Q: In Matthew 13:42, Jesus describes the coming of the Son of man as a time when angels will gather those who do iniquity and shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. It sounds like Jesus believed in the existence of some sort of fiery hell. But lots of other passages in the Bible deny that hell exists. Isnt this a contradiction?
A: No; the verses which have been recruited to support the idea that there is not going to be any fiery hell into which the unsaved will be sent have been misconstrued. Lets review them.
Deut. 29:20 -- The LORD shall blot out his name from under heaven. -- meaning that his name will not be remembered on earth; he will have no descendants to carry on his name and memory.
Psalm 1:4-6 -- The ungodly ... are like the chaff which the wind driveth away. -- John the Baptist likewise used the imagery of chaff but this did not prevent him from also using the imagery of a chaff-burning fire that appears on Judgment Day.
Psalm 34:16 -- The face of the LORD is against them that do evil, to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth. -- The meaning here is similar to the meaning in Deut. 29:20. This passage is irrelevant to the question being asked, since it is about how people on earth will not forget the name of the wicked.
Psalm 37:1-2 -- [Evildoers] shall soon be cut down like the grass, and wither as the green herb. -- This simply does not preclude the existence of hell. An author can speak repeatedly about how good people and bad people die, without meaning to suggest that they do not proceed to experience an afterlife.
Psalm 37:20 -- The wicked shall perish. -- Jesus said the same thing, and this did not elicit non-belief in hell.
Psalm 69:28 -- irrelevant; cf. Deut. 29:20.
Proverbs 10:25 -- As the whirlwind passeth, so is the wicked no more. The as here is better understood in modern English as When. Like many proverbs, this one deals with things as they appear; in times of trouble or catastrophe, wicked people often disappear -- either because they have been caught by the catastrophe, or because they have run away from it in fear, as if from the presence of God (who on at least one occasion spoke from a whirlwind), and do not return to help any people hurt by the catastrophe.
Proverbs 24:20 -- The candle of the wicked shall be put out. This indicates the fate of the wicked in this life.
Obadiah 16 -- They shall be as though they had not been. -- This is a reference to artificial entities, namely nations. All that they have labored to accomplish, and all that they have worked to become, will be exposed as a vaporous shadow.
Romans 6:21 & 6:23 -- The end of those things is death and For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life. To Paul, the definition of death was capable of meaning not only physical death but also the second death. The nature of the second death is the question -- but its nature and duration is not addressed in these verses.
First Cor. 3:17 -- "If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy." -- When people are the subject of being destroyed, the word tends to mean ruin. It does not necessarily mean an end of existence, but describes something like unvindication.
Second Cor. 2:15 -- In them that are saved, and in them that perish. -- The term perish does not preclude the existence of hell.
Galatians 6:8 -- For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption. -- Again, this does not preclude the existence of hell.
Philippians 3:18-19 -- The enemies of the cross of Christ: Whose end is destruction. See comment above on II Cor. 3:17.
First Thess. 5:3, James 1:15, James 4:12, and James 5:20 likewise do not preclude the existence of hell.
Yours in Christ,
Waterrock
A: No; the verses which have been recruited to support the idea that there is not going to be any fiery hell into which the unsaved will be sent have been misconstrued. Lets review them.
Deut. 29:20 -- The LORD shall blot out his name from under heaven. -- meaning that his name will not be remembered on earth; he will have no descendants to carry on his name and memory.
Psalm 1:4-6 -- The ungodly ... are like the chaff which the wind driveth away. -- John the Baptist likewise used the imagery of chaff but this did not prevent him from also using the imagery of a chaff-burning fire that appears on Judgment Day.
Psalm 34:16 -- The face of the LORD is against them that do evil, to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth. -- The meaning here is similar to the meaning in Deut. 29:20. This passage is irrelevant to the question being asked, since it is about how people on earth will not forget the name of the wicked.
Psalm 37:1-2 -- [Evildoers] shall soon be cut down like the grass, and wither as the green herb. -- This simply does not preclude the existence of hell. An author can speak repeatedly about how good people and bad people die, without meaning to suggest that they do not proceed to experience an afterlife.
Psalm 37:20 -- The wicked shall perish. -- Jesus said the same thing, and this did not elicit non-belief in hell.
Psalm 69:28 -- irrelevant; cf. Deut. 29:20.
Proverbs 10:25 -- As the whirlwind passeth, so is the wicked no more. The as here is better understood in modern English as When. Like many proverbs, this one deals with things as they appear; in times of trouble or catastrophe, wicked people often disappear -- either because they have been caught by the catastrophe, or because they have run away from it in fear, as if from the presence of God (who on at least one occasion spoke from a whirlwind), and do not return to help any people hurt by the catastrophe.
Proverbs 24:20 -- The candle of the wicked shall be put out. This indicates the fate of the wicked in this life.
Obadiah 16 -- They shall be as though they had not been. -- This is a reference to artificial entities, namely nations. All that they have labored to accomplish, and all that they have worked to become, will be exposed as a vaporous shadow.
Romans 6:21 & 6:23 -- The end of those things is death and For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life. To Paul, the definition of death was capable of meaning not only physical death but also the second death. The nature of the second death is the question -- but its nature and duration is not addressed in these verses.
First Cor. 3:17 -- "If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy." -- When people are the subject of being destroyed, the word tends to mean ruin. It does not necessarily mean an end of existence, but describes something like unvindication.
Second Cor. 2:15 -- In them that are saved, and in them that perish. -- The term perish does not preclude the existence of hell.
Galatians 6:8 -- For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption. -- Again, this does not preclude the existence of hell.
Philippians 3:18-19 -- The enemies of the cross of Christ: Whose end is destruction. See comment above on II Cor. 3:17.
First Thess. 5:3, James 1:15, James 4:12, and James 5:20 likewise do not preclude the existence of hell.
Yours in Christ,
Waterrock
