- Introduction
- Chapter One - Eternal Damnation: What does the Bible Really Teach?
- Chapter Two - Biblical Examples of Everlasting Destruction
- Chapter Three - Further Biblical Support for Everlasting Destruction
- Chapter Four - The Great Lie: What about the Immortal soul?
- Chapter Five - Biblical Analysis of Claimed Support Texts for Eternal Torture
- Chapter Six - Refuting Extra-Biblical Arguments for Eternal Torture and Against Literal Destruction
- Chapter Seven - Extra-Biblical Arguments II: Exploring Judeo-Christian History
- Chapter Eight - Morality & Justice and Other Issues Related to Damnation
- Chapter Nine - The True Literal View on Eternal Damnation
- Chapter Ten - CONCLUSION: Will God Torture People Forever?
- Appendix A: Additional Hebraic Texts on Everlasting Destruction
- Appendix B: The Nature of Human Beings: Spirit, Mind & Body
- Bibliography
Biblically Dispelling the Myth of Eternal Torture
by Dirk Waren
Book web site www.hellhadesafterlife.com/hell
Visit author's web site at www.hellhadesafterlife.com.
Chapter TEN
CONCLUSION: Will God Torture People Forever?
As pointed out a couple of times in this study already, the doctrine of eternal torture is the silent subject of the Christian church. This is strange especially when considering the importance of the issue of eternal damnation—it literally deals with the eternal fate of masses of humanity. Yet you won’t hear many Christians bring it up. If you do, you aren’t likely to hear much elaboration on it. You could almost say it’s a taboo subject. My impression is that most Christians secretly wish this hideous teaching were not part of their Christian doctrine but they keep from parting with it because they’ve been taught that the scriptures adamantly teach it. Not to mention they are pressured to unquestioningly believe whatever their pastor or denomination officially affirms as true. The express purpose of this study is to plainly show people that the scriptures do not teach this perverse belief and never have.
What Adherents of Eternal Torture REALLY Believe John 3:16 Says
As pointed out earlier in this study the eternal torture doctrine is often covered up by various code words and phrases. Proponents of this view teach that unrepentant sinners will “perish” or be “destroyed” even though they really mean no such thing. Another favorite cover-up phrase is that unrepentant sinners will be “eternally separated from God.” This is a nice and vague expression. Yet, none of these code words or phrases even remotely suggest what adherents of eternal torture really mean by such language—never-ending conscious torment with no merciful pause or end to the suffering.
To illustrate what I’m getting at, let’s consider one of the most popular verses of the bible:
JOHN 3:16
“For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
We frequently see or hear this passage on billboards, in magazines, on the radio, at sports events, in tracts, etc. What’s strange is that adherents of eternal torment deny what this passage literally teaches. In fact, they argue that “perish” in this text means something completely opposite to what perish actually means.
Just for a moment let’s put aside these misleading code words and quote this popular passage the way proponents of eternal torture actually interpret it:
JOHN 3:16
“For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not be tortured forever in hell but go to heaven.”
This is what adherents of eternal torture really believe this passage says. Yes, when we disregard all their misleading code words this is what they honestly believe! Can you imagine this beloved evangelical passage, written as such, plastered on billboards, magazines, tracts, etc. everywhere? Can you imagine seeing it on a banister or in the crowd at the next Superbowl? Why not? This is what they really believe it says.
When the light of blatant truth exposes the lie like this, we see how fiendish and ludicrous it really is.
John 3:16 happens to be my favorite passage in the bible. I adhere to it wholeheartedly and completely. It plainly states the most important truths of the bible: 1.) God loves us. 2.) He doesn’t want any of us to perish, which is the ultimate wage of sin. 3.) He therefore made a great sacrifice—the death of His Son—to set us free from sin and its ultimate consequence. And 4.) He did this in order to grant us the gracious gift of eternal life. This is all I’m saying in this study in a nutshell. Why have religionists made such easy-to-understand and beautiful truths as this so complicated, hideous and ludicrous?
Will God Torture People Forever?
Will God torture people forever?—This is what I really wanted to call this book. I decided not to, however, because I figured the average person would consider it too extreme of a title and be turned off. But is it too extreme? I believe the question “Will God torture people forever?” rips through all the lies and niceties and gets straight to the heart of the issue of damnation.
As already pointed out in Chapter One, many adherents of eternal torture object to what this blunt question implies because they argue that people “choose hell.” I often hear this clichéd statement. Evidently, according to their reasoning, God has absolutely nothing to do with people going to hell—the lake of fire—or what they will experience there.
Actually “hell” is just another code word for adherents of eternal torture. Whenever they use the word “hell” what they really mean is eternal conscious torture with no merciful pause or end to the suffering. So when they adamantly state that “People choose hell,” what they really mean is “People choose never-ending fiery conscious agony.” What utter ridiculousness.
It is true, however, that people choose sin, that is, they choose to rebel against the righteous will of their Maker. And, as the bible makes repeatedly clear, the wages of sin is death. So people choose sin, which ultimately leads to death, and God is the supreme authority and judge who must ultimately carry out this sentence. As scripture declares:
JAMES 4:12 a
There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the one who is able to save and destroy,
When it comes down to it, God is ultimately either going to save people—grant them eternal life—or destroy them—extinguish them from existence. Because God is the supreme authority and giver of life He therefore has the right to take life away, if He must. His ultimate decision to take a person’s life is based upon that person’s choices. God’s moral nature never changes (Hebrews 13:8; James 1:17); His plain statement to the Israelites, “I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life,” (Deuteronomy 30:19 b) is His ultimate proposition to all humanity as well. This explains why we see this bottom-line proposition all over the bible: for example, Matthew 7:13-14, John 3:16, Romans 6:23, Romans 8:13, Galatians 6:8, etc. If people freely choose to rebel against God and His righteous way, then they are freely choosing to be cursed by Him and condemned to death. This reveals how much respect God has for our free moral agency—whatever choices we make He’s going to honor.
This helps us to understand Jesus’ straightforward and solemn statement:
MATTHEW 10:28
“Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.”
Those who choose to fear God and receive His gift of reconciliation will be blessed with eternal life (“life in the age to come”). Those who foolishly refuse will be mercifully executed in the lake of fire, God’s incinerator.
So to answer the question, Will God torture people forever? The answer is no. Such an idea is utterly repulsive to the moral, just nature of the Almighty. Literal death is the wage of sin, and He will justly-but-mercifully issue out this wage on judgment day—if He must.
God of course doesn’t want anyone to perish like this. As it is written:
EZEKIEL 18:31-32
“Rid yourselves of all the offenses you have committed, and get a new heart and a new spirit. Why will you die, O house of Israel? For I take no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Sovereign LORD. Repent and live!”
God is talking to His people Israel here, but this passage reveals His heart on the matter—He doesn’t want anyone to perish. This is repeated in reference to all humanity:
2 PETER 3:7-9
By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.(8) But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. (9) The Lord is not slow in keeping His promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.
God’s will on the matter is clear: He desires all humanity to repent and be blessed with eternal life. Those who foolishly choose selfishness and rebellion will suffer the destruction of the second death.
If you are not sure that Jesus Christ is “the way, the truth and the life” as He claimed in John 14:6, then I encourage you to honestly and humbly seek it out. As the LORD declared in Jeremiah 29:13-14 a: “ ‘You will seek me and find when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you,’ declares the LORD.” God will reveal Himself to those who sincerely seek Him.
Conclusion
This study concludes that the doctrine of eternal conscious torture is a sadistic teaching completely foreign to the bible. It stems from a satanic lie, is founded on a pagan view of human nature (i.e. the immortal soul which even God cannot destroy) and is perpetuated by religious tradition. It is a horrible stain on Christianity and a blasphemy to the just, merciful name of the Almighty.
Some may criticize that I’ve come across too strong in this writing, others may argue that I’m overly repetitive with major points and scripture citations, still others will object to my habit of illustrating the absurdity of eternal torture by quoting plain bible passages the way adherents of this belief really interpret them; but this error is so deeply embedded in the psyche of the church and our culture that it’s going to take such an approach to wake us up to biblical reality.
The doctrine of eternal torture is simply a gross mistake in the history of Christendom. Being in any way tolerant of this error is unacceptable. We need to quit mindlessly believing unbiblical doctrines that misguided ministers continue to peddle generation after generation and let the scriptural facts speak for themselves. It’s time for Christians of all persuasions everywhere to stand up and boldly proclaim the biblical truth about everlasting destruction. Yes, this must be proclaimed in a spirit of love and compassion, with much patience in face of the closed-minded stubbornness of religionists and traditionalists; and, no, it’s not an issue to break fellowship over (even though staunch advocates of eternal torment are likely to do this). As we faithfully proclaim what the Judeo-Christian scriptures plainly teach on human damnation the truth will expose the hideous lie that the church has so wrongly embraced for so long. The doctrine of eternal torture needs to finally be put to rest in favor of what the bible has always clearly taught regarding human damnation—everlasting literal destruction with no hope of restoration or resurrection.
Let those of us who have “ears to hear” and understand this clear biblical truth strive for the same bold spirit as that of the great abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison:
“I am in earnest—I will not equivocate—I will not excuse—I will not retreat a single inch—and I will be heard.”
~ The Liberator, January 1831
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Comments (5)
Thankyou, I came to the conclusion that I couldn't serve a God who would torture my family in hell forever , things didn't weigh up . God is love , He tells us to forgive our enemies not just a few times and then does the opposite. Love is gentle, forgiving, merciful sees the best, protecting , it never gives up. I found hell meant dark, covered,it's an Anglo saxon word, that came 750 years after jesus, it wasn't in bible for first 1200 years. I believe God is just but not a sadist, I couldn't worship Him if He was
Contrary to the authors claim, I am not going to shy away from the truth regardless of people's feelings. Hell is eternal, concious torment. Don't believe this article. He wants to cherry pick and make up stuff just to make people feel good. Proof that he is wrong is Jesus juxtapositions eternal life with "perishing", or death in John 3:16. So if "perish" means unconcious torment, then everlasting life isn't conscious is it? Either BOTH are conscious or NEITHER are conscious. BOTH are conscious completely regardless of whether it hurts peoples feelings or not. It is pointless if it says Hell is eternal if it is not conscious. And Revelation 20:15 says with nothing about it being temporary "Anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life". was thrown into the lake of fire."
The ideas of Gehenna and Hades did not originate with Christ. They began appearing during the intertestamental period, where Jewish writers blended the Greek Hades with the OT Sheol. Sheol then became a habitation for living souls, complete with fire, darkness, and cries of pain (1 Enoch, Judith, c. 300-200 BC). Christ was not affirming the existence of noncanonical writings. But his audience was a Jewish one, and they could relate to Gehenna and Hades. But they are not real and never were. Paul's audience was mostly Gentile, so he avoided the Jewish ethos of the afterlife, saying that the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life.
To me John 3:16 says it all. If you only read the Bible, you'll never know that Jesus uses 'perish' as a code word for eternal conscious torment - you have to go to seminary to find that out.
Look through the Bible for God's character. When did he ever torture anyone? Torture is what we sinful humans like to do to each other.
you have conveniently ignored all the passages (usually from Jesus Himself) that refer to eternal torment and eternal life in the same sentence using the exact same word for "eternal". you have also overlooked the fact that a Holy and just God MUST punish the unsaved - it is not a choice of "don't want you to suffer because I love you" - it is absolutely necessary. If it was not severe, why would Jesus have warned us to avoid it at all costs including cutting off our own offending limbs and plucking out our eyes? True justice demands punishment, and God's perspective on sin is extreme... exactly how do you think that figuratively slapping Jesus in the face by not accepting his gift of salvation would NOT bring infinite wrath from the Father how loves the Son? It is only in recent times that the church has allowed any other interpretation with regard to the lake of fire.
Craig, this is only one chapter of ten in the book. In earlier chapters, Chapter 5 for instance, the author addresses every passage "that refer to eternal torment and eternal life in the same sentence" so they are not "conveniently ignored" as you suggest. When you say that "a Holy and just God MUST punish the unsaved" we could not agree more. Throughout Scripture God says that death is the punishment for sin. Eternal punishment is eternal death. Those who argue that "death," or ceasing to exist, is not much of a punishment, have apparently never truly grasped the resplendence, magnificence, and inconceivable value of the gift of eternal life in the kingdom of God. The magnitude of the loss of such a gift is inestimable. From the perspective of an eternal being what could be of a greater loss than to cease to be? Furthermore, one would have to "live forever" to be eternally tormented which is impossible apart from having access to the tree of life "which is in the paradise of God" (Rev. 2:7) and granted only to those in Christ.
"the author addresses every passage "that refer to eternal torment and eternal life in the same sentence" so they are not "conveniently ignored" as you suggest."
Yes it is ignored. Or lied about. So eternal life is not conscious eternal life is it? Or is it? But eternal "death" or torment isn't conscious torment, or it is? So wrong, it is ignored that BOTH are while being conscious. You can't change that eternal, conscious torment is not concious, and at the same time say eternal life IS while being conscious just because it hurts peoples feelings.
Why is it, that Everytime someone tells me it is ECT, I find endless proof? Is this because it is how I was taught to read the Bible? I want to believe in a God, but not a God that does this.
Help me understand, please.
In the first book of the Bible, Genesis 2:17, the Lord God said to Adam, “but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” The Hebrew text uses an idiomatic construction literally translated “dying you shall die.” In other words, the day in which Adam sinned he began to die and his death was assured. God then says in Genesis 3:22, “Behold, the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil. Now, lest he reach out his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat, and live forever.” Death is not defined here as living forever in torment but to not “live forever.” Throughout the Old Testament God never once threatens His people with eternal torment. It is always death i.e., not living forever. God “drove out the man, and … placed the cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life.” Adam would surely die because he would no longer have access to the tree of life. “Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned” (Rom. 5:12). No one born in Adam has access to the tree of life and therefore all will likewise “surely die.” “The wages of sin is death.” Since the punishment of death is eternal it is referred to in Scripture as “eternal punishment” emphasizing the fact that the punishment is absolute and final with no hope of ever again having access to tree of life and living forever. We then find in the last book of the Bible those who have restored access to the tree of life and therefore will “live forever.” “To the one who overcomes I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God ” Rev. 2:7. In other words, those who remain in Adam will receive the eternal punishment of death and all those in Christ will receive the gift of eternal life. If it were not for some passages in the most highly symbolic book in the Bible, Revelation, I do not think there would even be an argument. One of the most basic laws of Biblical interpretation is to interpret difficult passages of Scripture with clear passages of Scripture. John 3:16 is clear, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish. (die). but have eternal life. (live forever). To interpret this as all people will live forever is nonsensical and is in full agreement with the most horrendous lie ever told “you shall not surely die.” Dr. Weymouth, head master of Mill Hill School, and one of the finest Greek scholars, says, "My mind fails to conceive a grosser misinterpretation of language than when the five or six strongest words which the Greek tongue possesses, signifying 'destroy,' or 'destruction,' are explained to mean maintaining an everlasting but wretched existence. To translate black as white is nothing to this."
Thank you for clearing that up a bit, helped me to understand a bit more.