Is There Really a Hell?

[Richard Aberdeen]

According to astrophysicist Neil DeGrasse Tyson, there is a certain type of black hole located within dark voids in the universe, where there is no light for many light years in every direction. This type of black hole, according to Tyson, contains an inner "sea of fire", left over from the stars it long ago consumed. According to NASA, the Encyclopedia Britannica and the late Stephen Hawking, among many other scientists, a black hole is a "bottomless pit" that theoretically digs forever.

The Bible says that hell is located in "outer darkness" Matthew 8:12 and is a "bottomless pit" Revelation 9:11, containing a "lake of fire" Revelation 20:14. Many people long questioned how something containing a lake of fire could be located in outer darkness and even more difficult to believe, be a bottomless pit, from which no one can escape. Now we know. Jesus says in Luke 16:26, that no human can pass from heaven to hades or from hades to heaven. Those who mock the Bible invariably, eventually end up eating crow. . .or worse.

Many question whether a loving God would cast someone forever into hell. Such folks rarely pause to consider what our sins cost God, in the sacrifice of his only begotten son. We hear reports of parents weeping at the bedside of their child who has cancer or has been in a horrific accident, crying "if only I could take my child's place!" We have no idea how God must have felt when his only son was nailed to a Roman cross and, we likely never will even begin to grasp what our sins cost God Almighty.

There is great reward for accepting forgiveness for our sins from Jesus. And there is a great penalty for refusing to do so.

[OneJack]

Peace to you,



Isn't the death penalty a punishment?

Punishment for what, the death penalty for the flesh, or for the spirit?

Since we're talking about the second death, then both (flesh and spirit).

The second death is not for the flesh but for the spirit; hence, the death penalty for the spirit, which will be the eternal punishment and gnashing of the teeth.

May we know who do you believe who these verses referred to OneJack?
The one who was in Eden, called the anointed cherub, who were blameless until unrighteousness was found in him.

The Ruler of Tyre.

[placebofactor]

Peace to you,

There is great reward for accepting forgiveness for our sins from Jesus.

Yes, that reward is everlasting life.

And there is a great penalty for refusing to do so.

Yes, that penalty is the everlasting second death -- they will never live again.

And they will know and experience absolutely nothing for all eternity - as the dead know not any thing.

All, believers and nonbelievers, "should be content."

Praise the Lord.

There is no punishment if you are dead, makes no sense. Being dead, having no feelings, emotions, or memory, is not a penalty; it's nothing, and if I were a bad guy and did bad things and did not believe in God, death without life would be a great reward. Why? Because I have gotten away with my crimes while I was alive.

Isn't the death penalty a punishment?

Punishment for what, the death penalty for the flesh, or for the spirit?

What about all the murderers, crime bosses, and drug dealers around the world who have bought off the police and the judges, and never get caught? They don't believe in God, or God's justice, and physical death to them is an endgame. Do you think people like Hitler, Himmler, Pol Pot, Stalin, and others have paid for their crimes against humanity? Here's where you people get it wrong: you believe man is composed only of a body of flesh and has no soul or spirit. You had better take the story of the rich man and Lazarus as a warning from God: there is a hell, and it is eternal, and it's a place the Lord has prepared for those who defy him, his creation, and his creatures.

Revelation 21:8, "The fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and ALL LIARS, shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone:" Now it's their soul and spirit that are in the lake of fire; their flesh lies in the dust of the ground. And when the books are opened on judgment day, and they are cast body, soul, and spirit into the lake of fire, there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth," meaning there will be life with pain after death.

[Mr E]

[Replying to tam in post #25]

Isn't the death penalty a punishment?

We all live, our whole lives under penalty of death. Life on earth is a terminal condition.

[OneJack]

[Replying to tam in post #25]

Isn't the death penalty a punishment?

We all live, our whole lives under penalty of death. Life on earth is a terminal condition.

Life on earth is only in flesh and ends totally in physical death, while spiritual punishment is in spirit and never ends; it continues to exist in eternity to eternity.

[Mr E]

[Replying to Capbook in post #29]

Yes, earth is a temporal place, to the faithful believers heaven is the citizenship, and earth is the battleground between God and evil, our eternal destiny will be decided here by us whom we chose to be enslave to, to Satan or to God.
Being in earth is not God's final judgement, hell fire is.

How about those fallen ones? Were they cast to earth, or were they locked up in chains? Could one be akin to the other?

You also know that the angels who did not keep within their proper domain but abandoned their own place of residence, he has kept in eternal chains in utter darkness, locked up for the judgment of the great Day. (Jude vs 6)

The writer makes the comparison of those fallen angels to 'the people' of Sodom and Gomorrah-- who were destroyed in a tumult of fire and brimstone-- making an association between that one incident and utter destruction to liken the event with 'eternal fire.' "Eternal" can mean forever, or it can mean forever more, as in perpetuity. The people of Sodom and Gomorrah didn't burn forever, but we consumed by fire and are forever gone.

So also Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighboring towns, since they indulged in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural desire in a way similar to these angels, are now displayed as an example by suffering the punishment of eternal fire. (Jude vs 7)

[Mr E]

[Replying to OneJack in post #34]

Life on earth is only in flesh and ends totally in physical death, while spiritual punishment is in spirit and never ends; it continues to exist in eternity to eternity.

That's your conjecture. The fires of Gehenna were the reference Jesus made-- it was the fires that burned seemingly without end, but anything thrown in those 'eternal' fires was utterly consumed.

The second death is likened to that final, and forever burning fire that utterly destroys all. Like the thorns and thistles and weeds gathered up at harvest and thrown into a burning barrel-- the thistles are consumed and the fire in the barrel burns on. That's the exact image Jesus points toward--

"At harvest time I will tell the reapers, “First collect the darnel and tie it in bundles to be burned, but then gather the wheat into my barn.” Matt 13


-and the reapers are angels.

[Mr E]

[Replying to OneJack in post #31]

The Ruler of Tyre.

Adam, Eve and the Ruler of Tyre in the garden? Do you an enhanced copy of Genesis?

[Mr E]

[Replying to placebofactor in post #32]

Revelation 21:8, "The fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and ALL LIARS, shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone:" Now it's their soul and spirit that are in the lake of fire; their flesh lies in the dust of the ground. And when the books are opened on judgment day, and they are cast body, soul, and spirit into the lake of fire, there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth," meaning there will be life with pain after death.

Meaning that they will be no more.

If someone dies in a fiery crash and 'burn to death' they don't burn forever, but they are forever dead.

[placebofactor]

[Replying to placebofactor in post #32]

Revelation 21:8, "The fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and ALL LIARS, shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone:" Now it's their soul and spirit that are in the lake of fire; their flesh lies in the dust of the ground. And when the books are opened on judgment day, and they are cast body, soul, and spirit into the lake of fire, there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth," meaning there will be life with pain after death.

Meaning that they will be no more.

If someone dies in a fiery crash and 'burn to death' they don't burn forever, but they are forever dead.

Bad comparison; try again.
1 Thessalonians 5:23, "I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ."
All three, body, soul, and spirit, will be transformed to the image of the Son. Tell us how you explain this verse away.

[OneJack]

[Replying to OneJack in post #31]

The Ruler of Tyre.

Adam, Eve and the Ruler of Tyre in the garden? Do you an enhanced copy of Genesis?

The word of the Lord came to me: 2 “Son of man, say to the ruler of Tyre, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says:

“‘In the pride of your heart you say, “I am a god I sit on the throne of a god in the heart of the seas.”.................

Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says:

“‘Because you think you are wise as wise as a god, I am going to bring foreigners against you, the most ruthless of nations;........

The word of the Lord came to me: 12 “Son of man, take up a lament concerning the king of Tyre and say to him: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says:

“‘You were the seal of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone adorned you:.......

You were anointed as a guardian cherub, for so I ordained you. You were on the holy mount of God;

Reading sometimes matters the most in the clarity of an issue.