OWING to ignorance, teachings now known to be grossly erroneous and misleading were simply accepted in the early centuries after Christ and his apostles. And a few voices of dissent though intelligent and constructive they were, had to be consigned to the stakes and were brutally silenced under a tyrannical regime. Thus, Christendom led the world astray on many doctrinal issues forcibly declared to be articles of faith in the Council of Nicea in 325A.D. and subsequent ones. One of such is the dogma that portrays God as a fiend who delights in torturing His unrepentant children everlastingly in a sulphurous fire of hell. But the truth of the Bible now revealed is that there is NO FIRE IN HELL!
The New Lexicon Webster’s Dictionary of English Language, Deluxe Encyclopaedic Edition states of hell that tradition has it as “the abode of Satan and his falling angels and a place of physical anguish of impenitent souls after death”. This View-Point from a Secular work is derived from a religious knowledge as shown in the Explanatory Catechism of Christian Doctrine stating that hell is “the place where the devils and lost souls are punished”. The Catholic Encyclopaedic Dictionary (Second Edition, Revised) confirms that “Hell is the place and state of eternal punishment…. It is of faith their punishment will never end” -p.226.
There is no truth whatsoever in this definition of hell as the abode of Satan and the falling angels. Since when were they cast into hell? All the Bible tells us is that there was war in heaven and under the leadership of Christ the King who gained victory and his angels were cast down to the earth and there was this proclamation: “Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and of the sea: for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth he hath but a short time.” (Rev. 12:12) This fulfilled in this end-time and he is not yet destroyed or sent to the bottomless pit. (Rev. 20:1-3) And St. Peter admonished Christians to be sober and vigilant “because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour, whom resist steadfast in the faith” (1 Pet. 5:8,9) If Satan were already confined in hell, how is he free walking about seeking whom to devour? There are lots of inconsistencies in the teaching of hell especially when viewed against the background of the Scriptures.
On the basis of the belief that hell is a place of horror, many believers are now frightened into Subjection by their pastors, evangelists and priests for whatever gains. During church seminars, crusades, services and other religious activities, motion and/or painted pictures and books of how hell looks like are relayed, shown or sold to give credence to this teaching. One Rev. J. Furness gave a fearful description of hell. He wrote thus: “The roof is red-hot, the walls are red; the floor is like a thick sheet of red-hot iron.” Describing hell further, he stated, “Listen to the tremendous, the horrible uproar of millions and millions of tormented creatures, mad with the fury of hell. Oh, the screams of fear, the groanings of horrors, the yells of rage, the cries of pain, the shouts of agony, the shricks of despair, from millions on millions. There you hear them roaring like lions, hissing like serpents, howling like dogs, and wailing like dragons. There you hear the gnashing of teeth, and fearful blasphemies of the devils. Above all you hear the roaring of the thunders of God’s anger, which shake hell to its foundations. But there is another sound. There is in hell a sound like that of many waters, it is as if all the rivers and oceans in the world were pouring themselves with a great splash down on the floor of hell. Is it then, really the sound of waters? It is. Are the rivers and oceans of the earth pouring themselves into hell? No. What is it then? It is the sound of oceans of tears running down countless millions of eyes. They cry forever and ever. They cry because the sulphurous smoke torments their eyes. They cry because they are in darkness. They cry because they have lost the beautiful heaven. They cry because the sharp fire burns them.” -The World’s Redemption; p343.
It is painful to note that all these interpretations and descriptions of hell by those who call themselves servants of God are derived from traditions, superstitions and imaginations of men and not from the Scriptures. Or else, can anybody show from the Oracle of God (the Holy Bible) that a place called hell was created by God for the punishment of the wicked after death, with fire burning them while they wail and wail endlessly as Rev. J. Furness want us to believe? St. Paul warned Christians against believing and accepting the traditions of men, to wit: “Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the traditions of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ”. -Col 2:8.
None of the prophets of old taught this dogma not even Jesus Christ (who himself descended into hell). nor the apostles. If hell IS a place of everlasting punishment of the wicked with fire, Adam would have been the first sinner to go there. Through his disobedience of God’s commandment in the garden of Eden, all men became sinners and death entered into the world. Yes, “for the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Rom 6:23 see also Rom 5:12-19) Rather, pronouncing judgement on Adam, God said, “In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground, for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.” (Gen. 3:19) That is why when man dies he goes to the dust – the grave and the dust of the ground is not made of fire.
The truth of the Holy Bible points to the fact that both good and bad, return to the dust of the ground out of which they were created. As it is written “And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.” (Gen. 2:7) If God takes the breath of life away, man becomes dead and goes back to the dust. Said Elihu to Job and his friends, “If He (God) set His heart upon man, if He gather unto Himself His Spirit and His breath; all flesh (good and bad) shall perish together, and man shall turn again unto dust.“- Job 34:15; Eccl 12:7.
Even the animals, the beasts (like man) at death return to the dust. Said King Solomon, “For that which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts, even one thing befalleth them: as the one dieth, so dieth the other; yea they have all one breath, so that a man hath no pre-eminence above a beast: for all is vanity. All go unto one place, all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again”. Eccl. 3:19.20.
GRAVE
The word “HELL” according to the Holy Bible means the grave, pit or tomb where the dead are buried. It is derived from the Hebrew word “sheol” or Greek “hades”. King Solomon called it “the chambers of death”. (Prov. 7:27) And Jesus Christ referred to it as the “heart of the earth” that is, inside the ground. -Mat. 12:40.
God Almighty through the prophet Isaiah established the fact that hell is the grave or pit. Lamenting the fall of Lucifer, His anointed Cherub that covereth, who rebelled against Him now called Satan, devil, serpent, dragon (Rev. 12:3) God stated among other things that he (Satan) will be brought down to the sides of the pit known as hell or the grave. As it is written “Hell from beneath is moved for thee… Thy pomp is brought down to the grave, and the noise of thy viols: the worm is spread under thee, and the worms cover thee. How art thou fallen from heaven O Lucifer, son of the morning! How art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations. For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, will exalt my throne above the stars of God. I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds: I will be like the Most High.” And God said, “Yet thou shall be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.” -Isa. 14:9-14
As to where man goes at death Job left no one in doubt but he also expressed his hope in the change that of would come at the resurrection of the dead. “O that Thou wouldest hide me in the grave, that thou wouldest keep me secret, until Thy wrath be past that thou wouldest appoint me a set time, and remember me! If u man die, shall he live again? All the days of my appointed time will wait, till my change come. If I wait, the grave is my house, I have made my bed in the darkness. I have said to corruption, thou art my mother, and my sister. And where is now my hope? As for my hope, who shall see it? They shall go down to the bars of the pit (hell) when our rest together is in the dust.” Job 14:13,14; 17:13-16, 19:25,26.
King David the Psalmist prophesied about how God would raise Christ from hell or the power of the grave without corruption of his flesh. To wit: “For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.” (Ps. 16:10; Acts 2:27) Indeed, God resurrected Christ on the third day of his crucifixion. He was buried in the tomb or sepulchre of Joseph of Arimathaea (Mark 16:42-47: Luke 23:50-56; John 19:38-42) In the Apostles’ Creed it is written that “Christ descended into hell.” Was Christ a wicked man? There is no place in the Bible the word hell is used to mean a place of fire or torment. Jacob who refused to be comforted when he thought that Joseph was dead simply said, “ I will go down to my son into hell, mourning. ” (Gen. 37:35, Douay Version) But King James Version states “For I will go down into the grave unto my son mourning.” The words hell and grave are interchangeable as it is also in Genesis 42:38; Job 3:11-19; Psalms. 89:48 (KJV); 88:49 (DV); Numbers. 16:1-4,25-33.
HELL FIRE
The Greek word “Gehenna” translated “hell” or “hell fire” in the New Testament is a picture word with historical background and figuratively used by Jesus to mean the punishment the wicked will undergo before they are everlastingly destroyed or annihilated from the earth.
“Gehenna” is a compound word from two Hebrew words Ge, Hinnom which when pronounced together means the “valley of Hinnom” or the “valley of the sons of Hinnom”. This was a place on the outskirts of Jerusalem in which children were cruelly sacrificed by fire to Molech, the idol of the Ammonites, whom the Jews decided to worship, and thus committed abomination in the sight of God. -2 Kings 23:10; 2 Chron. 28:1-3, 33:1,2.6.
God was not pleased; He condemned them for burning their children in fire. Said He, “And they built high places of Tophet, which is in the valley of the sons of Hinnom, to burn their sons and daughters in the fire which I commanded then not neither came it into my heart.” Jer. 7:30,31.
The valley later became a place for depositing refuse and all sorts of rubbish, dead animals, even corpses of criminals were dumped there. Worms were also around to consume the rotten things and underneath, there was fire that kept burning to consume the rubbish. It was a place identified with the execution of undesirables. lt is with this understanding that Jesus Christ warned the unbelieving Jews parabolically, how the wicked would be punished before they will be destroyed forever by God. As it is written: “And if thy hand offend thee, cut it off; it is better for thee to enter into life maimed. Than having two hands to go into hell, into fire that never shall be quenched. And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out: it is better for thee to enter into the Kingdom of God with one eye, than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire, where the worms dieth not, and the fire is unquenched,” – Mark 9:43-48.
To interpret this passage literally will not make sense. This is for the reason that it is not possible for someone to cut or pluck off his or her hand or eye for every irritation or itching. The hand, foot or eye used separately in the passage was illustrative of the value of sacrifice, a true disciple of Christ must make in order to prove himself or herself worthy of the Kingdom of God. Therefore if anything so dear to one like the eye, hand or foot would make one go to everlasting destruction, and not inherit God’s Kingdom, it were better to deny oneself and put away such things or sinful acts. The term “hell fire in the passage symbolises the Suffering or vengeance of God the wicked will be made to undergo before they go to everlasting destruction at the forthcoming “great tribulation” and battle of “Armageddon” that will end all unrighteousness to be executed by Jesus Christ and his angels. St. Paul stated, “And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on all them that know not God and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his power.” -2 Thess 1:7-9, see also Matt. 24:21; Rom. 2:5-9, 2 Pet 3:7: Rev. 16: 13,14,16
The punishment of the wicked will take place while they are living; the dead will be resurrected to receive their punishment after judgement if found guilty, for the dead knoweth not anything. (Eccl. 9:5,6, Dan. 12:2,3; John 5:28,29; etc.) King Solomon stated further that “The righteous shall be recompensed in the earth: much more the wicked and the sinner” -Prov. 11:30, see also Rev. 9:1-10 etc
Finally, it must therefore, be understood that hell is not a place of torment for the wicked but the grave, pit, tomb or sepulcher where both good and bad go after death. There is no fire in hell.