Hell

[Firebug]

I have been having a very interesting conversation with a friend of mine about religion. And the question he had for me, was “Where in the Bible does it say there is a Hell?” I know that it says in there, but I don’t know exactly where. Can I get any help on this, please? Also, why would God want to punish us, if He loves us so much? Do we do that to ourselves?

 

[copland]

There is a distinction between Eternal Hell and Hades/Sheol. It is unfortunate that the word Hades has been translated into hell in the past because I have seen some confusion about Hell due to that. Hades is the holding place for the souls of the lost after death. It is a place of punishment for the soul until Christ comes again and raises their bodies and reunites their soul with their body, and then cast them into the Lake of Fire/Gehenna. And this is also not purgatory, purgatory is only for the saved, whereas Hades is only for the lost, ever since Christ took the saints from paradise into Heaven when He ascended into Heaven.

But as for some Scriptural evidence. In Matthew 5:29-30 it reads, *“If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and throw it away; it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into Gehenna. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away; it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into Gehenna.” *Gehenna is Eternal Hell, and it is the same place as the Lake of Fire that is mentioned in Revelation 20:13-16. “And the sea gave up the dead that were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and all were judged according to what they had done. Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire; and anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire.”

Here is a good link that can give you a good explanation about Hell. newadvent.org/cathen/07207a.htm

 

[thistle]

Firebug:

I have been having a very interesting conversation with a friend of mine about religion. And the question he had for me, was “Where in the Bible does it say there is a Hell?” I know that it says in there, but I don’t know exactly where. Can I get any help on this, please? Also, why would God want to punish us, if He loves us so much? Do we do that to ourselves?

See scripture catholic website on Hell.

www.scripturecatholic.com/hell.html

 

[sea_oat]

I am, by no means, a Biblical scholar, but if you simply pick up any Bible around, and look up “Hell” in the index, you can see a plethora of listed verses, although naturally, some are better than others.

At the absolute minimum, surely you could bring up this comment Jesus makes in the Bible that the Catholic Church considers very important:

Matthew 18:16 “And I say unto thee, that thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it (KJV).”

But the other posters provided better verses referencing hell that you can mention to your inquisitive friend.

 

[Ruthie]

This is one of the places where one English word is used to translate two or three different words in the original language.

If I’m right (and I’m not guaranteeing that), *Hades is *the Latin translation of *Sheol. *As a previous poster said, *Sheol *is a holding point for the dead. Some were in Abraham’s bosom, some were burning. (Lk 16:22-24)

*Gehenna *was the name of the valley where Jerusalem dumped its garbage to be burned. It gives us the image of perpetual burning, and also of the worthless being burned. This word, I think, correctly translates into Hell.

What I am not certain of, at this point, is the Catholic teaching on whether Sheol still exists, or whether Jesus abolished it when He opened Heaven at His death. (Hey, I study a lot, but I’m still only a Candidate!) (Not for long!)

 

[Steven_Merten]

Hello Firebug,

I think you want to be careful not to connect the shortage of the word “hell” in the bible with an assuption that then hell must not exist. Though Jesus may not use the word hell often, Jesus often describes hell, (eternal punsihment, damnation, fires of Gehhenna) and those whom He will not forgive.

Jesus does love us. This is why Jesus warns us not to choose the path that leads to eternal death and damnation.

Please visit WARNING! Jesus Does Not Forgive All

NAB MAT 25:41

Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you accursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, a stranger and you gave me no welcome, naked and you gave me no clothing, ill and in prison, and you did not care for me.’ Then they will answer and say, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or ill or in prison, and not minister to your needs?’ He will answer them, ‘Amen, I say to you, what you did not do for one of these least ones, you did not do for me.’ And these will go off to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life."

 

[Daniel_Marsh]

Isaiah 14

9Hell sheol or grave ] from beneath is moved for thee to meet thee at thy coming: it stirreth up the dead for thee, even all the chief ones of the earth; it hath raised up from their thrones all the kings of the nations.

10All they shall speak and say unto thee, Art thou also become weak as we? art thou become like unto us?

…

15Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.

16They that see thee shall narrowly look upon thee, and consider thee, saying, Is this the man that made the earth to tremble, that did shake kingdoms;

In these verses we are told that the wicked dead are alive. The wicked dead speak to each other and recognise each other. They are weak. They see each other. They greet each other.

See Luke 16 too.

We know that some places the king james bible should translate “hell” as grave, that is nothing new.

Matthew 25:46 (King James Version)
And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.

We are told by Jesus that the final state of the wicked is eternal punishment, the length of eteranl life and eternal punishment is the same because of the grammar in matthew 25:46.

The ressurrected body is described in I Cor 15:53 as immortal, the wicked and righteous recieve the same immortal body at the ressurrection.

1 Corinthians 15:53 (King James Version)
For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.

Luke 3:17 (English Standard Version)
His winnowing fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire."

Matthew 3:12 (New International Version)
His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering his wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire."

The fire tormet is unquenchable, it will not go out!!!

 

[Eileen_T]

I have been having a very interesting conversation with a friend of mine about religion. And the question he had for me, was “Where in the Bible does it say there is a Hell?” I know that it says in there, but I don’t know exactly where. Can I get any help on this, please? Also, why would God want to punish us, if He loves us so much? Do we do that to ourselves?

As other posters have pointed out, the actual use of the word hell is less important than the description of a place of eternal torment, which I think Jesus referred to about 13 times (or thereabouts).

I have been told that the idea of Hell as a place of eternal damnation is the ‘old way of thinking’. One nun admitted, reluctantly, that it was there in Scripture, but she gave her opinion that few, if any, souls would be there.

It’s the whole, “God is a God of Love and Mercy, so He would not condemn any soul to hell for all eternity” way of thinking. This denies that God is also a God of Justice.

I believe that no soul who arrives in Hell, goes there by accident. God gave us Free Will to serve Him or reject Him. If we choose to reject Him, He respects our decision.

Look at the Parable of Dives and Lazarus. It illustrates what Jesus taught in Matt. 25:41 as Steven Merton posted. Dives went to Hell for what he did not do. He lacked charity for someone whose name he knew, who he saw daily starving outside his gate while he dwelt in luxury.

 

[TimOliv]

I have been having a very interesting conversation with a friend of mine about religion. And the question he had for me, was “Where in the Bible does it say there is a Hell?” I know that it says in there, but I don’t know exactly where. Can I get any help on this, please? Also, why would God want to punish us, if He loves us so much? Do we do that to ourselves?

Hell is the complete absence of God. That means complete despair, no hope, just eternal despair. Why would God do that to us? We do it. We turn from God through sin. If we turn from God and separate ourselves enough, we are putting ourselves in Hell.

Free Will, I like to think of, not as the choice between good and evil, but between choosing God and not choosing God. You either choose the path of ultimate good or…well, not.