Some folks often use it as an expletive, Or tell you to go there if you anger them, But when you get right down to it, I’m convinced that most people don’t really believe “Hell” exists anymore. So…

Do you, like some, tend to think of Hell… As only a mythical place designed to scare the naïve into conformity with some prescribed pattern of behavior (and Satan as a “boogey-man”-type similarly fashioned for the same purpose)? As just the “cessation of being”- once we die, we’re like the dead dog Rover, we’re “dead all over”? Some seem to want to believe in heaven as the reward of righteousness, but that death and cessation is the only punishment. How convenient! As a real punishment, but one which only lasts a limited or even very brief time? In this view, hell may even me excruciating, but is over fairly quickly.

Understand this from the outset: You (or anyone else for that matter) can’t have it both ways!  You can’t refuse to believe in hell as taught in the Bible and claim to believe in God. Why?  From where does our knowledge of hell come?  It comes not from men, but from the revelation of God, Prov.15:24; Isa.33:14. Man did not “invent” such a place since the concept of continual burning without consumption is foreign to our experience. Given that our knowledge of hell comes from God, how can we accept Him and not what He says about hell? We can’t.  These other “views” of hell are born out of desire and convenience- not revealed Truth!

What do we need to know about Hell? Primarily,  That it is a real place. The surety of hell can be seen from its association with other “real” punishments from God, 2Pet.2:4-6 > 9b-10.  That is not simply death and/or the complete cessation of being. From the beginning, man was given a “soul” which separated him from the animal kingdom, Gen.2:7; Eccl.3:21; 12:7. The concept of the immortality of the soul of man runs throughout the Bible, 1Cor.15:12-20 > vv.36ff. It is inconsistent to believe in eternal reward and not eternal punishment, for both are taught throughout scripture, Acts 24:15; John 5:  That is forever. We may not fully comprehend continual burning without consumption, but we can’t comprehend eternal bliss either! Matt.25:41,45; Rev.14:10-11; 20:10,15.

Why is there so much confusion? Because folks don’t want to believe in the reality of hell! It’s much more comforting to simply deny it exists altogether, or to believe something which negates the eternal punishment aspect of it. So, various theories evolve. Perhaps various words all being translated as “hell” by the KJV have contributed also.  “Sheol” is the Hebrew word for “hell” in the O.T. But it can also simply refer to the pit or grave- and hence refer only to death.  “Hades” is the Greek term for realm of the dead- or the place of the spirit of man after separation from the body at death. It does not usually refer to “hell” proper, Acts 2:31; Rev.20:14.  “Tartaros” is used only in 2Pet.2:4 as the place where sinful angels are held until final judgment. Some equate it to “torment” in Luke 16:23 as portion of Hades where all wicked are kept for the judgment.  “Gehenna” is hell proper- the everlasting lake of fire, Mk.9:43ff.

Conclusions God gives us horrible glimpses of realities of hell to help motivate obedience, cf. Mark 9:43ff; et al. Hell is not “inconsistent” with a loving God because He also is a just and righteous God. Such would not be the case if He failed to punish rebellion and disobedience. Hell ought to scare us because it is real, and because we have “one shot” to get this right- “Purgatory” and other “second chance” theories are not found in God’s words, only men’s. If we die unprepared for judgment, there remains only a “terrifying expectation of judgment...” Heb.10:26-31 As Veronica Quaife said in the 1986 sci-fi flick, “The Fly”, when the scientist who was turning into a fly pleads with someone, “don’t be afraid,” Quaife replied, “No. Be afraid. Be very afraid.”