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Results from: Answered Bible Questions, Answers, Unanswered Bible Questions, Notes Ordered by Verse | ||||||
Results | Verse | Author | ID# | |||
1 | Hell in the Bible: Literal or Figurative | Heb 11:40 | Rowdy | 114906 | ||
So might I solicit your response to all the major points of this discussion, especially toward reconciling 2 Pet 3:10 with the few other verses as cited? How can you take Peter's statement in any other way but literal? With that assumption, how do you reconcile the rest of EdB's position? Take your time in responding if you need it. It's a tough topic. God bless you for being brave enough to participate. I'm still hoping to see other folks respond with their contribution to the discussion. |
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2 | Hell in the Bible: Literal or Figurative | Heb 11:40 | ischus | 114913 | ||
Hello everyone, I might begin by asking if, in light of a literal interpretation, you (the literalist) would also agree with a literal view of the eternity of Hell. My point is this: If one is given to literal flames, he cannot last for an eternity in such a physically literal situation. Perhaps I am mistaken, but I gather that you are vouching for a literal, physical Hell, right? I am not sure how this can be reconciled against scripture, for serveral different reasons: 1) The biblical writers never intended their words to be taken literally. Take Jude for example. In verse 7 he desribes Hell as an eternal fire, and then three verses later, in verse 10, he calls it the blackest darkness. Matthew uses the same two images of Fire and Darkness at different times as well. Surely these can not be coexistent in a literal hell. 2) A physical fire would only be effective on physical beings with physical nerve endings. If we look to Mt. 25:41 however, we see an eternal fire created for... Satan and his angels. This certainly cannot be a physical fire made for a spiritual being. It is rather a sort of "spiritual fire," the common metaphor for God's punishment upon the wicked. 3) Every New Testament description of both heaven and hell are symbolic accounts, not literal snapshots of furniture and living quarters. Take any verse in Revelation and this can be applied. John never intended to communicate that the great and aweful things that he was describing were literal, as if he could comprehend all that he was seeing. The NT writers did exactly what any of us would do when asked to describe hell; they picked the worst thing they could think of and described it exponentially. Steven King could make heaven a lot better sounding and hell a lot worse sounding than what the bible makes it out to be, because he would take what is meaningful to us and what would impact us to descibed it. 4) In ancient times, writers often used strong words, symbolically to underscore their point. Take Jesus: does he really want us to literlly hate our families, gouge out our eyes, and let someone else bury our family memebers when they die, or were these symbols used in order to prove his point? The majority of people (except for one rabbinic school) understood sybolism, hyperbole, and allegory as the most popular forms of communication in the first century. Whether one was speaking of discipleship, the church, Jesus, or heaven/hell, symbolism and metaphor were the way to go if they wanted to effectively express their point. As you might have noticed, I believe that the bible speaks metaphorically about heaven and hell, and I think that Peter falls in line with all other NT authors and should be taken as metiphorical. I know that I am the minority here, but I will do my best to answer any questions that this may raise. Ischus |
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3 | Hell in the Bible: Literal or Figurative | Heb 11:40 | Rowdy | 114931 | ||
Thanks. Your logic has much merit. I'm just trying to motivate some open minded discussion about one of the toughest subjects in the Bible. I'm thankful to our God that ALL of this discussion is totally academic and if one of us is incorrect in our position or statement, that alone WON'T keep that person out of Heaven. Thanks again for contributing a solid piece of work to this thread of discussion. God bless. |
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4 | Hell in the Bible: Literal or Figurative | Heb 11:40 | EdB | 114946 | ||
Rowdy I still fail to understand what your after. If you questioning is there a hell? Then the answer is yes. Jesus spoke of hell more than He did heaven. If your questioning whether hell is physical there is actual flames and a never ending fire or spiritual there is spiritual flames and a never ending fire means little if the realm of that hell has becomes your reality. Hell could be many things but it is still reality in whatever realm it is in. It could be physical and as things burn up they regenerate and the process continues. (speculation) Or something could have had to change since fire consumes and we are told the sentence to hell is eternal. It could be you just experience burning in your mind for eternity. (speculation) Or it could be spiritual and there in the spiritual realm which we know very little of fire torments but does not consume. (speculation) Let me assure you one thing. When one is judged and their name is not found in the Lamb's Book of Life they are condemned to hell and it becomes their reality and that reality is not pleasant. You can take that to the bank. EdB |
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5 | Hell in the Bible: Literal or Figurative | Heb 11:40 | Rowdy | 114976 | ||
Ultimately, I have to agree with you for the most part. There are more questions than answers on this topic, especially when you try to reconcile all the guidance within God's Word. Appreciate your response and God bless. | ||||||