GEHENNA, a place of fiery torture?

[onewithhim]

Jesus warned his disciples against suffering the judgment of Gehenna. Was he referring to a burning hell of everlasting torture? (Matthew 5:22)

The Greek word Ge'en na corresponds to the Hebrew geh veneh-Hin nom,---Valley of the sons of Hinnom. It became a garbage dump for Jerusalem, serving as an incinerator where fires were kept burning to dispose of rubbish, and anything thrown into this dump would be completely destroyed, turned into ashes.

Many Bible translators haven rendered Ge' en na as "hell." (Matthew 5:22, KJV) Why is this? (Since Gehenna and hell are two different things.) Because they associated the pagan-inspired notion of an afterlife of fiery judgment for the wicked with the physical fire in the valley outside Jerusalem. Jesus, though, did not associate Gehenna with torture. He knew that the thought of burning people alive is repugnant to Jehovah. He referred to the use made of Gehenna in the days of the prophet Jeremiah. God said: "They have built the high places of Topheth which is in the valley of the sons of Hinnom in order to burn their sons and daughters in the fire, a thing that I had not commanded and that had not come up into my heart." Burning people was not something that God can countenance, and He can't to this day. A good point is that the idea of torture for the dead conflicts with God's loving personality as well as with the Bible's clear teaching that "the dead are conscious of nothing." (Ecclesiastes 9:5,10)

Jesus used the term "Gehenna" to symbolize the utter destruction that would come from God's judgment on the wicked. So...."Gehenna" means, similarly, the lake of fire in Revelation. Both symbolize eternal destruction from which there is no resurrection. (Luke 12:4,5; Revelation 20:14,15.

Doesn't this sound more merciful than people being tortured in a never-ending fire? The fire symbolizes complete annihilation, just like what the fires in Gehenna did to trash and bodies of criminals.

[myth-one.com]

It's interesting that worms are living in an environment where nothing escapes total destruction.

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Mark 9:44
Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.

Mark 9:46
Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.

Mark 9:48
Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.

I think a better explanation of these verses is that the worms of those cast into the lake of fire never exist, as dead bodies which are quickly cremated in the lake of fire produce no worms!

If they never live, then they never die!

You think in contradiction with the passage, which is saying precisely that there are worms there.

Worms appear within 24 hours after death -- not immediately.

To understand you need to put your sights on the real place where the figure is based: in a garbage dump where the fire destroys everything, but where the fire doesn't reach there are worms that feed on the remains of meat that don't burn completely, because the fire is less intense in that corner, or simply because those remains are on the edges of the fire.

Mark 9

43 And if thy hand offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than having two hands to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched:

44 Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.

45 And if thy foot offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter halt into life, than having two feet to be cast into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched:

46 Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.

47 And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out: it is better for thee to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye, than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire:

48 Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.


They are all cast into the fire -- there are no near misses.

But good try.

[Bible_Student]

... But good try.

It is better to understand the figure of speech about maggots from the point of view of a garbage dump than to simply remove that detail that is so often included in the same metaphor.

You've probably never seen a garbage dump of a city in your life, but I have. The garbage dumped there is burned to reclaim the space. Evidently, the fire can be kept alive as long as fuel is added.

Dead animals are also dumped there and burned as well, but since the fire eventually dies out, some of the remains of those bodies are not completely burned, so the maggots end up devouring them. There are always maggots where there is no living fire.

When Jesus mentioned Gehenna (Matt. 18:8,9), he talked about people with hands, feet, and eyes dumped there ... not the spirits of them.

[myth-one.com]

... But good try.

It is better to understand the figure of speech about maggots from the point of view of a garbage dump than to simply remove that detail that is so often included in the same metaphor.

You've probably never seen a garbage dump of a city in your life, but I have. The garbage dumped there is burned to reclaim the space. Evidently, the fire can be kept alive as long as fuel is added.

Dead animals are also dumped there and burned as well, but since the fire eventually dies out, some of the remains of those bodies are not completely burned, so the maggots end up devouring them. There are always maggots where there is no living fire.

When Jesus mentioned Gehenna (Matt. 18:8,9), he talked about people with hands, feet, and eyes dumped there ... not the spirits of them.

The lake of fire never burns out, so no maggots there.

Yes, people are natural bodied beings which are mortal and will die. Humans do not have spiritual bodies.

[Bible_Student]

The lake of fire is a symbolic place, the biggest grabage dump you can imagine.

Rev. 19:19-21 and 20:10 say that the lake of fire "burns with sulfur". In that place even "the wild beast" is dumped.

Rev. 20:14 says that Death and Hades were dumped there also after Hades gave back its dead.

Although it is obvious that these places are symbolic, it is difficult to accept this when one believes in the doctrine of human souls that never die and places where these souls live under pleasure or suffering. The Bible does not support those doctrines.

[Capbook]

The lake of fire is a symbolic place, the biggest grabage dump you can imagine.

Rev. 19:19-21 and 20:10 say that the lake of fire "burns with sulfur". In that place even "the wild beast" is dumped.

Rev. 20:14 says that Death and Hades were dumped there also after Hades gave back its dead.

Although it is obvious that these places are symbolic, it is difficult to accept this when one believes in the doctrine of human souls that never die and places where these souls live under pleasure or suffering. The Bible does not support those doctrines.

If you believe that the fire that will destroy those who lived ungodly is the same fire that burned Sodom and Gommorah to ashes.
To me the lake of fire is real fire and not symbolic.

2Pe 2:6 and if he condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah and destroyed them by burning them to ashes, making them an example to ungodly people of what is going to happen to them;

[JehovahsWitness]

To me the lake of fire is real fire and not symbolic.

But "real" literal fire has no effect on spirits; if Satan is thrown into the make of fire as punishment it must be SYMBOLIC

[Capbook]

To me the lake of fire is real fire and not symbolic.

But "real" literal fire has no effect on spirits; if Satan is thrown into the make of fire as punishment it must be SYMBOLIC

God give that fire, do you think that God's fire had no effect to Satan?
And God did not say it is symbolic.

[JehovahsWitness]

To me the lake of fire is real fire and not symbolic.

But "real" literal fire has no effect on spirits; if Satan is thrown into the make of fire as punishment it must be SYMBOLIC

...And God did not say it is symbolic.

He doesn't have to he gave us scripture and we know spirits are unaffected by literal fire.

[Capbook]

To me the lake of fire is real fire and not symbolic.

But "real" literal fire has no effect on spirits; if Satan is thrown into the make of fire as punishment it must be SYMBOLIC

...And God did not say it is symbolic.

He doesn't have to he gave us scripture and we know spirits are unaffected by literal fire.

You just underestimate the power of the One who will give that fire.

Mat 25:41 "Then he will say to those on his left, 'Get away from me, you who are accursed, into the eternal fire that has been prepared for the devil and his angels!

[JehovahsWitness]

You just underestimate the power of the One who will give that fire.

Not at all, symbolic fire from God and much more force than literal fire.