http___www.tentmaker.org_croatian-articles_honest-questions-and-answers-on-hell-aiken-amirault.html_1.xml
1.1 2.1 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 4.1 5.1 6.1 7.1 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 8.5 9.1 9.2 9.3 9.4 10.1 11.1 11.2 11.3 11.4 11.5 11.6 12.1 13.1 13.2 13.3 13.4 14.1 14.2 14.3 15.1 15.2 15.3 15.4 16.1 16.2 16.3 16.4 16.5 16.6 16.7 17.1 17.2 17.3 18.1 18.2 18.3 18.4 18.5 18.6 18.7 18.8 18.9 18.10 18.11 19.1 19.2 19.3 19.4 19.5 19.6 20.1 20.2 20.3 20.4 20.5 20.6 20.7 20.8 20.9 20.10 21.1 21.2 21.3 21.4 21.5 21.6 21.7 22.1 22.2 22.3 22.4 22.5 22.6 22.7 23.1 23.2 23.3 23.4 23.5 23.6 24.1 24.2 24.3 24.4 24.5 25.1 25.2 25.3 25.4 25.5 25.6 25.7 25.8 25.9 25.10 25.11 25.12 26.1 26.2 26.3 26.4 26.5 26.6 26.7 26.8 26.9 26.10 27.1 27.2 27.3 27.4 27.5 27.6 27.7 27.8 27.9 27.10 27.11 28.1 28.2 28.3 29.1 29.2 29.3 29.4 29.5 29.6 29.7 29.8 29.9 29.10 29.11 30.1 30.2 30.3 31.1 31.2 32.1 32.2 32.3 32.4 32.5 33.1 33.2 33.3 34.1 34.2 34.3 34.4 34.5 35.1 35.2 35.3 35.4 35.5 36.1 36.2 36.3 36.4 36.5 37.1 37.2 38.1 39.1 40.1 41.1 42.1 43.1 44.1 45.1 46.1 47.1 48.1 48.2 49.1 49.2 49.3 49.4 50.1 51.1 52.1 53.1 53.2 54.1 54.2 55.1 56.1 56.2 56.3 56.4 56.5 56.6 56.7 57.1 57.2 57.3 58.1 59.1 59.2 59.3 59.4 60.1 60.2 61.1 61.2 62.1 62.2 63.1 63.2 63.3 63.4 64.1 65.1 65.2 65.3 65.4 65.5 66.1 67.1 68.1 68.2 68.3 68.4 69.1 69.2 69.3 70.1 70.2 70.3 71.1 72.1 72.2 72.3 73.1 74.1 74.2 74.3 74.4 74.5 75.1 75.2 75.3 76.1 76.2 77.1 77.2 77.3 78.1 78.2 79.1 80.1 80.2 80.3 80.4 81.1 81.2 81.3 82.1 83.1 84.1 84.2 85.1 85.2 85.3 85.4 86.1 87.1 88.1 89.1 89.2 90.1 91.1 91.2 92.1 93.1 94.1 94.2 95.1 96.1 97.1 97.2 97.3 98.1 99.1 99.2 100.1 101.1 101.2 101.3 102.1 103.1 104.1 104.2 105.1 106.1 107.1 107.2 108.1 108.2 109.1 110.1 111.1 111.2 112.1 112.2 113.1 114.1 115.1 115.2 116.1 116.2 116.3 116.4 117.1 118.1 118.2 119.1 119.2 120.1 121.1 122.1 122.2 123.1 124.1 124.2 125.1 126.1 126.2 126.3 127.1 127.2 127.3 128.1 129.1 130.1 131.1 131.2 131.3 131.4 132.1 132.2 132.3 133.1 133.2 133.3 134.1 134.2 134.3 135.1 136.1 137.1 137.2 138.1 138.2 138.3 138.4 138.5 138.6 139.1 139.2 139.3 140.1 140.2 142.1 142.2 142.3 142.4 142.5 143.1 143.2 143.3 143.4 143.5 143.6 143.7 145.1 145.2 145.3 145.4 145.5 147.1 147.2 147.3 148.1 149.1 149.2 149.3 149.4 149.5 149.6 149.7 151.1 151.2 151.3 151.4 151.5 151.6 151.7 152.1 153.1 153.2 153.3 153.4 155.1 155.2 155.3 155.4 155.5 156.1 157.1 157.2 157.3 157.4 157.5 157.6 157.7 158.1 158.2 158.3 158.4 158.5 159.1 160.1 161.1 161.2 161.3 161.4 161.5 161.6 162.1 162.2 162.3 162.4 162.5 163.1 163.2 163.3 163.4 163.5 164.1 164.2 165.1 165.2 165.3 166.1 166.2 166.3 166.4 166.5 166.6 166.7 166.8 166.9 166.10 166.11 167.1 168.1 169.1 170.1 171.1 172.1 173.1 174.1 175.1 176.1 177.1 178.1 179.1 180.1 181.1 182.1 183.1 184.1 185.1 186.1 187.1 188.1 189.1 190.1 191.1 192.1 193.1 194.1 195.1 196.1 197.1 198.1 199.1 200.1 201.1 202.1 203.1 204.1 205.1 206.1 207.1 207.2 208.1 208.2 209.1 210.1 211.1 212.1 213.1 214.1 215.1 216.1 217.1 218.1 219.1 220.1 221.1 222.1 223.1 224.1 225.1 226.1 227.1 228.1 229.1 230.1 231.1 232.1 233.1 233.2 234.1 235.1 236.1 237.1 238.1 239.1 240.1 241.1 242.1 243.1 244.1 245.1 246.1 247.1 248.1 249.1 250.1 251.1 252.1 252.2 253.1 254.1 255.1 256.1 257.1 258.1 259.1 260.1 260.2 261.1 261.2 262.1 263.1 264.1 265.1 266.1 267.1 268.1 269.1 270.1 271.1 272.1 273.1 274.1 275.1 276.1 277.1 278.1 279.1 280.1 281.1 282.1 283.1 284.1 285.1 286.1 286.2 287.1 288.1 289.1 290.1 291.1 292.1 293.1 294.1 295.1 296.1 297.1 298.1 299.1 300.1 301.1 302.1 303.1 304.1 305.1 306.1 307.1 308.1 309.1 310.1 311.1 312.1 313.1 314.1 314.2 315.1 316.1 317.1 318.1 319.1 320.1 321.1 322.1 323.1 324.1 325.1 325.2 325.3 325.4 326.1 327.1 328.1 329.1 329.2 330.1 330.2 331.1 331.2 331.3 331.4 331.5 331.6 332.1 333.1 334.1 335.1 335.2 335.3 336.1 337.1 337.2 337.3 338.1 339.1 340.1 341.1 341.2 341.3 341.4 342.1 342.2 342.3 342.4 342.5 342.6 342.7 342.8 343.1 343.2 343.3 343.4 344.1 344.2 344.3 345.1 346.1 346.2 347.1 347.2 348.1 348.2 348.3 349.1 349.2 350.1 351.1 352.1 352.2 352.3 352.4 352.5 352.6 352.7 352.8 352.9 352.10 352.11 352.12 352.13 352.14 352.15 353.1 353.2 353.3 354.1 355.1 356.1 356.2 356.3 356.4 357.1 357.2 358.1 358.2 359.1 360.1 361.1 361.2 361.3 362.1 363.1 363.2 364.1 364.2 364.3 365.1 365.2 365.3 366.1 367.1 367.2 368.1 368.2 369.1 369.2 370.1 371.1 372.1 373.1 373.2 373.3 373.4 373.5 373.6 373.7 373.8 374.1 375.1 376.1 377.1 378.1 379.1 380.1 381.1 382.1 383.1 384.1 385.1 386.1 387.1 388.1 389.1 390.1 391.1 392.1 393.1 394.1 395.1 396.1 397.1 398.1 399.1 400.1 401.1 402.1 403.1 404.1 404.2 404.3 405.1 406.1 407.1 408.1 409.1 410.1 411.1 412.1 413.1 414.1 415.1 416.1 417.1 418.1 419.1 420.1 421.1 422.1 423.1 424.1 425.1 426.1 427.1 428.1 429.1 430.1 431.1 432.1 433.1 434.1 434.2 434.3 435.1 436.1 437.1 438.1 439.1 440.1 441.1 442.1 443.1 444.1 445.1 446.1 446.2 446.3 446.4 447.1 448.1 449.1 450.1 451.1 452.1 453.1 454.1 455.1 456.1
The Hell Test (A test every pastor, Bible teacher and seminary professor should be required to take before being allowed to teach.) One would be amazed how little the average pastor knows about the subject of Hell. Most of their knowledge comes from what Jesus called "The traditions of men which make the word of god of no effect." Matt. 15:6-9 Give a copy of this test to those to whom you have submitted yourself. See whether they know their subject. If salvation is indeed deliverance from a Hell of everlasting punishment, then the answers to these questions are vital to your well being. Is Salvation A Deliverance From Hell or Eternal Death? By Gary Amirault Are your beliefs on Hell based upon facts or traditions? If Salvation is deliverance from Hell or Eternal Death, then it is vitally important the reader find out what your beliefs are based upon for your own sake and for the sake of your loved ones. Are you willing to test your understanding of salvation and Hell? Are your church leaders willing to try to answer the questions contained in this book? This may be the most important test you will ever take. These questions were prepared by a conservative Christian who has spent thousands of hours researching this most important subject. Christians who try to share their faith with unbelievers are confronted with many questions, especially on the subject of Hell and eternal punishment. Many people have a real problem with Orthodox Christianity's belief that non-Christians will be punished eternally because they are not Christians. This is one of the main reasons many Christians do NOT like to share their faith. They find themselves short of good reasonable answers to questions or statements like these: "If my daughter is in Hell because she did not get "born again" then I'd rather go to Hell and be with her than to be with your God because there would be more love in Hell than near your vindictive God." "How can you say burning someone alive forever is "just" or "fair" for everyone who hasn't accepted Jesus Christ? Even we humans fit the punishment to the crime. According to you, Christians, people are destined to be burned in Hell whether we are bad or not. Just being born into this world is grounds for being endlessly tortured. You say the punishment is the same regardless of the number of sins committed or how bad they were. This is not justice--this is insanity!" "Infinite punishment for finite crimes just doesn't seem just." "I could never torture people endlessly, especially my own children. How can you say that God will do that to His children? This seems hideous. You make God look like a monster worse than Hitler, not a loving Father Who would even die for His enemies!" "If Hell is real and the greatest part of humanity went there, how could you HONESTLY say that 'Love NEVER fails?' Seems like Love fails most of the time according to your understanding of things." (I Cor. "If the wages of sin is eternal punishment in Hell, then Jesus would have to be eternally punished if in fact He died for my sins. But the Bible says the wages of sin is death which is exactly what Jesus did--died. So how can you say people will be eternally tortured in Hell? Is Jesus presently being eternally tortured in place of those who accepted Him as Lord?" Questions are powerful truth-finders. At all costs, avoid religious groups that fear questions. Anyone who believes they have the truth should not only encourage questions, but should have solid answers for what they believe, especially if they are a leader. When asking serious questions about serious topics like the subject of Hell, look them right in the eye when asking the questions. The eyes will give away whether they are firmly convinced with their answer or if they are just passing on the "traditions" of their sect. Most Christians actually know very little about Hell. And what they know is usually false as the following questions will reveal. Whenever I was previously confronted with questions like those above (and I've heard these questions countless numbers of times), all of my answers seemed to fall short of being "reasonable." And if someone watched my body language, especially my eyes, they could have seen that I did NOT have good answers for the sincere questions they asked. And I was a zealous student! I normally used to find myself stating that the Bible says Jesus paid for our sins, but we must accept Him as our Savior. Then I would usually say something like: "God is a just God and cannot allow sin into heaven. You must have your sins forgiven and Jesus is the only one Who can forgive you. He died for your sins. We all deserve to go to Hell, but Jesus died so we wouldn't have to go. But by turning from our sins and making Jesus our Savior, He'll deliver us from this fate to which all mankind is destined. He's given us all a chance; it's up to us whether we will take it or not." Then, often a discussion would ensue about the validity of the Bible and that would open up another can of worms. I wouldn't have admitted it then, but what I was REALLY passing on for truth, was what was passed on to me from the "experts" of my church. It was NOT really beliefs given to me by the Holy Spirit Who the Bible says will teach us all truth. (John 16:13) My beliefs therefore had to be tested by thoroughly subjecting them to honest questions - questions which made my conscience reveal to me that my answers were NOT built on truth. During my early years as a Christian, I usually attended conservative churches that could probably be labeled "evangelical" or "fundamentalist" where the emphasis was on being "born again." I took the subject of Hell VERY seriously. I talked to people about Jesus every day. I used to have a compartmentalized attachment on the back of my car seat which contained various tracts warning of Hell and the way to avoid it. Having handed out thousands of " Roman Road " tracts, I knew (and still do know) all the salvation and Hell verses very well. I read my King James Bible everyday, went to Church whenever it was open and paid my tithes. If Hell was real, then the most important thing in my life was to get as many people saved as I possibly could. I lost business contracts because I offended clients trying to "get them saved." I lost friends who I hounded with the "Good News" who didn't think my good news was so hot. I went to my family with tears in my eyes and begged them to accept Christ. By the time I was finished with them, they seriously considered having me committed to an institution for the insane. My brothers and sisters wanted nothing to do with me anymore. Tens of thousands of tracts explaining the simple plan of salvation were forced into the hands of people all over the Maryland , DC, Virginia area. Wherever I traveled, I usually took tracts with me. I was taught this rejection was the price one paid to follow Jesus. After all, He too, was despised and rejected even by His own family. Whenever there was a missionary or evangelist in the area, I usually attended their meetings. I wanted to learn more about how to save more people. It was extremely frustrating and disappointing to find that most of the church members and my pastor did not share the burden for souls that seemed to me to be mandatory if in fact the teaching of Hell as taught by our Church and my King James Bible was true. We often heard sermons from pastors or highly paid traveling evangelists on the dangers of Hell. And then, instead of going out into the community to try to save a few doomed souls, we would often go to a nice restaurant to listen to the evangelist tell his favorite war stories while supposedly people all around us were dropping into the fiery pit. To me, it seemed that if the teaching of Hell was real, we, Christians, were not taking it seriously. And if WE weren't taking it seriously, how could we expect those we wanted to influence take it seriously themselves? If there were a Hell or place of eternal punishment, our actions in our communities surely didn't show it. Our belief in Hell was NOT made manifest by our actions. We sinned just like those sinners we were trying to save. Oh, maybe for most of us, it wasn't the same kind of sins. Maybe we didn't drink, cuss, or smoke anymore, but boy we were experts in backbiting, slander, gossip, self-righteousness, pride, jealousy, and a host of other Biblical sins. How was it that we who were supposed to know better and supposedly had the Holy Spirit to help us lead a Holy life could sin and get away with it while those who were "slaves to sin" and had NO power to stop sinning were going to be endlessly tortured for theirs? This seemed a bit hypocritical. I finally personally concluded we, Christians, including myself, WERE a bunch of hypocrites. We "said" but did not do. We condemned while doing the very same things we condemned others for. The more I looked at us while reading the Bible, the more we looked like the Pharisees who were Jesus' enemies--and I remembered what Jesus thought of the Pharisees and the many warnings He gave them. As a matter of fact, almost every time my King James put the word Hell into Jesus' mouth, He was always speaking to the religious people, NOT the street sinner. (Something to think about, isn't it?) I finally became so disgusted with our poor example and lack of concern for the lost that I asked God to take me out of this world. I was tired of the hypocrisy. I was worn out. Burned out. It seemed to me that if anyone deserved to go to Hell, it was us Christians for our hypocrisy and lack of concern for the lost. God answered my prayer not by killing me, but killing a lot of "traditional teaching" I had swallowed which did NOT come from Him NOR from the Bible in its original languages. He had someone give me a handful of booklets dealing with a handful of key words in the Bible. According to this author, these words were MIStranslated in many of the leading "selling" English Bible translations. After reading these booklets, I made an extensive search at various seminaries to see if in fact what this author was saying was true. It was true!! What this author was saying made God's judgments perfectly line up with His love. It wiped away those contradictions that I constantly had to shove under the rug of "Well, God said it, I believe it even if I can't understand it all." The Bible FINALLY made perfect sense! Scriptures like "Mercy shall triumph over judgment" (James 2:13) all of a sudden fit. I always had trouble with Scriptures like that one. After all, ninety-nine percent of mankind in Hell didn't sound like mercy triumphing over judgment! Does it to you? I wrote this book to challenge my fellow Christians to think through what they believe about this most important subject. Why are Christians so lackadaisical about their responsibility to lay down their lives to save their friends and enemies? The following questions may break through the crust of traditions of men and bring the reader to some new ground of understanding on this most important subject. If salvation is deliverance from Hell, then Hell must be thoroughly understood! Now let's see how well you know the subject and whether your beliefs are based upon facts or simply the "traditions of men." Looking back on my years as a religious zealot trying to save the world, although I went to Church regularly and studied the Bible much more than most of my counterparts, my belief was based upon the "traditions of men," and a couple of Bible translations that mistranslated a handful of key words. Ask your church leaders these questions. Look them in the eyes and see if their answers belong to them or if they are just regurgitating the denomination's traditions. You MAY be shocked to find out they have almost NO answers to ANY of the questions. And now for the questions: When contemplating on these questions, let us remember that "unless we become as little children we shall not enter the kingdom of God." (Matt. 18:3) Could children really love a god who created a place in which his parents, brothers and sisters or friends would be endlessly tortured? Could you truly sit on Hitler's or Charles Manson's lap and love them unconditionally? If not, what makes you think you can honestly love a God who is endlessly torturing almost all of mankind? Can a human being honestly love a being who planned to endlessly torture almost all of mankind which MAY include his parents, children AND if honest with him or herself, possible themselves? Can one REALLY love such a god IN THEIR HEARTS? or do they do what Jesus said they do: ? Hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy about you, saying: ? These people draw near to Me with their mouths, and honor Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me and in vain they worship Me teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.'" I say, "no way." We can "feign" worship of such a god for fear of being endlessly burned ourselves should this god turn on us also, but we cannot honestly worship such a fiend with integrity. We must become hypocrites like Isaiah prophesied in order to pretend to worship such a fiend. If Hell is real and describes a real place, why does the English word "Hell" come from a pagan source instead of the ancient Hebrew writings of the Bible? Why is the word "Hell" not found in the Jew's Bible which is the Christian's Old Testament? Furthermore, the word "Hell" has completely disappeared from the Old Testament Scriptures in most leading Bibles. Why? Because the best scholarship demands it. (The word "Hell" comes from the Teutonic "Hele" goddess of the underworld "Hell" of northern Europe . The description of this ancient mythological place has very little resemblance anymore to the modern Christian image of Hell. See any Encyclopedia or dictionary for the origin of the word.) Seeing that the Bible is supposed to be "Holy," why have pagan religious words been added to our modern English Bibles? Please understand, the English word "Hell" and its concepts are NOT in the Hebrew nor Greek. They come into the English through Northern European mythologies, NOT from the roots of Christianity. If Hell as a place of everlasting tortures was the real fate of all mankind unless they did something here on earth to prevent it, why didn't God make that warning plain right at the beginning of the Bible? God said the penalty for eating of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil was DEATH. He did NOT define death as eternal life being forever tortured in burning fire and brimstone. If Hell was real why didn't Moses warn about this fate in the Ten Commandments or the Mosaic Covenant consisting of over 600 laws, ordinances, and warnings? The Mosaic Law simply stated blessings and cursings IN THIS LIFETIME for failure to keep the Mosaic Law. If Hell is real and it is a place of eternally being separated from God, why does David say in the King James Bible, "Though I make my bed in Hell (Sheol) lo, Thou art there? (Again please note, most Christian Bibles NO LONGER have the word "Hell" in the Old Testament. The KJV written over 350 years ago is an exception. The Jews do NOT put the word "Hell" in their English translations of the Hebrew Scriptures, that is, the Old Testament and the leading English Christian Bibles have removed it because it is NOT in the originals. Most Christian scholars now acknowledge it should never have been placed there in the first place.) If Hell is real and if good people go to heaven and bad people go to Hell, why does EVERYONE, good or bad, go to the same place in the Old Testament? They ALL go to Sheol which the King James Version translated "Hell" thirty-0ne times, "grave" thirty-one times and "pit" three times? Are we all destined to go to Hell or did the King's translators make some gross translation errors? If Hell is real, why don't the Jews, many who know the Old Testament better than most Christians, not believe in the modern Christian concept of Hell? They say they don't believe it because it is not in their Scriptures. Most scholars today can not find Hell in the Old Testament. Most leading Bible translations no longer contain the word Hell in the entire Old Testament. (Genesis through Malachi.) If Hell doesn't exist in the Old Testament, how could Jesus and his disciples teach that salvation was deliverance from a place that is not even found in their Scriptures? (There was only the Old Testament at that time.) Would that not make Him appear like a false teacher? Or could it be that Jesus never taught such a concept in the first place? Could it be that this concept has been added to the church and SOME Bibles through "traditions of men?" If Hell is real, since SOME English translations use the word Hell for the Greek word "Gehenna," in the New Testament, why didn't this same place (Gehenna) get translated Hell in the many places where it appears in the Hebrew form "ga ben Hinnom" in the Old Testament? If the Jews did not understand this valley as a symbol of everlasting torture, why do SOME English translations give this word such a meaning? And who burned who in this valley? And what was God's response for Israel doing such a horrible thing to their children? 32:33-35) And how could God say "such a thing never entered His mind" if in fact He is going to do the very same thing to most of His own children? If Hell was real, why did the early church appoint an avowed universalist as the President of the second council of the church in Constantinople in the fourth century? (Gregory Nazianzen, 325-381) If Hell was real, why did Church leaders as late as the fourth century AD acknowledge that the majority of Christians believed in the salvation of all mankind? If Hell was real and a place of no escape, why did the early church teach Jesus went to Hell (Hades), preached to them and led captivity captive? If Hell was real and the grave settled the matter forever, why did the early Christians offer up prayers for the dead? If Hell was real, why did the first comparatively complete systematic statement of Christian doctrine ever given to the world by Clement of Alexandria, A.D. 180, contain the tenet of universal salvation? If Hell was real, why did the first complete presentation of Christianity (Origen, 220 A.D.) contain the doctrine of universal salvation? If Hell was real, why didn't the church teach it until AFTER the church departed from reading the Bible in Greek and Hebrew, substituting Latin in its stead several centuries after Christ's death? If Hell was real, why did not a single Christian writer of the first 3 centuries declare universalism as a heresy? If Hell was real why didn't a single one of the early creeds express any idea contrary to universal restoration, or in favor of everlasting punishment in Hell? If Hell was real why did not a single Church council for the first five hundred years condemn Universalism as heresy considering the fact that they made many declarations of heresy on other teachings? If Hell was real, why did most of the early church's leading scholars and most revered saints advocate universal salvation? If Hell was real, how is it that the most prominent universalists of the early church were born into Christian families and were most highly revered by their peers while those who advocated Hell came from paganism and confessed they were among the vilest? (Tertullian and Augustine) (Ref. If Hell was real and found in the original Greek manuscripts of the Bible, why is it that it was primarily those church leaders who either couldn't read Greek (Minucius Felix, Tertullian), or hated Greek as in the case of Augustine, that the doctrine of Hell was advocated? Those early church leaders familiar with the Greek and Hebrew (the original languages of the Bible) saw universal salvation in those texts. Those who advocated Hell got it from the Latin, NOT from the original Greek and Hebrew. Who would more likely be correct--those who could read the original languages of the Bible or those who read a Latin translation made by one man (Jerome)? If Hell was real why do most leading historians acknowledge that the early church was dominated by universalism? If Hell was real then why did four out of six theological schools from 170 AD to 430 AD teach universal salvation while the only one that taught Hell was in Carthage, Africa, again where Latin was the teaching language, not Greek? If Hell was real why didn't Epiphanius (c. 315-403) the "hammer of heretics" who listed 80 heresies of his time not list universalism among those heresies? If Hell was real, since most historians would acknowledge today that Origen was perhaps the most outstanding example of early universalism in the church, when Methodius, Eusibius, Pamphilus, Marcellus, Eustathius, and Jerome made their lists of Origen's heresies, why wasn't universalism among them? Could it be perhaps that it wasn't a heresy in the original church? If Hell was real and a serious heresy, why was it not until the sixth century when Justinian, a half-pagan emperor, tried to make universalism a heresy? Interestingly, most historians will acknowledge that Justinian's reign was among the most cruel and ruthless. If Hell was real, since the early church was closest to the apostles and since they were closest to the original manuscripts of the Bible, why did the vast majority of the early Christian believers NOT believe in Hell as a place of everlasting burnings? If Hell was real and all died NOT because of their transgressions but because of Adam's transgression (Rom 5:18), why do many Christians not see what is plainly written, that "even so through one Man's righteous act the free gift came to ALL MEN, resulting in JUSTIFICATION OF LIFE!" 5:18) This Scripture declares the FACT that all are justified due to Christ's righteous act. No one "decided" to die in Adam, it was "reckoned" to us. Equally no one "decided" to "receive eternal life," it is also "reckoned" to us. (A thorough understanding of Romans Chapter five carefully comparing several English translations would be a very good exercise. The omission of the definite article "the" in Rom. 5:15 before the word "many" in some translations has caused some great misunderstanding of this most important chapter of the Bible.) If Hell is real, in Romans 5:19, the "many" who were made sinners were actually "all" of the human race. Why is the "many" who were made "righteous" not equally be "all" of the human race? "For as by one man's disobedience MANY were made sinners, so also by one Man's obedience MANY will be made righteous." If Hell is real and everlasting, why does Psalm 30:5 say His anger is but for a moment? If Hell is real one would never know it by the actions of most Christians. They go through life pretty much like atheists, pagans, etc. If they really believed in Hell, they would spend their entire life trying to snatch their friends and relatives from the burning flames. If Hell is real, why don't they do this? If Hell is a real place of merciless endless torture, since God knows the beginning from the end, why didn't God just kill Adam and Eve and end the long terrible chain of misery that passed to their offspring before it began? After all, the Scriptures say that all died BECAUSE of Adam. If Hell is real, why is it not mentioned in most leading English Bible translations until Matthew? (Most Bible translations now acknowledge Sheol should NOT ever be translated Hell as the King James Bible incorrectly did.) If Hell was real, and if Paul was commissioned by God to preach the gospel to the nations, why did Paul not mention Hell even once except to declare victory over it? 15:55, the word death in this passage is the word "Hades" which some translations of the Bible also translate Hell.) If Hell was real and easy to define and find in the Bible, why did the translators of the original 1611 King James Bible find it so difficult to define Hades? They put Hell in the text at Rev. 20:13 and "Or, grave" in the margins while putting "grave" in the text and "Or, Hell" in the margins in 1 Cor. Seems they couldn't make up their minds whether Hades meant Hell or grave. (Recent editions have removed the marginal readings thus avoiding the embarrassment.) If Hell is real, why are there many English Bible translations which do NOT contain the word Hell at all nor do they contain the concept of "everlasting torments"? If Hell was real and the belief that there is no Hell is a deception from Satan, why is it that those born from above Christians who DON'T believe in Hell seem to manifest more of the nature and fruit of the Spirit than those who teach Hell? Surely those who believe that Jesus is the Savior of all mankind manifest more love towards their enemies than do serious Hell-fire types. Could it be that we begin to manifest what we worship? If we believe God loves all mankind and plans to save it, then we have no excuse but to do the same. However, if we believe God will cast away most of mankind, then we begin to manifest the very same spirit here on earth. If there is a Hell and salvation is the deliverance from it, why does the word appear only a dozen times or so in most leading selling Bibles like the NIV, NASB, NRSV, NKJV, etc. as compared to the word Heaven which appears hundreds of times? If Hades is Hell and there is no escape from it, why is it emptied and cast into the Lake of Fire along with death. If the Lake of Fire is actually a place of everlasting burnings, why isn't it defined as such? The Bible calls it the "second death," that is, the death of the first death. One would think that the death of death would be LIFE, which is a good thing! (Rev. 20:14) Even in mathematics two negatives make a positive. If there is a Hell and all who have sinned are destined to go there (which is everyone) unless they figure out how to avoid it, does that not consign all aborted babies and most children to Hell? (Dear Reader, while some denominations teach a so-called "age of accountability," it is NOT found anywhere in the Bible. It is just some people's way of trying to make God more humane than the Hell teaching makes Him out to be.) Only one third of the world's languages have any written scriptures 2,000 years after the gospel was given to the Jews. If one MUST believe in the gospel to be saved, then God was very irresponsible in getting the good news to all mankind TO mankind. Furthermore, since most of the countries which presently don't have Bibles are non-white, doesn't that make God a racist? If all things were made for GOD'S pleasure, is it conceivable that God would derive pleasure from seeing those He created endlessly tortured? If there is a Hell and according to most denominations of Christianity the majority of mankind will go there, could you really enjoy heaven knowing your mother or father or children or best friend are suffering everlasting tortures the likes of which would make the Holocaust seem like a picnic? If the Rich Man and Lazarus story (Luke chapter 16) is real and NOT a parable, then we will be able to converse with our loves ones who did not make it into heaven. Would heaven really be paradise if this were true? If Hell is real and a place of eternal separation from God, why would Paul the apostle say the goal of God's creative plan was to ultimately be "all IN all?" If Hell is real since there is only one name under heaven by which men might be saved (Acts 4:12), why did God wait thousands of years and millions of souls after Adam's fall to provide the name and means of salvation? Are all those before Jesus' birth damned forever because they never heard of the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ? Would that be just? (Remember the Mosaic Law can never "save" anyone and it was only for Israel . Rom. If Hell is a real place of everlasting punishment and if Jesus died in our place to save us from this fate, wouldn't Jesus have to be eternally punished if in fact He took our punishment upon Himself? But He's NOT being eternally punished. He DIED which is what the penalty of the wages of sin is, DEATH, NOT everlasting life of unending torture or eternal death (annihilation). If Hell is real why do some of the best Bible scholars and Bible teachers say it is NOT in the Greek or Hebrew text? (William Barclay, John A.T. Robinson, Lightfoot, Westcott, F.W. Farrar, Marvin Vincent, etc.) If Hell is real why is it that those who preach it the most look more like Pharisees and the devil, while those who believe in the salvation of all mankind seem to be more loving and merciful than strong Hell-fire believers? It's a plain fact that the colder less loving one is the easier it is to teach Hell while the more loving one becomes the harder it is to talk about Hell. Is heaven full of cold unloving people? If Hell is real and everlasting, why is it thrown into the Lake of Fire to be destroyed? And why is Hell never called the Lake of Fire nor the Lake of Fire ever called Hell if in fact they are the same thing? If Hell is real and the devil and all his works and people are to be thrown into it to stay alive forever, doesn't that violate Jesus' statement that He came to "destroy" the works of the devil? If Hell is real and the greatest part of mankind eventually goes there, wouldn't Jesus be considered a great failure considering the fact He was sent to save the whole world? And if He failed so miserably this time to accomplish the will of the Father, can one really trust that He won't fail again? 10:9) We who believe that Jesus will save the world obviously do NOT believe He failed? He will save all of us. If Hell is real it must have been created at some time. Why doesn't the Bible tell us when Hell (as traditionally taught) was created? Could it be that the Bible fails to mention its creation because it was never created in the first place? If Hell is real and it is plainly seen in the original languages of the Bible, why is there such a great discrepancy among Bible translations as to which words should be translated Hell? If Hell is real and most of mankind ends up there, how can God have promised Abraham that in him ALL the families of the earth will be blessed? If Hell is real and Matthew chapter 24 says and means that the goat nations will go to "everlasting punishment," how can God promise to Abraham that "all the nations of the earth shall be blessed by him? (Gen. 18:18) Does God not keep His promises? If Hell is real, does that mean that motherly love is more powerful and enduring than God's love? Do you know of normal mothers who would endlessly torment most of her kids. Do you know "normal" Fathers who would do such a thing? Why do we believe our heavenly Father, who is millions of times more loving than all of us combined, could do such an evil, wicked thing? If Hell is real, is justice being served considering the fact that finite crimes would receive infinite punishment? If Hell is real, since all is out of Jesus Christ, does that mean Hell comes out of Jesus Christ? If Hell is real and all the different types of crimes committed here on earth receive the same punishment (endless torture) does "justice" not suffer? If Hell is real and a person gets caught stealing and goes to jail for it and does his time, is it just for God to still punish him eternally for that crime? Is this not "double indemnity?" If Hell is real, since some people receive many chances to "get saved," some receive only a few chances and billions have never even received one chance, does that make God a respecter of persons? If Hell is real and is the fate of all mankind because of Adam's transgression, if all are not saved through the last Adam, Jesus Christ, does that not make the transgression of the first Adam greater than the redeeming act of Jesus? Chapter 5) If Hell is real and most of mankind is doomed to go there, does that not violate the declaration of Paul who said that Christ's righteous act on the cross gave ALL mankind a free gift resulting in justification of life?! If Hell is real and God's wrath abides upon billions of human beings FOREVER, some being your relatives and friends (or it could be you), doesn't that violate the Scripture which says His anger WILL come to an end? If Hell was real and you went there, would you consider that good? (Psalm 145:9 says all will praise Him.) If Hell was real and you were consigned to it, would you praise Him for sending you there? If Hell is real and most of mankind will fall into this fiery pit, if there is not escape out of it, would this not violate the Scripture that says He raises ALL who fall? If Hell is really a place from which there is no escape, why does God turn man to destruction and then give the command to return from it? (Psalm 90:3) If Hell is "everlasting" destruction," how can man return? (2 Thess. If Hell is real and most find their way to it, was Jesus lying when He said that He would "draw" ("drag" in the original Greek) all mankind unto Himself? If Hell is real, since Jesus ultimately fills ALL things, will Jesus fill Hell as well? 4:10) How can Hell be eternal separation from God is Jesus fills Hell with Himself? If Hell is real and Jesus is the Heir of all things, does that mean He inherits Hell as well? If Hell is real, since God will have all men be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth (1 Tim. 2:3 KJV), does that mean God's power is not strong enough to have His will fulfilled? Is man's will more powerful than God's? If Hell is real, would that not violate the plain Scripture of the "restitution of all things?" If Hell is real and eternal separation from God, why does the Scripture say, "All flesh will come to God?" If Hell is real and most people don't get "born again," doesn't that make abortionists the greatest evangelists of all since they kill the babies before they can enter the world to begin their life of sin? (Gory thought, but think about it.) If Hell is real and there is no escape from it, how can the Scriptures speak of the gathering of all things into Christ? If Hell is real and God were human, we would give Him a death sentence for all the cruel things we say He is going to do to most of mankind? If Hell is real and most people around you are on their way to it, how can you talk with them and not beg them each and everyday to be saved? How can you not go crazy at just the thought of their fate? If Hell is real and you have "unsaved" family, friends, and business associates, when was the last time you went to them on your knees begging them to get saved? And if you haven't done this recently yet still believe their fate is everlasting punishment, don't you deserve to go to Hell yourself for being so callused and non-caring? If Hell is real, how does the threat of endlessly torturing us convince us that God loves us and that we should love Him with all our heart, soul, mind and strength? If Hell was real and the "full" gospel was designed to reach all mankind, doesn't that make the results of the "full" gospel pretty "empty" considering that fact that most people are in Hell according to traditional theology? If Hell was real, does that mean Jesus raised the wicked from an unconscious state, make them alive only to be endlessly tortured? Wouldn't it be more merciful to just leave them eternally unconscious (which some believe)? If Hell is real and God only loves those who love Him, what better is He than the sinner? (Luke 6:32-33) Can you REALLY call eternally torturing your own children love? If Hell is real, since "love thinketh no evil," can God design the ultimate evil of a single soul? If Hell is real, since"love worketh no ill," can God inflict, or cause, or allow to be inflicted, an endless ill? If Hell is real, since we are forbidden to be overcome by evil, can we safely suppose that God will be overcome by evil? 12:21) Would not the infliction of endless punishment prove that God HAD been overcome by evil? If Hell is real, if man does wrong in returning evil for evil, would not God do wrong if He was to do the same? 12:20,21) Would not endless punishment be the return of evil for evil? As we are commanded "to overcome evil with good," may we not safely infer that God will do the same? Would the infliction of endless punishment be overcoming evil with good? If Hell is real, if God hates the sinner, does the sinner do wrong in hating Him? If Hell is real, if God loves His enemies now, will he not always love them? Is God a changeable being? If Hell is real, is it just for God to be "kind to the evil and unthankful," in their present life? (Luke 6:35) Would it be unjust for God to be kind to all men in a future state? If Hell is real, if all men justly deserve endless punishment, will not those who are saved, be saved unjustly? If Hell is real, would it be merciful in God to inflict endless punishment--that is, merciful to the sufferer? If Hell is real, if the demands of divine justice are opposed to the requirements of mercy, is not God divided against Himself? If the requirements of mercy are opposed to the demands of the justice of God, can His kingdom stand? If Hell is real, does not judgment triumph over mercy and thus contradict this Scripture? If Hell is real, if you had sufficient power would you not deliver all men from sin? If God WOULD save all men, but CANNOT , is He infinite in power? If Hell is real, if God CAN save all men, but WILL NOT , is He infinite in goodness? If Hell is real and created by God, does it not stand against God's DESIRE the salvation of all men? 2:3-4) Since God is righteous, must not the desire for universal salvation be a RIGHTEOUS desire? Is it true, that "the desire of the righteous shall be granted?" If Hell is real, would endless misery benefit the Almighty, as the INFLICTOR ? Would endless misery benefit the saints, as SPECTATORS ? Would endless misery benefit the sinner, as the SUFFERER ? If Hell is real and endless punishment is the "wages of sin," could the sinner ever receive payment in full? If Hell is real and sin is infinite, can it be true that, "where sin abounded grace did MUCH MORE abound?" If Hell is real, if ONE sin deserves an eternity of punishment, how much punishment will TEN sins deserve? If Hell is real, yet God "openeth his hand and satisfieth the desire of every living thing" -- (Ps. 145:16), If I desire all men be saved, will God satisfy my desire? Is it good to desire all men to be saved? "This is GOOD and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior who DESIRES ALL MEN TO BE SAVED and to come to the knowledge of the truth." If Hell is real and you are a Calvinist, were you "responsible" for getting into heaven? Then why do you take the responsibility for those going to Hell away from God and put it on those you say are going to Hell? Is God "sovereign" only over the "elect?" If Hell is real and God is our Father and our Potter (Isaiah 64:8,9) did He make mostly junk and are most of the children He raised misfits worthy only to be thrown away and endlessly tortured? Do we not hold parents responsible for their children's outcome? If we use the same standards towards God's "fathering" abilities, according to the doctrine of endless punishment, our Father did a very poor job in raising His children. If Hell is real and a person is considered foolish trying to build a tower without first seeing if he has enough resources with which to complete it, wouldn't Jesus also be foolish if He purposed to save the world but only came away with a part of it? And wouldn't Jesus appear foolish if He came to destroy the works of the devil but left most of the devil's work continuing endlessly in the Lake of Fire ? Wouldn't He be found guilty of not counting the costs before He began?(Luke 14:28-32) If Hell is real and since probably less than one percent of the world's population ever got "born again" and stayed on the straight and narrow, doesn't this fly in the face of Jesus' words which says He leaves the ninety-nine to find the one and doesn't give up until He finds it? If Hell is real and a place of terrible pain, why is it that we wouldn't think of sending our pets to such a place yet don't blink an eye at the thought of God sending His very own children to such a place? If Hell is real and universalism is a heresy, why is it that those who believe God loves all and will save all find it easier to love all people than those who believe most people are going to Hell? (Think this through very carefully.) If Hell is real, will you judge your mother, son, or other non-believer to Hell? "Do ye not know that the saints "shall judge the world"? and if the world shall be judged by you, are ye unworthy to judge the smallest matters? Know ye not that we shall judge angels? how much more things that pertain to this life?" 1 Corinthians 6:2-3 If Hell is real and an eternal separation from God, why does " tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb" mean? If this "torment" is endless suffering in a literal lake of fire, how would you feel if it was your mother, father, wife, husband, children, or best friend in that lake IN your presence? (The Greek word for "tormented" does NOT mean "tortured," it means "tested.") If 150 Bible scholars swear to a statement of faith that there is a Hell of everlasting punishment before that are allowed to work on a translation which they will be paid to produce, what are the odds that the translation they produce will contain a Hell of everlasting punishment? (That is the case with the NIV, and most other Bible translations produced by committees.) I think that a person whose mental faculties, conscience and heart are still working will come to the reasonable conclusion that the concept of Hell as a place of everlasting punishment leaves a LOT of questions unanswered. Yes, the concept of Hell (and that is all it is, a false concept) seems to violate everything that is reasonable. It violates the nature of God which is unconditional Love. It violates the wisdom of God, the pleasure of God, the promises of God, the oath of God, the power of God; it negates the full power of the cross of Christ; it goes against the testimony of the prophets; it violates the testimony of Jesus Christ and His apostles; it violates the Scriptures in their original languages; it violates the writings of the early church leaders who read the Scriptures in the original languages; it goes against our conscience and our hearts. Finally, it has the ring of something the subtlest of all creatures would concoct the greatest lie ever told. Jesus and the apostles gave many warnings over 1900 hundred years ago that many would rise up within the church and draw many people after themselves forming denominations built upon the traditions of men and NOT the Truth. 1900 years has spawned over 30,000 denominations of Christendom--denominations which cannot unite because they are divided by their "interpretations" of Scriptures AND traditions which have been added which are NOT based upon the Bible. "A kingdom divided against itself CANNOT stand." (Mark 3:24) Obviously, the denominations of Christendom are NOT the kingdom of God . The Scriptures warned us that most Christians would depart from the faith. It is plainly written for all to see. Why is it that many Christians cannot see what is plainly written? Dear children, this is the last hour; and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come. This is how we know it is the last hour. They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us. But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and all of you know the truth. 26 I am writing these things to you about those who are trying to lead you astray. As for you, the anointing you received from him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things and as that anointing is real, not counterfeit-- just as it has taught you, remain in him. 1 Tim. Do thy diligence to come shortly unto me: For Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world, and is departed unto Thessalonica; Crescens to Galatia , Titus unto Dalmatia . Only Luke is with me. Take Mark, and bring him with thee: for he is profitable to me for the ministry. And Tychicus have I sent to Ephesus . The cloke that I left at Troas with Carpus, when thou comest, bring with thee , and the books, but especially the parchments. Alexander the coppersmith did me much evil: the Lord reward him according to his works: Of whom be thou ware also; for he hath greatly withstood our words. At my first answer no man stood with me, but all men forsook me: I pray God that it may not be laid to their charge. Wherefore I take you to record this day, that I am pure from the blood of all men . For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God. Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God , which he hath purchased with his own blood. For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them. Therefore watch, and remember, that by the space of three years I ceased not to warn every one night and day with tears. (Note Paul NEVER preached salvation as deliverance from Hell.) KJV Galatians 3:1-3 O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you? This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? Are ye so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh? And account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you; As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction. Ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things before, beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own stedfastness. But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen. 1 Cor. Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment. For it hath been declared unto me of you, my brethren, by them which are of the house of Chloe, that there are contentions among you. Now this I say, that every one of you saith, I am of Paul; and I of Apollos; and I of Cephas; and I of Christ. Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were ye baptized in the name of Paul? I thank God that I baptized none of you, but Crispus and Gaius; lest any should say that I had baptized in mine own name. As we can plainly see, God warned that there would come a great falling away IN THE VERY FIRST CENTURY, not hundreds of years later. That early falling away would produce a system of religion full of the abominations of the world. (Rev. Chapter 17 and 18) One must look to the past to find the "great falling away," NOT the future. John, the apostle whom Jesus loved said it was the "last hour!" Last hour of what? The writer of Hebrews writing over 1900 years ago informs us that they were living at the "end of the world:" " For then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself." Obviously he was NOT talking about the physical world. The writer of Hebrews was writing to Jews who were under the Old Covenant "world." This "world" was about to come to an end when Titus would destroy the city of Jerusalem , the only city in which Jews could offer up animal sacrifices to God. The Mosaic Covenant world was coming to an end and God was about to establish a New Heaven and a New World , that is, a new Covenant. This was very plain to Hebrew-speaking Jews of the first century. We, modern Christians, have misused certain key words which have thrown off our eschatological understandings greatly. The fact is that the great falling away occurred almost 2000 years ago and every denomination of Christianity is a part of it. The glue that keeps this abominable system of divided denominations together is the teaching that God is a failure. God fell short of His goal to save all mankind, thus making God to appear as the greatest fool and hypocrite that ever lived. The doctrine of Hell is one of the major instruments Satan has used to turn sincere seekers away from the truth turning them either to idolatry in the form of false religions or materialism. The rest became atheists or agnostics. Recently I watched a movie entitled "Inherit the Wind" which dealt with the subject of whether evolution could be taught in public schools. Prior to the trial, a young boy the young science teacher was very fond of and was mentoring drowned. At the boy's funeral, some Hell-fire fundamentalists talked about how this boy was rotting in Hell because he wasn't "saved" before he drowned. The words of these fundamentalists turned this science teacher away from the Truth towards the lie of evolution. There are countless atheists and agnostics in the world who have been turned aside from seeking God because of this greatest of lies. Perhaps the reader can now see some of the horrible consequences of this terrible stain on the nature and character of our heavenly Father. Now if the reader still insists that God endlessly tortures most of the human beings He made and also insist that the love of God is in you, then you owe all the people in the world a reasonable answer to the above questions. Thousands of people in ages past HAVE asked these questions and have come to the logical Scriptural conclusion that the teaching of Hell is a plain unadulterated lie of the highest magnitude. Men and women like Abraham Lincoln, Florence Nightingale, Charles Dickens, Benjamin Rush (signer of the Declaration of Independence) asked questions like the ones above and reasonably concluded that Jesus IS the Savior of the whole world, not just a piece of it. After all, how can one be called the "Savior of the world" unless one actually saves it? Great theologians and scholars have also come to the same conclusion. Among them are William Barclay, William Law, Karl Barth, Schliermacher, Bishop Westcott, Lightfoot, Canon F.W. Farrar, John A.T. Robinson, Andrew Murray and Andrew Jukes. Some of the greatest writers and poets are in the "Cloud of Witnesses" to the glorious truth of the salvation of all mankind through our glorious savior Jesus Christ. Elizabeth Browing, John Donne, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Harriet Beecher Stowe and countless more. The list of preachers who have asked these same questions and have come to the reasonable and Scriptural truth that Hell is nothing more than a great lie is endless. They were not afraid to ask their Maker some straight-forward questions. They invited the Holy Spirit promised by Jesus to lead us all into Truth to make plain to them the Truth concerning the doctrine of Hell. Men and women of all ages have asked these questions AND have received truthful answers to these questions. A man named A.C. Thomas collected some of these questions and they found themselves in a book written in the 1800's entitled: "The Key to Truth" by E. H. Lake . Isn't it time to get the Truth? Here are some of the questions sincere people from all ages have asked which brought them to the truth. Do you ardently DESIRE the salvation of all men? Is it true that God "openeth his hand and satisfieth the desire of every living thing?" Do you fervently PRAY for the salvation of all men? Do you pray in FAITH , nothing doubting? Are you aware, "that whatsoever is not of faith is sin?" Would God require us to pray for all men, and to pray in faith, unless He intends all men should be saved? If you believe endless misery to be the truth of God, why should you desire and pray that it may prove false? Can the pleasure of the Almighty be contrary to his determinate will? Would the infliction of endless misery afford pleasure to the Deity? Can God be glorified by that which gives Him no pleasure? Since Jesus "tasted death for EVERYONE," can it be true that "the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hands," if most are never saved? If God "declares the end from the beginning," can the final destiny of mankind be contrary to His will? Can endless misery be brought about contrary to the GOOD PLEASURE of the Almighty? Can God WILL anything contrary to His knowledge? Did God know when He created man, that a part of His creatures would be endlessly miserable? If God, when He created, did not know the result of creation, is He infinite in knowledge? Power is the ability to do: is knowledge simply the ability to know? If God knew when He created man, that some would be eternally damned, did He not will this to be their doom? If God willed the endless misery of a part of His creatures, why is it said that "he will have all men to be saved?" If the Scriptures should testify, that God "will have all men to be damned," could we really safely assume that a part might be saved? If the Scriptures testify, that God "will have all men to be saved," can we safely assume that a part may be damned? If God made an endless hell before He created man, did He know whether there would be any use for it? If God knew there would be use for an endless hell, must He not have created some men for endless misery? If God made an endless hell, was it included in the works which He pronounced "very good?" If there is an endless hell, and it was not made before the creation of men, when was it made? If there exists a personal devil, who made him? Can there be any such thing as sin in heaven? If there was sin in heaven, may not sin be committed there again? If an angel of light became a devil, was not Paul in error, when he said Satan is transformed into an angel of light? As sin presupposes temptation of some sort, who tempted a holy angel to sin? If an angel could sin without a devil to tempt him, may we not sin without a devil to tempt us? If a holy angel was tempted to sin by surrounding evil, is heaven a holy place? If an angel was tempted by evil passions, could he have been holy? If an angel became a devil by sinning, was Adam's the original sin? If Adam became mortal (that is, subject to death,) by sinning, must he not have been created immortal? If Adam had been created immortal, could he ever have died? If Adam sinned without inheriting total depravity, why should inborn depravity be assigned as the cause of our sins? Would there be any more impropriety in imputing MY sins to Adam, than in imputing HIS sins to ME ? If men are totally depraved by nature, must not children be so likewise? If children be totally depraved, is it true, that "of such is the kingdom of heaven?" Men are to be washed from their sins. If they are totally depraved, what is there to wash? If evil men and seducers "wax worse and worse," (2 Tim. 3:13), can they be totally depraved at first? If human reason be "carnal and delusive," why did God say, "come now and let us REASON together?" If reason be delusive, why should some folks reason against the use of reason? Can an effect exist without a cause sufficiently powerful to produce it? If "we love God because he first loved us," is it true that we must first love HIM before He will love us? If "we love God because he first loved us," is it not plain that He loved US when we did not love HIM ? If God loved US when we did not love HIM , is not our love to Him the EFFECT (and not the CAUSE ) of His love to US ? Was it consistent with divine justice, to love us, when we did not love Him? If God once loved us, will not that love eternally continue? If the love of God is the cause which produces love in man, can anger and wrath produce the same effect? Is it the revealed will of God that all men should be saved? Can God will all men to be saved, knowing that a part will be forever lost? If God has two wills, why is double-mindedness condemned in the Scriptures? If God has two wills, why does the Bible say, "He is of one mind?" If God has a secret will, how did you gain a knowledge of it? Can that be a secret which has been revealed? If God revealed His secret will to "the saints," why should they reveal it to "the wicked?" If God under any circumstances, wills the endless misery of a human soul, in what does He differ from Satan? Can Jesus Christ be the Savior of any more than He actually saves? Can Jesus be "the Savior of the world," (1 John 4:14), if the world is not saved by him? Is Christ, in any sense, the Savior of unbelievers? If Christ is in no sense the Savior of unbelievers, why are unbelievers called upon to believe in Christ as their Savior? If unbelievers are not called upon to believe in Christ as their Savior, what are they to believe? Must not the thing to be believed, be true before it is believed? Must not the thing to be believed continue to be true, whether it be believed or disbelieved? "What if some did not believe? Shall their unbelief make the faith, [or faithfulness] of God of none effect?" Is it true that "God hath concluded all in unbelief that he might have mercy on all?" Can God be "especially the Savior of them who believe," unless He is actually the Savior of all? If belief and good works in this life are essential to eternal salvation in the next, can infants be saved? Can the good actions of finite man merit an infinite reward? Can the evil actions of finite man merit infinite punishment? If men are saved by works, is salvation of grace? If one man is saved by grace, why should not all be saved in like manner? Is God a partial being? Can the faith of the Partialists (believers in Hell or annihilation) be based in the wisdom that is "full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality?" Can sufficient provision be made for the salvation of all men, if some men are never saved? Must not sufficient provision be sufficient to subdue the will of the creature? Is there any other way to determine the sufficiency of the means employed, than by the accomplishment of the end designed? Does not the law of God require all men to love him supremely, and their neighbors as themselves? Is it true, that "not one jot or tittle of this law shall pass till all be fulfilled?" Does not justice require of us the fulfilment of the law of God? Will not justice be eternally violated, if the law of God is not universally fulfilled? Can those who are determined eternally damned fulfil the law of love? Can justice require the obedience of the sinner, and at the same time require his eternal disobedience? If "whosoever offereth praise glorifieth God," (Ps. 50:23), can He be glorified by those who have no cause to praise Him? If any one is rendered eternally damned, can he have any cause to praise His Maker? Will God ever place some of his creatures in such a situation they cannot praise him? Do you believe that endless punishment would manifest the glory of God? Can you rejoice in the hope of the glory of God? Would not the salvation of half of mankind glorify God more than the salvation of one-fourth? Would not the salvation of nine-tenths of mankind glorify God more than the salvation of one-half? Can we give "glory to God in the highest," without believing in the salvation of all men? If "all have sinned, and (thus) come short of the glory of God," (Rom. 3:23), would eternal sinning mend the matter? Shall "every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father?" -- (Philippians 2:11) Is endless misery "good tidings of great joy which shall be to ALL people?" Could man be endlessly miserable without being endlessly a sinner? If sin exist eternally, can it be true that Christ was to finish the transgression, and to make and end of sin? Since Jesus gave himself a ransom for all men, can he ever "see the travail of his soul and be satisfied," if endless misery is true? Do you hope that endless misery is true? Is "faith the substance (or foundation) of things hoped for?" If endless misery is not a thing hoped for, can it be a part of the Christian faith? Is it certain that one soul will be eternally lost? Is it certain that one soul will be saved? Is it certain that all will not be damned? Is it certain that all will not be saved? Can that be certain which is not decreed? If it is certain that one soul will be saved, must there not be a decree concerning the salvation of a definite number? If the number of the saved is definitely fixed, must not the number of the damned be equally definite? If there is no certainty in relation to the final destiny of man, is not salvation a work of chance? What is better chance than Atheism? If God knew, when he created, what the end of each soul would be, is not that end as certain as if it was decreed? Is not the merciful man always merciful to his animals? Will not the merciful God be always as merciful to His creatures, as the merciful man is to his animals? Is it true that the "tender mercies of the Lord are over all his works?" Is it true that the Almighty is without variableness, or the shadow of turning? Would there be any tender mercy in the infliction of endless misery? Are the tender mercies of the Lord like unto the tender mercies of the wicked which are cruel? If God is not the Father of sinners, why should sinners pray, saying, "Our Father, forgive us our trespasses (sins)?" "Have we not all one Father? Hath not one God created us?" If God is the Father of all men, will He do less for His children than earthly parents would do for theirs? Is it true that God punishes us "for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness?" Would endless punishment be for our profit? Would endless punishment "yield the peaceable fruits of righteousness unto them who are exercised thereby?" Can any doctrine be too good to be true? Will God contend forever and be always wroth? Will the Lord cast off forever? Can one be a Christian who worships the Lord through fear of the devil? Can one truly be Christian who state that if they believed in the salvation of all mankind, they would go out and sin without fearing consequences of those sins? Can a person really be a Christian who says, "if all men are to be saved, what use is there in being virtuous?" If "the goodness of God leads to repentance," why should His eternal wrath be preached to sinners? If "the goodness of God leads to repentance," why should it not be supposed that repentance leads to the goodness of God? If "the goodness of God leads to repentance," are not sinners the objects of His goodness? Is not the goodness of God co-extensive and co-eternal with His wisdom and power? As the wisdom of God can never change to folly, nor His power to weakness, will His goodness ever change to hatred? Can God be universally and eternally good, if endless misery is true for a single soul? If all men deserve endless punishment, would it not be right for God to inflict it? "Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?" If it would be right for God to punish all men eternally, would it not be wrong for Him not to do it? Since the infliction of endless misery would be returning evil for evil, would it be right for God to inflict it? If the return of evil for evil is right for God, would it not be equally right for man? Since "fear has torment," and true religion is happiness, can fear produce true religion? Since "perfect love casts out fear," will not fear cast out perfect love? Can fear imbue the soul with perfect love? Must not they who "believe and tremble," be possessed of the faith of devils? Is it possible to love someone without truly personally knowing them? Can a person love someone who is endlessly torturing them in a lake of fire and will not give them mercy? So between life here on earth and the Lake of Fire , if Jesus doesn't personally reach someone with His love, how can a person really love Jesus back? ( Rom. Does the belief of endless misery cause the believer to "rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory?" Can a belief of any thing short of universal salvation, fill the soul with "joy and peace?" Will not the devil and all his works be destroyed? Will not death, the last enemy, be swallowed up in victory and destroyed? And finally: If God is loving, merciful, wise, always gives "righteous" judgment and is all powerful and has a desire or will to save all mankind (1 Tim 2:3,4) which will come closer to the above attributes?: A Savior of all mankind? An eternal torturer of most? Children, saints, truth-seekers, sinners, universalists (those who believe in universal salvation through Jesus Christ) and even atheists always get the right answer. Pharisees, hypocrites, control freaks, hate-mongers, and other sundry snakes always get it wrong. My conclusion that the modern church concept of God consigning the greatest majority of the human beings He created to everlasting tortures (which is NOT worthy of His honor) does not come from my wishful thinking, but from thousands of hours of studying various English Bible translations, the original languages, early church history, revelation from the Holy Spirit, as well as from a clean conscience and a sound mind. Listed below are a few of the hundreds of books I've read or written as a result of this intense search for the truth of the matter. I believe that anyone who truly desires to KNOW God and to honor Him in the earth will undoubtedly come to the same conclusions I and millions of other Christians who have tasted of God's mercy have come to over the last two thousand years...that Jesus is the Savior of all mankind, as the Scriptures plainly declare(John 4:42; 1 John 4:14) - not just a few. The reasons why most Christians in this present age do not see this glorious truth are: REASONS FOR THE DIFFERENT VIEWS Failure to hold on to clear statements of God's sovereignty, foreknowledge, power, omniscience, purpose of creation, and unconditional love. Failure to believe direct statements of scripture declaring the ultimate salvation of all through the saving work of Jesus Christ. Pulling scriptures out of context and putting them into an end-time scenario when, in fact, they deal with other ages. Scriptures speak of at least two other ages to come. Inaccurate and misleading translations. Roman Catholic tradition strongly affected the first Protestant English Bibles which, in turn, adversely affected modern translations. Injection of Roman\Greek concepts which are not Biblical such as the immortality of the soul into the Bible. Adam was removed from the garden lest he eat from the tree of life. He was therefore not immortal. Eternal life is found only "in" Christ, not in Adam. "In Adam all died." 15:22) If Adam was immortal, how could he die? Bondage to the traditions and teachings of men rather than allowing the Spirit of Truth to lead us into all truth. Laziness. A hidden desire in many of us to have our enemies get what we feel they deserve while we get off free and clear. The desire of religious and government leaders to use fear to maintain control. Love cannot be perfected with fear, therefore, the church has few members whose love is perfected. Perfect love casts out fear! Satan's power and authority to deceive. Failure to see that "Love never fails," (1Cor. 13:8) His "mercy endures forever," (1 Chron. 16:41) and "mercy triumphs over judgment." It's not your time to see. Fear of persecution of men (males and females) for not going along with the majority view. 14 Misunderstanding of the purpose of God's "remnant," His "chosen people." God has always wanted a people here on earth to act as intercessors on behalf of those who do not know Him. God wanted Israel to be a "nation of priests," but Israel violated God's commandments even as He was writing them. 21:5) So God selected only the tribe of Levi under the Mosaic Covenant to be His priests. These priests were to offer up prayers, intercessions, and sacrifices not only for Israel , but for all the nations around them. Ultimately Israel became so degenerate that the Priests refused to offer up sacrifices on behalf of the Gentile nations. Josephus, the Jewish historian, records this for us. In 70AD, God destroyed the nation of Israel and took the priesthood away from the tribe of Levi and gave it to "another nation" to intercede on behalf of the nations of the world who do not know their left hand from their right. This nation was to be a light for them. In studying Church history, while the "early" Church was a great light, after a few centuries the light disappeared into what became known as the Dark Ages. This "Dark Ages" was NOT in Africa, NOT in Asia, NOT in South America ; it was in the very nations which has the greatest population of Christians!! The Dark Ages did NOT begin until the wretched doctrine of endless punishment entered the Church! The horrible teaching that God will torture most of His children endlessly has not only turned the world away from seeking the God of the Bible, it has turned many Christians away as well. Those who call themselves Christians, who are called to intercede on behalf of sinners but find it difficult to pray for them let alone love them are in danger of following the footsteps of the first priesthood which God removed because of their lack of mercy. Many Christians are filling their minds with a "fly away" mentality while expecting non-believers to finally get what they deserve--100 pound hailstones, nuclear wars and horrible diseases. This teaching did NOT come from Christ! It came from the same spirit that drove the disciples John and James to want to command fire to come down upon the heads of those who did not believe on Jesus Christ. "Now it came to pass, when the time had come for Him to be received up, that He steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem , and he sent messengers before His face. And as they went, they entered a village of the Samaritans, to prepare for Him. But they did not receive Him, because His face was set for the journey to Jerusalem . And when His disciples James and John saw this, they said, 'Lord, do you want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them, just as Elijah did?' But He turned and rebuked them, and said, 'You do not know what manner of spirit you are of. For the Son of Man did not come to destroy men's lives but to save them.'" Please note, the Samaritans who rejected Jesus were NOT condemned to Hell by Jesus for their rejection of Him; it was His disciples who were condemned for the foul spirit they had which wanted those unbelievers burned instead of saved. Much of the Church world is in the same foul spirit John and James were in. Search your heart and conscience. Ask the Holy Spirit if some of these reasons listed above are blocking you from receiving the full truth regarding this matter. And above all "Study to show yourself approved." I have included at the end of this book a list of reference material which will help prove that the "traditional" concept of Hell is false. Here is a list of Bibles revealing that the original languages of the Bible do NOT contain the teaching of Hell Some of them are published by leading Evangelical publishers: Rotherham's Emphasized Bible (Kregal Publishers, still in print), Young's Literal Translation of the Holy Bible (Baker Book House Publishers, still in print; Robert Young is author of the famous Young's Concordance), Concordant Literal Translation of the N.T. (Concordant Publishing Concern, still in print), Scarlet's New Testament (Nathaniel Scarlett, 1798), The New Testament (Abner Kneeland, 1823) Emphatic Diaglott (Greek/English Interlinear), The New Covenant (J.W. Hanson, 1884), New Testament in Modern Speech (Weymouth, 1910), The Restoration of Original Sacred Name Bible (1976), The Twentieth Century New Testament (1900), The New Testament of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Anointed (James L. Tomanek)1958), The Western New Testament (1926), The New Testament, a Translation (Rev. Edgar Lewis Clementson, 1938), The People's New Testament (Arthur Overbury), The Holy Bible in Modern English (Ferrar Fenton, still in print), The New Testament, A New Translation based upon the Oldest Manuscripts (Johannes Greber, 1980), Christian Bible, 19. There are other translations like the Companion Bible King James Version, American Standard Version (1901), the Newberry Reference Bible (Still published by Kregal Publications), and the Riverside New Testament by Ballantine (1934) which contain footnotes, marginal readings and appendages which point out that several key Greek and Hebrew words have been MIStranslated by such Bible versions as the King James Bible. Listed at the end are the names of a few of some of the best material from which I have gleaned on the subject of Hell. Our Internet site has many more and I have many more in my library. The plain fact is that the teaching of a Hell of everlasting tortures is NOT in the Old Testament in the Hebrew. Jews today do NOT believe in the modern Christian's version of Hell. It is NOT in what is commonly, but incorrectly called the New Testament in the original languages nor is it contained in English Bible translations properly translated. Certainly the greatest majority of the early church and its leadership did NOT teach the modern concept of Hell. It was clearly borrowed from the pagans--it did NOT come from Mosaic Judaism which is the root of Christianity. These are plain facts. The books below will prove this. The question is...are you going to follow the "traditions of man" which "make the word of God of no effect" or will you allow the Holy Spirit to lead you into all truth even though you may be severely persecuted by many of your Christian brothers and sisters? Jesus was persecuted by His own. So, too, will His disciples. I leave the choice in your hands and in the hands of your Maker. Peace, Love, and Truth to you... In Him, Gary Amirault. Postscript: By the way, if you REALLY want to know who invented Hell, the book "The Origin and History of the Doctrine of Endless Punishment" is an excellent place to begin. Here is a list of quotes taken from ancient history which plainly reveal who the inventors of a Hell of eternal punishment are. The source for Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny is the very same source of Hell - political, business, and religious men and women who invent ways to hold power over people and to make money of them. The Ancient Inventors of Hell Polybius, the ancient historian, says: "Since the multitude is ever fickle, full of lawless desires, irrational passions and violence, there is no other way to keep them in order but by the fear and terror of the invisible world; on which account our ancestors seem to me to have acted judiciously, when they contrived to bring into the popular belief these notions of the gods, and of the infernal regions." Dionysius Halicarnassus treats the whole matter as useful, but not as true. Antiq. Rom. , B. ii Livy, the celebrated historian, speaks of it in the same spirit; and he praises the wisdom of Numa, because he invented the fear of the gods, as "a most efficacious means of governing an ignorant and barbarous populace." Hist., I 19. Strabo, the geographer, says: "The multitude are restrained from vice by the punishments the gods are said to inflict upon offenders, and by those terrors and threatenings which certain dreadful words and monstrous forms imprint upon their minds... For it is impossible to govern the crowd of women, and all the common rabble, by philosophical reasoning, and lead them to piety, holiness and virtue - but this must be done by superstition, or the fear of the gods, by means of fables and wonders; for the thunder, the aegis, the trident, the torches (of the Furies), the dragons, &c., are all fables, as is also all the ancient theology. These things the legislators used as scarecrows to terrify the childish multitude." Geog., B. I Timaeus Locrus, the Pythagorean, after stating that the doctrine of rewards and punishments after death is necessary to society, proceeds as follows: "For as we sometimes cure the body with unwholesome remedies, when such as are most wholesome produce no effect, so we restrain those minds with false relations, which will not be persuaded by the truth. There is a necessity, therefore, of instilling the dread of those foreign torments: as that the soul changes its habitation; that the coward is ignominiously thrust into the body of a woman; the murderer imprisoned within the form of a savage beast; the vain and inconstant changed into birds, and the slothful and ignorant into fishes." Plato, in his commentary on Timaeus, fully endorses what he says respecting the fabulous invention of these foreign torments. And Strabo says that "Plato and the Brahmins of India invented fables concerning the future judgments of hell" (Hades). And Chrysippus blames Plato for attempting to deter men from wrong by frightful stories of future punishments. Plato himself is exceedingly inconsistent, sometimes adopting, even in his serious discourses, the fables of the poets, and at other times rejecting them as utterly false, and giving too frightful views of the invisible world. Sometimes, he argues, on social grounds, that they are necessary to restrain bad men from wickedness and crime, and then again he protests against them on political grounds, as intimidating the citizens, and making cowards of the soldiers, who, believing these things, are afraid of death, and do not therefore fight well. But all this shows in what light he regarded them; not as truths, certainly, but as fictions, convenient in some cases, but difficult to manage in others. Plutarch treats the subject in the same way; sometimes arguing for them with great solemnity and earnestness, and on other occasions calling them "fabulous stories, the tales of mothers and nurses." Seneca says: "Those things which make the infernal regions terrible, the darkness, the prison, the river of flaming fire, the judgment seat, &c., are all a fable, with which the poets amuse themselves, and by them agitate us with vain terrors." Sextus Empiricus calls them "poetic fables of hell;" and Cicero speaks of them as "silly absurdities and fables" (ineptiis ac fabulis). Aristotle. "It has been handed down in mythical form from earliest times to posterity, that there are gods, and that the divine (Deity) compasses all nature. All beside this has been added, after the mythical style, for the purpose of persuading the multitude, and for the interests of the laws, and the advantage of the state." Neander's Church Hist., I, p. 7. (The above quotes were taken from "The Origin and History of the Doctrine of Endless Punishment" by Thomas Thayer.) The question this book began with is now, I trust, answered by a sufficient number of witnesses to settle the matter. Hell was invented by men of power who felt it was the only way to hold the masses of ignorant people under their power. It is the same today. If the people of power today REALLY believed the myths they are perpetuating, they themselves would behave MUCH differently than they are. Seeing their own corrupt behavior should make it plain to anyone, these political, business, and especially religious leaders have not the slightest faith in these things themselves; they do not think them at all necessary to regulate their own lives, or keep them in order; but it is for the average people, the dumb sheep who must be restrained with fears of great terror in the afterlife. One cannot help noting the resemblance between those wise men of old and some of our own day, who seem so anxious to maintain the doctrine on the ground that it is necessary to restrain men from sin. I think it is time we "dumb sheep" wise up and get out from under the myths these men of corruption have used to hold the fetters of our minds in check and check ourselves in at the sheepfold of the Good Shepherd who knows how to restrain HIS sheep with love, not fear. What do you think? References: #1 Universalism--The Prevailing Doctrine of the Christian Church During Its First Five Hundred Years by Dr. J.W. Hanson http://www.tentmaker.org/books/Prevailing.html #2 The Bible Hell by Dr. J.W. Hanson http://www.tentmaker.org/books/TheBibleHell.html #3 Arguments in Favor of Universalism http://www.tentmaker.org/books/InFavorCh20.html #4 100 Scriptural Proofs Jesus is the Savior of the world http://www.tentmaker.org/books/ScripturalProofs.html #5 Bible Threatenings Explained by Dr. J.W. Hanson http://www.tentmaker.org/books/BibleThreateningsExplained.html #6 The Gates of Hell Will Not Prevail by Gary Amirault and Tony Hinkle (Proves many Bibles do NOT contain Hell or "everlasting punishment." http://www.tentmaker.org/books/GatesOfHell.html #7 Early Christian View of the Savior by Gary Amirault http://www.tentmaker.org/books/EarlyChristianView.html #8 Aion by Dr. J.W. Hanson http://www.tentmaker.org/books/Aion_lim.html #9 The Power of Life and Death is a Four Letter Greek Word--Aion by Gary Amirault http://www.tentmaker.org/books/PowerOfLifeAndDeathInAGreekFourLetterWord.html #10 Time and Eternity by G.T. Steve nson http://www.tentmaker.org/books/time/index.html #11 Analytical Study of Words by Louis Abbott http://www.tentmaker.org/books/asw/asw.html #12 Rich Man and Lazarus Parable Explained http://www.tentmaker.org/books/Lazarus.html #13 Eternal Death: One Step Out of Hell, One Step Short of Glory http://www.tentmaker.org/books/EternalDeath.html #14 Just what you do mean... Judgment? by J. Preston Eby http://www.tentmaker.org/books/Judgment-Eby.html #15 Arguments in Favor of Universalism by E.E. Guild http://www.tentmaker.org/books/InFavorCh20.html #16 The Origin and History of the Doctrine of Endless Punishment by Dr. Thomas Thayer http://www.tentmaker.org/books/OriginandHistory.html Mistranslation of the word "aion": Aion by Dr. J.W. Hanson http://www.tentmaker.org/books/Aion_lim.html The Power of Life and Death is a Four Letter Greek Word--Aion by Gary Amirault http://www.tentmaker.org/books/PowerOfLifeAndDeathInAGreekFourLetterWord.html Time and Eternity by G.T. Steve nson http://www.tentmaker.org/books/time/index.html Mistranslation of Sheol, Hades, Tartarus, Gehenna: The Bible Hell by Dr. J.W. Hanson http://www.tentmaker.org/books/TheBibleHell.html Analytical Study of Words by Louis Abbott http://www.tentmaker.org/books/asw/asw.html The Origin and History of the Doctrine of Endless Punishment by Dr. Thomas Thayer http://www.tentmaker.org/books/OriginandHistory.html Rebuttals of Hell-supporting Scriptures in some Bibles: Bible Threatenings Explained by Dr. J.W. Hanson http://www.tentmaker.org/books/BibleThreateningsExplained.html Rich Man and Lazarus Parable Explained http://www.tentmaker.org/books/Lazarus.html Proofs Annihilationism is NOT taught in the original languages of the Bible: Eternal Death: One Step Out of Hell, One Step Short of Glory http://www.tentmaker.org/books/EternalDeath.html God's punishment is NOT eternal: Just what you do mean... Judgment? by J. Preston Eby http://www.tentmaker.org/books/Judgment-Eby.html Arguments and Scriptures Favoring the Salvation of All Mankind: Arguments in Favor of Universalism by E.E. Guild http://www.tentmaker.org/books/InFavorCh20.html Early Christian View of the Savior by Gary Amirault http://www.tentmaker.org/books/EarlyChristianView.html The Gates of Hell Will Not Prevail by Gary Amirault and Tony Hinkle (Proves many Bibles do NOT contain Hell or "everlasting punishment." http://www.tentmaker.org/books/GatesOfHell.html 100 Scriptural Proofs Jesus is the Savior of the world http://www.tentmaker.org/books/ScripturalProofs.html About the Author: I'd like the reader to be aware that I am a conservative Christian who spent several years in very evangelical fundamental churches. Even before I became a Christian my values were always conservative, not liberal. I mention this because that is often the first line of attack against this glorious truth. The belief in the salvation of all mankind through Jesus Christ is NOT a far left liberal principle--it is simple a plain fact which Christians of all kind should pray about, study and then joyfully embrace. Tentmaker Interactive: Tentmaker Discussion Board http://www.tentmaker.org/forum For much more information regarding God's true judgments and how the traditional church has misrepresented them go to the Tentmaker Ministries Internet site located at: http://www.tentmaker.org Email Address: info@tentmaker.org Tentmaker Ministries Gary and Michelle Amirault 118 Walnut Hermann , MO 65041
1.1 2.1 3.1 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 5.1 6.1 7.1 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 8.5 9.1 10.1 10.2 11.1 12.1 12.2 13.1 13.2 13.3 13.4 13.5 14.1 14.2 14.3 15.1 15.2 15.3 15.4 15.5 16.1 17.1 17.2 17.3 17.4 18.1 18.2 18.3 19.1 20.1 20.2 20.3 21.1 22.1 22.2 23.1 23.2 24.1 24.2 25.1 25.2 26.1 26.2 26.3 26.4 27.1 27.2 28.1 28.2 29.1 30.1 30.2 31.1 31.2 31.3 32.1 33.1 33.2 33.3 33.4 34.1 34.2 34.3 35.1 35.2 35.3 35.4 36.1 36.2 37.1 38.1 38.2 38.3 38.4 38.5 38.6 38.7 39.1 40.1 40.2 40.3 41.1 41.2 42.1 42.2 43.1 44.1 44.2 45.1 45.2 46.1 46.2 46.3 47.1 48.1 48.2 48.3 49.1 49.2 50.1 51.1 51.2 51.3 51.4 51.5 52.1 52.2 52.3 52.4 52.5 53.1 54.1 54.2 54.3 54.4 55.1 55.2 55.3 55.4 55.5 55.6 56.1 56.2 57.1 58.1 58.2 58.3 58.4 58.5 58.6 58.7 59.1 59.2 60.1 61.1 62.1 63.1 63.2 64.1 64.2 64.3 65.1 65.2 66.1 66.2 67.1 67.2 68.1 69.1 69.2 70.1 70.2 70.3 71.1 72.1 72.2 72.3 73.1 74.1 75.1 76.1 77.1 78.1 79.1 80.1 81.1 81.2 82.1 82.2 82.3 82.4 82.5 83.1 84.1 84.2 85.1 85.2 86.1 87.1 87.2 87.3 87.4 87.5 88.1 89.1 89.2 90.1 90.2 91.1 91.2 91.3 92.1 92.2 93.1 94.1 95.1 96.1 97.1 98.1 98.2 99.1 99.2 99.3 100.1 100.2 100.3 101.1 101.2 101.3 101.4 102.1 102.2 102.3 103.1 104.1 104.2 104.3 104.4 105.1 106.1 106.2 106.3 106.4 106.5 106.6 106.7 106.8 107.1 107.2 107.3 107.4 107.5 107.6 107.7 108.1 108.2 108.3 109.1 109.2 110.1 111.1 112.1 112.2 113.1 113.2 114.1 115.1 115.2 116.1 116.2 116.3 116.4 117.1 118.1 118.2 119.1 119.2 120.1 120.2 121.1 121.2 122.1 122.2 122.3 123.1 124.1 125.1 125.2 125.3 125.4 126.1 127.1 127.2 127.3 127.4 128.1 129.1 130.1 130.2 131.1 131.2 132.1 133.1 134.1 135.1 135.2 136.1 137.1 137.2 138.1 138.2 139.1 139.2 140.1 140.2 141.1 141.2 141.3 141.4 141.5 142.1 142.2
Iskrena pitanja i odgovori na temu pakla Iskrena pitanja i odgovori na temu pakla autori: Mercy Aiken i Gary Amirault Znate li da postoji solidan biblijski temelj koji svjedoči protiv ideje pakla? Mnogi nekršćani ne prihvaćaju ideju pakla, no možda će vas iznenaditi kad čujete da sve veći broj kršćana, onih koji vjeruju u Bibliju i drže ju Božjom riječju, također odbacuje ovu ideju - ne unatoč Bibliji nego baš zbog nje! Svrha ovog kratkog poučavanja je postaviti neka pitanja na tu temu i pružiti kratke odgovore. Za dublju pouku, molimo pogledati linkove na kraju ovog članka. Otvoreno i nepristrano proučavanje Biblije, uključujući proučavanje mnogih grčkih i hebrejskih ključnih riječi, kao i povijesti Crkve, otkrit će nam neke iznenađujuće stvari. Na primjer, jeste li znali da… "Pakao“ NIJE Starozavjetna doktrina Popularni je mit da je Pakao doktrina utemeljena na Bibliji i da ga nalazimo u njoj od početka do kraja. To naprosto nije istina! Dvije trećine Biblije (Stari zavjet) uopće ne spominje pakao. Riječ „sheol“ iz Starog zavjeta, koja se na nekim mjestima prevodi kao „pakao“, doslovo znači „grob“ tj. mjesto na kojem svi starozavjeti ljudi završavaju nakon smrti - bilo da su dobri ili zli, Židovi ili pripadnici drugih naroda. Dakle, Stari zavjet ne sadrži ideju pakla. Razmislite o ovome… Ako pakao postoji, zašto Bog na to nije upozorio ljude od samog početka tj. u knjizi Postanka? Bog je rekao da je kazna za jedenje sa stabla spoznaje dobra i zla smrt, a ne „vječno“ bivstvovanje u ognjeno-sumpornom jezeru! Ako pakao postoji, zašto Kain nije bio upozoren na to, kao ni Sodoma ni Gomora, niti bilo tko od onih koji su u Bibliji zabilježeni kao počinitelji najranijih grijeha? Ako pakao postoji, zašto Mojsije nije upozorio na njega u Deset zapovijedi, zapravo ni u jednom dijelu Mojsijevog zakona, u kojem nalazimo preko 600 zakona, odredbi i upozorenja? Mojsijev zakon naprosto navodi blagoslove i prokletstva ovoga života. Ako pakao postoji, zašto njegove korijene nalazimo u poganskim religijama, a ne u Bibliji? Mnogi narodi koji su okruživali starozavjetni Izrael vjerovali su u svojevrsnu kaznu u zagrobnom životu koja bi sličila današnjoj ideji pakla - ta oni su se klanjali krvožednim i zlim „bogovima“, dok je Izrael jednostavno priznavao odlazak u grob (sheol) i imao nadu u uskrsnuće. Ako pakao postoji, zašto je otkrivenje o njemu dano poganskim narodima, a ne Božjem izabranom narodu? Zar je Bog očekivao da će Izraelci naučiti nešto o zagrobnom životu od poganskih naroda? Ako je tako, zašto je stalno upozoravao Izrael da se kloni poganskih običaja svojih susjeda? Ako pakao postoji, zašto je Bog rekao Židovima da mu se gadi običaj žrtvovanja vlastite djece u vatri kao prinos lažnom božanstvu Molehu (u dolini Geheni)? Bog je rekao da on na takvo što nikada „nije ni pomislio“ (Jer 32:35). Kako je Bog mogao to izjaviti ako je sastavni dio njegovog plana „prženje“ velikog dijela vlastitog stvorenja u duhovnoj i vječnoj Geheni koju je sam zamislio? ČINJENICA: Prijevod Biblije engl. kralja Jakova (King James Version) pogrešno prevodi riječ „sheol“ kao „pakao“ ukupno 31 put u Starom zavjetu i tako postavlja temelje doktrini o paklu u Novom zavjetu, kao i u većini prijevoda Biblije koji su uslijedili nakon ovog prijevoda tj. temeljili se na njemu. Unatoč tome, većina najnovijih prijevoda u potpunosti je uklonila riječ „pakao“ iz Staroga zavjeta, kao što su iskreniji i učeniji poznavatelji biblijskih rukopisa tražili. Židovska verzija Staroga zavjeta (Tanak) ne sadrži u sebi ideju pakla! Ne možemo dovoljno naglasiti ovu činjenicu. Ako se sjeme neke doktrine ne nalazi ni u Zakonu, ni u Prorocima, ni u Psalmima, ona ne može biti naučavana kao legitimna biblijska doktrina - ako se uopće može nazvati biblijskom!! Pakao nije Novozavjetna doktrina Rašireni mit je sljedeći: Isus je više govorio o paklu nego o raju. Opet netočno! Isus je mnogo puta upozoravao Židove na propast koja im je prijetila, i kao narodu i kao pojedincima. Koristio je nekoliko različitih termina za kaznu/propast, od kojih su neki pogrešno prevedeni riječju „pakao“. Ne negiramo činjenicu da će Bog doista suditi cijelom svijetu, niti želimo olako shvatiti njegove sudove, međutim dovodimo u pitanje vjerovanje da je Božja presuda za grijeh i nevjeru vječna muka/pakao i vječna odvojenost od Boga. Dakako, Isus je velik dio svoje službe pozivao ljude na obraćenje kako ne bi snosili posljedice (u prvom redu „Gehenu“). No je li moguće da iščitavamo u njegovim upozorenjima nešto čega nema i što uopće nije bila Isusova namjera? Razmislite o ovome...... Ako pakao postoji, zašto je većina upozorenja o kazni/Geheni upućena Izraelu, pogotovo Isusovim vlastitim učenicima, kao i farizejima? Prvu grupu navoda koji se tiču Gehene nalazimo u propovijedi na Gori (Mt 5:22, 29, 30), Isusovoj velikoj propovijedi u kojoj je upozorio svoje učenike da se onaj tko drugoga s prezirom nazove budalom nalazi u opasnosti od Gehene.To je jako daleko od današnjih evangelizacijskih interpretacija koje kažu da neprihvaćanje Isusa za osobnog Spasitelja šalje ljude u pakao! Jesmo li promašili izvorni smisao i simboliku Isusovih riječi? Ako pakao postoji, zar ne izvlačimo stihove iz konteksta kada grešnike ne-židove, ljude koji nisu dio Mojsijevog saveza koji je Bog sklopio s Izraelom, upozoravamo na posljedice grijeha - posljedice koje ih se zapravo i ne tiču budući da nisu dionici tog saveza? Budući da ideja pakla ne postoji u Starom zavjetu, kako su Isus i njegovi učenici mogli poučavati da „spasenje“ znači izbavljenje od mjesta koje uopće ne nalazimo u Svetom pismu? A ako je Isus prvi uveo poučavanje na temu pakla, zašto je to činio tako usput, kao da njegovi slušatelji već dobro znaju o čemu govori? Ako pakao postoji, i s obzirom na to da neki engleski prijevodi Novog zavjeta koriste riječ „pakao“ umjesto grčke riječi „Gehena“, zašto se to isto mjesto (Gehena) ne prevodi riječju „pakao“ na mnogim mjestima u Starom zavjetu gdje nalazimo hebrejski oblik riječi Gehena tj. „ga ben Hinnom“ (dolina Hinomova sina)? Ako Židovi nisu shvaćali Gehenu kao mjesto vječnih muka, nego kao mjesto srama, prljavštine i onečišćenja (jer tamo je Izrael doista sudjelovao u najgorem obliku idolopoklonstva), zašto moderni teolozi ovoj riječi daju smisao koji ona nema u svom izvornom značenju? Shvaćanje Gehene se u židovskim poučavanjima s vremenom doista promijenilo i kazna u zagrobnom životu je postala njegov sastavni dio, no čak ni danas Gehena za Židove ne predstavlja vječnu kaznu! Ako pakao postoji, kako je apostol Pavao (kojeg je Bog posebno pozvao da propovijeda nežidovima) mogao izjaviti da im je iznio sve što mu je Bog naložio da im kaže (Djela 20:27), kada zapravo ni u jednoj od svojih poslanica ne upozorava na pakao? Ako pakao postoji, ne bi li apostol Pavao bio prvi koji će opetovano upozoravati na njega? Ako pakao postoji, onda Adamov grijeh, čija je posljedica smrt, ima daleko snažniji učinak na svijet nego Kristovo uskrsnuće! Pa ipak, u 5. poglavlju poslanice Rimljanima Pavao izjavljuje da Kristova pobjeda nadilazi Adamov prekršaj! Promotrite Pavlovo pouzdanje u Kristovo djelo! Da je Pavao vjerovao u vječni pakao u kojem će završiti dobar dio čovječanstva, bi li napisao sljedeće stihove: "Kao što je posljedica jednog čina prestupa (Adamovog) bila osuda svih ljudi, tako je posljedica jednog čina pravednosti (Kristovog) bilo opravdanje koje donosi život svim ljudima. Jer kao što su neposlušnošću jednoga mnogi postali grešnici, tako će poslušnošću jednoga mnogi biti učinjeni pravednima (nevinima, oslobođenima osude).“ (Rimljanima 5:16-19). "Budući da je po čovjeku došla smrt, također je po čovjeku došlo uskrsnuće od mrtvih. Jer kao što u Adamu svi umiru, tako će u Kristu svi uskrsnuti.“ (1 Kor 15:22). "Zato se trudimo i podnosimo sramotu jer se uzdamo u živoga Boga, koji je spasitelj svih ljudi, osobito onih koji vjeruju.“ (1 Timoteju 4:10). (Gore navedeni stihovi samo su neki od mnogih u kojima Pavao piše o Kristovoj nadmoći koja daleko nadilazi tradicionalno kršćansko gledanje. U ovom članku naći ćete još mnoge Pavlove primjedbe u kojima jasno iznosi svoj pogled na Krista: konačnog pobjednika, svemogućeg, neograničenog, koji nadvladava sve i odnosi konačnu pobjedu!) Ako pakao postoji, kako to da Pavao spominje riječ „pakao“ jedan jedini puta u svim svojim poslanicama - i to onda kada proglašava Kristovu konačnu pobjedu nad njim? (1 Korinćanima 15:55). Riječ „grob“ u ovom odlomku je grčka riječ „hades“ (podzemlje). Ako pakao postoji, kako to da se u Djelima apostolskim o njemu ne govori ni u jednoj od evangelizacijskih propovijedi koje su zabilježili prvi apostoli? Ako pakao postoji, kako to da neki od najboljih poznavatelja i učitelja Biblije tvrde da on ne postoji ni u grčkom ni u hebrejskom tekstu? (William Barclay, John A.T. Robinson, Lightfoot, Westcott, F.W. Farrar, Marvin Vincent itd.) Ako pakao postoji, zašto ta riječ u engleskom jeziku (hell) dolazi od teutonske riječi „Hele“ koja označava Božicu podzemnog svijeta „pakla“ u koji su vjerovali stari narodi sjeverne Europe? Opis tog drevnog mitološkog mjesta nema mnogo sličnosti s današnjim kršćanskim shvaćanjem pakla. Za više informacija o porijeklu riječi pogledajte u neku enciklopediju ili riječnik. ČINJENICA: Apokrifne knjige iz perioda između Starog i Novog zavjeta imale su velik utjecaj na Židove u Kristovo vrijeme. Upravo iz tih knjiga, pogotovo Enohove knjige, potječu mnogi židovski mitovi i legende koji govore o paklu, nebu, demonima, anđelima i mnogim drugim temama, a iz judaizma su se prenijeli u kršćanstvo. Te priče i mitovi dolaze od poganskih utjecaja, pogotovo Zoroastrizma, tokom Babilonskog progonstva i nakon njega. U stvari, Zoroastrizam mnogo više sliči današnjem kršćanstvu nego drevni judaizam! Ako pakao postoji, kako to da je Pavao opetovano upozoravao Timoteja da se drži podalje od židovskih mitova i priča koje su imale utjecaj na mnoge u ranoj crkvi? No umjesto da Pavao podrži te doktrine, on ih proglašava svjetovnim („bapskim“!) pričama (1 Timoteju 1:1; Titu 1:14) Pakao je kontradiktoran Mesijinom djelu: Popularni je mit da je Isus došao na zemlju kako bi spasio grešnike od pakla. Nije točno! Židovi se uopće nisu nadali da će biti spašeni od pakla, budući da nisu niti vjerovali u njega! Ali doista su trebali biti spašeni od svojih grijeha i njihovih posljedica, dakle smrti. Isus je došao kao Pomazanik (Mesija) kako bi ispunio Božji plan za zemlju - da kroz njega dođe spasenje, izbavljenje od grijeha, mir, Božje kraljevstvo i sve ono što je Bog obećao u Starozavjetnim pismima. Mnogo je toga što bismo o ovome mogli napisati, ali radi kratkoće zadržat ćemo se samo na nekim ključnim odlomcima. Molim vas da sami pročitate stihove koji se navode. Razmislite o ovome... Ako pakao postoji, zašto u 22. psalmu (jednom od „proročkih“ tj. onih koji govore o Mesiji) nalazimo obećanje da će se, zbog križa „svi krajevi zemlje sjetiti i obratiti Gospodinu i sve će se obitelji na zemlji klanjati njemu. Jer Gospodinu pripada kraljevska vlast i On vlada narodima. Svi oni koji prosperiraju na zemlji jesti će i štovati ga, svi oni koji odlaze u prah poklonit će se pred njim, svaki onaj tko ne može sačuvati na životu svoju dušu.“ (Ps 22:27-29). Ako pakao postoji, nije li onda, u konačnici, Isusovo poslanje neuspjeh? Jer Isus je rekao: „nisam došao suditi svijetu, nego ga spasiti“. Ako pakao postoji, i mnogi završavaju u njemu, nije li Isus lagao kad je rekao da će, kad bude uzdignut (razapet), sve ljude privući k sebi? (Ivan 12:32) U originalnom grčkom tekstu, za riječ „privući“ nalazimo riječ "helkyo", koja znači „povući silovito“ (koristi se još u smislu „izvući, isukati mač iz korica“). Ako pakao postoji, i vječan je, kako to da Sveto pismo govori da će sve stvoreno u konačnici biti objedinjeno u Kristu? Ako pakao postoji, i vječan je, kako će to onda sve biti podloženo Kristu? (1 Korinćanima 15:28, Filipljanima 3:21, Hebrejima 2:8). Ako pakao postoji, i vječan je, kako onda Sveto pismo obećaje da će se svako koljeno pokloniti i svaki jezik priznati da je Isus Krist Gospodar? (Izaija 45:23, Rimljanima 14:11, Filipljanima 2:10). Ako pakao postoji, i vječan je, kako će onda Isus vidjeti plod patnje svoje duše i biti zadovoljan njime (Izaija 53:11)? Ako je tradicionalno shvaćanje ispravno, mnogi od onih koje je Isus došao spasiti neće nikada iskusiti njegovo spasenje. Zar doista vjerujemo da će Isusu to predstavljati zadovoljstvo? Ako pakao postoji, a Bog je poslao Isusa da spasi ljude od pakla, možemo li zaista reći da je „Kristovom rukom izvršena Božja volja i uspjelo ono što je Bogu ugodno“ (Izaija 53:10, 55:11) ako će, prema tradicionalnoj teologiji, samo malen dio čovječanstva biti spašen? Ako pakao postoji, a đavao je taj koji zavodi ljude tako da završe u njemu, nije li on konačni pobjednik u ratu za ljudske duše? U konačnici, zar tradicionalno tumačenje Biblije ne kaže da će više ljudi završiti u paklu nego na nebu. Ako je tako, možemo li zaista nazivati sotonu pobijeđenim neprijateljem, a Krista pobjednikom? Ako pakao postoji, i većina čovječanstva će ostati zarobljena u stanju smrti i muka bez mogućnosti pokajanja ili izbavljenja iz njega, kako da shvatimo činjenicu (i radujemo joj se) da je Isus uništio smrt i onoga tko je u svojim rukama imao vlast nad smrti, tj. sotonu? (Hebrejima 2:14-15, 1 Ivanova 3:8, Hošea 13:14, 1 Korinćanima 15:55, 1 Korinćanima 15:26 itd.) Ako je pakao vječan, kako će se ostvariti proroštvo da „proširenju Kristove vlasti i miru neće biti kraja“? ČINJENICA: Izraz "spašen" s vremenom je u kršćanstvu poprimio značenje koje nije imao za izvorne slušatelje i čitatelje Svetog pisma. Grčke riječi "sozo" i "soteria" imaju široko značenje koje obuhvaća pojmove poput biti izbavljen, iscijeljen, spašen od neke opasnosti. Te riječi su posvuda u Novom zavjetu primjenjivane za raznovrsne situacije. Kristovo spasenje je mnogo više od onoga što većina kršćana poznaje. Na žalost, većina Crkve je orobljena za puninu spasenja tako što je prihvatila ograničen i futurističan pogled na samu suštinu pojma (čitaj: „ići ću u nebo kad umrem“). Popularni je mit: "Vječnost" je tema koju nalazima posvuda u Bibliji, uključujući i vječnu kaznu. Nije baš tako! Ne negiramo činjenicu da je Novi zavjet pun upozorenja o sudu i da se riječi poput „vječno“, „zauvijek“, „u vijeke vjekova“ itd. često pojavljuju u većini prijevoda. Pažljivije proučavanje izvornih riječi, međutim, otkriva da su one pogrešno prevedene. Nije upitno hoće li Bog kazniti grijeh i pobunu protiv njega, već kako On to čini, sa kojom svrhom te koliko dugo njegovo ispravljanje traje. Razmislite o ovome... Ako je pakao vječan, zašto se hebrejska riječ „olam“ (koja je prevedena tako da znači „vječno/zauvijek“) pojavljuje u mnoštvu stihova koji očito ne znače vječno trajanje? Nekoliko primjera: "vječno“ je izraz koji se pripisuje Aronovom svećenstvu, Mojsijevim propisima, „vječne“ su planine i brda, vrata Hrama, „vječno“ je vrijeme koje će Židovi provesti u poniženju i sramoti. Riječ „zauvijek“ nalazimo u stihovima koji govore o zemaljskom trajanju čovjekova života, o vremenu koje dijete treba provesti u hramu, o trajanju Gehazijeve gubavosti, o trajanju kraljeva života, o vremenu koje sluga treba provesti uz svoga gospodara, o postojanju Hrama u Jeruzalemu, o trajanju Davidova kraljevanja nad Izraelom, o Solomonovom prijestolju, o kamenju postavljenom u Jordanu, o vremenu koje je Jona proveo u utrobi velike ribe. U svim ovim primjerima očito je iz konteksta da se „olam“ odnosi na neko neodređeno vremensko razdoblje - ali ne znači „zauvijek“. Aion i ostale riječi uz nju vezane (aionian i aionios) su grčki ekvivalenti za riječ olam . Aion doslovno znači „doba“ i od nje potječe engleska riječ "eon." Aion/eon (engl. „age“) je naprosto vremenski period. "Aionian and Aionios" riječi su koje se odnose na doba, razdoblja (množina). Dokle god govorimo o mjerenju vremena, ne možemo istovremeno govoriti o „vječnosti“, koja je vanvremenska stvarnost. Ako pakao traje zauvijek, zašto ga se opisuje riječima koje se tiču trajanja u vremenu? Ako grčka riječ „aion“ i njezine izvedenice znače vječno trajanje, na čemu neki biblijski stručnjaci inzistiraju, zašto u novozavjetnom grčkom jeziku, u njegovoj svakodnevnoj upotrebi, ta riječ ne nosi značenje vječnosti, beskrajnog trajanja? (u radovima Platona, Aristotela, Homera, Hipokrata i mnogih drugih te riječi se koriste za opis ograničenog trajanja). Ako je pakao vječan, kako objasniti činjenicu da izvornim piscima i slušateljima Svetog pisma aion/olam nije značio vječan/beskrajan? ČINJENICA: Neki će tvrditi da ako aionian i njegove izvedenice ne znače „vječan“, onda ni Bog ne može biti vječan jer i Njega opisuju te iste riječi. Na to ćemo odgovoriti sljedeće: samo zato što je Bog opisan kao Bog vjekova (eona), ne znači da On ujedno ne nadilazi vjekove. Na isti način, samo zato što je nazvan Bog Izraelov, to ne znači da nije i Bog svih drugih naroda. Osim toga, postoje druge grčke riječi koje se odnose na beskrajnost Božje sile i života. To su aptharsia/apthartos, što znači nepropadljivost i besmrtnost, amarantinos/amarantos što znači neizbljedivost; i akatalytos, što znači neuništivost. Te se riječi obično prevode kao besmrtan, nepropadljiv. Molim pogledajte sljedeće stihove: Hebrejima 7:15-16, 1 Petrova 1:3-4, 1 Petrova 5:4, 1 Timoteju 1:17, Rimljanima 1:23, 1 Korinćanima 9:25, 1 Korinćanima 15:51-54, Rimljanima 2:7, 1 Korinćanima 15:42, 2 Timoteju 1:10, and 1 Timoteju 6:16. Popularni je mit: Sudbina pojedinca zapečaćena je u trenutku njegove smrti. Ako je to istina, što ćemo napraviti sa sljedećim stihovima koji ukazuju na suprotno? Razmislite… "Sigurno moramo umrijeti i kao voda smo, koja se prolije na zemlju i koju se više ne može skupiti; a Bog ne odstranjuje život nego misli na to da prognanik ne ostane prognan od njega." (2 Samuelova 14:14) "Gospodin ubija i oživljuje; on spušta u grob (šeol) i izvodi iz njega.“ (1 Samuelova 2: 6) "Vidite sada da sam ja, koji jesam, da nema boga pored mene. Ja ubijam i oživljujem, ja ranjavam i iscjeljujem, nitko ne može izbaviti iz moje ruke.“ (Ponovljeni zakon 32:39) "Od sile groba (šeola, pakla) otkupit ću ih, osloboditi od smrti! Smrti, ja ću biti tvoja pošast! Grobe (šeole, pakle), ja ću biti tvoje uništenje!“ (Hošea 13:14). "Jer Gospodin ne odbacuje zauvijek; jer ako rastuži, on se također smiluje po veličini svoje dobrote. Jer ne zadaje bol rado i ne žalosti sinove čovjeka.“ (Tužaljke 3:31-33) "Brzo se izmiri sa svojim protivnikom, dok si na putu s njim; da te protivnik ne preda sucu, a sudac ovršitelju i da ne budeš bačen u tamnicu. Zaista, kažem ti, nećeš izaći odande dok ne platiš i posljednji novčić.“ (Matej 5:25-26). Ako je pakao mjesto iz kojega nema povratka, kako to da je rana crkva naučavala da je Isus otišao u pakao (Had) propovijedati i da je „zarobio zarobljeništvo“ ? (Efežanima 4:8,9; Psalam 68:18; 1 Petrova 3:18-20) Ako pakao traje vječno, zašto psalmista s punim uvjerenjem opetovano govori o izbavljenju iz njega (iz šeola)? Ako je pakao stvaran, kako je Salomon mogao reći da se duh čovječji vraća Bogu koji ga je dao? (Propovjednik 12:7). Ako nam grob tj. naša smrt zauvijek „zacementira“ sudbinu, kako to da su rani kršćani upućivali Bogu molitve za umrle? Kako to da su se krstili za umrle? (1 Korinćanima 15:29). Pakao NIJE bila doktrina rane Crkve: Popularni je mit da se univerzalizam (sveopće spasenje, spasenje cijelog svijeta po Kristu) počeo uvlačiti u Crkvu tek u 19. stoljeću kako je crkva postajala liberalnija i modernija te počela napuštati svoje istinske biblijske temelje. To nije istina! Vjerovanje u sveopću obnovu bilo je standardno gledanje rane crkve koje je imala većina prvih kršćana, no to je također bilo gledište manjine kroz čitavu crkvenu povijest, uključujući mračni srednji vijek. Razmislite.. Ako je pakao stvaran, kako to da prvo cjelovito izlaganje kršćanske doktrine (Klement Aleksandrijski 180 g. n. e.) sadrži univerzalno spasenje? Ako je pakao stvaran, kako to da prvi sustavni prikaz kršćanstva (Origen, 220 g. n. e.) sadrži doktrinu o univerzalnom spasenju? Ako je pakao stvaran, kako to da niti Apostolsko vjerovanje niti Nicejsko vjerovanje - dvije temeljne doktrinarne izjave rane crkve - ne sadrže ideju pakla? Ako je pakao stvaran, kako to da su crkveni vođe sve do 4. st. n. e. priznavali da većina kršćana vjeruje u spasenje cijelog čovječanstva? Ako je pakao stvaran, kako to da je rana crkva imenovala Grgura Nazijanskog (330.-390. n. e.), osvjedočenog univerzalistu, predsjedateljem 2. općeg crkvenog sabora u Carigradu? Ako je pakao stvaran, kako to da nijedan crkveni sabor u prvih pet stotina godina crkve ne osuđuje univerzalizam i ne smatra ga herezom, ako uzmemo u obzir da su mnoga druga učenja proglašavali herezama? Ako je pakao stvaran, kako to da Epifanije (315-403 n.e.), po nadimku „malj za heretike", koji je naveo 80 hereza svoga vremena, među njih ne ubraja univerzalizam? Većina povjesničara će se danas složiti da je Origen možda najistaknutiji predstavnik univerzalizma u crkvi. Ako je pakao stvaran, kako to da Metodije, Euzebije, Pamfilije, Marcel, Eustatije i Jeronim nisu uvrstili univerzalizam na listu Origenovih hereza? Ako je pakao stvaran i ako se nalazi u originalnim grčkim biblijskim rukopisima, kako to da su zagovornici ideje o paklu bili upravo oni crkveni prvaci koji ili nisu poznavali grčki jezik (npr. Minucije Feliks), ili su prezirali sve grčko (Augustin)? A oni rani crkveni vođe koji su poznavali grčki i hebrejski (originalne biblijske jezike) u biblijskim su rukopisima vidjeli univerzalno spasenje. Razlog leži u tome da su zagovornici pakla izveli svoju doktrinu iz latinskih prijevoda, a ne iz originalnih tekstova na grčkom i hebrejskom! Što mislite, je li vjerojatnije da su u pravu oni koji su znali čitati izvorne biblijske tekstove ili oni koji su čitali latinski prijevod koji je sastavio jedan čovjek, Jeronim? Ako je pakao stvaran kako to da četiri od šest teoloških škola od 170 g.n.e. do 430 g. n. e. naučavaju sveopće spasenje dok samo jedna uči o paklu, a to je ona u Kartagi, na sjeveru Afrike, gdje je službeni jezik bio latinski, a ne grčki? Ako je pakao stvaran, a univerzalizam hereza, kako to da se tek u 6. stoljeću, za vrijeme Justinijana, polu-poganskog cara, univerzalizam pokušalo proglasiti herezom? Zanimljivo je i to da je Justinijan bio jedan od najokrutnijih i najbezobzirnijih vladara, s čime se slaže većina povjesničara. *Povijesne činjenice navedene u gornjim odlomcima mogu se naći u sljedećim knjigama "Universalism, the Prevailing Doctrine of the Early Church for the First 500 Years" (Sveopće spasenje, prevladavajuća doktrina rane crkve u prvih pet stotina godina), autor J. Hanson i "The History of Opinions on the Scriptural Doctrine of Retribution" (Povijest mišljenja o biblijskoj doktrini kazne), autor Edward Beecher. Pakao ne odražava Božje srce: Popularni je mit da Božja pravda iziskuje postojanje pakla kao mjesta na kojem će zli biti vječno kažnjavani za svoje grijehe. Neistina! Božja pravda zahtijevala je savršenu žrtvu za grijeh, a to je bio Isus Krist! Božja pravda će bez sumnje doći do svakog čovjeka; Bog se možda oštro odnosi prema našim grijesima sve dok sve stvoreno ne bude podloženo Kristu, no beskrajno trajanje kazne za zlo počinjeno u kratkom ljudskom životu protivi se svakoj logici i pravdi. Kakva je to pravda koja traži kaznu vječnog trajanja za grijeh učinjen u vremenski ograničenom životu? Razmislite.... Ako je pakao stvaran, a sve stvoreno upravo je stvoreno Božjom voljom i za nju (Otkr 4:11) /u engl. tu stoji za „Božju ugodu, zadovoljstvo“/, je li uopće moguće pojmiti da bi Bogu predstavljalo ugodu (zadovoljstvo), vječno promatranje svoga stvorenja kako se muči? Bog sam kaže da mu smrt bezbožnika ne pričinjava zadovoljstvo (Ezekiel 33:11). Ako je pakao mjesto vječne muke, a Bog nije želio da itko ondje završi, zašto jednostavno nije ubio Adama i Evu i tako „skratio muke“ njihovim potomcima prije nego što se uopće uspostavio taj lanac smrti? U konačnici, Sveto pismo kaže da su svi umrli u Adamu (Rim 5:18). Ako je pakao stvaran, a Bog ljubi svoje neprijatelje sada, zar ih neće uvijek ljubiti? Je li Bog promjenjivo biće? (Jakovljeva 1:17) Ako je pakao stvaran, i ako biste vi imali na raspolaganju svu silu i moć, ne biste li sve ljude izbavili od grijeha? Ako Bog želi spasiti sve ljude, a ne može, je li svemoćan? Ako je pakao stvaran, i Bog može spasiti sve ljude, ali to neće učiniti, jesu li njegova dobrota i milost vječne? Ako je pakao stvaran, a budući da je Božja volja da se svi ljudi spase i dođu do potpune spoznaje istine (1 Timoteju 2:3-6), znači li to da Bog nije dovoljno moćan da provede u djelo svoju vlastitu volju? Ako je pakao stvaran, a Isus nas uči da opraštamo sedamdeset puta sedam puta, no On sam neće nikome ponuditi oprost nakon fizičke smrti, zar ga to ne čini licemjerom? Ako je pakao stvaran, a Božji gnjev će vječno biti nad milijunima ljudskih bića, zar je to u skladu sa Svetim pismom u kojem stoji da Njegov gnjev ima svoj kraj? Ako je pakao stvaran, a Bog ljubi samo one koji zauzvrat ljube Njega, po čemu je Bog bolji od grešnika? Ako je pakao stvaran, a budući da neki ljudi imaju mnogo prilika u životu da budu „spašeni“, nekima se pruži samo nekoliko prilika, a mnogi nisu imali nijednu, ne čini li to Boga pristranog prema ljudima (Djela 10:34, Jakovljeva 3:17). U konačnici, milijuni ljudi bili su rođeni i umrli na ovoj zemlji, a da nikada nisu čuli za ime Isus, „jedino ime pod nebom po kojemu se čovjek može spasiti“. Ako je pakao stvaran, i sudbina svakog grešnika (što smo svi mi) je da završi u njemu ukoliko ne prihvati izbavljenje iz njega, zar to ne šalje direktno u pakao svu nerođenu i nekršćansku djecu? (Iako mnoge denominacije naučavaju tzv. „dob zrelosti“ u kojoj dijete postaje odgovorno za sebe i svoje odluke, taj nauk ne nalazimo nigdje u Bibliji; on je samo ljudski pokušaj da Boga učine „humanijim“ nego što ga prikazuje učenje o vječnoj kazni.) Ako je pakao stvaran, znači li to da je majčinska ljubav jača i trajnija od Božje ljubavi? Znate li ikojeg normalnog roditelja koji bi beskonačno mučio većinu svoje djece? Zašto vjerujemo da bi naš nebeski Otac, koji ima beskrajno više ljubavi nego svi mi ljudi zajedno, mogao učiniti takvo zlodjelo? Ako je pakao stvaran, zašto se ljudski duh užasava pri pomisli na ratove, logore, sobe za mučenje i diktatore? Kako možemo reći da je sve to zlo, ako je pakao stvaran? Ako sve ljudske muke na ovoj zemlji imaju svoj kraj, onda pakao daleko nadilazi mučenja koja čine najgrešniji i najzvjerskiji pripadnici ljudskog roda. Kažemo da Boga žalosti nasilje i nepoštivanje ljudskog života, pa ipak vjerujemo da će On provoditi iste nehumane principe kroz cijelu vječnost! Ako je pakao stvaran, kakvu će korist i satisfakciju donijeti Svemogućemu beskonačne muke i jad njegovih stvorenja? Kakvu će korist od njih imati sveti, kao promatrači? Kakvu će korist od njih imati grešnik, kao onaj tko podnosi kaznu? Ako je pakao stvaran, kako prijetnja beskonačnog mučenja jača našu vjeru da nas Bog ljubi i da ga mi trebamo ljubiti svim srcem, dušom, umom i snagom? ČINJENICA: Dok se crkva navikla na razmišljanje o Bogu kao o nekome tko je bio prisiljen dizajnirati grandioznu kaznu zvanu pakao, i protiv svoje vlastite volje poslati u njega većinu svog stvorenja, ta ideja o Bogu kao onome tko je „učinio sve (najbolje) što je mogao“ je potpuno nebiblijska! Božja riječ kaže da je Bog apsolutni suveren, moćan, apsolutno mudar i apsolutni pobjednik! On nikada nije morao smišljati plan B, ili plan C, jer Isus je Janje Božje zaklano od početka svijeta. Vrijeme je da mu damo slavu koju zaslužuje, jer naš Bog je uistinu veličanstven, daleko iznad ljudskih, humano-centričnih pogleda na Njega! Popnimo se više! Ljubljeni, kroz koju "leću" tumačite Božju riječ? Tradicionalne doktrine uče nas da interpretiramo „pobjed-ničke“ stihove u svjetlu stihova o sudu. Što ako Bog želi da gledamo na drugi način? Što ako trebamo interpretirati stihove o sudu u svjetlu stihova o pobjedi? Nije li Kristova pobjeda najveće biblijsko otkrivenje? Ako ćemo stajati na tom najvišem vrhu, svršenom djelu križa, vidjet ćemo dalje i panorama Božjeg vjekovnog plana bit će ljepša i jasnija. Ne odbacujmo jedan dio Božje riječi u korist drugoga, nego nastojmo ih uskladiti. Čovjek živi o svakoj riječi koja izlazi iz Božjih usta. U vrijeme dok je Krist hodao zemljom većina Izraelaca je propustila prepoznati Riječ Božju koja je prebivala u njihovoj sredini. Bili su prezauzeti proučavanjem Svetog pisma da bi prepoznali Riječ samu koja je živjela i hodala među njima! Mnogi Židovi su se bojali povjerovati Isusu, jer je većina njihovih vođa (pismoznanci, farizeji, saduceji, svećenici itd.), koji su poznavali Sveta pisma bolje nego oni, bila uvjerena da Isus nije Mesija, Krist. U ranim danima crkve vjera u Isusa Krista bila je hereza, a priznati vjeru u Njega značilo je navući na sebe porugu i odbacivanje. Današnji kršćani upiru prstom u Izraelce, a ne shvaćaju da hodaju njihovim stopama. Većina nas „igra na sigurno“ i svrstava se uz „svoju“ denominaciju ili pokret. Iako je mudro i časno poštivati svoje duhovne očeve, nikada ne smijemo dozvoliti da oni zauzmu mjesto Duha Svetog kao našeg duhovnog učitelja. Činjenice iznesene u ovom članku trebale bi barem ponukati svakog čitatelja, koji je doista gladan Boga, da sam istražuje Božju riječ ne bi li vidio je li ovo istina ili nije. Ako smo iznijeli laž, pronaći ćete dokaze za to. Ako smo iznijeli istinu, ona ne može ostati ignorirana. Vrijeme je da prestanemo preskakati one dijelove Biblije koji se ne uklapaju u našu teologiju. A ako naša teologija, poput one židovskih vođa Isusovog vremena, nije dovoljno velika da obuhvati cjelovito Sveto pismo, možda je vrijeme da proširimo svoju teologiju, u suprotnom ćemo opet propustiti prepoznati Boga koji hoda među nama! Stoga, draga braćo, pozivam vas da se upitate: Ako je tradicionalno učenje o paklu istinito… Kako to onda milost trijumfira nad sudom? (Jakovljeva 2:13) Kako onda može biti istinita izjava da "tamo gdje je grijeh obilovao, milost je obilovala još više“? (Rimljanima 5:20) Kada će dakle s v a k o tijelo doći k Bogu? Kada će to Bog osvetiti i utješiti zemaljske siromahe? (Ps 113:7, Ps 140:12, Izreke 14:31, Izreke 19:17, Izreke 31:9, Izaija 11:4, Izaija 61:1, Jeremija 22:16 itd.) (Vodite računa da, kroz povijest ljudskog roda, većina ovozemaljskih siromaha nije imala priliku prihvatiti Isusa kao svog spasitelja). Kada će se obistiniti ona "Na ovoj će gori Jahve Gospodin, Bog Svemogući, pripremiti svim narodima bogatu gozbu, gozbu s najboljim mesom i najboljim vinima. Na ovoj će gori uništiti koprenu koja pokriva sve narode i veo, koji je raširen nad svim narodima; progutat će smrt zauvijek. Gospodin će obrisati suze sa svakog lica; sramotu svog naroda s cijele zemlje. Jer Gospodin je tako rekao.“(Izaija 25:6-8). Kada i kako će "svi narodi" slaviti Boga, doći k njemu, služiti mu, biti blagoslovljeni u njemu i pokloniti mu se“? Kako je to Bog pomirio svijet sa sobom? (2 Korinćanima 5:19, Rimljanima 11;5, Rimljanima 5:10). Zašto bi apostol Pavao uopće izjavio da je cilj Božjeg plana stvaranja da u konačnici bude „sve u svemu“? (1 Korinćanima 15:28) Kako onda može biti istina da će Bog, koji čini da sve radi prema planu Njegove volje, u punini vremena sakupiti u Kristu sve stvoreno? (Efežanima 1:9-11) Kako onda Pavao može inzistirati na tome da "iz Njega, po Njemu i za Njega sve je stvoreno“? (Rimljanima 11:36). Kako onda može biti istinita ona često ponavljana izreka o Bogu "Vječna je milost njegova“ ? (Doslovno: "njegovo milosrđe/dobrota puna ljubavi traje kroz vjekove"). Zasigurno, dok god postoje vjekovi, i ljudi kojima je potrebna Božja milost - Božja milost traje. Kako i kada će se ikada ostvariti "sveopća obnova?" (Djela 3:21) Konačni test Testirali smo doktrinu o paklu uspoređujući je s mnogim biblijskim temama i idejama i pronašli joj manjkavosti. U svjetlu cjelovitog Svetog pisma, doktrina o paklu je puna rupa. Ako ju pak podvrgnemo testu vlastitog srca vidjet ćemo stoji li ili pada. Molim vas, uzmite si vremena i u molitvi pokušajte naći odgovore na sljedeća pitanja: Ako pakao postoji i ako će, prema većini kršćanskih denominacija, većina čovječanstva tamo završiti, hoćete li zaista moći uživati u nebu znajući da vaša majka, otac, djeca ili najbolji prijatelji pate u vječnim mukama, u usporedbi s kojima se užasi Holokausta čine sitnicom? Ako je pakao stvaran, hoćete li donijeti presudu kojom ćete prepustiti paklu svoju majku, sina ili bilo kojeg drugog nevjernika? "Zar ne znate da će sveti suditi svijetu?“A ako ćete suditi svijetu, zar ste nedostojni donositi presudu u sitnicama? Zar ne znate da ćemo suditi anđele? Koliko više u stvarima ovoga života?“ (1 Korinćanima 6:2-3). Ako je pakao stvaran, i mjesto užasnih muka kojima nema kraja, biste li životinju mogli poslati na takvo mjesto? Ako je pakao stvaran, a univerzalizam je hereza, kako to da oni koji vjeruju da Bog ljubi i spašava sve ljude nekako lakše iskazuju ljubav svima od onih koji vjeruju da većina ljudi završava u paklu? Ako je pakao stvaran, možete li zaista iskreno uživati u pobjedi, ljubavi i mudrosti Božjoj znajući da će negdje u kutku Njegova stvorenja uvijek postojati sramotna crna rupa puna mučenih duša koje više nemaju nikakvu mogućnost utjehe i oproštenja, čak ni konačne smrti, kao kraja njihovih muka? Čak i kada bi postojala samo jedna osoba u tom stanju muka, kako bi se nebo moglo radovati cijelu vječnost znajući da negdje egzistira, i pati u samoći, jedna duša koju Kristova pobjeda još nije obuhvatila? Je li dobro željeti da se svi ljudi spase? „Jer ovo je dobro i ugodno pred našim Spasiteljem Bogom, koji hoće da se svi ljudi spase i dođu do potpune spoznaje istine.“(1 Tim 2:3,4). Imate li žarku želju da se svi ljudi spase? Je li istina da Bog "otvara svoju ruku i siti želje svakog živog bića?“ (Ps 145:16) Molite li žarko za spasenje svih ljudi? Molite li u vjeri, bez sumnjanja? (Jakovljeva 1:6) Jeste li svjesni da "što god nije po vjeri je grijeh“? Bi li Bog tražio da molimo za sve ljude, molimo u vjeri, ukoliko ne namjerava doista spasiti sve ljude? Ako vjeruješ da je beskonačna muka istina koja će se neminovno ostvariti, zašto bi uopće želio i molio da se pokaže neistinitom? Nadamo se da je ovaj članak potaknuo u vama neka pitanja koja će vas motivirati da nastavite proučavati ovu temu. Za više informacija o doktrini o paklu, ognjenom jezeru, proučavanju biblijskih izraza koji su često prevedeni kao „vječan“, „vjekovni“ i sl. te mnogih drugih poučavanja na ovu temu, posjetite stranicu http://tentmaker.org/ScholarsCorner.html Neka od ovih pitanja preuzeta su sa mnogo šireg popisa koji se nalazi u članku pod naslovom: Is Salvation a Deliverance From Hell or Eternal Death? " (Je li spasenje izbavljenje od pakla ili vječne smrti), autor Gary Amirault . Slika na naslovnici ovog letka je scena iz Mikelanđelove freske „Posljednji sud“. Njegov prikaz pakla i osuđenih ljudi, poput većine kršćanske umjetnosti toga vremena, više je pod utjecajem grčke mitologije o podzemnom svijetu, nego pod utjecajem Božje riječi. Tko smo mi? Tentmaker Ministries and Publications je kršćanska služba posvećena tome da najbolje što zna i umije širi razumijevanje Božjeg vjekovnog plana da po Isusu Kristu pomiri sa sobom cjelokupno stvorenje. (Taj pogled na svijet također je poznat pod nazivom „sveopće pomirenje“ (obnova, spasenje) ili „kršćanski univerzalizam“, što je vrlo različito od unitarijanskog univerzalizma. Mi vjerujemo da je Isus Krist, jedinorođeni Sin Božji, Spasitelj svijeta i jedini put k Ocu te da nema drugog puta u vječni („aionian“) život nego kroz Njega. Vjerujemo da je On Kralj Svemira, vlasnik svega stvorenog i da je Njegov cilj dovesti sve stvoreno pod svoju vlast i pomiriti sa sobom. "…jer se zato trudimo i podnosimo sramotu, jer se uzdamo u živog Boga koji je Spasitelj svih ljudi, a osobito onih koji vjeruju. “(1 Timoteju 4:10 ).