Hell. Is it eternal ? Does eternal mean forever and ever

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OmnesBonum said:
In the language of the bible, eternal many times does not mean forever; it’s literal meaning is to ages, referring to a particular age. At the end of that age another practice is used. However, they do all contain eternal spiritual truths, but these can be very hard to discover and use allegories. This also is the reason that the teaching of eternal damnation is not incompatible with universalism for example.
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Hell : Reasons For It

Some have proposed that Hell only lasts for a while, then it will cease to be.

Their scriptural argument is that
eternal means for the length of a given age, not forever and ever.

From a worldly perspective suffering is the worst thing.
So, I can see how a person thinking from that false perspective would think Hell should cease to exist.
From the Christian perspective, sin is the worst. Suffering, when united to Christ’s, becomes redemptive and good.

And pleasure is not the best.
Manifesting the glory of God is much better.

Therefore, it is good to exist and to be a manifestation of God’s glory, even while suffering.

So, it makes sense, that in His mercy God allows them, or gives them eternal existence.

God creates.
God doesn’t make mistakes.
Therefore, there is no cause for Him to bring to non-existence that which He has created.

I have more arguments that I will have to add later.

The picture below is not really related.
In the German Language “hell” means bright or luminous.

The German word for the English word hell is “Hölle.”

Satan lives in hell .

Der Satan lebt in der Hölle .
 
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German is my second language, I’m unsure what you’re getting at, other than they are both west Germanic languages. (That said, I am a bit rusty, as I rarely ever use it).
 
I’ve always taken it literally: eternal = forever. I’ve read up somewhere that if hell wasnt eternal, a whole lot more people would be content to sin in this life.
 
I think I’ll take it as being for a very…very…long time, just to be safe.
 
Hell is forever.
‘And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out; it is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into hell, where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.’ - Mark 9:47-48
 
Eternal, or e ternal, doesn’t mean time without end it means Outside of Time.

It seems easier for most of us to grasp the reality that heaven and hell are “outside” of Place. Not many now say hell is deep inside the Earth, or heaven with real big real estate. It’s much harder to perceive hell and heaven as outside of Time. Not unlimited space and time, but a different kind of thing.
 
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In Matthew 25, Jesus explains our Christian duties.
  • Feed the hungry
  • Give water to the thirsty
  • Welcome the stranger
  • Clothe the naked
  • Care for the sick
  • Visit prisoners
In Verse 46, He explains that those who fail to do so “will go off to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”

It’s safe to conclude that heaven and hell are eternal.
 
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That is not a valid claim that if hell was not eternal, a whole lot more people would be content to sin in this life. Orthodox Jews generally believe that hell is not eternal, that people just spend some time in there, like for example 100 years, as the Talmud talks about. But they don’t want to go to hell anyway. Not more Orthodox Jews are content to sin in this life, than those Christians who believe hell is eternal. There are already thousands of Christian groups or denominations that teach that hell is not suffering there, it is eternal death, destruction for ever. The largest ones are Seventh Day Adventists and Jehovah’s Witnesses, with millions of members each. Sure, many Christians say that many of these groups are not true Christians, but I don’t want to get into these theological argument, the point is they call themselves Christian. And the members there want very much eternal life, wonderful happy eternal life. They don’t want eternal destruction. They are not more content to sin in this life than Christians who believe suffering in hell is forever. And at the same time they feel they have biblical evidence that God is not some cruel sadistic God who would want some people tormented for ever. I am certainly more comfortable with their view of God. Now certainly the Catholic view of unbelievers being saved is very fuzzy, unclear. I have read the relevant passages in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, and I can’t figure out from them if the church might be teaching that for example my mom and her parents died unsaved, or that I am unsaved and my sister, all unbelievers, none of us sure if God exists. But I know there are thousands of Christian denominations that teach that anyone who dies unbeliever, will spend eternity suffering in hell. So they teach in effect that my mom, her parents, and some other relatives who died unbelievers, as is very common among us Czechs, are now roasting in hell, and will do so forever, for their sin of unbelief and other sins. No matter that I found most of these relatives really wonderful people. Though of course nobody is perfect. Anyway, from scientific research I have read, it seems like the biggest deterrents to people misbehaving have been the fact that at least the great majority of people have functioning conscience and a sense of compassion, rather than religious beliefs. Few are total psychopaths.
 
JohnR77 said:
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Catechism
1034 Jesus often speaks of “Gehenna” of “the unquenchable fire” reserved for those who to the end of their lives refuse to believe and be converted, where both soul and body can be lost. [Cf. Mt 5:22, 29; 10:28; 13:42, Mk 9:43-48.] Jesus solemnly proclaims that he “will send his angels, and they will gather . . . all evil doers, and throw them into the furnace of fire,” [Mt 13:41-42.] and that he will pronounce the condemnation: “Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire!” [Mt 25:41]
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1035 The teaching of the Church affirms the existence of hell and its eternity. Immediately after death the souls of those who die in a state of mortal sin descend into hell, where they suffer the punishments of hell, “eternal fire.” [Cf. DS 76; 409; 411; 801; 858; 1002; 1351; 1575; Paul VI, CPG # 12.] The chief punishment of hell is eternal separation from God, in whom alone man can possess the life and happiness for which he was created and for which he longs.
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Anything important in the bible is metaphysical and cannot be proven with scientific instruments, for example. The Catholic Church extends hope to all people, trusting in God’s mercy. even towards unbelievers. It seems that no one on this side of eternity can judge (or should judge) how God will judge each person.

An important observation for all the laws given in scripture is that they are there to deter us from sinning. Certainly the threat of hell is there to teach us all an important lesson.

Psalm 119 Thy word I have hid in my heart, that I may not sin against Thee.

“Conscience” and “compassion” as deterrents against "misbehaving " show some positive understanding of God’s law, to love our neighbor as ourself. That IS a religious belief.

Psychopaths fall in the category of people who do not have freedom to control their moral action, who act on impulses for which they may not be responsible, as horrible as the consequences might be.
 
You’re right, hell cannot possibly last beyond a “given age”, as you put it. It can’t, because Hell is a place of suffering, and therefore it needs to “exist”. When the current age (i.e. the life of the current universe) comes to an end, so does Hell. That’s a very, very long time to be stuck in a very bad place though, so I wouldn’t recommend anyone to take solace in the fact that Hell only lasts for the duration of the universe.
 
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