First Q: In Matthew 25:41, Jesus tells us that the unsaved will be cast into an everlasting fire. This is unjust. Not even the worst criminal can do enough to deserve an eternity of fiery torment.
A: Hell is not only a punishment for what a person has done; it is also a consequence of what a person becomes by sinning and dying in a state of unrepentance. Hell is very analogous to a dump, which may be why one of the Biblical terms for hell is Gehenna, which alludes to the Valley of Hinnom outside Jerusalem where the city dump was located. When people ruin their souls through sin, and refuse to be salvaged by God through the grace and restoration that He offers, their souls become unheavenly. They lose whatever appetite for God and the pursuit of His will that they might have once had, and acquire an appetite for self-reign. Such an appetite, rendered permanent at physical death -- when the soul is separated from the physical mechanisms which gave it the capacity to change -- is unharmonious with a perpetual residence in Gods presence, under Gods rule.
So the soul is sent to a place consistent with its content -- and this place, hell, is described as a lake of fire, and as everlasting fire. Why everlasting? I think there are at least three reasons. First, because in some ways the human soul is the spiritual equivalent of a quark: it cant be divided or broken down any more than it already is. Scripture leaves us free to speculate about the possibility that souls in hell may be capable of diffusion and concentration (with proportionate variations in the degree to which they are sensate) but the implication that souls remain in hell forever, consciously experiencing sensations which, from the perspective of the saved, are well-described as fiery torment and agony, seems inescapeable given the premise of the immortality of the soul. (I know that some theologians -- particularly annihilationists -- deny this, but I think its clearly taught in the New Testament repeatedly in passages such as here in Matthew 25 and in Revelation 14 and 20. There's plenty of online analyses about this elsewhere.)
Second, the banishment from Gods presence is perpetual because the non-repentance of the inhabitants of hell is perpetual. A good steward generally does not toss something which was once cherished, but is now broken, into the dumpster *only* because it is broken. He tosses it into the dumpster because he is aware that it will /stay/ broken. Various unbelieving participants in the SAB Discussion Boards have testified that even if the God of the Bible were to turn out to be real, they still would refuse to worship Him. That is consistent with their assertion of self-reign and the dictation of values according to their own tastes. I submit that such a soul, adamant in its position, would be more comfortable in a lake of fire, existing on its own without the blessings provided by God, than it could be in the presence of God.
Third, hell is eternal because a non-eternal hell would tend to render God a banker in the currency of immorality. Want to commit adultery? Thatll be 100,000 years of hell, level 4. Want to commit murder? Thatll be 200,000 years of hell, level 6. Such a picture of a non-eternal hell implies a God who sells sin in exchange for limited periods of pain, and who is interested only in obedience rather than purity of character in His children.
And, it seems to me that the prospect of an eternal hell for the unrepentant and unregenerate makes a better deterrent than annihilationism or the idea of hell-as-a-refinery or any other interpretation. Being told that unrepentance and self-rule will result in everlasting banishment from Gods presence into a wasteland of pain seems inevitably more effective, as a warning, than being told that unrepentance and self-rule will result in non-existence. I am sure that many people are so blind to their potential that if they were warned that they will be annihilated if they plunged altogether into iniquity and all sorts of lustful self-gratification, they would unhesitatingly say, Youve got a deal!
Second Q: This verse describes a place of everlasting fire. But other passages, such as Psalm 30:5 and Jeremiah 3:12 and Micah 7:18, say that Gods anger does not last forever.
A: [In the comparison at www.skepticsannotatedbibl...anger.html , Malachi 1:4 should be placed on the other side.]
Matthew 25:41 and 25:46 dont describe Gods anger; they describe hellfire. (And, btw, though the KJV says everlasting punishment and eternal life in 25:46, the Greek word that describes the punishment and the life is the same word, aiwnion.) This resolves, or rather, dissolves, the claim of contradiction as far as Matthew 25:41 and 25:46 are concerned. Whether a judge feels anger or not when passing sentence upon the guilty, the continuation of the punishment of the guilty is not dependent on the continuation of the judges anger.
Third Q: Here in Matthew 25, Jesus is depicted with a strong belief in hell. But other passages in the Bible indicate that there is no such place. How can this be resolved?
A: See my comments on Matthew 13:42 at p089.ezboard.com/fsabdisc...1571.topic .
Yours in Christ,
Waterrock
A: Hell is not only a punishment for what a person has done; it is also a consequence of what a person becomes by sinning and dying in a state of unrepentance. Hell is very analogous to a dump, which may be why one of the Biblical terms for hell is Gehenna, which alludes to the Valley of Hinnom outside Jerusalem where the city dump was located. When people ruin their souls through sin, and refuse to be salvaged by God through the grace and restoration that He offers, their souls become unheavenly. They lose whatever appetite for God and the pursuit of His will that they might have once had, and acquire an appetite for self-reign. Such an appetite, rendered permanent at physical death -- when the soul is separated from the physical mechanisms which gave it the capacity to change -- is unharmonious with a perpetual residence in Gods presence, under Gods rule.
So the soul is sent to a place consistent with its content -- and this place, hell, is described as a lake of fire, and as everlasting fire. Why everlasting? I think there are at least three reasons. First, because in some ways the human soul is the spiritual equivalent of a quark: it cant be divided or broken down any more than it already is. Scripture leaves us free to speculate about the possibility that souls in hell may be capable of diffusion and concentration (with proportionate variations in the degree to which they are sensate) but the implication that souls remain in hell forever, consciously experiencing sensations which, from the perspective of the saved, are well-described as fiery torment and agony, seems inescapeable given the premise of the immortality of the soul. (I know that some theologians -- particularly annihilationists -- deny this, but I think its clearly taught in the New Testament repeatedly in passages such as here in Matthew 25 and in Revelation 14 and 20. There's plenty of online analyses about this elsewhere.)
Second, the banishment from Gods presence is perpetual because the non-repentance of the inhabitants of hell is perpetual. A good steward generally does not toss something which was once cherished, but is now broken, into the dumpster *only* because it is broken. He tosses it into the dumpster because he is aware that it will /stay/ broken. Various unbelieving participants in the SAB Discussion Boards have testified that even if the God of the Bible were to turn out to be real, they still would refuse to worship Him. That is consistent with their assertion of self-reign and the dictation of values according to their own tastes. I submit that such a soul, adamant in its position, would be more comfortable in a lake of fire, existing on its own without the blessings provided by God, than it could be in the presence of God.
Third, hell is eternal because a non-eternal hell would tend to render God a banker in the currency of immorality. Want to commit adultery? Thatll be 100,000 years of hell, level 4. Want to commit murder? Thatll be 200,000 years of hell, level 6. Such a picture of a non-eternal hell implies a God who sells sin in exchange for limited periods of pain, and who is interested only in obedience rather than purity of character in His children.
And, it seems to me that the prospect of an eternal hell for the unrepentant and unregenerate makes a better deterrent than annihilationism or the idea of hell-as-a-refinery or any other interpretation. Being told that unrepentance and self-rule will result in everlasting banishment from Gods presence into a wasteland of pain seems inevitably more effective, as a warning, than being told that unrepentance and self-rule will result in non-existence. I am sure that many people are so blind to their potential that if they were warned that they will be annihilated if they plunged altogether into iniquity and all sorts of lustful self-gratification, they would unhesitatingly say, Youve got a deal!
Second Q: This verse describes a place of everlasting fire. But other passages, such as Psalm 30:5 and Jeremiah 3:12 and Micah 7:18, say that Gods anger does not last forever.
A: [In the comparison at www.skepticsannotatedbibl...anger.html , Malachi 1:4 should be placed on the other side.]
Matthew 25:41 and 25:46 dont describe Gods anger; they describe hellfire. (And, btw, though the KJV says everlasting punishment and eternal life in 25:46, the Greek word that describes the punishment and the life is the same word, aiwnion.) This resolves, or rather, dissolves, the claim of contradiction as far as Matthew 25:41 and 25:46 are concerned. Whether a judge feels anger or not when passing sentence upon the guilty, the continuation of the punishment of the guilty is not dependent on the continuation of the judges anger.
Third Q: Here in Matthew 25, Jesus is depicted with a strong belief in hell. But other passages in the Bible indicate that there is no such place. How can this be resolved?
A: See my comments on Matthew 13:42 at p089.ezboard.com/fsabdisc...1571.topic .
Yours in Christ,
Waterrock
