Bible: Comprehending Hell

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Comprehending Hell Ultimately hell is the place of eternal torment and separation from God for non-believers, and we can get a better insight and understanding on hell and what it might resemble through the Biblical Language of hell and through the different descriptions the Bible uses for hell. There are a few names and and translations for hell in the bible that when translated to Greek or Hebrew give us a clearer idea of hell. Sheol is the Hebrew translation for hell, which translates to the pit, the grave, and hell. Hades is the greek word for hell, and its meaning translates the same as the Hebrew translation Sheol, so they're often grouped together. Tartarus is the greek word for hell, found in the bible only once. “The Apostle Peter …show more content…

“The fire of hell is the anguish generated by the awareness that a person has invested his or her entire life what is perishable and temporal rather than imperishable and eternal” (Grenz 643) Some people think the “fire” and some of the physical pain in hell is figurative and only the mental sorrow and ager is real. “Any figure of speech has a literal point. What is figurative is the burning flame; what is literal is that this is a place of utter heartbreak. It is a loss of everything, and it’s meant to stand for the fact that hell is the worst possible situation that could ever happen to a person.” (Gungor 3) The Bible is not completely clear about whether there will be physical pain or not, but we do know these facts for sure. “The account teaches some important facts about death and hell: (a) there is conscious existence after death; (b) hell is a real place of torment; (c) there is no second chance after death; (d) the dead cannot communicate with the living” (Ryrie 606). “In Jesus’ famous parable of Lazarus and the rich man, for example, he describes the rich man “in agony in this flame.” Looks obviously like torture, right? This is one of two key passages usually pointed to for the torture image. But let’s look closer. …show more content…

“It is not necessarily evasive to say that the true nature of hell is not revealed in a way that is plain and decisive. It could be the case that the biblical language concerning hell gives us a clear warning that without faith in Christ something very bad will happen, but what the details of that badness are we cannot know. It may in fact be a sign of hermeneutical humility to only go as far as the Bible takes us and not overreach.” (Cook) There’s a reason there are so many different beliefs and viewpoints on what hell is. The Bible is slightly vague when it comes to describing hell or whether or not there is physical torture or just mental torment. “My faith doesn’t depend on the reality of hell, of course. But these days, I have more uncertainty than ever about that part of the afterlife. If I’m honest, I have to admit I don’t know what to think about hell. I really don’t.” (Boyett 4) The Bible is very clear on one thing. Hell is unending punishment and eternal separation from God, family, and everything that is not

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