Summary: Our present traditional view of hell, borrowed from Catholicism, Platonism and paganism, is no more biblical than the doctrine of limbo.<br> Scriptures must be twisted to say the opposite of what they actually teach in order to keep promoting the idea that God is a loving Creator who will keep souls alive forever just to torment and torture them, souls he knew would not accept him when he created them. This is not the God of the Bible I see. Consider.<br> Rhetorical Questions:<br> Why does Jesus’ reference to those in danger of the fire of hell not mention that it will be “eternal” tormenting (Matthew 5:22)? And why do we make words such as “destroy” mean different things, unless it is to support a preconceived doctrine (Matthew 10:28)?<br> If Satan is not to be feared because he can only destroy our bodies, then why are we told to fear HIM who can “destroy” both soul and body in hell, especially if we won’t be “destroyed?”<br> (Matthew 10:28)? Why do we assume the word “destroy” in this verse means the exact opposite of its normal meaning? Why do we assume “destroy” here means to live on and on eternally and yet not be destroyed?<br> Why does not the translation of words meaning grave (Sheol & Hades) and garbage pit (Gehenna) into the same word “hell” not signify the deliberate tampering of Scriptures by translators? What if they had done that with other completely separate words with different meanings and translated them into the same word?<br> <br> Gehenna<br> For example, what if our Bible translators took the Greek words for “marriage, wine, spirit, and house” and translated them into the single noun sandal? Why would translators take a Greek noun (Gehenna) referring to a specific place and translate it into another noun, the same noun used for the grave and death and Tartarus (Tartaroo)? Is anyone as baffled by this as I am?<br> Tartarus<br> Why can we not see that the fire of Gehenna (hell) that was unquenchable and where the worm (maggot) thrived describes the valley of Hinnom that Jesus alluded to when he said being lost would be like being tossed into that consuming garbage dump outside Jerusalem’s walls (Isaiah 66:24; Mark 9:48)?<br> Why cannot believers understand that “unquenchable” fire meant fire that would not go out until that which is consuming or “destroying” is gone?<br> Why do so many of us perpetuate the notion that Gehenna is a symbol of “torture” rather than a place of punishment and destruction? How can we escape the idea that maggots consume the dead?<br> How can serious Bible students make the Greek word for “maggot” mean some part of human beings that lives on and on eternally?<br> Why does the traditional teaching on hell refute the clear teaching of Peter that everything we know will be “burned up” and “destroyed” (2 Peter 3:10-12)? Why does Malachi refer to the evil ones as “stubble to be burned up” with nothing left if evil ones are to somehow be tortured unendingly by a loving God (Malachi 4:1)?<br> If Paul clearly teaches that those who do not know God will suffer “everlasting destruction,” why do traditionalists teach that it won’t actually be destruction but will be never-ending, eternal “destroying” (2 Thessalonians 1:9)?<br><br> Why can’t intelligent people differentiate between “destruction” and “eternal life in a state of perpetual torture and destruction”? How is it possible for thinking and studious minds to refute the very teaching of the apostle Peter who writes of the “destruction of ungodly men” (2 Peter 3:7)?<br> Isn’t it clear that even in his parabolic teachings Christ presents what represents the “evil unbelievers” (the chaff & tares) being burne...
