GERTRUDE, a Pentecostal preacher, held firmly to her belief in a fiery hell. The very suggestion that there might not be any such place offended her sense of justice. She reasoned that without the fires of hell, all sorts of horrible crimes would go unpunished. Gertrude remained adamant in her position. As she put it, ''I dont think that Id want to worship God if there were no hellfire for the wicked.''

If hell is a place of torment, you certainly should fear it. But, if this teaching is not true, religious leaders who teach the doctrine create confusion and cause needless mental anguish to those who believe them. They also defame God.

Wot does the Bible say on this subject? In this topic i'll use both catholic and protestant Bible translations to answer 3 questions.

1. Wot did Jesus teach about hell?
2. Wot is the lake of fire?
3. How can learning the truth about hell affect you?

Wot did Jesus teach about hell

''If your eye causes you to sin,'' said Jesus, ''get rid of it. You would be better off to go into God's kingdom with only one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell. The worms there never die, and the fire never stops burning.'' (Mark9:47, 48 - Contemporary English Bible)

On another occasion Jesus spoke of a judgment period when he would say to the wicked: ''Depart from me, you accursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.'' and he also said these ones will ''go off to eternal punishment,'' (Matthew 25:41,46 NAB)

At first glance the above words of Jesus may seem to promote hellfire. Obviously, Jesus did not intend to contradict Gods Word, which clearly states: ''the dead no longer know anything'' (Ecclesiastes 9:5 NAB). to wot then was Jesus referring to when he spoke of a persons being thrown ''into hell''? is the ''eternal fire'' Jesus warned of literal or symbolic?
It wot sense do the wicked ''go off to eternal punishment''?

Lets examine these questions 1 at a time.

To wot then was Jesus referring to when he spoke of a persons being thrown into hell?
The original Greek word translated 'hell' at Mark 9:47 is 'Gehenna'. This word comes from the Hebrew 'Geh Hinnom,' meaning 'Valley of Hinnom'

The valley of Hinnom hugged the outerskirts of ancient Jerusalem. In the days of the Israelite kings it was used for child sacrifice. A disgusting sacrifice that God condemned, (see Jeremiah 7:30-34) God said that he would execute those who performed those acts of worship. The valley of Hinnom would then be called 'the valley of slaughter where 'the carcasses of this people would die unburied' (Jeremiah 7:30-34 King James Version). God foretold that the vally of hinnom would become a place not for the torture of live victims but for the disposal of dead bodies.

In Jesus' day, the inhabitants of Jerusalem used the Valley of Hinnom as a garbage dump. They threw the bodies of some vile criminals into this dump, and kept the fire there constantly burning there to dispose of the refuse and the carcasses.

When Jesus spoke of the undying worms ans unquenchable fire he was apparently alluding to Isaiah 66:24. '' the carcases of the men that have transgressed against me: for their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched''(king james version) Jesus and his listeners knew that these words in Isaiah refered to the carcasses of those not deserving a burial.

Therefore Jesus used the Valley of Hinnom, or Gehenna as a fitting symbol of death without hope of a resurrection. He drove this point home when he warned that God ''can destroy both soul and body in Gehenna''(Matthew 10:28, NAB) Gehenna is a symbol of eternal death, not eternal torture.

is the eternal fire Jesus warned of literal or symbolic?

Note that the eternal fire mentioned by Jesus and recorded at Matthew 25:41 was prepared for ''the devil and his angels.'' Do you think that fire can burn spirit beings??

Or was Jesus using the term fire symbolically?
Certainly the ''sheep and the ''goats'' mentioned in the same conversation are not literal; they are word pictures that represent two types of ppl.(read this in matthew 25:32,33).

The eternal fire that Jesus spoke of completely burns up the wicked in a figurative sense.

in wot sense do the wicked 'go off to eternal punishment'?

Although most translations use the word ''punishment'' at Matthew 25:46, the basic meaning of the Greek word 'kolasin' is ''checking the growth of trees'' or pruning, cutting off needless branches. So while the sheeplike ones receive everlasting life, the unrepentant goatlike ones suffer ''eternal punishment'' being forever cut off from life.

Wot do you think?

Jesus never taught that humans have an immortal soul. However he often did teach about resurrection of the dead(see luke 14:13,14; John 5:25-29; 11:25). Why would Jesus say that the dead would be resurrected if he believed that their souls hadnt died??

Jesus did not teach that God would maliciously torture the wicked forever. Rather Jesus said: God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16, NAB)
Why would Jesus say imply that those who did not believe in him would die? If he really meant they would live forever, suffering misery in a fiery hell, would he not have said so?
lets have a look at wot lake of fire is

Wot Is Lake Of Fire?

Revelation 20:10 says the Devil will be cast into ''the lake of fire'' and ''tormented day and night for ever and ever.''(KJV)....

BUT! If the Devil were to be tortured for all eternity, God would have to preserve him alive... the Bible says that Jesus will ''destroy him'' (Hebrews 2:14, KJV)

That doesnt add up... Only way for that to make sense is if one verse is talking about something happening literally and the other is talking symbolic...

Lets have a look at wot else gets thrown into the lake of fire...

Cast your eyes to Revelation 20:14 ''And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.''

Do you see that? Death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. Can death and hell[Hades] be literally burned?

''The lake'' mentioned here is symbolic, since death and hell [Hades] that are thrown into it cannot literally be burned!

Have a look at Revelation 21:8 also thrown into this symbolic lake are those without faith and those who are disgusting in their filth and murderers and fornicators and those practicing spiritism and idolaters and all the liars. This lake of fire means the second death its not the same as the death from Adams sin where we can be resurrected, this death is irreversible, death from which there is no hope of coming back to life... completely destroyed forever.

This was meant for the Devil and demons. Now some humans who continue to follow him will also be gone forever.

In wot sense are those in the fire tormented eternally?
At times ''to torment'' can mean ''to restrain'' someone. Once when Jesus was confronted by demons, they cried out: ''Art thou come hither to TORMENT us[restrain us in the abyss] before our time?'' (see Matthew 8:29,KJV) Luke puts it.. ''And they begged him repeatedly not to order them to go into the Abyss.'' Luke 8:31, NIV)
So all those in 'the lake' will suffer the 'torment' of everlasting restraint, or 'second death'

Praise almighty Jesus Son of God..brother it is well that you like the word of God,but the problem i have with you is that the plane words of God that are only deliverd by the holy spirit to the church(person) who has faith in it, you have gone ahead to put your own research running to greek translations,wat i used to see my former pastors do to complicate a very simple thing, that God freely gives,to those who are willing to receive.yet man introduced theology to help him.my friend those who workd 4 the Lord even in the days of the bible never even went to school to study the word,Jesus himself showd that this was posible,when the pharisees still studied amiss every line of the word.without saing much,bible is plane to the humble and its only God who reveals more of it to such people. I hate theology.will discus the topic later brother..am sory if have gone 2 far.amen

unlike the pastors and priests i didnt go to study theology at some university but plain home bible helped me see the truth