The Mental and Emotional Anguish of Hell by John Boruff

sermonindex Feb 28, 2014

Not only will the torments of Hell be physical, they will
also be mental and emotional. "There will be wailing and
gnashing of teeth” (Matt. 13:42), not only for the physical
pain caused by burning in flames, or from the maggots
writhing and eating away at the living Hell-corpses of the
damned; but, also there will be wailing and crying because
of total depression, sorrow, misery, and hopelessness. All
is lost! Too late to repent and believe the Gospel! TOO
LATE!! "Hell has no exits!”4 The damned have no hope of
future salvation from this miserable place; they know that;
it makes them nauseous to think it, as they all too well remember
they must look at hideous demons, disfigured faces,
caverns, sores, and smell the stench of burning flesh
and rotten egg-smelling brimstone smoke (sulfurous gases):”“
FOR EVER AND EVER! It’s worse than any prison
or dungeon or mental institution on Earth. It is HELL!

The only respite they will have, is when they stand before
the throne of God at the Last Judgment, and are then
afterward thrown in the lake of fire (Rev. 20:11-15). "The
souls of the wicked are cast into Hell, where they remain in
torments and utter darkness, reserved to the judgment of
the Great Day” (see Luke 16:23-24; Acts 1:25; Jude 6-7; 1
Pet. 3:19).5 One other mental torment the damned experience
is the ability to see in a vision far off, into Heaven, all
the godly saints they persecuted in their lifetime: "Being in
torments in Hell, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham
afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. Then he cried and said,
‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus
that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my
tongue; for I AM TORMENTED IN THIS FLAME!’ But
Abraham said, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you
received your good things, and likewise Lazarus evil
things; but now he is comforted and you are tormented”
(Luke 16:23-25).

Fire! Fire!
Everlasting fire!
Can you see the funeral pyre?
Millions of corpses burning in fire!
Contemplate a scene so dire!

Worms! Worms!
Flesh-eating worms!
Can you see them in their arms?
Millions, billions of maggot worms!
Nauseous, putrid, revolting germs!

Sadness and sorrow!
Eternal sorrow!
Suffering in fire:--there’s no tomorrow!
Only burning, and worms, and sorrow!
Turn to Christ or burn with sorrow!

Take from the free ebook - The Gospel of Jesus Christ: Salvation from Hell and the Way to Heaven:
http://evangelicalmystics.files.wordpress.com/2010/09/the-gospel-of-jesus-christ.pdf

sermonindex Feb 28, 2014

Sums up exactly why I reject such a barbaric version of the doctrine of hell. Gruesome torture for ever and ever and ever and ever is not justice - it's pernicious sadisim , and a god that would sanction such a thing this worthy of contempt.

sermonindex Feb 28, 2014

This is the God of the last 2000 years of Church history of the Bible you are speaking of my friend. Hell is eternal. Eternal Punishment is real. God is Holy. Sin is the worst offence in the universe. God allowed His Son to be killed on a Roman Cross in this sin-cursed world for us. God dying means there is great stakes at hand.

sermonindex Feb 28, 2014

In that case I cannot worship him - he is a monster.

D

DEADn Feb 28, 2014

Butters

What is your understanding of sin and the nature of sin in God's sight?

sermonindex Feb 28, 2014

My friend, again we do not endorse all the ways taught or understanding of an eternal hell and torment but we do fully agree that the Bible clearly teaches and saints throughout all 2000 years of history have taught that hell is eternal, it has punishment and it is worse then we could ever imagine.

I encourage you to reach this verse in Revelation 14:10 I have listed it in many different versions here in case we have any doubt on its meaning:

New International Version
they, too, will drink the wine of God's fury, which has been poured full strength into the cup of his wrath. They will be tormented with burning sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and of the Lamb.

New Living Translation
must drink the wine of God's anger. It has been poured full strength into God's cup of wrath. And they will be tormented with fire and burning sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and the Lamb.

English Standard Version
he also will drink the wine of God’s wrath, poured full strength into the cup of his anger, and he will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb.

New American Standard Bible
he also will drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is mixed in full strength in the cup of His anger; and he will be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb.

King James Bible
The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb:

Holman Christian Standard Bible
he will also drink the wine of God's wrath, which is mixed full strength in the cup of His anger. He will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the sight of the holy angels and in the sight of the Lamb,

International Standard Version
will drink the wine of God's wrath, which has been poured undiluted into the cup of his anger. He will be tortured with fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and the lamb.

NET Bible
that person will also drink of the wine of God's anger that has been mixed undiluted in the cup of his wrath, and he will be tortured with fire and sulfur in front of the holy angels and in front of the Lamb.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
Shall also drink from the wine of the passion of THE LORD JEHOVAH, which is mixed without dilution in the cup of his rage, and he will be tormented by fire and brimstone before the holy Angels and before the Lamb.”

GOD'S WORDÂ® Translation
will drink the wine of God's fury, which has been poured unmixed into the cup of God's anger. Then he will be tortured by fiery sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and the lamb.

Jubilee Bible 2000
the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb;

King James 2000 Bible
The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out undiluted into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb:

American King James Version
The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb:

American Standard Version
he also shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is prepared unmixed in the cup of his anger; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb:

Douay-Rheims Bible
He also shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is mingled with pure wine in the cup of his wrath, and shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the sight of the holy angels, and in the sight of the Lamb.

Darby Bible Translation
he also shall drink of the wine of the fury of God prepared unmixed in the cup of his wrath, and he shall be tormented in fire and brimstone before the holy angels and before the Lamb.

English Revised Version
he also shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is prepared unmixed in the cup of his anger; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb:

Webster's Bible Translation
The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb:

Weymouth New Testament
he shall drink the wine of God's anger which stands ready, undiluted, in the cup of His fury, and he shall be tormented with fire and sulphur in the presence of the holy angels and of the Lamb.

World English Bible
he also will drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is prepared unmixed in the cup of his anger. He will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb.

Young's Literal Translation
he also shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, that hath been mingled unmixed in the cup of His anger, and he shall be tormented in fire and brimstone before the holy messengers, and before the Lamb,

sermonindex Feb 28, 2014

DEADn - Pretty orthodox, actually. I do not deny the reality of hell. I just reject the nature of it as described in the original post. You could say I lean towards a more annihilationist position.

Before you lampoon me, bear in mind that you'll also have to lampoon the likes of John Stott, F.F. Bruce, C.S. Lewis (ok not exactly the same but he didn't subscribe to the model above) and even David Servant - http://www.heavensfamily.org/ss/e_teachings/the-hell-debate-annihilationism-part-2

I admit that eternal torture has been the majority view throughout church history - In my opinion it has inspired some of the more ugly expressions of theology down the centuries. Take the following quote from Thomas Aquinas ””

'The blessed in the kingdom of heaven will see the punishments of the damned, in order that their bliss be more delightful for them.'

yeuch

I don't want to get into a debate now, but ask yourself, what possible reason could God (who takes 'no pleasure in the death of the wicked') have for torturing rebels for eternity rather than just eventually destroying them?

Greg - I have no issues with that verse - It doesn't say anything about it being for ever and ever.

E

enid Feb 28, 2014

How come heaven is eternal, but hell isn't?

sermonindex Feb 28, 2014

Butters actually you need to look at Revelation 14:11,

And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever, and they have no rest day or night,

Also Enid posed a fair question. How come heaven is eternal and hell is not? A valid question in light of the following verse out of Matthew 25:46 ,

These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.

It stands to reason in light of the above verse that if Heaven is eternal so must hell be eternal.

My thoughts.

Blaine

D

DEADn Feb 28, 2014

DEADn - Pretty orthodox, actually. I do not deny the reality of hell. I just reject the nature of it as described in the original post. You could say I lean towards a more annihilationist position.

Annihilationism is the subject I speak to. let's say that it is true and hell really doesn't exist. What would anyone care whether God existed or not? On one hand you go to Heaven if you have become born again because of sin. On the other hand you become null and void if you reject God. It would be as if you never existed in the first place when you die. 7th Day Adventists believe this as well as Jehovah Witnesses as well. Is this what you believe? This is how I see annihiliationism.

definition
the theological doctrine that states that the wicked have no afterlife.

L

Lordoitagain Mar 1, 2014

DEADn brings up a good point here. If the wicked have no afterlife why is so much of the scripture devoted to severely warning the wicked if the consequences have no teeth; if there is no afterlife for the wicked. Why would John the Baptist get so irate and call those people vipers and warn them of the wrath to come if there were not something beyond this life in that suffering. It makes no sense. The world would be wise to totally ignore the Bible if its rantings about judgment have no real forever consequences.

Eat drink and be merry for tomorrow we die... sounds reasonable if there is no afterlife for the wicked.

Have you ever noticed that there is a lot more of warnings in the Bible than promises of blessings?

N

noone Mar 1, 2014

enid
Member

Joined: 2006/5/22
Posts: 2560
Nottingham, England
Re:\tReply To This Post |

"How come heaven is eternal, but hell isn't?"

Maybe because God truly is Love and full of mercy?

L

lindi1208 Mar 1, 2014

Jesus preached about hell more than any other preacher. Hell is real! The thought that people die every day and their souls go to hell because they have rejected salvation or resisted the gospel of truth should spur those who believe to pray for the unsaved! We should plead to Our merciful Father for lost souls continually without ceasing. The torment of hell is just as real as Heaven is real and a dwelling place for faithful saints. It is difficult to fathom that each day that we are alive there are millions who have died through the ages who are literally in torments weeping and gnashing their teeth because they rejected their Maker who saw it fit to crucify His only begotten Son to save mankind from sin and hell. That thought of eternity in hell should spur us to pray because right now someone somewhere is dying and is going to hell. We need to be petitioning our Maker for the lost. Hell was prepared for the enemy and his demons,the enemy is busy deceiving the world and some Christians that hell does not exist. The devil wants you there in hell with him. Why did the demons tremble when they saw Jesus they trembled because they know hell is real yet we still have those who do not tremble at the thought of eternity in hell. God is a God of Love but equally a God of Judgement. He is unchanging the same today and forever. Let us not put Him to the test by denying the Word that He spoke to us these last days through His Son Jesus Christ. May He be merciful towards us all especially those the enemy has blinded into believing a lie that hell does not exist. Let us unify in prayer for lost souls.

T

TMK Mar 1, 2014

Bear wrote:

"And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever, and they have no rest day or night"

Apocalyptic language should not be taken literally. Compare the passage you quoted to Is. 34:9-10 about judgment on Edom:
"Its streams shall be turned into pitch,
And its dust into brimstone;
Its land shall become burning pitch. It shall not be quenched night or day;
Its smoke shall ascend forever."

Smoke is not still ascending in Edom. Isaiah used apocalyptic language as well.

T

TMK Mar 1, 2014

ANNIHILATIONISM

Some of you have a mistaken idea of what this means. It does not mean being simply being "snuffed out" when you die.

The proper term used in evangelical circles is "Conditional Immortality."

It basically holds that only God is immortal(1 Timothy 6:15-16: He who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone has immortality, dwelling in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see, to whom be honor and everlasting power.)

Therefore, since man is NOT inherently immortal, whether his soul lives on forever is CONDITIONAL. If he has not repented in his lifetime and followed the Lord, he will be punished in a literal hell for as long as God determines, through His perfect justice, is necessary. At the end of this period his soul is snuffed out of existence.

The difference between Conditional Immortality and Universal Reconciliation is this: the person who believes in Universal Reconciliation believes that physical death is not the "cut-off point" for a person's chance to repent. The person who believes in UR believes in a literal hell, but the purpose of this hell is REMEDIAL- to ensure that all men, perhaps after eons of torment, will finally bow the knee and repent.

The traditional view of hell as a place of infinite punishment and torture for a short period of sins on earth, and all this by a God defined as love, is coming under more recent scrutiny because people are finally having the courage to discuss whether the Bible actually teaches this doctrine.

Besides, do most evangelical Christians REALLY believe in the traditional view of hell? A brother on another forum wrote the following:

"Besides, most Christians nowadays don't believe in the Hell of eternal conscious torment. Not really. This is clearly evidenced by the way they live and the priorities they set in their lives. If one is truly convinced that, for most people, a short span on earth is followed by an eternity of misery, then surely one would spend every waking hour, every penny and every ounce of energy trying to save people from it. I think most Christians who claim to believe in the traditional concept of Hell suffer from a form of cognitive dissonance which forces them to tune out and turn away from any lingering thoughts on the fate of most of their fellow humans; the people they rub shoulders with and work with and live with. Those who are unable to compartmentalize the doctrine of Hell become wild-eyed street preachers or suffer nervous breakdowns."

L

Lordoitagain Mar 1, 2014

by TMK on 2014/3/1 8:13:02
Bear wrote:
"And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever, and they have no rest day or night"
Apocalyptic language should not be taken literally. Compare the passage you quoted to Is. 34:9-10 about judgment on Edom:
"Its streams shall be turned into pitch,
And its dust into brimstone;
Its land shall become burning pitch. It shall not be quenched night or day;
Its smoke shall ascend forever."
Smoke is not still ascending in Edom. Isaiah used apocalyptic language as well.

I hope that no one reading TMK's arguments is foolish enough to believe what he writes because he uses terms such as "apocalyptic language". In Spanish that name of the book of the Revelation is "Apocalipsis". If we reject one part of the book because it is "apocalyptic language" how can we accept another part?

Two verses after saying:

"And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever" in Rev. 4:11

he says in Rev. 4:13 "And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow them."

Likewise, in chapter 21 of the "apocalyptic language" book of the Revelation it states:

Rev 21:3 And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.
Rev 21:4 And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.

Shall we reject that as "apocalyptic language"? Perhaps we need to in order to make our ideas work, because only 4 verses later, he states:

Rev 21:8 But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.

Think about that .... "have their part in". Look at the definition of the word "part" used there:

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Thayer Definition:
1) a part
1a) a part due or assigned to one
1b) lot, destiny
2) one of the constituent parts of a whole
2a) in part, partly, in a measure, to some degree, as respects a part, severally, individually
2b) any particular, in regard to this, in this respect

That "second death" is an eternal separation from all that is good for those who reject God's gift of salvation and do not repent of their sins.

The rest of the chapter talks about streets of gold and gates of pearl and many other wonders of what God has prepared for those who love him. It is ALL "apocalyptic language" it is from the book of Apocalipsis!

It is a horrible deception to choose to not take it literal because it is "apocalyptic language"!

L

Lordoitagain Mar 1, 2014

Another thought to ponder: How can there be a "second death" as recorded in The Revelation 21:8 if the first death is the end of it all for evildoers?

T

TMK Mar 1, 2014

You don't have to accept that large portions or Isaiah, the latter part of Daniel and the book of Revelation are examples of the apocalyptic genre of literature, but regardless that is what they are.

When Daniel said he saw four beasts coming out of the sea, what was he talking about? Godzilla like creatures surfacing from the ocean? Or something else?

Do not make the mistake of accusing me of believing that the scriptures are not inspired just because they use apocalyptic style. I believe that is what God wanted them to write. But apocalyptic language is full of metaphors THAT ARE NOT INTENDED to be take literally. No one thinks that Babylon in the book of Revelation was really the Babylon in Iraq. Interpretations tend toward the Roman Empire, America or the Catholic Church. Who knows.

sermonindex Mar 1, 2014

Brrother if you're going to reason Rev.14:11 as being apocalyptic with the use of the phrase "forever and ever". Thus inferring the use of that phrase as not meaning an eternal reality of hell. Then how do you treat Rev.22:5 which says the saints will reign "forever and ever"? Would this not the apocalyptic? Thus inferring that there is no eternal reality to heaven.

It would stand to reasons by your implication of apocalyptic language that if hell is not eternal then neither is heaven.

Blaine

sermonindex Mar 1, 2014

Mathew 25:46
These will go away into "eternal punishment", but the righteous into "eternal life".

For those who argue that there is no eternal punishment, thus inferring there is no eternal reality to hell. Then you will have to reason there is no eternal life, thus inferring there is no eternal reality to heaven. In which case you will have to explain away the above verse out of Matthew.

Blaine