For those who love the Lord, his Presence will be infinite joy, paradise and eternal life. Notice that there are five necessary elements to the traditional view of hell: a place in the afterlife, for rebellious … Critical Race Theory Examined and Analyzed Several people have asked me to... All the Banter None of the Substance Podcast... Good morning all! ", Burke, Chauvin, & Miranti, "In the common sense of the word 'place', if you were to say 'Hell is not a place', you would be denying that Hell exists. Rev. Jesus here depicts a wicked man suffering fiery torment in hades, which is contrasted with the bosom of Abraham, and explains that it is impossible to cross over from one to the other. See more. 12:10 +). Ludwig Ott's work "The Fundamentals of Catholic Dogma" said: "Hell is a place or state of eternal punishment inhabited by those rejected by God". It is said that very few people who have lived on the earth will be consigned to this hell, but Mormon scripture suggests that at least Cain will be present. But Scripture says much more about the punishment of sin than these texts alone. all evil doers, and throw them into the furnace of fire", and that he will pronounce the condemnation: "Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire!" [104] Other mortals who during their lifetime become sons of perdition, those who commit the unpardonable sin, will be consigned to outer darkness. ", http://www.tentmaker.org/books/InFavorCh20.html, http://godfire.net/eby/saviour_of_the_world.html, https://www.adventistreview.org/forever-and-ever, https://www.bibleinfo.com/en/questions/how-long-does-hell-burn. Guild, E.E. Reasoning by Christian Universalists includes that an eternal Hell is against the nature, character and attributes of a loving God, human nature, sin's nature of destruction rather than perpetual misery, the nature of holiness and happiness and the nature and object of punishment. 2:6, I Kings 2:6, I Kings 2:9, Job 7:9, Job 14:13, Job 17:13, Job 21:13, Job 24:19, Psalm 6:5, Psalm 30:3, Psalm 31:17, Psalm 49:14, Psalm 49:14, Psalm 49:15, Psalm 88:3, Psalm 89:48, Prov. (I’ve actually never read Fudge’s book on terminal punishment, but I’m sure he deals with this.). Why shouldn’t we take Revelation 20:10 as a straightforward text that teaches that, at the very least, the devil will be tormented day and night for ever and ever? The result of some cursory (yet I think substantial) musing has been to conclude that Jesus did indeed teach that there is a literal place that has become known as ‘Hell’, and that hell is unfortunately characterized by eternal conscious torment. See more. [102] At these appointed times of resurrection, "death and hell" will deliver up the dead that are in them to be judged according to their works (Revelations 20:13), at which point all but the sons of perdition will receive a degree of glory, which Paul compared to the glory of the sun, moon, and stars (1 Corinthians 15:41). The dominant historic Christian view is that hell is a place of eternal conscious torment for rebellious, unbelieving humans (and demons and Satan). The Catechism of the Catholic Church which, when published in 1992, Pope John Paul II declared to be "a sure norm for teaching the faith",[43] defines hell as a freely chosen consequence of refusing to love God: The Baltimore Catechism defined Hell by using the word "state" alone: "Hell is a state to which the wicked are condemned, and in which they are deprived of the sight of God for all eternity, and are in dreadful torments." In the Bible, the “gnashing of teeth” signifies anger (see Acts 7:54), and weeping signifies suffering. 7:27, Prov. Evangelicals and the Annihilation of Hell Part Two by Alan W. Gomes. "[103] Mormons also believe in a more permanent concept of hell, commonly referred to as outer darkness. Job 10:21). [100] It is taught that the unpardonable sin is committed by those who "den[y] the Son after the Father has revealed him". [50], Capuchin theologian Berard A. Marthaler also says that "hell is not 'a place'". 23:15, Matt. Advocates for terminal punishment take “condemned to extinction” to mean “condemned to extinction,” while ECT advocates take “condemned to extinction” to mean “never ending torment” and not “extinction.” And therefore, advocates for terminal punishment are outside the bounds of orthodoxy according to many evangelicals. And they are different. "The Green Catechism" (1939–62) said: [78], The Catholic Church, and the Catechism, repudiates the view commonly known as "double predestination" which claims that God not only chooses who will be saved, but that he also creates some people who will be doomed to damnation. Question: What’s going to happen to the ungodly according to Peter? Jehovah's Witnesses and Christadelphians also teach the annihilationist viewpoint. Rev. Contrary to Western Christianity, both Roman and Protestant varieties, the Christians of the East emphasize the mystery of God in his pre-eternal transcendence and maintain a tradition of apophatic theology, while the technical, cataphatic theology of scholasticism tends to be downplayed or viewed as subordinate. Three different New Testament words appear in most English translations as "Hell": The most common New Testament term translated as "Hell" is γέεννα (gehenna), a direct loan of Hebrew גהנום/גהנם (ge-hinnom). Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world. In this view, the unredeemed dead suffer for all eternity in flames of fire. ... John says of the Word, “In Him was life” , meaning as Creator of all things (verse 3), He had life inherent. In short, terminal punishment does not clearly spring from every single passage about future judgment, but it does seem to be the best reading of the large majority of them. You may have noticed in HELL KNOW that I regularly refer to the view of eternal torment as eternal torture. 'Arguments in Favour of Universalism'. Pharisees weren't being warned of Eternal Conscious Torment. In its review, Publishers Weekly called the book "persuasively argued. "Quench" means to "extinguish" or "put out" a fire. This verse, when I first read it, by itself, may very well have convinced me to have been an annihilationist. 31:16, Ezek. From FRANKS, ROMANS, FEUDALISM, AND DOCTRINE/Diagnosis and Therapy Father John S. Romanides Diagnosis and Therapy, Regarding specific conditions of after-life existence and eschatology, Orthodox thinkers are generally reticent; yet two basic shared teachings can be singled out. Tartaro One other words used for hell, Tartaro, or Tartarus in English, from Greek Myth. For those who understand that they have sinned against love, undergo no greater suffering than those produced by the most fearful tortures. Modern-day revelation clarifies that while there, Christ began the work of salvation for the dead by commissioning spirits of the righteous to teach the gospel to those who didn't have the opportunity to receive it while on earth.[99]. See universal reconciliation, apocatastasis and the Problem of Hell. The first, Traditionalism (sometimes called Eternal Conscious Torment or Infernalism), is the most widely recognized. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the Kingdom of their Father. What they mean by this, of course, is that, consciously or subconsciously, ... not the language of eternal conscious torment, not the language of “eternal separation from God,” not the language of “ruin, loss, not of being, but of well-being,” but the language of destruction. The Unity Church of Charles Fillmore considers the concept of everlasting physical Hell to be false doctrine and contradictory to that reported by John the Evangelist.[109]. The 'place' or 'location' of hell is secondary, and considerations of where it is should not deflect us from our most important concerns: what it is, and how to avoid it" (, "No cogent reason has been advanced for accepting a metaphorical interpretation in preference to the most natural meaning of the words of Scripture" (Hontheim in, "Theologians generally accept the opinion that hell is really within the earth" (Hontheim 1910). 32:36a & 39, II Sam. The Church explains biblical descriptions of hell being "eternal" or "endless" punishment as being descriptive of their infliction by God rather than an unending temporal period. They base this belief on biblical texts such as Ecclesiastes 9:5 which states "the dead know nothing", and 1 Thessalonians 4:13 which contains a description of the dead being raised from the grave at the second coming. Those who are cured and those who are purified experience the illuminating energy of divine grace, while the uncured and ill experience the caustic energy of God.". Eternal conscious torment is a fitting punishment for sin committed against a great and infinitely glorious God. [60] Robert J. It is useless to speculate about its true nature, and more sensible to confess our ignorance in a question that evidently exceeds human understanding. Kenneth Baker published by. Does that mean that He created Hitler and knew what an evil monster he would turn out to be? Everlasting conscious torment has its advocates, though statistically the evidence is far heavier on the side of ultimate extinction. "The recent Catechism is ambiguous, neither denying nor confirming the existence of physical torments" - Charles Steven Seymour, "A Theodicy of Hell', p. 82 (2000). "[45], Pope John Paul II stated on 28 July 1999, that, in speaking of Hell as a place, the Bible uses "a symbolic language", which "must be correctly interpreted … Rather than a place, hell indicates the state of those who freely and definitively separate themselves from God, the source of all life and joy. Rev. Matthew 25:41), and those whose names are not written in the book of life (cf. [17][18][19] Gehenna is most frequently described as a place of punishment (e.g., Matthew 5:22, Matthew 18:8-9; Mark 9:43-49); other passages mention darkness and "weeping and gnashing of teeth" (e.g., Matthew 8:12; Matthew 22:13). I’ve been exploring the debate between annihilationism and eternal conscious torment (ECT) in a series of blog posts. Then there’s the “undying worm” and “unquenchable fire” image in Mark 9:48, which, rather importantly, comes from Isaiah 66:24: “For their worm shall not die.” But look at the first part of the Isaiah verse, where it clearly says that the worm is feasting on dead bodies. In the eschatological discourse of Matthew 25:31-46, Jesus says that, when the Son of Man comes in his glory, he will separate people from one another as a shepherd separates sheep from goats, and will consign to everlasting fire those who failed to aid "the least of his brothers". Before we proceed, here is an abbreviation: ECT = Eternal, Conscious Torment (the traditional view). "[72] An article on the same subject by Sweeney that was published on the Huffington Post's religion page was liked by more than 19,000 people, including Anne Rice.[73]. "Eternal judgment" does not mean that the judging will last forever, but that its outcome will. Jude 1:7 [113], Parables of Jesus concerning the hereafter, View of conditional immortality and annihilationism, The King James Version translates "ᾅδης" 9 times as "Hell" and once as "grave" (in, God himself is both heaven and hell, reward and punishment.