain continue forever, when he has promised that one day it shall all be over. It makes no sense whatsoever.

And how would anyone who is granted eternal life be able to enjoy their new life knowing that many of their dear friends/family are continually suffering in constant agony? Not to mention God who is definately all knowing, how could he enjoy the new perfect world knowing about all those billions of his children screaming in pain for eternity?

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