The Eternality of hell

Is hell eternal?

Again, the answer is yes and no.

One of the most threatening verses in the Bible (at least it was, for me), is 2 Thessalonians 1:9 NIV They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord. But this verse has been severely mistranslated, in my opinion. I hold out hope that in a hundred years from now, this verse will be rendered differently in new and revised translations.

I will look at hell as separation from God in my next post, but in this post I am addressing words like eternal, everlasting and forever.

The Greek word used here is aionios/aion from which we get the word “aeon” meaning “age.”  In the Greek, this word is often translated “age-during,” or “age to come.” It can apply to a past “age” or a future “age.” So it can refer to the age before the world-as-we-understand-it began, and it can also refer to the age after the world-as-we-understand-it ends. It can even refer to this “age” we are presently in. However, this word is not quantitative, but qualitative. One might argue that this isn’t about quantity-time, but quality-time! The age-to-come refers to the quality-of-life in the afterlife, where we understand heaven and hell to be.

An aeon implies a finite period of time with a beginning and an ending. We don’t actually know the length of duration heaven or hell will be. We don’t know how many “afterlives” there are. It is presumptive to translate the word aionios/aion as endless, eternal, everlasting, forever, or never-ending time.

I do not mean to imply that human beings will not live forever. The fact is, I have no way of knowing that, and neither does anyone else. What if the mode in which we live forever is as atoms and particles? Or what if all that we are is absorbed into the one being that we call “God?” If God is immortal, as the Scriptures proclaim, then we can be fairly certain that the core of who we are will not cease to exist, because we are part of God, we are God’s children, we are called the body of Christ, though I now think of this more as the body of God.

When the book of Revelation 21:1-5 talks about God making “all things new,” “a new heaven,” and “a new earth,” but not a new hell, I suspect this is because the need and nature of hell will cease, but the essence of God and core of humanity will live on.

Even in English, we use expressions like “this is taking forever” and we do not actually mean endless time. We mean it feels like it will never come to an end. And in our English translations of the Bible something similar can be seen in the story of Jonah. Allow me to demonstrate.

Jonah, the main character, is said to be in the belly of the fish three days and three nights (Jonah 1:17-2:1). This is a finite period of time. Furthermore, some scholars teach that Jesus was in the belly of hell for the same period of time because he rose again on the third day, Luke 24:7. But in Jonah 2, a few verses later, Jonah claims that he was in the belly of the fish “forever.” [To be clear, the Hebrew word here is olam which is the nearest equivalent of aionios in the Greek.] The very same verse says that he was saved from this so-called eternal pit.

Jonah 2:6-7 To the roots of the mountains I sank down; the earth beneath barred me in forever. But you, Lord my god, brought my life up from the pit.”

Not only does Jonah go to a place described as “forever” and “pit,” but Jesus also goes to this place. In 1 Peter 3:19 and 4:6 Jesus preaches the gospel to dead people.  If they are stuck forever in hell and if hell is separation from God, then how did Jesus preach the gospel to them? We have precedence here for Jesus going into hell to save people.

Some of you might ask wasn’t Jonah talking about a whale, or, (if you’re even more literalist, a “big fish”)? Jonah was describing a negative expereince. He used dramatic pictures. He was thrown off a boat. He was near death. He was in the ocean, the belly, the pit, the forevers. For three days and nights. He experienced something like a near death experience. Something like the afterlife. Something like hell. Something like being swallowed by a big fish. It’s an allegory. No human being could actually survive in the digestive system of a whale—let alone a big fish.

Might I suggest that Jonah and Jesus both went to hell or are describing hell / the pit / death. It may have felt like “forever” or it may have had an “afterlife” / “age to come” quality, but it was not endless or infinite time.

I do not believe that anyone will ever be stuck in hell for all and endless time.

It is important to note that there are no verses that explicitly say we must put our faith in God before we die, or it’s too late. There is a verse that says, people are destined to die once, and after that to face judgement, Hebrews 9:27. But the word judgement in the Bible (just like justice) has been misconstrued by the Western idea of judgement which we take from our legal system. The book of Judges in the Bible was very clearly a book of rescuers. Then the Lord raised up judges who saved them out of the hands of these raiders, Judges 2:16. Judgement and salvation go hand in hand in Scripture. In other words, justice and judgement are supposed to lead to rehabilitation and salvation.

Furthermore, Philippians 2:10 tells us that every knee will bow in Heaven and on earth and under the earth [the pit, the belly, hell] and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.

Revelation 21:25, which occurs after the end of the world and after Judgement-Salvation-Day says, On no day will Heavens gates be shut… The nations will be brought into it!

One of the very last scriptures declares, The Spirit and the Bride say ‘Come!’ And let the one who hears say ‘Come!’ Let the one who is thirsty…” (like the rich young man in Hades in Luke’s Gospel—a Hades which will be emptied according to Revelation 20:13) …Come and let the one who wishes take the free gift of the water of life! Revelation 22:17. The finale to the entire Bible is God beckoning that people should come to Heaven after death!

Returning to our discussion on the word aionios/aion, here are some more passages demonstrating that “forever” does not seem to be talking about endless time.

Isaiah 34:8-10 For the Lord has a day of vengeance… Edom’s streams will be turned to pitch, her dust into burning sulfur; her land will become blazing pitch! It will not be quenched night or day; its smoke will rise forever. Contrast this with the very next chapter (and remember that chapter divisions weren’t in the original text). Isaiah 35:4 Say to those with fearful hearts, “Be strong, do not fear; your God will come, he will come with vengeance; with divine retribution he will come to save you.” It looks to me like God’s eternal vengeance and retributive justice is unto salvation. Burning sulfur that cannot be quenched. Smoke rising for all eternity. It’s the perfect picture of hell. In fact, the book of Revelation quotes Isaiah a hell of a lot (pun intended). And yet God promises to save people. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze, Isaiah 43:2. It is not the kind of fire we think it is!

On the one hand, Isaiah 35 could just as easily be translated it will not be quenched day or night, its smoke will rise during the age to come. On the other hand, even if we believe that the age to come is never ending and that the smoke will continue to rise for as long as there is an aion/age, the purpose of the fire is unto salvation. The fire does its job. The fire burns off impurities and the smoke rises as a symbol of its effectiveness. (More on this in my post about the fire of hell.)

Take a look at the story of Sodom and Gomorrah. Jude verse 7 says they serve as an example of those who suffer the punishment of eternal fire. Now turn to Ezekiel 16. The same Sodomites who were destroyed in Genesis—by none other than fire—and are dead as a doornail, God promises to restore, after death has already taken place. Ezekiel 16:53 However, I will restore the fortunes of Sodom and her daughters and of Samaria and her daughters and your fortunes along with them. How then, could their destruction be described as endless in time? Jude holds up Sodom and Gomorrah as examples of divine justice and discipline that burns in the age to come. I can totally agree this is threatening. But it is not the threat of endless time, or endless torment and fire, or endless punishment and discipline. It will come to an end.

So what do we mean when we talk about the quality-time of the afterlife as opposed to the quantity-time? Well, we know that a lot the “hell” texts refer to fire, sulfur, ashes, torment, destruction etc., so we might conclude that the age of hell has a quality of burning and suffering. We will look at hell’s quality in further posts.

Aionios life—often translated eternal life—also has unique qualities. In the Gospel of John, he qualifies what life in the age to come is all about: Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent (John 17:3). Intimacy. The age-to-come is about knowing God and being loved and known by God. It is about life to the full (John 10:10).

One can argue that the qualities of the age-to-come or the afterlife are eternal qualities because we will never die again and Godself is immortal. That is why my answer to the question of the eternality of hell is both yes and no. The fire may very well burn for endless time, but that does not mean people will burn for endless time. The love and intimacy of heaven may endure for endless time, but that does not mean we will be in human form. Perhaps we will be so intimately connected that there is no differentiation between myself, yourself, and God.

In conclusion, when you read the word “eternal” in your English Bible it is talking about two things:

1. The age to come

2. Quality of life.

The qualities of heaven and hell are arguably “eternal” in so much as we believe that God is immortal. These qualities include:

1. Intimacy with God. 2. Fire (I will address the fire of hell thoroughly in another post.)