JayJayDee
Avid JW Bible Student
Just in answer to the OP......
The questions are based on a false premise. There is no such place as "a hell of eternal torment" because the punishment clearly does not fit the crime. Suffering for eternity as a penalty for a short lifetime of sin (and those born in sin did not have an option here) does not make God either just or loving. :no:
In the laws he gave to Israel, death was the highest penalty one could pay for breaking God law. Capital crimes were clearly outlined and the penalty was known before anyone ever raised a hand to anyone else. Those who took a life, paid with their own. Those who stole had to repay their victims, either in goods or in service to them. There was no such thing as an unfair law.
There was no incarceration in ancient Israel, let alone torture chambers. Prisons were unnecessary because the law involved compensation to the victim, not being locked up. Prisons were common in other cultures but not in Israel. A city of refuge was the closest thing Israel had to a prison. It was a place of safety for an accidental manslayer who was tried and found not guilty of murder, but because he took a life, the next of kin could legally take his life in return. As long as he stayed in the city of refuge, the avenger could not touch him. He had freedom within the city limits.
In order for the wicked to be punished eternally, they would have to be alive eternally. Since only the righteous are promised eternal life...we have a dilemma.
There was not one single punishment apart from the death penalty, where a criminal could not pay his debt and be free. Even in ancient times, a wicked person could repent and gain God's forgiveness. Manasseh was one of the most wicked kings in Israel's history but he repented and God forgave him. (2 Chron 33:12, 13)
Christianity was founded on forgiveness. Many of Jesus illustrations were about God's forgiveness. There was always opportunity, but when a person refused to repent, or their wickedness was too great to forgive, they were sentenced to "gehenna" (often translated "hell"). This is where Jesus said the Pharisees would go.....so what is it?
Understanding what this "hell" is will dispel any notions of God frying people forever in flames.
Gehenna was the Valley of Hinnom, just outside the walls of Jerusalem where the city's garbage, the carcasses of dead animals, and the bodies of executed criminals were cast into the flames, which were kept burning night and day by the addition of brimstone. (sulfur) These criminals were not considered worthy of a decent burial because of the person's lawless lifestyle. For a Jew, having no marked burial tomb was tantamount to being forgotten by God in the resurrection. Since Jews did not have a belief in an immortal soul that departed to heaven or hell, they just believed what the scriptures taught them about the resurrection of the dead. Paul spoke about this hope when he addressed a Jewish crowd. (Acts 24:15) There was to be "a resurrection of both the righteous and the unrighteous". Jesus too spoke about the resurrection. (John 5:28, 29) He said the dead were sleeping (John 11:11) If even unrighteous ones will come back to life, and hades is emptied, (Rev 20:13) then what is the point of hell?
Fire is often used in the Bible to symbolize complete destruction.Since the Bible does not support belief in an immortal soul, there is no reason to assume that a hell of eternal torment even exists. God never told Adam anything about heaven or hell...only life and death and returning to the dust.
Gehenna is a place where the dead remain dead. They will never see life again. What possible reason could God have for keeping the wicked alive only to torture them with no way to repent and seek his forgiveness? That is not the God of love that I know. That sounds like something the fiendish devil would do.
God grants everlasting life to the righteous and decrees everlasting death to the wicked. Why does it have to be more than that? Does justice demand more? I don't think so.
