Chapter Four, Five, Six and
Seven
From
UNCONDITIONAL IMMORTALITY
OR
RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD
ISBN 0-7414-4620-0
William Robert West
Author of ÒThe Rapture And IsraelÓ
Chapter Four: The four
occasions Christ used Gehenna THE VANISHING HELL - THE CHANGING
HELL
TWENTH-FOUR PLUS VERSIONS OF HELL
THREE
CATHOLIC VERSIONS OF HELL
1. The Dark Age Catholic version of Hell
2. The New Catholic version of Hell
3. Nether World
SOME
OF THE MANY DIVISIONS OF THE PROTESTANT VERSIONS OF HELL
1. The Calvin version
of Hell
2. The Jonathan
Edwards version
3. The Graphic
view of Hell
4. Satan doing
the tormenting
5. God doing
the tormenting
6. The
Metaphorical view of both Heaven and Hell
7. Mental
anguish only Hell - Billy Graham
8. C. S Lewis -
the almost pleasant Hell
9. Protestant
Traditionalist
10. Many
Protestant Premillennial versions
12. Realized
Eschatology – A. D. 70 version
13. Protestant
Rephaim version
EIGHT
OTHER VERSIONS OF HELL
1. Church of
Christ, Christian Church AbrahamÕs bosom after Judgment Hell, A newer version
1. Edward Fudge
version: The short Hell
2.
Christadelphians version
3.Church of God
and others
4. Universalist
version of Hell
5. Seventh-Day
Advent version
7. Latter-day
Saints version [Mormons]
8. The Grave is
Hell version [Jehovah's Witnesses]
NO
BIBLE HELL
Use
of fire and torment in the New Testament
Chapter Five: Sheol,
Hades and Tartarus
Chapter Six: Sheol in the
Old Testament
THE WAY SHEOL IS TRANSLATED IN THE KING JAME VERSION
[1] Down into a pit in the earth (in 3 passages)
[2] Nations in the grave (in 4 passages)
[3] Nations in
Hell (in 14
passages)
[4] The good in the grave (in 10 passages)
[5] The bad in
the grave (in
7 passages)
[6] The good and bad in the grave
together (in 10 passages)
[7] The good
and bad in Hell together (in 2 passages)
[8] The good in Hell (in 7 passages)
[9] The bad in
Hell (In only
8 of the 65 passages)
HADES IS USED ELEVEN TIMES IN THE NEW
TESTAMENT
[1] That has reference to the death of
Christ (3 passages)
[2] That has reference to death (1
passages)
[3] That has reference to the
destruction of cities or countries (2 passages)
[4] The symbolical passages (5
passages)
Chapter Seven: A strange
and unexplainable silence. The reinterpreting of life, death, torment, destruction, destroy,
perish, die, and end
Is "The Wages Of Sin Death"
Or
"Eternal Life With Torment In Hell"
An Immortal Soul and the Doctrine of Hell
Over 589,000
downloads
Is
the wages of sin eternal life in Hell with torment?
William West
CHAPTER FOUR
FROM WHERE CAME
HELL, FROM MAN OR GOD?
HOW DID A REAL
EARTHLY VALLEY NEAR JERUSALEM
WHICH EXISTED
IN THE TIME OF CHRIST
AND IS STILL
TODAY CALLED BY THE NAME ÒGEHENNAÓ
BECOME A PLACE OF
ETERNAL TORMENT NAMED ÒHELLÓ
WHICH IS NOT ON
THIS EARTH?
How was "the wages of sin is death"
reinterpreted to be Òthe wages of sin is an eternal life of torment for an
immoral soul that is not subject to death.Ó
Back to: INDEX AND CHAPTER ONE html – Or go to: INDEX AND ALL
TEN CHAPTERS pdf
The word Hell in the King
James Version is translated from four different words, three in the Greek New
Testament [Gehenna, hades and Tartarus], and one in the Hebrew Old Testament
[sheol].
Both sheol in the Old Testament, and hades in the New
Testament mean grave, but are translated Hell in the King James Version, and
Tartarus is translated Hell one time. Most other translations [American
Standard Version, New American Standard Version, Revised Standard Version, New
Revised Standard Version, New International Version, and others] translate only
one word [Gehenna] into Hell, and only in the New Testament. Not four different
words, which have different meanings. The word Hell is not in the Old Testament
in any of the above translations or is not in most other translations. Although
this valley is mentioned frequently in the Old Testament, not even the King
James Version translated it "Hell" as they did in the New Testament.
Gehenna was a well-known valley south of Jerusalem long before it was made into
a dump and it exists and has the name ÒGehennaÓ to this day. Josiah might have
made this valley into a rubbish dump [2 Kings 23:10; 2 Chronicles 28:1-4]. This
valley is in the Old Testament, called the valley of Hinnom, but is never
translated Hell, even in the King James Version. In the time of Christ this
valley was the city dump. Most newer translations, and most all Bible students,
now admit sheol, hades, and Tartarus do not mean Hell; but some still believe
Gehenna should be translated Hell, therefore, a detailed look at this valley
and its use in both the Old and New Testament is necessary.
GEHENNA
IS THE NAME OF A VALLEY SOUTH OF JERUSALEM. IT IS A REAL GEOGRAPHICAL LOCATION,
which was used in the time of Christ as the city
dump of Jerusalem. In the fifties I did some work at the dump of a city about
the size of Jerusalem in the time of Christ. The refuse would be put in large
piles and set on fire. All day rains, even 4 inches in one hour, could not put
it out. There would have been no way for the people of Jerusalem to quench it
(put out). The remains of animals were put in pits to be covered and worms
(Greek, Maggots-Young, Page 1074) would get into them, and even after we put
many gallons of spray in a pit, you could see the remains moving from the
working of the maggots. Back in the fifties and before, cities did not have
landfills; but had garbage dumps where they would put the garbage in piles and
burn them. Big city garbage dumps were always burning night and day, and the
smoke could sometimes be seen for miles. They were the same as Gehenna was in
the time of Jesus, and were literally used for the destruction of the unwanted
city garbage. Brimstone (sulfur) was added to keep the garbage burning in
Gehenna, and it was always burning night and day, and those near by could see
the smoke always rising. On some of the four occasions Christ used Gehenna as a
metaphor those He was speaking to might have been able to see the smoke of
Gehenna in the background while He was speaking. The people of Jerusalem did
not have a trash pickup as we do, and had to take their own trash to Gehenna,
therefore, most of those Christ was speaking to would be very familiar with the
never-ending fires and worms for many would have taken their trash to it.
Albert Barnes in his
commentary on Matthew 5:22 says, "The extreme loathsomeness of the place,
and filth and putrefaction, the corruption of the atmosphere, and the lurid
fires blazing by day and by night, made it one of the most appalling and
terrific objects with which a Jew was ever acquainted."
Alexander Campbell
says, "In the time of our Savior, it [Gehenna] was the place to which all
the filth, and the dead bodies of animals and criminals from the city of Jerusalem,
were conveyed. Here worms were ever reveling on the carcasses of the dead, and
fires were ever kept burning to consume the noxious matter and to purge the air
from its pestilential stench...This appears to be the only term in the
Scriptures which favors the notion of confining hell to a local habitation"
"Five Discourses On Hell" 1848.
In the time of Jesus,
Gehenna was used as a place of destruction; but there was no torment in it. Those who heard Jesus would understand the
use of Gehenna as a symbol of destruction, but would not have been able to look
at Gehenna, their city dump, and understand how it could be used as a symbol of
a place of torment for there was no torment in their city dump. When most
who use the King James Version, read Hell they never understand that Christ was
speaking of the city dump, for they cannot from the King James Version. It was
mistranslated to make the readers understand Christ to be speaking of a place
where God is forever tormenting immortal souls.
A
PROPER NOUN IS THE NAME OF "A PARTICULAR PERSON, PLACE, OR THING."
GEHENNA
IS A PROPER NOUN, THE NAME OF A WELL-KNOWN PARTICULAR PLACE NEAR JERUSALEM. TO
TRANSLATE IT INTO HELL, ANOTHER PROPER NOUN, THE NAME OF A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT
PARTICULAR PLACE, IS MORE THAN A BAD TRANSLATION. IT IS A DELIBERATE CHANGING.
Bethlehem, Dead Sea, Gehenna, Rome, and Jericho are all proper nouns and should
not be translated. Why is this the only name that is changed to another name? Proper nouns (names) are the same in most languages, and
therefore, they are not translated; but Gehenna was changed, not translated,
into Hell, another proper noun, the name of another particular place, just
because the King James translators needed to. Hell is not a translation of Gehenna, in the same way that New York is
not a translation of Jerusalem. Gehenna and Hell are two different proper names
of two different places. From where did the King James translators get this
name, and why did they want to deliberately mislead all who read their
translation? This valley is used in the New Testament only when speaking to
the Jews for it was not a locality that would be known to the Gentiles that did
not live near Jerusalem. It was a local particular place and Gehenna would be a
name known and used only to those who lived in or near Jerusalem. The names of
the city dumps of most cities are not well known to any but those who live in
or near that city, and those not from that city would not know or use it. Paul
did not use it in any of his letters to those not at Jerusalem.
It was
not translated into Hell in the Septuagint, a translation of the Old Testament
form Hebrew to Greek that was used in the time of Christ. "Hell" is
not a translation but a deliberate changing of one place for another completely
different place. I believe it was deliberately changed to put "Hell"
in the Bible. A place has been made
up that is not in the Bible; and a name given to it that is not in the Bible; if
this is not adding to, what would it take to add to the Bible? That Christ used the name of a valley,
which was the city dump, is completely hid from the reader of the King James
Version, whether intentional or not; and they are led to believe He spoke of a
different place, which has been named "Hell." The teachings of Christ
have been deliberately changed. It was a geographical location on this Earth.
Not somewhere under the earth or out in space. IT WAS A REAL GEOGRAPHICAL
LOCATION THAT EXISTED IN THE TIME OF CHRIST WHERE THE FIRES WERE CONSTANTLY
KEPT BURNING SINCE IT SERVED AS AN INCINERATOR FOR THE USELESS REFUSE OF THE
CITY. CHRIST USED IT AS A SYMBOL [An illustration] OF DESTRUCTION [Like the
burning of the useless chaff of Luke 3:17]. GEHENNA CANNOT BE TRANSLATED OR
REINTERPRETED INTO HELL. To say Gehenna, as used by Christ, is Hell; is
to say it has no reference to the Gehenna [the city dump] near Jerusalem.
The
Jews might have made the valley of Gehenna a dump because of their hatred of
its misuse in Old Testament times, but the figures or symbols used by Christ
[fire and maggots] came from its use in New Testament times, not its use in Old
Testament times. THEY ARE SYMBOLS OF DESTRUCTION, NOT OF TORMENT. IN THE TIME
OF CHRIST THERE WAS NO TORMENT, AND NO IDOL WORSHIPPED IN GEHENNA [the city
dump]. CHRIST WAS NOT ALLUDING TO
IDOL WORSHIP OR TORMENT BUT TO THE DESTRUCTION OF THOSE WHO REJECTED HIM. Worms
[maggots] do not eat living being, but dead ones, NOT TO TORMENT THEM, BUT TO
CONSUME [eat up for food]. As long as there was something to burn or eat, the
maggots would never die out, and the fire would not go out; but be consuming,
not tormenting what was being cast in. In the time of Christ it was a place
used to dispose of useless things, not to torment them. Many misuse this to
show that living being will be tormented forever, and make God be doing the
tormenting. LIVING VICTIMS WAS NOT
PRESERVED ALIVE AND TORMENTED IN GEHENNA, BUT FIRE OR WORMS DEVOURED DEAD
VICTIMS. TO MAKE IT A PLACE OF ETERNAL TORMENT IS WITHOUT ANY BASIS
WHATSOEVER. How and when did a valley that exists to this day get turned into
Hell?
Gehenna and the Lake
of Fire are often thought to be the same metaphor by many. Gehenna is a place
of destruction, and the lake of fire is a place where no life as we know it
could exist; they are two different symbolic pictures [Revelation 20:14].
Neither one is a symbol of an eternal life of torment. Both picture the total
destruction of whatever was thrown into them.
UNQUENCHABLE
FIRE OF GEHENNA
IMMORTAL
WORMS OF GEHENNA
"UNQUENCHABLE
FIRE" AND "THEIR WORM DIES NOT" AS THEY ARE USED IN THE OLD AND NEW
TESTAMENTS: UTTER DESTRUCTION.
John the Baptist used
"Unquenchable fire" on one
occasion. He says Christ "will
gather his wheat into the garner, but the chaff he will BURN UP with
unquenchable fire" [Matthew 3:12; Luke 3:17]. Will this unquenchable
fire forever torment the chaff, which has been burned up?
Adam
Clarke says, "He will burn up the chaff that is, the disobedient and
rebellious Jews, with unquenchable fire that cannot be extinguished by
man."
When
firefighter cannot put out a burning building, they say it is an unquenchable
fire but it is not a fire that will burn forever; no one will be able to escape
from it by putting it out, but it will go out when there is nothing more to
burn. An unquenchable fire is one that no person can put out but it is not an
eternal fire.
And on one occasion
by Christ of the burning of trash in the city dump in Mark 9:43-48 where He repeats
it a second time (verses 43 and 48) in the American Standard Version, Revised
Standard Version, New International Version. "Unquenchable fire" is repeated five times in Mark 6:43,
44, 45, 46 and 48 in the King James Version. BOTH the chaff and trash are
utterly destroyed by burning to get rid of something unwanted. The chaff or the
trash was not tormented. Like Gehenna, unquenchable fire is not used in the
rest of the New Testament. Never used by Paul, Peter, John, etc.
Christ used the "worm that dies not" only on
one occasion [Mark 9:44-48; Repeated three times in verses 44, 46 and 48 in the
King James Version but only one time in verse 48 in the American Standard
Version]. He used both the maggots and the fire of Gehenna as a symbol of total
destruction, not to show that God will forever torment most of mankind. If this
is not figurative language, will there be immortal maggots in Hell? Can earthly
maggots eat an immortal soul in "Hell?" Even most who believes in
"Hell" make the maggots figurative, not real maggots in Hell, but
make the "fire" be literal fire.
If Gehenna's "unquenchable fire" and "their worm dies not" are a
description of the endless punishment of the wicked in "Hell," the
silence of the New Testament writers would be unexplainable. (1) Acts, a
history of the preaching and church for about thirty years does not mention
Gehenna, unquenchable fire, or immortal maggots. (2) In none of Paul's fourteen
letters, he never mentioned any of them. (3) Peter, John, James, and Jude are
also as silent as Paul. (4) Neither can they be found in the Book of
Revelation.
[1] The one time
Christ used "unquenchable fire"
in Mark 9:48, He was quoting from Isaiah 66:24. TO UNDERSTAND HIS WORDS, THEY MUST BE UNDERSTOOD IN THE WAY THE OLD
TESTAMENT USED THEM, just as much of Revelation is to be understood by the
way the same symbols are used in the Old Testament. ÒUNQUENCHABLE FIREÓ WAS A WELL-KNOWN EXPRESSION IN THE OLD TESTAMENT
AND WOULD BE UNDERSTOOD BY THOSE HEARING CHRIST. "And the strong man will become tinder, his work also a spark,
thus, they shall both burn together, and there will be none to quench
them" [Isaiah 1: 31]. Jeremiah warned Jerusalem of the consequence of
their sins, "Then will I kindle a
fire in the gates thereof, and it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem and it shall not be quenched"
[Jeremiah 17:27]. His warning was fulfilled in 2 Chronicles 36:19-21. Jerusalem was destroyed with an "unquenchable fire." It
consumed all, and was not quenched unto it went out when there was nothing more
to consume; then the unquenchable fire went out. Jerusalem is not burning
today. An unquenchable fire is not an eternal fire, but one that cannot be put
out unto there is nothing to burn. Those who believe in Hell change
"unquenchable" into "eternal" then move the unquenchable fire
that destroyed Jerusalem from Jerusalem on this earth and put this
"eternal fire" in their "Hell" which they say is not on
this earth. First, they must change the fire and second; they
must move it from Jerusalem to "Hell." Isaiah says, " For behold, the Lord will come in
fire and His chariots like the whirlwind, to render His anger with fury, and
His rebuke with the flames of fire. For the Lord will execute judgment by fire
and by His sword on all flesh, and those slain by the Lord will be many...Then
they shall go forth and look on the corpses [dead bodies in American
Standard Version] of the men who have
transgressed against me. For their [the corpses] worm shall not die, and their
[the corpses] fire shall not be quenched; and they [the corpses] shall be an abhorrence to all mankind"
[Isaiah 66:15-24]. The worms consumed the corpses, and the fires were not
quenched, unto there was no more flesh to consume or burn. IT WAS CORPSES, DEAD BODIES WHICH WERE ON THE EARTH THAT WERE BEING
CONSUMED BY THE UNQUENCHABLE FIRE AND UNDYING MAGGOTS, ÒTHOSE SLAIN BY THE LORDÓ (ISAIAH 66:16) NOT ÒTHOSE TORMENTED BY
THE LORD,Ó NOT IMMORTAL SOULS IN HELL THAT CANNOT BE SLAIN SCREAMING IN ANGUISH
AND PAIN; ISAIAH 66:16; 66:24 DESCRIBES THE AFTERMATH OF A BATTLE WITH THE DEAD
UNBURIED. THOSE PEOPLE BACK IN THE TIME OF ISAIAH DID NOT LOOK FROM HEAVEN DOWN
INTO HELL AND SEE LIVING SOULS BEING EATEN BY MAGGOTS. IT WAS THE LIVING PEOPLE
ON THIS EARTH IN THE TIME OF ISAIAH THAT WENT OUT TO THE BATTTLE FIELD AND SAW
REAL DEAD BODIES ON THIS EARTH BEING EATEN AND BURNED, NOT IMMORTAL SOULS IN
HEAVEN THAT "SHALL GO FORTH AND LOOK
ON THE CORPSES" AND SEE LIVING SOULS THAT ARE THAT ARE BEING TORMENTED
IN HELL AS WORMS AND FIRE ARE CONSUMING THEM. HOW CAN FIRE OR WORMS ETERNALLY
TORMENT A DEAD BODY? It is the fire that is unquenchable and both Isaiah
and Christ speak only of the maggots that do not die, not the corpses that were
being burnt up or eaten, they are dead, have be slain, there is nothing said
about them being alive and in torment, but todayÕs theology says there are both
alive in being forever tormented by fire. There is not even a hint that the
corpses were aware of anything. For this to prove the soul is immortal they
would have to be viewing disembodied immortal souls that had been "slain by the Lord" [Isaiah
66:16] but were still living after the Lord had slain them, not viewing dead
bodies that were on this earth. It was living people viewing dead bodies that
had been "slain by the Lord,"
not living people on this earth looking into Hell and seeing an immaterial,
invisible part of a living person being tormented in Hell. WITHOUT DOUBT, THIS WAS A JUDGMENT AND PUNISHMENT ON THIS EARTH THAT
HAS ENDED, NOT A PUNISHMENT IN HELL THAT WILL NEVER END.
á There is
no mention of torment. The ungodly
had been killed; it says nothing about the Lord TORMENTING them.
á There is
no mention of immortal souls that are being eaten by maggots and being consumed
by fire. The witness sees the RESULT
OF THIS DESTRUCTION (slaying). They see the CORPSES, DEAD BODIES being consumed
by fire and maggots, not a living immaterial, invisible part of a person being
tormented.
á They do not see them in pain and anguish, not in endless tortured
for the corpses they see are dead and are on this earth, not in Hell.
á Some believers in Hell change the Bible by transferring the
qualities of the worm being undying to the dead bodies that were eating.
[2] "Therefore thus says the Lord Jehovah:
Behold, mine anger and my wrath shall be poured out upon this place, upon man
and upon beast, and upon the trees of the field, and upon the fruit of the
ground; and it shall burn, and shall not
be quenched" [Jeremiah 7:20].
[3] Ezekiel also speaks of the destruction of
Judah using the imagery of a forest burning. "And the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying, son of man, set
your face toward the south, and drop your word toward the south, and prophesy
against the forest to the field in the South; and say to the forest of the
South, Hear the word of Jehovah: Thus says the Lord Jehovah, Behold, I will
kindle a fire in you, and it shall consume every green tree in you, and it
shall devour ever green tree in you, and ever dry tree; the flaming flame shall not be quenched, and all faces
from the south to the north shall be burnt thereby. And all flesh shall see
that I, Jehovah, have kindled it; it
shall not be quenched" [Ezekiel 20:47-48].
Adam
Clarke: "The forest of the south field is the city of Jerusalem; which was
as full of inhabitants as the forest is of trees. I will kindle a fire, i. e.,
I will send war; and it shall devour ever green tree, i. e., the most eminent
and substantial of the inhabitants; and every dry tree, i. e., the lowest and
meanest also; it shall not be quenched, i. e., till the land be utterly ruined."
The Òunquenchable fireÓ was God using Babylonian to destroy Israel
(Ezekiel 21:19; Nehemiah 1:3). GodÕs judgment on Israel was unquenchable, no
one could stop it, but it ended when Israel was destroyed.
[4] Isaiah describes the desolation of Edom,
"For my sword has drunk its fill in
heaven; behold, it shall come down upon Edom, and upon the people of my curse,
to judgment...For Jehovah has a day of vengeance, a year of recompense for the
cause of Zion. And the streams of Edom shall be turned into pitch, and the dust
thereof into brimstone, and the land there of shall become burning pitch. It shall not be quenched night or day; and
the smoke thereof shall go up forever; from generation to generation it shall
lay waste; none shall pass through it forever and ever. But the pelican and
the porcupine shall possess it; and the owl and the raven shall dwell
therein" [Isaiah 34:6-15]. If this fire that "shall not be quenched night
nor day" is the Hell that is taught today, how is it that "none shall pass through it forever and
ever," is their no one that shall be in Hell but pelican, porcupine,
owl, and ravens? This is clearly an earthly judgment on Edom that has long
passed, not an unquenchable fire in Hell after the judgment day. After the
unquenchable fire had done itÕs work it went out and the land became a desert
inhabited by pelicans, porcupines, owls and ravens.
[5] For more examples
of God's judgments in this world being spoken of as an unquenchable fire see
Isaiah 1:31; Jeremiah 17:27; 21:12; Amos 5:6; 2 Kings 22:26-17; 2 Chronicles
34:24-25.
THESE
PASSAGES SHOW THAT THE WRITERS OF THE OLD TESTAMENT USED "UNQUENCHABLE FIRE" AS A FIGURE OF A JUDGMENT BY WAR AND
FAMINE ON ISRAEL WHEN THEY SINNED AND ON WICKED NATIONS. When Jesus was
speaking of the fire and worms of Gehenna, he was giving a description of the
finality of the destruction of Israel who rejected Him, which His audience
would understand. Those hearing Christ
would understand how unquenchable fire and undying worms were used in the Old
Testament and therefore would understand His use of them. They would have known
that Gehenna that He was speaking of was a foul place of destruction where
worthless things were disposed of, and would have known He was saying the
destruction He was speaking of would be like the destruction of the garbage in
Gehenna, like the destruction of Jerusalem by unquenchable fire and maggots in
the Old Testament. They knew they were being threatened with complete
destruction just as the trash in the city dump. Jerusalem was destroyed and
burnt, and historian's say in AD 70 many dead bodies were burned and many were
left unburied for the maggots. "And
the strong man will become tinder, his work also a spark, thus, they shall both
burn together, and there will be none to quench them" [Isaiah 1:31].
ÒThere are some 70 cases in scripture
where fire is used as judgment upon wickedness, or in a sacrifice for sin, and
in every case except two the fire was a figure or an agent of destruction.
Never was it used for the purpose of torture. In the sacrifice of the Ôwhole
burnt offering,Õ for example, the remains of the animal were burned to nothing
but ashes (Lev. 1:17). This was to typify the final destruction of the unsaved
as judgment.Ó Curtis Dickinson, ÒA Place Called GehennaÓ
Summary: The worm
that dies not, and the unquenchable fire, as used in the Old Testament and by
Christ, proves UTTER DESTRUCTION, not everlasting torment. GEHENNA IS BELIEVED
BY THOSE WHO TEACH EVERLASTING TORMENT TO BE THEIR STRONG HOLD, BUT THE SYMBOLS
OF MAGGOTS EATING DEAD BODIES ON THIS EARTH, AND FIRE CONSUMING UNWANTED TRASH ["dead bodies" Isaiah 66:24]
ARE SYMBOLS OF DESTRUCTION, NOT SYMBOLS OF TORMENT. MANY THINK THIS IS THE
STRONGEST PROOF OF EVERLASTING TORMENT IN THE BIBLE, BUT IT IS THE OTHER WAY
AROUND. IT IS A STRONG PROOF THAT THE LOST WILL BE EVERLASTING DESTROYED. IT
DOES NOT PROVE THAT A SADISTIC GOD WILL FOREVER TORMENT ANYONE.
THE
OLD TESTAMENT HISTORY OF GEHENNA
Gehenna was first
mentioned in Joshua 15:8; 18:16, although it was never called
"Gehenna" in the Old Testament. Ahaz "burnt incense in the
valley of the son of Hinnom, and burnt his children in the fire"
[2 Chronicles 28:3; 2 Kings 16:3]. Manasseh also burnt his children in the fire
in this valley [2 Chronicles 33:6].
Jeremiah 7:31-32
Children of Judah burned their sons and daughters in the fire in this valley,
and Jehovah said, "And they have
built the high places of Topheth, which is in the valley of the son of Hinnom,
to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire, which I did not command,
and it did not come into My mind. It shall no more be called Topheth, nor The valley of the son of Hinnom, but the valley of slaughter: for they shall bury in Topheth, till there be no place to bury. And the dead bodies of
this people shall be food for the birds of the heavens, and for the beasts of
the earth; and none shall frighten them away." [Note: Those who teach
"Hell fire" are saying to God, "O yes it came into Your mind.
You have said You are going to burn most of Your children in a fire much hotter
than the fire in which they burnt their children."]
Jeremiah
19:1-15 "Thus says the Lord, Go and
buy a potter's earthenware jar, and take some to the elders of the people and
some of the senior priests. Then go out to the valley of Ben-hinnom, which is by the entrance of the potsherd
gate; and proclaim there the words
that I shall tell you, and say, Hear the word of the Lord, O kings of Judah and
inhabitants of Jerusalem: thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel,
Behold I am about to bring a calamity upon this
place, at which the ears of everyone that hears of it will tingle. Because
they have forsaken Me and have made this
an alien place and have burned sacrifices in it to other gods that neither they nor their forefathers nor
the kings of Judah had ever known, and because they have filled this place with the blood of the
innocent and have built the high places
of Baal to burn their sons in the fire as burnt offerings to Baal, a thing
which I never commanded nor spoke of, nor did it enter My mind; therefore,
behold, days are coming, declares the Lord,
when this place will no longer be called Topheth or the valley of Ben-hinnom,
but rather the valley of Slaughter. And I shall make void the counsel of
Judah and Jerusalem in this place, and I shall cause them to fall by the
sword before their enemies and by the hand of those who seek their life; and I
shall give over their carcasses as food for the birds of the sky and the beast
of the earth. I shall also make this city a desolation and an object of
hissing; everyone who passes by it will be astonished and hiss because of the
disasters. And I shall make them eat the flesh of their sons and the flesh of
their daughters, and they will eat one another's flesh in the siege and in the
distress with which their enemies and those who seek their life will distress
them. Then you are to break the jar in the sight of the men who accompany you
and say to them, Thus says the Lord of hosts, Just so shall I break this people
and this city, even as one breaks a potter's vessel, which cannot again be
repaired; and they will bury in Topheth
because there is no other place for burial. This is how I shall treat this place and its inhabitants,
declares the Lord so as to make this
city like Topheth. And the houses of Jerusalem and the houses of the kings
of Judah will be defiled like the place
Topheth, because of all the houses on whose rooftops they burned sacrifices
to all the heavenly host and poured out libations to other gods. Then Jeremiah came from Topheth, where the
Lord has sent him to prophesy; and he stood in the court of the Lord's
house and said to all the people; thus says the Lord of host, the God of
Israel, Behold, I am about to bring on
this city and all its towns the entire calamity that I have declared against it,
because they have stiffened their necks so as not to heed My words." Jeremiah used the valley of Gehenna to warn Israel of their destruction
as a nation. Christ also used the valley of Gehenna to warn Israel of their
destruction as a nation.
Many believe the t
angel of the Lord killed the185,000 Assyrians in this valley when they were
laying siege to Jerusalem [Isaiah 37:36]. They were killed near Jerusalem and
it could have been in this valley, but I can find no sure proof that it was.
See Isaiah 30:31-33.
Josiah "defiled Topheth, which is in the valley of the children of Hinnom, that no
man might make his son or his daughter to pass through the fire to Molech"
[2 Kings 23:10]. This may be when it became the trash dump that it is in the
New Testament.
It is also mentioned
in Nehemiah 11:30; Jeremiah 19:2: Because of their worshiping other gods in it,
God made it a place of destruction and death, not torment. Topheth [Gehenna in
the New Testament] literally means a place of burning, and a place of death,
"The valley of slaughter" [Jeremiah 7:31].
EVERY
REFERENCE TO GEHENNA IN THE OLD TESTAMENT WAS TO A PLACE ON THIS EARTH. NOT ONE
OF THEM SAYS ANYTHING ABOUT ETERNAL TORMENT AFTER THE JUDGMENT. It is admitted by all that Gehenna in the Old Testament was not a
place of eternal torment, and it was not changed to "Hell" in any Old
Testament passage, not even in the King James Version which is sometimes called
"Hell's Bible."
Henry
Thayer: "Gehenna, the name of a valley on the S. and E. of Jerusalem...The
Jews so abolished the place after these horrible sacrifices had been abolished
by king Josiah (2 k.xxiii, 10) that they cast into it not only all manner of
refuses, but even the dead bodies of animals and unburied criminals who had
been executed. And since fires were always needed to consume the dead bodies,
that the air might not become tainted by the putrefaction, it came to pass that
the place was called (Gehenna)." "A Greek-English Lexicon Of the New
Testament" Page 111. He also says in "Theology" "Our
inquiry shows that it is employed in the Old Testament in its literal or
geographical sense only, as the name of the valley lying on the south of
Jerusalem-that the Septuagint proves it retained this meaning as late as B. C.
150-that it is not found at all in the Apocrypha; neither of Philo, nor in
Josephus, whose writings cover the very times of the Savior and the New
Testament, thus leaving us without a single example of contemporary usage to
determine its meaning at this period-that from A. D. 150-159, we find in two
Greek authors, Justin and Clement of Alexandria, the first resident in Italy
and the last in Egypt that Gehenna began to be used to designate a place of
punishment after death, but not endless punishment since Clement was a believer
in universal restoration-that the first time we find Gehenna used in this sense
in any Jewish writing is near the beginning of the third century, in the Targum
of Jonathan Ben Uzziel, two hundred years too late to be of any service in the
argument-and lastly, that the New Testament usage shows that while it had not
wholly lost its literal sense, it was also employed in the time of Christ as a
symbol of moral corruption and wickedness; BUT
MORE ESPECIALLY AS A FIGURE OF THE TERRIBLE JUDGMENTS OF GOD ON THE REBELLIOUS
AND SINFUL NATION OF THE JEWS" Henry Thayer, "Theology."
Canon
Farrar: "In the Old Testament it is merely the pleasant valley of Hinnom
(GeHinnom), subsequently desecrated by idolatry, and especially by Moloch
worship, and defiled by Josiah on this account. (See 1 Kings 11:7; 2 Kings
23:10; Jer 7:31; 19:10-14; Isa. 30:33; Tophet). Used according to Jewish
tradition, as the common sewage of the city, the corpses of the worst criminals
were flung into it unburied, and fires were lit to purify the contaminated air.
It then became a word which secondarily implied (1) the severest judgment which
a Jewish court could pass upon a criminal-the casting forth of his unburied
corpse amid the fire and worms of this polluted valley; and (2) a
punishment-which to the Jews a body never meant an end-less punishment beyond
the grave. WHATEVER MAY BE THE MEANING OF THE ENTIRE PASSAGES IN WHICH THE WORD
OCCURS, 'HELL' MUST BE A COMPLETE MISTRANSLATION, SINCE IT ATTRIBUTES TO THE
TERM USED BY CHRIST A SENSE ENTIRELY DIFFERENTLY FROM THAT IN WHICH IT WAS
UNDERSTOOD BY OUR LORD'S HEARERS, AND THEREFORE, ENTIRELY DIFFERENT FROM THE
SENSE IN WHICH HE COULD HAVE USED IT." From the preface to "Eternal
Hope."
"Gehenna, the
Greek word translated hell in the common version, occurs twelve times. It is
the Grecian mode of spelling the Hebrew words, which are translated, 'The
Valley of Hinnom.' This valley was also called Tophet, a detestation, an
abomination. Into this place were cast all kinds of filth, with the carcasses
of beasts and unburied bodies of criminals, who had been executed. Continual
fires were kept to consume these. Sennacherib's army of 185,000 men was slain
there in one night. Here, children were burnt to death in sacrifice to Moloch.
GEHENNA, THEN, AS OCCURRING IN THE NEW TESTAMENT, SYMBOLIZES DEATH AND UTTER
DESTRUCTION, BUT IN NO PLACE SYMBOLIZES A PLACE OF ETERNAL TORMENT" From
the Emphatic Diaglot.
George Lemasters says
Gehenna is said to have been a receptacle of bones, bodies of beasts and
criminals, and all unclean things. Page 265, Florida College Annual Lectures,
1975.
Ron Halbrook says
Gehenna became a common refuse dump for the dead bodies of criminals, animal
carcasses, and other kind of filth. Page 123, Florida College Annual Lectures
1986.
WHATEVER WAS CAST
INTO GEHENNA [the city dump], IF IT WERE TRASH OR THE BODIES OF CRIMINALS WERE
CAST INTO THE TRASH DUMP TO BE DESTROYED AND BOTH WERE DESTROYED, NOT
TORMENTED. Trash or dead bodies cannot be tormented. Whatever was cast into
Gehenna was soon consumed. God is a consuming fire [Hebrews 12:29]. THE FATE OF THE WICKED IS COMPARED TO TRASH
AND DEAD BODIES THAT WERE CAST INTO THE CITY DUMP TO BE DISPOSED OF.
THE
USE OF GEHENNA BY CHRIST
Gehenna was used on
four occasions by Christ, and was used one time by James, the brother of the
Lord [James 3:6]. The name Gehenna is in the four gospels eleven times but as
the four gospels repeat the same discourses, Jesus did not really use it more
than six or seven times and these were all used in only four occasions (four
sermons).
Both Christ and James
used the name of the city dump [Gehenna]. When James wrote this neither the
English word ÒHellÓ, nor a Greek word for "Hell" did not exist. Even
in Old English, Hell did not have the meaning it has today. The name Gehenna is
in the four gospels eleven times, but as the four gospels repeat the same
discourses, Jesus did not really use it more than six or seven times and these
were all used on only four occasions.
THE
FIRST OCCASION
IN
THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT
Gehenna is used 3
times in Matthew 5. Christ is teaching His disciples, who at that time were
under the Law.
THE FIVE
JUDGMENTS
Five judgments the disciples had heard that the Law said.
[1] THE
FIRST JUDGMENT Matthew 5:21-26, "YOU
HAVE HEARD that the ancients were told, 'You shall not commit murder' and
'Whoever commits murder shall be liable
to the court.' But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother
shall be guilty before the court;
and whoever shall say to his brother, 'Raca,' shall be guilty before the Supreme Court; and whoever shall say, 'You
fool,' shall be guilty enough to go into
the fiery hell [Greek-Gehenna of fire]" New American Standard
Bible. Gehenna, the city dump of Jerusalem was always burning, day and night,
24/7.
The
three crimes that were judged by the courts: All three have to do with the way they
felt toward their brother. "Murder
shall be liable to the court: but I
say to you everyone who is,"
"You have heard" is this lesson on how to avoid the
courts and is still a part of the first "You
have heard."
[2]
THE SECOND JUDGMENT, "YOU HAVE HEARD that it was said, 'You shall not commit
adultery'" Matthew 5:27-30 "And
if your right eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out, and cast it from you:
for it is profitable for you that one of your members should perish, and not your whole body be cast into hell [Greek - Gehenna]. And if
your right hand causes you to stumble, cut it off, and cast it from you: for it
is profitable for you that one of your members should perish, and not your
whole body go into hell [Greek - Gehenna]."
Christ is teaching
them that if there is a danger that they may look on a woman to lust after her,
if their eye causes them to stumble, cut it out and cast it away. If taken
literal this would have been unlawful by the Old Testament Law they were under.
The lesson to them was that they were to remove anything from their lives,
which would cause them to be judged unworthy to be buried, and their bodies to
be cast into Gehenna. Under the Law adultery was death and could therefore
cause their bodies to be cast to the fire and maggots in Gehenna [Leviticus
20:10-16]. The lesson to them and to us is that if something in our life that
would cause us to be lost, even if it is as dear to us as our eye or hand, it
needs to be cut off unless the whole body be destroyed, the removal of anything
in our life that would cause us to be destroyed by God as worthless trash which
was destroyed in Gehenna. Christ was saying to them anything in their life;
adultery or any other sin that would cause them to perish needed to be removed.
THOSE THAT USE THIS TO PROVE HELL DO NOT BELIEVE THAT TO "CUT OFF"
ANY PART OF THE BODY OF A LIVING PERSON WILL KEEP THAT PERSON OUT OF HELL AFTER
DEATH. TO MANY, THE HAND AND THE EYE ARE A LITERAL HAND OR EYE, BUT "THE
WHOLE BODY" IS NOT A "BODY" AT ALL BUT A FORMLESS, NO SUBSTANCE,
INVISIBLE PART OF A PERSON THAT HAS NO BODY.
The
loss of a hand or eye is contrasted with the whole body [of which the hand was
a part] being cast into Gehenna; not the loss of a hand being contrasted with
the soul [of which the hand was NOT a part] being cast into Hell. The "eye" and
the "right hand" are a part
of the "whole body." No one can cut off the hand of a soul which they
say has no substance and Christ does not change from parts of the earthly body
to something that most who believe in "it" says "it" has no
body. No one that I know of who believes "Hell" is an eternal place
of torment believes the human body or any part of it will be eternally
tormented in that eternal place. In the same sentence, did Christ change from a
literal physical hand to a "soul"? IF THE "WHOLE BODY" IS A FORMLESS NO SUBSTANCE SOUL, THEN THE
"HAND," WHICH WAS CUT OFF THIS BODY IS A PART OF THE "WHOLE BODY," AND WOULD ALSO
BE A FORMLESS NO SUBSTANCE SOMETHING THAT WE COULD NOT CUT OFF AND IF WE COULD,
THEN THE CUT OFF HAND OF AN IMMORTAL SOUL WOULD BE AS IMMORTAL AS THE REST OF
THE NO SUBSTANCE FORMLESS SOUL FROM WHICH IT WAS CUT OFF. IN TODAY'S THEOLOGY NO ONE BELIEVES YOU CAN CUT OFF THE HAND OF A
SPIRIT SO THAT THE REST OF THE SPIRIT WILL NOT GO TO HELL. The "whole body" is not a spirit
that will go to Hell [Gehenna], but it may not go to Hell if the hand of the
soul or spirit had been cut off. It is the hand that is a part of this earthly
body that is to be cut off that the whole earthly body would not be cast into a
real earthy valley. Today this has been changed to an invisible immortal hand
that cannot die, but it is to be cut off an immortal soul that cannot die
because if it is not cut off the soul that cannot die will be cast into a place
of torment that is not on this earth. I have never heard anyone say what he or
she thinks will happen to the cut off immortal hand that cannot die. No one
that I know of believes the "soul" shall "enter into life," which he or she says is Heaven, with a
cut off hand of that soul in Hell. The "soul" in Heaven but its
"hand" in Hell! They don't believe that a disfigurement of the body,
whether it is a self inflicted disfigurement or any other disfigurement, will
be passed onto the immaterial, invisible part of a person in Heaven. Neither do
they believe any person has the power to cut of any part of his soul. Most that
believe in "Hell" make this cutting off the hand be figurative
language meaning to remove anything from our lives that will cause us to sin,
but they want to make just one word in the sentence be literal. They must first
mistranslate "Gehenna" into "Hell" and then make just this
one word out of context and be literal. Gehenna must be changed to Hell and
made literal, but the cutting off the hand cannot be literal.
"Destroy"
must be made to mean, "preserve." God's word says He will destroy the
soul, but many change this and make it say God will preserve the soul forever.
There seems to be no end to the changes they are willing to make. "Destroy the body and soul" must
be changed to "preserve the soul but destroy the body."
A dead body part or a
whole dead body being cast into the city dump [Gehenna] to be destroyed by fire
or worms is not a picture of a living immortal soul being tormented forever.
There is no suggestion of eternal torment in this. THERE IS NOTHING, NOT ONE WORD ABOUT AN IMMORTAL SOUL OR AN IMMORTAL
SPIRIT IN THIS PASSAGE. It was their "whole
body" that would be cast into Gehenna, not just an immaterial,
invisible part of a person that will be cast into "Hell." INSTEAD OF
SAYING THAT IMMORTAL SOULS WILL BURN FOREVER IN GEHENNA IT SAYS BOTH THE
BODY AND THE SOUL WILL BE DESTROYED IN GEHENNA. Nothing is said about an
immaterial part of a person in Matthew 5:22, 29 or 30. "Soul" is not
in Matthew 5. IT IS NOT PREACHED TODAY THAT THE BODY WILL BE CAST INTO GEHENNA
BUT THAT THE "SOUL" WILL BE CAST INTO "HELL." THIS PASSAGE
IS ONE OF THE MOST USED PASSAGE TO PROVE A PERSON HAS IN IMMATERIAL PART THAT
WILL BE IN AN ETERNAL PLACE OF TORMENT, BUT NEITHER (1) A IMMATERIAL PART OF A
PERSON (2) OR A PLACE OF ETERNAL TORMENT IS IN IT. EVERYTHING THAT CHRIST SAID
IS CHANGED AND THAT BY THOSE THAT SAY THEY DO NOT CHANGE THE BIBLE.
[3] The third, "You have heard you shall not forswear
yourself" [Matthew 5:33].
[4] The fourth,
"You have heardÉan eye for an eyeÓ
[Matthew 5:38].
[5] The fifth, "You have heardÉlove your neighborÓ
[Matthew 5:43].
All
five of the "you have heard"
are about judgments of the Old Testament Law that had punishment in this life,
not about things in the life after the resurrection and judgment. BEING CAST
INTO GEHENNA IS AN EARTHLY JUDGMENT MIXED (in the same context) WITH OTHER
EARTHLY JUDGMENTS. This is
the first time Christ used the term Gehenna; if He had used it to teach endless
torment, He said nothing that those hearing Him or those who read His words
today could know He was speaking of anything more than an earthly judgment;
there is absolutely no indication He was speaking of eternal torment.
THE
SECOND OCCASION
IN
A LESSON TO THE TWELVE DISCIPLES
"FEAR HIM, WHO AFTER
HE HAS KILLED HAS POWER TO CAST INTO GEHENNA" Luke 12:4-5; GOD IS ABLE
TO DESTROY BOTH SOUL AND BODY IN GEHENNA Matthew 10:28. This was spoken
to the twelve apostles when they were sent forth to preach, "The kingdom of heaven is at hand"
[Matthew 10:1-28]. He was persecuted, and they would be, but they were to "Fear them not." "But I will
warn you whom you shall fear: fear him, who AFTER HE HAS KILLED has
power to cast into Gehenna"
[Luke 12:4-5]. "AFTER HE HAS KILLED" must be changed to "ALIVE BUT SEPARATED
FROM GOD" to fit today's
teaching for an immortal soul cannot be killed and this passage must be made to
teach an immortal soul that cannot be killed is alive and tormented in
"Hell." After all, they cannot have God killing an immortal soul
before He cast it into "Hell" could they?
Man can destroy the
life we now have, but God alone is able to destroy [Apollumi] both soul [life-psukee] and body in Gehenna
"AFTER HE HAS KILLED." To
prove Hell, many have this earthly body tormented in Hell after the Judgment
Day. If both the body and soul are destroyed in Gehenna proves an immortal "immaterial, invisible part of
man" [W. E. Vine] that cannot die will be tormented in Hell, then it
also proves the earthy body will be tormented in Hell. IF THE "IMMATERIAL, INVISIBLE PART OF
MAN" CANNOT DIE BECAUSE IT IS IMMORTAL FROM BIRTH, GOD COULD DO NO
MORE THAN A MAN. HE COULD ONLY DESTROY [KILL] THE BODY, BUT NOT THE IMMORTAL "IMMATERIAL, INVISIBLE PART OF
MAN" THAT CANNOT DIE AND CANNOT BE DESTROYED. Was Jesus telling the
twelve apostles not to fear God? He is if the soul [psukee] is immortal from
birth and cannot be killed. Does it mean what it says, or does
"destroy," mean to "torment forever," as today's theology
interprets and demands? If it were as is taught today that destroy means
torment, and Gehenna means Hell, then they have God tormenting both this body
of flesh and the "soul" in Hell forever, which is more than they want
it to say, but when they change Gehenna to "Hell," this passage
teaches something that even those who make the change do not believe. Will this earthly body be in
"Hell" and be immortal? If it is to be tormented forever in
"Hell," then the earthly body is as immortal as the soul is. When
a person has killed the body, he can do no more. At the worse, a person can
only take a few years of life from you, but there will be a resurrection and
God can take an eternity of life from you.
God has the power to
kill, or the power to torment (if He was that kind of a God, a fiendish and
sadistic God); but we must look to the Bible to know what He will do and not
look to theology. A man can only take this life from you, then can do no more,
and most of the twelve Christ was speaking to were soon killed by men who could
do no more, but there will be a resurrection of all they kill. God can DESTROY
this life, and then DESTROY the resurrected life after the judgment. There is a
second death for those not in Christ.
Apollumi is used 95
times in the New Testament. In the King James Version it is life and things
that is destroyed (apollumi) 94 times; Matthew 10:28 is the only time it is the
soul that is destroyed (apollumi). The other 94 times it is body that is
destroyed (the end of life of the body) or things (such as bottles Matthew 9:27
- meat John 6:27 – gold 1
Peter 1:7 - etc.) that are destroyed in the King James Version. It is
translated destroy, destroyed, perish, lose, lost, and die. Matthew 10:28 is the only time it is used
of the soul and it says God is able to kill [apollumi] the soul just as the
body is killed in the other passages. Those who believe the soul cannot die
must deny the plain statement made by Christ.
Men did kill the
bodies of many disciples Christ give this warning to them, but this has no
effect on their or their ultimate existence. Death is but a brief sleep, which
will be as if it were only a moment from death unto the resurrection.
[Deuteronomy 31:16; 2 Samuel 7:12; 1 Kings 1:21; Job 7:21; 14:12; Psalms 13:31
Jeremiah 51:39, 57; 1 Kings 2:10; 11:21, 43; 14:20, 31; 15:8, 24; 16:6, 28;
22:40, 50; 2 Kings 8:24; 10:35; 13:9, 13; 14:16, 22, 29; 15:7, 22, 38; 16:20;
20:21; 21:18; 24:6; 2 Chronicles 9:31; 12:16; 14:1; 16:13; 21:1; 26:2, 23; 27:9;
28:27; 32:33; 33:20; Job 3:13; Isaiah 26:19; Matthew 9:24; 25:5; 27:52; Mark
5:39; Luke 8:52; John 11:11-14; Acts 7:60; 13:36; 1 Corinthians 15:6, 18, 20,
51; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-15; 5:10; 2 Peter 3:4]. There will be a resurrection,
and in the ultimate eternal sense, man cannot kill the soul-life [psukee]. God
can destroy and make our memory to perish [Deuteronomy 32:39; 1 Samuel 2:6;
Ecclesiastes 9:4-6; Psalms 31:12; 88:5; Isaiah 26:14; Ecclesiastes 9:10;
Matthew 10:28; Luke 12:5; Romans 6:23]. If death does not indicate
unconsciousness, then the analogy of sleep, which is used throughout the Bible,
is meaningless for the dead are not asleep. It is more than just meaningless,
being asleep when they are awake in Heaven or Hell would be an outright lie that
is repeated frequently.
The second death is
never called a sleep because there will be no waking up or resurrection from
it.
Many
believe that the destroying spoken of in Matthew 10:28 that is to be after the
resurrection and, but just do not agree on if destroy means destroy or if
destroy mean an everlasting life with punishment. IT IS CLEARLY SAID THAT THE DESTROYING IN THIS PASSAGE IS IN
GEHENNA, WHICH IS A PLACE ON THIS EARTH (see chapter 4 on Gehenna), however, if
the destroying were after the judgment, even then it would not prove no one
could be destroyed. "Fear him who is able to destroy" if it is as many
believe this destroying to be at death, or as others believe the destroying is to
be after the judgment, this passage clearly says God is able to destroy the
psukee [life-soul]. I know many who have a gun but there is no point to fear
someone because he has a gun and could kill you if you know he never will.
There would be no point to fear God because he has the power and could destroy
you, but you know he never will. Jesus is not just making an idle threat. GOD IS TO BE FEARED BECAUSE HE WILL DESTROY.
The fear is not of the fact that He can, but on the fact that He will destroy,
on the certainty that He will destroy. IF THERE IS AN "IMMATERIAL, INVISIBLE PART OF MAN" THAT IS IMMORTAL AND
CAN NEVER DIE, THEN GOD CANNOT KILL IT AND CHRIST IS SAYING DO NOT FEAR GOD FOR
HE CANNOT KILL THE IMMATERIAL, INVISIBLE PART OF A PERSON. If a person kills us, God will raise us at the judgment. Those whom God
destroys are lost, destroyed forever with no hope of a resurrection to life.
God is able to destroy both body and soul is changed to: God is able to
preserve both body and soul. Without this change, there would be no way to put
"Hell" in this passage, and without it there would be no way to put
the "soul" in "Hell" without also putting the body in
"Hell"; but most important, without changing this passage, there
would be no way to keep the soul that many say, "cannot be destroyed"
from being destroyed.
EITHER
WAY:
If
the words "immortal soul" were substituted for "soul" and
"life," it would be absurd.
"But are not able to kill the
immortal soul [life-psukee]: but fear him who is able to destroy both immortal soul [life-psukee] and body
in Hell [Gehenna]...He that finds his immortal
soul [life-psukee] shall lose his immortal
soul [life-psukee]; and he that loses his immortal soul for my sake shall find his immortal soul " [Matthew 10:28-39]. In using this to prove that
a person has an immortal soul, which cannot be destroyed, they prove that it
can be. If psukee were an immortal soul, then God would be able to destroy this
immortal soul. THERE IS NO STRONGER WAY
IN WHICH TO SAY GOD CAN AND WILL DESTROY IT. He is to be feared by those of
the world because He will. There would be no reason to fear Him if He could
not, or if He will not destroy the psukee
[soul or life]. I FIND IT STRANGE THAT
ONE OF THE MOST USED PASSAGES TO PROVE THERE IS AN "IMMATERIAL, INVISIBLE PART OF MAN" THAT CANNOT BE
DESTROYED SAYS GOD CAN DESTROY IT; BUT, NO STRANGER THEN THE USE OF DEATH TO
MEAN AN ETERNAL LIFE OF TORMENT WITH GOD DOING THE TORMENTING. By saying
black is white you can prove anything.
The point some are
trying to make from God being "able
to destroy" is that there is life after death, an immortal soul that
cannot be destroyed, which this does not prove. At the resurrection there will
be life that GOD CAN DESTROY, not
that there is an immortal soul that God cannot destroy. IT SAYS NOTHING ABOUT AN "IMMATERIAL,
INVISIBLE PART OF MAN" THAT IS ALIVE BEFORE THE RESURRECTION THAT
CANNOT BE DESTROYED. It does not say there will be any life from death unto
the resurrection. That there will be a resurrection is taught through out the
New Testament, but if all are alive when Christ comes, there cannot be a
resurrection of those that are not dead. GOD
CAN DESTROY THE LIFE NOW IS AND THE LIFE THAT WILL BE AFTER THE RESURRECTION.
He is to be feared by the lost because He will destroy the life they will have
after the resurrection.
PROVES MORE THAN THE ADVOCATE'S OF AN IMMORTAL SOUL WANT TO PROVE. Matthew
10:28 proves more than they believe and more them they want to prove, for they
do not believe this earthly body will be tormented in "Hell" or that
the "immaterial, invisible part of
man" will be destroyed. But, to prove their Hell, they make destroy be
just a loss of well being, but still alive and being tormented in Hell. If the
immaterial, invisible part of a person is not destroyed, but just lost its well
being, then the earthly body is not destroyed, but has just lost its well-being.
The same thing happens to both the body and the immaterial, invisible part of a
person, therefore, if destroy means one is tormented, not destroyed, then
destroy means the earthly body will be tormented in Hell just as the soul will.
The word "destroy" is from apollumi. Christ is speaking of a soul [life-psukee] whose destruction is expressed by the same
Greek word, apollumi, as is the destruction of the body. Whatever you believe
the "soul" to be, it is shown to be as destructible as the body is.
WHAT GOD CREATED, GOD CAN DESTROY. Matthew 10:28 does not say a person has an
inter "immaterial, invisible
part" that God cannot destroy, It SAYS GOD CAN DESTROY BOTH THE BODY
AND THE PSUKEE [life].
The advocate's of an
immortal soul say, "destroy"
[apollumi] means, "torment." If this is true, "torment"
should be used in place of "destroy" in all places. Try it. The same
is true when apollumi is made to mean "a loss of well-being."
"Destroy
both body and soul [psukee]" Just
as certain as the garbage of Jerusalem was consumed by the fire, God will
destroy, consume both body and soul [living creature]. When Jesus says that God
can destroy the body and soul in Gehenna, it is the whole being of man, not
just his "well-being." THERE IS NO GROUND FOR THE TRADITIONAL VIEW OF
AN IMMORTAL SOUL THAT CANNOT BE DESTROYED IN THIS PASSAGE OR ANY OTHER PASSAGE,
BUT THERE IS GROUND FOR THE WHOLE OF MAN, BODY AND SOUL [life-psukee], BEING
DESTROYED IN THIS AND MANY OTHER PASSAGES.
"Not able to kill the soul [life]," and "destroy both soul
and body in Gehenna," are the same thing. JESUS USED BOTH KILL AND DESTROY, BUT SAID NOTHING ABOUT TORMENT.
Theology must be used to make destroy mean torment for if the words kill and
destroy means kill and destroy, there will be no living "souls" to be
tormented in Hell, therefore, no Hell.
FROM THE SAME LESSON
TO HIS DISCIPLES (God is able to destroy),
Lose his life [Greek soul-psukee] must
be made to mean an everlasting life of torment [Matthew 10:39].
When save and lose
in Matthew 10:39 are applied to soul as it is used in today's theology, it
makes nonsense.
Life and
death and finding and losing life are the same thing. Death
and losing life are not everlasting life separated from God. (1) "He that finds his life shall lose
it," by some kind of magic charm is turns into eternal life in Hell. "Shall lose it (his life)" is
made to mean an ETERNAL LIFE of torment in Hell. How could anyone know this?
What dictionary is being used? (2) "He
that loses his life for my sake shall find it." Losing the life of the
body - being put to death for believing in Christ, also by some kind of magic
is turned into eternal life for an "immaterial,
invisible part of man" at death before the resurrection. Their magic
makes the resurrection useless for they say eternal life is given to all at
birth and none can lose it, therefore, Christ cannot give us life. He can only
give a reward for being good and can only punish for being bad. TO MAKE PSUKEE
BE IN "IMMATERIAL INVISIBLE,
IMMORTAL PART OF MAN" THAT CANNOT DIE MAKES IT BE NONSENSE. No doctrine of the Bible is more plain than
the loss of life in this passage is the lost of existence, not eternal life
with torment for the sinner, and that saving or finding life is to find eternal
life at the resurrection.
THE
THIRD OCCASION
IN
ANOTHER LESSON TO HIS DISCIPLES
This was a different
discourse than Matthew 5:29-30 above, but He was teaching the same thing. See
the notes on the first occasion above. Matthew 18:9 "And if your eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out, and cast it
from you: it is good for you to enter into life with one eye, rather than
having two eyes to be cast into the hell [Greek-Gehenna] of fire." Mark
9:43, 45, 47 "And if your hand cause
you to stumble, cut it off: it is good for you to enter into life maimed,
rather then having your two hands to go into hell [Greek-Gehenna],
into the unquenchable fire. And if your
foot cause you to stumble, cut it off; it is good for you to enter into life
halt, rather then having your two feet to be cast into hell [Greek-Gehenna].
And if your eye cause you to stumble,
cast it out; it is good for you to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye,
rather than having two eyes to be cast into hell [Greek-Gehenna] where their worm dies not, the fire is not
quenched" "Where their worm dies not, the fire is not quenched" is
in Mark 9:44, 46, and 48 in some translations. The footnote in the American
Standard Version says, "Verses 44
and 46 (which are identical with verse 48) are omitted by the best ancient
authorities." SO FAR AS I AM AWARE OF NO ONE BELIEVES THE HUMAN BODY
IS GOING TO BE CAST IN ÒHELLÓ AND BE TOREMTED, YET THEY USE THIS PASSAGE ABOUT
THE HUMAN BODY BEING CAST INTO THE VALLEY OF GEHENNA TO PROVE THE ÒSOULÓ WILL
BE ETERNALITY TORMENTED. "Where their worm dies not, the fire is
not quenched" is a direct quotation from Isaiah 66:23-24 where it is
speaking of dead bodies on this earth being burned with fire and eaten by worms
just as anything that was cast into Gehenna was burned with fire and eaten by
worms. Gehenna, a place on this earth, has been changed to "Hell"
a place not on this earth; and no one can give a Bible passage that tells of a
place called "Hell." ÒIt is
better for you to enter life crippledÓ [Mark 9:43], what ÒlifeÓ is Christ speaking of? Do
unconditional immoralists believe Christ is saying it is better for an immortal
soul to enter life in Heaven a crippled soul; Òit is good for you to enter into life halt, rather then having your
two feet to be cast into hell [Greek-Gehenna]Ó? If Christ were
speaking of immortal souls entering Heaven or being cast into Hell, would there
be any way to say there will not be crippled souls in Heaven? These are
symbolic words teaching that if there is anything in our lives that would be in
the way of entering into the kingdom of Heaven we need to remove them; a person
who uses drugs needs to repent, a person who is a thief needs to repent.
THE
FOURTH OCCASION
IN
A SERMON TO THE SCRIBES AND PHARISEES
Gehenna is used two
times in a sermon to the Scribes and Pharisees warning them of God's rejection
of Israel. In Matthew 23 and 24 Christ speaks of the destruction of Israel. "All these things shall come upon this
generation" [Matthew 23:36]. The
context of these two uses of Gehenna are clearly an in time judgment of Israel,
a judgment that has now passed, not of anything that will be after the judgment
at the coming of Christ. THEY HAVE NO REFERENCE TO "HELL." The
"damnation of Hell" as it is preached today did not come on that
"generation," but the judgment and destruction of Israel did.
"Damnation" is from krisis which means judgment, not damnation as it
is mistranslated in the King James Version, the "judgment of
Gehenna," not the "damnation of Hell."
ISRAEL THE WICKED
HUSBANDMEN Matthew 21:33-46: Before looking at this use of Gehenna it may help
understand it to first look at the parable of the wicked husbandman that comes
just before it and is a part of the same sermon spoken to the Scribes and
Pharisees. "When; therefore, the
lord of the vineyard shall come, what will he do unto these husbandman? They
say unto him, HE WILL MISERABLY DESTROY THESE MISERABLE MEN, AND WILL LET OUT
THE VINEYARD UNTO OTHER HUSBANDMEN, who will render him the fruits in their
seasons. Jesus said unto them, did you never read in the scriptures, the stone,
which the builders rejected, the same was made the head of the corner; this was
from the Lord, and it is marvelous in our eyes? THEREFORE SAY I UNTO YOU, THE KINGDOM OF GOD SHALL BE TAKEN AWAY FROM
YOU, AND SHALL BE GIVEN TO A NATION BRINGING FORTH THE FRUITS THEREOF. And
he who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; but on whomever it falls,
it will scatter him like dust. AND WHEN THE CHIEF PRIESTS AND PHARISEES HEARD
HIS PARABLES, THEY UNDERSTOOD THAT HE
WAS SPEAKING ABOUT THEM." How is it that today most do not
understand these parables to be about Israel? Many parables deal with the
rejection of Christ by Israel and its destruction. See chapter 8, part 1 and part
2.
[1] SON OF GEHENNA: Matthew 23:15 "Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees,
hypocrites! For you compass sea and land to make one proselyte; and when he is
become so, you make him twofold more a son of hell [Greek-Gehenna]
then yourselves." In speaking to
the Pharisees, Christ said, "For you
are like unto whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but inwardly
are full of dead man's bones, and of all uncleanness"
[Matthew 23:27]. They made their proselytes "twofold more a son of Gehenna
than your selves" [Matthew 23:15]. A place cannot give birth to a
person. No one, not even those who believe in Hell, believe Hell is literally
the father or mother of anyone. To call a person a son of a place is not to say
that place is his mother, but is to say a part of his character is similar to
the place. Gehenna was a place of filth and uncleanness. To use the metaphors "son of Gehenna" is to say they were unclean like the filthy city dump. To be a "son of Gehenna" means to be like Gehenna and the things
in it: to be filthy and contemptible. The proselytes were made twofold more unclean then the Pharisees. Because
Gehenna does not literally have sons, this is a figure of speech and not
intended to be taken literally nether in this life or after death. James and
John are called "sons of
thunder" [Mark 3:17]. Thunder did not give birth to them, but a part
of their character is similar to thunder. "And if a son of peace be
there" [Luke 10:6], "Son of
exhortation" [Acts 4:36], "Sons
of disobedience" [Ephesians 2:2], "The
son of destruction" [2 Thessalonians 2:3]; "The child of anything
in Hebrew phraseology expressed the idea of special property which one has in
the thing specified, as, for instance, children of disobedience [Eph. ii. 2]"
J W McGarvey, Matthew 8:11, The Fourfold Gospel, Standard Publishing Company,
1914. This metaphor is not taken from the destruction by the fire and maggots
in Gehenna; but it is a metaphor taken
from the filth and uncleanness of Gehenna. Although this passage is repeatedly
used to prove eternal torment after death, there is nothing about any torment
in it, not in this lifetime or after death.
In the same address
to the scribes and Pharisees Christ gives two more examples of their
uncleanness.
[2] JUDGMENT OF GEHENNA: Matthew 23:33-36 "Fill you up then the measure of your
fathers. You serpents, you offspring of
vipers, how shall you escape the
judgment of hell [Greek-Gehenna]?
Therefore, behold, I send unto you
prophets, and wise men, and scribes: some of them shall you kill and crucify;
and some of them shall you scourge in your synagogues, and persecute from city
to city: that upon you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from
the blood of Abel the righteous unto the blood of Zechariah son of Barachiah,
whom you slew between the sanctuary and the altar. Verily I say unto you, all these things shall come upon this
generation." Christ had just told the scribes and Pharisees they
made their proselytes more a "SON of Gehenna" [unclean] than themselves; then He
calls them "offspring [SONS of] vipers," and "all these things (all
the righteous blood from Abel to Zechariah) shall come upon this generation." Matthew 23 is a discourse about
the scribes and the Pharisees; many take one word of this discourse out of it
context, then change that noun to another noun, which is not in the Bible.
The Scribes and Pharisees knew the law,
but did not keep it. Outwardly they were as beautiful as white sepulchers, but
inwardly were full of dead man's bones. They would not escape the judgment to
come. "Verily I say unto you, all these things SHALL COME UPON THIS
GENERATION" [Matthew 23:36]. Matthew 24 is a discourse to His
disciples about the destruction of Israel of which He had spoken of to the
Pharisees in the chapter before. That generation would not escape the
judgment of Gehenna. It came in A. D. 70 when some historians say Gehenna
was filled with the dead bodies of Jews from the destruction of Jerusalem [See
Jeremiah 19]. For notes on this use
of "The judgment of Gehenna" see chapter eight, part one, Israel's
destruction. To the Jews, to be left unburied,
to be judged as not being fit to be buried and thrown into the city dump just
as they were doing to those they judged as being unfit to be buried was the
worse of all insult. It was the most severe judgment of contempt upon a
criminal known to the Jews. In the judgment soon to come upon them Josephus said six hundred thousand dead bodies of the Jews were
carried out of Jerusalem and lift unburied.
The seven ÒwoesÕ to the scribes and
Pharisees [Matthew 23:13-38]. In this lecture and warning to the Scribes and
Pharisees about the judgment coming on Israel why did the King James
translators change ÒTHE JUDGMENT
[krisis] OF GEHENNAÓ INTO ÒTHE DAMNATION [krisis] OF HELLÓ [Matthew 23:33]?
á ÒJudgment
of GehennaÓ for Israel is changed to:
á
ÒDamnation
of HellÓ for all that Òshall come upon this generationÓ [Matthew 23:36].
"Condemnation,"
"damnation," and "damned" of the King James Version
THE RESURRECTION OF DAMNATION
[krisis] (KJV), JUDGMENT [krisis] (ASV). "The
resurrection of judgment (krisis)" [John 5:29] says nothing about an
eternal life of torment in Hell after the judgment although this passage is
continually used to prove eternal torment. The verdict of the judgment, if it
be death, eternal life with torment, or what ever it maybe, the verdict of the
judgment is not in this passage. In an attempt to put Hell in the Bible, the
translators of the King James Version changed the judgment and made it be the
verdict of the judgment and made the verdict be what they needed it to be.
If "krisis"
means "damnation" then we are all in trouble for "It is appointed unto men once to die, and after this comes damnation
judgment (krisis)" [Hebrews 9:27]. When it is applied only to the lost
the King James translators translated "krisis" condemnation, but when
it is applied to all [Hebrews 9:27] they translated "krisis"
judgment. Just one more example of how they were willing to mistranslate to put
their "Hell" into the Bible. The American Standard Version and most
others do not translate "krisis" into condemnation or damnation. TWO WORDS HAD TO BE CHANGED IN MATTHEW
23:33 TO PUT TODAY'S HELL IN THE BIBLE. "JUDGMENT" HAD TO BE CHANGED
TO "DAMNATION" AND "GEHENNA" HAD TO BE CHANGED TO
"HELL."
NO ROOT, NO BRANCH, NO HOPE OF LIFE FOR ISRAEL. Foy E. Wallace, Jr. says, "The prophet declares that 'the day
shall burn as an oven' and 'it shall burn them up'--a pronouncement against the
Jewish nation and governments that rejected and condemned the Christ, and
persecuted his saints. The advent of the Messiah would be 'the coming of the
great and dreadful day of the Lord'" "God's Prophetic Word,"
Page 545. Malachi 4:1. Malachi's pronouncement is against the Jewish nation
that rejected and condemned the Christ, and persecuted his saints. "For behold, the day is coming, burning
like a furnace; and all the arrogant and every evildoer will be chaff; and the
day that is coming will set them ablaze, says the Lord of hosts, so that it
will leave them neither root not branch" [Malachi 4:1]. Job says when
a tree is cut down there is hope that the root will sprout [Job 14:8]; there is
hope of life. In the last chapter in the Old Testament of our English Bible
Malachi says Israel will not be left a root to sprout a branch or a branch to
sprout roots, therefore, there will be no hope for life.
Summary: JUST AS EVERY REFERENCE TO GEHENNA IN
THE OLD TESTAMENT IS TO A PLACE ON THIS EARTH, TO THE VALLEY SOUTH OF JERUSALEM
AND IS NEVER TRANSLATED "HELL." EVERY REFERENCE TO GEHENNA BY CHRIST
IS ALSO TO THE SAME PLACE ON THIS EARTH. IN THE FOUR OCCASIONS THAT GEHENNA IS
USED, NOT IN A ONE IS GEHENNA SAID TO BE ETERNAL OR EVERLASTING, NOT ONCE IS
THERE ANY TORMENT OF LIVING PERSONS IN IT, AND NOT ONCE IS IT USED IN
CONNECTION WITH THE RESURRECTION, BUT TODAY PREACHERS MOST ALWAYS ADD
EVERLASTING AND SAY IT WILL NEVER END. HOW DO THEY KNOW THIS? NONE OF THE APOSTLES EVER PREACH ANYTHING
ABOUT GEHENNA. IF IT WERE A PLACE OF TORMENT WHERE GOD SHALL TORMENT ALL THE
LOST, WHY DID THEY NEVER SAY ANYTHING ABOUT IT? THEY USED DEATH, DESTROY,
DESTROYED, PERISH, DIE, AND END; BUT NEVER "HELL."
AND
ONE TIME BY JAMES
TO
THE TWELVE TRIBES OF ISRAEL
SET
ON FIRE BY GEHENNA James 3:6 "And the tongue is a fire; the world of
iniquity among our members is the tongue, which defiles the whole body, and
sets on fire the wheel of nature, and is set on fire by hell [Greek-Gehenna]."
James used the same proper noun [the name of a particular place] that Christ
used, but he used it in a different way. The tongue is a fire and is set on
fire by Gehenna-the filthy, contemptible garbage dump. Most who are given to
gossip look for some filthy rotten garbage on someone, and then cannot wait to tell
it. James did not use Gehenna to teach the Jews about what was going to happen
them if they rejected Christ. To say "The tongue is set on fire by the
place of eternal torment after the judgment," which is what many teach,
makes no sense. This metaphor is not taken from the destruction by the fire and
maggots in Gehenna; but it is a metaphor
taken from the filth and uncleanness of Gehenna. There is nothing about
torment or destruction in it, and nothing about after death. The tongue is a
fire now in this lifetime. To make Hell be a literal place not of this earth
that sets on fire a literal tongue of a living person on this earth would
somehow make that person's tongue be in contact with a place that is not on
this earth. Gehenna is a place of
corruption, which was figuratively applied to a vile tongue.
| KJV | ASV NASV RSV NRSV*| Others**
Matthew 5:22, 29,
30_ | Hell | Hell (Greek Gehenna) |
Gehenna
Matthew 10:28 | Hell | Hell (Greek
Gehenna)| Gehenna
Mt 18:9 Mk 9:43,44,45
| Hell | Hell (Greek Gehenna)| Gehenna
Matthew 23:15, 33
| Hell | Hell (Greek Gehenna)| Gehenna
Luke 12:5 | Hell | Hell (Greek Gehenna)| Gehenna
James 3:6 | Hell | Hell (Greek Gehenna)| Gehenna
The American Standard Version, Revised
Standard Version, New Revised Standard Version, and others have a footnote
"Gr. Gehenna."
**New American Bible (Catholic), World
English Bible, Young's Literal New Testament (author of "Young's
Analytical Concordance"), Wesley's New Testament (founder of Methodist
Church), Christian Bible 1991, and many more (many with "0 times"
above) have "Gehenna" in the text as it should be as a Proper Noun
(the name of a particular place). The Amplified Bible has it as an insert in
the text: "Hell (Gehenna) of fire."
THE TRANSLATION OF GEHENNA IN SEVEN TRANSLATIONS
[1] Young's Literal Bible (1891) Author of "Young's
Analytical Concordance To The Bible"
FIRST OCCASION, IN THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT
Matthew 5:22 - Gehenna Of The Fire
Matthew 5:29 - Gehenna
Matthew 5:30 - Gehenna
SECOND OCCASION, IN A LESSON TO THE TWELVE DISCIPLES
Matthew 10:28 - Destroy in Gehenna
Luke 12:5 - Gehenna
THIRD OCCASION, IN ANOTHER LESSON TO HIS DISCIPLES
Matthew 18:9 - Gehenna of the fire
Mark 9:43 - Gehenna
Mark 9:44-------
Mark 9:45 - Gehenna
FOURTH OCCASION, TO THE SCRIBES AND PHARISEES
Matthew 23:15 - Son of Gehenna
Matthew 23:33 - Gehenna
AND ONE TIME BY JAMES, TO THE TWELVE TRIBES
James 3:6 - Set of fire by the Gehenna
[2] Wesley's New Testament (1755) the original edition
by Wesley, the founder of Methodist Church, not the updated editions that were
made later by others.
FIRST OCCASION, IN THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT
Matthew 5:22 - Gehenna
Matthew 5:29 - Gehenna
Matthew 5:30 - Gehenna
SECOND OCCASION, IN A LESSON TO THE TWELVE DISCIPLES
Matthew 10:28 - Gehenna
Luke 12:5 - Gehenna
THIRD OCCASION, IN ANOTHER LESSON TO HIS DISCIPLES
Matthew 18:9 - Gehenna
Mark 9:43 - Gehenna
Mark 9:44 - Gehenna
Mark 9:45 - Gehenna
FOURTH OCCASION, TO THE SCRIBES AND PHARISEES
Matthew 23:15 - Gehenna
Matthew 23:33 - Gehenna
AND ONE TIME BY JAMES, TO THE TWELVE TRIBES
James 3:6 - Gehenna
[3] Weymouth New Testament (1903)
FIRST OCCASION, IN THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT
Matthew 5:22 - Gehenna
of Fire
Matthew 5:29 - Gehenna
Matthew 5:30 - Gehenna
SECOND OCCASION, IN A LESSON TO THE TWELVE DISCIPLES
Matthew 10:28 - Gehenna
Luke 12:5 - Gehenna
THIRD OCCASION, IN ANOTHER LESSON TO HIS DISCIPLES
Matthew 18:9 - Gehenna
of fire
Mark 9:43 - Gehenna
Mark 9:44-------
Mark 9:45 - Gehenna
FOURTH OCCASION, TO THE SCRIBES AND PHARISEES
Matthew 23:15 - Son
of Gehenna
Matthew 23:33 - Gehenna
AND ONE TIME BY JAMES, TO THE TWELVE TRIBES
James 3:6 - Set
of fire by Gehenna
[4] The New American Bible (1991) (Catholic)
FIRST OCCASION, IN THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT
Matthew 5:22 - Whoever
says, 'You fool,' will be liable to fiery Gehenna
Matthew 5:29 - Better
to lose part of you body than have it all cast into Gehenna
Matthew 5:30 - Better
to lose part of you body than have it all cast into Gehenna
SECOND OCCASION, IN A LESSON TO THE TWELVE DISCIPLES
Matthew 10:28 Gehenna
Luke 12:5 - Fear
him who has power to cast into Gehenna after he has killed
THIRD OCCASION, IN ANOTHER LESSON TO HIS DISCIPLES
Matthew 18:9 - Better
to enter life with one eye than be thrown with both into fiery Gehenna
Mark 9:43 - Better
for you to enter life maimed than to keep both hands and enter Gehenna with its
unquenchable fire
Mark 9:44 - Better
for you to enter life crippled than to be thrown into Gehenna with both feet
Mark 9:45 - Better
for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to be thrown with both
eyes into Gehenna
FOURTH OCCASION, TO THE SCRIBES AND PHARISEES
Matthew 23:15 --------
Matthew 23:33 - Gehenna
AND ONE TIME BY JAMES, TO THE TWELVE TRIBES
James 3:6 - And
its fire is kindled by hell
[5] The Christian Bible (1991
FIRST OCCASION, IN THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT
Matthew 5:22 - The
Gehenna of Fire
Matthew 5:29 - Your
whole body should be thrown into Gehenna
Matthew 5:30 - Your
whole body should pass away into Gehenna
SECOND OCCASION, IN A LESSON TO THE TWELVE DISCIPLES
Matthew 10:28 - And
the body in Gehenna
Luke 12:5 - Gehenna
THIRD OCCASION, IN ANOTHER LESSON TO HIS DISCIPLES
Matthew 18:9 - Then
to have two eyes and to be thrown into the Gehenna of fire
Mark 9:43 - Gehenna
Mark 9:44-------
Mark 9:45 - Thrown
into Gehenna
FOURTH OCCASION, TO THE SCRIBES AND PHARISEES
Matthew 23:15 - A
son of Gehenna
Matthew 23:33 - Gehenna
AND ONE TIME BY JAMES, TO THE TWELVE TRIBES
James 3:6 - The
tongue...is set of fire by Gehenna
[6] World English Bible
FIRST OCCASION, IN THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT
Matthew 5:22 - Shall be in
danger of the fire of Gehenna
Matthew 5:29 Than for your whole body to be cast into Gehenna
Matthew 5:30 - And not your whole body be cast
into Gehenna
SECOND OCCASION, IN A LESSON TO THE TWELVE DISCIPLES
Matthew 10:28 - Able to
destroy both soul and body in Gehenna
Luke 12:5 - Gehenna
THIRD OCCASION, IN ANOTHER LESSON TO HIS DISCIPLES
Matthew 18:9 - Than having
two eyes to be cast into the Gehenna of fire
Mark 9:43 - Gehenna
Mark 9:45 - Gehenna
Mark 9:47 - Gehenna of fire
FOURTH OCCASION, TO THE SCRIBES AND PHARISEES
Matthew 23:15 - You make him
twice as much of a son of Gehenna as yourselves
Matthew 23:33 - How will you escape
the judgment of Gehenna?
AND ONE TIME BY JAMES, TO THE TWELVE TRIBES
James 3:6 - The tongue is a
fire...and is set on fire by Gehenna
[7] Phillips New Testament (1952)
FIRST OCCASION, IN THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT
Matthew 5:22 - Fire
of destruction
Matthew 5:29
- Rubbish-heap
Matthew 5:30 - Rubbish-heap
SECOND OCCASION, IN A LESSON TO THE TWELVE DISCIPLES
Matthew 10:28 - Fire
of destruction
Luke 12:5 - Throw
you into destruction
THIRD OCCASION, IN ANOTHER LESSON TO HIS DISCIPLES
Matthew 18:9 - Fire
of the rubbish-heap
Mark 9:43 - Go to
the rubbish-heap
Mark 9:44 - Thrown
on to the rubbish-heap
Mark 9:45 - Thrown
on to the rubbish-heap
FOURTH OCCASION, TO THE SCRIBES AND PHARISEES
Matthew 23:15 - Ripe
for destruction
Matthew 23:33 - Fire
of destruction
AND ONE TIME BY JAMES, TO THE TWELVE TRIBES
James 3:6 - It
can set the whole of life ablaze, fed with the fires of hell
[8] There are also many other translations that do not have "Hell"
in them.
The New Testament
in Modern English" by J. B. Phillips says, "and go to the rubbish-heap where the fire never dies" (Mark 9:43);
and "thrown on the rubbish-heap,
where decay never stops and the fire never goes out" (Mark 9:49). Also
Matthew 5:29, 18:9, Mark 9:47, "Fire
of destruction" in Matthew 5:22, 10:28, 32:33, Luke 12:5. He leaves
out "Gehenna," a name of a
particular place; and puts what Jerusalem's Gehenna was to the people of that
time to make it where people today will understand the same thing the Jews Christ
was speaking to would understand. Many today would not know that Gehenna was
the Rubbish-heap of Jerusalem. This is not a translation of the Greek, but it
is a good commentary. He translated "Gehenna"
into Hell only one time (James 3:6). This is the only time Hell is in his
translation, and shows he believed in Hell, but knows the Greek manuscripts did
not have it.
DID JESUS SAY MORE ABOUT HELL THAN
HEAVEN?
It has been said so
often by many preachers that Jesus said more about Hell than He did about
Heaven. Is this the truth or a lie that has been told so many times by
preachers that many believe without questioning it? The truth is that without
mistranslating to make Jesus say some He or any New Testament writers did not
say one word about Hell. Although they said nothing about Hell they did say
much about Heaven. Although Hell is not in the Bible Heaven is hundreds of
times referring to Heaven itÕs self, the kingdom of Heaven, and to the universe
– the heavens. The claim that Christ said more about Hell than He did
about Heaven IS NOT TRUE and is only a desperate attempt to prove Hell.
á A
PLACE IN HEAVEN "In My Father's
house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I
go to prepare a place for you. If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come
again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be alsoÓ
[John 14:12].
á OUR
TREASURES ARE IN HEAVEN Matthew 6:20; 10:21; 19:21; Luke 18:22
á OUR
CITIZENSHIP IS IN HEAVEN Philippians 3:20-21
á RESERVED
IN HEAVEN FOR US 1 Peter 1:4; Matthew 6:20; 19:21; Mark 12:25; Luke 6:23
á IN
THE AGE TO COME ETERNAL LIFE Mark 10:30; Luke 18:30
á WE
WILL HAVE THE IMAGE OF THE HEAVENLY 1 Corinthians 15:49
á
WE WILL PUT ON IMMORTALITY 1
Corinthians 15:50-58
THE
VANISHING HELL
TRANSLATIONS
ARE GETTING AWAY FROM HELL
The King James
Version and the New King James Version ARE THE ONLY TWO OF THE MAJOR
TRANSLATIONS THAT HAVE HELL IN THE OLD TESTAMENT. ALL OTHERS HAVE ABANDONED IT
AS A BAD TRANSLATION. Hell is rapidly vanishing from the Bible. It has vanished
from the Old Testament in most "conservative" translations. Moses or
Abraham did not know about it. It has all but vanished from the New Testament
in the "conservative" translations, and has vanished altogether in
many. Even in the 31 times Hell is in the King James Version, in 12 of these,
the New King James Version changed "Hell" in the King James Version
to "Sheol" (from 31 times to 19 times). Were the translators trying
to ease away but were afraid to go to far?
THE
VANISHING HELL. WHY IS THE NUMBER OF TIMES HELL IS USED DECREASING? TRANSLATORS
CANNOT AGREE ON HOW MANY TIMES TO MISTRANSLATE IT.
Number of times Hell is used in - - - The Bible | The O.T.|
The N. T.
The Wycliffe Bible
(1395) 83 times |
57 times | 26 times
Miles Coverdale Bible
(1535) 70 times |
50 times | 23 times
The Bishop's Bible
(1568) 59 times |
35 times | 24 times
The Geneva Bible
(1587) 36 times | 16 times | 20 times
The Original King
James Version(1611) 52 times| 30 times | 22 times
King James Version
54 times | 31 times | 23 times
The King James Version has had several reversions and the one that
is used today is not the original 1611 version, but is the last of several
revisions.
Westster Bible (1611) 49 times | 26 times | 23 times
New King James Version
(1982) 32 times | 19 times | 13 times
Young's Literal Bible
(1891) 0 times | 0 times | 0
times
American Standard
Version (1901) 13 times | 0 times | 13 times
New American Standard
Version (1960) 13 times | 0 times | 13 times
Revised Standard
Version (1946) 13 times |
0 times | 13 times
Derby Translation
(1890-1961) 12 times | 0 times | 12 times
New International
Version (1987) 14 times | 0 times | 14 times
Amplified Bible (1987) 15 times |
0 times | 15 times*
New Century Version
(1987) 12 times | 0 times | 12 times
New Revised Standard
Version (1989) 13 times | 0 times | 13 times
Revised English Bible
(1989) 28 times |
15 times | 13 times
Contemporary English
Version (1995) 20 times | 0 times | 20 times
New Living Translation
(1996) 19 times | 2 times | 17 times
English Standard
Version (2001) 14 times |
0 times | 14 times
New International
Version - UK 14 times | 0 times | 14 times
TodayÕs New International
Version 13 times | 0
times | 13 times
Holman Christian
Standard Bible(2003) 11 times | 0
times | 11 times
Update Bible Version
1 9 (2003) 12 times |
0 times | 12 times
Peshitta - Lamsa
translation 12 times |
1 time | 11 times
Rotherham Emphasized
(1902) 0 times |
0 times | 0 times
Fenton's Bible
in Modern English(1903) 0 times | 0
times | 0 times
New American Bible
(Catholic) (1991) 0 times | 0 times | 0 times
World English Bible
(Catholic) 0 times | 0
times | 0 times
Hebrew Names Version
of WEB 0 times | 0
times | 0 times
Daniel Mace New Testament
(1729) 3 times
Wesley' N T (The original, not some updated editions)(1755)
0 times
Scarlett's New Testament
(1798) 0 times
The New Testament
in Greek and English (Kneeland) (1823) 0 times
New Covenant, New
Testament (1884) 0 times
Scrivenre New Testament
(1884) 0 times
Hanson's New Covenant
(1884) 0 times
Twentieth Century
New Testament (1900) 0 times
Rotherham's Emphasized
Bible (reprinted) (1902) 0 times
Fenton's Holy Bible
in Modern English (1903) 0 times
Weymouth's New Testament
in Modern Speech (1903) 0 times
Panin's Numeric English
New Testament (1914) 0 times
The People's New
Covenant (Overbury) (1925) 0 times
Western New Testament
(1926) 0 times
The New Testament,
A Translation (Clementson) (1938) 0 times
J B Phillips New Testament in Modern English (1947) 1 times
New Testament of
our Lord and Savior Anointed(Tomanek) (1958) 0 times
Western New Testament
(1959) 0
times
Restoration of Original
Sacred Name Bible (1976) 0
times
The New Testament,
A New Translation (Greber) (1980) 0 times
Concordance Literal
New Testament (1983) 0 times
Christian Bible,
New Testament (1991) 0 times
Recovery Version,
New Testament (1991) 0 times
New Testament of
Our Lord and Savor Jesus Anointed 0 times
The Original Bible
Project (Dr Tabor) 0 times
Interlinear Greek-English
New Testament(Note A)(Berry)(1897) 0 times
Emphatic Diaglott,
Greek/English Interlinear (Wilson) (1942) 0 times
Zondervan Parallel
N T in Greek and English (Note A)(1975) 0 times
NASB-NIV Parallel
N T in Greek and English(Marshall)(1986) 0 times
Interlinear NASB-NIV
Parallel NT Greek-English(Note A)(1993)0 times
Jewish Publication
Society Bible Old Testament(Note B)(1917) 0 times
Tanakh, The Holy
Scriptures, Old Testament (Note B)(1985) 0 times
The Complete Jewish
Bible (Note B) 0 times
The Septuagint-translation
of Hebrew to Greek 3rd century BC 0 times
*12 times the Amplified
Bible has "Hell (Gehenna)"
in the text, not in a footnote.
Note A. The word-for-word translations
beneath the Greek, not the translations in the margin.
Note B. All Jewish translations I found of
the Old Testament do not have "Hell" in them. It is not in the
Septuagint, a translation of the Old Testament from Hebrew to Greek that was in
used in the time of Christ.
I find it strange that the Catholic Church
believes in Hell, but they removed Hell from two translations they made.
I have been told that there is a NWT
translation by the Jehovah's Witnesses that do not have "Hell" in it,
but I could not confirm this. I am sure there are many others that I do not
know about in English, and there are many in other languages for Gehenna, like
all other proper nouns, is seldom translated or changed to another proper noun
in the translations in other languages.
ONE
EXAMPLE OF THE VANISHING HELL Psalms 116:3.
WHEN WAS THE LAST
TIME YOU HEARD A SERMON OF HELL? There was a time when most every revival had
one or more sermons on the horrors of the Hell that most were going to. Most
every sermon ended with a warning that all that did not repent was going to
Hell. Jonathan Edwards was well known for his ÒHell-fireÓ sermons.
These
"Hellfire" preachers are not as poplar as they once were and their
audience is much smaller. Today in
most churches a sermon on Hell is never preached and no one is told he or she
will go to Hell if they do not repent. Although there are many who do not
believe in Hell and other that are no longer sure that there is a Hell why do
many say nothing about it in their sermons and Bible lessons?
á A preacher may think he would not be allowed to preach and most
would not. Many churches would brand him a heretic and he would not be able to
preach in most churches.
á Elders and Deacons would not be allowed to continue as Elders and
Deacons.
á Bible teachers would not be permitted to teach.
á Members would not be permitted to lead singing, lead prayer, or do
anything in the worship service.
About all that anyone who does not believe in Hell is permitted to do in most churches is come and sit
and give their money; you will be shut out and not be permitted to lead prayer
or take part in the worship in any way but no matter what you believe you will
be permitted and even expected to give your money. Along with many others I can
tell you for a fact that this is sure to happen in most congregations of the
church.
THE
CHANGING HELL
Why are there
many conflicting Hells?
THE VANISHING HELL
TWENTH-FOUR PLUS VERSIONS
OF HELL
THREE CATHOLIC VERSIONS OF HELL
1. The Dark Age Catholic version of Hell
2. The New Catholic version of Hell
3. Nether World
SOME OF THE MANY DIVISIONS OF THE PROTESTANT
VERSIONS OF HELL
1. The Calvin
version of Hell
2. The Jonathan
Edwards version
3. The Graphic
view of Hell
4. Satan doing the
tormenting
5. God doing the
tormenting
6. The
Metaphorical view of both Heaven and Hell
7. Mental anguish
only Hell - Billy Graham
8. C. S Lewis -
the almost pleasant Hell
9. Protestant
Traditionalist
10. Many Protestant
Premillennial versions
11. Realized
Eschatology – A. D. 70 version
12. Protestant
Rephaim version
EIGHT OTHER VERSIONS OF HELL
1. Church of
Christ, Christian Church AbrahamÕs bosom after Judgment Hell, A newer version
2. Edward Fudge
version: The short Hell
3. Christadelphians
version
4. Church of God
and others
5. Universalist
version of Hell
6. Seventh-Day
Advent version
7. Latter-day
Saints version [Mormons]
8. The Grave is
Hell version [Jehovah's Witnesses]
NO BIBLE HELL
WHICH HELL DO YOU BELIEVE IN?
FROM WHERE DID HELL COME?
How
Hell was put into and is being kept in the Bible
THREE
CATHOLIC VERSIONS OF HELL
[1] The Dark Age Catholic version of Hell: The soul being immortal came from Greek philosophy, and was brought into the church by some of the "church fathers," by Augustine more then most others. The doctrine of Hell came soon after the immortal soul doctrine along with Purgatory, the sale of indulgences, Limbo, worship of Mary and saints, Nether World, Holy Water, the rosary, forbidding Priest to marry, the crucifix, Monks and Nuns, fo