Is there a Hell?

[Guest man]

It is my opinion here that the "lake of fire" is the second death. A literal and complete second death. There no hint of torture or punishment, indeed the opposite. It states - "The lake of fire is the second death". I see no references to places of punishment or torture.

If this is true, then the nonbeliever has nothing to worry about.

[BlindSeeker]

This is a post from an earlier "Hell" thread . . .

Ps 89:14 Justice and judgment are the habitation of Thy throne: mercy and truth shall go before Thy face.

Pr 11:1 A false balance is abomination to the LORD: but a just weight is His delight.

I believe that in order for someone to begin to comprehend the righteousness of God

[traveller]

Hell cannot be grasped by many as a just recompense of reward by many because they fail to grasp the holiness of He against whom they sinned.

Do not think for a minute that hell is a

[HAZARD]

Hell is mentioned in many dozens of Scriptures throughout the Bible, in fact there are five departments in the underworld of departed Spirits, aot one of these places is associated with or is the grave where bodies are buried.

These five departments are;

One). Paradise; In Luke 16:19-31; 23:43, we have pictured total comfort and water in this prison because the rich man saw Lazarus afar off in comfort and bliss and asked him to dip his finger in water and cool his tongue (Luke 16:19-31). This was the abode of the righteous souls from Adam after dying and leaving their bodies, being held captive by the devil against their wills till Christ's death and resurrection (Heb. 2:14-15; Eph. 4:7-11). Before Jesus Christ conqured the power of death and Hell, the devil had these powers. (Col. 2:14-17; Heb. 2:14-15; Rev. 1:18).

It was into this prison the repentant thief went with Christ the day they both died (Luke 23:43). This prison is located in the heart of the Earth as is clear from Matt. 12:40 and Eph. 4:7-11. Jesus not only went into this prison but He also went into another prison, "Tartarus," and preached to the fallen angels being held there in their own special prison. Jesus having conqured Hell and death and the grave during His crucifiction and during the three days He was in the underworld, He captured all the righteous souls that were in Paradise and took them to Heaven when He ascended on high (Eph. 4:7-11). Jesus now has the keys to Hell and death (Rev. 1:18).

Two). Tartarus; This prison is the special prison for the fallen angels that sinned both before and after the flood. There is nothing recorded in Scripture that teaches demons or human beings ever go into this prison. In these passages it is clear that there is a real Hell that is not the grave and that Spirit beings are confined in chains until judgment (1 Pet. 3:19; 2 Pet. 2:4; Jude 6-7).

Three). Hell itself; (Matt. 16:18; Luke 16:19-31). This is the torment part in the unseen world and was, still is, and will yet be the abode of all the wicked souls and spirits of men from Able to the end of the Millennium. Then, at this time all the wicked will be liberated out of this prison and will be given their own immortal bodies and be judged before being cast into the "lake of fire" forever (Rev. 20:11-15; 21:8).

Four). The Bottomless Pit or Abyss is the abode or prison of demons and certain angelic beings. No human being is ever thrown into the abyss. It is a very deep chasm in the lower parts of the Earth. It is translated "deep" (Luke 8:26-31; Romans 10:7) and "Bottomless Pit" in Rev. 9:1-3, 11; 11:7; 17:8; 20:1-10). All these Scriptures prove that there are prisons in the lower parts of the Earth for departed sinning spirits, and they are not and could never be the same as a grave on the surface of the Earth.

And Five). The Lake of Fire, is the eternal Hell and perdition of wicked men, demons, fallen angels, and all rebellious creatures of all ages who have ever rebelled against God, and who have refused to repent when they could have. It is called "The Gehenna of Fire" and is always translated Hell (Matt. 5:22, 29, 30; 10:28; 18:9; 23:15, 33; Mark 9:43-45, 47; Luke 12:5; James 3:6). This prison is also called "the second death, which is the lake of fire" (Rev. 2:11; 20:6, 14). This final Hell was prepared for the devil and all his angels (Matt. 25:41-46), and for all other rebells, and it is ETERNAL in duration (Rev. 14:9-14; 20:10-15; Isa. 66:22-24; Matt. 25:46). There is no record in Scripture of anyone being the lake of fire at present. Scripture does show that the beast and the false prophet will be the first to be cast into it. This will happen before the Millennium (Rev. 19:20). They will still be there 1,000 years later when the devil and all other rebells will be cast into it (Rev. 20:10-15).

Scripture shows that there will be degrees of punishment in Hell as far as remorse and torment of the conscience is concerned (Matt. 10:15; 11:22; 12:41; 23:14; Mark 6:11; 12:40; Luke 10:14; 11:31, 32; 20:47). These degrees of punishment will be because of the kind of sins comitted by one that were not comitted by another. No man will be punished or could have remorse over something he did not do. They will all regret rebelling against God and man and failing to believe in Jesus, and repenting of sin.

Haz.

[ParanoidAndroid]

It is my opinion here that the "lake of fire" is the second death. A literal and complete second death. There no hint of torture or punishment, indeed the opposite. It states - "The lake of fire is the second death". I see no references to places of punishment or torture.

If this is true, then the nonbeliever has nothing to worry about.

That would depend on your outlook. A complete and second death is what atheists think awaits them. They actually find comfort in this outlook. I've even heard one say that even if eternity is bliss/joy/happiness, it would terrify him, because he can't comprehend eternity. So he's happy to live a finite life, and know at the end of it he will cease to exist. However, other non-Christians (and some atheists) are also terrified of the notion of non-existence, so you could say they do have something to worry about.

But more importantly, your outlook shows an alarming worldview, in my opinion. That a non-believer would have "nothing to worry about" is something that is repugnant to you, by the tone of your post (I could be wrong, internet forums are so difficult to get points across). If the opposite of eternal life is eternal death, then the non-believer would simply cease to be. From this view then, the non-beleiver does not have anything to worry about because they will cease to exist.

What do you find worrying about this outlook? Any elaboration you have for this question would be great, thanks.

[Smalcald]

This is speculation on my part, but I think with some scriptural backing.

People who go to hell will choose hell, they chose to enjoy and revel in sin and darkness over the choice for life. They would not like heaven, the virtues which make up heaven hold no interest for them. We began to enter heaven or hell while still living on this earth, we enter "life" now according to Christ, and we see and join the Kingdom of heaven now.

I believe it is a mistaken view that unbelievers sit around worrying about hell in any realistic sort of way, if you are worried about hell, really worried not just hypothetically kind of bothered but really scared; you are already on a path toward salvation, maybe not there yet but on the path.

I don't think there are going to be surprises, only massive deception about what it means to find true meaning and joy. People who use drugs and alcohol, fornicate, are greedy worried about

[Guest man]

But more importantly, your outlook shows an alarming worldview, in my opinion. That a non-believer would have "nothing to worry about" is something that is repugnant to you, by the tone of your post (I could be wrong, internet forums are so difficult to get points across). If the opposite of eternal life is eternal death, then the non-believer would simply cease to be. From this view then, the non-beleiver does not have anything to worry about because they will cease to exist.

What do you find worrying about this outlook? Any elaboration you have for this question would be great, thanks.

No, I am not offended. Just making an observation is all.

Heaven or hell does not exist to the nonbeliever.

You stated that if someone doesn't make it into heaven, they simply cease to exist. If this is true, then this changes everything I have come to know about God.

If there is no such thing as eternal damnation, what's the point? Why should I care about whether I sin or not, if in the end there is no punishment? If there is no penalty for disobedience to the Word, why not grab as much as I can now while I'm still here, because in the end I will be no more?

No.....I don't subscribe to this theory. The bible makes it perfectly clear what happens to those who do not make it through the narrow gate. It also makes it perfectly clear what happens to those who teach things contrary to the Word.

If there is no penalty for rejecting the Word, what makes the God of Israel any different from the other countless gods that inhabit this world?

If someone says they believe in God but reject His warnings and make light of the consequences for those rejections, what makes them different then a nonbeliever?

[Smalcald]

But you could make a case that compared to eternal joy, worshipping and living with our God forever, ceasing to exist is pretty rotten.

I can see some scriptural support for utterly destroying people in hell, to basically wipe the memories of thier existence from all existence.

But we also see considerable support for the eternal suffering argument in scritpure. But for me niether really changes what I know about God.

[EricH]

This is speculation on my part, but I think with some scriptural backing.

People who go to hell will choose hell, they chose to enjoy and revel in sin and darkness over the choice for life. They would not like heaven, the virtues which make up heaven hold no interest for them. We began to enter heaven or hell while still living on this earth, we enter "life" now according to Christ, and we see and join the Kingdom of heaven now.

I believe it is a mistaken view that unbelievers sit around worrying about hell in any realistic sort of way, if you are worried about hell, really worried not just hypothetically kind of bothered but really scared; you are already on a path toward salvation, maybe not there yet but on the path.

I don't think there are going to be surprises, only massive deception about what it means to find true meaning and joy. People who use drugs and alcohol, fornicate, are greedy worried about

[Guest man]

But you could make a case that compared to eternal joy, worshipping and living with our God forever, ceasing to exist is pretty rotten.

But if one cease to exist, there would be nothing. No joy, no pain.....nothing. It wouldn't be rotten because that person wouldn't be here to feel rotten. There would just be nothing. There would be no saddness because they are missing out on the joy of eternal life. There would be nothing.