REASON #28If the Hell doctrine shuts down a person's honesty, can it be legitimate?
There are four words used in the Bible that have all been translated into the word ‘Hell’. This mis-interpretation is not honest because these four words all mean different things.
They are: Sheol (Hebrew for grave), Tartaroo (Greek for a place of restraint or prison for angelic or demonic beings), Hades (Greek for a place of the dead or grave) and Gehenna (Greek for the city dump).
None of these, with the possible exception of Gehenna or the city dump have any connection with fire. None of these have any connotation with duration, especially that of ‘forever’ as we understand that concept.
These do not therefore represent a place of eternal conscious torture or torment in fire in any respect. That is the honest truth. Study these words for yourself in Strong’s Concordance or anywhere you like.
Don’t believe me just because I say so. Prove it for yourself. It is not honest to perpetuate a lie, even if it is told by a friend, pastor, church, TV preacher or theologian. The Hell dogma suppresses the truth in unrighteousness. It is a doctrine of demons, if you ask me, because it is deceitful.
The apostle Timothy speaks of this in 1 Timothy 4:1-2: ‘Now the Spirit speaks expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;
2 Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron;’
If it is deceitful, it is not honest. If it is not honest, it is illegitimate and needs to be eradicated from our thoughts, vocabulary and especially church doctrine. God owns the planet we live on and everything in it. He makes the rules, not mankind.
Let’s just be honest and admit that the doctrine of conscious torment in the flames of Hell is not to be found in the pages of the Bible. It is extra-biblical, even if all the clergymen of the entire world say to the contrary.
If it is not in scripture, it should not be in church doctrine. Period. Notice 1 Peter 2:12 ‘Having your conversation honest among the Gentiles: that, whereas they speak against you as evildoers, they may by your good works, which they shall behold, glorify God in the day of visitation.’
The Hell dogma is so well entrenched and cherished by millions of ‘Christians’ because it empowers them to think more highly of themselves than they ought. That is, it enables them to look down their noses at the rest of us sinners who are obviously on their way to Hell.
They suppose that they are better than those of us they look down upon as sinners in the hands of an angry God. But what God thinks of them is ALL that really matters.
What people think or say does not really matter much.
It is not our prerogative to condemn people or relegate them to the ‘Hell’ category. But Christians do it all the time in their thoughts. They condemn us sinners, thinking they will not ‘go to Hell’ but we will. They are better than us.
They are no longer sinners, but we are. The train track has been switched to Heaven for them, but is still set for ‘Hell’ for us. Be careful about this.
Bottom line: Let’s all be careful not to relegate anyone to condemnation, but to pray that they all will come to the knowledge of the truth, repentance and faith. Then study to show themselves approved in God’s eyes, even about the myth we all learned as kids called Hell.