The Lake of Fire has been a theological topic of great controversy. Several cults reject the doctrine of eternal punishment in the Lake of Fire, instead they assert that the place is purely symbolic in nature, and are adamant that one should not take this teaching literally. However, any good student of the Bible knows that although there is much figurative language throughout the Scriptures, he should always interpret the Bible in the literal sense. Therefore, the believer of God’s Word should consider the Lake of Fire a literal place of torment. The Bible is clear that a place of torment does exist, and that it is a place where many real people will meet their final fate. Moreover, the Bible is clear on who will go to the Lake of Fire, and why they will go there. This research will show who is destined for such a place and why. This research will also analyze Scripture erroneously taken out of context by those who claim that a believer can lose his salvation and end up in the Lake of Fire. Scripture quotations are taken form the New American Standard Bible, NASB, unless otherwise noted.
What is the Lake of Fire? According to The New Unger’s Bible Dictionary, the Lake of Fire is synonymous with the Greek term Gehen’na, which carries the same meaning. The word Gehen’na in the Hebrew language is Hinnom. The Hebrew word Hinnom refers to the Valley of Hinnom, which was a place near the city of Jerusalem in the Old Testament that served as a garbage dump for refuse. The Valley of Hinnom was also a place where idolaters practiced the sacrifice of infants to the god Molech. The valley later became a place where the bodies of dead criminals were taken for incineration. Due to its hellish nature, the valley eventually be...
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... Lake of Fire was not originally meant for man (Matt. 25:41), however, Jesus tells us that because a person does not believe in Him, he will be condemned (John 3:16), and the Day of Judgment awaits him (2 Pt. 2:9). Consequently, the punishment will be an eternal separation from the God that created him (2 Thess. 1:9). The Bible has made it abundantly clear that God does not take any pleasure in the eternal destruction of the wicked person. On the contrary, it is God’s desire that every man turn from the evil that he does and cling to Him for salvation (Ezek. 33:11). To show His love for unrighteous man, Christ died for every man (1 Pt. 3:18). Christ is the truth that will lead a person to salvation, and this salvation it is available to all men (1 Tim. 2:4), but it is man’s responsibility to repent and come to the knowledge of this truth (2 Tim. 2:25).
One does need a full knowledge of the slave trade and slavery to know that those coming from the continent of Africa and those born into slavery suffered various forms of psychological rewiring, some positive but most negatively. Yet, it is scarcely asked what the mental state of the White population was. There is this generalized notion of acceptance, however, there must have been ‘something' felt by this ethnicity, or at least by some. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the relations between races, specifically the racial attitudes in 18th century Portugal and Brazil. To do so, we will be using Robert Edgar Conrad’s, Children of God’s Fire: A documentary History of Black Slavery in Brazil, primary source, Section 5.1, focusing
Do you remember your first love? How you felt at night, unable to sleep because of the lopsided ratio of infatuation-induced adrenaline to blood? The feeling of the pedal shuddering against the bottom of your toes as you start your clunky first car? The years between thirteen and nineteen are filled with acne, first loves, tough crowds at school, and first tastes of freedom. The concerns and passions during this period of life are well expressed through tones, perspectives, and a myriad of literary devices in Tony Hoagland’s “History of Desire” and Audre Lorde’s “Hanging Fire”. Although these two poems share the same themes, Hoagland’s reflects back upon this time, while Lorde’s is still enmeshed in these adolescent struggles.
1. “It is dark here. The flame of the candle stands still in the air. Nothing moves in this tunnel save our hand on the paper. We are alone here under the earth. It is a fearful word, alone. The laws say that none among men may be alone, ever at any time, for this is the great transgression and the root of all evil.” pg. 17
If Christ on His cross intended to save every man, then He intended to save those who were lost before He died. If the doctrine be true, that He died for all men, then He died for some who were in hell before He came into this world, for doubtless ...
‘What bliss will fill the ransomed souls, when they in glory dwell, to see the sinner as he rolls, in quenchless flames of hell’? (Isaac Watts). In the bible of Puritan times, the subject of hell was unavoidable. Sin and hellfire were also the dark and twisting theme for many writers back in the Puritan age of witches and the urgency for sin redemption for cross over from life to death.
It is located in the Jordan Rift valley between the African plate and the Arabian plate, with Jordan to the east and Israel and Palestine to the west. One thing that makes the Dead Sea even more interesting is that it is earth’s lowest elevation on land. It is one of the saltiest bodies of water ever discovered. The Jordan River is the Dead Sea’s major source for water. The Biblical reference to the “Dead Sea” is salt sea, sea of Arabah, or the Eastern Sea. According to the Bible King David used the Dead Sea for refuge. Dwellings near the Dead Sea are recorded in the Bible as having taken place before the Israelites came to Cannan. Also the cities mentioned in the Book of Genesis that were destroyed during the time of Abraham are somewhere on the southeastern shore. Furthermore, “In Ezekiel 47:8-9 there is a specific prophecy that the sea will "... be healed and made fresh", becoming a normal lake capable of supporting marine life. A similar prophecy is stated in Zechariah 14:8, which says that "Living waters will go out from Jerusalem, half of them to the eastern sea (likely the Dead Sea) and half to the western sea (the Mediterranean)..." The Dead Sea today is a supplier of a multitude of products. The Egyptians use asphalt from the area to aid in mummification process. Also, potash to make fertilizers come from the Dead Sea, and the salt and minerals are often used to make make-up products. The medical
The Gospel of Matthew is an eyewitness story written for an audience of believers, under great stress, and persecution. Matthew develops a theological plot incorporating genealogy, speeches, parables, inter and intra textual references, common vocabulary, and fulfillment quotations, with a tension that builds as we are invited into the story. The crucifixion and resurrection bring us to a Christological climax that symbolically points beyond its conclusion to God’s Kingdom, bringing atonement, salvation and the ushering in the Eschaton. The extraordinary events surrounding the crucifixion act as commentary, adding important details concerning the death of Jesus.1
Hell is what he is referring to when the author says firey pit. He describes hell as the lowest,
of wrath, a wide and bottomless pit, full of the fire of wrath, that you
Within it sit many concepts, such as heaven and hell, divine judgment, the second coming, the defeat of evil and the new creation, among other things. As such, it encapsulates any discussion about the ‘end times’. This is certainly an apt title for much of the Book of Revelation then, with so much discussion of divine judgment on the first earth, the second coming of Christ and the coming of the New Creation. Within the pages of this text, however, a more complex eschatology is portrayed. While in the grander literary scheme of the text, we see the ultimate destruction of death and hades and their throwing into the lake of fire, the text also portrays a more nuanced view of eschatology.
In conclusion, Fire has 3 different meanings which lead you to new thinking and insight towards the world. Fire represents change which is shown through Montag’s symbolic change from using fire to burn knowledge into using fire to help him find knowledge; fire can represent knowledge as demonstrated through Faber, and fire can represent rebirth of knowledge as demonstrated through the phoenix. Overall fires representation is not one of destruction but one of knowledge, thinking, new insight, and acknowledgment.
What I detected, rightly or wrongly, was an animus against punishment as such. When I gingerly introduced the subject of Hell, those who had spontaneously rejected capital punishment and then had some second thoughts about life imprisonment when looked at in itself and not as an alternative to the death penalty seemed inclined toward a creative interpretation of eternal punishment. And of course there have been eminent theologians who have wondered aloud about the doctrine of Hell. Even Jacques Maritain, late in his life had written equivocally on the subject.
As stated in the bible it reads: “Moses was tending the flock of Jethro, his father in law, the priest of Midian. He led the flock far into the wilderness and came to Horev, the mountain of Elohim. The angel of YHVH appeared to him in a flame of fire out of a bush. He gazed: the bush is blasing fire yet the bush is not consumed!” (Exodus 3:1-2) Exodus is the second of the five “books of Moses” that tells the story of the Exodus of Israelites from Egypt through the Sinai Desert.
...e enemy is thrown into the lake of fire (Revelation 19:1-3; 19:11-20:15), and the doom of death is celebrated (Isaiah 26:19).
Dante’s Inferno presents the reader with many questions and thought provoking dialogue to interpret. These crossroads provide points of contemplation and thought. Dante’s graphic depiction of hell and its eternal punishment is filled with imagery and allegorical meanings. Examining one of these cruxes of why there is a rift in the pits of hell, can lead the reader to interpret why Dante used the language he did to relate the Idea of a Just and perfect punishment by God.