What is the purpose of Hell?
 

I’ve yet to hear a logical answer concerning the purpose of Hell. Coming from the perspective of eternal torment, what purpose does eternal torment in Hell serve? After billions, and billions, and billions, and billions of untold billions of eons… what will be accomplished with the majority of souls who have ever lived continuing to cry, scream, plead, and slash in agony?

Or could even Hell perhaps serve another purpose in God’s ultimate plan for all creation?

Re: What is the purpose of Hell?
 

According to many... without hell the gospel is powerless.

i don't hold to this school of thought.

Re: What is the purpose of Hell?
 

the same as the purpose of prison

Re: What is the purpose of Hell?
 

You get let out of prison eventually. Do you get let out of hell?

Re: What is the purpose of Hell?
 

deja vu.

Re: What is the purpose of Hell?
 

The purpose of the lake of fire is to destroy the souls of the wicked.

28: And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. Matt. 10:28

This clears the Earth of evil making possible the complete victory of Christ over sin and its effects. In the ages that follow mankind will live in peace and love with Yeshua and the saints reigning and judging the nations.

Re: What is the purpose of Hell?
 

Hell and the Lake of Fire are two different places.

Re: What is the purpose of Hell?
 

Hell in Matt. 10:28 is Gehenna, aka the lake of fire.

Re: What is the purpose of Hell?
 

I'd tend to agree that the notion of Hell lends itself to the concept of “prison”. However, we don’t torture prisoners. In addition we don’t sentence all prisoners to life in prison regardless of their crime.

Let’s take for example a 17 year old girl who dies in a car accident on her way to the mall who does not know God. She’s going to die “lost”. Let’s take a second individual who is 42 and a serial killer. How can it be “just” to punish each with unending torments in a lake of fire? What would the purpose serve? After billions of untold ages will their screams for mercy have accomplished anything? Is God satisfied, pleased, or entertained by such horror? Will we find entertainment or satisfaction in seeing such horror first hand?

How can we celebrate our salvation knowing that the majority of mankind will suffer such a fate? If Satan’s goal was to destroy mankind and less than 2% are saved, did Satan not win? If Christ’s intention was to save all of mankind and less than 2% are saved, did Christ not loose?

Some have postulated the argument that the lake of fire “refines” the soul, breaking its will, satisfying holy justice, and bringing the soul into harmony with God’s will. Those who propose this believe that at some point in eternity’s future ages all human souls will be reconciled to God through Christ’s shed blood. For these believers Hell’s flame has a purpose in God’s redemptive plan.

Some postulate that the lake of fire will “destroy” the soul, annihilating it from existence. All suffering ceases and their consciousness will be rendered non-existent. For these believers Hell’s flame serves a purpose in that it satisfies God’s holy justice and destroys wickedness from the Universe. Still it’s a concern that God would fail to find a successful redemptive plan for all humanity.

What purpose does the unending torment serve?

Re: What is the purpose of Hell?
 

Revelation 20:14 And death and HELL were cast into the LAKE OF FIRE.This is the second death.:thumbsup

Re: What is the purpose of Hell?
 

I've never heard anyone (who believes that hell will be unending torment) say that it serves any purpose. It's simply punishment.

Re: What is the purpose of Hell?
 

Hell in Matt. 10:28 is Gehenna. Hell in Rev. 20:14 is Hades. Two different things.

Re: What is the purpose of Hell?
 

Why would all the following-Gehenna, Hades, Sheol, and Tartarus all be translated as hell?....

Re: What is the purpose of Hell?
 

Well either way I wouldn't want to end up in Hell and then cast into the lake of fire.
I have a hard time thinking of a loving Father sending someone to a place as horrible as burning for eternity.Our minds can't comprehend the fairness but God's word says for eternity and so we can't argue this.Even if it don't seem right to us.
There are mystery's in God's word that there is no way of understanding until we are able to ask him face to face.We don't know the whole picture and he does.We have to take his words by faith.To trust in our Father and his judgements.

Re: What is the purpose of Hell?
 

Hell is Religions revenge upon those who disagree. It is, and has been used to strike fear into the hearts of the rebellious, or those who backslide or reject our Doctrine.

If Hell, or Eternal torment in flame for the wicked, is in fact real, the Old Testament would have warned man about this place since the beginning.

Why does Hell suddenly appear in the New Testament?? Because MAN got his little sticky fingers upon the PEN, knowing the ignorance of the common people and their slant towards superstition.

Hell gives Religions Hierarchy power. It keeps people in fear. It causes Mankind to perceive the Creator as ruthless, heartless, and unable to stop treachery.

Remember, Hell is in other Faiths besides Christianity. This place where none of us has ever been (we talk like we've been there), contradicts a God who has mercy and compassion upon people who don't stand a chance or struggle to understand.

My question to others about this place is; If 99+% of people on Planet Earth (Apostolics believe, only those Born Again will make it) are going to burn for Eternity, don't you think God would have put a stop to this mess?? Why would God allow us to populate millineum after millineum, so He can then hurl almost every human being ever born into this unfothamable torture??

This makes no sense....

Re: What is the purpose of Hell?
 

I think it's because all are states of being separated from being in fellowship with God.

Re: What is the purpose of Hell?
 

I think we take this for granted like many Trinitarians take the doctrine of the Trinity. The Greek texts, as they are understood in Greek, don't necessarily require that a punishment be eternal in duration. Sometimes it can mean that it is eternal in it's effect. For example, when I was a young boy my father beat me with a belt for cursing him. It was an eternal punishment in that I will never forget it and it has set me straight... I'll not curse my father again.

Also, the terms "eternal" and "everlasting" are based on the same Greek word, "aionios". This word can also be used for periods of unknown or troublesome duration the way we use the term "forever" in the English language. For example, one might say, "We stood in line forever..." The word "forever" doesn't literally mean forever in this sense, it simply means a period of unknown duration or of specific trial.

Also put into consideration that the word Jesus used in Matthew 25:46 for "punishment" is the Greek word "kolasis", meaning to "punish" in the sense of setting straight. It's root is "kolas" meaning to "prune". It's used in extra biblical Greek writings to denote pruning a bush or tree in order to cause it to be more fruitful.

Re: What is the purpose of Hell?
 

Judaism teaches a Hell of refinement and eternal correction (punishment) for the wicked. They don't burn or suffer forever, it is believed that they will be purified.

I find it interesting that when Jesus died he decended into Hell and preached to the spirits in prison who were sometimes disobedient from the time of Noah. Here he took captivity captive and set them free. This would indicate that at least for these souls there was a second chance after death. If God is no respector of persons... could a soul conceivably repent and be set free after being sufficiently punished?

Re: What is the purpose of Hell?
 

He wont send them for eternity. They will be cast into the lake of fire. They will suffer for a long time. Then their soul will die just like Yeshua said. Matt. 10:28

Re: What is the purpose of Hell?
 

What would be God's purpose in destroying them forever?

Will Heaven be Heaven when every redeemed soul will have lost the majority of everyone that they ever knew to being vaporized by God?

Re: What is the purpose of Hell?
 

What is God's purpose in punishing them for a long time? About one second in a burning fire is pretty much enough for anybody.

Re: What is the purpose of Hell?
 

Truly this post is that of one who abhors the New Testament we have been given. Apart from it we are left to merely speculate the things of Elohim. One should be so glad we do have it that we may know the way to life. First off the doctrine of the punishment of the wicked is most certainly found in the OT.

1: For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the LORD of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.
2: But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall.
3: And ye shall tread down the wicked; for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I shall do this, saith the LORD of hosts.
Malachi 4:1-3

This is indeed the same judgment that John the Baptist, then Yeshua, then the apostles preached about.

10: And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. Matt. 3:10 John Baptist

28: And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in gehenna. Matt. 10:28 Yeshua Messiah

This punishment is eternal only in that once the souls of the wicked die thats it. They are dead for all of it.

Some must think YHWH approves of sin against his will. He warns very clearly all throgh his word the soul that sinneth it shall die. Ezekiel 18:4

Re: What is the purpose of Hell?
 

If Hell was not a real place(IF MAN MADE UP THE EXSITENCES OF HELL)
or if souls burn up and die away then what was the reason Jesus died on the cross?

Re: What is the purpose of Hell?
 

We don't know that. It's important to note that while the conscious mind may be willing to conform, actually eradicating the rebellious nature in a soul may take some time.

I think it's important to note that the lake of fire is also called, "the lake of fire and brimstone." What is "brimstone"? Strong's defines it as...

2303 // yeion // theion // thi'-on //

probably of 2304 (in its original sense of flashing); TDNT - 3:122,*; n n

AV - brimstone 7; 7

1) brimstone
1a) divine incense, because burning brimstone was regarded as having
power to purify, and to ward off disease

Perhaps the soul's purification takes longer than it does to convince the conscious mind to repent.

Re: What is the purpose of Hell?
 

I believe the Bible tells us why Jesus died on the cross....

John 12:32. And I, if I be lifted up from the earth (be crucified), will draw all men unto me.

I Timothy 2: 1-6. I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.

Colossians 1: 16 and 20. For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven.

I John 2:2. And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for our's only, but also for the sins of the whole world.

Christ died to save the entire world from being separated from God for ever and ever.

Re: What is the purpose of Hell?
 

Hell is a Platonic Mythological Story devised to frighten women and children into christian submission.

If I was allowed to transliterate the scriptures from Hebrew to Greel I could have made it alot scarier!

Re: What is the purpose of Hell?
 

Bro. Chris, can you give me a brief explanation of how each posistion explains 1 Peter 3 (Jesus preaching to souls in prison)?

Re: What is the purpose of Hell?
 

To be the SACRIFICIAL LAMB.

To save SOULS (NEPHESH/LIVES). To save your SOUL (LIFE).

:gotcha

Re: What is the purpose of Hell?
 

Prison is for those that are alive in spiritul prison chained in their own bonds of sin.

:thumbsup

Re: What is the purpose of Hell?
 

Sweet and to the point!

:thumbsup

Re: What is the purpose of Hell?
 

Yes we know this but...
It is the sin that is in man that Jesus paid the price in full by his death on the cross.
Remember the bible class verse?
For God so Loved the world that he gave his only begotten son,that whosoever believes in him would not die but have everlasting life.
I can't understand why this sacrifice was made unless it was to save us from, "what"?Would Jesus die on the cross if we only spend a little while in purgatory.Because I might be mistaken but I do believe the Catholics teach that one is punished for a time,refined and set free?If this was the case,Jesus dying on the cross would not cover sins but a little torture would.I just don't see the purgatory thing.It would be great I guess if one died and found themselves some where in limbo.

Re: What is the purpose of Hell?
 

This text has always been problematic to me. Here it is in the ESV...

I Peter 3:18-20 (ESV)
18For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit, 19in which he went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison, 20because they formerly did not obey, when God’s patience waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through water.

Here's another interesting text...

I Peter 4:6 (ESV)
6For this is why the gospel was preached even to those who are dead, that though judged in the flesh the way people are, they might live in the spirit the way God does.

Re: What is the purpose of Hell?
 

Hell has been so distorted it is very difficult to find real purpose for it, especially in the traditional view. Seems that the traditional view was developed out of paganism by the Roman church to control the masses. Sadly, that view has caused untold devastation in the hearts and minds of men for centuries. This in turn has caused many millions to reject God out of hand, because they cannot conceive of a God perpetrating such cruelty on His own creation.

The creator of a thing is responsible for the thing that He has created, so to believe that God has lost the ability to bring His creation to redemption is the height of blasphemy!!

The traditional view of hell has been born out of the cruel heart of man, and does great violence to the cause of the Creator.

Re: What is the purpose of Hell?
 

That wouldn't make any sense, you're right. But what if without Jesus' death all souls would be truly lost without any hope of reconciliation for all eternity? Christ's death would be viewed as making reconciliation possible for every soul.

The implication would be that those who believe the Gospel NOW escape God's wrath and purifying judgments....however one day every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord to the glory of God the Father.

Colossians 1: 16 and 20. For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven.

Catholics believe that the souls of the believers who only committed venial sins experience purgatory. However, the evolution of the doctrine of purgatory is interesting. You see many of the Greek Fathers taught that all souls would one day be reconciled through the blood of the cross. The Latin Fathers (who won the debate) argued for endless torments. However, even Latin theologians had to answer to the Greek texts that appear to speak of refinement. So they created the notion of purgatory to satisfy these texts while also holding to the notion of eternal torments. Evidently the Greek laid a strong enough case that they had to create a side doctrine to cover themselves.

Re: What is the purpose of Hell?
 

True Dat! Except I like to think of of then as two differant things:

Hell: The Grave. (First Death).



Lake of Fire: Destruction, Gods righteous fire, no sinful wicked man can look up God and live. (Second Death).



:thumbsup

Re: What is the purpose of Hell?
 

Not to dispute you any but in 1 Peter I was taught and believe that the spirits that Jesus went and preached to were the old testament saints.Now before the blood of the lamb the Jewish people made atonement for sins by the sacrifice of an animal.Before Jesus the saints(who died) were seperated from God.They went down in the heart of the earth.Jesus paid the price in full and went into the heart of the earth and preached the gospel(God's Word) and released them.Jesus now holds those keys.This place in 1 Peter is not the same place where eternal punishment will be exacted.

Re: What is the purpose of Hell?
 

The idea of God vaporizing the majority of mankind is truly problematic. This would imply that Jesus died to save humanity...but he failed and so he had to vaporize them.

Re: What is the purpose of Hell?
 

Gehenna is the ultimate destruction. Gehenna was a real place, it was a trash pit outside the city, where refuse and bodies (those who could not afford burials/or criminals) were burnt, these fires burned 24/7, what the fires did not consume, worms (maggots) did.

:thumbsup

Re: What is the purpose of Hell?
 

I don't see these as Old Testament Saints...

I Peter 3:18-20 (ESV)
18For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit, 19in which he went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison, 20because they formerly did not obey, when God’s patience waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through water.

But I do see something important coalescing. Do you agree that the Gospel was preached unto the dead for their deliverance at least once?

Re: What is the purpose of Hell?
 

If 1 is saved Satan loses.

Also the concept of Limbo/Purgatory is Pagan.

:thumbsup