I think that the widespread Christian doctrine of literal eternal torment in Hell-fire has caused more people to stumble than perhaps any other teaching.

Why I Object to this Doctrine

1. I object to this doctrine first and foremost because I don’t believe it is supported by the Bible. 
2. Secondly, I object because it makes God out to be someone who gets pleasure from torturing and causing suffering to billions of human beings for all of eternity. What kind of parent would torture their unruly children in fire?
3. Thirdly, it is not logical or just to torture someone for all of eternity who only sinned for 70-100 years.

Below we will be examining the Scriptures to see what they have to say on the topic of Hell. 

Before we start, keep in mind that in the Hebrew and Greek, the word “Hell” is never used in the entire Bible. Instead, the words Sheol, Hades, Gehenna, and Tartarus are used, and these words do not all describe the same place. 

The King James Version and other translations have caused much confusion by translating all of these words as “HeIl.”

Eye for an Eye

God told us His standard of justice in Exodus 21:23-25: If someone injures a person’s eye, the offender’s eye must be injured. If someone injures a person’s tooth, the offender’s tooth must be injured. If someone kills someone, the offender’s life must be taken. The punishment must be equal to the crime, in each case.

How would torturing someone for eternity in fire possibly harmonize with God’s standard of justice described in Exodus 21:23-25?

The Thought Never Entered God’s Mind

God told Jeremiah that the disgusting thought of burning children at “Gehenna” (“Valley of Hinnom“) never entered into His mind, and He was outraged to see Israelites doing this abomination.

Jeremiah 32:35 (NET): “They built places of worship for the god Baal in the Valley of Ben Hinnom so that they could sacrifice their sons and daughters to the god Molech. Such a disgusting practice was not something I commanded them to do! It never even entered my mind to command them to do such a thing! So Judah is certainly liable for punishment.'”

If God viewed it as a “disgusting practice” to burn humans in fire now for a moment, how could God possibly get pleasure from, or declare it to be righteous, to burn humans in fire for all of eternity?

The Soul will be Totally Destroyed

Both Jesus and Paul used a Greek word meaning “total destruction” or “annihilation,” to describe God’s future punishment on the evildoers.

“Don’t be afraid of those who kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul. Rather, fear him who is able to destroy [totally destroy; annihilate] both soul and body in Gehenna.” (Matthew 10:28, WEB)

“when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire, giving vengeance to those who don’t know God, and to those who don’t obey the Good News of our Lord Jesus, who will pay the penalty: eternal destruction [“total destruction; annihilation”] from the face of the Lord and from the glory of his might,” (2 Thessalonians 1:7-9, WEB)

Notice, Jesus said both body AND soul will be totally destroyed in Gehenna (“Hell“) at some point, and Paul said the punishment for the evildoers when Jesus returns will be eternal annihilation, not eternal torment and pain.

“Gehenna” means Trash Dump

In the New Testament, the Greek word which is most often translated as “Hell” in modern English Bible translations, is actually the word “Gehenna,” which refers to “The Valley of the Son of Hinnom,” that, in Jesus’ day, was used as a Trash Dump where they would throw the dead bodies of unrepentant evildoers to totally destroy their bodies with fire.

The Jews had developed certain ideas of punishment from God in the afterlife as well, but these were usually limited in nature and not eternal torment– similar to the Roman Catholic doctrine of Purgatory.

I personally can see how it would be just and fair to punish Adolf Hitler 70-100 years for each life that he took and to punish him with the same torture he used on others.

Revelation and Daniel are Symbolic

The book of Revelation does actually speak of God punishing certain evildoers in a Lake of Fire forever, eternally tormenting them. These include a 7-headed dragon, a fiery red beast, a beast that looks like a lamb, and all of their followers.

Right in the first chapter, Revelation announces that it is a book of “signs” and “symbols.”

If you interpret the Lake of Fire literally, why don’t you interpret that Jesus is literally a lamb and a lion or that Satan is literally a 7-headed dragon and a snake?

Daniel is also a book full of symbols and apocalyptic stories, with visions of beasts and horns and giant trees. At first, Daniel 12:2 seems to speak of eternal punishment in the afterlife for the wicked.

Other parts of the Bible speak about the annihilation of wicked cities as being “eternal punishment” because they are destroyed forever and will never return. This doesn’t mean that God is still eternally tormenting buildings or houses, but instead, that the destruction will last for all eternity. Those cities won’t be rebuilt. (Jude 1:7)

Daniel 12:2 may be using this same terminology to describe wicked people. They will receive “everlasting punishment” in the sense that their punishment is final and lasts forever, since they’ll be destroyed and will never return. (Compare 2 Thessalonians 1:6-10)

The Rich Man and Lazarus

Jesus told a parable about a rich man who refused to help the poor, going down into the fires of Hades, and suffering thirst in the fire as punishment for his evil. (Luke 16:19-31)

A parable, by definition, is a fictional story used to teach moral or spiritual lessons. Notice there are many things that don’t sound literal in this parable, but instead are symbolic or hyperbolic, such as Lazarus being placed in the bosom of Abraham, or people refusing to believe after witnessing a resurrection.

Given the context in Luke 16, the main point of this parable appears to be that in the new Christian Kingdom of God, the rich and proud Pharisees would be brought down while the poor and humble people would be elevated.

I leave it up to you to decide how much of this parable is literal and how much is symbolic or hyperbole– But notice this story does not say the torment is eternal (never-ending).

In summary, I believe there will be a time of punishment after death for some of the wicked, but I do not believe it will be eternal in a literal fire.