The term “hell” was never mentioned – not even once – in the original Scriptures, only in our English translated Bibles, starting with the King James. It is an English term, and originally didn’t have anything to do with torment or torture, at all! When people said that they were going to “hell the potatoes” did they mean they were going to roast them forever in a furnace? Not even close! To “hell potatoes” was to cover them with soil, burying them so that they would grow. “Hell” originally meant “a covering1.” The same root word is where we get the word “helmet” from, which is a “covering” for your head. When people tell me that I am going to hell, I ask, “Which one? Sheol, Hades, Tartarus or Gehenna? (And, no, they are not the same thing! They usually don’t know what to tell me after that.)2” Let me elaborate…
Sheol – Found in the OT, it’s the Hebrew word for the “place of the dead,” the grave, the unseen.
Hades – The Greek transliteration for Sheol, we know this from the Septuagint, which is the OT translated into Koine (common) Greek. That word Sheol is translated as Hades there. The Septuagint was the “Bible” of the Apostles.
Tartarus – This is found only once in the entire Bible (in 2Pt 2:4) and only says that demons (probably from Noah’s days) are being kept there in “chains of darkness” and reserved for judgment, so even it is not eternal.
Gehenna – This is the Greek word that was translated from the Hebrew “Ben Hinnom,” or “Valley of Hinnom” when our Lord Jesus usually spoke of judgment to his Jewish audience. This term is only used with Jewish writers, since Gentiles likely wouldn’t know anything about this place or what it meant to the Jewish people. In the time of the Prophet Jeremiah, certain Israelites had fallen into idol worship, so much so as to sacrifice their own children to the gods of Baal and Molech. The sacrifices would be by burning them in a pit of fire, which the Lord looked on in disgust, saying that it never “even entered My mind” (Jer 19)! Because of its abominable history, it had become a dump where the trash and bodies of condemned criminals where thrown in, at the time of Jesus.
Oh! But what about the Lake of Fire? That lasts forever, doesn’t it?
What about the Lake of Fire? That phrase is only found in the book of Revelation. It is a metaphor related to metallurgy, where they would use sulphur as an agent to purify gold. In fact, the Greek word for fire (πῦρ or pur) is where we get the word “pure” from. Its purpose is to cleanse or “refine” the soul of all of its impurities. It’s actually a good thing, although unpleasant, that brings about righteousness is the unbeliever! For some people, it is the only way that they are going to be saved – through fire! More on this misunderstood topic later.
People throughout the centuries have asked, how is salvation distributed? There are four major viewpoints of the afterlife. They are:
Calvanism – the belief that God has predetermined who will spend eternity with Him in Heaven, and who will spend it in Hell. This view makes God unloving, as only some lives matter to Him.
Arminianism – the belief that God wants to save all, is willing to save all, but is incapable. It places the blame of going to Hell squarely on the person, citing that we all have “free will” to make the choice. Nevermind that not everyone on earth has an “equal opportunity” to hear the Gospel, much less believe. This view makes God weak – too weak to save people. Even worse is that we have been told that God has no choice (no free will) and is forced to send them to hell forever! If God is forced to do anything, then He is not all-powerful. I’m ashamed to say that I used to have this Arminianist mindset.
Annihilationism – the belief that God will, if the person does not believe and repent before the judgment, that He will burn that person to ashes, never to rise again. They will have been annihilated. This view, while better than eternal conscious torment (ECT), still misses the mark. It’s just not what I would expect from an all-knowing, all-powerful God. I mean, He can save people, but He’s just going to cremate them, instead? Doesn’t really fit what I would think. But then, maybe that’s just me. By the way, I’ve held this viewpoint briefly myself after I walked away from ECT. I was an annihilationist, also known as conditional immortality, but leaning towards universalism. While not a perfect understanding, I personally think it’s great place to start in understanding God’s justice!3
Universalism – the belief that God loves all, and is willing and more than capable of saving all! I am not, I repeat, not saying that everyone is saved right now! But everyone will be saved, at some point in time. How do I know this? Because God will one day be All in all. And to accomplish this, the Good Shepherd will leave the 99 sheep to go after the one that wandered off (Mt 18:12). To us, 99% is excellent – I mean, that’s an A+! To God, however, 99% is not enough!! He wants to save 100% of humanity – and He will do it – in His time! This view makes God loving, willing, and able to save all of Creation!
So, why all the confusion? Universalism was the prevailing doctrines during, and after the time of the apostles. There were six schools in the realm of early Christendom: four taught universal salvation, one maybe taught annihilationism, and only one sect, most notably Augustine of Hippo, the bishop of Carthage, taught eternal torment. Interesting fact for you, he was a theologian that couldn’t understand nor read Greek, and so relied on the Latin translation. Now, would you follow a “theologian” that did not have access to the original NT manuscripts, which were written in Greek? Neither would I. Yet, this is the current state of modern Christianity, and it was transformed around 400 AD. Augustine said, “There are very many (the majority), who though not denying the Holy Scriptures, do not believe in endless torments” (Enchiria, ad Laurent). So, his viewpoint was actually the minority one.
But then, in 553 AD, Emperor Justinian issued in edict in the Second Council of Constantinople that all who “says or thinks that the torments of the demons and of impious men are temporal, so that they will at length come to an end, or whoever holds to a restoration either of the demons or of the impious, let him be anathema.” He was against Origenism, as he was a universalist. Origen stated, “We think that the goodness of God, through the mediation of Christ, will bring all creatures to one and the same end.” Justinian was not a nice fellow, by the way (that’s actually putting it lightly). He was actually a mass-murderer. Taken from a website, we read:
As in his secular administration, despotism appeared also in the Emperor’s ecclesiastical policy. He regulated everything, both in religion and in law. At the very beginning of his reign, he deemed it proper to promulgate by law the Church’s belief in the Trinity and the Incarnation; and to threaten all heretics with the appropriate penalties; whereas he subsequently declared that he intended to deprive all disturbers of orthodoxy of the opportunity for such offense by due process of law. He made the Nicaeno-Constantinopolitan creed the sole symbol of the Church and accorded legal force to the canons of the four ecumenical councils. The bishops in attendance at the Second Council of Constantinople in 553 recognized that nothing could be done in the Church contrary to the emperor’s will and command
Further, Justinian was a tyrant in the truest sense of the word. During the Nika riots, Justinian murdered 30,000 innocent men because they were political rivals to his power. Like many of the Roman emperors, he tightly controlled everything.
The reason the entire Church believes in Eternal Torment today is because of a mass-murdering, tyrannical, and arguably pagan Roman emperor.
Makes you think doesn’t it?
(Source: https://www.bereanpatriot.com/the-early-church-fathers-on-universal-restoration/)
But, God promised believers eternal life, right? No, He didn’t. EVERYONE will have so-called “eternal life.” But, everyone will have it (key-word) eventually. We get to have “Eonian” life.
“Eonian life” is a Scriptural phrase, appearing forty-four times in the New Testament. You’ve probably
never heard of it is because the phrase has been mistranslated “eternal life” in our common English
translations—the King James Version, the New American Standard Bible, the New International
Version—and others. “Eonian life,” not “eternal life,” is the promise given to those who believe God’s
message of salvation in this lifetime.
“Eonian” is the adjectival form of “eon,” a word that appears over seventy-five times in the New
Testament. (Again, this word has been severely mistranslated, giving way to heinous Christian
doctrines such as eternal torment.) An “eon” is a limited period of time. “Eonian,” therefore, pertains
to a special kind of life that endures for a limited period of time (in our context, these limited periods
of time include the coming Millennium, during which Christ reigns on Earth, and the New Heavens
and New Earth, spoken of in Revelation, chapter 21
(Source: What is a believer? by Martin Zender)
Believers are honored with a “special salvation,” spoken of in 1Tim 4:9-10, “This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance. 10 For to this end we both labor and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Savior of all men, especially of those who believe” (NKJV). Salvation is given to every single human: to every man, woman, and child, BUT to each in his/her own order (1Cor 15:23). It’s not offered only to believers as at least one person I’ve encountered has misquoted. The Elect, God’s chosen, have the incredible privilege of being made alive first! And we will have work to do! Not a drudgery type of work, but a work that we will enjoy doing!
Everyone will come to a knowledge of the truth and have eternal life with God. No one will be excluded. Ronald Reagan once told the story of an ex-German soldier who was captured and brought to America as a POW. He was forced to do farming in Oklahoma and California. It was, in his own words, the happiest time of his life. Even a man who was an enemy of the United States, could come to live in it, and come to love it! Abraham Lincoln was quoted as saying, “Do I not destroy my enemies when I make them my friends?” In the same way, God’s enemies will be “destroyed” by becoming His friends! In the same way, his former enemies will get to know Him – the real Him – and will fall in love with Him! His Love and his “calling” are irresistible! All will learn to love Him and will voluntarily bend the knee, eventually. It does not matter that it takes a long time, it will happen! God is the God of time, and so He has the time to do His plans. Death is no obstacle for Him. Remember, Paul said that nothing, not even death, can separate us from the love of God (Rom 8:38)! And he also said that, “If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable” (1Cor 15:19, KJV, underline mine). Don’t make yourself miserable by thinking that people only have this short life to be saved, for God will save all!
1 https://www.etymonline.com/word/*kel-#etymonline_v_52556
2 See ye also “The Origin of Hell” - https://therealgospelofchrist.com/the-origin-of-hell/
3 One of the video series that I watched while I was an annihilationist was “Amazing Facts” by Doug Bachelor. Excellent and informative material, especially on what he says about the state of the dead! (https://www.amazingfacts.org/)
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