Stephen M. Miller – “What’s hell like?” -
Monday, 25 November 2013
WEATHER FORCAST FOR HELL. Some curious
souls wonder what hell is really like. Others ask, “Why? Are they planning
ahead?”
IT’S THE QUESTION OF THE WEEK.
It comes from Ricardo Garcia-Suarez, who
wins a free book of mine for his troubles (Ricardo, email me).
Here’s his question. It’s kinda long,
which suggests Ricardo might be a candidate for the ministry.
I’ve heard people (who call themselves
Christians) say that they would rather go to hell to be with their family than
go to heaven and be without them. But doesn’t the book of Revelation say that
hell will be a dark pit? Wouldn’t those in hell be unable to recognize their
loved ones? What would be the most accurate biblical description of hell?
First of all, Ricardo, I can fairly
safely say that those folks who suggest it would be better to go to hell to be
with our family have not met my family.
Most of the people I know in my extended
family are heavenly souls. Some, however, are hell on earth. If they’re going
to heaven, I’d like to know the temperature in hell.
I measure my tradeoffs.
Now to the heart of your question, which
you saved for your last sentence—just like a preacher would do. A Bible
scholar, too. (Journalists like the good stuff first.)
What’s the most accurate biblical
description of hell?
Here are a few descriptive lines from the
Bible.
“God…can destroy both your body and your
soul in hell” (Matthew 10:28 CEV).
“…the unquenchable fires of hell” (Mark
9:43 NLT).
“… hell, where the maggots never die and
the fire never goes out” (Mark 9:47-48 NLT).
“He sent them to hell and put them in
caves of darkness” (2 Peter 2:4 NCV).
To many Christians, it sounds kinda tough
to take those lines literally.
The fire is burning but the cave is dark?
The fire never goes out, but the lights
go out in our body and soul?
And what’s up with the maggots in hell?
Who knew maggots had a soul?
Here’s what some Christians I know would
offer as the short answer to your question, Ricardo—the most accurate biblical
description of hell:
I am convinced that nothing can ever
separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,
neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers
of hell can separate us from God’s love.
Romans 8:38 NLT
For the long answer, here’s a link to a
blog post of mine about it last year: A day in hell.
And here’s what you’ll find about hell in
my recent release, Illustrated Bible Dictionary:
HELL IS AN ENGLISH INVENTION. It’s an
attempt to translate the symbol behind a location we can plot on a map: Hinnom
Valley, just outside the walls of Jerusalem.
Whenever Jesus used the word hell, he was
saying the name of that valley. Replace hell with the Hebrew word, “Hinnom,” or
with the Greek version, “Gehenna.”
That doesn’t mean hell is only a valley
on the outskirts of Jerusalem. For Jews, that valley came to symbolize God’s
judgment. Jewish kings used to sacrifice humans to idols in that valley. Sins
like that, the prophets explained, are why God let Babylonian invaders in 586
BC swarm in from what is now Iraq to destroy Jerusalem and deport the
Jews—wiping the Jewish nation off the map.
Jews linked Hinnom Valley and God’s
judgment the way Americans link 9/11 to the terrorist attack on September 11,
2001.
Jesus painted graphic word pictures of
hell:
“unquenchable fires” (Mark 9:43)
“prepared for the devil and his demons”
(Matthew 25:41)
with plenty of room for sinners,
religious hypocrites and any other “Snakes! Sons of vipers!” (Matthew 23:23).
The trouble with hell
Many scholars seem troubled by the
traditional teaching about hell—that’s it’s a place where sinners will be
tortured forever. Here’s why.
Torture isn’t God’s MO. These Bible
experts say that when God punished someone in the Bible, he had a redemptive
reason. Even the fall of Jerusalem in 586 BC was intended to eventually turn
the Jews back to God. They say that eternal torture sounds more sadistic than
redemptive.
Jesus often spoke in symbols. Some wonder
if the teacher who spoke of camels trying to walk through the eye of needle was
using the same style of metaphor when he described hell.
A few creative theories
Scholars offer theories like these about
hell.
It’s fiery hot. Sinners will burn,
feeling the pain forever.
It’s God’s cold shoulder. The torment is
being separated from God—the divine cold shoulder. Forever.
It’s annihilation. Fire symbolizes
destruction. After the death of the body comes “the second death” (Revelation
20:14). The death of the soul. It’s the destruction that lasts forever, not the
suffering.
It’s temporary. Think parole. In time,
everyone is reconciled with God. One go-to verse: “All the broken and dislocated
pieces of the universe—people and things, animals and atoms—get properly fixed
and fit together in vibrant harmonies, all because of his [Jesus’] death, his
blood that poured down from the Cross” (Colossians 1:20 The Message).
The post What’s hell like? appeared first
on Stephen M. Miller.
“Immanuel of Isaiah” by Stephen M. Miller
on Monday, 25 November 2013
True or False. When Isaiah said a virgin
would have a son and name him Immanuel, which means “God with us,” he wasn’t
talking about Mary and Jesus.
True, say most scholars. Virgin in Hebrew
could mean “young woman.” Isaiah was saying a woman would give birth as a sign
to King Ahaz that he could count on God to protect them from neighbors
threatening a war. New Testament writers saw the prophecy doing double duty,
and applied it to the Nativity. There, virgin in Greek means a woman who has
not had sex. Compare Isaiah 7:14 with Matthew 1:18-23.
The post Immanuel of Isaiah appeared
first on Stephen M. Miller.
More to read:
Mary’s Song: I took it personal
Prayer: Is it begging like a dog?
Damnation: Is eternity rigged?
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