Half-Life

http://ic.net/~erasmus/RAZ128.HTM

ne cannot deny the traditional Christian doctrine of hell and honestly call oneself an orthodox Christian. No mainline or self-proclaimed evangelical denomination denies this doctrine (Seventh-Day Adventists being a special case), and of course, Catholicism and Orthodoxy have always held to this belief as well. It has often been noted that Jesus Himself spoke more about hell than He did about heaven. The following are the major scriptural evidences for both the existence of, and the everlasting duration of hell:

The Greek meaning of aionios ("eternal," "everlasting") is indisputable. It is used many times referring to eternal life in heaven. The same Greek word is also used to refer to eternal punishments (Mt 18:8, 25:41,46, Mk 3:29, 2 Thess 1:9, Heb 6:2, Jude 7). Even in one verse - Mt 25:46 - the word is used twice: once to describe heaven and once for hell. "Eternal punishment" means what it says. There is no way out of this without doing violence to Scripture.

The Jehovah's Witnesses render "punishment" as "cutting-off" in their bogus New World Translation in an attempt to establish their doctrine of annihilationism, but this is impermissible. If one is "cut off," that is a one-time event, not an eternal one. If I am cut off the phone with somebody, would anyone think to say I am "cut off eternally?" This word, kolasis, is defined in Kittel's Theological Dictionary of the New Testament as "(eternal) punishment." Vine (An Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words) says the same thing, as does A.T. Robertson - all impeccable language scholars. Robertson writes:

There is not the slightest indication in the words of Jesus here that the punishment is not coeval with the life.

{Word Pictures in the New Testament, Nashville: Broadman Press, 1930, vol. 1, p. 202}

Since it is preceded by aionios, then it is punishment which continues forever (not non-existence which continues indefinitely). The Bible couldn't be more clear than it is. What more could be expected?

Likewise for the related Greek word aion, which is used throughout Revelation for eternity in heaven (e.g., 1:18, 4:9-10, 5:13-14, 7:12, 10:6, 11:15, 15:7, 22:5), and also for eternal punishment (14:11, 20:10). Some attempt to argue that Revelation 20:10 only applies to the devil, but they must explain Revelation 20:15: "and anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire." The "book of life" clearly has reference to human beings (cf. Rev 3:5, 13:8, 17:8, 20:11-14, 21:27). It is impossible to deny that fact.

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Now, I have als read some websites and your guys posting on the proof of hell not being eternal. The question is, which one do I believe? Which one is true?

robto

Mt 18:8 - "eternal fire"
mt 25:41 - "eternal fire"
Mt 25:46 - "eternal punishment"
Mk 3:29 - "eternal sin"
2 Thess 1:9 - "eternal destruction"
Heb 6:2 - "eternal judgement"
Jude 7 - "eternal fire"
Rev 14:11 - "the smoke of their torment will rise up for ever" (those who worship the Beast)
Rev 20:10 - "tormented ... for ever" (the Devil and the Beast)

Of these, I see only two that indicate everlasting torture (Mt 25:46 and Rev 14:11). The others only indicate that the fire is "eternal", not the punishment. This is consistent with the idea of destruction rather than torture. Even Mt 25:46 can be read this way: the punishment is eternal because death is forever.

In Rev 14:11 only those who worship the beast receive this eternal torture. This fits with the general model of Greek afterlife, that only the greatest sinners receive eternal torture in the afterlife. And note that many early Xians rejected Rev.

robto

Sorry, missed Rev 20:14-15 "This lake of fire is the second death; into it were flung any whose names were not to be found in the book of life."

"Second death", again, seems to imply destruction rather than torment.

cgordon

No hell in the first place. How can it be eternal?

steamer

Does anyone remember Quadaffi's "Line of Death"? Saturday Night Live redubbed it the imaginary dotted line of death. This thread reminds me of that somehow. We have the eternal fire, or perhaps it is the imaginary eternal toaster of doom!

Half-Life

http://www.jesus-is-lord.com/sinner.htm

Take a look at this. What do you guys think of this?

Diogenes the Cynic

We've had several discussions of this here. Jesus said nothing about eternal hell. He was talking about Gehenna, which was a place of annihilation, not torment.

Start reading here from one of the most recent threads on the subject. The information posted in the OP is pretty much completely incorrect.

Reanimator

Did anyone catch this from the second link Half-Life posted?

This just made me giggle. I bet he thinks the firmament is real too, and phlogiston, and stars are just holes poked in the parchment-wrapped sky of the earth!

Julian

Hell is UNDER YOUR FEET!

You heathens are in trouble now!

You better hope that the crust holds up...

QuestionMark

What evidence do you have that "Eternal" is a word having meaning in reality?

If "eternity" exists in the future, did it also exist in the past?

If so, the world always existed.