Does the Punishment of Hell Last Forever

Does the Punishment of Hell Last Forever?

By Harley Pinon

I was taught to believe just like most people are that those who “go to hell” will be in torment forever and ever. The question is, is this true? Is this what the Bible teaches? I understand that human reasoning is not the ultimate test for determining biblical truths, but for a moment, let’s do some “reasoning together.” How long did Jesus suffer on the cross? He didn’t suffer forever, yet He took the place of every sinner who has ever lived, or ever will live. His suffering was horrible, and I don’t mean to take from that in any way, but since He took our place, and paid the price that we would have had to pay, what was the punishment? 1) It was a horrible, brutal death, 2) It was separation from God. He cried out from the cross, “My God My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?” 3) It ended His life. He was buried in a tomb. Having said all of that, He didn’t continue to be tortured, “world without end.”

I know that’s a logical argument, and logic can be misused, but let’s look at one or two other cases. Consider (Jude 1:7 NKJV) “as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities around them in a similar manner to these, having given themselves over to sexual immorality and gone after strange flesh, are set forth as an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.” Eternal fire! Today, there is no fire burning where these two cities once stood. Others do a better job with explanations than I do, but I think it is pretty clear that the eternal has to do with the effect of the fire, not that the fire is still burning.

Again, Jesus said, "For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and is himself destroyed or lost?” (Luke 9:25 NKJV) Here Jesus uses the word destroyed to describe what happens to someone who dies without God. Another word that Jesus used was perish: (Mat 18:14 NKJV) "Even so it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.”

I could go on and on, and if I were studious enough, maybe I could come up with something like a book produced by Edward Fudge called, The Fire that Consumes, or arguments like Al Maxey. But I don’t believe in re-inventing the wheel so I will not try to match their works here. I will say this, I do believe in eternal destruction, or eternally lost, but there is a vast difference in that and being tortured eternally in a conscious state.

How is it possible that we do things so bad in this life that being burned in “hell” for the same length of time cannot satisfy what we have done? Now we stretch that on to eternity. God is a just God. Is this justice, or is this a vengeful God Who can never be satisfied?

I know the verse "where 'Their worm does not die, And the fire is not quenched.' (Mark 9:46 NKJV); however, does that mean they are alive to experience the torture? I think many associate “Their worm” as their feelings, or their soul, but I believe a more logical thought is that of Gehenna which is often translated: hell. Gehenna as I understand it, was basically a dump outside of Jerusalem. Fire kept burning there because it was a dumping ground, before the days of land fill. The fire kept burning, and the worms continued to feed on the garbage and dead bodies, but that didn’t mean that everything ever thrown there was still alive.

Back to my home page What Happens to Us When We Die?

An explanation of the word Hell

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