We’ve covered quite a bit so far in our discussion on Hell. We looked at every time the word “Hell” is mentioned in scripture (and discovered it basically isn’t… ever) and then we looked at every passage seeming to suggest eternal torment (and found how poorly we understand stuff that wasn’t written to us).
But get excited, because like Jesus distributing wine at a wedding, we’ve saved the best for last.
While our past work has established that the concept of Hell can’t be adequately sourced from the Bible, today, we’ll be looking at Church history to see how Hell lodged itself into Christian beliefs. We’ll show you where on the timeline eternal torment became a thing people believed in, we’ll look at the decidedly non-Biblical sources where it originated, and we’ll even examine why it stuck around.
But first, if you haven’t read parts 1 & 2, you might still be thinking Hell is a Biblical concept. If so, cancel your plans this week, start brewing some coffee, and download what is essentially a moderate-length ebook via the form below.
For our discussion today, we’ve partnered with Julie Ferwerda, author of Raising Hell: Christianity’s Most Controversial Doctrine Put Under Fire. The following article includes excerpts from Raising Hell that have been Brazen Churchishly adapted for you guys!
At the end, we’ll tell you how to get a free copy of Julie’s exhaustively researched and incredibly well-sourced book!
The Irony of “Orthodoxy”
When you begin to study Church history, you quickly realize that “orthodox Christianity” is an oxymoron. We are not referring to the proper noun here, as in the Orthodox Church, but to the common noun. Merriam Webster defines orthodox as, “conforming to established doctrine, especially in religion.”[i] You might also hear it defined as “right doctrine.”
People tend to have this idea that there is an orthodox doctrine – that there are certain truths and doctrines that have always been peacefully and consensually agreed upon and accepted by the majority of “people like us” throughout all the centuries. And as the story goes, various groups of “heretics” have attempted to tamper with this “right doctrine” throughout history, only to fail miserably as the truth remained undiluted over the centuries.
These are the assumptions many of us grew up believing. We were handed an absolute narrative, told that it has withstood the test of time, and invited nicely to never question it ever… or else. Mainstream Christianity wants us to think there has always been a harmonious consensus, and those who question are not simply disagreeing with their pastor… oh no! You are going against 2,000 years of what “those who follow the Spirit of God” have always believed and accepted as truth.
While tradition and orthodoxy have been instrumental in preserving certain truths – and indeed, there is a profound beauty to be found in sacramental liturgy – the reality is that for centuries, Christian Orthodoxy preserved itself through fear and control, opting to protect it’s doctrinal “truth” through the active suppression of opposing ideas.
What’s particularly ironic is that the modern Evangelical Church tries hard to distance itself from the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church while the core of it’s theology comes directly out of the councils, doctrines, and creeds established by the early Roman Catholic and Latin Church.
The truth is that since the very beginning, Church history has been rife with unrest, conflict, and even bloodshed—primarily over matters of establishing orthodoxy. And with today’s easy access to the annals of Church history, it’s time for us churchgoers to rethink the myth of orthodoxy, and begin re-evaluating what we’ve been taught.
For instance, many Christians insist that if you question hell, you are rejecting what has always been agreed upon by the Church, yet the doctrine of eternal torment was not a widely held view for the first five centuries after Christ, particularly in the early Eastern Church, the Church of the early apostles and Church fathers such as Paul, Clement of Alexandria, St. Gregory of Nyssa, Origen, and others.
What we do see during this time is the expansion and proliferation of pagan myths about the afterlife, which were then repackaged as eternal, fiery torment in the Western (Catholic) Church, primarily by Latin theologians and Church leaders from Rome. It seems this was most likely motivated by political expediency. The idea of eternal torment was a prime tool for controlling the average churchgoer with fear and was congruent with secular mythologies of the time. Later, pop culture added fuel to the fire (pun intended) through imaginative works like Dante’s Inferno.
That Awkward Moment Eternity Slipped In
The invasion of Hell into Church doctrine ultimately starts with the invasion of “eternity”. As we discussed in Part 2 of our Hell Series, words like “eternity, eternal, everlasting, etc” don’t truly exist in scripture. Rather, these words are all derived from the root word Aión which means “an Age” or “Eon”.
Take a phrase like aionas ton aionon. This phrase shows up several times in the Greek New Testament and has been traditionally translated as “forever and ever”.
But here’s the problem. Aión means “Age”, not “forever”. And even worse, ton means “of”, NOT “and”. For example, Abraham was the father of (ton) Isaac. ALL THREE WORDS of this phrase are completely mistranslated. What it actually says is “Ages of the Ages”.
We see this root word Aión every time we see “eternal”, “eternity”, “forever”, “everlasting”, etc. All of these words revolve around the concept of Ages.
So why are we telling you this?
Because “Ages” played a crucial role in the way early Church fathers viewed life. It was a highly significant paradigm to how they viewed God, this life, the afterlife, etc.
Due to the history of the Biblical text and the numerous influences in its popular translations, we’ve been left with a very Plato-esque focus on this concept called eternity. But that was not the paradigm of the “orthodox” church until St. Augustine, a student of Plato, funneled Christian doctrine through Plato’s teachings of the “eternal soul”.
Plato made several philosophical arguments that have ironically come to define our mainstream Christian paradigms.
- First, Plato believed that the soul was separate from the body and that the soul was fundamentally pure but tends to become deformed through association with the body.
- Second, like his teacher Socrates, Plato believed that the soul itself was immortal, thus necessitating an eternal destination for the soul after the body dies.
- Third, Plato proposed that good actions result in a reward in this life, but more importantly, a greater reward after death. Similarly, bad actions result in consequences in this life, but even greater punishment after death.
Plato linked some of his ideas to prevailing Greek mythology, including the locations of Hades and Tartarus. In Greek mythology, Tartarus is the location deep below Hades where the Titans were enslaved and the wicked were tormented. According to Plato, this is where divine punishment was meted out.
It is of this philosopher that St. Augustine remarked,
“The utterance of Plato, the most pure and bright in all philosophy, scattering the clouds of error . . .”
These ideas proposed by Plato are not from the Bible. They are Greek philosophy. BUT we have spent centuries reading them into the Biblical text and even translating the Biblical text through their lens.
But if we go back before the time of Augustine, we find 5 centuries of Church fathers who never carried this lens.
(If you’d like a more in-depth look at how “Eternity” weaseled it’s way into scripture, we’ve made this 13,000 word study on the topic available for download)
How Hell Invaded Church Doctrine
The big point we are building up to here is that the early church fathers DID NOT believe in eternal torment. We aren’t talking about the first guy or two post-Paul. We are talking about the first 5 centuries after Christ.
Let me repeat that, just so we are clear.
Eternal torment was not a pillar of church doctrine for the first 5 centuries after Christ.
Dr. Ken Vincent, retired psychology professor from Houston Community College, and author of over one hundred books in the fields of psychology and religion, notes:
The first person to write about “eternal hell” was the Latin (West) North African Tertullian (160–220 A.D.), who is considered the Father of the Latin Church. As most people reason, hell is a place for people you don’t like! Tertullian fantasized that not only the wicked would be in hell but also every philosopher and theologian who ever argued with him! He envisioned a time when he would look down from heaven at those people in hell and laugh with glee! [ii]
Out of the six theological schools in Tertullian’s day and beyond (170–430 A.D.), the only school that taught the doctrine of eternal torment or hell to its students was the Latin (Roman) school in Carthage, Africa. Four of the other five taught that, through the death and resurrection of Christ, all people would be saved through restorative judgment and reconciliation in a plan of Ages.[iii] This teaching was called, “Universal Salvation” or “Universal Reconciliation.” Dr. Vincent says,
By far, the main person responsible for making hell eternal in the Western Church was St. Augustine (354–430 CE). Augustine…was made Bishop of Hippo in North Africa. He did not know Greek, had tried to study it, but stated that he hated it. Sadly, it is his misunderstanding of Greek that cemented the concept of eternal hell in the Western Church. Augustine not only said that hell was eternal for the wicked, but also for anyone who wasn’t a Christian. So complete was his concept of God’s exclusion of non-Christians that he considered un-baptized babies as damned. When these babies died, Augustine softened slightly to declare that they would be sent to the “upper level” of hell. Augustine is also the inventor of the concept of “hell Lite,” also known as Purgatory, which he developed to accommodate some of the universalist verses in the Bible. Augustine acknowledged the Universalists, whom he called “tender-hearted,” and included them among the “orthodox.”[iv]
Not only was Augustine somewhat the champion of the hell doctrine in the Western Church, he also had a major influence on the onset of religious bigotry and hate campaigns in the following centuries.
In the 1907 book, Lives of the Fathers: Sketches of Church History in Biography, written by Frederick D. Farrar, who was Chaplain in Ordinary to the Queen of England, we read about Augustine:
The advocacy of hell came primarily on the scene with Augustine: In no other respect did Augustine differ more widely from Origen and the Alexandrians [Eastern Church] than in his intolerant spirit. Even Tertullian conceded to all the right of opinion.
[Augustine] was the first in the long line of Christian persecutors, and illustrates the character of the theology that swayed him in the wicked spirit that impelled him to advocate the right to persecute Christians who differ from those in power. The dark pages that bear the record of subsequent centuries are a damning witness to the cruel spirit that actuated Christians, and the cruel theology that impelled it. Augustine was the first and ablest asserter of the principle which led to Albigensian crusades, Spanish armadas, Netherland’s butcheries, St. Bartholomew massacres, the accursed infamies of the Inquisition, the vile espionage, the hideous bale fires of Seville and Smithfield, the racks, the gibbets, the thumbscrews, and the subterranean torture-chambers used by churchly torturers.[v]
Samuel Dawson, author of, The Teaching of Jesus: From Mount Sinai to Gehenna a Faithful Rabbi Urgently Warns Rebellious Israel, says:
Most of what we believe about hell comes from Catholicism and ignorance of the Old Testament, not from the Bible. I now believe that hell is the invention of Roman Catholicism; and surprisingly, most, if not all, of our popular concepts of hell can be found in the writings of Roman Catholic writers like the Italian poet Dante Alighieri (1265–1321), author of Dante’s Inferno. The English poet John Milton (1608–1674), author of Paradise Lost, set forth the same concepts in a fashion highly acceptable to the Roman Catholic faith. Yet none of our concepts of hell can be found in the teaching of Jesus Christ![vi]
Following on the heels of Augustine, the greatest influence on today’s hell theology via most modern Bible translations came from Jerome’s Latin Vulgate. Jerome translated this tainted version of the Scriptures from a very inferior Latin text in the late 4th century:
For over a thousand years (c. AD 400–1530), the Vulgate was the definitive edition of the most influential text in Western European society. Indeed, for most Western Christians, it was the only version of the Bible ever encountered. The Vulgate’s influence throughout the Middle Ages and the Renaissance into the Early Modern Period is even greater than that of the King James Version in English; for Christians during these times the phraseology and wording of the Vulgate permeated all areas of the culture.[vii]
What was the problem with Jerome’s Bible? It was heavily influenced by Latin hell-inventing theologians like Tertullian and Augustine.
When you realize that the hell doctrine was so late in being adopted by the Church (and hence, Scriptures), the poorly constructed walls of orthodoxy begin to crumble. It was several hundred years after Jesus and the apostles that men began formulating many of these new Church doctrines and creeds, many still a part of Evangelical Christian orthodoxy to this day.
Had our old English Bibles been translated directly out of the Greek instead of Latin, it’s very probable that the doctrine of eternal torment would never have found its way into our modern Bibles and theology at all. Many of these doctrines were strong-armed into the Church through major dissension and even bloodshed, with intolerant, oppressive Church leaders insisting that they were “led by the Spirit” on such matters.
The Afterlife According To Gregory
While we’ve been telling you a lot about what early fathers didn’t believe, I think it would be helpful for us to look at what some of them did believe.
We are going to look briefly at St. Gregory of Nyssa, who lived from 335 to 395 AD. In addition to being canonized, St. Gregory served as the Bishop of Nyssa and is known for his significant contributions to both the doctrine of the Trinity and the Nicene creed.
In other words, this guy is one of the founding fathers of church orthodoxy. If you aren’t aware, the Nicene creed serves to this day as the universal statement of faith for not only the Catholic church, but most anyone who would call themselves “Christians”.
St. Gregory DID NOT believe in eternal torment. But let’s not stop there. What he DID believe in was universal salvation – that all would ultimately be reconciled to God.
For it is evident that God will in truth be all in all when there shall be no evil in existence, when every created being is at harmony with itself and every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord; when every creature shall have been made one body.
St. Gregory, like many in his day, believed that we were on a progression through the ages, where at the end of the Age, those who had purged themselves of evil in this life would enter into the blessedness of the Age to Come, while those who hadn’t would be passed through cleansing fire, after which they would also enter into that same blessedness.
Whoever considers the divine power will plainly perceive that it is able at length to restore by means of the aionion purging and atoning sufferings, those who have gone even to this extremity of wickedness.
And in another quote:
Wherefore, that at the same time liberty of free-will should be left to nature and yet the evil be purged away, the wisdom of God discovered this plan; to suffer man to do what he would, that having tasted the evil which he desired, and learning by experience for what wretchedness he had bartered away the blessings he had, he might of his own will hasten back with desire to the first blessedness …either being purged in this life through prayer and discipline, or after his departure hence through the furnace of cleansing fire.
In other words, St. Gregory is saying that God gave us free will, so that in tasting evil, we would realize how wretched it is and hasten back into a righteous state of blessedness – or as we might say here at Brazen Church, hasten into the abundant life Jesus came to show us – and that this hastening to blessedness will come either in this life, through prayer and discipline, or in the life to come, by passing through cleansing fire.
This isn’t a renegade theologian firing shots at Christendom thousands of years into orthodoxy.
This is a FOUNDER of orthodoxy. This is a man responsible for forging the unifying statement of faith for all of Christianity. This is a man who attended the first ever council of the Church in Nicaea.
And THIS MAN, this founder of the faith, not only shows no traces of a belief in Hell – He actually believed ALL WOULD BE SAVED. And while not all of his contemporaries shared his belief that all would be saved, the opposing belief was that the wicked would be destroyed… NOT tormented forever.
We Could Keep Going
St. Gregory wasn’t by any means alone in his ideas. Here are some quotes from other early Church fathers.
From Olympiodorus (495-570 AD):
Do not suppose that the soul is punished for endless eons. The soul is not punished to gratify the revenge of the divinity, but for the sake of healing. The soul is punished for an eonian period (aionios) calling its life and its allotted period of punishment its eon.
From Diodorus of Tarsus (320-394 AD):
For the wicked there are punishments, not perpetural, however, lest the immortality prepared for them should be a disadvantage, but they are to be purified for a brief period according to the amount of malice in their works. They shall therefore suffer punishment for a short space, but immortal blessedness having no end awaits them…the penalties to be inflicted for their many and grave sins are very far surpassed by the magnitude of the mercy to be showed to them.
From Irenaeus of Lyons (130-202 AD):
Wherefore also he drove him out of paradise and removed him far from the tree of life, not because He envied him the tree of life, as some dare assert, but because He pitied him and desired that he should not be immortal and the evil interminable and irremediable.
From St. Jerome (331-420 AD):
In the end and consummation of the Universe all are to be restored into their original harmonious state, and we all shall be made one body and be united once more into a perfect man and the prayer of our Savior shall be fulfilled that all may be one.
From Theodore of Mopsuestia (350-428 AD):
The wicked who have committed evil the whole period of their lives shall be punished till they learn that, by continuing in sin, they only continue in misery. And when, by this means, they shall have been brought to fear God, and to regard Him with good will, they shall obtain the enjoyment of His grace.
From Clement of Alexandria (150-215 AD):
We can set no limits to the agency of the Redeemer to redeem, to rescue, to discipline in his work, and so will he continue to operate after this life.
We could keep going, but just click here if you’d like to read more quotes.
Conclusion
It shocks me to hear people argue that the doctrine of Hell has been the definitive belief of Christendom since the days of the New Testament. Such a claim demonstrates a fundamental ignorance of Church history and is a testament to how extensively St. Augustine’s doctrine influenced the orthodox church.
The idea of eternal torment comes primarily from Greek thought – a merging of mythology and the ramification of belief in an immortal soul.
For 5 centuries, Christian doctrine remained unaffected by Hell until St. Augustine forcibly inserted it into orthodoxy, using a combination of power and violence to ensure it’s survival. Since that time, we’ve seen the gradual evolution of Christian doctrine in and around this concept, until today, the average believer has no idea that the concept of eternal torment isn’t even Biblical.
This doctrine of Hell has been used for centuries to control the masses with fear. Today, it prevents the world, both Christian and non-Christian alike, from seeing a loving Father.
A Christianity with Hell is a Christianity that must inherently be full of fear, and yet 1 John 4:18 tells us:
There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love.
A Christianity without Hell is a Christianity without fear, and that’s the Christianity I hope our series has freed you to enjoy… or at least freed you to consider.
If you’d like to purchase Julie’s book Raising Hell (we’d HIGHLY recommend it), click the image below to get it in print for $11.99 or on Kindle for just $2.99!
OR if you aren’t able to purchase it, Julie has graciously made a PDF copy available for download. Just email us and we’ll send it to you.
Sources… Sources Everywhere
Here is a list of Julie Ferwerda’s sources cited in the excerpts we adapted for this article.
[i] “Orthodox,” Merriam-Webster, Inc.: http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/orthodox (accessed April 28, 2011).
[ii] Dr. Ken R. Vincent, Ed.D., “The Salvation Conspiracy: How Hell Became Eternal,” http://www.christianuniversalist.org/articles/salvationconspiracy.html (accessed July 1, 2010).
[iii] J.W. Hanson, D.D., Universalism: The Prevailing Doctrine of the Christian Church During its First Five Hundred Years, (Boston and Chicago: Universalist Publishing House, 1899), & The Bible Hell, (1888).
[iv] Dr. Ken R. Vincent, Ed.D., “The Salvation Conspiracy: How Hell Became Eternal,” http://www.christianuniversalist.org/articles/salvationconspiracy.html (accessed July 1, 2010).
[v] Frederick D. Farrar, D.D. F.R.S., Chaplain in Ordinary to the Queen, Lives of the Fathers: Sketches of Church History in Biography (London: Adam and Charles Black, 1907).
[vi] Samuel G. Dawson and Patsy Rae Dawson, The Teaching of Jesus From Mount Sinai to Gehenna: A Faithful Rabbi Urgently Warns Rebellious Israel (SGD Press, June 26, 2009).
[vii] “Vulgate,” Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vulgate (accessed June 1, 2011).
[viii] David Daniell, The Bible in English: its history and influence (New Haven, Conn: Yale University Press, 2003), 439.
If you’d like to download our full series on Hell in PDF form, add your name and email below and we’ll send it your way:
An interesting series of articles!
So if I’ve understood you correctly, according to your arguments ‘Hell’ is not in the bible but is a man made concept to keep people in fear; so please simply clarify to me what the perishing and condemnation involves in John 3:16 & 18. Also please explain what the fire in 1 Cor 3:12-15 is all about.
Very importantly if ‘eternity’ is not for ever but only an age – a limited period of time, then it follows that heaven is not eternal either! If that is so then why also did Paul say in 1 Cor 15:19 “If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.”?
If heaven is not eternal and hell does not exist, even though some form of time limited punishment might (although I’m not clear on your views about that) and in the end everyone gets saved then as far as I’m concerned I might as well ‘eat drink and be merry for tomorrow I die’. Or put another way, live a life of ‘sex, drugs and rock & roll’ as perhaps is meant by Meatloaf when he sings ‘A wasted youth is better by far than a wise and productive old age.’ I’m sorry but the love of God which you emphasize (and I truly believe in) to me is pretty meaningless if there is no eternal condemnation, perishing, unbearable separation etc from God which that love and sacrifice of Jesus saves me from. Frankly if I’m going to be ‘saved’ eventually anyhow I don’t see that it matters what I believe or how I live.
Hi Bill….good comments….if you ever have the chance, please read “Conversations with God”. Accordingly, God placed us on this earth to experience everything life has to offer. It is one thing to know about something, quite different to actually experience it. We each have our own spiritual journey ultimately culminating with a return to the purity of God. There are many ways in which our immortal spirit doe this, but by no means is it by eternal hell and damnation. Interestingly, Bsp. Carlton Pearson has also written about universal salvation and has sacrificed much to further his convictions. You may enjoy reading his book “The Gospel of Inclusion”. At any rate, be blessed my brother, and hope you enjoy the scenery as we all search for eternal truth….
Rev. John Midura
Hey Bill, if you found this article interesting, you should read the previous two, which are our analysis of the Biblical passages and words that seem to denote Hell. We answer both of your questions in Part 2.
In terms of eternity, you are correct that ages apply equally to “eternal life” as they do to “eternal destruction”. The challenge for you is that you’ve grown up your entire life thinking about this linear, never-ending extent of time called eternity. The only alternative in your mind at this moment is “no eternity”.
But that’s not the case. The view of the Ages does not assume that there is ever a “Final End” but only that there is an end of the present age and most, if not all, of the ages to come. The idea is that God is doing something important in this season and He will continue to do something important in the next season. He will take us from glory to glory.
So in other words, the view of the Ages doesn’t necessarily make existence finite, it just professes that God will continue to work in seasons after we die.
This might seem like semantics out of context, but it actually couldn’t be more important.
If you want to dive in, check out this series by Martin Trench – http://martintrench.com/the-ancient-biblical-teaching-of-the-ages-series/
Thanks for your reply, I have read all three of your articles, however I’m not convinced by the arguments but respect your integrity and the boldness of being willing to hold an internet discussion of what you know to be controversial views. I am always pleased to see people thinking things out and putting well formed arguments, I therefore look forward to reading future articles even though I may not agree with everything in them either.
As a point of interest I note you spent three years at BSSM, how much of your (and your friends) thinking is influenced by that teaching or are you taking a different line from what you would have been taught there? If you wish to answer me privately rather than publically on that then I think you have my email
Hey Bill, thanks, I appreciate that and appreciate you being willing to evaluate our arguments. Disagreement is always welcome here!
Going back to your first comment, you asked what the point of this life is if all will be saved. This is an important question and one we plan to do a post on soon.
For now, I’ll just mention that Jesus didn’t say, “I’ve come to save you from sin and make a way to Heaven”. What He did say is, “I’ve come that they may have life, and have it abundantly.”
I think in the course of living a religious lifestyle, sometimes we lose perspective. Many Christians abstain for the purpose of future reward, and in doing so, look into the world and see the glamour but not the pain.
You can not do drugs because you think God doesn’t like it, or, like most people, you can not do them because they are harmful, addictive, and destroy people’s lives on a regular basis. You can not be promiscuous because you think God will be upset, or you can not be promiscuous because it tends to lead to heartbreak, emotional baggage, troubled identity, and STDs.
I don’t think the Father gives us guidance in these areas because he’ll be upset if we disobey. I think He does so because He wants us to live life to the fullest, and as the Author of life, He knows exactly what will facilitate wholeness and what will hurt us.
When I look at the universe and the sheer length of time it’s been developing, I see a God of process, who LOVES the journey. With our “eternity” language, we’ve created a god of destination, focused on our eternal outcome. And I think that’s the wrong god.
In terms of BSSM, let me start by saying that Bethel would absolutely DISAGREE with us on many different levels. For anyone reading this, we are in no way affiliated with Bethel.
That said, I did spend 3 years in BSSM and I am really grateful for my time there. Our other writers didn’t attend the school, but they’ve spent time at Bethel church and been influenced positively by the culture. They do an amazing job of helping people find inner healing and creating a culture where people honor each other and disagreement is respected.
Bethel is in a funny transitional position theologically. They kind of think they are mainstream theologically, with the only distinction being their belief in the gifts, but the reality is that the core values of their “Kingdom theology” open holes in Evangelical theology that can only be answered with progressive viewpoints.
Because the leadership is very hardcore Republican, they cut off any way of thinking that begins to branch out past the mainstream, even though their core values REQUIRE one to go there.
Like I said, they are in a weird position theologically, but they ignore it by keeping the focus on the Presence and gifts. A few mid-level leaders are heading in a progressive direction, but with the influence and money currently being channeled at Bethel, they are going to make sure to stay solidly evangelical as much as possible.
Thank you for that full response, much appreciated and I look forward to the future blog.
Re why Jesus came, I agree that part of why he came is to give us life in all it’s abundance, but go back to the angelic announcement to Joseph which has the words ‘he will save his people from their sins’ Matt 1:21 along with the similar one to the shepherds ‘a Saviour has been born to you’ Luke 2:11. Life in all it’s abundance can only come about after our sins are forgiven.
No need to reply on any of this but your honesty and openness is greatly appreciated – at least by me
Bill,
Though I have no connection to Brazen Church, and am only a viewer, I’d like to give my 2 cents to your question on the word “eternal”… The word “eternal” when placed in front of something that is not created (i.e. God), is therefore never-ending… But when you place the word “eternal” in front of, say, “death” or “destruction”, these two and others like it are temporary, as sin’s destruction on man was cancelled by Christ on the cross, and death will be no more, as it is also cancelled by Christ on the cross, and in Revelation, it states that even Hades will be thrown into the Lake of Fire (purifying fire of God) and destroyed for good. So “Eternal Death” is limited, as it is created and temporal, and “Eternal God” is not created, and therefore unending (hence the words “omnipresent” and others used in the Old Testament to describe God. Also, to note, as we are made in the image of God, so our original state of being before the fall will be restored and our eternal life will be granted to our purified state of being for the eons (ages), and promised by God through Christ, given freely through repentance and acceptance of the Spirit of Truth.
Also to note, the word “forgiveness” has also been misinterpreted throughout church history. The word “forgive” in the Greek means “to release”. This shows us that Christ’s forgiveness on the cross was all about releasing humanity into the freedom of God’s love and life once again, without the hold of the state of sin on our existence. Also, the word “Saved” in the Greek means “to heal”, which shows the restorative purpose of Christ’s work in “healing the nations”.
Hope this finds you well, brother.
Stephen
I would like to share from the “Scriptures” about what it is that we are actually being saved from.
Published by the Pittsburg Bible Institute:“The Lake of Fire and Brimstone signifies a fire burning with brimstone; the word ‘brimstone’ or sulphur defines the character of the fire. The Greek word THEION translated ‘brimstone’ is exactly the same word THEION which means ‘divine.’ (emphasis mine) Sulphur was sacred to the deity among the ancient Greeks; and was used to fumigate, to purify, and to cleanse and consecrate to the deity; for this purpose they burned it in their incense.
In Homer’s Iliad (16:228), one is spoken of as purifying a goblet with fire and brimstone. The verb derived from THEION is THEIOO, which means to hallow, to make divine, or to dedicate to a god (See Liddell and Scott Greek-English Lexicon, 1897 Edition).
To any Greek, or any trained in the Greek language, a ‘lake of fire and brimstone’ would mean a ‘lake of divine purification.’ The idea of judgment need not be excluded. Divine purification and divine consecration are the plain meaning in ancient Greek. In the ordinary explanation, this fundamental meaning of the word is entirely left out, and nothing but eternal torment is associated with it.”
Charles Pridgeon; Is Hell Eternal, or Will God’s Plan Fail; pgs 116 & 117.
Here, Brother Pridgeon makes a vital point: brimstone is for purification, not punishment. This thought went unquestioned until the Dark Ages. His purpose was understood to purify and consecrate, not separate and punish. This Lake of Divine Fire will purify, refine, restore and consecrate til there is nothing left that is contrary to Him.
You may very well be asking the question “if there is no “eternal torment” for anyone, and there is no “eternal annihilation” for anyone, then what are we being saved from?”
Hopefully, the answer to that question will become more clear from what I will be sharing from the Written Word of God.
You see, when someone receives the gift of salvation, that person is being saved from having to go through the process of the refining FIRE of God’s Spirit for the purpose of divine purification. This is a process that all unbelievers will go through, which through the shed blood of Christ on the Cross is God’s final step in “reconciling” that person back to “Him” as “He” promished to do. Malachi 3:2 – “The Lord is like a refiners fire.”
(Colossians 1:20 – And God was pleased for Christ to make peace by sacrificing “His” blood on the Cross, so that all beings in heaven and on earth would be brought back to God. )
It is so very important for us to have the understanding that Believers in Christ who have not been faithful servants will also go through “the very same process as unbelievers” in respect to the refining FIRE of God’s Spirit doing a work of divine purification in them.
This is illustrated in Matthew 24:51 in which in the parable of the unfaithful servant, JESUS declares that the unfaithful servant will be assigned the “same portion as the unbelievers,” which will be the process of the refining FIRE of God’s Spirit for the purpose of divine purification.
In that parable, JESUS is not speaking about unbelievers, because an unbeliever is not a servant of JESUS. Only a Believer in Christ can be called a servant.
When a person receives the gift of Salvation, that person then becomes a servant of God. It is up to that person to whether or not they remain faithful to the Lord.
This is why that JESUS declares to us in this verse, that there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth (Profound regret and sorrow).
The reason for their weeping and gnashing of teeth, is because they will come to the stark realization that as a Believer in Christ, they were given the opportunity to rule and reign with Christ, but because they were found to have been an unfaithful servant, they will have missed out on having obtained the “prize” of the “high calling” of God in Christ Jesus. which the Apostle Paul speaks about, which is to rule and reign with Christ.
So, when a person receives the gift of Salvation, that person is not escaping “hell” and “eternal torment” and “eternal annihilation,” because the doctrine of “hell” and “eternal torment” and “eternal annihilation” is not Biblical! That person (if they remain faithful to the Lord) will not be put through the process of the refining FIRE of God’s Spirit for the purpose of divine purification. This Biblical explanation is certainly much different than what is being taught by the mainstream Christian Church.
A much closer examination of a number of the parables of JESUS, reveals the same Biblical truths that have already been shared in this article.
NOTE: I do not understand how that a Christian can read this article in it’s entirety without serious questions being raised in their mind and Spirit about the traditional teaching on “Hell,” the “Lake of Fire,” and “eternal torment” that is being taught today in the Church, and is widely accepted as Biblical truth by most Christians today.
Satan has done a very masterful job in “blinding” today’s Church to many Biblical truths. Not only does Satan hate humans because they are made in God’s image, but because Satan lost his position of being the highest ranking angel before he sinned, he cannot stand the thought of Christians ruling & reigning with Christ.
The Church has been “deceived” into believing that all Christians will rule & reign with Christ. However, a closer examination of the “Scriptures” will reveal to us that there will be many Christians who will not rule & reign with Christ.
Satan does not want Christians to know this “little known truth” which has not been understood by the Church today. It is Christians who have practiced “applying” the “overcoming” Christian principles to their lives who will rule & reign with Christ.
Philippians 3:14 is a MONUMENTAL Passage of “Scripture” for a Christian to understand. After a careful examination of this Passage of “Scripture,” if we are able to come to an understanding of the “profound truth” that is in this Passage of “Scripture,” then it becomes clear as to why this Passage of “Scripture” is of MONUMENTAL importance for a Christian to understand.
The widespread teaching of the Church today, is that all Christians will rule & reign with Christ. However, upon careful examination of the “Scriptures,” the Written Word of God tells us differently.
The Lord through “His” Written Word, is wanting us to understand that Salvation through Grace is “His” free gift to those who accept JESUS as their Lord and Saviour, and to understand that after a person’s Salvation that there is a “prize” that awaits all those who “press toward the mark” for the “prize” of the “high calling” of God in Christ Jesus.
The “prize” is that of ruling & reigning with Christ, which can only be obtained through a Christian becoming qualified. (qualified – i.e. having been made fit for a position or purpose) Not all Christians will be qualified to rule & reign with Christ.
In fact, one such example can be found in Revelation 3:16, in which JESUS tells the Laodicean Church that because of it’s “lukewarm condition” that “HE” is going to spew them out of “His” mouth. (i.e. because they were not applying the “overcoming” Christian principles to their lives, they will not rule & reign with “Him”)
NOTE: JESUS was warning those who were in a “lukewarm condition,” that “if they continued” to stay in that condition, “the final results” would be that they will not rule and reign with “Him” when “HE” returns to set up and establish “His” Kingdom here on earth.
When JESUS made that statement, “HE” was addressing Christians. There is no such thing as a lukewarm non-believer. “Only a Believer in Christ can become lukewarm.”
JESUS also gives us several more examples in some of “His” parables, which can be difficult to understand when trying to decipher the true meaning.
Having obtained the free gift of Salvation through Jesus Christ does not in itself “qualify” us to rule and reign with Christ.
After the free gift of Salvation, the Lord wants us to have the understanding that there is a “prize” that awaits Christians, but is not automatically awarded to each and every Christian, but is only awarded to those who “press toward the goal” of obtaining that “prize” which the Apostle Paul speaks about.
Salvation through Jesus Christ puts us in position to have the opportunity to “qualify” for obtaining the “prize” of ruling & reigning with Christ.
The Apostle Paul tells us in Philippians 3:14 that he was always “pressing toward the mark” for the “prize” of the “high calling” of God in Christ Jesus. The Apostle Paul had already obtained his Salvation through Grace, so this is not the “prize” that he is speaking about.
The Apostle Paul understood that if a Christian is not careful and not wise to the tactics of the enemy, that he or she can easily “miss the mark” of obtaining the “prize,” which is to rule and reign with Christ.
I believe that this was constantly on the Apostle Paul’s mind.
The Apostle Paul was so concerned about this, that in the 9th Chapter of 1st Corinthians, he tells us that we are to run the race and finish the race in order to obtain the “prize.”
The Apostle Paul states the last thing that he wanted was to become a “castaway” himself. The word “castaway” in the Greek means: unapproved, rejected, disqualified.
Even though the Apostle Paul had obtained his Salvation through Grace, and had obtained a very powerful gifting to carry out his earthly ministry, he recognized that if he did not run the race and “finish it,” that he would himself be unapproved, rejected, disqualified from obtaining the “prize” of ruling and reigning with Christ.
The Apostle Paul was determined to not allow himself “to lose sight” of “pressing toward the mark” for the “prize” of ruling and reigning with Christ.
JESUS tells us in Revelation 3:21, “To him that overcometh, will I grant to sit with “ME” on my throne.” (i.e. – “HE” will grant the “prize” of ruling & reigning with “Him” to Christians who have practiced “applying” the “overcoming” Christian principles to their lives)
When we are able to grasp the revelation of what “pressing toward the mark” for the “prize” of the “high calling” of God in Christ Jesus truly entails, then some of the difficult to understand sayings of JESUS, and the meaning of some of the difficult to understand parables of JESUS will become more clear to our understanding.
A “major blind spot” of today’s Church, has been, and is, it’s lack of understanding of the difference of “entering” the Kingdom of God, and “inheriting” the Kingdom of God. Only those who “inherit” the Kingdom of God, will rule and reign with Christ!
Without a doubt,“a top priority of Satan, through deceit,” is to keep as many Christians as he can from obtaining the “prize” of ruling and reigning with Christ.
NOTE: Have you ever thought about what exactly it is that the Saints who have been faithful, will be ruling and reigning over?
It is clear from “Scripture” that the unbelievers who survive the Great Tribulation Period will be allowed to enter into the Millennium Kingdom Age of Christ on earth, in which they will continue to bear children and populate the earth.
There are estimates that 80 Billion people to several hundred Billion people could be born during this period of time. The Age that will follow the Millennium Kingdom Age will be the New Earth Age. I do believe that the case can be made from a careful study of the “Scriptures,” that the “Scriptures” reveal that people will continue to be born in the New Earth Age.
As of January 2017, through the latest telescope technology, scientists are now able to observe 10% of the Universe which has revealed that there are now an estimated 2 Trillion Galaxies in our Universe. Also, there is now believed to be an estimated 800 Billion to 8 Trillion Planets in our Galaxy (The Milky Way).
There are certain to be many more Galaxies in our Universe, because these estimates come only from the observable Universe, which up to the present (January of 2017), is only 10% . We now know that our Universe is continually expanding, and that it is now expanding at an accelerated rate of speed.
God did not create all that “HE” has created just because “HE” got bored and had nothing else better to do. All that God does and has done “is for a specific purpose.” God has “a specific purpose” for the vastness of outer space and all that it contains.
If new generations of people are going to continue to be born in the New Earth Age that follows the Millennium Kingdom Age, then the earth will soon reach it’s limit as to how many people it can support. Maybe this is why God created such a vastness of outer space that is incomprehensible to the human mind.
This is just a portion of a much larger piece that I have written. If anyone would like a copy in it’s original Word Document Format, feel free to e-mail me and request a copy, and I will e-mail you a copy of the complete writing that I have done. It is under the title “What is the “GOOD NEWS” of the Gospel of Christ?”
candy33alan@aol.com
An additional comment to my previous comment.
When we are able to grasp the revelation of what “pressing toward the mark” for the “prize” of the “high calling” of God in Christ Jesus truly entails, then some of the difficult to understand sayings of JESUS, and the meaning of some of the difficult to understand parables of JESUS will become more clear to our understanding.
Speaking of difficult to understand sayings of JESUS, I could never understand this saying of JESUS, when he declares in Matthew 21:31 – Verily, I say unto you, that the publicans and harlots will go into the kingdom of God before you. JESUS is declaring to these wicked religious leaders that they would indeed enter into the Kingdom of God, but that the publicans and harlots would enter in the Kingdom of God, before them.
When reading this, I would always think to myself “if there is going to be eternal torment for the unbeliever, then why is JESUS clearly stating in this verse, that these wicked religious leaders who were unbelievers going to be allowed to enter into the Kingdom of God?”
After I gained a good Biblical understanding of the finished work of Christ on the Cross, and a better understanding of God’s plan for the human race, I then came to a good understanding of this saying of JESUS.
You see, the publicans and harlots who have repented and “have become faithful followers” of JESUS, will enter into the Kingdom of God 1st, which will be at the 2nd Coming of JESUS. This 1st group will be the ones to “inherit” the kingdom of God, which gives them the privilege of ruling and reigning with Christ.
These wicked religious leaders will indeed enter into the Kingdom of God, but not until after the Millennial Kingdom reign of Christ & “His” Saints. After that, these wicked religious leaders along with all unbelievers, will stand before the “Great White Throne Judgment.” It will be at this point, that the Lord will begin the process of the refining FIRE from “His” Spirit for the purpose of divine purification.
After this process by the Lord is completed, (the Bible does not tell us how long this process will take) then they also will be allowed to enter into the Kingdom of God.
A “major blind spot” of today’s Church, has been, and is, it’s lack of understanding of the difference of “entering” the Kingdom of God, and “inheriting” the Kingdom of God. Only those who “inherit” the Kingdom of God, will rule and reign with Christ!
This is just a portion of a much larger piece that I have written. If anyone would like a copy in it’s original Word Document Format, feel free to e-mail me and request a copy, and I will e-mail you a copy of the complete writing that I have done. It is under the title “What is the “GOOD NEWS” of the Gospel of Christ?”
candy33alan@aol.com
While reading, I was looking for some scripture reference and found not one…??? I can get the idea about how we, as a church, have focused more on hellfire and damnation in the past centuries, rather than grace of the Gospel, but I don’t follow at all the teaching that Hell is a manmade concept…just a few scripture references that I wanted him to explain in his explanation but did not….
“But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars—they will be consigned to the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.” – Revelation 21.8 — “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.” – Matthew 25.46 —- “And God will use this persecution to show his justice and to make you worthy of his Kingdom, for which you are suffering. In his justice he will pay back those who persecute you.
And God will provide rest for you who are being persecuted and also for us when the Lord Jesus appears from heaven. He will come with his mighty angels, in flaming fire, bringing judgment on those who don’t know God and on those who refuse to obey the Good News of our Lord Jesus. They will be punished with eternal destruction, forever separated from the Lord and from his glorious power. When he comes on that day, he will receive glory from his holy people—praise from all who believe. And this includes you, for you believed what we told you about him.” 2 Thessalonians 1:5-10
The concept of eternity in Hell is terrifying. If you die tonight, where will YOU spend eternity???
https://lutherwasnotbornagaincom.wordpress.com/2018/03/19/if-you-die-tonight-do-you-know-where-you-will-spend-eternity/
This is a perfect representation of how many people react who are so deeply entrenched in the doctrine of ETC that without it it they lose all definition of God and gospel.
Notice that in Bills mind, the love of God is meaningless without eternal torment. How truly tragic this is. Its like saying that if we eradicated the death penalty in the penal code, justice and law would have no more meaning.
Well, there are many nations that have no death penalty and have a much lower crime rate than those who do, yet they still find it necessary to punish people in ways that do not eradicate all hope for their future. Some would say they have a higher respect for justice because justice is not defined by punishment alone. That is the major flaw in many Christians theology of God’s judgement. Justice is about restoration not just retribution. Every judge who sentences someone to jail has made a decision about duration based on the crime and the amount of time it will take to impress upon the person a determination to reform. The parole board says, “Have you learned your lesson?”. They often shorten the judges sentence based on good behavior and provable change of heart.
Perhaps paroling someone before the actual sentence is fulfilled should be abolished lest we lose all meaning of what justice really is? But I suppose if it were your brother or sister or child who is up for parole, the meaning of justice would blossom far beyond just punishment would it not?
Lets restate the point Bill made:
“I’m sorry but the love of God which you emphasize (and I truly believe in) to me is pretty meaningless if there is no eternal condemnation, perishing, unbearable separation etc from God which that love and sacrifice of Jesus saves me from.”
So unless the duration of hell is forever, Jesus sacrifice is worthless to us? Unless hells duration is forever, our obedience to God has no meaning?
I’m reminded of a particular brother from a certain parable who felt that all His years of faithful service and all his pleasing the father was made worthless by the acceptance of his long lost brother back into the family.
Its truly sad when our own love and devotion to God seems to have no meaning unless it can be set against the backdrop of someone else’s total rejection by God.
Thank you for taking that on. The deep sacrificial assumption in the Psyche that takes as its starting point separation from God, projects and makes that a god. There’s no getting around that except living and expressing now the error of that assupmption (forgiveness), and simply the living of original innocense. Theology and words are only part of that living/expression, as is well evidenced here by how “love” could only be seen as existing because of hell. If there’s a scripture of love, but that latter meaning is being givento “love” by some in this Tower of Bable Matrix mix of meanings we live in, then we simply live the fact of innocense/love now – and its continuity (aka eternity: an “end” just a projection, like the Psyche’s projection onto a god that would have a hell, making god in that separation’s image)
This is fascinating. To me what is even better, is that you have come to this conclusion, because that is exactly what has been channeled extensively. Hell is not a place of fire, its not of eternal duration, and its purpose is not punishment but correction – because as the individual changes towards loving actions, they emerge from darkness into light. My sources mostly, but certainly not exclusively, are the material channeled by an American lawyer, James Padgett, (Period 1914-1923) as this references the Bible extensively, sometimes to agree, many times to correct. This material is a bigger source of spiritual material than the Bible – more words. And in my view, more impressive.
I’m a universalist, and I agree with this article on Biblical exegesis, but its stuff on church history is wrong to the point of being ridiculous. It claims that Augustine was the first Platonist theologian, which is flat out nuts. What about Justin Martyr and Origen? They were both arguably MORE Platonist than Augustine (to a fault, IMO)! I can’t say for sure, but I think the majority of the early Apologists were Platonists of varying degrees.
And its main sources on universalism in the early church are a “retired psychology professor from Houston Community College,” a book published in 1888, and another from 1907 (by Farrar, whose “histories” were filled with diatribes against anyone he disagreed with).
The truth is somewhere in the middle. The idea of eternal torment did indeed have proponents quite early in the history of the church—at least within the first 100 years after the Apostles. But it wasn’t the only game in town. Universal reconciliation had its share of advocates too, in figures such as Origen and Gregory of Nyssa. The two views coexisted for a long time.
Credit probably does belong to Augustine for getting the Western church to settle (more or less) on one side of the issue. But he didn’t invent eternal torment.
I didn’t claim St. Augustine was “the first”. Where did you get that? I simply said that Plato’s ideas of eternity weren’t core doctrine until post-Augustine. Do you disagree?
Great message, one that needs to be spread throughout the world. I have been a believer for 40 years and have just within the past year decided to be a Berean and see if what the Scriptures say it true. And oh what truths I have discovered once the words of the Bible are accurately translated. Besides the hell doctrine I have discovered other ideas that are not true, i.e. tithing (open up thou can of worms!). But one thing I do know for sure, our Father who is in the heavens does love each of his children unconditionally. Blessings!!
It would have been better for Judas if he had never been born. Explain that statement of Jesus. Also include how it’s better to die a terrible death of drowning, to live life maimed and blind, and so on, than to sin or cause others to sin. Thanks.
St. Gregory of Nyssa thought Judas would be one of the exceptional few in torment forever because of that statement. But the other possibility is that Jesus was using a Jewish idiomatic phrase, paralleling Solomon/Qoholeth in Ecclesiastes opining that, given the evil in the world, it’s “better not to be born” — not meant literally, but hyperbolically, akin to threatening someone, “I’m gonna make you wish you’d never been born!” — such that Judas was going to suffer a particularly woeful death and later Judgment.
It being better to live a virtuous life under woeful conditions than to store up God’s wrath through sin is a common theme in Scripture and in the New Testament. The Beatitudes, for instance, remind us that deficits now can actually entail blessings. Under purgatorial universal reconciliation, there’s still a hell per se, but it’s a purgatorial hell, in line with the contemporaneous Pharisaic Jewish expectation of a general resurrection, Judgment, and Gehenna.
Hello!
I have very much loved this series. It’s given me a lot to contemplate and I fully intend to do just that. So thank you for the thought fodder. I noticed that you compiled the first two articles into a PDF for download. Out of curiosity, do you have any plans to compile all three into a downloadable PDF? I would love to be able to have each of them on my computer as a quick reference. And if you have no plans of doing that, I would humbly request that you reconsider.
Thanks! Keep writing! Stay brazen!
Jesse
Excellent series. I first read the bible cover to cover, specifically looking for the Catholic Hell, close to 10 years ago. A fundamentalist friend gave me a Scofield Study Bible, and I was reading along and there was an asterisk on the word “hell” with a note about “Sheol” in the comments below. “What the heck is that?!” Off to google I went. Needless to say, by the time I finished the bible I realized that all that indoctrinated fear was a lie. I think many “angry atheists” come into being in this way. It takes a while to get over that anger at being lied to by people in a position of authority, and you never entirely lose your childhood indoctrination. Once those synapses fire, your brain is wired, and it’s with you forever (or is that for an “age”!).
The guy who gave me the Scofield Bible was a retired minister, father of a friend, who came to discuss religion with me, and to answer my questions. I had a wood fire going in the stove, and he looked in and told me that the deepest glowing embers were what Hell was like. He had been told this by a counselor at a Christian retreat when he was a boy, and the bible said it was true – so he passed that on to countless innocent people, and his daughter now home-schools her child using a fundamentalist home-schooling program. Talk about your “sins of the father.” All that needless fear – all those lives affected. What has that done to our psyche? We’re a society, which thanks to Christianity, is based on retribution. One day the purveyors of this psychological damage may have to face the music, if the public becomes aware of how we have all been intentionally deceived. All this violence and hate in America – it’s driven by fear, and series like this may help reduce that fear. Share this with your friends, people.
I’m now an agnostic and find the likelihood of gods or afterlives to be exceptionally small, but I appreciate that Christians such as yourself are trying to undo some of the damage the religion has inflicted upon our society. One need only look at the news and wonder what all that fear is doing to us.
I’m new to your site, so I don’t know if you’ve covered this, but the real challenge for Christianity is acceptance of evolution. Without the mythical creation story, there are no talking snakes, no trees of temptation, no fall from grace, no original sin (passed on by naked people – oh my!), and therefore no need to be saved by believing, saying or doing the right thing. This is why fundamentalists cling so tightly to denial of evolution. An interesting question is how the Catholic Church, which accepts evolution, deals with the issue of original sin. Outside of a discredited Genesis creation, it can’t be supported biblically or in the evolutionary record. Of course the Genesis story is a product of the Exodus, something else that didn’t happen as described in the bible. I was taught that it was a historical event as a child – now the likelihood of that having been true approaches zero. The foundations are crumbling. Will Christianity be able to survive as an organization of ‘followers of Jesus’ without the belief/fear/salvation requirements?
But that’s just the start. Evidence seems to be mounting that consciousness emerges from the brain – that it’s basically an illusory function of the brain used to manage attention. If science confirms that you can’t have consciousness without a brain, and that it goes when the brain goes, then the idea of a soul is out the window. At that point, we are left with having to think about whether our lives can have value and purpose even if this is all we get. Will we live our lives better or worse, knowing we don’t get a second chance? It’s something we need to start talking and thinking about given the increasing likelihood that this will be discovered by neuroscience, which we’re pouring vast sums of money into researching right now. Evolution will be nothing compared to the challenge consciousness will be if the evidence continues in its current direction.
One final thought since I’m on a roll here. We all know that there is no objective, empirical evidence for gods or afterlives. If there was, we wouldn’t have to believe it, or debate it. We, meaning our brains, know beyond any reasonable doubt that we don’t know. None of us has empirical evidence. I can’t help but wonder what if any psychological ill effects there are in setting up an internal conflict in the brain, when we insist that we believe something the brain knows that it does not know. Could that internal conflict, that low-grade fever of cognitive dissonance (?) be making us unhealthy at the individual and societal level?
There’s a couple ideas in there for future columns in case you run out of interesting things to write about Jacob.
Hey Pat,
Thanks for chiming in with your evolution question. I’m a big fan of this topic as I have recently slogged through the mud and had my faith re-invigorated as I came to understand the truth of biological evolution AND Christian faith. In fact, I am now more in awe of our Creator since I’ve been able to toss aside the hollow creationist logic that so many evangelicals hold to. In fact, a few of my Christian friends can’t compute that I believe Genesis AND evolution are true.
For me the aha moment comes when our interpretation of those early chapters in Genesis includes what the original Hebrew audience understood as they heard those stories. I was surprised to discover that Jewish rabbis were debating whether Adam was an actual person, 150 years BEFORE Jesus was born. It turns out our 21st century understanding of those creation stories aren’t the only way to read the text.
Olympiodorus wasn’t actually a Christian; he was a 6th Hellenic scholar who was trying to clarify the Aristotelian use of aionios (etc.) vs. the contemporaneous Christians (endless hell believers, here) that were bungling it up.
I have four comments…
1. Firstly, I am myself an annihilationist. Concepts such as the “immortal soul”, and “eternal torment in the Lake of Fire” are nowhere to be found in the Scriptures. All that stuff originates from Christianity and church religion, not from the Bible. Certainly, the angels will be in the Lake of Fire forever, because they are immortal beings. But man is mortal, as the Bible plainly states.
2. However, “Hell” is very much in the Bible. It is the Greek word γέεννα (Gehenna) and it appears a dozen times in the Bible, and is alluded to many more. Jesus warned His disciples about it. If Jesus says that God will throw men into the Lake of Fire, then it *will* happen.
3. “Eternal” means eternal. The Bible makes clear that you either die, or you live forever. There are no shades of grey – it’s a black and white issue. John 3:16 says that those who have eternal life will *not* perish. So, does “not perish” mean “eventually perish”? No, it obviously means “never perish”. Thus anyone who has “eternal life” must live forever, and thus “eternal” (αἰώνιος) means *forever*. There is no “coming back to life” after the second death. It is final, and forever means forever.
4. This article dismisses the fear of God – that is a very dangerous thing to teach, and any man who teaches this should himself be afraid and repent, since James says teachers will be judged more strictly. Jesus plainly told His disciples to fear God, and the Bible is very emphatic that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. The Scriptures say that salvation is *specifically* for those who fear God (Acts 10:35, Acts 13:26, Rom 3:18).
The New Testament commands us to fear God in dozens of places. That cannot be denied. Yet so many people cling to the one solitary verse which can be twisted to mean the opposite: 1 John 4:18. However, John is not dismissing the fear of God: he is talking about the confidence which comes from having received the Spirit. If we have been born of the Spirit and are abiding in Him faithfully, then we have a clear conscience and assurance that we are loved by God. But that does not mean we have no fear of God!
Let me use an illustration: An experienced airline pilot can fly a plane *without* fear of crashing – but does that mean he has no fear of crashing? Think about that paradox. Does a pilot fly with fear? Whether you are flying a Boeing 747 thousands of feet above the ground and responsible for the lives of hundreds of people – or dealing with the Living God – it is important in both cases to appreciate how scary and dangerous and truly terrifying that thing is, and to never, ever forget that for one minute, or else you are putting yourself in danger! And yet, if you are an experienced pilot (or you have the assurance of the Holy Spirit) then, in the midst of this huge, terrifying thing that you fear, you can have confidence and assurance that you will be safe.
But that very confidence is based entirely on the pre-supposition that you have the fear in the first place. If you were on a plane and the pilot told you: “I’ve been doing this so long, I no longer have any nerves about flying” then you could his appreciate lack of fear. But if he said: “I don’t see what’s so scary about falling thousands of feet to your death”, then you would rightly see his lack of fear as extremely dangerous.
So too is a lack of fear of God extremely dangerous. It has led to the modern apostate “church”, full of false conversions: people who think God loves them, when actually they are enemies of God and He has nothing but wrath planned for them, because they never obeyed the Gospel and followed after Jesus.
Those people in modern churches are not born-again and do not have the Holy Spirit: they are just like the world, and they love the world, because they belong to it. Yet the Scripture says: “Friendship with the world is enmity with God”.
I have four comments…
1. Firstly, I am myself an annihilationist. Concepts such as the “immortal soul”, and “eternal torment in the Lake of Fire” are nowhere to be found in the Scriptures. All that stuff originates from Christianity and church religion (ie handed-down traditions), not from the Bible. Certainly, the angels will be in the Lake of Fire forever, because they are immortal beings. But man is mortal, as the Bible plainly states.
2. However, “Hell” is very much in the Bible. It is the Greek word γέεννα (Gehenna) and it appears a dozen times in the Bible, and is alluded to many more. Jesus warned His disciples about it. If Jesus says that God will throw men into the Lake of Fire, then it *will* happen.
3. “Eternal” means eternal. The Bible makes clear that you either die, or you live forever. There are no shades of grey – it’s a black and white issue. John 3:16 says that those who have eternal life will *not* perish. So, does “not perish” mean “eventually perish”? No, it obviously means “never perish”. Thus anyone who has “eternal life” must live forever, and thus “eternal” (αἰώνιος) means *forever*. There is no “coming back to life” after the second death. It is final, and forever means forever.
4. This article dismisses the fear of God – that is a very dangerous thing to teach, and any man who teaches this should himself be afraid and repent, since James says teachers will be judged more strictly. Jesus plainly told His disciples to fear God, and the Bible is very emphatic that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. The Scriptures say that salvation is *specifically* for those who fear God (Acts 10:35, Acts 13:26, Rom 3:18).
The New Testament commands us to fear God in dozens of places. That cannot be denied. Yet so many people cling to the one solitary verse which can be twisted to mean the opposite: 1 John 4:18. However, John is not dismissing the fear of God: he is talking about the confidence which comes from having received the Spirit. If we have been born of the Spirit and are abiding in Him faithfully, then we have a clear conscience and assurance that we are loved by God. But that does not mean we have no fear of God!
Let me use an illustration: An experienced airline pilot can fly a plane *without* fear of crashing – but does that mean he has no fear of crashing? Think about that paradox. Does a pilot fly with fear? Whether you are flying a Boeing 747 thousands of feet above the ground and responsible for the lives of hundreds of people – or dealing with the Living God – it is important in both cases to appreciate how scary and dangerous and truly terrifying that thing is, and to never, ever forget that for one minute, or else you are putting yourself in danger! And yet, if you are an experienced pilot (or you have the assurance of the Holy Spirit) then, in the midst of this huge, terrifying thing that you fear, you can have confidence and assurance that you will be safe.
But that very confidence is based entirely on the pre-supposition that you have the fear in the first place. If you were on a plane and the pilot told you: “I’ve been doing this so long, I no longer have any nerves about flying” then you could his appreciate lack of fear. But if he said: “I don’t see what’s so scary about falling thousands of feet to your death”, then you would rightly see his lack of fear as extremely dangerous.
So too is a lack of fear of God extremely dangerous. It has led to the modern apostate “church”, full of false conversions: people who think God loves them, when actually they are enemies of God and He has nothing but wrath planned for them, because they never obeyed the Gospel and followed after Jesus.
Those people in modern churches are not born-again and do not have the Holy Spirit: they are just like the world, and they love the world, because they belong to it. Yet the Scripture says: “Friendship with the world is enmity with God”.
Hello. I’ve been a Christain my whole life but have recently had some issues. I’m having a hard time loving and beliving in a God that would send good people to eternal torment just for not believing in something that’s easy not to believe in.
I can’t imagine myself being happy in paradise while better people than me are suffering. Your articles have been a major help, so thank you for your hard work.
I just wanted to ask (as someone who’s grown up around and been taught of an eternal Hell), do you think your argument is enough to ease my mind and be taken as truth? Should I consider it just one of the many possibilities, or is it honestly the most truthful, most likely possibility in your opinion?
Thank you.
Hey John,
Thanks for the kind words. Unfortunately, my personal assurance in an argument will never be able to ease your mind. It really all comes down to your view of God. Does he look like Jesus, who only condemned the religious leaders yet told the adulteress, “I don’t condemn you”? Or does he look like the violent warmonger of the old testament, who supposedly instructed the purging of entire people groups?
One of the more obvious mistakes in Evangelical theology is the belief in Biblical inerrancy. If Israel’s depiction of the OT God is accurate, then I’m afraid there is no ease in store for your mind. If, however, that god was the interpretation of a violent people living in a violent world – a depiction that Jesus came to overturn – then a view of eternal torment is untenable.
The strictly Biblical argument can be swung in multiple directions, as is true of virtually every debate that has persisted among Protestants. You won’t find your answers there. Your answer is ultimately found in Jesus words, found in John 14:9, when he says, “Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father.”
I have grown up knowing God as Father, and that view, along with the words of Christ, has led me to reject the doctrine of Hell with complete and utter certainly, as well as profound peace. I cannot give that assurance to you, but I can point you back to the Father whom Jesus came to reveal.
Early in the article there is a reference to Romans 20:10. Every version I have ends at chapter 16. Are we to assume that is a typo? If not, what would it cross reference to in the NASB or NIV?
Something that has been skirted around a bit. If the word “eternal” does not modify death in the way we have traditionally understood it, then how is it that we do not apply the same logic when using it to modify life? To be more to the point, what does “eternal life” even mean if “eternal” does not mean eternal as usually understood?
Point of order: Gregory of Nyssa was not present at the first ever Council of Nicea, as stated above, because that took place in 325, ten years before Gregory was born. Nor did he help to found the creed, because it was first promulgated at said Council. Gregory attended the later Council of Constantinople in 381 where he was involved with amending the creed.
I wanted to say thank you so much, I was nearly brought to tears. I have always been a Christian but could never even really stomach the idea of God condemning a person to eternal torture. I almost thought something like, I don’t know if I want eternal life if the better part of humanity is excluded. I even theorized up something rudimentarily like restorative punishment and the idea of Universal Salvation.
But I still felt so alone. Even my closest loved ones let the doctrine’s fear control them, or at least believe in it. I don’t begrudge anyone their opinions on faith, but they throw the Book at me. It just fills my heart with joy to knw that these ideals I have always seen in Christ represented somewhere in the faith, even if long ago. So thank you showing me. I’m definitely going to look into the people you quoted and their history and beliefs.
God pays everyone what they deserve. If people don’t accept Christ’s payment for their sins on the cross, they’ll have to pay for their own in hell. But hell is not eternal. People will spend a certain amount of time in hell, depending on what sins they’ve done. Then, they will die. Eternal life is only promised to believers in Christ.
if a person can “pay for their own sins” as you suggest here than it weakens and diminishes what Christ did on the cross.
“eternal life” is not promised to believers in Christ. Aionios life is, and Aionios does not translate into eternal.
Jesus tells us exactly what Aionios life is in John 17:3. John 17:3
Jesus says “NOW THIS IS AEONIOS LIFE THAT THEY KNOW YOU, THE ONLY TRUE GOD, AND JESUS CHRIST, WHOM YOU HAVE SENT.
Aionios is an adjective from the root word Aion (noun) which has a beginning and an end but is of unknown duration. So the adjective Aionios can be understood as a quality of the Age (AION) that has an unknown beginning and an unknown end.
Feel free to research and read other classical works written before, during and after the time of Christ where the words Aion, Aionion, and Aionios are used. They never refer to anything closely regarding the word “eternal”.
Have a blessed day.
I have been studying God’s Word over 45 years. I finally realized that I couldn’t know my Father in heaven without first studying the origin of religions. It was then, that I could start seeing my Teacher the Spirit of God, getting through to me.
I would appreciate purchasing the pdf version of How & When, etc. I am 78 and badly crippled in my feet and hands along with nerve damage in my hands. It’s a lot easier for me to press a button on my laptop than handle a book and turn a page.
Let me know if you can do that. I have a debit card if you can.
Blessings – – – -Sam
The Brazen Church fulfils an important role in bringing to the attention of Christians that lots of church doctrines are not grounded in the Bible, such as the article above relating to the origins of the teaching of hell. Before I read your article, I worked it out for myself that eternal torture in a hellfire was not the destiny of the wicked. From once you cut out the Hebrew or Greek words in the Bible mistranslated as hell, it becomes obvious from numerous Bible verses that God destroys the wicked for eternity in the Lake of Fire.
I understand what you are trying to say. However, there seems to be plenty of mention of hell before the New Testament. How is this explained? For instance, the following scriptures: Deut 32:22 For a fire is kindled in My anger,
And shall burn to the lowest hell;
It shall consume the earth with her increase,
And set on fire the foundations of the mountains.
Psalm 9:17 The wicked shall be turned into hell,
And all the nations that forget God.
Psalm55:15 Let death seize them;
Let them go down alive into hell,
For wickedness is in their dwellings and among them.
Psalm 139:8 If I ascend into heaven, You are there;
If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there.
Proverbs 5:5 Her feet go down to death,
Her steps lay hold of £hell.
Proverbs 7:27 Her house is the way to £hell,
Descending to the chambers of death.
Proverbs9:18 But he does not know that the dead are there,
That her guests are in the depths of £hell.
Proverbs 15:11 Hell£ and £Destruction are before the LORD;
So how much more the hearts of the sons of men.
Proverbs 15:24 The way of life winds upward for the wise,
That he may turn away from £hell below.
Proverbs 23:14 You shall beat him with a rod,
And deliver his soul from £hell.
Proverbs 27:20 Hell£ and £Destruction are never full;
So the eyes of man are never satisfied.
Isiah 14:9 “Hell from beneath is excited about you,
To meet you at your coming;
It stirs up the dead for you,
All the chief ones of the earth;
It has raised up from their thrones
All the kings of the nations.
Ezek 31:15“Thus says the Lord GOD: ‘In the day when it went down to hell, I caused mourning. I covered the deep because of it. I restrained its rivers, and the great waters were held back. I caused Lebanon to mourn for it, and all the trees of the field wilted because of it. 16I made the nations shake at the sound of its fall, when I cast it down to hell together with those who descend into the Pit; and all the trees of Eden, the choice and best of Lebanon, all that drink water, were comforted in the depths of the earth. 17They also went down to hell with it, with those slain by the sword; and those who were its strong arm dwelt in its shadows among the nations.
Ezek 32:21 The strong among the mighty
Shall speak to him out of the midst of hell
With those who help him:
‘They have gone down,
They lie with the uncircumcised, slain by the sword.’
EZEK. 32:27 They do not lie with the mighty
Who are fallen of the uncircumcised,
Who have gone down to hell with their weapons of war;
They have laid their swords under their heads,
But their iniquities will be on their bones,
Because of the terror of the mighty in the land of the living.
Amos 9:2 “Though they dig into £hell,
From there My hand shall take them;
Though they climb up to heaven,
From there I will bring them down;
Hab. 2:5 “Indeed, because he transgresses by wine,
He is a proud man,
And he does not stay at home.
Because he enlarges his desire as £hell,
And he is like death, and cannot be satisfied,
He gathers to himself all nations
And heaps up for himself all peoples.
Matthew 5:22 But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother £without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment. And whoever says to his brother, ‘Raca!’ shall be in danger of the council. But whoever says, ‘You fool!’ shall be in danger of hell fire. 29If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell. 30And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell.
Mat. 10:28 And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. 9And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you. It is better for you to enter into life with one eye, rather than having two eyes, to be cast into hell fire.
Mat. 23:15 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel land and sea to win one proselyte, and when he is won, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves.
Mat. 23:33 Serpents, brood of vipers! How can you escape the condemnation of hell?
Mark 9:43If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter into life maimed, rather than having two hands, to go to hell, into the fire that shall never be quenched—45And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life lame, rather than having two feet, to be cast into hell, £into the fire that shall never be quenched—47And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye, rather than having two eyes, to be cast into hell fire—
Luke 12:5 But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear Him who, after He has killed, has power to cast into hell; yes, I say to you, fear Him!
James 3:6 And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity. The tongue is so set among our members that it defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire by hell.
2Pet. 2:4 For if God did not spare the angels who sinned, but cast them down to hell and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved for judgment;
Just sayin. 🙂
(If you’d like a more in-depth look at how “Eternity” weaseled it’s way into scripture, we’ve made this 13,000 word study on the topic available for download)
Where can I download this word study and also may I save this article to my hard drive?
“the doctrine of eternal torment was not a widely held view for the first five centuries after Christ”
But what about John Chrysostom, a contemporary of Gregory?
See:
What is Orthodox Hell?
https://afkimel.wordpress.com/2013/05/06/what-is-orthodox-hell/
which contains long quotes from John’s teaching about the lake of fire.
Great articles. Thanks for writing them. I’ve been a Christian for 35 years and held to the standard view of hell as a place of eternal torment for unbelievers. Over the past month or so I have read a considerable numbers of articles (including these 3 articles) that have convinced me that universalism is true. I recommend to all of you an article entitled “Universalism and the Bible” by Keith Derose. Keith is a christian and a philosophy professor at Yale. Very good article! Very balanced and persuasive.
Universalism: The Prevailing Doctrine by J.W. Hanson was also helpful.
Finally, Universalism seems most consistent with the character of God as a loving father. In Luke 11 when asked to “teach us to pray…” Jesus told the disciples to call God father–pretty amazing!
This is a very scholarly read into the concept of universal salvation. However, what is stopping me from embracing this is that the Bible is pretty clear that in the end times not all will have the tears wiped from their eyes. Revelation 21 says that the unbelievers and cowards will be thrown into the lake of fire, the second death. Regardless of if you view that as annihilation or eternal torment, the verse doesn’t go onto say that the unbelievers will be saved eventually. It could have, but it doesn’t.
There’s also another scholarly post on hell that I think kind of goes against this idea that its a modern pagan invention: https://actheologian.com/2015/07/03/hell/
I would appreciate to hear your thoughts on this? Thanks!
My name is Alan Finch. I became a Christian 42 years ago.
It is important to understand that the Lake of Fire is not a physical Lake of Fire. The Biblical phrase “Lake of Fire” is symbolic for a Spiritual Lake of Fire which is representative of the FIRE of God’s Spirit that is going to do a transforming work of “Divine Purification” in each individual that comes before the Great White Throne Judgment. This transforming work from God’s Spirit will give these individuals a full understanding of God’s Boundless Love for them and the entire human race. (Note: The Scriptures do not reveal how long that this process will take)
I have written a 26 page article that Biblically deals with this subject extensively. If anyone would like a copy, feel free to e-mail me and ask for a copy and I will e-mail you a copy.
Candy33alan@aol.com
My name is Alan Finch. I became a Christian 42 years ago.
The “Mercy Seat” which was among the Children of Israel in the Old Testament was the most important object in the Tabernacle. The “Mercy Seat” represented the Throne of God in Heaven. The Great White Throne in Heaven (i.e – Throne of Mercy) will be the very Throne that God will be seated on when He passes judgment on all those who come before Him at the Great White Throne Judgment.
The Great White Throne Judgment which has been misunderstood by today’s Church will be the judgment of God executing His GREAT MERCY of RECONCILING to Himself each and every person who comes before the Great White Throne Judgment. This will be done through the transforming work by FIRE from God’s Spirit for the purpose of “Divine Purification.” This has only been made possible because of what Christ accomplished on the Cross by the shedding of His Redeeming Blood for ALL. (Note: The Scriptures do not reveal the length of time that this transforming work of God will be. Very likely, the length of time will vary with each person)
Colossians 1:20 – “Christ, who predetermined by God, bled peace into the world by His death on the Cross as God’s means of reconciling to Himself the whole creation, all things in heaven and all things on earth.”
The “Mercy Seat” in the Tabernacle of the Old Testament was a shadow of the future “Mercy Seat” from which the Lord will execute His GREAT MERCY to each and every person that comes before the Great White Throne Judgment. The Great White Throne Judgment will not be a judgment of people spending eternity being tormented in the Lake of Fire which has become the popular present-day traditional teaching of the Church.
I have written a 27 page article that Biblically will answer a number of the most important questions in regards to the final outcome of the entire human race. It is extensive, that is why that the article is 27 pages. If anyone would like a copy, feel free to e-mail me and ask for a copy and I will e-mail you a copy.
(candy33alan@aol.com)
I came to faith over twenty years ago and have struggled with the whole question of salvation for much of that time.
For many years I wrestled with the horrible doctrine of Hell with it’s associated eternal conscious torment. I would fear for my friends and family and what would happen to them when they died. I would even fear for myself, not knowing whether my “sinner’s prayer” and subsequent believer’s baptism was sufficient to ensure my own salvation. How could such a Gospel really be good news? It only serves to cast God in the role of a psychopathic sadist. I always found it difficult to evangelise. The message would basically boil down to this; God loves you so much that he sent his only Son to suffer and die on the cross for you. Oh, and by the way, if you don’t accept this, you’ll burn eternally in Hell.
Over recent years, after considerable study of God’s Word, taking into account the original meaning of the Greek & Hebrew, and other sources, I have come to accept the marvellous real Good News as believed in by the early church fathers; that of universal salvation.
As a footnote, I recently moved home which necessitated finding a new church. I had previously attended an Anglican church (I live in the UK). There are numerous churches located near to where I live now, and I decided to try a few of them to see where I might best fit in and find a home. Last Sunday I attended a Baptist church. The sermon being preached was part of a series on the Great Commission. It just so happens that the particular sermon for this service was on the question of whether Hell should motivate us to preach the Gospel! After dismissing annihilationism and barely mentioning Biblical universal salvation, the minister confirmed his belief in a literal Hell for those who don’t accept Christ during this lifetime. Needless to say, I won’t be returning to this particular church. The problem of course is that most churches that I’ve been involved with over the years either accept Hell as a place of eternal conscious torment (or eternal separation for those churches who can’t bear such strong language), or conditional mortality / annihilationism. This of course leaves me in something of a quandary as to which church I should attend. I’m sure that many who have come to accept universal salvation have the same problem.
In conclusion, I’ll say just one thing in response to those who believe in Hell as a place of eternal conscious torment for unbelievers. Brother, or Sister, you’d better be very sure of your own salvation!
Well said brother. My experience has been similar to yours, albeit I have come to find conditionalism as the acceptable alternative to Augustinian eternal torment. I had the opportunity to research for the M.Phil. on this wide topic, with focus on T.R.Birks. (University of Cardiff 2000).
What do you make of these quotes from early Church fathers:
https://coldcasechristianity.com/writings/what-did-early-christians-believe-about-hell/
Would appreciate the response.
I recently discovered this site and hope that you get my response:
The problem with the Fathers is that their thoughts are not presented in the original language which they spoke, which would have been Greek. In the West, we have translations of their papers, and as mentioned before, many of the linguists who took on the translation of the Greek into Latin were deficient in their understanding of the nuances of the words they were translating.
For instance, the first quote we are given is from The Epistle of Barnabas (70 – 130 AD).
“The way of darkness is crooked, and it is full of cursing. It is the way of eternal death, with punishment.”
In what language was this epistle written? A simple Google search reveals that it was written in Greek. By now, you should immediately realize that there could be a problem with the translation of this epistle from Greek to Latin, and then to the English we read. To check on this, I first found the epistle in the English translation. The above quoted part is Verse 1 in Chapter 20.
Now let’s look at the Greek:
δὲ το μ λαος ὁδ ς ἐστιν σκολιὰ καὶ κατ ρας μεστ .ὁδὸς ἐστιν θάνατον αἰωνίου μετὰ τιμωρίας,
The Greek word here is aionios. Aionios, as the Greek linguist, Dr. Ilaria Ramelli, has noted, does not mean “eternal.” There is a specific word for eternal in Greek. That word is “adidios.” But when you, as a translator, have been taught by your professor that aionios means eternal, then you follow what you have been taught as a good member of the Church. It is also interesting to note that the full quote in English translation uses the words “thou” and “thee,” which belong more to Medieval English than the Greek language. This distinctly points to a translation bias from translators who did not know Greek and were following the erroneous translation from Greek to Latin which started with Augustine. We can discount the Epistle of Barnabas as being some sort of indelible proof of eternal hell.
Researching the next quote, from Ignatius of Antioch, I found more translational dishonesty from Roman Catholic sources. Apparently to be a “scholar” in the Roman Catholic Church doesn’t involve so much of investigation as it does regurgitating what you have been taught and trying to establish that as truth.
The New Advent translation of Ignatius’ letter to the Ephesians reads:
“Do not err, my brethren. James 1:16 Those that corrupt families shall not inherit the kingdom of God. 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 If, then, those who do this as respects the flesh have suffered death, how much more shall this be the case with any one who corrupts by wicked doctrine the faith of God, for which Jesus Christ was crucified! Such an one becoming defiled [in this way], shall go away into everlasting fire, and so shall every one that hearkens unto him.”
Just one problem – that’s NOT what the Greek text reads. It took me a few minutes to figure this out because I was reading the New Advent mistranslation and trying to find it in the Greek text of Ignatius. Only when I went back to my friend’s paper did I realize my mistake. The translation in her paper is correct:
“Those that corrupt families shall not inherit the kingdom of God. If, then, those who do this as respects the flesh have suffered death, how much more shall this be the case with any one who corrupts by wicked doctrine the faith of God, for which Jesus Christ was crucified! Such an one becoming defiled [in this way], shall go away into unquenchable fire, and so shall every one that hearkens unto him.”
That is exactly what the Greek reads. The Greek word for unquenchable is – are you ready for this – ασβεστον – asbestos! How interesting. What the translators have done here is to superimpose their own understanding on the text rather than look at the Greek words. The adjective “unquenchable” does not carry the same meaning as the adjective “everlasting,” and this is especially notable in the Greek where once again in the New Testament, the word that the Latin translators have translated as everlasting is “aionios.” So the New Advent translation of Ignatius isn’t even in line with the rest of the Latin translations. It is profoundly dishonest to take the word ασβεστον and make it mean what it does not. It is either lazy scholarship or outright dishonesty to stay in line with the traditional idea of an eternal hell. Either way, I find it despicable.
What is the unquenchable fire? Once again, let us allow Scripture to teach us rather than the prejudices of men:
Hebrews 12:29 For our God is a consuming fire.
The passionate love of God for us is described as a fire. It consumes all that is not like us, cleansing us and making us pure. And it is unquenchable, that is, it can never be put out, never ended, never stopped. It is a love eternal, and thus, is indeed the unquenchable fire. To try to make this the same as eternal punishment is reading into the text what Mr. Wallace desires to see and has been trained to see by those who have overseen his conversion to Christianity.
The same is true of the next quote we are given, which is from Second Clement 5:5.
“If we do the will of Christ, we shall obtain rest; but if not, if we neglect his commandments, nothing will rescue us from eternal punishment.”
And, as is my custom, in the Greek: μελλουσης βασιλειας και ζωης αιωνιου.
There’s that word again – aionios. By now it should start to be pretty clear that there has been a serious translational misstep from the Greek to the Latin to the English. But you should expect this sort of foul up when A.) you don’t know Greek B.) you are taught the language incorrectly by teachers who were taught incorrectly C.) you don’t ask questions but just do as you were taught and D.) you are damn lazy and don’t bother doing your own research to be sure you were taught correctly. This is referred to as “presuppositionalism” and it means that instead of approach a text with questions and investigation, you presuppose that it says a certain thing and then treat the text as such.
The fact of the matter is that Apokatastasis was the majority teaching of the Greek speaking Christian world for five centuries. It was dealt a death blow by Emperor Justinian, who closed the schools who were teaching it and went on to bully the Second Council of Constantinople into accepting his canons against Apokatastasis, canons which I have shown to be considered by modern scholarship as highly suspect and are not included in the original canons of that council.
I have been a Christian since I can remember. I’ve been taught of the love and grace and a God and this was so attractive to me. However I have always had a problem with a god who would cast me into an eternal burning tormenting hell if I somehow happened to miss this concept. It has always seemed contradictory to me to a God of love and grace and has caused me to live under immense fear throughout my life of 60 years.
I rebelled for many years and took the attitude of “what’s the use, I can never measure up to what is expected of me to gain eternal life. I dove into a world of drugs and alcohol, trying to forget how hopeless I was and the hell that was my ultimate end. Thank you for bringing to light beliefs that have always been hidden away in my mind and, I believe, in my spirit. I am committed to studying this more. The absence of eternal torment seems to fit with the god of love that I came to know.
Please send us a copy.
Just one question, who is satan? Are there flaws in this teaching also? What is his ultimate end? Is there eternal torment for “him”? Is there redemption for “him”? Is he a fallen angel or a concept? Thanks for the article.
Hello there,
Yes I’d love to receive the extensive research on the false doctrine of eternal torment.
Thank you so much!!
pdf_hell
Not a comment, but please send me the full pdf on your hell series! Thanks!
I’d like your full series on Hell .
Please send PDF’s on hell