Does Hell Exist?

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What does the Bible say about hell? Is it a place of never-ending torture?

The short answer is that the Bible does not teach that an ever-burning Hell, where those who do not repent in this life are consigned to suffer forever, exists. Ignorance regarding God's plan of salvation, the error of countless Biblical teachers "reading into" the Scriptures what they want to believe, plus other factors have led to the promulgation of the false teaching of hell.

The doctrinal belief in a fiery hell, where people eternally suffer for their sins, is primarily supported by the Roman Catholic Church and the majority of Protestant-related groups who trace their history back to her. The Catholic teachings on the subject were greatly influenced by "the Divine Comedy," written by Dante Alighieri, around 1300 A.D. The concept of eternal torture is far more the product of man's wild imagination than a well-researched Bible conclusion.


Original words

In the King James Old Testament, the original language word translated as hell in all thirty-one places it occurs is Sheol. Its literal meaning (Strong's Concordance #H7585) is that it is a reference to a common grave. The word has no relationship whatsoever to our modern definition of a place of eternal punishing.

In the KJV New Testament, only three Greek words are translated twenty-three times as hell. The first one of these, Tartaroo (Strong's #G5020), which is used only once in the entire New Testament (2Peter 2:4), means the deepest part of Hades.

The second Greek word from which we get the English word we are studying is Hades (Strong's #G86). Used ten times in the New Testament, it is exactly equivalent to the Hebrew word Sheol and has an identical meaning (Acts 2:27, Revelation 1:18, 20:13, etc.). The last original language word is Ghenna (Gehenna - Strong's #G1067) which is found twelve times in Scripture. Jesus referred to this place in Matthew 5:22, 18:9 and other verses.

Gehenna (which in not translated as "hell" in several modern translations), was the name of a deep, narrow valley (the valley of Hinnom) that existed outside the gates of Jerusalem's southern end. In ancient times, Israelites used it as a place where they could worship and offer sacrifices to pagan gods like Baal and Molech.

One way these idols were thought to be appeased was through the practice of burning babies and children alive by placing them in the red hot hands of these evil idols (see 2Kings 16, 23, and 2Chronicles 28). The valley eventually was held in such disgust that Jews would use it to get rid of trash and dead bodies.

Jesus' hell

By the time of Jesus, the area of the Gehenna valley had become incredibly offensive. Fires were kept burning in the valley day and night (which is where the phrase "unquenchable fire of hell" is drawn from) in order to consume what was thrown in it. Jesus referred to this "fire of Gehenna" in his Sermon on the Mount when he taught about the ultimate consequences of putting others down.

But I say to you, everyone who is angry with his brother without cause shall be subject to judgment. Now you have heard it said, 'Whoever shall say to his brother, "Raca," shall be subject to the judgment of the council.' But I say to you, whoever shall say, 'You fool,' shall be subject to the fire of Gehenna (translated Hell in KJV, Matthew 5:22, HBFV).

An ever-burning hell, with the express purpose of torturing forever those humans who refuse to repent, does not exist. God's plan is to bring back to life, in a future resurrection, the countless billions who never had a full chance to understand the gospel. It is at that time that their minds will be opened. They will be made to understand to truth and then given their first real opportunity to live forever.

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References
1913 Catholic Encyclopedia
Holy Bible, a Faithful Version