Jesus Is Why

WHY LIE ABOUT HELL?
40 Good Reasons to Tell the Truth
by Elbert Hardy

PROLOGUE

‘Hell’ is defined as the ever-burning lake of fire where the damned go to consciously be tortured in the flames for all time to come. Thus, God, since he is in control of all things in the universe, is made out to be a cruel, vindictive ogre who sets up his own children for a fall, then lets them fall and then tortures them endlessly without relief.
How would you like to know and know that you know that you will never go to Hell? How freeing would it be for you to realize that you and your children will never be there because there is no such place? That is the specific purpose of truth: to set us FREE. Free from fear. Free from guilt. Free forever. Everyone should want and know this freedom and eventually everyone will have this freedom, thank God!

How liberated would you feel if you knew for sure that your deceased parents or loved ones are not there and never will be? If you are like me, it would be very freeing to realize that you do not need a ‘Get-Out-of-Hell-Free-Card’ because the whole thing was imaginary all along the course of my life and it always has been. It’s mere Hollywood. It’s fake. It doesn’t exist; it never has and it never will. This book will reveal why…

Now of course, some will vehemently disagree with me. You may be one of them. I have interviewed several main-stream pastors who still cling tightly to the old party line that we are all sinners in the hands of an angry God and if we don’t repent before we die, we are doomed to eternal conscious torment in the excruciating flames of Hell. There the wicked will feel pain, according to some preachers, ‘one hundred times greater than we can feel on Earth’. In person, I heard Dr. Erwin Lutzer of Moody Church in Chicago teach this from the pulpit.

I told one of these pastors that he MUST disagree with me and that he could not teach otherwise because if he did, his income would go away. His Elder Board would quickly oust him for his crime and where would he go to work come Monday morning? He responded predictably. He said, ‘No. It is because of Orthodoxy.’ ‘Oh, you mean tradition…’ I quipped. And on and on we went. The point is he can never go against those above him… those who control the purse strings control the doctrines taught in the church. His paycheck determines what is preached. How pathetic! This ought not be.

Another Pastor, when I confronted him to look into this foul dogma said he did not have any time to do any further study on the subject of Hell. How lame is that? Only those brave enough to cast away the restraining power of the ball and chain of Hell will ever be free from it. And oh, what a relief it is! That is why I had to write this for you. I want you to be free of this Hell once and for all.

Hell is perpetrated by conniving or else seriously mis-informed preachers. The conniving ones perpetuate it for two reasons: 1) to scare the faithful into their pews and 2) to scare them so badly they give up their hard-earned money while the preachers laugh all the way to the bank!

This is fraudulent and wrong. Let’s be honest for a change. How about you? Have you really researched and gotten to the bottom of the Hell dogma and its history to find the truth about it for yourself? As I will show, Hell is a blasphemous lie, a swindle, a hood-wink and a hoax even bigger than Evolution, and we need to eradicate the idea from our thinking, our churches and our literature.

This foul doctrine is one of the main reasons there are atheists. They cannot connect a loving and merciful God with the doctrine of eternal conscious torment in the flames of Hell fire. Hell is a concept that would be completely foreign to the Apostles and the early church, yet we must cherish the doctrine because we still put up with it and even defend it to this day. Why? Is it a great story we all love to hear or something? No.

As we will see, Hell is the greatest affront to God and Christianity ever devised… no wonder there are Atheists. Hell is precisely why Darwin developed his Macro Evolution Theory! It is that insidious and detrimental to society and our mental health. It should be a shame and disgrace like unto the teaching of Evolution.

Yet, when I confront those who teach this dogma about this, they say ‘God didn’t do it; they chose this for themselves.’ (Like anyone would really do that). But in reality, God would have had to make Hell and sustain it, and therefore would be responsible. How much hatred would God have to have for his creation to do such a thing as this? Is Hell a Christian doctrine? I dare say, no.

But consider these 40 reasons why this whole doctrine won’t stand up in ‘Bible Court’:

Reason #1 The cross disproves Hell because Jesus did not go there.

Reason #2 No scripture relegates God as a torturer.

Reason #3 There is no such thing as 'separation from God'

Reason #4 The wicked will be 'ground into powder'.

Reason #5 God himself declared: ‘The wicked 'shall sleep a perpetual sleep and NOT AWAKE.’

Reason #6 God can and will KILL and devour the wicked permanently.

Reason #7 God will turn the wicked into ashes.

Reason #8 The soul that sins shall DIE!

Reason #9 What good would be done for God if he tortured someone in Hell for all time to come?

Reason #10 God said his universe was 'very good', so is Hell a good thing created by God?

Reason #11 The Hell dogma was fabricated!

Reason #12 Satan will die, so who would stoke the flames?

Reason #13 The Parable of Lazarus and the Rich Man does NOT support the Hell doctrine.

Reason #14 When we add up all Biblical texts about Hell, fire or judgment, annihilation seems real rather than conscious eternal torment in Hell.

Reason #15 The wicked will be stubble and burnt up.

Reason #16 'Shame and everlasting contempt' can mean ridicule of the wicked.

Reason #17 'Where their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched.'

Reason #18 Hell itself shall be cast into the Lake of Fire (Rev 20:14).

Reason #19 The word translated 'Hell' comes from 4 different words.

Reason #20 When a wicked person dies in the flames of Gehenna fire, it will be as though he had never been.

Reason #21 God said rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, an abomination and an affront to God himself, so why would he tolerate it for all time to come?

Reason #22 The wicked die twice and from the second death there is no further resurrection.

Reason #23 If we must put on immortality to live for all time to come, then we will have SPIRIT BODIES which cannot feel pain so it they have to live in Hell, they thus would not feel it!

Reason #24 God hated the idol worship, particularly and especially the detestable god Molech, because worshipers sacrificed their babies to it by setting a bon fire in the metal gods' belly and then burnt them to death there in sacrifice, so how could he burn people for all time to come?

Reason #25 Common sense makes eternal conscious torture blasphemous!

Reason #26 If conscious torture in the flames of Hell is real then God lied!

Reason #27 Hell is what PEOPLE want; it is not what GOD wants!

Reason #28 If the Hell doctrine shuts down a person's honesty, can it be legitimate?

Reason #29 Even IF it were proved that Hell is a hoax and a great scam, people will still believe it because it is their TRADITION and tradition is more important to them than truth!

Reason #30 The Hell Scam turns otherwise good and noble pastors into Snake Oil salesmen... SHYSTERS!

Reason #31 Endless conscious torment would NOT bring God honor and glory.

Reason #32 Preachers say all sinners who die before repentance and faith in Jesus will go to Hell to consciously burn for all time to come, but it’s not biblical.

Reason #33 Jesus now has first-hand experience in being human, feeling what it's like to be tortured in his own flesh, so why would he want to torture others in the flames of Hell for all time to come?

Reason #34 If you buy into the ‘Hell Scam’, Satan has you right where he wants you: deceived by a doctrine of devils.

Reason #35 Other religions, Islam for example, have Hell as this ever-burning place of endless conscious torture, so how can it be Christian?

Reason #36 Jesus said ‘IF you continue in my word, then you are my disciples in deed. And you shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free.’ (John 8:31-32)

Reason #37 Jesus also said that there is a place where the cursed, the Devil and his angels would be ‘cast ‘into everlasting fire…’ What did he mean?

Reason #38 According to the Apostle John in John 3:36 ‘He that believes the Son has everlasting life: and he that believes not the Son shall not see life but the wrath of God abides on him.’

Reason #39 If wicked people really suffer forever in Hell, where is the victory over sin?

Reason #40 If Hell is real, there would be no reconciliation to our sin, thus nullifying the work Jesus accomplished on the cross!

Reason #1 The cross disproves Hell because Jesus did not go there.

The cross disproves Hell as an ever-burning place of constant torment because Jesus didn't pay that penalty even though every sin ever committed was laid on him. So how could it be just for God to punish me for all eternity in Hell for my mere 70 years of sinning while Jesus with all that sin dumped on him got 24 hours of suffering then death as the adequate punishment for ALL SINS? It doesn’t wash.

As it is written in Philippians 2:8 ‘And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. 9 Wherefore God also has highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: 10 That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; 11 And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.’

And Hebrews 12: 2 ‘Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest you be wearied and faint in your minds.’

With Isaiah 53:4 Surely he has borne our grief, and carried our sorrows: yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. 5 But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.

6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned everyone to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all. 7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he opened not his mouth. 8 He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? For he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken.’

Also 2 Corinthians 5:21 ‘For he has made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.'

Jesus became SIN for us and paid the DEATH penalty in our place. He did not pay the penalty of eternal conscious torture in the flames of Hell fire.

As it is written in Romans 6:23 ‘The wages of sin is DEATH, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.’ So, if God the Father, the Supreme Being of the Universe, required eternal conscious torture as a fitting punishment for only one man’s sins (let’s say my own), one might wisely surmise that the punishment would be greater for billions of lives worth of sin.

How much more intense should be fitting as the punishment of the combined total of ALL SIN perpetrated by every man and woman who ever lived? That would be justice, right and fair, but this is not what we see in scripture.

Jesus’ punishment that he took for all sin was enough. God the Father deemed it adequate. It was 24 hours of no sleep, forced captivity, undeserved beatings, mocking, a crown of thorns hammered into his head with a rod, scourging until his bones shown through the skin and finally being nailed through the wrists and feet to the cross, and hung up high bleeding profusely, naked and shivering in the windy cold elements and then jabbed through the heart resulting in his death on the cross.

This was the awful, gruesome, cruel and unusual punishment which he endured for us, but it was not eternal life in the flames of Hell. Why then, would it be right and fair to burn me for my sins for all time to come?

Some have actually said from the pulpit 'Jesus went to hell to taste what it would be like for us.' Where's that in scripture? (No where.) Study the Greek.)

So, either you can have Hell as a place of eternal conscious torture and NO SAVIOR because he paid the wrong penalty, OR you have no Hell as a place of eternal conscious torture and a SAVIOR who DID PAY the right penalty of death.

But you cannot have both. Let’s trust the Bible as our only authority, not men, and be thankful we have a Savior and no eternal conscious place of torture to dread.

Thus Hell, as a place to live in eternal conscious torture, is a man-made hoax, a myth, a grievous and blasphemous affront to God and a mere gimmick that should be abandoned as such. The only question that remains is: Who will you believe?

Reason #2 No scripture relegates God as a torturer.

No scripture relegates God as a torturer, let alone for all eternity!
The word 'torture' is not in the Bible and it is not in God's nature for God is LOVE.

How much HATRED would he have to be able torture a person for even one day, let alone for all time to come?

As 1 John 4:7-8 says: 7 'Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loves is born of God, and knows God. 8 He that loves not knows not God; for God is love. 9 In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him.

10 Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another.'

If God then, being full of love, showed how great his love for us is by sending his Son to take the death penalty in our place, how could he then contradict himself by torturing his wayward children in the flames of Hell for all time to come?

It’s just not so, according to his own words about his own nature, will and purpose. Believe him. He knows what he is talking about.

Ironically, it is the young people today who are the ones insisting on the truth. They are too smart to fall for the standard old-school party line of Hell that worked for our forefathers through fear of it. It will not work any longer for today’s youth. That is largely why once they leave High School and get out on their own, they leave the church behind. Get back to the truth or lose the youth.

They actually know their Bibles better than their parents, in many cases. They read, watch YouTube videos or get their information on the internet. They can learn much more and much faster than their parents did.

The resources and the availability of many different ways of getting information such as IPods, Cell Phones and computers enable this learning at a record pace.

What is more is that what they find does not line up with the doctrine foisted off on them by the church, so they leave and usually never return. How sad. They just do not want to be lied to. They want the truth and nothing but the truth. They learn that the apostle Paul never mentioned Hell, even though he wrote 12 of its books.

They learn the Hell idea is nowhere to be found in the entire ‘Old Testament’. They find that the writer of Hebrews, the books of James and John, and Peter do not mention it either.

Then they learn the words of Jesus himself do not really say what their parents or their preachers have explained to them or taught them their entire lives. They then start thinking they cannot find truth in their parents, the Bible or the Church. How sad is that?

They want the truth. They are smart. They will question their parents and really any authority figure. They cannot just accept it as gospel. So let us study this doctrine very carefully and not be too quick to accept anything. This is what really matters. It is a matter of life or death.

Reason #3 There is no such thing as 'separation from God'

There is no such thing as 'separation from God'. There is no such place we could go where God does not exist. Therefore, he would have to endure Hell too for all eternity along with his wayward children! Why would God put up with that? The good news is HE WON’T.

Notice with me Psalms 139:7-12: 7 ‘Where shall I go from your spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence? 8 If I ascend up into heaven, you are there: if I make my bed in Hell (Sheol... the grave), behold, you are there.

9 If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; 10 even there shall your hand lead me, and your right hand shall hold me. 11 If I say, ‘Surely the darkness shall cover me’; even the night shall be light about me.

12 Yes, the darkness hides not from you; but the night shines as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to you.’

So, we can stop using this lame idea that there is such a thing as separation from God. We may choose to separate ourselves from contact with God, but he will never separate from us and even then, there is no true separation unless we are dead, that is permanently dead.

This means we’d be unconscious for all time to come. Hell is a hole in the ground where people get buried. God is not the God of the dead, but of the living. Sheol (Hebrew) and Hades mean ‘the grave’ and have nothing to do with fire. These words do not indicate a place of torment or torture, but merely a grave.

The only thing that would separate us from God, then, is death. The ‘soul’ that sins will die according to Ezekiel 18:4 & 20. (4 ‘Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sins, it shall die.’

And verse 20: ‘The soul that sins, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him.)

Souls are persons, not an immortal component residing inside that would live on consciously for all time to come, as we will explore later. We must be careful not to add or subtract from God’s inspired word.

Reason #4 The wicked will be 'ground into powder'.

Luke 20:17-18 17 And he beheld them, and said, “What is this then that is written, ‘The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner?’ 18 Whosoever shall fall upon that stone shall be broken; but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder.'

Jesus IS that Rock. He’s the One the builders rejected. He’s the One who will become the Head of the Corner or the Chief Cornerstone.

The Father God has committed all judgment to HIM. That is the responsibility of Jesus now, because he lived the human life and now knows what it is like to be human and made of flesh and bone. Pain is now in his memory, not just in his imagination.

Everyone who falls to him or on him shall be broken like a wild stallion is broken, tamed and thus becomes useful and helpful. Unless he is broken, he’s no earthly good to anyone. He’s just roaming around wild and unable to improve himself or his lot in life.

Jesus will be King of kings and Lord of lords, but he is also the Judge of all the Earth. If I reject him and refuse to the bitter end to have him reign over me, he would do what any good Judge does. Judge righteous judgment, not seeking his own will, but that of the Father which sent him into the world.

If I reject God and the life he has in store for me, I would then be rejected by him and be condemned to die the Second Death. This is permanent death, not eternal life in conscious torture in the flames of Hell fire.

This Judgment would be swift, just and merciful. I would quickly die in the ‘Lake of Fire’ and thus remain dead and unconscious for all time to come. I would be gone and forgotten, surpassed by the passage of time, and fade away into the forgotten past, oblivious to anything said or done in the lives of the living.

Who wants that? Not me!
I would be ‘ground to powder’, turned into ashes under the soles of the righteous for all time to come.

God in his mercy will not torture the unrighteous in an ever-burning Lake of Fire. Once all the condemned are burnt up, the fire will itself die out, as would their memory. Only their reputation would live on in ignominy.

Reason #5 God himself declared: ‘The wicked 'shall sleep a perpetual sleep and NOT AWAKE.’

God himself declared: ‘The wicked 'shall sleep a perpetual sleep and NOT AWAKE'. In Jeremiah 51:36-9, 55-58 the LORD says: 36 ‘Therefore thus says the LORD; Behold, I will plead your cause, and take vengeance for you (Zion); and I will dry up her sea (Babylon’s sea), and make her springs dry.

37 And Babylon shall become heaps, a dwelling place for dragons, an astonishment, and an hissing, without an inhabitant. 38 They shall roar together like lions: they shall yell as lions' whelps. 39 In their heat I will make their feasts, and I will make them drunken, that they may rejoice, and sleep a perpetual sleep, and not wake, says the LORD.

55 Because the LORD hath spoiled Babylon, and destroyed out of her the great voice; when her waves do roar like great waters, a noise of their voice is uttered: 56 Because the spoiler is come upon her, even upon Babylon, and her mighty men are taken, every one of their bows is broken: for the LORD God of recompenses shall surely requite.

57 And I will make drunk her princes, and her wise men, her captains, and her rulers, and her mighty men: and they shall sleep a perpetual sleep, and not wake, says the King, whose name is the LORD of hosts. 58 Thus says the LORD of hosts; the broad walls of Babylon shall be utterly broken, and her high gates shall be burned with fire; and the people shall labor in vain, and the folk in the fire, and they shall be weary.'

No one can be asleep and awake at the same time. Therefore, they cannot be awake, suffering conscious torture in the flames of Hell fire, and be asleep in the second death at the same time.

And since God, who cannot lie, said he would make this ‘sleep’ of death perpetual, they will remain unconscious for all time to come. He put his identifying name on this! He is the One who said it and then confirmed it with his own signature name! Yet we still refuse to believe him. Pity.

It’s permanent annihilation or permanent death and thus Hell is not a permanent place of conscious torture and torment, contrary to popular belief. Again, it all boils down to who are you and I going to believe? Is orthodoxy more important than truth?

I happened to be talking to a pastor about the idea of him giving up on the blasphemous Hell doctrine. Of course he disagreed with me, saying he would not give it up. I told him ‘Of course you won’t. You can’t because your income is directly tied to it.’ (Them’s fightin’ words!)

He said ‘No. It’s not about the money. It’s about orthodoxy.’ I think what he means by ‘orthodoxy’ and what I mean by it are two different things. He may think it means ‘doctrinal accuracy’ while I think it means ‘traditional accepted practice or belief’.

Tradition is not truth. I want truth and I despise tradition as did Jesus.

Notice Matthew 15: 1 ‘Then came to Jesus scribes and Pharisees, which were of Jerusalem, saying, 2 Why do your disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? For they wash not their hands when they eat bread.

3 But he answered and said unto them, ‘Why do you also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition? 4 For God commanded, saying, Honor your father and mother: and, He that curses father or mother, let him die the death.

5 But you say, Whosoever shall say to his father or his mother, It is a gift, by whatsoever you might be profited by me; 6 And honor not his father or his mother, he shall be free. Thus have you made the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition.

7 You hypocrites, well did Isaiah prophesy of you, saying, 8 This people draws nigh unto me with their mouth, and honors me with their lips; but their heart is far from me. 9 But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.’

Clearly Jesus hated tradition but loved truth. So should we.

Reason #6 God can and will KILL and devour the wicked permanently.

God can and will KILL and devour the wicked permanently. Notice Matthew 10:27-28 quotes Jesus saying: 27 ‘What I tell you in darkness, that speak in light: and what you hear in the ear, that preach upon the housetops.

28 And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in Hell.’

The Greek word Geenna or Gehenna is here translated ‘Hell’, but this reference is used for the city dump of Jerusalem. It is not a place of conscious endless torment in fire.

The Greek word ‘apokteino’ is used here to mean ‘to kill in any way whatever’ or ‘to allow to perish’ and is here translated ‘kill’. It does not mean ‘to keep alive in torment’.

Hebrews 10:25-27 states: 25 ‘Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as you see the day approaching. 26 For if we sin willfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remains no more sacrifice for sins,

27 But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shalldevour the adversaries.’

This fire will burn them up, body and soul. Souls are persons, living beings with personalities, minds attitudes, emotions, etc. but when God destroys someone, that’s the end of them for all time. They will be and remain unconscious for ever.

Notice Job 21:27-34 27 ‘Behold, I know your thoughts, and the devices which you wrongfully imagine against me. 28 For you say, “Where is the house of the prince? And where are the dwelling places of the wicked?

29 Have you not asked them that go by the way?” And do you not know their tokens, 30 That the wicked is reserved to the day of destruction? They shall be brought forth to the day of wrath.

31 Who shall declare his way to his face? And who shall repay him what he has done? 32 Yet shall he be brought to the grave, and shall remain in the tomb.

33 The clods of the valley shall be sweet unto him, and every man shall draw after him, as there are innumerable before him. 34 How then comfort you me in vain, seeing in your answers there remains falsehood.'

After every attempt to save a person is exhausted, God will destroy the wicked and they will stay dead for all time to come. Let us not allow ourselves to place limits on the Unlimited God of the Universe, saying God cannot kill.

He’s the Owner of all of the Universe. He can do whatever he wants. Let's accept him.

Reason #7 God will turn the wicked into ashes.

God will turn the wicked into ashes like he did to Sodom and Gomorrah. Notice
2 Peter 2:6 'And turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes condemned them with an overthrow, making them an ensample unto those that after should live ungodly;'

Thus those people whom God kills will STAY DEAD! Somehow we Christians got the idea that God can only make alive but cannot kill and Satan can kill but not make alive.

Both concepts are false. God remains supreme and Satan is only a fallen angel, albeit powerful for now, who rebelled to become an enemy to God.

But Satan still must obey God and can only do what he allows. When God’s time is right for him to die, Satan himself will be no more, according to Ezekiel 28:11-19.

Once God kills someone in the ‘second death’, he will never bring them back to consciousness.

Instead, even their memory shall perish as Isaiah 26:12-14 indicates: ‘12 LORD, you will ordain peace for us: for you also have wrought all our works in us. 13 O LORD our God, other lords beside you have had dominion over us: but by you only will we make mention of your name.

14 They are dead, they shall not live; they are deceased, they shall not rise: therefore have you visited and destroyed them, and made all their memory to perish.'

Was God just kidding?

When God kills, they stay dead. If he chooses never to resurrect them, that’s all the life they will ever see. He it is who holds your life and mine in his hands.

He is under no obligation to keep us alive. He owns the universe and everything in it. He alone has the right to do what he wants with his own.

He knows how to kill and he is powerful enough to make it stick. We should maintain a healthy reverence for him.

Those who claim that 'there’s no such thing as annihilation' (like Jerry Falwell said) need to do more study of God’s word and believe what HE says, rather than the traditions and teachings of men.

Reason #8 The soul that sins shall DIE!

Souls DIE? After going to church most of my life, I concluded that the common ‘belief’ is that the soul can’t be killed because it is immortal.

As mentioned above, Jerry Falwell used to teach that ‘there is no such thing as annihilation.’ But, unfortunately for proponents of this idea, the Bible says no such thing.

Instead, Ezekiel 18:4 says: ‘4 Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sins, it shall die.'

Again in verse 20: 20 'The soul that sins, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness;'

And then in James 5:20 we read: 20 ‘Let him know, that he which converts the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins.’

Yes, souls DIE and they will stay dead for all time to come.

The word translated as ‘soul’ just means a being or person or life or living being. I did not write these words; God did. Him I can trust to tell the truth.

I cannot trust men. What about you? May I urge you to trust no man, but God only? There is no such thing as an ‘immortal soul’, except for God, for he only has immortality.

The Apostle Paul said this to Timothy in 1 Timothy 6:13-16: ‘13 I give you charge in the sight of God, who quickens all things, and before Christ Jesus, who before Pontius Pilate witnessed a good confession; 14 That you keep this commandment without spot, un-rebukable, until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ:

15 Which in his times he shall show, who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords; 16 Who only has immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man has seen, nor can see: to whom be honor and power everlasting. Amen.'

Jesus is the ONLY human who was ever raised from the dead to immortality.
The righteous dead stay that way until they are raised from the dead and that is in God’s timing.

They are not in heaven now. (Read my book 'WHY NO ONE 'GOES TO HEAVEN'.)

Reason #9 What good would be done for God if he tortured someone in Hell for all time to come?

What good would be done for God if he tortured someone in Hell for all time to come? What benefit would he derive?

Would he get pleasure out of hearing them shriek in agony for all time to come? Could God shut them out of his knowledge?

Could he really block out their sounds and separate them away from his presence?
What lesson would be learned by the one in Hell?

Imagine he is there not for one lifetime or a hundred lifetimes but for ALL time to come. Do you think by then he would have gotten the message?

Is God really that cruel and vindictive? What kind of a God do we serve? Is he hell-bent on torturing us forever with no real gain to anyone?

What’s the point in doing that?

Hell, as a place of eternal conscious torment, serves NO PURPOSE! He has NO PLEASURE in the death of the wicked.

As it is written in Ezekiel 33:11-12 ‘Say unto them, As I live, says the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn, turn from your evil ways; for why will you die, O house of Israel?

12 Therefore, you son of man, say unto the children of your people, The righteousness of the righteous shall not deliver him in the day of his transgression: as for the wickedness of the wicked, he shall not fall thereby in the day that he turns from his wickedness; neither shall the righteous be able to live for his righteousness in the day that he sins.'

God wants all men everywhere to repent and turn to him so they can be reconciled together again. No good would come of God, to God or for God by torturing someone for all time to come.

So why would God do this? Why would God want this? Maybe a better question is: ‘Why would God tolerate this?’

He doesn’t even want their deaths, let alone their eternal conscious torment. Let us not read into scripture the notions of prejudiced and jaundiced humans which God never authorized nor ordained to say such things that he never said.

Reason #10 God said his universe was 'very good', so is Hell a good thing created by God?

God said his universe was 'very good', so is Hell a good thing created by God? Not! No Hell, as defined above is the ugliest thing people can imagine.

May I suggest you go to YouTube and do a search ‘Hell is real’? Watch a few of the hideous videos on the subject and you may soon realize just how ugly man’s imagination can get.

In one video, I watched a naked man was falling down a hole of fire. The walls of this fire hole where of fire.

His hair was on fire, as was his entire body, inside and out. He was screaming and writhing in pain as he was falling, endlessly tormented.

If this wasn’t so ugly, it would be laughable. And God created this for his wayward children? No escape. No end. Pathetic!

I heard Dr. Erwin Lutzer, as Head of the Moody Institute say that the wicked in Hell would ‘feel pain 100 times more intensely than they did on Earth!’

I went to see him in Tampa, Florida, while he was there at a conference I attended, but I was not impressed with that statement.

My first thought was: ‘Where THAT in the Bible?’ This is just another example of men shoving their ideas down the throats of hapless ones who just accept things at face value and refuse to do their own thinking.

How could anyone call torture ‘very good’? If we are appalled when a human criminal tortures someone, why is it that we are OK with the idea that our God and Father would do this?

His punishments are temporary and for our good, to bring us back to a loving relationship, not to give God some kind of fiendish pleasure in making it last for all time to come. How could anyone relegate such behavior to the Great and Awesome God of the Universe?

This is the height of Blasphemy!

Here’s a section of scripture that seems especially fitting here: Ezekiel 34:1-3 ‘And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, 2 Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy, and say unto them,

'Thus says the Lord GOD unto the shepherds; Woe be to the shepherds of Israel that do feed themselves! should not the shepherds feed the flocks? 3 Ye eat the fat, and you clothe you with the wool, you kill them that are fed: but you feed not the flock.'

Is that not what our 'Christian' pastors are doing with this offensive dogma of Hell?

REASON #11

The Hell dogma was fabricated to scare parishioners into the pews and out of their money while church leaders laugh all the way to the bank!

Jesus said in Matthew 10:28 ‘And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in Hell.’

The soul is the life or the person. It is NOT immortal and it CAN be killed dead, contrary to popular belief.

Again it boils down to ‘Who will you believe… God or man?’

The Catholic or Universal Church needed an army to go kill all its opponents, especially Muslims. In order to control this army, they threatened them with this idea of burning in Hell for all time to come.

They manipulated the scriptures to fit their doctrines. They tortured killed people in order to keep the scripture OUT of the hands of the common man, according to Foxe’s Book of Martyrs.

They did not get this doctrine from the original texts. It is not Biblical. They also gave the Pope authority to usurp the pure authority of scared scripture and thus to create their own ‘Bible’ in their own likeness.

My challenge to you, dear reader, is to prove me wrong. Purify your thinking and your doctrine to be only what you find written.

Anything else is not to be called scripture, lest you’d be ‘teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.’

Notice: Matthew 15:1-11: ‘Then came to Jesus scribes and Pharisees, which were of Jerusalem, saying, 2 Why do your disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? For they wash not their hands when they eat bread.

3 But he answered and said unto them, ‘Why do you also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition?

4 For God commanded, saying, ‘Honor your father and mother: and, He that curses father or mother, let him die the death.

5 But you say, ‘Whosoever shall say to his father or his mother, It is a gift, by whatsoever you might be profited by me; 6 And honor not his father or his mother, he shall be free.’ Thus have you made the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition.

7 You hypocrites, well did Isaiah prophesy of you, saying, 8 ‘This people draws nigh unto me with their mouth, and honors me with their lips; but their heart is far from me.

9 But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. 10 And he called the multitude, and said unto them, ‘Hear, and understand: 11 Not that which goes into the mouth defiles a man; but that which comes out of the mouth, this defiles a man.’

REASON #12

Satan will die so, who would stoke the flames? Satan will not live in Hell and neither will anyone else.

Physical beings would be consumed by the fire. Spirit beings would not be affected by it because they cannot die in that form and they feel no pain.

Take a look with me at Ezekiel 28:11-19: ‘11 Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, 12 Son of man, take up a lamentation upon the king of Tyrus, and say unto him, Thus says the Lord GOD; "You seal up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty.

13 You have been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was your covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of your tabrets and of your pipes was prepared in you in the day that you were created.

14 You are the anointed cherub that covers; and I have set you so: you were upon the holy mountain of God; you have walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire. 15 You were perfect in your ways from the day that you were created, till iniquity was found in you.

16 By the multitude of your merchandise they have filled the midst of you with violence, and you have sinned: therefore I will cast you as profane out of the mountain of God: and I will destroy you, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire. 17 Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty; you have corrupted your wisdom by reason of your brightness: I will cast you to the ground, I will lay you before kings, that they may behold you.

18 You have defiled your sanctuaries by the multitude of your iniquities, by the iniquity of your traffic; therefore will I bring forth a fire from the midst of you, it shall devour you, and I will bring you to ashes upon the earth in the sight of all them that behold you. 19 All they that know you among the people shall be astonished at you: you shall be a terror, and never shall you be any more.'

God means what he says and says what he means. Him we can trust, not people.

Some may say this is really God talking to a human king, but no human king was ‘at Eden the Garden of God’.

No human ‘sealed up the sum, full of wisdom’. No human is ‘perfect in beauty’. You get the point. This could be no other than Lucifer who became Satan the adversary.

REASON #13
The Parable of Lazarus and the Rich Man does NOT support Hell, though this scripture is commonly used as a 'proof text'.

As recorded in Luke 16:19-31, this is a Parable, not a Play-by-Play, and as such it must be carefully researched and studied. It is widely known for its brilliant substance in so few words.

I’m saying it is not a play-by-play tour of Hell, but an allegory or parable corroborating the validity of the Old Testament.

This is one of Jesus’ most brilliant Parables. Much of Christendom has been taught that it is not a parable at all but a play-by-play because it is his only parable that contains names.

But I think that is a lame and baseless claim dished out because they want it to be so. Let us be careful about assigning a name, accounting validity or removing it if it is not supported by scripture.

Here is the word-for-word account: Luke 16:19-31 19 ‘There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day: 20 And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores,

21 And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores.

22 And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried;

23 And in Hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and sees Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.

24 And he cried and said, “Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.”

25 But Abraham said, “Son, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and you are tormented.

26 And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, who would come from there.”

27 Then he said, “I pray you therefore, father, that you would send him to my father's house:

28 For I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment.”

29 Abraham said unto him, “They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.”

30 And he said, “Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent.”

31 And he said unto him, “If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.”

Note that the whole point of the parable is in its last line: “If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.” Jesus is corroborating the authority of the Old Testament.

In today’s vernacular, the way I would say it is: ‘Why would you believe Jesus if you don’t believe the Old Testament?’

If you throw away the Old Testament, saying it is ‘done away’ or obsolete, you are throwing away Jesus. Don’t do it! Jesus verifies the so-called ‘Old Testament’ as scripture we should believe.

Why? Because he is the God of the Old Testament. He was the Rock which led them through the Red Sea, the Desert of Sinai and into the Promised land; he is the one who created mankind, the world and the universe. (See John 1:1-5, Colossians 1:14-18, Philippians 2:6 and Romans 1:19-25).

Here are some Questions and Answers to consider about this brilliant parable:
• Q. Who did the Rich man represent? A. The Jews, namely the Sanhedrin, Scribes, Pharisees and Sadducees.

• Q. What’s the significance of the ‘purple and fine linen’? A. It was worn by the upper class, ruling class and the priesthood. Deuteronomy 28:1-7

• Q. What was the meaning of ‘fared sumptuously every day’? A. These ‘fat cats’ got to eat the best and fattest portions of the daily sacrifices. Leviticus 2:10

• Q. What about the Beggar? A. This man was a gentile and an outcast to the rich and powerful.

• Q. Who was this ‘Lazarus’? A. Lazarus is the Greek equivalent of the Hebrew ‘Eleazar’, servant and steward of the house of Abraham.

• Q. Was it the same Lazarus resurrected back to life by Jesus? A. No. This is a parable with names; not a play-by-play tour of Hell.

• Q. Was this Lazarus the servant of the Rich Man? A. Possibly he was and got fired and thus became a homeless beggar. (This is sheer speculation.) But the rich man did ask if Lazarus could get him a drop of water. This would have been done by a servant or slave.

• Q. What is the significance of his sores? A. Most likely bed sores from sleeping on the ground in one spot too long or representative of the ridicule and snobbery of the Jews toward all Gentiles.

• Q. Why was he hungry if he was the servant of the Rich Man? A. He did not care at all about his slaves. He cared only about himself and his money.

• Q. Who were the dogs that ‘came and licked his sores’? A. The Jews referred to the Gentiles as ‘dogs’. (See Mark 7:27. Matthew 15:26)

• Q. Why wasn’t the beggar buried? A. Beggars were dumped into the Valley of Hinnom, the city dump of Jerusalem where refuse fires were kept burning.

• Q. What is ‘Abraham’s Bosom’? A. Simply a close relationship.

• Q. Was the beggar righteous and that is why he was carried by the angels to Abraham’s side? A. Well, is anyone ‘righteous’? Only the forgiven, so I’d say, yes, he probably was, since the angels carried him to Abraham’s side.

• Q. Was the Rich man wicked so as to wake up in ‘Hell’? A. Actually this is probably the Judgment Day which is his resurrection day.

• Q. Was money the Rich Man’s god? A. In a word, Yes, by all implications.

• Q. What were his ‘torments’? A. His torments were the realization that he was about to lose his life in the fire, not that he would be ‘spending eternity in Hell.’ (Based on all the Biblical texts about the state of the dead explained in this document.)

• Q. Can those who wind up in Hell really see their loved ones on ‘the other side’? A. No. When their execution is completed by God, the dead will be forever unconscious and unable to see, hear, etc. (See Jeremiah 51:39, 57) In this parable, the Rich Man apparently was on death row awaiting his final execution in the Lake of Fire.

• Q. Why weren’t there many others there also? A. This is a parable Jesus used to validate the Old Testament as well as the New (it’s in the phrase ‘Moses and the Prophets’ (OT) and ‘rose from the dead’ (NT).

• Q. Why did the Rich Man ask Father Abraham for Lazarus to just ‘dip the tip of his finger in water to cool his tongue’? A. Perhaps he still thought Lazarus was his servant and as such was there to serve him. Perhaps just a drop of water was what he thought he needed to overcome the dry mouth usually associated with fear.

• Q. Why wouldn’t he ask for a flood of water to put out the whole fire? A. Good question. However, when God destroys Satan the fire begins inside him. Thus no water could save him. (See Ezekiel 28).

• Q. Were the ‘evil things’ now being suffered by the Rich Man the same things he had dished out to the beggar Lazarus? A. No, but in this parable he was being tormented with the prospect of being judged unworthy of life, i.e. he was being tormented by the thought of his second death. (Mentioned in Revelation 2:11, 20:6, 14, and 21:8)

• Q. What is the 'great gulf fixed'? A. I think this is the difference between Life and Death or even belief and unbelief.

• Q. What is the significance of ‘my father’s house’? A. This would be the house or family of his father Jacob or Israel, i.e. the Jews and the other 11 tribes.

• Q. Who are the Rich Mans' 5 brothers? A. Go back to the rule of ‘First Mentions’. Where in the Bible are their six boys from one father first mentioned? Jacob and Leah had 6 boys:

‘Genesis 35: 23 The sons of Leah; Reuben, Jacob's firstborn, and Simeon, and Levi, and Judah, and Issachar, and Zebulun.’

The Rich Man in this story was likely one of the six sons of Jacob and Leah… in other words Judah and by implication and extension, the Jews since Jesus was talking directly to them in a loving effort to convict them of their sin of disbelief.

• Q. What was meant by ‘Moses and the Prophets’? A. Where are the words of ‘Moses and the Prophets’ to be found? The Old Testament.

• Q. Why would Jesus even put ‘Moses and the Prophets’ in his parable if it was really about eternal torture? A. As I said before it’s not about eternal torture but about reinforcing the authority of the Bible, both ‘Old’ and ‘New’ Testaments.

• Q. Is God really like that… a sadistic, cruel, vindictive, unforgiving torturer? (No wonder there are atheists, if God is really like that!) A. No, God is not like that, if you trust God’s word on it.

When his people sacrificed their children to Molech by burning them in the fire in the belly of this metal god, it grieved God to his heart and he called it an abomination and sin, and something that never entered God’s mind.

Notice Jeremiah 32:33 ‘And they have turned unto me the back, and not the face: though I taught them, rising up early and teaching them, yet they have not hearkened to receive instruction.

34 But they set their abominations in the house, which is called by my name, to defile it. 35 And they built the high places of Baal, which are in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to cause their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire unto Molech; which I commanded them not, neither came it into my mind that they should do this abomination, to cause Judah to sin.'

If God himself called this heathen practice a sin and an abomination, how could he turn around and burn people for all time to come?

It doesn’t add up! He hated this abominable practice and it grieved him to his inner most being.

Precious, tender and innocent babies and small children quite literally cooked to death to the sound of very loud bass drums to drown out their horrific screams!

These hapless children only lived a few minutes in their parent-sanctioned torment and then they perished, ending their suffering.

But the preachers promote the damnable propaganda that God would have his wayward children suffering for all time to come, in conscious, escape-less and hideous agony in the flames of Hell Fire.

They keep saying the unrepentant sinner will be ‘spending eternity in Hell’. But that is not found anywhere in scripture.

Preachers constantly and continuously reinforce this farce of eternal conscious torture every Sunday at church or on TV.

Some have even acted this out fable on stage for their parishioners! They get a couple of ‘actors’ (liars) to dress in ugly black raggedy costumes and parade around on stage and down into the congregation to instill this fear and perpetuate this big lie. Shame on them!

This is Satanic! God is no hypocrite and he would never consider doing any such thing.

What a shame so many lives down through the ages have listened to mere mortal men and their evil self-serving teachings rather than the clear words direct from the heart of God!

• Q. Notice there is no mention of time or duration… why not if Hell, as a place of conscious eternal torture is grounded in fact? A. This is noticeably missing in the parable, disproving the idea that it is a play-by-play about a visit through eternity or Hell. It’s not about eternal damnation at all, because there is no mention of time or eternity.

• Q. Why wasn't Jesus or God in the story? A. The three people mentioned as the Rich Man, Lazarus and Father Abraham are the only people in the story.

One might think, if it were really about our eternal fate or destiny, there would be others mentioned. But if people refuse to believe what God himself inspired his servants Moses and the Prophets to painstakingly write down, they would not believe Jesus, even if he rose from the dead.

That is the whole point of the parable, as evidenced by the last line.
God then, preserved this massive writing effort we call the Bible so as to hand his word all the way down to us for our benefit and admonition.

Yet even though Jesus Christ died the cruelest of all deaths, most still will not believe him, but instead mere mortal men.

Jesus, shivering naked in the cold wind with no sleep for more than 24 hours, after nearly being beaten to death by the Roman soldiers who stripped off the skin from his back, chest and legs with a cat-of-nine-tails whip, was then nailed through the wrists and ankle bones to the cross.

Pitifully pallid and weak from loss of blood, he was erected to hang high in the frigid spring air in the sight of all that passed by on the road.

Writhing up and down bare-boned and raw on the rough and rugged cross just to gasp for breath, he was mocked and spitted upon and ultimately stabbed in one final blow through the heart with a spear, ending his suffering. Why?

Why did he subject himself to such cruelty and torture? Especially, knowing he was God and would live forever without needing one single human being what was his motivation?

Why would he do it, knowing full well what would happen to his body and the pain he would have to endure?

He did this to prove his love for us and to give us power to obtain permanent life, by his resurrection. After he rose from the dead, suffering was now retained in his memory. He knows what it is like to suffer, far more than we ever will.

He led the way by going through this death for us. We are the ones who deserved the punishment of death for our own sins, but instead, he bore them for us and for all people, in all places, for all time.

He did this to demonstrate his mercy, compassion and unmerited pardon (grace) for us, asking God to ‘forgive them for they know not what they do!’

While we were still unrepentant sinners, he went through all that pain and torture because he loves us and wants us in his family as permanent beings, permanent members.

Now, that is a God I can worship; not one who would torture us for all eternity for our few sins we committed in our short lives while in the flesh.

He doesn’t want us to suffer. He doesn’t want us to die, especially to perish and be as though we had never been.

So, why do we still insist that he would allow us to ‘put ourselves’ in Hell to suffer torment in the flames for all time to come?

Yet, some still refuse to believe his words, though he rose from the dead to open the door for our permanent futures and pave the way by going before for us.

We love him because he first loved us. (See Ephesians 2:4, 5:2; 1 John 4:10 & 19 and Revelation 1:5)

Add to this the realization that his resurrection can be abundantly proved through countless historical documents numbering in the thousands.

And this goes along with early Greek and Latin writings from hostile sources who were embarrassed by the fact of the life and teachings of Jesus. It makes this belief in the Hell dogma all the more unfounded because words to support it are missing from every one of these early texts.

If it were real, it should be abundantly clear by a mere perusal of basic scriptural texts and these hostile sources. But, alas, none are to be found.
So, let’s send this foul doctrine where it belongs: in the city dump!

REASON #14

When we add up all Biblical texts about Hell, fire or judgment, annihilation, rather than conscious eternal torment in Hell fits the scriptures.

The Old Testament saints and prophets never mentioned Hell or knew anything about Hell as a fiery place of conscious eternal torment. Why? It is because men made it up.

It is sheer make believe. Follow the money and you may find out why they did so. Fear makes people do dumb things like listen to lies and pay people to tell them.

That is stupid and we should get over this as we mature and learn to trust only God and his word.

Paul wrote 12 of the New Testament books without a single mention of Hell. Why?

If it was real and we would assume Paul knew about it, why in the world wouldn’t he have mentioned it? Would he not have wanted to teach his listeners about this?

Of course he would, had it been real.

Jesus never said the punishment for unrepentant sinners was conscious eternal torment or torture at all. Instead, he taught annihilation… that he was the Rock that would 'grind him (the wicked) to powder'.

Notice what he says in Matthew 21:44 and then Luke 20:18:
Matthew 21:41 They say unto him, He will miserably destroy those wicked men, and will let out his vineyard unto other husbandmen, which shall render him the fruits in their seasons.

42 Jesus said unto them, ‘Did you never read in the scriptures, ‘The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner: this is the Lord's doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes’?

43 Therefore say I unto you: The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof.

44 And whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken: but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder.’

45 And when the chief priests and Pharisees had heard his parables, they perceived that he spoke of them.

Luke 20:17-18 17 And he beheld them, and said, What is this then that is written, ‘The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner’?

18 Whosoever shall fall upon that stone shall be broken; but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder.’

The ‘stone’ referred to here is none other than Jesus himself.

Note: 1 Corinthians 10:1-4: ‘Moreover, brethren, I would not that you should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea;

2 And were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea;

3 And did all eat the same spiritual meat;

4 And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ.

God has committed all judgment to the Son. He will be the One to ‘grind him to powder’. Powder is like ashes; ashes under the soles of the righteous (Malachi 4:3) This sounds a lot more like annihilation than eternal conscious torment.

REASON #15

The wicked will be stubble and burnt up.

Malachi 4:1 For, behold, the day comes, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that comes shall burn them up, says the LORD of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.

Nahum 1:10-11: 10 For while they be folded together as thorns, and while they are drunken as drunkards, they shall be devoured as stubble fully dry. 11 There is one come out of you that imagined evil against the LORD, a wicked counselor. 12 Thus says the LORD; though they are quiet, and likewise many, yet thus shall they be cut down, when he shall pass through.

Isaiah 47:13-15 13 You are wearied in the multitude of your counsels. Let now the astrologers, the stargazers, the monthly prognosticators, stand up, and save you from these things that shall come upon you.

14 Behold, they shall be as stubble; the fire shall burn them; they shall not deliver themselves from the power of the flame: there shall not be a coal to warm at, nor fire to sit before it.

15 Thus shall they be unto you with whom you have labored, even your merchants, from your youth: they shall wander everyone to his quarter; none shall save you.

Jeremiah 13:22-25 22 And if you say in your heart, Wherefore come these things upon me? For the greatness of your iniquity are your skirts discovered, and your heels made bare.

23 Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard his spots? Then may you also do good, that are accustomed to doing evil.

24 Therefore will I scatter them as the stubble that passes away by the wind of the wilderness.

25 This is your lot, the portion of your measures from me, says the LORD; because you have forgotten me, and trusted in falsehood.

Believers MUST deal with these scriptures. Don’t make the fatal mistake of thinking these are just ‘Old Testament’ scriptures and therefore no good today. Let’s not forget Jesus himself validated them. (Luke 16:31)

Some churches say ‘Well, we don’t get our doctrine strictly from the Bible; we have the authority to write and make our own doctrines apart from the Bible. No you do not! God’s word alone is valid; not some man’s.

Again it comes down to the big question: who are you going to believe and trust that his word is accurate and authoritative, God or man?

REASON #16

'Shame and everlasting contempt' can mean ridicule of the wicked POST MORT EM and this can last for all time to come. It is reputation that will continue forever.

The wicked reputation of Satan the Adversary is a good example. His followers will be ridiculed as well. When Jesus judges a person as wicked beyond redemption because he is so set in his ways that he can no longer repent, he will be condemned to die the death from which there is no resurrection (called the ‘second death’ in Revelation 2:11, 20:6, 14 and 21:8).

Notice Dan 12:2 ‘And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.’ Contempt is another word for reputation or ridicule.

Notice that the ‘everlasting life’ resurrection is separated from the resurrection to ‘shame and everlasting contempt’. That is because it is not a resurrection to life but to an ignominious judgment followed by the punishment of death, the permanent kind from which there is no resurrection.

That is why it is relegated to ‘shame and everlasting contempt’. Its reputation, ridicule and reputation will last.

Here is how another Prophet of God put it in Jeremiah 23:39-40 ‘Therefore, behold, I, even I, will utterly forget you, and I will forsake you, and the city that I gave you and your fathers, and cast you out of my presence: 40 And I will bring an everlasting reproach upon you, and a perpetual shame, which shall not be forgotten.’

God means what he says and says what he means. Our job is to believe him and not what mere mortals conjure up as doctrine from their own imaginations.

What men say, regardless of who it is, be it Billy Graham or the Pope, does not make it the truth. No group, church or collection of theologians can supersede the word of God. They do not have the privilege of rewriting the Bible for their own benefit.

Don’t believe me; believe God’s word. I’m merely showing what he said. These are his words, not mine. Believe them. Trust them and eradicate Hell from your thoughts. Liberate yourself from the tyranny of Hell, and learn from Jesus so he and his word (the truth) will make you free indeed.

REASON #17

'Where their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched.' from Mark 9:43-47 can also be explained as REPUTATION. This text is often quoted by theologians as a ‘proof text’ promulgating the Hell dogma.

Here’s the way it reads in Mark 9: ‘43 And if your hand offend you, cut it off: it is better for you to enter into life maimed, than having two hands to go into Hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched: 44 Where their worm dies not, and the fire is not quenched.

45 And if your foot offend you, cut it off: it is better for you to enter halt into life, than having two feet to be cast into Hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched: 46 Where their worm dies not, and the fire is not quenched.

47 And if your eye offend you, pluck it out: it is better for you to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye, than having two eyes to be cast into Hell fire: 48 Where their worm dies not, and the fire is not quenched.’

Here’s my question to promoters of the Hell orthodoxy (I call them ‘Hell-mongers’): What is left of a dead body after it has been dead for a day or two?

Worms. Just as these worms live on after the death of a body, so it is his reputation that lives on after his death. I still find people who knew my parents, over 25 years after their death. Their reputation lives on in the memory of others.

The 'fire that is not quenched' is another way to say the same thing. Jesus was likely quoting Isaiah 66:24 ‘And they shall go forth, and look upon the carcasses of the men that have transgressed against me: for their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched; and they shall be an abhorring unto all flesh.’

They shall be abhorrent to all people because they got to this point in life by rejecting the Great God who gave them life and every possible opportunity, yet they still insisted upon permanent death rather than submit to Jehovah or the God who is the Master and Architect of all life.

This is disgust or moral outrage that will never disappear, not immortal worms and not eternal conscious torment in ever-burning flames. Their reputation will be mocked and scorned as the height of foolishness for all time to come! You and I do not want to go there.

Ask yourself why you believe what you believe. Is it because it is what you were raised with? It’s been a tradition now for over four hundred years. It crept into the Protestant church through its mother the Catholic Church. Maybe it’s what your parents, grandparents or church taught.

Have you really searched it out for yourself, prayed to God about it, listened for his reply and then found your answers in his Holy Bible? If not, may I suggest you do this? Believe only what you find in the Bible, as originally written. Don’t allow what men have made up to frighten you or deceive you. God would not do this.

REASON #18
Hell itself shall be cast into the Lake of Fire (Rev 20:14) so how can Hell be the Lake of fire?

I believe this passage refers to one historical period in time, not a place at all and the 'Hell' here is merely the grave or the final end. It is the end of death and the end of the grave. There will be no more death from that time on.

Here’s how it reads starting in verse 11: Rev 20:11-15 ‘And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. 12 And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.

13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and Hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. 14 And death and Hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.

15 And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.

Many Christian pastors and authors have commented on this, spinning the same ole’ song-and- dance party line that has been promulgated by the Catholic Church for the last 400 years.

Reuben Archer Torrey, better known as R.A. Torrey for example, was a prolific writer and theologian who lived from 1856 to 1928, is often quoted as one of the ‘Greats’, even to this day. He is relegated as an expert on the subject of Hell.

He became the Superintendent of the Bible Institute of Chicago (now the Moody Bible Institute) and is widely regarded as being doctrinally astute. But in his ‘Bible Answer Book’ on page 14 he talks about annihilation and the alternate view.

This is what he wrote: ‘Q. Why is the theory of the annihilation of the wicked, supposedly indicated by Revelation 20:14-15, un-scriptural and a reprehensible doctrine?

A. The annihilation of the wicked is not indicated in Revelation 20:14-15 to anyone who reads the whole passage and parallel passages in the Scriptures.

The passage reads: “Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.”

The fate of those cast into the lake of fire is not annihilation. There is no Scripture to support such a theory.

The Bible clearly teaches that the future destiny of the wicked is a condition of un-resting, unending, conscious torment and anguish. (Please refer to the section “Eternal Punishment” in this book.) [Emphasis mine]

As to its being a “reprehensible doctrine”, I would say that I have never known anyone who accepted this doctrine who did not lose power in serving God. I could give examples of men whom God greatly used who have been led to accept this doctrine and who, in consequence, have been in part or altogether set aside as soul winners. If one really believes the doctrine of the endless, conscious torment of the unrepentant, he will work as never before for their salvation before it is too late.

On the other hand, immediately at death, the spirits of the wicked depart into that portion of Hades reserved for the wicked dead, where they consciously exist in great torment. (See Luke 16:19-31.) But this is not their final condition of torment.

At the close of the Millennium—the thousand-year reign of Christ on earth after His second coming—those who have died in sin will be raised again to stand before the Great White Throne of God, to be judged and assigned to their final condition of torment. (See Revelation 20:11-15; 21:8).

It is then that they will enter into their final and fullest suffering. Just as the redeemed spirits will be clothed at the coming of Christ with their glorious resurrection bodies, which will be perfect counterparts of the redeemed spirits that inhabit them and partakers with them in all their joy, the wicked are to be clothed with bodies that will be perfect counterparts of the lost spirits that inhabit them and will be partakers with them in all their misery.’

I will do my best to illustrate as succinctly as I can, all the issues I have with this depiction:
Take note of his use of hostile, prejudiced verbiage.

Should we take all of his assumptions as ‘gospel’ without proof or scriptural reference? No. Regardless of one’s fame or supposed relevance or importance to the ministry of Jesus, we must all adhere to the same high standard of the Bible alone as our authority, not some mans’ opinions.

We don’t know better than God. Torrey makes claims without using any scriptures to back them and then says opponents to the Hell doctrine have no scriptural support for their beliefs. Isn’t this hypocrisy?

He said ‘The fate of those cast into the lake of fire is not annihilation.’ Yet in the previous verse he accurately quoted Revelation 20:14-15 which states that the lake of fire is the second death.

Death is the cessation of life, not the continuation of it in another place. (See Psalms 146:4 and Ecclesiastes 9:-6) Sounds like annihilation to me.

They are raised in the Day of Judgment, judged and condemned as unworthy of eternal life (See Acts 13:42-46), then executed by God. (John 5:27-29) Thus they die twice. (Jude 1:12-13)

Is R. A. Torrey the authority or God’s word? God’s word says death is the opposite of life; he says it is life in another place, a very hot, yet un-consuming fiery place. I’ll take God’s word over man’s any day and twice on Sunday!

Also notice his use of the words ‘anyone who reads the whole passage’. This wording is argumentative, pointed, biased and hostile, in my estimation, as is the way he worded this entire diatribe.

These juvenile tactics are designed to belittle those who might have a differing viewpoint, regardless of their credible and/or scriptural reasons for their beliefs.

We should add up the scriptures like an arithmetic problem, and never read into a passage what is not really there. This is the right way to get to the truth. This is forthright and honest.

To twist the scriptures around to fit their modis operandi is lying. This is deceitful and sinful. This is how lies get perpetuated and people just swallow them hook, line and sinker, because they are scared and don’t bother to look into them for themselves. They would rather trust some man to do it for them.

We who are Pastors and teachers had better take warning from God’s word to only teach the truth.

This doctrine needs to go to the dump. To teach it any longer is repelling good people, especially the youth of today, away from the Bible and away from the church and God.

No other single doctrine has caused more atheism than the doctrine of eternal conscious torment in the flames of Hell. That is a shame and disgrace.

It is lying to the people in the name of God. It is making God out to be a liar like unto them. ‘Woe be to the pastors who mislead my flock!’ (See Jeremiah 23:1-4)

And don’t let them tell you they are ‘staying the course’ for the sake of tradition or orthodoxy or that there is any value in doing so. Reality is that if they were to repent and teach the truth about this blasphemous doctrine of demons, they would lose their jobs.

Their Elder Board would immediately throw them out on their ear. They may as well resign. Then where would they go to work come Monday (or Tuesday)?

It’s really about the money, seems to me. Of course, they will immediately and vehemently rebuff this reality if confronted. But think it through. No one wants to lose their job and/or their incomes.

My question to him and all other Hell-mongering pastors out there would be: ‘Have you never read in the scriptures what God himself has to say about all this in these many scriptures as we are studying here?

Or do the scriptures really mean anything to you? Who are you to supersede the words God himself had transcribed by his servants?’ This is plenty of ‘scriptural support’ against eternal conscious torture.

Torrey goes on after this and says ‘The fate of those cast into the lake of fire is not annihilation’ and ‘There is no Scripture to support such a theory.

The Bible clearly teaches that the future destiny of the wicked is a condition of un-resting, conscious torment and anguish.’ This is a lie from the Devil himself if you ask me.

No, the Bible does NOT clearly teach any such thing. It teaches that the destiny of the wicked is death. Death is the absence of life. It is NOT conscious torment (torture) and anguish in a very hot torture chamber.

As it is written by the Apostle Paul in Romans 6:23 ‘For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.’

Death is not eternal life in a hot place separated from God. It is NOT conscious awareness in the dark. When I am dead, I have no awareness at all.

I am gone; out of sight and out of mind. It is the same as being in a deep sleep. I won’t remember anything. I am no longer aware of anything that happens on Earth.

The dead know nothing as it is written in Ecclesiastes 9:5 ‘For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not anything, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten.

6 Also their love, and their hatred, and their envy, is now perished; neither have they any more a portion forever in anything that is done under the sun.’ They are unconscious and those who are condemned by God and executed will never live again (thus it is the second death).

That is what God had written in his word. Him I trust, not men.
Look at all these scriptures in this study and consider the enormity of their weight. You can trust and rely on them, not on mere mortal reasoning.

And as far as ‘losing power’ in serving God, sure; if a pastor sprung this on his congregation one Sunday morning he would lose his job on the spot! Why? The Elder Board would insist on his resignation, as I said.

You see, their income and livelihoods depend on frightening parishioners and keeping them in the pews through fear and out of their money, which is what the Church lives on.
They expect the pastor to maintain the status quo and keep this foul blasphemous myth alive for their very survival.

So the doctrine of Hell is not really about eternal destiny at all; it’s about money! Who cares about the truth? Pastors who promulgate this foul doctrine are being dishonest and greedy, seems to me. Shame on them all!

Besides, we are not the ‘soul winners’; God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit are the soul winners. Souls, by the way are beings. There is NOTHING IMMORTAL about them, as far as human souls are concerned (See Ezekiel 18:4, 25).

More about ‘Immortal Souls’ later.
And just where did Jesus say ‘before it is too late’? Could it be possible for God to forgive someone after they die? What if they wake up in a resurrection, face Jesus and say ‘I’m so sorry. Please forgive me.’

Would he say ‘You should have thought about that while still alive. Now it’s too late! Now you must be in Hell for all time to come!’ What kind of a justice would that be?

Then Torrey claims Luke 16:19-31 says the spirits of the wicked ‘depart into that portion of Hades reserved for the wicked dead, where they consciously exist in great torment. But this is not their final condition of torment.’

As we have already seen this is not true. Let’s not read into the text what is just not there. It doesn’t say anything like that. Jesus would have told us if that were his intentions (See example in John 14:2).

Both of these are false. There is no such thing as compartments in Hades. Hades is merely the grave. No grave has compartments. No one is there now, waiting to be ‘re-assigned’ to their ‘final condition of torment’.

To support this, Torrey refers us to Revelation 20:11-15 and 21:8 and I quote: ‘11 And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. 12 And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.

13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. 14 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. 15 And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.’

This scripture tells us the dead await a resurrection to judgment, that they are raised to be judged ‘according to their works’ and that death and the grave are to be abolished. Also that those deemed unworthy of life, die the second time.

What it doesn’t say is that the wicked depart into some compartment and it doesn’t say they are held in great torment and it doesn’t say this is not their final condition. Again, let’s allow scripture o be our authority rather than men.

In 21:8 of Revelation it says: ‘8 But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whore mongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.’

Torrey claims this supports eternal conscious torment in the flames of Hell, but no, it says directly it is the ‘second death.’ Death is the opposite of life, not life in some other condition or place.

And lastly, Torrey claims the wicked are to be clothed with bodies that match the spirits residing inside them and that both body and spirit will suffer in this ‘final condition’ to experience their final and fullest suffering.

But let’s not add to the book of Revelation what is not there. (Revelation 22:18-19 ‘For I testify unto every man that hears the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book:

19 And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.’)

REASON #19

The word translated 'Hell' comes from 4 different words Sheol (Hebrew for grave), Ghenna (Jerusalem's city dump), Tartaros (Greek for a prison for demons) and Hades (Greek for grave).

These never refer to fire, except the consuming fire typically found at the city dump. The 'Hell fire' Jesus referred to was the consuming fire that only left ones' reputation behind and that reputation would be ignominious, hideous and repulsive.

Here’s how the Prophet Jeremiah put it in Jeremiah 23:28-40: 28 ‘The prophet that has a dream, let him tell a dream; and he that has my word, let him speak my word faithfully. ‘What is the chaff to the wheat?’ says the LORD. 29 ‘Is not my word like as a fire?’ says the LORD; and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces?

30 Therefore, behold, I am against the prophets, says the LORD, that steal my words everyone from his neighbor. 31 Behold, I am against the prophets, says the LORD, that use their tongues, and say, He says.

32 Behold, I am against them that prophesy false dreams, says the LORD, and do tell them, and cause my people to err by their lies, and by their lightness; yet I sent them not, nor commanded them: therefore they shall not profit this people at all, says the LORD.
And when this people, or the prophet, or a priest, shall ask you, saying, What is the burden of the LORD?

You shall then say unto them, ‘What burden?’ I will even forsake you, says the LORD. 34 And as for the prophet, and the priest, and the people that shall say, ‘The burden of the LORD’, I will even punish that man and his house.

35 Thus shall you say everyone to his neighbor, and every one to his brother, ‘What has the LORD answered?’ And, ‘What has the LORD spoken? 36 And the burden of the LORD shall you mention no more: for every man's word shall be his burden; for you have perverted the words of the living God, of the LORD of hosts our God.

37 Thus shall you say to the prophet, ‘What has the LORD answered you? And, ‘What has the LORD spoken?’ 38 But since you say, ‘The burden of the LORD’; therefore thus says the LORD: Because you say this word, ‘The burden of the LORD’, and I have sent unto you, saying, ‘You shall not say, The burden of the LORD’;

39 Therefore, behold, I, even I, will utterly forget you, and I will forsake you, and the city that I gave you and your fathers, and cast you out of my presence: 40 And I will bring an everlasting reproach upon you, and a perpetual shame, which shall not be forgotten.
God loves truth and he expects his children to do the same.

REASON #20

When a wicked person dies in the flames of Gehenna fire, it will be as though he had never been.

Obadiah 15-16 15 ‘For the day of the LORD is near upon all the heathen: as you have done, it shall be done unto you: your reward shall return upon your own head.
16 For as you have drunk upon my holy mountain, so shall all the heathen drink continually, yes, they shall drink, and they shall swallow down, and they shall be as though they had not been.’

This is the ‘day of the LORD’ or ‘last day’ or ‘Judgment Day’ spoken of by none other than Jesus himself in John 12:44 Jesus cried and said, He that believes on me, believes not on me, but on him that sent me.

45 And he that sees me sees him that sent me.
46 I am come a light into the world, that whosoever believes on me should not abide in darkness. 47 And if any man hear my words, and believe not, I judge him not: for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world.

48 He that rejects me, and receives not my words, has one that judges him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day.

It is the resurrection day he is referring to. If they are judged unworthy of eternal life they will be ‘as though they had not been.’ Jesus is the Judge and his judgment is righteous. He can kill and make it stick.

This sounds a lot more like annihilation than eternal conscious torment in the flames of Hell. Jesus is the Righteous Judge as it is written in John 5: 22 ‘For the Father judges no man, but has committed all judgment unto the Son:

23 that all men should honor the Son, even as they honor the Father. He that honors not the Son honors not the Father which has sent him.’

If Obadiah believed in eternal conscious torment, he should have said something like this: ‘and they shall go to their eternal reward of conscious torment.’ But he did not. Neither did any other writer of a single page recorded in the Bible.

The truth is, this foul, blasphemous dogma is nowhere to be found in the ‘Old’ Testament. It is not in any of the writings of the apostle Paul who wrote twelve of the books of the ‘New’ Testament and when understood properly, it is not in the Bible anywhere. Let it go where it belongs: the city dump. (Gr. Gehenna)

REASON #21

God said rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, an abomination and an affront to God himself, so why would he tolerate it for all time to come?

Why would he put up with that rebellion for all time to come, having to endure the screams, curses, taunts, rebelliousness and hatred spouted by all the wicked? Undoubtedly they who would eternally suffer and spew them out to God, if indeed a conscious Hell had really been established as the punishment.

Why would he not just put them to death? Answer: He will do just that, according to God’s own word on the subject. That is what he said and I believe him, not men. The wages of sin is DEATH; it is not eternal conscious torment in the flames of Hell.

Romans 6:20-23 says: ‘20 For when you were the servants of sin, you were free from righteousness. 21 What fruit had you then in those things whereof you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death.

22 But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, you have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life. 23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

He did not mean ‘the wages of sin is eternal conscious torment in the flames of Hell’. I don’t have the gift of eternal life unless or until it is given me from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. It is his gift through faith in him. There is no other permanent life. If I don’t have and receive this gift, I am dead meat. It is just that simple.

When I served sin, I had no righteousness and had death forthcoming; yes, permanent death. That is what our Savior Jesus rescued me from. He did for me what I could not do for myself. Thank God we have such a Wonderful Savior!

Apparently, people want to believe God would never kill or annihilate anyone. They would rather believe he is a torturer. And not just for a short while and then let them die, but for all time to come. I find this appalling, offensive and blasphemous.

It is anti-biblical and anti-Christ. It is a doctrine of devils; they want to make God worse than Satan. God is not like that. Let us not ascribe to God and his character attributes that are not there. It’s not fair and it’s not right.

But someone will say God is not a killer, either. Consider the fact that he owns you, your world and everything and everyone in it. It’s not really yours, but his.

Everything you own is his. He can do what he pleases with his own stuff. I do not have the right to dictate what God can and cannot do. He tells me and it’s not the other way around. Let’s take him at his word.

He can and has the perfect right to kill off the entire human race if he so chooses. Unlike humans, he, being God, could do this in love.

Say for example Sodom and Gomorrah. God rained down fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all.

From the lips of Jesus we read in Luke 17:28 ‘Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded; 29 But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all. 30 Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed.’

REASON #22

The wicked die twice and from the second death there is no further resurrection.

Rev 2:10-11b, 20:5-6, 13-14; 21:7-8; Jude 12-13:
Revelation 2:10 ‘Fear none of those things which you shall suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that you may be tried; and you shall have tribulation ten days: be faithful unto death, and I will give you a crown of life. 11 He that has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says unto the churches; He that overcomes shall not be hurt of the second death.’

Revelation 20:5 ‘But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. 6 Blessed and holy is he that has part in the first resurrection: on such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.’

Verse 13 ‘And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. 14 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.

15 And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.’

Revelation 21:7 ‘He that overcomes shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son. 8 But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whore mongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.’

Jude 1:12 These are spots in your feasts of charity, when they feast with you, feeding themselves without fear: clouds they are without water, carried about of winds; trees whose fruit withers, without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots; 13 Raging waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame; wandering stars, to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever.

This sounds much more like annihilation than eternal conscious torment. When my wife died on the operating table and they brought her back, I later asked her what she saw. Did she see the proverbial white light?

Did she smell smoke? No. She said she blacked out and there was nothing. No sounds. No consciousness. No smells or light. Nothing. That is what death is. It is total unconsciousness.

She was unconscious, and when she awoke, it was just like a good nights’ sleep and waking up in the morning. This is nothing to dread. In fact, I can say with certainty that I could use a good nights’ sleep.

In the resurrection, I will awaken just as I normally do each morning God gives me. If I have done well in life by his standards, I will awaken with a new glorified body, ready to go to work for him, doing whatever he wants done throughout time and space. If not, I will face the Judgment seat of Christ.

If I am condemned, then I will die the second death in the lake of fire and stay dead for all time to come, unconscious, gone and forgotten. This is the second death. I do not want to go there. No one should want that!

REASON #23

If we must put on immortality to live for all time to come, then we will have SPIRIT BODIES which cannot feel pain so if they have to live in Hell, they thus would not feel it!
If we live forever in conscious torment in Hell we would not be able to feel the pain it is supposed to bring!

So, we’d be there in the Lake of Fire and never feel a twinge of pain.
Revelation 21:4 3 ‘And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.

4 And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.’

God only has immortality. I am still mortal... subject to death. If I get myself into a fire, I am likely to burn up, that is be burnt to death. God cannot be burned because he is not flesh and blood. Those finally born ‘of the Spirit’ will have put on immortality that we do not yet have and will not have until God clothes us with it.

Notice 1 Corinthians 15:51-57: 51 Behold, I show you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 52 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.

53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. 54 So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.

55 O death, where is your sting? O grave, where is your victory? 56 The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God, which gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Spirits cannot be burned or feel pain. That Spirit life is pain-free and powerful compared to this fleshly life we now live.

Remember Jesus’ words in John 3: 31-36 ‘He that comes from above is above all: he that is of the earth is earthly, and speaks of the earth: he that comes from heaven is above all.

32 And what he has seen and heard, that he testifies; and no man receives his testimony. 33 He that has received his testimony has set to his seal that God is true.
34 For he whom God has sent speaks the words of God: for God gives not the Spirit by measure unto him.

35 The Father loves the Son, and has given all things into his hand. 36 He that believes on the Son has everlasting life: and he that believes not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abides on him.’

If a person does not have life, he is dead. The life Jesus referred to is permanent life. Our temporary life is of the earth, earthly. The wrath of God is on the ones who do not and will not put their trust in Jesus.

‘And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.’ (Matthew 25:46) The unconscious state of death is permanent and there will be no subsequent resurrection from it. The wicked shall NOT see life. That is the word of the Lord.

REASON #24

God hated the idol worship, particularly and especially the detestable god Molech, because worshipers sacrificed their babies to it by setting a bon fire in the metal gods' belly and then burnt them to death there in sacrifice, so how could he burn people for all time to come?

This hideous pagan practice grieved God who called it an abomination, whoredom, profane, cardinal sin requiring the death penalty and a defilement of his sanctuary. God said such a thing to do to our children NEVER ENTERED HIS MIND, so how then could God turn around and burn his own children for all time to come? That would make God out to be the Great Hypocrite, but he is not and will never be that.
To participate in these pagan practices is to profane the name of God. So how could God himself do it and not just until they die but for all eternity for them to suffer in dumb anguish in the flames of Hell?! This does not compute! Here’s what God had Moses pen in Lev 18:21 ‘And you shall not let any of your seed pass through the fire to Molech, neither shall you profane the name of your God: I am the LORD.’
Leviticus 20:2-5 ‘And the LORD spoke unto Moses, saying, 2 Again, you shall say to the children of Israel, Whosoever he be of the children of Israel, or of the strangers that sojourn in Israel, that gives any of his seed unto Molech; he shall surely be put to death: the people of the land shall stone him with stones. 3 And I will set my face against that man, and will cut him off from among his people; because he has given of his seed unto Molech, to defile my sanctuary, and to profane my holy name.
4 And if the people of the land do any ways hide their eyes from the man, when he gives of his seed unto Molech, and kill him not: 5 Then I will set my face against that man, and against his family, and will cut him off, and all that go a whoring after him, to commit whoredom with Molech, from among their people. 6 And the soul that turns after such as have familiar spirits, and after wizards, to go a whoring after them, I will even set my face against that soul, and will cut him off from among his people. 7 Sanctify yourselves therefore, and be holy: for I am the LORD your God.’
2 Kings 23:10 ‘And he 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.’
Jeremiah 32:34-35 34 ‘But they set their abominations in the house, which is called by my name, to defile it. 35 And they built the high places of Baal, which are in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to cause their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire unto Molech; which I commanded them not, neither came it into my mind, that they should do this abomination, to cause Judah to sin.’
God calls it like it is: No command of his; a thing that never entered his mind; an abomination and SIN. How could God then turn around and burn anyone for all time to come?

REASON #25

Common sense makes eternal conscious torture blasphemous when all these are considered. Since our God is rational and sensible and we should be also as his children must also be sensible and rational. Let's abandon the eternal conscious torment concept all together and take him at his word, trusting that he knows what he's talking about. But consider this:
MORE PEOPLE LOOSE FAITH IN GOD BECAUSE OF THIS ABSURD AND BLASPHEMOUS DOGMA THAN BECAUSE OF ANY OTHER!
That is, more atheists are made over this Hell dogma than any other doctrinal flaw in all of Christendom. How do I know this? Well, just take a close look at the life of Charles Darwin. He was attending the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, pursuing a medical career from mid-October 1825. There he learned taxidermy, though he never got used to the sight of blood.

His taxidermy skills would prove invaluable on his voyage to the Galapagos Islands in 1831. He met biology majors like John Edmonstone, who discussed with him evolutionary ideas they read about from Jean-Baptiste Lamarck (1744-1829) and Sir Charles Lyell (1797-1875).

He became close friends with Robert Grant, a Scottish zoologist, who went on many walks with Darwin discussing evolution. In 1827, Darwin quit medical school. He was apparently pushed by his father to study Theology to pursue a career in the clergy, so he arranged for his son to study at Christ’s College at Cambridge. But he was not serious about it because it wasn’t his dream. He’d rather collect beetles and study specimens.

I’m just hitting the highlights, but he met Fanny Owen in the summer of 1827 and they became boyfriend and girlfriend. They broke up and he went on his famous voyage. He spent the next several years fighting illness. In 1839, Charles Darwin married Emma Wedgewood at St. Peter’s Church in Maer, Shropshire. Also in 1839 he was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society of London.

Emma became worried about Charles’ salvation as she saw him spending a lot of time studying transmutation instead of his Bible. In the winter of 1840, Charles Darwin was having migraines, heart pains, nausea and stomach problems. The slightest excitement made him ill, so he became somewhat of a recluse.

In December of 1839, Charles and Emma had their first child William Erasmus Darwin. In 1841, their second child Anne Elizabeth Darwin was born. Mary Eleanor Darwin was born September 23, 1842, but died on October 18. In 1848, Charles’ father Dr. Robert Darwin died, but Charles was too ill to attend his funeral. In August of that year, Charles and Emma had another son, Francis. Charles health began to worsen with bouts of depression, dizziness, twitching and seeing spots before his eyes. He feared death was imminent. All this took its toll on his biological research and writing.

Emma and Charles had another son, Leonard in January, 1850. Charles had by this time recovered from his illness, but around late June of that year his affectionate daughter Anne became ill. In 1851, Annie died and was buried at Great Malvern. Charles had cherished his beloved daughter and may have blamed God for her death.

This seems to be the turning point in his life. As the story goes, he went to his priest to find out what happened to Annie’s soul. The priest asked if she had accepted Jesus as her Savior and he said no. Then he apologetically informed Charles she’d be burning in eternal conscious torment for all eternity. That’s when it all exploded. How could a loving God do that to his beloved Annie? He quit seminary and the Church and turned his back on Jesus and his Bible.
Then he wrote his books on the ‘Origin of the Species’ and the ‘Decent of Man’.

Another son Charles Waring Darwin was born in1856. Around 1863 Charles Lyell’s book ‘Antiquity of Man’ was published, but Darwin thought it too ‘old school’ and set out to take his evolutionary theorizing a notch further. Meanwhile his health took a turn for the worse. The church was becoming more and more disturbed by Charles and his writings. So were some of his friends and his wife, who was a devout Christian.

I think Charles was too mad over the Hell doctrine to ever return to the Anglican Church of England. That’s his incentive for much of his work on evolution.

Charles Darwin died April 1882. He was honored with a State Funeral and was buried in Westminster Abbey, close to John Hershel and Sir Isaac Newton.

(For more information on the history of Charles Darwin, visit: http://www.aboutdarwin.com/timeline/time_03.html and http://www.churchofengland.org/our-views/medical-ethics-health-social-care-policy/darwin/church.aspx)

Darwin is the ‘chief priest’ of the religion of evolution. In my view, after studying his life and works for years, he did what he did because of the eternal conscious torment in Hell Fire doctrine promulgated b the clergy. Had Charles only known it was all a giant scam, things would not be in the mess they are in due to his work. And, no doubt, instead they would have come to faith in Jesus as their Savior through Charles’ ministry.

REASON #26

If conscious torture in the flames of Hell is real then God lied about his nature in the Bible: He said his WRATH IS BUT FOR A MOMENT, but HIS LOVE ENDURES FOREVER; but instead his WRATH ENDURES FOREVER AND HIS LOVE IS BUT FOR A MOMENT!
Notice Psalms 8: I will extol you, O LORD; for you have lifted me up, and have not made my foes to rejoice over me. 2 O LORD my God, I cried unto you, and you have healed me. 3 O LORD, you have brought up my soul from the grave: you have kept me alive, that I should not go down to the pit. 4 Sing unto the LORD, O you saints of his, and give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness. 5 For his anger endures but a moment; in his favor is life: weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning.
6 And in my prosperity I said, I shall never be moved. 7 LORD, by your favor you have made my mountain to stand strong: you did hide your face, and I was troubled. 8 I cried to you, O LORD; and unto the LORD I made supplication. 9 What profit is there in my blood, when I go down to the pit? Shall the dust praise you? Shall it declare your truth? 10 Hear, O LORD, and have mercy upon me: LORD, be my helper. 11 You have turned for me my mourning into dancing: you have put off my sackcloth, and girded me with gladness; 12 to the end that my glory may sing praise to you, and not be silent. O LORD my God, I will give thanks unto you forever.
This is God’s real nature. He is our Father. As our Father, he is rearing his children. That means he will chasten us as a loving father chastens his children in time to save them from danger. God loves us so very much he bled and died to prove it. That is the nature of his love.
The Hell Doctrine paints him as an ogre who chastens for all time to come. In our world a father that would spank a child every day of his life for spilling the milk would be up for charges on child abuse! Yet, pastors misrepresent God this way. Shame on them!

REASON #27

Hell is what PEOPLE want; it is not what GOD wants!
Why would they want it? Because they have so much hatred for those who are not like them. They want power over them or at least the right to feel BETTER THAN THEM. They could care less about what God wants or says.
Like I said previously, men made up the idea of Hell as a place of eternal conscious torment so they could con people into the pews and out of their money. It is crooked and wrong to do such a thing. Does what people want really matter in the end? But in the final analysis, who gets what he wants? GOD or men?
God will have his way in his time. Here’s what he said to Job and his friends out of a whirlwind:
Job 41:1 Can you draw out leviathan with a hook? Or his tongue with a cord which you let down? 2 Canst you put a hook into his nose? Or bore his jaw through with a thorn? 3 Will he make many supplications unto you? Will he speak soft words unto you? 4 Will he make a covenant with you? Will you take him for a servant forever?
5 Wilt you play with him as with a bird? Or wilt you bind him for your maidens? 6 Shall the companions make a banquet of him? Shall they part him among the merchants? 7 Canst you fill his skin with barbed irons? Or his head with fish spears? 8 Lay your hand upon him and you will remember the battle, but do no more. 9 Behold, the hope of him is in vain: shall not one be cast down even at the sight of him? 10 None is so fierce that dare stir him up: who then is able to stand before me?
11 Who has prevented me that I should repay him? Whatsoever is under the whole heaven is mine. 12 I will not conceal his parts, nor his power, nor his comely proportion. 13 Who can discover the face of his garment? Or who can come to him with his double bridle? 14 Who can open the doors of his face? His teeth are terrible round about. 15 His scales are his pride, shut up together as with a close seal. 16 One is so near to another that no air can come between them. 17 They are joined one to another; they stick together, that they cannot be sundered.
18 At his sneezing a light shines, and his eyes are like the eyelids of the morning. 19 Out of his mouth go burning lamps, and sparks of fire leap out. 20 Out of his nostrils goes smoke, as out of a seething pot or caldron. 21 His breath kindles coals, and a flame goes out of his mouth. 22 In his neck remains strength and sorrow is turned into joy before him. 23 The flakes of his flesh are joined together: they are firm in themselves; they cannot be moved. 24 His heart is as firm as a stone; yes, as hard as a piece of the nether millstone. 25 When he raises up himself, the mighty are afraid: by reason of breakings they purify themselves.
26 The sword of him that lays at him cannot hold: the spear, the dart, nor the habergeon. 27 He esteems iron as straw, and brass as rotten wood. 28 The arrow cannot make him flee: sling stones are turned with him into stubble. 29 Darts are counted as stubble: he laughs at the shaking of a spear. 30 Sharp stones are under him: he spreads sharp pointed things upon the mire. 31 He makes the deep to boil like a pot: he makes the sea like a pot of ointment. 32 He makes a path to shine after him; one would think the deep to be hoary. 33 Upon earth there is not his like, who is made without fear. 34 He beholds all high things: he is a king over all the children of pride.
God is SOVEREIGN. He owns everything, including you and me. He could have been an evil Being, but he chose to love and be Good in all he does. Thank God he is not evil, but good and kind to all, even to those who reject him. They will not suffer forever. God will simply grieve them and let them go.
Choose life. That’s what God wants for you.

REASON #28
If the Hell doctrine shuts down a person's honesty, can it be legitimate?
Here’s the thing: There are four words used in the Bible that have all been translated into the word ‘Hell’. This mis-interpretation is not honest because these four words all mean different things. They are: Sheol (Hebrew for grave), Tartaroo (Greek for a place of restraint), Hades (Greek for grave) and Gehenna (Greek for the city dump).
None of these, with the possible exception of Gehenna or the city dump have any connection with fire. None of these have any connotation with duration, especially that of ‘forever’ as we understand that concept. These do not therefore represent a place of eternal conscious torture or torment in fire in any respect. That is the honest truth. Study these words for yourself in Strong’s Concordance or anywhere you like. Don’t believe me just because I say so. Prove it for yourself.
It is not honest to perpetuate a lie, even if it is told by a friend, pastor, church, TV preacher or theologian. The Hell dogma suppresses the truth in unrighteousness. It is a doctrine of demons, if you ask me, because it is deceitful.
The apostle Timothy speaks of this in 1 Timothy 4:1-2: ‘Now the Spirit speaks expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; 2 Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron;’
If it is deceitful, it is not honest. If it is not honest, it is illegitimate and needs to be eradicated from our thoughts, vocabulary and especially church doctrine. God owns the planet we live on and everything in it. He makes the rules, not mankind.

Let’s just be honest and admit that the doctrine of conscious torment in the flames of Hell is not to be found in the pages of the Bible. It is extra-biblical, even if all the clergymen of the entire world say to the contrary. If it is not in scripture, it should not be in church doctrine. Period.
Notice 1 Peter 2:12 ‘Having your conversation honest among the Gentiles: that, whereas they speak against you as evildoers, they may by your good works, which they shall behold, glorify God in the day of visitation.’
The Hell dogma is so well entrenched and cherished by millions of ‘Christians’ because it empowers them to think more highly of themselves than they ought. That is, it enables them to look down their noses at the rest of us sinners who are obviously on their way to Hell. They suppose that they are better than those of us they look down upon as sinners in the hands of an angry God. But what God thinks of them is ALL that really matters.
What people think or say does not really matter much. It is not our prerogative to condemn people or relegate them to the ‘Hell’ category. But Christians do it all the time in their thoughts. They condemn us sinners, thinking they will not ‘go to Hell’ but we will. They are better than us. They are no longer sinners, but we are. The train track has been switched to Heaven for them, but is still set for ‘Hell’ for us. Be careful about this.
Bottom line: Let’s all be careful not to relegate anyone to condemnation, by to pray that they all will come to the knowledge of the truth, even about Hell.

REASON #29
Even IF it were proved that Hell is a hoax and a great scam, people will still believe it because it is their TRADITION and tradition is more important to them than God or truth!
Jesus HATED tradition and condemned it. Matthew 15:3 'But he answered and said unto them, ‘Why do you also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition?’
Look at what happened in Mark 7: Then came together unto him the Pharisees, and certain of the scribes, which came from Jerusalem. 2 And when they saw some of his disciples eat bread with defiled, that is to say, with unwashed, hands, they found fault. 3 For the Pharisees, and all the Jews, except they wash their hands often, eat not, holding the tradition of the elders.
4 And when they come from the market, except they wash, they eat not. And many other things there be, which they have received to hold, as the washing of cups, and pots, brazen vessels, and of tables. 5 Then the Pharisees and scribes asked him, ‘Why walk not your disciples according to the tradition of the elders, but eat bread with unwashed hands?’
6 He answered and said unto them, ‘Well has Isaiah prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, ‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. 7 Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. 8 For laying aside the commandment of God, you hold the tradition of men, as the washing of pots and cups: and many other such like things you do.
9 And he said unto them, ‘Full well you reject [4] the commandment of God, that you may keep your own tradition. 10 For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother; and, Whoso curses father or mother, let him die the death’: 11 But you say, If a man shall say to his father or mother, ‘It is Corban’, that is to say, a gift, by whatsoever you might be profited by me; he shall be free. 12 And you suffer him no more to do anything for his father or his mother; 13 making the word of God of none effect through your tradition, which you have delivered: and many such like things do you.
14 And when he had called all the people unto him, he said unto them, ‘Hearken unto me every one of you, and understand: 15 There is nothing from without a man, that entering into him can defile him: but the things which come out of him, those are they that defile the man. 16 If any man has ears to hear, let him hear.’
17 And when he was entered into the house from the people, his disciples asked him concerning the parable. 18 And he said unto them, ‘Are you so without understanding also? Do you not perceive, that whatsoever thing from the outside enters into the man, it cannot defile him; 19 Because it enters not into his heart, but into the belly, and goes out into the draught, purging all meats?
20 And he said, ‘That which comes out of the man that defiles the man. 21 For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, 22 Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness: 23 All these evil things come from within, and defile the man.
Hell, as a place of eternal conscious torment is a mere tradition of men. To most evangelicals, traditions are more important than the word of God himself. Shame on all who accept this dogma without researching it for themselves! How can we believe what is against the direct words of Jesus?
Notice John 5:39 ‘Search the scriptures; for in them you think you have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me. 40 And you will not come to me, that you might have life. (Note that we must all come to Jesus to get life.)
41 I receive not honor from men. 42 But I know you, that you have not the love of God in you. 43 I am come in my Father's name, and you receive me not: if another shall come in his own name, him you will receive.
44 How can you believe, which receive honor one of another, and seek not the honor that comes from God only? 45 Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father: there is one that accuses you, even Moses, in whom you trust. 46 For had you believed Moses, you would have believed me: for he wrote of me. 47 But if you believe not his writings, how shall you believe my words?
He was confronting the religious leaders of his day the Scribes, Pharisees, Sadducees... the Sanhedrin who made up their own rules rather than trusting in God alone as the ultimate authority. Jesus revalidated the ‘Old Testament’, but as then, people today do not want it anymore. They want their own ways instead of Gods.
They want to control the parishioners and scare them with Hell Fire. Shame on them! They want to be free to do as they please, yet still feel ‘right with God’. But he will not tolerate or condone an attitude like that. To rebel like that is to un-believe and trust in mere mortals. We must trust God and him alone, for there is no one else who is our Savior.

REASON #30
The Hell Scam turns otherwise good and noble pastors into Snake Oil salesmen... SHYSTERS!
Zechariah 10:2-3 ‘For the idols have spoken vanity, and the diviners have seen a lie, and have told false dreams; they comfort in vain: therefore they went their way as a flock, they were troubled, because there was no shepherd. 3 My anger was kindled against the shepherds and I punished the goats: for the LORD of hosts has visited his flock the house of Judah, and have made them as his goodly horse in the battle. 4 Out of him came forth the corner, out of him the nail, out of him the battle bow, out of him every oppressor together.
Ezekiel 34:1-31: And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, 2 Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy, and say unto them, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD unto the shepherds; Woe be to the shepherds of Israel that do feed themselves! Should not the shepherds feed the flocks? 3 Ye eat the fat, and you clothe you with the wool, you kill them that are fed: but you feed not the flock.
4 The diseased have you not strengthened, neither have you healed that which was sick, neither have you bound up that which was broken, neither have you brought again that which was driven away, neither have you sought that which was lost; but with force and with cruelty have you ruled them.
5 And they were scattered, because there is no shepherd: and they became meat to all the beasts of the field, when they were scattered. 6 My sheep wandered through all the mountains, and upon every high hill: yes, my flock was scattered upon all the face of the earth, and none did search or seek after them.
7 Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the LORD; 8 As I live, says the Lord GOD, surely because my flock became a prey, and my flock became meat to every beast of the field, because there was no shepherd, neither did my shepherds search for my flock, but the shepherds fed themselves, and fed not my flock; 9 Therefore, O you shepherds, hear the word of the LORD;
10 Thus says the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against the shepherds; and I will require my flock at their hand, and cause them to cease from feeding the flock; neither shall the shepherds feed themselves anymore; for I will deliver my flock from their mouth, that they may not be meat for them. 11 For thus says the Lord GOD; Behold, I, even I, will both search my sheep, and seek them out.
12 As a shepherd seeks out his flock in the day that he is among his sheep that are scattered; so will I seek out my sheep, and will deliver them out of all places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day. 13 And I will bring them out from the people, and gather them from the countries, and will bring them to their own land, and feed them upon the mountains of Israel by the rivers, and in all the inhabited places of the country.
14 I will feed them in a good pasture, and upon the high mountains of Israel shall their fold be: there shall they lie in a good fold, and in a fat pasture shall they feed upon the mountains of Israel. 15 I will feed my flock, and I will cause them to lie down, says the Lord GOD. 16 I will seek that which was lost, and bring again that which was driven away, and will bind up that which was broken, and will strengthen that which was sick: but I will destroy the fat and the strong; I will feed them with judgment.
17 And as for you, O my flock, thus says the Lord GOD; Behold, I judge between cattle and cattle, between the rams and the he goats. 18 Does it seem it a small thing unto you to have eaten up the good pasture, but you must tread down with your feet the residue of your pastures? And to have drunk of the deep waters, but you must foul the residue with your feet?
19 And as for my flock, they eat that which you have trodden with your feet; and they drink that which you have fouled with your feet. 20 Therefore thus says the Lord GOD unto them; Behold, I, even I, will judge between the fat cattle and between the lean cattle. 21 Because you have thrust with side and with shoulder, and pushed all the diseased with your horns, till you have scattered them abroad; 22 Therefore will I save my flock, and they shall no more be a prey; and I will judge between cattle and cattle. 23 And I will set up one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them, even my servant David; he shall feed them, and he shall be their shepherd. 24 And I the LORD will be their God, and my servant David a prince among them; I the LORD have spoken it.
25 And I will make with them a covenant of peace, and will cause the evil beasts to cease out of the land: and they shall dwell safely in the wilderness, and sleep in the woods. 26 And I will make them and the places round about my hill a blessing; and I will cause the shower to come down in his season; there shall be showers of blessing.
27 And the tree of the field shall yield her fruit, and the earth shall yield her increase, and they shall be safe in their land, and shall know that I am the LORD, when I have broken the bands of their yoke, and delivered them out of the hand of those that served themselves of them. 28 And they shall no more be a prey to the heathen, neither shall the beast of the land devour them; but they shall dwell safely, and none shall make them afraid.
29 And I will raise up for them a plant of renown, and they shall be no more consumed with hunger in the land, neither bear the shame of the heathen any more. 30 Thus shall they know that I the LORD their God am with them, and that they, even the house of Israel, are my people, says the Lord GOD. 31 And you my flock, the flock of my pasture, are men, and I am your God, says the Lord GOD.

Woe to any pastor, minister or preacher who believes and teaches lies in the name of the LORD! Believe God, not men!

REASON #31

Endless conscious torment would NOT bring God honor and glory. Rather, restoration and renewal would. But, this is not saying that everyone will choose to live endlessly. Some will refuse and reject God, even at the cost of their lives. That is the grim reality. So, does God get what he wants? Yes, because God wants to give each of us human beings the right of free choice and he will not take it back from us, even if we die eternal death for it.

Some will choose death, meaning permanent death over permanent life. But why? Because their hatred for the God of the Bible is so ingrained, they will not repent of it, no matter what. Yes, I do believe in annihilation. God is merciful and will not allow them to suffer for all time to come; they will be unconscious for all time to come.

Jeremiah 51:39, 57. Starting in verse says: 36 ‘Therefore thus says the LORD; Behold, I will plead your cause, and take vengeance for you; and I will dry up her sea, and make her springs dry. 37 And Babylon shall become heaps, a dwelling place for dragons, an astonishment, and an hissing, without an inhabitant. 38 They shall roar together like lions: they shall yell as lions' whelps. 39 In their heat I will make their feasts, and I will make them drunken, that they may rejoice, and sleep a perpetual sleep, and not wake, saith the LORD. 40 I will bring them down like lambs to the slaughter, like rams with he goats.

55 Because the LORD hath spoiled Babylon, and destroyed out of her the great voice; when her waves do roar like great waters, a noise of their voice is uttered: 56 Because the spoiler is come upon her, even upon Babylon, and her mighty men are taken, every one of their bows is broken: for the LORD God of recompenses shall surely requite. 57 And I will make drunk her princes, and her wise men, her captains, and her rulers, and her mighty men: and they shall sleep a perpetual sleep, and not wake, says the King, whose name is the LORD of hosts.

58 Thus says the LORD of hosts; ‘The broad walls of Babylon shall be utterly broken, and her high gates shall be burned with fire; and the people shall labor in vain, and the folk in the fire, and they shall be weary.’

In their rejoicing on earth, the LORD himself will allow them to do horrific evil, but in the end, he will surely requite them and make them ‘sleep a perpetual sleep and not awake’. I cannot be awake and asleep at the same time. Babylon is real as well as symbolic for the wicked who will be destroyed completely (annihilated).

When all is quiet and the Earth and all the universe is at rest and in peace, then God will be glorified for he has given us life and brought life to the worlds he has made. The wicked simply will be no more. They will be as though they had never been.

REASON #32

Preachers say all sinners who die before repentance and faith in Jesus will go to Hell to consciously burn for all time to come.

Hitler and my grandma will thus both go to Hell to burn for all time to come. Right? No. Would it be fair in your estimation, that everyone will get the same hideous punishment regardless of the severity, duration and volume of the sins committed over the course of this short stint on here on Earth. And is there any hope for those who have already died without Christ?

Are they lost forever? Is this the only day of salvation? What will happen if they repent before God on the Day of Judgment? Will God say ‘Sorry, too bad for you! It’s too late! You made your bed, so lie in it for all eternity! Is that what God is really like? Didn’t Jesus say we should forgive ‘til seventy times seven? Is he holding us to a standard he himself won’t observe? Is he a hypocrite? No, of course not!

My take on the following passage from the lips of Jesus make this clear. There are apparently degrees of punishment according to Luke 12:42-48 and I quote: ‘42 And the Lord said, ‘Who then is that faithful and wise steward, whom his lord shall make ruler over his household, to give them their portion of meat in due season? 43 Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he comes shall find so doing.

44 Of a truth I say unto you, that he will make him ruler over all that he has. 45 But and if that servant say in his heart, ‘My lord delays his coming.’ and shall begin to beat the menservants and maidens, and to eat and drink, and to be drunken; 46 The lord of that servant will come in a day when he looks not for him, and at an hour when he is not aware, and will cut him asunder, and will appoint him his portion with the unbelievers.
47 And that servant, which knew his lord's will, and prepared not himself, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes. 48 But he that knew not, and did commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes. For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required: and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more.
God does not change. (Malachi 3:6 ‘For I am the LORD, I change not; therefore you sons of Jacob are not consumed.’) He cannot lie. (Titus 1:2 ‘In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began;) Jesus is God, as the Son of his Father God; thus he also does not change and neither can he lie.
My point is that God will not punish all unrepentant sinners alike. If there are degrees of punishment, how can the ‘one punishment fits all’ of eternal conscious torture in Hell be real? To some whose sins were relatively minor, he will judge them worthy of a few lashes and because they did not know better. But to the wicked, because they knew better but did it anyway, he will inflict more lashes.

Even so, he won’t punish them in Hell for all time to come. Both of these types are punished in accordance with the severity of their sins in hopes they will produce the repentant heart he is looking for. But some will refuse to be corrected, even at the cost of everything they had, including life itself.

They are incorrigible and unredeemable by their own choice. These will be punished with permanent death. Some will choose death over life, to God’s disappointment, but he will grant there request and allow them to die permanently and stay unconscious for all time to come.

Jeremiah 51:39 and 57 say so, along with many other passages already covered: In their heat I will make their feasts, and I will make them drunken, that they may rejoice, and sleep a perpetual sleep, and not wake, says the LORD. Verse 57: And I will make drunk her princes, and her wise men, her captains, and her rulers, and her mighty men: and they shall sleep a perpetual sleep, and not wake, says the King, whose name is the LORD of hosts.

This is our Great God, spelling it out for all to see in his own words. How more plain could he make it? This is clearly annihilation, not eternal conscious torment in the flames of Hell. May we all trust God enough to take him at his word and do away with myths and traditions foisted off on us by well-meaning but error-ridden theologians?

REASON #33

Jesus now has first-hand experience in being human, feeling what it's like to be tortured in his own flesh, so why would he want to torture others in the flames of Hell for all time to come?

Now he remembers the pain. It’s in his memory bank. He cannot forget it. He became very familiar with grief and first-hand at that. On the cross, he said 'Father forgive them for they know not what they do.' This is yet while they were sinners, in the process of torturing him, spitting on him, mocking him and killing him. Strange he did not say 'You evil doers will burn forever in Hell for this!' Why didn’t he?

Because, it is not in his nature to do such a thing. Yet another reason I believe Hell, as defined by most Christians and theologians today, is nothing more than a manipulative ploy, a blasphemous gimmick and an offensive, vulgar affront to God.
Jesus was tempted and tried in all the ways you and I are. He knows what we are going through.

Here is how the book of Hebrews chapter 4 puts it: verse 14 ‘Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession.
15 For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. 16 Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.’
This is the true nature of God and our Righteous Judge Jesus Christ: caring, gracious and merciful. That is what we can expect from him. He is not a torturer, especially for ever. No loving parent would keep spanking a child endlessly for any offense. That would be child abuse in the extreme. God is simply not like that.

REASON #34

34. If you buy into the ‘Hell Scam’, Satan has you right where he wants you: deceived by a doctrine of devils.
As for you, if you buy into the Great Hell Scam, Satan has already won your heart into believing that God is even more evil than Satan is! He’s got you right there in the palm of his hand where he wants you. Satan portrays himself as this fun-loving, party-animal type and not really mean and cruel but just ornery, while God is portrayed to us by Satan as rash, unfeeling, fickle, capricious, sadistic, cruel to the extreme, vindictive, merciless and unrelenting.
Don’t let him deceive you like that. It’s a trick and a scam. This is a doctrine of devils. Notice 1 Timothy 4:1-2: ‘Now the Spirit speaks expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;
2 Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron;’
Hell, as an ever-burning place of conscious torture is Satan’s idea, not God’s. Why give heed to it or believe it? It is not found in the Old Testament. It is none of the writings of the Apostle Paul, and when carefully examined it is not in the words of Jesus or any of the gospel writers. It is an anti-biblical figment of man’s imagination. It is improper to canonize imagination as scripture, regardless of who imagined it. That does not make it scripture, and this Hell Scam is not scriptural. Period.

Don’t you think if it was God’s idea and invention that he would have had his servants write it into his scriptures? Yes, of course he would. For he said he would do nothing unless he revealed it to his servants.

As it is written in Amos 3: 7 ‘Surely the Lord GOD will do nothing, but he reveals his secret unto his servants the prophets.’ Why then, would our Great God, who is Lord and Master of Heaven and of Earth, create this Hell as a place of conscious eternal torture and not tell us in his own Bible?

REASON #35

Other religions, Islam for example, have Hell as this ever-burning place of endless conscious torture, so how can it be Christian? The answer is: It is NOT CHRISTIAN. It was adopted into the Christian religion by the Catholic religion, which used the concept to control armies and get them to do whatever they deemed necessary, such as the attempted extermination of the Muslims.

The Church used this ploy to control armies through fear in the Middle Ages. No wonder the Islamic world hates Christianity to this day.

May I suggest we all prayerfully study Deuteronomy 11:1: ‘Therefore you shall love the LORD your God, and keep his charge, and his statutes, and his judgments, and his commandments, always. 2 And know this (to)day: for I speak not with your children which have not known, and which have not seen the chastisement of the LORD your God, his greatness, his mighty hand, and his stretched out arm, 3 And his miracles, and his acts, which he did in the midst of Egypt unto Pharaoh the king of Egypt, and unto all his land;
4 And what he did unto the army of Egypt, unto their horses, and to their chariots; how he made the water of the Red sea to overflow them as they pursued after you, and how the LORD hath destroyed them unto this day; 5 And what he did unto you in the wilderness, until you came into this place;
6 And what he did unto Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, the son of Reuben: how the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed them up, and their households, and their tents, and all the substance that was in their possession, in the midst of all Israel: 7 But your eyes have seen all the great acts of the LORD which he did.
8 Therefore shall you keep all the commandments which I command you this day, that you may be strong, and go in and possess the land, whither you go to possess it; 9 And that you may prolong your days in the land, which the LORD swore unto your fathers to give unto them and to their seed, a land that flows with milk and honey. 10 For the land, whither you go in to possess it, is not as the land of Egypt, from whence you came out, where you sowed your seed, and watered it with your foot, as a garden of herbs: 11 But the land, whither you go to possess it, is a land of hills and valleys, and drink water of the rain of heaven: 12 A land which the LORD your God cares for: the eyes of the LORD your God are always upon it, from the beginning of the year even unto the end of the year.
13 And it shall come to pass, if you shall hearken diligently unto my commandments which I command you this day, to love the LORD your God, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul, 14 That I will give you the rain of your land in his due season, the first rain and the latter rain, that you may gather in your corn, and your wine, and your oil.
15 And I will send grass in your fields for your cattle, that you may eat and be full. 16 Take heed to yourselves, that your heart be not deceived, and you turn aside, and serve other gods, and worship them; 17 And then the LORD's wrath be kindled against you, and he shut up the heaven, that there be no rain, and that the land yield not her fruit; and lest you perish quickly from off the good land which the LORD gives you.
18 Therefore shall you lay up these my words in your heart and in your soul, and bind them for a sign upon your hand, that they may be as frontlets between your eyes. 19 And you shall teach them your children, speaking of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. 20 And you shall write them upon the door posts of your house, and upon your gates: 21 that your days may be multiplied, and the days of your children, in the land which the LORD swore unto your fathers to give them, as the days of heaven upon the earth.
22 For if you shall diligently keep all these commandments which I command you, to do them, to love the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, and to cleave unto him; 23 Then will the LORD drive out all these nations from before you, and you shall possess greater nations and mightier than yourselves.
24 Every place where on the soles of your feet shall tread shall be yours: from the wilderness and Lebanon, from the river, the river Euphrates, even unto the uttermost sea shall your coast be. 25 There shall no man be able to stand before you: for the LORD your God shall lay the fear of you and the dread of you upon all the land that you shall tread upon, as he has said unto you.
26 Behold, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse; 27 A blessing, if you obey the commandments of the LORD your God, which I command you this day: 28 And a curse, if you will not obey the commandments of the LORD your God, but turn aside out of the way which I command you this day, to go after other gods, which you have not known.
29 And it shall come to pass, when the LORD your God hath brought you in unto the land where you go to possess it, that you shall put the blessing upon mount Gerizim, and the curse upon mount Ebal. 30 Are they not on the other side Jordan, by the way where the sun goes down, in the land of the Canaanites, which dwell in the campaign over against Gilgal, beside the plains of Moreh? 31 For you shall pass over Jordan to go in to possess the land which the LORD your God gives you, and you shall possess it, and dwell therein. 32 And you shall observe to do all the statutes and judgments which I set before you this day.

Study Deu. 12:29-32: When the LORD thy God shall cut off the nations from before you, whither you go to possess them, and you succeed them, and dwell in their land;
30 Take heed to yourself that you be not snared by following them, after that they be destroyed from before you; and that you inquire not after their gods, saying, 'How did these nations serve their gods? even so will I do likewise.'
31 You shalt not do so unto the LORD your God: for every abomination to the LORD, which he hates, have they done unto their gods; for even their sons and their daughters they have burnt in the fire to their gods.
32 What thing soever I command you, observe to do it: you shall not add thereto, nor diminish from it.

Let’s trust God and believe that he alone knows what’s right and what’s best for us. Let’s take him at his word and not serve ANY other god. Let us not find out how other people worship their gods so we can worship our God the same way.

The Great Hell Scam is not one of the ‘things of God’. It is a doctrine or teaching of devils, a deceit, a fraud and a lie we do not have to perpetuate. It is the way foreigners worshiped their pagan gods. We can and should do better than this. Let’s let it go where it belongs.

REASON #36

Jesus said ‘…You shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free.’ (John 8:32) One reason Jesus came was to set us free from the grave, death and eternal non-existence; that is to give us permanent life. Through him we are released from death and especially from fear of going to Hell. He wants us free of this horrible superstition. Let it go.
Jesus also said in John 5:19 Then answered Jesus and said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he sees the Father do: for what things so ever he does, these also does the Son likewise.
20 For the Father loves the Son, and shows him all things that himself does: and he will show him greater works than these, that you may marvel. 21 For as the Father raises up the dead, and quickens them; even so the Son quickens whom he will. 22 For the Father judges no man, but has committed all judgment unto the Son: 23 That all men should honor the Son, even as they honor the Father. He that honors not the Son honors not the Father which has sent him.
24 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that hears my word, and believes on him that sent me, has everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life. 25 Verily, verily, I say unto you, the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live. 26 For as the Father has life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself; 27 and has given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of man.
28 Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, 29 and shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.
When a building is condemned, we deem it unsuitable for habitation and it is torn down. So it is in the resurrection of damnation. The building is torn down, and destroyed forever in a fire. It simply no longer exists. Seek to enter in at the strait gate and you will find life. You will not come into condemnation! Hear his words and be not faithless, but believing.

REASON #37

Jesus also said that there is a place where the cursed, the Devil and his angels would be ‘cast ‘into everlasting fire…’

Doesn’t this prove Hell is forever? No, because the word everlasting does not mean ‘for all time to come’, but ‘for the duration’. Fire burns until its fuel is burnt up. According to Ezekiel 28 the Devil is to die the death and be no more. He’s the archenemy not the equal to God. God controls everything. All the cursed, the Devil’s angels and Satan will all cease to exist; they will not be tortured for all time to come, if we trust that God knows better than us. Read his word on it and trust his word; not that of mere men.
Notice Ezekiel 28:11- 11 Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, 12 Son of man, take up a lamentation upon the king of Tyrus, and say unto him, Thus says the Lord GOD; ‘You seal up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty. 13 You have been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was your covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of your tabrets and of your pipes was prepared in you in the day that you were created.
14 You are the anointed cherub that covers; and I have set you so: you were upon the holy mountain of God; you have walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire. 15 You were perfect in your ways from the day that you were created, till iniquity was found in you. 16 By the multitude of your merchandise they have filled the midst of you with violence, and you have sinned: therefore I will cast you as profane out of the mountain of God: and I will destroy you, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire.
17 Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty; you have corrupted your wisdom by reason of your brightness: I will cast you to the ground; I will lay you before kings, that they may behold you. 18 You have defiled your sanctuaries by the multitude of your iniquities, by the iniquity of your traffic; therefore will I bring forth a fire from the midst of you, it shall devour you, and I will bring you to ashes upon the earth in the sight of all them that behold you. 19 All they that know you among the people shall be astonished at you: you shall be a terror, and never shall you be any more.’
The only question then remains: Will you believe God or men?

REASON #38

According to the Apostle John in John 3:36 ‘He that believes the Son has everlasting life: and he that believes not the Son shall not see life but the wrath of God abides on him.’
Let’s recall that many of Jesus disciples were first disciples of John the Baptiser. In this passage, John the Baptiser is speaking. He is saying that those who believe Jesus have everlasting life, but those who reject him will not see everlasting life but rather the wrath of God Almighty. To not have life is to be dead, not eternally alive in another place.

Why did Jesus come in the first place, if not to rescue mankind from the result of sin which is permanent death? Even in the so-called ‘Old Testament’ he promised this.
Notice Isaiah 49: 22 ‘Thus says the Lord GOD, Behold, I will lift up mine hand to the Gentiles, and set up my standard to the people: and they shall bring your sons in their arms, and your daughters shall be carried upon their shoulders. 23 And kings shall be your nursing fathers, and their queens your nursing mothers: they shall bow down to you with their face toward the earth, and lick up the dust of your feet; and you shall know that I am the LORD: for they shall not be ashamed that wait for me.

24 Shall the prey be taken from the mighty, or the lawful captive delivered? 25 But thus says the LORD, Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken away, and the prey of the terrible shall be delivered: for I will contend with him that contends with you, and I will save your children. 26 And I will feed them that oppress you with their own flesh; and they shall be drunken with their own blood, as with sweet wine: and all flesh shall know that I the LORD am your Savior and your Redeemer, the mighty One of Jacob.’

But one may say ‘Well, I’m not Jewish, so this promise is not for me.’ Listen to the Apostle Paul in Romans 2:28-29 ‘For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh: 29 But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.’
I may be more Jewish than I thought. It is spiritual in nature and spiritually discerned.
9 Neither let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed of serpents. 10 Neither murmur you, as some of them also murmured, and were destroyed of the destroyer. 11 Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come. 12 Wherefore let him that thinks he stands take heed lest he fall.
May we all take action on his words!

REASON #39

If wicked people really suffer forever in Hell, where is the victory over sin?
Jesus said, referring to his church, that the ‘gates of Hell will not prevail against it.’ These gates are the gates of the grave, not the gates of a fire-engulfed torture chamber with an evil person running the place with a 3-pronged pitchfork in a pair of red tights.

Jesus nowhere mentions such a place. This myth was borrowed from the superstitions of pagans, as careful research will reveal. But, no doubt someone reading these words will say: ‘Well, what about Jesus’ words in Mark 9? They would be referring to verses 42-50. 42 ‘And whosoever shall offend one of these little ones that believe in me, it is better for him that a millstone was hanged about his neck, and he was cast into the sea. 43 And if your hand offends you, cut it off: it is better for you to enter into life maimed, than having two hands to go into Hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched: 44 Where their worm dies not and the fire is not quenched.

45 And if your foot offend you, cut it off: it is better for you to enter halt into life, than having two feet to be cast into Hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched: 46 Where their worm dies not, and the fire is not quenched. 47 And if your eye offend you, pluck it out: it is better for you to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye, than having two eyes to be cast into Hell fire: 48 Where their worm dies not, and the fire is not quenched. 49 For every one shall be salted with fire, and every sacrifice shall be salted with salt. 50 Salt is good: but if the salt has lost his saltiness, wherewith will you season it? Have salt in yourselves, and have peace one with another.

Three times in this passage Jesus says the same line: ‘to go into Hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched: where their worm dies not and the fire is not quenched.’ In my view, the ‘worm’ and the ‘fire’ represent the fame of Judgment Day. The reputation of that day will live forever in infamy.
God cannot fail. He will not take back our right to free choice, which God gave, otherwise what would love look like? So, if an individual insists on death, though this is counter-intuitive, God will grant his request and mercifully bring him to a swift and permanent end.

REASON #40

If Hell is real, there would be no reconciliation to our sin, thus nullifying the work Jesus accomplished on the cross!
God must have closure for sin. He insists on it. That’s why Jesus died the death penalty on the cross. He paid the penalty for all of mankind’s sin, yours and mine. Since his crucifixion and his resurrection are historically verifiable facts, we can see that Jesus did not pay the ‘eternal life in the torments of Hell’ penalty.
If God gave him special treatment because he was sinless or because Jesus was his Son, he would not have truly become sin for us, and thus there would be no reconciliation. He had to put sin to death.

Notice Ephesians 2:13 ‘But now in Christ Jesus you who sometimes were far off are made near by the blood of Christ. 14 For he is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of partition between us;
15 Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the (penalty of the?) law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of the two, one new man, so making peace; 16 And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby:’

And Colossians 1:14-29 ‘In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins: 15 Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature: 16 For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:
17 And he is before all things, and by him all things consist. 18 And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.
19 For it pleased the Father that in him should all fullness dwell; 20 And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven. 21 And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now has he reconciled 22 in the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and un-reproveable in his sight:
23 If you continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which you have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven; whereof I Paul am made a minister;
24 Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body's sake, which is the church: 25 Whereof I am made a minister, according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for you, to fulfill the word of God; 26 Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints:
27 To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory: 28 Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus: 29 Whereunto I also labor, striving according to his working, which works in me mightily.’
Note that he did NOT reconcile us to God the Father through the eternal punishment of the tortures of Hell Fire, but through death. Sin had to die. If on-going eternal punishing were God’s requirement for our sins, Jesus would have had to pay that penalty, but God still would not find closure there because it would remain ON-GOING.
There would be no end to it. But thanks be to God we do have a Savior who paid the correct penalty (of death) putting a permanent end to sin and its penalty, thereby reconciling us together with God. Thank God we have a loving Father who provided for us a permanent way out!

Conclusion and Epilogue

Do people really suffer consciously in Hell fire for all eternity?
Jan van Eyck, a Flemish painter who lived between 1390 and 1441 titled this painting ‘The Last Judgment’. At the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York where the painting is on display, someone left this placard below the painting: ‘The case against Christianity’. And no wonder. What makes any of this attractive, fair or accurate? Is God really a sadistic torturer?

What benefit would God derive from this? Why would he allow this? Is he the Creator of such an idea? What kind of a character is God? What is he really like? Does a mere 70-year sin-span life deserve and eternity of infinite torture? Is God irrational?

If we are appalled at the idea of chopping off a child’s hand for stealing a piece of bread, how could we not be appalled at the idea that the Great God of the universe will torture his children for ever in the flames of Hell fire?

Go online and study this picture. You will see Jesus in red in the center, Mary on his left and Joseph on his right, naked dead people rising from their graves, 24 Elders seated on thrones just below Jesus, various Bishops, Monks, Cardinals, Popes, Kings, Angels, and Archangels in his court, and Demons and the damned including some Popes writhing in the lower regions in Hell.

How do you know that what you believe about Hell is really real?
Have you convinced yourself that this kind of Hell really exists because you have thoroughly investigated it for yourself and know it to be true or have you just swallowed what others have told you about it?

Do a thorough, unbiased study on the subject of Hell before you teach falsehoods. I have done this on the subject of Hell and I have come to a very different and non-traditional view. You and I could be wrong about the subject or any subject for that matter. Edison said: ‘We know less than 1% about anything!’ True.

Don’t believe everything you hear from a ‘Doctor of Divinity’, a YouTube ® Video Series or even your Bible College or Seminary. When I was in Seminary, my New Testament Literature teacher stood up in the Teaching Theatre and told the student body: ‘I am not here to teach you the truth. I am here to teach what the church and this textbook says. It is not what I personally believe!’ Right away I asked myself: ‘Then what am I doing here?!’ As a truth seeker, I was to be disappointed.

Bottom line: If it’s mainstream, I question it. Broad is the way that leads to destruction; narrow the way to life… Jesus said. Take that to the Bank. But our teachers are only human. They have to answer to the status quo in order to eat regularly. But let’s face facts. No one has been there. No one goes there the day they die. No one is there right now. What you hear from the church should be questioned. Nothing should be accepted without proof. We demand it from Evolutionists. We should likewise demand it from the church. Who cares what people say? What does God say in his book the Holy Bible? That should be our authority to live by.

Does HELL really exist? To me, the bottom line is always the same: God or people. Am I going to choose to obey and follow and serve God or people? In ‘getting to the bottom’ of the Hell issue, think about why the church has adopted this doctrine or any other one for that matter. Money.

The Hell doctrine came to the Protestants through the Roman Catholic Church. It was used to control its parishioners. Unlike any other doctrine, Hell alone had the power to scare people into the pews and out of their money. Nothing has changed. Let’s not forget the Roman Catholic Church has taken upon itself the concept that whatever it decides to say or print is at least equal to or even greater than scripture!
They are they authorities to be reckoned with, not the Bible alone. Their word supersedes the Word of God! What’s wrong with that picture? Are you brave enough to follow and trust the Biblical evidence wherever it might lead?

Did God, the One who built the whole universe, create HELL? Does anyone burn forever in HELL? Is Satan the BOSS of Hell? Is Satan going to die? (YES! See Ezekiel 28) How hot is HELL supposed to be?

I once heard an astounding sermon on Hell delivered in Tampa, Florida by none other than Dr. Erwin Lutzer of Moody Institute fame. He said, and I quote: ‘Those who wind up in Hell will feel pain one hundred times greater than any pain he will ever experience on Earth.’NOT! My first thought was ‘Where’s that in the Bible’? That answer is: NO WHERE! Theologians should know better, since they are in the God Business.

So, if we wicked sinners live in this hideous condition for all eternity and we feel the pain ‘one hundred times greater’ than we feel here on Earth, then I suppose Hell is one hundred times hotter than it ought to be. No. No. No! It reminds me of this tongue-fu saying: ‘Spring has sprung; Fall has fell; Summer’s here and it hotter than... it ought to be!’

Reality check, please. Show me that in the Bible. Supposedly, the fire of Hell is hot enough to make us feel the pain one hundred times greater than we do here, but not hot enough to burn us up. How in Hell is that managed?

Why doesn’t anyone mention the SMOKE?

In all the sermons I’ve heard on Hell in the last fifty years, no one has even so much as mentioned the smoke? Maybe the fire is so hot it consumes even its own smoke. Google the words ‘smoke in Hell’ and see what comes up. You will find a Rock Band you don’t want to see. There is simply virtually nothing out there about smoke from the flames of Hell.

Why not? Is smoke mentioned in the Bible as it relates to Hell fire? What about Lazarus and the rich man? What did Jesus mean in Matthew 21:44 and Luke 20:18 by saying: ‘Whosoever shall fall upon that stone shall be broken; but upon whomsoever it shall fall, it shall grind him to powder.’?

What is this ‘worm that doesn’t die’? What did Jesus mean by ‘the fire is not quenched’? Will HELL go on and on forever and ever? Why won’t those who land in Hell find rest? What is the Biblical view of Hell? If Hell is God’s Torture Chamber, does that make him a sadist? Does God get pleasure from torturing people?

Where would this ‘ever-burning’ Hell fit in God’s plan for his universe? Why would God want to torture people in Hell? Does the ‘Second Death’ really mean eternal life in Hell? Is death conscious or unconscious? Do the dead know anything? Is God unable to kill completely? Eternal Death: The Annihilation theory; is it Biblical?
Are we the ‘authority’ on Hell or do we rely on the Bible?

Why would God want Hell? Visualize the Bigness of God. Here’s a powerful Being who can do all things like make and sustain the entire universe. He can make worlds like earth by the BILLIONS. There are countless billions of galaxies which each have billions of solar systems and thus there are a bazillion planets existing in the universe. He alone created all LIFE and sustains it. If he wants to share eternal life in his universe with his children, where would Hell fit in the great scheme of things He is doing?

Why would people to retain the dogma of Hell? Did it benefit the Church? Did it scare people into the church and out of their money? Have people ever researched the evidence to see if the doctrine of Hell can stand up under scrutiny?
Why can one speculate or criticize the doctrine of Heaven all they want; but not the doctrine of Hell? Could it be because if you do, you encroach on their works of righteousness and/or their pocketbook?

Where did the doctrine of an ever-burning Hell fire where people are tortured forever come from? Did it originate in the pages of the Bible?

Did it come from Egypt more than a thousand years before Christ? Research this for yourself and you will be amazed.

Is it really the nature of God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit to torment people eternally?
Would God torture people? Does he like the concept of torture? Will all people be resurrected, to either judgment or eternal life? Will he punish in love without killing? Is there such a thing as permanent death, i.e. annihilation? Did God approve of the pagan god Molech and the burning of children in sacrifice to him?
Is he really a God of love and compassion or severity, extreme anger, vengeance and retribution?

What penalty did Jesus pay for our sins? A conscious eternity is Hell?
No. Death on the cross. Is eternal life in Hell the ‘wages of sin’? Or is it death? (Romans 6:23) What does the Bible say death is anyway? If Hell is the penalty, Jesus should be there, paying for our sins in excruciating agony for all eternity.

Otherwise, we still need someone to pay the correct penalty and we’re thus still waiting on a Savior to pay the penalty for us. A child should get that. But many times we ‘oldsters’ just ‘go with the flow to preserve church unity. Young people today demand proof. No one can prove the doctrine of an ever-burning place of eternal conscious torture chamber called Hell, from the pages of the Bible. Look at it fresh and with an honest and open mind. Lay aside your pre-conceived notions and believe only what you prove from the Bible.

Did the Passover Lamb get tortured for ever or slaughtered? It was never burned while still alive. We must think it through carefully. What penalty did God the Father require Jesus to pay as full payment for the sin of all mankind? Is God a God of justice and fairness? If so, how is Jesus’ death on the cross acceptable to the Father as full payment for ALL the sins committed by ALL people who ever lived or ever will live, but if I don’t accept Jesus and I end up paying for my own sins, the payment requirement changes to eternal life in the flames of Hell? Is my sin greater than the sum of all the sins of mankind, since the punishment is infinitely greater?

Why then didn’t God the Father require Jesus to pay the ‘eternal life in Hell’ penalty? If this is the required penalty, then since Jesus didn’t pay it, we still need a Savior. If God the Father requires eternal life in Hell as payment for sin, than we do not have a Savior in Jesus.
What are the wages of sin according to the Bible? See and believe Romans 6:23.

The cross disproves conscious torture in Hell!
In other words, Jesus would be punished forever in the torments of Hell if that were the required penalty for sin. But death on the cross was Jesus’ penalty. Now that part of Jesus’ live is over and done. The required penalty has been met. The high price for the sins of all mankind has been paid for and we do not have to pay it ourselves, thank God!

You can have a Savior in Jesus who paid it all for you and no Hell to pay or you can have the concept of Hell where people go to live for all eternity in conscious torment and no Savior, but not both. Simply put: Jesus and no Hell or Hell and no Jesus. You decide.

What is meant by the ‘Lake of Fire’ and the ‘Bottomless Pit’?
Consider the idea that the Lake of Fire (Revelation 19:29; 20:10, 14 & 15), the Great Furnace (Matthew 13:42, 50) and the Bottomless Pit or the Abyss (Luke 8:31; Revelation 9:1, 2, 11; 11:7; 17:8 & 20:1, 3) is one and the same. It will be one BIG hole in the ground in Iraq, with a bottomless supply of crude oil and set on fire with the nuclear blast that created the hole. It does not yet exist in its final form. It is NOT a place of eternal torment.

Is the grave where we’re REALLY going when we die?
The grave is where people go to await our resurrection. When we do come back to life again, we face Jesus in the Judgment. Do people go to Heaven or Hell when they die? If we die, will we live again? What is meant by ‘the Resurrection from the dead’? Does our ‘soul’ live on, even if we die? Is there life after death?

Do people go to Heaven or Hell when they die? Do people really burn in Hell forever and ever? Does what men think and say hold more weight than the word of God? Is Tradition more important than Truth?

What did Jesus teach about Hell? Is the ‘everlasting fire’ Jesus warned us about, literal or symbolic? In what way do the wicked go into ‘eternal punishment’? What does the Bible say about Heaven and our future? What really happens at death? Do we go straight to Heaven or Hell? Would it be just for God to burn people for ever in the flames of Hell for a mere 70 years of sin? What are the ‘wages of sin’? Are they eternal life in Hell fire or permanent death?

IF ETERNAL TORTURE IN THE FLAMES OF HELL WAS REAL THERE WOULD ALWAYS BE PAIN, CRYING AND SORROW WOULD GO ON AND ON FOREVER; BUT REVELATION 21:3-4 SAYS GOD WILL WIPE ALL TEARS AND THERE WILL BE NO MORE SORROW, CRYING OR PAIN! REVELATION 21:3 And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. 4 And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.

Let’s believe God for a change and stop trusting in man’s ideas altogether. Let’s enjoy the FREEDOM from Hell that has gripped so many hearts with fear for so long. Let it go!