I don’t particularly like writing this article, but hell is real and there are people who are on their way to it. So let’s take a closer look at what the Bible has to say about it, as well as the ongoing debate over whether hell is conscious eternal punishment.
(1) The word most often translated “hell” in the New Testament is Gehenna, the Greek equivalent means “the valley of Hinnom.” This valley lies immediately to the southwest of Jerusalem, being visible from the Mount of Olives. There was a time when human sacrifices were made there to Molech, the pagan deity (2 Kings 23:10; 2 Chron. 28:3; 33:6; cf. Jer. 7:31-32; 19:5ff). .
There is an ongoing debate among scholars as to whether the Valley of Hinnom actually served as the “city dump” or “garbage mound” of Jerusalem. The evidence does not seem conclusive to me and therefore we must avoid being dogmatic on the point. However, no one denies that this area was once the place where pagan child sacrifices were made. Therefore, it is understood that it is used as a way to refer to the place of eternal torment. Against the idea that hell was, in Jesus’ day, a garbage dump, read Francis Chan and Preston Sprinkle’s excellent analysis, (Erasing Hell: What God Said About Eternity And What We Made Up, Colorado Springs: David C. Cook, 2011), pp. 56-67; and David A. Croteau, (New Testament Urban Legends: 40 Common Misconceptions, B & H, 2015), pages 49-53.
(2) The most graphic depiction of hell is found in Revelation 14:9-11. There we read: “Then another angel followed them, the third, saying with a loud voice: If anyone worships the beast and its image, and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, he too shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is prepared pure in the cup of his wrath; and he will be tormented with fire and brimstone before the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. And the smoke of his torment ascends forever and ever; and they have no rest, neither day nor night, those who worship the beast and the image of him, and whoever receives the mark of his name ”.
(3) John goes on to describe the duration of this penalty in two statements in v. 11. First, the “smoke” of his torment, that is, the smoke of fire and brimstone (v. 10) “goes up forever and ever” (see Isa. 34:9-10 for the background of the Old Testament). It is almost as if there is a burning testimony of the consequences of sin and of the just wrath of God. The duration of this phenomenon is said to be literally “for ever and ever.” This terminology occurs thirteen times in Revelation: three times in reference to the duration of praise, glory, and dominion given to God (1:6; 5:13; 7:12); five times with reference to the length of life of God or Christ (1:18; 4:9,10; 10:6; 15:7); once regarding the duration of the kingdom of God in Christ (11:15); once regarding the length of the reign of the saints (22:5); once in regard to the smoke rising from destroyed Babylon (19:3); once regarding the duration of the punishment of the devil, the beast, and the false prophet (20:10); and of course, once here at 14:11. Second, “they have no rest, day or night” (this last phrase is parallel to “forever and ever”). In Revelation 4:8, the same terminology occurs in relation to how long the worship by the four living creatures lasts. That from which they have no “rest” is probably the torment caused by fire and brimstone.
(4) Do texts like this speak of eternal punishment by focusing on the act of judging, or by focusing on the effects of judgment? In other words, what is eternal or endless: the act of punishing unbelievers, or the effect of their punishment? Once again, is the torment of the lost a conscious experience that never ends? Or is the punishment a form of annihilation in which, after a fair amount of suffering in perfect proportion to the sins committed, the soul ceases to exist? Does the rising smoke of their torment point to the conscious and endless experience of their suffering? Or does it mean a lasting and irreversible effect of their punishment in which they are annihilated? Advocates of the latter view hold that there will be no rest from torment “neither day nor night” while it continues or for as long as it lasts. However, whether or not it lasts forever or eternally must be determined on other grounds.
(5) Not all, but many of those who affirm annihilationism are also conditionalists. That is, they deny that the soul is naturally or inherently immortal and claim that it acquires immortality only when granted by God (mostly as a component bestowed in the gift of salvation). Annihilationists who reject conditionalism simply claim that God, as a punitive act, strips the unbeliever of immortality sometime after the final sentence. Most traditionalists claim that since God is inherently immortal, he irrevocably confers immortality on humans at creation.
(6) What reasons do people give for denying conscious eternal punishment and affirming annihilationism (or what is sometimes called “conditional immortality”)? Many appeal to the Biblical vocabulary about hell, especially the words “destroy,” “destruction,” and “perish” (see Phil 3:19; 1 Thess. 5:3; 2 Thess. 1:9; 2 Peter 3: 7). The “fire” of hell, according to them, burns, consumes, and completely “destroys” its object, leaving nothing (see Matt. 10:28). Therefore, they interpret “destroy” in the sense of depriving life and existence, therefore, it refers to the extinction of being. Annihilationists also point to the Greek word often translated “forever” (aion), and insist that it more literally means “age”, referring to a long but limited period of time. They also often appeal to the mandates of justice. His argument goes something like this: a “just” punishment will be proportional to the crime or sin committed. How can a sin committed in time by a finite creature deserve eternal torment?
It is also said that to suggest that hell is forever is to say that God does not, in fact, gain victory over sin and evil. How can it be said that God “wins” if his enemies continue to exist forever? Wouldn’t eternal punishment imply an eternal cosmological dualism? Would not the eternal and continuous existence of hell and its occupants mar the beauty and joy of heaven? Perhaps the most emotionally charged argument is that conscious eternal punishment in hell is morally repugnant to any sentient conscience. It is emotionally abhorrent to suggest that a God of love, mercy, and goodness would (so they say) “torture” people in hell for all eternity. No matter how serious the sin (or sins), the horrible pain, whether spiritual or physical, or both, that goes on and on for billions of years, and then for billions of years, ad infinitum, it is more than they can bear.
(7) Those who argue for a traditional concept of hell as eternal and conscious punishment begin by pointing out that the group of words that includes “destroy” and its synonyms is used in a variety of ways, some of which do not require or even imply the cessation of existence. In other words, a careful examination of usage indicates that destruction can occur without extinction of being. Likewise, with the image of “fire” in hell, one must recognize that it is a metaphor, and therefore we must not insist that the terms demonstrate something about the duration of hell that they were never intended to communicate. Just think of hell in the New Testament, which is described at one time as “the thickest darkness” and in another place as “a lake of fire.” How can these two coexist if they are strictly literal? Therefore, one must be careful when drawing rigid doctrinal conclusions about the supposed “function” of fire in hell. One cannot help but wonder about Matthew 18:8, which speaks of those who are cast into “everlasting” fire. As Carson says: “One certainly has a right to ask why fire burns forever and worms don’t die, if their goal comes to an end” (, muzzling god, p. 525). Regarding the Greek term aion, there are many texts where it means eternal as well as texts where it refers to a more limited period of time. This argument is inconclusive no matter which side of the debate one is on.
(8) Regarding the argument of justice, human beings are not the ones to evaluate the magnitude of our sins. “Is the magnitude of our sin established by our own state or by the degree of offense against the sovereign transcendent God?” (Carson, p. 534). As John Piper has pointed out: “The bottom line is that degrees of culpability come not from how long one offends dignity, but from how high the dignity one offends” (Let the Nations be Glad, , p. 127). In other words, our sin deserves infinite punishment because of the infinite glory of the One against whom it is committed.
(9) Unpunished sin would indicate a failure of justice and a defeat of God’s purpose. The continued existence of hell and its occupants would well reflect the glory of God’s holiness and his just opposition to evil.
Perhaps the idea of endless punishment is less offensive when considering the idea of endless sin. In other words, if those in hell don’t stop sinning, why should they stop suffering? In this sense, many point to Revelation 22:11, where the angel tells John the Apostle: “May the unjust continue to do injustice, may the impure continue to be impure, may the just continue to practice justice, and may he who is holy continue keeping himself holy.” Carson says: “If the saints and the do-gooders continue to be holy and do good, in anticipation of the perfect holiness and righteousness which they will live and practice for all eternity, should we not also conclude that the vile continue in their vileness? in anticipation of the vileness that they will live and practice for all eternity? (533). If one were to reject this idea and argue that people pay in full for their sins in hell and at some point stop sinning, why can’t they then be taken to heaven (thus turning hell into purgatory)? If their sins have not been fully paid for in hell, on what basis does justice allow them to be annihilated?
On this last point, I suspect that annihilation could respond by saying that the extinction of being is itself the payment for sin. The final destruction of the soul, that is, the obliteration, is itself the complete and final judicial consequence for sin. The proper and legal debt for the sins committed cannot be seen as paid in full, but…