Do We Really Know What Hell Is Like?
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“He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might” (2 Thessalonians 1:8-9).
Hell is a difficult subject. Enough so that many pastors avoid preaching on the topic, despite the fact that hell is prominent in the teachings of Jesus. If we are honest, when we speak to non-believers about our faith, we would much rather offer the blessings of faith in Christ, rather than eternal life in hell for those who choose to not believe.
C.S. Lewis once wrote, “There is no doctrine which I would more willingly remove from Christianity than this, if it lay in my power. But it has the full support of Scripture and, especially, of Our Lord’s own words; it has always been held by Christendom; and it has the support of reason. If a game is played, it must be possible to lose it.”
Indeed, we learn more from Jesus’ teachings about hell than from any other part of Scripture. Jesus spoke of hell a total of 23 times – more than anyone in the Bible. Of course, His primary message was one of love, mercy, grace, and salvation – which lends greater significance to His warnings about hell to those who refuse to believe and repent.
Jesus did sometimes use metaphors in reference to hell, but one of His better-known phrases was, “…where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” Yet also of importance, Jesus mentioned fire in relation to hell at least 20 times.
Jesus consistently contrasted the kingdom of God – heaven – with hell. He made it quite clear: hell was the only alternative to an eternity spent in God’s kingdom. It is the opposite of eternal, perfect fellowship with God.
“And the angels will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matthew 13:42).
Do We Know What Hell Is, Really?
“And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matthew 25:30).
Does this mean that we know what hell is? The teachings of Scripture leave a great many questions. Perhaps the most common is how can a good and loving God let anyone suffer eternal torment in the fires of hell? Oh sure, the Hitlers and mass murderers of the world, we can understand. But what about others?
What about those who never heard of, or were never taught about Jesus? Or those who were born into families whose religious beliefs taught against the truth of Jesus? How about children who were never given the chance to grow old enough to make a decision for Christ? Or those who grew up in the church and “believed” but never really took up their cross and followed Jesus? Are there different levels of hell for some?
Words of Jesus might lead us to believe this to be true:
“The servant who knows the master’s will and does not get ready or does not do what the master wants will be beaten with many blows. But the one who does not know and does things deserving punishment will be beaten with few blows. From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked” (Luke 12:47-48).
But then He goes on to tell the parable of the man who ordered the gardener to cut down his fruitless fig tree (Luke 13:6-8). That parable was told immediately following Jesus saying: “But unless you repent, you too will all perish” (Luke 13:3, 5). And He repeated it a second time, just in case they weren’t getting it.
We use the term “eternal life” to describe eternity with Jesus. But isn’t hell eternal life also?
Jesus told them unless they repent, they too would all perish. But won’t they live for eternity in hell?
Let’s face it – the issue of hell is perhaps much more confusing and complicated than any Christian might realize. Many see an eternity in conscious torment as a truly horrifying prospect, a prospect many believe is beyond a loving God.
Bible teacher Grady Brown says, “The doctrine of ‘endless punishment’ has for centuries been the ‘crazy uncle’ that the Church has kept locked in the back bedroom.” He’s not alone in that perspective; I think many of us might agree, or at least in unspoken agreement.
5 Different Viewpoints of Hell
“And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been set in place, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us” (Luke 16:26).
While there is the traditional view of what hell represents, there are other viewpoints, as well. Some might surprise you.
1. Eternal Flames
“You will burn in hell” – but is it true? Common descriptions of hell all include eternal flames. This viewpoint is consistent with a great many Biblical references to the flames of hell. Jesus too used the reference at least twenty times. And Revelation 20:14-15 tells us, “Anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire.”
The challenge, say many Biblical scholars, such as John Stott, is that there are two images of hell which are in conflict: darkness and flames. Flames would, of course, provide light. Further, physical bodies would be destroyed and burned up. And if it were only spiritual, then actual fire would be pointless. Even reformers Martin Luther and John Calvin held to the concept that fires were metaphorical and represented what would be the torment in hell.
In Luke 16:19-31, Jesus tells the parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus. It is one of the most important teachings regarding the use of wealth, compassion and generosity, and the afterlife. The parable serves as a warning about paying attention to the needs of others, and of the finality of judgement. The Rich Man begged Abraham, “…Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.”
The Rich Man was thirsty because he failed to drink the living water: Jesus.
2. Purgatory
(“Perfected by fire.”)
This is a subject that seems to cause great conflict among Christians. Yes, the Roman Catholic church still believes in purgatory (Catechism 1039), but there are others too who believe there can be payment for sins and salvation after death.
C.S. Lewis stated rather unambiguously “I believe in purgatory.” While there are multiple views of what purgatory will be, the concept is based, at least in part, on Hebrews 12:14, “Without holiness no one will see the Lord.” 1 Corinthians 3:11-15 further states “…It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person’s work.”
Of course, evangelical Christians respond that at the moment of our death, God’s grace through faith in Christ has already made us holy. Biblical scholar Scot McKnight holds that what is being tested in Paul’s passage is not people, but rather their works. Alan Gomes agrees and contends that Paul is discussing different rewards believers will receive for their service to Christ.
3. Annihilationism
The idea that hell will not be eternal, but simply one step to complete destruction is called annihilation. According to Preston Sprinkle, well known Christian author, the trend toward annihilationism is growing, albeit in secret. Sprinkle feels that a great many pastors believe in eternal destruction but simply refuse to state it due to the enormity of the backlash.
In 1988, John Stott – a Cambridge-educated pastor in the Anglican church – challenged the traditional viewpoint. Traditionalists were shocked. His colleague, John Wenham, has said he believes unending torment speaks more of sadism than it does a loving God. Pastor Gregory Stump contends that biblical evidence for the doctrine of eternal torment to be “weak and insubstantial.”
Some point to the words of Jesus in Matthew 7:13, for example. “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it.” This leads many to hold that Jesus was an annihilationist. Biblical language such as destruction, perish, and death all contribute to the idea of annihilationism, as do images of tress being cut down and burned.
Well-known Christian theologian and author, Paul Copan, disagrees with any argument toward annihilationism. Copan says that “Destruction does not always mean ‘cease to exist.’” He refers to 2 Peter 3:6, which says the world during the time of Noah was destroyed – yet we know it continued to exist. Copan tells us the same Greek word for destroy – apollymi – can be translated as “lost” The coin in Jesus’ parable in Luke 15:9 was “lost” – apollymi.
Then, when Jesus teaches the parable of the sheep and the goats, He makes it clear:
“Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life” (Matthew 25:46).
4. Salvation after Death
The idea of salvation after death is that God could allow people to repent after their death. In some ways, this is similar to the idea of universalism, except not all would repent and come to salvation – but all, or at least some, would be given the chance to do so. Even Martin Luther left open this possibility – “Who would doubt God’s ability to do that?” And yet, Luther admitted, “No one, however, can prove that He does do this.”
While we have no biblical proof, such an idea might very well answer some of the questions above, such as those who never heard the gospel, or those raised to not believe or even hate Jesus. Or those taught their entire lives to believe a different theology. Or perhaps even infants or children.
And, of course, Peter tells us that God wants no one to perish, but all to come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9).
5. Levels of Hell
Dante Alighieri, in his renowned piece The Divine Comedy, describes hell as a series of circles. First are the gates, then the first circle is limbo, followed by various others, depending on the severity of the sin. In other words, an unrepentant Adolf Hitler would indeed suffer greater punishment than your neighbor who simply had zero interest in church or listening to your message of the gospel but wasn’t a bad dude.
Jesus’ teachings certainly seemed to support the idea of varying levels of hell. In Matthew 11:20-24, Jesus said that certain cities – Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum – would suffer greater punishment than even Sodom. New Testament scholar Craig Blomberg holds that Luke 12:42-48 is perhaps the clearest argument in favor of different degrees of punishment in hell.
“The servant who knows the master’s will and does not get ready or does not do what the master wants will be beaten with many blows. But the one who does not know and does things deserving punishment will be beaten with few blows” (Luke 12:47-48).
Can We Get Any Glimpses of Life after Death?
“They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might” (2 Thessalonians 1:9).
As with so many things, there are indeed a great many tensions in the Bible. We know as much about hell as we do about Christ's return. Martin Luther once said, “As little children know in their mother’s womb about their birth, so little do we know about life everlasting.” That statement applies to hell, as well as to our eternal life with Jesus. We know this: heaven will be pure bliss, eternal life with our Creator.
And yet, maybe that is entirely the point. It simply may not be for us to know. Heaven is simply “too wonderful for us to know” and the other far too horrific. Perhaps God doesn’t want us to pursue heaven or avoid hell but instead wants us to pursue Him.
Because this we do know: whatever hell is, we will not be with Christ Jesus. For eternity, we will not be in the presence of the Lord. Isn't that statement punishment all by itself?
When we hear the stories of the many near death experiences (NDE’s) people have been through, we find out a great deal. While we don’t have time here to cover them all, there are certainly wonderful books that describe these: Raymond Moody’s Life after Life or John Burke’s Imagine Heaven. While most NDE’s are positive experiences, not all fit that mold. There is rather compelling experience from Howard Storm.
Storm, an avowed atheist, described his experience: Upon dying, he followed what were at first friendly people. Those people then led him into a darkness that caused Storm to feel absolute terror and physical punishment. “There has never been a horror movie or book that can begin to describe the cruelty,” Storm recalled. After realizing he was in hell and would be there for eternity as a result of his “garbage life” – Storm called out into the darkness, “Jesus, save me!” Suddenly out of the darkness a small light appeared and hands and arms reached out and touched him. Storm said later that he felt a love greater than all of the love of his entire life, all condensed into one moment. Clearly, Storm gave his life to Jesus after that near-death experience.
See, we need not fear death because for us, death is our door to heaven. Death is our door to that love of Jesus described and felt by Storm.
But now – imagine that the man had died and then stepped into eternity and discovered that same intense love that he knew was Jesus. The Jesus he had rejected all his life. Imagine this wasn’t a near-death experience, but actual death. He realized that love he could have had yet rejected. That love that he would now know could never be his – for eternity.
Indeed, that would cause a great deal of “weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
The Consequences of Sin
Whatever hell is, we know it's terrible beyond our understanding or imagination. Something that we should not want for ourselves or anyone else, especially our loved ones.
Jesus’ teachings are intended for us to understand the seriousness of sin and the consequences that follow. It is critical for us to recognize the reality of hell, regardless of what that reality might be. Because if there is no judgement, then what was the need of His sacrifice? What is the purpose of His grace and mercy? Why would we need forgiveness?
This reality should challenge us – urge us – to share the love of Christ with others, urging them to avoid the eternal separation that we know is real.
“The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9).
Photo credit: ©Getty Images/wacomka
Greg doesn’t pretend to be a pastor, a theologian, or a Bible expert, but offers the perspective of an everyday guy on the same journey as everyone else – in pursuit of truth.
Greg can be reached by email or on Facebook @ Greg Grandchamp - Author.