Is Hell a Literal Place?

“If you don’t do what I tell you to do…

you’ll rot in hell.”

Threats like this were intended to put “the fear of God” in people so we would do what we were told to do and not ask questions. But some of us asked questions anyway. This page gives some scriptural answers to those questions.

What is your image of hell?

down in the earth?
lots of fire?
place of torture?
prison?
the devil’s in charge?
naked bodies/shame?
darkness?
screaming/crying?
fear/hopelessness?
other? ______________

What goes to a literal hell if there is one?

Only sinning angels and sinning people receive the consequence of hell (2Pt.2:4; Mat.23:33). People are made up of just three parts: spirit, soul, and body (1Th.5:23). So what part(s) could go to a literal hell after physical death if there was one to go to?

Scripturally:

The spirit returns to God who gave it (Ecc.12:7; Luk.23:46)
The soul either dies (Eze.18:4,20) or is saved (Jam.1:21; 5:19,20)
The body returns to the dust (Gen.3:19; Ecc.12:7; Joh.11:39)

So, what’s left to go to a literal hell, if there were a literal hell to go to? Nothing! So, why create a literal hell, if nothing goes there? Good question! Does the Bible teach that God made a literal hell or that hell is a condition of the mind?

Seven Bible Proofs That There is NO Literal Hell

1. The Soul is NOT Immortal at Birth

God is the only one who has immortality (1Ti.6:16). Humans have to do something to get immortality from God. Paul said, “this mortal [soul] must put on immortality” (1Co.15:53). Jesus said, “whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (Joh.3:16). ‘Perish’ means go out of existence — not live forever in hell. Paul said eternal life was given to those who “seek for glory and honour and immortality” (Rom.2:7). You don’t seek for something you already have. So contrary to what most religions teach, the soul is NOT immortal at birth. Just as the body can die and go back to the dust, so also the soul can die and perish (2Pt.3:9). “The soul that sinneth, it shall die” (Eze.18:4,20), not live forever in a hell; and “in that very day his thoughts perish” (Psa.146:4). What good is a literal hell if you don’t even know you’re there? (Ecc.9:5,10) [Ask for the articles: The Soul is NOT Immortal, The soul must be made immortal’ and ‘The Dead Know Nothing.’]

2. Fire Represents God and His word, not Hell

God calls himself a consuming fire (Heb.12:29), calls his word fire (Jer.5:14; 23:29), and calls his ministers a flame of fire (Heb.1:7). Chariots of fire represent God’s angels (2Ki.6:16,17; Psa.68:17). There are a few new testament connections with fire and hell or fire and punishment and these can be consistently understood knowing that fire represents God’s word (such as Mar.9:47). When we hear God’s word (fire) and disobey it, we are in hell. When we repent and believe in God’s word (fire), it can destroy (burn up) the hell (torment) we have had in our minds and save us (1Co.3:13-15).

3. The Actual Scriptures Themselves That Speak of “Hell”

If you look up the following scriptures containing the word ‘hell,’ ask yourself if hell could be a literal place and do these things:

• move around? (Isa.14:9; Rev.6:8)
• have children? (Mat.23:15)
• have gates that fight? (Mat.16:18)
• be female? (Isa.5:14)
• make agreements? (Isa.28:15)
• imprison an angel? (2Pt.2:4)
• swim around in the Mediterranean Sea? (Jon.2:1-10)

4. The Love of God

God is love! (1Jo.4:8). Our loving God is not cruel and punishing. Therefore, the false image of a literal hell needs to be cast out because it carries with it a false image of God. God wants us to have the same love he has: “Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; that ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven …” (Mat.5:44,45). Love is kind (1Co.13:4).

5. God is Merciful (Deu.4:31)

God is eager to use his mercy on a soul that repents. King David committed adultery with Bathsheba and had her husband killed. His “legal” punishment under Moses’ law was death. He repented and God had mercy. David said, “For great is thy mercy toward me: and thou hast delivered my soul from the lowest hell” (Psa.86:13). David was in the lowest hell in his mind when he sinned by breaking two of the ten commandments. He got out of hell by repenting and receiving God’s mercy.God was also merciful to Jonah who wanted to get out of his hell (torment) by dying. Jonah had disobeyed God’s instructions (fire) which put him in hell. He wanted to drown to get out of hell, not drown and go to a literal fiery hell to be tormented forever. But God had mercy on Jonah and gave him a chance to repent and be obedient by preparing a whale to swallow him. While in the fish, Jonah said, “I cried by reason of mine affliction unto the LORD, and he heard me; out of the belly of hell cried I, and thou heardest my voice” (Jon.2:2).

6. God Hates Unrighteous Judgment (Pro.11:1; Job 34:12)

God is a righteous judge (Psa.96:12,13) and the punishment he renders will fit the crime (Gal.6:7,8). Even human courts refrain from punishments that involve continual torture, and God is more righteous than the judges of this world. How could a righteous judge condemn a person to an eternity of torment for sinning 20, 30 or even 80 years? A righteous judge wouldn’t and doesn’t. People are tormented by hurt, rejection, guilt, etc and this torment is the spiritual hell created by the devil. God wants to deliver people from hell (sin) and give them heaven (love) (2Ti.1:7; 1Jo.4:18).

7. God Did NOT Create Hell

The creation accounts in Genesis 1 and 2, do not mention hell being created. Everything God made was happy (light) and good (Gen.1:31). Hell is not a good, happy “place” (Psa.18:4-6); it’s a condition of “darkness” we want to avoid or get out of. Some holy angels sinned and left the “light” of God and, therefore, went into a condition of darkness (hell – 2Pt.2:4; Jud.6). God did not make hell, but he will destroy it (Rom.13:12; Rev.20:14)! One of the most powerful images of hell to be invented was described in poetic verse by the Italian poet, Dante Alighieri (1265 – 1321 A.D.). In his poem ‘The Divine Comedy,’ Dante is guided by Virgil on a journey into the abyss of hell (the inferno) observing the masses of people in various states of torture. The drawings that depict the journey show living bodies (usually naked) being tortured by fire, snakes, ice, mutilation, and devil-like creatures. The poem and pictures create a very fearful, hopeless, painful image of hell. Is that your image of hell?

Gates of Hell

When Peter got the witness that Jesus was the Christ, Jesus said “…upon this rock (witness) I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” (Mat.16:18). It’s silly to even contemplate a literal, physical gate of any kind fighting against Christ’s church (body of believers). But Jesus was using the old testament symbol of “gates” as people. Psa.24:7 equates gates (doors) with people and Jesus himself said, “I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved” (Joh.10:9). He was a door (gate) to heaven. Corrupted ministers were gates of hell who would lead others into confusion (hell) also. The scribes and Pharisees fit into this category (Mat.23:13,15,33).

Jesus has the keys of hell and of death

In Revelation Jesus says “I… have the keys of hell and of death” (Rev.1:18). If hell and death were literal (physical) places, then the keys have to be literal keys and Jesus has to physically be there to let people into or out of hell and death. But death is not a place needing literal keys — it’s a condition (either physical or spiritual) of a body or soul. So hell is not a literal place either. It is a mental condition that requires God’s keys of knowledge for people to escape (Mat.16:19; Luk.11:52). Believing the truth is what sets us free (Joh.8:31,32)!

Now, what is your image of hell?

___down in the earth? Yes, the earth is symbolic of the mind (Jer.22:29).
___place of torture? Yes, in our house (mind) (Mat.12:43-45; Rom.7:19,20).
___the devil’s in charge? Yes, he took us captive at his will (2Ti.2:26).
___darkness? Yes, we have hated and been spiritually blind (1Jo.2:11).
___fear/hopelessness? Yes, our minds were full of it (Heb.2:15; Eph.2:12).
___lots of fire? Yes, if we know the truth but don’t use it righteously (Jam.3:6).
___prison? Yes, feeling bound up in our minds (Isa.61:1; Rom.8:15,21).
___naked bodies/shame? Yes, spiritually (2Co.5:2,3; Rev.3:17,18).
___screaming/crying? Yes, we did it (Exo.3:7,9; Heb.5:7; Jam.5:4; Rev.21:4).
___a literal fiery hole in the ground for bad people to be punished? NO, NO!

Why do we serve God?

People often serve God out of fear of being sent to a hell to be punished forever if they didn’t serve him. This is the opposite of the first great commandment: “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind” (Mat.22:37). Let’s serve God out of love!