Information Related to "Are the Wicked Punished in an Ever-Burning Hell?"

Audio/Video

Are the Wicked Punished in an Ever-Burning Hell?

Did Jesus here warn of unending suffering in hellfire?

"It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye, rather than having two eyes, to be cast into hell fire-where 'their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched'" (Mark 9:47-48).

The quoted phrase "hell fire" is translated from gehenna-the Greek form of the Hebrew Gai Hinnom, meaning Valley of Hinnom, which was just outside Jerusalem. In Jesus' day this area was a garbage dump in which fires burned constantly, fueled by trash and the dead bodies of animals and criminals.

Jesus used this desolate and miserable place to represent the fate of unrepentant sinners. Notice that Jesus said the worm does not die, not that the people punished in hellfire do not die. The punishment is eternal, meaning that it is permanent and complete. But this does not mean that the incorrigible are kept alive perpetually and tortured incessantly by a vengeful God.

Burned remains of the bodies in theoriginal gehenna, the Valley of Hinnom, decomposed and were infested with maggots. The fire was not extinguished-it burned as long as there was trash to keep it burning-and the maggots (the "worms" of Mark 9:48) were not destroyed. Maggots are the wormlike larvae of flies. Flies swarm over the decaying refuse and keep it continuously infested with maggots. Then, instead of dying, those creatures turn into more flies in a continuing cycle.

The bodies of animals and people thrown into gehenna, however, either decayed or burned up and, of course, were eventually completely consumed. Similarly, unrepentant sinners will not be tormented forever. Quite the contrary, they will be completely and eternally annihilated in the lake of fire, referred to in Revelation 20:14.

Related Information:

Sidebar to How Eternal Life Will Ultimately Be Offered to All
Origin of article "Are the Wicked Punished in an Ever-Burning Hell?"
Keywords: hell gehenna 

Hell:

• The Resurrections of the Dead
• Where Do We Go From Here?
• A Kinder, Gentler Hell?
• Questions and Answers - Jan/Mar 2002
• The Penalty for Unrepentant Sinners
• How Much Do You Know About Heaven and Hell?
• Letters From Our Readers - Jul/Aug 2003
• Who Will Go to Hell?
• To Hell and Back -- for a Popsicle
• Is Hell Real?
• A Trip to Hell and Back
• Questions and Answers: "Will I Go to Heaven When I Die?"
• Jesus Christ and the Great White Throne Judgment
• Martin Luther: The Unfinished Reformation
• What Is Hell?
• Do Some Bible Verses Teach We Have an Immortal Soul?
• Pre-Christian Belief of an Afterlife in Heaven
• Are There Saved Human Beings in Heaven?
• Introduction: Heaven and Hell
• The Resurrection: God's Answer to Life After Death
• Will a Loving God Punish People Forever in Hell?
• Are Some Tortured Forever in a Lake of Fire?
• Does the Bible Speak of Hellfire That Lasts Forever?
• Lazarus and the Rich Man: Proof of Heaven and Hell?
• Will the Wicked's Torment Last Forever?
• Should We Want to Be Baptized With Fire?
• Introduction - Rich Man and Lazarus
• The rich man in mental torment
• The state of the dead
• Was the Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus a Real Story?
• The wicked will be completely burned up
• The Biblical View of 'Hell'
• Lazarus and the Rich Man: Proof of Heaven and Hell?
• Will the Torment of the Wicked Last Forever?
• Do Some Bible Verses Teach That We Have an Immortal Soul?
• The Promise of Life After Death
• Reward and Punishment