I recently revised my book on hell and I’ve decided to post the updated chapters on this site. This is much more than a tour through the underworld. The Christian doctrine of hell drives us to take a closer look at Scripture, church history, and the character of God.
If you downloaded a previous Kindle version, you can get the updated version by following these steps.
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I think our awareness of manipulation has made us more careful in talking about hell, even for those who believe in the traditional view. A retired pastor told me that when he was a child he used to have nightmares about hell. How sad that a little kid was going to sleep in terror because of the Bible. Shouldn’t the good news of Jesus have given him peace? He continued, “We used to roast people over the pit of hell before getting them to convert, but we don’t do that anymore.”
The roasting was fueled by the conventional perspective of hell. My study of eternal conscious torment in Scripture has led me to this conclusion: three passages best support this view—two from Revelation and one from Matthew. We will engage the Revelation passages in this chapter followed by Matthew’s statement in the next chapter.
“The Smoke of Their Torment”
After recording announcements made by two angels, John writes,
A third angel followed them and said in a loud voice: “If anyone worships the beast and its image and receives its mark on their forehead or on their hand, they, too, will drink the wine of God’s fury, which has been poured full strength into the cup of his wrath. They will be tormented with burning sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment will rise for ever and ever. There will be no rest day or night for those who worship the beast and its image, or for anyone who receives the mark of its name.” (Rev 14:9–11)
On the surface, this passage corresponds with the traditional view of hell because it describes a judgment scene leading to unceasing torment for the wicked. But consider the following points.
- Much of Revelation should not be interpreted literally. Revelation contains highly symbolic visions shown to John, the author. For example, he saw “a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head” (12:1). I have not heard anyone interpret that literally. What about the beast coming out of the sea with ten horns and seven heads (13:1)? Or the beast coming out of the earth with two horns and a voice like a dragon (13:11)? Interpreting all of Revelation literally doesn’t work. Most relevantly, there are elements in Revelation 14:9–11 that no one interprets literally, such as “the wine of God’s fury” poured into “the cup of his wrath.” Is God’s wrath a liquid that will be poured into an actual cup? How big is that chalice? Is divine fury a drink? No, the vision is symbolic. So how do we know that “the smoke of their torment” rising “forever and ever” should be interpreted literally?
- The imagery matches with the way historical judgment is described in the Old Testament. For example, “burning sulfur” is mentioned in the physical destruction of Sodom, Gomorrah (Gen 19:24), and Edom (Is 34:9). And both burning sulfur and smoke rising forever are found in Isaiah’s prophecy against Edom:
Edom’s streams will be turned into 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.
From generation to generation it will lie desolate; no one will ever pass through it again. (34:9–10)
We don’t know the precise location of the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, but we know that the country of Edom was situated on the southern side of the Dead Sea. Is the smoke still rising? No. The imagery is best understood as a symbol for final and complete destruction. Since the same language is used for Edom’s historical judgment, the description in Revelation 14 does not require an afterlife setting.
- This is a description of the fate of a select group of people. It says, “There will be no rest day or night for those who worship the beast and its image, or for anyone who receives the mark of its name.” Thus, it cannot be used as a description of the fate of all wicked people.
- It doesn’t say the torment is eternal. The angel says, “the smoke of their torment will rise for ever and ever.” It’s possible for smoke to continue rising after destruction has occurred.
- “No rest day or night” is an idiom. If taken literally by traditional proponents, it would mean that there will be day and night in hell, but I have not heard any make that claim. What does the idiom mean? If someone says, “I’ve been working day and night,” what would you think? Most likely, you would think that person has been working continuously or constantly. Likewise, it’s best to understand John’s phrase in this way: torment, while it’s occurring, will be continuous.
“Thrown into the Lake of Fire”
In Revelation 20 after Satan is released from prison, he deceives the nations who follow him into battle against God’s people. But this anti-God army is easily defeated. John writes:
And the devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown. They will be tormented day and night for ever and ever. Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it . . . The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what they had done. Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. Anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire. (vv. 10–15)
“They will be tormented day and night for ever and ever” sounds like an explicit reference to eternal conscious torment. Additionally, when the image of the rich man in fiery agony in Luke 16 is fused with “the lake of fire” in Revelation 20 many have seen more proof for the traditional view. But there are several reasons not to rush to this interpretation.
- Again, the book of Revelation is highly symbolic literature. This type of literature even has a special name—apocalyptic. As a result, scholars believe that much of it should not be interpreted literally. And once again, there are elements in this passage that no one interprets literally, such as death being thrown into the lake of fire. How can death be thrown anywhere?
- The reference to torment only applies to three specific entities or persons: the devil, the beast, and the false prophet. Verse 10 says, “And the devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown. They will be tormented day and night for ever and ever.” Hence, this text cannot be used as a description of the fate of all condemned people. But what about the fact that others—those whose names are not written in the book of life—will be thrown into the lake of fire (v. 15)? The author only explicitly says that the devil, the beast, and the false prophet will be “tormented day and night for ever and ever” (v. 10).
- Many interpreters understand the beast as a symbol of oppressive government and the false prophet as a representative of false religion. If that common interpretation is correct, none of the three, who are said to be tormented forever, are actually human beings.
- The image of “the lake of fire” should not be interpreted literally. Why not? Because John defines this lake: “The lake of fire is the second death” (Rev 20:14; c.f. 21:8). As with all images, we shouldn’t focus on the image itself, but rather on the point or referent of the image. So if we are thinking about people swimming around in a fiery lake forever, we have missed the point. Instead we should imagine that what goes into this lake is gone because it has experienced “the second death” (Rev 20:14; 21:4).[i]
Summary
Even if much of what I have written is incorrect, the bottom line with both passages in Revelation is that they are visionary and symbolic. And it’s unwise to use such texts as the foundation for a doctrine that is not clearly taught in other places of Scripture.
But what about Matthew? Is eternal conscious torment taught in Matthew?
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[i] Death and Hades will be thrown into the lake of fire. What does that mean? Will death really be destroyed? Paul’s writings encourage us to view death’s demise literally (e.g., 1 Cor 15:25–26).
After graduating from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, I served as a high school Bible teacher in Asia. I enjoy traveling, writing, and playing the drums. For a deep dive into church history and the character of God, see my book Surprised by Hell.