gehenna Archives - Page 2 of 2

(#AmazonAdLink) My book, (#AmazonAdLink) What is Hell? is now available (#AmazonAdLink) on Amazon. I am doing a series of podcast studies that focus on some of the content from the book. The studies look at the eight key terms that are often equated with hell, and about a dozen key passages that are thought to teach about hell.

If you want to learn the truth about hell and what the Bible actually teaches about hell, make sure you get a copy of my book, (#AmazonAdLink) What is Hell?

Also, if you are part of my discipleship group, there will be an online course about hell as well.

In previous studies, we have looked at the words sheol, gehenna, abyss, tartarus, hades, the ‘outer darkness‘ and the Lake of Fire. In each case, we have seen that none of these words describe a place of everlasting torment for unbelievers in a place of burning fire.

Having studied several of the key terms that often get related to hell, it is also important to study several of the key passages that many people believe teach about hell. This study looks at James 3:6 and James 5:3.

Does James 3:6 teach that your tongue can send you to hell?

And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity. The tongue is so set among our members that it defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire by hell (James 3:6).

Since the book of James is likely one of the earliest New Testament writings, James is heavily reliant upon the Hebrew Scriptures. And since James was a leader in the Jerusalem church and a half-brother to Jesus, he seems to base his letter upon the teachings of Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount.

Therefore, what he writes about fire and hell is extremely important for understanding the overall imagery of these terms in the Bible.

In other words, the image of fire and hell in James can be used to help us understand how references to fire and hell are to be understood in the rest of Scripture.

According to Brad Jersak, who wrote the Foreword to my new book on hell, the imagery of fire and hell in James 3:6 is a definitive text for understanding both terms and how they were used by Jesus and the early church.

Jersak writes that the hell (Gk., gehenna) imagery in James 3:6 reveals that hell is not a destination to which people go after death, but rather the source of the flames that set the tongue and this world on fire.

And since the tongue itself does not actually burn with flames, nor do words literally set our lives, or the lives of others, on fire, this imagery too is symbolic of the devastation and destruction that the tongue can cause in a person’s life.

What then is hell?

Hell is a kingdom of darkness and destruction that is set against the kingdom of heaven in this life.

The two kingdoms are at war with each other, and while one brings light and life, the other brings death and devastation.

So James 3:6 is a key interpretive text for the fire and hell imagery of Scripture, and it reveals that neither are referring to a place of literal flames in the afterlife for the unredeemed dead, but instead refer to the devastation and destruction that can come into our lives when we stray from the values and principles of the kingdom of heaven.

The “fire” is not a place of burning and torture in the afterlife, but an experience of death and devastation in this life.

However, some of this fiery devastation and destruction might come upon believers at the Judgment Seat of Christ, which is what James warns the rich about in James 5:3. So let us also consider this text…

Does James 5:3 teach that rich people will go to hell?

Your gold and silver are corroded, and their corrosion will be a witness against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have heaped up treasure in the last days (James 5:3).

This passage is frequently cited by those who think of hell as eternal conscious torment, because James portrays a vivid image of the gold and silver eating rich people like fire.

And yet as James has pointed out frequently in his letter, the people to whom he writes are Christian brethren (cf. Jas 1:2, 16; 2:1, 5, 14; etc.), and James counts the rich among these Christian brethren (cf. Jas 2:1-7).

Indeed, it is because the rich are Christians that James is able to exhort them to follow Jesus and obey the law of liberty (Jas 2:12-13).

So if James writes near the end of his letter that the rich Christians could end up in hell if they are not generous with their money, then James is teaching that a person can lose their eternal life and that entrance into heaven is based on the good works of generosity and giving.

Both of these ideas are contrary to everything else Scripture teaches.

Therefore, it is better to understand James 5:3 in light of James 3:6, along with all the other imagery of fire in Scripture.

The fire in James 5:3 is symbolic of devastation and destruction that comes upon a person’s life for failing to follow the values and principles of the kingdom of heaven.

And while this devastation can come into a person’s life now, it can also come at the beginning of the next life when a person stands at the Judgment Seat of Christ. Our life in eternity begins with standing before Jesus to give an answer for the things we have done in the body, whether good or evil (2 Cor 5:10). How we live this life helps determine how we start the next life.

James is warning rich Christians that when they hoard wealth for themselves now, they are also storing up “treasure” for themselves at the Judgment Seat of Christ, which will be the experience of seeing all their earthly work and wealth consumed in the flames as if it were nothing more than wood, hay, and stubble (cf. 1 Cor 3:14-15).

The wealth of the rich eats away at their life now, and eats away at their life in the new heavens and new earth as well. Therefore, James encourages his rich readers to use their wealth and power to help those in need and to provide fair, just, and generous pay to their laborers (Jas 2:5; 5:4).

This passage is not about how the rich will go to hell because of their riches, but is about how the rich can use their wealth to help others now and store up true, spiritual riches in eternity. If they keep their wealth for themselves, it will only destroy their life now, it will also start their life in eternity with a negative experience.

James 3:6 and James 5:3 are not warnings about everlasting torment in the flames of hell

So neither James 3:6 or James 5:3 teach about an afterlife experience for unregenerate dead where they will burn and suffer in flames of fire for all eternity. Both texts are referring to the symbolic fires of destruction that can come upon a person’s life NOW in this world, destroying everything they have worked for and everything that is of value in their life.

Yes, there are also some warnings in James 5:3 about a fiery afterlife experience, but this warning is directed toward Christians rather than non-Christians, and is not a warning about everlasting torment in hell, but is instead a warning about experiencing shame and loss at the Judgment Seat of Christ (cf. 1 Cor 3:14-15).

This imagery and truth from James 3:6 and James 5:3 is key for understanding the rest of what the New Testament teaches about fire and hell. Most of the fiery and hellish imagery of the New Testament is referring to the “Kingdom of Hell” that seeks to rule and reign on this earth in direct conflict with the Kingdom of God.

James invites us to avoid fiery judgment now (and at the Judgment Seat of Christ) by living according to the ways of Jesus instead of the ways of destruction.

So what is hell?

If you want to understand what hell is, all you need to do is look at how Jesus lived and described the kingdom of heaven, and then think of its opposite. But there are numerous images and ideas from Scripture that also describe the kingdom of hell. The following chart shows some of the terms and imagery from Scripture which fit with both kingdoms.

Kingdom of Heaven	Kingdom of Hell
Everlasting Life	Everlasting Death
Exemplified by Jesus	Exemplified by Satan
Walking in Light	Walking in Darkness
Life Guided by Love	Life Guided by Hate
Abiding in the Truth	Abiding in Lies
Practicing Righteousness	Practicing Wickedness
Hope and Healing	Despair and Destruction
Fruitfulness and Creativity	Fire and Corruption
Fellowship and Unity	Separation and Fighting
Forgiveness and Grace	Accusation and Grudges
Fulfilling our Divine Purpose	Neglecting our Divine Purpose
Revealing the Image of God	Hiding the Image of God
Living Fully Human Lives	Living Sub-Human Lives

Note that all of the terms on both sides of the chart are available options for people here and now in this life. The two columns describe the two options we face in our present life, not in a future life after death. How we respond to the instructions and commands of God determine what sort of life experience we have here and now.

So where is hell? It is here, on this earth.

When is hell? It is now, in our lives.

And what is hell? It is the experience of life that is diametrically opposed to the life God wants for us. It is sickness and pain, death and disease, pestilence and famine, rape and murder, abuse and neglect, fear and loneliness, greed and lust. A person experiences hell to the degree that they experience such things.

This insight about the present reality of hell raises a startling truth.

The fact that the kingdom of hell exists here and now on earth rather than as an afterlife experience, means that any theological system which thinks of hell as only an afterlife experience is actually helping and aiding the kingdom of hell grow in power on this earth.

In other words, those who only think that hell is an afterlife experience for unbelievers will not be working to rescue and liberate people from the kingdom of hell that is here now.

And when the kingdom of hell goes unchallenged, it grows in power and influence. The three main view of hell (Traditionalism, Universalism, and Annihilationism) are all guilty in this regard.

Far from rescuing people from hell, by thinking that hell is only something that happens to people after they die, such views actually help keep people in hell.

The religious belief that hell exists only in the afterlife is the first step in creating hell here on earth for those whom the “religious” people think deserve to go there.

You might have heard it said that the greatest lie of Satan is that he does not exist.

If that is true, the second greatest lie of Satan is that hell exists only in the afterlife.

This lie causes Christians to ignore and neglect the many billions of people who live in hell right here on earth. We walk by them every day, ignoring their cries of pain and calls for help. Hell is here and hell is now, and until we recognize this truth, we will not work to rescue and liberate those who are trapped behind its gates.

Indeed, the traditional Christian doctrine of hell (especially Traditionalism, or Infernalism) is almost solely responsible for creating a spiritual and psychological hell in the minds of those who hear and believe it.

How can a person worship a God who sends all non-Christians (including those who never heard the gospel), along with children, mentally handicapped, and possibly our own family members to suffer forever in burning flames?

The traditional views of hell end up creating hell in the minds of those who hear them.

In a twisted perversion of the gospel, Christians who seek to rescue people from eternal hell end up consigning people to a living hell, as people tear themselves up spiritually and psychologically by living in fear of God, fear of sinning, and fear that they have not believed in the right things or performed enough good works to please and appease God.

And even if some are convinced that they themselves are headed for eternal bliss with God, such Christians are often in emotional and psychological distress about the eternal suffering of their loved ones.

A belief in eternal conscious torment does not lead to the deliverance of people from hell, but leads instead to the creation of hell in the minds of countless millions.

When we neglect the work of bringing heaven down to earth, we allow hell to rise up on the earth. There is no middle ground. There is no neutral way of living.

If we are not expanding the rule and reign of God upon the earth, then we are allowing the rule and reign of hell to remain instead.

So stop allowing hell to rule and reign in the lives of others. Live and strive for the kingdom of heaven by introducing it into the lives of those who live in the kingdom of hell. As you do this, they will be brought out of the kingdom of darkness, despair, and depression, and will be brought into the kingdom of light, love, acceptance, forgiveness, freedom, and fulfillment in Jesus Christ.

Do you have more questions about hell? Are you afraid of going to hell? Do want to know what the Bible teaches about hell? Take my course "What is Hell?" to learn the truth about hell and how to avoid hell. This course costs $297, but when you join the Discipleship group, you can to take the entire course for free.

What is Gehenna? Is it hell?

By Jeremy Myers

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If you want to learn the truth about hell and what the Bible actually teaches about hell, make sure you get a copy of my book, (#AmazonAdLink) What is Hell?

Also, if you are part of my discipleship group, there will be an online course about hell as well.

They key phrase we are looking at in this study is the word gehenna.

Does Gehenna refer to everlasting torment in hell?

The word gehenna is a Greek transliteration from the Hebrew “Valley of Hinnom” (or Ge-Hinnom) which was a deep gorge to the southwest of Jerusalem. It was also called the Valley of Tophet.

The valley has a sordid history. It was a place of idolatry, injustice, and spiritual infidelity. It was here that child sacrifices to Molech were performed in the days of Ahaz and Manasseh (2 Kings 16:3; 21:6; 23:10).

Furthermore, when 185,000 Assyrian soldiers died during their siege in the days of King Hezekiah, the bodies were piled in the valley of Hinnom and set on fire (Isa 30:31-33; 37:36). Jeremiah built on this history and said that if the Israelites did not turn and follow God, something similar would happen to them (Jer 7:30-34; 19:2-13). And indeed, after the slaughter of the Israelite people by the Roman military in 69-70 AD, this is what occurred.

But it was not just the history of prophecies of this valley which made it a place of horror. In the days of Jesus, the valley was used as the city dump.

The valley of Gehenna was not only filled with garbage, refuse, and sewage, but also with dead bodies that people were trying to dispose of (due to crime, sickness, poverty, or shame).

City officials occasionally sought to get rid of the garbage and also cover the stench by igniting the refuse on fire. But since there was so much garbage, and since more was added every day, the fire never really died. It burned day and night, seemingly forever and ever.

Even in places where there was no open flame, the piles of refuse would still smolder for weeks on end, sending constant billows of smoke and ashes into the air.

Yet not everything in Gehenna burned. As is the nature of flames, they go where they will, sometimes leaving entire sections untouched. In these areas, worms and maggots went to work on the refuse and corpses that were left behind.

Furthermore, as is the nature of all city dumps throughout the world (even to this day), the sick and poor often scavenged through the garbage looking for things to eat or sell. Some of these were undoubtedly lepers in various states of disease and decay who might have lived in the rock tombs on the lower end of the valley.

Imagine Going into Gehenna…

With all this in mind, imagine what it would be like to “take out the garbage” on a typical Jerusalem morning.

As you haul your cart of trash down the hill into the valley, you first become aware of the smoke that rises continually from the dump. It is acrid and oily from the burning trash and causes your eyes to smart.

But soon, not even the smoke can cover the stench that rises from rotting food and corpses on a hot Middle-Eastern day. The smell is so bad, you struggle not to vomit and retch.

But the smoke in your eyes and the smell in your nostrils are not the worst of it. As you descend down into the pit, it becomes harder to see. The sun turns blood red due to the smoke and there is a constant gloomy haze that surrounds you.

But this is a blessing in disguise, for what you do see is difficult to forget. On your left there is a mangled corpse. It is missing some limbs and is half-burned from the fire. The remaining half is crawling with maggots and buzzing with flies.

You avert your eyes, only to see a ragged leper stumbling through the smoke while eating a moldy piece of fruit he has pulled from the trash. He is missing his nose and an arm and appears to be a walking corpse.

Horrified, you decide you have traveled far enough into the pit. You dump your trash as quickly as possible before retreating back up the slope toward Jerusalem.

As the smoke recedes and the sun brightens above you, you peer back over your shoulder at where you left your trash, only to see half a dozen walking corpses shuffling toward your pile of garbage as fast as their mangled feet will carry them. They are eager to be among the first to dig through what you have left behind, hoping to find a bit of food or clothing that will get them through another day.

You shudder and pick up your pace to leave the nightmare valley behind and return to the land of the living.

Gehenna in the Days of Jesus

In the days of Jesus, this is what came to mind when someone used the word “Gehenna.” The term conveyed “a sense of total horror and disgust. … Gehenna was a place of undying worm and irresistible fire, an abhorrent place where crawling maggots and smoldering heat raced each other to consume the putrefying fare served them each day” (Fudge, (#AmazonAdLink) The Fire That Consumes, 161-162).

Therefore, since Gehenna was a literal place outside the walls of Jerusalem, the word should not be translated in our Bibles.

We do not translate “Jerusalem” as “City of Peace,” “Bethel” as “City of God,” or “Gilgal” as “circle,” even though that is what those place names mean. So also, we should not translate Gehenna as “hell” or any other word.

It should be left as it is, thereby alerting the reader to the fact that the text is referring to the valley called Gehenna outside the gates of Jerusalem. Translating it as “the Valley of Hinnom” would also be fine.

But even if we leave gehenna as “Gehenna,” we are still faced with the question as to whether Jesus had something more in mind than the physical and literal Valley of Hinnom when He taught about gehenna.

In other words, when Jesus spoke about gehenna, was He only speaking about the Valley of Hinnom, or was He using the imagery, history, and inherent horror of this valley to teach His listeners about the experience of some people in the afterlife?

The Symbolism of Gehenna

When the various texts are considered (cf. Matt 5:22, 29, 30; 10:28; 18:8-9; 23:15, 33; Mark 9:43-47; Luke 12:5; Jas 3:6), the answer becomes obvious. Jesus (and James, who is the only other person in the New Testament to speak about gehenna), is indeed using the Valley of Hinnom in a symbolic way, but not to teach about what happens to some people in the afterlife, but rather to teach about what can happen to some people in this life.

People who are sent to the Valley of Hinnom (usually because of crime or leprosy) lose their friends and family, and face a life filled with horror, decay, and destruction.

The warnings about gehenna are given by Jesus so that we do not destroy our health, life, family, friendships, and reputation in this life. God does not want us to live in the Valley of Death, but to instead enjoy everything God has given to us. In his book, Surprised by Hope, N. T. Wright says this about gehenna:

When Jesus was warning his hearers about Gehenna he was not, as a general rule, telling them that unless they repented in this life they would burn in the next one. As with God’s kingdom, so with its opposite: it is on earth that things matter, not somewhere else.

His message to His contemporaries was stark, and (as we would say today) political. Unless they turned back from their hopeless and rebellious dreams of establishing God’s kingdom in their own terms, not least through armed revolt against Rome, then the Roman juggernaut would do what large, greedy and ruthless empires have always done to smaller countries (not least in the Middle East) whose resources they covet or whose strategic location they are anxious to guard.

Rome would turn Jerusalem into a hideous, stinking extension of its own smoldering rubbish heap. When Jesus said “Unless you repent, you will all likewise perish,” that is the primary meaning He had in mind (Wright, (#AmazonAdLink) Surprised by Hope, 176).

Gehenna is NOT hell

Therefore, a word that is commonly translated as “hell” in the New Testament, gehenna does not in fact refer to a place of burning torture or torment in the afterlife.

Instead, the word gehenna refers to a literal place outside the walls of Jerusalem.

Jesus uses the history and imagery of this place to warn His disciples about what can befall them in this life if they do not follow His teaching and take steps (sometimes drastic) to protect themselves and their loved ones from the devastation of sin.

When Jesus speaks about gehenna, He is not warning about hell in the next life, but a hellish existence in this life. We will see more about this in future studies when we look at the actual New Testament texts in which the word gehenna is used.

But for now, we have a few more New Testament words to look at which are often thought to be references to hell. We will look at the word hades next …

But whatever hell might be, it is not an eternal garbage dump where God sends some humans to rot and burn for eternity. The word gehenna in the Bible teaches nothing of the sort. It was a literal valley outside of Jerusalem that symbolized the death and destruction that can come into people’s life NOW, if they refuse to follow the ways and teachings of Jesus. The symbol of gehenna tells us nothing the afterlife.

Jonah 2:2 – Jonah Went to Hell

By Jeremy Myers

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When you think of hell, what is it you think of? A place of burning? Fire? Demons gleefully torturing people as they scream in terror? If you are like most people, that is likely what the word “hell” brings to mind.

But did you know that such a depiction of hell does not come from the Bible at all? It comes from ancient pagan beliefs; not from the Bible.

When the Bible talks about hell, or hades, or sheol, a completely different picture emerges. This is what we talk about in this podcast episode on Jonah 2:2, where Jonah goes to hell.

The Text of Jonah 2:2

Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the fish’s belly.

In this discussion of Jonah 2:2 we look at:

Why the first half of verse 2 is not officially the prayer of Jonah.
The significance of Jonah “crying out to Yahweh”
What Jonah means when he says he went to hell
A brief discussion of hell in the Bible

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A Theological Shibboleth about the Violence of God

By Jeremy Myers

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Do you know what a Shibboleth is? You might have heard the term and not known where it comes from…

In modern usage, a shibboleth is an idea, practice, belief, or custom which differentiates one group of people from another. So, for example, if you wanted to know whether someone was politically conservative or liberal, you could maybe ask them about global warming. If they thought global warming is a hoax, they are probably conservative. If they think global warming is irrefutable science, they are probably liberal. In this case, the “shibboleth” is the issue of global warming.

The origins of the word “shibboleth” come from Judges 12:5-6 when there was a war between the people of Gilead and Ephraim. The soldiers of Gilead set up a little checkpoint at a river crossing and whenever a man tried to cross, the soldiers would ask them to say “Shibboleth.” Why? Because the people of Gilead said “Shibboleth” and the people of Ephraim said “Sibboleth” (because they could not pronounce the Sh). If the soldier said, “I am from Gilead” but then could not pronounce “Shibboleth” and instead said, “Sibboleth” then the soldiers of Gilead would know the man was lying and would kill him.

Anyway, that is the origin of the word Shibboleth.

I recently stumbled across a theological Shibboleth regarding the violence of God in the Bible. Almost everybody claims to believe that God is love, that Jesus reveals God to us, and that God does nothing but that which is merciful, kind, and gracious. And yet there are vast numbers of Christians who believe that God commands people to slaughter others, that God drowned people in a flood, and that God is the one who killed His own Son on the cross to appease His own wrath and anger against human sin.

Yesterday I was reading the Gospel of Luke and read Luke 12:5. I did a double-take on the verse because while the pronouns are capitalized in the Bible I was reading, it sure seemed to me that Jesus was not talking about God, but about Satan. Here is the verse (without capitalization):

But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear him who, after he has killed, has power to cast into hell; yes, I say to you, fear him!

The shibboleth is this: Is Jesus talking about God or Satan in Luke 12:5?

If you check most modern commentaries, they will tell you that Jesus is talking about God. Some argue that the verse refers to Satan. During the first 300 years of the church, it was almost exactly opposite. Many of the early church fathers believed Jesus was talking about Satan, but a few thought He was referring to God.

But what do you think? In Luke 12:5, is Jesus talking about God or Satan?

In the comments below, please feel free to state you opinion, and then also state why you believe what you do about Luke 12:5. And I promise, that whether you answer “God” or “Satan” (Shibboleth or Sibboleth), nobody is going to kill you!

Whose name tag goes on that verse?

I guess I’ll start…

I used to think Jesus was talking about God, but in the last couple years, my theology has changed enough so that I now think Jesus was talking about Satan.

After all, why would Jesus say that God kills when He later says that it is the thief who comes to steal, kill, and destroy (John 10:10)? Why are we called to fear God when John tells us that there is no fear in love for perfect love casts out fear (1 John 4:18)? And is it really God who casts people into hell, or is He rather working to rescue people from hell?

2017 UPDATE: After further study and discussion with people in the RedeemingGod.com discipleship group, it is interesting to note that the word for “hell” is Gehenna, which is the smoking trash valley outside of Jerusalem, and the word for “destroy” is appolumi, which is used in Matthew 10:6 in reference to the “lost” sheep of Israel, and then also in 10:39 (cf. 16:25) when Jesus says if you “lose” your life for his sake, you will find it. So other forms of the word can refer to “lose” or “lost.” Notice later that the Jewish leaders plot how they might “destroy” Jesus (Matt 12:14; 27:20). This sort of seems to indicate that other human beings might be in view … but if so, Jesus would be saying “Don’t fear human beings who can take your life, but do fear human beings who can cast you into the burning trash pile outside of the city.” How does this make sense?

Maybe the key is the word “soul” (psuche) in the context, which is not the “eternal principle of a person” but is instead the “life.” That is, your “life” here on earth. Who is it that can destroy your body AND your life by sending you out into the burning trash pile? Only one group: The religious leaders. They often sent people to live in Gehenna. It was one of the places where lepers and outcasts were sent. But how is this worse than being killed?

We have two contrasts here:

body (sarx) vs. life (psuche)
kill (apokteino) vs. destroy (appolumi)

2021 update: I address this text here, and provide my current beliefs about Luke 12:5 and Matthew 10:28

Does Jesus talk about Hell more than Heaven?

By Jeremy Myers

133 Comments

I sometimes hear pastors and teachers say that Jesus talked about hell more than heaven, and so we should do the same in our evangelism.

In other words, it is is often suggested that Jesus “scared” people into the kingdom. He threatened people with hell if they didn’t believe in Him, and so in our evangelism, we are perfectly justified in using threats of burning forever in hell and other similar scare tactics to get people into the Kingdom of God as well.

And it isn’t just the wacko fringe Christians who say this. I have heard it preached from the pulpits of some relatively “sane” evangelical churches. This sort of approach is also quite common in some of the leading evangelistic approaches of our day. People are trained to tell others that God is holy, righteous, and good, and since one sin is enough to condemn us to hell, God is justified in sending us there if we don’t believe in Jesus for eternal life.

And rather than shying away from hell, we are told to use it as a way to invite people into heaven. After all, we are told, Jesus preached about hell more than heaven, and so should we.

But is this true?

Is it true that Jesus talks about hell more than heaven?

In my book I am currently writing on the violence of God in the Bible, I will be including a full chapter on what the Bible says about hell, and the vast majority of that chapter will find its way here to this blog.

But by way of preview (and because the topic of this month’s synchroblog is hell), here are some of the main points I will be writing about in that chapter:

References to “fire” are usually not references to hell.

Jesus does speak about “fire” several times in the Gospels (e.g., Matt 3:10-12; 7:19; 13:40-50; John 15:6). But these references to fire are not references to a place of eternal torture for the unredeemed, but are simply symbols of temporal discipline and destruction that come upon some people as a result of straying from God’s instructions. Fire can even be for purification of believers (the Greek word for fire is pur) as seen in 1 Corinthians 3:15.

Sometimes Jesus refers to “hell fire” (e.g., Matt 5:22), but these are actually references to “Gehenna,” which I discuss in a later point.

The few references where fire may refer to the everlasting flames of hell are places like Matthew 25:41, and are used in reference to a place created for Satan and his angels. Do some humans end up there? It appears so, but again, this will not be for torture and torment. To explain why will have to wait for the book…

References to “the outer darkness” and “weeping and gnashing of teeth” are not references to hell.

There are several instances in Matthew where Jesus refers to “the outer darkness” and “weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matt 8:12; 13:42-50; 22:13; 24:51; 25:30). These terms are sometimes used in connection with fire and so most people think they also refer to hell.

But they don’t.

A careful contextual study of most of these texts reveal that the image of “outer darkness” is a symbol of exclusion from blessing and honor, and the image of “weeping and gnashing of teeth” is a vivid symbol of deep and profound regret. The events discussed in these places are typically events that will take place at the Judgment Seat of Christ (which is only for believers) and the Wedding Supper of the Lamb (which is also only for believers).

Again, I need full studies to show this, and these will have to wait for my book…

References to “hades” and “gehenna” are not references to hell.

There are numerous references in the Greek New Testament to hades and gehenna, and regrettably, most English translations translate these words as “hell.” But a place of eternal, conscious torment is what modern people think of when they think of hell, this is not what first century Jewish people would have thought of when they heard the words hades and gehenna.

Hades, of course, is the ancient Greek god of the underworld, the god of death. In biblical usage, it is often a Greek translation from the Hebrew sheol, which means “the pit” or “the grave.” Neither of these are references to hell, but simply refer to the hole in the earth in which dead people are laid (cf. Acts 2:27, 31; Rev 20:13).

There is, of course, the story about the rich man and Lazarus in Luke 16:19-31, which seems to equate hades with torturous flames in a pit of hell. But there are numerous problems with understanding this text as referring to what really happens to people after they die (for example, Lazarus is there with the rich man and they can communicate), and so it is dangerous to take this text to literally.

Finally, Gehenna refers to an actual place that existed outside the gates of Jerusalem. It was a little valley in which trash was thrown to be burned. This imagery must be understood wherever Jesus talks about “hell fire” and uses Gehenna (cf. Matt 5:22).

And do I need to say it? … Yes, I know a fuller explanation is wanted on all these terms and texts, but it will have to wait for the book…

When all of this is considered, we see that Jesus didn’t talk about hell more than heaven. He rarely mentions hell at all. As such, I think there is absolutely no place for threatening people with hell if they don’t believe in Jesus for eternal life. Yes, we can warn people (as Jesus did) about the disastrous temporal consequences of their sin, but threatening people with eternal torment in flames is neither Christlike nor theologically correct.

To say that Jesus warned people of hell and so should we is just plain wrong.

Jesus Really Didn’t Talk about Heaven that Much Either

Having said all this, Jesus really didn’t talk that much about heaven either.

Just as we don’t really want to scare people into believing Jesus, we shouldn’t try to bribe them either. While Jesus talks about heaven more than hell, neither have a big emphasis in His teaching.

Instead, Jesus frequently talks about everlasting life, and life in the kingdom of God. Eternal life, of course, begins the moment we believe in Jesus for it, but the longer we live in Him, the great the experience of eternal life gets.

And the Kingdom of God (or the Kingdom of Heaven) is not a synonym for heaven, but simply refers to the rule and reign of God in our lives.

If you want to evangelize, and you want follow the way of Jesus and the apostles, you don’t need to threaten or bribe. Simply lay out the grand vision of what life is like when we live it God’s way. Life under the rule and reign of God is a life of joy, freedom, contentment, fulfillment, and satisfaction. It is a life of laughter and delight. It is a life free from bondage and slavery and addiction. It is life as it was truly meant to be lived.

This is the life Jesus lived, and this is the life Jesus invited people into. If we want to evangelize others like Jesus, we don’t need to threaten them with hell or bribe them with heaven, but can simply invite them into a way of life is that is better than anything else the world has to offer.

This post is part of the May Synchroblog on the topic of hell. Below is a list of the other bloggers who participated this month. Go read what they have to say on the topic of hell.

Wesley Rostoll – Hell, thoughts on annihilationism
K. W. Leslie – Dark Christians
Angie Benjamin – Hell Is For Real
Paul Meier – Hell Is For Real – I’ve Been There and Came Back
Glenn Hager – Abusing Hell
The Virtual Abbess – What The Hell?
Kimbery Klein – Hell, if I know.
Michael Donahoe – Hell Yes…or No?
Liz Dyer – Hell? No!
Margaret Boelman – Hell No I Won’t Go
Loveday Anyim – Why the hell do you believe in hell?
Linda – The Y In The Road
Edwin Aldrich – What the Hell do we really know.
Mallory Pickering – The Time I Blogged About Hell
Elaine – What The Hell?

What is hell? (James 3:6 and James 5:3 provide the answer)

Does James 3:6 teach that your tongue can send you to hell?

Does James 5:3 teach that rich people will go to hell?

James 3:6 and James 5:3 are not warnings about everlasting torment in the flames of hell

So what is hell?

What is Gehenna? Is it hell?

Does Gehenna refer to everlasting torment in hell?

Imagine Going into Gehenna…

Gehenna in the Days of Jesus

The Symbolism of Gehenna

Gehenna is NOT hell

Jonah 2:2 – Jonah Went to Hell

The Text of Jonah 2:2

In this discussion of Jonah 2:2 we look at:

Resources:

Downloadable Podcast Resources

Do you like learning about the Bible online?

A Theological Shibboleth about the Violence of God

Does Jesus talk about Hell more than Heaven?

Is it true that Jesus talks about hell more than heaven?

References to “fire” are usually not references to hell.

References to “the outer darkness” and “weeping and gnashing of teeth” are not references to hell.

References to “hades” and “gehenna” are not references to hell.

Jesus Really Didn’t Talk about Heaven that Much Either

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