Chapter Four, Five, Six and Seven
From
UNCONDITIONAL IMMORTALITY
OR
RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD
ISBN 0-7414-4620-0
William
Robert West
Author
of ÒThe Rapture And IsraelÓ
Chapter Four: The four occasions Christ used Gehenna THE VANISHING HELL - THE
CHANGING HELL
1. Two Catholic versions of Hell
2. Some of the many divisions of the Protestant versions of
Hell
1. The Calvin version of Hell
2. The Jonathan Edwards version
3. The Graphic view of Hell
4. Satan doing the tormenting
5. God doing the tormenting
6. The Metaphorical view of both
Heaven and Hell
7. Mental Anguish - Billy Graham
8. Protestant Traditionalist
9. Protestant Premillennial versions
10. Rephaim version
3. After Judgment Hell, A newer version
4. Edward Fudge version: The short Hell
5. Christadelphians version
6. Church of God version and others
7. The Grave is Hell version [Jehovah's Witnesses]
8. Seventh-Day Advent version
9. Latter-day Saints version [Mormons]
Chapter Five: Sheol, Hades and Tartarus: Nether World, is this a new (third) Catholic version of Hell?
Chapter Six: The thirty-one passages where Hell is used in the King James Version
Chapter Seven: A strange and unexplainable silence. The
reinterpreting of life, death, torment, destruction, destroy, perish, die, and end
Is
"The Wages Of Sin Death"
Or
"Eternal
Life With Torment In Hell"
An
Immortal Soul and the Doctrine of Hell
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Is
the wages of sin eternal life in Hell with torment?
William West
CHAPTER
FOUR
FROM WHERE CAME
HELL, FROM MAN OR GOD?
HOW DID A REAL
EARTHLY VALLEY NEAR JERUSALEM
WHICH EXISTED IN
THE TIME OF CHRIST
AND IS STILL TODAY
CALLED BY THE NAME ÒGEHENNAÓ
BECOME A PLACE OF
ETERNAL TORMENT NAMED ÒHELLÓ
WHICH IS NOT ON
THIS EARTH?
How was "the wages of
sin is death" reinterpreted to be Òthe wages of sin is an eternal life of
torment for an immoral soul that is not subject to death.Ó
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The word Hell in the King
James Version is translated from four different words, three in the Greek New
Testament [Gehenna, hades and Tartarus], and one in the Hebrew Old Testament
[sheol].
Both sheol in the Old
Testament, and hades in the New Testament mean grave, but are translated Hell
in the King James Version, and Tartarus is translated Hell one time. Most other
translations [American Standard Version, New American Standard Version, Revised
Standard Version, New Revised Standard Version, New International Version, and
others] translate only one word [Gehenna] into Hell, and only in the New
Testament. Not four different words, which have different meanings. The word
Hell is not in the Old Testament in any of the above translations or is not in
most other translations. Although this valley is mentioned frequently in the
Old Testament, not even the King James Version translated it "Hell"
as they did in the New Testament. Gehenna was a well-known valley south of
Jerusalem long before it was made into a dump and it exists and has the name
ÒGehennaÓ to this day. Josiah might have made this valley into a rubbish dump
[2 Kings 23:10; 2 Chronicles 28:1-4]. This valley is in the Old Testament,
called the valley of Hinnom, but is never translated Hell, even in the King
James Version. In the time of Christ this valley was the city dump. Most newer
translations, and most all Bible students, now admit sheol, hades, and Tartarus
do not mean Hell; but some still believe Gehenna should be translated Hell,
therefore, a detailed look at this valley and its use in both the Old and New
Testament is necessary.
GEHENNA
IS THE NAME OF A VALLEY SOUTH OF JERUSALEM. IT IS A REAL GEOGRAPHICAL LOCATION,
which was used in the time of Christ as the city
dump of Jerusalem. In the fifties I did some work at the dump of a city about
the size of Jerusalem in the time of Christ. The refuse would be put in large
piles and set on fire. All day rains, even 4 inches in one hour, could not put
it out. There would have been no way for the people of Jerusalem to quench it
(put out). The remains of animals were put in pits to be covered and worms
(Greek, Maggots-Young, Page 1074) would get into them, and even after we put
many gallons of spray in a pit, you could see the remains moving from the
working of the maggots. Back in the fifties and before, cities did not have
landfills; but had garbage dumps where they would put the garbage in piles and
burn them. Big city garbage dumps were always burning night and day, and the
smoke could sometimes be seen for miles. They were the same as Gehenna was in
the time of Jesus, and were literally used for the destruction of the unwanted
city garbage. Brimstone (sulfur) was added to keep the garbage burning in
Gehenna, and it was always burning night and day, and those near by could see
the smoke always rising. On some of the four occasions Christ used Gehenna as a
metaphor those He was speaking to might have been able to see the smoke of
Gehenna in the background while He was speaking. The people of Jerusalem did
not have a trash pickup as we do, and had to take their own trash to Gehenna,
therefore, most of those Christ was speaking to would be very familiar with the
never-ending fires and worms for many would have taken their trash to it. Albert
Barnes in his commentary on Matthew 5:22 says, "The extreme loathsomeness
of the place, and filth and putrefaction, the corruption of the atmosphere, and
the lurid fires blazing by day and by night, made it one of the most appalling
and terrific objects with which a Jew was ever acquainted." Alexander
Campbell says, "In the time of our Savior, it [Gehenna] was the place to
which all the filth, and the dead bodies of animals and criminals from the city
of Jerusalem, were conveyed. Here worms were ever reveling on the carcasses of
the dead, and fires were ever kept burning to consume the noxious matter and to
purge the air from its pestilential stench...This appears to be the only term
in the Scriptures which favors the notion of confining hell to a local habitation"
"Five Discourses On Hell" 1848. In the time of Jesus, Gehenna was
used as a place of destruction; but there was no torment in it. Those who heard Jesus would understand the
use of Gehenna as a symbol of destruction, but would not have been able to look
at Gehenna, their city dump, and understand how it could be used as a symbol of
a place of torment for there was no torment in their city dump. When most
who use the King James Version, read Hell they never understand that Christ was
speaking of the city dump, for they cannot from the King James Version. It was
mistranslated to make the readers understand Christ to be speaking of a place
where God is forever tormenting immortal souls.
A
PROPER NOUN IS THE NAME OF "A PARTICULAR PERSON, PLACE, OR THING."
GEHENNA
IS A PROPER NOUN, THE NAME OF A WELL-KNOWN PARTICULAR PLACE NEAR JERUSALEM. TO
TRANSLATE IT INTO HELL, ANOTHER PROPER NOUN, THE NAME OF A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT
PARTICULAR PLACE, IS MORE THAN A BAD TRANSLATION. IT IS A DELIBERATE CHANGING.
Bethlehem, Dead Sea, Gehenna, Rome, and Jericho are all proper nouns and should
not be translated. Why is this the only name that is changed to another name? Proper nouns (names) are the same in most languages, and
therefore, they are not translated; but Gehenna was changed, not translated,
into Hell, another proper noun, the name of another particular place, just
because the King James translators needed to. Hell is not a translation of Gehenna, in the same way that New York is
not a translation of Jerusalem. Gehenna and Hell are two different proper names
of two different places. From where did the King James translators get this
name, and why did they want to deliberately mislead all who read their
translation? This valley is used in the New Testament only when speaking to
the Jews for it was not a locality that would be known to the Gentiles that did
not live near Jerusalem. It was a local particular place and Gehenna would be a
name known and used only to those who lived in or near Jerusalem. The names of
the city dumps of most cities are not well known to any but those who live in
or near that city, and those not from that city would not know or use it. Paul
did not use it in any of his letters to those not at Jerusalem.
It was not
translated into Hell in the Septuagint, a translation of the Old Testament form
Hebrew to Greek that was used in the time of Christ. "Hell" is not a
translation but a deliberate changing of one place for another completely
different place. I believe it was deliberately changed to put "Hell"
in the Bible. A place has been made
up that is not in the Bible; and a name given to it that is not in the Bible; if
this is not adding to, what would it take to add to the Bible? That Christ used the name of a valley,
which was the city dump, is completely hid from the reader of the King James
Version, whether intentional or not; and they are led to believe He spoke of a
different place, which has been named "Hell." The teachings of Christ
have been deliberately changed. It was a geographical location on this Earth.
Not somewhere under the earth or out in space. IT WAS A REAL GEOGRAPHICAL
LOCATION THAT EXISTED IN THE TIME OF CHRIST WHERE THE FIRES WERE CONSTANTLY
KEPT BURNING SINCE IT SERVED AS AN INCINERATOR FOR THE USELESS REFUSE OF THE
CITY. CHRIST USED IT AS A SYMBOL [an illustration] OF DESTRUCTION [Like the
burning of the useless chaff of Luke 3:17]. GEHENNA CANNOT BE TRANSLATED OR
REINTERPRETED INTO HELL. To say Gehenna, as used by Christ, is Hell; is
to say it has no reference to the Gehenna [the city dump] near Jerusalem.
The
Jews might have made the valley of Gehenna a dump because of their hatred of
its misuse in Old Testament times, but the figures or symbols used by Christ
[fire and maggots] came from its use in New Testament times, not its use in Old
Testament times. THEY ARE SYMBOLS OF DESTRUCTION, NOT OF TORMENT. IN THE TIME
OF CHRIST THERE WAS NO TORMENT, AND NO IDOL WORSHIPPED IN GEHENNA [the city
dump]. HE WAS NOT ALLUDING TO
IDOL WORSHIP OR TORMENT BUT TO THE DESTRUCTION OF THOSE WHO REJECTED HIM. Worms
[maggots] do not eat living being, but dead ones, NOT TO TORMENT THEM, BUT TO
CONSUME [eat up for food]. As long as there was something to burn or eat, the
maggots would never die out, and the fire would not go out; but be consuming,
not tormenting what was being cast in. In the time of Christ it was a place
used to dispose of useless things, not to torment them. Many misuse this to
show that living being will be tormented forever, and make God be doing the
tormenting. LIVING VICTIMS WAS NOT
PRESERVED ALIVE AND TORMENTED IN GEHENNA, BUT FIRE OR WORMS DEVOURED DEAD
VICTIMS. TO MAKE IT A PLACE OF ETERNAL TORMENT IS WITHOUT ANY BASIS
WHATSOEVER.
Gehenna and the Lake
of Fire are often thought to be the same metaphor by many. Gehenna is a place
of destruction, and the lake of fire is a place where no life as we know it
could exist; they are two different symbolic pictures [Revelation 20:14].
Neither one is a symbol of an eternal life of torment. Both picture the total
destruction of whatever was thrown into them.
UNQUENCHABLE
FIRE OF GEHENNA
IMMORTAL
WORMS OF GEHENNA
"UNQUENCHABLE
FIRE" AND "THEIR WORM DIES NOT" AS THEY ARE USED IN THE OLD AND
NEW TESTAMENTS: UTTER DESTRUCTION.
John the Baptist used
"Unquenchable fire" on one occasion. He says Christ "will gather
his wheat into the garner, but the chaff he will BURN UP with unquenchable
fire" [Matthew 3:12; Luke 3:17]. Will this unquenchable fire forever
torment the chaff, which has been burned up? Adam Clarke says, "He will
burn up the chaff that is, the disobedient and rebellious Jews, with
unquenchable fire that cannot be extinguished by man." When firefighter
cannot put out a burning building, they say it is an unquenchable fire. It will
go out when there is nothing more to burn. An unquenchable fire is one that no
man can put out, but it is not a fire that will burn forever. Ask any fireman
what an unquenchable fire is.
And on one occasion
by Christ of the burning of trash in the city dump in Mark 9:43-48 where He repeats
it a second time (verses 46 and 48) in the American Standard Version, Revised
Standard Version, New International Version. "Unquenchable fire" is
repeated five times in verses 43, 44, 45, 46 and 48 in the King James Version
in Mark 9:43-48. BOTH the chaff and trash are utterly destroyed by burning to
get rid of something unwanted. The chaff or the trash was not tormented. Like
Gehenna, unquenchable fire is not used in the rest of the New Testament. Never used
by Paul, Peter, John, etc.
Christ used the
"worm that dies not" only on one occasion [Mark 9:44-48; Repeated
three times in verses 44, 46 and 48 in the King James Version but only in verse
48 in the American Standard Version]. He used both the maggots and the fire of
Gehenna as a symbol of total destruction, not to show that God will forever
torment most of mankind. If this is not figurative language, will there be
immortal maggots in Hell? Can earthly maggots eat an immortal soul in
"Hell?" Even most who believes in "Hell" make the maggots figurative,
not real maggots in Hell, but make the "fire" be literal fire.
If Gehenna's
"unquenchable fire" and "their worm dies not" are a
description of the endless punishment of the wicked in "Hell," the
silence of the New Testament writers would be unexplainable. (1) Acts, a
history of the preaching and church for about thirty years does not mention
Gehenna, unquenchable fire, or immortal maggots. (2) In none of Paul's fourteen
letters, he never mentioned any of them. (3) Peter, John, James, and Jude are
also as silent as Paul. (4) Neither can they be found in the Book of
Revelation.
[1] The one time
Christ used "unquenchable fire" in Mark 9:48, He was quoting from
Isaiah 66:24. TO UNDERSTAND HIS WORDS,
IT MUST BE UNDERSTOOD HOW THE OLD TESTAMENT USED THEM. THIS WAS A
WELL-KNOWN EXPRESSION AND WOULD BE UNDERSTOOD BY THOSE HEARING CHRIST, just as
much of Revelation is to be understood by the way the same symbols are used in
the Old Testament. "And the strong man will become tinder, his work also a
spark, thus, they shall both burn together, and there will be none to quench
them" [Isaiah 1: 31]. Jeremiah warned Jerusalem of the consequence of
their sins, "Then will I kindle a fire in the gates thereof, and it shall
devour the palaces of Jerusalem and it
shall not be quenched" [Jeremiah 17:27]. His warning was fulfilled in
2 Chronicles 36:19-21. Jerusalem was
destroyed with an "unquenchable fire." It consumed all, and was not
quenched unto it went out when there was nothing more to consume; then the unquenchable
fire went out. Jerusalem is not burning today. An unquenchable fire is not an
eternal fire, but one that cannot be put out unto there is nothing to burn.
Those who believe in Hell change "unquenchable" into
"eternal" then move the unquenchable fire that destroyed Jerusalem
from Jerusalem on this earth and put this "eternal fire" in their
"Hell" which they say is not on this earth. First, they must change
the fire and second; they must move it from Jerusalem to "Hell."
Isaiah says, " For behold, the Lord will come in fire and His chariots
like the whirlwind, to render His anger with fury, and His rebuke with the
flames of fire. For the Lord will execute judgment by fire and by His sword on
all flesh, and those slain by the Lord will be many...Then they shall go forth
and look on the corpses [dead bodies in American Standard Version] of the men
who have transgressed against me. For their [the corpses] worm shall not die,
and their [the corpses] fire shall not be quenched; and they [the corpses] shall
be an abhorrence to all mankind" [Isaiah 66:15-24]. The worms consumed the
corpses, and the fires were not quenched, unto there was no more flesh to
consume or burn. IT WAS CORPSES, DEAD
BODIES WHICH WERE ON THE EARTH THAT WERE BEING CONSUMED BY THE UNQUENCHABLE
FIRE AND UNDYING MAGGOTS, ÒTHOSE SLAIN BY THE LORDÓ (ISAIAH 66:16), NOT
IMMORTAL SOULS IN HELL THAT CANNOT BE SLAIN SCREAMING IN ANGUISH AND PAIN;
ISAIAH 66:16; 66:24 DESCRIBES THE AFTERMATH OF A BATTLE WITH THE DEAD UNBURIED.
THOSE PEOPLE BACK IN THE TIME OF ISAIAH DID NOT LOOK FROM HEAVEN DOWN INTO HELL
AND SEE LIVING SOULS BEING EATEN BY MAGGOTS. IT WAS THE LIVING PEOPLE ON THIS
EARTH IN THE TIME OF ISAIAH THAT WENT OUT TO THE BATTTLE FIELD AND SAW REAL
DEAD BODIES ON THIS EARTH BEING EATEN AND BURNED, NOT IMMORTAL SOULS IN HEAVEN
THAT "SHALL GO FORTH AND LOOK ON THE CORPSES" AND SEE THE DEAD BODIES
THAT ARE ON THIS EARTH AS WORMS AND FIRE ARE CONSUMING THEM. HOW CAN FIRE OR
WORMS ETERNALLY TORMENT A DEAD BODY? It is the fire that is unquenchable
and the maggots that do not die, not the corpses that were being burnt up or
eaten, there is nothing said about them being alive and in torment. There is
not even a hint that the corpses were aware of anything. For this to prove the
soul is immortal they would have to be viewing disembodied immortal souls that
had been "slain by the Lord" [Isaiah 66:16] but were still living
after the Lord had slain them, not viewing dead bodies that were on this earth.
It was living people viewing dead bodies that had been "slain by the
Lord," not living people on this earth looking into Hell and seeing an
immaterial, invisible part of a living person being tormented in Hell. WITHOUT DOUBT, THIS WAS A JUDGMENT AND
PUNISHMENT ON THIS EARTH THAT HAS ENDED, NOT A PUNISHMENT IN HELL THAT WILL
NEVER END. (1) The Lord will SLAY the ungodly ones; it says nothing about
the Lord TORMENTING them. (2) The witness sees the RESULT OF THIS DESTRUCTION
(slaying). They see the CORPSES, DEAD BODIES being consumed by fire and
maggots, not a living immaterial, invisible part of a person. (3) They do not
see them in pain and anguish, not in endless tortured for the corpses they see
are dead.
[2] "Therefore
thus says the Lord Jehovah: Behold, mine anger and my wrath shall be poured out
upon this place, upon man and upon beast, and upon the trees of the field, and
upon the fruit of the ground; and it shall burn, and shall not be quenched" [Jeremiah 7:20].
[3] Ezekiel also speaks of the destruction of
Judah using the imagery of a forest burning. "And the word of Jehovah
came unto me, saying, son of man, set your face toward the south, and drop your
word toward the south, and prophesy against the forest to the field in the
South; and say to the forest of the South, Hear the word of Jehovah: Thus says
the Lord Jehovah, Behold, I will kindle a fire in you, and it shall consume
every green tree in you, and it shall devour ever green tree in you, and ever
dry tree; the flaming flame shall not be
quenched, and all faces from the south to the north shall be burnt thereby.
And all flesh shall see that I, Jehovah, have kindled it; it shall not be quenched" [Ezekiel 20:47-48].
Adam Clarke: "The forest of the south field is the city of
Jerusalem; which was as full of inhabitants as the forest is of trees. I will
kindle a fire, i. e., I will send war; and it shall devour ever green tree,, i.
e., the most eminent and substantial of the inhabitants; and every dry tree, i.
e., the lowest and meanest also; it shall not be quenched, i. e., till the land be utterly ruined."
The Òunquenchable fireÓ was God
using Babylonian to destroy Israel (Ezekiel 21:19; Nehemiah 1:3). GodÕs
judgment on Israel was unquenchable, no one could stop it, but it ended when
Israel was destroyed.
[4] Isaiah
describes the desolation of Edom, "For my sword has drunk its fill in
heaven; behold, it shall come down upon Edom, and upon the people of my curse,
to judgment...For Jehovah has a day of vengeance, a year of recompense for the
cause of Zion. And the streams of Edom shall be turned into pitch, and the dust
thereof into brimstone, and the land there of shall become burning pitch. It shall not be quenched night or day; and
the smoke thereof shall go up forever; from generation to generation it shall
lay waste; none shall pass through it forever and ever. But the pelican and
the porcupine shall possess it; and the owl and the raven shall dwell
therein" [Isaiah 34:6-15]. If this fire that "shall not be quenched night nor day" is the Hell that is
taught today, how is it that "none shall pass through it forever and
ever," is their no one that shall be in Hell but pelican, porcupine, owl,
and ravens? This is clearly an earthly judgment on Edom that has long passed,
not an unquenchable fire in Hell after the judgment day. After the unquenchable
fire had done itÕs work it went out and the land became a desert inhabited by
pelicans, porcupines, owls and ravens.
[5] For more examples
of God's judgments in this world being spoken of as an unquenchable fire see
Isaiah 1:31; Jeremiah 17:27; 21:12; Amos 5:6; 2 Kings 22:26-17; 2 Chronicles
34:24-25.
THESE
PASSAGES SHOW THAT THE WRITERS OF THE OLD TESTAMENT USED "UNQUENCHABLE
FIRE" AS A FIGURE OF A JUDGMENT BY WAR AND FAMINE ON ISRAEL WHEN THEY
SINNED AND ON WICKED NATIONS. When Jesus was speaking of the fire and worms of
Gehenna, he was giving a description of the finality of the destruction of
Israel who rejected Him, which His audience would understand. Those hearing Christ would understand how unquenchable fire and
undying worms were used in the Old Testament and therefore would understand His
use of them. They would have known that Gehenna He was speaking of was a foul
place of destruction where worthless things were disposed of, and would have
known He was saying the destruction He was speaking of would be like the
destruction of the garbage in Gehenna, like the destruction of Jerusalem by
unquenchable fire and maggots in the Old Testament. They knew they were being
threatened with complete destruction just as the trash in the city dump.
Jerusalem was destroyed and burnt, and historian's say in AD 70 many dead
bodies were burned and many were left unburied for the maggots. "And the
strong man will become tinder, his work also a spark, thus, they shall both
burn together, and there will be none to quench them" [Isaiah 1:31].
Summary: The worm
that dies not, and the unquenchable fire, as used in the Old Testament and by
Christ, proves UTTER DESTRUCTION, not everlasting torment. GEHENNA IS BELIEVED
BY THOSE WHO TEACH EVERLASTING TORMENT TO BE THEIR STRONG HOLD, BUT THE SYMBOLS
OF MAGGOTS EATING DEAD BODIES ON THIS EARTH, AND FIRE CONSUMING UNWANTED TRASH
["dead bodies" Isaiah 66:24] ARE SYMBOLS OF DESTRUCTION, NOT SYMBOLS
OF TORMENT. MANY THINK THIS IS THE STRONGEST PROOF OF EVERLASTING TORMENT IN
THE BIBLE, BUT IT IS THE OTHER WAY AROUND. IT IS A STRONG PROOF THAT THE LOST
WILL BE EVERLASTING DESTROYED. IT DOES NOT PROVE THAT A SADISTIC GOD WILL
FOREVER TORMENT ANYONE.
THE
OLD TESTAMENT HISTORY OF GEHENNA
Gehenna was first
mentioned in Joshua 15:8; 18:16, although it was never called
"Gehenna" in the Old Testament. Ahaz "burnt incense in the valley of the son of Hinnom, and
burnt his children in the fire" [2 Chronicles 28:3; 2 Kings 16:3]. Manasseh
also burnt his children in the fire in this valley [2 Chronicles 33:6].
Jeremiah 7:31-32
Children of Judah burned their sons and daughters in the fire in this valley,
and Jehovah said, "And they have built the high places of Topheth, which
is in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to burn their sons and their daughters
in the fire, which I did not command, and it did not come into My mind. It
shall no more be called Topheth, nor
The valley of the son of Hinnom, but
the valley of slaughter: for they shall
bury in Topheth, till there be no
place to bury. And the dead bodies of this people shall be food for the birds
of the heavens, and for the beasts of the earth; and none shall frighten them
away." [Note: Those who teach "Hell fire" are saying to God, "O
yes it came into Your mind. You have said You are going to burn most of Your
children in a fire much hotter than the fire in which they burnt their
children."]
Jeremiah 19:1-15
"Thus says the Lord, Go and buy a potter's earthenware jar, and take some
to the elders of the people and some of the senior priests. Then go out to the valley of Ben-hinnom, which is by the
entrance of the potsherd gate; and proclaim there the words that I shall tell you, and say, Hear the word of
the Lord, O kings of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem: thus says the Lord of
hosts, the God of Israel, Behold I am about to bring a calamity upon this place, at which the ears of
everyone that hears of it will tingle. Because they have forsaken Me and have made this an alien place and have
burned sacrifices in it to other
gods that neither they nor their forefathers nor the kings of Judah had ever
known, and because they have filled this
place with the blood of the innocent and have built the high places of Baal to burn their sons in the fire as burnt
offerings to Baal, a thing which I never commanded nor spoke of, nor did it
enter My mind; therefore, behold, days are coming, declares the Lord, when this place will no longer be called
Topheth or the valley of Ben-hinnom, but rather the valley of Slaughter.
And I shall make void the counsel of Judah and Jerusalem in this place, and I shall
cause them to fall by the sword before their enemies and by the hand of those
who seek their life; and I shall give over their carcasses as food for the
birds of the sky and the beast of the earth. I shall also make this city a
desolation and an object of hissing; everyone who passes by it will be
astonished and hiss because of the disasters. And I shall make them eat the
flesh of their sons and the flesh of their daughters, and they will eat one
another's flesh in the siege and in the distress with which their enemies and
those who seek their life will distress them. Then you are to break the jar in
the sight of the men who accompany you and say to them, Thus says the Lord of
hosts, Just so shall I break this people and this city, even as one breaks a
potter's vessel, which cannot again be repaired; and they will bury in Topheth because there is no other place for
burial. This is how I shall treat this
place and its inhabitants, declares the Lord so as to make this city like Topheth. And the houses of Jerusalem and the
houses of the kings of Judah will be
defiled like the place Topheth, because of all the houses on whose rooftops
they burned sacrifices to all the heavenly host and poured out libations to
other gods. Then Jeremiah came from
Topheth, where the Lord has sent him to prophesy; and he stood in the court
of the Lord's house and said to all the people; thus says the Lord of host, the
God of Israel, Behold, I am about to
bring on this city and all its towns the entire calamity that I have declared
against it, because they have stiffened their necks so as not to heed My
words." Jeremiah used the valley of Gehenna to warn Israel of their
destruction as a nation. Christ also used the valley of Gehenna to warn Israel
of their destruction as a nation.
Many believe the
185,000 Assyrians [Isaiah 37:36] were killed by the angel of the Lord in this
valley when they were laying siege to Jerusalem. They were killed near
Jerusalem and it could have been in this valley, but I can find no sure proof
that it was. See Isaiah 30:31-33.
Josiah "defiled
Topheth, which is in the valley of the
children of Hinnom, that no man might make his son or his daughter to pass
through the fire to Molech" [2 Kings 23:10]. This may be when it became
the trash dump that it is in the New Testament.
It is also mentioned
in Nehemiah 11:30; Jeremiah 19:2: Because of their worshiping other gods in it,
God made it a place of destruction and death, not torment. Topheth [Gehenna in
the New Testament] literally means a place of burning, and a place of death,
"The valley of slaughter" [Jeremiah 7:31].
EVERY
REFERENCE TO GEHENNA IN THE OLD TESTAMENT WAS TO A PLACE ON THIS EARTH. NOT ONE
OF THEM SAYS ANYTHING ABOUT ETERNAL TORMENT AFTER THE JUDGMENT. It is admitted by all that Gehenna in the Old Testament was not a
place of eternal torment, and it was not changed to "Hell" in any Old
Testament passage, not even in the King James Version which is sometimes called
"Hell's Bible."
Henry
Thayer: "Gehenna, the name of a valley on the S. and E. of Jerusalem...The
Jews so abolished the place after these horrible sacrifices had been abolished
by king Josiah (2 k.xxiii, 10) that they cast into it not only all manner of
refuses, but even the dead bodies of animals and unburied criminals who had
been executed. And since fires were always needed to consume the dead bodies,
that the air might not become tainted by the putrefaction, it came to pass that
the place was called (Gehenna)." "A Greek-English Lexicon Of the New
Testament" Page 111. He also says in "Theology" "Our
inquiry shows that it is employed in the Old Testament in its literal or
geographical sense only, as the name of the valley lying on the south of
Jerusalem-that the Septuagint proves it retained this meaning as late as B. C.
150-that it is not found at all in the Apocrypha; neither of Philo, nor in
Josephus, whose writings cover the very times of the Savior and the New
Testament, thus leaving us without a single example of contemporary usage to
determine its meaning at this period-that from A. D. 150-159, we find in two
Greek authors, Justin and Clement of Alexandria, the first resident in Italy
and the last in Egypt that Gehenna began to be used to designate a place of
punishment after death, but not endless punishment since Clement was a believer
in universal restoration-that the first time we find Gehenna used in this sense
in any Jewish writing is near the beginning of the third century, in the Targum
of Jonathan Ben Uzziel, two hundred years too late to be of any service in the
argument-and lastly, that the New Testament usage shows that while it had not
wholly lost its literal sense, it was also employed in the time of Christ as a symbol
of moral corruption and wickedness; BUT
MORE ESPECIALLY AS A FIGURE OF THE TERRIBLE JUDGMENTS OF GOD ON THE REBELLIOUS
AND SINFUL NATION OF THE JEWS" Henry Thayer, "Theology."
Canon
Farrar: "In the Old Testament it is merely the pleasant valley of Hinnom
(GeHinnom), subsequently desecrated by idolatry, and especially by Moloch
worship, and defiled by Josiah on this account. (See 1 Kings 11:7; 2 Kings
23:10; Jer 7:31; 19:10-14; Isa. 30:33; Tophet). Used according to Jewish
tradition, as the common sewage of the city, the corpses of the worst criminals
were flung into it unburied, and fires were lit to purify the contaminated air.
It then became a word which secondarily implied (1) the severest judgment which
a Jewish court could pass upon a criminal-the casting forth of his unburied
corpse amid the fire and worms of this polluted valley; and (2) a
punishment-which to the Jews a body never meant an end-less punishment beyond
the grave. WHATEVER MAY BE THE MEANING OF THE ENTIRE PASSAGES IN WHICH THE WORD
OCCURS, 'HELL' MUST BE A COMPLETE MISTRANSLATION, SINCE IT ATTRIBUTES TO THE
TERM USED BY CHRIST A SENSE ENTIRELY DIFFERENTLY FROM THAT IN WHICH IT WAS
UNDERSTOOD BY OUR LORD'S HEARERS, AND THEREFORE, ENTIRELY DIFFERENT FROM THE
SENSE IN WHICH HE COULD HAVE USED IT." From the preface to "Eternal
Hope."
"Gehenna, the
Greek word translated hell in the common version, occurs twelve times. It is
the Grecian mode of spelling the Hebrew words, which are translated, 'The
Valley of Hinnom.' This valley was also called Tophet, a detestation, an
abomination. Into this place were cast all kinds of filth, with the carcasses
of beasts and unburied bodies of criminals, who had been executed. Continual
fires were kept to consume these. Sennacherib's army of 185,000 men was slain
there in one night. Here, children were burnt to death in sacrifice to Moloch.
GEHENNA, THEN, AS OCCURRING IN THE NEW TESTAMENT, SYMBOLIZES DEATH AND UTTER
DESTRUCTION, BUT IN NO PLACE SYMBOLIZES A PLACE OF ETERNAL TORMENT" From
the Emphatic Diaglot.
George Lemasters says
Gehenna is said to have been a receptacle of bones, bodies of beasts and
criminals, and all unclean things. Page 265, Florida College Annual Lectures,
1975.
Ron Halbrook says
Gehenna became a common refuse dump for the dead bodies of criminals, animal
carcasses, and other kind of filth. Page 123, Florida College Annual Lectures
1986.
WHATEVER WAS CAST
INTO GEHENNA [the city dump], IF IT WERE TRASH OR THE BODIES OF CRIMINALS WERE
CAST INTO THE TRASH DUMP TO BE DESTROYED AND BOTH WERE DESTROYED, NOT
TORMENTED. Trash or dead bodies cannot be tormented. Whatever was cast into
Gehenna was soon consumed. God is a consuming fire [Hebrews 12:29]. THE FATE OF THE WICKED IS COMPARED TO TRASH
AND DEAD BODIES THAT WERE CAST INTO THE CITY DUMP TO BE DISPOSED OF.
THE
USE OF GEHENNA BY CHRIST
Gehenna was used on
four occasions by Christ, and was used one time by James, the brother of the
Lord [James 3:6]. The name Gehenna is in the four gospels eleven times but as
the four gospels repeat the same discourses, Jesus did not really use it more
than six or seven times and these were all used in only four occasions (four
sermons).
Both Christ and James
used the name of the city dump [Gehenna]. When James wrote this neither the
English word ÒHellÓ, nor a Greek word for "Hell" did not exist. Even
in Old English, Hell did not have the meaning it has today. The name Gehenna is
in the four gospels eleven times, but as the four gospels repeat the same
discourses, Jesus did not really use it more than six or seven times and these
were all used on only four occasions.
THE
FIRST OCCASION
IN
THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT
Gehenna is used 3
times in Matthew 5. Christ is teaching His disciples, who at that time were
under the Law.
THE FIVE "YOU HAVE HEARD" Five things the disciples had heard that the Law said.
[1] THE
FIRST "YOU HAVE HEARD"
Matthew 5:21-26 "You have heard
that the ancients were told, 'You shall not commit murder' and 'Whoever commits
murder shall be liable to the court.'
But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court; and whoever shall
say to his brother, 'Raca,' shall be
guilty before the Supreme Court; and whoever shall say, 'You fool,' shall be guilty enough to go into the
fiery hell [Greek-Gehenna of fire]" New American Standard Bible.
Gehenna, the city dump of Jerusalem was always burning, day and night, 24/7.
The
three crimes that were judged by the courts: All three have to do
with the way they felt toward their brother. "Murder shall be liable to the court: but I say to you
everyone who is,"
1. Everyone who is
"Angry with his brother" guilty
before the court (New American Standard Version): A judgment under the Old Testament Law. "Not the final
judgment of the world, but the tribunal established by the Law of Moses in each
city for the trial of murders and other criminals. [See Deut. xvi. 18.] Every
man slayer was tried before this tribunal, and either put to death or confined
in the city of refuge." J. W. McGarvey, The New Testament Commentary, Page
53, The Standard Publishing Company, 1875.
2. Whoever
"Shall say to his brother, 'Raca'" guilty before the Supreme Court (New American Standard Version): A
judgment under the Old Testament Law. "An epithet of contempt; 'empty
head'" B. W. Johnson, The People's New Testament, Gospel Light Publishing,
1889. "The council mentioned is the supreme court provided for by the Law
of Moses [Deut. xvii. 8-13], and represented in the days of Jesus by the
Sanhedrim." J. W. McGarvey, The New Testament Commentary, Page 54, 1875.
3. Whoever
"Shall say, 'You fool'" guilty
enough to go into the fiery Gehenna: This, like the first two is a Jewish
judgment where the bodies of criminals that were thought to be unworthy of a
burial were cast into the city dump to be burned. To whom will they say, "you fool"? Could it be anyone
other than "his brother" just as the first two were? Could the
difference in the sinfulness of saying to your brother "race" [empty
headed] and saying to him "you fool" be enough to jump from a
judgment of the Jewish court to the judgment of God at the coming of Christ?
How could anyone know Christ changed from judgments under the Law to a judgment
at the resurrection when there is no indication that He changed? According to
the teaching of some, a person can be angry with his brother and have contempt
for him and not go to Hell, but if you say, "You fool" to your
brother, them you will go to Hell.
"You have
heard" is this lesson on how to avoid the courts and is still a part of
the first "You have heard."
[2]
THE SECOND "YOU HAVE HEARD"
that it was said, 'You shall not commit adultery'" Matthew 5:27-30 "And if your right eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out, and cast it
from you: for it is profitable for you that one of your members should perish,
and not your whole body be cast into hell [Greek - Gehenna]. And if your right hand causes you to stumble,
cut it off, and cast it from you: for it is profitable for you that one of your
members should perish, and not your whole
body go into hell [Greek - Gehenna]."
Christ is teaching
them that if there is a danger that they may look on a woman to lust after her,
if their eye causes them to stumble, cut it out and cast it away. If taken
literal this would have been unlawful by the Old Testament Law they were under.
The lesson to them was that they were to remove anything from their lives,
which would cause them to be judged unworthy to be buried, and their bodies to
be cast into Gehenna. Under the Law adultery was death and could therefore
cause their bodies to be cast to the fire and maggots in Gehenna [Leviticus
20:10-16]. The lesson to them and to us is that if something in our life that
would cause us to be lost, even if it is as dear to us as our eye or hand, it
needs to be cut off unless the whole body be destroyed, the removal of anything
in our life that would cause us to be destroyed by God as worthless trash which
was destroyed in Gehenna. Christ was saying to them anything in their life;
adultery or any other sin that would cause them to perish needed to be removed.
THOSE THAT USE THIS TO PROVE HELL DO NOT BELIEVE THAT TO "CUT OFF"
ANY PART OF THE BODY OF A LIVING PERSON WILL KEEP THAT PERSON OUT OF HELL AFTER
DEATH. TO MANY, THE HAND AND THE EYE ARE A LITERAL HAND OR EYE, BUT "THE
WHOLE BODY" IS NOT A "BODY" AT ALL BUT A FORMLESS, NO SUBSTANCE,
INVISIBLE PART OF A PERSON THAT HAS NO BODY.
The
loss of a hand or eye is contrasted with the whole body [of which the hand was
a part] being cast into Gehenna; not the loss of a hand being contrasted with
the soul [of which the hand was NOT a part] being cast into Hell. The "eye" and the "right hand" are a part of
the "whole body." No one can cut off the hand of a soul which they
say has no substance and Christ does not change from parts of the earthly body
to something that most who believe in "it" says "it" has no
body. No one that I know of who believes "Hell" is an eternal place
of torment believes the human body or any part of it will be eternally
tormented in that eternal place. In the same sentence, did Christ change from a
literal physical hand to a "soul"? IF THE "WHOLE BODY" IS A
FORMLESS NO SUBSTANCE SOUL, THEN THE "HAND," WHICH WAS CUT OFF THIS
BODY IS A PART OF THE "WHOLE BODY," AND WOULD ALSO BE A FORMLESS NO
SUBSTANCE SOMETHING THAT WE COULD NOT CUT OFF AND IF WE COULD, THEN THE CUT OFF
HAND OF AN IMMORTAL SOUL WOULD BE AS IMMORTAL AS THE REST OF THE NO SUBSTANCE
FORMLESS SOUL FROM WHICH IT WAS CUT OFF. IN
TODAY'S THEOLOGY NO ONE BELIEVES YOU CAN CUT OFF THE HAND OF A SPIRIT SO THAT
THE REST OF THE SPIRIT WILL NOT GO TO HELL. The "whole body" is
not a spirit that will go to Hell [Gehenna], but it may not go to Hell if the
hand of the soul or spirit had been cut off. It is the hand that is a part of
this earthly body that is to be cut off that the whole earthly body would not
be cast into a real earthy valley. Today this has been changed to an invisible
immortal hand that cannot die, but it is to be cut off an immortal soul that
cannot die because if it is not cut off the soul that cannot die will be cast into
a place of torment that is not on this earth. I have never heard anyone say
what he or she thinks will happen to the cut off immortal hand that cannot die.
No one that I know of believes the "soul" shall "enter into
life," which he or she says is Heaven, with a cut off hand of that soul in
Hell. The "soul" in Heaven but its "hand" in Hell! They
don't believe that a disfigurement of the body, whether it is a self inflicted
disfigurement or any other disfigurement, will be passed onto the immaterial,
invisible part of a person in Heaven. Neither do they believe any person has
the power to cut of any part of his soul. Most that believe in "Hell"
make this cutting off the hand be figurative language meaning to remove
anything from our lives that will cause us to sin, but they want to make just
one word in the sentence be literal. They must first mistranslate
"Gehenna" into "Hell" and then make just this one word out
of context and be literal. Gehenna must be changed to Hell and made literal,
but the cutting off the hand cannot be literal.
"Destroy"
must be made to mean, "preserve." God's word says He will destroy the
soul, but many change this and make it say God will preserve the soul forever.
There seems to be no end to the changes they are willing to make. "Destroy the body and soul" must
be changed to "preserve the soul but destroy the body."
A dead body part or a
whole dead body being cast into the city dump [Gehenna] to be destroyed by fire
or worms is not a picture of a living immortal soul being tormented forever.
There is no suggestion of eternal torment in this. THERE IS NOTHING, NOT ONE WORD ABOUT AN IMMORTAL SOUL OR AN IMMORTAL
SPIRIT IN THIS PASSAGE. It was their "whole body" that would be
cast into Gehenna, not just an immaterial, invisible part of a person that will
be cast into "Hell." Nothing is said about an immaterial part of a
person in Matthew 5:22, 29 or 30. "Soul" is not in Matthew 5. IT IS
NOT PREACHED TODAY THAT THE BODY WILL BE CAST INTO GEHENNA BUT THAT THE
"SOUL" WILL BE CAST INTO "HELL." THIS PASSAGE IS ONE OF THE
MOST USED PASSAGE TO PROVE A PERSON HAS IN IMMATERIAL PART THAT WILL BE IN AN ETERNAL
PLACE OF TORMENT, BUT NEITHER THE IMMATERIAL PART OF A PERSON OR THE PLACE OF
TORMENT IS IN IT. EVERYTHING THAT CHRIST SAID IS CHANGED AND THAT BY THOSE THAT
SAY THEY DO NOT CHANGE THE BIBLE.
[3] The third
"You have heard" "You shall not forswear yourself" [Matthew
5:33].
[4] The fourth
"You have heard" An eye for an eye [Matthew 5:38].
[5] The fifth
"You have heard" Love your neighbor [Matthew 5:43].
All five of the
"you have heard" are about things in the Old Testament Law, not about
things in the life after the judgment.
THE
SECOND OCCASION
IN
A LESSON TO THE TWELVE DISCIPLES
"FEAR
HIM, WHO AFTER HE HAS KILLED HAS POWER TO CAST INTO GEHENNA" Luke 12:4-5; GOD IS ABLE
TO DESTROY BOTH SOUL AND BODY IN GEHENNA Matthew 10:28. This was spoken
to the twelve apostles when they were sent forth to preach, "The kingdom
of heaven is at hand" [Matthew 10:1-28]. He was persecuted, and they would
be, but they were to "Fear them not." "But I will warn you whom
you shall fear: fear him, who AFTER HE HAS KILLED has power to cast into Gehenna" [Luke 12:4-5]. "AFTER HE HAS KILLED" must be changed to "ALIVE BUT SEPARATED
FROM GOD" to fit today's
teaching for an immortal soul cannot be killed and this passage must be made to
teach an immortal soul that cannot be killed is alive and tormented in
"Hell." After all, they cannot have God killing an immortal soul
before He cast it into "Hell" could they?
Man can destroy the
life we now have, but God alone is able to destroy [Apollumi] both soul [life-psukee] and body in
Gehenna "AFTER HE HAS KILLED." To prove Hell, many have this earthly
body tormented in Hell after the Judgment Day. If both the body and soul are
destroyed in Gehenna proves an immortal "immaterial,
invisible part of man" [W. E. Vine] that cannot die will be tormented
in Hell, then it also proves the earthy body will be tormented in Hell. IF THE "IMMATERIAL, INVISIBLE PART OF
MAN" CANNOT DIE BECAUSE IT IS IMMORTAL FROM BIRTH, GOD COULD DO NO
MORE THAN A MAN. HE COULD ONLY DESTROY [KILL] THE BODY, BUT NOT THE IMMORTAL "IMMATERIAL, INVISIBLE PART OF
MAN" THAT CANNOT DIE AND CANNOT BE DESTROYED. Was Jesus telling the
twelve apostles not to fear God? He is if the soul [psukee] is immortal from
birth and cannot be killed. Does it mean what it says, or does
"destroy," mean to "torment forever," as today's theology
interprets and demands? If it were as is taught today that destroy means
torment, and Gehenna means Hell, then they have God tormenting both this body
of flesh and the "soul" in Hell forever, which is more than they want
it to say, but when they change Gehenna to "Hell," this passage
teaches something that even those who make the change do not believe. Will this earthly body be in
"Hell" and be immortal? If it is to be tormented forever in
"Hell," then the earthly body is as immortal as the soul is. When
a person has killed the body, he can do no more. At the worse, a person can
only take a few years of life from you, but there will be a resurrection and
God can take an eternity of life from you.
God has the power to
kill, or the power to torment (if He was that kind of a God, a fiendish and
sadistic God); but we must look to the Bible to know what He will do and not
look to theology. A man can only take this life from you, then can do no more,
and most of the twelve Christ was speaking to were soon killed by men who could
do no more, but there will be a resurrection of all they kill. God can DESTROY
this life, and then DESTROY the resurrected life after the judgment. There is a
second death for those not in Christ.
Apollumi is used 95
times in the New Testament. In the King James Version it is life and things
that is destroyed (apollumi) 94 times; Matthew 10:28 is the only time it is the
soul that is destroyed (apollumi). The other 94 times it is body that is
destroyed (the end of life of the body) or things (such as bottles Matthew 9:27
- meat John 6:27 – gold 1
Peter 1:7 - etc.) that are destroyed in the King James Version. It is
translated destroy, destroyed, perish, lose, lost, and die. Matthew 10:28 is the only time it is used
of the soul and it says God is able to kill [apollumi] the soul just as the
body is killed in the other passages. Those who believe the soul cannot die
must deny the plain statement made by Christ.
Men did kill the
bodies of many disciples Christ give this warning to them, but this has no
effect on their or their ultimate existence. Death is but a brief sleep, which
will be as if it were only a moment from death unto the resurrection.
[Deuteronomy 31:16; 2 Samuel 7:12; 1 Kings 1:21; Job 7:21; 14:12; Psalms 13:31
Jeremiah 51:39, 57; 1 Kings 2:10; 11:21, 43; 14:20, 31; 15:8, 24; 16:6, 28;
22:40, 50; 2 Kings 8:24; 10:35; 13:9, 13; 14:16, 22, 29; 15:7, 22, 38; 16:20;
20:21; 21:18; 24:6; 2 Chronicles 9:31; 12:16; 14:1; 16:13; 21:1; 26:2, 23;
27:9; 28:27; 32:33; 33:20; Job 3:13; Isaiah 26:19; Matthew 9:24; 25:5; 27:52;
Mark 5:39; Luke 8:52; John 11:11-14; Acts 7:60; 13:36; 1 Corinthians 15:6, 18,
20, 51; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-15; 5:10; 2 Peter 3:4]. There will be a
resurrection, and in the ultimate eternal sense, man cannot kill the soul-life
[psukee]. God can destroy and make our memory to perish [Deuteronomy 32:39; 1
Samuel 2:6; Ecclesiastes 9:4-6; Psalms 31:12; 88:5; Isaiah 26:14; Ecclesiastes
9:10; Matthew 10:28; Luke 12:5; Romans 6:23]. If death does not indicate
unconsciousness, then the analogy of sleep, which is used throughout the Bible,
is meaningless for the dead are not asleep. It is more than just meaningless,
being asleep when they are awake in Heaven or Hell would be an outright lie
that is repeated frequently.
The second death is
never called a sleep because there will be no waking up or resurrection from
it.
Many
believe that the destroying spoken of in Matthew 10:28 that is to be after the
resurrection and, but just do not agree on if destroy means destroy or if destroy
mean an everlasting life with punishment.
IT IS CLEARLY SAID THAT THE DESTROYING IN THIS PASSAGE IS IN GEHENNA, WHICH IS
A PLACE ON THIS EARTH (see chapter 4 on Gehenna), however, if the destroying
were after the judgment, even then it would not prove no one could be
destroyed. "Fear him who is able to
destroy" if it is as many believe this destroying to be at death, or
as others believe the destroying is to be after the judgment, this passage
clearly says God is able to destroy the psukee [life-soul]. I know many who
have a gun but there is no point to fear someone because he has a gun and could
kill you if you know he never will. There would be no point to fear God because
he has the power and could destroy you, but you know he never will. Jesus is
not just making an idle threat. GOD IS
TO BE FEARED BECAUSE HE WILL DESTROY. The fear is not of the fact that He
can, but on the fact that He will destroy, on the certainty that He will
destroy. IF THERE IS AN "IMMATERIAL,
INVISIBLE PART OF MAN" THAT IS IMMORTAL AND CAN NEVER DIE, THEN GOD
CANNOT KILL IT AND CHRIST IS SAYING DO NOT FEAR GOD FOR HE CANNOT KILL THE
IMMATERIAL, INVISIBLE PART OF A PERSON. If
a person kills us, God will raise us at the judgment. Those whom God destroys
are lost, destroyed forever with no hope of a resurrection to life. God is
able to destroy both body and soul is changed to: God is able to preserve both
body and soul. Without this change, there would be no way to put
"Hell" in this passage, and without it there would be no way to put
the "soul" in "Hell" without also putting the body in
"Hell"; but most important, without changing this passage, there
would be no way to keep the soul that many say, "cannot be destroyed"
from being destroyed.
EITHER WAY:
If
the words "immortal soul" were substituted for "soul" and
"life," it would be absurd.
"But are not able to kill the
immortal soul [life-psukee]: but fear him who is able to destroy both immortal soul [life-psukee] and body
in Hell [Gehenna]...He that finds his immortal
soul [life-psukee] shall lose his immortal
soul [life-psukee]; and he that loses his immortal soul for my sake shall find his immortal soul " [Matthew 10:28-39]. In using this to prove
that a person has an immortal soul, which cannot be destroyed, they prove that
it can be. If psukee were an immortal soul, then God would be able to destroy
this immortal soul. THERE IS NO STRONGER
WAY IN WHICH TO SAY GOD CAN AND WILL DESTROY IT. He is to be feared by
those of the world because He will. There would be no reason to fear Him if He
could not, or if He will not destroy the psukee
[soul or life]. I FIND IT STRANGE THAT
ONE OF THE MOST USED PASSAGES TO PROVE THERE IS AN "IMMATERIAL, INVISIBLE PART OF MAN" THAT CANNOT BE
DESTROYED SAYS GOD CAN DESTROY IT; BUT, NO STRANGER THEN THE USE OF DEATH TO
MEAN AN ETERNAL LIFE OF TORMENT WITH GOD DOING THE TORMENTING. By saying
black is white you can prove anything.
The point some are
trying to make from God being "able to destroy" is that there is life
after death, an immortal soul that cannot be destroyed, which this does not
prove. At the resurrection there will be life that GOD CAN DESTROY, not that there is an immortal soul that God cannot
destroy. IT SAYS NOTHING ABOUT AN "IMMATERIAL, INVISIBLE PART OF
MAN" THAT IS ALIVE BEFORE THE RESURRECTION THAT
CANNOT BE DESTROYED. It does not say there will be any life from death unto
the resurrection. That there will be a resurrection is taught through out the
New Testament, but if all are alive when Christ comes, there cannot be a
resurrection of those that are not dead. GOD
CAN DESTROY THE LIFE NOW IS AND THE LIFE THAT WILL BE AFTER THE RESURRECTION.
He is to be feared by the lost because He will destroy the life they will have
after the resurrection.
PROVES MORE THAN THE ADVOCATE'S OF AN IMMORTAL SOUL WANT TO PROVE. Matthew
10:28 proves more than they believe and more them they want to prove, for they
do not believe this earthly body will be tormented in "Hell" or that
the "immaterial, invisible part of
man" will be destroyed. But, to prove their Hell, they make destroy be
just a loss of well being, but still alive and being tormented in Hell. If the
immaterial, invisible part of a person is not destroyed, but just lost its well
being, then the earthly body is not destroyed, but has just lost its well-being.
The same thing happens to both the body and the immaterial, invisible part of a
person, therefore, if destroy means one is tormented, not destroyed, then
destroy means the earthly body will be tormented in Hell just as the soul will.
The word "destroy" is from apollumi. Christ is speaking of a soul [life-psukee] whose destruction is expressed by the same
Greek word, apollumi, as is the destruction of the body. Whatever you believe
the "soul" to be, it is shown to be as destructible as the body is.
WHAT GOD CREATED, GOD CAN DESTROY. Matthew 10:28 does not say a person has
an inter "immaterial, invisible
part" that God cannot destroy, It SAYS GOD CAN DESTROY BOTH THE BODY
AND THE PSUKEE [life].
The advocate's of an
immortal soul say, "destroy" [apollumi] means, "torment."
If this is true, "torment" should be used in place of
"destroy" in all places. Try it. The same is true when apollumi is
made to mean "a loss of well-being."
"Destroy
both body and soul [psukee]" Just as certain as the garbage of Jerusalem was consumed by the
fire, God will destroy, consume both body and soul [living creature]. When
Jesus says that God can destroy the body and soul in Gehenna, it is the whole
being of man, not just his "well-being." THERE IS NO GROUND FOR THE TRADITIONAL
VIEW OF AN IMMORTAL SOUL THAT CANNOT BE DESTROYED IN THIS PASSAGE OR ANY OTHER
PASSAGE, BUT THERE IS GROUND FOR THE WHOLE OF MAN, BODY AND SOUL [life-psukee],
BEING DESTROYED IN THIS AND MANY OTHER PASSAGES.
"Not able to
kill the soul [life]," and "destroy both soul and body in
Gehenna," are the same thing. JESUS
USED BOTH KILL AND DESTROY, BUT SAID NOTHING ABOUT TORMENT. Theology must be
used to make destroy mean torment for if the words kill and destroy means kill
and destroy, there will be no living "souls" to be tormented in Hell,
therefore, no Hell.
FROM THE SAME LESSON
TO HIS DISCIPLES (God is able to destroy),
Lose his life [Greek soul-psukee] must
be made to mean an everlasting life of torment [Matthew 10:39].
When save and lose
in Matthew 10:39 are applied to soul as it is used in today's theology, it
makes nonsense.
Life and
death and finding and losing life are the same thing. Death
and losing life are not everlasting life separated from God. (1)
"He that finds his life shall lose it," by some kind of magic charm
is turns into eternal life in Hell. "Shall lose it (his life)" is
made to mean an ETERNAL LIFE of torment in Hell. How could anyone know this?
What dictionary is being used? (2) "He that loses his life for my sake
shall find it." Losing the life of the body - being put to death for believing
in Christ, also by some kind of magic is turned into eternal life for an "immaterial, invisible part of
man" at death before the resurrection. Their magic makes the
resurrection useless for they say eternal life is given to all at birth and
none can lose it, therefore, Christ cannot give us life. He can only give a
reward for being good and can only punish for being bad. TO MAKE PSUKEE BE IN "IMMATERIAL INVISIBLE, IMMORTAL PART OF
MAN" THAT CANNOT DIE MAKES IT BE NONSENSE. No doctrine of the Bible is more plain than the loss of life in this
passage is the lost of existence, not eternal life with torment for the sinner,
and that saving or finding life is to find eternal life at the resurrection.
THE
THIRD OCCASION
IN
ANOTHER LESSON TO HIS DISCIPLES
This was a different
discourse than Matthew 5:29-30 above, but He was teaching the same thing. See
the notes on the first occasion above. Matthew 18:9 "And if your eye
causes you to stumble, pluck it out, and cast it from you: it is good for you
to enter into life with one eye, rather than having two eyes to be cast into
the hell [Greek-Gehenna] of fire."
Mark 9:43, 45, 47 "And if your hand cause you to stumble, cut it off: it
is good for you to enter into life maimed, rather then having your two hands to
go into hell [Greek-Gehenna], into
the unquenchable fire. And if your foot cause you to stumble, cut it off; it is
good for you to enter into life halt, rather then having your two feet to be
cast into hell [Greek-Gehenna]. And
if your eye cause you to stumble, cast it out; it is good for you to enter into
the kingdom of God with one eye, rather than having two eyes to be cast into hell [Greek-Gehenna] where their worm
dies not, the fire is not quenched" "Where their worm dies not, the
fire is not quenched" is in Mark 9:44, 46, and 48 in some translations.
The footnote in the American Standard Version says, "Verses 44 and 46
(which are identical with verse 48) are omitted by the best ancient
authorities." "Where their
worm dies not, the fire is not quenched" is a direct quotation from Isaiah
66:23-24 where it is speaking of dead bodies on this earth being burn with fire
and eaten by worms. Gehenna, a place on this earth, has been changed to
"Hell" a place not on this earth; and no one can give a Bible passage
that tells of a place called "Hell." ÒIt is better for you to enter
life crippledÓ [Mark 9:43], what ÒlifeÓ is Christ speaking of? Do unconditional
immoralists believe Christ is saying it is better for an immortal soul to enter
life in Heaven a crippled soul? If Christ were speaking of immortal souls
entering Heaven or being cast into Hell, would there be any way to say there
will not be crippled souls in Heaven?
THE
FOURTH OCCASION
IN
A SERMON TO THE SCRIBES AND PHARISEES
Gehenna is used two
times in a sermon to the Scribes and Pharisees warning them of God's rejection
of Israel. In Matthew 23 and 24 Christ speaks of the destruction of Israel.
"All these things shall come upon this generation" [Matthew 23:36].
The context of these two uses of Gehenna are clearly an in time judgment of
Israel, not of anything that will be after the judgment at the coming of
Christ. THEY HAVE NO REFERENCE TO "HELL." The "damnation of
Hell" as it is preached today did not come on that "generation,"
but the judgment and destruction of Israel did. "Damnation" is from
krisis which means judgment, not damnation as it is mistranslated in the King
James Version, the "judgment of Gehenna," not the "damnation of
Hell."
ISRAEL THE WICKED
HUSBANDMEN Matthew 21:33-46: Before looking at this use of Gehenna it may help
understand it to first look at the parable of the wicked husbandman that comes
just before it and is a part of the same sermon spoken to the Scribes and
Pharisees. "When; therefore, the lord of the vineyard shall come, what
will he do unto these husbandman? They say unto him, HE WILL MISERABLY DESTROY
THESE MISERABLE MEN, AND WILL LET OUT THE VINEYARD UNTO OTHER HUSBANDMEN, who
will render him the fruits in their seasons. Jesus said unto them, did you
never read in the scriptures, the stone, which the builders rejected, the same
was made the head of the corner; this was from the Lord, and it is marvelous in
our eyes? THEREFORE SAY I UNTO YOU, THE
KINGDOM OF GOD SHALL BE TAKEN AWAY FROM YOU, AND SHALL BE GIVEN TO A NATION
BRINGING FORTH THE FRUITS THEREOF." Many parables deal with the rejection
of Christ by Israel and its destruction. See chapter 8, part 1 and part 2.
[1] SON OF GEHENNA: Matthew 23:15 "Woe
unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you compass sea and land to
make one proselyte; and when he is become so, you make him twofold more a son
of hell [Greek-Gehenna] then
yourselves." In speaking to the Pharisees, Christ said, "For you are
like unto whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but inwardly are
full of dead man's bones, and of all uncleanness"
[Matthew 23:27]. They made their proselytes "twofold more a son of Gehenna than your selves"
[Matthew 23:15]. A place cannot give birth to a person. No one, not even those
who believe in Hell, believe Hell is literally the father or mother of anyone.
To call a person a son of a place is not to say that place is his mother, but
is to say a part of his character is similar to the place. Gehenna was a place
of filth and uncleanness. To use the
metaphors "son of Gehenna" is to say they were unclean like the filthy city dump. To be a "son of
Gehenna" means to be like Gehenna and the things in it: to be filthy and
contemptible. The proselytes were made twofold more unclean then the Pharisees. Because Gehenna does not literally have
sons, this is a figure of speech and not intended to be taken literally nether
in this life or after death. James and John are called "sons of
thunder" [Mark 3:17]. Thunder did not give birth to them, but a part of
their character is similar to thunder. "And if a son of peace be
there" [Luke 10:6], "Son of exhortation" [Acts 4:36], "Sons
of disobedience" [Ephesians 2:2], "The son of destruction" [2
Thessalonians 2:3]; "The child of anything in Hebrew phraseology expressed
the idea of special property which one has in the thing specified, as, for
instance, children of disobedience [Eph. ii. 2]" J W McGarvey, Matthew
8:11, The Fourfold Gospel, Standard Publishing Company, 1914. This metaphor is
not taken from the destruction by the fire and maggots in Gehenna; but it is a metaphor taken from the filth and
uncleanness of Gehenna. Although this passage is repeatedly used to prove
eternal torment after death, there is nothing about any torment in it, not in
this lifetime or after death.
In the same address
to the scribes and Pharisees Christ gives two more examples of their
uncleanness.
1. They washed the
outside of the cup to make it clean "but within they are full from
extortion and excess. You blind Pharisee, cleanse first the inside of the cup
and of the platter, that the outside thereof may become clean also"
[Matthew 23:25-26].
2. They were like
whitewashed graves "which appear beautiful, but inwardly are full of dead
man's bones, and all uncleanness. Even so you also outwardly appear righteous
unto men, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and iniquity" [Matthew
23:27-28]. Matthew 23:13-39 is a list of seven woes to the scribes and
Pharisees. "Twofold more a son of Gehenna" [Matthew 23:15] is the second
of the seven woes.
o The seven woes
to the scribes and Pharisees [Matthew 23:13-39].
1. Shut the kingdom
of heaven against men and enter not in [Matthew 23:13-14].
2. Made their proselytes twofold more a son of Gehenna than
them selves [Matthew 23:15].
3. To swear by the
temple is nothing [Matthew 23:16-22].
4. Left undone the
weightier matters [Matthew 23: 23-24].
5. Within they are
full of hypocrisy and iniquity, cleaned only the outside of the cup [Matthew
23:25-26].
6. Are whitewashed tombs
full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness [Matthew 23:17-28].
7. Are sons and partakers with their fathers that slew the
prophets. "How shall you escape the judgment of Gehenna"? [Matthew
23:29-39].
[2] JUDGMENT OF GEHENNA: Matthew 23:33-36
"Fill you up then the measure of your fathers. You serpents, you offspring of vipers, how shall you escape the judgment of hell
[Greek-Gehenna]? Therefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men,
and scribes: some of them shall you kill and crucify; and some of them shall
you scourge in your synagogues, and persecute from city to city: that upon you
may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of Abel the
righteous unto the blood of Zechariah son of Barachiah, whom you slew between
the sanctuary and the altar. Verily I say unto you, all these things shall come upon this generation." Christ had
just told the scribes and Pharisees they made their proselytes more a "SON of Gehenna" [unclean]
than themselves; then He calls them "offspring
[SONS of] vipers," and "all
these things (all the righteous blood from Abel to Zechariah) shall come upon this generation."
Matthew 23 is a discourse about the scribes and the Pharisees; many take one
word of this discourse out of it context, then change that noun to another noun,
which is not in the Bible.
The Scribes and Pharisees knew the law,
but did not keep it. Outwardly they were as beautiful as white sepulchers, but
inwardly were full of dead man's bones. They would not escape the judgment to
come. "Verily I say unto you, all
these things SHALL COME UPON THIS GENERATION" [Matthew 23:36]. Matthew
24 is a discourse to His disciples about the destruction of Israel of which He
had spoken of to the Pharisees in the chapter before. That generation would not
escape the judgment of Gehenna. It came in A. D. 70 when some historians
say Gehenna was filled with the dead bodies of Jews from the destruction of
Jerusalem [See Jeremiah 19]. For
notes on this use of "The judgment of Gehenna" see chapter eight,
part one, Israel's destruction. To the Jews, to be left unburied, to be judged as
not being fit to be buried and thrown into the city dump just as they were
doing to those they judged as being unfit to be buried was the worse of all
insult. It was the most severe judgment of contempt upon a criminal known to
the Jews. In the judgment soon to come upon them Josephus said six hundred thousand dead bodies of the Jews were
carried out of Jerusalem and lift unburied.
NO
ROOT, NO BRANCH, NO HOPE OF LIFE FOR ISRAEL. Foy E. Wallace, Jr. says, "The prophet declares that 'the day
shall burn as an oven' and 'it shall burn them up'--a pronouncement against the
Jewish nation and governments that rejected and condemned the Christ, and
persecuted his saints. The advent of the Messiah would be 'the coming of the
great and dreadful day of the Lord'" "God's Prophetic Word,"
Page 545. Malachi 4:1. Malachi's pronouncement is against the Jewish nation
that rejected and condemned the Christ, and persecuted his saints. "For
behold, the day is coming, burning like a furnace; and all the arrogant and
every evildoer will be chaff; and the day that is coming will set them ablaze,
says the Lord of hosts, so that it will leave them neither root not
branch" [Malachi 4:1]. Job says when a tree is cut down there is hope that
the root will sprout [Job 14:8]; there is hope of life. In the last chapter in
the Old Testament of our English Bible Malachi says Israel will not be left a
root to sprout a branch or a branch to sprout roots. There is no hope for life.
"Condemnation,"
"damnation," and "damned" of the King James Version
THE RESURRECTION OF DAMNATION
[krisis] (KJV), JUDGMENT [krisis] (ASV). "The resurrection of judgment
(krisis)" [John 5:29] says nothing about an eternal life of torment in
Hell after the judgment although this passage is continually used to prove
eternal torment. The verdict of the judgment, if it be death, eternal life with
torment, or what ever it maybe, the verdict of the judgment is not in this
passage. In an attempt to put Hell in the Bible, the translators of the King
James Version changed the judgment and made it be the verdict of the judgment
and made the verdict be what they needed it to be.
If "krisis"
means "damnation" then we are all in trouble for "It is
appointed unto men once to die, and after this comes damnation judgment
(krisis)" [Hebrews 9:27]. When it is applied only to the lost the King
James translators translated "krisis" condemnation, but when it is
applied to all [Hebrews 9:27] they translated "krisis" judgment. Just
one more example of how they were willing to mistranslate to put their
"Hell" into the Bible. The American Standard Version and most others
do not translate "krisis" into condemnation or damnation. TWO WORDS HAD TO BE CHANGED IN MATTHEW
23:33 TO PUT TODAY'S HELL IN THE BIBLE. "JUDGMENT" HAD TO BE CHANGED
TO "DAMNATION" AND "GEHENNA" HAD TO BE CHANGED TO
"HELL."
Summary: JUST AS EVERY REFERENCE TO GEHENNA IN
THE OLD TESTAMENT IS TO A PLACE ON THIS EARTH, TO THE VALLEY SOUTH OF JERUSALEM
AND IS NEVER TRANSLATED "HELL." EVERY REFERENCE TO GEHENNA BY CHRIST
IS ALSO TO THE SAME PLACE ON THIS EARTH. IN THE FOUR OCCASIONS THAT GEHENNA IS
USED, NOT IN A ONE IS GEHENNA SAID TO BE ETERNAL OR EVERLASTING, NOT ONCE IS
THERE ANY TORMENT OF LIVING PERSONS IN IT, AND NOT ONCE IS IT USED IN
CONNECTION WITH THE RESURRECTION, BUT TODAY PREACHERS MOST ALWAYS ADD
EVERLASTING AND SAY IT WILL NEVER END. HOW DO THEY KNOW THIS? NONE OF THE
APOSTLES EVER PREACH ANYTHING ABOUT GEHENNA. IF IT WERE A PLACE OF TORMENT
WHERE GOD SHALL TORMENT ALL THE LOST, WHY DID THEY NEVER SAY ANYTHING ABOUT IT?
THEY USED DEATH, DESTROY, DESTROYED, PERISH, DIE, AND END; BUT NEVER
"HELL."
AND
ONE TIME BY JAMES
TO
THE TWELVE TRIBES OF ISRAEL
SET
ON FIRE BY GEHENNA James 3:6
"And the tongue is a fire; the world of iniquity among our members is the
tongue, which defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the wheel of nature, and
is set on fire by hell [Greek-Gehenna]."
James used the same proper noun [the name of a particular place] that Christ
used, but he used it in a different way. The tongue is a fire and is set on
fire by Gehenna-the filthy, contemptible garbage dump. Most who are given to
gossip look for some filthy rotten garbage on someone, and then cannot wait to
tell it. James did not use Gehenna to teach the Jews about what was going to
happen them if they rejected Christ. To say "The tongue is set on fire by
the place of eternal torment after the judgment," which is what many
teach, makes no sense. This metaphor is not taken from the destruction by the
fire and maggots in Gehenna; but it is a
metaphor taken from the filth and uncleanness of Gehenna. There is nothing
about torment or destruction in it, and nothing about after death. The tongue
is a fire now in this lifetime. To make Hell be a literal place not of this
earth that sets on fire a literal tongue of a living person on this earth would
somehow make that person's tongue be in contact with a place that is not on
this earth. Gehenna is a place of
corruption, which was figuratively applied to a vile tongue.
| KJV | ASV NASV
RSV NRSV* | Many More**
Matthew 5:22, 29, 30_ | Hell | Hell (Greek Gehenna)|
Gehenna
Matthew 10:28 | Hell | Hell
(Greek Gehenna)| Gehenna
Mt 18:9 Mk 9:43,44,45 | Hell | Hell (Greek Gehenna)|
Gehenna
Matthew 23:15, 33 | Hell | Hell (Greek Gehenna)| Gehenna
Luke 12:5 | Hell | Hell (Greek Gehenna)| Gehenna
James 3:6 | Hell | Hell (Greek Gehenna)| Gehenna
The American Standard Version, Revised Standard Version, New Revised
Standard Version, and others have a footnote "Gr. Gehenna."
**New American Bible (Catholic), World English Bible, Young's Literal
New Testament (author of "Young's Analytical Concordance"), Wesley's
New Testament (founder of Methodist Church), Christian Bible 1991, and many
more (many with "0 times" above) have "Gehenna" in the text
as it should be as a Proper Noun (the name of a particular place). The
Amplified Bible has it as an insert in the text: "Hell (Gehenna) of
fire."
THE
TRANSLATION OF GEHENNA IN SEVEN TRANSLATIONS
[1] Young's Literal Bible
(1891) Author of "Young's Analytical Concordance To The Bible"
FIRST OCCASION, IN THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT
Matthew 5:22 - Gehenna of the
fire
Matthew 5:29 - Gehenna
Matthew 5:30 - Gehenna
SECOND OCCASION, IN A LESSON TO THE TWELVE DISCIPLES
Matthew 10:28 - Destroy in Gehenna
Luke 12:5 - Gehenna
THIRD OCCASION, IN ANOTHER LESSON TO HIS DISCIPLES
Matthew 18:9 - Gehenna of the
fire
Mark 9:43 - Gehenna
Mark 9:44-------
Mark 9:45 - Gehenna
FOURTH OCCASION, TO THE SCRIBES AND PHARISEES
Matthew 23:15 - Son of Gehenna
Matthew 23:33 - Gehenna
AND ONE TIME BY JAMES, TO THE TWELVE TRIBES
James 3:6 - Set of fire by the Gehenna
[2] Wesley's New Testament
(1755) the original edition by Wesley, the founder of Methodist Church, not the
updated editions that were made later by others.
FIRST OCCASION, IN THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT
Matthew 5:22 - Gehenna
Matthew 5:29 - Gehenna
Matthew 5:30 - Gehenna
SECOND OCCASION, IN A LESSON TO THE TWELVE DISCIPLES
Matthew 10:28 - Gehenna
Luke 12:5 - Gehenna
THIRD OCCASION, IN ANOTHER LESSON TO HIS DISCIPLES
Matthew 18:9 - Gehenna
Mark 9:43 - Gehenna
Mark 9:44 - Gehenna
Mark 9:45 - Gehenna
FOURTH OCCASION, TO THE SCRIBES AND PHARISEES
Matthew 23:15 - Gehenna
Matthew 23:33 - Gehenna
AND ONE TIME BY JAMES, TO THE TWELVE TRIBES
James 3:6 - Gehenna
[3] Weymouth
New Testament (1903)
FIRST OCCASION, IN THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT
Matthew 5:22 - Gehenna of Fire
Matthew 5:29 - Gehenna
Matthew 5:30 - Gehenna
SECOND OCCASION, IN A LESSON TO THE TWELVE DISCIPLES
Matthew 10:28 - Gehenna
Luke 12:5 - Gehenna
THIRD OCCASION, IN ANOTHER LESSON TO HIS DISCIPLES
Matthew 18:9 - Gehenna of fire
Mark 9:43 - Gehenna
Mark 9:44-------
Mark 9:45 - Gehenna
FOURTH OCCASION, TO THE SCRIBES AND PHARISEES
Matthew 23:15 - Son of Gehenna
Matthew 23:33 - Gehenna
AND ONE TIME BY JAMES, TO THE TWELVE TRIBES
James 3:6 - Set of fire by
Gehenna
[4] The New American Bible
(1991) (Catholic)
FIRST OCCASION, IN THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT
Matthew 5:22 - Whoever says, 'You
fool,' will be liable to fiery Gehenna
Matthew 5:29 - Better to lose
part of you body than have it all cast into Gehenna
Matthew 5:30 - Better to lose
part of you body than have it all cast into Gehenna
SECOND OCCASION, IN A LESSON TO THE TWELVE DISCIPLES
Matthew 10:28 Gehenna
Luke 12:5 - Fear him who has
power to cast into Gehenna after he has killed
THIRD OCCASION, IN ANOTHER LESSON TO HIS DISCIPLES
Matthew 18:9 - Better to enter
life with one eye than be thrown with both into fiery Gehenna
Mark 9:43 - Better for you to
enter life maimed than to keep both hands and enter Gehenna with its
unquenchable fire
Mark 9:44 - Better for you to
enter life crippled than to be thrown into Gehenna with both feet
Mark 9:45 - Better for you to enter
the kingdom of God with one eye than to be thrown with both eyes into Gehenna
FOURTH OCCASION, TO THE SCRIBES AND PHARISEES
Matthew 23:15 --------
Matthew 23:33 - Gehenna
AND ONE TIME BY JAMES, TO THE TWELVE TRIBES
James 3:6 - And its fire is
kindled by hell
[5] Phillips New Testament
(1952)
FIRST OCCASION, IN THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT
Matthew 5:22 - Fire of
destruction
Matthew 5:29 - Rubbish-heap
Matthew 5:30 - Rubbish-heap
SECOND OCCASION, IN A LESSON TO THE TWELVE DISCIPLES
Matthew 10:28 - Fire of
destruction
Luke 12:5 - Throw you into
destruction
THIRD OCCASION, IN ANOTHER LESSON TO HIS DISCIPLES
Matthew 18:9 - Fire of the
rubbish-heap
Mark 9:43 - Go to the
rubbish-heap
Mark 9:44 - Thrown on to the
rubbish-heap
Mark 9:45 - Thrown on to the
rubbish-heap
FOURTH OCCASION, TO THE SCRIBES AND PHARISEES
Matthew 23:15 - Ripe for
destruction
Matthew 23:33 - Fire of
destruction
AND ONE TIME BY JAMES, TO THE TWELVE TRIBES
James 3:6 - It can set the whole
of life ablaze, fed with the fires of hell
The New Testament in Modern English" by J. B. Phillips
says, "and go to the rubbish-heap where the fire never dies" (Mark
9:43); and "thrown on the rubbish-heap, where decay never stops and the
fire never goes out" (Mark 9:49). Also Matthew 5:29, 18:9, Mark 9:47,
"Fire of destruction" in Matthew 5:22, 10:28, 32:33, Luke 12:5. He
leaves out "Gehenna," a name of a particular place; and puts what
Jerusalem's Gehenna was to the people of that time to make it where people
today will understand the same thing the Jews Christ was speaking to would
understand. Many today would not know that Gehenna was the Rubbish-heap of
Jerusalem. This is not a translation of the Greek, but it is a good commentary.
He translated "Gehenna" into Hell only one time (James 3:6). This is
the only time Hell is in his translation, and shows he believed in Hell, but
knows the Greek manuscripts did not have it.
[6] The Christian Bible
(1991
FIRST OCCASION, IN THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT
Matthew 5:22 - The Gehenna of
Fire
Matthew 5:29 - Your whole body
should be thrown into Gehenna
Matthew 5:30 - Your whole body
should pass away into Gehenna
SECOND OCCASION, IN A LESSON TO THE TWELVE DISCIPLES
Matthew 10:28 - And the body in
Gehenna
Luke 12:5 - Gehenna
THIRD OCCASION, IN ANOTHER LESSON TO HIS DISCIPLES
Matthew 18:9 - Then to have two
eyes and to be thrown into the Gehenna of fire
Mark 9:43 - Gehenna
Mark 9:44-------
Mark 9:45 - Thrown into Gehenna
FOURTH OCCASION, TO THE SCRIBES AND PHARISEES
Matthew 23:15 - A son of Gehenna
Matthew 23:33 - Gehenna
AND ONE TIME BY JAMES, TO THE TWELVE TRIBES
James 3:6 - The tongue...is set
of fire by Gehenna
[7] World English Bible
FIRST OCCASION, IN THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT
Matthew 5:22 - Shall be in danger of the fire
of Gehenna
Matthew 5:29 Than for your whole body to be cast into Gehenna
Matthew 5:30 - And not your whole body be
cast into Gehenna
SECOND OCCASION, IN A LESSON TO THE TWELVE DISCIPLES
Matthew 10:28 - Able to destroy both soul and
body in Gehenna
Luke 12:5 - Gehenna
THIRD OCCASION, IN ANOTHER LESSON TO HIS DISCIPLES
Matthew 18:9 - Than having two eyes to be
cast into the Gehenna of fire
Mark 9:43 - Gehenna
Mark 9:45 - Gehenna
Mark 9:47 - Gehenna of fire
FOURTH OCCASION, TO THE SCRIBES AND PHARISEES
Matthew 23:15 - You make him twice as much of
a son of Gehenna as yourselves
Matthew 23:33 - How will you escape the
judgment of Gehenna?
AND ONE TIME BY JAMES, TO THE TWELVE TRIBES
James 3:6 - The tongue is a fire...and is set
on fire by Gehenna
[8] There are also many other
translations that do not have "Hell" in them.
DID JESUS SAY
MORE ABOUT HELL THAN HEAVEN?
It has
been said so often by many preachers that Jesus said more about Hell than He
did about Heaven. Is this the truth or a lie that has been told so many times
by preachers that many believe without questioning it? The truth is that
without mistranslating to make Jesus say some He did not say, He or any New
Testament writers did not say one word about Hell. Although they said nothing
about Hell they did say much about Heaven.
á
A PLACE IN HEAVEN "In My Father's
house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I
go to prepare a place for you. If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come
again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be alsoÓ [John
14:12].
á
OUR TREASURES ARE IN HEAVEN Matthew 6:20;
10:21; 19:21; Luke 18:22
á
OUR CITIZENSHIP IS IN HEAVEN Philippians
3:20-21
á
RESERVED IN HEAVEN FOR US 1 Peter 1:4;
Matthew 6:20; 19:21; Mark 12:25; Luke 6:23
á
IN THE AGE TO COME ETERNAL LIFE Mark
10:30; Luke 18:30
á
WE WILL HAVE THE IMAGE OF THE HEAVERLY 1
Corinthians 15:49
á WE
WILL PUT ON IMMORTALITY 1 Corinthians 15:50-58
THE
VANISHING HELL
TRANSLATIONS ARE
GETTING AWAY FROM HELL
The King James
Version and the New King James Version ARE THE ONLY TWO OF THE MAJOR
TRANSLATIONS THAT HAVE HELL IN THE OLD TESTAMENT. ALL OTHERS HAVE ABANDONED IT
AS A BAD TRANSLATION. Hell is rapidly vanishing from the Bible. It has vanished
from the Old Testament in most "conservative" translations. Moses or
Abraham did not know about it. It has all but vanished from the New Testament
in the "conservative" translations, and has vanished altogether in
many. Even in the 31 times Hell is in the King James Version, in 12 of these,
the New King James Version changed "Hell" in the King James Version
to "Sheol" (from 31 times to 19 times). Were the translators trying
to ease away but were afraid to go to far?
THE VANISHING HELL.
WHY IS THE NUMBER OF TIMES HELL IS USED DECREASING? TRANSLATORS CANNOT AGREE ON
HOW MANY TIMES TO MISTRANSLATE IT.
Number
of times Hell is used in - - -The Bible | The O.T. | The N. T.
The Wycliffe Bible (1395) 83 times
| 57 times | 26 times
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535) 70 times
| 50 times | 23 times
The Bishop's Bible (1568) 59 times
| 35 times | 24 times
The Geneva Bible (1587) 36 times | 16 times | 20 times
The Original King James Version(1611) 52
times | 30 times | 22 times
King James Version 54 times | 31 times | 23 times
It has had
several reversions. The King James Version that is used today is not the
original 1611 version, but is the last of several revisions.
Westster Bible (1611) 49 times | 26 times | 23 times
New King James Version (1982) 32 times | 19 times | 13 times
Young's Literal Bible (1891) 0 times | 0 times | 0
times
American Standard Version (1901) 13 times | 0 times | 13 times
New American Standard Version (1960) 13 times | 0 times | 13 times
Revised Standard Version (1946) 13 times
| 0 times | 13 times
Derby Translation (1890-1961) 12 times | 0 times | 12 times
New International Version (1987) 14 times | 0 times | 14 times
Amplified Bible (1987) 15 times
| 0 times | 15 times*
New Century Version (1987) 12 times | 0 times | 12 times
New Revised Standard Version (1989) 13 times | 0 times | 13 times
Revised English Bible (1989) 28 times
| 15 times | 13 times
Contemporary English Version (1995) 20 times | 0 times | 20 times
New Living Translation (1996) 19 times | 2 times | 17 times
English Standard Version (2001) 14 times
| 0 times | 14 times
New International Version - UK 14 times | 0 times | 14 times
TodayÕs New International Version 13 times | 0 times | 13 times
Holman Christian Standard Bible(2003) 11
times | 0 times | 11 times
Update Bible Version 1 9 (2003) 12 times
| 0 times | 12 times
Peshitta - Lamsa translation 12 times | 1 time | 11 times
Rotherham Emphasized (1902) 0 times | 0 times | 0
times
Fenton's Bible in Modern English(1903) 0
times | 0 times | 0 times
New American Bible (Catholic) (1991) 0 times | 0 times | 0
times
World English Bible (Catholic) 0 times | 0
times | 0 times
Hebrew Names Version of WEB 0 times | 0 times | 0
times
Daniel Mace New Testament (1729) 3 times
Wesley' N T (The original, not some updated editions)(1755) 0 times
Scarlett's New Testament (1798) 0 times
The New Testament in Greek and English (Kneeland)
(1823) 0 times
New Covenant, New Testament (1884) 0 times
Scrivenre New Testament (1884) 0 times
Hanson's New Covenant (1884) 0 times
Twentieth Century New Testament (1900) 0 times
Rotherham's Emphasized Bible (reprinted)
(1902) 0 times
Fenton's Holy Bible in Modern English (1903) 0 times
Weymouth's New Testament in Modern
Speech (1903) 0 times
Panin's Numeric English New Testament (1914) 0 times
The People's New Covenant (Overbury) (1925) 0 times
Western New Testament (1926) 0 times
The New Testament, A Translation
(Clementson) (1938) 0 times
J B Phillips New
Testament in Modern English (1947) 1 times
New Testament of our Lord and Savior
Anointed(Tomanek)(1958) 0 times
Western New Testament (1959) 0 times
Restoration of Original Sacred Name
Bible (1976) 0 times
The New Testament, A New Translation
(Greber) (1980) 0 times
Concordance Literal New Testament (1983) 0 times
Christian Bible, New Testament (1991) 0 times
Recovery Version, New Testament (1991) 0 times
New Testament of Our Lord and Savor
Jesus Anointed 0 times
The Original Bible Project (Dr Tabor) 0 times
Interlinear Greek-English New Testament
(Note A)(Berry 1897) 0 times
Emphatic Diaglott, Greek/English
Interlinear (Wilson) (1942) 0 times
Zondervan Parallel N T in Greek and English (Note A)(1975) 0 times
NASB-NIV Parallel N T in Greek and English(Marshall)(1986) 0 times
Interlinear NASB-NIV Parallel NT
Greek-English(Note A)(1993) 0 times
Jewish Publication Society Bible Old
Testament(Note B)(1917) 0 times
Tanakh, The Holy Scriptures, Old
Testament (Note B) (1985) 0 times
The Complete Jewish Bible (Note B) 0 times
The Septuagint-translation of Hebrew to
Greek 3rd century BC 0 times
*12 times the Amplified Bible has "Hell (Gehenna)" in the
text, not in a footnote.
Note A. The word-for-word translations beneath the Greek, not the
translations in the margin.
Note B. All Jewish translations I found of the Old Testament do not have
"Hell" in them. It is not in the Septuagint, a translation of the Old
Testament from Hebrew to Greek that was in used in the time of Christ.
I find it strange that the Catholic Church believes in
Hell, but they removed Hell from two translations they made.
I have been told that there is a NWT translation by the Jehovah's
Witnesses that do not have "Hell" in it, but I could not confirm
this. I am sure there are many others that I do not know about in English, and
there are many in other languages for Gehenna, like all other proper nouns, is
seldom translated or changed to another proper noun in the translations in
other languages.
ONE EXAMPLE OF THE
VANISHING HELL Psalms 116:3.
WHEN WAS THE LAST
TIME YOU HEARD A SERMON OF HELL? There was a time when most every revival had
one or more sermons on the horrors of the Hell that most were going to. Most
every sermon ended with a warning that all that did not repent was going to
Hell. Jonathan Edwards was well known for his ÒHell-fireÓ sermons.
These
"Hellfire" preachers are not as poplar as they once were and their
audience is much smaller. Today in most
churches a sermon on Hell is never preached and no one is told he or she will
go to Hell if they do not repent. Although there are many who do not believe in
Hell and other that are no longer sure that there is a Hell why do many say
nothing about it in their sermons and Bible lessons?
á
A preacher may think
he would not be allowed to preach and most would not. Many churches would brand
him a heretic and he would not be able to preach in most churches.
á
Elders and Deacons
would not be allowed to continue as Elders and Deacons.
á
Bible teachers would
not be permitted to teach.
á
Members would not be
permitted to lead singing, lead prayer, or do anything in the worship service.
About all that anyone who does not believe in Hell is permitted to do in most churches is come and sit
and give their money; you will be shut out and not be permitted to lead prayer
or take part in the worship in any way but no matter what you believe you will
be permitted and even expected to give your money. Along with many others I can
tell you for a fact that this is sure to happen in most congregations of the
church.
THE
CHANGING HELL
Why are there
many conflicting Hells?
Some of the many
Versions of Hell
1. The Bible
version of Hell
2. The Dark Age
Catholic version of Hell
3. The new Catholic
version of Hell
4. The many divided
Protestant versions of Hell
o The Calvin
version of Hell
o The Jonathan
Edwards version of Hell
o The Graphic
version of Hell
o Satan will be
doing the tormenting version of Hell
o God will be
doing the tormenting version of Hell
o The Metaphorical
view of both Heaven and Hell
o Mental anguish
version of Hell
o Protestant
Traditionalist versions of Hell
o Protestant
Premillennial versions of Hell
o Realized Eschatology - The
A. D. 70 version of Hell
o Rephaim version
of Hell
5. Abraham's bosom
or the after judgment Hell
6. Edward Fudge
version: The short Hell
7. Christadelphians
version of Hell
8. Church of God
version of Hell (and others)
9. Universalist
version of Hell, The "age lasting" Hell
10.
Seventh Day Advent version of Hell
11.
The grave is Hell version
12.
Latter-day Saints version of Hell [Mormons]
The
Bible version of Hell: There is no Bible
version of Hell. Both the name Hell and the concept, a place where God will
forever torment most men was not known about in Old or New Testament times. It
was not known about by the Greeks or anyone back them. It was not used by
Christ or Paul, neither the place nor the name. It was not known about by
anyone unto long after the last page of the Bible.
Most of the versions
of Hell below are based on the belief that:
The
Dark Age Catholic version of Hell:
The soul being immortal came from Greek philosophy, and was brought into the
church by some of the "church fathers," by Augustine more then most
others. The doctrine of Hell came soon after the immortal soul doctrine along
with Purgatory, the sale of indulgences, Limbo, worship of Mary and saints,
Nether World, Holy Water, the rosary, forbidding Priest to marry, the crucifix,
Monks and Nuns, forbidding eating of meat on Friday, and many other teaching;
and was fully developed by the Dark Age Catholic Church before the Protestant
Reformation. I have found it difficult to pen down just what is the official
teaching. It seems to be that in the past they believed that only a very few,
the very bad, will go to Hell, which is a real place, at their death with no judgment.
A few of the very good will go to Heaven at their death with no judgment [an
instant rapture]. At death most Catholic will go to Purgatory, which seems to
be a limited version of Hell, unto they have suffered enough to pay for their
sins or unto their love ones have paid all they can, then they go to Heaven.
How long a person will be in Purgatory is sometimes taught to be a short time
and sometimes millions of years to those who have no one to win indulgences for
them. It has brought enormous wealth to the rich Catholic Church from the poor
who paid what little they had and even done without food to help a loved one.
The Catholic Purgatory gives no hope for heathens, heretics, or the unbaptized.
The
new Catholic version of Hell:
Pope John II, "Hell is not a punishment imposed externally by God, but the
condition resulting from attitudes and actions which people adopt in this
life...So eternal damnation is not God's work but is actually our own
doing...More than a physical place, hell is the state of those who freely and
definitively separate themselves from God, the source of all life and
joy." In a statement made to his general audience, July 28, 1999. There
are other high up Catholics who have made statements like this one but I see no
use in adding more when you have the top dog in the Catholic Church. Maybe this
is why two of their Bible English translations do not have the word
"Hell" in them, and who knows how many other Catholics translations
in other languages do not; however, because it has been the official doctrine
for centuries and the decrees of councils and Popes, the Roman Catholic Church
cannot officially not teach Hell is a place of eternal torment without giving
up completely her claim of infallibility. Protestantism has not made this claim
of infallibility and many are giving Hell up.
Some of the many divisions of the Protestant versions of Hell: Going to Heaven or Hell one by one at death, before and without
the judgment or the Resurrection. After much conflict among the reformers, most
Protestants accepted much of the early Catholic version but without Purgatory.
Unconditional immortality, which is the foundation on which Hell stands, was
accepted mostly due to Calvin winning out over Martin Luther. If they had
accepted Luther's views on immortality, there would be no foundation for Hell.
Many Protestants believe all who do not accept Christ will go to Hell at death
before a judgment. God deliberately chooses to make them suffer and feel the
pain without any letup forever. The saved will go to their eternal home in
Heaven at death [an instant rapture]. The Westminster Confession says,
"The souls of the righteous...are received unto the highest heavens...the
soul of the wicked are cast into Hell." Does God judge them at death, them
maybe thousands of years later, takes them out of Heaven and Hell to rejudge
them at the resurrection to see whether He made a mistake? Many believe an
unbaptized baby will not be saved. This version is still believed by many
today, even by many that say they are looking for the rapture. An opposition to
belief in Hell is rapidly growing in the Protestant churches.
Some of the major
Protestant versions of Hell: from the Protestant Reformation unto now there
have been many changes and new Protestant versions of Hell.
Abraham's
bosom or the after judgment Hell, A newer version of Hell: This version is based almost entirely on an interpretation of Luke
16:19-31 (see chapter eight, part two). It is believed by most members of the
Church of Christ, the Christian Church and some Protestants although it is not
generally accepted as being Protestant and is definitely not orthodox or traditional.
In this version all who do not obey Christ will go to Hell, but Hell will not
be unto after the coming of Christ and the judgment; and no one goes to Heaven
before the judgment [no instant rapture]. All are taken to an intermediate
holding place where the lost are tormented, and the saved are rewarded in a
place sometimes called "Abraham's bosom." Instead of Heaven and Hell,
it is the good and bad side of hades, which God will take them out of to
rejudge to see whether He made a mistake the first time and put them on the
wrong side of hades. A baby who has not come to the age of accountability is
not lost and will go to the good side of hades. After the judgment, God will
personally do the tormenting. Satan and his angels and all the lost will be
tormented together.
This view has two
places where God is going to torture the lost. One side of hades that is a
temporary place of torture and will last only unto the second coming of Christ,
and "Hell" which will be a permanent place where God will torture
most of mankind without end but no one is now in Heaven or Hell and will not be
unto after the resurrection and judgment. This is the view that I have been
taught from the time I became a Christian and believed it a long time. I have
many books and tracts in which well-known preachers and teachers, such as H.
Leo Boles, E. M. Zerr, B. W. Johnson, J. W. McGarvey, and many others who teach
this view; but lately it seems to be dying out in the church and is being
replaced by going to Heaven or Hell at death without the Resurrection or
Judgment particularly at funerals where preachers often say the dead person is
now in Heaven. Most all think of and speak of their loved ones as now being in
Heaven or with Jesus, not in Abraham's bosom unto the judgment.
Edward
Fudge version: The short Hell.
He uses the name Hell as if it was a Bible name, but thinks it will have a
limited time and will end with the total destruction of those in it. He may
have Hell, and the wrath and fury of God at the judgment confused. Roger
Dickson believes the duration of Hell will fit the crime and then will end. It
will be short for some and longer for other. He says, "After the stripes
have been given, then the destruction occurs for which there is no reverse"
Page 162ff, "Life, Death And Beyond." Is he renaming the Judgment Day
and calling it "Hell?" If I understand him right, he thinks the lost
will go to Hell, but the not so bad will not be tormented as long as the very
bad. After the "punishment matches the crime," he says they will then
be destroyed [Page 163]. (1) "Shall be beaten with many stripes"
[Luke 12:47]. This is used to prove there will be an end after the stripes.
"Beaten with few stripes" could not be as long as "beaten with
many stripes," therefore, could not take forever. Some will be tormented
longer than others, but the torment will end with death for all. (2) This short
Hell is different from the Church of God short Hell in that it may not be on
this earth, and there will be no second chance.
In the Bible God
limited "many stripes" to 40 lashes [Deuteronomy 25:3; Luke 12:47;
Acts 16:23; 2 Corinthians 11:24]. Yet, this "many stripes" is used to
prove that God will forever give stripes without end to those in Hell.
Christadelphians
version of Hell: Those who never
heard the Gospel will never be raised. Death is the end of them. Only those who
heard the Gospel will be raised at the second coming of Christ and judged to
see whether they were faithful. The faithful will have eternal life on Earth,
which will be restored to be like Eden before Adam sinned. The unfaithful of
those who heard the Gospel and were raised will be annihilated by the second
death.
Church
of God version of Hell (and others):
Both Heaven and Hell will be on this earth. After the resurrection of earthly
bodies on this restored earth, all will be given a second chance to accept
Christ. Most will, but the few who will not will suffer the second death. Their
torment will end in death from which there will never be a resurrection. The
saved will be raised and live on the earth restored to the way it was before
Adam sinned with a body like Adam before he was put out of the garden. No one
will ever be in Heaven. I how not been able to find how they think Adam's body
was different before he was put out of the garden than it was after. Many Premillennialists
who are in most Protestant churches believe this version of Hell or one that is
very similar to it.
Universalist
version of Hell, The "age lasting" Hell: Hell will last for only an age; then all will be saved.
Universalist calls it a time of "attitude adjustments," or
"age-during correction." They do not see it as God torturing people
in a literal lake or anything like that, they see it as simply as a time when
God will be correcting or teaching them further unto they are fit for His
kingdom. All will eventually end up in Heaven.
Seventh
Day Advent version of Hell: They believe that
at the second coming of Christ the unrighteous will be kill, the righteous will
be taken back to Heaven for a 1,000 years. During the 1,000 years only Satan
and his angels will inhabit the earth. At the end of the 1,000 years Christ
will return to earth with the saved and the unrighteous will be raised for
judgment. Satan gathers his angels and will the help of the resurrected
unrighteous attempt to interfere with the judgment, they will be destroyed. The
judgment and destruction of the lost will take place on this earth. Their Hell
will be on this earth and will last only unto those in it are burned too ashes,
the second death. The saved will live forever with earthly bodies on a restored
earth on which there will be no evil. No one will ever be in Heaven. Just as
with the Christ of God version of Hell many Premillennialists who are in most
Protestant churches believe this version of Hell or one that is very similar to
it. The number of those who are called Protestant but do not believe any of the
orthodox Protestant versions of Hell is growing.
The
grave is Hell version: The grave is Hell
and all go to it at death. There is no knowledge or torment in this Hell, just
sleep or death. Some from many different groups believe this version of Hell.
They get support mostly from the older translations like the King James
Version, and most who believe it think the newer translations that translate
only Gehenna into Hell are wrong. They believe Gehenna is a trash dump, not
Hell. This Hell is going on now with all the dead in it, both the good and the
bad are asleep in it and it will wake up at the Resurrection. All are
unconscious and there is no torment of the wicked or reward of the righteous in
"Hell" where all the dead, both the good and the bad now are. In this
version, Hell will end at the resurrection and there will be no Hell after the resurrection
and judgment.
The Jehovah's Witnesses believe this
version. They "believe that
Hell is the 'common grave of mankind' where people go when they die. They are
not conscious there." A. B. Robinson, September 1996 [A Jehovah's
Witnesses]. "We do not have the word 'hell' in the NWT. We translate
gehenna as gehenna, hades as hades and sheol as sheol. By doing this we can get
the true import of these words. Gehenna is a garbage dump and sheol and hades
often refer to the grave. We believe everyone who dies goes to 'hell' or sheol
[hades]. The dead are unconscious, asleep if you will [Ecc 9:5,19 and 1 Thes
4:13-16] and will remain such until they are resurrected. We also believe that
'hell' will be emptied, as is clearly stated in Rev 20:13. The persons who were
in hell, both the righteous and the unrighteous [Acts 24:15] will be
resurrected and judged. Those who are deserving of it will then be thrown into
the lake of fire, the second death [Rev 20:14,15]." Brian Holt in an
E-mail to me. He says "JW's do not have the word "hell" in the
NWT," then says everyone who dies goes to Hell. In today's English Hell
has come to mean a place of eternal torment after death, and to translate hades
into Hell is an untrue translation. The grave is Hell was not the intentions of
the translators who first put the word "Hell" into the Bible, then he
says it is not the way it would have been understood by English speaking people
then or today.
I
have been told that what I believe "is what Jehovah's Witnesses have been
teaching for years." One person said to me, "You believe the same
thing Jehovah's Witnesses believe. Why don't you join them and leave us
alone?" ONE WRITER SAID, "A NEW STANDARD OF TRUTH HAS BEEN FOUND. IF
THE OCCULTS OR LIBERALS BELIEVE IT, THEN IT IS WRONG." The problem with
this is that most all denominations, whether they are occults, liberals, or
whatever, teach many things that the Bible teaches and many that the Bible does
not teach. Nothing is right or wrong because a denomination teaches it, not
even right or wrong if the Jehovah's Witnesses denomination teaches it. It is
right if the Bible teaches it or wrong if the Bible does not teach it.
Catholic, Baptist, Jehovah's Witnesses, Church of God, and all others each
teach many things that the Bible teaches and each one teaches many things that
it does not teach. Anything is right if the Bible teaches it even if the
Jehovah's Witnesses teach it and wrong if the Bible does not teach it. JEHOVAHÕS
WITNESSES TEACH ADULTERY IS A SIN; IS IT WRONG TO TEACH THAT ADULTERY IS A SIN
BECOUSE JEHOVAHÕS WITNESSES TEACH IT TO BE? To say, "That is what the
Jehovah's Witnesses teach," is said for the same reason the Baptist says,
"That is water salvation" or "That is Campbellism." THEIR
REAL PROBLEM IS NOT THAT ONE OF THE OCCULTS TEACH IT, BUT THAT THEY HAVE NO
OTHER ANSWER AND KNOW THAT THEY CAN TURN MANY OFF JUST BY SAYING "THAT IS
WHAT JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES TEACH" JUST AS THE BAPTIST DID WITH "THAT IS
WATER SALVATION."
Why?
What is the real reason they say that is Jehovah's Witnesses teaching? I think
one reason is that they just do not want to deal with it. Do not want to take
the time. Another reason is the same reason the Baptist call us
"Campbellism" and say, "You believe in water salvation." They
could not show that a person can be saved without baptism, therefore, they
would say, "You believe in water salvation" for they know this would
make others prejudice and not believe the Bible. Now the same thing is being
done to anyone who does not believe in Hell by saying, "You are nothing
but a Jehovah's Witnesses." EVEN THOUGH WHAT I BELIEVE IS FAR FROM WHAT
THE JEHOVAH'S TEACH, SOME SAY TO ME, "YOU BELIEVE WHAT THE JEHOVAH'S
WITNESSES BELIEVE." They believe there is a Hall, but it is going on now,
and I do not believe the Bible says anything about any kind of Hell; not one
that is going on now or will be at any time after death. The truth is that if
Jehovah's Witnesses did believe as I do (they do not, but even if they did) as
long as the Bible teaches it, I would not care if it were what they believed,
but would say that it is great that they believe the Bible on that point, and
would wish that they believed the Bible on all points. If you made two lists,
one a list of things any denomination believes that is not in the Bible, and a
list of things it believes that is in the Bible, both lists would be long. The
persons who say "That is Jehovah's Witnesses teaching" believes many
of the same things that would be on the list of things the Jehovah's Witnesses
believes. But, I must say that what I believe the Bible teaches is far from
what the Jehovah's Witnesses teach. THEY BELIEVE IN A HELL THAT IS GOING ON
NOW, AND I DO NOT BELIEVE THE BIBLE SAYS ANYTHING ABOUT A HELL AT ANY TIME, NOT
NOW, NOT AFTER DEATH, AND NOT AFTER THE JUDGMENT.
Some
of the many things Jehovah's Witnesses teach that I do not believe.
1. Jesus was not
the Son of God
2. The Millennium
3. Only 144,000
will go to Heaven
4. All the rest of
the saved will live forever on this earth for all eternality
5. They don't believe
in blood transfusions
6. Hell is the
grave and all the dead are now in Hell. Unfortunately, it is not true that they
do not believe in Hell but believe Hell is now going on. The more there are
that do not believe that God slandering teaching the better, but, they do
believe in Hell, just not one of the many orthodox Protestant versions of Hell
although many Premillennialists who are called orthodox Protestants believe as
they do, that Hell is the grave. Unto the resurrection death is death, not any
kind of life anyplace.
7. And many others.
IF "THAT IS WHAT JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES BELIEVES" MAKES
ANYTHING WRONG, IT IS SUCH A BROAD ARGUMENT THAT THERE IS NOTHING IN THE BIBLE
THAT IS NOT DESTROYED BY IT FOR THERE IS NO BIBLE TEACHING THAT IS NOT BELIEVED
BY MANY FLASE RELIGIONS.