Question: Dear Greg,
Please explain what you understand hell to be.
Jack
Answer: Dear Jack,
Drawing upon biblical sources, here is what I believe we can safely say about hell:
1. Hell is eternal separation from God, as opposed to heaven, which is eternity spent in God’s presence. This belief is drawn from what the Bible says about good and evil, about judgment and grace. One reason I believe in hell is because I believe in heaven. The Bible balances the equation and does not leave us with only one eternal “destination”. Heaven and hell are popular terms for the purpose of this discussion. To disclaim and define—heaven and hell are not places. They do not occupy space and time, they’re not geographic places. God “dwells” in eternity. Heaven is where God is. Of course, the very nature of God demands that he is not someplace while he is not at some other place. Hell is a state of being eternally separated from God. That is, of not being “in” heaven--not being with God forever. This has nothing to do with floating on the clouds, having wings and playing harps.
2. The fact that misconceptions about heaven exist does not mean that heaven does not and will not exist. Some prefer to call heaven the kingdom of heaven. While the kingdom of heaven also describes the rule of God now in the lives of those who accept Jesus Christ (as does the term kingdom of God), it can also refer to the eternal life of the age to come.
3. Misconceptions about hell also exist and the fact that they do does not disprove the reality of hell. Dante’s Inferno has nothing to do with the Bible, but has influenced popular and even denominational views of hell. As a result, we have images and teachings about eternal suffering and punishment that are inconsistent with the primary attribute of God: love. John 3:16 is the gospel in miniature and we do not see there (or anywhere the gospel of Jesus Christ is taught), eternal torture with compartments of hell for the most perverted sinners, etc.
Suffering that will be experienced in hell will not be the kind of physical suffering we endure in this body of flesh. Dante’s Inferno paints a completely illogical view of hell—that physical bodies will be subjected to eternal torture. Physical bodies are not eternal, so how will pain in hell (if pain in hell is even an issue) be experienced? Will pain be experienced by those who no longer have bodies with nerve endings?
We do not know how hot hell is, where it is, if it exists right now or if it is “fired up” only at some later date. The Bible does not specify. We can speculate but we cannot separate others from the body of Christ because they do not agree with out speculations about hell (or heaven, for that matter). Neither are essential core doctrines of Christianity and never were considered to be in the orthodox body of Christ.
4. We are saved from being eternally separated from God by God’s grace. We can neither be good enough to obligate God to accept us into his kingdom of heaven, nor will our good deeds earn or merit a divine guarantee that we will not roast in hell. Some appear to preach a double standard in this regard. The idea for some is that we are saved and given eternal life in God’s kingdom of heaven by grace, but we are condemned to hell because of our lack of works. But the Bible gives no indication that people are in danger of eternal judgment, hell fire, the lake of fire, etc. because they play cards, see a movie, don’t go to church often enough, drink beer, lie too much, steal one too many times, etc. We cannot earn a “get out of hell free” card. We are saved from hell by God’s grace just as we are given eternal life with him by grace.
5. Arminianism and Calvinism and their distinctives notwithstanding, the Bible makes it clear that God does not co-exist with evil. There has been, is and will be a judgment for sin. Some are and will be eternally separated from God. They, in effect, choose hell (Arminians would be fine with that statement but Calvinists would not be, of course). They choose hell because they refuse to repent and turn to Jesus Christ.
6. Defining hell as eternal separation from God is not enough for many. Some will argue for one specific view that the Bible allows—that is, the view can be broadly proven in the Bible (see our past issue archives, Plain Truth, Sept-Oct 2001, “The Battle Over Hell”). The problem is that other views can be biblically “proven” as well. Conflicting but biblically based views make this a peripheral, non-essential issue. We can have different views and still be brothers and sisters in Christ.
Others will insist upon hell and its literal characteristics as the acid test of true Christianity, but once again, they are without historical or biblical foundation in making such an arbitrary test. Hell is having a tough time with us today because 21st century minds struggle with an ever-burning hell fire existing eternally somewhere with hobgoblin-like demons stoking the flames and tormenting those who couldn’t quite cut it during their earthly lives.
Another motivation for those who insist upon some horrible eternal fire that literally burns and literally tortures is that some believe it is a great way to bring people to Christ! History will show that many revivals in Christianity included a heavy dosage of hell fire and brimstone preaching (Edwards “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” being a feature of an early American revival). Again, the gospel of Jesus Christ does not reveal such a God. Some periods of “evangelism” featured this idea taken to its extreme—save folks from hell by giving them hell on earth—anything that it takes now to save them from eternity in hell. This is far from the gospel message.
Another questionable motivation of the hellfire and brimstone brigade is that the bad guys will get it in the end, or at the very least in the neck. Humans like to be reassured that no one will ever get away with anything. However, “getting away” with stuff is God’s business, not ours.
So, there’s a brief summary.
In Christ,
Greg Albrecht