What the Bible Actually Says About Hell, Part 1

Kirk Cameron's Thoroughly Protestant Discussion on Hell Brought Out the Worst in Evangelicalism

The root of the word “Protestant” is the word “protest.” While the Latin word protestari means “to declare publicly,” the Christian Reformers (those who broke away from the Roman Catholic Church) were first called “Protestants” or “Protestors” in the year 1529, in response to an imperial decree in Germany that threatened Lutheran teachings.

Today, there are over one billion Protestants worldwide. But unfortunately, over time, the Protestant Church has moved away from its original ethos and developed its own form of orthodoxy, one which prevents many from questioning the theological convictions (or assumptions) of those who portray themselves as the new papacy in the Protestant Church.

Recently, Kirk Cameron (the former sitcom star of the television show “Growing Pains”) and his son James, announced on a podcast that they were rethinking the “traditional” view of hell, the one which says that all those who remain unsaved at the point of their death or the Lord’s coming will suffer conscious torment at the decree of God forever and ever.

The questions Kirk and James asked were good ones. Have we made assumptions that aren’t actually in the Bible? Does this view resonate with the character of God, which can be evidenced throughout the pages of Scripture?  Does the Bible actually say that God will torment the lost unceasingly for all eternity?

Many Christians throughout the centuries have asked these sorts of questions. A large cohort of Jesus' earliest followers did not hold this view. In fact, it may surprise you to know that the idea of eternal conscious torment (we’ll refer to the doctrine as ETC from now on) did not become unquestionably preferred by the majority of the Church until the 5^th century, around the time of the Roman Catholic Church’s founding.

The early church held three views of hell, each widely believed and passionately debated in the nascent centuries of Christianity. The view put forth by the Camerons last week, often referred to as Conditionalism or Annihilationism, is neither new nor controversial.[1] Sincere, Scripture-reading Christians have held it for almost 2,000 years. Most importantly, there is a very strong biblical case for it.

But if you survey the reactions to Kirk’s podcast offered by the majority of big-name evangelicals over the past week, you would never know that to be the case. What you heard from the likes of Albert Mohler, Todd Friel, and Ken Ham was not a defense of the Protestant ethos of questioning the non-essentials, or of the Scriptural case for Conditionalism, or much of a Scriptural case for anything. What you heard was a handful of ruling-class theologians, come down from their ivory towers to lecture the Kirks (and the rest of us) on the dangers of misconstruing the doctrine of God, of downplaying sin, and of letting sentiment get in the way of good exegesis.

The problem with all of this is that no one offered a biblical case for the “traditional” view. None of them really even opened a Bible, other than to quote one verse, Matthew 25:41, which seems to have become the preferred prooftext for the doctrine of eternal conscious torment, even though it does not conclusively support the view.

What happened to the ethos of being Protestant? What happened to following in the footsteps of Luther and the Reformers? What happened to questioning the papacy and the theological ruling class? What happened to Sola Scriptura?

If we say we believe in Scripture as the sole infallible source for faith and practice, then we should never criticize a brother or sister for going back to the Word to question and reexamine non-essential beliefs in a genuine way. In fact, we should applaud them for it.

Over the next few weeks, we will give a robust overview of what the Bible actually says about hell, both on our blog and on our podcast. It starts with this introduction, a general overview of the topic. In the following weeks, we will steelman both traditional views: ETC and Annihilationism. We will also touch on the third view widely held by the early church, but that has not stood the test of time nearly as well as the other two: Christian Universalism.

We will approach both primary views from a theological and philosophical perspective, but not until we’ve dug deep and looked closely at what the Bible actually says (we’ll focus primarily on New Testament passages for reasons I’ll explain later). Ultimately, our goal is not to indoctrinate anyone, but to educate everyone who cares more about what God says than what people say. At the end of this, if you’ve studied the Scriptures alongside us and prayed for the Spirit’s leading and discernment, you should be able to make up your own mind as to what you believe about the eternal state of the lost.

What is Hell in the Bible?

Sheol and Hades – the place of the dead

It may surprise you to know that there is no single word in the Bible that can be translated as “hell.” There are actually several words in Hebrew and Greek that have historically been translated this way. The first is the Hebrew word Sheol. While the Old Testament offers few details about what Sheol actually is, we know that for ancient Hebrews, it was shorthand for the place people went in the afterlife. The underworld. A place where souls go after passing on from this life. Whether ancient Hebrews believed that the souls of the dead were conscious in Sheol is often debated (see Ecclesiastes 9:10). There is clear biblical evidence that some ancient Hebrews believed in a future resurrection and judgment, and some didn’t (see Acts 23:8 and Matthew 22:23-46). Whether or not Sheol represented a place of agony or something altogether different is also unclear. But we can be certain that, for Old Testament believers, the place of the dead was called Sheol.

When the Hebrew Old Testament was translated into Greek during the third and second centuries BC, the Hebrew word “Sheol” was rendered as “Hades.” This word is thereby used in the New Testament whenever Sheol is in view. They are practically synonymous. However, it must be noted that the New Testament offers additional insight into what Hades (or Sheol) actually is. Of its 10 New Testament uses, it is depicted multiple times as a personification of the forces of evil, representing the devil’s domain and kingdom. It is juxtaposed twice with the idea of resurrection, meaning that it is not an eternal abode for those who experience a future resurrection (more to be said on this later). It is also mentioned once as a place where the unsaved suffer after death, although the story of Lazarus and the Rich Ruler, told by Jesus in Luke 16, requires close examination, which will be done as part of this study. Most importantly, however, Hades is itself thrown into the Lake of Fire in Revelation 20:14, meaning it will eventually be destroyed. Hades is never associated with fire outside of this statement in Revelation 20.

Of all the places the Bible refers to as “hell,” Sheol/Hades is the one that is most often in view. It is depicted as the place of the dead, and in the New Testament, more specifically, as the place where the unsaved go after death.[2]  

Gehenna and the Lake of Fire

The Greek word “Gehenna” is used 12 times in the New Testament, and even though a very different place from Hades/Sheol is in view, it is also translated as “hell” by most English Bible translations. This fact alone is the source of great confusion in the church, as Gehenna and Hades/Sheol are not in any way synonymous.

The Greek word “Gehenna” comes from the Hebrew term “Ge-Hinnom,” which means “Valley of Hinnom.” This is a deep ravine just outside the Old City of Jerusalem that moves south as it runs away from the western wall.  It was the place where Judaic Kings like Ahaz and Manasseh performed child sacrifice to the Canaanite God Moloch, contrary to God’s explicit commands (see 2 Kings 23:10, 2 Chronicles 28:3, and Jeremiah 7:31-34). Later on, the Valley of Hinnom became known as a defiled place, and by the time Jesus walked the earth, it was the city dump, with fires burning night and day outside the walls of Jerusalem. Everything that was thrown there was destroyed. As we’ll see, Jesus adopted this term to refer to a place altogether different, but not completely unlike the original Valley of Hinnom.

Out of the 12 occurrences of the word “Gehenna” in the New Testament, 11 of them are spoken by Jesus. While some of these occurrences are redundant (a phrase or excerpt from Jesus that is recorded in multiple Gospels), the sense one gets from Jesus’ use of the word is that Gehenna is a place where people will eventually be sent, not the default location of those who have died unsaved. He mentions people being sentenced to Gehenna (Matthew 23:33), thrown there (Mark 9:45), and cast there (Luke 12:5).

Most importantly, this is the place Jesus associates with fire. Specifically, he mentions “unquenchable fire” in Mark 9:43. He also states in Matthew 10:28 that God “is able to destroy both the body and soul” of a person when he sends them to Gehenna.

Another phrase used twice by Jesus in the New Testament is the phrase “eternal fire,” in Matthew 18:8 and 25:41.[3] Here, Jesus seems to have the same concept in view as he does when he refers to Gehenna, which is why most scholars believe that these two places, along with the Lake of Fire mentioned four times in the Book of Revelation, are synonymous.

It is important to note several things about the Lake of Fire. First, according to Jesus, it was “prepared (or, is being kept ready) for the devil and his angels” (Matthew 25:41). Second, in Revelation 20, death, Hades, and “all those whose names are not found written in the Book of Life” are thrown into the Lake of Fire. This is referred to in Revelation 20:14 as “the second death.” Earlier on in the passage, in Revelation 20:10, the devil is thrown, along with the beast and the false prophet, into the Lake of Fire, where it is said that they will suffer torment “day and night forever and ever.” This is the only place in Scripture where eternal conscious torment is unquestionably, undoubtedly mentioned. This can be uniquely juxtaposed with Revelation 20:14, where death, Hades, and the unsaved are thrown in, but no mention is made of eternal conscious torment. Rather, this event is called “the second death.”

Is Hell An Eternal Place?

So, is hell an eternal or everlasting place? Will it be around forever?

That depends on which hell you’re talking about. If by “hell” you mean Hades/Sheol, the place of the unsaved dead, the underworld, then the answer is no. This place will eventually be thrown into the Lake of Fire, along with death itself, never to be seen or heard from again (Revelation 20:14).

If by “hell” you mean the Lake of Fire, then the answer is yes. It is a place where, at the very least, the unholy trinity of the devil, the beast, and the false prophet will be tormented day and night forever. If, at the end of this study, you believe that the people cast there will be tormented forever as well (as opposed to simply dying and becoming nonexistent), then it will also be filled with billions of resurrected, immortal human beings. Either way, the place that lasts forever is the Lake of Fire (likely the same place as Gehenna), not Hades/Sheol.  

Whenever we’re discussing biblical truths, especially as we discern and weigh various church doctrines, we need to be nuanced. This is especially true when it comes to the doctrine of hell.  

Was Annihilationism Widely Held in the Early Church?

Annihilationism was one of three widely held views on the eternal state of the lost in the first 400 years of Christianity, along with ETC and Christian Universalism. While ETC became the dominant view of the church during the Middle Ages for obvious reasons – it is the position of the Roman Catholic Church – Annihilationism never died out altogether. Since the Reformation, it seems to have increased century by century as a viable, and perhaps even likely, culmination of what the Bible teaches on the subject of hell and the eternal fate of the lost.

Some church fathers who are known to have believed in Annihilationism, or to at least have strongly considered it, are Ignatius of Antioch, Justyn Martyr (who loathed the fact that some early Christians believed in the inherent immortality of the human soul), Irenaeus of Lyon, and Arnobius of Sicca.

What Will This Ultimately Come Down To?

Ultimately, what this will come down to is two things: do the passages in Scripture that talk about “eternal punishment” mean to communicate the idea of eternal conscious torment, or eternal death? Is death, coupled with whatever other punishment God has in mind, the just and warranted consequence of sin? Or is it, like so many say, that any sin against an infinite God warrants an infinite, never-ending, agonizing punishment?

Thankfully, we will not concern ourselves here with what people say, but with what the Bible says. Which is precisely why we will also look at every other passage that speaks explicitly to this subject (not just the ones that discuss “eternal punishment”), including the ones that discuss the fate of the unsaved as being “destroyed forever” and “perishing forever.”

Lastly, the central question that must be answered when it comes to ETC versus Annihilationism is this: are human beings immortal in and of themselves? Does everyone’s soul live forever, regardless of whether or not they are in Christ? Or, is eternal life given to some as a gift from God through faith in Jesus Christ?

It is my sincere hope that you take this journey with us and, as you do, come to your own biblically grounded conclusions. Regardless of where you land, if you do this faithfully, you will possess the deep conviction of knowing you have developed your understanding and substantiated your beliefs using Scripture, not tradition or the doctrines and creeds of men.

[1] Besides this, the Camerons stated that they were exploring the doctrine, not that they had become ardent supporters of it.

[2] It must be noted that the Greek word “Tartarus” is also used once in the New Testament, in 2 Peter 2:4. This is likely synonymous with Hades/Sheol, the place where the unsaved and, in 2 Peter, imprisoned angels are kept while they await final judgement.

[3] This phrase is used a third time in Jude 7.

What the Bible Actually Says About Hell, Part 1

Blake Barbera is the founder and Lead Teaching Minister at That You May Know Him. He has been teaching the Bible for more than two decades, and has served the Church in various capacities during that time, including as a missionary and pastor. Along with his work for That You May Know Him, he teaches New Testament and hermeneutics at a Bible College and Seminary.

For more about our ministry, visit our About Page: https://www.thatyoumayknowhim.com/about