What does the Bible actually say about hell?

Not a lot.

And Jesus says more than anybody else.

In Matthew 5:22-31, Jesus is quoted several times as warning against it. He says nothing about being torched alive there forever in an indestructible body.

He warns against it again in Matthew 18:9 in what can only be described as a hyperbolic commentary on blaming parts of your body for your sins. He doesn’t say anything about being tortured in hell forever.

He instructs us about whom we should fear in Matthew 10:28: “Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.” I tend to take the word “destroy” literally. I picture it as meaning “obliteration” of “both soul and body.” I do not see it in this context as literal for one and figurative for the other. I take this instruction to mean that we should have a healthy fear of God’s power to judge, since He has the power to offer eternal life as His gift. But I see nothing here about being roasted alive for aeons.

Jesus decries the Pharisees’ efforts to create converts to their legalism in Matthew 23:15 by saying the new converts become just as much sons of hell as their mentors. Not a politically correct observation. Also not a teaching about endless physical torment in flame. Nor does such a teaching surface a few verses later in 33 where He calls them the offspring of vipers and asks how they plan to escape hell.

The parallel passages to Matthew 5 in Mark 9:45-48 does apply a quote from Isaiah to describe hell: “their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.” The original does indeed describe a prophetic vision of the consequences of God’s judgment by Isaiah (66:24. But it only says that the worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched. It says nothing about the “bodies” in that scene being still filled with life. In fact, the impression is quite the opposite. Maybe the worm and the fire do not die out because they are being continually fueled with more bodies to consume.

Then, in that expansive picture of judgment Jesus paints in Matthew 25, Jesus clearly warns in verse 41:

Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.

Eternal fire. Prepared for the devil and his angels. But He does not say that those humans thrown there will endure it eternally.

Luke 12:5 echoes the instruction about whom to fear – given at the sending out of the twelve in Matthew 10 – as a polemic against the Pharisees, also given later after the twelve and 72 have returned and thousands are following Him. Still no elaboration about unending agony.

However, Luke 16:23 is part of the enigmatic story Jesus tells about Lazarus and the rich man. The rich man finds himself in hell (literally, the Greek word for “Hades,” the place of the dead) and begs for Lazarus to bring just a dripping finger of water because he is “in agony in this flame.” It’s not a pretty picture. But no one says anything about it being eternal. Is the rich man’s plea for his brothers motivated by the realization that he doesn’t have much time left to beg (a terrible irony, since Lazarus lived and died a beggar at his gate) for their fate? Is the point of the story to relate actuality; to teach us something we needed to know about hell? Or to use the existing, probably Zoroastrian-Greek-originated beliefs about life and life after death to make a point:

“If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.”

James, generally regarded as the Lord’s brother, warns of the tongue’s fiery destructive inspiration and capability (in what strikes me as a curious comparison to the Holy Spirit’s fiery church-constructing activity in Acts 2) in his general epistle (3:6). Still nothing there about timeless excruciation.

Now, II Peter 2:4 does tell us something about hell: that it is a place of gloomy dungeons where God sent rebellious angels to be held for judgment. Angels. Not people. And not for eternity; just until judgment. Then Revelation 20:14-15 takes up the tale of what happens next:

Then death and Hades (the place of the dead) are thrown into the lake of fire, which is the second death. If anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.

Revelation 21:8 gives us the final glimpse at the sinful and their fate: “their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.”

I can’t tell you how literally to take the Revelation to John. I don’t believe anyone can. It is a highly symbolic book of apocalyptic vision. But I can tell you that nothing in those words says that anyone would survive being thrown into that lake of fire. Nothing. Not a hint. Not a reflection back to law or prophecy or Christ’s words or His followers’ teachings.

It is final. It is the “second death.”

I am not a fan of stringing together tenuously-related scriptures to build a point. I do not have the clear and complete teachings of Biblical times on the question. I can tell you that “sheol” is the Hebrew word that comes closest to the concept of “hell” in the Old Testament, and it is sometimes translated “grave” or “pit.” It is the final resting place of the body. I can tell you that, similarly, “hades” is the Greek word which simply describes the abode of the dead in literature as well as scripture. Sometimes its inhabitants are dead bodies; sometimes spirits.

I can tell you that when Paul is talking about “all” of us being changed in the twinkling of an eye into incorruptible flesh in I Corinthians 15:51-52, he is writing to Christians. To conclude that “we … all” includes anyone other than those who put their hope in Christ is making an unwarranted and unsupported assumption. In fact, he distinguishes between the perishable and the imperishable – only one of which can inherit the kingdom of God. (Guess which one.)

So, in spite of disliking the occupation of building my point on all these somewhat-related scriptures, I don’t have a lot more to go on and neither do you, unless God has been whispering to you on the sly. And the conclusion I come to is this:

We live. We die. We are all judged. (Whether we are raised at this point as spirits or in bodies as mortal as the ones we have now, I can’t tell from scripture.)

Those whom God judges worthy are changed into incorruptible forms to live with Him forever on the new earth among the new heavens. Those whom God judges as unworthy just die. They perish. Whatever is left of them does not seem to be vivified, recycled, or tortured – but annihilated. Burned up in the lake of fire, the second death. Finally. Permanently. Irrevocably.

Fallen angels and demons, including Satan? I have no clearer picture of that. Perhaps, as beings created to be immortal, they do suffer immortally for the sin of having seen God and known His goodness yet opposing it forever. Perhaps, as beings created to be immortal yet becoming God’s enemies, they are not worthy even of the immortality they might have enjoyed – and they too are extinguished.

And perhaps that lake of fire burns eternally, not because fuel is continuously added to it, but because God wills it as a reminder of the consequences of evil. But even that I would have to wonder about as a necessity for eternal survivors of an world turned evil, living endlessly in the companionship of God through His Son.

Nothing in scripture inarguably confirms or denies my view of eternity as a gift only for those given it by God.

Neither does it unquestionably paint a picture of human souls being physically tortured forever in a hell of fire as the expression of God’s justice.

I have my reasons for holding the view I have; you have yours for your view. It is difficult for me to believe that God would mete infinite torture as punishment for finite sin; it is difficult for me to believe that He would even permit such a place to eternally exist. If Christ conquered sin and death, then He conquered it. Obliterated its power. If He did so on our behalf, then it makes no sense to me that its place should continue eternally. Perhaps “eternal” is meant literally. Perhaps it is meant figuratively. Still, I have to concede, it is described by Him as “eternal fire.” And it surely has a purpose.

I believe in scripture. I believe in judgment. I believe that God is perfect in judgment. I believe in the kindness and severity of God. I believe in His mercy and His righteousness. I believe in what hymnist Elizabeth Clephane spoke of as the “trysting place where Heaven’s love and Heaven’s justice meet!”:

I believe in the cross.

I think I’ve confessed on my blog before that Angi and I watch way too much HGTV.

But I don’t think I’ve explained that a lot of my fascination with its shows is faith.

That’ll take a little more explanation.

On a lot of HGTV shows – just as on the granddaddy of them, ABC’s Extreme Makeover: Home Edition – a family, couple or individual steps out in faith. Out of their own home. Having faith in their designer/design team. Having often never seen much more than a sketch; on some shows, not even that.

Then they return after a day or two, or a week.

And a truly lost room or suite of rooms or house has been redeemed.

(Well, most of the time.)

David Bromstad’s ColorSplash is the newest entry into the field. The homeowners always have total faith in what he will do for their room(s). They hug him – without exception, so far.

Last night, the wife of the couple expressed the redesign as “life-changing.”

Okay, that would be an exaggeration for me. It would certainly be “house-changing” or at least “room-changing.”

Still, I admire her faith.

Would I have such faith, to turn over my house to strangers and let them imprint it with their design sense and preferences?

I like the way my house is decorated.

It’s the same way with my life.

Is it any wonder that it’s difficult persuading people to turn over their entire lives to a Jesus whom they hardly know?

Is it any wonder that it’s difficult persuading ourselves to turn over our entire lives to a Jesus who wants us to step outside our homes, outside our comfort zones, outside ourselves to reach them?

Somewhere in a Hollywood prop room, the Quaker Oats Guy is engaged in a staring-down contest with the Burger King.

(Just thinking about this will creep me out enough that I will have difficulty getting to sleep.)

We spend a fair amount of time praying during our worship together. Hopefully, we spend a fair amount of time praying during our times alone and with our families.

We often pray for things that are out of our hands: a decision that others will make; a healing we want to take place; the success of something attempted; a particular thing that is wanted or needed.

But how often do we pray for things that may seem impossible?

How frequently do we pray for God to be glorified?

How many times a week do we pray for His will to be done – through us?

For His good news and good will to flood the world? For hearts to turn back to Him? For the growth of His kingdom?

How often do we pray for what God wants?

… illuminated the well-robed forms of Michelangelo Buonarroti and Leonardo da Vinci backing into each other at the napkin bar. Growling apologies at each other, they nodded in recognition and agreement to share a table. They were not morning people – but they were gentlemanly enough to tip the lute player as they passed.

Finally, after coming to terms with half a mug of java each – Leonardo’s was his own uncredited invention, cappuccino – they began to mumble greetings at each other.

“Lenny.”

“Mike.”

“How’d the monastery fresco come out?” Michelangelo queried.

“What, that ‘Last Supper’ thing? Finished it ages ago. Turned out nicely, I thought. Maybe not my best work, but okay. How about your ceiling gig at the Sistine?”

Michelangelo snorted. “It took forever and wasn’t worth the paint. Now, give me a couple of tons of stone, a hammer and chisel, and I will discover the soul of the subject!”

“Perhaps,” Leonardo shrugged. “But it is more accurately portrayed with the colors God created …”

“Color is overrated! And God created in three dimensions, not two. You of all people …”

Their discussion was interrupted by a quarrel that had turned ugly at a table nearby. Martin Luther leapt to his feet, brandishing a wide butter knife dripping with the melted stuff, shouting: “Hymns, I tell you! They are all that God hears! The Creator needs nothing of your next-century innovation!”

George Frideric Handel rolled his robust form out of his chair to face his breakfast companion: “Oratorios, Marty, are within His aural range!”

The lute-playing ceased.

Whereupon Luther slapped Handel across the cheek with the buttery flat of the knife. The café’s bouncer – the lute-player, who looked remarkably like the Apostle Paul – intervened immediately, telling them both to take it outside.

“What, outside the café?” they chorused.

“No,” replied the bouncer firmly. “Outside the Gates of Heaven entirely.”

They quieted, and grudgingly sank back into their seats. The lute-player began strumming again, and conversations slowly resumed.

“What a couple of horses’ patooties,” Michaelangelo sniffed.

“Agreed,” Leonardo nodded. “As if God could be worshiped by something as mundane and secular as music.”

If you’ve been blessed as I have with music from The ZOE Group, you’ll understand why I’m excited to tell you that their most recent albums are now available as MP3 downloads from the new MP3 Downloads aisle of The ZOE Group Store.

They’re only $1 per song, a competitive price in a world of 99c iTunes and 88c Wal-Mart Music offerings. But you can’t get them there.

On each song’s page, there’s a little control panel you can use to listen to a short (about one minute) sample of the song. That’ll help you figure out whether you want to buy “All the Heavens” from Closer or “All the Heavens” from Ancient Future … or “Holy is the Lord” from Closer or “Holy is the Lord” from Look to the Hills. (Four different songs, there … see, wasn’t it fun listening to the excerpts?)

The most recent three albums are already available: Closer, In Christ Alone and Desperate. I’m adding more as quickly (and carefully) as I can to the site.

And, as nearly as I can tell, The ZOE Group is the only a cappella Christian worship team making their songs available by MP3 download on the Web (though you can find Keith Lancaster & The Acappella Company songs on iTunes. Still, it’s hard to convince an AAC-format iTunes song to play on your MP3 player, isn’t it?)

So, what are you waiting for? Go listen! Go buy some!

The quotes emboxed below are from an article in the January edition of a printed publication which has wide readership among members of the fellowship (the “brotherhood”) in which I worship – though many of them would no more fellowship me than they would Osama Bin Laden. I republish them without permission or attribution. And I intersperse among the selected quotes my own commentary. I do this because there are folks who are blessedly unaware of the rhetoric that I have protested in a previous post or two. I think I owe them an explanation.

Headlines on some of the papers throughout the brotherhood give the shameful details: “Nations largest church of Christ adding instrumental service and serving the Lord’s Supper on Saturday night.” “Leaders say there was little opposition to the announcement.” Brethren, where’s the fight which we entered when we took that “oath of office” to serve the Lord, and became a member of His army?

In 1994, 1,490 children died from abuse and/or neglect in the United States among 3,503,000 cases investigated by child protection agencies.

At one time not too many years back, the church of Christ was known as a “fighter.” Members were known as “people of the Book” — “walking Bibles.” The church was growing faster then than at any other time in recent history, but, we have changed and the “fight” is not in us now. We wonder what has happened and where is that fight. It does not take too long to find the answers. The Book has been replaced with words which were not so harsh and the desire to please ourselves and be entertained and to be at peace with the world, being thought of as a “group which fits in with the world” has nearly done away with that fighting spirit which Jesus Christ and the apostles wanted the Christian to have.

In the county where I live, 797 child abuse cases were filed last year.

How does that fit with the scriptures and its teaching? Let that “inspired word” from God speak to mine and your hearts. “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him” (I John 2:15). “Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword. … And a man’s foes shall be they of his own household. He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me” (Matt. 10:34,36,37). “And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God” (Rom. 12:2). “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus…he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross” (Phil. 2:5,8). “Brethren, be followers together of me, and mark them which walk so as ye have us for an ensample. (For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ: Whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things)” (Phil. 3:17-19).

In the church where I attend, three foster families have looked after four children of a race different from their own in the past six months, bringing them into their homes and families as their own. Two more families are gearing up to meet that challenge.

Those words from Almighty God have been perverted, twisted, smoothed down, forgotten willingly and otherwise neglected to the loss of our fighting spirit which each Christian should have. We have “loved this world and its pleasures more than God.” We have not humbled ourselves as servants of Christ — but to our own bellies. We have traded God’s word for “smooth sayings” and loved to have it so. We have become “friends” with this world and an enemy to God. We sit idly by and let the “chaste virgin” become a spotted and blemished “social club” which fits in with this sin-sick world. We refuse to fight the good fight of faith. We will pay the price except we repent.

Each of us is called upon to do what we can to heal this world and to preach good news to the poor. That is the doctrine of Jesus. It was His mission in Luke 4, Luke 6, Luke 9, Luke 10 … you get the picture. He shouldered that ministry because God so loved the world. We should too. We should love each other. We should be forgiving toward each other. We should not be spoiling for a fight over what we may see as doctrine, but what Jesus calls the precepts of men.

People are poor and hungry and sick and dying all over the world.

And lost.

If our legacy to our survivors is only that we fought for pure doctrine concocted by our own inarguable logic and infallible research at the cost of pursuing the doctrine of Christ – to seek and to save that which is lost – men shall not rise up and call our generation blessed.

The real fight will be lost, and we will be lost in it.