Final Punishment

The Doctrine of Hell

Definitions

The King James Version translates the words Sheol, Hades, Tartarus, and Gehenna as hell. This is inaccurate and confusing in modern English. There are still many modern translations which translate these words inconsistently, but Gehenna is the only one that refers to the final fate of the wicked.

Gehenna, the shortened name for the valley of Hinnom, became notorious during the reigns of Kings Ahaz and Manasseh as the location where children were sacrificed by fire to the god Molech (2 Chron 28:3; 33:6). The valley, we are told in Jeremiah 7:29-34 and 19:1-15, would be called a place of slaughter where it was prophesied to be filled with the corpses of those who had turned away from God. This valley thus became synonymous with divine punishment, where the dead bodies of the slain were left unburied and exposed to decay and scavengers, painting a vivid picture of desolation and wrath.

Gehenna in the New Testament represents not just bodily destruction, but the culmination of divine judgment where the opportunity for salvation is irrevocably withdrawn, and the wicked face complete destruction of soul and body by God. Jesus uses Gehenna eschatologically to illustrate the final death of the wicked (Mat 5:22, 29-30, 18:9). This imagery resonates with Isaiah 66:24, a verse Jesus quotes when speaking of Gehenna, reinforcing the notion of Gehenna as a place of total destruction. This is consistent with Paul who speaks of the ultimate fate of the wicked in terms of destruction (Phil 1:28; 3:18-19; Rom 9:22-24; 2 Thes 1:8-9).

A common myth is that the Valley of Hinnom was a garbage dump that was always burning with fire, and therefore provided good imagery for eternal torment. However, there is not any evidence for this claim which was first made by Rabbi David Kimhi around A.D. 1200. Although the garbage dump theory is commonly stated in study Bibles and commentaries to support the doctrine of eternal torment, there is no archeological or literary evidence to back it up. The reality is that the Old Testament provides the background for Gehenna as a place of slaughter, death, and destruction.

Preliminary Facts

Sinners know that they deserve death: "who, knowing the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but also approve of those who practice them" (Romans 1:32).

The punishment for sin is death: "The LORD God commanded the man, saying, 'You may freely eat of every tree of the garden; but you shall not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil; for in the day that you eat of it, you will surely die'" (Gen 2:16-17). "For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 6:23).

Those outside of Christ fear death: "Since then the children have shared in flesh and blood, he also himself in the same way partook of the same, that through death he might bring to nothing him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and might deliver all of them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage" (Hebrews 2:14-15).

Death is the common fate of all apart from Christ: "For he sees that wise men die; likewise the fool and the senseless perish, and leave their wealth to others. Their inward thought is that their houses will endure forever, and their dwelling places to all generations. They name their lands after themselves. But man, despite his riches, doesn’t endure. He is like the animals that perish" (Psalm 49:10-12).

Immortality is not inherent to humans, but is a gift to be received through faith: "He alone has immortality, dwelling in unapproachable light..." (1 Timothy 6:16). "... Christ Jesus, who abolished death, and brought life and immortality to light through the Good News" (2 Timothy 1:10).

Eternal life is a gift, not a given: "I give eternal life to them. They will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand" (John 10:28).

Fire consistently conveys destruction: "'For behold, the day comes, burning like a furnace, when all the proud and all who work wickedness will be stubble. The day that comes will burn them up,' says the LORD of Armies, 'so that it will leave them neither root nor branch'" (Malachi 4:1). "He will gather his wheat into the barn, but the chaff he will burn up with unquenchable fire" (Matthew 3:12).

Christ suffered the penalty we deserved, death, in our place: "But he was pierced for our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities. The punishment that brought our peace was on him; and by his wounds we are healed... As a lamb that is led to the slaughter... They made his grave with the wicked... he poured out his soul to death" (Isaiah 53:5, 7, 9, 12). "But God commends his own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8).

Key Verses

"Then Yahweh rained on Sodom and on Gomorrah sulfur and fire from Yahweh out of the sky. He overthrew those cities, all the plain, all the inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew on the ground" (Genesis 19:24-25). "Even as Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities around them, having in the same way as these given themselves over to sexual immorality and gone after strange flesh, are shown as an example, suffering the punishment of eternal fire." (Jude 7), "and turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes, condemned them to destruction, having made them an example to those who would live in an ungodly way" (2 Peter 2:6).

"'Therefore behold, the days come', says Yahweh, 'that it will no more be called ‘Topheth’ or ‘The valley of the son of Hinnom’, but ‘The valley of Slaughter’; for they will bury in Topheth until there is no place to bury. The dead bodies of this people will be food for the birds of the sky, and for the animals of the earth. No one will frighten them away'" (Jeremiah 7:32-33).

"'For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before me,' says Yahweh, 'so your offspring and your name shall remain. It shall happen that from one new moon to another, and from one Sabbath to another, all flesh will come to worship before me,' says Yahweh. 'They will go out, and look at the dead bodies of the men who have transgressed against me; for their worm will not die, nor will their fire be quenched, and they will be loathsome to all mankind'" (Isaiah 66:22-24).

"'For behold, the day comes, burning like a furnace, when all the proud and all who work wickedness will be stubble. The day that comes will burn them up,' says Yahweh of Armies, 'so that it will leave them neither root nor branch. But to you who fear my name shall the sun of righteousness arise with healing in its wings. You will go out and leap like calves of the stall. You shall tread down the wicked; for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I make,' says Yahweh of Armies" (Malachi 4:1-3).

"When the whirlwind passes, the wicked is no more; but the righteous stand firm forever... The fear of Yahweh prolongs days, but the years of the wicked shall be shortened... The way of Yahweh is a stronghold to the upright, but it is a destruction to the workers of iniquity. The righteous will never be removed, but the wicked will not dwell in the land. The mouth of the righteous produces wisdom, but the perverse tongue will be cut off" (Proverbs 10:25, 27, 29-31).

"If your right eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out and throw it away from you. For it is more profitable for you that one of your members should perish than for your whole body to be cast into Gehenna" (Matthew 5:29). "Enter in by the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter in by it. How narrow is the gate and the way is restricted that leads to life! There are few who find it" (Matthew 7:13-14).

"Don’t be afraid of those who kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul. Rather, fear him who is able to destroy both soul and body in Gehenna" (Matthew 10:28). "I tell you, my friends, don’t be afraid of those who kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. But I will warn you whom you should fear. Fear him who after he has killed, has power to cast into Gehenna. Yes, I tell you, fear him" (Luke 12:4-5).

"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only born Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life" (John 3:16). "My sheep listen to my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. And I give them eternal life, and they will never perish forever, and no one will seize them out of my hand" (John 10:27-28, LEB). "Jesus said to her, 'I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me, even if he dies, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die forever'" (John 11:25-26, LEB). "These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life" (Matthew 25:46). "For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 6:23).

"Only one is the lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy" (James 4:12). "Brothers, if any among you wanders from the truth and someone turns him back, let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save a soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins" (James 5:19-20).

"Though the wicked spring up as the grass, and all the evildoers flourish, they will be destroyed forever" (Psalm 92:7). "Who will pay the penalty: eternal destruction from the face of the Lord and from the glory of his might, when he comes in that day to be glorified in his saints and to be admired among all those who have believed, because our testimony to you was believed" (2 Thess 1:9-10).

"For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remains no more a sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and a fierceness of fire which will devour the adversaries" (Hebrews 10:26-27). "But for the cowardly, unbelieving, sinners, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their part is in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death." (Revelation 21:8).

The Big Three

The so called big three are the most commonly cited proof texts to support the doctrine of eternal consious torment (ECT) which is also called the traditional view. They are typically not analyzed in detail and are assumed to unequivocally teach ECT. Without these three verses, ECT could never get off the ground, but with them, the entire Bible is reinterpreted to line up with ECT. These texts are Revelation 14:10-11, Revelation 20:10-15 and Matthew 25:46. However, upon closer inspection, they are actually strong proofs for conditional immortality.

Revelation 14:9-11

"Another angel, a third, followed them, saying with a great voice, 'If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, he also will drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is prepared unmixed in the cup of his anger. He will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. The smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever. They have no rest day and night, those who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name.'"

The language of fire and sulfur is found in references to Sodom and Gomorrah (Gen 19:24; Deut 29:23; Job 18:15-17; Isa 30:27-33; 34:9-11; Ezek 38:22). It paints a picture of decisive annihilation and complete destruction, leaving nothing but ashes and rising smoke in its wake. Notice that the smoke from the torment is said to last forever, not the torment itself. The image of rising smoke also comes from the account of Sodom and Gomorrah (Gen 19:28) and symbolizes the permanent destruction of the wicked. This is the same fate of Edom in Isaiah 34:8-10:

"For Yahweh has a day of vengeance, a year of recompense for the cause of Zion. Its streams will be turned into pitch, its dust into sulfur, and its land will become burning pitch. It won’t be quenched night or day. Its smoke will go up forever. From generation to generation, it will lie waste. No one will pass through it forever and ever."

Isaiah says that Edom’s fire "won’t be quenched night or day." This is another description of an aspect of the judgment with a recognizable OT allusions. Like Isaiah, John is saying that the fire burns continuously without ceasing "day or night" during the period of torment. It is a ceaseless activity, and a restless time.

Traditionalist scholar G. K. Beale agrees that this passage is not decisive for ECT: "In particular, 'day and night' (ἡμέρας καὶ νυκτός) in 14:11 can be taken as a qualitative genitive construction indicating not duration of time (like the accusative construction of the same phrase) but kind of time, that is, time of ceaseless activity... The lack of rest will continue uninterrupted as long as the period of suffering lasts, though there will be an end to the period. Therefore, the imagery of Rev 14:10-11 could indicate a great judgment that will be remembered forever, not one that leads to eternal suffering" (The Book of Revelation, 762).

Lack of rest for the unrighteous could also just be contrasting the rest which the righteous experience. Verse 13 says that the blessed receive "rest from their labors." In Matthew 11:28, Jesus says, "I will give you rest." The unrighteous will never get to experience the blessed rest which the righteous will enjoy forever in the new heavens and new earth. Their souls will never find rest, not because they are tormented forever, but because they will be destroyed.

Moreover, if we consider that John describes the destruction of Babylon in Revelation 17-19 with the same language of torment, fire, and smoke from the burning ascending forever, we have ample reason to believe that John intends the same meaning here:

"Return to her just as she returned, and repay her double as she did, and according to her works. In the cup which she mixed, mix to her double... Therefore in one day her plagues will come: death, mourning, and famine; and she will be utterly burned with fire, for the Lord God who has judged her is strong… The kings of the earth who committed sexual immorality and lived wantonly with her will weep and wail over her, when they look at the smoke of her burning, standing far away for the fear of her torment, saying, ‘Woe, woe, the great city, Babylon, the strong city! For your judgment has come in one hour’... and [they] cried out as they looked at the smoke of her burning, saying, ‘What is like the great city?’..."

"After these things I heard something like a loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, saying, 'Hallelujah! Salvation, power, and glory belong to our God; for his judgments are true and righteous. For he has judged the great prostitute who corrupted the earth with her sexual immorality, and he has avenged the blood of his servants at her hand.' A second said, 'Hallelujah! Her smoke goes up forever and ever.'" (Rev 18:6, 8-10, 18; 19:1-3).

Beale also agrees that the rising smoke in these passages refer to a permanent memorial of judgment: "what is precisely underscored is the finality of Babylon’s judgment: ‘her smoke ascends forever.’ The wording comes from Isa. 34:9-10, where the portrayal of smoke continually ascending serves as a permanent memorial to God’s punishment of Edom for its sin. Rev. 14:11 also alludes to Isa. 34:9-10 to describe the never-ending effect of God’s judgment of the beast’s followers. Here Edom’s fall is taken as an anticipatory typological pattern for the fall of the world system, which will never rise again after God’s judgment" (The Book of Revelation, 929).

It should also be taken into account that the very next picture of judgment immediately following these verses mentions the “wine of the wrath of God” again and is clearly about death: “The angel thrust his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vintage of the earth and threw it into the great wine press of the wrath of God. The wine press was trodden outside of the city, and blood came out of the wine press, up to the bridles of the horses, as far as one thousand six hundred stadia” (Rev 14:19-20).

Revelation 20:10-15

"The devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet are also. They will be tormented day and night forever and ever... The sea gave up the dead who were in it. Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them. They were judged, each one according to his works. Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. If anyone was not found written in the book of life, he was cast into the lake of fire."

G. K. Beale has helpful commentary on this passage as well: "Strictly speaking, even the expression 'they will be tormented forever and ever' is figurative... at the least, the phrase figuratively connotes a very long time. The context here and in the whole Apocalypse must determine whether this is a limited time or an unending period... All unbelievers suffering the first death are held in the sphere of 'death and Hades,' which is a temporary, preconsummate holding tank to be finally replaced by the permanent, consummate 'lake of fire,' which is 'the second death' (see on 20:14)" (The Book of Revelation, 1030).

Assuming that traditionalist scholar D. A. Carson is correct about the three figures in 20:10, John sees a vision in which the three figures, the devil, the beast and the false prophet, are tormented for an extraordinarily long period of time. Carson interprets these figures for us: the devil, depicted as a dragon and a serpent, is Satan, and the beast and false prophet "are best thought of as recurring individuals, culminating in supreme manifestations of their type." Those whose names are not written in the book of life are the enemies of Christ. Death and Hades are personified individuals in Revelation. Hades and Death give up the dead who were in them, meaning everyone is resurrected, and those who are not saved are judged and cast into the lake of fire. Afterwards, Death and Hades are also thrown in. John and God Himself interpret the vision of the "lake of fire" for us: it is the "second death" (Rev 20:14; 21:8). The vision he sees represents the death and final judgment of the wicked in the age to come.

Matthew 25:46

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

If the fire leads to destruction, the "eternal" aspect is in the everlasting nature of the destruction, not in a continuous experience of punishment. This verse specifically sets up a contrast between the eternal punishment of the unrighteous and the eternal life of the righteous. This precludes the possibility of the unrighteous experiencing eternal life. While the righteous experience life that is eternal in duration (unending and ongoing life), the unrighteous face death that is eternal in duration (unending and ongoing death).

Just as chopping off a criminal’s finger for stealing is completed quickly but constitutes a lifelong punishment, the destruction by fire is carried out in a finite amount of time but constitutes an eternal punishment. The nature of the punishment is privation which means that the length of the effect of the punishment, the duration of the privation, is the proper characterization of the duration of the punishment.

Paul explicitly states that the punishment is "eternal destruction" (2 Thes 1:9). The eternal punishment is eternal destruction which is eternal death, to "die forever" (Jn 11:26 LEB). This is not new or controversial language either. It flows straight from the biblical language used to describe sin and judgment. The phrase "eternal death" has been used for centuries to describe the eternal punishment. It is even used in the Westminster Confession of Faith (1647) which is still held to by millions of Christians today: "By the decree of God, for the manifestation of his glory, some men and angels are predestinated unto everlasting life; and others foreordained to everlasting death" (3.3).