Eugene Shubert
the new William Miller
Joined: 06 Apr 2002
Posts: 1006
Location: Richardson Texas
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 Posted: Sat Jul 15, 2006 12:57 am Post subject: Hell, Who can dwell in the fire that burns forever? |
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Traditional Christianity teaches that, for the sins of a brief earthly life, the wicked dead are tormented with fire and brimstone in an eternally burning hell and will continue to suffer this torture for all eternity [1][2]. In general, this doctrine is supported by taking some verses of the Bible literally (Revelation 20:10, Jude 1:7, Luke 16:19-31, Isaiah 66:24, Isaiah 14:3-11) and other seemingly contrary verses in a symbolic or abstract sense (2 Thessalonians 1:9, Matthew 10:28, Ezekiel 18:20, Ecclesiastes 9:5-6,10, Daniel 12:2, John 5:28-29, John 11:12-14, Psalms 115:17, Psalms 49:12, Isaiah 33:14-15, Malachi 4:1,3). Seventh-day Adventists reverse the popular order of what is literal and not literal and conclude that there is no eternal conscious torment.
Here are some important examples:
| Isaiah wrote: | The sinners in Zion are terrified;
trembling grips the godless:
"Who of us can dwell with the consuming fire?
Who of us can dwell with everlasting burning?"
He who walks righteously
and speaks what is right,
who rejects gain from extortion
and keeps his hand from accepting bribes,
who stops his ears against plots of murder
and shuts his eyes against contemplating evil.
Isaiah 33:14-15. NIV. |
Note what this Scripture teaches:
The sinners in Zion are terrified. These godless folk say, Who can dwell in the fire that burns forever? Isaiah answers, only the righteous. It is obvious from this passage that a consuming fire that burns forever represents an ultimate and awesome fire that will utterly consume and be inescapable.
John the Baptist called it "unquenchable fire" (Matthew 3:12). The most indisputable point about unquenchable fire is that nothing but ashes remain (Malachi 4:3).
Now compare this to what Jesus taught about the final judgment:
| Quote: | | Then he will say to those on his left, "Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire"... Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life. Matthew 25:41,46. |
Notice first that the eternal fire is of infinite duration; it continues as long as eternal life. Here, eternal fire means the same as in Isaiah 33:14-15. Jesus is utilizing strong language that symbolizes absolute and inescapable destruction. In Christ's teachings, there is no hope for the eventual restoration of the wicked. Eternal punishment is a punishment that will last forever. Notice also that nothing is said in these verses about eternal conscious torment. The consequence of eternal fire is a permanent, unceasing death. The wicked being destroyed forever is an eternal punishment.
The Spirit of prophecy supports this interpretation. After quoting the teachings of modern-day scholars on eternal conscious torment, Ellen G. White identifies their error to be, not a misunderstanding of Greek, but a failure to understand strong expressions of Scripture.
| Quote: | Said a learned doctor of divinity: "The sight of hell torments will exalt the happiness of the saints forever. When they see others who are of the same nature and born under the same circumstances, plunged in such misery, and they so distinguished, it will make them sensible of how happy they are." Another used these words: "While the decree of reprobation is eternally executing on the vessels of wrath, the smoke of their torment will be eternally ascending in view of the vessels of mercy, who, instead of taking the part of these miserable objects, will say, Amen, Alleluia! praise ye the Lord!"
Those who present the views expressed in the quotations given above may be learned and even honest men, but they are deluded by the sophistry of Satan. He leads them to misconstrue strong expressions of Scripture, giving to the language the coloring of bitterness and malignity which pertains to himself, but not to our Creator. —The Great Controversy, p. 535. |
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