WHY LIE ABOUT HELL?
40 Good Reasons to Tell the Truth
by Elbert Hardy
40 Good Reasons to Tell the Truth
by Elbert Hardy
PROLOGUE
‘Hell’ is defined as the ever-burning lake of fire where the damned go to consciously be tortured in the flames for all time to come. Thus, God, since he is in control of all things in the universe, is made out to be a cruel, vindictive ogre who sets up his own children for a fall, then lets them fall and then tortures them endlessly without relief.
How would you like to know and know that you know that you will never go to Hell? How freeing would it be for you to realize that you and your children will never be there because there is no such place? That is the specific purpose of truth: to set us FREE. Free from fear. Free from guilt. Free forever. Everyone should want and know this freedom and eventually everyone will have this freedom, thank God!
How liberated would you feel if you knew for sure that your deceased parents or loved ones are not there and never will be? If you are like me, it would be very freeing to realize that you do not need a ‘Get-Out-of-Hell-Free-Card’ because the whole thing was imaginary all along the course of my life and it always has been. It’s mere Hollywood. It’s fake. It doesn’t exist; it never has and it never will. This book will reveal why…
Now of course, some will vehemently disagree with me. You may be one of them. I have interviewed several main-stream pastors who still cling tightly to the old party line that we are all sinners in the hands of an angry God and if we don’t repent before we die, we are doomed to eternal conscious torment in the excruciating flames of Hell. There the wicked will feel pain, according to some preachers, ‘one hundred times greater than we can feel on Earth’. In person, I heard Dr. Erwin Lutzer of Moody Church in Chicago teach this from the pulpit.
I told one of these pastors that he MUST disagree with me and that he could not teach otherwise because if he did, his income would go away. His Elder Board would quickly oust him for his crime and where would he go to work come Monday morning? He responded predictably. He said, ‘No. It is because of Orthodoxy.’ ‘Oh, you mean tradition…’ I quipped. And on and on we went. The point is he can never go against those above him… those who control the purse strings control the doctrines taught in the church. His paycheck determines what is preached. How pathetic! This ought not be.
Another Pastor, when I confronted him to look into this foul dogma said he did not have any time to do any further study on the subject of Hell. How lame is that? Only those brave enough to cast away the restraining power of the ball and chain of Hell will ever be free from it. And oh, what a relief it is! That is why I had to write this for you. I want you to be free of this Hell once and for all.
Hell is perpetrated by conniving or else seriously mis-informed preachers. The conniving ones perpetuate it for two reasons: 1) to scare the faithful into their pews and 2) to scare them so badly they give up their hard-earned money while the preachers laugh all the way to the bank!
This is fraudulent and wrong. Let’s be honest for a change. How about you? Have you really researched and gotten to the bottom of the Hell dogma and its history to find the truth about it for yourself? As I will show, Hell is a blasphemous lie, a swindle, a hood-wink and a hoax even bigger than Evolution, and we need to eradicate the idea from our thinking, our churches and our literature.
This foul doctrine is one of the main reasons there are atheists. They cannot connect a loving and merciful God with the doctrine of eternal conscious torment in the flames of Hell fire. Hell is a concept that would be completely foreign to the Apostles and the early church, yet we must cherish the doctrine because we still put up with it and even defend it to this day. Why? Is it a great story we all love to hear or something? No.
As we will see, Hell is the greatest affront to God and Christianity ever devised… no wonder there are Atheists. Hell is precisely why Darwin developed his Macro Evolution Theory! It is that insidious and detrimental to society and our mental health. It should be a shame and disgrace like unto the teaching of Evolution.
Yet, when I confront those who teach this dogma about this, they say ‘God didn’t do it; they chose this for themselves.’ (Like anyone would really do that). But in reality, God would have had to make Hell and sustain it, and therefore would be responsible. How much hatred would God have to have for his creation to do such a thing as this? Is Hell a Christian doctrine? I dare say, no.
But consider these 40 reasons why this whole doctrine won’t stand up in ‘Bible Court’:
Reason #1 The cross disproves Hell because Jesus did not go there.
Reason #2 No scripture relegates God as a torturer.
Reason #3 There is no such thing as 'separation from God'
Reason #4 The wicked will be 'ground into powder'.
Reason #5 God himself declared: ‘The wicked 'shall sleep a perpetual sleep and NOT AWAKE.’
Reason #6 God can and will KILL and devour the wicked permanently.
Reason #7 God will turn the wicked into ashes.
Reason #8 The soul that sins shall DIE!
Reason #9 What good would be done for God if he tortured someone in Hell for all time to come?
Reason #10 God said his universe was 'very good', so is Hell a good thing created by God?
Reason #11 The Hell dogma was fabricated!
Reason #12 Satan will die, so who would stoke the flames?
Reason #13 The Parable of Lazarus and the Rich Man does NOT support the Hell doctrine.
Reason #14 When we add up all Biblical texts about Hell, fire or judgment, annihilation seems real rather than conscious eternal torment in Hell.
Reason #15 The wicked will be stubble and burnt up.
Reason #16 'Shame and everlasting contempt' can mean ridicule of the wicked.
Reason #17 'Where their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched.'
Reason #18 Hell itself shall be cast into the Lake of Fire (Rev 20:14).
Reason #19 The word translated 'Hell' comes from 4 different words.
Reason #20 When a wicked person dies in the flames of Gehenna fire, it will be as though he had never been.
Reason #21 God said rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, an abomination and an affront to God himself, so why would he tolerate it for all time to come?
Reason #22 The wicked die twice and from the second death there is no further resurrection.
Reason #23 If we must put on immortality to live for all time to come, then we will have SPIRIT BODIES which cannot feel pain so it they have to live in Hell, they thus would not feel it!
Reason #24 God hated the idol worship, particularly and especially the detestable god Molech, because worshipers sacrificed their babies to it by setting a bon fire in the metal gods' belly and then burnt them to death there in sacrifice, so how could he burn people for all time to come?
Reason #25 Common sense makes eternal conscious torture blasphemous!
Reason #26 If conscious torture in the flames of Hell is real then God lied!
Reason #27 Hell is what PEOPLE want; it is not what GOD wants!
Reason #28 If the Hell doctrine shuts down a person's honesty, can it be legitimate?
Reason #29 Even IF it were proved that Hell is a hoax and a great scam, people will still believe it because it is their TRADITION and tradition is more important to them than truth!
Reason #30 The Hell Scam turns otherwise good and noble pastors into Snake Oil salesmen... SHYSTERS!
Reason #31 Endless conscious torment would NOT bring God honor and glory.
Reason #32 Preachers say all sinners who die before repentance and faith in Jesus will go to Hell to consciously burn for all time to come, but it’s not biblical.
Reason #33 Jesus now has first-hand experience in being human, feeling what it's like to be tortured in his own flesh, so why would he want to torture others in the flames of Hell for all time to come?
Reason #34 If you buy into the ‘Hell Scam’, Satan has you right where he wants you: deceived by a doctrine of devils.
Reason #35 Other religions, Islam for example, have Hell as this ever-burning place of endless conscious torture, so how can it be Christian?
Reason #36 Jesus said ‘IF you continue in my word, then you are my disciples in deed. And you shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free.’ (John 8:31-32)
Reason #37 Jesus also said that there is a place where the cursed, the Devil and his angels would be ‘cast ‘into everlasting fire…’ What did he mean?
Reason #38 According to the Apostle John in John 3:36 ‘He that believes the Son has everlasting life: and he that believes not the Son shall not see life but the wrath of God abides on him.’
Reason #39 If wicked people really suffer forever in Hell, where is the victory over sin?
Reason #40 If Hell is real, there would be no reconciliation to our sin, thus nullifying the work Jesus accomplished on the cross!
‘Hell’ is defined as the ever-burning lake of fire where the damned go to consciously be tortured in the flames for all time to come. Thus, God, since he is in control of all things in the universe, is made out to be a cruel, vindictive ogre who sets up his own children for a fall, then lets them fall and then tortures them endlessly without relief.
How would you like to know and know that you know that you will never go to Hell? How freeing would it be for you to realize that you and your children will never be there because there is no such place? That is the specific purpose of truth: to set us FREE. Free from fear. Free from guilt. Free forever. Everyone should want and know this freedom and eventually everyone will have this freedom, thank God!
How liberated would you feel if you knew for sure that your deceased parents or loved ones are not there and never will be? If you are like me, it would be very freeing to realize that you do not need a ‘Get-Out-of-Hell-Free-Card’ because the whole thing was imaginary all along the course of my life and it always has been. It’s mere Hollywood. It’s fake. It doesn’t exist; it never has and it never will. This book will reveal why…
Now of course, some will vehemently disagree with me. You may be one of them. I have interviewed several main-stream pastors who still cling tightly to the old party line that we are all sinners in the hands of an angry God and if we don’t repent before we die, we are doomed to eternal conscious torment in the excruciating flames of Hell. There the wicked will feel pain, according to some preachers, ‘one hundred times greater than we can feel on Earth’. In person, I heard Dr. Erwin Lutzer of Moody Church in Chicago teach this from the pulpit.
I told one of these pastors that he MUST disagree with me and that he could not teach otherwise because if he did, his income would go away. His Elder Board would quickly oust him for his crime and where would he go to work come Monday morning? He responded predictably. He said, ‘No. It is because of Orthodoxy.’ ‘Oh, you mean tradition…’ I quipped. And on and on we went. The point is he can never go against those above him… those who control the purse strings control the doctrines taught in the church. His paycheck determines what is preached. How pathetic! This ought not be.
Another Pastor, when I confronted him to look into this foul dogma said he did not have any time to do any further study on the subject of Hell. How lame is that? Only those brave enough to cast away the restraining power of the ball and chain of Hell will ever be free from it. And oh, what a relief it is! That is why I had to write this for you. I want you to be free of this Hell once and for all.
Hell is perpetrated by conniving or else seriously mis-informed preachers. The conniving ones perpetuate it for two reasons: 1) to scare the faithful into their pews and 2) to scare them so badly they give up their hard-earned money while the preachers laugh all the way to the bank!
This is fraudulent and wrong. Let’s be honest for a change. How about you? Have you really researched and gotten to the bottom of the Hell dogma and its history to find the truth about it for yourself? As I will show, Hell is a blasphemous lie, a swindle, a hood-wink and a hoax even bigger than Evolution, and we need to eradicate the idea from our thinking, our churches and our literature.
This foul doctrine is one of the main reasons there are atheists. They cannot connect a loving and merciful God with the doctrine of eternal conscious torment in the flames of Hell fire. Hell is a concept that would be completely foreign to the Apostles and the early church, yet we must cherish the doctrine because we still put up with it and even defend it to this day. Why? Is it a great story we all love to hear or something? No.
As we will see, Hell is the greatest affront to God and Christianity ever devised… no wonder there are Atheists. Hell is precisely why Darwin developed his Macro Evolution Theory! It is that insidious and detrimental to society and our mental health. It should be a shame and disgrace like unto the teaching of Evolution.
Yet, when I confront those who teach this dogma about this, they say ‘God didn’t do it; they chose this for themselves.’ (Like anyone would really do that). But in reality, God would have had to make Hell and sustain it, and therefore would be responsible. How much hatred would God have to have for his creation to do such a thing as this? Is Hell a Christian doctrine? I dare say, no.
But consider these 40 reasons why this whole doctrine won’t stand up in ‘Bible Court’:
Reason #1 The cross disproves Hell because Jesus did not go there.
Reason #2 No scripture relegates God as a torturer.
Reason #3 There is no such thing as 'separation from God'
Reason #4 The wicked will be 'ground into powder'.
Reason #5 God himself declared: ‘The wicked 'shall sleep a perpetual sleep and NOT AWAKE.’
Reason #6 God can and will KILL and devour the wicked permanently.
Reason #7 God will turn the wicked into ashes.
Reason #8 The soul that sins shall DIE!
Reason #9 What good would be done for God if he tortured someone in Hell for all time to come?
Reason #10 God said his universe was 'very good', so is Hell a good thing created by God?
Reason #11 The Hell dogma was fabricated!
Reason #12 Satan will die, so who would stoke the flames?
Reason #13 The Parable of Lazarus and the Rich Man does NOT support the Hell doctrine.
Reason #14 When we add up all Biblical texts about Hell, fire or judgment, annihilation seems real rather than conscious eternal torment in Hell.
Reason #15 The wicked will be stubble and burnt up.
Reason #16 'Shame and everlasting contempt' can mean ridicule of the wicked.
Reason #17 'Where their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched.'
Reason #18 Hell itself shall be cast into the Lake of Fire (Rev 20:14).
Reason #19 The word translated 'Hell' comes from 4 different words.
Reason #20 When a wicked person dies in the flames of Gehenna fire, it will be as though he had never been.
Reason #21 God said rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, an abomination and an affront to God himself, so why would he tolerate it for all time to come?
Reason #22 The wicked die twice and from the second death there is no further resurrection.
Reason #23 If we must put on immortality to live for all time to come, then we will have SPIRIT BODIES which cannot feel pain so it they have to live in Hell, they thus would not feel it!
Reason #24 God hated the idol worship, particularly and especially the detestable god Molech, because worshipers sacrificed their babies to it by setting a bon fire in the metal gods' belly and then burnt them to death there in sacrifice, so how could he burn people for all time to come?
Reason #25 Common sense makes eternal conscious torture blasphemous!
Reason #26 If conscious torture in the flames of Hell is real then God lied!
Reason #27 Hell is what PEOPLE want; it is not what GOD wants!
Reason #28 If the Hell doctrine shuts down a person's honesty, can it be legitimate?
Reason #29 Even IF it were proved that Hell is a hoax and a great scam, people will still believe it because it is their TRADITION and tradition is more important to them than truth!
Reason #30 The Hell Scam turns otherwise good and noble pastors into Snake Oil salesmen... SHYSTERS!
Reason #31 Endless conscious torment would NOT bring God honor and glory.
Reason #32 Preachers say all sinners who die before repentance and faith in Jesus will go to Hell to consciously burn for all time to come, but it’s not biblical.
Reason #33 Jesus now has first-hand experience in being human, feeling what it's like to be tortured in his own flesh, so why would he want to torture others in the flames of Hell for all time to come?
Reason #34 If you buy into the ‘Hell Scam’, Satan has you right where he wants you: deceived by a doctrine of devils.
Reason #35 Other religions, Islam for example, have Hell as this ever-burning place of endless conscious torture, so how can it be Christian?
Reason #36 Jesus said ‘IF you continue in my word, then you are my disciples in deed. And you shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free.’ (John 8:31-32)
Reason #37 Jesus also said that there is a place where the cursed, the Devil and his angels would be ‘cast ‘into everlasting fire…’ What did he mean?
Reason #38 According to the Apostle John in John 3:36 ‘He that believes the Son has everlasting life: and he that believes not the Son shall not see life but the wrath of God abides on him.’
Reason #39 If wicked people really suffer forever in Hell, where is the victory over sin?
Reason #40 If Hell is real, there would be no reconciliation to our sin, thus nullifying the work Jesus accomplished on the cross!
Conclusion and Epilogue
Do people really suffer consciously in Hell fire for all eternity?
Jan van Eyck, a Flemish painter who lived between 1390 and 1441 titled this painting ‘The Last Judgment’. At the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York where the painting is on display, someone left this placard below the painting: ‘The case against Christianity’. And no wonder. What makes any of this attractive, fair or accurate? Is God really a sadistic torturer?
What benefit would God derive from this? Why would he allow this? Is he the Creator of such an idea? What kind of a character is God? What is he really like? Does a mere 70-year sin-span life deserve and eternity of infinite torture? Is God irrational?
If we are appalled at the idea of chopping off a child’s hand for stealing a piece of bread, how could we not be appalled at the idea that the Great God of the universe will torture his children for ever in the flames of Hell fire?
Go online and study this picture. You will see Jesus in red in the center, Mary on his left and Joseph on his right, naked dead people rising from their graves, 24 Elders seated on thrones just below Jesus, various Bishops, Monks, Cardinals, Popes, Kings, Angels, and Archangels in his court, and Demons and the damned including some Popes writhing in the lower regions in Hell.
How do you know that what you believe about Hell is really real?
Have you convinced yourself that this kind of Hell really exists because you have thoroughly investigated it for yourself and know it to be true or have you just swallowed what others have told you about it?
Do a thorough, unbiased study on the subject of Hell before you teach falsehoods. I have done this on the subject of Hell and I have come to a very different and non-traditional view. You and I could be wrong about the subject or any subject for that matter. Edison said: ‘We know less than 1% about anything!’ True.
Don’t believe everything you hear from a ‘Doctor of Divinity’, a YouTube ® Video Series or even your Bible College or Seminary. When I was in Seminary, my New Testament Literature teacher stood up in the Teaching Theatre and told the student body: ‘I am not here to teach you the truth. I am here to teach what the church and this textbook says. It is not what I personally believe!’ Right away I asked myself: ‘Then what am I doing here?!’ As a truth seeker, I was to be disappointed.
Bottom line: If it’s mainstream, I question it. Broad is the way that leads to destruction; narrow the way to life… Jesus said. Take that to the Bank. But our teachers are only human. They have to answer to the status quo in order to eat regularly. But let’s face facts. No one has been there. No one goes there the day they die. No one is there right now. What you hear from the church should be questioned. Nothing should be accepted without proof. We demand it from Evolutionists. We should likewise demand it from the church. Who cares what people say? What does God say in his book the Holy Bible? That should be our authority to live by.
Does HELL really exist? To me, the bottom line is always the same: God or people. Am I going to choose to obey and follow and serve God or people? In ‘getting to the bottom’ of the Hell issue, think about why the church has adopted this doctrine or any other one for that matter. Money.
The Hell doctrine came to the Protestants through the Roman Catholic Church. It was used to control its parishioners. Unlike any other doctrine, Hell alone had the power to scare people into the pews and out of their money. Nothing has changed. Let’s not forget the Roman Catholic Church has taken upon itself the concept that whatever it decides to say or print is at least equal to or even greater than scripture!
They are they authorities to be reckoned with, not the Bible alone. Their word supersedes the Word of God! What’s wrong with that picture? Are you brave enough to follow and trust the Biblical evidence wherever it might lead?
Did God, the One who built the whole universe, create HELL? Does anyone burn forever in HELL? Is Satan the BOSS of Hell? Is Satan going to die? (YES! See Ezekiel 28) How hot is HELL supposed to be?
I once heard an astounding sermon on Hell delivered in Tampa, Florida by none other than Dr. Erwin Lutzer of Moody Institute fame. He said, and I quote: ‘Those who wind up in Hell will feel pain one hundred times greater than any pain he will ever experience on Earth.’NOT! My first thought was ‘Where’s that in the Bible’? That answer is: NO WHERE! Theologians should know better, since they are in the God Business.
So, if we wicked sinners live in this hideous condition for all eternity and we feel the pain ‘one hundred times greater’ than we feel here on Earth, then I suppose Hell is one hundred times hotter than it ought to be. No. No. No! It reminds me of this tongue-fu saying: ‘Spring has sprung; Fall has fell; Summer’s here and it hotter than... it ought to be!’
Reality check, please. Show me that in the Bible. Supposedly, the fire of Hell is hot enough to make us feel the pain one hundred times greater than we do here, but not hot enough to burn us up. How in Hell is that managed?
Why doesn’t anyone mention the SMOKE?
In all the sermons I’ve heard on Hell in the last fifty years, no one has even so much as mentioned the smoke? Maybe the fire is so hot it consumes even its own smoke. Google the words ‘smoke in Hell’ and see what comes up. You will find a Rock Band you don’t want to see. There is simply virtually nothing out there about smoke from the flames of Hell.
Why not? Is smoke mentioned in the Bible as it relates to Hell fire? What about Lazarus and the rich man? What did Jesus mean in Matthew 21:44 and Luke 20:18 by saying: ‘Whosoever shall fall upon that stone shall be broken; but upon whomsoever it shall fall, it shall grind him to powder.’?
What is this ‘worm that doesn’t die’? What did Jesus mean by ‘the fire is not quenched’? Will HELL go on and on forever and ever? Why won’t those who land in Hell find rest? What is the Biblical view of Hell? If Hell is God’s Torture Chamber, does that make him a sadist? Does God get pleasure from torturing people?
Where would this ‘ever-burning’ Hell fit in God’s plan for his universe? Why would God want to torture people in Hell? Does the ‘Second Death’ really mean eternal life in Hell? Is death conscious or unconscious? Do the dead know anything? Is God unable to kill completely? Eternal Death: The Annihilation theory; is it Biblical?
Are we the ‘authority’ on Hell or do we rely on the Bible?
Why would God want Hell? Visualize the Bigness of God. Here’s a powerful Being who can do all things like make and sustain the entire universe. He can make worlds like earth by the BILLIONS. There are countless billions of galaxies which each have billions of solar systems and thus there are a bazillion planets existing in the universe. He alone created all LIFE and sustains it. If he wants to share eternal life in his universe with his children, where would Hell fit in the great scheme of things He is doing?
Why would people to retain the dogma of Hell? Did it benefit the Church? Did it scare people into the church and out of their money? Have people ever researched the evidence to see if the doctrine of Hell can stand up under scrutiny?
Why can one speculate or criticize the doctrine of Heaven all they want; but not the doctrine of Hell? Could it be because if you do, you encroach on their works of righteousness and/or their pocketbook?
Where did the doctrine of an ever-burning Hell fire where people are tortured forever come from? Did it originate in the pages of the Bible?
Did it come from Egypt more than a thousand years before Christ? Research this for yourself and you will be amazed.
Is it really the nature of God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit to torment people eternally?
Would God torture people? Does he like the concept of torture? Will all people be resurrected, to either judgment or eternal life? Will he punish in love without killing? Is there such a thing as permanent death, i.e. annihilation? Did God approve of the pagan god Molech and the burning of children in sacrifice to him?
Is he really a God of love and compassion or severity, extreme anger, vengeance and retribution?
What penalty did Jesus pay for our sins? A conscious eternity is Hell?
No. Death on the cross. Is eternal life in Hell the ‘wages of sin’? Or is it death? (Romans 6:23) What does the Bible say death is anyway? If Hell is the penalty, Jesus should be there, paying for our sins in excruciating agony for all eternity.
Otherwise, we still need someone to pay the correct penalty and we’re thus still waiting on a Savior to pay the penalty for us. A child should get that. But many times we ‘oldsters’ just ‘go with the flow to preserve church unity. Young people today demand proof. No one can prove the doctrine of an ever-burning place of eternal conscious torture chamber called Hell, from the pages of the Bible. Look at it fresh and with an honest and open mind. Lay aside your pre-conceived notions and believe only what you prove from the Bible.
Did the Passover Lamb get tortured for ever or slaughtered? It was never burned while still alive. We must think it through carefully. What penalty did God the Father require Jesus to pay as full payment for the sin of all mankind? Is God a God of justice and fairness? If so, how is Jesus’ death on the cross acceptable to the Father as full payment for ALL the sins committed by ALL people who ever lived or ever will live, but if I don’t accept Jesus and I end up paying for my own sins, the payment requirement changes to eternal life in the flames of Hell? Is my sin greater than the sum of all the sins of mankind, since the punishment is infinitely greater?
Why then didn’t God the Father require Jesus to pay the ‘eternal life in Hell’ penalty? If this is the required penalty, then since Jesus didn’t pay it, we still need a Savior. If God the Father requires eternal life in Hell as payment for sin, than we do not have a Savior in Jesus.
What are the wages of sin according to the Bible? See and believe Romans 6:23.
The cross disproves conscious torture in Hell!
In other words, Jesus would be punished forever in the torments of Hell if that were the required penalty for sin. But death on the cross was Jesus’ penalty. Now that part of Jesus’ live is over and done. The required penalty has been met. The high price for the sins of all mankind has been paid for and we do not have to pay it ourselves, thank God!
You can have a Savior in Jesus who paid it all for you and no Hell to pay or you can have the concept of Hell where people go to live for all eternity in conscious torment and no Savior, but not both. Simply put: Jesus and no Hell or Hell and no Jesus. You decide.
What is meant by the ‘Lake of Fire’ and the ‘Bottomless Pit’?
Consider the idea that the Lake of Fire (Revelation 19:29; 20:10, 14 & 15), the Great Furnace (Matthew 13:42, 50) and the Bottomless Pit or the Abyss (Luke 8:31; Revelation 9:1, 2, 11; 11:7; 17:8 & 20:1, 3) is one and the same. It will be one BIG hole in the ground in Iraq, with a bottomless supply of crude oil and set on fire with the nuclear blast that created the hole. It does not yet exist in its final form. It is NOT a place of eternal torment.
Is the grave where we’re REALLY going when we die?
The grave is where people go to await our resurrection. When we do come back to life again, we face Jesus in the Judgment. Do people go to Heaven or Hell when they die? If we die, will we live again? What is meant by ‘the Resurrection from the dead’? Does our ‘soul’ live on, even if we die? Is there life after death?
Do people go to Heaven or Hell when they die? Do people really burn in Hell forever and ever? Does what men think and say hold more weight than the word of God? Is Tradition more important than Truth?
What did Jesus teach about Hell? Is the ‘everlasting fire’ Jesus warned us about, literal or symbolic? In what way do the wicked go into ‘eternal punishment’? What does the Bible say about Heaven and our future? What really happens at death? Do we go straight to Heaven or Hell? Would it be just for God to burn people for ever in the flames of Hell for a mere 70 years of sin? What are the ‘wages of sin’? Are they eternal life in Hell fire or permanent death?
IF ETERNAL TORTURE IN THE FLAMES OF HELL WAS REAL THERE WOULD ALWAYS BE PAIN, CRYING AND SORROW WOULD GO ON AND ON FOREVER; BUT REVELATION 21:3-4 SAYS GOD WILL WIPE ALL TEARS AND THERE WILL BE NO MORE SORROW, CRYING OR PAIN! REVELATION 21:3 And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. 4 And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.
Let’s believe God for a change and stop trusting in man’s ideas altogether. Let’s enjoy the FREEDOM from Hell that has gripped so many hearts with fear for so long. Let it go!
Do people really suffer consciously in Hell fire for all eternity?
Jan van Eyck, a Flemish painter who lived between 1390 and 1441 titled this painting ‘The Last Judgment’. At the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York where the painting is on display, someone left this placard below the painting: ‘The case against Christianity’. And no wonder. What makes any of this attractive, fair or accurate? Is God really a sadistic torturer?
What benefit would God derive from this? Why would he allow this? Is he the Creator of such an idea? What kind of a character is God? What is he really like? Does a mere 70-year sin-span life deserve and eternity of infinite torture? Is God irrational?
If we are appalled at the idea of chopping off a child’s hand for stealing a piece of bread, how could we not be appalled at the idea that the Great God of the universe will torture his children for ever in the flames of Hell fire?
Go online and study this picture. You will see Jesus in red in the center, Mary on his left and Joseph on his right, naked dead people rising from their graves, 24 Elders seated on thrones just below Jesus, various Bishops, Monks, Cardinals, Popes, Kings, Angels, and Archangels in his court, and Demons and the damned including some Popes writhing in the lower regions in Hell.
How do you know that what you believe about Hell is really real?
Have you convinced yourself that this kind of Hell really exists because you have thoroughly investigated it for yourself and know it to be true or have you just swallowed what others have told you about it?
Do a thorough, unbiased study on the subject of Hell before you teach falsehoods. I have done this on the subject of Hell and I have come to a very different and non-traditional view. You and I could be wrong about the subject or any subject for that matter. Edison said: ‘We know less than 1% about anything!’ True.
Don’t believe everything you hear from a ‘Doctor of Divinity’, a YouTube ® Video Series or even your Bible College or Seminary. When I was in Seminary, my New Testament Literature teacher stood up in the Teaching Theatre and told the student body: ‘I am not here to teach you the truth. I am here to teach what the church and this textbook says. It is not what I personally believe!’ Right away I asked myself: ‘Then what am I doing here?!’ As a truth seeker, I was to be disappointed.
Bottom line: If it’s mainstream, I question it. Broad is the way that leads to destruction; narrow the way to life… Jesus said. Take that to the Bank. But our teachers are only human. They have to answer to the status quo in order to eat regularly. But let’s face facts. No one has been there. No one goes there the day they die. No one is there right now. What you hear from the church should be questioned. Nothing should be accepted without proof. We demand it from Evolutionists. We should likewise demand it from the church. Who cares what people say? What does God say in his book the Holy Bible? That should be our authority to live by.
Does HELL really exist? To me, the bottom line is always the same: God or people. Am I going to choose to obey and follow and serve God or people? In ‘getting to the bottom’ of the Hell issue, think about why the church has adopted this doctrine or any other one for that matter. Money.
The Hell doctrine came to the Protestants through the Roman Catholic Church. It was used to control its parishioners. Unlike any other doctrine, Hell alone had the power to scare people into the pews and out of their money. Nothing has changed. Let’s not forget the Roman Catholic Church has taken upon itself the concept that whatever it decides to say or print is at least equal to or even greater than scripture!
They are they authorities to be reckoned with, not the Bible alone. Their word supersedes the Word of God! What’s wrong with that picture? Are you brave enough to follow and trust the Biblical evidence wherever it might lead?
Did God, the One who built the whole universe, create HELL? Does anyone burn forever in HELL? Is Satan the BOSS of Hell? Is Satan going to die? (YES! See Ezekiel 28) How hot is HELL supposed to be?
I once heard an astounding sermon on Hell delivered in Tampa, Florida by none other than Dr. Erwin Lutzer of Moody Institute fame. He said, and I quote: ‘Those who wind up in Hell will feel pain one hundred times greater than any pain he will ever experience on Earth.’NOT! My first thought was ‘Where’s that in the Bible’? That answer is: NO WHERE! Theologians should know better, since they are in the God Business.
So, if we wicked sinners live in this hideous condition for all eternity and we feel the pain ‘one hundred times greater’ than we feel here on Earth, then I suppose Hell is one hundred times hotter than it ought to be. No. No. No! It reminds me of this tongue-fu saying: ‘Spring has sprung; Fall has fell; Summer’s here and it hotter than... it ought to be!’
Reality check, please. Show me that in the Bible. Supposedly, the fire of Hell is hot enough to make us feel the pain one hundred times greater than we do here, but not hot enough to burn us up. How in Hell is that managed?
Why doesn’t anyone mention the SMOKE?
In all the sermons I’ve heard on Hell in the last fifty years, no one has even so much as mentioned the smoke? Maybe the fire is so hot it consumes even its own smoke. Google the words ‘smoke in Hell’ and see what comes up. You will find a Rock Band you don’t want to see. There is simply virtually nothing out there about smoke from the flames of Hell.
Why not? Is smoke mentioned in the Bible as it relates to Hell fire? What about Lazarus and the rich man? What did Jesus mean in Matthew 21:44 and Luke 20:18 by saying: ‘Whosoever shall fall upon that stone shall be broken; but upon whomsoever it shall fall, it shall grind him to powder.’?
What is this ‘worm that doesn’t die’? What did Jesus mean by ‘the fire is not quenched’? Will HELL go on and on forever and ever? Why won’t those who land in Hell find rest? What is the Biblical view of Hell? If Hell is God’s Torture Chamber, does that make him a sadist? Does God get pleasure from torturing people?
Where would this ‘ever-burning’ Hell fit in God’s plan for his universe? Why would God want to torture people in Hell? Does the ‘Second Death’ really mean eternal life in Hell? Is death conscious or unconscious? Do the dead know anything? Is God unable to kill completely? Eternal Death: The Annihilation theory; is it Biblical?
Are we the ‘authority’ on Hell or do we rely on the Bible?
Why would God want Hell? Visualize the Bigness of God. Here’s a powerful Being who can do all things like make and sustain the entire universe. He can make worlds like earth by the BILLIONS. There are countless billions of galaxies which each have billions of solar systems and thus there are a bazillion planets existing in the universe. He alone created all LIFE and sustains it. If he wants to share eternal life in his universe with his children, where would Hell fit in the great scheme of things He is doing?
Why would people to retain the dogma of Hell? Did it benefit the Church? Did it scare people into the church and out of their money? Have people ever researched the evidence to see if the doctrine of Hell can stand up under scrutiny?
Why can one speculate or criticize the doctrine of Heaven all they want; but not the doctrine of Hell? Could it be because if you do, you encroach on their works of righteousness and/or their pocketbook?
Where did the doctrine of an ever-burning Hell fire where people are tortured forever come from? Did it originate in the pages of the Bible?
Did it come from Egypt more than a thousand years before Christ? Research this for yourself and you will be amazed.
Is it really the nature of God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit to torment people eternally?
Would God torture people? Does he like the concept of torture? Will all people be resurrected, to either judgment or eternal life? Will he punish in love without killing? Is there such a thing as permanent death, i.e. annihilation? Did God approve of the pagan god Molech and the burning of children in sacrifice to him?
Is he really a God of love and compassion or severity, extreme anger, vengeance and retribution?
What penalty did Jesus pay for our sins? A conscious eternity is Hell?
No. Death on the cross. Is eternal life in Hell the ‘wages of sin’? Or is it death? (Romans 6:23) What does the Bible say death is anyway? If Hell is the penalty, Jesus should be there, paying for our sins in excruciating agony for all eternity.
Otherwise, we still need someone to pay the correct penalty and we’re thus still waiting on a Savior to pay the penalty for us. A child should get that. But many times we ‘oldsters’ just ‘go with the flow to preserve church unity. Young people today demand proof. No one can prove the doctrine of an ever-burning place of eternal conscious torture chamber called Hell, from the pages of the Bible. Look at it fresh and with an honest and open mind. Lay aside your pre-conceived notions and believe only what you prove from the Bible.
Did the Passover Lamb get tortured for ever or slaughtered? It was never burned while still alive. We must think it through carefully. What penalty did God the Father require Jesus to pay as full payment for the sin of all mankind? Is God a God of justice and fairness? If so, how is Jesus’ death on the cross acceptable to the Father as full payment for ALL the sins committed by ALL people who ever lived or ever will live, but if I don’t accept Jesus and I end up paying for my own sins, the payment requirement changes to eternal life in the flames of Hell? Is my sin greater than the sum of all the sins of mankind, since the punishment is infinitely greater?
Why then didn’t God the Father require Jesus to pay the ‘eternal life in Hell’ penalty? If this is the required penalty, then since Jesus didn’t pay it, we still need a Savior. If God the Father requires eternal life in Hell as payment for sin, than we do not have a Savior in Jesus.
What are the wages of sin according to the Bible? See and believe Romans 6:23.
The cross disproves conscious torture in Hell!
In other words, Jesus would be punished forever in the torments of Hell if that were the required penalty for sin. But death on the cross was Jesus’ penalty. Now that part of Jesus’ live is over and done. The required penalty has been met. The high price for the sins of all mankind has been paid for and we do not have to pay it ourselves, thank God!
You can have a Savior in Jesus who paid it all for you and no Hell to pay or you can have the concept of Hell where people go to live for all eternity in conscious torment and no Savior, but not both. Simply put: Jesus and no Hell or Hell and no Jesus. You decide.
What is meant by the ‘Lake of Fire’ and the ‘Bottomless Pit’?
Consider the idea that the Lake of Fire (Revelation 19:29; 20:10, 14 & 15), the Great Furnace (Matthew 13:42, 50) and the Bottomless Pit or the Abyss (Luke 8:31; Revelation 9:1, 2, 11; 11:7; 17:8 & 20:1, 3) is one and the same. It will be one BIG hole in the ground in Iraq, with a bottomless supply of crude oil and set on fire with the nuclear blast that created the hole. It does not yet exist in its final form. It is NOT a place of eternal torment.
Is the grave where we’re REALLY going when we die?
The grave is where people go to await our resurrection. When we do come back to life again, we face Jesus in the Judgment. Do people go to Heaven or Hell when they die? If we die, will we live again? What is meant by ‘the Resurrection from the dead’? Does our ‘soul’ live on, even if we die? Is there life after death?
Do people go to Heaven or Hell when they die? Do people really burn in Hell forever and ever? Does what men think and say hold more weight than the word of God? Is Tradition more important than Truth?
What did Jesus teach about Hell? Is the ‘everlasting fire’ Jesus warned us about, literal or symbolic? In what way do the wicked go into ‘eternal punishment’? What does the Bible say about Heaven and our future? What really happens at death? Do we go straight to Heaven or Hell? Would it be just for God to burn people for ever in the flames of Hell for a mere 70 years of sin? What are the ‘wages of sin’? Are they eternal life in Hell fire or permanent death?
IF ETERNAL TORTURE IN THE FLAMES OF HELL WAS REAL THERE WOULD ALWAYS BE PAIN, CRYING AND SORROW WOULD GO ON AND ON FOREVER; BUT REVELATION 21:3-4 SAYS GOD WILL WIPE ALL TEARS AND THERE WILL BE NO MORE SORROW, CRYING OR PAIN! REVELATION 21:3 And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. 4 And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.
Let’s believe God for a change and stop trusting in man’s ideas altogether. Let’s enjoy the FREEDOM from Hell that has gripped so many hearts with fear for so long. Let it go!