RESURRECTION
OR
IMMORTALITY
Subtitled: The Resurrection, Our Only Hope Of Life After Death

ISBN 0-7414-4620-0

William Robert West
Author of “The Rapture And Israel”
ISBN 978-1452895352


Is "The Wages Of Sin Death"

Or

"Eternal Life With Torment In Hell"


An Immortal Soul and the Doctrine of Hell


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Foreword
What does the Bible say about an immortal soul and/or spirit? Together soul and spirit are used almost 1,100 times in the King James Version, but not one time is immortal ever used in the same verse with either one. Immortal and immortality are in the Old Testament zero times, in the New Testament, immortal one time, immortality five times, all by Paul. What does he say?
1. "Now unto the King eternal, immortal" [1 Timothy 1:17].
2. Only God has immortality [1 Timothy 6:16].
3. Christ "abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel" [2 Timothy 1:10].
4. "To them (Christians) that...seek for glory and honor and immortality" [Romans 2:7].
5. "This mortal must put on immortality" [1 Corinthians 15:53] at the resurrection.
6. "This mortal shall have put on immortality" [1 Corinthians 15:54] after the resurrection.
Why are we to "seek for" immortality if we are born immortal? Why will we "put on immortality" if the only part of us that will ever be immortal has been immortal from birth (or before birth)? The fact that a person must "seek for...immortality" and immortality must be "put on" at the resurrection is conclusive proof that a person does not now have it. If Romans 2:7 and 1 Corinthians 15:53 teaches nothing more, it teaches that no part of a person now possess immortality. Not one passage in the Bible says anyone is now immortal, if no one is now immortal, no one can now have a soul that is immortal.
There are only two views that are commonly believed about what will happen to mankind after death. [One] That the soul of all will live forever and cannot die, the soul of the lost must exist somewhere for all the lost have eternal life and are not subject to the wages of sin which is death, or [Two] the wages of sin is death and the lost will die, they do not now have eternal life and never will.
[View one]. The belief that everyone has a soul in them that will live forever and cannot die, therefore, death is not the wages of sin. A person has something in them that cannot die, cannot ever be destroyed; All are born with eternal life and can never die. This view has two major divisions.
• That all mankind has a "soul" that cannot ever die or be destroyed, but for most of mankind God will forever torment this part of a person they call "soul."
• Universalism: that all mankind has a "soul" that cannot ever die or be destroyed, everyone has something in them that will live forever but it will be saved. If this it (soul) is not saved in this lifetime it will be saved after death.
[View two]. The wages of sin is death; the lost will die the second death; those who do not belong to Christ will forever be destroyed after their judgment. Those who do not believe this view gave it the name "annihilation." This name is not in the Bible, but what it means is eternal destruction, nevertheless, I think it best not to call Bible teaching by a name not in the Bible.
Most Protestant Premillennialists believe the lost will be totally destroyed but there are three Premillennial views on how or where the lost will be destroyed.
1. Many Protestant Premillennialists believe that the destruction of the lost will be on this earth and the saved will forever live on this earth; no person will ever be in Heaven. Many believe the Valley of Gehenna will be restored and the lost will literally be burn to ashes in it.
2. Some Protestant Premillennialists believe that the saved will be with Christ in Heaven, not on earth after the thousand years, the second death will be the end of the lost, but they are not burned to ashes on this earth.
3. But then some Protestant Premillennialists believe the wages of sin is eternal life with torment for the soul that cannot die, which puts them in the camp of those that believe death is not the wages of sin.
If we have either a soul or a spirit that is now immortal and can never die or be dead, how could there be a resurrection of the dead? Do you believe in the resurrection of the dead? If yes, what do you believe will be resurrected? Will your dead body be raised from the dead or do you believe a soul that is not dead will be raised from the dead? When I first begin this study I was surprised and made to tremble at how few believed in the resurrection and how many there are that do not really know what they believe about it. Many believe some part of themselves will instantly be transited from this world to Heaven or Hell at death without a resurrection, before the resurrection and Judgment Day and before the second coming of Christ, but when asked what is the reason for the resurrection, they not only do not know but have never really thought about it. Death is looked at as being a doorway to life in another form, that death is not really death, and there is nowhere in their thoughts or in their faith for a resurrection for their theology says no one is really dead. The resurrection has been removed from the faith of many by today's theology that says some immortal part of a person will go to Heaven at the moment of death. But is there any life after death before the second coming of Christ and the resurrection of the dead? Paul said at the resurrection, "This mortal must put on immortality," but if we have a soul that is now immortal, then what is it that is now mortal that will put on immortality at the resurrection?
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Table of Contents
AN IMMORTAL SOUL OR RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD
The Resurrection, Our Only Hope Of Life After Death
By William West
Chapter one: The reinterpretation of the nature of man - what is man?
Chapter two: Life or Death
Chapter three: The reinterpretations of the great doctrines of the Bible
Chapter four: From where came Hell? The vanishing Hell, The many Hells
Chapter five: Sheol, Hades, and Tartarus
Chapter six: The thirty-one Hell passages
Chapter seven: A strange and unexplainable silence: The reinterpreting of life, death, torment, destruction, destroy, perish, die, and end.
Chapter eight: The interpretation of figurative language, metaphors, and symbolical passage
Chapter nine: Universalist: The "age lasting" Hell
Chapter ten: The results of attributing evil Pagan teachings to God.
Chapter eleven: Historical proof of the changing of the teaching of the Bible
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CHAPTER ONE
What Is Man?

What is a man? Is a person born with an immortal soul, or do the saved put on immortality at the resurrection? Is a person a three part being, an animal body with both a soul and a spirit that will live without the body? This is one of the most important questions of all time. It has more influence on our conception of our nature, our view of life in this world and life after death than any other question.
Soul [nehphesh] in the Old Testament: (Strong spells it "nehpesh" Hebrew word #5315). If “soul” were an immortal "immaterial, invisible part of man" (Vine), why is this Hebrew word that is translated soul also translated "living creature" when it is speaking of animals in Genesis 1:21; 1:24; 2:19; 9:10; 9:12; 9:15; 9:16 when the same Hebrew word [nehphesh] is translated "living soul" in Genesis 2:7 when it is speaking of a person? In the Hebrew, if this were an immaterial, immortal part of a person, it would also be an immaterial, immortal part of animals.
[1] Genesis 1:20 "The moving creature that has life" [soul - nehphesh, used referring to animals]. Footnote in the King James Version, "The moving creature that has soul." "Let the waters swarm with swarms of living creatures" [soul - nehphesh] (American Standard Version) "The moving creature that has life" (footnote in KJV).
[2] Genesis 1:21 "living creature" [soul - nehphesh, used referring to animals] "And God created the great sea-monsters, and every living creature [soul - nehphesh] that moves wherewith the water swarmed.”
[3] Genesis 1:24 "living creature" [soul - nehphesh, used referring to animals] "And God said, Let the earth bring forth living creatures [soul - nehphesh] after their kind, cattle, and creeping things, and beasts of the earth."
[4] Genesis 1:30 "life" [soul - nehphesh, used referring to animals] "And to every beast of the earth, and to every bird of the heavens, and to everything that creeps upon the earth, wherein there is life" [soul - nehphesh]. Animals are "a living soul."
ALL FOUR TIMES THAT SOUL [nehphesh] IS USED IN GENESIS ONE, IT IS USED REFERRING TO ANIMALS, NOT TO A PERSON. ANIMALS WERE SOULS, LIVING BEINGS, BEFORE ANY MAN EXISTED. "Then God said, 'Let the waters teem with swarms of living souls [soul - nehpheshs], and let birds fly above the earth in the open expanse of the heavens.' And God created the great sea monsters, and every living soul [soul - nehphesh] that moves with which the waters swarmed after their kind, and every winged bird after its kind; and God saw that it was good. And God blessed them, saying, 'Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.' And there was evening and there was morning, a fifth day. Then God said, 'Let the earth bring forth living souls [soul - nehpheshs] after their kind: cattle and creeping thing and beasts of the earth after their kind'; and it was so...and to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to everything that creeps upon the earth, wherein there is life [soul - nehphesh], I have given every green herb for meat" [Genesis 1:20-30]. “Living creatures" [soul - nehphesh] is used to describe all living things on earth, animals, birds, fish, people; not eternal life or some immaterial invisible part of them that is eternal.
[5] Genesis 2:7 "A living soul" [soul - nehphesh, used referring to a person]. The first time the King James Version translated nehphesh into "soul," most other translations did not agree with it, not even the New King James Version. "Man became a living being" New King James Version.
• “A living creature" [nehphesh] Genesis 1:20
• “A living creature" [nehphesh] Genesis 1:21
• “A living creature" [nehphesh] Genesis 1:24
• “Wherein there is life" [nehphesh] Genesis 1:30
• “A living soul" [nehphesh] Genesis 2:7
o It is obvious that the translators translated according to a preconceived opinion in an attempt keep animals from having souls.
Man became:
• "A living being" New King James Version, New American Standard Version, Revised Standard Version, New Revised Standard Version, New International Version, Amplified Version, The New American Bible.
• "A living person" New Century Version, The Living Bible, New Living Translation.
• "A living creature" The Revised English Bible, Young's Literal Translation.
• "Life" Contemporary English Version.
The first time nehphesh is used referring to a person, most translations apply it to the living breathing being or person, not to an invisible inter part of a person. Adam being spoken of as a "living being" [nehphesh] proves he was mortal, not immortal, just as all "living beings" [nehphesh] fish, birds, animals, are mortal, not immortal. How can this be one of the proof texts used to prove Adam was made with an immortal soul? If it proves Adam had an immortal soul, then it proves that fish have an immortal soul that cannot die.
It is importance to understand that it is being said that animals and mankind are a soul [are living beings] not that animals or mankind have a soul [have a part, an immortal, invisible, no substitute something in them that cannot die]. Many think genesis is saying only mankind has souls but animals do not. Because of what they have been taught most, without realizing it they read into this that only mankind has a soul that is an immortal, invisible, no substitutes something that cannot die. This causes them to believe that only this immortal part of them self will be saved (more on this at the end of this chapter).
THE BREATH OF LIFE: Some have switched from the soul being the immortal part of a person to the spirit being the immortal part of a person that animals do not have. “Then the Lord God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathe into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being” The phrase “breath of life” that was breathed into man is the same Hebrew “breath of life” in Genesis 7:21-22 that is in the nostrils of birds, cattle, men and beasts. It is not a soul that men have but animals do not have; it does not say that God breathed into Adam an immortal soul; the breathless body that God made from the earth is what became a living breathing being [nshahmah]. God did not tell Adam he had a body that was made from the earth but the real Adam was made of something not from the earth.
• “Breathed into his nostrils the breath of life [nshahmah]” man [Genesis 2:7]
• All in whose nostrils was the breath of life [nshahmah]” both man and animals have the same “breath of life [nshahmah]” [Genesis 7:22]
• “Saved alive nothing that breaths [nshahmah]” both men and animals [Deuteronomy 20:16]
• “Utterly destroyed all that breaths [nshahmah]” both men and animals [Joshua 10:40]
• “There was not any left to breaths [nshahmah]” both men and animals [Joshua 11:11]
• “Neither left they any to breaths [nshahmah]” both men and animals [Joshua 11:14]
o Why was one word [nshahmah] translated with three words [“breath of life”], then with only one word [“breaths”]?
[6] Genesis 2:19 "living creature" [soul - nehphesh, used referring to animals], "Every beast...every bird...whatsoever the man called every living creature [soul - nshahmah], that was the name thereof"
[7] Genesis 9:4 "life" [soul - nehphesh, used referring to animals]
[8] Genesis 9:5 "lives" [soul - nehphesh, used referring to man]
[9] Genesis 9:5 "life" [soul - nehphesh, used referring to man]
[10] Genesis 9:10 "living creature" [soul - nehphesh, used referring to animals]
[11] Genesis 9:12 "living creature" [soul - nehphesh, used referring to animals]
[12] Genesis 9:15 "living creature" [soul - nehphesh, used referring to man and animals]
[13] Genesis 9:16 "living creature" [soul - nehphesh, used referring to man and animals]
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
A bird’s eye view of the translation of nehphesh in the first nine chapters.
1. “Moving creature that has life" [nehphesh] Genesis 1:20 - animals
2. “A living creature" [nehphesh] Genesis 1:21- animals
3. “A living creature" [nehphesh] Genesis 1:24 - animals
4. “Wherein there is life" [soul - nehphesh] Genesis 1:30 - animals
5. “A living soul" [nehphesh] Genesis 2:7 - man
6. “A living creature" [nehphesh] Genesis 2:19 – animals
7. “Life" [nehphesh] Genesis 9:4 - animals
8. “Lives” [nehphesh] Genesis 9:5 - man
9. “Life" [nehphesh] Genesis 9:5 - man
10. “Living creature" [nehphesh] Genesis 9:10 - animals
11. “Living creature" [nehphesh] Genesis 9:12 - animals
12. “Living creature" [nehphesh] Genesis 9:15 - man and animals
13. “Living creature" [nehphesh] Genesis 9:16 - man and animals
This is an example of men attempting to cover up the truth when it is contradictory to their theology. It takes a lot of preconceived theology to make nehphesh be an immaterial invisible no substance part of a man that is now immortal that is not in animals when it is not deliberately hid as it is in the King James Version.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
In Genesis 9:4-16 the same word is used for both man and animals seven times in the same passage.
To animals five times, to man four times
• Yhree times to animals alone
• Two times to animals and man together
• Two times to man alone
"But flesh with the LIFE [#1. Soul - nehphesh, used referring to animals] thereof, which is the blood thereof, shall you not eat. And surely your blood, the blood of your LIVES [#2. soul - nehphesh, used referring to man], will I require; at the hand of every beast will I require it: and at the hand of men, even at the hand of every man's brother, will I require the LIFE [#3. soul - nehphesh, used referring to man] of man. Whoso sheds man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed, for in the image of God made He men. And you, be you fruitful, and multiply; bring forth abundantly in the earth, and multiply therein. And God spoke unto Noah, and to his sons with him, saying, And I, behold, I establish my covenant with you and with your seed after you; And every LIVING CREATURE [#4. soul - nehphesh, used referring to animals] that is with you, of the fowl, and the cattle, and of every beast of the earth with you; from all that go out of the ark, to every beast of the earth. And I will establish my covenant with you; neither shall the waters of a flood cut off all flesh be any more; neither shall there any more be a flood to destroy the earth. And God said, This is the token of the covenant which I make between me and you and every LIVING CREATURE [#5. soul - nehphesh, used referring to animals] that is with you, for perpetual generation: I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be a token of a covenant between me and the earth. And it shall come to pass, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow shall be seen in the cloud: And I will remember my covenant, which is between me and you and every LIVING CREATURE [#6. soul - nehphesh, used referring to man and animals] of all flesh; and the waters shall no more become a flood to destroy all flesh. And the bow shall be in the cloud; and I will look upon it, that I may remember the everlasting covenant between God and every LIVING CREATURE [#7. soul - nehphesh, used referring to man and animals] of all flesh that is upon the earth."
All four times that soul [nehphesh] is used in Genesis 1; it is referring to animals, not to a person. IN TEN OF THE FIRST THIRTEEN TIMES SOUL [NEHPHESH] IS USED IT IS USED REFERRING TO ANIMALS, but the King James Version hides this by using different words, and most who read the King James Version never know it. NEHPHESH IS TRANSLATED "SOUL" ONLY ONE TIME OF THE FIRST THIRTEEN TIMES IT IS USED in the King James Version; but it is not translated "soul" in any of the first thirteen times it is used in the New King James Version, New American Standard Version, New Revised Standard Version, or New International Version. Mankind has the same soul [life - nehphesh] as the other "living creatures." He does not differ from other living creatures [soul - nehphesh] by having a soul [nehphesh] that cannot die. His dominion over other living creatures [Other nehpheshs - souls] is not his nehphesh.
Mike Willis said expositors have generally appealed to Genesis 2:7 to prove that all men are born with and now have immortal spirits. However, in 1 Corinthians 15:45, Paul has clearly expounded the meaning of the Hebrew words nehphesh, chayyah. "The living soul" of Genesis 2:7 is the natural body of this passage. He said this corresponds with the book of Genesis itself because the same construction is used in Genesis 1:24 to describe animals. When Moses recorded that God breathed into man's nostrils the breath of life and he became a living soul, what the writer of Genesis was saying was that the dust of the earth began to have animal life and does not prove that a person has an immortal spirit (soul); rather it states that a person has animal life. All men possess animal life through Adam. A Commentary On Paul's First Epistle To the Corinthians, Page 578, 1979. For one who knows the Bible as he does and believes a person has an immortal soul, yet says, the living soul of Genesis 2:7 is the natural body, proves beyond doubt that a living soul is not an immortal inter part of a person.
Guy N. Woods said the first time in Genesis 1:20 the word soul is used is from the Hebrew nehphesh where it is assigned to fish, birds, and creeping things. He said it is clear that the soul in these passages does not refer to anything peculiar to the constitution of man, but it signifies, as its usage denotes, and the lexicons affirm, any creature that breathes. "What Is The Soul Of Man," Gospel Advocate, 1985, Number 21.
Adam Clarke "Nephesh clayyah; a general term to express all creatures endued with animal life, in any of its infinitely varied gradations, from the half reasoning elephant down to the stupid potto, or lower still, to the polype, which seems equally to share the vegetable and animal life."
On the first nine chapters of Genesis soul [nehphesh] has been used more often with reference to animals than it is with reference to persons; it is the animal life, which both a person and animals have in common. How did the translators know when it changed to an invisible inter immortal part of a person, which animals do not have?
Note: both man and animals are souls, living beings. We are a soul, not have a soul. If we have a soul, have a living being in us, then we are one living being with another living being living in us, a living being living in another living being. The doctrine that we have a soul living in us, and it is this immortal deathless part of us that will be saved or tormented forever is the foundation of many of the errors that have divided the churches. That we are a soul (we are a living being), not we have a soul (we have a living being living in us) is one of the most fundamental and most misunderstood teaching in the bible.
[14] Genesis 12:5 "And the people [soul - nehphesh] whom they had acquired" New King James Version ["soul" in King James Version].
[15] Genesis 12:13 "That I [soul - nehphesh] may live because of you" New King James Version ["soul" in King James Version].
[16] Genesis 14:21 "Give me the persons [soul - nehphesh] and take the goods" King James Version.
[17] Genesis 17:14 "That person [soul - nehphesh] shall be cut off" New King James Version.
[18] Genesis 19:17 "Escape for your life [soul - nehphesh]" King James Version.
[19] Genesis 19:19 "Saving my life [soul - nehphesh]" King James Version.
In the first nineteen times nehphesh is used it is translated “soul”
• Only three times in the King James Version
• None in the New king James Version
• None in the New American Standard Version
• None in the New Revised Standard Version
• None in the New International Version.
[20] Genesis 19:20 "That my life [soul - nehphesh] may be saved" New American Standard Version [Translated soul for the fourth time in the King James Version and first time in the New King James Version].
[21] Genesis 23:8 "If it be your mind [soul - nehphesh]" King James Version
[22] Genesis 27:4 "So that I may bless you before I [soul - nehphesh] die" New Revised Standard Version.
• "So that I [nehphesh] may bless you before I die" Revised Standard Version, New Revised Standard Version
• "So that I [nehphesh] may give you my blessing before I die" New International Version
• "So that I [nehphesh] may give you my blessing before I die" Revised English Bible
• "To give you my [nehphesh] blessing before I die" Amplified Bible
• "That I [nehphesh] may give you my special blessing before I die" New American Bible
• "Then I [nehphesh] will bless you before I die" New Century Version
• "Then I [nehphesh] will pronounce the blessing that belongs to you, my firstborn son, before I die" New Living Translation
• "I [nehphesh] want to eat it once more and give you by blessing before I die" Contemporary English Version
• "That I [nehphesh] may eat of it, [preparatory] to giving you [as my first-born] my blessing before I die" Amplified Bible
• "That my soul [nehphesh] may bless thee before I die" King James Version. How would Isaac's son know if he were blessed by an "immaterial invisible" no substance part of a person that he could not see? By this time, hundreds of years after Genesis 1:1, the King James translators must have been desperate to be able to put "soul" into the Bible.
Up to genesis 27:4 for hundreds of years nehphesh is translated soul:
• Only four times out of twenty-two in the King James Version
• Only one time out of twenty-two in the New King James Version
• None in many others translations
Nehphesh has been used 21 times before the New King James Version used "soul" for the first time, but even then the translators of many versions have chosen not to translate it "soul." In Genesis "nehphesh" is not an immortal "immaterial, invisible part of man," but it is the life, living creature, living being, any living thing, whether animals, fish, or man. If the translators had continued to translate nehphesh as life, living creature, living being, or person, as they did in the first twenty-one times it is used, there may not be the divisions there are today. Why did they not translate nehphesh into soul in the first part of the bible that covers hundreds of years? Maybe because they thought it would have made animals have souls, and they did not believe animals could have souls. I find it difficult to see how anyone could not call their honesty into question for it is undeniable that they put their belief over the word of God and deliberately hid the truth from their readers; deliberately hid the truth from you.
[23] Genesis 32:30 "My life [soul - nehphesh] is preserved" King James Version. Most translations use "life" in this passage for their soul could not perish and would not need to be preserved.
[24] Genesis 34:3
• "His heart [soul - nehphesh] was drawn to Dinah" New International Version
• "He was deeply attracted [nehphesh] to Dinah" New American Standard Version
• "His soul [nehphesh] clave unto Dinah" King James Version. If this translation is not saying an immaterial immortal soul clave unto a material mortal being what is it saying?
[25] Genesis 34:8
• "My son Shechem has his heart [nehphesh] on your daughter" New International Version
• "My son Shechem is in love [nehphesh] with this girl" Revised English Bible
• "The heart [nehphesh] of my son Shechem longs for your daughter" New Revised Standard Version
• "The soul [nehphesh] of my son Shechem longeth for your daughter" King James Version
[26] Genesis 35:18
• "As she breathed [nehphesh - soul] her last-for she was dying" New International Version.
• "Then with her last breath, [nehphesh - soul] as she was dying" Revised English Bible
• "As her soul [nehphesh] was departing (for she died)" King James Version
[27] Genesis 36:6 "All the persons [nehphesh] of his house" King James Version
[28] Genesis 37:21 "Let us not kill him [nehphesh]" King James Version
[29] Job 12:10 "In whose hand is the soul [soul - nehphesh, used referring to animals] of every living thing, and the breath of all mankind." "The life of every living thing" New American Standard Bible
[30] Job 41:21 "His breath [soul - nehphesh, used referring to an animal, possibly a crocodile]"
[31] Isaiah 19:10 "All that make sluices and ponds for fish [soul - nehphesh, used referring to animals, fish]" King James Version
[32] Jeremiah 2:24 "A wild ass used to the wilderness, that snuffed up the wind in her [soul - nehphesh, used referring to an animal] desire"
[33] Numbers 31:28 "And levy a tribute unto the Lord of the men of war which went out to battle: one soul [nehphesh-used referring to man and animals] of five hundred, both of the persons, and of the beeves, and of the asses and of the sheep." Of about 870 times “nephesh” is in the Old Testament this and Job 12:10 are the only passages where the King James translators translated “nephesh” as “soul” when it has reference to animals and is maybe that the only reason they did this time is that it has equal reference to people as it does to animals and they had no choice.
"So carefully has the translation of nehphesh been guarded in relation to animals as 'souls,' that we can't help but wonder if it were not done intentionally to conceal the fact that animals are souls as well as men." David J. Heinizman, "Man Became A Living Soul"
[34 to 870] It would be to long to quote all the 870 times the Hebrew word nehphesh is in the Old Testament with just over one-half being translated "soul" in King James Version [Wigram, Page 829, Old Testament].
1. Soul about 473 times. Not once do any of them imply anything about life beyond the grave or about the soul being immortal
2. Life about 122 times
3. Person about 26 times
4. Mind about 15 times
5. Heart about 15 times
6. Personal pronouns 44 + times [yourselves, themselves, her, me, he, his, himself]
7. All others, about 200 times [man, creature, living being, own, any, living thing, lives, the dead, dead body, kills, slays, slay him, mortally, discontented, ghost, breath, will, appetite, hearty desire, desire, pleasure, lust, deadly, fish]. All 870 times it is associated with the activity of a living being, including dying, and it never implies anything about life after the death of the living being. None of them are an immortal inter part of a person. They are a living being that can die, be killed, or be dead. Nehphesh is always associated with the activity of earthly breathing beings, both of person(s) and animal(s). It never implies anything about life beyond the grave. IT IS NEVER TRANSLATED "SPIRIT."
Can one word be rightly translated this way? Can a word that is not a pronoun be rightly translated into a pronoun as it is in the King James Version? How could the translators know when to change the noun into a pronoun? No one reading some of the English translations of the Bible would have any way of knowing that all these words are translations (or mistranslations) of only one word. Did the translators do so because they wanted to make a person be an "immortal being," and more than a "living creatures?" In almost one half of the times nehphesh is used in the Old Testament, even the King James translators could not translate it "soul." When the all-knowing God used just one word, why did the translators use many words and change it as they wished to from a noun to a pronoun? Did they think that for all the years from Adam unto Christ, God thought people could understand just one word, but now about forty words are needed to translate one word? If one word were all that was needed from Adam to the King James Version, why would God's one word not be enough today? Do the translators think they have improved the Hebrew Old Testament? The use of many words came when the Catholic Church brought in unconditional immortality, and they had to get it into the Bible. The Hebrew manuscripts still have just one word - nehphesh, which was the one word God inspired. Were the translators inspired to change it to many words?
Nehphesh is translated soul far fewer times in the New American Standard Version and in most other translations, including the New King James Version, than it is in the King James Version. Were they going as far as they dared to in correcting the King James Version?
The way soul is understood and used today in English (an inter undying PART of a person) makes putting the word soul in a translation for the English people today be a false and deliberately misleading translation; for it makes it where today's English reader cannot know what God said, and will understand only what the prejudiced outlook the translators wanted their readers to understand when the word soul is understood as it is used today. Without much study of Bible words, which most Bible reader will never do, they cannot know what God said to them when they read the word soul and will think that the outlook of the translator is the word of God, which seems to be somewhat prejudice. God's word has been deliberately replaced with the teaching of man [Matthew 15:9] in a way that will have more influence on our conception of what our nature is and the nature of all living beings than any other question.

THE “SOUL” AND “EATING OF BLOOD”
Is the immortal "soul" [nehphesh] in the blood? Is a part of a person that many say it lives after the death of the body in the blood of both men and animals? [Leviticus 17:10-15] In only six verses nehphesh is used ten times.
• Used referring to animals four times
• Used referring to man six times
• Translated soul six times and life four times in the King James Version
"I will even set my face against that SOUL [person - nehphesh, used referring to man] that eats blood, and will cut him off from among his people. For the LIFE [soul - nehphesh, used referring to animals] of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your SOULS: [nehphesh, used referring to man] for it is the blood that makes an atonement for the SOUL [nehphesh, used referring to man]. Therefore I said unto the children of Israel, No SOUL [nehphesh, used referring to man] of you shall eat blood...For it is the LIFE [soul - nehphesh, used referring to animals] of all flesh; the blood of it is for the LIFE [soul - nehphesh, used referring to animals] thereof; therefore I said unto the children of Israel, No SOUL [nehphesh, used referring to man] shall eat the blood of no manner of flesh: for the LIFE [soul - nehphesh, used referring to animals] of all flesh is the blood thereof: whosoever eats it shall be cut off. And every SOUL [nehphesh, used referring to man] that eats that which died of itself...he shall wash his clothes, and bath himself in water" In this passage, the King James Version translated the same word "soul" six times when it used referring to man and "life" four times when it used referring to animals. Can anyone not see how the translators picked when they wanted "nehphesh" to be "soul" and when they wanted "nehphesh" to be "life"? They could not let an immortal soul be in the blood nor could they let animals have an immortal soul. Their theology said a man had to have a soul, but an animal could not, and they were not willing that their reader see that the word "nehphesh" is used referring to both, and that both do not have a soul but are a soul.
• "No soul (nehphesh) shall eat blood" Leviticus 17:12. (An immortal soul eating blood?)
• "The life [soul - nehphesh] of all flesh is the blood" Leviticus 17:11.
• "No dead body [soul - nehphesh]" A dead immortal soul? The same word that is translated soul and life is translated dead body. Numbers 6:6, also Numbers 5:2; 6:11; 9:6; 9:10. These passages would make no sense if nehphesh were a no substance immortal something in a person that cannot be dead. It would also make animals have the same no substance immortal something in them. It is life that is in the blood, not an immortal, immaterial, invisible soul in the blood as the word "soul" is used today.
The vanishing use of soul in Leviticus 17:10-15
• In the King James Version nehphesh is translated "soul" six of the ten times it is used.
• The New King James Version used "soul" only two of the ten times.
• "Soul" is not used in the New Revised Standard Version, New International Version, The New American Bible, and others.
Leviticus 17:10-15 New Revised Standard Version, "If anyone of the house of Israel or of the aliens who reside among them eats any blood, I will set my face against that PERSON [nehphesh] who eats blood, and will cut that PERSON [nehphesh] off from the people. For the LIFE [nehphesh] of the flesh is in the blood; and I have given it to you for making atonement for your LIVES [nehphesh] on the altar, for, as LIFE, [nehphesh] it is the blood that makes atonement. Therefore I have said to the people of Israel: No PERSON [nehphesh] among you shall eat blood...For the LIFE [nehphesh] of every creature-its blood is its LIFE; [nehphesh] therefore I have said to the people of Israel: You shall not eat the blood of any creature, for the LIFE [nehphesh] of every creature is its blood; whoever eats it shall be cut off. All PERSONS, [nehphesh] citizens or aliens, who eat what dies of itself...shall wash their clothes, and bathe themselves in water"
Leviticus 17:10-15 New International Version, "Any Israelite or any alien living among them who eats any blood-I will set my face against that PERSON [nehphesh] who eats blood and will cut HIM [nehphesh] off from his people. For the LIFE [nehphesh] of a creature is in the blood, and I have given it to you to make atonement for YOURSELVES [nehphesh] on the altar; it is the blood that makes atonements for one's LIFE [nehphesh]. Therefore I say to the Israelites, 'None of YOU [nehphesh] may eat blood, nor may an alien living among you eat blood'...because the LIFE [nehphesh] of every creature is its blood. That is why I have said to the Israelites, You must not eat the blood of any creature, because the LIFE [nehphesh] of every creature is its blood; anyone who eats it must be cut off. ANYONE [nehphesh], whether native-born or alien, who eats anything found dead or torn by wild animals must wash his clothes and bathe with water'."
“Generally the world ‘soul’ in the ordinary version should be life.” Ashley S. Johnson, Founder and president of the Johnson Bible College, “The Resurrection And The Future Life,” Page 336, 1913, Knoxville Lithographing Company.
MAN "BECAME A LIVING BEING" Genesis 1:26 "Then God said, 'Let Us make MAN in Our image,'" not "Let Us make the soul of man in Our Image" Genesis 2:7. "Then the Lord formed MAN of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; [not breathed into the body an immortal undying no substance soul, but the breath of life, which both men and animals have], and MAN became a living being." Not a body + an immortal soul, but "a living being." Not two beings, a body being (a person) with an-inter invisible soul being living in the person.
The body of dust + the breath of life = a living soul [a living being - nehphesh], Genesis 2:7. The breath of life without the body would not be a person or animal. It would not be a living being, not a nehphesh. ALL living creatures, whether they are animals or sea-dwelling creatures, are souls [nehpheshs – living beings].
MAN, not merely a body, is formed from the dust of the ground. MAN is in the image of God; it is not just an invisible something in a person that has no substance that is in the image of God. Some believe Adam might have loss possible immorality when he loss the tree of life, but if he did or did not it was not a loss of being made in the image of God; after Adam was put out of the garden he was still in the image of God, mankind is still in the image of God.
The Bible says, "Man BECAME a living soul" is changed to, "Man WAS GIVEN a soul" or “Man had a soul put in him.” There is a world of difference in a person BEING a living soul and a person HAVING a soul. Both man and animals ARE a living soul, neither one HAVE a soul. If the breath of life in his nostrils in Genesis 2:7 makes a person have an immortal part (spirit) living in him or her that cannot die, then "all in whose nostrils was the breath of the spirit of life" in Genesis 7:22 proves all beasts, birds, and fish have an immortal part (soul) living in them that cannot die.

ANIMALS ARE "SOULS" nehphesh - living creature
Animals ARE souls, not animals HAVE souls. In Genesis 1:20; 1:21; 1:24; 1:30, most translations try to hide this. WHY? Why is it "living creature" when used referring to animals and "soul" when used referring to a person? There is no excuse or defense for it. It is a deliberate attempt by the translators, who did not believe God's word as it is, to mislead; all Bible teachers should point this out to all they teach [James 3:1]. If "the living soul" [nehphesh] is the immortal part of a person, then bugs, all sea creatures, all birds, and all animals have an immortal soul. In Genesis "Living soul" is used more of these creatures than it is of man.
Passages in which soul [nehphesh] is speaking of animals being souls
1. Genesis 1:20 "Then God said, Let the waters swarm with swarms of living souls [soul - nehphesh, used referring to animals]"
2. Genesis 1:21 "And God created the great sea-monsters, and every living soul [soul - nehphesh, used referring to animals] that moves wherewith the waters swarmed."
3. Genesis 1:24 "And God said, Let the earth bring forth living souls [soul - nehphesh, used referring to animals] after their kind, cattle, and creeping things, and beasts of the earth after their kind"
4. "And with ever living creature [soul - nehphesh, used referring to animals] that is with you, of the fowl, of the cattle, and of every beast of the earth with you" [Genesis 9:10]. Also Genesis 9:12, 9:15 and 9:16
5. "One soul [nehphesh life, used referring to man and animals] of five hundred, of the persons and of the beeves, and of the asses, and of the sheep" [Numbers 31:28]
6. The "leviathan," [Job 41:1] used six times in the Bible, probably a crocodile, has a soul [soul - nehphesh, used referring to animals] [Job 41:21]. From over 870 times nehphesh is used, this is the only time it is translated breath in the Kings James Version. After all, they could not have a crocodile, a sea monster, or whatever it was having an "immortal soul" for then they would have to put it in Heaven or Hell for an immortal crocodile could never die and would have to be somewhere for all eternity.
7. "SOUL" [nehphesh] of man and animals is in the blood "For the life [soul - nehphesh, used referring to man and to animals] of the flesh is in the blood" Leviticus 17:11.
8. "For the life [soul - nehphesh, used referring to man and to animals] of every creature is the blood of it" Leviticus 17:14, Genesis 9:4
9. "In whose hand is the life [soul - nehphesh, used referring to man and to animals] of every living thing, and the breath of all mankind?" [Job 12:10].
10. "A righteous man has regard for the life [soul - nehphesh, used referring to animals] of his beast" [Proverbs 12:10].
11. Genesis 2:19, 9:15-16 and many more.
Many believe, "The living soul" in Genesis 2:7 is the one distinctive thing that makes a person different from an animal, but if this makes a person have an immortal soul in them, there is no way around all living things having immortal souls in them. Nothing is said in these passages about bugs, birds, fish, or a person being anything more than "living beings."
"The last two lines of verse 7 affirm that a person's life is God-given. God enables a person to breathe, and thus, to be alive, as he does other creatures (see Genesis 7:22). Some have tried to justify a threefold division of man into flesh (or body), soul, and spirit from Genesis 2:7. They equate dust with flesh or body, breath with spirit, and insist that the last phrase of the verse must be translated as 'a living soul.' However, this understanding reads more into the biblical text than it really says. (1) The Hebrew words for 'flesh' or 'body' and 'spirit' do not occur in this passage. (2) The Hebrew expression nehphesh chayyah, which some insist on translating 'a living soul,' is used of fish and marine life in Genesis 1:30; and beasts and birds in 2:19. If 'soul' means the eternal part of a person or the sum total of man's 'body' and 'spirit' in Genesis 2:7, it must mean the eternal part of a fish or the sum total of a fish's 'body' and 'spirit' in Genesis 1:20, 21; etc. (3) The flow of the context in Genesis 2:7 indicates that the word translated being in RSV (nehphesh) means the whole person. The author's emphasis is on the gift of life" John T, Willis, "The Living Word Commentary On the Old Testament - Genesis" Page 103-104, Sweet Publishing Company, 1979.
"Far from referring simply to one aspect of a person, 'soul' refers to the whole person" Eerdman Dictionary of the Bible, Page 1245.
"A human being is a totality of being, not a combination of various parts and impulses. According to the Old Testament understanding, a person is not a body, which happens to possess a soul. Instead, a person is a living soul...Because of God's breath of life; the man became 'a living being' (Gen. 2:7). A person thus is a complete totality, made up of human flesh, spirit (best understood as "the life-force'), and nephesh (best understood as "the total self' but often translated as 'soul')" Holman Bible Dictionary, Page 61.
"There is not dualism in the sense of separation, as though there could be full man either as body alone or as soul alone...together they make up the one man" International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, Volume 1, Page 134.
"A consideration of EVERY passage in which these terms are used leads us to the consideration that the term 'soul' is a term that was applied in the Bible to every being that normally has sensory capacities (life), whether or not they have that capacity when the term is used referring to them. For example, one might see a body of a dead person and say, 'That poor soul is dead.' The Bible uses the term that way, even as we do, and it has nothing at all to do with the immorality or mortality of the soul. It simply means that the PERSON (the one who HAD life-soul-sensory capacity) is dead." T. Pierce Brown, "Soul and Spirit" Gospel Advocate, June 14, 1979.
[1] Nehphesh (soul): When nehphesh is used referring only to animals is translated nine different ways in the King James Version.
1. Creature [soul - nehphesh] Genesis 1:21; 1:24; 2:19; 9:10; 2:12; Leviticus 11:46
2. Thing [soul - nehphesh] Leviticus 11:10. Ezekiel 47:9
3. Life [soul - nehphesh] Genesis 1:20; 1:30; Leviticus 17:10-14 - 2 times
4. The life [soul - nehphesh] Genesis 9:4; Deuteronomy 12:23; Proverbs 12:10
5. Beast [soul - nehphesh] Leviticus 24:18
6. The soul [soul - nehphesh] Job 12:10
7. Breath [soul - nehphesh] Job 41:21
8. Fish [soul - nehphesh] Isaiah 19:10
9. Her [soul - nehphesh] Jeremiah 2:24
[2] Nehphesh (soul): When it is used referring to BOTH Animals and Man is translated in three different ways.
1. Creature [soul - nehphesh] Genesis 9:15; 9:16
2. The life [soul - nehphesh] Leviticus 17:11; 17:14
3. Soul [soul - nehphesh] Numbers 31:28
[3] Nehphesh (soul): When it has the animal appetites and desires of Man is translated in five different ways. [1] Soul, [2] pleasure, [3] lust, [4] appetite, [5] and greedy
1. Translated Soul (Nehphesh) 13 things the "soul" (person) does
o The soul dried away Numbers 11:6
o The soul lusts Deuteronomy 12:15; 12:21; 14:26
o The soul longs to eat flesh Deuteronomy 12:20
o The soul lusts after Deuteronomy 12:20
o The soul desires Deuteronomy 14:26; 1 Samuel 2:16
o The soul loathes Deuteronomy 21:5
o The soul refused Job 6:7
o The soul abhorred Job 33:20; Psalms 107:18
o The soul hunger Proverbs 6:30
o The soul satisfying Proverbs 13:25
o The soul empty Isaiah 29:8
o The soul has appetite Isaiah 29:8
o The soul desired figs Micah 7:1
2. Translated pleasure [soul - nehphesh] Deuteronomy 23:24
3. Translated lust [soul - nehphesh] Psalms 78:18
4. Translated appetite [soul - nehphesh] Proverbs 23:2. Ecclesiastes 6:7
5. Translated greedy [soul - nehphesh] Isaiah 56:11

THE SOUL [PERSON - NEHPHESH] CAN BE HUNGRY,
HAVE AN APPETITE, BE THIRSTY, EAT MEAT
"Men do not despise a thief if he steals to satisfy himself [soul - nehphesh] when he is hungry" [Proverbs 6:30].
"I will set my face against that soul [soul - nehphesh] that eats blood, and will cut him off from among his people" [Leviticus 17:10].
"And you shall say, I will eat flesh, because your soul [soul - nehphesh] desires to eat flesh; you may eat flesh, after all the desire of your soul [soul - nehphesh]" [Deuteronomy 12:20].
"And it shall be as when a hungry man dreams and, behold, he eats; but he awakes, and his soul [soul - nehphesh] is empty; or as when a thirsty man dreams, and behold, he drinks; but he awakes, and, behold, he is faint, and his soul [soul - nehphesh] has appetite" [Isaiah 29:8].

IF A SOUL CAN DIE
IT CANNOT BE IMMORTAL
Can whatever is intended by the Hebrew word "nehphesh" die? The Bible says over 320 times that the nehphesh [soul]:
1. Can die
2. Can be killed by man
3. Or that it is already dead
If it can, then whatever "nehphesh" is translated into IS something that can die. If the many words that "nehphesh" is translated into is something that can die, then the soul cannot be immortal, and it can die. To say that "nehphesh" [soul] is immortal and cannot die makes the Bible be wrong repeatedly. If the soul [nehphesh] is immortal and cannot die, the writers of the Bible did not know it.
(1). Souls [nehpheshs] can die Numbers 23:10, Ezekiel 18:4, 20, Joshua 11:11. "They smote all the souls" [nehphesh]. An immortal soul can die? Not only does the Bible not say the soul is immortal, it denies it by saying often that the soul can die or be killed or is dead.
(2). Souls [nehpheshs] can be murdered. Deuteronomy 12:23; Numbers 35:11-15.
(3). Souls [nehpheshs] can be killed Leviticus 24:17. An immortal soul can be killed? "Kills any person" [soul - nehphesh] Numbers 35:11, 15, 30, 31
(4). Souls [nehpheshs] can be smote with the sword and utterly destroyed Joshua 11:11
(5). Souls [nehpheshs] can be slain. An immortal soul can be slain? Deuteronomy 27:25
(6). Souls [nehpheshs] can be destroyed. An immortal soul can be destroyed? Leviticus 23:30
(7). Souls [nehpheshs] can be taken away 1 Kings 19:4
(8). Souls [nehpheshs] can be sought to kill it Jeremiah 44:30
(9). Souls [nehpheshs] cannot be kept alive. An immortal soul that cannot die but it cannot be kept alive? Psalms 22:29
(10). Souls [nehpheshs] have blood and can bleed. "The blood of the souls of the poor" Jeremiah 2:34
(11). "Let us not take his life [soul - nehphesh]" Genesis 37:21
(12). "Life [soul - nehphesh] for life [soul - nehphesh] Immortal soul for immortal soul?" Exodus 21:23
(13). "Any dead body [soul - nehphesh]" Leviticus 21:11
(14). "That person [soul - nehphesh] will I destroy" Leviticus 23:30
(15). "And if a man takes the life [soul - nehphesh] of any human being" Leviticus 24:17. Does anyone believe a person can take an immortal soul of any human being?
(16). "And he that smites any man mortally shall be put to death. And he that smites a beast mortally shall make it good, life [soul - nehphesh] for life [soul - nehphesh] [soul for soul?]" Leviticus 24:18
(17). "Because of a dead person [soul - nehphesh]" Numbers 5:2
(18). "He shall not go near to a dead person [soul - nehphesh]" Numbers 6:6
(19). "Because of a dead person [soul - nehphesh]" Numbers 6:11
(20). "Unclean because of the dead person [soul - nehphesh]" Numbers 9:6, 7
(21). "Because of a dead person [soul - nehphesh]" Numbers 9:10
(22). "The one who touches the corpse of any person [soul - nehphesh]" Numbers 19:11
(23). "Anyone who touches a corpse, the body [soul - nehphesh] of a man who has died" Numbers 19:13. How could anyone touch the corpse of something that has no substance and cannot die?
(24). "Whosoever has killed any person [soul - nehphesh]" Numbers 31:19
(25). "The manslayer who has killed any person [soul - nehphesh]" Numbers 35:11
(26). "Anyone who kills a person [soul - nehphesh] unintentionally may flee there" Numbers 35:15
(27). "If anyone kills a person [soul - nehphesh]" Numbers 35:30
(28). "And take his life [soul - nehphesh]" Deuteronomy 19:6
(29). "And strikes him so that he [soul - nehphesh] dies" Deuteronomy 19:11
(30). "Life [soul - nehphesh] for life [soul - nehphesh], eye for eye, tooth for tooth" Deuteronomy 19:21
(31). "A man rises against his neighbor and murders him [soul - nehphesh]" Deuteronomy 22:26
(32). "Cursed be he who takes a bride to slay an innocent person [soul - nehphesh]" Deuteronomy 27:25
(33). "And deliver our lives [souls - nehpheshs] from death" Joshua 2:13
(34). "Our life [soul - nehphesh] for yours" Joshua 2:13. Not, “Our immortal souls for your immortal souls”
(35). "And they smote all the souls [souls - nehpheshs] that were therein with the edge of the sword, utterly destroying them; there were none left that breathed" Joshua 11:11
(36). "He utterly destroyed them and all the souls [souls - nehpheshs] that were therein; he left none remaining" Joshua 10:28
(37). "And he smote it with the edge of the sword, and all the souls [souls - nehpheshs] that were therein; he left none remaining in it" Joshua 10:30
(38). "And all the souls [souls - nehpheshs] that were therein" Joshua 10:32
(39). "And all the souls [souls - nehpheshs] that were therein he utterly destroyed that day" Joshua 10:35
(40). "But he utterly destroyed it, and all the souls [souls - nehpheshs] that were therein" Joshua 10:37.
(41). "And he captured it and its king and all its cities, and they smote them with the edge of the sword, and utterly destroyed all the souls [souls - nehpheshs] that were therein" Joshua 10:39. Can immortal souls be utterly destroyed with the sword?
(42). "Who kills any person [soul - nehphesh]" Joshua 20:9. Not, “Who kills any immortal soul that cannot be killed”
(43). "That kills any person [soul - nehphesh]" Joshua 20:3
(44). "That his soul [soul - nehphesh] was vexed to death" Judges 16:16 "annoyed to death" New American Standard Version. We say, "He worried me to dead"
(45). "Let me [soul - nehphesh] die" Judges 16:30. "Let my soul that cannot die, die anyway?"
(46). "And you lose your life [soul - nehphesh], with the lives [souls - nehphesh] of your household" Judges 18:25
(47). "If you do not save your life [soul - nehphesh] tonight" 1 Samuel 19:11
(48). "The death of all the persons [souls - nehpheshs] of your father's house" 1 Samuel 22:22
(49). "He that seeks my life [soul - nehphesh] seeks your life [soul - nehphesh]" 1 Samuel 22:23
(50). "He is seeking my life [soul - nehphesh]" 1 Samuel 20:1
(51). "And David saw that Saul was come out to seek his life [soul - nehphesh]" 1 Samuel 23:15
(52). "You are lying in wait for my soul [soul - nehphesh] to take it" 1 Samuel 24:11
(53). "To pursue you and to seek your soul [soul - nehphesh1 Samuel 25:29 also 2 Samuel 4:8, 16:11, 1 Kings 19:10, 14, Psalm 35:4, 38:12, 35:13, 40:14, 40:15, Jeremiah 40:14, 40:15
(54). "Deliver him that smote his brother, that we may kill him for the life [soul - nehphesh] of his brother whom he slew" 2 Samuel 14:7
(55). "Who today have saved your life [soul - nehphesh] and the lives [souls - nehpheshs] of your sons and daughter, the lives [soul - nehphesh] of your wives, and the lives [souls - nehpheshs] of your concubines" 2 Samuel 19:5
(56). "Have you asked for the life [soul - nehphesh] of your enemies" 1 Kings 3:11
(57). "Prolong my life [soul - nehphesh]" Job 6:11. Prolong the life of an immortal soul?
(58). "For himself that he might die, and said, It is enough; now, O Lord, take my life [soul - nehphesh]" 1 Kings 19:4
(59). "A man that is laden with the blood of any person [soul - nehphesh] shall flee unto the pit; let no man stay him" Proverbs 28:17
(60). "The blood of the souls [souls - nehpheshs] of the innocent poor" Jeremiah 2:34. An immaterial, invisible, part of a person that has no substance had blood!
(61). "Ammon has sent Ishmael the son of Nethaniah to take your life [soul - nehphesh]...wherefore should he take your life [soul - nehphesh]" Jeremiah 40:14-15
(62). "To slay the souls [souls - nehpheshs] that should not die and to save the souls [souls - nehpheshs] alive that should not live" Ezekiel 13:19
(63). "The soul [soul - nehphesh] who sins will die" Ezekiel 18:4
(64). Ezekiel 18:20
1. "The SOUL [nehphesh] that sins, it SHALL DIE" King James Version
2. "The PERSON [soul - nehphesh] who sins SHALL DIE" New Revised Standard Version
3. "The PERSON [soul - nehphesh] who sins WILL DIE" New American Standard Version, and New Revised English Bible
4. “It is the PERSON [soul - nehphesh] who sins that WILL DIE” The Revised English Bible
5. "The PERSON [soul - nehphesh] who sins is the one who WILL DIE" New Century Version, Holman, and Christian Standard Bible
6. “It is for a MAN’S [soul - nehphesh] own sins that he WILL DIE” The Living Bible
7. “The PERSON [soul - nehphesh] who sins will be the one who DIES” New Living Translation
8. “Only THOSE [soul - nehphesh] who sin will be PUT TO DEATH” Contemporary English Version
9. “Only THE ONE [soul - nehphesh] who sins SHALL DIE” The New American Bible (Catholic), and Today's New International Version
10. “The PERSON [soul - nehphesh] who sins WILL DIE” God Word Translation
11. “PEOPLE [soul - nehphesh] WILL DIE because of their own sins” New International Reader's Version
This is a person dying [being put to death] for a sin under the Old Testament law, but is almost always used referring to a part of a person that cannot die by those who believe a soul cannot die. When they misapply this to some inter part of a person, as many do, they have an undeniable statement that their immortal inter part of a person that they say cannot die will die if it sins; and that the soul will not have everlasting life with torment. This is definitely not what they wanted, but what they made in their attempt to make the soul immortal. If "soul" means "an immortal inter part of a person that cannot die," then James said, "Shall save an immortal inter part of man, which cannot die, from death" James 5:20. This theology makes nonsense of the Bible.
The divine sentence, "The soul that sins, it shall die" has been reversed to say, "The soul that sins, it shall live eternally in torment." Not only must this be changed from "die" to "eternal life" but after making the change then torment must be added; “the soul that sins, it shall live forever being eternally torment by God.” To make it teach what many want it to teach, first, God's word must be changed and then added to.
“Shall die” in verse four is in contrast to “shall surely live” in verse nine. It is life or death of a living person under the Law that is being spoken of, not two kinds of life after death.
(65). "By shedding blood and destroying lives [souls - nehpheshs]" Ezekiel 22:27
(66). "Like a roaring lion ravening the prey: they have devoured souls [souls - nehpheshs]" Ezekiel 22:25
(67). "He did not spare their soul [nehphesh] from death, but gave over their life to the plague, and smote all the firstborn in Egypt" [Psalm 78:50]
(68). OVER 320 (over one third) OF THE ABOUT 870 TIMES THAT SOUL [NEHPHESH] IS USED, THE SOUL IS DEAD, CAN DIE, CAN BE KILLED, BE SOUGHT TO BE KILLED, BE AFFECTED, BE SMOTE, BE CUT OFF, BE MURDERED, BE DELIVERED FROM DEATH. In most of these passages the translators of the King James and other translations have hidden from the readers that the very thing they believe to be immortal and cannot die does die by translating "nehphesh" into "life," "person" and many other words, but even in the King James Version there are many passages which say souls [nehpheshs] can and do die. Some more of the many passages:
• "We feared greatly for our soul [nehphesh] because of you" [Joshua 9:24].
• "All the men who were seeking your soul [nehphesh] are dead" [Exodus 4:19].
• They had to flee to save their souls [nehphesh] [2 King 7:7], or their souls [nehphesh] would be utterly destroyed "with the edge of the sword" or other weapons [Joshua 10:27; 10:30; 10:32; 10:35, 10:37; 10:39].
• Not only could their souls [nehphesh] be killed by their enemies, but their souls [nehphesh] could also die for lack of food [Lamentations 1:11; Numbers 11:6].
• Also, Genesis 9:4; 9:5; 12:13; 17:14; 19:17; 19:19; 19:20; 32:30; 32:31; 35:18; 37:21; Exodus 21:23; 30:12; 30:15; 31:14; Leviticus 7:18; 7:20; 7:21 7:27; 17:11; 17:12; 17:14; 19:8; 21:1; 21:11; 22:3; 24:17; 24:18; Numbers 5:2; 6:6; 9:6; 9:7; 9:10; 9:18; 19:11; 19:13; 19:20; 23:10; 31:19; 35:11; 35:15; 35:30; 35:31; Deuteronomy 12:23; Joshua 2:13; 11:11; 20:3; 20:9; Judges 5:28; 12:3; 16:16; 18:25; Ruth; 4:15; 1 Samuel 1:19; 1: 20; 1:23; 23:15; 23:20; 25:29; 28:9; 28:21; 2 Samuel 4:8; 14:7; 16:11; 19:5; 19:6; 1 Kings 1:12; 1:29; 3:11; 17:21; 17:22; 19:10; 19:14; 20:32; 2 Kings 1:13; 19:24; 1 Chronicles 11:19; 2 Chronicles 11:11; Esther 7:7; Job 13:14; 30:16; 33:18; 33:22; 36:14; Psalms 7:2; 17:13; 22:20; 22:21; 22:29: 22:30; 31:13; 33:19; 35:4; 35:17; 38:12; 38:13; 70:2; 70:3; 71:10; Proverbs 1:19; 7:23; 12:10; 13:3; 23:14; Isaiah 10:18; 43:4; Jeremiah 2:34; 4:30; 34:20-21; 38:2; 38:16; 39:18; 40:15; 44:30; 45:5; 49:37; Ezekiel 17:17; 18:4; 18:20; 18:27; 22:25; 22:27; Jonah 4:3; 4:6.
Summary: The "nehphesh [soul]" of the Old Testament is an earthly being, man, animal, or sea creature, both living and dead. It can die, it can be dead, be killed, be sought to kill, be smote, die from a lack of food or water, be cut off, be murdered, be delivered from death, be born, live, sorrow, eat, drink water, desire, be discontented, be grieved, be bound with a bond, be affected, loathes, lust, have anguish, etc. Not one of the about 870 times that nehphesh is used does it have reference to an invisible, immaterial part of a person that has no substance and cannot die. NEHPHESH IN THE OLD TESTAMENT AND PSUKEE IN THE NEW TESTAMENT ARE TOGETHER USED ABOUT 967 TIMES WITH OVER ONE-THIRD BING ASSOCIATED WITH THE DEATH OF THE SOUL (PERSON). Some [nehpheshs - souls] are dead. Some are dying. Some are in fear of death. Some have those who are trying to kill them. Some are saved from death, etc. ON THE OTHER HAND, IN THE 976 TIMES SOUL IS USED, NOT ONE TIME IS THE SOUL SAID TO BE DEATHLESS OR IMMORTAL.
In about thirty-two passages souls [nehpheshs] are spoken of as being killed by man “And he that kills any [nehphesh] man shall surely be put to death. And he that kills a [nehphesh] beast shall make it good; beast [nehphesh] for beast [nehphesh]” Leviticus 25:17-18. Nehphesh – soul is used four times in the Hebrew but because of the bias of the translators not one time in the King James Version. They changed soul into beast to deliberately hide from their readers that animals the same as men are souls and can die. [See Joshua 10:28; 30; 32; 35; 37; 39; Deuteronomy 27:25; Leviticus 24:17-18].
In about thirteen passages souls [nehpheshs] of men are said to be actually dead [see Numbers 6:6; Leviticus 21:11]. In many of these passages, the King James Version and others translated nehphesh as life or body; and the English reader cannot see that animals are souls [are living creatures], and souls of both men and animals can be killed by man and sometimes souls are actually dead. Under the Law anyone that touched a dead body was unclean. “Dead body” [nehphesh] Leviticus 21:11 “Dead body” [nehphesh] Numbers 6:6. Corpses are dead souls and anyone who came in contact with a dead soul was unclean.
Most of the times when it is translated "soul," even those who believe in a part of a person that lives after death and before the resurrection says it is not used to mean an immortal part of a person. The whole person dies unto the resurrection [Ezekiel 18:20; Psalms 22:29; 33:18-19; Matthew 10:28; Matthew 16:26; James 5:20]. Not just the person's body.
This clearly shows that the meaning of the Hebrew word nehphesh is something that is not immortal and that it can die or that it already is dead. There is no other word in the Bible which could be translated into Plato's immortal soul; therefore, the translators had to use this one and hide, the best they could, the fact that nehphesh can and does die.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
The Companion Bible, Appendix 13 says nehphesh [life - soul] is used:
• Of the lower animals [nehphesh - soul] in 22 passages
• Of the lower animals and man [nehphesh - soul] in 7 passages
• Of man [nehphesh - soul] as an individual person in 53 passages
• Of man [nehphesh - soul] as exercising certain powers or performing certain acts in 96 passages
• Of man [nehphesh - soul] as possessing animal appetites and desires in 92 passages
• Of man [nehphesh - soul] as exercising mental faculties and manifesting certain feelings, affection and passions in 231 passages
• Of man [nehphesh - soul] being cut off by God and as being killed or slain by man in 54 passages
• Of man [nehphesh - soul] as being mortal, subject to death of various kinds, from which it can be saved and delivered and life prolonged in 243 passages
• Of man [nehphesh - soul] as actually dead in 13 passages
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Just one of the many examples of the absurdity of the translations of nehphesh in the King James Version with the meaning of "soul" as it is used today, an invisible, no substance something in a person that no one has ever seen or can see and it is immortal and cannot die. "For mine enemies speak against me; and they that lay wait for my soul [nehphesh] take counsel together" [Psalms 70:10]. How could anyone lay in wait (ambush) for an undying invisible inter part of a person that no one can see and how could anyone kill something that cannot die even if they could see it?
"Deliver my soul" [nehphesh] Psalms 17:13 in today's English would be "Save my life" [nehphesh].
• "They also that seek after my life" [soul - nehphesh]. Psalms 38:12. "That seeks after my soul" [nehphesh]. Psalms 40:14. Both soul and life are from the same word [nehphesh]. Why were the translators so inconsistent; life and soul, according to the theology they believed, are two completely different things, yet they translated both from the same Hebrew word many times.
• "They smote all the souls [nehphesh]" Joshua 11:11 in today's English would be, "They killed all the people." "Whosoever kills any person" [soul - nehphesh] Joshua 20:9.
• "They that lay wait for my soul" [soul - nehphesh] in today's English would be, "They that are waiting in ambush for my life" Psalms 70:10.
Many more times "soul" [nehphesh] would only make sense if translated "life." To apply today's meaning, "an undying invisible inter part of man" makes many passages be total nonsense. Today's meaning of "soul" is very different from the meaning of nehphesh in Biblical times, which makes "soul" be a mistranslation. When anyone reads the Bible and reads "soul" and knows only what the word "soul" means today, they cannot understand what God said. Many English translations use "soul" and "person" interchangeable. The Revised Standard uses "person" frequently where the King James used "soul." The problem is that most English readers would not know that when they say a "person" died, that they are hiding the fact that "person" [soul - nehphesh] is the same word that is translated "soul" in many places. Why did some translators do this? Was it because they did not believe an immortal "soul" can die, but a person can die? If the "soul" [soul - nehphesh] dies, it would not be immortal; therefore, they were forced to use "person" or "life" in many places to hide the fact from you that the nehphesh can die. The truth is that they were trying to put "soul" with today's meaning in the Bible despite the fact that it is not. If they had been consistent in translating, they would not have been able to add the doctrine of an undying soul in the Bible.
"The Lord of hosts has sworn by Himself [soul - nehphesh]" [Jeremiah 51:14]. By His own being or person. God "could swear by no one greater, He swore by Himself [psukee - soul]" [Hebrews 6:13]. Not even the King James translators wanted God to have an invisible inter part that would live after the rest of Him was dead. God's nehphesh and man's nehphesh are their being, person, not just an invisible something in a person.
All the Old Testament words, which are translated life, spirit, breath, or soul, are all used referring to both persons and animals. Every word that is used to prove a person has an immortal soul or an immortal spirit would also prove all breathing creatures have an in immortal soul if they proved a person does.
[1] Nehphesh/soul-life: It is used to describe all living beings.
• Animal, birds, reptiles, and insects have this same nehphesh [soul-life] that a person has. Sea creatures and birds [Genesis 1:20] and every living creature that moves in water or on land are a living soul [Genesis 1:21]. Every beast, bird, and insect has soul-life [nehphesh].
• "Man became a living being" Genesis 2:7. See Genesis 2:19; 9:4; 9:10; 9:12; 9:15-16. Note: The word "soul" as it is used in today's English [an immortal no substance part of a person that can never die] is not the meaning of nehphesh.
[2] Nshahmah: Is also used to describe all living being/breath of life: All living things that breathes [Used 24 times].
• Used to describe man "Breathed into his nostrils the BREATH of life" Genesis 2:7; 1 Kings 17:17; Job 27:3.
• Used to describe man and animals, both have the same nshahmah [breath of life-spirit].
• "All in whose nostrils was the BREATH [nshahmah] of the spirit of life, of all that was on the dry land, died" Genesis 7:22. All living being, man, and animals.
• "But of the cities of these peoples, that Jehovah your God gives you for an inheritance, you shall save alive nothing that BREATHS [nshahmah]" Deuteronomy 20:16. All living being, both man and animals.
• "So Joshua smote all the land, the hill-country, and the South, and the lowland, and the slopes, and all their kings: he left none remaining, but he utterly destroyed all that BREATHED [nshahmah]" Joshua 10:40. All living being, both man and animals that had life (nshahmah) were killed.
• "And they smote all the souls that were therein with the edge of the sword, utterly destroying them; there were none left that BREATHED [nshahmah]" Joshua 11:11. All living being, both man and animals.
• Also, Joshua 11:14; 1 Kings 15:29; Job 34:14; Psalms 150:6
Not one of the 24 times nshahmah is used says anything about a part of a person that is immortal.
1. Genesis 2:7 "Breathed into his nostrils the BREATH [nshahmah] of life"
2. Genesis 7:22 "All in whose nostrils was the BREATH [nshahmah] of life" All living being, man and animals
3. Deuteronomy 20:16 "Saved alive nothing that BREATHED [nshahmah]" All living being, man and animals
4. Joshua 10:40 "Utterly destroyed all that BREATHED [nshahmah]" All living being, man and animals
5. Joshua 11:11 "There was not any left to BREATHE [nshahmah]" All living being, man and animals
6. Joshua 11:14 "Neither left they any to BREATHE [nshahmah]" All living being, man and animals
7. 2 Samuel 22:16 "At the BLAST [nshahmah] of the breath of his nostrils"
8. 1 Kings 15:29 "Left not to Jeroboam any that BREATHED [nshahmah]"
9. 1 Kings 17:17 "There was no BREATH [nshahmah] left in him"
10. Job 4:9 "By the BLAST [nshahmah] of God they perish"
11. Job 26:4 "And whose SPIRIT [nshahmah] came from thee?"
12. Job 27:3 "While my BREATH [nshahmah] is in me"
“For as long as life [nshahmah] is in me, and the breath [ruach] of God is in my nostrils” New American Standard Bible
13. Job 32:8 "The INSPIRATION [nshahmah] of the Almighty"
14. Job 33:4 "And the BREATH [nshahmah] of the Almighty"
In Job 32:8 and 33:4 why did they translate one "inspiration" and the other "breath"?
15. Job 34:14 "He gather unto himself his spirit and his BREATH [nshahmah]" All living being, both man and animals
16. Job 37:10 "By the BREATH [nshahmah] of God frost is given"
17. Psalms 18:15 "At the BLAST [nshahmah] of the breath of your nostrils"
18. Psalms 150:6 "Everything that has BREATH [nshahmah]" All living being, man and animals
19. Proverbs 20:27 "The SPIRIT [nshahmah] of man"
20. Isaiah 2:22 "Man, whose BREATH [nshahmah] is in his nostrils"
21. Isaiah 30:33 "The BREATH [nshahmah] of the Lord"
22. Isaiah 42:5 "He that gives BREATH [nshahmah]"
23. Isaiah 57:16 "And the SOULS [nshahmah], which he made"
24. Daniel 19:17 "Neither is there BREATH [nshahmah] left in me"
[3] Ruach/spirit-breath: Is also used to describe all living beings.
• Man and beasts, "I am bringing the flood of water upon the earth, to destroy all flesh in which is the breath [ruach] of life, from under heaven; everything that is on the earth shall perish" [Genesis 6:17].
• All flesh, birds, cattle, beasts, and every creeping thing - all have the same spirit [ruach] as man [Genesis 7:22].
• Man and beasts [Ecclesiastes 3:19].
• Man [Ecclesiastes 12:5-7; Psalms 104:29] See Genesis 6:17; 7:15; 54:27; Job 4:9.
Ruach is translated sixteen different ways in the King James Version.
1. WIND [ruach - spirit] is translated about 84 times in the King James Version. Wind, windy, whirlwind, tempest, breath, blast and air about one third of about 389 times ruach is used in the Old Testament.
• "God made a WIND [ruach - spirit] to pass over" [Genesis 8:1].
• "Like the chaff, which the WIND [ruach - spirit] drives" [Psalms 1:4].
• "You did blow with your WIND [ruach - spirit]" [Exodus 15:10].
• "Clouds and WIND [ruach - spirit] without rain" [Proverbs 25:14].
• "My escape from the WINDY [ruach - spirit] storm" [Psalms 55:8].
• "A WHIRLWIND [ruach - spirit] came out of the north" [Ezekiel 1:4].
• "A destroying WIND [ruach - spirit]" [Jeremiah 51:1].
• "A strong WIND [ruach - spirit]" [Job 8:2].
• "An horrible TEMPEST [ruach - spirit]" [Psalms 11:6].
• "You shall scatter in the WIND [ruach - spirit]" [Ezekiel 5:2].
• "An east WIND [ruach - spirit]" [Exodus 10:13].
• "A mighty strong west WIND [ruach - spirit]" [Exodus 10:19].
• Psalms 1:4, Exodus 15:10
2. WINDY “”My escape from the WINDY [ruach] storm” [Psalms 55:8].
3.WHIRLWIND “A WHIRLWIND [ruach] came out of the north" [Ezekiel 1:4].
4. TEMPEST “An horrible TEMPEST [ruach]" [Psalms 116].
5. BREATH [ruach - spirit].
• “All in whose nostrils was the BREATH [ruach] of life” [Genesis 7:22; 6:17; 7:15].
• "By the BREATH [ruach] of his mouth" [Genesis 6:17; Psalms 104:29, Job 15:30].
• "By the BREATH [ruach - spirit] of his mouth" [Job 15:30].
• "All in whose nostrils was the BREATH [ruach - spirit] of life" [Genesis 7:22].
• "To destroy all flesh in which is the BREATH [ruach - spirit] of life" [Genesis 6:17].
• "So they went into the ark to Noah, by twos of all flesh in which was the BREATH [ruach - spirit] of life" [Genesis 7:15].
• "No BREATH [ruach - spirit] in them" [Jeremiah 10:14]. Why not, "No SPIRIT [ruach - spirit] in them" or "Takes away their SPIRIT [ruach - spirit]" [Psalms 104:29]? How did the translators know when the same word was wind, breath, spirit, blast, air, mind, courage, cool, or anger? How are those who read their translation to know that these are all the same word in the Hebrew? Idols are described as not having breath [ruach] [Habakkuk 2:19].
• "Every goldsmith...his molten images are deceitful, and there is no BREATH [ruach - spirit] in them" [Jeremiah 51:17].
• "Takes away their BREATH [ruach - spirit]" [Psalms 104:29].
• "As one dies so dies the other; indeed, they all have the same BREATH [ruach - spirit] and there is no advantage for man over beast" [Ecclesiastes 3:19].
6. SPIRIT [ruach - spirit].
• “And the SPIRIT [ruach] of God in my nostrils” [Job 27:3].
• "The SPIRIT [ruach] of jealousy came"[Genesis 1:2; 41:8, Numbers 5:14; 5:30].
• “The SPIRIT [ruach] of heaviness” [Isaiah 61:3].
• "And the SPIRIT [ruach] shall return unto God" [Ecclesiastes 12:7].
• "And the SPIRIT [ruach] of the beast that goes downward" [Ecclesiastes 3:21].
• "SPIRIT [ruach] of God" [Genesis 1:2].
• "The SPIRIT [ruach] of jealousy came" [Numbers 5:30].
• "Because he had another SPIRIT [ruach]" [Numbers 14:24].
• "The SPIRIT [ruach] entered into me" [Ezekiel 2:2; 3:24].
• “Neither was there SPIRIT [ruach] in them” [Joshua 5:1].
• "And a new SPIRIT [ruach] will I put within you" [Ezekiel 36:26].
• "God hardened his SPIRIT [ruach]" [Deuteronomy 2:30].
• "Anguish of SPIRIT [ruach]" [Exodus 6:9].
• "SPIRIT [ruach] of wisdom" [Exodus 28:3].
• "Joshua...was filled with the SPIRIT [ruach] of wisdom" [Deuteronomy 34:9].
• "Sorrowful SPIRIT [ruach]" [2 Samuel 1:15].
• "Why is your SPIRIT [ruach] so sad" [1 Kings 21:5].
• "SPIRIT [ruach] was troubled" [Genesis 41:8].
• "A lying SPIRIT [ruach]" [1 Kings 22:23].
• "The sacrifices of God are a broken SPIRIT [ruach]" [Psalms 51:7].
• "Hasty of SPIRIT [ruach]" [Proverbs 14.29].
• "An haughty SPIRIT [ruach]" [Proverbs 16:18].
• "An humble SPIRIT [ruach]" [Proverbs 16:19].
7. BLAST "BLASH [ruach - spirit] of your nostrils" [2 Kings 19:7, Exodus 15:8].
8. AIR "That no AIR [ruach - spirit] can come between them" [Job 41:16; 41:8].
9. MIND "A fool utters all his MIND [ruach - spirit]” [Genesis 26:35, Proverbs 29:11].
10. COURAGE "Neither did there remain any more COURAGE [ruach - spirit] in them" [Joshua 5:1].
11. COOL "Walking in the garden in the COOL [ruach - spirit] of the day" [Genesis 3:8].
12. ANGER "Their ANGER [ruach - spirit] was abated" [Judges 8:3].
13. SIDE [Jeremiah 52:23; Ezekiel 42:16; 42:17; 42:18; 42:19; “side wind” in footnote].
14. QUARTERS [ruach - spirit] [1 Chronicles 9:24].
15. SPIRITUAL [ruach - spirit] [Hosea 9:7].
16. VAIN [ruach - spirit] [Job 15:2; 16:3].
Why did the translators translate the word "ruach" into "spirit" in one place and "blast" or "wind" in others? The meaning of "spirit" as it was used in 1611 and today (an immortality no substance something in a person is not a thirty-first cousin to "wind" or "breath," yet the translators, at will, translated the same word into two things that are worlds apart. if the same word had two meanings, (1) one meanings that had reference to the mortal person or animal, and (2) one that had reference to the immortal part of a person that animals do not have, how could the Hebrew people know when it was one and when it was the other? How could the translators know? they could not. They had to put their theology into the Bible even if they could not be consistent. How could anyone read the Kings James Version and know that anger, cool, courage, air, mind, breath, wind, blast, and spirit are the same thing? Most English reader today would not know that "wind" and "spirit" are indiscriminately translated from the same word and almost without exception today's reader would understand "spirit" to be an immortal soul, but would never understand "wind" to be an immortal soul. Those who do not read Hebrew are misled by such indiscriminately translations.
Summary: Nehphesh, nshahmah, and ruach are something that both a person and an animal have in common and are something that can and does die. Both an animal and a man are a soul, a living being of this earth. Neither animals nor a person has a soul, an immortal inter part that cannot die and will live after the death of the animal or person it is in.
Different characteristics of a person, not different parts of a person that can live without each other, but a person looked at from different points of view.
1. BODY: Flesh and blood.
2. SOUL: A living being: the body + the breath of life.
3. SPIRIT: The body of dust + the breath of life (spirit – ruach) = a living being-soul.
4. MIND: If the intellectual part of a person is his mind, does the "soul" as it is used in today's theology have its own mind? Does the soul have any thoughts that our mind does not have? If not, according to today's theology, the only part of a person that will be in Heaven will have no thoughts.
5. HEART: The most commonly used characteristic of a person. [Genesis 6:5; Judges; 16:15, 17, 18, 20; Matthew 5:8; Luke 12:34; Romans 10:10; Hebrews 3:10]. The heart is used in the place of the mind for the thing that the mind does, not the part of the body that pumps blood. [Matthew 13:15; 15:19; Mark 7:19; Luke 6:45; 9:47; Acts 8:21; 8:37; 28:27; Romans 10:9; 10:10; 1 Corinthians 2:9; 7:37; Hebrews 3:10; 4:12; 1 John 3:20-21]. Has not the things said about the heart been transferred to the soul by those who believe the soul is immortal?
Soul - How nehphesh and psukee are translated in seven different versions and in different verses.
| K.J.V. | N.K.J.V. | N.A.S.V. | R.S.V. |
Gen 1:20 | creatures | creatures | creatures | creatures |
Gen 2:7 | soul | living being| living being| living being|
Gen 9:5 | life | life | life | life |
Mt 16:25-26|life & soul | life & soul |life and soul| life 4 times|
Acts 3:23 | soul | soul | soul | soul |
1 Cor15:45 | soul | living being| soul | living being|
1 Pet 3:20 | souls | soul | persons | persons |
Rev 16:3 | soul | creature | living thing| living thing|
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| N.R.S.V. | N.I.V. |Robert Young|
Gen 1:20 | creatures | creatures |creature |
Gen 2:7 | living being| living being |living being-creature|
Gen 9:5 | life | life |life |
Mt 16:25-26| life 4 times| life & soul |soul |
Acts 3:23 | everyone | anyone |soul |
1 Cor15:45 | living being| living being |creature |
1 Pet 3:20 | persons | people |soul |
Rev 16:3 | living thing| living thing |soul |

Nephesh and psukee are used over 976 times. The King James Version translated them soul about half of the time, other translations much less.
KING JAMES VERSION (1611) 498 TIMES
NEW KING JAMES VERSION (1982) 341 TIMES
THE NEW KING JAMES VERSION HAS SOUL 157 TIMES LESS THEN THE KING JAMES VERSION.
AMERICAN STANDARD VERSION (1901) 495 TIMES
NEW AMERICAN STANDARD VERSION (1960) 289 TIMES
NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION (1987) 136 TIMES
NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION UPDATED (2010) 95 TIMES
THE NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION UPDATED TOOK SOUL OUT OF THE NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION 41 TIMES. IT USED SOUL ONLY 95 OUT OF OVER 976 TIMES.
TODAY’S NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION (1996) 41 TIMES
ENGLISH STANDARD VERSION (2001) 296 TIMES
AMPLIFIED BIBLE (1987) 190 TIMES
HOLMAN CHRISTIAN STANDARD BIBLE (1999) 58 TIMES
NEW CENTURY VERSION (1987) 35 TIMES
CONTEMPORARY REVISED ENGLISH BIBLE (1995) 26 TIMES
GOD’S WORD TRANSLATION (1995) 110 TIMES
WORLDWIDE ENGLISH NEW TESTAMENT (1995) 12 TIMES
CHRISTIAN BIBLE NEW TESTAMENT ONLY (1995) 0 TIMES

IN THE NEW TESTAMENT: Is the use of the English word "soul" as a translation of psukee dying? Of the 106 times psukee is used it is translated soul only:
KING JAMES VERSION (1611) 58 TIMES
AMERICAN STANDARD VERSION (1901) 56 TIMES
NEW AMERICAN STANDARD VERSION (1960) 47 TIMES
NEW REVISED STANDARD (1946) 33 TIMES
NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION (1978) 25 TIMES
NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION UPDATED (2010) 22 TIMES
36 TIMES LESS THAN THE KING JAMES VERSION.
THE CHRISTIAN BIBLE (1991) 0 TIMES
CONTEMPORARY ENGLISH VERSION (1995) 13 TIMES
HOLMAN CHRISTIAN STANDARD BIBLE (1999) 23 TIMES
WORLDWIDE ENGLISH VERSION (2006) 8 TIMES
It is those who are members of churches that believe a person has an immortal soul that are little by little taking the word "soul" out of the Bible. Why is soul being used less in the newer translations? The translators knew "soul" as the word is used today is not a translation of nehphesh or psukee.
A few of the many examples that show why the numbers above are difficult in difficult translations.
Numbers 29:7
• "Ye shall afflict your souls [nehphesh]" King James Version
• "You shall humble yourselves [nehphesh]" New American Standard
Joshua 11:11
• "They smote all the souls [nehphesh]" King James Version
• "Not sparing anything that breathed [nehphesh]" New International Version
Judges 16:16
• "His soul [nehphesh] was vexed unto death" King James Version
• "Unto he [nehphesh] was tired to death" New International Version
Numbers 30:2
• "To bind his soul [nehphesh] with a bond" King James Version
• "To bind himself [nehphesh] with a binding obligation" New American Standard Version
Numbers 15:30
• "That soul [nehphesh] shall be cut off" King James Version
• "That person [nehphesh] shall be cut off" New American Standard Version
Acts 15:24-26 is an example of how the translation of psukee was changed even in the same passage by the translators when it would not fit in with their belief about an immortal soul. “Since we have heard that some of our number to whom we gave no instruction have disturbed you with their words, unsettling your souls [psukee], it seemed good to us, having become of one mind, to select men to send to you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, men who have risked their lives [psukee] for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
• “Certain persons who have gone out from us, though with no instruction from us, have said things to disturb you and have unsettled your minds [psukee]…who has risked their lives [psukee]” New revised Standard Version.
• “And disturbed you, troubling your minds [psukee] by what they said…men who have risked their lives [psukee] for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” New International Version.
• “We have heard that some of out group have come to you and said things that trouble [psukee]… and upset you [psukee]” New Century Version.
A bird's eye view [below] of the way psukee is translated in four versions shows that it is a living being, not an immortal no substance something. The translators wanted to put their immortal soul in the Bible, but they had a problem for if they had uniformly translated psukee into "soul," in some passages their immortal soul would have been subject to death and in other passages it would be dead.
(1) King James (2) New Revised Standard (3) American Standard (4) New International
Matthew 2:20 |(1) LIFE|(2) LIFE |(3) LIFE|(4) LIFE
Matthew 6:25 | LIFE | LIFE | LIFE | LIFE
Matthew 6:25 | LIFE | LIFE | LIFE | LIFE
Matthew 10:28 | soul | soul | soul | soul
Matthew 10:28 | soul | soul | soul | soul
Matthew 10:39 | LIFE | LIFE | LIFE | LIFE
Matthew 10:39 | LIFE | LIFE | LIFE | LIFE
Matthew 11:29 | souls | souls | souls | souls
Matthew 12:18 | soul | soul | soul | I
Matthew 16:25 | LIFE | LIFE | LIFE | LIFE
Matthew 16:25 | LIFE | LIFE | LIFE | LIFE
Matthew 16:26 | soul | LIFE | LIFE | soul
Matthew 16:26 | soul | LIFE | LIFE | soul
Matthew 20:28 | LIFE | LIFE | LIFE | LIFE
Matthew 22:37 | soul | soul | soul | soul
Matthew 26:38 | soul | I | soul | soul
Mark 3:4 | LIFE | LIFE | LIFE | LIFE
Mark 8:35 | LIFE | LIFE | LIFE | LIFE
Mark 8:35 | LIFE | LIFE | LIFE | LIFE
Mark 8:36 | soul | LIFE | LIFE | soul
Mark 8:37 | soul | LIFE | LIFE | soul
Mark 10:45 | LIFE | LIFE | LIFE | LIFE
Mark 12:30 | soul | soul | soul | soul
Mark 12:33 | soul | HEART | HEART | HEART
Mark 14:34 | soul | I | soul | soul
Luke 1:46 | soul | soul | soul | soul
Luke 2:35 | soul | soul | soul | soul
Luke 6:9 | LIFE | LIFE | LIFE | LIFE
Luke 9:24 | LIFE | LIFE | LIFE | LIFE
Luke 9:24 | LIFE | LIFE | LIFE | LIFE
Luke 9:56 | LIVES | | | LIFE
Luke 10:27 | soul | soul | soul | soul
Luke 12:19 | soul | soul | soul | MYSELF
Luke 12:19 | soul | soul | soul | LIFE
Luke 12:20 | soul | LIFE | soul | LIFE
Luke 12:22 | LIFE | LIFE | LIFE | LIFE
Luke 12:23 | LIFE | LIFE | LIFE | LIFE
Luke 14:26 | LIFE | LIFE | LIFE | LIFE
Luke 17:33 | LIFE | LIFE | LIFE | LIFE
Luke 21:19 | soul | souls | souls | YOURSELVES
John 10:11 | LIFE | LIFE | LIFE | LIFE
John 10:15 | LIFE | LIFE | LIFE | LIFE
John 10:17 | LIFE | LIFE | LIFE | LIFE
John 10:24 | US | US | US | US
John 12:25 | LIFE | LIFE | LIFE | LIFE
John 12"25 | LIFE | LIFE | LIFE | LIFE
John 12:27 | soul | soul | soul | HEART
John 13:37 | LIFE | LIFE | LIFE | LIFE
John 13:38 | LIFE | LIFE | LIFE | LIFE
John 15:13 | LIFE | LIFE | LIFE | LIFE
Acts 2:27 | soul | soul | soul | ME
Acts 2:31 | soul | FLESH | FLESH | BODY
Acts 2:41 | souls | PERSONS | souls | .
Acts 2:43 | soul | EVERYONE| soul | EVERYONE
Acts 3:23 | soul | EVERYONE| soul | ANYONE
Acts 4:32 | soul | soul | soul | MIND
Acts 7:14 | souls | ALL | souls | ALL
Acts 14:2 | MINDS | MINDS | souls | MINDS
Acts 14:22 | souls | souls | souls | DISCIPLES
Acts 15:24 | souls | MINDS | souls | MINDS
Acts 15:26 | LIVES | LIVES | LIVES | LIVES
Acts 20:10 | LIFE | LIFE | LIFE | ALIVE
Acts 20:24 | LIFE | LIFE | LIFE | LIFE
Acts 27:10 | LIVES | LIVES | LIVES | LIVES
Acts 27:22 | LIFE | LIFE | LIFE | YOU
Acts 27:37 | souls | PERSONS | souls | US
Romans 2:9 | soul | EVERYONE| soul | BEING
Romans 11:3 | LIFE | LIFE | LIFE | ME
Romans 13:1 | soul | PERSON | soul | EVERYONE
Romans 16:4 | LIFE | LIFE | LIFE | LIVES
1 Cor. 15:45 | soul | BEING | soul | BEING
2 Cor. 1:23 | soul | ME | soul | .
2 Cor. 12:15 | YOU | YOU | souls | YOU
Ephesians 6:6 | HEART | HEAT | HEART | HEART
Philippians 1:27| MIND | MIND | soul | MEN
Philippians 2:30| LIFE | LIFE | LIFE | LIFE
Colossians 3:23 |HEARTILY|YOURSELVES|HEARTILY|HEART
1 Thess. 2:8 | souls | SELVES | souls | LIVES
1 Thess. 5:23 | soul | soul | soul | soul
Hebrews 4 12 | soul | soul | soul | soul
Hebrews 6:19 | soul | soul | soul | soul
Hebrews 10:38 | soul | soul | soul | I
Hebrews 10:39 | soul | SAVED | soul | SAVED
Hebrews 12:3 | MINDS | HEART | souls | HEART
Hebrews 13:17 | souls | souls | souls | YOU
James 1:21 | souls | souls | souls | YOU
James 5:20 | soul | soul | soul | HIM
1 Peter 1:9 | souls | souls | souls | souls
1 Peter 1:22 | souls | souls | souls | YOURSELVES
1 Peter 2:11 | soul | soul | soul | soul
1 Peter 2:25 | souls | souls | souls | souls
1 Peter 3:20 | souls | PERSONS | souls | PEOPLE
1 Peter 4:19 | souls |THEMSELVES |souls | THEMSELVES
2 Peter 2:8 | soul | soul | soul | soul
2 Peter 2:14 | souls | souls | souls | UNSTABLE
1 John 3:16 | LIFE | LIFE | LIFE | LIFE
1 John 3:16 | LIVES | LIVES | LIVES | LIVES
3 John 2 | soul | soul | soul | soul
Revelation 6:9 | souls | souls | souls | souls
Revelation 8:9 | LIFE |CREATURES| LIFE | CREATURES
Revelation 12:11| LIVES | LIFE | LIFE | LIFE
Revelation 16:3 | soul | THING | soul | THING
Revelation 18:13| souls |HUMAN LIVES |souls| souls
Revelation 18:14| soul | soul | soul | YOU
Revelation 20:4 | souls | souls | souls | souls
All the words used in the four translations [life, lives, yourself, yourselves, us, mind, minds, you, I, him, heart, heartily, everyone, persons, disciples, creatures, all, me, flesh, being, anyone, alive, and man]A have a reference to the human person, not to a no substance inter part of a person.

SOUL [PSUKEE] IN THE NEW TESTAMENT
Psukee is used 106 times and is the only word translated soul in the New Testament (translated soul only 58 of the 106 times it is used in the King James Version) and psukee is the same word in Greek as nehphesh is in Hebrew. Both can and do die, "Lose his LIFE" Matthew 10:39. "Save a SOUL from death" James 5:20; “Will save him from death” New International Version, salvation is from death, not from Hell. "To save LIFE or to destroy it" James 4:12. In Old English, soul, like ghost and charity, might have been a good translation then, but not today. Most of the times nehphesh and psukee are translated "soul," even those who believe a person is two beings in one have to admit it is referring only to the earthly person, earthly life, or earthly being; but today the English word "soul" has come to mean an inter unseen part of a person, which will live after the person is dead. Therefore, when those who do not know this read the Bible, they are misled when psukee is translated "soul." No word in the Bible means "an immortal inter part of a person that cannot die."
• "For those who sought the Child's life [soul - psukee]" Matthew 2:20.
• "But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul [soul - psukee] and body" Matthew 10:28.
• "And he who has lost his life [soul - psukee] for My sake shall find it" Matthew 10:39, also Matthew 16:25, Mark 8:35. “Lost his soul for My sake" in King James Version. In today’s theology the only way to lose your soul is by sinning. Does this translation not make Christ be saying that if we sin and lose our soul for Him we will save our soul? This translation is both false and unacceptable.
• "And to give His life [soul - psukee] a ransom for many" Matthew 20:28.
• "To save a life [soul - psukee], or destroy it" Luke 6:9.
• "And I lay down my life [soul - psukee] for the sheep" John 10:15.
• "Men who have risked their lives [soul - psukee] for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ" Acts 15:26.
• "And they are seeking my life [soul - psukee]" Romans 11:3.
• "Will save his soul [soul - psukee] from death" James 5:20.
Which one is it, a mortal being that can die, or an immortal being that cannot die? If there were a part of a person called "immortal soul" that could not die, it is strange that both the Old Testament and the New Testament repeatedly speak of the death of this soul that cannot die.
Psukee is translated "soul" and "life" interchangeably, and sometimes in the same verse; Matthew 16:25-26 where the same word is inconsistently translated two times "soul," and two times "life" in the King James Version; but corrected in the American Standard Version and most other versions where all four times the same word is translated "life." "In exchange for his life." The parallel passage in Luke 9:25 says, "and lose or forfeit his own self" American Standard Version. "Yet lose...his very self" New International Version. "Lose...themselves" New Revised Standard Version. Human language could not be any clearer that Christ is speaking of the whole of a person, and not just some internal unseen part of a person. If the immortal soul doctrine were true, a person could not lose his soul if his soul can never die.
The immortality doctrine make the Bible contradict itself, for the Bible says repeatedly that the nehphesh [Old Testament] psukee [New Testament] can die and never says a person has a part that is called "soul" that is immortal. Christ "laid down His LIFE [psukee - life or soul] for us, and we ought to lay down our LIVES [psukee - life or soul] for the brethren" 1 John 3:16. "To give His LIFE [psukee - life or soul] a ransom for many" Matthew 20:28.
1. If the SOUL [psukee] cannot die, Christ could not have "laid down His LIFE" [psukee] or "give His LIFE" [psukee], and we could not "lay down our LIVES" [soul - psukee].
2. If the psukee [LIFE or soul] could not die, Christ did not die. He could not have been raised from the dead for He was never dead.
3. If the psukee [LIFE - soul] cannot die, God is telling us to do that which we cannot do "lay down our LIVES [soul - psukee] for the brethren." There would be no possible way to “lay down our immortal soul for the brethren.” To put soul (an immaterial, immortal, therefore deathless, something in a person) in this passage makes it nonsense.
• James 5:20 "Shall save a SOUL [psukee - life or soul] FROM DEATH" King James Version. If a person has a "SOUL" that cannot die, how can it be saved from death?
• James 5:20 "Will save HIM [psukee - life or soul] FROM DEATH" New International Version.
PSUKEE: A MORTAL BEING OR AN IMMORTAL BEING? Psukee is translated life, strength, us, he, heart, heartily, you, and mind. These all have a reference to this life and not to a soul that has no substance. How could the same word mean a mortal being some of the time and an immortal inter part of a mortal being some of the time? How would the translators know when it was one and when it was the other?
Psukee [life] is the natural life from Adam. It is the physical life common to all living creatures and is never said to be eternal. All living creatures [animals, fish, man] by natural birth have psukee [life] from birth to death. It is never coupled with the adjective eternal or everlasting. The only word that is translated soul in the New Testament is translated soul only about one-half of the times it is used. Psukee is applied to the life of animals two times in the New Testament.
1. “And there died the third part of the creatures which were in the sea, even they that had life [psukee]” [Revelation 8:9].
2. “And the second poured out his bowl into the sea; and it became blood as of a dead man; and every living soul [psukee] died, even the things that were in the sea” [Revelation 16:3].
Zoee [life] [Wigram, Page 339 - Strong's word 2227, 'Zoopoico...make alive, give life, quicken'] is a gift of life from Christ to those that believe, the life He gives only to those who are His. No one is born with it and the lost never have it. It refers the life given by Christ only to believes in all but about ten of about one hundred thirty times it is used. "The first man Adam become a living soul (psukee - living being), the last Adam became a life-giving spirit" [1 Corinthians 15:45]. All living being have psukee life, only those who are born again have zoee [life] in Christ. See Zoee life in chapter two, Life or Death.
PASSAGES IN THE NEW TESTAMENT
THAT HAS "PSUKEE" IN THEN
The many words the translators used to translate "psukee" are nouns or pronouns and refer to (1) God (2) to a person (3) or to an animal, not to an immortal no subject part of God, a person or an animal. The person or animal is sometimes dying and is sometimes dead. This one word, which is a common noun, is translated into many nouns, is changed into a proper noun, and often is changed to a pronoun, then translated by many pronouns just as "nehphesh" is in the Old Testament. The different translations do not agree on when it should be changed from a common or proper noun to a pronoun.
[1] IN FIFTY OF THE ONE-HUNDARD SIX TIMES
IN WHICH PSUKEE [soul] IS USED IT MEANS LIFE,
AND IT CAN DIE, BE KILLED, PERISH, OR BE DESTROYED.
[1] Matthew 2:20 "Arise and take the young child and his mother, and go into the land of Israel: for they are dead that sought the young child's LIFE [life-soul-psukee]." There is no doubt that they wanted to kill the child's body, not some inter part of him. No immortal "soul" in this passage.
[2-3] Matthew 6:25 "Therefore, I say unto you, be not anxious for your LIFE [life-soul-psukee], what you shall eat, or what you shall drink; nor yet for your body, what you shall put on. Is not the LIFE [life-soul-psukee] more than the food, and the body than the raiment?" It is the earthly person in the image of Adam that eats and drinks, not an immortal part of a person. A person's life is more than what he or she has to put on the body.
[4-5] Matthew 10:28 "And be not afraid of them that kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul [life-soul-psukee]: but rather fear him who is able to destroy both soul [life-soul-psukee] and body in hell [Gehenna]." See notes on this in chapter four. If psukee is an immortal soul, then God can destroy this immortal soul. There is no stronger way in which to say God can and will destroy it. He is to be feared by those of the world because He will. There would be no reason to fear Him if He could not, or if He will not destroy the Psukee - soul or life. I find it strange that one of the most used passages to prove the soul cannot be destroyed says God can destroy it. See "Matthew 10:28, Luke 12:5 God is able to destroy [Apollumi] both soul and body in Gehenna" in chapter four and "proves more than they want" also in chapter four. Not even God could destroy the soul if it is immortal and can never die for if He could, then it would not be immortal and it could die.
[6-7-8-9] Matthew 10:39 "For whosoever would save his LIFE [life-soul-psukee] shall lose it: and whosoever shall lose his LIFE [life-soul-psukee] for my sake shall find it. 26 For what shall a man be profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and forfeit his LIFE [life-soul-psukee]? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his LIFE [life-soul-psukee]?" The King James Version has the same word [psukee] translated "life" two times and "soul" two times. What made them think Christ used the same word in the same passage with two different meaning? In today's English, the meaning of "soul" and "life" are not even close to being the same.
[10-11-12-13] Mark 8:35 "For whosoever would save his LIFE [life-soul-psukee] shall lose it; and whosoever shall lose his LIFE [life-soul-psukee] for my sake and the gospel's shall save it. 36 For what does it profit a man, to gain the whole world, and forfeit his LIFE [life-soul-psukee]? 37 For what should a man give in exchange for his LIFE" [life-soul-psukee]? The life that is prolonged for a little while by denying Christ will be lost, but the life that is loss by being faithful to Christ will be saved at the judgment.
[14-15] Luke 9:24-25 "For whosoever would save his LIFE [life-soul-psukee] shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his LIFE [life-soul-psukee] for my sake, the same shall save it. For what is a man profited, if he gain the whole world, and lose or forfeit his own self?" Psukee is translated "soul" and "life" interchangeably in the Bible, and sometimes in the same verse. In the King James Version the same word is inconsistently translated two times "soul," and two times "life" but corrected in the American Standard Version and most others where all four times the same word is translated "life." "In exchange for his life."
• "And lose or forfeit his own self" American Standard Version
• "Yet lose...his very self" New International Version
• "Lose...themselves?" New Revised Standard Version
Human language could not be any clearer that Christ is speaking of the whole person, and not just some internal unseen part of a person. Luke avoids using the word soul in Luke 12:4-5. Why? His Gentile readers might have understood the word the way it was used by the Greeks of that time, therefore, he used a word that means the whole person, not the Greek soul that will be reincarnated.
[16] Matthew 20:28 "Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his LIFE [life-soul-psukee] a ransom for many."
Mark 10:45 "For the Son of man also came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life [life-soul-psukee] a ransom for many."
[17] Mark 3:4 "And he said unto them, is it lawful on the Sabbath day to do good, or to do harm? To save a LIFE [life-soul-psukee], or to kill? But they held their peace."
[18] Luke 6:9 "And Jesus said unto them, I ask you, Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good, or to do harm? To save a LIFE [life-soul-psukee], or to destroy it?" "Kill" and "destroy" are used interchangeably. The translators would not translate psukee into "soul" in this passage for it would then say the soul could be killed or destroyed.
[19] Luke 9:56 "For the Son of man is not come to destroy men's LIVES [life-soul-psukee], but to save them. And they went to another village" King James Version. This is not in the American Standard Version, and others for it is not in many Greek Manuscripts, but there is nothing about an immortal part of a person in it.
[20-21-22-23] Luke 12:19-23 "And I will say to my soul [life-soul-psukee], Soul [life-soul-psukee], you have much goods laid up for many years; take your ease, eat, drink, be merry. 20 But God said unto him, You foolish one, this night is your soul [life-soul-psukee] required of you; and the things which you have prepared, whose shall they be? 21 So is he that lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God. 22 And he said unto his disciples, therefore, I say unto you, be not anxious for your LIFE [life-soul-psukee], what you shall eat; nor yet for your body, what you shall put on. 23 For the LIFE [life-soul-psukee] is more than the food, and the body than the raiment." In this passage they found it necessary to translate psukee into both soul and life, for the soul cannot eat or use a raiment. "You fool! This very night your LIFE [life-soul-psukee] is being demanded of you" New Revised Standard Version. His life [psukee] was demanded. "So it is with those who store up treasures for themselves but are not rich toward God." It will be their life [psukee] that will be demanded of them. Nothing is said about an immortal part of a person that will be forever tormented. In this passage psukee does the things that only this earthly body can do, things that an immortal no substance soul could not do. "And I will say to my soul [psukee], Soul [psukee], you have much goods laid up for many years; take your ease, eat, drink" [Luke 12:19]. An immortal no substance soul could not use the much earthly goods laid up for many years. Can anyone not see how foolish this passage would be if it were speaking of an immortal soul that has no body and no substance but was using the earthly goods it has lain up? Can a soul that has no earthly body eat, drink, or use any earthly goods?
• "And I'll say to myself [psukee], 'You [psukee] have plenty of good things laid up for many years'" New International Version
• "I will say to myself [psukee], 'You [psukee] have plenty of good things laid by'" The Revised English Bible
• Then I can say to myself [psukee], 'I [psukee] have enough good things stored'" New Century Version
[24] Luke 14:26 "If any man comes unto me, and hate not his own father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own LIFE [life-soul-psukee] also, he cannot be my disciple."
[25-26] Luke 17:33 "Whosoever shall seek to gain his LIFE [life-soul-psukee] shall lose it: but whosoever shall lose his LIFE [soul - psukee] shall preserve it."
[27-28-29] John 10:11 "I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd lays down his LIFE [life-soul-psukee] for the sheep. 12 He that is a hireling, and not a shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, beholds the wolf coming, and leaves the sheep, and flees, and the wolf snatches them, and scatters [them]: 13 [he flees] because he is a hireling, and cares not for the sheep. 14 I am the good shepherd; and I know mine own, and mine own know me, 15 even as the Father knows me, and I know the Father; and I lay down my LIFE [life-soul-psukee] for the sheep. 16 And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice: and they shall become one flock, one shepherd. 17 Therefore, the Father loves me, because I lay down my LIFE [life-soul-psukee], that I may take it again." An immortal soul, as taught today cannot die; therefore, the translators could not say Christ gave up His immortal soul; He gives His life, not an immortal soul.
[30-31] John 12:25 "He that loves his LIFE [life-soul-psukee] shall lose it; and he that hates his LIFE [life-soul-psukee] in this world shall keep it unto life eternal." Who ever puts this life first shall lose his life, but who ever put God first shall live after the judgment. Those who do not put God first will lose their psukee (life). If psukee is an immortal soul that can never die, it could not be lost.
[32] John 15:13 "Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his LIFE [life-soul-psukee] for his friends." Not even those who believe a person has an immortal soul believe Christ lay down his immoral soul, they do not believe an immoral soul can be dead. He did lay down His life for us.
[33-34] John 13:37 "Peter said unto him, Lord, why cannot I follow you even now? I will lay down my LIFE [life-soul-psukee] for you. 38 Jesus answered, will you lay down your LIFE [life-soul-psukee] for me? Verily, verily, I say unto you, the cock shall not crow, till you have denied me thrice." "Lay down" means "to give up," "to die." It was Peter that was to give up his life [psukee] for Christ. If psukee is an immortal soul that can never die, Peter could not have given it up.
[35] Acts 3:23 "And it shall be, that every soul [life-soul-psukee] that shall not hearken to that prophet, shall be utterly destroyed from among the people." An immortal soul utterly destroyed! How could God say any stronger that whatever the peukee is [life-soul-person] can and will be utterly destroyed?
• "And it will be that everyone [life-soul-psukee]" New Revised Standard Version
• "Anyone [life-soul-psukee] who does not listen to him" New International Version
• "For anyone [psukee] who refuses to listen to that prophet" The Revised English Bible
[36] Acts 15:24 "Forasmuch as we have heard that certain who went out from us have troubled you with words, subverting your souls [life-soul-psukee]."
• "Your minds" New Revised Standard Version
• "Troubling your minds" New International Version
• "Unsettled your minds" The Revised English Bible
[37] Acts 15:26 "Men that have hazarded their LIVES [life-soul-psukee] for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ." An immortal part of a person that could not die could not be hazarded.
[38] Acts 20:9-10 "And there sat in the window a certain young man named Eutychus, borne down with deep sleep; and as Paul discoursed yet longer, being borne down by his sleep he fell down from the third story, and was taken up DEAD. 10 And Paul went down, and fell on him, and embracing him said, Make you no ado; for his LIFE [life-soul-psukee] is in him." He was dead, but Paul restored his earthly life that was dead from the fall, not an immortal soul that the fall could not have killed.
[39] Acts 20:24 "But I hold not my LIFE [life-soul-psukee] of any account as dear unto myself." The translators would not say he held his immortal soul to be of no account. To use soul in this passage would not teach what they believed, therefore, they did not use it.
[40] Acts 27:10 "And said unto them, Sirs, I perceive that the voyage will be with injury and much loss, not only of the lading and the ship, but also of our LIVES [life-soul-psukee]." No one will lose an immortal soul in a shipwreck. It can be seen how the translators picked when they wanted psukee to be a soul and when they wanted it to be life.
[41] Acts 27:22 "And now I exhort you to be of good cheer; for there shall be no loss of LIFE [life-soul-psukee] among you, but (only of the ship)." This could not be translated souls for then souls would have been lost just as the ship was lost by a storm, and we are told by those who believe we have an immortal soul that souls are lost by sin and they cannot be lost by a storm. Both their life and the ship could have been lost in this storm but not an immortal soul.
[42] Romans 16:4 "Who for my LIFE [life-soul-psukee] laid down their own necks."
[43] Romans 11:3 "Lord, they have killed your prophets, they have dug down your altars; and I am left alone, and they seek my LIFE [life-soul-psukee]." They were seeking his earthly life to kill, just as they had the prophets, not something that did not have any substance, not something that they could not see or kill.
[44] Philippians 1:27 "With one MIND [life-soul-psukee] striving together for the faith."
Philippians 2:30 "Because for the work of Christ he came nigh unto death, hazarding his LIFE [life-soul-psukee] to supply that which was lacking in your service toward me." Did he hazard his immortal soul; and his soul, which cannot die came nigh unto death even if it could not die?
1 Thessalonians 2:8 "We were well pleased to impart unto you, not the gospel of God only, but also our own souls [life-soul-psukee]." They were pleased to impart the gospel to them even at the cost of their own lives, not impart the gospel to them even at the cost of their immortal souls.
• "But also our own selves [psukee]" New Revised Standard Version
• "But our lives [psukee] as well" New International Version
• "Our very lives [psukee]" The New American Bible
• "Our very selves [psukee]" The Revised English Bible
• "Our own lives [psukee]" New Century Version
1 Peter 2:11 "Beloved, I beseech you as sojourners and pilgrims, to abstain from fleshly lust, which war against the soul [life-soul-psukee]."
Hebrews 10:39 "But we are not of them that shrink back unto perdition; but of them that have faith unto the saving of the soul [life-soul-psukee]."
• "But among those who have faith and so are saved" New Revised Standard Version.
• "But of those who believe and are saved" New International Version.
• "We have the faith to preserve our life [psukee]" The Revised English Bible.
James 5:19-20 "My brethren, if any among you err from the truth, and one converts him; 20 let him know, that he who converts a sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul [life-soul-psukee] from death, and shall cover a multitude of sins." If the sinner is not converted, his soul [psukee] will not be saved from death. Many read "Hell" ["shall save a soul from Hell"] into this in the place of "death." The only way to get "save a soul from Hell" into the Bible is by reading Hell in where it is not is.
• "Will save him [psukee] from death" New International Version. The whole person will be saved from death, not just a part of the person that could not be dead.
[45-46] 1 John 3:16 "Hereby know we love, because he laid down his LIFE [life-soul-psukee] for us: and we should lay down our LIVES [life-souls-psukee] for the brethren." Can we lay down our immortal souls for the brethren? Christ lay down His life for us, and we should be willing to lay down our life for our brethren. If this were an immortal part of a person, we would be told to do something that it would not be possible for us to do.
[47] Revelation 6:9 "Souls [life-soul-psukee]...slain"
[48] Revelation 8:9 "And there died the third part...that had LIFE" [life-soul-psukee]
[49] Revelation 12:11 "Loved not their LIFE [life-soul-psukee] even unto death"
[50] Revelation 16:3 "Every living soul [life-soul-psukee] died" [In the sea, all fish died]. Can anyone tell me why the translators, who believed the soul could not die and do not believe fish have a soul, put "ever living soul died" in this passage? "And every living thing [life-soul-psukee] in the sea died" New American Standard Bible.
[51] Revelation 20:4 "The souls [life-soul-psukee] of them that had been beheaded"

[2] PASSAGES WITH PSUKEE USED
REFERRING TO PARTS OF THE HUMAN BODY,
THAT IN SOME WAY CONNECT
THE SPIRIT [pneuma] TO THE HUMAN MIND
1. Acts 14:2 "And made their minds [life-soul-psukee] evil affected" King James Version. The Gentiles were turned against the brothers in this life, not against immortal inter parts of the brothers.
o "And poisoned their minds [psukee] against the brothers" New International Version
2. "But my mind [pneuma] could not rest because I did not find my brother Titus there" [2 Corinthians 2:13] New Revised Standard Version.
3. Hebrews 12:3 "Lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds [life-soul-psukee]" King James Version.
4. "Because his spirit [pneuma] has been refreshed by you all" [2 Corinthians 7:13].
o "Because his mind [pneuma] has been set at rest by all of you" New Revised Standard Version
o "You have all helped to set his mind [pneuma] completely at rest" Revised English Bible
5. "And that you be renewed in the spirit [pneuma] of your mind" [Ephesians 4:23]. Even in the theology of today, what is “the spirit of you mind”?
o "To be made new in the attitude [pneuma] of your mind" New International Version
6. "And that you be renewed in the spirit [pneuma] of your mind" [Ephesians 4:23].
o "To be made new in the attitude [pneuma] of your mind" New International Version
7. Matthew 22:37 "And he said unto him, you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul [life-soul-psukee], and with all your mind." Mark 12:30 "And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul [life-soul-psukee], and with all your mind, and with all your strength."
8. "Blessed are the poor in spirit [pneuma]" [Matthew 5:3]. Poor in a no substance immortal spirit?
9. Mark 12:33 "And to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the strength [life-soul-psukee] [soul in King James Version], and to love his neighbor as himself, is more than all whole burnt-offerings and sacrifices." Luke 10:27 "And he answering said, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul [life-soul-psukee], and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as thyself."
o In the parallel passages in Mark and Luke, the same word [psukee] is translated "strength" in one and "soul" in the other.
10. 2 Corinthians 12:15 "Will most gladly spend and be spent for you [life-soul-psukee]" King James Version.
11. "For though absent in body, I am present in spirit [pneuma]" [Colossians 2:5]. Was his immortal spirit in one place and his body was in another while he was alive? If so, then the immortal spirit can leave the body when it wants to and the body can live without it, but James tells us that the body without the spirit is dead [James 2:26]. Was Paul’s body dead for a time while his spirit was gone to be at Colossae? No, he was saying he was with them in his thoughts and heart, not that an immortal spirit had left his body, went to Colossae, and returned.
12. Colossians 3: 23 "Whatsoever you do, work heartily [life-soul-psukee], as unto the Lord." Whatsoever you do, work soul [pneuma], as unto the Lord?
13. "Walked we not in the same spirit [pneuma]? Walked we not in the same steps?" [2 Corinthians 12:18]. Did they all have only one immortal soul or spirit?
14. "Restore such a one in a spirit [pneuma] of gentleness" [Galatians 6:1].
15. "May give unto you a spirit [pneuma] of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him" [Ephesians 1:17]. Would they not have already had an immortal soul; if another one was given to them would they have two?
16. Ephesians 6:6 "Not in the way of eye service, as men pleasers; but as servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart [life-soul-psukee]." "Doing the will of God from an immortal soul"?
17. "That you stand fast in one spirit [pneuma]" [Philippians 1:27].
18. "A meek and quiet spirit [pneuma]" [1 Peter 3:4].
[3] PASSAGES WITH PSUKEE
USED REFERRING A NUMBER OF PEOPLE
In Old English, and even today souls is used to mean persons or life. A newspaper reporting a shipwreck in which fifty people drown would say, "Fifty souls were lost." People were called “souls” about twenty-five times in the King James Version but this has been changed in many translations.
1. Acts 2:41-43 "They then that received his word were baptized: and there were added [unto them] in that day about three thousand souls [psukee - person]. And they continued steadfastly in the apostles' teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of bread and the prayers. And fear came upon every soul [psukee-every person]: and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles."
• "About three thousand persons [psukee]" New Revised Standard Version
• "About three thousand people [psukee]" Today's English Version
• "About three thousand were added to their number" New International Version
• "Three thousand were added to the number of believers" Revised English Bible
• "About three thousand people [psukee] were added to the number of believers" New Century Version
• "Three thousand were added that day" New American Bible
• "About 3,000 in all" The Living Bible
• "About 3,000 people [psukee] were added" Simple English Bible
• "About three thousand people [psukee] were added" Good News For Modern Man.
o Some translations leave psukee out, just as we would say, "Three thousand persons were saved," or "Three thousand were saved"
• "And fear came upon every soul [life-soul-psukee]." [Acts 2:43 King James Version]. "Everyone" New American Standard Version, New Revised Standard Version, New International Version
2. Acts 7:14 "And Joseph sent, and called to him Jacob his father, and all his kindred, threescore and fifteen souls [life-soul-psukee]."
• "And all his relatives to come to him, seventy-five in all" New Revised Standard Version.
• "And his whole family, seventy-five in all" New International Version
• "Seventy-five person in all [psukee]" New American Bible
• "Seventy-five person in all [psukee]" Revised English Bible
3. Acts 27:37 "And we were in all in the ship two hundred threescore and sixteen souls [life-soul-psukee]." Also Acts 27:10; 27:22.
• "Two hundred seventy-six persons [psukee]" New Revised Standard Version
• "Two hundred and seventy-six of us [psukee]" Revised English Bible
4. 1 Peter 3:19-20 "In which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison, that aforetime were disobedient, when the long suffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls [life-soul-psukee], were saved through water."
• "Eight persons [psukee] were brought safely through the water" New American Standard Bible
• "Eight persons [psukee] were saved through water" New Revised Standard Version.
• "In it only a few people [psukee], eight in all" New International Version
• "A few persons [psukee], eight in all" New American Bible
5. Matthew 11:29 "You shall find rest unto your souls [life-soul-psukee]."
• "You will find rest for your lives [psukee]." New Century Version
6. Luke 1:46 "And Mary said, my soul [life-soul-psukee] does magnify the Lord."
7. Luke 2:35 "Yea and a sword shall pierce through your own soul [life-soul-psukee]."
• "And you [psukee] too will be pierced to the heart" Revised English Bible
8. Luke 21:19 "In your patience you shall win your souls [life-soul-psukee]."
• "By standing firm you will save yourselves [psukee]" New International Version
• "By patient endurance you will save your lives [psukee]" New American Bible
• "By standing firm you will win yourselves life [psukee]" Revised English Bible
9. John 10:24 "The Jews therefore came round about him, and said unto him, how long do you hold us [life-soul-psukee] in suspense?" This has a reference to suspense in this life, not to suspense in life after death; they were being held in suspense then, not after death.
10. Acts 4:32 "And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and soul [life-soul-psukee]...they had all things common." They were all united, but were not all one immortal being; not one immortal soul with many bodies.
• "All the believers were one in heart and mind [psukee]" New International Version.
11. Acts 14:22 "Confirming the souls [life-soul-psukee] of the disciples, exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that through many tribulations we must enter into the kingdom of God."
12. Romans 2:9 "Tribulation and anguish, upon every soul [life-soul-psukee] of man that works evil."
• "There will be anguish and distress for everyone" [psukee] New Revised Standard Version
• "There will be trouble and distress for every human being [psukee]" New International Version
• "Anguish will come upon every man [psukee]" New American Bible
• "For every human being [psukee]" Revised English Bible
13. Romans 13:1 "Let every soul [life-soul-psukee] be in subjection to the higher powers." Every immortal soul subject to world governments?
• "Let every person [psukee]" New Revised Standard Version
• "Let everyone [psukee]" New American Bible
• "Every person [psukee]" Revised English Bible
14. 1 Corinthians 15:45 "So also it is written, the first man Adam became a living soul [life-soul-psukee]. The last Adam [became] a life-giving spirit.
• "The first man, Adam, became a living being [psukee]" New Revised Standard Version
• "The first man Adam became a living being [psukee]" New International Version
• "Adam, became a living creature [psukee]" Revised English Bible
15. 2 Corinthians 1:23 "But I call God for a witness upon my soul [life-soul-psukee], that to spare you I come no more unto Corinth."
• "But I call on God as witness against me [psukee]" New Revised Standard Version
16. 1 Thessalonians 5:23 "And the God of peace himself sanctify you wholly; and may your spirit and soul [life-soul-psukee] and body be preserved entire, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ."
17. Hebrews 4:12 "For the word of God is living, and active, and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing even to the dividing of soul [life-soul-psukee] and spirit."
18. Hebrews 6:19 "Which we have as an anchor of the soul [life-soul-psukee]."
• "We have that hope as an anchor for our lives" [psukee]" Revised English Bible
19. Hebrews 13:17 "For they watch in behalf of your souls [life-soul-psukee]
• "They keep watch over you [psukee]" New International Version
20. James 1:21 "Receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls [life-soul-psukee]."
• "Which can save you [psukee]" New International Version
• "With its power to save you [psukee]" Revised English Bible
21. 1 Peter 1:9 "Receiving the end of your faith, [even] the salvation of [your] souls [life-soul-psukee]."
• "Your [psukee] salvation" New American Bible
22. 1 Peter 1:22 "Seeing you have purified your souls [life-soul-psukee] in your obedience to the truth."
• "Now that you have purified yourselves [psukee]" New International Version
• "You have purified yourselves [psukee]" New American Bible
23. 1 Peter 2:25 "For you were going astray like sheep; but are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls [life-soul-psukee]."
24. 1 Peter 4:19 "Wherefore let them also that suffer according to the will of God commit their souls [life-soul-psukee] in well-doing unto a faithful Creator."
• "Trust themselves [psukee] to a faithful Creator" New Revised Standard Version
• "Entrust their lives [psukee] to a faithful Creator" New American Bible
25. 2 Peter 2:8 "For that righteous man dwelling among them, in seeing and hearing, vexed [his] righteous soul [life-soul-psukee] from day to day with [their] lawless deeds."
• "Felt himself [psukee] tormented by seeing and hearing about the lawless deeds." New American Bible
26. 2 Peter 2:14 "Enticing un-steadfast souls [life-soul-psukee] having a heart exercised in covetousness; children of cursing."
• "They seduce the unstable" New International Version
27. 26. 3 John 2 "Beloved, I pray that in all things you may prosper and be in health, even as your soul [life-soul-psukee] prospers."
[4] PASSAGES WITH PSUKEE
APPLIED TO GOD OR CHRIST.
1. Matthew 12:18 "Behold, my servant whom I have chosen; my beloved in whom my soul [life-soul-psukee] is well pleased."
• "My loved one in whom I [psukee] delight" New American Bible
• "My beloved, in whom I [psukee] take delight" Revised English Bible
2. Matthew 26:38 "Then said he unto them, My soul [life-soul-psukee] is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death: abide you here, and watch with me." Mark 14:34 "And he said unto them, My soul [life-soul-psukee] is exceeding sorrowful even unto death: abide you here, and watch."
• "Then he said to them, 'I [psukee] am deeply grieved, even to death'" Matthew 26:38 New Revised Standard Version
• "My heart [psukee] is nearly broken with sorrow" New American Bible
• "My heart [psukee] is ready to break with grief" Revised English Bible
3. Matthew 20:28 "Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life [life-soul-psukee] a ransom for many." Mark 10:45 "For the Son of man also came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life [life-soul-psukee] a ransom for many."
4. John 10:11 "I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd lays down his life [life-soul-psukee] for the sheep. 12 He that is a hireling, and not a shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, beholds the wolf coming, and leaves the sheep, and flees, and the wolf snatches them, and scatters [them]: 13 [he flees] because he is a hireling, and cares not for the sheep. 14 I am the good shepherd; and I know mine own, and mine own know me, 15 even as the Father knows me, and I know the Father; and I lay down my life [life-soul-psukee] for the sheep. 16 And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice: and they shall become one flock, one shepherd. 17 Therefore, the Father loves me, because I lay down my life [life-soul-psukee], that I may take it again." An immortal soul, as taught today, cannot die; therefore, the translators could not say Christ gave up His immortal soul. He gives His life, not an immortal soul.
5. John 12:27 "Now is my soul [life-soul-psukee] troubled; and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour."
• "Now my heart is troubled" New International Version.
6. Acts 2:27 "Because you will not leave my soul [life-soul-psukee] unto Hades, neither will you give your Holy One to see corruption."
• "You will not abandon me [psukee] to the grave" New International Version
• "You will not abandon me [psukee] to death" Revised English Bible
7. Acts 2:31 "He foreseeing [this] spoke of the resurrection of the Christ, that neither was he [life-soul-psukee] left unto Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption."
• The same word is translated "soul" in Acts 2:27 and "he" in Acts 2:31 in the King James Version
8. Hebrews 10:38 "But my righteous one shall live by faith: And if he shrink back, my soul [life-soul-psukee] has no pleasure in him." In these passages psukee, which is translate soul or life, refers to God or Christ.
• "And if he shrinks back, I [psukee] will not be pleased with him" New International Version
• "And if he draws back I [psukee] take no pleasure in him" New American Bible
• "But if anyone shrinks back, I [psukee] take no pleasure in him" Revised English Bible
[5] PASSAGES WITH PSUKEE (soul)
USED IN SYMBOLIC LANGUAGE.
For notes on these see chapter eight. Those who believe in the Pagan doctrine of an immortal soul from birth and Hell have no plain easily understood non-figurative statement. That they must make figurative language, metaphors and symbolic passage into literal statements SHOWS THE WEAKNESS OF THEIR BELIEF, that it is from man and not from God. Figurative language and parables are made to be superior over plain statements, and clear language must be made to agree with what they think is said in the symbolic language.
1. Revelation 6:9 "And when he opened the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar the souls [life-soul-psukee] of them that had been slain for the word of God." See chapter eight - the fifth seal - souls under the altar in heaven - a symbolic picture.
2. Revelation 8:9 "And there died the third part of the creatures which were in the sea, [even] they that had life [life-soul-psukee]; and the third part of the ships were destroyed." A third of the immortal undying souls died? Are immortal souls, as the word is used today, in the sea? Do fish have an immortal soul?
3. Revelation 12:11 "And they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb, and because of the word of their testimony; and they loved not their life [life-soul-psukee] even unto death." If this symbolic passage were made literal, it would say the soul [psukee] does die.
4. Revelation 16:3 "And the second poured out his bowl into the sea; and it became blood as of a dead man; and every living soul [life-soul-psukee] died, [even] the things that were in the sea." If made literal, this symbolic passage says living souls are the things that are in the sea. Every "living creature" fish in the sea are "souls [psukee]" that died. When will all the fish in the sea literally die?
• "And every living thing [psukee] in the sea died" New International Version
• "And every creature [psukee] living in the sea died" New American Bible
• "And every living thing [psukee] in it died" Revised English Bible
5. Revelation 18:13-14 "And cinnamon, and spice, and incense, and ointment, and frankincense, and wine, and oil, and fine flour, and wheat, and cattle, and sheep; and [merchandise] of horses and chariots and slaves; and souls [life-soul-psukee] of men. And the fruits which your soul [life-soul-psukee] lusted after are gone from thee." If there were an immaterial part of a person, could it lust after material things? Will an immortal soul be slaves in Heaven or any other place?
• "Slaves, and human lives [psukee]" Revised English Bible.
6. Revelation 20:4 "And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and [I saw] the souls [life-soul-psukee] of them that had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus, and for the word of God, and such as worshiped not the beast, neither his image, and received not the mark upon their forehead and upon their hand; and they lived ["came to life" New American Standard Version, New Revised Standard Version], and reigned with Christ a thousand years." "The rest of the dead lived not until ..." ["did not come to life" New American Standard Version, New Revised Standard Version] Revelation 20:5. Some immortal souls "came to life" and some "lived not." If the soul cannot die, it cannot come to life and if it cannot die, then all souls live and none can "lived not." This passage is a real problem when taken literal.
• Five of the six times psukee is used in Revelation, is something that can and does die.
1. Revelation 6:9 "Souls [life-soul-psukee]...slain"
2. Revelation 8:9 "And there died the third part...that had life" [life-soul-psukee]
3. Revelation 12:11 "Loved not their life [life-soul-psukee] even unto death"
4. Revelation 16:3 "Every living soul [life-soul-psukee] died" [In the sea, all fish died]. Can anyone tell me why the translators, who believed the soul could not die and do not believe fish have a soul, put "ever living soul died" in this passage? "And every living thing [life-soul-psukee] in the sea died" New American Standard Bible.
5. Revelation 20:4 "The souls [life-soul-psukee] of them that had been beheaded"
THE SOUL IS THE EARTHLY IMAGE OF ADAM
A "LIVING SOUL" IS THE "NATURAL BODY"
Psukikos: natural [earthly].
• "The NATURAL (psukikos - man)" [1 Corinthians 2:4]
• "A NATURAL (psukikos - body)" [1 Corinthians 15:44]
• "There is a NATURAL (psukikos - body)" [1 Corinthians 15:44]
• "That which is NATURAL (psukikos)" [1 Corinthians 15:46]
The soul or the spirit is not the spiritual body that we will have after the resurrection.
WE ARE NOW A LIVING SOUL WHICH IS IN THE IMAGE OF ADAM
1 Corinthians 15 [1] NATURAL BODY verse 44,46 WE NOW HAVE
ADAM [2] A LIVING SOUL verse 45 ADAM'S
[3] EARTHLY verse 47 IMAGE verse 49
WE WILL BE A SPIRITUAL BODY WHICH WILL BE IN THE IMAGE OF CHRIST
[1] SPIRITUAL BODY verse 45 WE WILL HAVE
CHRIST [2] LIFE GIVING SPIRIT verse 46 CHRIST'S IMAGE
[3] HEAVENLY verse 48 verse 49
"NATURAL" in verse 46 is used in place of "A LIVING SOUL" in verse 45, and ARE THE SAME THING. We now have Adam's image [a living soul-a living being, a natural being of this earth], but we will have the image of Christ [a spiritual body].
"For our citizenship is in heaven; whence also we wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ: who shall fashion anew the body of our humiliation, that it may be conformed to the body of His glory" [Philippians 2:20-21 American Standard Version] "change" King James Version "transform" New American Standard Version.
"Beloved, now are we children of God, and it is not yet made manifest what we shall be [what a spiritual body is composed of]. We know that, if he shall be manifested, we shall be like him; [have a spiritual body, be of the same substance] for we shall see him even as he is" [1 John 3:2].
"For in the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but ARE AS ANGELS IN HEAVEN" [Matthew 22:30]. "For when they shall rise from the dead, they neither marry, nor are given in marriage; but are as angels in heaven" [Mark 12:26].
The image of Christ, the spiritual bodies we will have after the resurrection is not an earthly body in the image of Adam. We are now a soul [living being] in the image of Adam, but we will not be a soul [living being] in the image of Adam after the resurrection. All animals are souls [living beings-Hebrew nehphesh-Greek psukee] but they will never have a spiritual body.
In commenting on "the natural man" in 1 Corinthians 2:14, Guy N. Woods said, "...the soulish man, since the adjective 'natural' translates a form of the Greek word for soul, which may be expressed in English as psychical. Thus, this usage is supported by etymology and required by the context. See, especially, Paul's teaching in 1 Corinthians 1:18-28 and 2:6-16." Gospel Advocate, 1985, November 21.
"Natural" is translated from "psuchikos." Psuchikos is the adjective form of psukee is used six times in the New Testament.
1. "But the natural [psuchikos-soulish] man received not" [1 Corinthians 2:14].
2. "It is sown a natural [psuchikos-soulish] body, it is raised a spiritual body" [1 Corinthians 15:44].
3. "There is a natural [psuchikos-soulish] body, there is also a spiritual body" [1 Corinthians 15:44].
4. "Howbeit that is not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural [psuchikos-soulish]; than that which is spiritual" [1 Corinthians 15:46].
5. "But it is earthly, sensual [psuchikos-soulish], devilish" [James 3:15]."Natural" in the New American Standard Bible.
6. "These are they who made separations, sensual [psuchikos-soulish], having not the Spirit" [Jude 19]. "These are the men who divide you, who follow mere natural [psuchikos-soulish] instincts and do not have the Spirit" New International Version.
The adjective form of a noun never has a meaning that is totally different from the meaning of the noun. Both the noun [psukee] and the adjective [psuchikos] are the earthly, natural (soulish) person, the image of Adam. If I believed the psukee [soul] was an immaterial invisible part of a person, then I would hope no one would ever see its adjective form in the above six passages.
A living soul, the earthly being in the image of Adam will be changed to a spiritual body in the image of Christ at the resurrection.
• Sown in corruption - raised in incorruption [1 Corinthians 15:42].
• This mortal - must put on immortality [1 Corinthians 15:53].
• Sown in dishonor - raised in glory [1 Corinthians 15:42].
• Sown in weakness - raised in power [1 Corinthians 15:43].
• Sown a natural body (flesh and blood) - raised a spiritual body [1 Corinthians 15:44].
• First (now) the natural - then that, which is spiritual [1 Corinthians 15:44-49].
• The first Adam a living soul - the last Adam (Christ) a life giving spirit [1 Corinthians 15:45].
• As we bare the image of the earthy (Adam) - we shall bare the image of the heavenly (Christ) [1 Corinthians 15:49].
• Image of Adam is the earthy soul (psukee – body). Image of heavenly - Christ, the spiritual body [1 Corinthians 15:49].
This change from the image of Adam's natural soul body to the spiritual body in the image of Christ, from mortal to immortal, will occur at the Resurrection, not at death. No one now has the spiritual body, not anyone that is now alive or anyone that is now asleep in Christ.
If a person has a soul that is now immortal, it cannot be mortal; therefore, it cannot put on immortality. What do some think is now mortal and will put on immortality? If a person has a soul that is now immortal, it could only be the body that will put on immortality. It is the person that will put on immortality at the resurrection, not a part of a person that was immortal from birth that could never be mortal. "And just as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly" [1 Corinthians 15:49]. “There shall be a resurrection both of the just and unjust” [Acts 24:14]. When Paul said this many believers had died but their resurrection was still a thing to come, not something that had already came at their death.
Summary: a "living soul" is the earthly body of flesh and blood in the image of adam, not the "spiritual body" which will be in the image of Christ. There is a difference in "a living soul," which we now are; and a "spiritual body," which we will be after the resurrection but are not at this time. The "living soul," being, life, or creature that is in the "image of Adam" is not the "spiritual body" ["image of Christ"] that we will have. This clearly says after the resurrection, we will not be a "living soul," but changed to a "spiritual body"; therefore, a "living soul" and the "spiritual body" are different things. One ("The living soul”) belongs to this life; the other (a "spiritual body") will belong to life after the resurrection. They are opposite to each other; a person cannot be both simultaneously. Many preachers today say, "Save you soul" which is saying, "Save your 'image of Adam,'" or, "Save your earthly flesh and blood body." While we are a "living soul," we cannot be a "spiritual body." After the resurrection, when we shall have been changed to a "spiritual body," we will no longer be a "living soul," no longer be an earthly creature in the image of Adam. If the "living soul"was an immortal part of a person that would live forever, that person would always have the image of Adam, not the image of Christ. Can anyone have the image of Adam in heaven? No. We are a "living soul" only while we are alive in this world; in heaven we will have a "spiritual body" and will not be a soul. Adam was, and we now are "a living soul-being"; but Adam did not, and we do not have an immortal "spiritual body" [not unto the resurrection 1 Corinthians 15:53].
• "It is sown a natural body: it is raised a spiritual body" ["Greek physical" body: Footnote in American Standard Version].
• "It is sown a physical body" [1 Corinthians 15:44]. "The dead shall be raised incorruptible" [1 Corinthians 15:52].
Paul could not have said any stronger that we will be raised "a spiritual body" [1 Corinthians 15:44] "incorruptible" [1 Corinthians 15:52], not with the physical body we now have. The physical body is the "living soul" body we now have and it is not the body that will be raised. If we are raised with a body that is a spiritual body and is incorruptible, we could not at the same time be raised with an earthly body that is a corruptible body. McCord's translation, printed by Freed-Hardeman College says, "And the dead shall be raised immortal" [1 Corinthians 15:53]. Paul said that at the time those who are asleep in Christ shall be raised incorruptible, that we who are not asleep shall "be changed" [1 Corinthians 15:51]. All will be raised from the dead at the resurrection, and those in Christ will have a new body not of flesh. We will not be a "living soul" after the resurrection. The "soul" [the image of Adam], which many say we must save for they think it is the only part of us that will be in heaven, will not exist then; therefore, it is not a part of us that will be in heaven. It is our whole self that we must save, not just an "immaterial invisible" inter part of our self. We will not have the image of Adam, the earthly "living soul," in heaven. We will not be a soul in the image of Adam as we are now, but we, will be the same person we now are. How is it that many cannot see that when they say "save your soul" they are saying "keep the image of Adam" [the earthly body]? Do they want to be raised with an earthy body in the image of Adam or the spiritual body in the image of Christ? “And as we have borne the image of the earthy (now in this life time we are a psukikos – a living being in the image of the earthy Adam) we SHALL also bear the image of the heavenly” [1 Corinthians 15:49]. We are born a soul – a living being, but the saved will be resurrected a spiritual being in the image of Christ and will not have the earthly image of Adam after the resurrection.
There are many, the Church of God, many Premillennialists and others that believe the earthly body, the image of Adam, will be raised and we will live on this earth forever, not in Heaven, that the earthly body will restored to be like Adam before he sinned. I know of no passage that says Adam's body was different before and after he sinned, but even if his body was different the rest of mankind never had the body Adam had before he sinned, therefore, all but Adam would have to be raised with a body different from this body we now have. There is a mountain of writing on how God will be able to restore the same body with the same particles of matter it now has. All the particles of matter in our bodies are completely changed every few years; all the matter that has been in the body of a person that lives to be old would be enough to make many bodies, it would be a mountain of matter.
T. P Connelly, in The Connelly Field Debate says, "The resurrection is, therefore, a reunion of spirit and matter, and this being true, the same particles of matter in the same body are no more necessary in order to a reunion, than that the same particles should remain at all times the same here to perpetuate the union."
Then is would be the spirit coming back from Heaven or Hell and creating a new earthly body, not a resurrection of the body a person had when he or she was living, not a resurrection of anything, not a resurrection of the body we now have and not a resurrection of a soul that would not be dead. Because the natural body, the image of Adam, will not be raised, this mountain of writing is about nothing. I can understand why those in the Church Of God are concerned about what particles of matter the earthly body will be raised with, but he is an evangelist in the Christian Church, and I cannot understand why he thinks a soul which he thinks has no substance and will live forever in Heaven without this body must come back to earth and make itself a new body, but many who say they do not believe this body will ever be in Heaven think that we now have an immortal part that must put the earthly body it had left back on at the resurrection.
Synonyms for "soul" that are used in 1 Corinthians 15: earth, earthly [dust], corruption, natural body, mortal, image of Adam, flesh and blood.
How can death be a separation of body and soul when:
• The soul is the body, which is in the image of Adam?
• It is the soul, which is the earthly body in the image of Adam that dies.
• It would be a separation of the soul from the soul (the image of Adam from the image of Adam).
Mike Willis said a spiritual body is not an ethereal body any more than Christ's was a shadowy, ghostly, ethereal body. But rather, a spiritual body is a body that is suited for the spiritual world, which God has planned for mankind. He said just as certainly as there is a natural body, there will also be a spiritual body; and one is no more uncertain than the other, and just as certainly as we have a body adapted to life in the world we now live in, so also shall we have a body that will be adapted to life in the world to come. A Commentary On Paul's First Epistle To the Corinthians, 1979. He has clearly said the "spirit" he thinks we now have is not the "spiritual body" which we shall have in Heaven. The "spirit" could then only be a shadowy, ghostly, ethereal body, which he said Christ did not have. A spiritual body is not just a thin air, no substance, ghostly something; but we know not what. The soul is the natural body, the image of Adam, a living being, the earthy body that will die and cannot inherit the Kingdom of Heaven.
B. W. Johnson, Author of "People's New Testament With Notes" 1898: "'So also in the resurrection of the dead.' On earth there was a body adapted to earthly condition. At death that earthly body was 'sown' or planted in the earth. 'It is sown in corruption,' or subject, to corruption. 'It is raised in incorruption...It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body.' Our earthly bodies, like that of the earthly Adam, are of earth; the new body, 'the house not made with hands,' is in the image of the heavenly man, the glorified body of Jesus Christ, for 'as we have borne the image of the earthly, [a living soul-living being] so shall we also bear the image of the heavenly.' Then, to silence forever those who expect a sensual heaven in which they shall abide in the flesh eternally, he exclaims, 'Now, this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither does corruption inherit incorruption.' This, in its connection, can only have one meaning. Flesh and blood bodies [a living soul-living being], bodies made of corruptible earthly materials, are not compatible with a home in the world of redeemed and glorified spirits. The soul's tenement, if it has one, must be adapted to the new conditions of being. Are we then denied a body in the future state? By no means. I may not be able to understand the nature of that body, because I have never seen such an existence, but I can accept the statements of the word of God and believe that it is exactly fitted to the happy sphere of glorified existence. It 'is a building of God,' it is made 'as it has pleased him,' it is 'a spiritual body,' it is 'incorruptible,' it is 'immortal,' it is after the image of the heavenly man, and 'our vile bodies [a living soul-living being] are changed into the likeness of his glorified body.'" Page 413, 1891, "Christ and the Future Life" at: http://www.mun.ca/rels/restmov/texts/bjohnson/etc/CATFL.HTM
B. W. Johnson, "The first man, Adam, was made a living soul. Gen. 2:7. From him came our natural life. The last Adam, Christ, of whom Adam was a type. A quickening spirit. By giving life to the dead, and imparting spiritual existence. Howbeit that is not first which is spiritual. The first Adam came before the second Adam. The natural body, which proceeds from the first Adam is our tabernacle first; after this life comes the 'spiritual body,' which the second Adam gives. The first man is of the earth. Was fashioned out of the earth. Genesis 2:7. The second man is the Lord who came from heaven. As is the earthy. All have earthly bodies, like that of Adam. As is the heavenly. When we are raised to heaven we shall have spiritual bodies like Christ's." "People's New Testament With Notes" pages 124-125.
Carl Holladay, "To the first Adam, God gave the first physical body: Adam became a living being (Gen. 2:7). To the second Adam, or the last Adam, Christ, God gave the first spiritual body. Their essential difference (and the Greek makes this clear) is that the former was essentially life-receiving, whereas the latter was life-giving. It is this that renders one physical and the other spiritual. It was the last Adam upon whom, and within whom the Spirit of God dwelt; by raising him from the dead. God breathed into history a second breath of life, and vividly confirmed another mode of existence, which wholly transcended physical life: spiritual life. But, it succeeds the physical instead of replacing the physical: it is not the spiritual, which is first but the physical, and then the spiritual. Spiritual life is the hope which the resurrection of the last Adam confirmed and will eventually provide; it is inaccessible to those who are still in the physical body" "The First Letter of Paul to The Corinthians," Page 209, Abilene Christian University Press.
J. W. McGarvey, "The life principle of Adam is soul, and he was formed of the earth: the life principle of Christ is spiritual. He was in heaven (John 1:10 and from thence entered the world and became flesh (John 1:14; 3:13, 21; Phil. 2:6-8; John 1:1-3; Luke 1:35). Now, as the two heads differ, so do the two families, and each resembles it’s head; the earthly progeny of Adam having earthly natures, and the spiritual progeny of Christ having spiritual and heavenly natures. But in both families the earthly nature come first, and the spiritual children wait for their manifestation, which is the very thing about which the apostle has been talking, for it comes when they are raised from the dead (Rom. 8:29; 1 John 3:2; Rom. 8:22, 23; 2 Cor. 5:1-10)" Standard Bible Commentary, Page 158, 1916, Standard Publishing Company.
Dr. Lange, "The expression living soul, as used in Genesis, is often taken to indicate an order of being superior to the brute, and is the text of many an argument to prove the immortality of the soul. The incorrectness of this assumption will be readily seen by referring to Genesis 1:20, 21, 24, and elsewhere, in which passages the words translated 'living soul' are used referring to the entire lower creation. They are used indifferently of man and beast to express animal life in general; and it is in this light the apostle uses them as the very course of his argument shows. Adam is spoken of as a living soul, not to prove his immortality, but rather his mortality" Commentary on 1 Corinthians 15:45.
ELEVEN DEFINITIONS OF "SOUL"
AND EIGHTEEN DEFINITIONS OF "SPIRIT"
AS GIVEN BY VINE
"Vine's Complete Expository Dictionary Of Old And New Testament Words" by W. E. Vine is one of, if not the best and most used and accepted Lexicon in use. Therefore, I will use his definitions of "soul" and "spirit" as a standard work that is used to uphold the doctrine of an immortal soul.
[1] W. E. Vine on psukee [SOUL] Page 588
[a] The natural life of the body [a living soul-living being].
[b] The immaterial, invisible part of man, Matthew 10:28; Acts 2:27.
In the first two of his eleven definitions of soul, he makes the soul be both the natural body in the image of Adam and "the immaterial, invisible part of man." This is the common way of most that believe we have a part that is now immortal. Any passage with psukee-life-soul must be interpreted in a way that makes psukee be an immortal part of a person, and this is most of them for only a few can be made to say what they want them to say.
Of the 106 times psukee is used, he used only 4 of the 106 in [b and c].
Of the 288 times spirit-pnuma is used, he used only 8 of the 288 in [c and d]. According to his definitions, both soul and spirit are both an "immaterial, invisible part of man" in only 12 times in the 394 times that both soul and spirit are used; the other 382 are an earthly being. Matthew 10:28 says God can destroy the soul-psukee. In Acts 2:27 the soul (psukee-person) is in the grave un-resurrected. Neither says anything about an "immaterial, invisible part of man."
[c] The disembodied or "unclothed" or "naked" man, 2 Corinthians 5:3-4 and Revelation 6:9. "Disembodied" is not in 2 Corinthians 5:3-4, he added it. He clearly says soul and spirit are two different things, yet he applied "naked" to both the soul (psukee) and the spirit (pneuma), even though he made a distinction in the two. He says, "The language of Heb. 4:12 suggests the extreme difficulty of distinguishing between the soul and the spirit, alike in their nature and in their activities. Generally speaking, the spirit may be recognized as the life principle bestowed on man by God, the soul as the resulting life constituted in the individual, the body being the material organism animated by soul and spirit."
1. "The spirit may be recognized as the life principle bestowed on man from God"-W. E. Vine
2. "The body being the material organism"-W. E. Vine
3. "The soul as the resulting life" "[a] The natural life of the body" - W. E. Vine. Body + breath of life, spirit = a living being, a soul. This is true of both man and animals. The spirit - life principle came from God and returns to God [Ecclesiastes 12:7]. The soul is the breathing creature whether a person or animal. What does he think is the immortal PART of a person? The soul or spirit? He seems to say one (soul) at one time and the other (spirit) at another time.
[d] The seat of personality...explained as = "own self,"...the seat of the sentient element in man, that by which he perceives, reflects, fells, desires. [e] The seat of the sentient element in man, that by which he perceives, reflects, feels, desires. [f] The seat of will and purpose. [g] The seat of appetite. [h] Persons, individuals..."persons"..."anyone"...of dead bodies..."dead soul" and of animals. [i] The equivalent of the personal pronoun, used for emphasis and effect: 1st person, 2nd person, 3rd person. [j] An animate creature, human or other.
If the soul [pneuma] is "An animate creature, human or other" how is it that he thinks people have souls but animals do not?
He applies only two [b] and [c] in his list to what he thinks is an immortal soul. All the others [a, d, e, f, g, h, i, and j] are used referring to men and animals, not to an inter being that lives after the death of the person or animal.
The four passages Vine used
To prove we have an immortal, immaterial soul.
Vine used only four passages to prove a person has an immortal soul [Matthew 10:28; Acts 2:27; 2 Corinthians 5:3,4; Revelation 6:9]. All the other passages where soul-psukee refers to a person he applied to the earthly person, not an "immaterial, invisible part of a man."
[1]. Matthew 10:28: See Gehenna in chapter four, second occasion.
[2]. Acts 2:27: See hades in the New Testament in chapter six
[3]. 2 Corinthian 5:3-4: See below on his eight passages on spirit- [5]. W. E. VINE'S FIFTH PASSAGE “Longing to be clothed upon with our habitation which is from heaven.” He used this passage to prove we have both a soul and a spirit and both are “the immaterial, invisible part of a person.”
[4]. Revelation 6:9: Souls under the altar See chapter eight, part three. Not one of his four passages has immortal or immortality in them.
• Not one of the four says the soul cannot die.
• Not one of the four says the soul will live after the death of the body.
• Not one of the four says only a "part" of a person, only the no substance "immaterial, invisible part of man," will be in Heaven, and not the whole person.
[2] W. E. VINE ON PNEUMA [SPIRIT]
"Pneuma primarily denotes 'the wind' ['to breathe, blow']; also 'breath.'" W. E. Vine, Vine's Complete Expository Dictionary Of Old and New Testament Words, Page 593.
[Note: While they are men who have learned more than most on Bible words; and we can learn from them, they are still just as human, just as uninspired as other men are, just as subject to err and be wrong, they are still men and hold to such things as Calvinism: He says, "Adam died on the day he disobeyed God. Genesis 2:17, and hence all mankind are born in the same spiritual condition" W. E. Vine, Page 149, New Testament; and like the men who have made translations of the Bible, their views sometime show up in their work, intentional or unintentional; and we must not believe there can be no error in even the best lexicon or translations. They all have some, and no lexicon can be taken as law. McCord says they can be and are sometimes wrong. See "Lexicons Can Be Wrong" McCord, Guardian of Truth, Page 448, 1996]. In the early translations, one Greek word would be translated into many English words [an example-apollumi was translated into eight English words in the King James Version]. A Lexicon wrote later would give all eight English words as the meaning of the one Greek word. Lexicons sometimes define a Greek word more by the way that word is used in the English translations than that by the way it was used in the Greek New Testament, if the English translations translate it 8 or 10 different ways, the lexicons give 8 or 10 different meanings of the one Greek word. The question is, why did the early translations use many words to translate one word? By being able to translate one Greek word into many English words gives them the ability to make any verse not say something they did not want it to say. One word, nehphesh, is rendered with about forty-four different words in the King James Old Testament.
W. E. VINE'S EIGHTEEN WAYS "SPIRIT" IS USED: They are almost the same as his "soul" - see above. Of the eighteen ways Vine says the word "spirit" is used in the Bible, he says sixteen of them are not used with reference to an undying "immaterial, invisible part of man" [A through R]. C and D are the only two of the eighteen different ways he says spirit is used, which he used to prove a person is a two-fold being, and they do not do it. None of the passages he used say anything about an immortality soul.
1. Being not of this earth, God, Christ, Holy Spirit, angels, and other spirits both clean and unclean. [k] The Holy Spirit [m] Unclean spirits, demons. [n] Angels
2. To man. W. E. Vine lists a number of ways that "spirit" applies to man. [a] The wind [b] The breath [c] The immaterial, invisible part of man, Luke 8:55; Acts 7:59; 1 Corinthians 5:5; James 2:26. [d] The disembodied, or unclothed, or naked, 2 Corinthians 5:3, 4; Luke 24:37-39; Hebrews 12:23; 1 Peter 4:6 [e] The resurrection body [f] The sentient element in man, that by which he perceives, reflect, feels, desires [g] Purpose, aim [h] The equivalent of the personal pronoun, used for emphasis and effect [i] Character [j] Moral qualities and activities. Bad, As of bondage, As of a slave, Stupor, and Timidity, Good, As of adoption, liberty as of a son, Faith, Quietness, [l] 'The inward man,' an expression used only of the believer, The new life [o] Divine gift for service [p] By metonymy, those who claim to be depositories of these gifts [q] The significance, as contrasted with the form, of words, or of a rite [r] A vision.
W. E. Vine's gives eight passages in [c] and [d] to prove a person has in immortal part. [1] Luke 8:55; [2] Acts 7:59; [3] 1 Corinthians 5:5; [4] James 2:26; [5] 2 Corinthians 5:3-4; [6] Luke 24:37-39; [7] Hebrews 12:23; [8] 1 Peter 4:6
[1]. HIS FIRST PASSAGE OF HIS EIGHT: Luke 8:55
"AND HER SPIRIT RETURNED."
W. E. Vine says pneuma (soul) is "the natural life of the body," Page 588. It means her life returned. W. E. Vine said, "The spirit may be recognized as the life principle bestowed on man by God, the soul as the resulting life constituted in the individual, the body being the material organism animated by soul and spirit" Page 589. He points out that man as he is now can have no life without the body. After the resurrection the saved will have a new body. The lost are not said to put on a new glorious spiritual body (2 Thessalonians 4:23ff, 1 Corinthians 15:43), or to have immortality, which they must have if they will live forever in torment. Pneuma-spirit is also translated "life" in Revelation 13:15. Vine makes a clear distinction between soul and spirit, but says both are an "immaterial, invisible part of man." Does he think people have two "immaterial, invisible part(s)"? Is this proof that, as McCord says, "Lexicons Can Be Wrong"? W. E. Vine also applied "A building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal, in the heavens" [2 Corinthians 5:3-4] to both the soul and the spirit, but he and many others believe the soul and the spirit are not the same. Do we have two buildings from God for the two "immaterial, invisible parts" of a person, one for the soul, and one for the spirit?
"RECEIVE MY SPIRIT" Acts 7:59
Also see Luke 23:46. If he were asking for his spirit to be received at the resurrection, for this is when we will be received in Heaven, then where is his spirit before the resurrection? For this to prove the spirit is alive from death unto the Resurrection, his spirit would have to be received by God at death. Stephen was asking God to receive him at the judgment. Those who teach we go to Abraham's bosom do not believe we are caught up to Heaven immediately at death so why are they using this to prove what happens to us at death when they do not believe God receives us into Heaven at the time of our death? To make this teach we have an immortal soul, which does not die when the body dies, [1] soul and spirit must be made to be the same thing [2] then contrary to their belief about Abraham's bosom that no one will be in Heaven before the resurrection; they send Stephen to Heaven at his death. Is it because there is no real proof, and scripture must be misused to make it sound as though there is proof, and even misuse them in a way that is contradictory to their own belief. We are not told that Stephen went to Heaven or to Abraham's bosom, but we are clearly told that he "fell asleep" [Acts 7:60]. Maybe they think Stephen is asleep in Heaven or Abraham's bosom. If the real Stephen were the spirit, then what was the "he" that "fell asleep" [Acts 7:60]? The "he" that fell asleep is Stephen, not just an earthly body that will never be in Heaven.
Stephen said, "Lay not this sin to their charge" [Acts 7:60]. The book of Job was inspired, but the speeches of his three friends were not inspired, and much in their speeches is not true. See "Job" By Homer Hailey and "Guide to Bible Study" by J. W. McGarvey. Was Stephen speaking by inspiration, or was Luke only inspired to write what Stephen said, just as the writer of Job was inspired to write the uninspired speeches of Job's friends even when it is said that they spoke not the truth? The question is "what did he ask God to do, and when was he asking God to do it"? "Lord, lay not this sin to their charge?" [Acts 7:60]. This shows he had love even to those who were doing him harm as he should, but what he was asking could not be unless they believed, repented, and were baptized. There is no other way that God could not lay this sin to their charge, or the death of Christ would not have been needed. Therefore, God could not do what Stephen was asking. Stephen was not speaking by inspiration when he said this, for if he were, he would not have been inspired to ask God to do something He could not do. Christ said, "Father, into your hands I commit My spirit: and having said this, He breathed His last" [Luke 23:46]. Isaiah 53:12 in the King James Version "because he has poured out his soul unto death," is "because he poured out Himself to death" in the New American Standard Version, and "because He poured out his life unto death" in the New International Version. Christ gave his life for us, not a no substance something that according to today's theology could not die and was alive in "Hell" in the three days that his body was in the grave. If Christ did not really give up His life, if He were as much alive as He was before He came to earth there was no resurrection. He did not die for us. We are still in our sins with no hope. "For you will not abandon my soul to sheol" [Psalms 16:10]. "Because you will not abandon me to the grave" New International Version is quoted in the New Testament, "Because you will not leave My soul unto hades" [Acts 2:27 and 31]. "In hell" in the King James Version. Christ gave His life for our sins. Sheol is the grave. He died our death and went to the grave and was raised from the grave by the Father. He was not abandon to the grave.
[3]. W. E. VINE'S THIRD PASSAGE OF HIS EIGHT
I Corinthians 5:5
“To deliver such a one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.” The day of the Lord Jesus is the day of His second coming and the resurrection. Is Vine saying salvation will be given to any one after the resurrection?
The context of this passage is disfellowship of the person committing fornication with his father’s wife. “To deliver such a one unto Satan” is to disfellowship him in hope that he will repent; it is not to literally to deliver him to Satan; there would be no way that the Corinthians are any one could literally take any living person to Satan. “For the destruction of the flesh” is the destruction of the sinful desires of this life, not to literally destroy his body. No Christian can literally destroy the body of another living person and this is not what Paul was telling them to do. “That the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus” is one of Paul’s “things hard to be understood” [1 Peter 3:16]. “The day of the Lord Jesus” is the day of His second coming, the resurrection, and judgment. Even most of those who believe we have an immortal soul or an immortal spirit that is different than the person does not believe either one can be saved at any time after death, not even on “The day of the Lord Jesus.” It most likely means that he will be saved after the Judgment from the second death [Revelation 21:8] if being disfellowshiped makes him repent before his death.
[4]. ANOTHER PASSAGE W. E. VINE USED
“For as the body apart from the spirit is dead,” James 2:26
What does this passage teach us about the spirit? Only that the body is dead without it. Nothing more. To teach anything more than this from this passage it must be read into it.
WHAT THIS PASSAGE DOES NOT SAY.
• It does not say the spirit is alive without the body, but this is what they think is proved by it.
• It does not say the spirit is an "immaterial, invisible part of man" that will live without the body after the body is dead.
• It does not say the spirit, and the soul are both the same thing, but this passage is used repeatedly to prove the "soul" is immortal. There could not be a better example of adding to God's word then this passage when it is used to teach mankind has an immortal soul, for it says nothing about a soul, Hell, torment, Heaven, or eternal life but all these are read into it.
• How is this passage used?I is changed from saying "the body apart from the spirit is dead" to "the spirit apart from God is separated from God but not dead, (changed to being “spiritual dead” often while the body is still alive)." Death is removed from this passage and replaced with life separated from God. It is changed to teach something that is not even close to what it says.
[5]. W. E. VINE'S FIFTH PASSAGE OF HIS EIGHT
“Longing to be clothed upon with our habitation which is from heaven”
He used 2 Corinthians 5:5 to prove a person has an "immaterial, invisible part of man." In 2 Corinthians 5:3-4 we are unclothed while we are in the earthly house, but will be clothed in heaven. Nothing is said in this about a person being a dual being while in the earthly house. If it were as Vine says, that this clothing is "a never-dying spirit" it would not be possible to be unclothed. If this clothing were our spirit, to be "unclothed" or "naked" would be to not have a spirit. He added "disembodied" to get his immaterial soul, but adds it to both soul and spirit, which he said are not the same. If all have an immortal soul from birth, not even the lost could be “naked” or “unclothed.” If all have an immortal soul and the “house not made with hands” is this soul, even the lost would have this “house not made with hands” and no one, saved or lost could ever not have it, not now in this life time or at any time after death.
2 Corinthians 5:1-8
“(1) For WE know that if the earthly house of our tabernacle be dissolved [if our earthly body be dead], WE have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal, in the heavens [a new immortal body].
(2) For verily in this WE groan, longing to be clothed upon with our habitation which is from heaven [wanting to be with Christ in Heaven and clothed with our immortal bodies]; (3) if so be that being clothed [with a new spiritual immortal body] WE shall not be found naked [not be dead, not have the life Christ gives to them that obey Him].
(4) For indeed WE that are in this tabernacle [our earthly body] do groan, being burdened: [in this life we have persecutions, sickness, death; but most of all a longing to be with Christ] not for that WE would be unclothed, [Not that we want the sleep of death before we put on immortal life at the resurrection. To be "unclothed" is not to have a body, not an earthly or spiritual body from death unto the resurrection. To be "unclothed" is to be asleep without a body waiting to wake up at the resurrection and "put on immortality."
(1) We are NOW clothed with the earthly body.
(2) We WILL BE unclothed, asleep without a body from death to the resurrection.
(3) We LONG TO BE clothed [with our immortal bodies in Heaven] but that WE would be clothed upon; that what is mortal may be swallowed up of life [that this life on earth with out mortal bodies may be replaced with life in Heaven with an immortal bodies]. (5) Now he that wrought US for this very thing is God, who gave unto US the earnest of the Spirit. (6) Being therefore, always of good courage, and knowing that, while WE are at home in the body, [while we are living on this earth] WE are absent from the Lord [not immortal in Heaven with Christ] (7) (for WE walk by faith, not by sight): (8) WE are of good courage, I say, and are willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be at home with the Lord [willing to change this mortal body for an immortal body, and be in Heaven with Christ]." It is not the "soul" which will be naked after death; it is “we” the whole person. Those who believe the soul is an inter part of a person, which will be alive after dead, believe the same soul we have now is the same soul we will have after death, and is the same soul we will have in Heaven; for they believe "the immaterial, invisible part of man"-W. E. Vine is just as immortal now as it will be after the resurrection and judgment; they believe it is just as immortal now while we are on earth as it will be after we are in heaven. The soul being naked after death does not fit into what many believe, and makes no sense if you believe a person now has the immortal soul that he will always have; and that it is only this "immaterial, invisible part of man" that will live forever in Heaven or Hell. A person being "disembodied" is not in the Bible, and therefore is a doctrine of man. He added, "disembodied," and makes it equal to "unclothed," or "naked"; it was Paul and the Corinthians that would be "unclothed," or "naked," not an “immaterial” part of them. He had to change Paul's words to get his immaterial immortal soul. Most Protestants believe the soul goes immediately to Heaven or Hell at death, therefore, a soul being "disembodied" does not fit with what most Protestants believe, it is a total conduction to it. The Catholic or the Protestant views do not have any room for an intermediate "disembodied" state from death to the resurrection. Vine’s "disembodied" soul from death to the resurrection is saying they are both wrong, for many in the mainstream Protestants or Catholics do not believe there is a "disembodied" state for the soul from death to the resurrection, but that the soul goes instantly to Heaven or Hell at death. This passage is just another of the many passages that are an unexplainable passage to anyone with the Protestant view, but Vine did the best he could even if he has to be both unorthodox and change the Bible.
2 Corinthians 5:1-10 is used to show the "house not made with hands" is the spirit and it will be conscious before the resurrection. This "longing to be clothed upon with our habitation that is from Heaven," is longing for our habitation at "the judgment seat" [5:10], not in this life, or not at our death. If this "house not made with hands" were an immortal soul, as those who use this passage to teach we now have an immortal soul says it is; then we would now have this immortal soul now living in us, then why would we be "longing to be clothed" with our "house not made with hands" when we are now clothed with it and all, even those not in Christ have been clothed with it from the day of birth? Paul is made to say we are longing to be clothed with that which we are already clothed with; that with which we were clothed with from birth. It is not an immortal soul that Paul is speaking of, but the "house not made with hands" in Heaven which we are looking for, not an immaterial invisible part of a person, which they are somehow trying to prove we now have with this passage. There is nothing about a "soul" in this passage. "Spirit" has to be read into this for Paul said nothing about "spirit" in 2 Corinthians 5:1-10.
(1) It is about us now in this life.
(2) And us at the judgment seat.
(3) And then us at home in Heaven.
It is about our whole person both now and in Heaven, not just an "immaterial, invisible part of man."
NOW ON EARTH 2 COR. 5:1-11 IN HEAVEN AFTER SECOND COMING
"THE EARTHLY HOUSE" "A BUILDING FROM GOD-ETERNAL IN THE HEAVENS"
"LONGING TO BE CLOTHED UPON" "WITH OUR HABITATION THAT IS FROM HEAVEN"
"AT HOME IN THE BODY" "AT HOME WITH THE LORD"
"THAT WHAT IS MORTAL" "MAY BE SWALLOWED UP OF LIFE"
"THIS MORTAL" "MUST PUT ON IMMORTALITY" 1 CORINTHIANS 15:53
Paul says nothing about life between death and the resurrection or about an immortal soul, which as many teach is the same now as it will be in Heaven. He is comparing this life with life in Heaven. We now have an earthly house, a mortal soul mode of existence, but will have a building from God, an immortal spiritual mode of existence. Nothing is said about any kind of existence from death to the resurrection. "That what is mortal may be swallowed up of life" [2 Corinthians 5:4]. When will this be? At the resurrection, not instantly at death [1 Corinthians 15:54].
If the "house not made with hands" were an immortal soul and the lost now have an immortal soul AS SOME TEACH THEY DO, then the lost would NOW have this "house not made with hands," the same immortal soul NOW while they are living and will ALWAYS have this "house not made with hands" in Hell. If the lost do not have eternal life, they would not know they were in Hell and could not feel any pain. Their teaching makes all now have this house, which they say is an "immaterial, invisible part of man," and no one, lost or saved, need to long for it for all now have this "immaterial, invisible part of man," and all will always have it, but in an attempt to prove a person now has an immortal soul they use "longing to be clothed upon with our habitation which is from heaven" when they say that we are born with it?
1. THE LOST do not and will never have "a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens" They will never "be clothed upon with our habitation which is from heaven." Therefore, if this house were an immortal soul or an immortal spirit as many teach it to be, the lost do not have and will never have an immortal soul or spirit.
2. THE SAVED are "longing to be clothed upon with our habitation which is from heaven." Therefore, if this house is an immortal soul or an immortal spirit as many teach it to be, the saved do not now have an immortal soul or spirit but are longing to have one or both.
3. Paul was not longing for a disembodied existence but the gaining of a body far superior to this earthly body.
According to the immortal soul teaching of today, what is “mortal that is swallowed up of life?” [2 Corinthians 5:4.
• At death, the body that is mortal dies and goes to the grave. The dead body has no life and is not swallowed up of life.
• They believe the soul is now as immortal as it will be after the death of the body and as immortal as it will ever be. Is there any swallowing of mortality by life here? No. According to this view the body will be dead, and soul will have no more life after death and be no more immortal than it now is, therefore, there will be less life than now. Nothing will be swallowed up by life. According to this view, there is no way to make any sense from what Paul said.
o The mortal person is swallowed up by life at the resurrection of the dead when immortality will be put on. "He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee" [2 Corinthians 5:5 New Revised Standard Version].
We need to take care that we do not put an interpretation on any passage that will make it clash with other passages. It is evident that Paul did not expect the dead in Christ, those who have fallen asleep [1 Corinthians 15:1-28], to be with Christ before the resurrection.
1. In the body (now)
2. Death, out of the body
3. The resurrection to eternal life when all the dead in Christ will simultaneously be raised together. Then "so shall we ever be (at home) with the Lord." Paul looked for and thought the Lord may come soon, maybe in his lifetime. He said, "I tell you a mystery: WE all shall not sleep, but WE shall all be changed [shall instantly put on a spiritual body] in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump" [1 Corinthians 15:51]. He did not want to die [sleep unto the resurrection] and be naked [have no body] but wanted to be alive at the time Christ came and in a moment put off this earthly body and put on the spiritual body and be with Christ. There is some evident in Paul's letters that he may have thought Christ would come in his lifetime. Paul seems to have been longing the return of Christ and for the time when he would be at home with Christ thinking it would be soon and that any day he would be at home with the Lord without the sleep of death unto the resurrection, although he knows many believers were already asleep in Christ [1 Thessalonians 4:14], already out of the body, but not at home with the Lord.
Paul speaks of three states.
• State 1 - The earthly house or tabernacle, the present body we now have.
• State 2 - The naked or unclothed, the state he did not groan for, asleep in Christ without a body.
• State 3 - A building of God not made with hands eternal in the heavens, the clothed or resurrected body he wanted.
If, as Vine says, the naked state is the "disembodied" soul in Heaven during the intermediate state, why does Paul not want to be "found naked"? Did he not want to be in Heaven without the earthly body in the intermediate state? Did he not want to be in Heaven with Christ and all the saved unto the Judgment Day? No. Paul knew that he would not be with Christ unto the Resurrection if Christ did not return before his death. He knew that there is no life for the dead before the Resurrection. To be naked or unclothed is to have no life, not be alive in Heaven or Hell.
The doctrine that the body is only a dwelling place of an immortal soul that goes to Heaven or Hell as a "disembodied" soul without the “spiritual body” before the resurrection and judgment is not found in this passage, but many read it into it. The passage says nothing about a "soul." Paul used "we" not "our soul." "But that we would be clothed upon that what is mortal may be swallowed up of life." The context this passage is in is speaking of the resurrection from the dead [2 Corinthians 4:14 to 5:10], not on being alive after death without a body, and having no need of the resurrection.
WHEN WILL WE BE PRESENT WITH THE LORD? If "to be present with the Lord" is to take up our residence in Heaven immediately at death, what is the "naked" and "unclothed" state of verses 3 and 4, and when is it? It is not while Paul was in "this tabernacle" or when he would be clothed in Heaven, therefore, neither in this life nor in Heaven is when he could be "unclothed." All will be absent from the body at death (the naked state), but no one will be present with the Lord in Heaven unto after the second coming of Christ. The intermediate nakedness from death unto the resurrection is something Paul did not want, something he DID NOT GROAN FOR; it is death, not any kind of life anyplace. From 1 Thessalonians 4:17 we learn that after death the only way we will be with the Lord is the resurrection, not immediately at death without the resurrection.
• "For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven, with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first; [all the dead in Christ shall rise at the same time at the coming of Christ] them that are alive, that are left, shall together with them be caught up in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord" [1 Thessalonians 4:16-17]. Both (1) believers that are dead in Christ and (2) believers that will be alive at His coming will both together be caught up and ever be with the Lord; this clearly shows that the dead in Christ are not now in Heaven with the Lord before and without being resurrected from the dead. If they were now alive in Heaven they would not be “dead in Christ,” they could not “rise first,” be resurrected from the dead before those who are alive are “changed.”
• “We all shall not sleep but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, AT THE LAST TRUMP: for the trumpet shall sound and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we (those who are alive when Christ comes) shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality” [1 Corinthians 15:51-53]. Paul is clearly speaking of this mortal person putting on immortality, not an immortal soul putting on immortality. An immortal soul is read into this passage when nothing is said about a soul in it.
• At our gathering together unto Him at “the coming of the Lord” [2 Thessalonians 2:1]
• When the Lord shall descend from Heaven with a shout [1 Thessalonians 4:13-17]
• When Christ who is our life shall be manifest [Colossians 3:4]
• "In the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day; and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing" [2 Timothy 4:8]. If it is "on that day" it is not possible to be at death.
• "In My Father's house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and RECEIVE YOU to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also" [John 14:2-3]. Christ has not yet come to receive Paul or any one; therefore, Christ has not received any one to be in the prepared place. He did not say to those in Heaven with Him, "I will come again, and receive your body, that where we are, there your body may be also be with us." Did Jesus say, "And if I go" your death shall soon bring you to me? No. He said, "I will come again and receive you to Myself.”
• "For this is the will of my Father that everyone that beholds the Son, and believes on him, should have eternal life; andI will raise him up at the last day" [John 6:40, 44, 54]. Is He going to rise up "everyone that beholds the Son, and believes on him" by bringing them from Heaven, or by raising them from the dead? Also 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17; John 11:24; 1 John 3:2, and many other passages.
Even though Paul know his death was near he anticipated receiving “the crown or righteousness” to be given to him by the Lord “at that day,” not at his dead if he should die before the coming of the Lord, and that this crown of life would also be given to “all them that have loved his appearing” at that day [2 Timothy4:6-8], both to all that are asleep in Christ and to all that will be alive when He comes.
In the above passages it is said when we will go to Heaven in such a simple and clear way that I cannot understand how anyone cannot understand them, or how they could say, "Not true Lord, we are not going to wait unto You come again. If an immaterial no substance soul were alive with the Lord immediately after death it could not be resurrected from the dead at His coming; an immortal soul could not “put on immortality” at the coming of Christ. In 2 Corinthians 5:1-10 Paul says nothing about a “soul,” he is speaking of the whole person.
• According to both the Catholic and Protestant versions, the body is now mortal and the soul is now immortal. At the death of the body, the soul is already immortal and is not changed, and nothing of this mortal is swallowed up of life; at death the body goes back to the earth and nothing of the body will put on immortality or is swallowed up of life.
• According to the Bible version, this mortal is changed and puts on immortality at the resurrection, immortality that this mortal does not now have [1 Corinthians 15:50-55; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-17]. This mortal is swallowed up of life.
Paul says the same thing in Romans 8:23-24 and 2 "Corinthians 5:1-2. “ Waiting for our adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body" and "longing to be clothed upon with our habitation which is from heaven" is the same thing and will be at the resurrection, not at death and says nothing about a part of an immortal person that will be alive from death unto the resurrection.
ROMANS 8:23-24 | 2 CORINTHIANS 5:1-2
BUT OURSELVES ALSO, WHO HAVE THE | WHO GIVE UNTO US THE EARNEST OF THE
FIRST-FRUITS OF THE SPIRIT | SPIRIT" SEE EPH 1:13-14; ROM 8:11
EVEN WE OURSELVES GROAN | IN THIS WE GROAN,
WITHIN OURSELVES | .
WAITING FOR OUR ADOPTION, TO | LONGING TO BE CLOTHED UPON WITH OUR
WIT, THE REDEMPTION OF OUR BODY | HABITATION WHICH IS FROM HEAVEN
Scott P. Wiley in "Eternal Torment or Annihilation" makes the grave be the place where man puts bodies but he says sheol is not the grave but a place under the earth where God puts the souls of the dead, some in one part of sheol are happy and some in another part of sheol are in torment, and they are waiting there for the resurrection. If Paul and all the saved go to be with the Lord at death and the Lord is in Heaven there is no such place as sheol or hades or if there where such a place, no one would be in it for they would be with the Lord in Heaven. If the dead all go to sheol and they are with the Lord, the Lord would be in sheol under the earth or wherever those who believe sheol is a storehouse for living souls believe it to be, He would not in Heaven, not setting on the right hand of God. Being transported to Heaven or Hell instantly at death makes all the passages that speak of the dead being in sheol or hades a lie and all the passages that speak of the resurrection of the dead a lie for those in Heaven could not be dead; and makes the Bible say one thing in one place and another thing in another place.
COMPANION BIBLE by E.W. Bullinger, on 2 Corinthians 5:8: “It is little less than a crime for anyone to pick out certain words and frame them into a sentence, not only disregarding the scope and context, but ignoring the other words in the verse, and quote the words ‘absent from the body, present with the Lord’ with the view of dispensing with the hope of the Resurrection (which is the subject of the whole passage) as though it were unnecessary; an as though ‘present with the Lord’ is obtainable without it.”
Summary: The teaching of some makes Paul be wrong when he said we are "longing to be clothed upon with our habitation which is from heaven" for their teaching says we had it at birth and will always have it even if we go to "Hell.
[6]. W. E. VINE'S SIXTH PASSAGE OF HIS EIGHT
"Supposed that they beheld a spirit" Luke 24:37
The sixth proof that Vine used to prove a person now has an "immaterial, invisible part of man" is Luke 24:37-39,"Supposed that they beheld a spirit." This is what they [as men] thought based on their fear, and was not based on inspiration. The two parallel account of this says phantom [Matthew 14:26; Mark 6:49]. Strong [Page 1006] says this word is not pneuma [spirit] #4151, but "phantasma" #5326 [also #5324]; "A [mere] show...i.e. specter [a hunting vision]" When Christ walked on the water is the one time this word (plantasma) is used in the Bible, and is translated "ghost" in the American Standard Version and most others. It is translated "a phantom" by Marshall and in the "Christian Bible." The "Englishman Greek Concordance," Page 783 says, "Lit. A phantom." These disciples seem to have believed they were seeing a ghost or phantom; and like these disciples, some today believe in ghosts, spooks, haunted houses, and such things. This maybe the only time Vine’s thin air with no substance ghost or spirit is in the New Testament, and then it was only what these disciples thought they were seeing, and not what they did see. Spirits, God, Christ, Angels have a body, and mankind after judgment will have a body, and are more than just thin air; but not two bodies with two opposite natures both at the same time. The use of this passage to prove a person has an immortal soul makes the proof be based on a lie, on what the disciples thought they were seeing, not on what they did see. Then what they thought they were seeing, a phantasm or ghost must be changed to say they were seeing "The immaterial, invisible part of man" which W. E. Vine does not seem to know whether it was an invisible "soul" or an invisible "spirit" they were seeing, but it was not very invisible for they were seeing it. Christ said to them that He was not a spirit, not a phantom or ghost that has no body that they thought He was, that He was flesh and blood. Why did Vine use an uninspired statement, made by men in fear, who was not seeing what they thought they were seeing, to prove something to be a divine truth? This passage says absolutely nothing about a person having an immortal invisible soul that he used it to prove. Does he think they were inspired to believe a lie and that this lie becomes truth, but only after he changes this "phantom" to a "soul"? And that this "immaterial, invisible part of man" is just air, and it has no kind of substance or no body of any kind; and that a spiritual body is no body at all, with just nothing to it? Yet, V. W. Vine said these disciples thought they were seeing something that he says is invisible, therefore, could not be seen. Although what they were seeing was not invisible, he used it to prove a person has an invisible part in him. Most who believe a person has an immortal soul do not believe a soul can be seen, but will use this to prove these men were seeing a soul that they say cannot be seen.
LUKE 24:27-29 and ACTS 7:59: Two of the passages, which W. E. Vine used to prove a person has an immortal part are uninspired statements. What these disciples thought they were seeing but were not, and what Stephen was asking that could not be unless they believed in Christ. (See [2] Acts 7:59 above) Does this not say anything about how weak his proof is?
[7]. ANOTHER PASSAGE OF HIS EIGHT THAT W. E. VINE USED
"THE SPIRITS OF JUST MEN MADE PERFECT"
He used “the spirits of just men made perfect” to prove that the spirits of the just dead men are alive in Heaven and were made perfect at the moment of death. Hebrews 12:22-23 is a list of seven ways the New Covenant is now better than the Old Covenant. Paul said they had come, not will come after death to the spirits of just men made perfect. This was then, while Paul and the others were alive, it was before death, before the Resurrection, before the Judgment, before anyone will be in Heaven they had already come "to the spirits of just men made perfect" at the time Paul wrote this. We could not have come to the spirits of those made perfect in Heaven for they are not yet in Heaven. If it did refer to spirits in Heaven after the Resurrection, they would not have been "made perfect" when Paul was writing this before the Resurrection.
Seven ways the New Covenant is better than the Old Covenant.
1. You have not come unto a mount that could be touched and that burned with fire, "but you are come unto mount Zion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem."
2. You are come "To innumerable hosts of angels."
3. You are come "To the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven."
4. You are come "To God the Judge of all."
5. You are come "To the spirits of just men made perfect." "And to the spirits of the righteous made perfect" [New Revised Standard Version]
6. You are come "To Jesus the mediator of a new covenant."
7. You are come "To the blood of sprinkling that speaks better than that of Abel."
If the "spirits" of the just dead were now in Heaven, the just dead under both the Old and New Covenants would be in Heaven and would not prove the New Covenant to be better than the Old Covenant. It would be out of place in this list of ways the New Covenant is better than the Old Covenant. those who believe all, the saved and the lost, have souls that are now immortal believe they were just as immortal under the Law as they now are under the New Covenant, therefore, it would not be a way the New Covenant is better than the Old.
When and how are the spirits of just man made perfect? "The spirits of just men made perfect" refers to men made perfect by having their sins washed away by the blood of Christ. We have had our sins washed away and have come to have fellowship with others who have been made perfect by having their sins washed away.
Adam Clarke in his Commentary on Hebrews 12:23, "In several parts of this epistle teleiov, the just man, signifies one who has a full knowledge of the Christian system, who is justified and saved by Christ Jesus; and the teteleiwnemoi are the adult Christians, who are opposed to the nhpioi or babes in knowledge and grace...The spirits of the just men made perfect, or the righteous perfect, are the full grown Christians; those who are justified by the blood and sanctified by the Spirit of Christ. Being come to such, implies that spiritual union which the disciples of Christ have with each other, and which they possess how far so ever separate; for they are all joined in one spirit, #Eph 2:18; they are in the unity of the spirit, #Eph 4:3, 4; and of one soul, #Ac 4:32. This is a unity which was never possessed even by the Jews themselves in their best state; it is peculiar to real Christianity: (See Heb 12:29)."
There is no way we could have come to the "spirits" of those in Heaven; if they were in Heaven, they would be beyond our reach unto we are in Heaven with them. We would not have come to them.
"And to the spirits of the righteous made perfect" [New Revised Standard Version]. If disembodied spirits were in Heaven and in any way had fellowship or communication with us it would prove Spiritualism, which is forbidden by God. Most all who uses this to prove we now have an immortal soul do not believe we have any communication with the dead if they are in Heaven, Hell, the grave, or any other place, therefore, they do not believe we could have came unto them, but they are desperately looking for any passage to prove we now have an immaterial, immortal soul in us and take "And to the spirits of the righteous made perfect" out of it’s contexts.
When this is used to prove that after death we have a “soul” that is alive and made perfect, it makes the judgment and resurrection be 100% totally useless. The “made perfect” in Hebrews 12:23 is something that had happened, not something that will not happen unto after the resurrection.
• “To the spirits of just men made perfect [telioo]” [Hebrews 12:23]
• “Herein is our love made perfect [telioo]” [1 John 4:17]
• “He that fears is not made perfect [telioo] in love” [1 John 4:18]
• “And by works was faith made perfect [telioo]” [James 2:22]
o Made perfect is not used to mean we have no sins or cannot sin
[8] W. E. VINE’S EIGHT PASSAGE
1 PETER 4:6
“For unto this end was the gospel preached (past tense) even to the dead (present tense), that they might be judged indeed according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit” The question is (1) who were the dead (2) and when was the gospel preached to them?
Two views of who were the dead were that the Gospel was preached to.
[1] Christians that had died at the time Peter was writing this. They were alive in the flesh at the time the gospel was preached to them and they believed but were dead (asleep in Christ) at the time Peter wrote this. See 1 Corinthians 15:12-28.
[2] Those who “were dead in your trespasses and sins” [Ephesians 2:1] before the gospel was preached to them. The Gospel was preached to them when they were dead through their trespasses and sins (past tense) so that they may live.
1. “And you did he make alive, when you were dead through your trespasses and sins” [Ephesians 2:1].
1. “He that hears my word, and believes him that sent me, has eternal life, and has passed out of death into life” [John 5:24].
Nothing is said about any preaching to any one after they were physically dead or to spirits. The Gospel is preached to save; Peter is not saying salvation is being offered to anyone after they are dead.
THE GREAT CONFUSION: Soul or spirit or both?
Two terms that comes from different words
And are not used interchangeable in the Bible
Yet Vine said both are an "immaterial, invisible part of man"
Does a person have an immortal soul or an immortal spirit that is not subject to death and that has eternal life without the resurrection? How many immortal parts does a person have? If two, a soul and a spirit, will both of the immortal parts of a person always exist as two independent and separate beings? If one, which is the immortal part of a person, the soul, or the spirit? Vine says they are different, "Generally speaking the spirit is the higher, the soul the lower element" (Page 589), yet he says both are "the immaterial, invisible part of man" (soul on page 588 and spirit on page 593). He said we have both a higher and a lower " immaterial, invisible part of man."
Those who believe all mankind have an “immaterial, invisible part of man" do not seem to know whether it is the "soul" or the "spirit" that is the "immaterial, invisible part of man" that will live without the earthly body. When preachers preach on the soul being immortal, they use passages that speak of the spirit but say nothing of the soul. There is much confusion on what part of a person is immortal and what will be in Heaven.
MANY USE SOUL AND SPIRIT INTERCHANGEABLY. For their belief, the soul and the spirit must be the same. If they were not, they would be forced to say one or the other is the immortal part of a person, or that a person has two immortal beings inside of them. When I believed in Hell I could not see there being a separate immortal soul and immortal spirit; I used them interchangeably just as most do now without realizing it. When some read the spirit goes back to god, in their mind they see the immortal soul going back to god. Those who believe the soul will take up permanent residence in Heaven at the moment of death, and many who believe the soul is in Abraham's bosom and will not be in Heaven unto the judgment day both use Ecclesiastes 12:7 to prove the soul (the "immaterial, invisible part of man") goes back to God in Heaven at death. How could the spirit (the other "immaterial, invisible part of man" that is immortal part of a person) return unto God at death if it goes to Abraham's bosom or to Hell? I have continually been told for years that lost souls go to Hell at the moment of death. Then how could the soul return to God if it goes to Hell and only the few souls that are saved go to Heaven at the moment of death? How can they not see that they are saying the soul goes to one place and at the same time they are saying the soul goes to another place?
After Christ had been dead for three days and after His resurrection He said, "Touch me not for I have not yet ascended to my father" [John 20:17]. Many say Christ went to an intermediate place where souls go before the resurrection but not to Heaven. If there were such an intermediate place, then the soul or the spirit does not return to God at death. One position is taken on one passage, and then the same persons shifts to another position on another passage and are continually shifting their position.
SOUL OR SPIRIT, WHICH ONE IS IMMORTAL?
Any time 1 Thessalonians 5:23, Hebrews 4:12, etc., comes up in a Bible class, the teacher has the same problem, the same confusion. What is the difference in soul and spirit? Which one is immortal? Many never seem to be quite sure which of the two, the soul, or the spirit they believe to be immortal and not sure if they are the same or two entirely different parts of a person. 1 Thessalonians 5:23 does not say what the functions of the body, soul, or spirit is and what becomes of them at death. It does not say one is mortal and two of them are immortal and will forever live somewhere. This must be read into it.
• There is nothing about any part of a person now being immortal in it.
• There is nothing about Hell after the judgment in it. This also must be read into it.
Those who say the "soul" is the "immaterial, invisible part of man" that is immortal must stop using passages, which speaks of the "spirit" to prove the soul is immortal. "The spirit returns to God" cannot be used to prove the soul is immortal if they are not the same; however, many do use this passage to prove a person has an immortal soul.
Those who say the "spirit" is the "immaterial, invisible part of man" that is immortal must stop using passages speak of the "soul" to prove the spirit is immortal. "Fear him who is able to destroy both soul and body in Gehenna" cannot be used to prove the spirit is immortal if they are not both the same the "immaterial, invisible part of man" that is immortal, but many do use one to prove the other, then will use the other to prove the first. Is this what is called "reasoning in a circle"?
• They use passages, which have "spirit" in them to prove a person has an immortal soul.
• Then use passages, which have "soul" in them to prove a person has an immortal spirit.
Body, soul-life, and spirit all are a person as he is now in the image of Adam. All three terms, body, soul, and spirit are used referring to a person at the same time. They are not three parts that can exist without each other. If they were, a person would have two separate immortal beings in Heaven simultaneously. They are not three separate beings with opposite natures, with two living within the other one.
• BODY: The body the Lord formed from the dust of the ground [Genesis 2:7].
• SOUL: "The life...is in the blood" Leviticus 17:10-14. The living nature of a person that he has in common with all animals.
• SPIRIT: The breath of life breathed in the earthy body. All life is from God, and returns to God at death [Ecclesiastes 12:7, Job 34:14-15]. All life is a gift from God to both man and animals, and it goes back to God at death. The spirit is not an immortal part of a person that preexisted as a living being with God before the birth of the person.
Paul does not say may your soul be preserved blameless without your body or spirit. He puts the three together as being inseparable, the whole person, not three separate parts of a person.
Mark 12:30 "And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your souL (psukee – life), and with all your mind, and with all your strength.”
1. With all your heart
2. With all your soul (psukee – life)
3. With all your mind
4. With all your strength.
What Jesus is saying is that we are to love God with all our being, not some immaterial invisible no substance something that we would have no control over and no way to know whether it loved God or not. I can know I love God with all my heart and with all my mind, but if there were an immaterial invisible no substance being in me that will live after my death, I would have no way to know whether it loved God or not. The psukee is no more a part of a person that lives after the death of the person than the heart, mind or strength are. All four are a person looked at from different points of view, not four parts of a person.
Hebrews 4:12: "For the word of God is living, and active, and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing even to the dividing of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and quick to discern the thoughts and intents of the heart."
1. Dividing of soul and spirit
2. Dividing of both joints and marrow
3. Dividing of the thoughts and intents of the heart
This passage shows that the soul and spirit are different things and can be divided, but there is nothing in it that says the soul, or the spirit is an immortal part of a person that will exist without the person.
Unlike animals, God made man in His image with the potential of living forever. The spirit (ruach - spirit, breath, wind), of both man and animals returns to God, but one of the differences in persons and animals is that animals will not be raised from the dead. They are forever dead, just as a person would be if there were not going to be a resurrection. After death animals will never again have life just as the loss will never again have life after the second death. Death is death for both men and animals. Death is not death for animals and another kind of life for men; it is death for both. The second death will be death, not another kind of life that will go on forever.
• Spirit in the Old Testament is from ruach [Strong's word number 7307]. It is translated spirit, breath, and wind, in the King James Version, but it is never translated soul.
• Spirit in the New Testament is from pnuma [Strong's word number 4151]. It is translated spirit, ghost, and wind in the King James Version, but it is never translated soul.
o Pneuma is translated both wind and spirit in the same passage. “The wind [pneuma] blows wherever it pleases. You may hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the spirit [pneuma]” [John 3:8].
• Soul in the Old Testament is from nehphesh [Strong's word number 5315]. It is translated life, creature, soul, person, mind, etc. in the King James Version, but it is never translated spirit.
• Soul in the New Testament is from psukee [Strong's word number 5590. Psukee-Wigran, Page 807]. In the King James Version it is translated life, soul, heart, heartily, mind, he, strength, and us, but it is never translated spirit.
There are more than 1,600 references to soul and spirit in the Bible but not a one of them says anything about the soul or spirit living without the body yet many who say they teach only the Bible teach it all the time.
"May your spirit and soul and body be preserved entire, [may the whole person, not just an invisible no substance part of a person] without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ."
• Spirit preserved entire, when, “at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ”
• Soul preserved entire, when, “at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ”
• Body preserved entire, when, “at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ”
o This is speaking of the whole person being preserved when “this mortal must put on immortality” [1 Corinthians 15:53], a spiritual being with a spiritual body when mortal earthly body of flesh and blood will not be preserved.
"Blessed are the poor in spirit [pneuma]" [Matthew 5:3]. Are they poor in a no substance immortal spirit? Spirit and soul are not used interchangeably, and a passage that has one in it cannot be used to prove anything about the other one as many do today. Body, soul, spirit: The whole man of Genesis 2:7 and 1 Thessalonians 5:23 "And Jehovah God formed man of the dust of the ground [body], and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life [spirit]; and man became a living soul [soul]." Body + the breath of life (spirit) = soul-a living being.
PASSAGES IN WHICH "SPIRIT" [pneuma]
IS USED BY MANY AS IF IT IS THE SAME AS "SOUL" [psukee]
Not one time is any part of a person said to have an existence after death or to be able to function without the body.
[1]. THE SPIRITS IN PRISON 1 Peter 3:18-20
Most who uses this to prove the "spirit" is immortal believe the Protestant version that lost souls go to Hell instantaneous at death; therefore, to them these disobedient spirits that were destroyed in the time of Noah for being disobedient were not destroyed but are now being tormented in Hell. If they were in Hell why did Christ go to these disobedient spirits?
(1) For what purpose would Christ go into Hell and preach to only some that were there? To save them; can those in Hell ever be saved? The very ones who believe there is a Hell and use this passage to prove the souls of the lost are alive in Hell before they are raised from the dead and before they are judged also says no that once a person is in Hell he or she can never get out, can never be saved.
(2) What message would He take them that can never get out of Hell; the time when they could be saved was past, therefore, the Gospel would do them no good? Would He go to raise a hope of release that could never be, or to taunt them?
1. It would mean that Christ was alive in the three days from His death unto His resurrection; therefore, He was never dead and could not have been raised from the dead.
2. It would mean that Christ did not die for our sins; therefore, we are still in our sins. If the soul is immortal and cannot die, Christ gave only His earthly body for our sins. He was as much alive in the three days His earthly body was in the grave as He was before He came to earth and as He was after the resurrection of His earthly body. Therefore, Christ could not have died for our sins if he were never dead. If only His earthly body were dead, then He was the same "spiritual being" with all the power and glory in the three days His body was in the grave that He is now, or had before He came to earth. There would have been no difference in Christ when only His earthly body was in the grave than there is now when He is in Heaven, or in the time before He came to earth. If His death were not a real death, than what did God gave when He gives His only Son? Just one human body for three days. Nothing more. According to today's teaching there was no real sacrifice by God or Christ, no real death or resurrection as He was not really and in truth dead. Nevertheless, He said, "I am he that lives, and was dead" [Revelation 1:18].
3. It would mean:
• That those who were disobedient in the days of Noah were more important than all others who were disobedient, and that Christ went into Hell to preach unto them for those that say the soul is immortal and does not die, say the lost go directly to "Hell" at death; therefore, Christ had to go into "Hell" to preach to them.
• That these may have been given a second chance after death but all others will not be.
• That God is a respecter of persons giving some a second chance, but not to all.
"Put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit" [1 Peter 3:18]. Notice carefully what is said. This passage is used to prove there is an immoral spirit in all that can never die. If it were speaking of an immoral spirit, this immortal spirit was "made alive," therefore it had to be dead. Made alive in the spirit AFTER He was put to death in the flesh. If "made alive in the spirit" was not His resurrection, then the very thing they are trying to prove is that the spirit cannot die, nevertheless, the spirit was dead and was "made alive." If Christ was alive and never dead, He could not have been "made alive," but would have been "kept alive" or "preserved alive" and there could have been no resurrection. Made alive: "Quickened by the spirit" King James Version. "Made alive by the spirit" New King James Version. Strong's word #2227 "made alive, give life, quicken."
If this preaching were by Christ in person, not by Christ through Noah, then the order was:
1. Put to death
2. Quickened or made alive-His resurrection
3. Preached to the spirits in prison after His resurrection. Therefore, the preaching would have been done after His resurrection, not before and would not prove that His "soul" was alive in the three days before He was quickened or made alive.
To fit with today's theology Peter's order must be changed to:
1. Put to death
2. Preached to the spirits in prison in the three days before He was “made alive,” before His resurrection
3. Quickened or “made alive” - His resurrection after He had preached to the spirits in prison. The reason this passage is used is to prove His soul was alive before His resurrection, that it was never dead, but they must change it and make it say Christ did the preaching before His resurrection. If they do not change it, it does not prove what they want it to. If this preaching were by Christ during the three days He was in the grave, and if the prison were somewhere other than Hell it would prove that there is somewhere like the Catholic Purgatory but only for a few, and that most are not in it.
When was this preaching done? In the days of Noah, or in the three days Christ was in the grave? This is the whole question. Was it:
[1] After they were dead and in Hell when they could not be saved? Those who believe the soul of the lost is transported instantly into Hell at death do not believe any that are in Hell can be saved. According to their belief, all go to Heaven or Hell at the moment of death, therefore, if Christ went and preached to them in the three days He was in the grave, He would have had to preach to them either in Heaven or Hell. Why would He go to Hell and preach to those who could not be saved? Why do they use this verve? Is it not because they are desperate for any verse that will prove their immortal soul that they will give a few a second chance after death to be taken out of Hell if it would prove a part of a person is now immortal?
[2] Or was it when they were alive and could be benefited by the preaching? Adam Clarke said He went and preached by Noah for one hundred and twenty years. The preaching was done in the days of Noah through Noah, a preacher of righteousness [2 Peter 2:5], not after the death of Christ. Noah warned them of the destruction to come if they did not repent. How were they in prison? "His servants you are whom you obey" [Romans 6:16]. "For of whom a man is overcome, by this he is enslaved" [2 Peter 19]. "To open blind eyes, to bring out prisoners from the dungeon, and those who dwell in darkness from the prison" [Isaiah 42:7; also Isaiah 61:1; Psalm 142:7; Luke 4:18; John 8:34-45]. Those who obey Satan are in prison to him. Those who would not hear Christ preaching through Noah were in prison to Satan. "For we also once were...enslaved to various lusts and pleasures" [Titus 3:3]. "For of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he also brought into bondage" [2 Peter 2:19].
"Then certain of the scribes and Pharisees answered him, saying, Teacher, we would see a sign from you. But he answered and said unto them, an evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign; and shall no sign be given to it but the sign of Jonah the prophet: for as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the whale; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth" [Matthew 12:38-40]. If Jesus were in the earth, the grave, from His death to His resurrection, how could He have gone to "Hell" and preached to those in it? I do not think anyone believes "Hell" is in the grave, but the grave is where Jesus was at onto His resurrection.
Adam Clarke: “‘He went and preached’ By the ministry of Noah, one hundred and twenty years. Unto the spirits in prison. The inhabitants of the antediluvian world, who, having been disobedient, and convicted of the most flagrant transgressions against God, were sentenced by his just law to destruction. But their punishment was delayed to see if they would repent; and the long-suffering of God waited one hundred and twenty years, which were granted to them for this purpose; during which time, as criminals tried and convicted, they are represented as being in prison - detained under the arrest of Divine justice, which waited either for their repentance or the expiration of the respite, that the punishment pronounced might be inflicted” Clarke’s Commentary on 1 Peter 3:18-20.
Dillard Thurman: Gospel Minutes, Volume 34, Number 5, February 1, 1985, West Freeway church of Christ, “I have heard funeral orations extol the happiness and bliss the departed has instantly with death; but on checking the New Testament assiduously, I have het to find a single promise where the dead go to heaven on instant pass, or have immediate conscious happiness.” Gospel Minutes April 2, 1990, "Notice carefully what is said. Jesus was put to death in the flesh, and died like any mortal man. But He was quickened, or made alive by the Spirit. By what Spirit? By the same Spirit by which He once preached to spirits imprisoned by sin and Satan in the days of Noah! When did this happen? The passage plainly states it: 'When once the long-suffering of God waited in the days of Noah.' The word 'when' is an adverb of time that tells when the action took place: in the days of Noah! The idea of the Son of God being off on a preaching junket for the three days and nights that His body was in the tomb is utterly foreign to any Bible teaching! If false doctrines had not first brought forth this fanciful idea, this passage would not have been twisted to support the error."
PASSAGES IN WHICH "SOUL" [psukee]
IS USED AS IF IT IS THE SAME AS "SPIRIT" [pneuma]
[1]. LOSING LIFE [SOUL] or SAVING LIFE [SOUL]
Matthew 16:26; Mark 8:37
Those who believe the soul to be immortal and cannot die also believe it is the soul that must be saved or lost. To them, to lose your soul means you will go to Hell; therefore, to "lose his soul [psukee] for my sake" means going to Hell for Christ. Their own definition of "lose his soul" is going to Hell. Do they think anyone will go to Hell for Christ's sake? If "psukee" means an immortal something in a person that will live forever in Heaven or Hell and a person loses their soul [psukee] for Christ, going to Hell for Him would be just what this passage would say they would do. Back when I believed all the lost would be eternality tormented in Hell by God, this passage was a problem to me; I believed, as many do, to lose your soul meant you would go to Hell, but the King James Version undeniable says if your soul went to Hell for Christ you would save your soul, and that we are to hate our immortal soul.
BY TODAY'S THEOLOGY DOES LOSING THE SOUL SAVE IT? Christ said, "For whosoever would save his psukee [soul or life] shall lose it: and whosoever shall lose his psukee [soul - life] for my sake shall find it. For what shall a man be profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and forfeit his psukee [soul - life]? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his psukee [soul-life]?" To lose ones life for Christ's sake is to lose it because of being faithful to Christ and many did in the first century. Those who lose there life for Christ will find eternal life at the judgment. But, if psukee is an immortal soul, will some lose their immortal soul because they are faithful to Christ? In today's theology, "save the soul" is to save it from Hell, and "lose the soul" is to lose it in Hell. When this passage is used to prove a person has an immortal "immaterial, invisible part of man" that will never die, it makes Christ say:
1. "Whosoever would save his immaterial invisible immoral soul from Hell will lose his immaterial invisible immoral soul in Hell."
2. "Whosoever would lose his immaterial invisible immoral soul in Hell will save his immaterial invisible immoral soul from Hell."
Those who say the soul is immortal also say we lose it when we sin, and save it when we obey Christ. If they were right, the only way we could lose our souls for Christ's sake would be for us to sin. According to them the only possible way to lose our "immortal soul" is to sin; then did Christ say we were to sin to save our soul? No, it is life some would lose because they will not sin and are faithful to Christ, not lose some immaterial, invisible immortal part of them selves because they do sin and are not faithful to Christ. The promise that the psukee [soul-life] will be saved when it is sacrificed for Christ makes no sense if the soul is some "immaterial, invisible" undying part of a person. How could we lose “our soul” for Christ's sake? "He that loves his psukee [life] loses it; and he that hates his psukee [life] in this world shall keep it unto life eternal" [John 12:25]. How do they think a person could lose the only part of his or her self that they say cannot die? When a person has sinned and "lost his soul," does that person have a living body with no soul in it? Christ was saying that gaining much would profit us nothing if we lose our life-our very existence. All who die without being in Christ have lost their psukee [life], they will not put on immortality at the resurrection; they will not have eternal life in Heaven. After the judgment and second death, they will have lost their very existence.
The same thing that is saved is the same thing that will be lost.
• The person who saves his life by denying Christ.
• Will lose the same thing, his life at the judgment.
o It is not the soul that is saved by denying Christ but life on earth.
o It is not the soul that will be lost at the judgment but life in Heaven.
• John 12:25 said the same, "He that loves his life [soul-psukee] shall lose it; and he that hates his life [soul-psukee] in this world, shall keep it unto life eternal."
Those who do not obey Christ shall lose the very thing that is saved by those who do obey Him-life; the lost shall die and the saved shall live. No doctrine of the Bible is more plain than the loss of life in this passage is the lost of our earthly life because of being faithful to Christ, not eternal life with torment for the sinner; finding life is to find eternal life at the resurrection, and the person that saves his earthly life [psukee] by denying Christ will lose his life at the judgment.
Epaphroditus hazarded "his psukee [life]" [Philippians 2:30]. Judas and Silas have "hazarded their psukee [lives] for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ" [Acts 15:26-27]. They could put their life in danger for the sake of Christ. Many put their life in danger and lost their life for preaching Christ, but how could they risk an immortal part of a person that cannot die, and no man can see it or kill it? Paul says, "But I hold not my psukee [soul-life] of any account as dear unto myself" [Acts 20:24]. If this psukee is an inter being which has immortality from our birth, Paul must not have thought it not to be of any account, or not worth much. Just as have been said about other passages, today's theology that says psukee means an "immaterial, invisible part of man" makes these passages be nonsense.
"On what authority many have translated the word psukee in the twenty-fifth verse life, and in this verse (26) soul I know not; but I am certain it means life in both places." Adam Clarke.
[2]. "WHAT SHALL A MAN GIVE [not sell]
IN EXCHANGE FOR HIS SOUL."
Matthew 16:26; Mark 8:37 This passage is used to show that a person has an undying soul that is of more value than the entire world, but many will sell their PSUKEE "SOUL" for very little. Does it teach this? The American Standard Version and most other translations, translates "PSUKEE" into "LIFE,'' not "SOUL" as the King James does. A man can give all he has to someone about to take his life to get that someone to let him live, but he could in no way give anything in exchange for an immortal inter part of himself which cannot die. Think about this; how could anyone buy or sell an "immaterial, invisible" immortal part of another person which he cannot see and it can never die? It would be impossible for anyone to give anything in exchange for it.
"Or what shall a man give in exchange for his life?" When "psukee" is made to be an inter immortal part of a person that cannot die, then would not giving something in exchange for it be buying ones way into Heaven? Frequently, in sermons and invitations, I have heard "what would a man give in exchange for his life" changed to "what would a man sell his immortal soul for." To give something in exchange for something is to buy it, not sell it. "Give" [pay, to give money or something] is changed to "sell" [to take money]. It is changed to say the opposite of what it does say to make it say what many want it to say. There is not one word in this verse about a person, or a part of a person being tormented forever. This passage is about how a man would pay all he has in exchange for a few more years of life, but would "forfeit his life" in Heaven in exchange for the pleasure of sin. The wages of sin is death [Romans 6:23]. Do not take the pleasures of sin for a few years in exchange for your life in Heaven as many do. When it is translated right, as in the American Standard Version and many others, the word "soul" as it is used in today's theology is not in this verse.
[3]. SOUL REQUIRED Luke 12:19-21
"And I will say to my LIFE [Greek psukee], LIFE [psukee], you have much goods lain up for many years: take your ease, eat, drink, be merry. But, God said unto him, You foolish one, this night is your LIFE [psukee] required of you; and the things which you have prepared, whose shall they be? So is he that lies up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God." It is not eternal torment that will be required of them but life. The New International Version reads, "And I'll say to MYSELF [Greek psukee-life], 'YOU [Greek psukee-life] have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat drink and be merry.' But, God said to him, 'You fool! This very night your LIFE [Greek psukee] will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?' This is how it will be with anyone whom stores up things for himself [puts the world ahead of God] but is not rich toward God." Those who believe souls are immortal use this to prove there will be life after death. They say this life must be from the time of death onward and never end, but it does not say either. There will be a resurrection and judgment of all, not just those in Christ. After the judgment, those who have laid up treasure for them self on earth, and are not rich toward God, their life will be required of them. Christ could not have said any plainer that life [not torment] would be required of those not rich toward God. It would make no sense if this psukee were an undying immortal soul. How could the only part of a person that will live forever be required of him?
"YOUR soul [life-psukee] required of YOU." Who is the "your" and "you"? They could not be the soul for then it would be saying the "soul" is required of the "soul." "Your" is the person whose life will be required. The Soul, as the word is used today, was never required of anyone. Psukee in the New Testament is never an undying "immaterial, invisible part of man." Life will be required of the sinner, not an undying soul.
[4]. God is able to destroy both soul and body in Gehenna
Matthew 10:28, Luke 12:5
See Gehenna in chapter four, second occasion.
[5]. Souls under the altar Revelation 6:9
See chapter eight, part three.
PASSAGES THAT DO NOT HAVE "SPIRIT"
OR "SOUL" IN THEM
BUT ARE USED TO PROVE A PERSON HAS AN IMMORTAL SPIRIT /SOUL.
Some passages are said to "imply" that a person has an immortal soul/spirit but do not state it. They base their doctrine on what they think is implied, not on what is said; based only on the assumption that there is such a thing an immaterial invisible no substance something in mankind that is immortal.
[1]. THE THIEF ON THE CROSS Luke 23:43
Did the thief know anything about the kingdom and that Christ was to be resurrected and at that time no others knew, not even the twelve? From Matthew one to Acts two it was believed that the Christ was to restore the kingdom to Israel and sit on the throne of David and be a king on this earth.
• Herod thought Jesus was to was born to be an earthly "king of the Jews" and "slew all the male children that were in Bethlehem" [Matthew 3:1-16] to keep Jesus from replacing him as king of an earthly kingdom.
• "And Jesus said unto him, ‘Do you see these great buildings? There shall not be left here one stone upon another, which shall not be thrown down.’ And as he sat on the Mount of Olives over against the temple, Peter and James and John and Andrew asked him privately, tell us, when shall THESE THINGS be?" [Mark 13:2-3]. The disciples, thinking of what the Lord had said, asked two questions, which they supposed both would be at the same time. “When shall THESE THINGS You speak of be and what shall be the sign that THESE THINGS are about to come to pass?” At the time they asked these questions they did not believe or know that Jesus would be put to death and be resurrected from the dead, or that he would be going back to heaven and coming a second time and a judgment day. The disciples still thought the Christ would restore the earthy kingdom of Israel just as all the Jews did. "And they understood none of these things, and this saying was hidden from them, and they did not comprehend the things that were said" [Luke 18:34; also Luke 19:11; 24:21-27; John 16:16-18; 20:9].
• On the day of His resurrection the Disciples did not know it was the resurrected Christ they were talking to and said to Him, "But we hoped (past tense) that it was he who should REDEEM ISRAEL" [Luke 24:21].
• Forty days after He was raised from the dead the Disciples still did not understand therefore, they still did not expect Christ to go away and return to earth a second time at the end of the world; they expected Him to restore the kingdom to Israel "They therefore, when they were come together, asked him, saying, Lord, do you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?" [Acts 1:6]. Even after his resurrection they were looking for the earthly kingdom of Israel to be restored and Christ to be it's king.
If this thief was not speaking of an earthly kingdom of Israel he would have had to know that Christ was going to be resurrected from the dead and then set up His kingdom when no one, not even the twelve know.
THE MOCKERY OF JESUS
MOCKERY AT HIS TRIAL BEFORE PILATE "Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the palace, and gathered unto him the whole band. And they stripped him, and put on him a scarlet robe, and they platted a crown of thorns and put it upon his head, and a reed in his right hand; and they kneeled down before him, and mocked him, saying, Hail, King of the Jews! And they spat upon him, and took the reed and smote him on the head. And when they had mocked him, they took off from him the robe, and put on him his garments, and led him away to crucify him" [Matthew 27:27-30]. "And the soldiers platted a crown of thorns, and put it on his head, and arrayed him in a purple garment; and they came unto him, and said, Hail, King of the Jews! And they struck him with their hands" [John 19:2-3].
• They stripped Him
• They put on Him a scarlet robe
• They platted a crown of thorns and put it upon His head
• They put a reed in His right hand
• They kneeled down before Him, and mocked Him, saying, Hail, King of the Jews!
• They spat upon Him
• They took the reed and smote Him on the head.
• They struck Him with their hands
The scarlet robe, crown of thorns, a reed in His hand and kneeling down before Him was mockery of His claim to be a king.
"Now it was the Preparation of the Passover: it was about the sixth hour. And he said unto the Jews, Behold your King! They therefore cried out, Away with him, away with him, crucify him! Pilate said unto them, ‘Shall I crucify your King?’ The chief priests answered, ‘We have no king but Caesar’" [John 18:14-15]. Jesus was the king the Jews were looking for but He said, "My kingdom is not of this world" and He did not restore the earthly kingdom to Israel as they thought their savior was going to do, they rejected Him and mocked Him.
MOCKERY BY PILATE WHEN CHRIST WAS ON THE CROSS "And Pilate wrote a title also, and put it on the cross. And there was written, JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS. This title therefore read many of the Jews, for the place where Jesus was crucified was nigh to the city; and it was written in Hebrew, and in Latin, and in Greek. The chief priests of the Jews therefore said to Pilate, Write not, The King of the Jews; but that he said, I am King of the Jews. Pilate answered, ‘What I have written I have written’" [John 19:19-22]. When Pilate put this on the cross of a man he did not think was a king or who would ever be a king, it was nothing but mockery by Pilate.
MOCKERY BY THOSE THAT PASSED BY, THE CHIEF PRIESTS AND THE ROBBERS. Matthew 27:39-48 "And they that passed by railed on him, wagging their heads, and saying, You that destroyed the temple, and builds it in three days, save yourself: if you are the Son of God, come down from the cross. In like manner also the chief priests mocking him, with the scribes and elders, said, He saved others; himself he cannot save. He is the King of Israel; let him now come down from the cross, and we will believe on him. He trusted on God; let him deliver him now, if he desires him: for he said, I am the Son of God. And the robbers also that were crucified with him cast upon him the same reproach. Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour. And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is, My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? And some of them stood there, when they heard it, said, ‘This man calls Elijah’. And straightway one of them ran, and took a sponge, and filled it with vinegar, and put it on a reed, and gave him to drink. And the rest said, Let be; let us see whether Elijah cometh to save him."
Mark 15:29-32: "And they that passed by railed on him, wagging their heads, and saying, ha! You that destroys the temple, and builds it in three days, save yourself, and come down from the cross. In like manner also the chief priests mocking him among themselves with the scribes said, He saved others; himself he cannot save. Let the Christ, the King of Israel, now come down from the cross that we may see and believe. And they that were crucified with him reproached him. And when the sixth hour was come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour. And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani? Which is, being interpreted, My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? And some of them that stood by, when they heard it, said, Behold, he calls Elijah. And one ran, and filling a sponge full of vinegar, put it on a reed, and gave him to drink, saying, Let be; let us see whether Elijah comes to take him down."
THIS MOCKERY WAS OVER CHRIST CLAIMING TO BE KING BY:
1. By the soldiers
2. By Pilate
3. By those that passed by
4. By the chief priests
5. By BOTH robbers
MOCKERY BY THE BOTH ROBBERS "And robbers also that were crucified with him cast upon him the same reproach" [Matthew 27:44]. Matthew and Mark give details of the mockery by all but the robbers saying only that they "cast upon him the same reproach." Luke tells how they "cast upon him the same reproach." Just as Pilate did not believe Jesus, who had never been king over any nation and was about to be put to death, was "THE KING OF THE JEWS," this robber did not believe the person being put to death with him would ever be a king and come into His kingdom. "And the people stood beholding. And the rulers also scoffed at him, saying, He saved others; let him save himself, if this is the Christ of God, his chosen. And the soldiers also mocked him, coming to him, offering him vinegar, and saying, ‘If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself’. And there was also a superscription over him, ‘THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS’. And one of the malefactors that were hanged railed on him, saying, ‘Are not you the Christ? Save yourself and us’. But the other answered, and rebuking him said, ‘Do you not even fear God, seeing you are in the same condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds: but this man has done nothing amiss’. And he said, ‘Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom’. And he said unto him, ‘Truly I say unto you, to-day you shall be with me in Paradise’’" [Luke 23:33-38].
• One robber railed on Christ by saying, "Are not you the Christ? Save yourself and us."
• The other robber by saying, "Remember me when you come into your kingdom." What would “remember me when” mean to the Jews of that day; they understood the kingdom to be an earthly kingdom of Israel, the Old Testament kingdom restored. The thief know he was dying and was speaking to a person that he could see was dying, mocking Him about coming into His kingdom when He was dying. Neither of the robbers thought this dying man was the Christ or that He would come into a kingdom. Saying to someone whom he knows would soon be dead, "Remember me when you come into your kingdom" was nothing more than mockery just as the sign the thief could see over His head saying "THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS" was mockery. Neither of the robbers would have understood the messianic kingdom the Jews were looking for to be anything but a physical kingdom of Israel with an earthly king.
CHRIST DID NOT GO TO PARADISE THAT DAY. When will anyone go to paradise or Heaven? Not unto after the judgment. We must wait for the resurrection and judgment before we will go to heaven. Did Christ tell the theft that he would be in Heaven that day? Jesus did not go to paradise that day. He had said He would be in the heart of the earth [grave] for three days [Matthew 12:40]; “For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the whale; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.” It was on Friday evening just before the beginning of the Sabbath day when Christ told the robber that he would be with Him in Paradise, but on Sunday morning He said, "Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended unto the Father" [John 20:17]. Paul said Christ died, was buried, and was raised on the third day [1 Corinthians 15:3-4; see Matthew 12:40]. He was dead and in the grave unto the third day when the Father raised Him. If Christ were alive and went to Heaven the day he died, what was His resurrection on the third day? It would be nothing but mockery to say He was raised from the dead when He was alive in Heaven. Christ said, "No one has ascended into heaven, but He who descended from heaven, even the Son of Man" [John 3:13]. If Moses did not ascend into Heaven at his death and had not ascended at the time Christ spoke this how did the robber ascend to Heaven if Moses and David did not? In an attempt to make a passage say someone went to Heaven at death the thief has been made to be better than Moses and David? Where was Christ from His death to His resurrection? "He foreseeing this spoke of the resurrection of the Christ, that neither was he left unto Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption. This Jesus did God raise up" [Acts 2:31-32]. This is from Psalm 16:10, "Because you will not abandon me to the grave (sheol)" New International Version.
WHICH WAY DO THEY SEND CHRIST? The advocates of an immortal soul say Christ went both up and down at His death.
• In THE SPIRITS IN PRISON 1 Peter 3:18-20 the advocates of an immortal soul say Christ went down to Hell to preach to the spirits in prison at His death.
• In THE ROBBER Luke 23:43 the advocates of an immortal soul say He went up to Heaven at His death. They say one place one time and another place another time.
• The advocates of an immortal soul send Christ both down to Hell to preach to spirits in prison AND up to Heaven with the robber, both places at the same time.
WHAT IS NOT SAID: Nothing is said about the robber believing after he had "reproached him." This is added by those who say they do not believe in adding to the word of God. I have been told the robber "could have" heard Christ before this. If he did, he did not believe for he was still a robber and even after he was on the cross he railed on Christ ("reproached him"). He was one of the many that could have heard Christ before this but if he had heard Christ he did not believe for he was one of the many who railed on Christ. Anyone can prove anything that they want to with a "could have."
Christ went to the grave that day, not Heaven. Both Christ and the robber were in hades - the grave - on "this day.”
THREE PROBLEMS
1. Christ did not go to Heaven that day.
2. It must be assumed that mankind now has immortality and will never die.
3. It must be assumed that all the saved go to Heaven at the moment of death, before and without the resurrection and judgment, none to sheol (the grave) and none to Abraham’s bosom.
4. It must be assumed that David did ascend into the heavens [Acts 2:34].
THE KING JAMES VERSION AND THE COMMA
The way it is worded in the Kings James Version makes Christ be asking the thief a question with the question mark left out and it ends the question with a period.
As it is in the Kings James Version and with the Old English changed to today English."
• "I say unto thee, To-day shalt thou be with me in paradise."
• "I say unto you, To-day shall you be with me in paradise?"
Yet this question Christ asked is frequency used to prove Christ was telling the thief that they both would be together in Heaven that very day. Christ went to the grave that day. Where is Paradise? The only other uses of Paradise in the New Testament are:
[1] Paul was "caught up into paradise," which he says is in "the third heaven" [2 Corinthians 12:2-4].
[2] "To him that overcomes, to him will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the Paradise of God" [Revelation 2:7]; the tree of life is in the New Jerusalem [See Revelation 21:1 to 22:5].
Many translations make Christ be telling the thief they both would be together in paradise (Heaven?) that day.
• Wycliffe New Testament: “And Jesus said to him, Truly I say to thee, this day thou shalt be with me in paradise”
• English Standard Version: “And he said to him, Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise”
• Young's Literal Translation: "And Jesus said to him, Verily I say to thee, To-day with me thou shalt be in the paradise"
• New International Version: "Jesus answered him, I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise"
• New American Standard Bible: "And He said to him, Truly I say to you, today you shall be with Me in Paradise"
• English Standard Version: "And he said to him, Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise"
• Amplified Bible: "And He answered him, Truly I tell you, today you shall be with Me in Paradise"
• English Standard Version: "And he said to him, Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise"
• Darby Translation: "And Jesus said to him, Verily I say to thee, To-day shalt thou be with me in paradise." This Catholic Bible also makes Christ be asking the thief a question without using a question mark.
• Holman Christian Standard Bible: "And He said to him, I assure you: Today you will be with Me in paradise"
• New International Reader's Version: "Jesus answered him, What I'm about to tell you is true. Today you will be with me in paradise"
• Today's New International Version "Jesus answered him, Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise"
• New International Version - UK: "Jesus answered him, I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise"
• Marshall Parallel New Testament In Greek And English: "Truly thee I tell, Today with me thou will be in the paradise"
With the comma where it is in most translations, Christ answer to the mockery of the thief was that he would be with Him that day. That day Christ was in the grave, therefore, Christ told the thief that he would be in the grave that day. Telling the thief that he was going to die and be in the grave that day does not sound like an answer the thief would have received if he had truly repented and was forgiven.
If Christ were telling the thief that he would be with Him in Heaven it was not on that day; the comma, which is not in the Greek must be moved for both Christ and the thief went to the grave that day, not to Heaven. "I say unto you to-day, you shall you be with me in paradise." This would not make the being in paradise be on that day, not on the day of their death. No one goes to Heaven at death before the resurrection and judgment. If the thief truly did repent and by "paradise" Christ was telling the thief that he would be in Heaven with Him, the comma must be put after "today" for Christ or the thief did not go to Heaven that day.
The Greek, in which the New Testament was written, did not have chapters or punctuation. Men have added the punctuation. The oldest manuscripts are all capitals, the words are not separated, and there is no punctuation. Cardinal Huge de Sancta Caro divided it into chapters in A. D. 1250. Robert Stevens divided the Bible was into verses about A. D. 1550. Manutius, a printer of Venice in A. D. 1490, invented the comma. It was put in the King James Version in A. D. 1611, but it was not used by Luke before it was invented, therefore, there was no comma in Luke 23:43. There was not a comma in the whole New Testament. Men put all the punctuation marks in the Bible we use today, not God. The translators could sometimes make it say what was consistent with their beliefs by the way they used punctuation. Move the comma, which was not invented unto 1490 and was added by uninspired men in the King James Version by man in A. D. 1611, and it does not say when they would be in paradise.
• VERILYISAYUNTOYOUTODAYYOUSHALLBEWITHMEINPARADISE The oldest Greek manuscripts have all capitals letters with no separation between words and sentences, and no punctuation marks.
• VERILY.I.SAY.UNTO.YOU.TODAY.YOU.SHALL.BE.WITH.ME.IN.PARADISE
Dots were put into the Greek in the ninth century to separate the words. The dots and all later punctuation of all Greek texts, which has been added after the ninth century is entirely on human authority.
• “Verily I say unto you, ‘To-day you shall be with me in paradise.’”
• “Verily I say unto you today, ‘You shall be with me in paradise.’” The comma was invented in1490 and put in the Bible by men.
"This day" is a common expression in the Bible. See Genesis 31:18; Exodus 34:11; Deuteronomy 4:26; 4:40; 6:6; 7:11; 8:1; 8:11; 30:5.
• “I declare to you this day, that you shall surely perish” [Deuteronomy 30:18].
• “Wherefore I take you to record this day, that I am pure from the blood of all man” [Acts 20:26 King James Version].
The Companion Bible, Appendix 173: "The interpretation of this verse depends entirely on punctuation, which rests wholly on human authority, the Greek manuscripts having no punctuation of any kind till the ninth century, and then it is only a dot in the middle of the line separating each word."
To put the comma where the King James Version put it makes Jesus a liar for He know He would not be in paradise that day. The King James translators, who believed that all will go immediately to Heaven or Hell at death, punctuated it to makes both Christ and the thief be in Heaven on that very day.
H Leo Boles: "Evidently Jesus did not mean that this robber would go with him to heaven that day, as it seems clear from other statements that Jesus did not go to heaven that day. His day of ascension came about forty days after that time" A Commentary On The Gospel Of Luke, Page 454, 1954, Gospel Advocate Company.
“It may be asked why translators of most modern version do not place the comma after the ‘today’ so that the verse will harmonize with other scriptural teaching on death and resurrection. We might as well ask why they do not translate the Greek bapitizo as ‘immerse’ or diakonos as ‘servant’ instead of merely spelling them with English letters. To do so would put the translation at odds with most denominational doctrine and almost insure it failure to be accepted” Curtis Dickinson, “The Witness” Volume 30, Number 8, 1990.
There is no grammatical justification for the placement of the comma before "today." Christ or the thief did not go to Heaven that day. By moving the comma that was added by uninspired men with a theological prejudice, the conflict with other passages is removed even if "in paradise" does mean "in Heaven."
Note: The punctuation can change the meaning of the same words.
Woman, without her man, is nothing.
Woman, without her, man is nothing.
[2]. “TO DIE IS GAIN” Philippians 1:21-23
When this passage is used to prove that a person takes up residence in their permanent abode at once in Heaven at death, it is taken out of context. Paul says, "So that my bonds became manifest in Christ throughout the whole praetorian guard, and to all the rest; and that most of the brethren in the Lord, being confident through my bonds, are more abundantly bold to speak the word of God without fear" [Philippians 1:13-14]. His imprisonment was not a personal gain, but because of it the word of Christ was being preached, therefore, it was gain to the cause of Christ. In verse 18 it did not matter the motives, Christ was being preached and he rejoiced. Verse 20 "So now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether by life, or by death." If he lived, he would preach Christ. If he died, others would be made more bold and preach Christ because of his death. Verse 21 "For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain." Death is an enemy [1 Corinthians 15:26]. It was not a personal gain for Paul. He knows that if he died before the coming of Christ he would not be in Heaven unto after the resurrection and judgment at the second coming of Christ. He knows his death would be a gain for the cause of Christ, that Christ would be preached because of it, not a personal gain for himself. Verse 22 "But if to live in the flesh, if this shall bring fruit from my work, then what I shall choose I know not" If he lived and preached Christ, or if his death would cause others to preach Christ, which one would bring the most fruit, he knew not. He is not saying he did not know whether living in this world was best, or living in Heaven was best; but this is what he is made to say when this passage is used to prove an immortal soul.
Philippians 1:12-30: When it became know that Paul was in prison it was gain to the Gospel for it made others bold to preach the Gospel and others preached the Gospel “thinking to raise up affliction for me in my bonds.” In the same way Paul is saying his death would be gain to the cause of Christ just as his being in prison was, not a personal gain. If "To die is gain," means we go to Heaven when we die, why would Paul say he did not know if going to Heaven was better than living on earth; why do we go to a doctor to get well and do all we can to keep from going to Heaven; why do we pray for each other when one of us is sick; would we not asking God not to take us to Heaven and are thankful if He does not? The reason we do not want to die is that death is not a gateway to Heaven, but death is an enemy. If death were a gateway to Heaven, we would be praying, "Lord, do not make us come live up there with You, let us live down here on earth where Satan can tempt us."
We are repeatedly told we will be with the Lord at His coming, not at death [2 Thessalonians 2:1] when He shall appear [Colossians 3:4], yet "To die is gain" is used to set aside many plain and clear passages and make the entrance to Heaven be immediately at death, not after the resurrection.
[3]. “TO DEPART AND TO BE WITH THE LORD”
Philippians 1:23; 2 Corinthians 5:8
Be with the Lord at the judgment day, not instantly at death: In the same letter Paul says, "If by any means I may attain unto the resurrection from the dead" [Philippians 3:11]. He tells the Thessalonians that we will be with the lord after the resurrection, "For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and thus we shall always BE WITH THE LORD" [1 Thessalonians 4:16-17].
• Be with the Lord "at that day" 2 Timothy 4:8
• Be with the Lord at "His appearing" 2 Timothy 4:8
"Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give to me at THAT DAY; and not to me only, but also to all them that have loved His appearing" [2 Timothy 4:8]. Paul clearly says the time of his death has come, but he will not receive the crown of righteousness unto the appearing of Christ at the Judgment Day. He will be with the Lord at the same time all the saved will be, "at that day" the Judgment Day, not at death. At "his appearing" See 2 Timothy 1:12; 1:18; 4:18; 2 Thessalonians 1:10; Philippians 1:10; 1:6; 1 Corinthians 1:8; 5:6. When will Paul be given "the crown of righteousness," when Christ comes, not at death? See 1 Peter 5:4. When will Paul and all the saved be with the Lord, at "His appearing," not at death? "To be with the Lord," says nothing about an "immaterial, invisible part of man" between death and the resurrection or after the resurrection. "For the Lord himself shall descend for Heaven…and so WE shall we ever be with the Lord" [1 Thessalonians 4:16-17]; it is after the resurrection that WE will be with the Lord, not at death. No one has ascended into Heaven but Christ; therefore, Paul has not ascended to Heaven and is not now in Heaven with the Lord [John 3:13]. Paul died about two thousand years ago, but like David [acts 2:29], Paul is not yet in Heaven with the Lord and will not be unto after the resurrection; therefore, this passage could not be saying Paul had an immortal, invisible soul that would go to Heaven and be with the lord at the time of his death.
• Peter says of David "that he both died and was buried...for David ascended not into the heavens" [Acts 2:29-34].
• Today's theology says, "David is not dead and has ascended into Heaven."
To make "with the Lord" mean we go to Heaven with the Lord at death takes away any need for a resurrection and makes it useless and foolish. After some had been in Heaven with the Lord for centuries, why would He send them back to earth to raise them from the dead and take them back to Heaven when from the day of their death they had been very much alive in Heaven and were never dead?
There are three major views on the condition of the dead.
1. The dead are dead and will be dead unto the resurrection of the dead.
2. The dead are alive in an intermediate state without the resurrection.
3. The dead are alive in Heaven or Hell without the resurrection.
Although this passage is used as undeniable proof or both 2 and 3 and to set aside the many passages on the resurrection, this passage is completely silent about where the dead are before the resurrection.
Those who believe the dead go to hades, some to be with the rich man in torment and some to be in "Abraham's bosom" also use "be with the Lord" when they are trying to prove men now have an immortal soul, but in doing so they do not seen to be able to see that they are making all go to Heaven or Hell at death and, therefore, they have made going to hades at death impossible. We could not be in "Abraham's bosom" and in Heaven with the Lord both at the same time. When they need to, they make hades be "the grave" for the body to be in; and when they need to, they make it be "Abraham's bosom" for the "soul" to live in. How do they know when it should be one, and when it should be the other? In trying to make Paul and Stephen be conscious after death, they are both put directly in heaven at death before and without the Judgment Day; sometimes even by those who do not believe anyone is now in Heaven.
We need to be very careful not to make Paul say something he did not say [2 Peter 3:16]. "To be with the Lord," but where and when will we be with the Lord? Not in our permanent abode in Heaven at death, for we will not be there unto after the judgment. If we go to Heaven or Hell at death, this would mean that the final judgment takes place immediately at death, for God would have to decide our destiny then; therefore, God would have made the final judgment before the Judgment Day, before the coming of Christ.
Jesus said, "And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also" [John 14:3]. Many say, "Not so Lord, we will be with you in Heaven, Your second coming and the resurrection will not be needed for we will be alive with You in Heaven." But Paul said, “For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ; who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory” [Philippians 3:20-21]. It is us who will be transformed, not just a part of us that is now just as immortal as it will always be and will not need to be transformed, and this part of us will not wait for the Lord Jesus to come again, but immediately go to Heaven to be with Him at death.
Living Christians need not sorrow as the rest who have no hope [1 Thessalonians 4:13]. There are four points in this passage.
1. Those who are asleep will be resurrected from the dead at the second coming of Christ. The departed person will not be with Christ unto He comes "again, and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also" [John 14:2]. Not alive before "The Lord himself shall descend from heaven...and the dead in Christ shall rise first." At the coming of Christ the dead shall rise from the grave, not come back from Hell or Heaven.
2. Those who are living at the time Christ comes will be changed. Living Christians will not precede [go ahead of] the Christians that are not living [them that are fallen asleep] to meet the Lord, “And so shall we ever be with the lord” [1 Thessalonians 4:15].
3. Both those in Christ who are dead and those who are living, will together go from the earth to meet the Lord in the air when he is coming from Heaven before we will “be with the Lord.” "Then we that are alive, that are left, SHALL TOGETHER with them be caught up (from the earth) in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air" [1 Thessalonians 4:17-18]. How could Paul have said any clearer that those who are now asleep are not now alive in Heaven, but that they will be raised from the dead and meet the Lord in the air as He is returning?
4. "And so shall we (both the living Christians and the Christians that are not living at the time He comes) ever be with the Lord" [1 Thessalonians 4:17]. With the Lord in the place in Heaven where He has gone to prepare for the saved [John 14:2]. The future existence of the dead in Christ absolutely depends upon (1) the resurrection of those who are asleep (2) or on a translation of those who are living when Christ comes.
Why did Paul say he had a desire to depart? He lived a life of suffering, toil, and trials [2 Corinthians 11:23-33] and like Job, he understood death would be a relief from pain; and he knew that from the standpoint of the person that departs it will be as if he or she is with the Lord the next moment for we will know nothing of the time between death and the resurrection, that time will seem as if it was only a moment. The dead in Christ are asleep and have not ascended into Heaven, not even David or Paul, only Christ is now in Heaven, “But now has Christ been raised from the dead, the first-fruits of them that ARE ASLEEP…in Christ shall all be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, then they that are Christ’s at His coming” [1 Corinthians 15:20-23]. To those who are asleep there is no awareness of time; it will be as if we are with the Lord in only a moment. For us, there is no life after death unto the resurrection and never would be life without a resurrection of the dead.
Analus is used in the New Testament only two times.
1. "When he will RETURN [Greek-analus] from the wedding" Luke 12:36.
2. “Having a desire to DEPART [Greek-analus], and to be with the Lord" Philippians 1:23.
"To depart" or "Will return," which one does analus means?
[4] IN THE BODY OR OUT OF THE BODY [2 Corinthians 12:1-2]
"But I will come to visions and revelations of the Lord" Paul had not died at the time he wrote this, therefore, there are only two possibilities.
1. First possibility: Paul was taken to the third Heaven in his earthly body and given a revelation, which was not lawful for him to utter, and then returned to Earth. He did not die. This would prove nothing about a disembodied soul from death unto the resurrection. Being taken to Heaven alive in his body would not even be a death. At the time he says this, he was still a living human being that had not died, he was not a disembodied spirit or soul after the death of his body. Then how can this be used to show that Paul had an "immaterial, invisible part of man" that would not die when he did? "Whether in the body." Although it is almost certain that no flesh and blood body has ever been in Heaven or ever will be, God has the power and could have taken Paul to the third Heaven when he was in his body, or He has the power to have taken Paul to the third Heaven in a vision. Paul did not know which so we cannot know. If Paul were caught up to the third Heaven this was special case, and not what happens to all mankind instantaneously at death. It is not going to Abraham's bosom, which is where many teach all the saved will go immediately at death. There is nothing in this passage about what will be after death, nether before the resurrection nor after the resurrection for Paul or for us; so how can this passage be used to prove a person becomes a "disembodied spirit" after death? Paul had not died, and nothing is said about him having a disembodied spirit that went to Heaven without his body or after the death of his body.
2. Second possibility: this was a vision: Neither would a vision prove anything about a disembodied soul from death unto the resurrection. "Visions" in 2 Corinthians 12:1 is translated from "optasia" and is used only four times in the New Testament.
(1) "That he had seen a VISION [optasia] in the temple" [Luke 1:2].
(2) "They had also seen a VISION [optasia] of angels" [Luke 24:23].
(3) "Disobedient unto the heavenly VISION" [optasia] [Acts 26:19].
(4) And in this passage, "I will come to VISIONS [optasia] and revelations" [2 Corinthians 12:1]. A vision, which is something like a dream, cannot be used to prove Paul or anyone has either an immortal soul or an immortal spirit.
EITHER WAY: If Paul were taken to Heaven or if this was a vision.
• This says nothing about an "immaterial invisible part of man.
• Or nothing about anything that will be after death either before or after the resurrection.
Those who use this to prove a person has an immortal soul must say they know what Paul said he did not know. They must say only a part of Paul, his "soul" but not his body went to Heaven, and that this was not a vision. How could anyone know this when Paul did not? According to the common view, when the soul leaves the body, the body is dead, and death is the separation of body and soul. Therefore, if a part of Paul called "soul" separated from the body and went to the third Heaven; his body was on the earth separated from this soul, therefore, dead. According to what some say death is, Paul was dead and his return to earth would have to be a resurrection from the dead. According to this teaching, his dead body was on earth and his soul was in Heaven separated from his body, he died and was raised from the dead and did not know it. We are told that "out of the body" means Paul's soul went to paradise and left his corpse on the earth, therefore, Paul was dead according to their own definition of death. Who can believe Paul was dead and resurrected and did not know it?
Summary: First ADDED, then CHANGED. First "psukee [life, soul, living being]" must be ADDED into this passage when it is not in it, then the ADDED psukee must be CHANGED into an immortal being. Theology had to go on a long trip to put what they wanted into this. There is nothing in this passage about the intermediate time from death unto the resurrection; but that a part of a person called "soul" is alive in the intermediate time from death to the resurrection is what they are trying to prove with it. Paul was speaking about a vision that had happened fourteen years before [2 Corinthians 12:1], not a death, and there is nothing in this passage (1) about a soul, (2) about death (3) or about anything that will be after death. How could this possibly be used to prove Paul or anyone has a soul that is immortal?
[5]. THE BELIEF OF THE PHARISEES AND OF THE SADDUCEES
WHOSE WIFE SHALL SHE BE
THE GOD OF ABRAHAM, ISAAC AND JACOB Luke 20:27-38
There is much conflict and confusion in what has been written about the beliefs of both the Pharisee and the Sadducees. Below is a brief outline of their beliefs, which is in agreement with most writers.
THE SADDUCEES: They believed in a strict following of the Law and believed that the Law said nothing about an immortal soul, or about the resurrection of the dead. See [6]. "The God of Abraham" next in this chapter.
THE PHARISEES: The Pharisees originated in the time of the Maccabees and died out soon after A. D. 70. A belief in some kind of resurrection was established among some of the Jews in the time of Christ, but was not believed by most; but the teaching of Christ in Mark 12:26-27, on anyone having eternal life and immortality in Heaven after death was new to them [2 Timothy 1:10]. The Pharisees seem to have believed much of Rabbinic Judaism, mostly writings that were written between the Testaments that were influenced by Greek pagan teaching. Some form of an immortal soul was believed by the Greeks and is in some of the Rabbinical writings. The Pharisees did believe in both the resurrection of the dead, and in spirits and angels [Acts 23:8] and they did believe the teaching of eternal life was found in the Scriptures and searched the scriptures for proof [John 5:39], but what kind of eternal life and where did that believe it would it be; what did they believe about the resurrection? The only resurrections in the Old Testament Scriptures that they searched were resurrections of earthly body back to a mortal life that was no different from the mortal life of those who had not been resurrected. The New Testament teaching of a resurrection to immortality was unknown to them. Christ abolished death, and "brought life and immortality to light through the gospel" [2 Timothy 1:10-11]; a resurrection to immortality was unknown in the Old Testament, therefore, how could the Pharisees or anyone have known about something God had not made know? They looked for the Christ to restore Israel as a great nation and to set on the throne of David in Jerusalem, not to be killed and resurrected and set on His throne in Heaven. They may have thought Abraham, David, and others would be resurrected as mortals in the restored Israel under the savior they looked for. Whatever they believed about a resurrection, it could not have been the resurrection to eternal life in heaven, which was not known about before Christ. A resurrection of al
l, judgment, and eternal life in Heaven for believers after death was unknown to them. They had many traditions and were rebuked for making the Law void by their traditions. Jesus said to them, "You hypocrites, well did Isaiah prophesy of you, saying, this people honors my with their lips; but their heart is far from me. But in vain do they worship me, teaching as their doctrines the precept of men" [Matthew 15:7-9]. Much of the teaching of Christ was a rebuke to them about their beliefs. See Matthew 19.
"In the resurrection; therefore, whose wife shall she be of the seven?" [Matthew 22:28. Notice the question or the answer did not mention an intermediate state. Although there were resurrections of the earthly body back to life just as it was before the death of the person resurrected in the Old Testament, there is nothing of a resurrection to immortality life with a spiritual body without the earthly body. The fact that they thought that if there were a resurrection she would have to be the wife of one of the seven points out that they were thinking of a resurrection of an earthly mortal body with life on this earth as it is now with husbands, wives, and children. This reply by Christ is one of, if not the first suggestion of a resurrection that will not be a resurrection back to a mortal life. This was a new teaching of Christ that was not known about before He brought it to light through the gospel [2 Timothy 1:10], therefore, could not have been known about by the Pharisees.
"The sons of this world (aion - age) marry, and are given in marriage: but they that are accounted worthy to attain to that world (aion - age), and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry, nor are given in marriage: for neither can they die any more; for they are equal unto the angels; and are sons of God" [Luke 20:34-36]. Jesus is speaking of life in two different ages, in this age where there is marriage and death, and life in an age (Heaven) where there is no marriage or death. The Pharisees view of the resurrection seems to be a resurrection to life as it now is in this age. Christians, while living on this earth, are (1) not immortal, (2) not deathless, (3) not spirits, (4) not equal unto the angels, (5) do marry.
Today most that are called Jews believe more like the Sadducees did, and do not believe the Old Testament says anything about an immortal soul or anything about anyone going to Heaven at anytime after death; they do not believe their savior had come, and believed when he did come he would restore Israel as a nation.
Alexander Campbell said, "1. That before the Captivity, and the Macedonian and Roman conquests, the Jews observed the most profound silence upon the state of the deceased, as to their happiness or misery. They spoke of it simply as a place of silence, darkness, and inactivity. 2. But after the Hebrews mingled with the Greeks and Romans, they insensibly aided into their use of terms, and adopted some of their ideas on such subjects as those on which their oracles were silent." Appendix to "The Living Oracles" Page 59.
The belief of the Greeks was reincarnation back to some kind of earthly life that would die again; they had no conception of eternal life in Heaven that was made known by Christ.
The Sadducees did not believe in a resurrection. "On that day there came to him Sadducees, they that say that there is no resurrection" [Matthew 22:23]. To prove there was no resurrection they tried to trick Jesus with a question that would prove there was not. The point of His answer was to prove there is to be a resurrection, not to prove anything about the state of the dead before the resurrection. There is nothing in their question or in Christ’s answer about a disembodied soul or spirit that is alive before the resurrection. Christ was asked, "The woman also died...in the resurrection; therefore, whose wife of them shall she be" [Luke 20:33]? They did not ask whose wife she would be at death but in the resurrection; their question was not who now has her disembodied spirit in the intermediate state. Christ said to them, "but they that are accounted worthy to attain to that world (aion-age) and the resurrection from the dead...but that THE DEAD ARE RAISED" [Luke 20:35-37], "But as touching the resurrection of the dead" [Matthew 22:31]. "For when they shall rise from the dead...But as touching the dead, that they are raised" [Mark 12:25-26].
[6]. THE GOD OF ABRAHAM
Matthew 22:32 “But as touching the resurrection of the dead, have you not read that which was spoken unto you by God, saying, ‘I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living.’” Christ was proving to the Sadducees that there will be a resurrection, not that Abraham was alive at the time He was saying this; at that time Abraham was not alive in Heaven, Hell, in Abraham’s bosom, or alive any other place. If the dead are living in a disembodied state, for God to say he was the God of Abraham would not prove there will be a resurrection, but would prove one was not needed. If Abraham were not dead, Christ could not have used Abraham to prove the dead will be raised. The dead must be dead to be raised; a living Abraham would not need to be raised, would not need a resurrection to make him alive. The whole point Christ was making is that there will be a resurrection, not that none are dead to be resurrected. Not that a disembodied spirit is the only part of a person that will be in Heaven or Hell, and this immaterial part of a person is now alive in Heaven or Hell while his or her dead body is in the grave. If this disembodied part of a person were alive anywhere it would make the resurrection impossible. A resurrection of those who are living would be an empty show, a fraud, not a resurrection. The belief of many says, "Not so Christ, I was born immortal and cannot die, therefore, I cannot be dead or raised from the dead"? This theology destroys the Biblical doctrine of the resurrection.
If Abraham were alive, as many teach he was, then he was never asleep. Many believe we have an immortal part of us that can never be dead but despite the fact that it is alive, it is going be resurrected from the dead to be in Heaven? Paul said of Able, "He being dead" [Hebrews 11:4], if language has any meaning, Abel was dead, not alive at the time Paul said this. "For David...fell asleep, and was laid unto his fathers, and saw corruption" [Acts 13:36]; if David were living (awake) at this time, if only his body was in the tomb, Peter had no point or argument; what Peter said had no meaning. "From the day that the fathers fell asleep" [2 Peter 3:4] shows that Abraham and David are still asleep, along with all other's that "are fallen asleep" [1 Corinthians 15:6]. To say that Abraham has been raised is to say the resurrection is past, and Christ was not the "first fruits" [2 Corinthians 15:20], or the "first born" [Colossians 1:18, Revelation 1:5]. To say that an immortal part of Abraham was never dead is to make a resurrection impossible. The resurrection at the coming of Christ is the subject, and nothing is said about what will be between death and the resurrection. Abraham "believed, even God, who gives life to the dead, and calls the things that are not, as though they were" [Romans 4:18]. "For none of us live to himself, and none die to himself. For whether we live, we live unto the Lord; or whether we die, we die unto the Lord; whether we live therefore, or die, we are the Lord's. For to this end Christ died and lived again, that he might be Lord of both the dead and the living" [Romans 14:7-9]. How could Christ be Lord of the dead if no one is dead?
Summary: If the dead are more alive than when they were living, it both takes away the need for a resurrection and made it impossible. Christ's argument that there will be a resurrection is totally destroyed. When this passage is used to prove the dead are not dead but are conscious then it would proves that there is no resurrection. If the dead are alive then how would His answer prove there would be a resurrection, and what would be the need of one? This is a serious problem for those who teach unconditionally immortality. IT CANNOT BE TAUGHT THAT THE DEAD ARE MORE ALIVE THAN THE LIVING WITHOUT DESTROYING THE BIBLICAL DOCTRINE OF THE RESURRECTION. If Abraham, David, Job, and other saints are alive in Heaven, death has already been destroyed. Death would have been destroyed for all at death, not at Christ's second coming; and even those in the Old Testament would have had life, eternal life, without the death of Christ and without the resurrection and judgment. Take away the fact that Abraham was dead, which is the very thing that those who say a person is born immortal and can never die are trying to do; and you take away the point of Christ's argument, and make Him be saying just so many words that say nothing. Christ's argument, that there will be a resurrection, requires that Abraham is dead at the time Christ made the argument. Abraham being alive would have requires that he never died or that his resurrection was past before the death and resurrection of Christ. When did it happen? The resurrection of Christ, Abraham, or anyone requires that they be dead at the time of the resurrection for they could not be resurrected if they were alive. How could anyone think that a coming back of the living from Heaven is a resurrection of the dead? If David were not still in the tomb then he had been raised the same as Christ, but before Christ, therefore, Christ was not the first fruit. Today's theology has changed this to read, "But that the dead are not dead to be raised," or "But that the separated are not dead to be raised." If He were saying Abraham is alive now, He would be denying the point He was making, that there will be a resurrection, for Abraham could not be raised if he were alive. If Abraham were alive at that time then Luke 20:27-38 proves that there will not and cannot be a resurrection. This passage teaches a "resurrection of the dead," not "no one is dead to be resurrected from the dead."
[7]. THE TRANSFIGURATION: A RESURRECTION or A VISION?
Matthew 17:1-9, Mark 9:2-9.
A VISION: Christ said it was a vision. "Tell the VISION to no man" [Matthew 17:9]. Moses and Elijah ("Elias" in the King James Version) were seen with Christ and then were gone, leaving only Christ. Vision [Greek-horama] is used in the New Testament twelve times, and in the King James Version it is always translated "vision" except in Acts 7:31 where it is translated "the sight." This is not the Greek word "optasia" that is translated "vision" in 2 Corinthians 12:1.
1. "Tell the VISION [Greek-horama] to no man" Matthew 17:9
2. "He wondered at the SIGHT [Greek-horama]" Acts 7:31
3. "To him said the Lord in a VISION [Greek-horama]" Acts 9:10
4 "And has seen in a VISION [Greek-horama] a man" Acts 9:12
5 "He saw in a VISION [Greek-horama]" Acts 10:3
6 "What this VISION [Greek-horama] which he had seen might mean" Acts 10:17
7 "While Peter thought on the VISION [Greek-horama]" Acts 10:19
8 "And in a trance I saw a VISION [Greek-horama]" Acts 11:5
9 "But thought he was seeing a VISION [Greek-horama]" Acts 12:9
10 "A VISION [Greek-horama] appeared to Paul in the night" Acts 16:9
11 "And after he had seen the VISION [Greek-horama]" Acts 16:10
12 "To Paul in the night by a VISION [Greek-horama]" Acts 18:9
If this were a vision, no argument can be taken from it for the existence of disembodied souls for Moses and Elijah were only seen in a vision. Those who believe in unconditional immortality MUST reinterpret this into bringing a soul that was alive in Heaven and came back from Heaven to earth, and that Moses had ascended to Heaven despite the fact that Christ said no man had. They must say to Christ, "No it is not a vision of Moses, but the real Moses back from Heaven where he has been with You alive from his death." It is not said or implied that Moses was in Heaven and came back to earth, or that he was alive. We are told that this was a vision. "Tell the vision to no man" [Matthew 17:9].T being a vision proves they were not called back from Heaven; it does not prove that there was an immaterial, invisible part of them that is now alive anywhere; if Moses and Elijah were alive and in Heaven Christ could not have been the first fruits.
A RESURRECTION: If Moses and Elijah were really there, then Matthew was wrong when he called it a vision. If it were a resurrection, it was a resurrection like Lazarus and other resurrections in the Bible and proved Moses was dead, not alive and had to be resurrected to be there. If Moses were alive and immortal, he would have been brought back from Heaven; he would not have needed to be raised from the dead. For this passage to teach a person now has an "immaterial, invisible part of man" it must be proved that this was not a vision or a resurrection of the dead, but a bringing back of the living Moses from Heaven. Would the apostles be able to see an "immaterial, invisible" disembodied spirits that had no human body? It had to be a vision or a resurrection for the apostles to be able to see them. If they were alive in the flesh, they had to be brought back from the dead just as Lazarus and others were. All resurrections in the Bible, other than of Christ, were only temporary, and those who were raised from the dead did not put on immortality, as those in Christ will at the resurrection [1 Corinthians 15:50-54]. Just as Lazarus was brought back in his earthly body to a mortal life, they were resurrected back to a mortal life and still in a mortal body and were not like the resurrection of Christ, or like the resurrection of the saved at the coming of Christ. They were all raised mortals subject to death and all died again. Not one of them is still alive today. Not one of them was raised immortal. In any of these temporary resurrections, not one thing is said about what will be after our death or after the resurrection. If God raised one or ten thousand back to an earthly body, it does not effect the resurrection of all at the coming of Christ and would not in any way prove a person is now mortal or immortal. These earthly resurrections of mortal bodies say nothing about the resurrection at the coming of Christ when the saved will put on immortality. From the resurrections of Lazarus and others back to the mortal earthly body if there were no other revelation about the resurrection we would not know anything about those in Christ that are going to be raised immortal on the Resurrection Day.
Summary: Either way, if the transfiguration were a resurrection or a vision, it does not prove that a person is now mortal or immortal. The reason for this vision or resurrection was to show that we are not to hear the law and the prophets, but to "hear you him." Christ is now the one who has "All authority" [Matthew 28:18]. If any of the resurrections in the Old or New Testament were a resurrection to immortality, Christ could not have been "the first-fruits of them that are asleep" [1 Corinthians 15:20-23]. How can death be changed to life in Heaven without a resurrection?
[8]. GOD WILL BRING WITH CHRIST 1 Thessalonians 4:14-17
This is often used to prove those who have died are now in Heaven, and Christ will bring them back when He comes for the judgment. This passage is about the resurrection at the coming of Christ, and it like those that says not a word about an "immaterial, invisible part of man" that is now alive before the resurrection and it says nothing about a place called Hell. "For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also that fallen asleep [are dead] in Jesus will God bring with him. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we that are alive, that are left unto the coming of the Lord, shall in no wise precede [go before] them that are fallen asleep."
There are three point in 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17.
1. The second coming of Christ: “For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven, with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God.”
2. The resurrection of the dead in Christ: The dead in Christ shall rise, be resurrected first, not those who are alive in Heaven or any other place returning to earth.
3. Those who will be living when Christ returns: then we that are alive at the time Christ descends, “that are left, shall together with them be caught up in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord" [1 Thessalonians 4:16-17]. Both the dead in Christ and those who are alive when He comes shall together be caught up from the earth to the clouds. Not as some say, that we that are alive shall be caught up to meet Christ and those He is to bring from Heaven with Him.
This passage is a plain statement that there will be a resurrection, and it is opposed to the theory that no one is really dead. Both cannot be true. It is clearly said that they “are asleep” not awake in Heaven. “And I will raise him up at the last day” [John 6:40].
"The dead in Christ shall rise first." Those who are asleep will wake up first. How could they wake up if they are not asleep? How could they rise from the dead if they are not dead and how could they meet the Lord in the air if they were coming with Him from Heaven? Paul says nothing about immortal souls, but persons.
1. Persons “who are asleep in Christ"
2. And persons “that are alive" when Christ comes.
Those who believe we have an "immaterial, invisible part of man" that is now immortal take the resurrection out of this passage and makes it be about:
1. Those who are now alive (not asleep) in Heaven with Christ shall come with Him.
2. And "we that are alive" when Christ comes shall meet them in the air. There will be no resurrection for no one is dead. If you believe in an immortal soul there is no reason for a resurrection and no room for it.
"In my Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I come again, and will receive you unto Myself that whereI am, there you may be also" [John 14:2-3]. Those who teach we have a soul that goes directly to Heaven at death believe that souls are now in the place where Christ has gone to prepare before He comes to receive them and have made the coming of Christ, the resurrection, and the judgment useless. Those who preach at funerals often say our loved ones are now with the Lord in Heaven. This is a contradiction of Paul's detailed account of what will happen at the resurrection.
Two views:
1. The dead in Christ are now in Heaven and God will bring them back to earth with Christ.
2. God will bring those who have fallen asleep in Christ with Christ when He returns to Heaven after the judgment.
The first view makes many problems.
• At the time Paul wrote this the dead Christians were "asleep in Christ," not in Heaven. "Concerning them that fall asleep...even so them also that are fallen asleep in Jesus" [1 Thessalonians 4:13-14]. "Then they also that fallen asleep in Christ have perished" [1 Corinthians 15:18]. There would be no need to sorrow for the dead in Christ if they are alive in Heaven; they should have been rejoicing for their loved ones would be in a much better place and be with Jesus. The fact that those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished if there is no resurrection clearly states that they are not in Heaven before the resurrection, that life after death is completely dependent on the resurrection and that no one will be alive in Heaven before the resurrection of the dead. Many gospel preachers who say they speak only where the Bible speaks and are silent where it is silent, when they teach the dead in Christ are now in Heaven clearly are speaking the opposite of the Bible. “In Christ shall all be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, then they that are Christ’s at his coming” [1 Corinthians 15:22-23]. The victory over death is not instantly at death [1 Corinthians 15:54] but at the resurrection of the dead. The “dead in Christ” shall rise at the coming of Christ, not at death. [1 Thessalonians 4:16].
• When "those who are asleep" is used to prove a person has an immortal soul, then it would prove the immortal soul is asleep, and they prove "soul sleeping," which they falsely accuse those of believing who do not believe a person has an immaterial invisible something. It is the whole person, not just an immaterial something in the person that is asleep unto the waking up at the Resurrection.
• THE DEATH OF LAZARUS: In John 11 is the account of the death of Lazarus and his restoration to life on this earth. When Jesus arrived, the sister of Lazarus said, "Lord, if You had been here, my brother had not died." Did Jesus comfort her by saying her brother was a good person and was now happy in Heaven with other saints and angels and would never again have pain and he was much better off than when he was in this world but He was going to take Lazarus out of Heaven and bring him back to this world; this is the way of today's theology but is not found in the Bible. His reply was, "Your brother shall rise again." Martha declared her faith in the resurrection as was taught by Jesus by saying, "I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day" showing she did not believe he was then alive and in Heaven. Paul says the same when he says that those in Christ who have fallen asleep have perished if the dead are not raised [1 Corinthians 15:14-20]. If they were forever alive in Heaven, they would not have perished if there were no resurrection. Today's teaching is not found in the Bible and makes a lie of the Biblical teaching. Those who have "fallen asleep in Christ" will be asleep unto the resurrection and without it they will forever be asleep. "And this is the will of him that sent me, that of all that which he has given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day" [John 6:39]. God could not have told us any clearer where we will be after death. Plato’s philosophy of an immortal soul that can never be dead has replaced the Bible teaching of the resurrection of the dead at the coming of Christ in many churches.
Although "soul sleeping" and "annihilation" are often confused and thought to be the same, the two are totally different.
• "Soul sleeping" is the belief that a person has an invisible immaterial something living in them that will never die, but from the death of the body unto the resurrection that immaterial part of a person is "asleep," not "annihilated," and only the sleeping immaterial, no substance soul will awake at the judgment to eternal life in Heaven or Hell.
• Annihilation is the belief that “the wages of sin is death” not eternal life in torment; after annihilation no part of a person is asleep, no part of a person will ever wake up. Annihilation is an unbiblical way of saying "the wages of sin is death," that all of a person will be annihilated after the judgment. Those who believe "the wages of sin is death" do not believe in "soul sleeping" although they are often falsely accused of it. It is the person that is asleep and not just an immaterial part of a person.
The second view solves these problems.
• Those who are "asleep in Christ" are asleep waiting for the return of Christ and the resurrection.
• Makes the resurrection necessary.
• After the judgment when Christ returns to Heaven, those in Christ will go with Him. "We that are alive, that are left, shall together with them be caught up in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord" [1 Thessalonians 4:17]. God will bring [both those who are asleep in Christ and those who are alive] with Christ when Christ returns to heaven after the resurrection and judgment.
Christ will be coming from heaven with His "holy ones," the angels, not dead saints that are not dead. "Behold, the Lord comes with many thousands of His holy [hagios] ones" [Jude 14 New American Standard Version]. "Saints" in the King James Version is from "hagios," which is the same word that is translated "holy" 93 times in the "Holy [hagios] Spirit." Those who come with Christ from Heaven are the holy angels, not those who are asleep in Christ. "When the Son of Man shall come in his glory, and all the holy [hagios] angels with Him" [Matthew 25:31, King James Version]. "When he comes in the glory of his father with the holy [hagios] angels" [Mark 8:38]. "For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven, with a shout, with the voice of the archangel" [1 Thessalonians 4:16]. "The Son of man shall send forth his angels" [Matthew 13:41]. "At the coming of our Lord Jesus with all His saints [hagios-holy]" [1 Thessalonians 3:13], "holy ones" New International Version; both Jude 14 and 1 Thessalonians 3:13 use "hagios.”
[9]. "EVERYONE WHO LIVES
AND BELIEVES IN ME SHALL NEVER DIE" John 11:26
This passage is used to prove that all men now have an immortal "immaterial, invisible part of man" that can never die, but when it is so used, it makes a problem for them. Christ is clearly saying ONLY those that believe on Him "shall never die," therefore, those that do not believe on Him SHALL DIE. If all have immortality from birth and can never die, what was He saying? This passage makes "never die" be conditional on believing on Christ, not on a never dying "immaterial, invisible part of man" that is read into it. It is used to prove all unconditionally have an immortal soul and can never die, even those who do not believe on Him. Those who believe on Him die a physical death, just as those who do not believe on Him. In what way do those who believe never die? Their name is in the book of life and there will be a resurrection when they will "put on immortality" [1 Corinthians 15:54]. Their resurrection and their eternal life are so sure that it is counted as if they now have it. They will not die the second death which all that do not believe will die.
Summary: According to today's theology, when this is read, as many read it, "He that has the Son has an immortal soul that shall never die," then it must also be read, "He that has not the Son has an immortal soul that shall never die" for today's theology says all now have an immortal soul that shall never die if they believe or if they do not believe. Even though eternal life and never dying is conditional on believing Christ, theology says not so, all are now immortal and have eternal life and can never die.
[10] WHAT IS ETERNAL?
THE PUNISHMENT OR THE PUNISHING? MATTHEW 25:46
Many say the punishment must last as long as the life, but this does not say what the punishment is. It is a question of whether the punishment is an eternal life with torment, or eternal death. It is supposed by many that punishment can only be conscious suffering and their conditioning makes them read an eternal life of torment into it although we are told repeatedly that punishment will be death, destruction, perish, die, lost, etc.; but never that the punishment will be to be tormented by God forever. Nothing could be a more eternal punishment than a death from which there will never be a resurrection. There are many kinds of punishment, but from Matthew 25 all we can say is that there will be punishment, but nothing more or less than punishment. To say Matthew 25 says where or what the punishment will be is to say more than it says and, therefore, is adding to what God said. To know what the punishment will be we must go to other passages. God's word must say what it is, and it nowhere says God will be tormenting people forever. His word says, “The wages of sin is death,” not eternal life with torment. If a person were put to death for a crime but could be restored to life after one year, his punishment would end after one year. If he were never restored to life, his punishment would never end; it would be eternal punishment but not eternal torment. The Scripture clearly says that the punishment is death, the wages of sin [Romans 6:23]. Paul clearly says what the everlasting punishment is, "even eternal destruction" [2 Thessalonians 1:9]. Christ contrasts "eternal life" for the saved with "eternal punishment" for the lost. "Life" or "eternal life" is promised to the saved repeatedly [See chapter two: LIFE and DEATH], but life is never promised to the lost. It will be "death" for them [Romans 6:23; James 1:15]. "They that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of judgment" [John 5:29], not to a resurrection of eternal life for those that have done evil. In revelation 21:3-8 the saved are given the fountain of the water of life freely but the lost shall have there part in the lake of fire which is the second death, life for the saved, death (not eternal life in torment) for the lost. Christ said, "If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and they gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burnt" [John 15:6]. The punishment is not to be forever dying, or is not forever living separated from God; but it is forever being dead. The punishment for sin is death [Roman 6:23; James 1:15] and the punishment of death is just as eternal as the life. Punishment can have many forms, but because of the conditioning of some [through their red glasses], they can see only fire and torment in Hell. We do not torment our children when we punish them do we? The concept of Hell is not from the Bible. The name or the place is not in it, and unto it is clearly shown that there shall be such a place, it cannot be said that this punishment is going to be eternal life in "Hell;" or shown that “the wages of sin” is not death, that there will be any kind of life anyplace after the second death. After the judgment there is much said about the saved; they will be in the image of Christ; they will be immortal and have incorruption. But, there is nothing said about the lost, not what image they will have, not where they will be, or anything at all except that they will be dead [the second death]. Those who read the Bible with their Hell fire and damnation glasses on see Hell in Matthew 25:46, and on every page of the Bible.
Matthew 25:46 may be the #1 proof text for Hell.
1. The name Hell is not in it.
2. Today's concept of Hell, a place after the judgment where God will cruelly torment forever is not in it.
3. It says that the lost will have a punishment that will be forever, but nothing is said about what the punishment will be, where it will be, or how long it will last.
Before anyone could possibly see "Hell" in this passage:
1. A place called "Hell" must be assumed.
2. Then accepted as a fact.
3. Then God must be made into the most cruel, sadistic, and fiendish being there is, far surpassing even Satan in cruelty.
There is not one word in Matthew 25:46 about where, or what the punishment will be. Other texts say it is death, perish, destroyed, lost, and end. It does not say the punishment is eternal torment after the Judgment Day is over. To teach that Matthew 25:46 says the punishment is an eternal life of torment in Hell, as many do, is adding to it.
Some traditionalists say annihilation [death] is not punishment. They believe that "by no stretch of the imagination can the punishment spoken of in Matthew 25:46 be defined as an extinction of consciousness, for if actual suffering is lacking, then so is punishment." Where does Matthew 25:46 say anything about suffering? Punishment must be changed to eternal suffering and a place added to have anyone suffering in Hell. If death row is not punishment, then why is the death sentence the worse punishment a person can get, for worse than life in prison; and how is being on death row considered by those on it to be in the worst part of a prison. What would those on death row say if someone told them death is not a punishment? Throughout all of history, death has been thought of as being the worst punishment there is. Why would most on death row love to get off it and have the punishment of life in prison instead of death? They are told they are not fit to live, and their punishment is to be death. For the sinner to stand before God on the judgment day and be told he is not fit to live and will be punished with the second death is the worst kind of punishment. Most fear death more than pain and will do all they can to live a little longer even if it is in pain. Death is worse because it takes everything from them and deprives of all the life and joy a person would have had, and the second death will deprive of eternal life in Heaven, of an eternity of ceaseless years of joy beyond any joy we can now even dream of, it is an infinite punishment in that it takes an infinite amount of life and joy from a person. We cannot vision all the joy that will be in Heaven for all eternity; therefore, we cannot know how much death will take from them. It is much more than we can know before the judgment. Death is a much greater punishment than any person can now imagine, and the second death will be an eternal punishment. Those who teach hell must make them selves and all others believe death is not a punishment, therefore, there must be torment in Hell. When a lost person comes to the judgment, he may see that the saved will have an eternal life of joy and bliss in a place of indescribable glory and to know that all this could have been his, but for him there will be only the blackness and darkness of nothing. And some say this is not punishment!
Summary: Whatever the punishment is in Matthew 25:46, it is the same punishment as Romans 6:16; 6:23; 8:6; Revelation 21:8; James 5:22; 2 Peter 2:1; 2:6; 3:7; Philippians 1:28; 3:19; 2 Corinthians 7:10; 2 Thessalonians 1:7-9; Matthew 3:12; 13:40; John 3:16, etc. The Bible does not teach one kind of punishment in one verse and another in another verse. It does not teach the punishment is everlasting life with torment in one verse and death in another verse. It comes down to the question of,
• Is the wages of sin death, or is the wages of sin everlasting life with torment?
• Is the second death a death, or is the second death everlasting life?
• Did God really mean "the wages of sin is eternal life with torment" and mistakenly said "the wages of sin is death?"
A passage, which does not say what the punishment is, cannot override the many passages that does say what it is. From Matthew 25:46 alone, no one can say what the punishment will be. Just that it will be after the judgment and will be forever. The only way to know what is the punishment of Matthew 25:46 is to go to other passages that do say how God is going to punish the lost. THAT A PASSAGE WHICH DOES NOT SAY WHAT THE PUNISHMENT WILL BE IS THE #1 PROOF TEXT FOR HELL SHOWS THE WEAKNESS OF THE PROOF. Can they deny that they are going beyond what the Bible says when they say what the punishment of Matthew 25:56 will be, and that they are adding eternal life in Hell when it is not there?
Is the only difference in what the punishment will be? Robert A. Peterson, a strong believer in Hell, says, the Old Testament judgments, the Flood, the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, the Egyptian plagues and the crossing of the Red Sea, and the captivities of Israel, the punishment of Sodom and Gomorrah was the loss of human life. Page 23-24. Then on page 26, he says the punishments described in them are consistently earthly and temporal, resulting in physical death. None of these passages speak of life after death or eternal destinies, but Annihilationist err, for their belief would entail cessation of existence at death, not the resurrection and punishment of the wicked. "Hell On Trial" P & R Publishing. The New Testament used them as a type of God's judgment after the resurrection. He says they resulted in physical death. Peterson, Page 26. If the result of the judgment is not death, but an everlasting life of torment, then the types are not true for they do not show eternal life with punishment; but they would be true if death is the end. The New Testament writers used the Old Testament types to show the destruction of [Death], not the torment of the lost. He errs in that he does not give God the power to raise the dead for judgment and punishment if the punishment is to be death. God will raise and judge them and just as His judgments in the Old Testament resulted "in death," so will His judgment at the resurrection be a second death. His statement that Annihilationist err because they believe the first death to be the end of those not in Christ and the lost will not be raised for judgment may possibly be true of some Annihilationist (none that I know of), but it is not true of most. Most believe the Bible teaching that all the dead will be raised for the judgment, then for those not in Christ there will be the second death from which there will never be a resurrection. Did Robert A. Peterson just make a make believe man of hay or stubble so that he could pull down his stubble Annihilationist? The only difference is in what the punishment will be after the judgment. Annihilationist believes "the wages of sin is death" [Romans 6:23]. Believers in Hell believe the punishment, the wages of sin will be "everlasting life with torment." Those who believe in Hell often argue as if they think that those who oppose Hell do not believe in the resurrection, the judgment, or punishment. They know that if Annihilationist do believe in the resurrection, judgment and punishment they have loss much of their argument, For then the only question is what will the punishment be and there is no question that the Bible says it is death. In much of his book he does as many, he assumes that those who do not believe in "Hell" do not believe the lost will be raised for judgment, and he assumes that there is a Hell and that Hell is its name; then he unjustly puts this name into the mouth of Christ.
Amore basic question than what the punishment will be after the resurrection is "what is the resurrection?" If he is right, that there is that a part of a person NOW has immortality and there is no death for it, then there cannot be a resurrection for it, and his belief makes him be the one that does not believe in the resurrection that those he calls Annihilationist do believe in. Will what he falsely calls the resurrection be only a bringing of those who are alive in Heaven and Hell, therefore already judged, back to earth for a second judgment, or will the resurrection be as annihilationist believe, a raising the dead that are really dead and bringing them back to life? On page 68 Peterson says God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the lost, but to rescue them from hell. This is a typical example of the way Hell is added to the Bible. The Bible is changed to read the way they want it to read and Hell is added where it is not. How could he know the lost shall be rescued from Hell? Is he saying the lost will be rescued from Hell before their death, or the lost will be rescued from Hell after they are in Hell? Does he have a revelation that is not in the Bible? There is no revelation in the Bible that says the lost are rescued from hell, but there is much revelation that says the lost are saved from death. "Let him know that he who converts a sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death" [James 5:20]. Salvation is from death, the wages of sin [Romans 6:23] not from an everlasting life of torment. "God gave unto us eternal life, and this life is in him Son. He that has the Son has the life; he that has not the Son of God has not the life" [1 John 5:11-12].
“The word ‘PUNISHMENT’ is not a puzzling word. One of the most familiar terms in the English language. Do you know its meaning? Just think a moment and try to define it. The Dictionary tells us it is the infliction of PENALTY for an offence. IS IT? If the teacher tells the pupil she will ‘punish’ him a question would spring up in his mind, WHAT WAY? Even the child knows there are many ways to punish. Though our theologians, after losing sight of the definition of the word, at last give it but one idea, that of misery. Cunning enough, indeed, to separate it from its primary meaning in the New Testament. As if death inflicted for sin was not a punishment. If it is a recompense of the some nature, WHAT IS THE NATURE, HOW SEVERE? The term punishment as a retaliation for offence, NEVER DEFINES THE NATURE OF THE INFLICTION TO BE EXECUTEE. It only announces the fact that a judicial penalty is due, without revealing the severity of it. Punishment, retaliation, recompense, penalty, are synonymous words, and may be used interchangeably. So if the Lord had said, ‘These shall go into everlasting recompense’ or penalty, or retaliation, we would still be forced to seek other scriptures to learn WHAT KIND OF RECOMPENSE IS MEANT. We are told there can be no punishment without pain. I deny the assertion. I challenge the reader to search the Old Testament for the hundreds of instances where the infliction of death was the penalty for crimes. And that it was inflicted to satisfy the offence regardless of the pain accompanying it. Punishment lasts so long as its results last, and where death has been administered for the satisfaction of crime, THE PUNISMENT CONTINUES TILL LIFE IS RESTORED, AND IF NEVER RESTORED, IT IS AN EVERLSATING PUNISHMENT. Lost of property, loss of liberty, loss of life, may all be meted out to the transgressors under the label of punishment. And death as the capital punishment, legalized on the statutes of all civilized nations of the world, is the highest punishment man can inflict—or so recognized,--being the deprivation of life, the first source of all pleasures and enjoyments, and recognized as being forfeited for certain crimes.” E. D. Slough, “The Indictment Of Eternal Torment—The Self-negation Of A Monstrous Doctrine,” Page 196-197, F. L. Rowe, Publisher, 1914, evangelist, church of Christ.
Summary: There is no way that those who believe all are born immortal could really believe in the resurrection or in the need for it. By teaching that all are born with an immortal part that can never die the resurrection is denied and made not possible. The two are not compatible and both cannot be true. Satan has done his work well.
ETERNAL
ETERNAL JUDGMENT Hebrews 6:2. The judgment will be in one "day" at the second coming of Christ and is not being judged forever without end; but a judgment in which the results will last for eternity. Eternal is not describing a judging that has no end. Eternal has reference to the result of the judgment, not to the act of judging. The judging will end, but its result will never end. The punishment is after the judging. Will it take God all eternity to do the judging? If so, He will never get to the punishment. Whether the punishment is, Hell or death will not matter if God never gets past the judging. It is the results of the judgment, an endlessly binding verdict that will never be changed that is eternal, not the judging.
ETERNAL REDEMPTION Hebrews 9:12, and ETERNAL SALVATION Hebrews 5:9. Not redemption or a saving that goes on without end, but saving once that will be for eternity. The time of salvation ends. God will not be savings those in Heaven for eternity. The redemption will not be going on forever, but the results of the redemption will be with out end. Those that are saved are forever saved, forever redeemed, not forever being redeemed; their salvation is without an end. Even those who believe in Hell believe those in Heaven are redeemed, not being eternally redeemed; and those they believe to be in Hell can never be redeemed.
ETERNAL SIN [Mark 3:29] is a sin, which will be committed in this lifetime, and not a sin that will be being committed without end in Hell after the judgment. It is a sin that the results [death: the wages of sin] is a death from which there will never be a resurrection.
ETERNAL FIRE [Jude 7] is not a fire that is still burning Sodom and Gomorrah and will be burning these cities from now on, but the results, the total destruction of them will have no end. These cities are not still burning, but the results of the fire were their eternal destruction. The fact that Sodom and Gomorrah suffered the vengeance of "eternal fire" shows that the results are eternal, not the fire was eternal and that it is still burning today and will burning these cities for eternity. The fire that destroyed Sodom has long since gone out but their destruction remains and will always remain, and their eternal destruction is set forth as an example of "eternal fire" that will eternally destroy the wicked just as it eternally completely destroyed these cities.
ETERNAL DESTRUCTION 2 Thessalonians 1:9 and ETERNAL PUNISHMENT Matthew 25:46. Is this a destruction that will be bit by bit, but will take forever? No. It is destruction that the results will be final and eternal; a destruction that never destroys would not be destruction for destruction would never take place if the destroying were never completed. An everlasting process of destroying would never be destruction. Death, the wages of sin, is eternal punishment, but not eternal punishing; the death will be a permanent death, not forever dying but never dead. Eternal destruction and eternal punishment are speaking of the permanent results of both, a destruction and a punishment that will last forever, and is not describing the duration of the destroying, that it will take forever; not describing a destruction that the destroying will go on forever but never be destroyed. There will never be a resurrection from the second death, it is eternal. Those who teach that a person has a soul that can never be destroyed make God be forever destroying but never able to completely destroy the lost. Unconditional immoralists believe God made them destruction proof, and even He cannot destroy them, but nevertheless He will be trying to destroy them by burning them for all eternity. It is the destruction that is eternal, not eternally destroying.
• Eternal judgment, not eternally judging
• Eternal redemption, not eternally redeeming
• Eternal salvation, not eternally saving
• Eternal sin, not eternally sinning
• Eternal destruction, not eternally destroying
• Eternal punishment, not eternally punishing
• Does anyone think the saving will go on forever?
• Does anyone think the redeeming will go on forever?
• Does anyone think the dying will go on forever but death will never come?
The Bible does not say the lost will receive eternal punishing, eternal destroying, eternal dying, eternal perishing, but eternal punishment is death, destruction.
None of the above is an endless processes that will go on forever, but rather they have a permanent result; the result of salvation is being eternally saved, not eternally being saved.
• Eternal judgment is a judgment that happens one time, but the verdict will never be changed.
• Eternal redemption and eternal salvation is not a saving will be going on for eternity; not a saving that the saving will never be finished.
• Eternal sin is a sin that happens in this lifetime, but the results will last for eternity.
• Eternal destruction and punishment is a destruction that the results will last for eternity.
[10]. 1 Peter 4:5 "Ready to judge the living and the dead"
Christ will be ready to judge those who are living at the time of His coming, and those who have died before He comes. Nothing is said about a spirit or soul in this verse. Nothing is said about any of the dead being alive and having immortality before the resurrection. Before the resurrection the dead will be dead, not more alive than when they were alive.
OLD TESTAMENT PASSAGES THAT ARE USED TO PROVE
A PERSON HAS AN IMMORTAL SOUL AND/OR SPIRIT AT BIRTH
This doctrine, "That man cannot die," made it necessity for evil people to have an endless existence, and this existence has been made into endless torment in a place that has been given the name Hell; but where did this doctrine or this name came from? The Bible says, "This mortal must put on immortality" 1 Corinthians 15:53. How can we put on that which we now have on? Can a person be both mortal and immortal at the same time?
[1]. MADE IN GOD'S IMAGE Genesis 1:27
Most probably the #1 proof text for immortality at birth. The argument is that God is immortal. A man is in God's image. Therefore, a man must also be immortal. This argument would make:
• God is immortal. A man is in God's image. Therefore, a man must also be immortal.
• God is omniscient [almighty]. A man is in God's image. Therefore, a man must also be almighty.
• God is omnipotent [all knowing]. A man is in God's image. Therefore, a man must also be all knowing.
When God made a man, He did not give him all His characteristics. God is omnipotent [almighty] and omniscient [all knowing]. A man is not almighty or all knowing although he is in God's image, but God is both; it does not prove that a person is immortal anymore than it proves a person is almighty. Animals are "living souls" [Genesis 1:20, 21, 24, 30, 2:19] just as persons are "living souls," but animals were not created in the image of God; it is not the "living soul" that makes a person be in the image of God. It is obvious that immortality, not subject to death, is not the way man is in "image of God," and it is only assumed to be even when the Bible specifically says otherwise. We now seek immortality [Romans 2:7] and will put on immortality at the resurrection [1 Corinthians 15:53-54], but we are not now immortal; nor do we now have an immaterial invisible part of us that has no substance which is now as immortal as it will ever be. This argument gives the impression that the person making it thinks God has only one attribute, therefore, if a person is in the image of God, that person must also be just as immortal as God is.
A man is to rule (have authority) over all that God has put under him just as God rules over all. It maybe that man's authority over all the earth, which none of the other created being of the earth have, is the way man is in the image of God. The two are without any doubt spoken of in the same context. Mankind rules over all created beings on earth in a finite way as God does in an infinite way. Christians "have put on the new man that is being renewed unto knowledge after the image of him that created him" [Colossians 3:10, See Romans 3:29; 1 Corinthians 15:49; Ephesians 4:24].
[2]. THE BREATH OF LIFE [Genesis 2]
The breath of life is used to prove God breathed into a person an immortal soul, which He did not give to lower animals. They overlook the fact that the same writer applies the same expression to both a person and animals, also to fish and birds. "So they went into the ark to Noah, by twos of all flesh in which was the breath of life...And all flesh that moved on the earth perished, birds and cattle and beasts and every swarming that the swarms upon the earth, and all mankind; of all that was on the dry land, all in whose nostrils was the breath of the spirit of life, died" [Genesis 7:15-22 New American Standard Bible, also Ecclesiastes 3:19-20].
• "Jehovah God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and man became a living soul" Genesis 2:7
• "Two of all flesh wherein is the breath of life" Genesis 7:15
• The reverse of Genesis 2:7 "His breath goes forth, he returns to his earth" Psalms 146:4
"Stop regarding man, whose breath of life is in his nostrils" [Isaiah 2:22]. I find it difficult to understand how anyone can find an immortal soul in this. It is the body that has breath, and that breath is in its nostrils. Do they think the immortal soul is nothing but breath in the nostrils of man? As long as the "breath of life" is in his nostrils, a person has "life." When the "breath of life" is no longer in his nostrils, he no longer has "life." Instead of saying mankind is immortal and therefore, cannot be destroyed, this is speaking of the frail and perishable nature of a person that their life depends on the breath in the nostrils.
It is even more difficult to understand how anyone can find an immortal soul that cannot die in this when it plainly says, "And all mankind; of all that was on the dry land, all in whose nostrils was the breath of the spirit of life, DIED." Beasts and man both have the breath of life, and both died. Did souls that cannot die, die? The breath of life is not a living, thinking, conscious entity that survives death and lives without the body. "Then the Lord God formed man of the dust from the ground [the body without breath was a lifeless person that could not think, see, speak, or feel] and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life [lives, plural in the Hebrew] and man [the thing that was made of dust] became a living being [nehphesh]." Not "A living being" was put into the thing made of dust.
[3]. A LIVING BEING Genesis 2:7
See "USE OF SOUL [NEHPHESH] IN THE OLD TESTAMENT" in the first part of this chapter, all living beings are a nehphesh. The argument of many seems to be that God made man out of the elements He had created, then super-added a living being to the man making him a dual being. It does not say God made a being living and then put another living being in the first one. It says God made the man and then put life into him. According to Plato's a soul was put into the prison house, the body at birth and freed from it at death; while in the prison house of man, the soul uses its eyes to see, its ears to hear, and uses all the body. If it were a living being that was put into the body, before it was put into the body, could it see, hear, etc., before without the eyes and ears of the body, and can it do so after the death of the body? If the “soul” was not capable of performing these functions without the body, how can it do so after the death of the body? The body God made became a living being when god breathed into it’s nostrils the breath of life and when the breath of life leaves the body, it becomes a lifeless body. It was life given to the body, not an immortal living being imprisoned in it that was better off without the body in which it was imprisoned.
[4]. "YOU SURELY SHALL NOT DIE" [Genesis 3]
WHERE DID THE IDEA OF AN IMMORTAL SOUL ORIGINATE? Not from the first lie as many believe. Adam and Eve were told, "YOU [not your soul] shall not eat of it; neither shall YOU [not your soul] touch it lest YOU [not your soul] die." Satan said, "YOU [not your soul] shall not surely die." They were not told their "souls" would die. THEY [Adam and Eve] not their "soul" were sent out of the Garden of Eden "lest HE [not his soul] put forth HIS [not his soul] hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, AND LIVE FOREVER." Not their "immaterial, invisible" undying soul eats and lives forever.
1. There is not one word about a soul in genesis chapter three, but this chapter is used to prove a person has an immortal soul that cannot die
2. There is not one word about "hell" in genesis chapter three, but this chapter is also used to prove an eternal life of torment in hell.
• God said, "In the day YOU eat it DYING YOU SHALL DIE."
• Eve said, "YOU shall not eat from it or touch it, LEST YOU DIE."
• Satan said, "YOU surely SHALL NOT DIE."
o Satan lie has been added to in today's preaching. It has been changed to be, "Your body shall die but your soul, which is the real you, shall surely not die."
o "And all the days that Adam lived were nine hundred and thirty years: and he died" [Genesis 5:5]. "Adam lived...and he died." Today's theology says not so, “Adam lived and he continued to live. Satan was right when he said, ‘you surely shall not die’”
The warning for eating of the tree was "YOU shall surely die.” God's sentence for eating of the tree was "to dust YOU shall return" [not your soul shall return to dust]. In God's statement to Adam, the personal pronouns "you" and "your" are used about fifteen times (it varies in different translations). "Then to Adam He said, 'Because YOU have listened to the voice of YOUR wife, and have eaten from the tree about which I commanded YOU, saying, YOU shall not eat from it; cursed is the ground because of YOU; in toil YOU shall eat of it all the days of YOUR life. Both thorns and thistles it shall grow for YOU; and YOU shall eat the plants of the field; by the sweat of YOUR face YOU shall eat bread, till YOU return to the ground, because from it YOU were taken; for YOU are dust, and to dust YOU shall return" [New American Standard Version]. The "YOU" is Adam that had to work to live, would sweet, and would die, not just an immaterial, invisible part of Adam. Those who use this passage to teach a person has an immortal soul pick one of the many of the "YOU'S" and say only this one is an immortal part of Adam but say nothing of the others and hope you do not see the others for their immortal "immaterial, invisible part of man" cannot eat, will not return to the ground, does not sweat, etc.; the YOU that eat is the same YOU that died; there is nothing obscure or vague in this statement, language could not be more definite. This passage is used to teach the doctrine of an immortal soul [nehphesh] even though it says nothing of a soul [nehphesh] or immortality, and at the same time, death, which is in the passage, is removed and it is made not to exist. Why would an immortal, immaterial soul that cannot die have any need of the tree of life to live? Why do many think God would tell Adam he would die if God know Adam was immortal and could not die, and why would God take the tree of life from him “lest he ear and live forever” if God know Adam had an “immortal soul” that was the only part of him that would live forever, and his “immortal soul” would live forever without the tree of life?
In “YOU shall surely DIE,” die is from mooth, Strong’s world 4191, and it is used repeatedly through out the Old Testament with reference to the death of mankind, animals, fish, etc., but never means eternal life with torment. It is “YOU” Adam that would “DIE” just as animals and fish die, not some part of Adam that could not die that would LIVE some place separated from God.
It was a real tree with a real earthly fruit that a real person with a real earthly hand that was told HE would die if HE eats, and a real earthly person that was put out of a real garden lest HE [not his soul] put forth HIS hand [not his soul's hand], and take also of the real tree of life by eating the fruit HE would have had in the same hand HE put forth [not his soul eating], and live forever. To what did living depend on eating of the tree of life, to Adam, or to an "immaterial, invisible" immortal part of Adam that could not die even if it did not eat? Would it not be a contradiction to say Adam had an immortal soul that could not die and must live forever, but it depended on eating of the tree of life to live, or that the soul that could not die would die if it did not eat of the tree of life? Yet, we are told that all, even Adam, have an immortal soul that will live forever, and this deathless soul has no need of the tree of life, and that this deathless part of a person is the only part of a person that will ever live forever; therefore, what could the tree of life give to Adam's deathless soul that it did not already have? Nothing. According to this doctrine, Adam’s deathless soul did not lose it’s deathless when Adam eat of the tree. This doctrine makes the flaming sword useless to keep Adam from the tree of life so that he may eat and live forever, for it makes Adam live forever if he eats or if he does not eat.
1. God placed Adam in the garden and gave him access to the tree of life to sustain his life; his life was dependent on his having access to this tree, not on his being created with unconditional immortality and not subject to death.
2. Adam was removed from the tree of life “lest he eat and live forever”; his life depended on his eating of the tree before he sinned. He was not remade, not recreated with a different body; he had the same body before and after he was put out of the garden, just did not have access to the tree of life.
It was Adam that God said would die if he ate, not an immortal soul that cannot die. It was Satan that told Adam he would not die if he did eat. Nothing is said by God about Adam having an immortal deathless soul that could not die. "You shall surely die" is far from saying, "When you die, a part of you will live and suffer eternal torment" but many read this into it. Was Adam created mortal or immoral? If immortal, how could he be threatened with death when he could not die? If he were immortal, he would be death-proof; therefore, God's sentence of death if he eats would have been a lie.
"It is appointed unto man to die, and after this comes the judgment" [Hebrews 9:27]. Not just part of a person, not only the body of the man. This is changed to read only your outer shell, and not the real YOU shall die. "In the day YOU eat thereof YOU shall surely die" is not, "After the death of your body, your soul, a part of you, shall be eternity alive in Hell and tormented by God" but this is what many read into it. Some say this is not physical death but a spiritual death. Then where did physical death come from? What death was passed unto ALL men [Romans 5:12]? Is it appointed for a man to die, or changed to be it is appointed for only a part of a man to die?
"The first man is of the earth, earthy" [1 Corinthians 15:47; Ecclesiastes 3:20].
• The death sentence: God: "YOU shall surely die" [Genesis 2:17] versus Satan: "YOU shall not surely die" [Genesis 3:4].
• The death sentence repeated: "Dust YOU are, and unto dust YOU shall return" [Genesis 2:19]. The YOU that shall die is the same YOU that shall return to dust. These words do not point to a continuation of life but to the end of it.
• The death sentence passed to all: "Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned" [Romans 5:12]. As a results of Adam’s sin took him away from the tree of life and brought death which passed on to all for all are born mortal and do not have access to the tree of life, all return to dust.
• The remedy for the death that came through Adam's sin. "For the hour is coming, in which all that are in the tombs shall hear his voice, and shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and those that have done evil, unto the resurrection of judgment" [John 5:28-29].
Was this sentence of death given to an immortal soul that cannot die? If it is immortal how could any kind of death sentence be given to it, how could it not live forever? It could not be subject to death. It would not matter if Adam ate or did not eat for his immaterial invisible immortal soul could not die. In the fall of Adam and his sentence, nothing is said about an immortal soul. It was Adam that sinned, Adam that died; and it was through Adam that death came into the world and passed unto all men, not death passed to all immortal souls [1 Corinthians 15:21-22; Romans 5:12-14]. The penalty to Adam and all his seed is death, not eternal life in Hell. There will be a resurrection from the death that came into the world from Adam's sin.
Today's preachers would tell Adam that he was going to Hell for his sin, but God said not one word about Hell. "Die" has been changed to "Hell." "Death" has been changed to "life with torment." Satan said, "You surely shall not die." Satan added the "not" and many have changed his "you shall not" to "your soul shall not die" to make a person now have an "immaterial invisible" immortal soul that shall not die.
• God: “You shall surely die…dust you are, and unto dust shall you return.”
• Today’s preachers: “You shall not surely die…for you are now immortal and will live forever some place.”
For a person to have an immortal soul two kinds of life and two kinds of death must be read into Genesis 2 with one of the deaths not being a death at all, but eternal life with torment. Look in your concordance and you will see that "Spiritual life" or "spiritual death" which is read into this is not in the Bible. It is argued that Adam did not die physically that day; therefore, "spiritual death" was Adam's penalty for eating. If this were true, why did he ever die a physical death, and how did physical death come into the world? In the Hebrew the penalty was "dying YOU shall die." It was the "living being" [Genesis 2:7] that would die, not an immortal soul that cannot die but was told that it would die anyway. Death came into the world through Adam and all die [1 Corinthians 15:22; Romans 5:12-21]. "And inasmuch as it is appointed unto men once to die, and after this comes judgment" [Hebrews 9:27]. The death that came into the world by Adam's sin is the same death that he died for eating, a physical death. "By the sweat of your face YOU shall eat bread, till YOU return to the ground, because from it YOU were taken; for YOU are dust, and to dust YOU shall return" [Genesis 2:19]. It was not the death of Adam's "soul," an inward immortal never dying part of Adam that could not die that would return to the ground from which it was made. Adam could not have understood that YOU was only his body, and that only a part of the YOU would die, but the rest of the YOU would not die but would live forever in torment unless he had a revelation from God to tell him a part of him was deathless. There is no such revelation recorded in Genesis although it is repeatedly read into it today. Adam's undying soul theory is based on the silence recorded in Genesis two and three.
"No word is said either before the fall, or on the approach of the Judge, or afterwards, of Adam's possession of a deathless soul, when his mortal integer was broken up; - not a word is uttered in the divine comment on the curse, of an eternity of misery to be endured by the soul after dissolution of the Man. Indeed, that notion seems to deserve little else than the scorn, which Locke bestows upon it. It is the gratuitous invention of theologians who have forfeited the claim to be listened to in that matter by their perverse departure from the record.” Edward White, Life In Christ, Page 212, 1878.
A definition of death from the Bible, "Till YOU return to the ground, because from it YOU were taken; for YOU are dust, and to dust YOU shall return," and without the resurrection, all would forever remain dust. But, God's definition of death cannot be believed by any that believe the soul is immortal; they tell us that by, “You shall die,” God really means “spiritually death,” not to really die and return to the ground. The tradition of many makes changing the Bible a must; how many times have we been told that “You shall surely die” means “your soul, not you shall surely die spiritually?”
Another use of "you shall surely die" [the same words in the Hebrew]; Solomon told Shimei to "Build yourself a house in Jerusalem, and dwell there, and go not forth thence any whither. For on the day you go out, and pass over the brook Kidron, know you for certain THAT YOU SHALL SURELY DIE" [1 Kings 2:37]. He did go out of Jerusalem, and he did die just as Adam did but not on the very day he went out. “Surely die” is used 19 times in the Old Testament to mean the death of the person, not a “spiritual death.” Genesis 2:27; 3:4; 20:7; Numbers 26:65; Judges 13:32; 1 Samuel 14:39; 14:44; 20:31; 22:16; 2 Samuel 12:14; 1 Kings 2:37; 2:42; 2 Kings 1:4; 8:10; Jeremiah 26:8; Ezekiel 3:18; 18:13; 33:8; 33:14.
If Hell were Adam's sentence: "Die" must be changed into an eternal life for a part of Adam but not his body. If Hell was Adam's sentence then God was unclear in His warning and unclear in the sentence. What was the penalty God give in Genesis 3:9-24?
1. The serpent cursed
2. Sorrow in bringing forth children
3. The man ruling over his wife
4. The earth bringing forth thorns and thistles
5. Must work to eat, by the sweat of his face
6. They would return to the ground from which they came
How can anyone get Hell out of this sentence? There is not one word about an immortal, immaterial part of a person in it and not one word about Hell or torment after death in it. There is nothing about anything after death in it. The penalty for eating of the forbidden tree ended when they returned to the ground.
What is the death that came into the world and passed unto all through Adam's sin?
"It seems a strange way of understanding a law which requires the plainest and direct words, that by death should be meant eternal life in misery...I must confess that by death, here, I can understand nothing but a ceasing to be, the losing of all actions of life and sense. Such a death came upon Adam and all his posterity, by his first disobedience in paradise, under which death they should have lain forever had it not been for the redemption by Jesus Christ" John Locke, "Reasonableness of Christianity," Volume 6, page 3, 1695
The "soul" as it is used today will live forever if it eats of this fruit or does not eat of it, and the teaching is that not even God can keep it from living forever. If God had made men with unconditional immortality, would it have done any good to put him out of the garden to keep him from eating of the tree of life to live forever? If Adam were made with an immortal undying part, he would have lived forever and could not have died even if he did not eat of the tree of life.
Adam and Eve passed from a state in the garden where they had access to the tree of life, where it was possible for them to live forever, to a state where it was impossible for them not to die. The day they did eat was the beginning of the dying process ["Dying you shall die"]. There is nothing in this about a person being a dual being with an immortal soul, but most read it into this. It was the whole person as he was then, which would have lived forever if he had eaten of the tree of life. It was the whole person, not just some inter part of a person, which God said would die. How could an "immaterial invisible" part of a person eat of a visible material tree? Satan's lie was that THEY, not some inter part of them, would not die. The presence of the "tree of life" in Eden indicates that immortality was conditional on eating of that tree. To prevent the possibility of being able to "live forever" [Genesis 3:22] God put a barrier to the garden when Adam was put out of Eden and the dying process began.
The New JOHN GILL Exposition of the Entire Bible "For in the day thou eat thereof thou shalt surely die; or in dying, die; which denotes the certainty of it...man became at once a mortal creature, who otherwise continuing in a state of innocence, and by eating of the tree of life, he was allowed to do, would have lived an immortal life; of the eating of which tree, by sinning he was debarred, his natural life not now to be continued long, at least not forever; he was immediately arraigned, tried, and condemned to death, was found guilty of it, and became obnoxious to it, and death at once began to work in him; sin sowed the seeds of it in his body, and a train of miseries, afflictions, and diseases, began to appear, which at length issued in death."
YOUNG'S Literal Translation Genesis 2:17 "For in the day of thine eating of it - dying thou dost die."
ADAM CLARKE "Thou shall surely die. Literally, a death thou shall die; or, dying thou shall die-from that moment thou shall become mortal, and shall continue in a dying state till thou die. This we find literally accomplished; every moment of man's life may be considered as an act of dying." On Genesis 2:7: “From that moment thou shall become mortal, and shall continue in a dying state till thou die.”
JOHN WESLEY "Thou shall die-That is, thou shalt lose all the happiness thou hast either in possession or prospect; and thou shalt become liable to death, and all the miseries that preface and attend it. This was threatened as the immediate consequence of sin."
A DOUBLE CHANCE: First change: Adam's death must be changed to be a "separation," not death. Second change: Then his "separation" must be made to be an eternal life of torment in Hell. "For as in Adam all die" [1 Corinthians 15:22]. If death = separation, and separation = Hell, then all go to Hell for "in Adam all die."
[5]. "WITHOUT MY FLESH SHALL I SEE GOD" Job 19:25-27
In "Reason and Revelation" May 2000, Dr. Bert Thompson used this question Job asked to prove a person has a part in him or her that will live after the death of the body. If I understand him right, he is saying a person without a body will see God. Job said, "Even after my skin is destroyed, yet from my flesh I shall see God; whom I myself shall behold, and whom my eyes shall see and not another." When will anyone see God? Will it be before the resurrection or not unto after the resurrection? The clear teaching of the Bible is that no one will see God before the resurrection and than it will be without the body of flesh, but not without a body. "It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body" [1 Corinthians 15:44]. No one can see God while in the natural body, and no one will see God before they are raised from the dead. The dead do not know anything [Ecclesiastes 9:5] and will not know anything unto the resurrection. He is reading into this passage that Job is saying he has a part that cannot die, and reading in that it is not Job but only this immaterial no substance part of Job that will see God without the resurrection.
What was Job really saying? Job had much but lost everything and his friends and wife was telling him it was because he had sinned. The book is made up mostly of speeches by his threes friends accusing Job of sin and Job's response to them. Earlier in Job's third response he had said, "For there is hope for a tree, when it is cut down, that it will sprout again, and its shoots will not fail. Though its roots grow old in the ground, and its stump dies in the dry soul, at the scent of water it will flourish and put forth sprigs like a plant." For a tree that has been cut down Job sees hope that it will live again. "But man dies and lies prostate. Man expires, and where is he? As water evaporates from the sea, and a river becomes parched and dried up, so man lies down and does not rise. Until the heavens be no more, he will not awake nor be aroused out of his sleep." He sees hope of life for a tree cut down but for a person he sees no hope of life [Job 14:7-12]. In Job's time, what would be understood by "until the heavens be no more"? In the Old Testament the heavens were thought to be forever, their end was not known about. See Psalms 89:29, 148:6. In his hopelessness he could see hope for a tree cut down but for person after death he could see no hope "until the heavens be no more" which he thought would never be. This is one of the many expressions of hopelessness that are throughout his speeches. He sees a person as dead, asleep, not as being alive.
In his fifth speech in chapter 19, Job seems to be at his lowest level of hope but in his hopelessness he may see a ray of hope. "And as for me, I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last He will take His stand on the earth." Many see Christ as being the redeemer Job was speaking of, but there is no revelation given at this time from which he could know about Christ being the redeemer. God was seen as the redeemer and deliverer. See Psalms 19:14; 78:35; Proverbs 23:11; Jeremiah 50:34. Over and over they sinned and went into bondage and were delivered when they repented. Even in the time of Christ, the Jews thought their Christ would be a redeemer of their nation from Rome, not a redeemer from eternal death. "Even after my skin is destroyed, yet from my flesh I shall see God," the translators had difficulties with understanding what the Hebrew says in this passage, the King James says, "in my flesh," the Revised Standard says, "from my flesh," the American Standard says, "without my flesh," the Revised English Bible translates this passage, "But I know that vindicator lives and that he will rise last to speak in court: I shall discern my witness standing at my side and see my defending counsel, even God himself, whom I shall see with my own eyes, I myself and no other." Is the fulfillment of this after God his deliverer had delivered Job? [Job 42:5], "I know of you only by report, but now I see you with my own eyes, therefore I yield, repenting in dust and ashes" The Revised English Bible. His three friends and his wife accused Job of sin, but he knows he had not sinned, and God, his redeemer, lived and in the end he would be vindicate. In the end of the book of Job God his redeemer vindicated him.
It is difficult to read Job and the Old Testament and not read into it things that were not made known unto the New Testament or things that we have been taught by the theologies of today that are not in the Bible. The concept of Heaven is in the Old Testament but only as a place where God and angels are, not as a place where the just would ever be and where they would live forever. Job would never have said any person would be in Heaven. The resurrection and eternal life in Heaven was not made known unto the New Testament. See chapter seven, A strange and unexplainable silence, the silence of the Old Testament on punishment after death. All the rewards and punishments in the Old Testament were in this lifetime, not after death. The teaching of Christ cannot be read into the words of Job, Daniel, or anyone in the Old Testament.
[6]. "SHAME AND EVERLASTING CONTEMPT" Daniel 12:2
"And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt." Who has this "contempt"? "Then they shall go forth and look on the corpses of the men who have transgressed against Me for their (corpses) worm shall not die, and their (corpses) fire shall not be quenched: and they (corpses) shall be an abhorrence to all mankind" [Isaiah 66:24]. The antecedent of these three pronouns is “corpses.” Strong says both contempt and abhorrence are from the same Hebrew word. Strong's word # 1860, "To repulse, an object of aversion, abhorring, contempt." Contempt and abhorrence are the way others think about, “The corpses of the men who have transgressed against Me.” It does not say they will forever be conscious or in torment, is says nothing about torment, but that others will forever have shame and contempt for them. It is the contempt that is said to be everlasting, not the corpses of dead persons. Torment is read into this in an attempt to put Hell in it. How does "everlasting contempt" by "all mankind" become "everlasting torment" by God? Where is there anything about God forever tormenting those in "Hell" in this passage?
"And many of them that sleep" is not the same "All that are in the tombs shall hear his voice, and shall come forth" [John 5:28]. When this passage is kept in the context of Daniel 11 and 12, Daniel is not speaking of the resurrection at the coming of Christ, but seems to be speaking of a time of restoration of Israel when many would return to God just as Ezekiel pictured the dead bones as a resurrection of the dead [37:11-14] was speaking of a restoration of Israel when many did return to God. See Isaiah 52:1-2; 26:5.
"Ezekiel's prophecy referred to a spiritual resurrection of the Jews in Babylon and their return to Judea; for Jehovah added, 'Son of man these bones are the whole house of Israel'" Homer Hailey, A Commentary on Daniel, Page 243, 2001, Nevada Publications.
"The belief in the resurrection was nationalistic rather than individualistic" "Afterlife and Eschatology" at MyJewishLearning.com. Israel believed God would restore (resurrect) the nation when it sinned and turned back to God but not in the resurrection of the dead individuals.
Most, if not all of Daniel chapter 11 and 12 are about Israel coming out of the captivity and being restored as a nation. If Daniel 12:2 were speaking of the resurrection and judgment at the second coming of Christ, there could not be a bigger conflict with the orthodoxy teaching that all go to Heaven or Hell at the moment of death. How could those in Heaven be asleep "in the dust of the ground"? How could those in Heaven "awake"? How could an immortal soul that now has everlasting life and cannot die (which some tell us is the only part of a person that will live in Heaven or Hell), which soul cannot sleep the sleep of death, awake from the dust of the ground if that immortal soul was alive and awake in Heaven or Hell, not in the dust of the ground and not asleep? Orthodox teaches that long BEFORE the resurrection and judgment day the saved are in Heaven and have everlasting life. The Abraham's bosom version would also in conflict with it.
[7]. PLEASE EXPLAIN HOW A SOUL IN HELL
IS THE SPIRIT THAT RETURNED TO GOD? Ecclesiastes 12:7
Some of my brothers in Christ, who believe in "Abraham's bosom," and that no one will be in Heaven or Hell unto after the judgment, use this and other scriptures to prove the soul or spirit, the only part of a person they think will ever be in Heaven, goes to Heaven at death.
In there own words: "And I wondered why my dear brother did not see the verse just preceding it, which says, 'And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.' Where was Jesus? Stephen saw him alive at the right hand of God. Where could Jesus receive his spirit? He could receive his spirit only where he was. Where does the spirit go? Eccl. 12:7, 'Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was, and the spirit shall return unto God who give it.' That immortal principle of the human family that never dies. So they killed the body of Stephen, but Stephen prayed for the Lord to receive his spirit where he was" L S White, Russell-White Debate, Page 51, 1912, F. L. Rowe Publisher.
When he answered his own question of where is Stephen now before the resurrection, he said Stephen is now in Heaven, therefore he is saying Stephen is not now in "Abraham's bosom" unto the resurrection. Sometimes Stephen is said to be in “Abraham’s bosom” and sometimes the same preachers say Stephen is now in Heaven. I think where they put Stephen depends on what they are trying to prove at that time. Ecclesiastes 12:7 says the bodies of all returned to the earth and the spirit [ruach] of all returned to God. Can my brothers not see that if the only part of a person he believe is immortal and is the only part of a person he believe will be saved or lost, if this is the part that goes back to God who gives it, He has all, both the saved and the unsaved, going back to God in Heaven at the time of death? What happened to his "Hell?" he is saying no one goes to Hell at death and no one goes to Abraham’s bosom at death for all, both the saved and the lost return to God. What happened to "Abraham's bosom," the second coming of Christ, the resurrection, the judgment, and the second death? If no one goes to Heaven at death, which is what those who believe in "Abraham's bosom" believe, how is it that this immortal part of a person, which will not go to Heaven unto after the judgment will go back to God at death? "Do not all go to one place?" [Ecclesiastes 6:6]. The whole chapter of Ecclesiastes 12 is speaking to all mankind, not just to the saved. ALL are admonished to remember God in their youth before the evil days of old age, then ALL shall return to dust and the spirit of ALL shall return to God. No reference is made to their being good or evil at the time of their death. If the spirit of all goes back to God at death is an immortal soul, then the immortal soul of no one will not go to Hell. There is nothing in the spirit returning to God that makes those who are saved any different from those who are not saved. The spirit of all returns to God; yet, those who use this to prove a person has an immortal soul say, "No, Solomon was wrong. The spirit of the lost does not return to God at death, some says it goes to Hell at death and others says it goes the bad side of hades at death."
Where do they send the “soul” at death?
1. Does the spirit (or soul) of the lost go to Hell at death?
2. Or does the spirit (or soul) of the lost go to the bad side of hades (Abraham’s bosom)?
3. Or does the spirit (or soul) of all, the lost and the saved, return to God?
Has the zeal to prove Plato's immortal soul, which needs no resurrection, blinded him so he does not see that he is going both ways at the same time? He believes that after the soul is freed from the body by death [as Plato put it, freed from its earthly prison] that it is just as alive as it will ever be, and when a person dies, he believes that person has everything that is ever going to be dead, already dead; and everything that will be alive after the resurrection is already alive and immortal from birth, the soul, the only part of a person that he believes will ever be immortal he believes is just as alive and just as immortal before death as it will be after death and after the resurrection.
The Hebrew word translated “spirit” in Ecclesiastes 12:7 is from Ruach, not from nehphesh, which is the word that is translated “soul.” Ruach is translated breath, wind, spirit, etc., but never translated “soul.” It is the breath of life [Genesis 2:7] that came from God and made man “a living being” and that returns to God. In Ecclesiastes 11:4 it is, “He who watches the wind [ruach].” If Ecclesiastes 12:7 did prove that a person has an immortal soul that returns to God in Heaven, then it proves that the same immortal souls preexisted with God in Heaven before the birth of the body. By misusing this verse to prove a person now has a part that is immortal and it is this immortal part of a person goes back to God at death then it would prove more than they want to prove. If the spirit that returns to God is an inward part of a person that is immortal, and it came from God, this inward immortal part of a person had to preexist in Heaven with God before the person was born. Most do not want preexistence before birth of ALL, neither do they want ALL, both the saved and the lost going back to Heaven unto second coming of Christ; but if their view were right, that the spirit is an immortal inter part of a person that came from and them returns to God at death, there would be no way around it. The incorrect use of this passage to prove a person is born with an immortal soul undeniably implies the preexistence of that soul and that at death all souls, the saved and the unsaved, also the souls of animals, returns to God who is in Heaven.
It would prove:
1. Before birth: The preexistence of ALL in Heaven. In the part of eternity before birth ALL would have been safe in Heaven.
2. At birth: ALL were put out of Heaven and sent down to earth.
3. From death unto the resurrection the body: At their death ALL will go back to Heaven with God unto the judgment. Some of the lost will be in Heaven for thousands of years before the judgment.
4. At second coming: ALL sent back to earth for judgment.
5. After judgment: ALL go to Heaven or Hell, the “many” in Hell. According to their teaching many who preexisted in Heaven before their birth (most of mankind) will go to Hell after the judgment. In the part of eternity that will be after the judgment, they will end up in Hell with God forever tormenting them. If this view were true, why did God not leave them in Heaven? Did He want most to be lost where He could torment them forever?
If the spirits that came from God is man’s immortal soul then:
• Birth is changed to be only a moving day from Heaven to earth for a soul that preexisted in Heaven before birth.
• Death is changed to be only a moving day from earth to Heaven or Hell for a soul that preexisted in Heaven but had moved to earth.
• From the resurrection onward: For many Protestants nothing happens; the saved are resurrected only to return to Heaven where they were before the resurrection and the lost are resurrected only to return to Hell where they were before the resurrection. Both the saved, and the unsaved would have to be judged at death to know whether they would go to Heaven or Hell. They say they believe in the resurrection and the judgment day, but by their teaching they deny both the Day of Judgment and the Resurrection by making both impossible.
• Both the saved and the lost preexisted in Heaven but most of them will never return to Heaven after the judgment.
It is the "spirit," not "an immortal soul" that returns to God. What is the spirit? "Then the Lord God formed a man of the dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man [the body of dust] became a living being [a soul - nehphesh." - Genesis 2:7]. A body made of dust + the spirit, the breath of life from God [Genesis 2:7] = a soul, a living creature whether it is a person or an animal. The spirit (breath of life) all life comes from God whether a person or animal and returns to God. When the life returns to God, the body returns to dust and we will have no work, device, knowledge, or wisdom [Ecclesiastes 9:10] unto the resurrection when life comes from God. All life is from God.
Ecclesiastes 12:7 is the reverse of the process in Genesis 2:7.
• Body from the ground + breath of life from God = a soul, a living being [Genesis 2:7].
• Dust returns to the ground - spirit returns to God = a dead being (soul) [Ecclesiastes 12:7].
• Body minus the spirit = a dead soul (a dead being, a person or animal) [James 2:26].
Today's theology tells us two conflicting things
1. It says that most souls go to Hell at death and that some souls return to God at death
2. And at the same time it uses Ecclesiastes 12:7 to say all souls returns to God at death
The way Ecclesiastes 12:7 is misused to prove a person has an immortal part that cannot die makes this passage prove:
1. Before birth: Today's theology makes the soul be both alive and immortal; just the same as they say it was at birth and as it will always be. The view of many implies the spirit that came from God was an immortal, conscious, independent and an intelligent being before it came from God to man, before birth.
2. From birth to death: They make the soul be both alive and immortal; just the same as they say it was at birth and as it will always be.
3. From death unto the resurrection: They make the soul be both alive and immortal; just the same as they say it was at birth and as it will always be.
4. From the resurrection onward: They make the soul be both alive and immortal; just the same as they say it was at birth and as it will always be. Soul and spirit are used as if they are the same thing.
According to today's theology the only thing that can change for the soul is its location. Birth, death, and the resurrection are only three moving days for it. There could not be a real death for an immortal soul or a real resurrection for a soul that was not dead.
Proves Universalism, but not the same Universalism taught by the Universalist. If this "spirit" that returns to God is an immortal soul, they prove all, both good and bad will go to Heaven at death without the "attitude adjustments" taught by the Universalism; but it may not last forever for, according to their doctrine, ALL will be taken out of Heaven and return to earth at the judgment; then if one is a Christian or not a Christian, his spirit that came from God at birth goes back to Heaven to God at death, but all will leave Heaven for judgment and only some will go back. If the “spirit” that came from God were an immortal part (soul) of a person them most of the all that was with God in Heaven before their birth will end up in Hell, even if they do not believe what their incorrect use of this passage would prove, it would still prove it.
Job said, "If He should gather to Himself His spirit and his breath, all flesh would perish together, and man would return to dust" [Job 34:14-15]. The breath of life came from God and returns to God, it was not a conscious immortal being before it came from God and is not a conscious immortal being after it returns to God. The spirit that returns to God at death is not an immortal soul. It is not the spiritual body that the dead in Christ will put on at the resurrection [1 Corinthians 15:44].
Most Eastern religions, most New Age believers, and many Christians believe in the preexistence of the soul, literally billions. Many Christians believe God creates a new soul for each at birth, some at the time of conception, some at the time of the first breath, which they believe to be only a part of a person that is immortal, and it is only this immaterial something in a person that will be in Heaven or Hell. However, if Ecclesiastes 12:7 is used to prove a person has an immortal soul that will live forever, there is no way to get around preexistence of the soul that came from Heaven at birth, or that all (the saved, the lost, and all beasts) will go back to Heaven at death.
It is said that the dead do not know anything was only, "The way the world perceives the dead" at the time Solomon wrote this, but that is not true. Most of the world at that time, other than the Jews, believed in reincarnation and the dead had some kind of life and thoughts in the underworld until they were reincarnated. Egypt where the Jews had come from believed the dead lived and had always lived and would always live, therefore, they would have had thoughts and known something. Many Pagans believed the soul has always existed and must always exist, that the soul is self-existence; it has always been reincarnated and always will be. If a person has an immortal soul that came from God and will go back to God; it lived before the person was born and will live when the person is dead. The inescapable conclusion would be that the pagans were right, and all that I am; all that I think and do is just a temporary passing thing just as my body is. It is only the soul that existed before me and was put in a prison in my body for a short time and it (not me) will always exist. This is no surprise for it is just what the pagans teach and is the source from which the church fathers brought this teaching into the church.
Old age and death are the subject in Ecclesiastes 12:7. All are born and all die and when "it" the spirit [Ruach-breath of life-See Job 27:3; 33:4] of both men and animals returns to God. Solomon says it is a vanity, not a blessed event of going home to God [Ecclesiastes 12:7-8]. Those who use the spirit returning to God to prove a person has an immortal soul that returns to God at death overlook verse 8.
Solomon called the "spirit" an "it." Ecclesiastes 12:7 "And the spirit [ruach] returns to God who give it." Psalms 104:29-30 "You take away their breath [ruach - sea creature and animals - see verses 24-25], they die, and return to their dust. You send forth Your spirit [ruach - sea creature and animals]; they are created." Psalms 146:4 "His breath [ruach] goes forth, he returns to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish." It is not possible to reconcile today's immortal soul theology or immortal spirit theology with God's word.
Summary: If this spirit that returns to God were an immortal soul, it would undeniable be in conflict with the teaching of today's theology that lost souls go to hell immediately at death and not to Heaven. Why is this one of the most used passages to teach a person has an immortal soul? Maybe because there is no passage that really teaches it, and this is the best that can be found.
[8] THE SPIRIT OF MAN AND THE SPIRIT OF BEAST
Ecclesiastes 3:21
If this SPIRIT [ruach] were an immortal soul, then it is like Ecclesiastes 12:7 above in that it would prove ALL are saved at death. See notes above.
"They all have the same breath [ruach] and there is no advantage for man over beast"
"Who knows that the spirit [ruach] of man" goes up when the body return to the dust?
"Who knows that the spirit [ruach] of beast" goes down when the body return to the dust?
There is an old saying, "That which proves to much proves nothing." The SPIRIT of a person going up after his death is used to prove a person has a SOUL that does not die when his body dies; therefore, this soul is immortal. If it does, then the beast having a spirit that goes down after its death would prove that the beast has a soul just as immortal as a person's soul and that it does not die when it body of the beast dies, therefore, its soul is immortal. The "spirit [ruach] of a beast" and the "spirit [ruach] of a man" are in the same sentence and both times “spirit” if from the same Hebrew word, therefore, there is no way to make one "spirit" be an immortal something that cannot die and the other "spirit" be only the life of the body that is not immortal. If a beast has a soul or spirit that separates from its body and goes anywhere after its death, then it is just as alive after its death as the soul of a person would be after it separated from its body. If the spirit going up proves it is immortal, then the spirit going down would prove that it is immortal.
This is spoken of all men, not just the good ones. If it is an immortal spirit going to Heaven, then both the good and the bad go to Heaven at death, and this was before the death of Christ. If all were going to Heaven ["up" which they say is back to God in Heaven] at death before and without the death of Christ, before anyone had ascended to Heaven, why did Christ die? Has not the death of Christ been made useless?
This is a question that Solomon asked but did not give an answer. Yet, many give their own answer and say, “Yes I know where the spirit of man goes, it goes to up all the way to Heaven,” and then use their uninspired answer to prove that Solomon said a person has an immortal soul that goes up to God in Heaven or down to Hell at death. That the lost are transported directly down to Hell at death much be added, for if not, they have made this passage teach all will be saved at death, and that before and without the death of Christ. But was Solomon asking whether anyone knows that the dead go to Heaven? In the time of Solomon the Pagans that were all around Israel believed in reincarnation. The doctrine of an immortal soul as taught today is not in the Old Testament and did not come about unto the Dark Age. His question might have been to the Pagans asking them how do they know about reincarnation, how do they know a spirit, or soul of a person or beast goes anywhere after death and is reincarnated. According to Pagan teaching, all, both persons and beasts do have an immortal soul and they believe this soul goes somewhere after death. He asked by what authority do you know this; how did they know some reincarnated down to a lower life and some up to a higher life? Their only answer would be none. They had no revelation, no way to know about reincarnation but human reasoning.
Unconditional immortality must change what Solomon said. He said, "For the fate of the sons of men and the fate of beasts is the same. As one dies so dies the other; indeed, they all have the same breath [ruach] and there is no advantage for man over beast, for all is vanity. All go to the same place, All come from the dust and all return to the dust. [After clearly saying man and beast go to the same place, he is made to say in the next sentence that they do not go to the same place]. Who knows that the breath [ruach] of man ascends upward and the breath [ruach] of beast descends downward to the earth?" His question must be changed into a statement of fact that is a direct contradiction of what he had just said for it to teach today's theology. Solomon says the living knows something, but the dead do not know anything. [Ecclesiastes 9:5]. He did not say, "Dead bodies do not know anything." There is no way anyone can say the dead know anything unless they say Solomon did not tell the truth for if the dead go immediately to Heaven or Hell at death they do know something. How could they be in torment in Hell if those in Hell do not know anything?
[9] LIFE DEPARTING AND RETURNING 1 Kings 17:2
"Then he stretched himself upon the child three times, and called to the Lord, and said, 'O Lord my God, I pray Thee, let this child's LIFE [nehphesh] return to him.'" [1 Kings 17:21 New American Standard Version]. The same Hebrew word is used in Genesis 1:30. "And to everything that creeps upon the earth, wherein there is LIFE [nehphesh]." Nehphesh is translated "life" or "lives" 108 times in the King James Version. A person having an immortal part that is not subject to death is not in this passage. Since the child later died again, he was still mortal after this resurrection, just as mortal as before.
Passages that speak of life departing and returning (to the body)
1 Kings 17:21
• "And he stretched himself upon the child three times, and cried unto the Lord, and said, O Lord my God, I pray thee, let the child's SOUL [life - nehphesh] come into him again. And the Lord heard the voice of Elijah; and the SOUL [life - nehphesh] of the child came into him again, and he revived" King James Version.
• "Then he stretched himself upon the child three times, and called to the Lord, and said, 'O Lord my God, I pray Thee, let this child's LIFE [nehphesh] return to him,' And the Lord heard the voice of Elijah, and the LIFE [nehphesh] of the child returned to him and he revived" New American Standard Bible.
• "Then he stretched himself out on the body three times and cried to the Lord, 'O Lord my God, let this boy's LIFE [nehphesh] return to him!' The Lord heard Elijah's cry, and the boy's LIFE [nehphesh] returned to him and he lived" New International Version.
• "He called out to the Lord: 'O Lord, my God, will you afflict even the widow with whom I am staying by killing her son?' Then he stretched himself out upon the child three times and called out to the Lord: 'O Lord, my God, let the LIFE BREATH [nehphesh] return to the body of this child.' The Lord heard the prayer of Elijah; the LIFE BREATH [nehphesh] returned to the child's body and he revived" The New American Bible.
Genesis 35:18
• "And it came to pass as her soul [life - nehphesh] was in departing (for she died)" King James Version.
• "As she breathed her last [nehphesh] -for she was dying" New International Version.
• "Then with her last breath [nehphesh], as she was dying" Revised English Bible.
• "As she lay dying [nehphesh], she named the boy" New Century Version.
• "Rachel was about to die, but with her last breath [nehphesh] she named him Bensni" New Living Bible.
• "With her last breath [nehphesh]...for she was at the point of death" The New American Bible.
An immortal undying part of a person can be read into this only by applying today's meaning of the English word "soul" to the Hebrew word "nehphesh" See Acts 20:9-10. It was "life" that departed, not some inter immortal part of a person that cannot die departing for Heaven or Hell before and without the Judgment. Psalm 104:29-30 "You take away their spirit [ruach-sea creature and animals-see verses 24-25], they expire, and return to their dust. You send forth Your spirit [ruach-sea creature and animals] they are created."
[10] GATHERED TO HIS PEOPLE Genesis 25:8-9
See chapter three.
[11] DAVID'S SON 2 Samuel 12:23
"I shall go to him, but he will not return to me" 2 Samuel 12:23. How and where did David think he would go to his son? See [10] above. Many years after David's death, Peter said David has not gone to Heaven [Acts 2:29].
[12] SAMUEL OR A DEMON 1 Samuel 28:7-28
From the days of the "church fathers," it has been debated whether this was Samuel or a demon. Those who believe in an immortal "immaterial, invisible part of man" say this was Samuel to prove all are living after death. If it were Samuel, then it proves he was in the earth or the ground [in sheol - the grave]. Whether it was Samuel or a demon, he "came up out of the earth." Saul said, "Bring UP Samuel," not "Bring down Samuel from Heaven." "And the woman said to Saul, I see a divine being coming up out of the earth," not coming down from Heaven [1 Samuel 28:13]. This being did not come from Heaven or Hell. An immortal "immaterial, invisible part of man" being in the earth is not what is believe by many today and she would not have been able to see an invisible spirit. If it were Samuel, instead of proving he was alive, it proves he was dead and in the grave. To bring one back from the dead is a resurrection of the dead; if not, why not? If it were Samuel, it would have been as all the other temporary resurrections of the Bible. Lazarus and other temporary resurrections lived a normal human life and died as all others do. They were not raised immortal. They were raised still in the image of Adam, not immortal, not with the spiritual body in the image of Christ. If this were a resurrection of Samuel, then Samuel knew that he would be back in the grave the next day; therefore, he was not raised immortal. How can this be used to prove a person now has a part that is immortal? A temporary resurrection of Samuel from the grave or an evil spirit impersonating Samuel would tell us nothing of life after death or that a person now has an immortal "immaterial, invisible part.
Saul did not believe today's theology that the dead are in Heaven; he believed they are in the earth. He asked the women to "bring up" Samuel, not "bring down" Samuel.
• "And bring up for me whom I shall name to you" [1 Samuel 28:8]
• "Whom shall I bring up for you?" [1 Samuel 28:11]
• "I see a divine being coming up out of the earth" [1 Samuel 28:13]
• "Why have you disturbed me by bringing me up?" [1 Samuel 28:15]
If this were Samuel, it would be a contradiction to today's theology of the saved going to Heaven at death for Samuel would be up in Heaven without the resurrection, not down in the grave (sheol – hades) unto the resurrection of the dead. It must first be assumed that there is a part of a person that is now immortal and cannot die, then assumed that a person using witchcraft can call a “soul” out of Heaven which is where those who believe that this was the soul of Samuel believed his soul was, for they believe that the saved go to Heaven at the moment of death, then assumed that an “immaterial, invisible part of man (soul)” can be seen but only by the person using witchcraft, not by Saul. Would not this make Satan and those who practice witchcraft have the power to actually reach into Heaven and remove a “soul?”
Familiar spirits are spirits of devils [See Numbers 25:13]. God had forbid dealing with familiar spirits. Their interpretation of this passage supports Spiritualism, communication with the spirits of the dead, the "New Age" movement of the channeling craze with spirits of the dead, and near-death experiences. It shows us that Satan has been successful in making his lie, "You shall not die" be believed, and even today he is using these to promote it. There are so few passages that they can use to teach we have an immortal "immaterial, invisible part of man" that they are willing to use it despite the problems it creates for them. “So Saul died for his trespass which he committed against the Lord, because of the word of the Lord which he did not keep; and also because he asked counsel of a medium, making inquiry of it, and did not inquire of the Lord. Therefore He killed him, and turned the kingdom to David the son of Jesse” [1 Chronicles 10:13-14].
What about "Abraham's bosom"? Those who believe all go to the good or bad side of hades believe none can come back to earth. How is it that they have Samuel coming back from the good side of hades and telling Saul that he would be with him in Abraham’s bosom the next day? It would not only teach that the living can converse with the those in hades but also teaches a witch can bring someone back to earth from hades (or Heaven) even when they did want to come.
WHAT DOES THE BIBLE SAY ABOUT
IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL AND/OR SPIRIT?
Nothing. Together soul and spirit are used almost 1,100 times in the King James Version, but not one time is immortal even used in the same verse with either one. Immortal and immortality are in the Old Testament 0 times, in the New Testament, immortal one time, immortality five times, all by Paul. What does he say?
1. Only God has immortality [1 Timothy 6:16].
2. "Now unto the King eternal, immortal" [1 Timothy 1:17].
3. Christ "abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel" [2 Timothy 1:10].
4. "To them (Christians) that...seek for glory and honor and incorruption, (immortality in King James Version) eternal life" [Romans 2:7].
5. "This mortal must put on immortality" [1 Corinthians 15:53] at the resurrection.
6. "This mortal shall have put on immortality" [1 Corinthians 15:54] after the resurrection.
Why are we to "seek for" that which we are born with? Why will we "put on immortality" if the only part of us that will ever be immortal, has been immortal from birth (or before birth)? The fact that a person must "seek for...immortality" and immortality must be "put on" at the resurrection is conclusive proof that a person does not now have it. If Romans 2:7 and 1 Corinthians 15:53 teaches nothing more, it teaches that no part of a person now possess immortality.
SEEK FOR IMMORTALITY: "To those who by perseverance in doing good seek [zeeteo] for glory and honor and immortality, eternal life" [Romans 2:7]. Zeeteo is used 119 times in the New Testament and is always some thing that the person that is seeking for but does not have.
• "But seek [zeeteo] you first the kingdom" [Matthew 6:33].
• "Seeking [zeeteo] of him a sign from heaven" [Mark 8:11].
• "For Herod will seek [zeeteo] the young child" [Matthew 2:13].
• "For I seek [zeeteo] not your's but you" [2 Corinthians 12;14].
• "In doing good seek [zeeteo] for glory and honor and immortality" [Romans 2:7].
PUT ON IMMORTALITY: "For this perishable must put on [enduno] the imperishable, and this mortal must put on [enduno] immortality. But when this perishable will have put on [enduno] the imperishable, and this mortal will have put on [enduno] immortality" [1 Corinthians 15:53-54]; most every one understands that a person cannot put on something they have on.
• "Be not anxious for your life...nor yet for your body, what you shall put on [enduno] [Matthew 6:25]
• "Put not on [enduno] two coats" [Mark 6:9]
• "Put on [enduno] the whole armor of God" [Ephesians 6:11]
We seek for that which we do not have, we put on that which we do not have on. It is so simple that only those who do not want to see will not see it.
If a person is made immortal from birth and is now immortal, how is it that only God has immortality? If only God has immortality at this present time, then being "created in the image of God" cannot mean a person was created with immortality.
CORRUPTION AND MORTAL: Both are used throughout the Bible, but incorruption and immortal are used only by Paul, and are never used referring to the lost or never to the soul or to the spirit. Immortality was brought to light by the Gospel, and will be "put on" by the saved at the judgment. It is never said the lost will ever “put on immortality” or that they will ever have either incorruption or immortality, or that anyone (lost or saved) has immortality before the resurrection. There is not one verse that teaches all men, good and bad are born with an immortal soul that can never die; and God cannot kill it. An "immaterial invisible" part of a person called an "immortal soul" is not in the Bible. If this doctrine is not changing the Bible, it cannot be changed. For a person to have a soul and/or spirit, which will live forever in Heaven or Hell, that person must now have immortality. According to the teaching of some, the soul is the only part of a person that will ever be immortal and it is now as immortal as it will ever be. This teaching makes Paul's statement in 1 Corinthians 15:53, "This mortal must put on immortality" not possible; this mortal person must put on immortality, not this already immortal soul must put on immortality. With today's teaching, there is no sense to what Paul said for it would make him be saying "this immortal (soul) must put on immortality" and become an immortal soul at the resurrection.
• If we now have a soul that is not corruptible, how can that soul "put on incorruption" when it would now has incorruption on?
• If we now have a soul that is now immortal, how can that soul "put on immortality" when it would now has immortality on?
• If we now have a soul that cannot die, how can that soul inherit "eternal life" when it would now has eternal life?
What is the part of a person that is now mortal but will put on immortality [1 Corinthians 15:53]? It could not be a soul that is now immortal that will put on immortality at the resurrection, but a person that is now mortal that will put on immortality at the resurrection. "This mortal" is a person as he now is in the image of Adam and will become an immortal person with a spiritual body in the image of Christ. Only the body will be different, not the person.
1. The doctrine and precepts of man. An immortal soul from birth-the soul, which many teach is the only part of a person that will ever be immortal, would already be immortal before the resurrection.
2. Bible doctrine. A mortal person will put on immortality at the resurrection [1 Corinthians 15:53]. BOTH CANNOT BE TRUE.
• NOT ONE PASSAGE IN THE WHOLE BIBLE SAYS A PERSON IS NOW IMMORTAL.
• NOT ONE PASSAGE IN THE WHOLE BIBLE SAYS A PERSON HAS AN IMMORTAL SOUL.
• NOT ONE PASSAGE IN THE WHOLE BIBLE SAYS A PERSON HAS AN IMMORTAL SPIRIT.
The Bible is not silent on this question for there are many passages that say loud and clear that all are now mortal and not one that say any person will be immortal before the resurrection.
Three words are translated immortal and incorruptible in the New Testament. Not one time are they used referring to the soul; every time they are used referring to a person, not just to an "immaterial invisible part of man." Immortality is always something a person will have but does not now have. Only when they are used referring to God are they in the present tense. When used referring to a person they are always in the future tense.
1. ATHANASIA (immortality) is used three times, Wigram Englishman's Greek Concordance, Page 15. Not one of them is used referring to a person now in this life before the resurrection or to a no substance invisible part of a person. immortality [athanasia] is never used referring to the lost.
o Athanasia used referring to God.
• (1) 1 Timothy 6:16 "Who alone possesses immortality [athanasia] and dwells in unapproachable light" God has immortality now.
o Athanasia used referring to a person only after the resurrection, not to a part of a person in this lifetime.
• (2) 1 Corinthians 15:53 "This mortal must put on immortality [athanasia]."
• (3) 1 Corinthians 15:54 "But when...this mortal shall have put on immortalitY [athanasia]." Immortality for a person is in the future, not the present. He must put it on.
2. APHTHARTOS (incorruptible) is used seven times, Wigram Englishman's Greek Concordance, Page 97. Not one of the seven is used referring to a person or to a no substance part of a person now in this life.
o Aphthartos used referring to God.
• (1) Romans 1:23 "The glory of the incorruptible [aphthartos] God." In this passage man now being corruptible is in contrast with God being incorruptible.
• (2) 1 Timothy 1:17 "Now unto the King eternal, immortal [aphthartos], invisible, the only God."
o Aphthartos used referring to a person only after the resurrection.
• (3) 1 Corinthians 15:52 "And the dead shall be raised incorruptible [aphthartos], and we shall be changed."
o Aphthartos used referring to our inheritance after the resurrection.
• (4) 1 Peter 1:4 "Who...begat us again...unto an inheritance incorruptible [aphthartos], and undefiled, and that fades not away, reserved in heaven for you."
Aphthartos used referring to our crown we will receive after
o the resurrection.
• (5) 1 Corinthians 9:25 "Now they do it to receive a corruptible crown; but we an Incorruptible [aphthartos]." (An incorruptible crown, not an incorruptible soul).
o Aphthartos used referring to the word of God.
• (6) 1 Peter 1:23 "Having been begotten again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible [aphthartos], through the word of God, which lives and abides forever."
o Aphthartos used referring to our adorning.
• (7) 1 Peter 3:4 "But let it be the hidden man of the heart, in the incorruptible [aphthartos] apparel of a meek and quiet spirit."
3. APHTHARSIA (incorruption – uncorruptness) is used eight times, Wigram Englishman's Greek Concordance, Page 97. Not one of them is used referring to a person or an immortal "immaterial, invisible part of man" now in this life.
o Aphtharsia used referring to a person only after the resurrection, something we seek for but do not now have (the body we will have, not soul).
• (1) Romans 2:7 "Who will render to every man according to his works: to them that...seek for glory and honor and incorruption [aphtharsia], eternal life."
• (2) 1 Corinthians 15:42 "So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption [aphtharsia]."
• (3) (4) and (5) 1 Corinthians 15:50, 15:53 and 15:54 "Now...flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither does corruption inherit incorruption [aphtharsia]. Behold, I tell you a mystery: We all shall not sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on Incorruption [aphtharsia], and this mortal must put on immorality [thanasia]. But, when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption [aphtharsia], and this mortal shall have put on immortality [thanasia]."
• (6) 2 Timothy 1:10 "Christ Jesus, who abolished death, and brought life and immortality [aphtharsia] to light through the gospel." The only way we can know about immortality after the resurrection is through the gospel, not from philosophy or science.
o Aphtharsia used referring to our love for Christ.
• (7) Ephesians 6:24 "Grace be with all them that love our Lord Jesus Christ with a love incorruptible [aphtharsia]."
o Aphtharsia used referring to our doctrine.
• (8 Titus 2:7 "In all things showing yourself an ensample of good works; in your doctrine showing uncorruptness [aphtharsia], gravity, sound speech."
Immortality or uncorruption is not used in the Old Testament. Eternal is used in the King James Version two times. It is used referring to God one time, "The eternal God" Deuteronomy 33:27, and is used in Isaiah 60:15. The doctrine that God made a person with an immortal soul that cannot cease to exist, and that even God cannot destroy this part of a person is based on pagan philosophy, not on the word of God, therefore, the argument that the lost must live somewhere for they cannot cease to exist is also based on pagan philosophy.
If a person were born with a part that is now immortal and not subject to death, would it not be strange that there is but one clear passage in the entire Bible which says "you shall not surely die" [genesis 3:4] and it is from the father of lies [John 8:44].
THE MANY VIEWS OF "SOUL" and/or "SPIRIT"
A brief review of some of the many divisions in what people believe about immortality and the soul. Views of the soul that require death to mean eternal life somewhere, and that all men are deathless and possess immortality inherently at or before birth.
1. THE PAGAN VIEW OF REINCARNATION OF THE SOUL. Ancient Egyptian belief was that the soul had a gloomy existence in the underworld (transmigration). The Greeks and Romans believed almost the same with some changes. Oriental and Pythagorean philosophy, Hindus, Burmans, Buddhists, and Grand Lama all believed in some form of reincarnation. They believed the "soul" of the evil had some punishment, but not all believed it had the same punishment. Today, worldwide there are more who believe in reincarnation than all other afterlife beliefs combined. Many religions that are not Christian believe in some form of reincarnation.
2. THE CATHOLIC AND PROTESTANT VIEW. Mankind is born with an immortal soul that can never die or be destroyed. A very small percent will go to Heaven at death but most will go to Hell.
3. THE HADES VIEW. This view is that no one goes to Heaven or Hell at death but the saved are rewarded in a place many call Abraham's bosom, and the lost are tormented before they are judged, before the resurrection and judgment. Death is changed to eternal life but not life in Heaven or Hell.
4. THE UNIVERSALIST VIEW. All will be saved. Those who do not obey Christ in this lifetime will have an "attitude adjustment" after death and all will end up in Heaven with none in Hell.
5. THE RESURRECTION TO IMMORTAL LIFE ON THE RESTORED EARTH. This view is that the earthly body will be raised and restored to be like Adam before his sin on a restored earth. No one's soul will be immortal in Heaven or Hell. Some believe the lost will be raised with the same mortal bodies we now have, and Christ will return to earth and will rule forever over the earth from Jerusalem; and the lost will literally be cast into Gehenna, which will have been restored.
6. Many other minor views in religions around the world.
o There are some minor differences within all the above views. The fate of those who do not obey Christ is made to fit with their view of immortality. Protestants now have many minor differences and some differences that in no way could be called minor.
7. THE BIBLE VIEW. It does not teach the natural immortality of a person or any part of a person at birth. All are now mortal. Those in Christ will be raised immortal at the coming of Christ. All others will be raised to judgment and will have their part in the lake of fire, which is the second death.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
THE DYING USE OF "SOUL"
IN THE OLD TESTAMENT: In translations that were made by those who believe a person has an immortal soul, why is the use of the word "soul" becoming used less? Out of the 870 times the word nehphesh is used in the Old Testament it was translated soul:
• TRANSLATED SOUL ONLY 473 TIMES OUT OF 870 TIMES IN THE KING JAMES VERSION IN 1611.
• TRANSLATED SOUL ONLY 289 TIMES OUT OF 870 TIMES IN THE NEW KING JAMES VERSION IN 1982. SOUL IS USED 184 TIMES LESS IN THE OLD TESTAMENT THAN IT IS IN THE KING JAMES VERSION.
• TRANSLATED SOUL ONLY 118 TIMES OUT OF 870 TIMES IN THE AMPLIFIED BIBLE IN 1954.
• TRANSLATED SOUL ONLY 254 TIMES OUT OF 870 TIMES IN THE NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE IN 1960.
• TRANSLATED SOUL ONLY 115 TIMES OUT OF 870 TIMES IN THE NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION IN 1973.
• TRANSLATED SOUL ONLY 136 TIMES OUT OF 870 TIMES IN THE NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION IN 1984 UPDATE.
• TRANSLATED SOUL ONLY 72 TIMES OUT OF 870 TIMES IN THE NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION IN 2010 UPDATE.
• TRANSLATED SOUL ONLY 73 TIMES OUT OF 870 TIMES IN TODAY'S NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION IN 2001.
• TRANSLATED SOUL ONLY 142 TIMES OUT OF 870 TIMES IN THE MESSAGE IN 1993.
• TRANSLATED SOUL ONLY 14 TIMES OUT OF 870 TIMES IN THE CONTEMPORARY ENGLISH VERSION IN 1995.
• TRANSLATED SOUL ONLY 50 TIMES OUT OF 870 TIMES IN THE NEW LIVING TRANSLATION IN 1996.
• TRANSLATED SOUL ONLY 96 TIMES OUT OF 870 TIMES IN THE NEW INTERNATIONAL READER'S VERSION IN 1996.
• TRANSLATED SOUL ONLY 35 TIMES OUT OF 870 TIMES IN THE HOLMAN CHRISTIAN STANDARD BIBLE IN 1999.
o MOST OF THE TIMES THAT NEHPHESH WAS NOT TRANSLATED "SOUL" IT WAS TRANSLATED "LIFE," "PERSON," "HEART" OR THE NOUN WAS CHANGED TO A PRONOUN (HE, HIM, SHE, HER, ETC.) THAT IS RELATED TO A PERSON AND HAS NO REFERENCE TO AN IMMORTAL PART OF A PERSON.
IN BOTH THE OLD AND NEW TESTAMENT: The Hebrew word translated soul [nehphesh] is used over 870 times in the Old Treatment, and the Greek work translated soul [psukee] is used 106 times. Both together about 976 times and were translated soul:
• TRANSLATED SOUL ONLY 530 TIMES OUT OF 976 TIMES IN THE KING JAMES VERSION IN 1611.
• TRANSLATED SOUL ONLY 341 TIMES OUT OF 976 TIMES IN THE NEW KING JAMES VERSION IN 1982. SOUL IS USED 189 TIMES LESS IN THE NEW KING JAMES VERSION THAN IT IS IN THE KING JAMES VERSION.
• TRANSLATED SOUL ONLY 200 TIMES OUT OF 976 TIMES IN THE AMPLIFIED BIBLE IN 1954.
• TRANSLATED SOUL ONLY 301 TIMES OUT OF 976 TIMES IN THE NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE IN 1960.
• TRANSLATED SOUL ONLY 140 TIMES OUT OF 976 TIMES IN THE NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION IN 1973.
• TRANSLATED SOUL ONLY 136 TIMES OUT OF 976 TIMES IN THE NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION IN 1984 UPDATE.
• TRANSLATED SOUL ONLY 95 TIMES OUT OF 976 TIMES IN THE NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION IN 2010 UPDATE.
• TRANSLATED SOUL ONLY 28 TIMES OUT OF 976 TIMES IN TODAY'S NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION IN 2001.
• TRANSLATED SOUL ONLY 177 TIMES OUT OF 976 TIMES IN THE MESSAGE IN 1993.
• TRANSLATED SOUL ONLY 27 TIMES OUT OF 976 TIMES IN THE CONTEMPORARY ENGLISH VERSION IN 1995.
• TRANSLATED SOUL ONLY 83 TIMES OUT OF 976 TIMES IN THE NEW LIVING TRANSLATION IN 1996.
• TRANSLATED SOUL ONLY 39 TIMES OUT OF 976 TIMES IN THE NEW INTERNATIONAL READER'S VERSION IN 1996.
• TRANSLATED SOUL ONLY 58 TIMES OUT OF 976 TIMES IN THE HOLMAN CHRISTIAN STANDARD BIBLE IN 1999
o MOST, IF NOT ALL THESE TRANSLATORS BELIEVE IN AN IMMORTAL SOUL, BUT HAVE BEEN REDUCING THE TIMES THESE WORDS ARE TRANSLATED "SOUL" AND REPLACING IT WITH "LIFE," "PERSON," "HEART" OR CHANGED IT TO PRONOUNS THAT ARE RELATED TO A PERSON.
The Hebrew noun, nehphesh, is being changed to many different pronouns, but all the pronouns have a reference to an earthly being, not to a no substance inter part of a person. Most of the 473 times nehphesh was translated soul in the King James Version it has been translated life or person or changed to many different pronouns in many translations. Nehphesh did not mean an immaterial invisible some thing in a person in the Old Testament, but how could the translators think it was right to change one noun into many pronouns?
The Hebrew people in the Old Testament that were reading their Scriptures would have had no way to make a distinction in the life [soul - nehphesh] of animals or men.
Even today in the Hebrew Old Testament there is no distinction between a person and or an animal being a soul-a living creature. Only in some modern translations is there a distinction and this distinction is because man has changed God's word. God used the same word to describe both persons and animals. If this one word proves one is now immortal, it proves both are. Man says animals do not have a soul but people do. God says both people and animals are a soul.
Summary: About one third of the words translated soul, nehphesh in the Old Testament, and psukee in the New Testament are associated with the destruction and death of the soul [life, nehphesh]. THIS IS AN INSOLUBLE PROBLEM FOR THOSE THAT BELIEVE TODAY'S THEOLOGY, WHICH SAYS THE SOUL CANNOT DIE. In other passages the psukee does thing that only this earthly body can do, things that an immortal soul that has no substance could not do. "And I will say to my soul [psukee], Soul [psukee], you have much goods laid up for many years; take your ease, eat, drink" [Luke 12:19]. A soul which has no substance could not use the much goods [substance] laid up for many years. A person, not a soul with without any substance that can eat and drink of the substance he has lain up. ANOTHER DIFFICULT PROBLEM FOR THEM
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
AN ABRIDGMENT FROM MILES GRANT, POSITIVE THEOLOGY, CHAPTER 5 "CONDITIONAL IMMORTALITY," 1885,
"THE HEBREW WORD NEHPHESH AND THE GREEK WORD PSUKEE ARE TRANSLATED IN FIFTY DIFFERENT WAYS IN THE BIBLE. THESE FIFTY MAY BE REDUCED TO THREE. (1) THE LIFE OF ANY LIVING BEING. (2) ANY LIVING BEING. (3) THE DESIRE OF ANY LIVING BEING." ALL FIFTY WORDS HAVE A REFERENCE TO THIS LIFE, NOT ONE TO AN IMMORTAL SOUL.
(1) "THE LIFE OF ANY LIVING CREATURE."
SOUL:
NEHPHESH AND PSUKEE "THE WORD SOUL OCCURS IN OUR ENGLISH BIBLE 535 TIMES." [NOTE: MR. GRANT WAS USING THE KING JAMES VERSION WHERE NEHPHESH AND PSUKEE ARE TRANSLATED SOUL ABOUT 535 TIMES. IF THE NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION WERE USED, THEY ARE TRANSLATED SOUL ONLY 140 TIMES. LIFE, PERSON, HEART, OR A PRONOUN FOR A PERSON IS USED MUCH MORE THAN IN THE LIST HE GIVES BELOW]
• NEHPHESH IS USED OVER 870 TIMES IN THE OLD TESTAMENT AND TRANSLATED SOUL 475 TIMES IN THE KING JAMES VERSION. PSUKEE IS USED 106 TIMES IN THE NEW TESTAMENT AND TRANSLATED SOUL 58 TIMES IN THE KING JAMES VERSION.
• FROM NDEEVAH 1 TIME [JOB 30:16, THE ONLY TIME THIS WORD IS IN THE BIBLE]
• FROM NSHAHMAH 1 TIME" NSHAHMAN IS USED 24 TIMES, MOSTLY TRANSLATED "BREATH" OR "BREATH OF LIFE," IT IS TRANSLATED "SOULS" ONLY 1 OF THE 24 TIMES IN THE KING JAMES VERSION [ISAIAH 57:16], BUT IS CHANGED TO "BREATH" IN THE NEW AMERICAN STANDARD
1. "THE SOUL [NEHPHESH] THAT SINS, IT SHALL DIE" EZEKIEL 18:4, 20. HOW IS IT THAT EZEKIEL DID NOT KNOW AN IMMORTAL SOUL COULDN'T DIE?
2. "NO SOUL [NEHPHESH] OF YOU SHALL EAT BLOOD" LEVITICUS 17:12. CAN A SOUL THAT HAS NO EARTHLY SUBJECTS EAT BLOOD?
3. "THAT SOUL [NEHPHESH] SHALL BE CUT OFF" LEVITICUS 7:20
4. "OUR SOUL [NEHPHESH] DRIED AWAY" NUMBERS 11:6
5. "THEY HAVE DUG A PIT FOR SOUL [NEHPHESH]" JEREMIAH 18:20. COULD THEY PUT AN IMMORTAL SOUL IN A PIT?
6. "TO SLAY THE SOULS [NEHPHESH] THAT SHOULD NOT DIE, AND TO SAVE THE SOULS [NEHPHESH] ALIVE THAT SHOULD NOT LIVE" [EZEKIEL 13:19]. BY TODAY'S DEFINITION OF SOUL, "AN INVISIBLE SOMETHING THAT CANNOT DIE," THIS PASSAGE IS NONSENSE AND FOOLISH. IT WAS LIVES, OR PERSONS THAT WERE SAVED OR KILLED, NOT INVISIBLE SOULS THAT CANNOT DIE.
7. "FOR YOU HAVE DELIVERED MY SOUL [NEHPHESH] FROM DEATH" [PSALMS 56:13]. HIS LIFE [NEHPHESH] HAD BEEN SAVED FROM DEATH. NOT HIS SOUL THAT COULD NOT BE DEAD, BUT IT WAS DEAD ANYWAY AND WAS BROUGHT BACK TO LIFE. HE HAD BEEN SAVED FROM DEATH, PAST TENSE, NOT WILL BE DELIVERED FROM DEATH, FUTURE TENSE.
8. "LET THEM BE PUT TO SHAME AND CONFOUNDED THAT SEEK AFTER MY SOUL [NEHPHESH]" [PSALMS 70:2]. "LET THE ENEMY PURSUE MY SOUL [NEHPHESH], AND OVERTAKE IT" [PSALMS 7:5]. "DELIVER MY SOUL [NEHPHESH] FROM THE WICKED" [PSALMS 17:13]. "DELIVER MY SOUL [NEHPHESH] FROM THE SWORD" [PSALMS 22:20]. "RESCUE MY SOUL [NEHPHESH] FROM THEIR DESTRUCTIONS" [PSALMS 35:17]. "FOR STRANGERS ARE RISEN UP AGAINST ME, AND VIOLENT MEN HAVE SOUGHT AFTER MY SOUL [NEHPHESH]" PSALMS 54:3. "BUT THOSE THAT SEEK MY SOUL [NEHPHESH] TO DESTROY IT" [PSALMS 63:9]. "LET THEM BE PUT TO SHAME AND CONFOUNDED THAT SEEK AFTER MY SOUL [NEHPHESH]" [PSALMS 70:2]. "THEY THAT LAY IN WAIT FOR MY SOUL [NEHPHESH]" [PSALMS 71:10]. "HE SPARED NOT THEIR SOUL [NEHPHESH] FROM DEATH" [PSALMS 78:50]. "YOU HAVE DELIVERED MY SOUL [NEHPHESH] FROM DEATH" [PSALMS 116:8]. CLEARLY THE WRITERS OF PSALMS DID NOT UNDERSTAND SOUL TO MEAN A PART OF A PERSON THAT CANNOT DIE. EVEN THE KING JAMES TRANSLATORS REPEATEDLY TRANSLATED NEHPHESH AS LIFE IN THE SAME TYPE OF PASSAGES. "THEY DEVISED TO TAKE AWAY MY LIFE [SOUL NEHPHESH]" [PSALMS 31:13]. "THEY ALSO THAT SEEK AFTER MY LIFE [SOUL NEHPHESH] [PSALMS 38:12 AND MANY MORE LIKE THIS]." TODAY'S READERS WOULD HAVE UNDERSTOOD IT BETTER IF THEY HAD BEEN MORE UNIFORM FOR IF SOMEONE WERE TRYING TO KILL US, WE WOULD NOT SAY THEY WERE AFTER OUR "SOUL" BUT AFTER OUR "LIFE." MOST TRANSLATIONS ARE SOMEWHAT BETTER THAN THE KING JAMES AND A FEW ARE MUCH BETTER TRANSLATED.
9. 515 MORE. SOME HAVE REFERENCE TO MAN, BOTH TO LIVING MEN AND TO DEAD MEN. SOME HAVE REFERENCE TO ANY LIVING BEINGS (LIVING CREATURES). SOME HAVE REFERENCE TO BOTH MAN AND OTHER LIVING BEINGS.
10. "ABLE TO DESTROY BOTH BODY AND SOUL [PSUKEE]" MATTHEW 10:28
11. "SHALL SAVE A SOUL [PSUKEE] FROM DEATH" JAMES 5:20
LIFE:
• NEHPHESH "IS RENDERED LIFE AND LIVES ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY TIMES, AND IS APPLIED INDISCRIMINATELY TO MAN AND BEAST." GENESIS 1: 20. GENESIS 1: 30; 9: 4; 9: 5; 19:1 7; 19:19; 32:30; 44:30; EXODUS 4:19; 21: 23; 21:30; LEVITICUS 17:11; 17:14. NUMBERS 35:31. DEUTERONOMY 12:23. DEUTERONOMY 19:21. DEUTERONOMY 24:6. JOSHUA. 2:13; 2:14; 9:24; JUDGES 5:18; 9:17; 12:3; 18:25; RUTH 4:15. 1 SAMUEL: 19:5. 1 SAMUEL. 19:11. 1 SAMUEL. 20: 1. 1 SAMUEL. 22:23. 1 SAMUEL. 23:15. 1 SAMUEL. 26: 24; 1 SAMUEL. 28:9; 1 SAMUEL. 28:21; 2 SAMUEL. 1:9; 4:8; 14:7; 16:11; 18:13; 19:5; 23:17; 1 KINGS 1:12; 2:23; 3:11; 19:2; 19:3; 19:4; 19:10, 14; 20:31; 20:39; 20:42; 2 KINGS 1:13; 1:14; 7:7; 10:24; 1 CHRONICLES 11:19; 2 CHRONICLES 1:11; ESTHER 7:3; 7:7; 8:11; 9:16; JOB 2:4; 2:6; 6:11; 13:14; 31:39; PSALMS 31:13; 38:12; PROVERBS 1:18; 1:19; 6:26; 7:23; 12:10; 13:3; 13:8; ISAIAH 15:4; 43:4; JEREMIAH 4:30; 11:21; 21:7; 21:9; 22:25; 34:20, 21; 38:2; 38:16; 39:18 [2 TIMES]; 44:30; 45:5; 46:26; 48:6; 49:37; LAMENTATIONS 2:19. LAM 5:9; EZEKIEL 32:10; JONAH 1:14; JONAH 4:3
• PSUKEE LIFE AND LIVES FORTY TIMES. MATTHEW 2:20; 6:25; 10:39; 16:25 [2 TIMES]; 20:28; MARK 3:4; 8:35 [2 TIMES]; 10:45; LUKE 6:9; 9:24 [2 TIMES]; 9:56; 12:22, 23; 14:26; 17:33; JOHN 10:11; 10:15; 10:17; 12:25 [2 TIMES]; 13:37, 38. [2 TIMES]; 15:13; ACTS 15:26; 20:10; 20:24; 27:10; 27:22; ROMANS 11:3; 16:4; PHILEMON 2:30; 1 JOHN 3:16; REVELATION 8:9; 12:11
• GHOST [SOUL - NEHPHESH] TWO TIMES. "THE GIVING UP OF THE GHOST [SOUL - NEHPHESH]" JOB 11:20. "SHE HAS GIVEN UP THE GHOST [SOUL - NEHPHESH]" JEREMIAH 15:9
• MORTALLY [SOUL - NEHPHESH] ONE TIME. "IF ANY MAN HATE HIS NEIGHBOR...AND SMITE HIM MORTALLY [SOUL - NEHPHESH]" DEUTERONOMY. 19:11
• BREATH [SOUL - NEHPHESH] ONE TIME. "HIS BREATH [SOUL - NEHPHESH] KINDLES COALS" JOB 41:21.
(2) "ANY LIVING BEING" (LIVING CREATURES)
CREATURE [SOUL - NEHPHESH] NINE TIMES.
1. "LET THE WATERS SWARM WITH SWARMS OF LIVING CREATURE [SOULS - NEHPHESH]" GENESIS. 1:20
2. "AND GOD CREATED THE GREAT SEA-MONSTERS, AND EVERY LIVING CREATURE [SOULS - NEHPHESH]" GENESIS. 1:21
3. "LET THE EARTH BRING FORTH LIVING CREATURE [SOULS - NEHPHESH] AFTER THEIR KIND, CATTLE, AND CREEPING THINGS, AND BEASTS OF THE EARTH" GENESIS 1:24
4. "AND WHATSOEVER THE MAN CALLED EVERY LIVING CREATURE [SOULS - NEHPHESH], THAT WAS THE NAME THEREOF" GENESIS 2:19
5. "LIVING CREATURE [SOULS - NEHPHESH]" GENESIS 9:10 BIRDS, CATTLE, EVERY BEAST OF THE EARTH
6. "LIVING CREATURE [SOULS - NEHPHESH]" GENESIS 9:12 EVERY LIVING CREATURE
7. "LIVING CREATURE [SOULS - NEHPHESH]" GENESIS 9:15 EVERY LIVING CREATURE OF ALL FLESH
8. "LIVING CREATURE [SOULS - NEHPHESH]" GENESIS 9:16 EVERY LIVING CREATURE OF ALL FLESH
9. "EVERY LIVING CREATURE [SOULS - NEHPHESH] THAT MOVES" LEVITICUS. 11:46
PERSON [SOUL - NEHPHESH] THIRTY TIMES
1. "GIVE ME THE PERSONS [SOULS - NEHPHESH]" GENESIS14:21, NOT, "GIVE ME THE IMMORTAL SOULS OF THE PERSONS"
2. "AND DIP IT IN THE WATER, AND SPRINKLE IT UPON THE TENT, AND UPON ALL THE VESSELS, AND UPON THE PERSONS [SOULS - NEHPHESH] THAT WERE THERE, AND UPON HIM THAT TOUCHED THE BONE" NUMBERS 19:18. IS WATER TO BE SPRINKLED ON IMMORTAL SOULS THAT HAVE NO SUBSTANCES JUST AS IT IS ON THE TENT AND VESSELS? HOW CAN THIS BE? EVEN THE KING JAMES TRANSLATORS KNOW WATER COULD NOT BE SPRINKLED ON SOMETHING THAT COULD NOT BE SEEN
3. "THAT THE MANSLAYER THAT KILLS ANY PERSONS [SOULS - NEHPHESH] UNWITTINGLY...EVERYONE THAT KILLS ANY PERSONS [SOULS - NEHPHESH]" [NUMBERS 35:11-15]. COULD ANYONE KILL AN IMMORTAL SOUL THAT CAN NEVER DIE?
4. "WHOSO KILLS ANY PERSONS [SOULS - NEHPHESH], THE MURDERER SHALL BE SLAIN AT THE MOUTH OF WITNESSES; BUT ONE WITNESS SHALL NOT TESTIFY AGAINST ANY PERSONS [SOULS - NEHPHESH] THAT HE DIE" [NUMBERS 35:30]. HOW COULD ANYONE BE A WITNESS TO THE KILLING OF A SOUL THAT THEY CANNOT SEE?
5. "I HAVE OCCASIONED THE DEATH OF ALL THE PERSONS [SOULS - NEHPHESH] OF YOUR FATHER'S HOUSE" [1 SAMUEL 22:22]
6. "THEY TRADED THE PERSONS [SOULS - NEHPHESH] OF MAN AND VESSELS OF BRASS FOR YOUR MERCHANDISE" [EZEKIEL 27:13]. HOW COULD THEY TRADE SOULS IF NO ONE CAN SEE SOULS?
7. 7 TO 30 PERSON(S) TWENTY-THREE MORE TIMES: GENESIS 36:6; EXODUS 16:16; LEVITICUS 27: 2; NUMBERS 5:6; 31:19; 31:35; 31:35; 31:40; 31:46; DEUTERONOMY 10:22; 27:25; JOSHUA 20:3; 20:9; 2 SAMUEL 14:14; PROVERBS 28:17; JEREMIAH 43:5; 43:6; 52:29; 52:29; JEREMIAH 52:30; EZEKIEL 16:5; 17:17; 33:6
MAN [SOUL - NEHPHESH] FOUR TIMES
1. "EVERY MAN [SOUL - NEHPHESH] MUST EAT" EXODUS. 12:16. NOT "EVERY IMMORTAL SOUL MUST EAT"
2. "HE THAT KILLS THE LIFE OF A MAN [SOUL - NEHPHESH]" LEVITICUS. 24:17
3. "THE MONEY THAT EVERY MAN [SOUL - NEHPHESH]" 2 KINGS 12:4
4. "TO HIM WHOM MAN [SOUL - NEHPHESH] DESPISED" ISAIAH 49:7
MEN [SOUL - NEHPHESH] ONE TIME.
1. "AND OF MEN [SOUL - NEHPHESH] A HUNDRED THOUSAND" 1 CHRONICLES 5:21. A HUNDRED THOUSAND INVISIBLE IMMORTAL SOULS OR A HUNDRED THOUSAND PEOPLE?
HIM [SOUL - NEHPHESH] FOUR TIMES
1. "LET US NOT KILL HIM [SOUL - NEHPHESH]" GENESIS 37:21, IT DOES NOT SAY, "LET US NOT KILL AN IMMORTAL SOUL THAT CANNOT BE KILLED?"
2. "LESS THE AVENGER OF THE BLOOD...SLAY HIM [SOUL - NEHPHESH]" DEUTERONOMY. 19:6
3. "AND SLAY HIM [SOUL - NEHPHESH]" DEUTERONOMY 22:26. SLAY AN IMMORTAL SOUL OR A PERSON?
4. "SEVEN ARE AN ABOMINATION UNTO HIM [SOUL - NEHPHESH]" PROVERBS 6:16.
HE [SOUL - NEHPHESH] TWO TIMES
1. "HE [SOUL - NEHPHESH] WAS LAID IN IRON" PSALMS 105:18. AN IMMORTAL SOUL IN IRON?
2. "HE [SOUL - NEHPHESH] THAT LABORS" PROVERBS 16:26
ME [SOUL - NEHPHESH] THREE TIMES
1. "LET ME [SOUL - NEHPHESH] DIE" NUMBERS. 23:10; THIS IS "LET ME DIE" NOT "LET MY IMMORTAL SOUL DIE"
2. "LET ME [SOUL - NEHPHESH] DIE WITH THE PHILISTINES" JUDGES 16:30
3. "I PRAY THEE, LET ME [SOUL - NEHPHESH] LIVE" 1 KINGS 20:32
YOUR SELVES [SOUL - NEHPHESH] SIX TIMES
1. "YOU SHALL NOT MAKE YOURSELVES [SOUL - NEHPHESH] ABOMINABLE" LEVITICUS. 11:43
2. "NEITHER SHALL YOU DEFILE YOURSELVES [SOUL - NEHPHESH]" LEVITICUS 11:44
3. "TAKE YOU GOOD HEED UNTO YOURSELVES [SOUL - NEHPHESH]" DEUTERONOMY. 4:15
4. "TAKE GOOD HEED THEREFORE UNTO YOURSELVES [SOUL - NEHPHESH]" JOSHUA. 23:11
5. "TAKE HEED TO YOURSELVES [SOUL - NEHPHESH]" JEREMIAH 17:21
6. "DECEIVE NOT YOURSELVES [SOUL - NEHPHESH]" JEREMIAH 37:9
YOU [SOUL - PSUKEE] ONE TIME. "AND I WILL VERY GLADLY SPEND AND BE SPENT FOR YOU [SOUL - PSUKEE]" 2 CORINTHIANS 12:15
HER [SOUL - NEHPHESH] ONE TIME. "AT HER [SOUL - NEHPHESH] PLEASURE" JEREMIAH 2:24
SHE [SOUL - NEHPHESH] ONE TIME. "LET HER GO WHITHER SHE [SOUL - NEHPHESH] WILL" DEUTERONOMY 21:14
THEE [SOUL - NEHPHESH] TWO TIMES. "TO SLAY THEE [SOUL - NEHPHESH]...WHEREFORE SHOULD HE SLAY THEE [SOUL - NEHPHESH]" JEREMIAH 40:14; 40:15
US [SOUL - PSUKEE] ONE TIME. "HOW LONG DO YOU MAKE US [SOUL - PSUKEE] TO DOUBT?" JOHN 10:24
WE [SOUL - NEHPHESH] ONE TIME. "AH, SO WOULD WE [SOUL - NEHPHESH] HAVE IT." PSALMS 35:25
THEY [SOUL - NEHPHESH] ONE TIME. "THEY [SOUL - NEHPHESH] DIE IN YOUTH" JOB 36:14
HIMSELF [SOUL - NEHPHESH] EIGHT TIMES
1. "REQUESTED FOR HIMSELF [SOUL - NEHPHESH]" 1 KINGS 19:4
2. "HE TEARS HIMSELF [SOUL - NEHPHESH] IN THIS ANGER" JOB 18:4
3. "HE JUSTIFIED HIMSELF [SOUL - NEHPHESH]" JOB. 32:2
4. "THE LORD...SWORN BY HIMSELF [SOUL - NEHPHESH]" JEREMIAH 51:14
5. "NEITHER SHALL THE MIGHTY DELIVER HIMSELF [SOUL - NEHPHESH]" AMOS 2:14
6. "AND HE THAT IS SWIFT OF FOOT SHALL NOT DELIVER HIMSELF [SOUL - NEHPHESH]" AMOS 2:15
7. "THE LORD GOD HAS SWORN BY HIMSELF [SOUL - NEHPHESH]" AMOS 6:8
8. "WISHED IN HIMSELF [SOUL - NEHPHESH] TO DIE" JONAH 4:8
MYSELF [SOUL - NEHPHESH] ONE TIME. "I HAVE BEHAVED AND QUIETED MYSELF [SOUL - NEHPHESH]" PSALMS 131:2
HERSELF [SOUL - NEHPHESH] TWO TIMES
1. "HELL HAS ENLARGED HERSELF [SOUL - NEHPHESH]" ISAIAH 5:14. DOES HELL HAVE AN ENLARGED IMMORTAL SOUL?
2. "BACKSLIDING ISRAEL HAS JUSTIFIED HERSELF [SOUL - NEHPHESH]" JEREMIAH 3:11. DOES A NATION HAVE AN IMMORTAL SOUL?
THYSELF [SOUL - NEHPHESH] ONE TIME. "THINK NOT WITH THYSELF [SOUL - NEHPHESH]" ESTHER 4:13.
THEMSELVES [SOUL - NEHPHESH] THREE TIMES
1. "THEY HAVE DECREED FOR THEMSELVES [SOUL - NEHPHESH]" ESTHER 9: 31
2. "BUT THEMSELVES [SOUL - NEHPHESH] ARE GONE INTO CAPTIVITY" ISAIAH 46:2
3. "THEY SHALL NOT DELIVER THEMSELVES [SOUL - NEHPHESH]" ISAIAH 47:14
ANY [SOUL - NEHPHESH] THREE TIMES
1. "AND WHEN ANY [SOUL - NEHPHESH] WILL OFFER A MEAT OFFERING" LEVITICUS. 2:1.
2. "HE THAT TOUCHES THE DEAD BODY OF ANY [SOUL - NEHPHESH] MAN" NUMBERS. 19:11. CAN ANYONE TOUCH A DEAD SOUL THAT HAS NO BODY TO BE TOUCHED AND CANNOT BE DEAD?
3. "A MAN BE FOUND STEALING ANY [SOUL - NEHPHESH]" DEUTERONOMY. 24:7
OWN [SOUL - NEHPHESH] ONE TIME. "THE HEART KNOWS HIS OWN [SOUL - NEHPHESH] BITTERNESS" PROVERBS 14:10
DEAD [SOUL - NEHPHESH] FIVE TIMES
1. "ANY CUTTING IN YOUR FLESH FOR THE DEAD [SOUL - NEHPHESH]" LEVITICUS. 19:28
2. "THERE SHALL NONE BE DEFILED FOR THE DEAD [SOUL - NEHPHESH]" LEVITICUS 21:1
3. "ANYTHING UNCLEAN BY THE DEAD [SOUL - NEHPHESH]" LEVITICUS 22: 4-6
4. "WHOSOEVER IS DEFILED BY THE DEAD [SOUL - NEHPHESH]" NUMBERS. 5:2
5. "HE SINNED BY THE DEAD [SOUL - NEHPHESH]" NUMBERS 6:11
BODY [SOUL - NEHPHESH] SEVEN TIMES
1. "ANY DEAD BODY [SOUL - NEHPHESH]" LEVITICUS 21:11
2. "SHALL COME AT NO DEAD BODY [SOUL - NEHPHESH]" NUMBERS 6:6
3. "DEFILED BY THE DEAD BODY [SOUL - NEHPHESH] OF A MAN" NUMBERS 9: 6
4. "DEFILED BY THE DEAD BODY [SOUL - NEHPHESH] OF A MAN" NUMBERS 9:7
5. "UNCLEAN BY REASON OF A DEAD BODY [SOUL - NEHPHESH]" NUMBERS 9:10
6. "WHOSOEVER TOUCHES THE DEAD BODY [SOUL - NEHPHESH] OF ANY MAN" NUMBERS 19:13
7. "UNCLEAN BY A DEAD BODY [SOUL - NEHPHESH]" HAGGAI 2:13
FELLOWS [SOUL - NEHPHESH] ONE TIME. "LEST ANGRY FELLOWS [SOUL - NEHPHESH] RUN UPON YOU, AND YOU LOSE YOUR LIFE" JUDGES 18:25
DEADLY [SOUL - NEHPHESH] ONE TIME. "MY DEADLY [SOUL - NEHPHESH] ENEMIES" PSALMS 17:9
TABLETS [SOUL - NEHPHESH] ONE TIME. "THE TABLETS [SOUL - NEHPHESH] AND THE EARRINGS" ISAIAH 3:20
BEAST [SOUL - NEHPHESH] THREE TIMES. 1, 2, AND 3 "AND HE THAT KILLS A BEAST [SOUL - NEHPHESH] SHALL MAKE IT GOOD; BEAST [SOUL - NEHPHESH] FOR BEAST [SOUL - NEHPHESH]" LEVITICUS. 24:18 [3 TIMES]. CAN ANYONE MAKE AN IMMORTAL SOUL GOOD, SOUL FOR SOUL?
THING [SOUL - NEHPHESH] TWO TIMES
1. "ANY LIVING THING [SOUL - NEHPHESH]" LEVITICUS 11:10
2. "EVERY THING [SOUL - NEHPHESH] THAT LIVES" EZEKIEL 47:9
ONE [SOUL - NEHPHESH] FOUR TIMES
1. "LET ONE [SOUL - NEHPHESH] DIE WITH THE PHILISTINES" JUDGES 16:30. CAN ANYONE "LET" AN IMMORTAL SOUL DIE OR LIVE?
2. "LET ONE [SOUL - NEHPHESH] DIE THE DEATH OF THE RIGHTEOUS" NUMBERS 23:10
3. "I PRAY YOU, LET ONE [SOUL - NEHPHESH] LIVE" 1 KINGS 20:32
4. "IF ANY ONE [SOUL - NEHPHESH] OF THE COMMON PEOPLE SIN" LEVITICUS. 4:27
FISH [SOUL - NEHPHESH] ONE TIME. "ALL THAT MAKE SLUICES AND PONDS FOR FISH [SOUL - NEHPHESH]" ISAIAH 19:10
(3) "THE DESIRE OF ANY LIVING CREATURE"
DESIRE [SOUL - NEHPHESH] FIVE TIMES
1. "THE WANDERING OF THE DESIRE [SOUL - NEHPHESH]" ECCLESIASTES 6:9
2. "THE LAND WHEREUNTO THEY DESIRE [SOUL - NEHPHESH] TO RETURN" JEREMIAH 22:27
3. "TO THE WHICH THEY HAVE A DESIRE [SOUL - NEHPHESH]" JEREMIAH 44:14
4. "HE UTTERS HIS MISCHIEVOUS DESIRE [SOUL - NEHPHESH]" MICAH 7:3
5. "WHO ENLARGES HIS DESIRE [SOUL - NEHPHESH]" HABAKKUK 2:5
MIND [SOUL - NEHPHESH] FIFTEEN TIMES
1. "IF IT BE YOUR MIND [SOUL - NEHPHESH] THAT I SHOULD BURY" GENESIS. 23:8
2. "IN MINE HEART AND IN MY MIND [SOUL - NEHPHESH]" 1 SAMUEL. 2:35
3. "MY MIND [SOUL - NEHPHESH] COULD NOT BE TOWARD THIS PEOPLE" JEREMIAH 15:1
4. TWELVE MORE: DEUTERONOMY. 18:6; 28:65; 2 SAMUEL. 17:8; 2 KINGS 9:15; 1 CHRONICLES 28:9; EZEKIEL 23:17; 23:18 [2 TIMES]; 23:22; 23:28; 24:25; 36:5
PSUKEE - SOUL THREE TIMES
1. "AND MADE THEIR MINDS [SOUL - PSUKEE] EVIL AFFECTED AGAINST THE BRETHREN" ACTS 14:2
2. "WITH ONE MIND [SOUL - PSUKEE] STRIVING TOGETHER FOR THE FAITH OF THE GOSPEL" PHILEMON 1:27
3. "LESS YOU BE WEARIED AND FAINT IN YOUR MINDS [SOUL - PSUKEE]" HEBREWS 12:3
HEART [SOUL - NEHPHESH] FIFTEEN TIMES
1. "AND CAUSE SORROW OF HEART [SOUL - NEHPHESH]" LEVITICUS. 26:16
2. "SETS HIS HEART [SOUL - NEHPHESH] UPON IT" DEUTERONOMY. 24:15
3. "THE WICKED BOASTS OF HIS HEART'S [SOUL - NEHPHESH] DESIRE" PSALMS 10:3
4. TWELVE MORE: EXODUS. 23:9; 1 SAMUEL. 2:33; 2 SAMUEL 3:21; PROVERBS 23:7; 28:25; 31:6; JEREMIAH 42:20; LAMENTATIONS 3:51; EZEKIEL 25:6; 25:15; 27:31; HOSEA 4:8
PSUKEE - SOUL ONE TIME. "DOING THE WILL OF GOD FROM THE HEART [SOUL - PSUKEE]" EPHESIANS 6:6
LUST [SOUL - NEHPHESH] TWO TIMES
1. "MY LUST [SOUL - NEHPHESH] SHALL BE SATISFIED UPON THEM" EXODUS. 15:9
2. "BY ASKING MEAT FOR THEIR LUST [SOUL - NEHPHESH]" PSALMS 78:18
WILL [SOUL - NEHPHESH] THREE TIMES
1. "UNTO THE WILL [SOUL - NEHPHESH] OF MINE ENEMIES" PSALMS 27:12
2. "UNTO THE WILL [SOUL - NEHPHESH] OF HIS ENEMIES" PSALMS 41: 2
3. "DELIVERED THEE UNTO THE WILL [SOUL - NEHPHESH] OF THEM" EZEKIEL 16:27
PLEASURE [SOUL - NEHPHESH] THREE TIMES
1. "WHEN YOU COME INTO YOUR NEIGHBOR'S VINEYARD, THEN YOU MAY EAT GRAPES YOUR FILL AT YOUR OWN PLEASURE [SOUL - NEHPHESH]" DEUTERONOMY. 23:24
2. "TO BIND HIS PRINCES AT HIS PLEASURE [SOUL - NEHPHESH]" PSALMS 105:22
3. "SET AT LIBERTY AT THEIR PLEASURE [SOUL - NEHPHESH]" JEREMIAH 34:16
DISCONTENTED [SOUL - NEHPHESH] ONE TIME. "EVERYONE THAT WAS DISCONTENTED [SOUL - NEHPHESH]" 1 SAMUEL. 22:2
GREEDY [SOUL - NEHPHESH] ONE TIME. "THEY ARE GREEDY [SOUL - NEHPHESH] DOGS" ISAIAH 56:11
HEARTY [SOUL - NEHPHESH]
• NEHPHESH - ONE TIME. "OF A MAN'S FRIEND BY HEARTY [SOUL - NEHPHESH] COUNSEL" PROVERBS 27:9
• PSUKEE - ONE TIME. "AND WHATSOEVER YOU DO, DO IT HEARTILY [SOUL - PSUKEE], AS TO THE LORD" COLOSSIANS 3:23
APPETITE [SOUL - NEHPHESH] TWO TIMES
1. "IF YOU BE A MAN GIVEN TO APPETITE [SOUL - NEHPHESH]" PROVERBS 23:2
2. "THE APPETITE [SOUL - NEHPHESH] IS NOT FILLED" ECCLESIASTES 6:7
From the above, it is clear that all the words into which nehphesh and psukee are translated clearly show that a person does not have a part that has any existence without the body or any function or life after death. "Nehphesh" or "psukee" is not something that can live without the body. it is any living being, a person, or animal. In a person "soul" is the earthly person who is in the image of Adam, not an immortal part of a person that can live without the whole person. Both persons and animals ARE nehpheshs [living beings, souls], not a living being that HAS a nehphesh [a soul] that will live without them
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The following quotation from an unknown author will illustrate the vague idea of many in relation to what may be saved through Christ.
"A man stands looking over the rail of a vessel into the surging water, and cries out, 'Save it!' Men come rushing up with, 'Save what? A man overboard?' 'No.' 'A woman?' 'No.' 'Then it must be a child.' 'No, it is not a child.' 'What then can it be?' 'I cannot tell.' 'Well, what does it look like?' 'I do not know, it has never been seen.' 'What form is it?' 'It has no form.' 'How large is it?' 'Why, it has no size.' 'Well, about how much will it weigh?' 'It has no weight.' 'Will it perish in the water?' 'No, no; it can never perish but save it, save it.'"
"IT" OR "ME"
MANY WHO BELIEVE THE DOCTRINE OF UNCONDITIONAL IMMORTALITY OFTEN SAY "IT" WHEN THEY SPEAK OF THE SOUL. WILL "IT" BE "ME" OR WILL "IT" BE MY SOUL IN HEAVEN? IF I HAD A SOUL AND "IT" HAD THOUGHTS AND EMOTIONS, WHICH ARE NOT MY THOUGHTS AND EMOTIONS, "IT" IS NOT "ME," BUT ANOTHER BEING LIVING IN ME.
THE WHOLE PERSON WILL BE RAISED FROM THE DEAD AT THE RESURRECTION. IT WILL BE "ME" CHANGED FROM A "SOUL" [NEHPHESH-PSUKEE] A LIVING CREATURE IN THE IMAGE OF ADAM INTO A NEW SPIRITUAL BODY IN THE IMAGE OF CHRIST. SOME BELIEVE AND TEACH IT WILL ONLY BE AN IMMATERIAL (NO SUBSTANCE) INVISIBLE PART OF "ME," WHICH THEY CALL THE SOUL "IT" THAT WILL BE IN HEAVEN.
IF "IT" THINKS, HAS ANY THOUGHTS OR KNOWLEDGE, HAS ANY KIND OF SENSIBILITY DIFFERENT THAN OR APART FROM "ME"; IT IS NOT "ME," BUT IS ANOTHER BEING. IF THE SPIRIT "IT" IS NOT MY MIND, THEN "IT" MUST HAVE A MIND OF "ITS" OWN AND THOUGHTS OF "ITS" OWN. IS "IT" INTELLIGENT AND HAS A BRAIN OF "ITS" OWN? IF NOT, THEN "IT" HAS NO SENSIBILITY, THEN "IT" IS ONLY A NONLIVING THING.
IF THE "SOUL," ["NEHPHESH" AND "PSUKEE"] AS USED IN THE BIBLE, IS NOT OUR LIFE, MIND, FEELING AND EMOTIONS; IF "IT" IS NOT THE WHOLE OF A PERSON; THEN "IT" COULD ONLY BE ANOTHER BEING EXISTING WITHIN "ME"; BUT "IT" AND "ME" ARE NOT THE SAME; AND ONLY THE SOUL "IT" SHALL BE IN HEAVEN, BUT NOT THE REAL "ME" [THE PART THAT NOW FEELS, THINKS, AND LIVES]. ONLY THIS NO SUBSTANCE BEING LIVING IN "ME" WHICH I CAN KNOW NOTHING ABOUT. NOT WHAT "IT" LOOKS LIKE, OR WHAT "IT" THINKS, HOW "IT" FEELS, OR ANY OTHER THING ABOUT "IT."
I COULD NOT EVEN KNOW "IT" IS IN "ME" WITHOUT BEING TOLD THAT "IT" IS THERE. THEREFORE, "IT" COULD ONLY BE ANOTHER BEING THAT WILL LIVE ON AFTER "ME" IS DEAD. WHEN "IT" LIVES IN HEAVEN, IT WILL BE "IT" LIVING, NOT "ME," AND MY MIND AND THOUGHTS WILL BE DEAD, AND "ME" WILL NOT EVEN KNOW THAT "IT" IS LIVING.
IF MY SPIRIT "IT" IS NOT "ME," THEN WHEN "ME" DIES, MY MIND WILL BE DEAD. IF "IT" IS A PART DIFFERENT FROM MY MIND, HEART, FEELING, THOUGHTS, THEN HOW CAN "IT" BE CONDEMNED FOR WHAT "ME" THINKS, AND FEELS, AND DOES?
IF WHAT WILL BE IN HEAVEN IS "ME" [MY MIND, FEELING, THOUGHTS, HEART, LIFE] WITH A SPIRITUAL BODY IN THE IMAGE OF CHRIST; WHERE IS THE "SOUL" ["IT"], WHICH I NOW HAVE, BUT CANNOT SEE, OR KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT WHAT "IT" WILL BE? WILL "IT" BE IN HEAVEN WITH "ME," AND I STILL WILL NOT KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT "IT" OR SEE “IT”?
IF "IT" IS NOT MY MIND, WHAT DOES "IT" THINK? IF "IT" IS ONLY SOMETHING LIVING IN "ME," WHICH I KNOW NOTHING ABOUT; AND "IT" WILL LEAVE "ME" AT MY DEATH AND GO ONTO ANOTHER HOME WITHOUT "ME"; AND I STILL WILL NOT KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT "IT," OR WHAT "IT" IS, OR WHAT "IT" THINKS, OR WHERE "IT" IS, OR WHAT "IT" IS DOING, OR LOOKS LIKE.
AFTER MY DEATH, "IT" WILL LIVE WITHOUT A BODY OR SUBSTANCE WHERE "ME" [MY MIND, FEELING, THOUGHTS, HEART] CANNOT LIVE. IF I AM A "DUAL BEING" AND "IT" IS THE SECOND OF MY TWO BEINGS, WHEN MY FIRST BEING IS DEAD, "ME" WILL BE DEAD, AND ONLY THE SECOND BEING "IT" WILL BE ALIVE. ONLY A PART OF "ME" IS IMMORTAL AND ONLY A PART OF "ME" WILL EVER BE IN HEAVEN OR HELL, AND THAT IS THE PART OF "ME" THAT WILL NEVER KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT WHAT "IT" IS LIKE.
IF MY SPIRIT ["IT"] CAME INTO EXISTENCE WHEN I WAS BORN, AND "IT" IS DIFFERENT FROM MY EARTHLY BEING, THEN "ITS" THOUGHTS ARE NOT THE THOUGHTS OF "ME" [NOT THE THOUGHTS OF MY MIND]; THEREFORE, HOW DO I KNOW "IT" HAS EVER HAD ANY THOUGHTS, OR THAT "IT" KNOWS ANYTHING?
IF "IT" IS IMMORTAL, "IT" HAS NO NEED OF THE TREE OF LIFE TO LIVE FOREVER; BUT "ME" IS NOT IMMORTAL, AND COULD NOT LIVE FOREVER WITHOUT THE TREE OF LIFE. DEATH IS NOT THE ENEMY OF "IT" FOR "IT" CANNOT DIE FOR THE SINS OF "ME." "IT" CANNOT PAY THE WAGES OF THE SINS FOR "ME."
WILL YOU HAVE ETERNAL LIFE IN HEAVEN, OR WILL "IT" TO HAVE ETERNAL LIFE IN HEAVEN? THE BIBLE DOES NOT TEACH THERE IS ANOTHER PART LIVING IN A PERSON, BUT THE WHOLE OF A PERSON AS HE IS NOW, AND ONLY THE BODY WILL BE DIFFERENT IN HEAVEN FROM WHAT WE NOW ARE. A PERSON IS ONLY ONE BEING, AND WILL BE THE SAME ONE BEING IN HEAVEN. WE DO NOT HAVE A SOUL [DO NOT HAVE AN "IT"], BUT WE ARE A LIVING SOUL, WHICH IS THE IMAGE OF ADAM, A LIVING BEING, A LIVING PERSON. MEN AND ANIMALS DO NOT HAVE A SOUL, BUT BOTH ARE A LIVING SOUL [LIVING CREATURES]. THERE IS A WORLD OF DIFFERENCES IN BEING A LIVING SOUL, AS IS TAUGHT IN THE BIBLE, AND HAVING AN "IMMATERIAL INVISIBLE" SOUL AS IS TAUGHT TODAY.
AFTER DEATH THE BIBLE NEVER SPEAKS ONLY OF THE SLEEP OF THE BODY, OR ONLY OF THE SLEEP OF THE SOUL, BUT OF THE SLEEP OR DEATH OF THE PERSON. GOD'S CREATION OF THIS EARTH IS VERY GOOD EVEN WITH THE THORNS CAUSED BY SIN; BUT HIS CREATION OF HEAVEN IS FAR BETTER AND DOES NOT HAVE THE THORNS. NEVERTHELESS, THE SOUL "IT" IS MADE TO BE LIVING IN US AND TO BE OF NEITHER CREATION, JUST SOME THIN AIR SOMETHING WITH NO SUBSTANCE. WHEN LAZARUS WAS RAISED, HE WAS THE EXACT IDENTICAL PERSON HE WAS BEFORE HIS DEATH, WITH THE SAME BODY, A "SOUL" [NEHPHESH - PSUKEE] LIVING CREATURE IN THE IMAGE OF ADAM. AT THE RESURRECTION THE SAVED WILL BE THE EXACT IDENTICAL PERSON AS NOW, BUT WITH A NEW "SPIRITUAL BODY," IN THE IMAGE OF CHRIST, NOT SOME THIN AIR NO SUBSTANCE "IT" THAT WILL BE DIFFERENT FROM THE PERSON WE NOW ARE.
MANY USE "SOUL SLEEPING" JUST AS MANY HAVE USED "CAMPBELLISM," AND "WATER SALVATION." THEY CAN SEE ONLY PLATO'S IMMORTAL PART OF A PERSON THAT LIVES ON AFTER THE DEATH OF THE PERSON. IT WILL NOT BE PLATO'S INTER IMMORTAL NO SUBSTANCE PART OF A PERSON THAT WILL EXIST AFTER THE DEATH OF THE BODY. IT WILL BE "ME" NOT JUST SOME PART OF "ME" THAT WILL BE RAISED FROM THE DEAD, NOT "IT" THAT IS NOT DEAD. IT IS "ME" THAT WILL SLEEP AND "ME" THAT WILL WAKE UP AT THE RESURRECTION. NOT "IT" THAT I WILL KNOW NOTHING ABOUT.
IF "IT" [THE SOUL] IS IMMORTAL FROM BIRTH, "IT" CAN NEVER DIE FOR "IT" IS IMMORTAL. IF "IT" IS WHAT WILL BE IN HEAVEN, THERE CAN BE NO RESURRECTION, FOR "IT" IS NOT DEAD TO BE RESURRECTED. IF "IT" CAN NEVER DIE, "IT" DID NOT NEED CHRIST TO DIE IN "ITS" PLACE TO KEEP "IT" FROM DYING, FOR "IT" IS IMMORTAL AND CANNOT DIE. "IT" HAS NO NEED OF THE DEATH OF CHRIST TO SAVE "IT" FROM THE DEATH THAT "IT" CANNOT DIE. IT IS A PERSON "ME" THAT WILL PUT ON IMMORTALITY AT THE RESURRECTION, AND NOT JUST A PART OF A PERSON "IT," WHICH IS BOTH ALIVE AND IMMORTAL BEFORE THE RESURRECTION. IT WILL BE MY LIFE, MIND, FEELING AND EMOTIONS, MY WHOLE PERSON "ME" THAT WILL BE IMMORTAL IN HEAVEN, NOT JUST SOME UNKNOWN PART OF ME.
I DO NOT KNOW HOW GOD CAN RAISE "ME" FROM THE GRAVE AND GIVE "ME" A NEW SPIRITUAL BODY AND IT STILL BE "ME"; NOT JUST SOME "IT" WHICH WAS NOT DEAD TO BE RAISED; BUT I HAVE COMPLETE FAITH THAT HE CAN AND WILL. MY FAITH IS IN CHRIST AND THE RESURRECTION HE TAUGHT. WILL FAITH IN THE PAGAN DOCTRINE OR IN THE IMMORTAL SOUL IT TEACHES SAVE YOU OR CONDEMN YOU?
Do you believe that it will be you that will be saved or lost or something in you that you that is not the real you, something that you cannot see or know what it? The never dying soul doctrine of an immortal soul is in direct conflict with hundreds of the plainest statements of the Bible. How can anyone say they believe the Bible when they have replaced it with the teaching of the heathen philosophy of Plato?
CHAPTER TWO
Life or Death

Many continually preach, "The wages of sin is death" but then by what they preach they contradict them self by preaching that unbelievers will go to Hell where they will live forever, therefore, "The wages of sin is an eternal life of torment in Hell" not death.
The changing of life and death to:
• Has "life" has been changed to mean only a "reward" and "death" changed to mean "eternal life with torment"?
• Is "the wages of sin death; but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord"? Romans 6:23, or is death eternal life with torment?
Eternal life is a conditional gift to the saved at the resurrection and judgment. “He that have the Son have eternal life. He that has not the Son has not life” (Immortality) 1 John 5:12. "He that hears My word, and believes Him that sent Me, has eternal life, and comes not into judgment, but has passed out of death into life" (John 5:24).
"I have set before you life and death" (Deuteronomy 30:19). Life and death are two of the most misused words in the Bible. Many are unwilling to believe that when God said, "The wages of sin is death" that He did really mean what He said, that death is death and not eternal life in some other place. Death is not a lifelong imprisonment with torture. Death is death, not a better life in Heaven or a worse life in Hell, it is life or death. Death is the exact opposite of life, and death cannot be changed to be eternal life with torment. For a person to have an immortal soul from birth, death as the wages of sin must be explained away. Innate inborn immortality is hostile to God's word. If a person is born with an immortal "immaterial, invisible part of men" (W. E. Vine) that is not subject to death and this "soul" is the only part of a person that will survive death, the law of God has no power over whether that soul lives or dies for it cannot die; God can only say how or where this "immaterial, invisible part of men" is to live, for this "part of man" is not subject to death and must always live some place.
"He that hears my word, and believes him that sent me, has eternal life, and comes not into judgment, but has passed out of death into life" (John 5:24). Not a soul that has eternal life passing out of one kind of eternal life into another kind of eternal life, but a person (“he”) that has passed out of death into life.
"It is appointed unto man once to die, and after this comes judgment" (Hebrews 9:27). "For the hour comes, in which all that are in the tombs shall hear his voice, and shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of judgment" (John 5:28-29). We bear the image of Adam, and like Adam, we all will die; but both the saved and those not saved will be raised at the second coming of Christ and be judged. The saved will bear the image of Christ and have life forever (1 Corinthians 15:45-49). The church at Smyrna was told, "Be you faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life...He that overcomes shall not be hurt of the second death" (Revelation 2:10-11). Throughout the Gospels, Christ promised life to all who believed Him. Paul says, "His servants you are whom you obey; whether of sin unto death, or obedience unto righteousness" (Romans 6:16). "What fruit then had you at that time in the things whereof you are now ashamed: for the end of these things is death. But, now being made free from sin and become servants to God, you have your fruit unto sanctification, and the end eternal life" (Romans 6:21-22). As clear as human language can be, Paul says, "For the wages of sin is death; but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 6:23).
In Romans 6:23, the issue is:
LIFE - - - - - - - - - - - -OR - DEATH
NOT LIFE IN ONE PLACE-HEAVEN – OR - LIFE IN ANOTHER PLACE-HELL
DEATH IS THE ABSENCE OF LIFE – NOT - ANOTHER KIND OF LIFE, WHICH WILL BE EITHER BETTER OR WORSE THAN THIS LIFE
All who obeys Christ and "overcomes," will at the judgment be given the crown of life; and shall not be hurt of the second death. The clear implication is that anyone who does not overcome shall be hurt of the second death at the judgment (Revelation 2:11). "He that overcomes shall inherit these things: and I will be his God, and he shall be my son. BUT for the fearful, and unbelieving, and abominable, and murderers, and fornicators, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, their part shall be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone; which is the second death" (Revelation 21:7-8).
There may be more in the New Testament on life and death than any other subject. If God can destroy a person (the whole person, Matthew 10:28), unconditional immortality cannot be true. If a person can lose his life (Matthew 10:39) unconditional immortality cannot be true. Those who believe a person has a part that cannot die knows "the wages of sin" (Romans 6:23) must be changed to be something other than death for if "death" means "death"; the sinner will die; he cannot live forever in Hell. The Bible teaching on death must do away with or there can be no hell.
John 3:16: If all have eternal life at birth, why did God give His Son that all who believe on Him would have eternal life and not perish? If we are born with eternal life, how could the gift of God to those who believe and obey Him be eternal life? Eternal life is only for those who believe. Just as sure as those that believe on Christ will have eternal life, those who do not believe on Christ will not have eternal life any place.
John 11:25: "I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believes on me, though he die, yet shall he live; and whosoever lives and believes on me shall never die." "And declare unto you the life, the eternal life" (1 John 1:1). Only those who are raised with Christ through baptism have life. They are the only ones who, “Though he die, yet shall he live” [John 11:25]. Christianity without a resurrection to life for those in Christ is inconceivable.
(1) LIFE
The gift of God is eternal LIFE but only to those in Christ. God's gift of LIFE is not just a reward to those who are born with eternal life and cannot die.
1. The Greek concept of an immortal soul assumes that the soul already possess eternal life and is not subject to death.
2. The orthodox view is that a person has an "immaterial, invisible part of men," and only this part of himself possesses eternal life at or before birth and is not subject to death; the orthodox view is that this is the only part of a person that will be in Heaven or Hell immediately after death before and without the resurrection and judgment. According to the orthodox view all the dead are now in Heaven or Hell and will always be there even if there never will be a second coming of Christ or resurrection or judgment.
3. The bible says that Christ "abolished death, and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel" (2 Timothy 1:10). Without the resurrection there would be no life after death. Before the resurrection, no person or no part of a person has immortality.
Psukee (life) is the only word-translated soul in the New Testament. The adjectives eternal and everlasting are never used with psukee. Psukee is translated: life 40 times, you 1 time, us 1 time, mind 3 times, heart 1 time, heartily 1 time, soul 57 times in the King James Version. Psukee (life) is the natural life or a person from Adam or the natural life of any living being (Revelation 8:9; 16:3). It is the life common to all living creatures, man and all animals, and is never said to be eternal. All living creatures by natural birth have psukee (life) from birth to death. "The first man Adam become a living soul (psukee-living being)" (1 Corinthians 15:45): psukee is the same as nehphesh in the Old Testament. Adam became "a living soul"-nehphesh-a living being (Genesis 2:7). It is the life Adam had in common with animals and all living creatures.
Zoee (life) is a gift from Christ to those who believe, the eternal life He gives to those who are His. "Zoee" is used about one hundred thirty times (Wigram, Page 339, Sometimes spelled "zoe") and is translated "life" every time. It refers to the life given by Christ to believes in all but about ten of the about one hundred thirty times it is used, and in those ten it is life or existence in this life time, “Seeing He Himself gives to all life (zoee), and breath, and all things” (Acts 17:25).
B. W. Johnson said "The zoee, (life, existence) is never said to end, or perish. It is the psuchee (breath, or animal life), that is laid down, or perishes." Commentary on John, 1886, John 10:27-28.
Zoee (life) is the life Christ gives to believers; a life that is beyond this earthly life that nonbelievers do not now or will ever have. Life (zoee) that Christ gives to believers is existence for believers as opposed to non-existence or death for nonbelievers, it is existence and being alive as opposed to non-existence and being dead. The penalty for sin is death and Christ made the atonement for our sins by his death; life for us is only through Christ’s atonement and without his atonement there is only death, not eternal life anyplace with or without torment. The wages of sin is death and Christ has not made the atonement for the sins of the wicked that never believe Him and there is no life for them, without eternal life they cannot be eternally tormented.
• "SHALL INHERIT ETERNAL (AIONIOS) LIFE (ZOEE)" MATTHEW 19:29
• "THAT WHOSOEVER BELIEVES MAY IN HIM HAVE ETERNAL (AIONIOS) LIFE (ZOEE)" JOHN 3:15. THE ONLY WAY TO HAVE ETERNAL LIFE IS THROUGH BELIEVING IN CHRIST, NOT BY BIRTH, NOT BEING BORN WITH AN IMMORTAL SOUL THAT HIS ETERNAL LIFE WITHOUT BELIEVING IN CHRIST.
• "WHOSOEVER BELIEVES ON HIM SHOULD NOT PERISH, BUT HAVE ETERNAL LIFE (ZOEE)" JOHN 3:16
• "HE THAT BELIEVES ON THE SON HAS ETERNAL LIFE (ZOEE); BUT HE THAT OBEYS NOT THE SON SHALL NOT SEE LIFE (ZOEE)" JOHN 3:36. HE OR SHE THAT OBEYS NOT THE SON IS NOT NOW IMMORTAL AND WILL NEVER BE IMMORTAL IN HELL OR ANY PLACE, WILL NEVER HAVE ETERNAL LIFE ANY PLACE
• "THE WATER I SHALL GIVE HIM SHALL BECOME IN HIM A WELL OR WATER SPRINGING UP UNTO ETERNAL LIFE (ZOEE)" JOHN 4:14
• "FRUIT UNTO LIFE (ZOEE) ETERNAL JOHN 4:36
• "SON ALSO GIVES LIFE (ZOEE)" JOHN 5:21
• "OUT OF DEATH INTO LIFE (ZOEE)" JOHN 5:24
• "THAT YOU MAY HAVE LIFE (ZOEE)" JOHN 5:40
• "UNTO THE RESURRECTION OF LIFE (ZOEE)" JOHN 5:29
• "FOOD WHICH ABIDES UNTO ETERNAL LIFE (ZOEE)" JOHN 6:27
• "SHOULD HAVE ETERNAL LIFE (ZOEE); AND I WILL RAISE HIM UP AT THE LAST DAY" JOHN 6:40
• "AND I GIVE UNTO THEM ETERNAL LIFE (ZOEE)" JOHN 10:28. HE IS NOT GIVING THEM LIFE THAT THEY HAD AT BIRTH, BUT LIFE THAT THEY OR NO PART OF THEM HAD BEFORE THE NEW BIRTH. WHEN JESUS SAID, "HE THAT BELIEVES NOT THE SON SHALL NOT SEE LIFE," ETERNAL LIFE IN TORMENT SHALL NOT BE SEEN.
• "HE SHOULD GIVE ETERNAL LIFE (ZOEE)" JOHN 17:1-3
• "YOU MAY HAVE LIFE (ZOEE)" JOHN 20:31
• "THE FREE GIFT OF GOD IS ETERNAL LIFE (ZOEE) IN CHRIST JESUS OUR LORD" ROMANS 6:23
• "BELIEVE ON HIM UNTO ETERNAL LIFE (ZOEE)" 1 TIMOTHY 1:16
• "LAY HOLD ON THE LIFE (ZOEE) ETERNAL, WHEREUNTO YOU WERE CALLED" 1 TIMOTHY 6:12
• "MAY LAY HOLD ON THE LIFE (ZOEE) WHICH IS LIFE (ZOEE) INDEED" 1 TIMOTHY 6:19
• "ABOLISHED DEATH AND BROUGHT LIFE (ZOEE) AND IMMORTALITY TO LIGHT" 2 TIMOTHY 1:10
• "IN HOPE OF ETERNAL LIFE (ZOEE)" TITUS 1:2
• "WE MIGHT BE MADE HEIRS ACCORDING TO THE HOPE OF ETERNAL LIFE (ZOEE)" TITUS 3:12
• "SHALL RECEIVE THE CROWN OF LIFE (ZOEE)" JAMES 1:12
• "DECLARE UNTO YOU THE LIFE (ZOEE), THE ETERNAL LIFE (ZOEE), (CHRIST) WHICH WAS WITH THE FATHER" 1 JOHN 1:2
• "AND THIS IS THE PROMISE WHICH HE PROMISED US, EVEN THE LIFE (ZOEE) ETERNAL" (1 JOHN 2:25). AT THE RESURRECTION THE SAVED SHALL PUT ON IMMORTALITY (ETERNAL LIFE). THIS IS SO SURE THAT IT IS SPOKEN OF AS IF WE NOW HAVE IT.
• "AND IN THE WORLD TO COME ETERNAL LIFE (ZOEE)" MARK 10:30
• (1) "GOD GAVE UNTO US ETERNAL LIFE (ZOEE), (2) AND THIS LIFE (ZOEE) IS IN HIS SON. (3) HE THAT HAS THE SON HAS THE LIFE (ZOEE); (4) HE THAT HAS NOT THE SON OF GOD HAS NOT THE LIFE (ZOEE)" 1 JOHN 5:11-12. NO INVISIBLE IMMATERIAL PART OF A PERSON THAT IS NOT IN CHRIST NOW HAS ETERNAL LIFE OR THE PROMISE OF ETERNAL LIFE.
• "AND THE END, ETERNAL LIFE (ZOEE)" ROMANS 6:22
• "LOOKING FOR THE MERCY OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST UNTO ETERNAL LIFE (ZOEE)" JUDE 21
• "THAT OF ALL THAT WHICH HE HAS GIVEN ME I SHOULD LOSE NOTHING, BUT SHOULD RAISE IT UP AT THE LAST DAY" (JOHN 6:29). "FOR THIS IS THE WILL OF MY FATHER, THAT EVERY ONE THAT BEHOLDS THE SON, AND BELIEVES ON HIM, SHOULD HAVE ETERNAL LIFE (ZOEE); AND I WILL RAISE HIM UP AT THE LAST DAY" (JOHN 6:40). "AND I WILL RAISE HIM UP AT THE LAST DAY" (JOHN 6:44) "AND I WILL RAISE HIM UP AT THE LAST DAY" (JOHN 6:54)
• "WHO WILL RENDER TO EVERY MAN ACCORDING TO HIS WORKS: TO THEM THAT BY PATIENCE IN WELL DOING SEEK FOR GLORY AND HONOR AND INCORRUPTION, ETERNAL LIFE (ZOEE)" ROMANS 2:7
• "I AM THE RESURRECTION AND THE LIFE (ZOEE)" "JESUS SAID UNTO HER, I AM THE RESURRECTION, AND THE LIFE (ZOEE): HE THAT BELIEVES ON ME, THOUGH HE DIE, YET SHALL HE LIVE; AND WHOSOEVER LIVES AND BELIEVES ON ME SHALL NEVER DIE" (JOHN 11:25-26)
• "OUR SAVIOR CHRIST JESUS, WHO ABOLISHED DEATH, AND BROUGHT LIFE (ZOEE) AND IMMORTALITY TO LIGHT THROUGH THE GOSPEL" (2 TIMOTHY 1:10). CHRIST IS THE WORD OF LIFE. "CONCERNING THE WORD OF LIFE (AND THE LIFE WAS MANIFESTED, AND WE HAVE SEEN, AND BEAR WITNESS, AND DECLARE UNTO YOU THE LIFE, THE ETERNAL LIFE, WHICH WAS WITH THE FATHER)" (1 JOHN 1:2). ONLY THOSE RAISED WITH CHRIST THROUGH BAPTISM HAVE THE PROMISE OF ETERNAL LIFE AND WILL NOT BE SUBJECT TO THE SECOND DEATH.
The promise of eternal life at the judgment only to those who believe in and obey Christ is positive proof that we do not now have immortality. A born again person cannot be given immortality at the judgment if all men are now immortal and cannot die, for all, both the saved and the lost, would have been born with eternal life and born immortal. The theology, which says a person is born with immortality, robs Christ of the gift of life to all who believes and gives life to all at birth. These passages make no sense if we are born with a soul that has life and can never die, and this soul that is not subject to death is the only part of us that will be in heaven. This theology makes Christ give life only to a part of a person that is already immortal and already has eternal life from birth and cannot die? Immortality is conditional on being in Christ; there is no eternal life except in Christ.
• "HE THAT EATS THIS BREAD SHALL LIVE FOREVER" JOHN 6:51, 6:57.
• "FOR IF... WE SHALL BE ALSO IN THE LIKENESS OF HIS RESURRECTION" ROMANS 6:5.
• “AND THIS MORTAL MUST PUT ON IMMORTALITY” 1 CORINTHIANS 15:53.
• "MADE ALIVE" EPHESIANS 2:1-5.
• “WHO ACCORDING TO HIS GREAT MERCY BEGAT US AGAIN UNTO A LIVING HOPE BY THE RESURRECTION OF JESUS CHRIST FROM THE DEAD, UNTO AN INHERITANCE INCORRUPTIBLE, AND UNDEFILED, AND THAT FADES NOT AWAY, RESERVED IN HEAVEN FOR YOU, WHO BY THE POWER OF GOD ARE GUARDED THROUGH FAITH UNTO A SALVATION READY TO BE REVEALED IN THE LAST TIME...RECEIVING THE END OF YOUR FAITH, THE SALVATION OF YOUR SOULS” (PSUKEE-LIVES "THE SALVATION OF YOUR LIVES" OUR LIVES ARE SAVED FROM DEATH BY THE BLOOD OF CHRIST WHO GIVE HIS LIFE TO SAVE OUR LIFE, NOT JUST AN "IMMATERIAL, INVISIBLE PART OF A MAN") “SET YOUR HOPE PERFECTLY ON THE GRACE THAT IS TO BE BROUGHT UNTO YOU AT THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST” (1 PETER 1:3-13).
• "BUT IF BY THE SPIRIT, YOU PUT TO DEATH THE DEEDS OF THE BODY YOU SHALL LIVE" ROMANS 8:13.
• "THAT WE MAY BE ALSO GLORIFIED WITH HIM" ROMANS 8:17.
• "WITH THE GLORY WHICH SHALL BE REVEALED TO US-WARD" ROMANS 8:18. WHEN? NOT NOW, BUT AT THE RESURRECTION.
• "WAITING FOR OUR ADOPTION" ROMANS 8:23. (NOT AN IMMATERIAL PART OR “OUR” WAITING FOR "ITS" ADOPTION).
• "FOREORDAINED TO BE CONFORMED TO THE IMAGE OF HIS SON" ROMANS 8:29.
• FOR THIS HOPE WE MUST "WITH PATIENCE WAIT FOR IT" ROMANS 8:25.
• FOUR TIMES IN JOHN 6:39-54 CHRIST SAYS HE WILL RISE UP THOSE THAT ARE HIS "AT THE LAST DAY" (JOHN 6:39, 40, 44, AND 54).
Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible, "The idea of a life to come is in many portions of the OT conspicuous by its absence. There is nothing anywhere that will compare with the NT conception of 'eternal life'" Page 546.
Eternal life is the gift of Christ to those who obey Him, not something all mankind possess without obeying Christ.
ETERNAL LIFE
• Will be received in the future [John 3:16], “but have” is undeniably future tense.
• Will be inherited [Matthew 19:29], not something that the “soul” of all now has.
• Is the gift of God [Romans 6:23] only to those who obey God, not something all have from birth.
• We now have the hope of eternal life [Titus 3:7] in the future, something only believers shall receive.
• Eternal life is promised [1 John 1:25]. If all have it from birth it could not be the gift of God promised only to believers.

(2) DEATH
Salvation is from death, not from torment for those who cannot die. Eternal life with torment in Hell means there is no death. The penalty of sin is death (Romans 6:23), not eternal life in Hell. This passage is preached continually, but very few that preach it believe it. They preach, "The wages of sin is death," and in the same breath preach a person has a part that cannot die and the wages of sin for our deathless part of us is an eternal life of torment in Hell. Death is death, not an eternal dying but never dead. Death is not eternal life with torment.
All have sinned; the wages of sin is death. Death is God's penalty for sin; how could God have said this anymore clear and simple? The gift of God canceled the wages of sin and gives life. The free gift of God is not changing one kind of life for another kind of life, or life in one place for life in another place. It is giving life in place of death. This is made possible not by Christ living our life of eternal torment for us, but by Christ dying our death for us. The free gift of god is life, not just a change of address from hell to heaven for those who have eternal life and cannot die.
"The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life" (Romans 6:23). There are two reasons why the sinner will die in this passage. (1) They will receive the wages they earned for sin, which is death. (2) Eternal life, immortality, is given only to those who are in Christ. The lost will never be given the gift of immortality.
"Shall save a soul (psukee-life or person) from death" "Will save him from death" New International Version James 5:20. The person saved is saved from death, not from an eternal life of torment.
"Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls (life-psukee)" 1 Peter 1:9
"Sin unto death" Romans 6:16: Not sin unto an eternal life of torment
"What fruit then had you at that time in the things whereof you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. But now being made free from sin and become servants to God, you have your fruit unto sanctification, and the end eternal life (at judgment). For the Wages of sin is death; but the free gift of God is eternal life" Romans 6:21-23. DEATH is not a gateway to a better LIFE. Death is an "enemy" and our hope is the resurrection, not death being life. "For you shall be recompensed in the resurrection"(Luke 14:14), not instantly after death
"Be you faithful unto death (end of this life) and I will give you the crown of life (at the judgment)...shall not be hurt of the second death" ("You" not to a immaterial "part of you") Revelation 2:10. And with the world they shall "passes away" 1 John 2:17
"For if you live after the flesh, you must die" Romans 8:13 ("You" not just a part of "you" must die)
"We (not only a part of us) have passed out of death into life" 1 John 3:14
Death is so sure to those not in Christ that they "abides in death" 1 John 3:14
"If we have only hoped in Christ in this life, we are of all men most pitiable. But now has Christ been raised from the dead, the first fruits of them that are asleep. For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all DIE, so also in Christ shall all be made alive" (1 Corinthians 15:21-23). In the plainest language possible, Jesus said, "If you believe not, you shall die in your sins" (John 8:21-24). Many read this passage and see, “If you believe not, your soul that cannot die is now dead.”
Those who believe in eternal torment are saying to the unsaved that they already have eternal life but will spend it in the wrong place. They are saying to the lost that they can never die but that they will live an unhappy everlasting life. They are saying the lost will be in Hell and just as alive as those in Heaven, and in no sense can the lost to be said to be dead; in no plain common sense language can the wages of sin be said to be death to an immortal being that cannot die for if it could die or if it were dead it would not be an immortal being. They are saying that death cannot be death, but death is only a transfer of life from this realm to life in another realm. For a person to now have an immortal soul that can never die, death, particularly the second death must be changed to a second life.
Those who believe men are now immortal must take death out of the Bible. In all the repeatedly times Christ promised eternal life to believers, He must be made not to mean what He promised; not eternal life, but to be promising only a reward or happiness.
"WAGES OF SIN IS DEATH," not an eternal life of torment for those who cannot ever be dead (Romans 6:23). Death is not life in a different form; death ends life and without the resurrection death means the utter destruction of life to both believers and unbelievers. Death is to be abolished at "the end" (1 Corinthians 15:24-26) by casting it into lake of fire. Jesus endured the wages of sin in our place so that we would not have to. Christ could not be our savior if the wages of sin is eternal torment. Jesus died in our place; but He did not endure eternal torment in our place, therefore, if the wages of sin were eternal torment He could not be our savior. He would not have paid our debt. He did "taste of death for every man" (Hebrews 2:9). Today's theology that says death is only life in a different place and is not really death makes our salvation impossible by making the death of Christ impossible.
Robert Turner said, "Sin separates us from God, and 'the soul that sinneth, it shall die.'" Florida College Annual Lectures, 1986, Page 172. Which one is he saying? (1) The soul that sins lives forever separated from God, or (2) "The soul that sins shall die." The two are a total conduction of each other and both cannot be true.
Romans 6:21-23 If we have a soul that is now immortal, it now has eternal life and will always have eternal life, even if is not in Christ, even if there were no resurrection, even if Christ had not died in our place the wages of sin could not be death to a soul that cannot die.
• "For the end of these things is death...for the wages of sin is death" King James Version
• "For the outcome of these things is death...for the wages of sin is death" New American Standard
• "These things result in death...for the wages of sin is death" New International Version
• "These things only bring death...when people sin, they earn what sin pays--death" New Century Version
• "And they lead to death...sin pays off with death" Contemporary English Version
• "Things that end in eternal doom...for the wages of sin is death" New Living Translation
• "The result of those things is death...for sin pays it wage--death" Today's English Version
o There is not the slightest sign of an immortal soul that is not subject to death in this passage.
The three steps to death in James 1:15: (1) Lust (when it has conceived) (2) gives birth to sin (3) Sin (when it is accomplished) brings death. In today's preaching the three steps are changed to (1) Lust (2) Sin (3) Eternal life in Hell.
• "Then when LUST hath conceived, it bringeth forth SIN; and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth DEATH" (King James Version)
• "Then, when DESIRE has conceived, it gives birth to SIN: and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth DEATH" (New King James Version)
• "Then the LUST, when it hath conceived, beareth SIN: and the sin, when it is full grown, bringeth forth DEATH" (American Standard Version)
• "Then when LUST has conceived, it gives birth to SIN and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth DEATH" (New American Standard Version)
• "Then, when that DESIRE has conceived, it gives birth to SIN, and that sin, when it if fully grown, gives birth to DEATH" (New Revised Standard Version)
• "Then, after DESIRE has conceived, it gives birth to SIN; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to DEATH" (New International Version)
It is life or death, not reward or torment; never an everlasting life of torment with God doing the tormenting. There is so much teaching in the New Testament on life and death that it is as if God foreknow men would change the wages of sin into an everlasting life of torment, and He gives them no way to say at the judgment "I did not know." Why do men not believe God? Death is in contrast to life. It is the opposite of life, and not just another kind of life. Death is not life in heaven, hell, purgatory, or hades. It is not life of any kind, anywhere; death is death, not everlasting life with torment, not a mere change in the mode of existence. The unsaved cannot be both eternally dead and eternally alive and conscious. They cannot be both dead and alive at the same time
"For if you live according to the flesh, YOU will die: but if by the Spirit YOU put to death the deeds of the body, YOU will live" Romans 8:13. “YOU” will live or die, not just an "immaterial, invisible part of man" (W. E. Vine). The same thing that "will die" is the same thing that "will live," but we are told that "it" cannot die.
• Narrow way = LIFE - Broad way = DESTRUCTION (Matthew 7:13-14)
• LIFE or DEATH (Romans 6:23; 4:17; 1 Corinthians 3:22)
• LIFE or PERISH (John 3:16)
• LIFE or DIE (Romans 8:13)
• LIFE AND PEACE or DEATH (Romans 8:6)
• SAVED or DESTROY (James 4:12)
• LIFE or DESTRUCTION (Matthew 7:13-14)
• Into LIFE out of DEATH (1 John 3:14)
• Under the Old Testament Law (earthly life or death)
o LIFE and DEATH (Deuteronomy 30:15-20)
o DEATH and LIVE (Ezekiel 18:23)
o DEATH and LIVE (Ezekiel 18:32)
The Bible says what it means and means what it says. God inspired John to say, "should not perish" but many say God did not mean, "perish," but "will have an eternal life of torment."
Is the world on Satan's side?
• God said, "You shall surely die" (Genesis 2:17)
• Satan said, "You shall surely not die" (Genesis 3:4)
• Most Protestant theologians say, "You shall surely not die"
In Romans 1:28-23, Paul gives a list of sins, and then he said, "They that practice such things are worthy of death." Not have an eternal life of torment in Hell, but of death, but many today say, "They that practice such things are worthy of eternal life in hell." Will you believe them or Paul? You cannot believe both. "What fruit then had you at that time in the things whereof you are now ashamed? For the end of these things is death...You have your fruit unto sanctification, and the end eternal life, for the wages of sin is death; but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 6:21-23). The gift of God to those who believe on His Son is eternal life (John 3:16), and this gift is something they do not already have; not something ALL were born with. If all have eternal life from birth, even those who do not believe, how could life be a gift to believers? When those who believe that all now have eternal life (an immortal soul) read the Bible, and change "life" into "a reward" and change death, die, perish, destroyed, and destruction into "punishment." To them, the Bible cannot mean what it says and they must change it.
ADDITIONS TO THE BIBLE
“Eternal Hell,” “immortal soul,” “save your immortal soul,” and “eternal suffering in Hell fire” are not in the Bible but are used often by preachers and Bible teacher and are falsely presented as being the teaching of the Bible.
The first death is the end of life of the flesh (life as it exist now). The second death then must also be the end of life (life as it will exist then), or it is not a second death, but something altogether different from death - a second life. An everlasting life of torment is not a second death. The traditional concept is that a person has an immortal soul, which neither the first or second death can kill, therefore; death must be changed to be something other than death. On about every page throughout the New Testament it is life or death, not just reward or punishment. The unsaved die, perish, are destroyed, and are lost. The obedient are saved from death and given life and immortality at the judgment. If the soul now has eternal life, if it is immortal and cannot die, then much of the language of the Bible has no meaning and is saying nothing. Why is there so much in the bible on death when there is no death? Many have believed what their preacher or church says and have rejected the Bible as being untrue. Eternal life is frequently promised to the righteous, but never to the wicked. If they do not have eternal life they cannot endure eternal torment.
Our body will be "fashion a new" American Standard Version, "Change" King James Version. "Transform" New American Standard Version, Philippians 3:20-21. "But when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory...but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." If the lost will live forever in Hell, do they also have the victory over death; will not their life (not their death) be just as eternal as the saved?
Summery: If it were true that there is no real death, that death is only a separation from God, then there could not be a resurrection of the dead for no one could be really dead. The pagan doctrine of the immortality of the soul makes the Bible doctrine of the resurrection of the dead both impossible and useless. Any life after death depends wholly on the resurrection of the dead at the coming of Christ (Luke 14:13-14; 1 Thessalonians 4:16; 1 Corinthians 15:51-55).

THE BIBLE HAS BEEN CHANGED
TO TEACH THAT DEATH IS ETERNAL LIFE
"We have passed out of death into life" (1 John 4:14). It is us (the whole person) that were dead in our relation to God, not a dead soul that “passed out of death into life” and is now alive. If we did have a soul that was dead but is now alive, it would be a contradiction of the doctrine that the soul can never die, for an immortal soul that cannot be dead would have been dead, and it would have "passed out of death into life;" the soul, which we are told can never be dead was dead at one time but now the soul that was a dead soul is now alive. It was the person that was dead before they were in Christ, but is now alive in Him, it is the person that has passed out of death into life, not an undying immaterial part of the person that could never be dead.
Believers in immortality from birth must change the Bible to say:
1. Those who are destroyed are not destroyed. (James 4:12; 2 Peter 2:12; 2 Peter 3:7)
2. Those who perish do not perish. (1 Corinthians 1:8: John 3:16)
3. Those who die do not die. (Romans 6:23) (Death is not death)
4. The end of the wicked is not their end. (Philippians 3:19; Hebrews 6:8)
5. Those who are consumed are not consumed (Hebrews 10:27)
6. Mortals are born immortal; (1 Timothy 6:16) therefore, how can there be any such thing as being mortal? There are no mortals and could never be a mortal if all men are created immortal
7. The second death is not a death; it is eternal life with torment (Revelation 21:8)
Are they really teaching the Bible when they corrupt it into saying the opposite of what it really says, or teaching what they want the Bible to say?
IS “THE WAGES OF SIN IS DEATH”
Or
IS THE WAGES OF SIN AN ETERNAL LIFE OF TORMENT?
It cannot be both. If all are immortal from birth, then death could not exist; no one will ever die; no one will ever be dead; therefore, the wages of sin could not be death.
Death, the enemy defeated for believers: "Jesus said unto her, your brother shall rise again. Martha said unto him, I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day. Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believes on me, though he die, yet shall he live; and whosoever lives and believes on me shall never die" (John 11:23-26). "If a man keep my word, he shall never see death" (John 8:55). "I am the living bread which came down out of heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live forever" (John 6:51). It is evident that Jesus was not speaking of physical death for like Lazarus believers shall die, but unlike nonbelievers they have a new existence, a new life in Christ that is no longer subject to the enemy, death. After the resurrection they will have a victory over death and will be able say, "Death is swallowed up in victory, O death, where is your sting? The sting of death is sin: and the power of sin is the law: but thinks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ" (1 Corinthians 15:55-56). We are told twice that the second death has no power over believers (Revelation 2:11; 20:6). They are not subject to it and shall live forever. "Our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death, and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel" (2 Timothy 1:10); Christ defeated the enemy by His resurrection.
"The words of the Bible contain all the ideas in it. These words, then, rightly understood, and the ideas are clearly perceived. The words and sentences of the Bible are to be translated, interpreted, and understood according to the same code of laws and principles of interpretation by which other ancient writings are translated and understood; for, when God spoke to man in his own language, He spoke as one person converses with another-in the fair, stipulated, and well-established meaning of the terms. This is essential to its character, as a revelation from God; otherwise, it would be no revelation, but would always require a class of inspired men to unfold and reveal its true sense to mankind" Alexander Campbell, "The Christian System," Page 3, Gospel Advocate Company, 1835. "It is absolutely essential to the very idea of a Divine communication in the from of a revelation, that its words and sentences be understood according to their usual sense at the time when that communication was made, and amongst the people to whom it was addressed and to whose care it was committed" A. Campbell, An essay on "Life And Death" from the Millennial Harbinger, 1844.
“’Perish’! ‘ Perished’!! ‘Perisheth’ and ‘Perishing’!!! What do these words mean? They occur in the sacred scriptures about one hundred and forty times. Again, I ask what do they mean? I answer in every reference the word carries the thought of destruction; in numerous cases, utter annihilation, utter destruction. Let us suppose that all we can know of the destiny of the ungodly we must get from the passages in which these words are found. What would we conclude? Eternal conscious punishment for all the wicked, without regard to how wicked? Not if there is any meaning in the language? The word is used in the scriptures in the exact sense in which the word as it stands in English is used, or its corresponding word in every language and dialect. We say: ‘His hand has perished.’ We say: ‘For want of rain our crops have perished.’ We say: ‘Babylon has perished.’ We say: ‘The seed we sowed perished because it was without life.’ What do we mean? We can only mean one thing. Absolute destruction! So far as we know God has but one way of communicating with man; namely, language. This language is clear, pointed, unmistakable. Christianity has life, or immortality, and he offers it to men here, and those who reject the light and the life must perish. Here is the definition by one of the greatest lexicographers in history: ‘To go or run through, come to nothing, perish.’” Ashley Johnson, Founder and president of the Johnson Bible College, “The Resurrection And The Future Life,” Page 420-421, 1913, Knoxville Lithographing Company, church of Christ.
“When the Lord talked with men, and used human language, if he placed other meanings on the words than those understood by men, HOW COULD GOD TEACH US? Or if he used them in a figurative sense, in their last and most important application, why were we not apprised of the change...IF THE BIBLE DOESN’T MEAN WHAT IT SAYS, THEN NOBODY KNOWS WHAT IT DOES MEAN.” E. D. Slough, “The Indictment Of Eternal Torment—The Self-negation Of A Monstrous Doctrine,” Page 195-206, F. L. Rowe, Publisher, 1914, evangelist, church of Christ.
Those who believe men are now immortal have to make the words that God used not mean what they say. Is it not unreasonable to make words in the Bible has a meaning attached to them that is unlike the way they are used in any other book in the world, unlike the way they were used in the language of the people God was speaking to?
(1) LIFE must be changed to be not life but is only a reward to those who are born with eternal life. Is it not unreasonable to say the many times Christ promised eternal life to those that believe Him, that He only promised them a reward and not eternal life? And just as unreasonable to say that He promised life to only to a part a person that was born with eternal life and cannot die and only this immaterial part of a person will be in Heaven. This doctrine of an immortal soul that cannot die makes Christ promise us something over and over that we already had. Throughout the Book of John, Christ repeatedly promised life to those who believed and those who did not believe would not see life (John 3:36; 4:14; 4:36; 5:21; 5:40; 6:33, 39, 44, 47, 57, 63, 68). "That to all whom you have given him, he should give eternal life. And this is life eternal, that they should know you the only true God, and him whom you did send, even Jesus Christ" (John 17:2-3). There could not be a stronger statement saying only those who believe in Jesus will have life, and those who do not believe will not be given any life anywhere.
Alexander Campbell in his preface to "The Living Oracles," his translation of the New Testament said, "The reader will please to consider, that, when God spoke to man, he adopted the language of man. To the fathers of the Jewish nation he spoke in their mother tongue. By his Son, and his Son by the Apostles, spoke to every nation in its own language. When he spoke to any nation, he uniformly adopted the words of that nation in expressing his will to it. And that he used their words in the commonly received sense, needs no other proof than this, that if he had not done so, instead of enlightening them in the knowledge of his will, he would have deceived and confounded them: than which, no hypothesis is more impious. For example: were God to speak to us in English, and select from our vocabulary the words death, punishment, perpetual, and wicked; were he to use the last term as we use it, and annex to the others a significant different from that we affix to them--such as to mean life by the term death, happiness by the punishment, and a limited time by the word perpetual; and without apprising us of such a change, in their meaning...what a deception would he practice on us!”
How many changes "death" to "life," by changing "the wages of sin is death" to "the wages of sin is eternal life with torment"?
"Its uniform testimony (the New Testament) is that 'eternal life' hereafter will be the exclusive possession of the just, and that the wicked will certainly not obtain it: 'He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life; and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life.' Our simple enquiry is, what is meant by that Greek word translated 'life' in the passages referred to. Our Lord in addressing Himself to the Jewish people, Luke in writing a Gospel for the Gentile world, Paul in writing to Rome, the metropolis of heathenism, or Corinth priding itself on the Grecian tongue, James, Peter, and Jude writing to Christians wherever scattered over the earth, all alike use this word as universally understood. We have only, therefore, to refer to our classical dictionaries, and there we find its primary and universally accepted sense to be existence. If we want any further confirmation, let us listen to the Apostle James defining it's meaning, 'What is your life? It is even a vapor, that appeared for a little time, and then vanishes away.' On the classical usage, and express definition of the New Testament, we take our stand. Dictionaries of the New Testament, and commentators on it, may, if they please, put upon the phrase the sense of 'happiness' in the numberless passage where it occurs, but we deny to them the right to alter the meaning of a well understood Grecian word for the sake of bolstering up their baseless and horrid creed" Henry Constable, The Duration and Nature of Future Punishment" 1871.
(2) DEATH must be changed so that it does not mean death but eternal life with torment for those who can never be dead. The dead are not really dead for death is only "a loss of well being" a loss of happiness and is eternal life with torment. Death must be changed to be not death but a doorway to a spiritual world where all, both the saved and the lost are alive and have eternal life; to the saved death means an instant doorway to a greater and fuller life; to the lost an instant doorway to an eternal life of pain. In no plain language can death be said to be the wages of sin to an immortal being that cannot die.
Death is made to be not death but a mere change in the mode of existence. To many, death means to be alive, to have eternal life, but separated from God and tormented by God. To make the word "death" fit their view; they must make it figurative. The true meaning of the word will destroy their view. All plain passages like Romans 6:23 (the wages of sin is death) must be changed into figurative language, but they cannot tell us how they know what the figurative language means. They cannot tell us how they know "death" means "life." A basic rule of Bible study, which is accepted by most, is a word or a passage must be assumed to be literal unless the context demands that it must be taken figuratively. They cannot tell why the word "death" must be made figurative other than it would destroy their teaching if it were used with it’s true meaning, it's universally understood meaning. If there were a Hell, for those in it to feel pain they could not be dead, they would have to be just as alive as those in Heaven; they would have to have life just as eternal as believers.
When the death of anyone is spoken of in the Bible, the modern phraseology (they have gone to be with Christ, have gone to their reward, have gone to be with their loved ones in Heaven, etc.) is never used. Not even Abraham is said to have gone to his home in Heaven at his death before the judgment. "And Abraham breathed his last and died in a ripe old age, an old man and satisfied with life; and he was gathered to his people" (Genesis 25:8 New American Standard Version). Such a radical change of death to life in torment is a denial of death; an attempt to evade death by saying the real person is immortal and therefore is not subject to death. It is a deliberate carefully thought out wresting of the scriptures (2 Peter 3:16).
DEATH HAS BEEN CHANGED TO LIFE
• Those that refused to have God in their knowledge “are worthy of DEATH” (Romans 1:28-32), but are given life in Hell.
• Sin is “unto DEATH” (Romans 6:16) “Leads to DEATH” New International Version, has been changed to sinners live forever in torment.
• “The wages of sin is DEATH” (Romans 6:23), but the wages can never be paid because man teaches an immortal soul cannot die.
• “For if you live according to the flesh, you must DIE” (Romans 8:13), but an immortality soul would have has eternal life and could not die.
• “For the end of these things is DEATH” (Romans 6:21). “These things result in DEATH” New International Version. This has been changed to, “For the end of these thing is eternal life in torment.”
• “Acts that lead to DEATH” (Hebrews 9:14) New International Version
• “His servants you are whom you obey; whether sin unto DEATH, or obedience unto righteousness” (Romans 6:16).
• “For to be carnal minded is DEATH” (Romans 8:6).
• “Sin…brings forth death”(James 1:15) but we are repeatedly told that an immortal soul is not subject to death.
(3) DIE "If you live after the flesh, you must die; but if by the spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you shall live" (Romans 8:13). The immoral soul doctrine must make die to mean exactly the same thing as live, just live in two different places; therefore, die and live both mean eternal life! Die and live must both be interpreted to means to exist forever! Who can believe it? It is obvious that die is only interpreted to mean "eternal life in torment" when it serves the purpose of the doctrine of eternal torment, and all other times "to die" really means "to die"; also that we must have someone tell us when "die" means "eternal life in torment" and when "die" really means "die"; and without this help we could never know when God intended us to understand the opposite of what He said and when He intended us to understand what He said in the way He said it.
(4) DESTRUCTION must be changed to be only a loss of well being. The traditionalist argument is that the words "destroy" and "destruction" should not be taken with their established meaning but be interpreted as "a loss of well being" or an "irreparable loss." How could anyone know this without a revelation from God? How can the Scriptures speak of the destruction of the lost if they are not destroyed? Why would God say He were going to destroy the lost if He knows the soul is immortal and He could not destroy it? Destruction has been changed to existing forever in torment.
(5) DESTROY must be changed to mean to preserve forever. They must add, "Can never be" to destroyed and make it read, "Can never be destroyed." They argue that an immortal soul cannot die, therefore, "destroy" cannot mean "destroy" and the Bible did not really mean "destroy" when it said "destroy," just as "death" cannot really mean "death;" but these words must mean something; therefore, they are changed and given a meaning that is the opposite of their true meaning; many words must always be changed and used with a meaning that is the opposite of what the words mean. They argue that nothing can be annihilated in the scientific sense, that nothing is annihilated by fire; it just changes its form. They overlook the fact that the Bible is not a scientific book and is not written in today's scientific language, and that God made all things out of nothing and all things will go back to nothing. No one to whom Paul was writing would not have thought that if a book were burnt up that it was not destroyed.
In Matthew 10:28 there is no figurative language, but we are told that one word must be taken out of it’s literal context and used in a figurative way to mean just the opposite of its true meaning, that the one word "destroy" must be changed to mean "an eternal life of torment." There is no figurative language in 2 Thessalonians 1:9, but two words, "destruction" and "perish" must both be changed to figurative both to mean the same, "an eternal life of torment." One word must be made figurative even when nothing is figurative in the context that the word is in.
• Death, when made figuratively, is eternal life in Hell separated from God but definitely not dead.
• Destruction, when made figuratively, is only a loss of well being.
• Destroy and perish, when made figuratively, means to preserve forever. Did God intend to say imperishable when He said perish?
• Sleep, when made figuratively, is to be awake in Heaven or Hell but definitely not asleep, that would make their "immaterial, invisible part of men" be asleep in Hell; therefore, they have labeled this "soul sleeping." It is true that the Bible says nothing about "soul sleeping" of an "immaterial, invisible part of men," but it repeatedly says a person, not an immaterial something in a person, sleeps unto he or she wakes at the resurrection.
(6) PERISH like destruction and destroy, perish must be changed to mean, "can never perish or be destroyed but to live forever in an unhappy and miserable condition in Hell." Forever perishing but imperishable!
(7) FIRE destroys useless things like chaff, we know what fire is and what it does, fire consumes, devours and destroys. For today’s theology to be true fire must be changed into figurative language of something that is nothing like fire, something that is altogether different from fire, something that cannot consume. With this kind of "fire" you would only have to put wood in your fireplace one time and it would heat your house forever. It took some thought to come up with a fire that does not do what fire does, a fire that burns but never burns, which consumes but never consumes. Fire destroys, consumes; in figurative language there is always a parallel; if it were figurative language, just as real fire consumes the chaff the wicked will be consumed, devoured, destroyed by the wrath of God (Hebrews 10:27).
• Fire will burn up the useless chaff of wheat [Matthew 3:12, Luke 3:17]
• Fire will burn up the weeds, tares and bad fish [Matthew 13:30-50]
• Fire will burn up the withered branches [John 15:6]
Chaff, tares, weeds, stubble, dry branches are highly combustible materials, but the “figurative fire” of today’s theology is nothing like fire and the “figurative fire” burn up nothing.
(8) SPIRITUAL DEATH is not found in the Bible but has been added and is used repeatedly in today's preaching. To escape from death being death the word “spiritual” is added to death despite the fact that “spiritual death” is not in the Bible. The wages of sin is not spiritual death, which would be a death that cannot really be death to a spirit if that spirit can never be dead. The wages of sin is death to the person whom sins are not washed away by the blood of Christ. If adding to God’s word is a sin, why would adding and preaching “spiritual death” not be a sin?
(9) SLEEP does not mean sleep but awake. If the dead are being tormented in Hell, how could they in any way be sleeping? All the dead are sleeping unto the resurrection. The metaphor of the dead being asleep that is used repeatedly is made void and foolishness by the doctrine of an immortal soul being awake in Heaven or Hell. The Bible does not use words in such a self-contradictory manner. Death is referred as sleep about 67 times in the Bible, about 47 in the Old Testament and about 20 in the New Testament with both the righteous dead and the unrighteous dead being asleep.
"The body of our humiliation, that it may be conformed to the body of His glory (Phil. 3:20, 21). We do not expect this at the moment of each one's death, for at death we sleep in Jesus and rest, but when He comes from heaven." Bill Reeves, Truth Magazine, February 15, 1973.
“May they rest in peace” that is often on graves would make no sense if the person in the grave was not in asleep in the grave but were awake and enjoying Heaven or suffering in Hell.
(10) KILL "And I will kill her children with pestilence" (Revelation 2:23). Kill is used interchangeably with die and destroyed. "To be killed," "to die," "to be destroyed."
Summary: Like death, these words must be changed into figurative language even when they are in plain passages. All these words must be given a theological meaning that is not found in the words, but they never tell us how they know what this theological meaning is. But, one thing is clear, if they did not change them into figurative language, their theology would be destroyed. Death, destruction, destroy, and perish are simple words and there is no hint of them being figurative language when they are used in plain passages, therefore, they must be taken in their simple literal meaning. They cannot be changed to be figurative and given a meaning not found in the words to save a theologically that is not in the bible. They can and therefore should be taken literally. The only reason these words are made to be figuratively language is that if these words are taken with their literal meaning they make the doctrine of an immortal soul and eternal life in Hell not passable.
When figurative language (Lake of Fire) is made literal, then the literal language must be changed to agree with the figurative language that has been changed into literal language. If not, the Bible would say in one place, that destruction is not destruction, and in many others that destruction is destruction; and say that there is no death.
• When figurative language is changed to literal language
• Literal language must be changed to figurative language in order for them not to conflict with each other
To say an immortal soul can die, be destroyed or perish is a contradiction of words or terms. The present definitions of words must be destroyed, and new definitions given. The new definitions end up being the opposite of the old definition, death is no longer death; death is life, eternal life in Hell. When we say anything, a plaint, animal, or person is dead, we do not mean that plaint, animal, or person is alive and being tormented. Death must be made to mean one thing when it is a plaint or animal that is dead, and another when it is a person that is dead. Where is the revelation by which this is known; where is the book, chapter and verse for it? Is there any word God could have used that they would not say it does not mean what it says? No, there is not a one that would not be changed if it would conflict with their theology.
"My mind fails to conceive a grosser misinterpretation of language then when the five or six strongest words which the Greek tongue possesses, signifying 'destroy,' or 'destruction,' are explained to mean maintaining an everlasting but wretched existence. To translate black as white is nothing to this" R. F. Weymouth, Life In Christ, page 365. R. F. Weymouth is the translator of "The New Testament in Modern Speech."
Dr. C. Campbell, who believed in eternal torment said, "If the words and phrases employed by the apostles and evangelist, in delivering the revelation committed to them by the Holy Spirit, had not been agreeable to the received usage of the people to whom they spoke, their discourse being unintelligible, could have conveyed no information, and consequently would have been no revelation to the hearers" Preliminary Dissertation, Part 1, Sect. 1, 1854.
"There must exist some argument of almost overpowering influence which has thus determined the interpretation of masses of language to a sense exactly contrary to its natural meaning. For the process by which such terms as death, perishing, destruction are made to stand for the idea of endless misery, is one so remarkable as to arrest attention and demand instant inquiry. A corresponding action on the word 'life' so often used in the Bible to denote the eternal reward of the saints would result in making it stand for the strange idea of a happy extinction, or a blessed abolition of existence--an euthanasia. The radical idea of destruction, that is extinction of being, if first taken out of the term Death; then the word is made to stand for its opposite, eternal being; and then the associated idea of misery is grafted upon the stock of the converted primary; the result being, that destruction stand for endless misery. An exactly parallel treatment of the promise of Life, therefore, will result, first, in taking out of it its radical idea or conscious existence--next, in making it stand for its opposite, extinction--and lastly, in joining the idea of happiness with the converted primary, -so that you obtain the complex result of a happy extinction. It would require some argument of overmastering force to persuade nine-tenths of the scholars of Christendom to perform this operation upon the promise of life to the righteous" Edward White, "Life in Christ," page 357.
The Bible must be made to use opposite word than what it means. The theological use of these words today is the same as saying white is black, sweet is bitter, night is day.
• White must be changed to mean black
• Sleep must be changed to mean awake
• Death must be changed to mean life
• To die must be changed to mean to live forever in torment
• Destruction must be changed to mean eternal torment
• To perish, be destroyed, must be changed to mean to be preserved incorruptible and imperishable in Hell. Perish and destroy do not mean a loss of well being and never has
• Fire must be changed into something that preserves, not something that devours or consumes.
With definitions such as are given by today's theology, anything, whatever anyone wants can be proved; and whatever anyone does not want can be disproved.
Those who believe in Hell give God the power to "destroy both body and soul in Gehenna," but only after they put their own meaning on both destroy and Gehenna, and they say the meaning of both is an eternal life of misery and suffering in Hell.
There is no way anyone could know that death is not death but eternal life in torment. How could the wages of sin be death when the sinner will have an eternal life in Hell? Without a revelation from God, no one could know that God meant only a loss of well being when He used these words.
If Hell exists then death cannot be death, if death is death there cannot be a Hell.
THE MISSING WORDS
Words that are not in the Bible but are preached today as if they were on every page (1) Immortal soul (2) Hell (3) An eternal life of torment. The Bible is made to say what the readers want it to say and their faith (what they believe) is only a projection of their own desires.
John Locke wrote, "By death some understand endless torments in hell fire; but it seems a strange way of understanding a law, which requires the plainest and directest of word, that by death should be meant eternal life in misery."
Dean Alford, "A canon of interpretation, which should be constantly born in mind, is that a figurative sense of words is never admissible except when required by the context" Commentary on Acts 10:42. "Death" used in a figurative sense to be "eternal life separated from God" is never required by the context but that "death" means "eternal life" is a must for today's theology. Today's teaching is that the Bible almost never means what it says and must be interpreted, and one of the ways it must be interpreted is to explain the meaning of death to be life.
H. L. Hastings, "Eight times he (Paul) speaks of the wicked as destined to perish. Death is used to express their destiny seven times. Nine times they are spoken of as be destroyed, once as devoured by fire, and once as burned. Not one of these words has, in the original or the translation, the meaning of eternal torment. Not one of them means any such thing in common conversation, and it is only by a 'theological' or false definition, alike repugnant to the laws of language and common sense, that such an idea can be conveyed by such language. Paul does not tell us that he used these words in a peculiar or theological sense. No Greek would have supposed so, had they heard him; and we are led to conclude that as Paul would not use words calculated to mislead, therefore, we should take these words in their most obvious and current signification. Paul did teach the utter destruction or perishing, or death, or extermination of ungodly men. He would not have taught it unless it was true; therefore, it is the truth" The Last Judgment, Page 22.
Summary: If immorality is unconditional and the only part of a person that will live forever in Heaven or any other place cannot die, then many words cannot "be translated, interpreted, and understood according to the same code of laws and principles of interpretation by which other ancient writings are translated and understood." Many words, life, death, die, dead, destroy, perish, destruction, consumed, kill, end, burned up, and sleep, must be redefined in a way that the world does not use them. We must have "a class of inspired men to unfold and reveal its true sense to mankind." The belief that men are born immortal and can never die makes death impossible and death must be redefined as a different kind of life in a different place. This is just what they have done by saying death does not mean to be dead, but death means to be alive and living an eternal life with torment separated from God. Anyone who reads the Bible believing that a soul is an "immaterial, invisible part of a person" (W. E. Vine) that is immortal and can never die, is compelled to change all texts that speak of the lost being destroyed to mean that they are only tortured forever but are not destroyed. "Destroy" cannot be understood "in the fair, stipulated, and well-established meaning of the terms." Parables, symbols, and figurative languages are made to be superior over plain statements. What is clear language is made to agree with what they think is said in the symbolic language. In truth, they are saying the clear language just is not the truth, and God did not know what He was saying. If God had used words in a way that those hearing Him would not understand them in the way He used them, and those reading them today would also not understand them in the way He used the words; then He deliberately misleads them.
God said it the way He meant it.
1. Life is life, not just a reward to an immaterial invisible part of a person that now has eternal life and can never be dead.
2. Death is death and it is the opposite of life, not a different form of life. Not eternal life with torment.
3. Destruction is destruction. Destruction does not mean there is a part of a person that can never be destroyed. Destruction does not mean kept alive in eternal torment.
4. End is end, not going on without an end.
5. Kill is to end life and does not mean never able to be killed, never able to end life.
6. Burned up is burned up, not ever able to be burned up.
7. Consumed is consumed, not ever able to be consumed.
8. Perish is perish, not just a loss of well being to those who cannot perish.
9. Sleep is sleep, not to be awake in Heaven or Hell.
There is no way that God could have said, “the wages of sin is death” any clearer that what He did.
CHANGES THAT MUST BE MADE BY THOSE WHO BELIEVE
IN ETERANL LIFE IN HELL MUST MAKE
TO MAKE THE BIBLE AGREE WITH THEM
Traditionalist must change the Bible to say the opposite of what it says.
• “He that believes on the Son has eternal life; but he that believes not the Son shall not see life” [John 3:36] must be changed to, “He that believes not the Son was born with eternal life and will see life in Hell where he will live forever.”
• “For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and few are they that find it” [Matthew 7:13-14] must be changed to, “For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life in Heaven, and most shall see life in Hell.”
• “For God so loved the world that He give His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes on Him should not perish, but have eternal life” [John 3:16] must be changed to, “That all will have eternal life someplace, in Heaven or in Hell.”
• “Even He who is able to save and to destroy” [James 4:12] must be changed to, “Even He who is able to save alive in Heaven or save alive in Hell.”
• “For he that sows unto his own flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption: but he that sows unto the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap eternal life” [Galatians 5:8] must be changed to, “Both shall reap eternal life, just not in the same place, some eternal life in Heaven and some eternal life in Hell.”
• “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” [Romans 6:23] must be changed to, “For the wages of sin is eternal torment in Hell for those who were born with eternal life, but the gift of God is a reward for those who were born with eternal life.”
• “Whosoever shall seek to gain his life shall lose it: but whosoever shall lose his life shall preserve it” [Luke 17:33] must be changed to, “Whosoever shall seek to gain his life shall preserve it in Hell: but whosoever shall lose his life shall preserve it in Heaven.”
The changes that must be made by those who teach eternal life in Hell could be extended to many pages but this should be enough for anyone who loves the truth more than the “doctrines and precepts of men” [Matthew 15:9].
The reinterpretation of the many words used that mean the end of life has no equal. Other reinterpretations are based on the changing of a few passages; Peter being the first Pope is based mostly on a reinterpretation of Matthew 16:18; but for souls to be deathless and tormented forever there had to be many plus many more changes or adding to. "Everlasting destruction" had to be changed to be "everlasting life with torment." Was Paul trying to deceive by using the word "destruction" and today's theology has to correct him by saying, "No Paul, you really meant to say everlasting torment"? Destruction does not mean to preserve alive in eternal torment.
In Matthew 10:39 Lose his life (Greek psukee-soul) must be changed to mean an everlasting life of torment.
1. "He who finds his life (soul-psukee) shall lose it."
2. "He who loses his life (soul-psukee) shall find it."
The person who saves his life by denying Christ will lose it at the judgment. The person that loses his life because he is a Christian and will not deny Christ will find life at the judgment. There is no way Christ could have said it any clearer or plainer. It is "LIFE" that is being spoken of, not a part of a person that was born with life and cannot lose it. There is not a word said about eternal life with torment in this passage. Those who do not obey Christ shall lose the very thing that is saved by those who do obey him. They shall lose life. The lost shall die. The saved shall live.
"And you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him" (1 John 3:15). Was John wrong when he said no murderer has eternal life? If, as many say, mankind has a "soul" that is immortal and cannot die, and if the only part of men that shall live after the judgment is an ever-living soul which all even murderers have, then a murderer does have eternal life from birth and can never die, for all the lost have the same "immaterial, invisible part of man" (W. E. Vine) that will live forever that the saved have. Without eternal life, a murderer cannot have an immortal soul. If he did have an immortal soul, he would have eternal life abiding in him; if he does not have eternal life abiding in him, he does not have an immortal soul. To teach the soul of all is eternal and can never die make all have eternal life, it can only be a question of where they will spend their eternal life. John said, "And this is the promise which he promised us, even the life eternal" (1 John 2:25). "We have passed out of death into life...no murderer has eternal life abiding in him" (1 John 3:14-15). Is there anyway John could have said any clearer that a murderer does not have an immortal soul or eternal life?
Death is not hell. A dead person cannot be tormented; they can feel no pain. Only the living can be tormented. If Hell were a real place, those in it would be alive, not dead. Their life would be just as eternal as the life of the saved.
• Death makes Hell impossible
• Hell makes death impossible
• Hell makes the resurrection of the dead impossible
If there is no death, there cannot be a resurrection of the undead. If there is no resurrection, we have no hope 1 Corinthians 15:16-19. Can there be a doctrine more harmful than the doctrine of hell, which takes away our resurrection and hope of salvation?
WHAT THE DEAD DO NOT DO?
1. There is no activity (Ecclesiastes 9:10)
2. They do not have plan (Ecclesiastes 9:10)
3. They have no wisdom (Ecclesiastes 9:10)
4. Their bed is in darkness (Job 17:13)
5. They do not mention God (Psalms 6:5)
6. They give God no thanks (Psalms 6:5)
7. They have no thoughts (Psalms 146:4)
8. They know nothing (Ecclesiastes 9:5)
9. The wicked are silent, no speech (Ps. 31:17)
What do the dead do, think, and know? Nothing. Does anyone think this is a picture of Heaven or Hell? Without the resurrection the dead would never know anything after death (1 Corinthians 15:12-22).
Unwilling to accept god's word: Inspired writers speak often about death being a sleep, and about its unconscious nature. "His breath goes forth, he returns to the earth; in that very day his thoughts perish" (Psalms 146:4). If Solomon had said, "Their love, as their hatred and their envy will continue...for there is work, and device, and knowledge, and wisdom, in Sheol, whither you go" (Ecclesiastes 9:5-10), then those who teach a "immaterial, invisible part of man" is alive from our death unto the resurrection, could rightly say this ends all debate on this subject. But, when it is put the way God inspired it; They reject it. If you try for the rest of your life, you would never be able to say any stronger than Solomon that there is nothing after death unto the resurrection. Unconditional immorality must have knowledge in sheol, the grave, and therefore, many plain statements that there is no knowledge in the grave must be rejected, and many plain statements that death is a sleep must be rejected. See Isaiah 38:18-19; Psalms 115:17; 6:5; John 11:11-14; Daniel 12:1-2; Job 14:12-15; 1 Corinthians 15:20.
Some say that Ecclesiastes is the view of those in the world, the way they see life when God is left out, but it is not the way a child of God sees life. Ecclesiastes has statements that are so conductivity to the soul being immortal that many try to make the whole book not be the truth but it is only "life...viewed from the perspective where God is left out." Because it was conductivity to his belief that salvation is by faith only without works Calvin did with the book of James the same as many do to Ecclesiastes. There is much in Ecclesiastes that cannot be said to be the way those in the world look at life (see Ecclesiastes 12:1, 12:13 and many other statements throughout the book) but to do away with these statements, they are willing to do away with all. If Ecclesiastes is "life...viewed from the perspective where God is left out" why do they not use it that way when they use Ecclesiastes 12:7 to prove the "soul" is immortal?
Death that never dies! The living dead! The undead dead! If this sounds like something out of a horror film, it is the teaching of many about some deathless something which is an "immaterial, invisible part of man." If there is a "part of man" that can never die, the lost can never be dead; common sense tells you that an immortal being can never die would have no need of a savior to die in its place to keep it from dying. Death is not life whether good or bad. To die is not to live. There cannot be life after death without a resurrection that ends the death.
"If a man die, shall he live again?" Job 14:14 must be changed to read, "When a man dies, he does not die but continues to live." It must be changed from a question "shall he live again" to a statement "he continues to live," and "man" must be changed to only an "immaterial, invisible part of a person” that continues to live after the other part of him or her is dead. If Job's "soul" were not going to die, but go to Heaven just as soon as the body was dead, this passage, just as many others, would make no sense.
FIRST RESURRECTION-SECOND DEATH
"He that over comes shall not be hurt of the second death" (Revelation 2:11, 20:6). The first resurrection is when a person is "born anew...born of the water and the Spirit" (John 3:3-5). "And you did he make alive when you were dead...made us alive together with Christ (by grace have you been saved), and raised us up with him" (Ephesians 2:1-6; Galatians 2:18-19; 3:1). The first resurrection is when, "We were buried therefore with him through baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised from the dead" (Romans 6:3-4). "And you did he make alive...even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ...and raised us up with him" (Ephesians 2:1-6). "I say unto you, the hour comes, and now is when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God; and they that hear shall live" (John 5:25).
"There are only two alternatives, the crown of life-eternal life-or the second death" Homer Hailey, Revelation, Page 128, Baker Book House. It is life or death, not life in Heaven or life in Hell. Death is real.
• "But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much, that even while we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead...for he raised us from the dead along with Christ" (Ephesians 2:4 New Living Bible).
• "But God, rich in mercy, for the great love he bore us, brought us to life with Christ...He raised us up" (Ephesians 2:4 New English Bible).
All that are in the grave, both saved and lost, will hear His voice and come forth at the resurrection. All will be raised for judgment. All who are born again, made alive by being raised with Christ through Baptism, and live faithful shall not be hurt of the second death after the judgment. Christ paid the wages of sin for them. All others will pay their own wages of sin, which is death (Romans 6:23). "But the fearful, and unbelieving, and abominable, and murderers, and fornicators, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, their part shall be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone; which is the second death" (Revelation 21:8). From this death there will never be a resurrection. The results will be eternal. An endless life of torment is not a second death; it is eternal life with torment. It bears no resemblance to a death. To feel pain, those in Hell would have to be just as alive as those in Heaven are. For an immortal, immaterial soul that cannot be dead to be forever alive and tormented in a literal lake of fire is so dissimilar to death that a person would be in desperate need to prove his or her theology to say an eternality of being alive in a like of fire is death.
I. D. Williamson, "Relative to the question, whether the lake that burns with fire and brimstone is to be understood literally or figuratively, I have little to say. During the dark ages, it might have been necessary to discuss that question; but the day has passed when any man, claiming even a tolerable share of theological knowledge, would risk his reputation, as a man of sane mind, in an attempt to maintain the existence of a real lake of literal fire and brimstone, in which immortal and immaterial spirits are to be burned. It is a figure used to represent a reality, and this reality is the second death." "An Examination Of The Doctrine Of Endless Punishment."
"The Second Death" is used four times, all in Revelation.
1. He that overcomes shall not be hurt of the second death (Revelation 2:11). The saved will not have a part in the second death. Only the lost.
2. Those who are buried and raised with Christ (Romans 6) in the first resurrection, "Over these the second death has no power" (Revelation 20:6).
3. Death and hades, and any not found written in the book of life are cast into the lake of fire; which is the second death. All three come to the same end. All three end in death (Revelation 20:14-15).
4. He that overcomes shall inherit and be God's son, but for all others, "Their part shall be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone; which is the second death" (Revelation 21:8). No ransom has been offered for the second death. It is forever.
SECOND DEATH
IN PLAIN UNSYMBOLIC LANGUAGE
"There remains no more a sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and a fierceness of fire which shall devour the adversaries" (Hebrews 10:27). For the lost (1) judgment then (2) devour in the lake of fire, which is the second death. Not as it is preached today (1) judgment (2) then an eternal life of torment in Hell forever but never devoured, or as preached by many an eternal life in Hell at death before and without the resurrection and judgment day.
"IF YOU LIVE AFTER THE FLESH, YOU SHALL DIE" “For if you are living according to the flesh, you must die (apothncesko); but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live” (Romans 8:13). All mankind, even the faithful, have been dying the first death since the sin of Adam, this is not a reference to the first death but the second when only those who live according to the flesh will die. Paul did not say, "If you live after the flesh you are now spiritually dead," but "you shall die." Not your soul shall live forever separated from God, but "you shall die." Why do many that say they believe God but work hard to change His word? "But if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you shall live." It is you that will live or die, not a part of you that will always live and cannot die.
“For the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23). Not the death of the flesh which all die, but the second death.
“I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died (apothncesko). This is the bread which came down out of Heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die (apothncesko)” (John 6:48-50). All die the first death, even the apostles, but there will be a resurrection and those who eat of the bread that came down out of Heaven will not die the second death, all that do not eat of it will die the second death”
“I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believes on me though he die (apothncesko), yet shall he live; and whosoever lives and believes on me shall never die (apothncesko)” (John 11:25-26). Although those who believe will die the first death just as all do, they will be resurrected and never die the second death; those who do not believe will also die and be resurrected for judgment and will die the second death. “For the hour comes in which all that are in the tombs shall hear his voice, and shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of judgment” (John 5:28-29). “For if we sin willfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remains no more a sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and a fierceness of fire which shall devour the adversaries” (Hebrews 10:26-27).
“For the land (those who were once enlightened and fell away Hebrews 6:4-6) which has drunk the rain that comes often upon it, and brings forth herbs meet for them for whose sake it is also tilled, receives blessing from God: but if it bears thorns and thistles, it is rejected and nigh unto a curse; whose end is to be burned” (Hebrews 6:4-8). Those that fall away will be burned in the lake of fire, which is the second death just as thorns are burned.
“Why do we burn briers and thorns? To destroy them, to get permanently rid of them.” Ashley Johnson, Founder and president of the Johnson Bible College, “The Resurrection And The Future Life,” Page 413, 1913, Knoxville Lithographing Company, Church of Christ.
"As there is a second higher life, so there is also a second and deeper death. And as after that life there is no more death, SO AFTER THAT DEATH THERE IS NO MORE LIFE" Afford. As quoted by Homer Hailey in "Revelation."
The resurrection of all at the coming of Christ makes death be a sleep from which all will awake, but there will be no resurrection from the second death. It will be permanent and everlasting death.
Made alive at His coming, not at death: "In Christ all will be made alive. But, each in his own turn: Christ, the first fruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him" 1 Corinthians 15:22-23 New International Version. Paul says that those who belong to Christ will be "made alive" at His coming. If the "immaterial, invisible part of man" is very much alive in Heaven or Hell it could not be "made alive" at the resurrection. Christ the first fruits of them that are asleep (now) then they that are Christ's, at his coming. Unconditional immortality makes all, Christ, those that are His, and those that reject Him now be alive before, not at His coming, therefore, Christ could not have been the "first born" (Romans 8:29; Colossians 1:15-18) for all who died before Christ died would have been alive before Him.
Death is the end: Paul says of those who are servants of sin that "the end of those things is death" (Romans 6:21-22). But, many now say "the end of those things is eternal life with torment without an end"? Who are you going to believe, God or man?
The sting of death 1 Corinthians 15:54-57: After the resurrection when the saved will have put on immortality, death would have been swallowed up in victory. Victory over what? Over death. We will have put on immortality, and will never again be subject to death, but we are now subject to it and it takes away our life. If we now have immortality we would now have the victory over death. If there is no death, then death has no sting. The doctrine of unconditional immortality from birth makes nonsense out of 1 Corinthians 15:54-57, and gives all, those in Christ, and those not in Christ the victory over death; and gives all this victory without the death and resurrection of Christ. If all are born immortal and cannot die, then no one is subject to death from the day of their birth and never will be. What kind of victory could there be over the nothingness of death that is not death to a soul that was never subject to death?
Is death an enemy or a gateway to Heaven? A companion of Paul, Epaphroditus, was nigh unto death but God had mercy on him. If death is a gateway to Heaven, then when God had "mercy on him," was God not being cruel by keeping him out of Heaven? Why do most do all they can to live a little longer even if it is in pain? If death is a friend, why is this friend not a welcome visitor? Why are we grief-stricken and not rejoicing when someone we love is taken by his "friend" to be with Christ and God in Heaven? How could going from this life (from pain and troubles for many) to paradise be an enemy? If death is a doorway by which we go to Heaven at the moment of death, why would a person who had lived in pain for years, do everything possible to live a little longer? Why do we mourn and not rejoice if a love one who lives in pain would go to their everlasting residence in Heaven immediately after death where there is no pain? Is it not because we know death is an enemy, not a friend (1 Corinthians 15:26), and they are under the power of death, not in Heaven; do they not by their actions demonstrate beyond any doubt that they do not believe what they profess, that death is a friend that takes there loved one to be with Christ? We will not have the victory over death unto the resurrection? But, many say going to Heaven is just what happens at death, even for the Old Testament saints who died before the death of Christ, therefore before their sins were paid for by His death. If this were true, death would then be a friend, not an enemy. How can death be an enemy to an immortal "immaterial, invisible part of men" (W. E. Vine) that is not subject to death and it and cannot die?
What is it that will be destroyed (1 Corinthians 15:26)? Just what is the "enemy?" Could the enemy be anything other than changing from life on this earth to life in Heaven? Is not this change what many say death is, moving from earth to Heaven or Hell, is this moving an enemy that will be destroyed? There would be no death, and it would be impossible to die. Death (moving to Heaven or Hell) would be an enemy only to the lost who were moving to Hell. It would be a friend to the saved who were moving to Heaven. But there is a problem How can there be a resurrection if no one is dead?. If no one is dead, the Bible teaching of a resurrection is out of place and should not be in the Bible. Maybe this is why the teaching of the resurrection is being abandoned in many churches. If death is not real, there is no resurrection. If death is real, the resurrection is our only hope. Without the resurrection, we perish forever when we die (1 Corinthians 15:18). Without the resurrection, the enemy of death will never be destroyed and we will be forever dead.
Death is to be "abolished" (1 Corinthians 15:26) American Standard Version "destroyed" King James Version. How? By being cast into the lake of fire (Revelation 20:14). Yet, some teach that when evil men are cast into this same lake of fire, they are tormented by it, but not abolished or destroyed. Does the Lake of Fire abolish death but torment people? "Death shall be no more" Revelation 21:4. Therefore, "being cast into lake of fire" cannot be "being separated from God" (their definition of death), for then death will last forever and could never be "abolished." Death is to be "abolished" before Christ will be subjected" to God (1 Corinthians 15:28ff), before when we will be in Heaven, "death shall be no more" (Revelation 21:4), therefore, all "wages of sin" (Romans 6:23) shall have been paid; if not, they can never be paid as there will be no death; and cannot go on being paid in Hell forever; for then death would last as long as the "wages" were bring paid, which would be forever. If death is "being separated from God," then death must last forever. If death did not last forever, Hell could not last forever, the last enemy (death) can never be abolished (1 Corinthians 15:26). The people in Bible times would not have understood "death" to mean "separation" any more than the people of the world today understand it or use it in this way. We use death in our everyday language to mean to be dead, not to have life, but in the theology use of the word, it does not mean dead, but to be dead is to have life and be more alive than we are while we are living! Why did God not just say what He means, that death means alive not dead? Did God in some way apart from His word revealed to some that He did not mean what He said in the Bible, but He only revealed this to some and not to all?
IS DEATH LIFE SEPARATION FROM GOD?
IS THERE LIFE WITHOUT GOD?
Many who do not want to say, “You are going to Hell and be eternally tormented by God” say, “You are going to be eternally alive separated from God.” They really believe God is going to forever be tormenting most of humanity but this is so revolting that they water down what they really believe. All who believe in Hell must use their theology to explain death out of the Bible. Trying to put separation in the place of death is a poor try, but is the best they could do. Such a radical redefining of death to be life is nothing more that a denial of death. If death means, "separated but alive," then we can use it in place of death. Try it.
• "And the LIVING ONE; and I WAS SEPARATED BUT ALIVE, and behold, I AM ALIVE for evermore" Revelation 1:18. Therefore, if Jesus were always alive, SEPARATED, but alive, there could not have been a resurrection. Jesus just returned from somewhere, just a reunion, but He could not have been resurrected from the dead if He were alive.
• "It is Christ Jesus that was SEPARATED, yet rather, that raised from the SEPARATION" Romans 8:34
• "The firstborn from the SEPARATION" Colossians 1:18
• "He that raised up Christ Jesus from the SEPARATION" Romans 8:1. This redefining of death to be life would make Christ not to have died for our sins; therefore, there could not have been a resurrection. Christ could not have been raised from the dead; He was never dead, JUST SEPARATED. It would make His death not be a genuine death, but a reunion of Jesus and God when neither one was dead, just separated from each other. If the Father and the Son were just separated from each other for the three days the Son was in the grave, the Father would have been just as separated from the Son as the Son was from the Father, neither one would have died, God would have been separated from God. There is no death in separation, no shedding of blood, no New Covenant bought with the blood of Christ.
• "Christ was SEPARATED for our sins" 1 Corinthians 15:3. Was He separated from God but alive, not really dead? Was God separated from God?
• "They also that are SEPARATED BUT ALIVE in Christ have perished" 1 Corinthians 15:18
• "The law of sin and SEPARATION" Romans 8:2
• "For the mind of the flesh is SEPARATION" Romans 8:6
• "For without the law sin was SEPARATED" Romans 7:8
• "I through the law am SEPARATED to the law" Galatians 2:19
• "Again from the SEPARATION" Hebrews 13:20
• "Was translated that he should not see SEPARATION" Hebrews 11:5
• "How are the SEPARATED raised?" 1 Corinthians 15:35
• "So also is the resurrection of the SEPARATED" 1 Corinthians 15:42
• "SEPARATION is swallowed up" 1 Corinthians 15:55
• "Abolished is SEPARATION" 1 Corinthians 15:26. If separation is abolished or swallowed up, then where are the separated or dead going to be?
• "And the SEPARATED, shall be raised incorruptible" 1 Corinthians 15:52
• "By man came SEPARATION, by man came also the resurrection of the SEPARATED" 1 Corinthians 15:21
• "You proclaim the Lord's SEPARATION till he comes" 1 Corinthians 11:26
• "Whosoever lives and believes on me shall never SEPARATE" John 11:26
• "Except a grain of wheat fall into the earth and SEPARATES" John 12:24
• "It is Christ Jesus that SEPARATED" Romans 8:24
• "The body is SEPARATED because of sin" Romans 8:10
• "Sin revived, and I SEPARATED" Romans 7:9
• "These all SEPARATED in faith" Hebrews 11:23
• "And I will kill her children with SEPARATION" Revelation 2:23
• "A name that you live, and are SEPARATED" Revelation 3:1
• "SEPARATION shall be on more" Revelation 21:4. Also "The last enemy that shall be abolished is SEPARATION" 1 Corinthians 15:26. This is the same as saying "separation shall be separated."
• "Though he DIE, yet shall he LIVE" John 11:25. This would be saying, "Though he be SEPARATED, yet shall he be UNSEPARATED."
“For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life” [Romans 6:23]. If “life” is literal then “death” in the same passage is just a literal. How could anyone know that just one word in a literal sentence is not just as literal as all the other words? If the death for sinner is not literal death, the life for believers is not literal life. The same persons that tell us death is not literally death tell us that death literally means death when it is used in reference to animals; dead animals are dead, not separated. Those who tell us that death means "separation" do not want to use "separation" when talking about the just dead or the death of animals, and definitely not when talking about the death of Jesus, for then it does not fit in with the theology that says death cannot mean death, therefore, death can only mean separation for the lost. But, according to this theology, death cannot mean separation for the saved. Death means separation only when they want it to mean separation.
If death is only eternal separation from God, that separation would be forever and death could never be destroy, the lost would always be separated for God and Paul was wrong in 1 Corinthians 15:54.
The same ones that tell us death is separation from God tell us that God will forever be with the lost in Hell tormenting them, that the lost can never be separated from God. Which time do they believe what they say? All life depends on God the giver of life; therefore, separated from God no one could have life, not life in Hell or any other place.
This theology makes nonsense of the Bible. The Bible speaks repeatedly of death and the wages of sin being death, but this theology tells us that everyone is born deathless. If no one is dead, the resurrection will not be from the dead to living, but just a change of address from the living who are separated to the living who are unseparated.
"Spiritual death" and "death is a separation" are not Biblical expressions. They are interpretations. They are additions used to teach what man wants to hear, not what the Bible teaches. Death and separation are different words in both the Hebrew and the Greek and have different meanings just as they do in English. When someone dies we say that person is dead, not that person is separated.
How can death be a separation of the body and soul when the soul (a living being, person) is the earthly body that is in the image of Adam? 1 Corinthians 15:48-50: It is the image of Adam, the soul, a living being that is flesh and blood and cannot inherit the kingdom of God.
Is there life without God? If death is life separated from God, then mankind can live without God, and life can exist that is not sustained by God. But, the truth is the dead can never be separated from God if they have eternal life with torment it would be God keeping them alive and doing the tormenting. There could be absolutely no existence if one is separated from God for there can be no life without God, and without life there can be no torment. If any have life in Hell, God must be in Hell with them giving them this life; and He must be there to do the tormenting, for if He were not, there would be no life and no torment. To be separate from God can only mean to be nowhere. If a person can exist separated from God, that person is self-existing. They are a God for only a God can be self-existing, therefore, according to today's theology, all the lost who are separated from God are self-existing Gods. How far will they go to prove "Hell"?
The King James Version puts God in Hell. "If I make my bed in Hell behold thou art there" (Psalms 139:8). If those in Hell are separated from God, then God cannot be in Hell but by its mistranslation to put Hell in the Bible the King James Version says that God is in Hell. Did they think God has forever given the lost to Satan to do with them what he wants to? Will Satan have his own kingdom where he is in total control, which will have more in it than God's kingdom? He will if the dead are separated from God and God is not in Hell with them. If there were a Hell, which way do they want it? (1) Either God is in Hell doing the tormenting and sustaining the life they have and they are not separated from Him; (2) or God is not in Hell and the lost are separated from Him and He is not doing the tormenting or sustaining the life they have. It cannot be both ways. Today's theology makes many problems. Where did the concept come from that there is any life when one is separated from God, the source of all life? It is not a matter of eternal life with Christ or eternal life separated from Christ, for there is no life separated or apart from Christ. A sinner does not have any kind of immortal life. Only those in Christ will have it.
If death is "separation" of a soul from the earthly body and not a real death, then the resurrection could only be the return and reuniting of the soul to the earthly body and they must forever be together or the resurrection would not be forever. If all earthly bodies end at the end of this earth, then death (separation) of the saved will last forever; the soul would be forever separated from the earthly body, which would not exist. But those who teach death is separation only want death to be separation when death is a soul that is alive but separated from God, all other times death is death; death means eternal life part of the time and death means death part of the time.
Campbell said, "Every word not specially explained or defined in a particular sense by any standard writer of any particular age and country, is to be taken in the current or commonly received signification of that country and age in which the writer lived and wrote." Alexander Campbell, Christian System, Page 3.
Theological meaning of words came about after the New Testament. Both the Old Testament and New Testament use the words as they were used by those to whom God was speaking.
Did God say one thing, but mean something different from what He said? If so, there is no need for us to read the Bible for no one could know that God used "death" to mean "separated but alive" without a revelation from God, or someone who is inspired to tell us. Who was the inspired person that told us "death" means "separated but alive?" If no inspired person did tell us, many preach that which they have no way of knowing, for they would have no revelation to tell them that when God said death that He really intended to say separated but alive.
Summary: If, as some teach, that Hell is the punishment for sin, then torment, not separation or death is "the wages of sin." torment, not separation, is made to be the thing they call death, but those who say death is separation do not seem to see they are teaching two completely different doctrines at the same time. (1) Death is an eternal life of torment with God doing the tormenting, and (2) death is eternal life separated from God. Most that believe unconditional immortality do not think of the lost as really being separated from god but of God being where the lost are and tormenting them forever. They say separation, but that is only an attempt to take death out of the Bible when they actuality think and teach God is the one who will be where the lost are and will be the one who will be eternally tormenting them. They do not really believe separation from God, as if there could be life any place where God is not, is the wages of sin or that the sinner is really forever separated from God. They seem to be somewhat confused for they say death is separation from God and "a loss of well being," but tell those who grieve at funerals that their dead loved ones are not separated from God but are in Heaven with Him, and their well being is now much better than it was before death. They are going both ways simultaneously, they say for the lost death is eternal life with torment, and for the saved death is eternal life in Heaven. If they were right, then for both the lost and the saved, death is really life for there cannot be death to an immortal soul that is not subject to death, therefore, cannot die. Death must be changed to be eternal life for both the saved and the lost. But in their attempt to do away with death, they are driven to say death is life separation from God but what they really believe is that death is not death but eternal life being tormented by God.
John 3:36: "But, he that obeyed not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him." Implied: he shall see death, the opposite of life. You are alive, or you are dead, no in between. Will those in Hell that cannot die have no life? If they "shall not see life" how can they be alive to be tormented when they are in Hell? Can a rock that does "not see life" be tormented? "Shall not see life" is not to be alive anywhere, not to be alive in Hell. How much clearer could Jesus have possibly have been, how much clearer could He have said whoever rejects Him shall not see life, not see an eternal life of torment?
Everlasting life or everlasting destruction Matthew 7:13-14: “Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it.” Destruction is used in contrast to life, not two kinds of life. Jesus said as clear as language can be that the wide gate leads to destruction not life. “Or those eighteen, upon whom the tower in Siloam fell, and killed them…except you repent, you shall all likewise perish” (Luke 13:4-5). “Killed” and “likewise perish” are both the same, both death, not eternal life.
“Worthy of death” but cannot die Romans 1:32. "They that practice such things are worthy of death," but if they have an immortal never dying something from birth they can never die. Why did Paul bother to say they are worthy of death if he knows they could not die?
When does a sinner die? If death means only separation, the sinner is separated from God now. Is the second death to be a "double separation?" Will they be any more separated than they now are? If the lake of fire, which is the second death, is only a separation from God, and they are now separated from Him, they cannot be any more separated than they are now.
Literally or figuratively: Thomas Andrews said that those who accept annihilation as the end of mankind claim that the words destroy and death that are used to describe eternal punishment should be understood literally (1997 Florida College Lectures, Page 169). Those who believe in Hell must make "death" figuratively or allegorical, not real; but they make "life" real even when both are used in the same sentence. On the same page he said, “The Biblical concept of eternal extends to both life and death.”
• The Biblical concept, eternal death
• The Biblical concept, eternal life
The Biblical concept is that the death is just as eternal as the life. If one is figuratively, then both are. He cannot make one figuratively and the other literal just because he need it that way for his theology. If death is figurative, then there is no death, but two kinds of life. He cannot give any reason why death is figurative, and life is literal other than he needed it to be, for it must be or there can be no "Hell."
• If death is figurative, then life must be figurative.
• Eternal "death" is as literal as eternal "life." Does a real sin have a figurative punishment? Death must be "wrest" (2 Peter 3:16) into something that is not death to make it fit around the doctrine an immortal, immaterial, invisible "soul" that cannot die but have a figurative death.
• “There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the One who is able to save and to destroy” (James 4:12). “But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who believe and are saved” (Hebrews 10:39). If the destroying is figuratively and is not literally destroying then the saving is also figuratively and is not literally saving.
Three blind men were told to feel an elephant and tell what it looks like. One felt the tusk and said, "It is hard and smooth." One the leg- "It is like a tree." One the tail- "It is like a brush." None told what the elephant is like. "It is like a brush" is not a description of an elephant, and "separated" from God but alive without Him is not a description of death.
"Dead while she lives" 1 Timothy 5:6: Dead and alive at the same time. In what sense is she alive? Physically she is not dead but alive. In what sense is she dead? She is the same as all other sinners and unsaved people. Their death is so certain that they are spoken of as being dead (See Luke 9:60). They do not have Christ living in them, and the "life" He came to give (John 5:21-29). They have only the resurrection of judgment (John 5:29) to look forward to, and the wages of sin, death (Romans 6:23), not the resurrection unto life (John 5:29). Both life for those who believe, and death for those who do not believe, are so certain that through out the New Testament it speaks as if we now have the eternal life or death, which will come at the judgment. The only life she has is physical life. How can an immortal soul that will always have life be gotten out of "while she lives"? It was her body that "lives," not an immortal, immaterial, invisible something that lives without the body; therefore, if a "soul" were in this passage it could only be in the part of her that was "dead" to which is added “spiritual dead.” Because the passage speaks of her being dead while she lived, her having a soul that is alive while she is dead is read into this passage when nothing is said about an immortal soul or about life after death. This passage is often used to prove that the "soul" cannot be dead but it has another kind of life even when there is nothing said about a "soul" in it. "Dead while she lives" must be changed to be "Alive while she is alive." Death must be removed from this passage. This is what is called pulling something out of thin air or reading into a passage something that is wanted to be in it.
• The Bible uses death in both a literal and a figurative application. In the literal use of death life has ceased to exist. The figurative use of a word must take it meaning from it literal use. The figurative use of death is often confused with the literal use of death. She had a relationship with God that is dead; it no longer existed.
• In Luke 15:11-32, Matthew 8:21-22. "Follow me; and leave the dead (those who have no relationship with God) to bury their own dead." There is nothing about an "immaterial invisible part of man" that is alive in the dead that are to bury the dead. Neither the dead that was doing the burying, nor the dead that were buried were a dead immortal soul, both were dead in their relationship to God. The Prodigal son had a relationship with his father, the relationship ceased to exist, then was restored when the son returned. He was alive, then dead, then alive in his relationship with his father, but he was never literally dead and there was no literal resurrection of the dead. In this passage there is nothing said about an immortal soul.
• This was more than a simple separation. Frequently one person is separated from another but not counted as dead. When a child leaves home we do not say our child is dead, but in Bible times the Hebrews would say the child was dead if it left home and had no relationship with the father or mother, it was as if he was dead to them. When God gives a revelation, He used words just as the words were used by the persons to whom He gave the revelation, and not only the words but also the customs of the persons to whom He give the revelation. To the Hebrew mind and to the Oriental cultures even today, the Prodigal son is counted as dead and the father no longer has a son.
• "Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life. Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God; and those who hear shall live" (John 5 24-25). He was not saying He was going to the graveyard and the dead there would hear His voice and live, be resurrected from the grave. He was not speaking of a physical resurrection but of those who are not believers (dead by the Hebrew and Oriental cultures) becoming believers and alive to God. The widow was dead to God just as the Prodigal Son was dead to his father because she had put something ahead of God in her life.
Die in the Old Testament: Die is from "moosh" in the Old Testament and occurs over 800 times. (Wigram, Old Testament, Pages 675-681). None of the 800 has any references to death being anything but death. In none is death a separation of the earthly body from a soul that is alive, or that any part of a person lives after death. Throughout the Old Testament, "moosh" is used of both men and animals and makes no distinction between them. Both die. "For the fate of the sons of men and the fate of beasts is the same. As one dies (moosh) so dies (moosh) the other" (Ecclesiastes 3:19). Fish, cattle, frogs, men, dogs, lions, a city, and flies all die (moosh). For all, death is the end of life and if there was no resurrection, a person would be as all the above, dead forever.
"Spirituality dead" Spiritual (pnumatikos) is used in the New Testament 21 times, but "spirituality dead" not one time, yet many preach it continually. From where did they get this? Do they mean the spirit is dead? If they mean "lost," why do they use an unscriptural term that does not say what they mean? In his review of my "From Where Came Hell" Csonka says, "We are spiritually dead when, as Isaiah says, 'your sins have separated you from your God'" Guardian of Truth, January 5, 1995, Page 17, (Isaiah 59:2). He must know that Isaiah is speaking about "the house of Jacob their sins" (Isaiah 58:1) "A nation" (Isaiah 58:2). This is about a nation that had left God being separated from God, and there is not one word about any kind of death of a person in it, but he reads it in. He changes this from a nation (Israel) being separated from God to a person "we" being separated from God and then changes this person "we" from a living person separated from God to a dead person that is not really dead, but alive and has eternal life in Hell forever separated from God. Has he heard this verse misused so often he does not know that he is misusing it? He must add changes to changes to make the nation of Israel be a living person in Hell, but he did not seem to know whether he wanted it to be (1) a dead person that is alive in Hell, (2) or a living person that is "spiritually dead."
"Spiritual death" is not in the Bible, but if there were such a thing as "spiritual death," it would have to be when the spirit had no life for if it still had life, it would not be dead. If a soul were living somewhere with eternal life, how could that soul be dead? It could not be "dead" if it were "alive." Most who believe in Hell say the second death is a "spiritual death" which is only separation from God, not a real death; but they also say the lost are now "spiritual dead" even before they die. Do they not make the second death be nothing more that a continuation of the state they say the lost are now in, just a continuation of the lost being separated from God? Therefore, they have done away with the second death, for they tell us that the lost are already "spiritual dead" and will always be “spiritual dead” even when they are alive in Hell.
In "Truth Magazine," June 7, 2001, Page 343, Johnie Edwards has a short article, "What Death Says." What does death say? It says that for there to be life after death, there must be a resurrection from the dead. What does the resurrection say? It says if there is to be a resurrection there must be death to be resurrected from, not a higher kind of life than we now know that would not need a resurrection. It says someone who is not dead cannot be raised from the dead by a resurrection. The resurrection says death is a real death.
2 Corinthians 2:16 "The meaning therefore is, the Gospel, which arises from Christ and which is preached through us, is to the unbelieving, but the incense arising from one crucified and dead, and so it is to them a savor from the dead and producing death. But to the believing it is a savor FROM THE LIVING, PRODUCING LIFE." J. W. McGarvey, 1916. "McGarvey pointed out the extremely significant phrases 'from death' and 'from life' as used in this passage. To the unbelieving, the news of the Gospel is from one who was crucified and is dead: so, for them, it is an odor from death unto death EVEN ETERNAL DEATH; but to Christians, the news of the Gospel is 'from life unto life' in them that are saved." J. B. Coffman.
The sentence of death has been removed for those in Christ, and the promise of life (immortality, incorruption) given to them. For those not in Christ, there is only death, the wages of their sin. They will be raised only to face the judgment and the second death "a savor from death unto death."
"A Savor from life unto life" The new birth (John 3:3). "Walk in newness of life" (Romans 6:4). "Have passed out of death into life" (1 John 3:14). At the second coming of Christ shall "put on immortality" (1 Corinthians 15:53) after which there will be no death.
"A Savor from death unto death" Dead while she lives (1 Timothy 5:6). "Abides in death" (1 John 3:14). The lost will be raised from the dead at the second coming of Christ then judgment and the second death after which there will never be any life, never a resurrection from this death.
"In all classical literature no instance can be found where the word death has this signification of eternal torment" H. L. Hastings, "The Last Judgment," 1853
For those who are not in Christ, there is no eternal life anywhere.

Chapter Three

Truth Magazine, August 7, 2008, page 457 had an article about “Reinterpretation Of The Scripture.” The main point this article makes is about reinterpreting Genesis 3 to mean the Serpent was not real, but was taken from well-known pagan myths. The article points out that when one reinterpretation is accepted more will soon come and gives some reinterpretations they think may come. Without doubt, many have made reinterpretations of many scriptures and many more will make more reinterpretations. Reinterpretation that the magazine said nothing about have been made and accepted by many. Some reinterpretations that have been made in the past that are historical facts and believed by many today, reinterpretations that have caused many of the divisions we now have are Purgatory, Limbo, worship of Mary and Saints, Nether World, holy water, the rosary, forbidding Priest to marry, the crucifix, Monks and Nouns, forbidding eating of meat on Friday, and candle-burning. About all Protestants believe Purgatory to be a change or reinterpretation, and there are hundreds more reinterpretations that are historical facts and are believed by many today, but no one believes all to the hundreds of reinterpretations made in the past. Most believe only a few of them, and all the many others they believe to be the doctrine of man, not God. On what does anyone basic his or her belief that most reinterpretations are not from God, but a few are from God? Going to God's word is the only way anyone can know whether any teaching is from man or if it is from the Bible.
THE SUBJECTS OF THIS CHAPTER
(1) The nature of man, from mankind now being mortal reinterpreted to mankind now being immortal. The reinterpretation of the nature of a person, that a person has a part that is now immortal and it goes to Heaven or Hell at death. The general confusion of soul and spirit, are they both the same or are they two different immortal parts of a person that one or both will live after the person is dead? The resurrection versus an immortal soul that cannot die, therefore, needs no resurrection.
(2) The wages of sin being changed from death to being eternal life with torment. "The wages of sin is death" reinterpreted to be the wages of sin is an eternal life of torment in Hell for an immortal soul that is not subject to death.
(3) The reinterpretation of the final destiny of a person changed from heaven to earth. That the saved will forever be with Jesus in Heaven is reinterpreted to be that Jesus will forever be with the saved on this earth and no person will ever be in Heaven.
These three reinterpretations are believed by many today and are causing many of the divisions we now have.

Unconditional immortality makes many of the great doctrines of the New Testament useless andor impossible.

[1] THE REINTERPRETATION
OF THE DEATH OF JESUS
"Him who knew no sin he made to be sin on our behalf; that we might become the righteousness of God in him" [2 Corinthians 5:21]. Jesus actually died for our sins [Romans 5:8], and "We were reconciled to God through the death of his Son" [Romans 5:10]. The wages of sin is death [Romans 6:23], and Christ died our death that we may have life, not to keep us from an eternal life of torment, but to give us life [eternal life]. He paid the wages for our sin and died our death in our place, but He is not forever being tormented in our place. Death is the penalty for sin, not eternal life with torment. [Hebrews 9:11-28; 1 Peter 2:24; 2 Corinthians 5:16-19; Matthew 27:20; John 10:15; 12:23-26; 1 Corinthians 15:3; Hebrews 2:14; 9:16-17; 10:14; Isaiah 43:12]. If, as many teach, the wages of sin is eternal life in torment, Christ did not suffer eternal torment for us, therefore, He would not have paid the wages of sin for us. Jesus bore the punishment of sin that the sinner will bear at the judgment, but He is not suffering eternal torment; therefore, if eternal torment were the wages of sin, He is not paying it for us. Life is His gift to us, not just a reward for an immaterial, invisible "soul" that has eternal life and cannot die. Those who do not reach the blood of Christ [His death] will die, for the wages of their sin is death, "For if we have become united with him in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection" [Romans 6:5]. If those not united in the likeness of His death will not be in the likeness of His resurrection, then what likeness will they have in Hell? The wages of their sin is death, not having the likeness of Christ or Adam or any other likeness when in Hell. The only part of a person many says is immortal and will be in Heaven or Hell an undying soul that can never die, therefore, Christ could not have died in its place to save it from the wages of sin for that immortal soul would not be subject to death and would have no need for Him to have died in its place.
If Christ were as much alive in the three days His earthly body was in the grave as He was after the resurrection then there was no difference in Christ (1) than when before He came to earth (2) than when His earthly body was in the grave (3) and now when He is in Heaven, if His death were not total and complete. If only His earthly body were dead, then He was the same spiritual being with all the power and glory in the three days His body was in the grave that He had before He came to earth, or that He now has in Heaven. Jesus could have given nothing but His earthly body for our sins. According to those who believe we have a soul, which is only a part of us that cannot die, the soul of Christ could not and did not die, therefore, according to their teaching Jesus did not die for our sins for he was never dead, and the death of Jesus was not just a door by which He went instantly back to Heaven before His resurrection. He was not "received up from you into heaven" [Acts 1:11] unto 50 days after His death, not at the time of His death, not before His resurrection.
Christ “poured out his being unto death” [Isaiah 53:12]. “He poured out Himself to death” New American Standard Bible. Christ poured out his being, not just a human body, unto dead. Unto His resurrection He was dead, not alive in Hell or any other place.
Christ was as dead and as much under the power of death as mankind will be after death. He was not somewhere very much alive with the same body [spiritual body], and the power and glory He had before He came to earth; and just came back to His human body; that would not have been a death or a resurrection. His coming back to His earthy body on the third day would not have been a resurrection of anything but His earthly body. The Wages of sin is death [Romans 6:23] and Christ died in our place with all God's wrath that we would have had upon us at the judgment. Jesus paid our debt in full. He "lay down his life" for us [john 15:13] but he is not suffering eternal punishment for us, therefore, if eternal punishment is the wages of sin, He is not now paying our debt.
The death Christ died and his resurrection are opposites. If His death was not a real death, His resurrection could not be a real resurrection. Then what would God has given when He gave His only Son, nothing more than one human body for three days. There was no real sacrifice by God or Christ, no real resurrection as Jesus was not really and in truth dead. We are told repeatedly God raised Christ [Acts 3:15; 4:10; 5:30; 10:40; 13:30; 13:37; Romans 4:24; 8:11; 10:9; 1 Corinthians 6:14; 15:15; 2 Corinthians 4:14; Galatians 1:1; Ephesians 1:20; Colossians 2:12; 1 Thessalonians 1:10; 1 Peter 1:21]. "May the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus" [Hebrews 13:20 New International Version]. Suffering is never said to be the wages of sin, but many take away the wages of sin (death) and put an eternal life of suffering in Hell in its place. Not to take anything away from the suffering of Christ, but if He had suffered all He did right up to His death, and then not have died for our sin; we would still have to pay the penalty of our sin, which is death [Romans 6:23]. Jesus died for us, but He is not being forever tormented for us.
• "He laid down his LIFE for us" [1 John 3:16].
• "Tell the vision to no man, until the Son of man BE RISEN FROM THE DEAD" [Matthew 17:9].
• "And go quickly, and tell his disciples, HE IS RISEN FROM THE DEAD" [Matthew 28:7].
• "Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer, and RISE AGAIN FROM THE DEAD the third day" [Luke 24:46].
• "This is now the third time that Jesus was manifested to the disciples, after that HE WAS RISEN FROM THE DEAD" [John 21:14].
• "And killed the Prince of life; whom God RAISED FROM THE DEAD" [Acts 3:15].
(a) Christ is our Passover: Exodus 20: The lamb died in the place of the first-born. It was slain, not forever tormented. Its blood was placed on the doorpost, and the death angel passed over. If there were no blood, there was death for the first born, not an eternal life of torment. "For our Passover also has been sacrificed, even Christ" [1 Corinthians 5:7]. "That by the grace of God he should taste of death for every man" [Hebrews 2:9]. Christ died in the place of the sinner. It is by His blood that we are saved from death just as the blood of the lamb saved the first-born from death; the saved will be passed over by the second death. He tasted of death for all, but He is not forever being tormented for all.
(b) No atonement: If God's penalty for sin is not death, it would not have been necessary for Christ to die to redeem us from the curse of the law; for if the law did not inflict death on the sinner, and yet required the death of Christ for the redemption of the sinner, it inflicted on Christ as payment for our sins something it would not have inflicted on us as payment for our sin.
"If the punishment due for our sins is not actual death, then Christ could not have made an atonement for us by his death. Under the Mosaic Law there was no such punishment as imprisonment for life, much less imprisonment for life under continuous torture. The penalty for the greatest offenses was always and only death." Curtis Dickinson, What The Bible Teaches About Immortality And Future Punishment, Page 16.
If the soul does not die, but is translated to Heaven or Hell at death, then Christ was not dead. He was not raised the third day, but only came back from Heaven or Hell, but it could not be a resurrection. In Old Testament types, it was the life given up in the blood poured out on the altar that atoned for sin; and it was life given up by Christ that atones. Sin must be atoned for; the wages of sin is death. If Christ did not die, no atonement was made. If the wages of sin is an everlasting life of torment, then Christ did not pay it and no atonement was made. When "soul" [nehphesh - life] is reinterpreted to be an immaterial, invisible, undying inter part of a person, then when Christ "poured out his soul [nehphesh - life] unto death" [Isaiah 53:10-12], was this undying part of Him dead? If He were not dead, He did not pour out his life [nehphesh] unto death and there was no atonement.
(c) No New Covenant: "For where a testament is, there must of necessity be the death of him that made it. For a testament is in force where there has been death: for it never avail while he that made it lives" [Hebrews 9:16-17]. If Christ only changed from living on Earth to living any other place, whether it was Heaven, Hell or wherever.
1. If His soul which was alive before He came to Earth
2. Was alive while He was on Earth
3. And was alive when His earthly body was in the grave
4. Just as it now alive in Heaven
He did not die, there was no death, and the New Covenant is not in force.
"He was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken. And He made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death" [Isaiah 53:8-9]. "Him being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, you have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain: whom God has raised up, having loosed the pains of death: because it was not possible that he should be held of it...Men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his grave is with us unto this day. Therefore being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with and oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne, he seeing this before spoke of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hades, neither did his flesh see corruption. this Jesus has god raised up, whereof we are all witnesses" [Acts 2:24-32]. This passage speaks of the death of David and the death of Christ as being the same death with David still dead but Christ rose from the dead after three days. Christ was as dead for three days as David still is and will be unto the resurrection. Christ was dead and buried in the grave just as David was, not alive someplace.
"And therefore it was imputed unto him for righteousness. Now it was not written for his sake alone, that it was imputed to him; but for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead; who was delivered for our offenses and was raised for our justification" [Romans 4:22-25]. "For He has made Him to be sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him" [2 Corinthians 5:21]. "Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save Him from death, and was heard in that he feared, though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience through the things that he suffered; and being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him" [Hebrews. 5:79]. "For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us: nor yet that he should offer himself often, as the high priest entered into the holy place every year with the blood of others; for then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the age (aion-age, not world, probably the end of the Jewish age that ended at His death) has he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself And as it appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: so Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation" [Hebrews 9:24-28].
We are saved by the death of Christ. We were baptized into the death of Christ and raised from the dead. In some way that we may never fully understand we died with Him and His death became our death for our sins. See 2 Corinthians 5:14; Romans 6:3-8; Colossians 2:12; Galatians 2:20; Philippians 3:10; 2 Timothy 2:11.
(d) Makes Christ's death be inadequate: Many who say they "speak where the Bible speaks and are silent where the Bible is silent" say "we cannot fully grasp the righteousness and holiness of God, nor the sinfulness of sin in His perfectly created universe." They believe that the sinfulness of sin makes eternal torment in Hell necessary, and eternal death would not be enough for God to be a just God. If they "speak where the Bible speaks," then how do they know that sin is not evil enough to require the supreme penalty of the death of the sinner, therefore, the sinner must be let off with a lesser penalty of a life of torment. The Bible clearly says death is required. "The wages of sin is death" not just a life of torment. They are clearly speaking where the Bible does not speak. It is often said that the sinfulness of sin makes Hell necessary but not once does the Bible say this; it says, "The wages of sin is death."
Summary: When Christ paid the wages of sin for us, it was with His death. He is not suffering eternal torment for us, therefore, if the wages of sin is eternal torment and not death then the death of Christ was inadequate to pay for our sins. If eternal torment is the wages of sin Christ did not pay it and there is no salvation for anyone.

[2] THE REINTERPRETATION OF
THE SECOND COMING OF CHRIST
If all the saved are now in Heaven with Christ and all the lost are now in Hell, why is He coming back to this earth? Death the "last enemy" has been made to do what Christ would have done at His second coming, namely taken all the saved to Heaven. There would be no need for Him to come back to do what death has already done. The doctrine of an immortal undying soul has supplanted the second coming of Christ by making the enemy of mankind be his best friend that takes him instantly to Heaven. This view has Christ coming back to earth for those who are not on earth but are with Him in Heaven.
The Abraham's bosom view says Christ is coming back to the earth for the resurrection, but the ones He is coming back to earth to raise from the dead are those who are not dead but are alive somewhere other than on earth. This view makes souls be alive wherever they think Abraham's bosom to be. No one is dead; therefore, there cannot be a resurrection of the undead who are alive either in Heaven or alive in Abraham’s bosom.

[3] THE REINTERPRETATION OF THE RESURRECTION
OF THE DEAD FROM THE GRAVE
MAKES A RESURRECTION IMPOSSIBLE
AND NOT NEEDED BY ELIMINATING DEATH
Those that are not dead cannot be raised from the dead. Unconditional immortality says a person has an immaterial part that is immortal and not subject to death, and that all go to Heaven or Hell at death. If this were true, it would make the resurrection be of no consequence, impossible, and not needed. Most unconditional immoralists say that this immaterial part of a person is the only part of a person that will be in Heaven, and it is not now dead and not in the grave and will not be dead or in the grave at the coming of Christ; and we are told the souls (the immaterial part) of those who have died are now in Heaven or Hell and are not now on this earth and will not be on this earth when He comes. If all are now in Heaven or Hell, then all have been judged. If it were true that the only part of a person that can never die is the only part of him that will ever be in Heaven and it is already there, then there could not be a resurrection of the dead for this part of a person would not be dead. The resurrection is at the coming of Christ; if those who have died in Christ are alive in Heaven, some for two thousand years or more, what would be the point of the second coming of Christ to receive them unto Himself [John 14:3]. Would it not be ridiculous for Christ to come to Earth for His people when they had been with Him in Heaven, some for thousands of years? There would be nothing on earth to rise but the earthly body that will never be in Heaven. 1 Corinthians 15:50 "Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God."
There could not be a resurrection to immortal life if a person now has immortal life; the only part of them that would be in Heaven would just go on living. Can those who are not asleep wake up? Dying has been made into a translation to another kind of life, not a death. Death has been made into a doorway into a continuation of life without the resurrection in which the lost will be just as alive as the saved and have life that is just as eternal as the saved. The sting of death has been removed and death made into a victory, instantaneous life in Heaven, and in so doing has completely eliminated the need for a resurrection. Many believe the dead now have a spiritual body that now has incorruption [1 Corinthians 15:42], that it now has glory and power [1 Corinthians 15:43], and believe that it is now in the image of the heavenly [1 Corinthians 15:49]. If, as soon as they die, the dead are alive and they have the image of Christ, what more will they have or could want after the resurrection? Going instantly to Heaven at death makes David and all the Old Testament saints to have been saved and went to Heaven before and without any need of the death and resurrection of Christ.
What about those who would now be in Hell; are they to be resurrected; what could possibly be the purpose of their resurrection; if it is for judgment why are they now in Hell before they are judged? To judge them after they had been in Hell, some for thousands of years, would be nothing but pure mockery; it would make God to have sent them to Hell without a judgment, or be unsure of His first judgment and need a second one.
THE RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD
IS AN UNSOLVABLE PROBLEM
For those who believe an undying soul is translated to Heaven or Hell at the moment of death without the resurrection at the second coming of Christ the resurrection is a problem for which they seem to have no solution. What do they think will be raised from the dead when Christ comes? What body will be raised; what will be done with the earthly body if it were raised from the dead? It cannot go to Heaven. What will happen to it after it is raised? A resurrection of those who are alive in Heaven or Hell is no resurrection at all. It is an empty show. It is an inescapable fact that according to the popular teaching, that there is no place for a resurrection in the popular view of today and no logical reason for it. A resurrection requires that the person raised be dead at the time of their resurrection, not more alive than when they were living. The Bible teaching of the resurrection of the dead at the coming of Christ cannot be reconciled with the heathen doctrine of an immortal soul. They are opposed to each other and both cannot be true.
THE RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD IS A FUTURE EVENT
[John 5:28-29; Acts 24:15]
If a person has an immortal soul that will never be dead and this "soul" is the only part of a person that will be in Heaven, the New Testament teaching of the resurrection has been destroyed. The Greek concept of the immortal soul assumes that an individual already posse's eternal life and the only question are, “where will this eternal life be spent?” It cannot be said that something that is now living can be raised from the dead. It is utterly impossible to harmonize the New Testament teaching of a resurrection with the pagan teaching of an immortal soul. If there is no resurrection, then all life ceases at death. "For if the dead are not raised, neither has Christ been raised: and if Christ has not been raised, you faith is vain; you are yet in your sins. Then they also that are fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If we have only hoped in Christ in this life, we are of all men most pitiable" [1 Corinthians 15:18]. There is no stronger way Paul could have said that there is no hope of life after death if there is no resurrection; that those who are fallen asleep in Christ have perished, that they are not now in Heaven before the resurrection. If they were in Heaven they could not have perished in any way.
1. Before the resurrection “they also that are fallen asleep in Christ have perished” if the dead are not raised.
2. Before the resurrection they that are fallen asleep in Christ have not perished for they are alive in Heaven before and without the resurrection.
Both cannot be true.
1. The resurrection of the dead
2. Destroys the theory of an immortal soul that is never dead, therefore, cannot be resurrected.
The two are incompatible.
1. An immortal soul makes the resurrection impossible.
2. The resurrection makes an immortal soul impossible.
Death is the end of life. The resurrection is a return to life. If death is life in another place, the resurrection is nothing more than a moving day from being alive at one place to being alive at another place, just a continuation of life in another place, not a real resurrection from the dead.
THE RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD
IS THE ONLY HOPE OF LIFE AFTER DEATH
The Tible could not say any stronger than it does that an awakening from the dead by the resurrection is our only hope of life after death. Without the resurrection to life from death, there would be no existence after death. Being raised from the grave to immortality is the teaching of the New Testament [See 1 Corinthians 15; Matthew 22:31; Luke 14:14; John 11:25; Acts 17:31; Philippians 3:8-11; John 6:3-9]. Without the resurrection, "Your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished" [1 Corinthians 15:17-18]. "If from human motives I fought with will beasts at Ephesus, what does it profit me? If the dead are not raised, let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die" [1 Corinthians 15:32]; not tomorrow our immortal soul lives. Both reincarnation and the immoral soul from birth are a poor substitution for the truth. As clearly as life and death, the return of Jesus, the resurrection from the grave, and the Judgment Day are taught in the New Testament, how could anyone read the New Testament and believe reincarnation or that Plato's immortal soul is alive before and without the resurrection?
“If the dead are not raised” (1 Corinthians 15:16-19)
• “Neither has Christ been raise”
• “Your faith is vain (useless)”
• “You are yet in your sins”
• “They also that are fallen asleep (are dead) in Christ have perished.” If there is no resurrection of the dead there will be no hereafter for anyone who has died.
• “If we have only hoped in Christ I this life, we are of all men most pitiable” for there would be no resurrection, no judgment day, no second death, no eternal life
If we had a soul that will never be dead, it will always live independent of the resurrection; all would now have eternal life and will live forever without the death and resurrection of Christ. The doctrine of the immortality of the soul has replaced the resurrection of the dead and made the resurrection to be completely of no consequence, it has destroyed the need for the resurrection. It is a fact that the doctrine of an immortal soul that cannot die has pervaded over the doctrine of a resurrection in most churches. THERE COULD NOT BE A GOSPEL MORE DIFFERENT THAN THE GOSPEL OF AN IMMORTALTY SOUL THAT WILL NEVER DIE. Nothing is more plainly taught then there will be no life for anyone after death without the resurrection of the dead at the coming of Christ.
AFTER THE RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD
IS THE ONLY TIME ANY OF THE DEAD
WILL BE ALIVE AND WITH THE LORD
"For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and thus we shall always be with the Lord" [1 Thessalonians 4:16-17].
THE RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD
IS WHEN THE JUST SHALL BE RECOMPENSED
NOT RECOMPENSED AT DEATH FOR THOSE WHO ARE NOT DEAD
"For you shall be recompensed in the resurrection of the just" [Luke 14:14]. No one is recompensed by going instantly to Heaven at death before the resurrection and judgment. "In my Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and will receive you unto myself that where I am, there you may be also" [John 14:3]. No one or no deathless part of a person will at the death of the body go to His Father's house in Heaven before He comes again. “Unto an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fades not away, reserved in Heaven for you, who by the power of God are guarded through faith unto a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time” [1 Peter 1:4-5].
THE INCONSISTENCY OF MAKING DEATH A FRIEND
According to the belief of many the dead are instantaneous translated to Heaven at death and are with God. Yet they do all they can, pray to God to keep the sick alive and out of Heaven, spend a great sum of money to keep them on earth, and grieve when they think a loved one goes to be with Jesus. It is obvious there is an inconsistency in what they claim to believe and what they really believe, it is obvious that they believe death to be an enemy, not a friend.
Christ was the first fruits [first one raised from the dead] afterward those who are Christ's shall be made alive [raised from the dead] at His coming [1 Corinthians 15:22-23]. The doctrine of an immortal soul that grow out of Plato's teaching makes Christ being the first fruits or firstborn from the dead not possible for it makes those who lived and died before His resurrection be alive before Him.
NEW BIBLE DICTIONARY: "The most startling characteristic of the first Christian preaching is its emphasis on the resurrection. The first preachers were sure that Christ had risen, and sure, in consequence, the believers would in due course rise also. This set them off from all the other teachers of the ancient world...Nothing is more characteristic of even the best thought of the day than its hopelessness in the face of death. Clearly the resurrection is of the very first importance for the Christian faith" Page 1010, 1996. The resurrection is a New Testament teaching. The word resurrection is used forty-one times in the New Testament but not once in the Old Testament.
ADAM CLARKE on 1 Corinthians 15:32: "I believe the common method of pointing this verse is erroneous; I propose to read it: 'If, after the manner of men, I have fought with beasts at Ephesus, what does it advantage me? If the dead rise not, let us eat and drink; for tomorrow we die.' What the apostle says here is a regular and legitimate conclusion from the doctrine that there is no resurrection; for if there be no resurrection, then there can be no judgment-no future state or rewards and punishment; why, therefore, should we bear crosses, and keep ourselves under continual discipline? Let us eat and drink, take all the pleasure we can; for tomorrow we die, and there is an end of us forever."
JERRY CROSS: "It is important to notice that Paul argues for a resurrection, and not a release. Paul does not have in mind some disembodied existence such as advocated by Greek thinkers such as Plato. Furthermore, Paul is arguing for a resurrection that is a transformation and not a continuation or resumption of life just as it had been laid down. The resurrected body is to be radically different from the body of this earthly life (vv. 35-49). This is the same position argued by Jesus against both the view of the Sadducees and that of the Pharisees (Matt. 22:23-33; esp. v. 30)" Magnolia Bible College 1984 Lectures, pages 47-48.
DILLARD THURMAN, Brown Trail Church of Christ: "The hope and aspiration of many has been shifted from His coming again to receive His own, to an immediate immortality and heavenly bliss immediately at death! Jesus DID NOT promise that!" Gospel Minutes, Volume 34, Number 5, February 1, 1985. “I have heard funeral orations extol the happiness and bliss the departed has instantly with death: but on checking the New Testament assiduously, I have yet to find a single promise where the dead go into heaven on an instant pass, or have immediate conscious happiness” Gospel Minutes, Volume 34, Number 5, February 1, 1985.
The resurrection was the backbone of the belief and teaching of the New Testament Church [Philippians 3:10-11; Acts 17:31, 23:6, 24:15, John 6:39-54, Luke 14:13-14, Hebrews 9:27, 1 Corinthians 15:1-58]. If the body is only a house in which the soul lives, then the putting off this house is not a death; if the soul is alive and anything comes forth out of the grave, it could only be the body of flesh; and then the "soul" must come back from Heaven to rejoin the body, or we would have our dead earthly body resurrected on earth but with no "soul" when our “soul” is alive in Heaven both at the same time. The apostles never preached a disembodied life after death, but a resurrection from death. "God both raised the Lord, and will raise up us" [1 Corinthians 6:14].
If we are now a two parts being of body and spirit, what is the spiritual body that the saved soul or saved spirit will "put on" [1 Corinthians 15:44]? Is the "soul" (as the word is used today) different from the spiritual body that we will put on at the resurrection? Is the spirit part of a person, which some teach we now have, going to put on another body at the resurrection, and become a different spiritual body from what it is now? Will it be a second spiritual body? If we now have this spirit or soul, how can it be changed in any way? Will it be different from the soul we now have? If it will not be different, all we could do would be to put off the body of flesh; and then our immortal part would be just as it will be in Heaven; if not, why not? There could be no other change or a resurrection; nothing other than putting off the body of flesh at death, and those who have died would have already done this and are NOW without the resurrection just as they will always be. If the "soul" is now immortal there will be no resurrection and no spiritual body to be put on at the resurrection.
• "How are the dead raised, and with what manner of body do they come?" [1 Corinthians 15:35].
• "You sow not the body that shall be" [1 Corinthians 15:37].
• "So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption" [1 Corinthians 15:42].
• "And as we have born the image of the earthy [Adam], we SHALL also bear the image of the heavenly [Christ]" [1 Corinthians 15:49].
• "Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God" [1 Corinthians 15:50].
• "We shall all be changed in a moment" [1 Corinthians 15:49].
• "The dead shall be raised incorruptible and we shall be changed" [1 Corinthians 15:52].
• "It is not yet made manifest what we shall be. We know that, if he shall be manifested, we shall be like him; for we shall see him even as he is" [1 John 3:2].
Summary: The reinterpretation of the nature of a person, that he is now a two part being of body and soul or spirit, that he now has an immortal spirit and/or soul that is just as it will be after the resurrection, and the dead in Christ are now just as they will always be. If this were true, then the "soul," which is now the immortal part of a person were alive, it could not put on immortality, it could not be changed, it could not be transformed, or it could not be resurrected at the coming of Christ. If this immortal soul were changed or resurrected from the dead then the spirit and/or soul some say we now have cannot be the same soul as the soul they say we will have after the resurrection. The simple Bible truth is that the saved will be changed and resurrected with a spiritual body, not resurrected with the earthly body [1 Corinthians 15:53].
All this is only because unconditional immortality must have something come from the grave that was dead, which could not be the "soul" for we are repeatedly told that it is as much alive as it will ever be.
(1) The soul is alive now.
(2) The soul will be alive after death before the resurrection; and it will be "at home with the Lord" from the time of the death of the body before and without the resurrection.
(3) The soul will be no more alive after the resurrection than it now is.
David Owen said in 1996 Florida College Lectures, Page 216 that it should be noted that Paul said we would be raised with a spiritual body, not a spirit. It will be "us" that will be raised with a new "spiritual body," not an undying inter spirit part of a person that is not dead being raised from Heaven?
If the resurrection were taken from the Bible, it would not affect the theology of many churches today. They take a short cut and go directly to heaven at death without the resurrection. Because they believe they are born with an immortal soul, which is the only part of them that they believe will be in Heaven, they do not need to put on immortality at the resurrection which they have bypassed.
A believer in unconditional immortality said, "Therefore, at the Second Coming, all the resurrected saints are brought together and publicly displayed, not raised at that time." From a web site at: http//www.tranexp.com/win/intertrans.gif.
The belief in the resurrection and the need for it is being abandoning by many; but, the Bible teaches that all die, and none will live before the resurrection; and without it there would be no life for anyone after death, no life for the saved or no life for the lost.
If you believe that only a part of a person will be saved, and that part is his immortal soul, which can never die, you cannot believe in the resurrection. Both cannot be true. If the soul was immortal it could not die and it now possesses eternal life, even if it rejects Christ and it could be raised from the dead. Satan's lie, "You shall not surely die" after being changed to "My soul shall not surely die" has succeeded to the point that many now say, "No Christ, a part of me needs no resurrection, my soul is immortal and at death it will come to you in Heaven; this part of me will not wait to go to heaven unto after your second coming and the resurrection." One of the "church fathers," Justin Martyr said those "who say there is no resurrection of the dead, and that their souls, when they die, are taken to heaven are not Christian at all." A faith in something God has not spoken is a vain useless faith, therefore; a faith based on life after death because we have an immortal soul that is not subject to death is a vain faith that is based on a lie.

[4] THE REINTERPRETATION OF THE WAGES OF SIN
MAKES "THE WAGES OF SIN" IMPOSSIBLE
BY ELIMINATING DEATH [Romans 6:23]
If the soul cannot die, it cannot pay the wages of sin, which is to die, therefore, the wages of sin had to be changed from death to an eternal life of torment.
• Romans 6:23: "The wages of sin is death" has been reinterpreted to be an eternal life with torment
• James 1:15: James should not have said, "And sin, when it is accomplished, it brings forth death." He should have said, "And when it is accomplished, sin brings forth eternal life in Hell to be eternally tormented by God."
As long as a person has life, that person is not dead, therefore, as long as any part of that person is alive, that person has not received the wages of sin. Nor can a person be said to be dying if death can never be reached. To an immortal soul that cannot die, death cannot be the wages of sin. Mankind does not like death, and most have made themselves believe there is no real death. Even at the time of our death, many believe we do not die, and have reduced God's death row to life in prison. And as we now have immortality, the promise of "eternal life" must be reduced from being eternal life to just being a reward [heaven]. If only the earthly body dies, not the real "us," the resurrection could not be the center of the gospel [1 Corinthians 15:1-10]; it could not even be a part of it; therefore, the undying immortal soul doctrine takes the resurrection out of the Gospel; both the resurrection of Christ and our resurrection.
NEVER A VICTORY: Evil and good beings must live side by side. If death is only separation from God, the separation must go on forever. There never can be an end to death. There never can be an end to separation, for if the separation did end, both the lost and the saved would then be together. There will never be an end to evil. Satan, evil angels, and evil men are just moved to another place, not ended, and not defeated. They will remain just as evil, just as much in rebellion to God as they are now. According to the traditional doctrine of Hell there will be two kingdoms, the Kingdom of God and the kingdom of Satan with the kingdom of Satan being many times larger than the Kingdom of God. What kind of victory would that be? It makes Satan win.
Death will be our enemy unto our resurrection at the coming of Christ.
[5] THE REINTERPRETATION OF THE JUDGMENT DAY
MAKES THE JUDGMENT A MOCKERY and NOT NEEDED
The judgment day at the coming of Christ is opposed to an immortal soul being translated instantly to Heaven or Hell at death. If the dead are now in Heaven or Hell, all would have been judged at death and the judgment is going on now as each person dies. To take those who have already been judged out of Heaven or Hell for a second judgment only to put them back in the same place where they now makes the Judgment be a useless and empty show. It would make a mockery of both the resurrection and the judgment. The popular idea of an immortal soul going instantly to Heaven at death makes the resurrection and judgment be out of place and many have abandoned it. At the most, the judgment day could be nothing more than another reward day for these who were already judged and rewarded at death. Many churches say we get our reward of going to Heaven at death; therefore, for them the judgment day is made to be nothing more than an empty and useless show.
The judgment of all will take place on a special day in the future, the day of the second coming of Christ, not at death. Matthew 16:27; John 5:27-29; 2 Timothy 4:1; 1 Corinthians 4:5; 2 Peter 3:7; Acts 17:31; Matthew 10:15; 11:22; 11:24; Mark 6:11; Matthew 7:22; Luke 19:22; John 6:39, 40, 44, 54; 11:24; 12:48; Romans 2:5; 2:16; 1 Corinthians 1:8; 3:13; Ephesians 4:30; 6:13; Philippians 1:6; 1:10; 2:16; 1 Thessalonians 5:2; 5:4; 2 Thessalonians 2:2; 2:3; 2 Timothy 1:12; 1:18; 4:8; 2 Peter 2:9; 3:7; 3:10; 3:12; 1 John 4:17; Jude 6. The Bible is so clear on when anyone will be judged that I find it difficult to understand how anyone can read the Bible and then say we are judged at death to be saved or loss.
A SECOND JUDGMENT: If all are translated instantly to Heaven or Hell at death as is taught by today's theology, would not a second judgment make God unsure of Himself? If in all the billions He had judged at death and sent them to Heaven or Hell, if He found just one that He had misjudged, He would not be infallible and, therefore, would not be God. Satan fashions himself as an angel of light and his ministers as ministers of righteousness, and they have done their work well [2 Corinthians 11:14-15].
“The immortality of the soul makes a mockery of all this. Resurrection becomes superfluous, since we can relate to Christ “out of body.” Because the saints have already spent long ages with Christ, the Parousia becomes something less than the great ‘revelation’ portrayed by Scripture. Finally, the Judgment is transformed into a farce. After spending thousands of years in heaven, will Abel have to pass before the bar of divine justice to determine whether or not his name is written in the Book of Life? Conversely, will Judas be summoned from a hell he has occupied for two millennia to discover if he is really among the damned? Any doctrine, which allows for such scenarios ought to be suspect from the very outset.” Kenneth Fortier, Resurrection Magazine, Volume 95, Number 2, 1992.
The Catholic Encyclopedia, "Hell" by P. Kreeft says, "God must appoint some fixed term for the time of trial, after which the just will enter into the secure possession of a happiness that can never again be lost in all eternity...Accordingly, it is the belief of all people that eternal retribution is dealt out immediately after death." Most Protestants also believe a person goes to Heaven or Hell immediately after death, therefore, their judgment must be immediately after death, not at the second coming of Christ.
“Inasmuch as He has appointed a day in which He will judge the world” [Acts 17:31]. “It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment” [Hebrews 9:27]. “For we must all be made manifest before the judgment-seat of Christ; that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether it be good or bad” [2 Corinthians 5:10]. There will be a day of judgment when all will come before the judgment-seat of Christ, not a judgment of each person at death.
"For the hour is coming when all who are in their graves will hear His voice and come out, those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation" [John 5:28-29 New Revised Standard Version, also 2 Corinthians 5:10]. The dead will hear the voice of Jesus “when they are in their graves” and “come out” of their graves, not hear when they are in Heaven, Hell, or Abraham's bosom. The resurrection is not a bringing back from Heaven or Hell those who are not dead; it will be a real resurrection from a real death. Jesus clearly said, “All who are in their graves.” He did not say, "The souls of all who are in Heaven or Hell." If the dead now have life in Heaven or Hell, then Christ was wrong. “But should raise it up at the last day. For this is the will of my Father that everyone that beholds the Son, and believes on him should have eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day” [John 6:39-40] “And I will raise him up in the last day” [John 6:44] “And I will raise him up at the last day” [John 6:54]. "I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day" [John 11:24].
[6] THE REINTERPRETATION OF DEATH
TO BE NOT DEATH BUT ETERNAL LIFE
EITHER ETERNAL LIFE IN HEAVEN OR ETERNAL LIFE IN HELL
BEFORE THE RESURRECTION AND JUDGMENT
AND BEFORE THE SECOND COMING OF CHRIST
"To die" never signifies "to live in torment." If Abraham, David and all the saints of the Old Testament were in Heaven they were there before and without the resurrection or the death of Christ; neither His death or resurrection would have been needed, nor would there be any death to abolish to a “soul” that cannot die.
1. Death would have been destroyed by changing death into eternal life for everyone at the time of their death, not at Christ's second coming. Death would have been destroyed for those in the Old Testament before and without the death of Christ by putting them all in Heaven or Hell at the time of their death.
2. If death that takes anyone to Heaven it would be no enemy to him or her.
3. Death would not be death, for changing from life on this earth to life in Heaven or life in Hell would not be death.
There cannot be eternal life in Hell for “the free gift of god is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” [Romans 6:23]. Without Christ there is no eternal life. “He that believes on the Son has eternal life; but that obeys not the Son shall not see life” [John 3:36]. DEATH IS NOT LIFE. The doctrine of the immortality of the soul, which gives eternal life to the lost, is in direct conduction to the Bible. “He that believes on the Son of God has the witness in him: he that believes not God has made Him a liar; because he has not believed in the witness that God has borne concerning His Son. And the witness is this that God gave unto us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He that has the Son has the life, he that has not the Son of God has not the life” [1 John 5:10-12]. What we believe does make a difference.
• God said, “You shall surely die.”
• Satan said, “You shall not surely die.”

[7] THE REINTERPRETATION OF ASLEEP
ARE THE DEAD ASLEEP OR AWAKE?
What is asleep, the body, or soul, or spirit, or man? The scriptures never speak of a soul being asleep, or the body, or spirit, but the whole person as being asleep and will be asleep unto the resurrection day. If Christ were not raised the dead are gone; those who are asleep in Christ will never wake up. The Bible must be changed and made to say that the soul, the only part of a person that many believe will be in Heaven is not asleep and can never sleep. 1 Corinthians 15:18 "Then they also that are fallen asleep in Christ have perished [Apollumi]." When Paul said those who are asleep in Christ have "perished," he is saying they will never live again anywhere if there is no resurrection from the sleep of death. They are gone "perished" forever. He is not saying they have just "lost their well-being" but are alive somewhere even if Christ were not raised from the dead. Perished cannot mean tormented, but a total end, for if "perished" means "tormented," then Paul said those who are "asleep in Christ" will be "tormented" if there is no resurrection [1 Corinthians 15:12-19]. Paul is not saying that if Christ were not raised, the dead in Christ have just "lost their well-being" because they are alive and will forever live in pain and torment, but he is saying that they are dead and will never live again anywhere if there is no resurrection. If a part of us cannot die and must forever live somewhere then Paul has no argument for it cannot perish, and there cannot be a resurrection of the undead that cannot die; when Paul said some had perished, he just did not understand that a soul cannot perish, that the only part of a person that will live forever cannot die or perish. Paul's argument has been neutralized, and he is made to be saying nothing; and the death and resurrection of Christ has been made to be useless and not needed? Paul said the dead in Christ are asleep, the theology of many says not so Paul, all the dead in Christ are awake in Heaven.
• Jesus said, "Lazarus is fallen asleep" [John 11:11].
• Then said, "Lazarus is dead" [John 11:14].
He did not say Lazarus's body is asleep, but his soul is alive in Heaven. Lazarus would have spent four days in Heaven, but Lazarus or no others in the Bible that were raised from the dead ever said one word about what it was like. Do you think that if they had seen the joy of Heaven, or the pain of Hell, which many believe they would have seen, that a single one that was brought back from Heaven or Hell could have kept quiet about what they had seen? Could you? They said nothing because they were as Christ said "asleep," not more alive than the living. Lazarus was a problem to the chief priests and Pharisees because everyone knew he had been dead and was alive [John 11:47], not because he was telling of what he had seen. Not a one that was brought back from the dead had an "afterlife experience." Why? Because they were "asleep." Is earth better than Heaven; if Lazarus were in Heaven for four days, would he want to come back to earth? Would you or anyone want to leave Heaven and come back to this earth? Why would Christ have been cruel to Lazarus by taking him out of the joy of Heaven?
• Lazarus had to be dead to be resurrected from the dead.
• A "soul" would have to be dead if it was resurrected from the dead but we are told that it cannot be dead; then this part of us that has no substance cannot be resurrected from the dead.
a) Gathered to his people: Abraham [Genesis 25:8-9] and others died, and were "gathered to his people." The argument is made that this could not refer to their physical body; therefore, it was the soul that was gathered to his people. If that were true then the souls would be asleep together, not awake together, therefore, it would not prove a part of a person is conscious after death. The Hebrew belief was that both the good and the bad went to sheol-the grave. See Genesis 3:7-35; Job 7:21; 14:12; 24:19; Psalms 13:3; 1610; 31:17. "Slept with his fathers" is in the Old Testament about 38 times.
• Abraham "was GATHERED TO HIS PEOPLE" [Genesis 25:8-9].
• "Moses, Behold, YOU SHALL SLEEP WITH YOUR FATHERS" [Deuteronomy 31:16].
• "So DAVID SLEPT WITH HIS FATHERS" [1 Kings 2:10; 11:21]. "David...fell asleep, and was laid unto his fathers, and saw corruption" [Acts 13:36].
• "From the day that the FATHERS FELL ASLEEP" [2 Peter 3:4].
• "So man lies down and rises not: Till the heavens be no more, they SHALL NOT AWAKE, NOR BE ROUSED OUT OF THEIR SLEEP" [Job 14:12].
• "CHRIST...THE FIRST FRUITS OF THEM THAT ARE ASLEEP" [1 Corinthians 15:20]. Christ is the only one who has been raised from the dead and is the only one who is not now "asleep."
If, "gathered to his people,” means "awake" then, "asleep" has to mean, "awake." If not, then wherever Abraham was he would be "asleep" and he would not know where he was or who was with him. How could Christ be the first fruits if Abraham were alive before Him?
Abraham's father served other gods. "Terah, the father of Abraham, and the father of Nahor: and they served other gods" [Joshua 24:2], which, according to most Catholics and Protestants, would send him to Hell, but both believe Abraham went to Heaven, and was "gathered to his people"; which would include his father. Both seem to be somewhat unsure of where Abraham is; not sure if Abraham was "gathered to his people" in sheol, which is the grave, or if he is in Heaven and not "gathered to his people" for his father the idolater they believe is in Hell.
Not one of the passages, which speak of being "gathered to his people,” is speaking of any one being gathered in Heaven. Sheol (the grave) is not Heaven; therefore, these passages are not speaking of anyone at death being translated to Heaven even though they are often used to prove it.
b) The state of the dead. The analogy of sleep is used throughout the Bible. If death does not indicate unconsciousness, then the analogy of sleep, which is used throughout the Bible, is meaningless for the dead are not asleep. [Deuteronomy 31:16; 2 Samuel 7:12; 1 Kings 1:21; Job 7:21; 14:12; Psalms 13:31 Jeremiah 51:39, 57; 1 Kings 2:10; 11:21, 43; 14:20, 31; 15:8, 24; 16:6, 28; 22:40, 50; 2 Kings 8:24; 10:35; 13:9, 13; 14:16, 22, 29; 15:7, 22, 38; 16:20; 20:21; 21:18; 24:6; 2 Chronicles 9:31; 12:16; 14:1; 16:13; 21:1; 26:2, 23; 27:9; 28:27; 32:33; 33:20; Job 3:13; Isaiah 26:19; Matthew 9:24; 25:5; 27:52; Mark 5:39; Luke 8:52; John 11:11-14; Acts 7:60; 13:36; 1 Corinthians 15:6, 18, 20, 51; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-15; 5:10; 2 Peter 3:4]. The scriptures often speak of a person being asleep after death but never say animals sleep when they die. Why? If they were asleep, they would wake up.
THE STATE OF THOSE WHO ARE ASLEEP
(1) They have perished if there is no resurrection [1 Corinthians 15:18].
(2) Their thoughts have perished [Psalms 146:4].
(3) They are as though they had never been [Job 3:11-18; Psalms 39:13; 146:2].
(4) They have no remembrance of God [Psalms 6:5].
(5) They rest in the dust of the earth [Job 17:13].
(6) They cannot give thanks to God [Isaiah 38:18].
(7) “The dead know not anything” [Ecclesiastes 9:5; 9:10].
The resurrection is the only hope for the dead. Without it, the dead will never have life again.
D. Padfield seems to make knowing or not knowing each other in Heaven to be dependent on Abraham being awake with his people. He leaves out the resurrection and makes Abraham be alive without it. He jumps from death in sheol before the resurrection to Heaven as if they are the same place and everything will be the same in both. What we will be and know in Heaven after the resurrection does not depend on what we will know while in the grave and will not depend on being awake while we are in the grave. Is he not so desperately trying to prove a person is now immortal that he is saying to God, "Abraham being with the fathers proves he is not 'asleep with the fathers'?" This view is used by those who believe in "Abraham's bosom" but it is an attempt to prove that the dead are not asleep they makes the saved and the unsaved be awake together waiting for the resurrection even though it says those in Abraham’s bosom are not dead to be resurrected from the dead.
This view makes:
1. The dead not be dead but alive.
2. Those who "sleep with the fathers" are not asleep but are "awake with the fathers."
3. The resurrection impossible as no one is dead.
4. Makes the Bible not mean what it says. The many times it says "sleep with the fathers" must be changed to be "awake with the fathers" and the many times the Bible uses the metaphor of sleep for death are not true.
c) The awakening, wakening up at the resurrection: The resurrection will be an awakening. Death is likened to sleep because it is a state of unconsciousness, which will be followed by an awakening. Christ is the first fruits and the rest will be resurrected "at his coming" [1 Corinthians 15:23]. Abraham and his people fell asleep, and will be asleep unto the resurrection, "From the day that the fathers fell asleep" [2 Peter 3:4]. The Bible says nothing about the state of a person from the time he falls asleep unto the resurrection. The Christian hope is not on death, not on being awake anywhere before the resurrection but on the resurrection to life, on being raised from the dead at the second coming of Christ.
Albert Barnes said "In the Scripture sleep is used to intimate that death will not be final: that there will be an awakening out of this sleep, or a resurrection. It is a beautiful and tender expression, removing all that is dreadful in death, and filling the mind with the idea of calm repose after a life of toil, with a reference to a future resurrection" Barnes' Notes On the New Testament.
What is the resurrection?
• Is it spirits who are now awake and living in Heaven or Hell returning to their earthly bodies?
• Or is it all that are asleep in the grave will wake up at the judgment?
It was Lazarus who was asleep. Not just his body while his soul was alive [John 11:11]. Some of the saints had fallen asleep. Not just the body had fallen asleep, but the "living being," the whole person [1 Corinthians 15:6]. The Bible nowhere speaks of the body being asleep while some immaterial, invisible, inter part of a person is awake. It is the whole person that sleeps unto the resurrection, and the whole person that will wake up at the resurrection. If only the body were asleep with the spirit alive in another world, why would there never be a hint that the real person was not asleep in any of the passages that use sleep as a metaphor of death?
ABRAHAM, WHERE ARE YOU?
Three views about where Abraham is
1. Bible view: Abraham is asleep with the fathers.
2. Catholic and Protestant view: Abraham is awake in Heaven.
3. A newer after judgment view: Abraham is awake in Abraham's bosom, the good side of hades. This view has been widely taught in the church of Christ and the Christian Church.
Many who do not know whether they believe #2 or #3 will say some loved one had gone to be with Jesus in Heaven, but if they are trying to prove the soul is alive before the resurrection will use Luke 16. Abraham is moved back and forth from Heaven to Abraham's bosom as they need to, but most of them do not seem to know they are moving him.

[8] THE REINTERPRETATION OF THE LIFE
THAT CHRIST PROMISED TO THEM THAT OBEY HIM
John 4:14; 4:36; 5:21; 6:40 See chapter two, Life or death. If all are born with an immortal soul that cannot die, all have eternal life and Christ could only give them a reward, not life. Unconditional immortality gives both the sinners and the saved eternal life without the death of Christ.

TWO VERY DIFFERENT GOSPELS
Unconditional immortality and the resurrection are two very different gospels Galatians 1:6-9. There is a dividing line between unconditional immortality and conditional immortality so sharp that the two are completely different Gospels as far apart as night and day. Both cannot be true. One is a "delusion" [2 Thessalonians 2:11, King James Version] "A working of error" [American Standard Version]. Do you believe a working of error? Unconditional immortality is very different from anything preached in Paul's day [Galatians 1:6].
It is the "doctrines and precepts of men" [Matthew 15:9], and is wresting the writings of Paul and the other scriptures [2 Peter 3:16]. It takes away a need for the death of Christ, and the need of the resurrection.
TWO INCOMPATIBLE BELIEFS
Either one makes the other one impossible.
1. The resurrection: Makes an immortal never dying soul impossible. If it is not dead, a soul that is alive cannot be raised from the dead.
2. Unconditional immortality: 1. Makes the resurrection an unanswerable problem. If the soul is immortal and never dies, what will be the use of the resurrection? What will be raised from the dead? 2. Makes a real resurrection impossible.
These two Gospels, the resurrection or an undying immortal soul, are so opposed and contradictory to each other that if one is true, it makes the other one a lie of Satan that will destroy you at the judgment; they are not compatible. If one is true, then the other one cannot be. Believing unconditional immortal is disbelieving God; believing this doctrine, or not believing it, can be the difference in whether you believe God or man. One came from man and is vain worship [Matthew 15:9]. Christ taught the resurrection. It is our only hope of life after death, not now having immortality and never dying. The undead cannot be raised.
THE SILENCE OF THE BIBLE
All the great doctrines of the Bible are clearly expressed. The doctrine of God, of Christ, the resurrection, the church, the judgment, sin, etc., and are all as clear and plain as our language can say them, but the doctrine of an "immortal soul" or "a never-dying soul," which is constantly expressed today, cannot be found in the Bible. From where did it come? If anyone believes, practices, or teaches anything in the name of Christ, they are obligated to prove it from the Bible. If they do not or cannot, it is a sin to believe, practice, or teach it. It is up to the person who affirms anything to prove it. Have those who believe in and teach Hell proved it to be from God's word? Hell MUST be proved if it is taught. At the judgment, what will you say to God if there is no Hell and you have taught many that God was the cruel and sadistic God of Hell?
How many times can a person make Christ a liar by believing and teaching the opposite of what He taught and attributing these lies to Him? How often can we attribute the teaching of man to Christ before it becomes the "precepts of man" and "vain worship?" (Matthew 15:9). Will you say to God at the judgment that you loved your theology, a different gospel, more than His word?
It adds to the book of Revelation: Most all who believe in Hell misuse many symbolic passages in revelation to prove it. John said, "If any man shall add unto them, God shall add unto him the plagues which are written in this book" [Revelation 22:18]. Do some love this cruel and evil teaching enough to have these plagues added to them selves?
"Heavier judgment" James 3:1 and "vain worship" Matthew 15:9. When we teach things that slander God, and makes the resurrection of Christ not needed, etc., we teachers will answer to God at the judgment and with a heavier judgment. As teacher we will be judged for not knowing and teachings the truth. We teach that following the teaching of man is vain worship and sinful for others, but it is as sinful for us when we do the same things. If we are not sure beyond any doubt that God's word teaches eternal torment, but teach it anyway; and it is the commandments of men, it may be the difference in living or the second death for us. "Whatsoever is not of faith is sin" [Romans 14:23], and faith comes by hearing the word of Christ [Romans 10:17], therefore, if the doctrine of Hell is not taught in the Bible it is sin to believe or teach it. Do we think this would not apply to us if we teach anything that we have any doubt about? At the judgment we will give an answer for both what we teach, and for what we do not teach. If we teach Hell or that men are born with an immortal second part that God cannot destroy, then we better make sure it is from the Bible; for we will answer to God in the very same way as anyone teaching "faith only"; or any other doctrine of men. Do some condemn themselves by teaching it is a sin to change God's word, and then preaching what may be the biggest change ever made to it? There is no acceptable reason for a gospel preacher not to know and teach the truth. What will they say to God at the judgment?
It is taught by some that the promise of being immediately in Heaven with God has more comfort than the promise of being in Heaven after the resurrection.
• Comfort that is based on a lie (“you shall not surely die”) is a vain useless comfort.
• To add to or change God’s word is a sin.
• Only by teaching the truth can a preacher save those who he preaches to and himself.
Is a person born with an immortal soul, or do the saved put on immortality at the resurrection? This is one of the most important questions of all times. It has more influence on our conception of our nature, our view of life in this world, and life after death, the nature of God, than any other question. YOUR WHOLE THEOLOGY [all that you believe] IS DETERMINED BY YOUR VIEW OF THE SOUL. Not only does man now having an immortal soul make the resurrection impossible, it makes the judgment be passed; and the second coming of Christ pointless for there could not be a resurrection or a judgment at His coming.
The doctrine of unconditional immortality
• Changes the nature of God, makes Him cruel and sadistic.
• Changes the hope set forth in the New Testament that there will be a resurrection. It makes no one ever be dead to be resurrected from the dead. At funeral services we are told the departed are not dead but are now in Heaven looking down of their loved ones, and any who point out that the Bible says the dead are not in Heaven before the resurrection is branded as being a part of a cult, often even by those who believe the dead are in Abraham’s bosom unto the Resurrection.
• Changes the resurrection of Christ, which gives us a hope of being resurrected, by reducing the death and resurrection of Christ to His earthly human body only if His soul were immortal and could not have died; therefore, the resurrection of Christ must be the "first fruits" only of the resurrection of this earthly body. If we have an immortal "soul" then this part of us that could not die, and therefore could not be resurrected. Makes the part of a person that cannot be resurrected be the only part of him that will be in Heaven.
• Changes the message we preach to the lost and their fate, whether they will have an eternal life with torment or a second death from which there will never be a resurrection, changes from the wages of sin being death, to the wages of sin is eternal life with torment in Hell.
• Changes the nature of a person from mortal, to both mortal and immortal at the same time. Two opposite natures at the same time is not a possibility.
• Changes the nature of the resurrection of Christ, whether He was dead and raised by God, or only His earthly body was dead and He just came back from Heaven to it.
• It makes the judgment be passed.
• Changes the nature of the resurrection from whether the dead are resurrected or just come back from somewhere. It makes a real resurrection impossible.
• It makes the second coming of Christ pointless.
• Changes many words [die, death, perish, destroyed, lost, end, sleep] to mean the opposite of the way they were used by those living then, and the opposite of the way the world now uses them. See chapter two). Changes eternal life to eternal reward, and changes eternal death [the wages of sin] to eternal life with torment.
Anything more different from the gospel than the immortal soul theology would be difficult to imagine. It makes the resurrection of those who were never dead and are already in Heaven be nothing but pure foolishness and the judgment of those who were judged at the moment of death pure folly. If it is not a total different gospel there could not be one, for not just some part of it is different but it is one hundred percent different.
The belief in an immortal soul is the foundation of
• Much of philosophy beginning with the Egyptians, the Greeks, and today.
• Reincarnation-transmigration of souls to other bodies after death.
• Most Eastern religions.
• The Catholic and the Protestant immortal soul at birth.
• The doctrine of Hell.
• Purgatory.
• Limbo.
• Nether world.
• Worship of Mary and the reported sighting of her.
• Intercession of and worship of saints.
• The belief that Abraham's bosom is a real place.
• Spiritualism.
• Communication with the spirits of the dead.
• The "New Age" movement and channeling craze with spirits of the dead.
• Near-death experiences or out-of-body experiences. Those who claim to have died and gone to Heaven or Hell are claiming to have been resurrected from the dead, to have been to Heaven or Hell and came back to earth. All near-death experiences are totally dependent on the belief of the person; Hindus, Muslims and others claim to have near-death experiences but their experiences are what are taught by their beliefs; those who do not believe in Heaven or Hell have near-death experiences but never believe they go to Heaven or to Hell.
• An evil, cruel, and sadistic God who made most of mankind just so he could torment them.
All of the above teachings are based on the soul being immortal, which is of pagan origin. Without the doctrine that a part of a person, his or her immortal soul, is not subject to death none of the above could be true. Unconditional immortality is the mother or foundation of more false doctrines than any other teaching. Eternal torment of the soul cannot be unless Plato's immortal soul is true, Mary could not be seen or make intercession if she is asleep, there could be no communication with souls of the dead if the whole person were asleep. If unconditional immortality were true the resurrection as taught by Christ could not be true for there could be no resurrection of those who are not dead.

“HOW ARE THE DEAD RAISED?
AND WITH WHAT KIND OF BODY?”
1 Corinthians 15:35-45
WHAT BODY WILL THE SAVED HAVE IN THE RESURRECTION?
"YOU SOW A BARE GRAIN" 15:37| "THE BODY THAT SHALL BE" 15:37
IT IS SOWN IN | IT IS RAISED IN
(1) CORRUPTION | (1) INCORRUPTION
(2) DISHONOR | (2) GLORY
(3) WEAKNESS | (3) POWER
(4) A NATURAL BODY | (4) A SPIRITUAL BODY
EARTHLY BODY | RESURRECTED BODY OF THOSE IN CHRIST
"AS WE HAVE BORNE THE IMAGE | WE SHALL ALSO BEAR THE
OF THE EARTHY 15:49 | IMAGE OF THE HEAVENLY" 1 COR. 15:49
"FLESH AND BLOOD CANNOT | WE SHALL ALL BE CHANGED IN A MOMENT, IN
INHERIT KINGDOM OF GOD"15:50| THE TWINKLING OF AN EYE, AT LAST TRUMP
HOW ARE THE DEAD RAISED AND WITH WHAT BODY DO THEY COME? 15:35
YOU BURY A GRAIN OF WHEAT GOD GIVES IT A BODY 1 CORINTHIANS 15:38
BURIED(SOWN)IN CORRUPTION RAISED IN INCORRUPTION 1 CORINTHIANS 15:42
BURIED(SOWN)A NATURAL BODY RAISED A SPIRITUAL BODY 1 COR. 15:44
BURIED(SOWN)IN DISHONOR RAISED IN GLORY 1 CORINTHIANS 15:43
BURIED(SOWN)IN WEAKNESS RAISED IN POWER 1 CORINTHIANS 15:43
THE DEAD SHALL BE RAISED INCORRUPTBLE 1 CORINTHIANS 15:52
LIVING SAINTS ARE CHANGED IN A MOMENT 1 COR. 15:51
"THIS CORRUPTIBLE MUST PUT ON INCORRUPTION" 1 CORINTHIANS 15:53
"THIS MORTAL MUST PUT ON IMMORTALITY" 1 CORINTHIANS 15:53
ALL NOW HAVE THE BODY OF ADAM SAINTS TO BE LIKE CHRIST 1 JOHN 3:2
BODY OF HUMILIATION |"CONFORMED TO THE BODY OF HIS GLORY" PHIL 3:21
EARTHLY TENT |"A HOUSE NOT MADE WITH HANDS" 2 COR. 5:1-10
EARTHLY IMAGE OF ADAM | HEAVENLY IMAGE OF CHRIST 1 CORINTHIANS 15:49
ADAM A LIVING SOUL | CHRIST A LIFE GIVING SPIRIT 1 CORINTHIANS 15:45
"Behold, I tell you a mystery: We all shall not sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed" [1 Corinthians 15:51-52].
1. "Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God" [1 Corinthians 15:50]
2. "We all shall not sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound" [1 Corinthians 15:51]
3. "And the dead shall be raised incorruptible" [1 Corinthians 15:52]
4. "And we shall be changed" [1 Corinthians 15:52
5. "For this corruptible must put on incorruption" [1 Corinthians 15:53]
6. "And this mortal must put on immortality" [1 Corinthians 15:53]
“But some one will say, ‘How are the dead raised and with what manner of body do the come’…you sow not the body that shall be…God gives it a body even as it pleased Him” [1 Corinthians 15:35-49].
• “It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption” not “sown and raised in corruption then changed to incorruption.”
• “It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory” not “sown and raised in dishonor then changed to honor.”
• “It is sown in natural body; it is raised a spiritual body” not “sown and raised a natural body then changed to spiritual body.” It is a spiritual body that is raised, not an “immaterial invisible no substance spirit” that has no body.
• “It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory” not “sown and raised in dishonor then changed to honor.”
A changed body versus an immortal soul: Paul said, “How are the dead raised? And with what manner of body to they come...you sow not the body that shall be, but a bare grain...but God gives it a body...to each seed a body of its own...So also is the resurrection...it is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body...howbeit that is not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; then that which is spiritual...and as we have borne the image of the earthly, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly...We all shall not sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality” [1 Corinthians 15:35-54]. It is this mortal body or person that will put on immortality, not an immortal soul that will put on immortality.
The image of Christ is not just a glorified earthly image of Adam. The body made for this earth that is put in the ground will be raised a spiritual body suitable for life in Heaven. The immortal soul doctrine says not so, (1) the “immaterial invisible no substance souls” that will be in Heaven are now existing and are immortal while we are living and cannot be changed (2) and these souls will be alive in Heaven from the moment of death; (3) these immortal souls that we now have can never be dead, therefore, they cannot be raised from the dead. Who is wrong, Paul or today's theology?
The body changed, not an immortal soul changed "For our citizenship is in heaven; whence also we wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ: who shall fashion anew the body of our humiliation, that it may be conformed to the body of his glory" [Philippians 3:20-21]. "The body of our humiliation" is not an "immaterial, invisible, no substance" soul that will be remade ("fashion anew") into another "immaterial, invisible, no substance" soul, but it is us that will be changed from an earthly body to a body like Christ now has, changed from a body that is suitable for life on this earth to a body that will be suitable for life in Heaven. It is our body that will be changed, not an immaterial something in us that is now just as it will be in Heaven and cannot ever be changed. I do not know how I can be raised without this earthly body and still be me, but I believe God when He says that it will be me with a spiritual body. Those who believe a person now have an immortal immaterial soul now living in them believe this invisible something in them is now "conformed to the body of His glory."
What body will be resurrected? Many believe that without the resurrection of the earthly body it would not be us but a new creation. Are they saying God could not make this change without first resurrecting the earthly body?
• Some say the dead in Christ will be, "raised an earthly body, then changed to a spiritual body"
• Others say it will be “raised an earthly body and restored to be like the earthly body of Adam before he sinned”
Both are adding to and changing what the Bible says, “raised a spiritual body”? [1 Corinthians 15:44]
Image of Adam versus image of christ: We are now a soul in the image of Adam. We will be raised in the image of Christ [1 Corinthians 15:45-49]. The "living soul," the physical body in the image of Adam we now have [Genesis 2:7; 1 Corinthians 15:44-45] is not the "spiritual body" [1 Corinthians 15:44] in the image of Christ that we will have. An immortal soul, which many believe we need to save so that it will live in Heaven is not the "spiritual body," which we will have after the resurrection. We do not now have the "spiritual body," which is in the image of Christ, and will not have it unto we put on immortality at the resurrection [1 Corinthians 15:54]. We will be the same person we now are, but our bodies will be changed from the image of Adam to the image of Christ, from earthly bodies to spiritual bodies. All of us, our whole person, will be in Heaven; not just some thin air, immaterial, invisible part of us that has no body.
“If there is a natural [psuchikos – soulish] body there is also a spiritual body” [1 Corinthians 15:44-45]. Paul is quoting Genesis 2:7, the first man, Adam became a living soul [psuche]. Terms Paul used of the natural soulish body.
• The natural soulish body is “a living soul [psuche]” [1 Corinthians 15:44].
• It is “of the earth, earthy” [1 Corinthians 15:47].
• It is the “image of the earthy” (Adam) [1 Corinthians 15:47].
• It is “flesh and blood” [1 Corinthians 15:50].
When God made the earth He give fish bodies that are appropriate to live in water and birds bodies that are appropriate to fly. He gives Adam a body that was appropriate for life on this earth, a body of flesh and blood. Where will we be after the judgment day; if on earth we will need to have earthly body suitable for life on this earth, if in Heaven we will need to have a spiritual body suitable for life in Heaven? Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, but the earthly body in the image of Adam both before and after he sinned, was flesh and blood. If the earthly body is to be resurrected then it is the natural body of flesh and blood that sinned that is to be resurrected, but in the resurrection we will be like angels who are in Heaven [Matthew 22:30]. Is there anyone who believes angels have earthly bodies of flesh and blood in the image of Adam either before or after he sinned? After the resurrection Christians will have spiritual bodies in the image of Christ, not earthly bodies in the image of Adam that can not inherit the Kingdom of God [1 Corinthians 15:50].
If Christians are to be reunited with their earthly bodies at the resurrection no mater where the kingdom of God will be after the resurrection it cannot be inherited by “flesh and blood” [1 Corinthians 15:50].
1. Or if, as some teach, the kingdom of Heaven is to be on this earth, “flesh and blood” bodies that are in the image of Adam could not inherit it [1 Corinthians 15:50]. “That which is born of the flesh is flesh” [John 3:6]. “It is sown a natural body [It is the body of “flesh and blood” that is put in the grave]; it is raised a spiritual body” [1 Corinthians 15:44]; this passage is not complicated, the body is put in the ground is a natural body and the body that comes out of the ground will be a spiritual body. An “incorruptible physical body” would still be a body of “flesh and blood,” not a spiritual body and it could not “inherit the kingdom of God.” The spiritual body is not just a glorified earthly body.
• The natural body is sown in the ground in corruption, dishonor, and weakness.
• The spiritual body is raised with incorruption, glory, and power.
2. Or if, as others teach that the “soul,” the “immaterial, invisible, no substance” something is to be is to be reunited with the body of “flesh and blood” at the resurrection, neither the body nor the “soul” could inherit the kingdom of Heaven as long as the “soul” is reunited to the “flesh and blood” body.
How could it be said any more clearly that this earthly body will not be raised, or that we do not now have the body we shall have after the resurrection? (1) Or that it is not an inter immortal part of us, which we now have, which needs no change, which will never be dead to be raised? (2) Nor any more clearly that we are now "mortal," but will be raised "immortal"? We could not put on immortality if we have it on, if we now have an immortal (undying) soul that is not subject to corruption (death). It is this mortal person that must put on immortality, not an immortal soul that is now in this mortal person that must be freed. If a person did have a soul that is now immortal, that immortal soul could not "put on immorality."
1. Those asleep: Their physical bodies sowed will be raised spiritual bodies. “It is sown a natural body” but it is not the natural body (the body of flesh and blood) that will be raised but “it is raised a spiritual body.”
2. Those living: Their physical bodies will be changed to spiritual bodies. The change to both those asleep and those who will be living will be identical and at the same time, both at the resurrection. On this side of the coming of Christ we have only physical bodies. On the other side of the coming of Christ we will have spiritual bodies. It will be an alteration of the whole person from being physical in the image of Adam to being spiritual in the image of Christ, not just an immaterial part of us forever being unchanged.
3. "But now has Christ been raised from the dead, the first fruit of them that are asleep. For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, then they that are Christ's at his coming" [1 Corinthians 15:20-23]. The term "dead" or "die" means the same every time it is used in this passage. It is the person that is dead and will be made alive at the resurrection, not just some part of the person that is now alive and cannot be dead. Death is death and cannot be made to mean alive.
THE BIBLE TEACHES ---------- BUT MAN TEACHES
WE PUT ON IMMORTALITY AT THE |WE ARE IMMORTAL FROM BIRTH
JUDGMENT 1 CORINTHIANS 15:53 |(ALSO WE "SEEK" IT ROMANS 2:7)
WAGES OF SIN IS DEATH ROM 6:23 |HUMAN SOUL CAN NEVER DIE
THE "END" OF THE LOST IS TO BE |LOST WILL BE BURNED,
BURNED HEBREWS 6:8 |BUT WILL HAVE NO "END"
THE WORD THE OR IDEA OF "HELL" |"HELL" IS TAUGHT AS THOUGH IT IS
IS NOT IN BIBLE |ON MOST EVERY PAGE OF THE BIBLE
"RAISE UP EVEN FROM THE DEAD" |LIVING SOULS TO BE BROUGHT BACK FROM
HEBREWS 11:19 |SOMEWHERE, NOT RAISED FROM DEATH
THE EVIL SHALL PERISH |THE EVIL CAN NEVER PERISH,
BE DESTROYED |OR BE DESTROYED, OR DIE
DEATH TO BE ABOLISHED |DEATH IS "SEPARATED FROM GOD"
1 CORINTHIANS 15:26 AND 15:55 |AND CAN NEVER BE ABOLISHED
LOST WILL BE DEVOURED HEB 10:2 |THE LOST CAN NEVER BE DEVOURED OR
CONSUMED HEBREWS 12:29 |CONSUMED, THEY MUST BURN FOREVER
GOD CAN DESTROY SOUL IN |GOD CAN TORMENT THE SOUL,
GEHENNA MATTHEW 10:28 |BUT HE CANNOT DESTROY IT
CHRIST DIED (GIVE HIS LIFE) |HIS SOUL DID NOT DIE: ONLY
FOR OUR SINS |HIS HUMAN BODY WAS DEAD
CHRIST CAME TO GIVE US LIFE |ALL HUMANS ARE ETERNAL FROM BIRTH
JOHN 10:10; 10:28 |(HAVE LIFE AND IMMORTALITY) THERE-
"ETERNAL LIFE" JOHN 17:2 |FORE ALREADY HAVE "ETERNAL LIFE"
GOD IS EVERYWHERE |GOD IS NOT EVERYWHERE
|(IF DEATH IS SEPARATION FROM GOD)
GOD IS JUST AND LOVING |THIS TEACHING MAKES GOD
|UNJUST, SADISTIC, CRUEL, EVIL
FIRST THE NATURAL [NOW] |WE WERE BORN WITH A NATURAL
"THEN THAT WHICH IS SPIRITUAL" |BODY WITH A SPIRITUAL BODY
[AFTER THE RESURRECTION] |INSIDE THE NATURAL BODY
A DAY OF WRATH AND JUDGMENT |A DAY OF JUDGMENT BUT AN
(SAME DAY) ROMANS 2:5FF |ETERNITY OF WRATH
NOTHING ABOUT GOD TORMENTING |BOTH ARE TAUGHT AS IF THEY
ANYONE OR WRATH OF GOD ON THE |WERE GOSPEL FACTS
LOST AFTER JUDGMENT DAY | .
THE RESURRECTION IS UNTO LIFE |THE DEAD ARE NOW LIVING IN HEAVEN
JOHN 5:29 AND IS "FROM THE |OR HELL - HAVE LIFE AND REWARDED
DEAD" ROMANS 1:4; ACTS 23:6 |OR PUNISHED WITHOUT THE RESURRECTION
CHRIST SAID "I GIVE UNTO THEM |HE GIVES ETERNAL (IMMORTAL) LIFE
ETERNAL LIFE" JOHN 10:18 |TO ALL AT BIRTH
EARTHLY BODY IS BUT A BARE |WE NOW HAVE THE FULL-GROWN
SEED OF SPIRITUAL BODY WHICH |SPIRITUAL BODY, THE SOUL,
WE WILL HAVE AFTER JUDGMENT |BEFORE DEATH AND THE JUDGMENT
DAY - 1 CORINTHIANS 15:35-49|NOT JUST A SEED OF IT
JUDGMENT AND PUNISHMENT ARE AT |WE ARE JUDGED GOOD OR BAD AT DEATH
THE SECOND COMING OF CHRIST |AND PUNISHED/REWARDED AT THAT TIME
"THEY ARE WORTHY OF DEATH" |BUT THEY CANNOT DIE AND GOD
ROMANS 1:32 |CANNOT KILL THEM
"FOR THERE IS NO WORK, NOR |"FOR THERE IS WORK, AND
DEVICE NOR KNOWLEDGE, NOR |DEVICE, AND KNOWLEDGE, AND
WISDOM, IN SHEOL, WHITHER |WISDOM, IN SHEOL WHITHER YOU
YOU GO" ECCLESIASTES L9:10 |GO " ECCLESIASTES 9:10
"SOUL THAT SINS, IT SHALL DIE" |THE SOUL IS IMMORTAL,
EZEKIEL 23:4* |THEREFORE, IT CANNOT DIE *THIS SEEMS TO BE A PERSON BRING PUT TO DEATH UNDER THE LAW, BUT MANY ALMOST ALWAYS APPLY IT TO THE SOUL DYING AT THE JUDGMENT, EVEN WHILE THEY ARE TEACHING THE SOUL CANNOT DIE. SEE HEBREWS 10:28.

GOD --- VERSUS --- THEOLOGY |
GOD SAID "DESTRUCTION" |GOD MEANT "TORMENT" |
GOD SAID "DEATH" |GOD MEANT "SEPARATION" |
GOD DID NOT SAY MAN HAS AN |PLATO AND THEOLOGY SAYS |
IMMORTAL SOUL FROM BIRTH |AND TEACHES IT FOR HIM |
NOTHING IS SAID ABOUT WRATH|SOME KNOW AND TEACH IT WILL|
AFTER THE JUDGMENT DAY |LAST FOR ETERNITY IN HELL |

NOT FLESH OR SPIRIT! - WHAT IS THIS THIRD KIND OF BODY BEFORE THE RESURRECTON?
NOT EARTH OR HEAVEN! - WHERE IS THIS THIRD KIND OF PLACE WHERE THOSE WHO ARE NOT ASLEEP ARE NOW IN?
(EARTH)-DEATH |(ASLEEP IN CHRIST)| RESURRECTION (HEAVEN)
BY MAN | LIVING OR DEAD? | BY MAN (CHRIST)
(ADAM)-DEATH |1 CORINTHIANS 15:21| RESURRECTION OF DEAD
DIE IN ADAM | ALIVE BEFORE BEING | IN CHRIST "MADE ALIVE"
1 COR. 15:22 | "MADE ALIVE" | AT HIS COMING
"UNTO DEATH" | ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?| "CROWN OF LIFE" REVELATION 2:10
"ONCE TO DIE" | THE SILENCE OF GOD| "AFTER THIS COMES
| BUT WE SPEAK | JUDGMENT" HEBREWS 9:27
"THIS WORLD" | THE THUNDEROUS | "THAT WHICH IS TO COME"
EPHESIANS 1:2 | SILENCE OF GOD | ____________________
NATURAL BODY | WHAT BODY? | SPIRITUAL BODY 1 COR. 15:44FF
IMAGE OF EARTHLY| WHO'S IMAGE? | IMAGE OF HEAVENLY 1 COR. 15:49
CORRUPTION | NEITHER ONE | INCORRUPTION 1 COR. 15:42-43
DISHONOR | NEITHER ONE | GLORY 1 CORINTHIANS 15:43
WEAKNESS | NEITHER ONE | POWER 1 CORINTHIANS 15:43
MORTAL | NEITHER ONE | IMMORTALITY 1 CORINTHIANS 15:54
"We shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed" 1 Corinthians 15: 52. If all the saved are alive in Abraham's bosom, who are the dead that shall be raised? The dead are neither mortal nor immortal. Then if they are now living, what kind of being are they? "In my Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I come again, and will receive you unto myself that where I am, there you may be also" (John 14:2-3). He has not yet come to receive them. Where are those who have died unto Christ comes?
The two "all's." "We all shall be changed." Both all those who are asleep in Christ and all those who are alive at the second coming will both be changed. The immortal soul doctrine says, "None of us shall sleep for this would be soul sleeping."
• In 1 Corinthians 15:50-53 Paul said nothing about a soul or spirit that needs no resurrection or changes but is speaking of the changing of our body to a spiritual body.
• "For in the resurrection they...are as the angels IN HEAVEN" [Matthew 22:30]. Angels are not in the image of Adam.
• "And as we have borne the image of the earthy (Adam), we shall also bear the image of the heavenly (Christ)" [1 Corinthians 15:49].
• “Beloved, we are now children of God, and it is NOT YET MADE MANIFEST WHAT WE SHALL BE. We know that, if he shall be manifested, WE SHALL BE LIKE HIM; for we shall see him even as he is” [1 John 3:2].
• "For our citizenship is in heaven; whence also we wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ: who shall FASHION ANEW the body of our humiliation, that it may BE CONFORMED to the body of his glory” [Philippians 3:20-21 American Standard Version].
o "CHANGE" King James Version. "TRANSFORM" New American Standard Version.
If the dead are now living in some kind of paradise somewhere, but not Heaven, Hell or earth, why do they hope for a resurrection of the earthly body, and what good would it be? "In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye" [1 Corinthians 15:52] what would be the reason for raising the natural body for such a short time? Will the soul come back from Heaven to put the earthly body back on, only to put it off ("Be changed") in a moment all before the judgment? See 1 Corinthians 15:50; 1 Thessalonians 5:15-17; Philippians 3:21). Then it would have the earthly body resurrected only for the "twinkling of an eye" [1 Corinthians 15:52]. If the soul is living in heaven or hell, the resurrection of the body for only a moment is all there could be to the resurrection, why have it; no part of a person would be dead but his body; no part of a person could be raised from the dead but his body. The only part of a person they believe will be in heaven or hell, the immaterial, invisible soul, would be as alive as it will ever be and already be where they think it will always be. Robert C. Welch says we will not come forth with the same kind of body, which is planted. Florida College Lectures, Page 238, 1975.
What kind of body will we have for eternity? When we are caught up to meet Christ in the air, will He bring us back to earth and have His kingdom of earth where we will have an earthly body, or will we be with Him in Heaven and have a spiritual body? If you believe on earth, an earthly body is a must, if you believe in Heaven it cannot be an earthly body. Where we will be for eternity will determine what kind of body we will have.
Not one kind of body living in another kind of body: 1 Corinthians 15:42 is a simple and undeniable statement that says that we do not now have incorruption and immortality, and will not have them after death; we will not have put on incorruption or immortality unto the resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:54). No one knows anything about what our spiritual body will be like, but it is not something we now have inside this body of flesh, just waiting to get out at death. It will be a body, not just a thin air nothing or some kind of ghost; therefore, it will have substance of some kind, but not any kind of earthly substance, not flesh [1 John 3:2]. And not something that will fit within this body and not be seen. Not one kind of body, made with one kind of substance, living inside another kind of body that has another kind of substance. Likewise, Heaven is a place with substance (most certainly far greater than this earth), and not just a cloud in the sky. This world and universe are so complicated and large that there is much on this earth that man does not yet know, and he does not yet even know the size of this creation with it’s many galaxies. My opinion is that it is small and insignificance in both size and splendor when compared to Heaven, and this body is an insignificance seed, an acorn compared to a large oak tree [1 Corinthians 15:35-39], of the spiritual body we will have in Heaven. Seeds are unlike the trees yet the same identity is in them; we cannot know what the characteristics of the spiritual body will be by looking at our physical body. If there were a Hell would the lost have the same great new and splendid spiritual body in Hell, which the saved in Heaven will have?
We cannot see God's greatest work (Heaven and spiritual beings) or know anything about what they are like; therefore, this universe shows us only a small part of the power of God. We each do different things in a day, not all the same things, or all think the same thoughts. Today we do not do the same thing that we did the day before. While there will not be days as we know them, Heaven will not be an eternity with everyone doing and thinking the same thing, or all seeing the same thing with never any change. Heaven will not be just a glorified earth, but we will each one be the same individual as we now are, not just carbon copies of each other. Heaven will be great far beyond this earth or anything that can come into our minds now, but many act in such a way that shows going there is not the most important thing to them; and taking others to it is even less important.
"I do not know what all we will be doing in heaven, but I do know we will not be dormant and inactive" B. Reeves, Guardian of Truth, Page 8, 1996.
We now have a "natural body" and after the resurrection will have a "spiritual body." Do evil spirits have a body? If God, angels and evil spirits have no substance of any kind, if they are nothing but thoughts with no body, there can not be a "spiritual body" [1 Corinthians 15:44]. This being in us would now be like the angels but Christ said we will be “as angels” in the resurrection, but we are not now “as angels” [Matthew 22:30]. Though we can now know only of material substances of this earth does not mean there is no spiritual substances. If there were not, there could be no Heaven and no spiritual body; just as this earth is a real place made up of real substance, Heaven is a real place and spiritual being are real being. We are not now a spirit as the angels and demons are and will not be unto the resurrection. We may not understand how God, Christ and the Spirit dwell in us, nor how evil spirits can be in a person but the fact that they do does not make them be nothing but thoughts with no substance as Robert A. Peterson says they are in “Hell On Trial.” Does not make all spiritual being be nothing but thin air, they have a body that has substance though not earthly substance that we can see with our natural eyes.
Can you imagine such a thing as people standing before God clothed with white robes and praising God, but they have no body? It is inconceivable. A thin air nothing cannot wear a robe or speak to praise God. If this earthly body "the body of our humiliation" that shall be fashioned anew "that it may be conformed to the body of his glory" shall be a thin air ghost with no body, then it would make Christ also be a thin air nothing. How can nothing have "glory"? How can thin air nothing be like anything "conformed" ["fashioned" King James Version]? There would be nothing to "conform" to anything.
"What we will be has not yet been revealed, what we do know is this: when He is revealed, we will be like Him, for we will see Him as He is" [1 John 3:2, New Revised Standard Version]. I do not know how God made this world out of nothing, but He said in His word that He did and I believe Him. I do not know how God can raise me with a spiritual body without this earthly body and it still be me, but His word says He will and I believe Him.
The resurrection will be from the dead, not from life. It shows we are now mortal and will die, and we will be dead, not living with immortality before the resurrection. It will be a bringing back to life those who are DEAD.
"BUT EACH IN HIS OWN ORDER" 1 Corinthians 15:23-38
"Christ the first-fruits"
1. "Then they that are Christ's at His coming."
The order of being raised from the dead is changed to:
1. "Christ the first-fruits"
2. "Then all that are in Christ" are raised at their death, and Paul was wrong when he said, "at His coming."
But in truth the order has been changed to:
1. The dead in the Old Testament were raised at their death, before Christ and without His resurrection.
2. Therefore, Christ was not the first-fruits
3. "Then all that are in Christ" are raised at their death, and Paul was wrong both times. Wrong when he said Christ was the first-fruits and wrong when he said, "they that are Christ's at His coming." Do you believe man or God?
Guardian of Truth, page 254, 1994 said in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 Paul deals with one-half of the resurrection. He is speaking only of those in Christ and says nothing about those not in Christ. This is also true of most of 1 Corinthians 15 "They that are Christ's at His coming" 15:23. The lost will not be "raised in glory" 15:43, in "power" 15:43, or in "the image of the heavenly" (Christ) 15:49. Can you find one thing said about the body of the lost after the judgment? What will it be like?
• Will their body be in the image of Christ when they are in Hell?
• Will their body still be in the image of Adam when they are in Hell?
• Will God give the lost a spiritual immortal body only so He can torment them forever?
The doctrine of eternal torment makes the Bible need to be rewrote.
• "Wages is sin is death" [Romans 623] must be rewrote to be, "Wages of sin is an eternal life of torment"
• "You shall surely die" [Genesis 2:16-17] must be rewrote to be, "You shall surely suffer eternal torment in Hell"
• "Through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin" [Romans 5:12] must be rewrote to be, "Through one man sin entered into the world, eternal Hell through sin"
• "For God so loved the world, that whosoever believes on him should not perish" [John 3:16] must be rewrote to be, "For God so loved the world, that whosoever believes on him should not go to Hell"
MAKES 1 CORINTHIANS 15 IMPOSSIBLE by teaching that we are immortal and have incorruption from birth. We cannot put on that which we now have on. If we have an immortal "immaterial, invisible part of man," (W. E. Vine) which cannot die, then Paul's argument in 1 Corinthians 15 to prove there is a resurrection is destroyed. If they had a spirit that could not die, they had not perished, and could not perish.
MAKES PAUL'S "CHANGED" IMPOSSIBLE 1 Corinthians 15:51. If a person now has an immortal incorruptible soul, it cannot be "changed." It is "us" not just a part of "us" that will come forth from the grave "changed." If a "soul" were now immortal, it could not be "changed" from mortal to immortal, it could not "put on immorality" at the resurrection. We do not have immortality before the resurrection. The doctrine of immortality from birth makes the soul now have incorruption. Paul says, "This mortal must put on immortality" 1 Corinthians 15:53. "This mortal" is what will put on immortality, not a soul that now has immortality. It is not some inter immaterial, invisible part of us that is now immortal, and can never die, which shall be raised from the dead and "changed," but it is "us" that will be "changed" at our resurrection.
MAKES TREE OF LIFE NOT NEEDED Genesis 3:22-24: If a person is immortal, he cannot die. He will live forever somewhere, on earth or wherever. A person moving from earth too wherever; and having more joy, more power, more blessing, etc., when he gets there than he has while he is in this body, then it would not be a death. Without the tree of life, he will always live for he would be immortal and cannot die.
MAKES THE BIBLE CONTRADICT THE BIBLE. A soul that cannot die-VERSUS-death, perish, destroy, lost, end. If the wages of sin is death, there cannot be an eternal life of torment. By misusing some scriptures, those who teach men have a soul that can never die, makes the Bible contradict itself.
IT MAYBE A DELUSION TO SOME 2 Thessalonians 2:9-12, "And with all the deception of wickedness for those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved. And for this reason God will send upon them a deluding influence so that they might believe what is false, in order that they all may be judged who did not believe the truth." The delusion can be any doctrine of man that is not the truth. How big a lie and how many lies can you believe and still say you believe Christ? Where do you draw the line on how much error you can believe? Some believe there is no line, and God will accept anything as worship. Some believe God will accept worship only if it is by faith, which comes from hearing His word [Romans 10:17; 14:23].
• Most do not believe Pagan worship is acceptable to God.
• Many do not believe worshiping the Pope, or a saint is acceptable to God.
• Many do not believe infant baptism and sprinkling are acceptable to God.
• Many do not believe having many wives is acceptable to God.
• Many do not believe the error of an immortal soul at birth, which is the foundation of many other errors and the doctrine of Hell, which makes God more sadistic than any other being, to be acceptable to God.
Worshiping after the doctrines and precepts of men is not acceptable to God [Matthew 15:9]. Not in the time of Christ and not today. If something is not clearly taught in the Bible, you cannot say that something is of faith that comes by hearing [Romans 10:17; 2 Corinthians 5:7]. The truth shall make you free [John 8:32]. Can anyone who believes any of Satan's lies over God's word be made free by the truth? What you believe and teach can be a delusion and the difference in whether you live or die at the judgment if you makes God more sadistic and evil than Satan.
MAKES MODERN SPIRITUALISM POSSIBLE. The teaching, that a person is conscious after death, makes it possible and even probable that spirits can and do return to earth and speak to us. This has prepared the way for spiritualism. Satan may be using this to send his angels with lies to lead those who go to spiritualists into his way and keep them from the truth of God. If the truth, that all mankind are asleep from death to the resurrection were believed, and not the pagan doctrine, then spiritualism would not be possible. If Mary is asleep then the appearances of her ghost are the manifestations of a demon that makes many believe a lie. Satan is using spiritualism to make many believe his lie, "You shall not surely die."
MAKES SOME BELIEVE IN "AFTER DEATH EXPERIENCES," AND MAKES THEM BELIEVABLE TO MANY. If a person has a soul, which does not die when the body dies, it makes it possible for some to believe a person can come back and tell things they saw on the other side of death. The truth, that a person is "asleep" from death unto the resurrection, and has no knowledge in the grave [Ecclesiastes 9:10] makes "after death experiences" impossible and unbelievable. A person who is asleep unto the resurrection has no afterlife experiences to tell us. In the many after death experiences I have read, no two are the same.
Not to take anything away from the power of Satan in the world, or his danger to us [see 1 Peter 5:8 etc.], but by making him be an eternal being, and the eternal ruler over Hell; he is being given a power he does not have, which may add to his being worshiped by many. Some seem to think that to exist in torment with Satan over them may be better than not to exist, and they worship the one who they think will be over them. But, if they knew the truth that at death he will have no more power over them, and his end will be the same as theirs, he may not have the appeal of a being to be worshiped. Satan has had many victories, but his lie that mankind is now immortal, therefore, there is no death; and the invention of Hell maybe his biggest victories. Many preach his lies!
Unconditional immortality reduces God and all spirit beings to being nothing but "mind," to being nothing but mental thoughts with no body, no substance, just thin air nothing. Although most who believed unconditional immortality does not realize it makes God, angels, and mankind after the judgment to be nothing more than mental thoughts, but some have realized what it does to God and men. Robert Morey in "Death and The Afterlife," on page 79 says from the meaning of rephaim, when the body dies, a person enters a new kind of existence and exists as a spirit as angels and other spirits. If that were true then both men and angels would be only energy beings and would be composed only of mind or mental energy, and be capable of supradimensional activity as thought and speech without any kind of body. Although he did not mention God, he has reduced God to being nothing more than thoughts, an "energy being." According to him God and the soul of a person has no substance of any kind, they are only a disembodied mind or mental energy being. Ron Halbrook said God is an immortal spirit, without a body, Page 117, Florida College Annual Lectures, 1986. W. E. Vine says, "immaterial, invisible part of man," Vine's Complete Expository Dictionary Of Old And New Testament Words, Page 593. According to them Heaven can exist only in the mind of God; it cannot be a real place if spirits are nothing more than thoughts with no substance; a spirit, which is just mental thoughts, cannot be any more real than a dream is for it would have no more actual existence and no more substance than a dream. Not only is it this doctrine the same as the Pagan doctrine from which it came [we have an immaterial soul in us that has no body or substance], but also it makes God be the same and be nothing but thoughts. Most who believe a part of a person is now immortal have not come to the realization of where this belief takes them.
If you remain a conscious being after your body dies, have you really died?
Anything that is not taught in the Bible is not a Bible doctrine. Faith comes by hearing God's word. Can anyone who believes something not taught in the Bible truly say he or she has faith?

CHAPTER FOUR

FROM WHERE CAME HELL, FROM MAN OR GOD?
HOW DID A REAL EARTHLY VALLEY NEAR JERUSALEM
WHICH EXISTED IN THE TIME OF CHRIST
AND IS STILL TODAY CALLED BY THE NAME “GEHENNA”
BECOME A PLACE OF ETERNAL TORMENT NAMED “HELL”
WHICH IS NOT ON THIS EARTH?
How was "the wages of sin is death" changed to be “the wages of sin is an eternal life of torment for an immoral soul that is not subject to death.”
The word Hell in the King James Version is translated from four different words, three in the Greek New Testament [Gehenna, hades and Tartarus], and one in the Hebrew Old Testament [sheol].
Both sheol in the Old Testament, and hades in the New Testament mean grave, but are translated Hell in the King James Version, and Tartarus is translated Hell one time. Most other translations [American Standard Version, New American Standard Version, Revised Standard Version, New Revised Standard Version, New International Version, and others] translate only one word [Gehenna] into Hell, and only in the New Testament, not four different words, which have different meanings. The word Hell is not in the Old Testament in any of the above translations or is not in most other translations. Although this valley is mentioned frequently in the Old Testament called the valley of Hinnom even the King James Version did not translated it "Hell" as they did in the New Testament. Gehenna was a well-known valley south of Jerusalem long before it was made into a dump and it exists and has the name “Gehenna” to this day. Josiah might have made this valley into a rubbish dump [2 Kings 23:10; 2 Chronicles 28:1-4]. In the time of Christ this valley was the city dump. Most newer translations, and most all Bible students, now admit sheol, hades, and Tartarus do not mean Hell; but some still believe Gehenna should be translated Hell; this makes a detailed look at this valley as it is used in both the Old and New Testament is necessary.
GEHENNA IS THE NAME OF A VALLEY SOUTH OF JERUSALEM. IT IS A REAL GEOGRAPHICAL LOCATION, which was used in the time of Christ as the city dump of Jerusalem. In the fifties I did some work at the dump of a city about the size of Jerusalem in the time of Christ. The refuse would be put in large piles and set on fire, and all day rains could not put it out. There would have been no way for the people of Jerusalem to quench it (put out). The remains of animals were put in pits to be covered and worms (Greek, Maggots-Young, Page 1074) would get into them, and even after we put many gallons of spray in a pit, you could see the remains moving from the working of the maggots. Back in the fifties and before, cities did not have landfills; but had garbage dumps where they would put the garbage in piles and burn them. Big city garbage dumps were always burning night and day, and the smoke could sometimes be seen for miles. They were the same as Gehenna was in the time of Jesus, and were literally used for the destruction of the unwanted city garbage. Brimstone (sulfur) was added to keep the garbage burning in Gehenna, and it was always burning night and day, and those near by could see the smoke always rising. On some of the four occasions Christ used Gehenna as a metaphor those He was speaking to might have been able to see the smoke of Gehenna in the background while He was speaking. The people of Jerusalem did not have a trash pickup as we do, and had to take their own trash to Gehenna, most of those Christ was speaking to would be very familiar with the never-ending fires and worms for many would have taken their trash to it.
Albert Barnes in his commentary on Matthew 5:22 says, "The extreme loathsomeness of the place, and filth and putrefaction, the corruption of the atmosphere, and the lurid fires blazing by day and by night, made it one of the most appalling and terrific objects with which a Jew was ever acquainted."
Alexander Campbell says, "In the time of our Savior, it [Gehenna] was the place to which all the filth, and the dead bodies of animals and criminals from the city of Jerusalem, were conveyed. Here worms were ever reveling on the carcasses of the dead, and fires were ever kept burning to consume the noxious matter and to purge the air from its pestilential stench" "Five Discourses On Hell" 1848.
In the time of Jesus Gehenna was used as a place of destruction, but there was no torment in it. Those who heard Jesus would understand the use of Gehenna as a symbol of destruction, but would not have been able to look at Gehenna, their city dump, and understand how it could be used as a symbol of a place of torment for there was no torment in their city dump. When most who use the King James Version, read Hell they never understand that Christ was speaking of the city dump, for they cannot from the King James Version for the translators have completely hid this from their readers. It was mistranslated to make the readers understand Christ to be speaking of a place that is not on this earth where God will be forever tormenting immortal souls and will be even after the earth is destroyed.
A PROPER NOUN IS THE NAME OF "A PARTICULAR PERSON, PLACE, OR THING." GEHENNA IS A PROPER NOUN, THE NAME OF A WELL-KNOWN PARTICULAR PLACE NEAR JERUSALEM. TO TRANSLATE IT INTO HELL, ANOTHER PROPER NOUN, THE NAME OF A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT PARTICULAR PLACE, IS MORE THAN A BAD TRANSLATION. IT IS A DELIBERATE CHANGING. Bethlehem, Dead Sea, Gehenna, Rome, and Jericho are all proper nouns and should not be translated. Why is this the only name that is changed to another name? Proper nouns (names) are the same in most languages, and therefore, they are not translated; but Gehenna was changed, not translated, into Hell, another proper noun, the name of another particular place just because the King James translators needed to. Hell is not a translation of Gehenna in the same way that New York is not a translation of Jerusalem. Gehenna and Hell are two different proper names of two different places. From where did the King James translators get this name, and why did they want to deliberately mislead all who read their translation? This valley is used in the New Testament only when speaking to the Jews for it was not a locality that would be known to most Gentiles that did not live near Jerusalem. It was a local particular place and Gehenna would be a name known and used only to those who lived in or near Jerusalem. The names of the city dumps of most cities are not well known to any but those who live in or near that city, and those not from that city would not know or use it. Paul did not use it in any of his letters to those not at Jerusalem.
• Mistranslating Gehenna into Hell
o Is same as mistranslating New York into Jerusalem
o And the same as mistranslating Jericho into Florida
The name of this valley was not translated into Hell in the Septuagint, a translation of the Old Testament from Hebrew to Greek that was used in the time of Christ. "Hell" is not a translation but a deliberate changing of one place for another completely different place. I believe it was deliberately changed to put "Hell" in the Bible. A place has been made up that is not in the Bible; and a name given to it that is not in the Bible; if this is not adding to then what would it take to add to the Bible? That Christ used the name of a valley, which was the city dump, is completely hid from the reader of the King James Version, whether intentional or not; and they are led to believe He spoke of a different place, which has been named "Hell." The teachings of Christ have been deliberately changed. It was a geographical location on this Earth. Not somewhere under the earth or out in space. IT IS A REAL GEOGRAPHICAL LOCATION AND IN THE TIME OF CHRIST IT WAS A REAL PLACE WHERE REAL FIRES WERE CONSTANTLY KEPT BURNING SINCE IT SERVED AS AN INCINERATOR FOR THE USELESS REFUSE OF THE CITY. CHRIST USED IT AS A SYMBOL [An illustration] OF DESTRUCTION [Like the burning of the useless chaff of Luke 3:17]. GEHENNA CANNOT BE TRANSLATED OR CHANAGED INTO HELL. To say Gehenna, as used by Christ, is Hell; is to say it has no reference to the Gehenna [the city dump] near Jerusalem.
The Jews might have made the valley of Gehenna a dump because of their hatred of its misuse in Old Testament times, but the figures or symbols used by Christ [fire and maggots] came from its use in New Testament times, not its use in Old Testament times. THEY ARE SYMBOLS OF DESTRUCTION, NOT OF TORMENT. IN THE TIME OF CHRIST THERE WAS NO TORMENT, AND NO IDOL WORSHIPPED IN GEHENNA [the city dump]. CHRIST WAS NOT ALLUDING TO IDOL WORSHIP OR TORMENT BUT TO THE DESTRUCTION OF THOSE WHO REJECTED HIM. Worms [maggots] do not eat living being, but dead ones, NOT TO TORMENT THEM, BUT TO CONSUME [eat up for food], NEITHER DO MAGGOTS EAT “SOULS.” As long as there was something to burn or eat, the maggots would never die out, and the fire would not go out; but be consuming, not tormenting what was being cast in. In the time of Christ it was a place used to dispose of useless things, not to torment them. Many misuse this to show that living being will be tormented forever, and make God be doing the tormenting. LIVING VICTIMS WAS NOT PRESERVED ALIVE AND TORMENTED IN GEHENNA, BUT FIRE OR WORMS DEVOURED DEAD VICTIMS. TO MAKE IT A PLACE OF ETERNAL TORMENT IS WITHOUT ANY BASE WHATSOEVER. How and when did a valley that exists to this day get turned into Hell?
Gehenna and the Lake of Fire are often thought to be the same metaphor by many. Gehenna is a place of destruction, and the lake of fire is a place where no life as we know it could exist; they are two different symbolic pictures [Revelation 20:14]. Neither one is a symbol of an eternal life of torment. Both picture the total destruction of whatever was thrown into them.
On 11/1/2010 I found this on the web by Steven Clark Goad, church of Christ Christian Ekklesia Podcast: “In summation, isn’t it strange indeed that false teachers have taken a “real place” (Gehenna) referred to by Jesus himself as a metaphor of destruction and have changed in [? it] into another made up/fabricated “real place” (hell) where souls (spirits, living beings, whatever) will be tortured unendingly by a loving heavenly Father? If Gehenna is a metaphor of “hell” as it is traditionally taught, isn’t it a poor one, for Gehenna (the Jerusalem city dump of Jesus’ era) was a real place of destruction and consummation with no torment and no torture involved, while “hell” is a made up place of torment and torture with no destruction at all? Is this twisted thinking the height of misguided thinking?” “Thoughts on Punishment of the Wicked,” http://www.godsmessageontheweb.net/2010/07/25/thoughts-on-punishment-of-the-wicked/
UNQUENCHABLE FIRE OF GEHENNA
IMMORTAL WORMS OF GEHENNA
"UNQUENCHABLE FIRE" AND "THEIR WORM DIES NOT" AS THEY ARE USED IN THE OLD AND NEW TESTAMENTS: UTTER DESTRUCTION.
John the Baptist used "Unquenchable fire" on one occasion. He says Christ "will gather his wheat into the garner, but the chaff he will BURN UP with unquenchable fire" [Matthew 3:12; Luke 3:17]. Will this unquenchable fire forever torment the chaff, which has been burned up?
Adam Clarke, "He will burn up the chaff that is, the disobedient and rebellious Jews, with unquenchable fire that cannot be extinguished by man."
When firefighter cannot put out a burning building, they say it is an unquenchable fire, but it is not a fire that will burn forever; no one will be able to escape from it by putting it out, but it will go out when there is nothing more to burn. An unquenchable fire is one that no person can put out but it is not an eternal fire.
Unquenchable fire is used on one occasion by Christ of the burning of trash in the city dump in Mark 9:43 where He repeats it a second time in verses 48 in the American Standard Version, Revised Standard Version, New International Version. "Unquenchable fire" is repeated five times in Mark 6:43, 44, 45, 46 and 48 in the King James Version. The three times it is repeated in verses 44, 46 and 46 in the King James Version the American Standard foot note says they, “Are omitted by the best ancient Authorities.” If on the only occasion Christ used "Unquenchable fire" was repeated two times or five times what He was telling them was the same, what ever was cast into Gehenna was consumed, not tormented.
BOTH the chaff and trash are utterly destroyed by burning to get rid of something unwanted. The chaff or the trash was not tormented. Gehenna was not used in the rest of the New Testament, and neither is unquenchable fire; Paul, Peter, John, etc never used it. He used both the maggots and the fire of Gehenna as a symbol of total destruction, not to show that God will forever torment most of mankind. If this is not figurative language, will there be immortal maggots in Hell? Can earthly maggots eat an immortal soul in Hell? Most that believes in Hell make the maggots they say will be in Hell figurative maggots, not real maggots in Hell, but make the fire they say will be in Hell be literal fire. It this was true, how could they know it? Are they saying literal worms cannot eat a soul that is “immaterial, invisible” and has no earthly substance that literal worms can eat but literal fire can burn this immaterial soul that has no earthly substance?
If Gehenna’s "unquenchable fire" and "their worm dies not" are a description of the endless punishment of the wicked in "Hell," the silence of the New Testament writers would be unexplainable. (1) Acts, a history of the preaching and church for about thirty years does not mention Gehenna, unquenchable fire, or immortal maggots. (2) In none of Paul's fourteen letters, he never mentioned them. (3) Peter, John, James, and Jude are also as silent as Paul. (4) Neither can they be found in the Book of Revelation.
[1] The only occasion Christ used "unquenchable fire" in Mark 9:43 and 9:48, He was quoting from Isaiah 66:24. TO UNDERSTAND HIS WORDS, THEY MUST BE UNDERSTOOD IN THE WAY THE OLD TESTAMENT USED THEM, just as much of Revelation is to be understood by the way the same symbols are used in the Old Testament. “UNQUENCHABLE FIRE” WAS A WELL-KNOWN EXPRESSION IN THE OLD TESTAMENT AND WOULD BE UNDERSTOOD BY THOSE HEARING CHRIST. "And the strong man will become tinder, his work also a spark, thus, they shall both burn together, and there will be none to quench them" [Isaiah 1: 31]. Jeremiah warned Jerusalem of the consequence of their sins, "Then will I kindle a fire in the gates thereof, and it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem and it shall not be quenched" [Jeremiah 17:27]. His warning was fulfilled in 2 Chronicles 36:19-21. Jerusalem was destroyed with an "unquenchable fire." It consumed all, and was not quenched unto it went out when there was nothing more to consume; then the unquenchable fire went out. Jerusalem is not burning today. An unquenchable fire is not an eternal fire, but one that cannot be put out unto there is nothing to burn. Those who believe in Hell change "unquenchable" into "eternal" then move the unquenchable fire that destroyed Jerusalem from Jerusalem on this earth and put this "eternal fire" in their "Hell" which they say is not on this earth. First, they must change the fire and second; they must move the changed fire from Jerusalem to "Hell." Isaiah says, " For behold, the Lord will come in fire and His chariots like the whirlwind, to render His anger with fury, and His rebuke with the flames of fire. For the Lord will execute judgment by fire and by His sword on all flesh, and those slain by the Lord will be many...Then they shall go forth and look on the corpses [dead bodies in American Standard Version] of the men who have transgressed against me. For their [the corpses] worm shall not die, and their [the corpses] fire shall not be quenched; and they [the corpses] shall be an abhorrence to all mankind" [Isaiah 66:15-24]. The worms consumed the corpses, and the fires were not quenched unto there was no more flesh to consume or burn. IT WAS CORPSES, DEAD BODIES WHICH WERE ON THE EARTH THAT WERE BEING CONSUMED BY THE UNQUENCHABLE FIRE AND UNDYING MAGGOTS, “THOSE SLAIN BY THE LORD” (ISAIAH 66:16) NOT “THOSE TORMENTED BY THE LORD,” NOT IMMORTAL SOULS IN HELL THAT CANNOT BE SLAIN SCREAMING IN ANGUISH AND PAIN; ISAIAH 66:16; 66:24 DESCRIBES THE AFTERMATH OF A BATTLE WITH THE DEAD UNBURIED. THOSE PEOPLE BACK IN THE TIME OF ISAIAH DID NOT LOOK FROM HEAVEN DOWN INTO HELL AND SEE LIVING SOULS BEING EATEN BY MAGGOTS. IT WAS THE LIVING PEOPLE ON THIS EARTH IN THE TIME OF ISAIAH THAT WENT OUT TO THE BATTTLE FIELD AND SAW REAL DEAD BODIES ON THIS EARTH BEING EATEN AND BURNED, NOT IMMORTAL SOULS IN HEAVEN THAT "SHALL GO FORTH AND LOOK ON THE CORPSES" AND SEE LIVING SOULS THAT ARE THAT ARE BEING TORMENTED IN HELL AS WORMS AND FIRE ARE CONSUMING BUT NEVER CONSUME THEM. HOW CAN FIRE OR WORMS ETERNALLY TORMENT A DEAD BODY? It is the fire that is unquenchable and both Isaiah and Christ speak only of the maggots that being alive, not the corpses that were being burnt up or eaten, they are dead, have be slain, there is nothing said about them being alive and in torment, but today’s theology says there are both alive in being forever tormented by fire. There is not even a hint that the corpses that were in the unquenchable fire were aware of anything. For this to prove the soul is immortal they would have to be viewing disembodied immortal souls that had been "slain by the Lord" [Isaiah 66:16] but were still living after the Lord had slain these souls, not viewing dead bodies that were on this earth. It was living people viewing dead bodies that had been "slain by the Lord," not living people on this earth looking into Hell and seeing an immaterial, invisible part of a living person being tormented in Hell. WITHOUT DOUBT, THIS UNQUENCHABLE FIRE BURNING THOSE THAT HAD BEEN SLAIN BY THE LORD WAS A JUDGMENT AND PUNISHMENT ON THIS EARTH THAT HAS ENDED AND THE UNQUENCHABLE FIRE WENT OUT WHEN IT HAD DID IT’S WORK, NOT A PUNISHMENT IN HELL THAT WILL NEVER END.
• There is no mention of torment. The ungodly had been killed; it says nothing about the Lord TORMENTING them after He killed them.
• There is no mention of living souls that are being eaten by maggots and being consumed by fire. The witness sees the RESULT OF THIS DESTRUCTION (slaying). They see the CORPSES, DEAD BODIES being consumed by fire and maggots, not a living immaterial, invisible part of a person being tormented.
• They do not see them in pain and anguish, not in endless tortured for the corpses they see are dead and are on this earth, not in Hell. The dead bodies that are being eaten by maggots on this earth have been changed to living souls suffering eternal torture in Hell; it is beyond me to see how those who make such a change and still say they do not change the Bible; there is nothing about souls, eternal torment, or Hell in this passage but they add all three.
• Some believers in Hell change the Bible by transferring the qualities of the worm being undying to the dead bodies that were eating.
[2] "Therefore thus says the Lord Jehovah: Behold, mine anger and my wrath shall be poured out upon this place, upon man and upon beast, and upon the trees of the field, and upon the fruit of the ground; and it shall burn, and shall not be quenched" [Jeremiah 7:20]. It this was the Lord’s anger being poured out in Hell, it would make beasts, trees, fields, and the fruit of the ground be in Hell.
[3] Ezekiel also speaks of the destruction of Judah using the imagery of a forest burning. "And the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying, son of man, set your face toward the south, and drop your word toward the south, and prophesy against the forest to the field in the South; and say to the forest of the South, Hear the word of Jehovah: Thus says the Lord Jehovah, Behold, I will kindle a fire in you, and it shall consume every green tree in you, and it shall devour ever green tree in you, and ever dry tree; the flaming flame shall not be quenched, and all faces from the south to the north shall be burnt thereby. And all flesh shall see that I, Jehovah, have kindled it; it shall not be quenched" [Ezekiel 20:47-48].
Adam Clarke, "The forest of the south field is the city of Jerusalem; which was as full of inhabitants as the forest is of trees. I will kindle a fire, i. e., I will send war; and it shall devour ever green tree, i. e., the most eminent and substantial of the inhabitants; and every dry tree, i. e., the lowest and meanest also; it shall not be quenched, i. e., till the land be utterly ruined."
The “unquenchable fire” was God using Babylonian to destroy Israel (Ezekiel 21:19; Nehemiah 1:3). God’s judgment on Israel was unquenchable, no one could stop it, but it ended when Israel was destroyed.
[4] Isaiah describes the desolation of Edom, "For my sword has drunk its fill in heaven; behold, it shall come down upon Edom, and upon the people of my curse, to judgment...For Jehovah has a day of vengeance, a year of recompense for the cause of Zion. And the streams of Edom shall be turned into pitch, and the dust thereof into brimstone, and the land there of shall become burning pitch. It shall not be quenched night or day; and the smoke thereof shall go up forever; from generation to generation it shall lay waste; none shall pass through it forever and ever. But the pelican and the porcupine shall possess it; and the owl and the raven shall dwell therein" [Isaiah 34:6-15]. If this fire that "shall not be quenched night nor day" is the Hell that is taught today, how is it that "none shall pass through it forever and ever," is their no one that shall be in Hell but pelican, porcupine, owl, and ravens? This is clearly an earthly judgment on Edom that has long passed, not an unquenchable fire in Hell after the judgment day. After the unquenchable fire had done it’s work it went out and the land became a desert inhabited by pelicans, porcupines, owls and ravens.
[5] For more examples of God's judgments in this world being spoken of as an unquenchable fire see Isaiah 1:31; Jeremiah 17:27; 21:12; Amos 5:6; 2 Kings 22:26-17; 2 Chronicles 34:24-25.
THESE PASSAGES SHOW THAT THE WRITERS OF THE OLD TESTAMENT USED "UNQUENCHABLE FIRE" AS A FIGURE OF A JUDGMENT BY WAR AND FAMINE BOTH ON ISRAEL AND ON WICKED NATIONS WHEN THEY SINNED. When Jesus was speaking of the fire and worms of Gehenna, he was giving a description of the finality of the coming destruction of Israel who rejected Him. His audience would know the way unquenchable fire and undying worms were used in the Old Testament and would understand His use of them. They would have known that Gehenna that He was speaking of was a foul place of destruction where worthless things were disposed of, and would have known He was saying the destruction He was speaking of would be like the destruction of the garbage in Gehenna, like the destruction of Jerusalem by unquenchable fire and maggots in the Old Testament. They knew they were being threatened with complete destruction just as the trash in the city dump. Jerusalem was destroyed and burnt, and historian's say in AD 70 many dead bodies were burned and many were left unburied for the maggots. "The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, concerning Judah and Jerusalem…And the strong man will become tinder, his work also a spark, thus, they shall both burn together, and there will be none to quench them" [Isaiah 1:1-31].
“There are some 70 cases in scripture where fire is used as judgment upon wickedness…never was it used for the purpose of torture.” Curtis Dickinson, “A Place Called Gehenna”
Summary: The worm that dies not, and the unquenchable fire, as used in the Old Testament and by Christ, proves UTTER DESTRUCTION, not everlasting torment. GEHENNA IS BELIEVED BY THOSE WHO TEACH EVERLASTING TORMENT TO BE THEIR STRONG HOLD, BUT THE SYMBOLS OF MAGGOTS EATING DEAD BODIES ON THIS EARTH, AND FIRE CONSUMING UNWANTED TRASH ["dead bodies" Isaiah 66:24] ARE SYMBOLS OF DESTRUCTION, NOT SYMBOLS OF TORMENT. MANY THINK THIS IS THE STRONGEST PROOF OF EVERLASTING TORMENT IN THE BIBLE, BUT IT IS THE OTHER WAY AROUND, IT IS A STRONG PROOF THAT THE LOST WILL BE EVERLASTING DESTROYED. IT DOES NOT PROVE THAT A SADISTIC GOD WILL FOREVER TORMENT ANYONE.

THE OLD TESTAMENT HISTORY OF GEHENNA
Gehenna was first mentioned in Joshua 15:8; 18:16 although it was never called "Gehenna" in the Old Testament. Ahaz "burnt incense in the valley of the son of Hinnom, and burnt his children in the fire" [2 Chronicles 28:3; 2 Kings 16:3]. Manasseh also burnt his children in the fire in this valley [2 Chronicles 33:6].
Jeremiah 7:31-32 Children of Judah burned their sons and daughters in the fire in this valley, and Jehovah said, "And they have built the high places of Topheth, which is in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire, which I did not command, and it did not come into My mind. It shall no more be called Topheth, nor The valley of the son of Hinnom, but the valley of slaughter: for they shall bury in Topheth, till there be no place to bury. And the dead bodies of this people shall be food for the birds of the heavens, and for the beasts of the earth; and none shall frighten them away." [Note: Those who teach "Hell fire" are saying to God, "O yes it came into Your mind. You have said You are going to burn most of Your children in a fire much hotter than the fire in which they burnt their children."]
Jeremiah 19:1-15 "Thus says the Lord, Go and buy a potter's earthenware jar, and take some to the elders of the people and some of the senior priests. Then go out to the valley of Ben-hinnom, which is by the entrance of the potsherd gate; and proclaim there the words that I shall tell you, and say, Hear the word of the Lord, O kings of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem: thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, Behold I am about to bring a calamity upon this place, at which the ears of everyone that hears of it will tingle. Because they have forsaken Me and have made this an alien place and have burned sacrifices in it to other gods that neither they nor their forefathers nor the kings of Judah had ever known, and because they have filled this place with the blood of the innocent and have built the high places of Baal to burn their sons in the fire as burnt offerings to Baal, a thing which I never commanded nor spoke of, nor did it enter My mind; therefore, behold, days are coming, declares the Lord, when this place will no longer be called Topheth or the valley of Ben-hinnom, but rather the valley of Slaughter. And I shall make void the counsel of Judah and Jerusalem in this place, and I shall cause them to fall by the sword before their enemies and by the hand of those who seek their life; and I shall give over their carcasses as food for the birds of the sky and the beast of the earth. I shall also make this city a desolation and an object of hissing; everyone who passes by it will be astonished and hiss because of the disasters. And I shall make them eat the flesh of their sons and the flesh of their daughters, and they will eat one another's flesh in the siege and in the distress with which their enemies and those who seek their life will distress them. Then you are to break the jar in the sight of the men who accompany you and say to them, Thus says the Lord of hosts, Just so shall I break this people and this city, even as one breaks a potter's vessel, which cannot again be repaired; and they will bury in Topheth because there is no other place for burial. This is how I shall treat this place and its inhabitants, declares the Lord so as to make this city like Topheth. And the houses of Jerusalem and the houses of the kings of Judah will be defiled like the place Topheth, because of all the houses on whose rooftops they burned sacrifices to all the heavenly host and poured out libations to other gods. Then Jeremiah came from Topheth, where the Lord has sent him to prophesy; and he stood in the court of the Lord's house and said to all the people; thus says the Lord of host, the God of Israel, Behold, I am about to bring on this city and all its towns the entire calamity that I have declared against it, because they have stiffened their necks so as not to heed My words." Jeremiah used the valley of Gehenna to warn Israel of their destruction as a nation. Christ also used the valley of Gehenna to warn Israel of their destruction as a nation.
Many believe the angel of the Lord killed the185,000 Assyrians in this valley when they were laying siege to Jerusalem [Isaiah 37:36]. They were killed near Jerusalem and it could have been in this valley, but I can find no sure proof that it was. See Isaiah 30:31-33.
Josiah "defiled Topheth, which is in the valley of the children of Hinnom, that no man might make his son or his daughter to pass through the fire to Molech" [2 Kings 23:10]. This may be when it became the trash dump that it is in the New Testament.
It is also mentioned in Nehemiah 11:30; Jeremiah 19:2: Because of their worshiping other gods in it, God made it a place of destruction and death, not torment. Topheth [Gehenna in the New Testament] literally means a place of burning, and a place of death, "The valley of slaughter" [Jeremiah 7:31].
EVERY REFERENCE TO GEHENNA IN THE OLD TESTAMENT WAS TO A PLACE ON THIS EARTH. NOT ONE OF THEM SAYS ANYTHING ABOUT ETERNAL TORMENT AFTER THE JUDGMENT. It is admitted by all that Gehenna in the Old Testament was not a place of eternal torment, and it was not changed to "Hell" in any Old Testament passage, not even in the King James Version which is sometimes called "Hell's Bible."
Henry Thayer, "Gehenna, the name of a valley on the S. and E. of Jerusalem...The Jews so abolished the place after these horrible sacrifices had been abolished by king Josiah (2 k.xxiii, 10) that they cast into it not only all manner of refuses, but even the dead bodies of animals and unburied criminals who had been executed. And since fires were always needed to consume the dead bodies, that the air might not become tainted by the putrefaction, it came to pass that the place was called (Gehenna)." "A Greek-English Lexicon Of the New Testament" Page 111. He also said in "Theology" "Our inquiry shows that it is employed in the Old Testament in its literal or geographical sense only, as the name of the valley lying on the south of Jerusalem-that the Septuagint proves it retained this meaning as late as B. C. 150-that it is not found at all in the Apocrypha; neither of Philo, nor in Josephus, whose writings cover the very times of the Savior and the New Testament, thus leaving us without a single example of contemporary usage to determine its meaning at this period-that from A. D. 150-159, we find in two Greek authors, Justin and Clement of Alexandria, the first resident in Italy and the last in Egypt that Gehenna began to be used to designate a place of punishment after death, but not endless punishment since Clement was a believer in universal restoration-that the first time we find Gehenna used in this sense in any Jewish writing is near the beginning of the third century, in the Targum of Jonathan Ben Uzziel, two hundred years too late to be of any service in the argument-and lastly, that the New Testament usage shows that while it had not wholly lost its literal sense, it was also employed in the time of Christ as a symbol of moral corruption and wickedness; BUT MORE ESPECIALLY AS A FIGURE OF THE TERRIBLE JUDGMENTS OF GOD ON THE REBELLIOUS AND SINFUL NATION OF THE JEWS" Henry Thayer, "Theology."
Canon Farrar, "In the Old Testament it is merely the pleasant valley of Hinnom (GeHinnom), subsequently desecrated by idolatry, and especially by Moloch worship, and defiled by Josiah on this account. (See 1 Kings 11:7; 2 Kings 23:10; Jer 7:31; 19:10-14; Isa. 30:33; Tophet). Used according to Jewish tradition, as the common sewage of the city, the corpses of the worst criminals were flung into it unburied, and fires were lit to purify the contaminated air. It then became a word which secondarily implied (1) the severest judgment which a Jewish court could pass upon a criminal-the casting forth of his unburied corpse amid the fire and worms of this polluted valley; and (2) a punishment-which to the Jews a body never meant an end-less punishment beyond the grave. WHATEVER MAY BE THE MEANING OF THE ENTIRE PASSAGES IN WHICH THE WORD OCCURS, 'HELL' MUST BE A COMPLETE MISTRANSLATION, SINCE IT ATTRIBUTES TO THE TERM USED BY CHRIST A SENSE ENTIRELY DIFFERENTLY FROM THAT IN WHICH IT WAS UNDERSTOOD BY OUR LORD'S HEARERS, AND THEREFORE, ENTIRELY DIFFERENT FROM THE SENSE IN WHICH HE COULD HAVE USED IT." From the preface to "Eternal Hope."
"Gehenna, the Greek word translated hell in the common version, occurs twelve times. It is the Grecian mode of spelling the Hebrew words, which are translated, 'The Valley of Hinnom.' This valley was also called Tophet, a detestation, an abomination. Into this place were cast all kinds of filth, with the carcasses of beasts and unburied bodies of criminals, who had been executed. Continual fires were kept to consume these. Sennacherib's army of 185,000 men was slain there in one night. Here, children were burnt to death in sacrifice to Moloch. GEHENNA, THEN, AS OCCURRING IN THE NEW TESTAMENT, SYMBOLIZES DEATH AND UTTER DESTRUCTION, BUT IN NO PLACE SYMBOLIZES A PLACE OF ETERNAL TORMENT" From the Emphatic Diaglot.
George Lemasters said Gehenna is said to have been a receptacle of bones, bodies of beasts and criminals, and all unclean things. Page 265, Florida College Annual Lectures, 1975.
Ron Halbrook said Gehenna became a common refuse dump for the dead bodies of criminals, animal carcasses, and other kind of filth. Page 123, Florida College Annual Lectures 1986.
WHATEVER WAS CAST INTO GEHENNA [the city dump], IF IT WERE TRASH OR THE BODIES OF CRIMINALS WERE CAST INTO THE TRASH DUMP TO BE DESTROYED AND BOTH WERE DESTROYED, NOT TORMENTED. Trash or dead bodies cannot be tormented. Whatever was cast into Gehenna was soon consumed. THE FATE OF ISRAEL IS COMPARED TO TRASH AND DEAD BODIES THAT WERE CAST INTO THE CITY DUMP TO BE DISPOSED OF.

THE USE OF GEHENNA BY CHRIST
Gehenna was used on four occasions by Christ, and was used one time by James, the brother of the Lord [James 3:6]. The name Gehenna is in the four gospels eleven times but as the four gospels repeat the same discourses, Jesus did not really use it more than six or seven times and these were all used in only four occasions (four sermons).
• FIRST OCCASION, IN THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT. "Shall be in danger of Gehenna...your whole body be cast into Gehenna...and not your whole body go into Gehenna" Matthew 5:22, 29, 30.
• SECOND OCCASION, IN A LESSON TO THE TWELVE DISCIPLES. "Fear him who is able to destroy both soul and body in Gehenna" Matthew 10:28. "Fear him, who after he has killed has power to cast into Gehenna" Luke 12:5.
• THIRD OCCASION, IN ANOTHER LESSON TO HIS DISCIPLES. "Rather than having two eyes to be cast into Gehenna" Matthew 18:9. Also in the parallel account in Mark 9:43, 45, 47.
• FOURTH OCCASION, TO THE SCRIBES AND PHARISEES. "You make him twofold more a son of Gehenna than yourselves...How shall you escape the judgment of Gehenna" Matthew 23:15, 33.
• AND ONE TIME BY JAMES, TO THE TWELVE TRIBES. "The tongue, which defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the wheel of nature, and is set on fire by Gehenna" James 3:6.
Both Christ and James used the name of the city dump [Gehenna]. Although the translators have James using the word Hell, when James wrote this neither the English word “Hell,” nor a Greek word for "Hell" did not exist. Even in Old English Hell did not have the meaning it has in today’s English.

THE FIRST OCCASION
IN THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT
Gehenna is used 3 times in Matthew 5. Christ is teaching His disciples, who at that time were under the Law.
THE FIVE JUDGMENTS
Five judgments the disciples had heard that the Law said.
[1] THE FIRST JUDGMENT Matthew 5:21-26, "YOU HAVE HEARD that the ancients were told, 'You shall not commit murder,' and 'whoever commits murder shall be liable to the court.' But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court; and whoever shall say to his brother, 'Raca,' shall be guilty before the Supreme Court; and whoever shall say, 'You fool,' shall be guilty enough to go into the fiery hell [Greek-Gehenna of fire]" New American Standard Bible. Gehenna, the city dump of Jerusalem was always burning, day and night, 24/7.
The three crimes that were judged by the courts: All three have to do with the way they felt toward their brother, all three were judged by an earthly court. "Murder shall be liable to the court: but I say to you everyone who is,"
1. Everyone who is "Angry with his brother" guilty before THE COURT (New American Standard Version): A judgment under the Old Testament Law. "Not the final judgment of the world, but the tribunal established by the Law of Moses in each city for the trial of murders and other criminals. [See Deut. xvi. 18.] Every man slayer was tried before this tribunal, and either put to death or confined in the city of refuge." J. W. McGarvey, The New Testament Commentary, Page 53, The Standard Publishing Company, 1875.
2. Whoever "Shall say to his brother, 'Raca'" guilty before the SUPREME COURT (New American Standard Version): A judgment under the Old Testament Law. "An epithet of contempt; 'empty head'" B. W. Johnson, The People's New Testament, Gospel Light Publishing, 1889. "The council mentioned is the supreme court provided for by the Law of Moses [Deut. xvii. 8-13], and represented in the days of Jesus by the Sanhedrim." J. W. McGarvey, The New Testament Commentary, Page 54, 1875.
3. Whoever "Shall say, 'You fool'" guilty enough to go into the fiery Gehenna: This, like the first two is a Jewish judgment where the bodies of criminals that were thought to be unworthy of a burial were cast into the city dump to be burned. To whom will they say, "you fool"? Could it be anyone other than "his brother" just as the first two were? Could the difference in the sinfulness of saying to your brother "race" [empty headed] and saying to him "you fool" be enough to jump from a judgment of the Jewish court to the judgment of God at the coming of Christ? How could anyone know Christ changed from judgments under the Law to a judgment at the resurrection when there is no indication that He changed? According to the teaching of some, a person can be angry with his brother and have contempt for him and not go to Hell, but if you say, "You fool" to your brother, them you will go to Hell.
Matthew 5:23-26, A lesson on how to make your offering acceptable to God. "Agree with your adversary quickly, while you are with him in the way; lest haply the adversary deliver you to the judge, and the judge deliver you to the officer, AND YOU ARE CAST INTO PRISON. Verily I say unto you, you shall by no means come out TILL you have paid the last farthing" [Matthew 5:25-26]. "Make friends quickly with your opponent at law" New American Standard Version. WHEN IT IS PAID, THEN THE PERSON IN PRISON SHALL COME OUT. This is speaking of a judgment and punishment under the Law, not at the resurrection.
• Who is to agree with whom? It is the person charged who is to "Make friends quickly with your opponent at law" that charged him, "while you are with him in the way" [in the way to the judge].
• What will happen if there is not an agreement? "Lest haply the adversary (opponent at law) deliver you to the judge, and the judge delivers you to the officer, and you are cast into prison." Does this sound to you like the judgment at the last day and being cast into "Hell," or does this sound like an earthly opponent at law, judge, officer, and prison?
• How long will the person who is cast into prison be in the prison? "You shall by no means come out thence, TILL you have paid the last farthing." WHEN the debt for which the person was cast into prison is paid, THEN he will come out. Those who believe in Hell tell us no one will ever come out. If this were speaking of punishment after the judgment, then a limited punishment, which would end when the last farthing was paid would be taught, not an eternal Hell." [Matthew 5:26-27].
• That this use of "Gehenna" is taken completely out of the context of earthly courts and law by today's theology is beyond any doubt. This is speaking of a judgment and punishment under the Law, not at the resurrection.
• To teach "Hell' from this passage, Christ must be made to jump from judgments and punishments under the Law of Moses in verse 21-22 to the judgment and punishment at His coming in last part of verse 22 and then back to judgment and punishment under the Law in verse 25-26 without anything to show He was speaking of a different judgment and punishments. FIRST, a part of one verse must be taken out of context. SECOND, then it much be changed from Gehenna to Hell.
[2] THE SECOND JUDGMENT, "YOU HAVE HEARD that it was said, 'You shall not commit adultery'" Matthew 5:27-30 "And if your right eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out, and cast it from you: for it is profitable for you that one of your members should perish, and not your whole body be cast into hell [Greek - Gehenna]. And if your right hand causes you to stumble, cut it off, and cast it from you: for it is profitable for you that one of your members should perish, and not your whole body go into hell [Greek - Gehenna]." Jesus is saying to them that they had heard that it was said (in the Law), “You shall not commit adultery” for which they would be put to death under the Law of Moses [Leviticus 20:10] and their body cast into Gehenna.
Christ is teaching them that if there is a danger that they may look on a woman to lust after her, if their eye causes them to stumble, cut it out and cast it away. If taken literal a disfigurement of their body would have been unlawful by the Old Testament Law they were under. The lesson to them was that they were to remove anything from their lives, which would cause them to be judged unworthy to be buried and their bodies to be cast into Gehenna. Under the Law adultery had a death penalty and could cause their whole bodies to be cast into the fire and maggots in Gehenna [Leviticus 20:10-16]. The lesson to them and to us is that if something in our life that would cause us to be lost, even if it is as dear to us as our eye or hand, it needs to be cut off unless the whole body be destroyed, the removal of anything in our life that would cause us to be destroyed by God as worthless trash was destroyed in Gehenna. Christ was saying to them anything in their life; adultery or any other sin that would cause them to perish needed to be removed. THOSE THAT USE THIS TO PROVE HELL DO NOT BELIEVE THAT TO "CUT OFF" ANY PART OF THE BODY OF A LIVING PERSON WILL KEEP THAT PERSON OUT OF HELL AFTER DEATH. TO THEM THE HAND AND THE EYE ARE A LITERAL HAND OR EYE, BUT ACCORDING TO THEIR TEACHING "THE WHOLE BODY" IS NOT A BODY AT ALL BUT A FORMLESS, NO SUBSTANCE, INVISIBLE PART OF A PERSON THAT HAS NO BODY.
The loss of a hand or eye is contrasted with the lost of the whole body [of which the hand was a part] by being cast into Gehenna, not the loss of a hand being contrasted with the soul, of which the hand was NOT a part, the hand that was cut of was not the hand of the soul being cast into Hell. The "eye" and the "right hand" are a part of the "whole body." No one can cut off the hand of a soul which they say has no substance and Christ does not change from parts of the earthly body to something that most who believe in "it" says "it" has no body. No one that I know of who believes Hell is an eternal place of torment believes the human body or any part of it will be eternally tormented by God in that eternal place. In the same sentence, did Christ change from a literal physical hand to a "soul"? IF THE "WHOLE BODY" IS A FORMLESS NO SUBSTANCE SOUL, THEN THE "HAND," WHICH WAS CUT OFF THIS BODY IS A PART OF THE "WHOLE BODY," AND WOULD ALSO BE A FORMLESS NO SUBSTANCE SOMETHING THAT WE COULD NOT CUT OFF, AND IF WE COULD, THEN THE CUT OFF HAND OF AN IMMORTAL SOUL WOULD BE AS IMMORTAL AS THE REST OF THE NO SUBSTANCE FORMLESS SOUL FROM WHICH IT WAS CUT OFF. IN TODAY'S THEOLOGY NO ONE BELIEVES YOU CAN CUT OFF THE HAND OF A SPIRIT SO THAT THE REST OF THE SPIRIT WILL NOT GO TO HELL. The "whole body" that will be cast into Gehenna is the earthly body, not a spirit that will go to Hell [Gehenna], but this spirit will not go to Hell if the hand of the soul or spirit had been cut off. It is the hand that is a part of this earthly body that is to be cut off that the whole earthly body would not be cast into a real earthy valley. Today this has been changed to an invisible immortal hand that cannot die, but it is to be cut off an immortal soul that cannot die because if it is not cut off the soul that cannot die will be cast into a place of torment that is not on this earth. I have never heard anyone say what he or she thinks will happen to the cut off immortal hand that cannot die. No one that I know of believes the "soul" shall "enter into life," which he or she says is Heaven, with a cut off hand of that soul in Hell. The "soul" in Heaven but its "hand" in Hell! They don't believe that a disfigurement of the body, whether it is a self inflicted disfigurement or any other disfigurement, will be passed onto the immaterial, invisible part of a person in Heaven. Neither do they believe any person has the power to cut of any part of his soul. Most that believe in "Hell" make this cutting off the hand be figurative language meaning to remove anything from our lives that will cause us to sin, but they want to take just this one word in the sentence be literal. They must first mistranslate "Gehenna" into "Hell" and then make just this one word out of context and make it be literal. Gehenna must be changed to Hell and be literal, but the cutting off the hand that is cast into Hell cannot be literal.
"Though his followers were called to suffer the loss of all things; though the hand of persecution might be raised against kindred and friends, yet, better to enter into life thus maimed, than to cling to those friends and share with them the judgments of God, figuratively represented by Gehenna fire. Jesus required his disciples to forsake all for him. He said: 'Whoso loves father or mother more than me, is not worthy of me.' Those who loved ease and fame and popularity more than him and his unpopular cause were not worthy of him. As though Jesus has said: 'In embracing my cause, now unpopular, now scorned and rejected by the world, the chief priests and rulers, you may be called upon to part with something dear to you as a member of your body; some dear friend may turn coldly from you and forsake you; it may be like severing a limb from the body; like cutting off a hand, or plucking out an eye; yet, better to enter into life thus maimed; better to cherish the hope of everlasting life at this great sacrifice, than to reject the truth, and remain in a state of unbelief and moral blindness'" D. P. Livermore, "Endless Punishment" Page 49, 1864.
"Perish" must be changed to mean, "preserve." God's word says He will destroy the soul, but many change this and make it say God will not let the soul perish but will preserve it forever. There seems to be no end to the changes they are willing to make. "Destroy the body and soul" must be changed to "preserve the soul but destroy the body."
A dead body part or a whole dead body being cast into the city dump [Gehenna] to be destroyed by fire or worms is not a picture of a living immortal soul being tormented forever in some place other then Gehenna. There is no suggestion of eternal torment in this. THERE IS NOTHING, NOT ONE WORD ABOUT AN IMMORTAL SOUL OR AN IMMORTAL SPIRIT IN THIS PASSAGE. It was their "whole body" that would be cast into Gehenna; nothing is said about an immaterial, invisible part of a person that will be cast into "Hell, nothing about eternal torment." INSTEAD OF SAYING THAT IMMORTAL SOULS WILL BURN FOREVER IN GEHENNA IT SAYS THE BODY WILL BE DESTROYED IN GEHENNA. Nothing is said about an immaterial part of a person in Matthew 5:22, 29 or 30. "Soul" is not in Matthew 5. IT HAS BEEN CHANGED AND PREACHED TODAY THAT THE "SOUL" WILL BE CAST INTO "HELL," NOT THE WHOLE BODY CAST INTO THE GEHENNA THOSE HEARING CHRIST WOULD KNOW ABOUT. THIS PASSAGE IS ONE OF THE MOST USED PASSAGE TO PROVE A PERSON HAS IN IMMATERIAL PART THAT WILL BE IN AN ETERNAL PLACE OF TORMENT, BUT NEITHER (1) A IMMATERIAL PART OF A PERSON (2) OR A PLACE OF ETERNAL TORMENT IS IN IT. EVERYTHING THAT CHRIST SAID IS CHANGED AND THAT BY THOSE THAT SAY THEY DO NOT CHANGE THE BIBLE.
[3] The third, "You have heard you shall not forswear yourself" [Matthew 5:33].
[4] The fourth, "You have heard…an eye for an eye” [Matthew 5:38].
[5] The fifth, "You have heard…love your neighbor” [Matthew 5:43].
All five of the "you have heard" are about judgments of the Old Testament Law that had punishment in this life, not about things in the life after the resurrection and judgment. BEING CAST INTO GEHENNA IS AN EARTHLY JUDGMENT THAT IS IN THE SAME CONTEXT WITH OTHER EARTHLY JUDGMENTS. This is the first time Christ used the term Gehenna; if He had used it to teach endless torment, He said nothing that those hearing Him, or those who read His words today, could know He was speaking of anything more than an earthly judgment; there is absolutely no indication He was speaking of eternal torment of a “soul.”

THE SECOND OCCASION
IN A LESSON TO THE TWELVE DISCIPLES
"FEAR HIM, WHO AFTER HE HAS KILLED HAS POWER TO CAST INTO GEHENNA" Luke 12:4-5; GOD IS ABLE TO DESTROY BOTH SOUL AND BODY IN GEHENNA Matthew 10:28. This was spoken to the twelve apostles when they were sent forth to preach, "The kingdom of heaven is at hand" [Matthew 10:1-28]. He was persecuted, and they would be, but they were to "Fear them not." "But I will warn you whom you shall fear: fear him, who AFTER HE HAS KILLED has power to cast into Gehenna" [Luke 12:4-5]. "AFTER HE HAS KILLED" must be changed to "ALIVE BUT SEPARATED FROM GOD" to fit today's teaching for an immortal soul cannot be killed and this passage must be changed to teach an immortal soul that cannot be killed is alive and tormented in "Hell." After all, they cannot have God killing an immortal soul that cannot be killed before He cast it alive into "Hell" could they?
Man can destroy the life we now have, but God alone is able to destroy [Apollumi] both soul [life-psukee] and body in Gehenna "AFTER HE HAS KILLED." To prove Hell, many have this earthly body tormented in Hell after the Judgment Day. If both the body and soul are destroyed in Gehenna proves an immortal "immaterial, invisible part of man" [W. E. Vine] that cannot die will be tormented in Hell, then it also proves the earthy body will be tormented in Hell. IF THE "IMMATERIAL, INVISIBLE PART OF MAN" CANNOT DIE BECAUSE IT IS IMMORTAL FROM BIRTH, GOD COULD DO NO MORE THAN A MAN. HE COULD ONLY DESTROY [KILL] THE BODY, BUT NOT THE IMMORTAL "IMMATERIAL, INVISIBLE PART OF MAN" THAT CANNOT DIE AND CANNOT BE DESTROYED. Was Jesus telling the twelve apostles not to fear God? He was if the soul [psukee] is immortal from birth and cannot be killed. Does it mean what it says, or does "destroy," mean to "torment forever," as today's theology interprets and demands? If it were as is taught today that destroy means torment, and Gehenna means Hell, then they have God tormenting both this body of flesh and the "soul" in Hell forever, which is more than they want it to say, but when they change Gehenna to "Hell," this passage teaches something that even those who make the change do not believe. Will this earthly body be in "Hell" and be immortal? If it is to be tormented forever in "Hell," then the earthly body is as immortal as the soul is. When a person has killed the body, he can do no more. At the worse, a person can only take a few years of life from you, but there will be a resurrection and God can take an eternity of life from you.
God has the power to kill, or the power to torment (if He was that kind of a God, a fiendish and sadistic God); but we must look to the Bible to know what He will do and not look to theology. A man can only take this life from you, and then can do no more, and most of the twelve Christ was speaking to were soon killed by men who could do no more, but there will be a resurrection of all they kill. God can DESTROY this life, and then DESTROY the resurrected life after the judgment. There is a second death for those not in Christ.
Apollumi is used 95 times in the New Testament. . Matthew 10:28 is the only time it is used of the soul and it says God is able to kill [apollumi] the soul just as the body is killed in the other passages. Those who believe we have a soul that cannot die must deny this plain statement made by Christ. In the King James Version the other 94 times it is the body that is destroyed (the end of life of the body) or things (such as bottles, meat, gold, Matthew 9:27; John 6:27; 1 Peter 1:7; etc.) that are. It is translated destroy, destroyed, perish, lose, lost, and die.
• In the Greek it is not “soul" but "psukee" (life) that God can and will destroy.
• The saved will never perish (apollumi) [John 10:28].
• The lost will perish (apollumi) [1 Corinthians 1:18].
• Anyone can perish (apollumi) by drowning [Mark 4:38; Matthew 8:25]. When apollumi is applied to persons whether in this life or at the judgment it is life that is destroyed, not living forever being tormented by God and cannot perish.
Men did kill the bodies of many disciples and Christ warned that they would be killed, but this has no effect on their or their ultimate existence. Death is but a brief sleep, which will be as if it were only a moment from death unto the resurrection. [Deuteronomy 31:16; 2 Samuel 7:12; 1 Kings 1:21; Job 7:21; 14:12; Psalms 13:31 Jeremiah 51:39, 57; 1 Kings 2:10; 11:21, 43; 14:20, 31; 15:8, 24; 16:6, 28; 22:40, 50; 2 Kings 8:24; 10:35; 13:9, 13; 14:16, 22, 29; 15:7, 22, 38; 16:20; 20:21; 21:18; 24:6; 2 Chronicles 9:31; 12:16; 14:1; 16:13; 21:1; 26:2, 23; 27:9; 28:27; 32:33; 33:20; Job 3:13; Isaiah 26:19; Matthew 9:24; 25:5; 27:52; Mark 5:39; Luke 8:52; John 11:11-14; Acts 7:60; 13:36; 1 Corinthians 15:6, 18, 20, 51; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-15; 5:10; 2 Peter 3:4]. There will be a resurrection, and in the ultimate eternal sense, man cannot kill the soul-life [psukee]. God can destroy and make our memory to perish [Deuteronomy 32:39; 1 Samuel 2:6; Ecclesiastes 9:4-6; Psalms 31:12; 88:5; Isaiah 26:14; Ecclesiastes 9:10; Matthew 10:28; Luke 12:5; Romans 6:23]. If death does not indicate unconsciousness, then the analogy of sleep, which is used throughout the Bible, is meaningless for the dead are not asleep. It is more than just meaningless, being asleep when they are awake in Heaven or Hell would be an outright lie that is repeated frequently.
The second death is never called a sleep because there will be no waking up or resurrection from it.
Many believe that the destroying spoken of in Matthew 10:28 is to be after the resurrection, but just do not agree on if destroy really means destroy or if destroy mean an everlasting life with punishment. IT IS CLEARLY SAID THAT THE DESTROYING IN THIS PASSAGE IS IN GEHENNA, WHICH IS A PLACE ON THIS EARTH, however, if the destroying were after the judgment, even then it would not prove no one could be destroyed, therefore, destroy must be changed to torment. "Fear him who is able to destroy" if it is as many believe this destroying to be at death, or as others believe the destroying is to be after the judgment, this passage clearly says God is able to destroy the psukee [life-soul]. I know many who have a gun but there is no point to fear someone because he has a gun and could kill you if you know he never will. There would be no point to fear God because he has the power and could destroy you, but you know he never will. Jesus is not just making an idle threat. GOD IS TO BE FEARED BECAUSE HE WILL DESTROY. The fear is not of the fact that He can, but on the fact that He will destroy, on the certainty that He will destroy. IF THERE IS AN "IMMATERIAL, INVISIBLE PART OF MAN" THAT IS IMMORTAL AND CAN NEVER DIE, THEN GOD CANNOT KILL IT AND CHRIST IS SAYING DO NOT FEAR GOD FOR HE CANNOT KILL THE IMMATERIAL, INVISIBLE PART OF A PERSON. If a person kills us, God will raise us at the judgment. Those whom God will destroy will be destroyed forever with no hope of a resurrection to life. God is able to destroy both body and soul is changed to: God is able to preserve both body and soul. Without this change there would be no way to put "Hell" in this passage, and without it there would be no way to put the "soul" in "Hell" without also putting the body in "Hell"; but most important, without changing this passage, there would be no way to keep the soul that many say, "cannot be destroyed" from being destroyed.
EITHER WAY:
• IF THIS IS SPEAKING OF DESTROYING IN GEHENNA
• OR IF THIS IS SPEAKING OF GOD DESTROYING AFTER THE JUDGMENT.
1. There is nothing said about a person now having an immortal soul that cannot be destroyed.
2. Or about God tormenting anyone after the Judgment is over. Noting about torment anyone at any time, neither in Gehenna nor after the Judgment.
3. If the destroying is in Gehenna or if the destroying is at the Judgment, the destroying cannot be moved to after the Judgment is over and them the place is changed from destroying in Gehenna to eternal life in Hell.
If the words "immortal soul" were substituted for "soul" and "life," it would be absurd. "But are not able to kill the immortal soul [life-psukee]: but fear him who is able to destroy both immortal soul [life-psukee] and body in Hell [Gehenna]...He that finds his immortal soul [life-psukee] shall lose his immortal soul [life-psukee]; and he that loses his immortal soul for my sake shall find his immortal soul " [Matthew 10:28-39]. In using this to prove that a person has an immortal soul, which cannot be destroyed, they prove that it can be. If psukee were an immortal soul, then God would be able to destroy this immortal soul. THERE IS NO STRONGER WAY IN WHICH TO SAY GOD CAN AND WILL DESTROY IT. He is to be feared by those of the world because He will. There would be no reason to fear Him if He could not, or if He will not destroy the psukee [soul or life]. I FIND IT STRANGE THAT ONE OF THE MOST USED PASSAGES TO PROVE THERE IS AN "IMMATERIAL, INVISIBLE PART OF MAN" THAT CANNOT BE DESTROYED SAYS GOD CAN DESTROY IT; BUT, NO STRANGER THEN THE USE OF DEATH TO MEAN AN ETERNAL LIFE OF TORMENT WITH GOD DOING THE TORMENTING. By saying black is white you can prove anything.
The point some are trying to make from God being "able to destroy" is that there is life after death, an immortal soul that cannot be destroyed, which this does not prove. At the resurrection there will be life that GOD CAN DESTROY, not that there is an immortal soul that God cannot destroy. IT SAYS NOTHING ABOUT AN "IMMATERIAL, INVISIBLE PART OF MAN" THAT IS ALIVE BEFORE THE RESURRECTION THAT CANNOT BE DESTROYED. It does not say there will be any life from death unto the resurrection. That there will be a resurrection is taught through out the New Testament, but if all are alive when Christ comes, there cannot be a resurrection of those that are not dead. GOD CAN DESTROY THE LIFE NOW IS AND THE LIFE THAT WILL BE AFTER THE RESURRECTION. He is to be feared by the lost because He will destroy the life they will have after the resurrection.
PROVES MORE THAN THE ADVOCATE'S OF AN IMMORTAL SOUL WANT TO PROVE. Matthew 10:28 proves more than they believe and more them they want to prove, for they do not believe this earthly body will be tormented in "Hell" or that the "immaterial, invisible part of man" will be destroyed. But, to prove their Hell, they make destroy be just a loss of well being, but still alive and being tormented in Hell. If the immaterial, invisible part of a person is not destroyed, but just lost its well being, then the earthly body is not destroyed, but has just lost its well being. The same thing happens to both the body and the immaterial, invisible part of a person, therefore, if destroy means one is tormented, not destroyed, then destroy means the earthly body will be tormented in Hell just as the soul will.
“Fear him who is able to destroy BOTH soul and body in hell [Gehenna].”
• What ever happens to the soul [psukee] also happens to the body.
• What ever happens to the body also happens to the soul [psukee].
The word "destroy" is from apollumi. Christ is speaking of a soul [life-psukee] whose destruction is expressed by the same Greek word, apollumi, as is the destruction of the body. Whatever you believe the "soul" to be, it is shown to be as destructible as the body is. WHAT GOD CREATED, GOD CAN DESTROY.
The advocate's of an immortal soul say, "destroy,” [apollumi] means "torment." If this is true, "torment" should be used in place of "destroy" in all places. Try it. The same is true when apollumi is made to mean "a loss of well-being."
• "The young child to torment [apollumi] him" Matthew 2:13. "The young child to a loss of well-being [apollumi] him"
• "One of your members should torment [apollumi]" "One of your members should a loss of well-being [apollumi]" Matthew 5:29
• "Lord, save us, we torment [apollumi]" Matthew 8:25
• "And the bottles tormented [apollumi]" Matthew 9:17
• "That finds his life shall torment [apollumi] it" Matthew 10:39
• "One of these little one should torment [apollumi]" Matthew 18:14
• "If she torment [apollumi] one piece" Luke 15:14
• "Flood came and tormented [apollumi] them all" Luke 17:27
• "Torment [apollumi] not him with your meat" Romans 14:15
• "I will torment [apollumi] the wisdom of the wise" 1 Corinthians 1:19
• "Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good, or to do harm? To save a life, or to torment [apollumi] it" [Luke 6:9]. In the parallel passage Mark used "kill," not apollumi. "To save a life, or to kill [apokteino]" [Mark 3:4]. Those who say to destroy means a lost of well being, not death, will have a little trouble saying Mark's "kill" does not mean death. Mark and Luke make destroy [apollumi] and kill [apokteino] both means the same thing, both means death; not eternal life with a lost of well being.
• Many more. See Wigram Englishman's Greek Concordance Page 74 for a long list of passages where destroy could not mean a lost of well being. Just as they only want death to be "separation" or "a lost of well being" part of the time [See chapter two, "Life or Death"]. Apollumi is only wanted to be "a lost of well being" or an eternal life of torment part of the time. Only when they need them to be translated separation and torment, only when it would destroy the immortal soul doctrine of it were not changed. As translated in the King James Version, both words destroy the doctrine of an immortal soul from birth. They must use their theology meaning to save it. Destroy does not mean to torment forever in any dictionary. Note: By "lost of well being" they really mean, "God will forever be tormenting them."
"Destroy both body and soul [psukee]" God will destroy both body and soul [psukee, life, living creature] just as certain as the garbage of Jerusalem was consumed by the fire. When Jesus says that God can destroy the body and soul in Gehenna, it is the whole being of man, not just his "well being." THERE IS NO GROUND FOR THE TRADITIONAL VIEW OF AN IMMORTAL SOUL THAT CANNOT BE DESTROYED IN THIS PASSAGE OR ANY OTHER PASSAGE, BUT THERE IS GROUND FOR THE WHOLE OF MAN, BODY AND SOUL [life-psukee], BEING DESTROYED IN THIS AND MANY OTHER PASSAGES.
JESUS USED BOTH KILL AND DESTROY, BUT SAID NOTHING ABOUT TORMENT. Theology must be used to make destroy mean torment for if the words kill and destroy is not changed to mean torment, there would be no living "souls" to be tormented in Hell, therefore, no Hell.
Christ speaks of being destroyed in Gehenna but never says anything about Gehenna being eternal or about torment in Gehenna, but those who change Gehenna into Hell add both eternal life and torment to Gehenna. To have the "Hell" that is taught today, Gehenna must first changed from a place of desertion to a place of torment, then it must be moved, them the place that have been changed and moved must be added to. Most who believes in Hell do not believe the flesh and blood "body" will be tormented, but, it is clear that whatever happens to the "body" also happens to the "soul." If one is killed, both are killed, if one is tormented, both are tormented. IF GOD IS ABLE TO KILL OR DESTROY BOTH BODY AND SOUL, NEITHER ONE COULD BE IMMORTAL.
FROM THE SAME LESSON (God is able to destroy) TO HIS DISCIPLES Lose his life [Greek soul-psukee] must be changed to mean an everlasting life of torment that can never be lost [Matthew 10:39].
"He who finds his life [soul-psukee] shall lose it." The person who saves his life [psukee] by denying Christ will lose his life at the judgment. He who finds his life is one who puts this life ahead of Christ, but he will "lose it" at the judgment, not have an everlasting life with torment. (1) "The wages of sin is death" [Romans 6:23] (2) "A certain fearful expectation of judgment, and a fierceness of fire which shall devour the adversaries" [Hebrews 10:27]. (3) "The day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men" [2 Peter 3:7]. "And forfeit his life" [soul-psukee] [Mark 8:36]. "And lose himself" [Luke 9:25] Luke used the pronoun "himself" in the place of "psukee - life" that Matthew used making “life” [soul-psukee]“himself” be the same thing. It is the “life” of the person that will be lost or saved, not just an inter invisible part of the person that has no substance, not just something inside of a person that no one can tell us what it really is. The teaching today is that this no substance part of the person will not really be lost, but will just change its address to Heaven to Hell. Life [psukee] is the same word that is translated soul 58 times, and is the only word that is translated soul in the New Testament. An immortal soul had to be put in the Bible, but to do so, the translators had to throw away the whole person we now are to make only an immaterial, invisible part of a person be immortal, and only this "invisible part of man" will have eternal life in Heaven. Those who are lost will lose the same thing that those who are saved will save-LIFE [their psukee]. Many are saying, "Not so Lord, they 'shall not lose it,' for the 'immaterial, invisible part of a man' shall have eternal life in Hell"; if this is not what they say, than what are they saying? It is LIFE that is being spoken of as being saved or lost, nothing more, not an immortal soul that can never lose its life being saved from eternal torment by God. There is not a word said about Hell or an immortal, immaterial, invisible part of a person. THOSE WHO DO NOT OBEY CHRIST SHALL LOSE THE VERY THING THAT IS SAVED BY THOSE WHO DO OBEY HIM-LIFE; THE LOST SHALL DIE AND THE SAVED SHALL LIVE. "But the righteous shall go into eternal life" [Matthew 25:46]. "In Christ all shall be made alive" [1 Corinthians 15:22].
"He who loses his life [soul-psukee] shall find it." How could Christ have said it any clearer that the person that loses his life [soul-psukee], his earthly life because he is a Christian and will not deny Christ will find life at the judgment? If "lose his life" [soul-psukee] is to lose his life [soul-psukee] for being a Christian, them "lose his life [soul-psukee]" cannot be to have an everlasting life with torment that cannot be lost.
The same thing that is saved is the same thing that will be lost.
• The person who saves his life by denying Christ.
• Will lose the same thing, his life at the judgment.
o It is not the soul that is saved by denying Christ but life on earth.
o It is not the soul that will be lost at the judgment but life in Heaven.
• John 12:25 says the same, "He that loves his life [soul-psukee] shall lose it; and he that hates his life [soul-psukee] in this world, shall keep it unto life eternal."
When save and lose in Matthew 10:39 are applied to an immaterial soul that cannot die as it is used in today's theology it makes nonsense.
• To save ones soul means to save it from Hell-according to today's theology.
• To lose ones soul means to go to Hell forever according to today's theology. When "shall lose it" is made mean going to Hell then "lose his life [soul-psukee]" for Christ mean gong to Hell for Christ.
• “He that finds his soul [saves his soul-psukee from Hell according to today’s theology] shall lose it [shall lose his soul in Hell-losing one's soul in today's theology is to go to Hell] and he that loses his soul for my sake [he that goes to Hell for my sake] shall find it [shall save his soul from Hell]." Today's theology makes utter nonsense of the Bible.
Life and death and finding life and losing life are the same thing. Death and losing life are not an everlasting life of torment separated from God. (1) "He that finds his life shall lose it," by some kind of magic charm losing life is turns into eternal life in Hell that can never be lost. "Shall lose it (his life)" is made to mean an ETERNAL LIFE of torment in Hell. How could anyone know this? What dictionary is being used? How can losing life mean eternal life in Hell!!! (2) "He that loses his life for my sake shall find it." Losing the life of the body - being put to death for believing in Christ, also by some kind of magic is turned into eternal life for an "immaterial, invisible part of man" at death before the resurrection. Their magic makes the resurrection useless for they say eternal life is given to all at birth and none can lose it, therefore, Christ cannot give us life. He can only give a reward for being good and can only punish for being bad. TO MAKE PSUKEE BE AN "IMMATERIAL INVISIBLE, IMMORTAL PART OF MAN" THAT CANNOT DIE MAKES IT BE NONSENSE. No doctrine of the Bible is more plain than the loss of life in this passage is the lost of our earthly life because of being faithful to Christ, not eternal life with torment for the sinner; finding life is to find eternal life at the resurrection, and the person that saves his earthly life [psukee] by denying Christ will lose his life at the judgment.
"For whosoever would save his life [soul-psukee] shall lose it: and whosoever shall lose his life [soul-psukee] for my sake shall find it. For what shall a man be profited, if he shall gain the whole world [become very rich in this life], and forfeit his life [soul-psukee]? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his life [soul-psukee]?" [Matthew 16:25-26 American Standard Version].
• Mark 8:35-36 "For whosoever would save his life [soul-psukee] shall lose it; and whosoever shall lose his life [soul-psukee] for my sake and the gospel's shall save it. For what do it profit a man, to gain the whole world, and forfeit his life [soul-psukee]? For what should a man give in exchange for his life [soul-psukee]?"
• Luke 9:24-25"For whosoever would save his life [soul-psukee] shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life [soul-psukee] for my sake, the same shall save it. For what is a man profited, if he gain the whole world, and lost of forfeit his own self?"
"He that finds his life [soul-psukee] shall lose it; and he that loses his life [soul-psukee] for my sake shall find it" [Matthew 19:39].
• Luke 17:33"Whosoever shall seek to gain his life [soul-psukee] shall lose it: but whosoever shall lose his life [soul-psukee] shall preserve it"
"He that loves his life [soul-psukee] loses it; and he that hates his life [soul-psukee] in this world shall keep it unto life eternal" [John 12:25].

THE THIRD OCCASION
IN ANOTHER LESSON TO HIS DISCIPLES
This was a different discourse than Matthew 5:29-30 above, but He was teaching the same thing. See the notes on the first occasion above. Matthew 18:9 "And if your eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out, and cast it from you: it is good for you to enter into life with one eye, rather than having two eyes to be cast into the hell [Greek-Gehenna] of fire." Mark 9:43, 45, 47 "And if your hand cause you to stumble, cut it off: it is good for you to enter into life maimed, rather then having your two hands to go into hell [Greek-Gehenna], into the unquenchable fire. And if your foot cause you to stumble, cut it off; it is good for you to enter into life halt, rather then having your two feet to be cast into hell [Greek-Gehenna]. And if your eye cause you to stumble, cast it out; it is good for you to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye, rather than having two eyes to be cast into hell [Greek-Gehenna] where their worm dies not, the fire is not quenched" "Where their worm dies not, the fire is not quenched" is in Mark 9:44, 46, and 48 in some translations. The footnote in the American Standard Version says, "Verses 44 and 46 (which are identical with verse 48) are omitted by the best ancient authorities." I AM AWARE OF NO ONE BELIEVES THE HUMAN BODY IS GOING TO BE CAST IN “HELL” AND BE TOREMTED, YET THIS PASSAGE ABOUT THE HUMAN BODY BEING CAST INTO THE VALLEY OF GEHENNA IS OFTEN USED TO PROVE THE “SOUL” WILL BE ETERNALITY TORMENTED. "Where their worm dies not, the fire is not quenched" is a direct quotation from Isaiah 66:23-24 where it is speaking of dead bodies on this earth being burned with fire and eaten by worms just as anything that was cast into Gehenna was burned with fire and eaten by worms. Gehenna, a place on this earth, has been changed to Hell, a place not on this earth; and no one can give a Bible passage that tells of a place called "Hell." “It is better for you to enter life crippled” [Mark 9:43], what “life” is Christ speaking of, this life “crippled,” or life in Heaven “crippled”? If Christ were speaking of Heaven, unless it is possible to be crippled with only one foot and one eye in Heaven this passage would make no sense. Do unconditional immoralists believe Christ is saying it is better for an immortal soul to enter life in Heaven a “crippled” soul; “it is good for you to enter into life halt, rather then having your two feet to be cast into hell [Greek-Gehenna]”? If Christ were speaking of immortal souls entering life in Heaven or being cast into Hell, would there be any way to say there will not be crippled souls in Heaven? These are symbolic words teaching that if there is anything in our lives that would be in the way of entering into the kingdom of Heaven we need to remove them; a person who uses drugs needs to repent, a person who is a thief needs to repent.

THE FOURTH OCCASION
IN A SERMON TO THE SCRIBES AND PHARISEES
Gehenna is used two times in a sermon to the Scribes and Pharisees warning them of God's rejection of Israel. In Matthew 23 and 24 Christ speaks of the destruction of Israel. "All these things shall come upon this generation" [Matthew 23:36]. The context of these two uses of Gehenna are clearly an in time judgment of Israel, a judgment that has now passed, not of anything that will be after the judgment at the coming of Christ. THEY HAVE NO REFERENCE TO "HELL." The "damnation of Hell" as it is preached today did not come on that "generation," but the judgment and destruction of Israel did. "Damnation" is from krisis which means judgment, not damnation as it is mistranslated in the King James Version, the "judgment of Gehenna," not the "damnation of Hell."
ISRAEL THE WICKED HUSBANDMEN Matthew 21:33-46: Before looking at this use of Gehenna it may help understand it to first look at the parable of the wicked husbandman that comes just before it and is a part of the same sermon spoken to the Scribes and Pharisees. "When; therefore, the lord of the vineyard shall come, what will he do unto these husbandman? They say unto him, HE WILL MISERABLY DESTROY THESE MISERABLE MEN, AND WILL LET OUT THE VINEYARD UNTO OTHER HUSBANDMEN, who will render him the fruits in their seasons. Jesus said unto them, did you never read in the scriptures, the stone, which the builders rejected, the same was made the head of the corner; this was from the Lord, and it is marvelous in our eyes? THEREFORE SAY I UNTO YOU, THE KINGDOM OF GOD SHALL BE TAKEN AWAY FROM YOU, AND SHALL BE GIVEN TO A NATION BRINGING FORTH THE FRUITS THEREOF. And he who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; but on whomever it falls, it will scatter him like dust. AND WHEN THE CHIEF PRIESTS AND PHARISEES HEARD HIS PARABLES, THEY UNDERSTOOD THAT HE WAS SPEAKING ABOUT THEM." How is it that today most do not understand these parables to be about Israel? Many parables deal with the rejection of Christ by Israel and its destruction. See chapter 8, part 1, and part 2.
[1] SON OF GEHENNA: Matthew 23:15 "Woe unto you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you compass sea and land to make one proselyte; and when he is become so, you make him twofold more a son of hell [Greek-Gehenna] then yourselves." In speaking to the Pharisees, Christ said, "For you are like unto whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but inwardly are full of dead man's bones, and of all uncleanness" [Matthew 23:27]. The Scribes and Pharisees made their proselytes twofold more a son of Gehenna than them selves [Matthew 23:15]. A place cannot give birth to a person. No one, not even those who believe in Hell believe Hell is literally the father or mother of anyone. To call a person a son of a place is not to say that place is literally the person’s mother, but is to say a part of his or her character is similar to the place. Gehenna was a place of filth and uncleanness. To use the metaphors "son of Gehenna" is to say they were unclean like the filthy city dump. To be a "son of Gehenna" means to be like Gehenna and the things in it: to be filthy and contemptible fit only to be destroyed. The proselytes were made twofold more unclean then the Pharisees. Because Gehenna does not literally have sons, this is a figure of speech and not intended to be taken literally not in this life or after death. James and John are called "sons of thunder" [Mark 3:17]. Thunder did not give birth to them, but a part of their character is similar to thunder. "And if a son of peace be there" [Luke 10:6], "Son of exhortation" [Acts 4:36], "Sons of disobedience" [Ephesians 2:2], "The son of destruction" [2 Thessalonians 2:3].
"The child of anything in Hebrew phraseology expressed the idea of special property which one has in the thing specified, as, for instance, children of disobedience [Eph. ii. 2]" J W McGarvey, Matthew 8:11, The Fourfold Gospel, Standard Publishing Company, 1914.
This metaphor is taken from the filth and uncleanness of Gehenna. Although this passage is repeatedly used to prove eternal torment after death, there is nothing about any torment in it, not in this lifetime or after death.
In the same address to the Scribes and Pharisees Christ gives two more examples of their uncleanness.
1. They washed the outside of the cup to make it clean "but within they are full from extortion and excess. You blind Pharisee, cleanse first the inside of the cup and of the platter, that the outside thereof may become clean also" [Matthew 23:25-26].
2. They were like whitewashed graves "which appear beautiful, but inwardly are full of dead man's bones, and all uncleanness. Even so you also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and iniquity" [Matthew 23:27-28]. Matthew 23:13-39 is a list of seven woes to the Scribes and Pharisees. "Twofold more a son of Gehenna"
Matthew 23:15 is the second of the seven woes on the Scribes and Pharisees [Matthew 23:13-39].
1. Shut the kingdom of heaven against men and enter not in [Matthew 23:13-14].
2. Made their proselytes twofold more a son of Gehenna than them selves [Matthew 23:15].
3. To swear by the temple is nothing [Matthew 23:16-22].
4. Left undone the weightier matters [Matthew 23: 23-24].
5. Within they are full of hypocrisy and iniquity, cleaned only the outside of the cup [Matthew 23:25-26].
6. Are whitewashed tombs full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness [Matthew 23:17-28].
7. Are sons and partakers with their fathers that slew the prophets. "How shall you escape the judgment of Gehenna"? [Matthew 23:29-39].
[2] JUDGMENT OF GEHENNA: Matthew 23:33-36 "Fill you up then the measure of your fathers. You serpents, you offspring of vipers, how shall you escape the judgment of hell [Greek-Gehenna]? Therefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and Scribes: some of them shall you kill and crucify; and some of them shall you scourge in your synagogues, and persecute from city to city: that upon you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of Abel the righteous unto the blood of Zechariah son of Barachiah, whom you slew between the sanctuary and the altar. Verily I say unto you, all these things shall come upon this generation." Christ had just told the Scribes and Pharisees they made their proselytes more a "SON of Gehenna" more unclean than themselves; then He calls them "offspring [SONS of] vipers," and "all these things (all the righteous blood from Abel to Zechariah) shall come upon this generation." Matthew 23 is a discourse about the Scribes and the Pharisees; many take one word of this discourse out of it context, and then changed this one noun to another noun, which is not in the Bible.
The Scribes and Pharisees knew the law, but did not keep it. Outwardly they were as beautiful as white sepulchers, but inwardly were full of dead man's bones. They would not escape the judgment to come. "Verily I say unto you, all these things SHALL COME UPON THIS GENERATION" [Matthew 23:36]. Matthew 24 is a discourse to His disciples about the destruction of Israel of which He had spoken of to the Pharisees in the chapter before. That generation would not escape the judgment of Gehenna. It came in A. D. 70 when some historians say Gehenna was filled with the dead bodies of Jews from the destruction of Jerusalem [See Jeremiah 19]. To the Jews, to be left unburied, to be judged as not being fit to be buried and thrown into the city dump just as they were doing to those they judged as being unfit to be buried was the worse of all insult. It was the most severe judgment of contempt upon a criminal known to the Jews. In the judgment soon to come upon them Josephus said six hundred thousand dead bodies of the Jews were carried out of Jerusalem and lift unburied.
"Condemnation," "damnation," and "damned"
Of the King James Version
The seventh woe of this lecture and warning to the Scribes and Pharisees is about the judgment coming to them and on Israel. Why did the King James translators change “THE JUDGMENT [krisis] OF GEHENNA” INTO “THE DAMNATION [krisis] OF HELL” [Matthew 23:33]?
1. “Judgment of Gehenna” for Israel is changed to:
2. “Damnation of Hell” for all that “shall come upon this generation” [Matthew 23:36].
Krisis is used in the New Testament 48 times and translated "judgment" 41 times, "damnation" 3 times, condemnation 2 times, accusation 2 times in the King James Version. Did the translators think that if they put damnation with Hell that it would make the threat of Hell stronger? Krisis should have never been translated damnation or condemnation. In the American Standard Version Krisis is translated "judgment" 47 times, and "sin" one time in Mark 3:29.
THE RESURRECTION OF DAMNATION [krisis] (KJV), JUDGMENT [krisis] (ASV). "The resurrection of judgment (krisis)" [John 5:29] says nothing about an eternal life of torment in Hell after the judgment although this passage is continually used to prove eternal torment. The verdict of the judgment, if it be death, eternal life with torment, or what ever it maybe, the verdict of the judgment is not in this passage. In an attempt to put Hell in the Bible, the translators of the King James Version (1) changed the judgment and made it be the verdict of the judgment (2) and then made the verdict be what they needed it to be.
John 5:29
• "Unto the resurrection of damnation [krisis]" King James Version, New King James Version.
• "Unto the resurrection of judgment [krisis]" American Standard Version
John 5:24
• "Shall not come into condemnation [krisis]" King James Version
• "Shall not come into judgment [krisis]" New King James Version, American Standard Version
Matthew 23:33
• "Escape the damnation [krisis]" King James Version, New King James Version
• "Escape the judgment [krisis]" American Standard Version
John 3:19
• "And this is the condemnation [krisis]" King James Version, New King James Version
• "And this is the judgment [krisis]" American Standard Version
If "krisis" means "damnation" then we are all in trouble for "It is appointed unto men once to die, and after this comes damnation judgment (krisis)" [Hebrews 9:27]; judgment will come to all, both the saved and the lost, but not damnation. When it is applied only to the lost the King James translators translated "krisis" condemnation, but when it is applied to all [Hebrews 9:27] they translated "krisis" judgment. Just one more example of how they were willing to mistranslate to put "Hell" into the Bible. The American Standard Version and most others do not translate "krisis" into condemnation or damnation. TWO WORDS HAD TO BE CHANGED IN MATTHEW 23:33 TO PUT TODAY'S HELL IN THE BIBLE. "JUDGMENT" HAD TO BE CHANGED TO "DAMNATION" AND "GEHENNA" HAD TO BE CHANGED TO "HELL."
NO ROOT, NO BRANCH, NO HOPE OF LIFE FOR ISRAEL. Foy E. Wallace, Jr. said, "The prophet declares that 'the day shall burn as an oven' and 'it shall burn them up'--a pronouncement against the Jewish nation and governments that rejected and condemned the Christ, and persecuted his saints. The advent of the Messiah would be 'the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord'" "God's Prophetic Word," Page 545.
Krino is translated judge, judged, 86 times in the King James Version, damned 1 time, condemn 1 time, condemned 2 times, condemneth 1 time in the King James Version.
John 3:17-18
• “For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn [krino] the world; but that the world through him might be save. He that believeth on him is not condemned [krino]: but he that believeth not is condemned [krino] already” King James Version.
• “For God sent not the Son into the world to judge [krino] the world: but that the world should be saved through him. He that believeth on him is not judged [krino]: he that believeth not has been judged [krino] already” American Standard Version.
Romans 14:22
• “Happy is he that condemneth [krino] not himself” King James Version.
• “Happy is he that judgeth [krino] not himself” American Standard Version.
2 Thessalonians 2:12
• “That they all might de damned [krino]” King James Version.
• “That they all might be judged” American Standard Version.
Condemnation, damnation, and damned were all taken out of the American Standard Version and most others. How many millions have been made to believe a lie by this deliberate changing of the Bible?
The language of judgment on nations in the Old Testament that the Jews would have been acquainted with. Malachi 4:1. Malachi's pronouncement is against the Jewish nation. "For behold, the day is coming, burning like a furnace; and all the arrogant and every evildoer will be chaff; and the day that is coming will set them ablaze, says the Lord of hosts, so that it will leave them neither root not branch" [Malachi 4:1]. Job says when a tree is cut down there is hope that the root will sprout [Job 14:8]; there is hope of life. In the last chapter in the Old Testament of our English Bible Malachi says Israel will not be left a root to sprout a branch or a branch to sprout roots, therefore, there will be no hope for life.
Summary: JUST AS EVERY REFERENCE TO GEHENNA IN THE OLD TESTAMENT IS TO A PLACE ON THIS EARTH, TO THE VALLEY SOUTH OF JERUSALEM AND IS NEVER TRANSLATED "HELL." EVERY REFERENCE TO GEHENNA BY CHRIST IS ALSO TO THE SAME PLACE ON THIS EARTH. IN THE FOUR OCCASIONS THAT GEHENNA IS USED, NOT IN A ONE IS GEHENNA SAID TO BE ETERNAL OR EVERLASTING, NOT ONCE IS THERE ANY TORMENT OF LIVING PERSONS IN IT, AND NOT ONCE IS IT USED IN CONNECTION WITH THE RESURRECTION, BUT TODAY PREACHERS MOST ALWAYS ADD EVERLASTING AND SAY IT WILL NEVER END. HOW DO THEY KNOW THIS? NONE OF THE APOSTLES EVER PREACH ANYTHING ABOUT GEHENNA. IF IT WERE A PLACE OF TORMENT WHERE GOD SHALL TORMENT ALL THE LOST, WHY DID THEY NEVER SAY ANYTHING ABOUT IT? THEY USED DEATH, DESTROY, DESTROYED, PERISH, DIE, AND END; BUT NEVER "HELL."

AND ONE TIME BY JAMES
TO THE TWELVE TRIBES OF ISRAEL
SET ON FIRE BY GEHENNA James 3:6 "And the tongue is a fire; the world of iniquity among our members is the tongue, which defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the wheel of nature, and is set on fire by hell [Greek-Gehenna]." James used the same proper noun [the name of a particular place] that Christ used, but he used it as Christ did in Matthew 23:15 as a metaphor of uncleanness. The tongue is a fire and is set on fire by Gehenna-the filthy, contemptible garbage dump. Most who are given to gossip look for some filthy rotten garbage on someone, and then cannot wait to tell it. James did not use Gehenna to teach the Jews about what was going to happen them after death if they rejected Christ. To say, "The tongue is set on fire by the place of eternal torment after the judgment," which is what many teach, makes no sense. This metaphor is not taken from the destruction by the fire and maggots in Gehenna; but it is a metaphor taken from the filth and uncleanness of Gehenna. There is nothing about torment or destruction in it, and nothing about after death. The tongue is a fire now in this lifetime. To make Hell be a literal place not of this earth that sets on fire a literal tongue of a living person on this earth would somehow make that person's tongue be in contact with a place that is not on this earth. James used Gehenna as a place of uncleanness, which he figuratively applied to a vile tongue.

THE TRANSLANTION OF GEHENNA
| KJV | ASV NASV RSV NRSV*| OTHERS**
MATTHEW 5:22, 29, 30_ | HELL | HELL FOOTNOTE-GREEK GEHENNA| GEHENNA
MATTHEW 10:28 | HELL | HELL FOOTNOTE-GREEK GEHENNA| GEHENNA
MT 18:9 MK 9:43,44,45| HELL | HELL FOOTNOTE-GREEK GEHENNA| GEHENNA
MATTHEW 23:15, 33 | HELL | HELL FOOTNOTE-GREEK GEHENNA| GEHENNA
LUKE 12:5 | HELL | HELL FOOTNOTE-GREEK GEHENNA| GEHENNA
JAMES 3:6 | HELL | HELL FOOTNOTE-GREEK GEHENNA| GEHENNA
The American Standard Version, Revised Standard Version, New Revised Standard Version, and others have a footnote "Gr. Gehenna."
**New American Bible (Catholic), World English Bible, Young's Literal New Testament (author of "Young's Analytical Concordance"), Wesley's New Testament (founder of Methodist Church), Christian Bible 1991, and many more have "Gehenna" in the text as it should be as a Proper Noun (the name of a particular place). The Amplified Bible has it as an insert in the text: "Hell (Gehenna) of fire."

THE TRANSLATION OF GEHENNA IN SEVEN TRANSLATIONS
[1] YOUNG'S LITERAL BIBLE (1891) AUTHOR OF "YOUNG'S ANALYTICAL CONCORDANCE TO THE BIBLE"
FIRST OCCASION, IN THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT
MATTHEW 5:22 - GEHENNA OF THE FIRE - MATTHEW 5:29 – GEHENNA - MATTHEW 5:30 - GEHENNA
SECOND OCCASION, IN A LESSON TO THE TWELVE DISCIPLES
MATTHEW 10:28 - DESTROY IN GEHENNA - LUKE 12:5 - GEHENNA
THIRD OCCASION, IN ANOTHER LESSON TO HIS DISCIPLES
MATTHEW 18:9 - GEHENNA OF THE FIRE - MARK 9:43 – GEHENNA - MARK 9:44------- MARK 9:45 - GEHENNA
FOURTH OCCASION, TO THE SCRIBES AND PHARISEES
MATTHEW 23:15 - SON OF GEHENNA - MATTHEW 23:33 - GEHENNA
AND ONE TIME BY JAMES, TO THE TWELVE TRIBES - JAMES 3:6 - SET OF FIRE BY THE GEHENNA
[2] WESLEY'S NEW TESTAMENT (1755) THE ORIGINAL EDITION BY WESLEY, THE FOUNDER OF METHODIST CHURCH, NOT THE UPDATED EDITIONS THAT WERE MADE LATER BY OTHERS.
FIRST OCCASION, IN THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT
MATTHEW 5:22 – GEHENNA - MATTHEW 5:29 – GEHENNA - MATTHEW 5:30 - GEHENNA
SECOND OCCASION, IN A LESSON TO THE TWELVE DISCIPLES
MATTHEW 10:28 – GEHENNA- LUKE 12:5 - GEHENNA
THIRD OCCASION, IN ANOTHER LESSON TO HIS DISCIPLES
MATTHEW 18:9 – GEHENNA -MARK 9:43 – GEHENNA - MARK 9:44 – GEHENNA - MARK 9:45 - GEHENNA
FOURTH OCCASION, TO THE SCRIBES AND PHARISEES
MATTHEW 23:15 – GEHENNA - MATTHEW 23:33 - GEHENNA
AND ONE TIME BY JAMES, TO THE TWELVE TRIBES - JAMES 3:6 - GEHENNA
[3] WEYMOUTH NEW TESTAMENT (1903)
FIRST OCCASION, IN THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT
MATTHEW 5:22 - GEHENNA OF FIRE - MATTHEW 5:29 – GEHENNA - MATTHEW 5:30 - GEHENNA
SECOND OCCASION, IN A LESSON TO THE TWELVE DISCIPLES
MATTHEW 10:28 – GEHENNA- -LUKE 12:5 - GEHENNA
THIRD OCCASION, IN ANOTHER LESSON TO HIS DISCIPLES
MATTHEW 18:9 - GEHENNA OF FIRE - MARK 9:43 – GEHENNA - MARK 9:44------- MARK 9:45 - GEHENNA
FOURTH OCCASION, TO THE SCRIBES AND PHARISEES
MATTHEW 23:15 - SON OF GEHENNA - MATTHEW 23:33 - GEHENNA
AND ONE TIME BY JAMES, TO THE TWELVE TRIBES - JAMES 3:6 - SET OF FIRE BY GEHENNA
[4] THE NEW AMERICAN BIBLE (1991) (CATHOLIC)
FIRST OCCASION, IN THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT
MATTHEW 5:22 - WHOEVER SAYS, 'YOU FOOL,' WILL BE LIABLE TO FIERY GEHENNA
MATTHEW 5:29 - BETTER TO LOSE PART OF YOU BODY THAN HAVE IT ALL CAST INTO GEHENNA
MATTHEW 5:30 - BETTER TO LOSE PART OF YOU BODY THAN HAVE IT ALL CAST INTO GEHENNA
SECOND OCCASION, IN A LESSON TO THE TWELVE DISCIPLES
MATTHEW 10:28 GEHENNA
LUKE 12:5 - FEAR HIM WHO HAS POWER TO CAST INTO GEHENNA AFTER HE HAS KILLED
THIRD OCCASION, IN ANOTHER LESSON TO HIS DISCIPLES
MATTHEW 18:9 - BETTER TO ENTER LIFE WITH ONE EYE THAN BE THROWN WITH BOTH INTO FIERY GEHENNA
MARK 9:43 - BETTER FOR YOU TO ENTER LIFE MAIMED THAN TO KEEP BOTH HANDS AND ENTER GEHENNA WITH ITS UNQUENCHABLE FIRE
MARK 9:44 - BETTER FOR YOU TO ENTER LIFE CRIPPLED THAN TO BE THROWN INTO GEHENNA WITH BOTH FEET
MARK 9:45 - BETTER FOR YOU TO ENTER THE KINGDOM OF GOD WITH ONE EYE THAN TO BE THROWN WITH BOTH EYES INTO GEHENNA
FOURTH OCCASION, TO THE SCRIBES AND PHARISEES
MATTHEW 23:15 -------- MATTHEW 23:33 - GEHENNA
AND ONE TIME BY JAMES, TO THE TWELVE TRIBES - JAMES 3:6 - AND ITS FIRE IS KINDLED BY HELL
[5] THE CHRISTIAN BIBLE (1991
FIRST OCCASION, IN THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT
MATTHEW 5:22 - THE GEHENNA OF FIRE - MATTHEW 5:29 - YOUR WHOLE BODY SHOULD BE THROWN INTO GEHENNA - MATTHEW 5:30 - YOUR WHOLE BODY SHOULD PASS AWAY INTO GEHENNA
SECOND OCCASION, IN A LESSON TO THE TWELVE DISCIPLES
MATTHEW 10:28 - AND THE BODY IN GEHENNA - LUKE 12:5 - GEHENNA
THIRD OCCASION, IN ANOTHER LESSON TO HIS DISCIPLES
MATTHEW 18:9 - THEN TO HAVE TWO EYES AND TO BE THROWN INTO THE GEHENNA OF FIRE
MARK 9:43 – GEHENNA - MARK 9:44------- - MARK 9:45 - THROWN INTO GEHENNA
FOURTH OCCASION, TO THE SCRIBES AND PHARISEES
MATTHEW 23:15 - A SON OF GEHENNA - MATTHEW 23:33 - GEHENNA
AND ONE TIME BY JAMES, TO THE TWELVE TRIBES - JAMES 3:6 - THE TONGUE...IS SET OF FIRE BY GEHENNA
[6] WORLD ENGLISH BIBLE
FIRST OCCASION, IN THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT
MATTHEW 5:22 - SHALL BE IN DANGER OF THE FIRE OF GEHENNA
MATTHEW 5:29 THAN FOR YOUR WHOLE BODY TO BE CAST INTO GEHENNA
MATTHEW 5:30 - AND NOT YOUR WHOLE BODY BE CAST INTO GEHENNA
SECOND OCCASION, IN A LESSON TO THE TWELVE DISCIPLES
MATTHEW 10:28 - ABLE TO DESTROY BOTH SOUL AND BODY IN GEHENNA - LUKE 12:5 - GEHENNA
THIRD OCCASION, IN ANOTHER LESSON TO HIS DISCIPLES
MATTHEW 18:9 - THAN HAVING TWO EYES TO BE CAST INTO THE GEHENNA OF FIRE
MARK 9:43 – GEHENNA - MARK 9:45 – GEHENNA - MARK 9:47 - GEHENNA OF FIRE
FOURTH OCCASION, TO THE SCRIBES AND PHARISEES
MATTHEW 23:15 - YOU MAKE HIM TWICE AS MUCH OF A SON OF GEHENNA AS YOURSELVES
MATTHEW 23:33 - HOW WILL YOU ESCAPE THE JUDGMENT OF GEHENNA?
AND ONE TIME BY JAMES, TO THE TWELVE TRIBES
JAMES 3:6 - THE TONGUE IS A FIRE...AND IS SET ON FIRE BY GEHENNA
[7] PHILLIPS NEW TESTAMENT (1952)
FIRST OCCASION, IN THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT
MATTHEW 5:22 - FIRE OF DESTRUCTION - MATTHEW 5:29 - RUBBISH-HEAP - MATTHEW 5:30 - RUBBISH-HEAP
SECOND OCCASION, IN A LESSON TO THE TWELVE DISCIPLES
MATTHEW 10:28 - FIRE OF DESTRUCTION - LUKE 12:5 - THROW YOU INTO DESTRUCTION
THIRD OCCASION, IN ANOTHER LESSON TO HIS DISCIPLES
MATTHEW 18:9 - FIRE OF THE RUBBISH-HEAP - MARK 9:43 - GO TO THE RUBBISH-HEAP - MARK 9:44 - THROWN ON TO THE RUBBISH-HEAP - MARK 9:45 - THROWN ON TO THE RUBBISH-HEAP
FOURTH OCCASION, TO THE SCRIBES AND PHARISEES
MATTHEW 23:15 - RIPE FOR DESTRUCTION - MATTHEW 23:33 - FIRE OF DESTRUCTION
AND ONE TIME BY JAMES, TO THE TWELVE TRIBES
JAMES 3:6 - IT CAN SET THE WHOLE OF LIFE ABLAZE, FED WITH THE FIRES OF HELL
[8] THERE ARE ALSO MANY OTHER TRANSLATIONS THAT DO NOT HAVE "HELL" IN THEM.
THE NEW TESTAMENT IN MODERN ENGLISH" BY J. B. PHILLIPS SAYS, "AND GO TO THE RUBBISH-HEAP WHERE THE FIRE NEVER DIES" (MARK 9:43); AND "THROWN ON THE RUBBISH-HEAP, WHERE DECAY NEVER STOPS AND THE FIRE NEVER GOES OUT" (MARK 9:49). ALSO MATTHEW 5:29, 18:9, MARK 9:47, "FIRE OF DESTRUCTION" IN MATTHEW 5:22, 10:28, 32:33, LUKE 12:5. HE LEAVES OUT "GEHENNA," A NAME OF A PARTICULAR PLACE; AND PUTS WHAT JERUSALEM'S GEHENNA WAS TO THE PEOPLE OF THAT TIME TO MAKE IT WHERE PEOPLE TODAY WILL UNDERSTAND THE SAME THING THE JEWS CHRIST WAS SPEAKING TO WOULD HAVE UNDERSTAND. MANY TODAY WOULD NOT KNOW THAT GEHENNA WAS THE RUBBISH-HEAP OF JERUSALEM. THIS IS NOT A TRANSLATION OF THE GREEK, BUT IT IS A GOOD COMMENTARY. HE TRANSLATED "GEHENNA" INTO HELL ONLY ONE TIME (JAMES 3:6). THIS IS THE ONLY TIME HELL IS IN HIS TRANSLATION, AND SHOWS HE BELIEVED IN HELL, BUT KNOWS THE GREEK MANUSCRIPTS DID NOT HAVE IT.

DID JESUS SAY MORE ABOUT HELL THAN HEAVEN?
It has been said often by many preachers that Jesus said more about Hell than He did about Heaven. Is this the truth or a lie that has been told so many times by preachers that many believe it without questioning it? The truth is that without mistranslating to make Jesus say something He or any New Testament writers did not say, there is not one word about Hell in the Bible. Although they said nothing about Hell they did say much about Heaven. Although Hell is not in the Bible, Heaven is hundreds of times referring to Heaven it’s self, the kingdom of Heaven, and to the universe – the heavens. The claim that Christ said more about Hell than He did about Heaven IS NOT TRUE and is only a desperate attempt to prove Hell.
• A PLACE IN HEAVEN "In My Father's house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also” [John 14:12].
• OUR TREASURES ARE IN HEAVEN Matthew 6:20; 10:21; 19:21; Luke 18:22
• OUR CITIZENSHIP IS IN HEAVEN Philippians 3:20-21
• RESERVED IN HEAVEN FOR US 1 Peter 1:4; Matthew 6:20; 19:21; Mark 12:25; Luke 6:23
THE VANISHING HELL
TRANSLATIONS ARE GETTING AWAY FROM HELL
The King James Version and the New King James Version ARE THE ONLY TWO OF THE MAJOR TRANSLATIONS THAT HAVE HELL IN THE OLD TESTAMENT. ALL OTHERS HAVE ABANDONED IT AS A BAD TRANSLATION. Hell is rapidly vanishing from the Bible. It has vanished from the Old Testament in most conservative translations. Moses or Abraham did not know about it. It has all but vanished from the New Testament in the conservative translations, and has vanished altogether in many. Even in the 31 times Hell is in the King James Version, in 12 of these, the New King James Version changed Hell in the King James Version to sheol (from 31 times to 19 times). Were the translators trying to ease away but were afraid to go to far?
THE VANISHING HELL: WHY IS THE NUMBER OF TIMES HELL IS USED DECREASING? TRANSLATORS CANNOT AGREE ON HOW MANY TIMES TO MISTRANSLATE IT.
NUMBER OF TIMES HELL IS USED IN - - - THE BIBLE | THE O.T.| THE N. T.
THE WYCLIFFE BIBLE (1395) 83 TIMES | 57 TIMES | 26 TIMES
MILES COVERDALE BIBLE (1535) 70 TIMES | 50 TIMES | 23 TIMES
THE BISHOP'S BIBLE (1568) 59 TIMES | 35 TIMES | 24 TIMES
THE GENEVA BIBLE (1587) 36 TIMES | 16 TIMES | 20 TIMES
THE ORIGINAL KING JAMES VERSION(1611) 52 TIMES| 30 TIMES | 22 TIMES
KING JAMES VERSION 54 TIMES | 31 TIMES | 23 TIMES
THE KING JAMES VERSION HAS HAD SEVERAL REVERSIONS AND THE ONE THAT IS USED TODAY IS NOT THE ORIGINAL 1611 VERSION; IT IS THE LAST OF SEVERAL REVISIONS.
WESTSTER BIBLE (1611) 49 TIMES | 26 TIMES | 23 TIMES
NEW KING JAMES VERSION (1982) 32 TIMES | 19 TIMES | 13 TIMES
YOUNG'S LITERAL BIBLE (1891) 0 TIMES | 0 TIMES | 0 TIMES
AMERICAN STANDARD VERSION (1901) 13 TIMES | 0 TIMES | 13 TIMES
NEW AMERICAN STANDARD VERSION (1960) 13 TIMES | 0 TIMES | 13 TIMES
REVISED STANDARD VERSION (1946) 13 TIMES | 0 TIMES | 13 TIMES
DERBY TRANSLATION (1890-1961) 12 TIMES | 0 TIMES | 12 TIMES
NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION (1987) 14 TIMES | 0 TIMES | 14 TIMES
NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION (2010) 13 TIMES | 0 TIMES | 13 TIMES
NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION - UK(1984) 14 TIMES | 0 TIMES | 14 TIMES
TODAY’S NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION(2005)13 TIMES| 0 TIMES | 13 TIMES
AMPLIFIED BIBLE (1987) 15 TIMES | 0 TIMES | 15 TIMES*
NEW CENTURY VERSION (1987) 12 TIMES | 0 TIMES | 12 TIMES
NEW REVISED STANDARD VERSION (1989) 13 TIMES | 0 TIMES | 13 TIMES
REVISED ENGLISH BIBLE (1989) 28 TIMES | 15 TIMES | 13 TIMES
CONTEMPORARY ENGLISH VERSION (1995) 20 TIMES | 0 TIMES | 20 TIMES
NEW LIVING TRANSLATION (1996) 19 TIMES | 3 TIMES | 16 TIMES
ENGLISH STANDARD VERSION (2001) 14 TIMES | 0 TIMES | 14 TIMES
HOLMAN CHRISTIAN STANDARD BIBLE(2003) 11 TIMES | 0 TIMES | 11 TIMES
UPDATE BIBLE VERSION 1 9 (2003) 12 TIMES | 0 TIMES | 12 TIMES
PESHITTA - LAMSA TRANSLATION 12 TIMES | 1 TIME | 11 TIMES
COMMON ENGLISH BIBLE (2011) 13 TIMES | 0 TIMES | 13 TIMES
DARBY TRANSLATION (CATHOLIC) 14 TIMES | 0 TIMES | 14 TIMES
NEW AMERICAN BIBLE (CATHOLIC) (1991) 0 TIMES | 0 TIMES | 0 TIMES
WORLD ENGLISH BIBLE (CATHOLIC) 0 TIMES | 0 TIMES | 0 TIMES
ROTHERHAM EMPHASIZED (1902) 0 TIMES | 0 TIMES | 0 TIMES
YOUNG'S LITERAL TRANSLATION 0 TIMES | 0 TIMES | 0 TIMES
FENTON'S BIBLE IN MODERN ENGLISH(1903) 0 TIMES | 0 TIMES | 0 TIMES
HEBREW NAMES VERSION OF WEB 0 TIMES | 0 TIMES | 0 TIMES
DANIEL MACE NEW TESTAMENT (1729) 3 TIMES
WESLEY' N. T (THE ORIGINAL, NOT SOME UPDATED EDITIONS)(1755) 0 TIMES
SCARLETT'S NEW TESTAMENT (1798) 0 TIMES
NEW COVENANT, NEW TESTAMENT (1884) 0 TIMES
SCRIVENRE NEW TESTAMENT (1884) 0 TIMES
HANSON'S NEW COVENANT (1884) 0 TIMES
TWENTIETH CENTURY NEW TESTAMENT (1900) 0 TIMES
ROTHERHAM'S EMPHASIZED BIBLE (REPRINTED) (1902) 0 TIMES
FENTON'S HOLY BIBLE IN MODERN ENGLISH (1903) 0 TIMES
WEYMOUTH’S NEW TESTAMENT IN MODERN SPEECH (1903) 0 TIMES
PANIN'S NUMERIC ENGLISH NEW TESTAMENT (1914) 0 TIMES
THE PEOPLE'S NEW COVENANT (OVERBURY) (1925) 0 TIMES
WESTERN NEW TESTAMENT (1926) 0 TIMES
THE NEW TESTAMENT, A TRANSLATION (CLEMENTSON) (1938) 0 TIMES
J. B. PHILLIPS NEW TESTAMENT IN MODERN ENGLISH (1947) 1 TIMES
NEW TESTAMENT OF OUR LORD AND SAVIOR ANOINTED (TOMANEK)(1958) 0 TIMES
WESTERN NEW TESTAMENT (1959) 0 TIMES
RESTORATION OF ORIGINAL SACRED NAME BIBLE (1976) 0 TIMES
THE NEW TESTAMENT, A NEW TRANSLATION (GREBER) (1980) 0 TIMES
CONCORDANCE LITERAL NEW TESTAMENT (1983) 0 TIMES
CHRISTIAN BIBLE, NEW TESTAMENT (1991) 0 TIMES
RECOVERY VERSION, NEW TESTAMENT (1991) 0 TIMES
NEW TESTAMENT OF OUR LORD AND SAVOR JESUS ANOINTED 0 TIMES
THE ORIGINAL BIBLE PROJECT (DR TABOR) 0 TIMES
THE NEW TESTAMENT IN GREEK AND ENGLISH (KNEELAND) (1823) 0 TIMES
INTERLINEAR GREEK-ENGLISH NEW TESTAMENT(NOTE A)(BERRY)(1897) 0 TIMES
EMPHATIC DIAGLOTT, GREEK/ENGLISH INTERLINEAR (WILSON) (1942) 0 TIMES
ZONDERVAN PARALLEL N. T. IN GREEK AND ENGLISH (NOTE A)(1975) 0 TIMES
NASB-NIV PARALLEL N. T. IN GREEK AND ENGLISH(MARSHALL)(1986) 0 TIMES
INTERLINEAR NASB-NIV PARALLEL NT GREEK-ENGLISH(NOTE A)(1993) 0 TIMES
JEWISH PUBLICATION SOCIETY BIBLE OLD TESTAMENT(NOTE B)(1917) 0 TIMES
TANAKH, THE HOLY SCRIPTURES, OLD TESTAMENT (NOTE B)(1985) 0 TIMES
THE COMPLETE JEWISH BIBLE (NOTE B) 0 TIMES
THE SEPTUAGINT-TRANSLATION OF HEBREW TO GREEK 3RD CENTURY BC 0 TIMES
*12 times the Amplified Bible has "Hell (Gehenna)" in the text, not in a footnote.
Note A. The word-for-word translations beneath the Greek, not the translations in the margin.
Note B. All Jewish translations I found of the Old Testament do not have "Hell" in them. It is not in the Septuagint, a translation of the Old Testament from Hebrew to Greek that was in used in the time of Christ.
I find it strange that the Catholic Church believes in Hell, but they removed Hell from two translations they made.
I have been told that there is a NWT translation by the Jehovah's Witnesses that dose not have "Hell" in it, but I could not confirm this. I am sure there are many others that I do not know about in English, and there are many in other languages for Gehenna, like all other proper nouns, is seldom translated or changed to another proper noun in the translations in other languages.
ONE EXAMPLE OF THE VANISHING HELL Psalms 116:3.
• "The sorrows of death compassed me, and the pains of HELL gat hold upon me: I found trouble and sorrow." King James Version.
• "The pains of death encompassed me, and the pangs of SHEOL laid hold of me" New King James Version.
• "The cord of death compassed me, and the pains of SHEOL gat hole upon me" American Standard Version.
• "The snares of death encompassed me; the pangs of SHEOL laid hold on me" Revised Standard Version.
• "The cords of death entangled me, the anguish of the GRAVE came upon me" New International Version.
• "Death had its hands around my throat; the terrors of the GRAVE overtook me" New Living Translation.
• "The cords of death bound me, SHEOL held me in its grip" Revised English Bible.
• "The cords and sorrows of death were around me, and the terrors of SHEOL [the place of the dead] had laid hold of me" Amplified Bible.
• "The ropes of death bound me, and the fear of the GRAVE took hold of me" New Century Bible.
WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU HEARD A SERMON OF HELL? There was a time when most every revival had one or more sermons on the horrors of the Hell that most were going to. Most every sermon ended with a warning that all that did not repent was going to Hell. Jonathan Edwards was well known for his “Hell-fire” sermons. These "Hellfire" preachers are not as poplar as they once were and their audience is much smaller. Today in most churches a sermon on Hell is never preached and no one is told he or she will go to Hell if they do not repent. Although there are many who do not believe in Hell and other that are no longer sure that there is a Hell why do many say nothing about it in their sermons and Bible lessons?
• A preacher may think he would not be allowed to preach and most would not. Many churches would brand him a heretic and he would not be able to preach in most churches.
• Elders and Deacons would not be allowed to continue as Elders and Deacons.
• Bible teachers would not be permitted to teach.
• Members would not be permitted to lead singing, lead prayer, or do anything in the worship service.
About all that anyone who does not believe in Hell is permitted to do in most churches is come and sit and give their money; you will be shut out and not be permitted to lead prayer or take part in the worship in any way but no matter what you believe you will be permitted and even expected to give your money. Along with many others I can tell you for a fact that this is sure to happen in most congregations of the church.
THE VANISHING HELL
THE CHANGING HELL
Why are there many conflicting Hells? In “Four Views of Hell” William Grocket gives four different and conflicting views of Hell that are now being taught in the Protestant churches by four top of the line orthodox Protestant scholars. In “Two Views Of Hell” Robert A. Peterson and William Fudge give two competing views. These two books show that there are very different competing views about Hell in the Protestant churches, but in true there are many more than four very different conflicting views in Protestant and Catholic churches, all with a large number of believers, and many more views in other churches. ANY VIEW A PERSON MAY HAVE, ALL THAT BELIEVE THE SAME VIEW IS IN A SMALL GROUP WHEN COMPARED WITH ALL THAT ARE IN ALL OTHER GROUP. NOT ONE OF THE MANY VIEWS OF HELL HAS EVEN ONE-FIFTH OF ALL THOSE THAT CLAIM TO BELIEVE THE BIBLE. The divisions on what Hell is and who will be in it is unbelievable, and most who say they believe in Hell has no idea of the vast number of the visions of Hell, or the unbelievable differences in what Hell is believed to be, how long it will last, who will be in it, and where it will be.
TWENTH-FOUR PLUS VERSIONS OF HELL
Did you know there are over 24 different Hells that are commonly believed by many? While some have some features that are similar they are all difference and have sharp disagreements. Those that believe one version of Hell are in conflict with those that believe any of the others.
SOME OF THE MANY DIVISIONS OF THE PROTESTANT VERSIONS OF HELL
1. The Calvin Version of Hell
2. The Jonathan Edwards version
3. The Graphic view of Hell
4. Satan doing the tormenting
5. God doing the tormenting
6. The Metaphorical view of both Heaven and Hell
7. Mental anguish only Hell - Billy Graham
8. C. S Lewis - the almost pleasant Hell
9. Protestant Traditionalist
10. Many Protestant Premillennial versions
11. Realized Eschatology – A. D. 70 version
12. Protestant Rephaim version
EIGHT OTHER VERSIONS OF HELL
1. Church of Christ, Christian Church Abraham’s bosom after Judgment Hell, A newer version
2. Edward Fudge version: The short Hell
3. Christadelphians version
4. Church of God and others
5. Universalist version of Hell
6. Seventh-Day Advent version
7. Latter-day Saints version [Mormons]
8. The Grave is Hell version [Jehovah's Witnesses]
THREE CATHOLIC VERSIONS OF HELL
1. The Dark Age Catholic version of Hell
2. The New Catholic version of Hell
3. Nether World
NO BIBLE HELL
WHICH HELL DO YOU BELIEVE IN?
FROM WHERE DID HELL COME?
How Hell was put into and is being kept in the Bible

MORE THAN TWELVE
PROTESTANT VERSION OF HELL

SOME OF THE MANY DIVISIONS OF THE PROTESTANT VERSIONS OF HELL. After much conflict among the reformers, most Protestants accepted much of the early Catholic version of going to Heaven or Hell one by one at death, before and without the judgment or the Resurrection, but without Purgatory. Unconditional immortality, which is the foundation on which Hell stands, was accepted mostly due to Calvin and those that followed him winning out over Martin Luther and his followers. If they had accepted Luther's views on immortality, there would be no foundation for Hell. Many Protestants believe the soul of all who do not accept Christ will instantly be transported to Hell at the death of the body before the resurrection and judgment day. God deliberately chooses to make them suffer and feel the pain without any letup forever. The saved will go to their eternal home in Heaven at death [an instant rapture]. The Westminster Confession says, "The souls of the righteous...are received unto the highest heavens...the soul of the wicked are cast into Hell." Does God judge them at death, them maybe thousands of years later, takes them out of Heaven and Hell to judge them a second time at the resurrection to see whether He made a mistake? Many believe an unbaptized baby will not be saved. This version is still believed by many today, even by many that say they are looking for the rapture; but an opposition to belief in Hell is rapidly growing in the Protestant churches. From the Protestant Reformation unto now there have been many changes and new Protestant versions of Hell.
[1] THE CALVIN VERSION OF HELL: The given no chance Hell. An early Protestant Version with a god that made most of mankind knowing he is going to torment them in Hell forever, and there is nothing they can do to keep from going to Hell. This god made them just so he could torment them forever as their creed says, "to His good pleasure." No amount of preaching or teaching can change the number that shall be in this Hell not even by one person. The Westminster Confession says, "By the decree of God, for the Manifestation of is glory, some men and angels are predestinated unto Everlasting Life, and others foreordained unto everlasting death." Some Protestants still believe this version of Hell that their god made most of mankind just so he could torment them for eternality but it is not near as poplar as it was a few years ago. Those who say they are orthodox Protestants who do not believe the Calvin Version of Hell may far out number those who do.
[2] THE JONATHAN EDWARDS VERSION OF HELL: Also early Protestant Version and there was a time when most Protestants believed this view of Hell but now only a few believe it. There are about as many variations of the Jonathan Edwarde version as there are preachers who preach it. Most taught God had given Hell over to Satan and Satan will roast most of mankind forever and torment them however he wishes to. Some have demons peeling off the burning flash of those in Hell with God making sure they keep it up forever. Some have God doing the tormenting of Satan, the demons, and man, with God forever pouring in fire and brimstone, and thousands of other ways of tormenting with each preacher trying to out do the others in telling of the horrors of Hell. Each one trying to make the god of Hell more evil then the others have. Jonathan Edwards said God "will crush their blood out and make it fly, so that it will sprinkle his garment and stain all his raiment." They never tell how they know such details. Put all their horrors together and it would take many books to tell then all. Some of them get very specific with the details of the torment. These "Hellfire" preachers are not as poplar as they once was and their audience is much smaller. It is unimportant to them if they have no Bible for their Hell or its horrors; the badly mistranslated King James Version is all they need to make their Hell believable to many with whatever kind of torment they want to put in it. Some believers of the Calvin version also believe this version and mix the two together. There is not much unity of belief among the Protestants. Today, in almost any church if the preacher started preached sermons about Hell that was like the one's Edwards preached he would be out of work very soon.
This version of Hell makes there be something like two kingdoms or two universes after the judgment with Satan over one with most of mankind and God over a few. Both God and Satan would have eternal power in their kingdom and the division between them, between Heaven and Hell would mean God would not ever have a victory over evil. The god Edward believed in would have no problem with tormenting the lost, he would love it.
[3] THE GRAPHIC VERSION OF HELL: The sinners will be tormented in the parts of their bodies that sinned.
"In short, whatever member of the body sinned, that member would be punished more than any other in hell...In Christian literature we find blasphemers hanging by their tongues. Adulterous women who plaited their hair to entice men dangle over boiling mire by their...hair." William Crockett, "Four Views on Hell" Page 46.
[4] SATAN WILL BE DOING THE TORMENTING VERSION OF HELL: Satan and his angels will be doing the tormenting, but they could only be executing the will of God that the lost be tormented for they could not torment the lost without God letting them. This view was believed by most in the Dark Age and by most Jonathan Edwards preachers who often speak of “the devil Hell” as though Hell was a place that belonged to Satan. Most Protestants have now abandon the view of Satan and his demons doing the tormenting, but I remember that this was believed by most when I was a child and was what most Protestants believed at that time. Many painting in museums and churches show Satan and his demons roasting those in Hell and tormenting them in every way the painter could think up. SATAN AND HIS ANGELS ARE NEVER PUNISHED. In this version of Hell Satan and evil spirits are forever over "Hell" and will forever be able to torment most of mankind. Instead of being punished, they will have forever triumphed over God and will forever have a kingdom of their own where they will work their evil on mankind as they please to and as it gives them pleasure.
[5] GOD WILL BE DOING THE TORMENTING VERSION OF HELL: Satan and his angels will be tormented by God just as all the lost of mankind will. There has been a major change by many Protestants from Satan to God doing the tormenting.
[6] THE METAPHORICAL VIEW OF BOTH HEAVEN AND HELL: We are not told what Heaven and Hell will literally be like. We are told in pictures that tell us Heaven will be a place of beauty more than anything on this earth and that Hell will be worse than anything on this earth. Because we cannot understand what Heaven will really be like, we are given the picture of a city with gold streets and pearl gates to picture for us its great beauty and value, but it will not literally be made of gold, pearls, or of anything that we have on this earth. The metaphorical view of is Hell is pictured as a place of fire, but it will not literally have fire as we know it, or darkness as we know it. In this view none of the literal torments of the Jonathan Edwards Version are possible for they are all things of this earth that will not be in Hell. This version of "Hell" seems to be growing rapidly for it is looked on as a way to make God less evil, but in fact it does not for whatever would be symbolized by being tormented by eternal fire would be just as bad as being eternally tormented by literal fire.
[7] BILLY GRAHAM’S MENTAL ANGUISH VERSION OF HELL: Hell is only a state of mind. In "The World To Come" Page 300, Isaac Watts makes the worm be the conscience of a person eating on himself for all eternally. A survey by US News, January 2000, Page 47, says 53 percent of Americans believe Hell to be only mental anguish. This is an attempt by some to lessen the negative effect of Hell making God cruel and sadistic, but the attempt is a complete failure. Replacing physical torment with mental anguish does nothing to change Hell by making the torment be less. Mental anguish can be worse than physical pain, and it would still be torment without end, and would still be God doing the tormenting. Billy Graham, who is an orthodox Protestant, would in no way been called orthodox by Calvin or Jonathan Edwards, nor would many others that believe Hell is only mental anguish as he does. The old orthodox is some times the very opposite of the new orthodox. In the mental anguish version of Hell for sins after death, the sinner punishes himself after death; it is not God that punishes him.
Alexander Campbell said, "The sinner's suffering by mental agony, produced by sin, greater than could be caused by material fire." "Five discourses on Hell" 1848. Then he says, "We do not maintain that men are punished eternally for sins committed in this life only. The analysis of the sufferings of a future retribution, which we have just given, is itself sufficient evidence of this fact; for the indulgence of voluntary depravity is itself both sin and punishment. As a consequence of past sins, the sinner has formed the habit of sinning. It is a law of man's nature, that habit creates both a tendency to certain acts, and a facility in their performance. As the result of the habit of sinning, formed in this life, a tendency to repeat acts of sin is carried on the sinner into a future world; and every such act repeated in that world not only perpetuates, but increases the tendency to further acts of the same kind: and thus, as by every repeated act the tendency to sin is increased, and as every act also brings with it its own punishment, so, by the laws of man's mental and moral nature, the sinner's progress in both sin and suffering in a future world, is like that of a falling body, which increases its velocity as the square of the distance increase through which it falls. There is, therefore, just as little probability that a sinner, left to himself in a future world, should repent and turn to God, as that a falling body should arrest itself in its downward course, and ascend to the elevation from which it fell...surely the assumption that out doctrine supposes that God punishes sinners eternally for sins committed in this brief and frail life is wholly gratuitous." Alexander Campbell, "Five discourses on Hell," Page 65, April 9, 1848, Daniel Davies Publisher. Not many members of the Christian Church and the church of Christ any longer believe as Alexander Campbell but some Protestants still do.
[8] C. S. LEWIS’S THE ALMOST PLEASANT HELL: In Great Divorce C. S. Lewis pictures Hell as not black but only a little gray almost pleasant place where those in it can take bus trips into Heaven for the day and return to Hell. See “The Destruction Of the Finally Impenitent” by Clark H. Pinnock at: http://www.abccoggc.org.jrad/volume2/issue1/jrad_v02.1_art2.htm
[9] PROTESTANT TRADITIONALIST VERSIONS OF HELL: Most who say they are orthodox and traditionalist believes the lost will be kept alive with some kind of punishment, but beyond this there is little agreement among them. Some believe much as did Jonathan Edwards and Calvin that there will be torment beyond anything that we can now know of and others who utterly repudiate both Calvin’s and Edward's Hell and only believe that there will be some kind of eternal punishment, but it may be nothing more then a little mental anguish or just being deprived of all good. Others are at all points between the two even when they are in the same denomination. From the top (the Calvin version) to its bottom (eternity existing but being deprived of all good, to forever lose everything that is good), in those who call themselves "traditionalists" there are a wide range of views; yet, they all say they are orthodox and traditionalist! Orthodox is a big blanket and growing bigger all the time. Even so, few if any who are orthodox and traditionalist believe the same and there is a world of difference in what is orthodox in the Protestants churches. Many who say they are orthodox do not believe in once saved always saved, infant baptism, Augustine's view on predestination, the millennium, and countless other differences in what is traditional and orthodox. Although they cannot agree among themselves over what is traditional, they attack all who do not believe in one of their many versions of "Hell" for not being orthodox or traditional and nonetheless accept many as being orthodox who believes in an entirely different "Hell" and even accept Premillennial which has many who do not believe in any version of Hell, or believe that Hell will be on this earth and will last for only a short time.
[10] PROTESTANT PREMILLENNIAL VERSIONS OF HELL: From all the information I can find there are many more Protestants who believe in some form of Premillennialism than not. Premillennial variations found in the Protestants churches are pre-tribulation, mid-tribulation, post-tribulation, partial-rapture, many mini-raptures, already past rapture, the tribulation period, historic Premillennialism, Post Millennialist, Dispensationalist, and many more. Most Premillennial versions of Hell are somewhat similar to either the Seventh-Day Advent Version of Hell or the Church of God Version of Hell. See "Seventh-Day Advent Version of Hell" and "Church of God (and others) Version of Hell" below. Many of the Premillennial versions of Hell are far from being what is thought of as being orthodox, but most all Premillennialists are thought of as being Protestant, orthodox and traditional.
Unorthodox In Orthodox Churches
It may come as a surprise to many that those who say they are orthodox Protestant but do not believe in Hell as a place of eternal torment that there are more who say that are orthodox Protestants who do believe Hell to be eternal torment than there are orthodox Protestants who do believe Hell to be a place of eternal torment. When US New says 53 percent of Americans believes Hell to be only mental anguish, most of that 53 percent are orthodox Protestant and this 53 percent is in addition to the many Protestant Premillennialists who do not believe Hell to be a place of eternal torment. When some say that is only Jehovah's Witnesses teaching, they seem to be blind to the fact that this is the teaching by far more than half of the orthodox Protestants and the number of orthodox Protestants that do not believe in the Jonathan Edwards or Calvin versions of Hell is by far greater then the number of Jehovah's Witnesses who do not believe in Hell. Much of what is accepted as orthodox today would have been called heresy 200 years ago by most all Protestant Churches. It does not matter what any groups believe or what is accepted as orthodox but what the Bible says for the Bible is the only authority.
It came as a surprise to me, as I am sure it will be to many, that many orthodox Protestants plus a great many who may not be called orthodox, believe none of the saved will go to Heaven, but will live on this earth for eternity. Many Protestant Premillennialists believe this. It may also come as a surprise to many that those who say they are orthodox Protestant but do not believe Christ to be God but is a created being that did not exist before His birth. Many believe Him to be a chosen one by God and that He is now in Heaven but will come back to earth, set up the kingdom of God in Jerusalem and will rule the kingdom which will always be on this earth. It seems to be OK to not believe in Christ as being equal with God but not OK not to believe God to be crueler than any other being and will torment most forever.
[11] REALIZED ESCHATOLOGY - THE A. D. 70 VERSION OF HELL: I have found it difficult to pen down just what they believe. According to Samuel G. Dawson in "Jesus' Teaching On Hell." Hell is something the Catholic Church invented to scare people into obedience. They seem to believe that death is the end of those who are not faithful, for unbelievers there will never be a resurrection. The second coming of Jesus was in A. D. 70, the resurrection day was also in A. D. 70 when the Old Testament Saints where resurrected, there is no judgment day to come, no day that the earth will end. All the Old Testament faithful was resurrected in A. D. 70 which they believe to have been the second coming of Christ and after A. D. 70 the judgment day of each person, the death of the lost, and the resurrection to eternal life for believers are all at the moment of death. This seems to be their general teaching, but I am sure that are many variations within Realized Eschatology.
[12] REPHAIM VERSION OF HELL - ONE OF THE PROTESTANT VERSIONS OF HELL: A version of Hell that is Protestant, but in no way can it be called orthodox or traditional although most who believe it call themselves both orthodox and traditional. God, angels, and man (after death) are disembodied energy being capable of thought and speech without the need of a body. This version of Hell is Protestant; as far as I have been able to find no one teaches it but those who are called orthodox Protestants, but it cannot be called traditional or orthodox. Rephaim is in the Hebrew Old Testament eight times and is translated “dead” seven times and “deceased” one time in the King James Version; it is defined in some Lexicons as "departed spirits," "shades," "shadows," "ghosts," "name of the dead in sheol."
FIVE OF THE EIGHT ARE IN THE POETICAL BOOKS.
1. Job 26:5-6 "They that are deceased (rephaim) tremble beneath the waters and the inhabitants thereof. Sheol is naked before God, and Abaddon ("Destruction" New International Version) has no covering."
2. Psalms 88:10-12 "Will you show wonders to the dead (rephaim)? Shall they that are deceased arise and praise you? Shall your loving kindness be declared in the grave? Or your faithfulness in destruction?"
3. Proverbs 2:18-19 "For her ("adulteress" New American Standard Version) house sinks down to death, and her tracks lead to the dead; (rephaim) none who go to her return again, neither do they reach the paths of life."
4. Proverbs 9:18-19 "But he knows not that the dead (rephaim) are there; that her (the foolish woman or adulteress) guests are in the depths of Sheol."
5. Proverbs 21:16 "The man that wandered out of the way of understanding shall rest in the assembly of the dead (rephaim)."
All five refer to the lost and speak of their death, deceased, destruction, dead, not attaining unto the paths of life, resting with the dead. The dead are simply spoken of as being dead. Nothing is said about them being alive some other place, nothing about a soul or a spirit that lives after the death of the body. THERE IS NOTHING IN ANY OF THE FIVE PASSAGES ABOVE THAT SAY ANYTHING ABOUT ANYONE BEING ALIVE IN HEAVEN, HELL, OR ABRAHAM'S BOSOM AT ANY TIME, NOT BEFORE OR AFTER THE JUDGMENT; THEY ARE AN UNDENIBLE CONDICTION TO THE ORTHEDEX DOCTRINE OF GOING TO HEAVEN OR HELL AT DEATH.
THREE OF THE EIGHT ARE IN ISAIAH
This is a book of many symbols, much like Revelation
(1) Isaiah 14:9-11 "Sheol from beneath is moved for you to meet you at your coming: it rises up the dead (rephaim) for you, even all the chief ones of the earth; it has raised up from their thrones all the kings of the nations. All they shall answer and say unto you, Have you also become weak as we: have you become like unto us? Your pomp is brought down to Sheol, and the noise of your viols: the worm is spread under you, and worms cover you." This is a description of the fall of Babylon and has nothing to do with a part of a person after death. In this metaphor the past dead nations, nations that no longer existed were surprised to see a nation as strong as Babylon joining them. If the dead were alive, why would the dead in sheol be surprised to see another person join them when all that die would join them? It would make no sense if they were surprised to see anyone joining them. Even the trees join in with the dead nations and talk [14:8]. Only in a metaphor can past nations that are dead, that no longer exist, and trees talk [Isaiah 14:8].
In this passage Rephaim (one word) is translated:
• “The dead” (two words) in both the King James and the New King James
• “The spirits of the dead” (five words from one word) in the New American Standard even though “ruach” (spirit) is not in the Hebrew they added it
• “The spirits of the departed” (five words from one word) in the New International Version. It also added spirits even though it is not in the Hebrew
• “The ancient dead” (three words from one word) in the Revised English Bible even though there is not a word in the Hebrew in this passage that is even remotely kin to “ancient”
(2) Isaiah 26:14 "They [the nations] are dead (rephaim), they shall not live; they are deceased, they shall not rise; therefore have you visited and destroyed them, and made all remembrance of them to perish." This is about nations that did not remember God. It has nothing to do with an "immaterial, invisible part of man" after death. It is hard to believe this passage is used to prove that a person has an immortal immaterial, invisible part of a person for if it were speaking of this part of a person then that part of a person is dead, deceased, shall not rise (no resurrection), and all remembrance of them has been made to perish. If this were an immortal soul, it would be nothing like the immoral soul of today's theology, it would teach there is no life or resurrection after death but some use this passage anyway to prove that there is life for all after dead in either Heaven or Hell.
(3) Isaiah 26:19 "Your dead shall live; my dead bodies shall arise. Awake and sing, you that dwell in the dust; for your dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast forth the dead (rephaim)." Isaiah is speaking of the nation of Israel that was dead, they were not a nation, but were slaves in bondage to another nation because they had left God, now they had repented and were being restored as a nation. He is not speaking of the resurrection of any individuals Jews.
WHAT DO MANY BELIEVE? These passages are used to prove all the dead, both the good and the evil souls are NOW "rephaim." Many who believe the dead go immediately to Heaven or Hell at death use it although it would make the dead not be in Heaven or Hell where they believe the immaterial, invisible part of a person will be after death.
1. The Protestant version is that the dead are now alive in Heaven or Hell.
2. The after judgment version is that the dead are now alive in hades with some on the good side of hades and some on the bad side, but they use these passages and have the dead being in three places simultaneously.
3. The rephaim version is that both the good and the bad are together and exist only as shades or shadows not in Heaven or Hell. Yet, those who believe the Protestant version or the newer after judgment version of Hell sometimes use "rephaim" to prove "Hell" even though it would put all the dead together and not where they believe them to be, AND DEFINITELY NOTHING LIKE THE IMMORTAL SOUL OF TODAY'S THEOLOGY. The attack on Hell that is coming from many in most all churches is forcing them to take views not many Christians believe. It seems to be used only by those who are trying to prove a person has an immortal soul but are hard pushed to find any passage to prove it.
Which way do they go? "Rephaim" is used by Protestants in a way that does not agree with what they believe and teach; Protestants believe that the saved will be in their eternal home with Christ in Heaven at death, but step away from their belief and say at death both the saved and unsaved are together, and have only a weak shadowy existence and will have this shadowy existence unto the resurrection. Even if we did grant that rephaim is the "immaterial, invisible part of man" after death, it would contradict their beliefs about the "soul" being in Heaven, Hell. It makes all the dead be "shades" "shadows." Anyway you look at it, the eight times rephaim is used does more to refute the belief of going to Heaven at death than it does to support it. Are they so desperately in need of proof that a person has an immaterial, invisible part that can never die that they reach for anything even if it is far from what they believe and want to find?
Robert Morey, an orthodox Protestant, has written one of the most accepted and used books in defense of the doctrine of Hell that has come out in recent years. In his book he makes an argument for Hell which I think shows just how desperate he is for any kind of proof. In "Death And The Afterlife," On page 79 he said FROM THE MEANING OF REPHAIM, WHEN THE BODY DIES, MAN ENTERS A NEW KIND OF EXISTENCE. HE THEN WILL EXIST AS A SPIRIT CREATURE AND EXPERIENCES WHAT ANGELS AND OTHER SPIRITS EXPERIENCE. JUST AS ANGELS ARE DISINCARNATE ENERGY BEINGS AND ARE COMPOSED ONLY OF MIND OR MENTAL ENERGY AND ARE CAPABLE OF THOUGHT AND SPEECH WITHOUT THE NEED OF AN EARTHLY BODY, WHEN MAN DIES, HE BECOMES A DISEMBODIED ENERGY BEING AND IS CAPABLE OF THOUGHT AND SPEECH WITHOUT THE NEED OF A BODY. This is nothing more than a desperate attempt to prove that the "immaterial, invisible part of man" has some kind of life somewhere before and without the resurrection. NOT A ONE OF THE EIGHT PASSAGES WHERE REPHAIM IS USED IN SAYS ANYTHING ABOUT A REPHAIM BEING LIKE GOD AND ANGELS. He must have made that up out of thin air and hoped you would not see it is not in any of the eight passages. I wonder if he sees how low he is making God if God were like the rephaim in the eight passages? That he is making God be only "shades," "shadows," "ghosts," "name of the dead in sheol."
1. HE HAS MADE GOD BE NOTHING MORE THAN AN "ENERGY BEING," NOTHING MORE THAN MENTAL THOUGHTS WITH NO SUBSTANCE. He has made God, angels, and mankind after the judgment to be nothing more than mental thoughts; although he did not mention God, he has reduced God to being nothing more than thoughts, an "energy being." Morey's God has no body, no substance of any kind; therefore, Morey's Heaven can exist only in the mind of God. It cannot be a real place.
2. HE HAS MADE GOD WEAK. He has made, man and angels be disembodied energy being capable of thought and speech without the need of body and they are described as "Are you also become weak as we: have you become like unto us?" "God is a Spirit" [John 4:24]; he has spirits without bodies described as weak and being nothing more than mental thoughts, which according to him would include God being described as weak and being nothing more than mental thoughts. Is his God just weak mental thoughts; is that what your God is like?
3. HE HAS MADE THE ONLY DIFFERENCE IN A PERSON AFTER DEATH AND GOD TO BE ONLY A DIFFERENCE IN INTELLIGENCE. Both are nothing but mind. Thomas Jefferson in a letter to John Adams in 1820 said, "To say that God, angels, and the human soul, are immaterial, is to say they are nothing. At what age of the church the heresy of immaterialism crept in, I do not know; but a heresy is certainly is--Jesus taught nothing of it."
4. HE HAS MADE GOD LIMITED. There is no way out for those who believe an immortal spirit is now within a person for this spirit could have no solid substance of any kind. If it did, then it could not now be inside of a person. God is spirit; therefore, according to Morey, God cannot have any substance, He must, then be only thoughts without a body. This has not entered the mind of most who believe a person now has an immortal spirit in him and if it did most would reject it, but their belief that an immortal spirit is now in a person, means a person, God, and all heavenly being are nothing more than thoughts without a body. Robert Morey and others who try to prove a person has an immortal spirit in him has been pushed into this belief. The belief that a person has a dual nature dictates what they can believe about the nature of God. They believe the immortal spirit in a person cannot be seen for it has no substance, therefore, because God is spirit, then He can have no substance; He can be only a mind with no body.
5. He has developed Plato's doctrine that the body is a prison to the soul, which is set free by the death of the body, far beyond what Plato ever did. To put the soul (an "energy being" "mind") back in a body at the resurrection would be to put it back in a prison.
6. Also, Morey's Hell could only be mental anguish. There would be no body to torment. He has made it impossible for Hell to be anything more than mental pain. Only something in the mind of persons who are nothing but mind. None of the other "orthodox Protestant" version of Hell could be possible; therefore, what most Protestants have believed for centuries was wrong.
7. He has made Paul not know what he was talking about when he said, "It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body...there is also a spiritual body" (1 Corinthians 15:44). He cannot believe in the resurrection. How could he when he has made a person after death be composed only of "mind," just as he says the angels and God now are composed only of mind? There could not be a mortal that "must put on immortality" (1 Corinthians 15:54), for his "energy being" is just as it will always be, and even before death it is now like God and angels now are. There cannot be a resurrection of any kind of body, not one in the image of Adam or in the image of Christ. Not the earthly body or the new spiritual body for there will be no body, nothing but "mind." There cannot be a resurrection of the "mind or mental energy" for at death this "mind or mental energy" will be just as it will always be; therefore, THERE COULD NOT BE ANY KIND OF RESURRECTION.
8. If the spiritual body that we will have is nothing but "mind," how is it that we do not now have the spiritual body? Do we not now have "mind"? Will the "mind" that we will have after the resurrection not be the same "mind" that we now have before death?
WHAT IS THEIR NO SUBSTANCE SOUL? What could it be if it has no substance? God made all things out of nothing. If the soul has no substance, it is still nothing. Are they saying God made nothing out of nothing? And this God who made nothing out of nothing is Himself nothing.
"The Hebrew rephaim denotes those who have 'sunk' to the unseen abode, descending into Hades as the sun goes down to a fiery death in the west; the rephaim are those who 'sank,' vanished, disappeared, passed away, departed. The best translation would be 'the departed.'" Paul Haupt "American Journal of Semitic Languages and Literature"
NOTE: I have tried to give the views of the majority in each in the above Protestants versions of Hell. In each of them, there are many individuals and/or small groups who believe in a variation of that believed by the majority.

EIGHT OTHER VERSIONS OF HELL
[1] Church of Christ, Christian Church, Abraham's bosom or the after judgment Hell, A newer version of Hell: This version is based almost entirely on an interpretation of Luke 16:19-31 (see chapter eight, part two). Most members of the church of Christ, the Christian Church and some Protestants believe it although it is not generally accepted as being orthodox or traditional Protestant. In this version all who do not obey Christ will go to Hell, but not unto after the coming of Christ and the judgment; and no one goes to Heaven before the judgment [no instant rapture]. According to this version, at death all are taken to an intermediate holding place where the lost are tormented, and the saved are rewarded in a place sometimes called "Abraham's bosom." Instead of all being in Heaven and Hell unto the second coming of Christ, all are on the good and bad side of hades and Christ will take them out of hades at His coming and judge them a second time to see whether He made a mistake the first time and put them on the wrong side of hades. A baby who has not come to the age of accountability is not lost and will go to the good side of hades. After the judgment God will personally do the tormenting of all the lost for eternality, and Satan and his angels and all the lost will be tormented together.
This view has two places where God is going to torture the lost; (1) in one side of hades that is a temporary place of torture and will last only unto the second coming of Christ, (2) and "Hell" which will be a permanent place where God will torture most of mankind without end. No one is now in Heaven or Hell and it will not be unto after the resurrection and judgment. This is the view was I taught from the time I became a Christian and I believed it a long time. I have many books and tracts in which well-known preachers and teachers, such as H. Leo Boles, E. M. Zerr, B. W. Johnson, J. W. McGarvey, and many others who teach this view; but lately it seems to be dying out in the church and is being replaced by going immediately to Heaven or Hell at death without the Resurrection or Judgment particularly at funerals where preachers often say the dead person are now in Heaven. Most all think of and speak of their loved ones as now being in Heaven or with Jesus, not in Abraham's bosom unto the judgment.
[2] Edward Fudge version: The short Hell: He uses the name Hell as if it was a Bible name, but thinks it will last for only a limited time and will end with the total destruction of those in it. He may have Hell, and the wrath and fury of God at the judgment confused. Roger Dickson believes the duration of Hell will fit the crime and then will end. It will be short for some and longer for other. He says, "After the stripes have been given, then the destruction occurs for which there is no reverse" Page 162ff, "Life, Death And Beyond." Is he renaming the Judgment Day and calling it "Hell?" If I understand him right, he thinks the lost will go to Hell, but the not so bad will not be tormented as long as the very bad. After the "punishment matches the crime," he says they will then be destroyed [Page 163]. (1) "Shall be beaten with many stripes" [Luke 12:47]. This is used to prove there will be an end after the stripes. If this were after the judgment, "Beaten with few stripes" could not be as long as "beaten with many stripes," therefore, could not take forever. Some will be tormented longer than others, but the torment will end with death for all. (2) This short Hell is different from the Church of God short Hell in that it may not be on this earth, and there will be no second chance.
In the Bible God limited "many stripes" is 40 lashes, never more than 40 [Deuteronomy 25:3; Luke 12:47; Acts 16:23; 2 Corinthians 11:24]. Yet, this "many stripes" is used by many to prove that God will forever give not 40 but stripes without end to those in Hell.
[3] Christadelphians version of Hell: Those who never heard the Gospel will never be raised. Death is the end of them. Only those who heard the Gospel will be raised at the second coming of Christ and judged to see whether they were faithful. The faithful will have eternal life on Earth, which will be restored to be like Eden before Adam sinned. The unfaithful of those who heard the Gospel and were raised will be annihilated by the second death.
[4] Church of God version of Hell (and others): Both Heaven and Hell will be on this earth. After the resurrection of earthly bodies on this restored earth, all will be given a second chance to accept Christ. Most will, but the few who will not accept Christ will suffer the second death. Their torment will end in death from which there will never be a resurrection. The saved will be raised and live on the earth restored to the way it was before Adam sinned with a body like Adam before he was put out of the garden. No one will ever be in Heaven. I have not been able to find how they think Adam's body was different before he was put out of the garden than it was after. Many Premillennialists who are in most Protestant churches believe this version of Hell or one that is very similar to it.
[5] Universalist version of Hell, The "age lasting" Hell: Hell will last for only an age; then all will be saved. Universalist calls it a time of "attitude adjustments," or "age-during correction." They do not see it as God torturing people in a literal lake or anything like that, they see it as simply as a time when God will be correcting or teaching them further unto they are fit for His kingdom. All, even the most evil, will eventually end up in Heaven.
[6] Seventh Day Advent version of Hell: They believe that at the second coming of Christ the unrighteous will be kill, the righteous will be taken back to Heaven for a 1,000 years. During the 1,000 years only Satan and his angels will inhabit the earth. At the end of the 1,000 years Christ will return to earth with the saved and the unrighteous will be raised for judgment. Satan gathers his angels and will the help of the resurrected unrighteous attempt to interfere with the judgment, they will be destroyed. The judgment and destruction of the lost will take place on this earth. Their Hell will be on this earth and will last only unto those in it are burned too ashes, the second death. The saved will live forever with earthly bodies on a restored earth on which there will be no evil. No one will ever be in Heaven. Just as with the Church of God version of Hell many Premillennialists who are in most Protestant churches also believe this version of Hell. The number of those who are called Protestant but do not believe any of the orthodox Protestant versions of Hell is growing.
[7] Latter-day Saints version of Hell [Mormons]: They believe in three Heavens that they call Kingdoms, Celestial, Terrestrial, and Telestial Kingdoms. They believe in a Hell, but only a very few, the sons of perdition, will be in it forever. They are those that were once faithful Mormons but become apostates and left the Mormon Church. All will be raised from the dead. Except for the sons of perdition, most of those in Hell will in time pass out of it into the lowest Telestial Kingdom and will be there forever, even those who are not Mormons, but those who are not Mormons can go no higher then the lower Telestial Kingdom.
[8] The grave is Hell version [Jehovah’s Witnesses]: The grave is Hell and all go to it at death. There is no knowledge or torment in this Hell, just sleep or death. Some from many different groups believe this version of Hell. They get support mostly from the older translations like the King James Version, and most who believe it think the newer translations that translate only Gehenna into Hell are wrong. They believe Gehenna is a trash dump, not Hell. This Hell is going on now with all the dead in it, both the good and the bad are asleep in it and it will wake up at the Resurrection. All are unconscious and there is no torment of the wicked or reward of the righteous in "Hell" where all the dead, both the good and the bad now are. In this version, Hell will end at the resurrection and there will be no Hell after the resurrection and judgment.
The Jehovah's Witnesses believe that Hell is the “common grave of mankind” where people go when they die. They are not conscious there.
A. B. Robinson, September 1996 [A Jehovah's Witnesses]. "We do not have the word 'hell' in the NWT. We translate gehenna as gehenna, hades as hades and sheol as sheol. By doing this we can get the true import of these words. Gehenna is a garbage dump and sheol and hades often refer to the grave. We believe everyone who dies goes to 'hell' or sheol [hades]. The dead are unconscious, asleep if you will [Ecc 9:5,19 and 1 Thes 4:13-16] and will remain such until they are resurrected. We also believe that 'hell' will be emptied, as is clearly stated in Rev 20:13. The persons who were in hell, both the righteous and the unrighteous [Acts 24:15] will be resurrected and judged. Those who are deserving of it will then be thrown into the lake of fire, the second death [Rev 20:14,15]."
Brian Holt in an E-mail to me said, "JW's do not have the word ‘hell’ in the NWT," then said everyone who dies goes to Hell.
In today's English Hell has come to mean a place of eternal torment after death, and to translate hades into Hell is an untrue translation. The grave is Hell was not the intentions of the translators who first put the word "Hell" into the Bible, the grave is Hell is not the way it would have been understood by English speaking people when it was first used by the translators or the way it is understood today.
I have been told that what I believe "is what Jehovah's Witnesses have been teaching for years." One person said to me, "You believe the same thing Jehovah's Witnesses believe. Why don't you join them and leave us alone?" ONE WRITER SAID, "A NEW STANDARD OF TRUTH HAS BEEN FOUND. IF THE OCCULTS OR LIBERALS BELIEVE IT, THEN IT IS WRONG." The problem with this is (1) I do not believe as they do that the grave is Hell. (2) That most all denominations, whether they are occults, liberals, or whatever, teach many things that the Bible teaches and many that the Bible does not teach. Nothing is right or wrong because a denomination teaches it, not even right or wrong if the Jehovah's Witnesses denomination teaches it. It is right if the Bible teaches it or wrong if the Bible does not teach it. Catholic, Baptist, Jehovah's Witnesses, Church of God, and all others each teach many things that the Bible teaches and each one teaches many things that the Bible does not teach. Anything is right if the Bible teaches it even if the Jehovah's Witnesses teach it and wrong if the Bible does not teach it. JEHOVAH’S WITNESSES TEACH ADULTERY IS A SIN; IS IT WRONG TO TEACH THAT ADULTERY IS A SIN BECOUSE JEHOVAH’S WITNESSES TEACH IT TO BE? To say, "That is what the Jehovah's Witnesses teach," is said for the same reason the Baptist says, "That is water salvation" or "That is Campbellism." THEIR REAL PROBLEM IS NOT THAT ONE OF THE OCCULTS TEACH IT, BUT THAT THEY HAVE NO OTHER ANSWER AND KNOW THAT THEY CAN TURN MANY OFF JUST BY SAYING "THAT IS WHAT JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES TEACH" JUST AS THE BAPTIST DID WITH "THAT IS WATER SALVATION." The Moslem religion believes in eternal torment; can we say it is wrong because those who believe in eternal torment believe something the Moslems teach? No, it is wrong because the Bible does not teach it.
Why? What is the real reason they say that is Jehovah's Witnesses teaching? I think one reason is that they just do not want to deal with it. Do not want to take the time. Another reason is the same reason the Baptist call us "Campbellism" and say, "You believe in water salvation." They could not show that a person can be saved without baptism, therefore, they would say, "You believe in water salvation" for they know this would make others prejudice and not believe the Bible. Now the same thing is being done to anyone who does not believe in Hell by saying, "You are nothing but a Jehovah's Witnesses." EVEN THOUGH WHAT I BELIEVE IS FAR FROM WHAT THE JEHOVAH'S TEACH, they believe there is a Hell, but it is going on now, and I do not believe the Bible says anything about any kind of Hell; not one that is going on now or one that will be at any time after death. The truth is that if Jehovah's Witnesses did believe as I do (they do not, but even if they did) as long as the Bible teaches it, I would not care if it were what they believed, but would say that it is great that they believe the Bible on that point, and would wish that they believed the Bible on all points. If you made two lists, one a list of things any denomination believes that is not in the Bible, and a list of things it believes that is in the Bible, both lists would be long. The persons who say "That is Jehovah's Witnesses teaching" believes many of the same things that would be on the list of things the Jehovah's Witnesses believes.
Some of the many things Jehovah's Witnesses teach that I do not believe.
1. Jesus was not the Son of God.
2. The Millennium.
3. Only 144,000 will go to Heaven.
4. All the rest of the saved will live forever on this earth for all eternality.
5. They don't believe in blood transfusions.
6. Hell is the grave and all the dead are now in Hell. Unfortunately, it is not true that they do not believe in Hell but believe in a Hell that is now going on. The more there are that do not believe that God slandering teaching the better, but, they do believe in Hell, just not one of the many orthodox Protestant versions of Hell although many Premillennialists who are called orthodox Protestants believe as they do, that Hell is the grave.
Unto the resurrection death is death, not any kind of life or any kind of Hell anyplace.
IF "THAT IS WHAT JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES BELIEVES" MAKES ANYTHING WRONG, IT IS SUCH A BROAD ARGUMENT THAT THERE IS NOTHING IN THE BIBLE THAT IS NOT DESTROYED BY IT FOR THERE IS NO BIBLE TEACHING THAT IS NOT BELIEVED BY MANY FLASE RELIGIONS.
PROBABLE ORIGIN OF THIS VERSION OF HELL. Sheol is translated Hell in the King James Version thirty-one times and grave thirty-one times. It puts all in Hell or the grave together, both the good and the bad and it is a place that those in it know nothing, a place where they will be only unto the resurrection. If one believes the mistranslation of the King James Version, then he or she must believe the grave is Hell version of Hell for it is clearly taught in the Old Testament of the King James Version. The Jehovah's Witnesses and others who believe this version have all the proof they need in the mistranslations in the King James Version even thought it was not there intention to teach a Hell with both the saved and lost in it with no pain and it will end at the resurrection; I cannot see anyway that a person that believes the King James Version just as it is would not be forced believe in the same Hell that the Jehovah’s Witnesses believes in, their Hell is clearly taught in it.
THREE CATHOLIC VERSIONS OF HELL
[1] The Medieval Dark Age Catholic version of Hell: The soul being immortal came from Greek philosophy, and was brought into the church by some of the church fathers, by Augustine more then most others. The doctrine of Hell came soon after the immortal soul doctrine along with Purgatory, the sale of indulgences, Limbo, worship of Mary and saints, Nether World, Holy Water, the rosary, forbidding Priest to marry, the crucifix, Monks and Nuns, forbidding eating of meat on Friday, and many other teaching; and was fully developed by the Dark Age Catholic Church before the Protestant Reformation. I have found it difficult to pen down just what is the official teaching. It seems to be that in the past they believed that only a very few, the very bad, will go to Hell, which they believe is a real place, at their death with no judgment, but most will go to Purgatory at death. A few of the very good will go to Heaven at their death with no judgment [an instant rapture]. At death most Catholic will go immediately to Purgatory, which seems to be a limited version of Hell, unto they have suffered enough to pay for their sins or unto their love ones have paid all they can, then they go to Heaven. How long a person will be in Purgatory is sometimes taught to be a short time and sometimes millions of years to those who have no one to win indulgences for them. It has brought enormous wealth to the rich Catholic Church from the poor who paid what little they had and even done without food to help a loved one. The Catholic Purgatory gives no hope for heathens, heretics, or the unbaptized.
[2] The new Catholic version of Hell:
Pope John II, "Hell is not a punishment imposed externally by God, but the condition resulting from attitudes and actions which people adopt in this life...So eternal damnation is not God's work but is actually our own doing...More than a physical place, Hell is the state of those who freely and definitively separate themselves from God, the source of all life and joy." In a statement made to his general audience, July 28, 1999.
There are other high up Catholics who have made statements like this one but I see no use in adding more when you have this from the top person in the Catholic Church. Maybe this is why two of their English Bible translations do not have the word "Hell" in them, and who knows how many other Catholics translations in other languages do not; however, because it has been the official doctrine for centuries and the decrees of councils and Popes, the Roman Catholic Church cannot officially not teach Hell is a place of eternal torment without giving up completely her claim of infallibility. Protestantism has not made this claim of infallibility and many are giving Hell up.
[3] THE NETHER WORLD: IS THIS A NEW (third) CATHOLIC VERSION OF HELL? More and more in today's writing, The Neither World is being used as if it is a Bible place that is clearly taught in the Bible; but I have yet to read where anyone told where it is in the Bible. Do both the Nether World and Abraham's bosom now exists at the same time? If so, how are they different? I have heard the same preachers who are not Catholic preach one at one time and the other at another time. The American Heritage Dictionary says, “NETHER, Located beneath or below; lower or under: the nether regions of the earth.”
Where did this world that is located beneath or under this world come from? It is not in the Bible, therefore, how could anyone know about it? It came from the Catholic Church. Like Hell, they mistranslated it from hades to get it into the Bible. BOTH HELL AND NETHER WORLD WERE MISTRANSLATED FROM THE SAME WORD (HADES) AND BOTH FROM THE SAME PASSAGE. See Acts 2:27 New American Bible "for you will not abandon my soul to the Nether World." Also Psalms 16:10 etc. THE NETHER WORLD IS A NEW NAME BEING PUT INTO THE BIBLE BY THE SAME PEOPLE (the Catholic Church) WHO PUT HELL INTO IT, AND IT IS BEING PUT INTO THE BIBLE IN THE SAME WAY, BY MISTRANSLATING THE SAME WORD THEY MISTRANSLATED TO PUT IN HELL.
1. First: hades was mistranslated Hell in Catholic translations
2. Second: the same word in the same passage is now mistranslated Nether World in some Catholic translations.
IT WORKED FOR THEM THE FIRST TIME, SO THEY TRIED IT A SECOND TIME. When they need to prove Hell, they use one mistranslation; and when they need to prove the Nether World, they use another mistranslation of the same word in the same passage.
The Nether World and Universalist version of Hell, the "age lasting" Hell are very singular in many ways. Both have those who are not worthy of being in Heaven going through some kind of punishment but will end up in Heaven. The main different is that Catholics believe some are too evil to ever be saved and will always be tormented by God, but in the "age lasting" Hell taught by Universalists all will end up in Heaven.
The Bible version of Hell: There is no Bible version of Hell. Both the name Hell and the concept, a place where God will forever torment most of mankind was not known about in Old or New Testament times. The Greeks did not know it about or anyone back them. Christ or Paul used neither the place nor the name. An eternal place of torment for souls was not known about by anyone unto long after the last page of the Bible.

WHICH HELL DO YOU BELIEVE IN?
Most versions of Hell are based on the belief that:
• A person has some part of them self that is immortal from birth and is not subject to death.
• That death is not death, the dead are more alive then the living, "You shall not surely die."
(1). SOME BELIEVE SATAN IS THE TORMENTER. According to Jonathan Edwards and most Hell fire preachers, Satan will be doing the tormenting of all that are in Hell forever.
(2). SOME BELIEVE GOD IS THE TORMENTER. Today many believe God will be doing the tormenting.
(3). Some denominations believe Hell will be on this earth.
(4). Others believe that Hell will last for a while; but will end with all that are in Hell being saved and going to Heaven.
(5). Some believe that Hell will only last unto the ones in it have paid for their sins, and then they will be destroyed.
(6). Some believe Hell is hot.
(7). Some believe that Hell is cold.
(8). Some believe Hell is dark.
(9). Some believe Hell is Metaphorical, it is not literally hot, cold or dark; we cannot understand what it is really like and are given pictures to tell us how bad it is.
(10). Some believe that Hell is only mental anguish.
(11). Some believe that Hell is a place of separation from God without any torment from God.
(12). Some believe that Hell is under the earth.
(13). Some believe Hell is who knows where. Most, but not all, now realize there is not a place of torment under the earth and have moved it. Now who knows where they think Hell is, maybe somewhere out in space.
(14). Some believe Hell exists now, and the lost dead are now being tormented in it.
(15). Some believe Hell will not exist unto after the judgment.
(16). Some believe that Hell now exists with the angels that sinned in it, but no person will be in Hell unto after the judgment.
(17). Some believe that although God is omnipresent [present in all places at the same time], nevertheless He is not present in Hell. They believe those in Hell are separated from God, they believe death is separation from God and the second death is an eternal Hell, and at the same time they believe God is there tormenting them and gives them life. All life comes from God. He would have to be present and not present at the same time. The lost would be separated from God and not separated from God simultaneously, for He would be wherever they were separated from Him if He were doing the tormenting.
(18). If you go back in time 50 or 100 years, most all preachers were teaching "Hell" to be a place of "fire and brimstone." Today "fire and brimstone" is almost never used by preachers or in today's theology. Do you believe in the "Hell" of today or the "Hell" of 100 years ago?
HELL HAS BEEN MOVED
Pagan philosophers mostly believed the soul was somewhere underground unto it was reincarnated. The first time Hell is used in the King James Version, it is on this earth, and is the punishment and scattering of the nation of Israel [Deuteronomy 32:22-26]. "Though they dig into Hell" [Amos 9:27 King James Version]. Most of the "church fathers," and the Church in the Dark Age, believed Hell was underground. Both the Catholic Church and the "Apostle's creed," which is used by many Protestants says Christ descended into Hell at His death; and preached to the souls in prison. Many encyclopedias and lexicons still say this. The New Oxford American Dictionary says, “hell ‘hel’ a place regarded in various religions as a spiritual realm of evil and suffering, often traditionally depicted as a place of perpetual fire beneath the earth where the wicked are punished after death.” When I was a child, I heard repeatedly that the Devil lived under the ground and would get you if you were bad. Now almost no one believes Hell is under ground and it has been moved to some dark place on the backside of some far away no one knows where place. Most who believed Hell to be under the earth also believed the earth will end at the coming of Christ. I have never heard them explain how the earth will be destroyed, but the Hell that is under ground (inside of the earth) will last forever.
O-well, one is as good as another and one place is as good as any other for there is no Bible teaching for any of them. They are all man made, and believing any of them is to believe a lie. "But in vain do they worship me, teaching as their doctrines the precepts of men" [Matthew 15:9]. The only sure thing is that what men believe about Hell is that Hell is always changing to suit the times and the denominations.
BELIEVERS IN HELL MUST
Must do away with death. If death is real, if when God said death, God meant what He said, then Hell cannot be.
Must prove that men are now immortal Must prove that there is an immaterial, invisible part of a person that has no substance and this nothing, whatever it is, is now as immortal as it will be after the judgment; and this nothing is the only part of a person Christ will save and the only part of a person that will be in Heaven. If a person is now mortal, he cannot now be immortal.
Must make words like destroy, perish, die, death, lost be used only with a theological sense. If they are used "in the fair, stipulated, and well-established meaning of the terms" then Hell cannot be.
Must prove that Hell is in the Bible, both the name and the particular place they call Hell. If they do not prove there is a Hell, but teach it, they have added to the Bible.
Must prove that the "nehphesh" animals have in Genesis 1:20; 1:21; 1:24; 1:30; 2:19 is mortal but the "nehphesh" men have in Genesis 2:7 is immortal.
FROM WHERE DID HELL COME?
IT CAME FROM PAGAN PHILOSOPHERS, and was brought into the church along with Purgatory, the sale of indulgences, Limbo, worship of Mary and saints, Nether World, Holy Water, the rosary, forbidding Priests to marry, the crucifix, forbidding eating of meat on Friday, candle-burning, and many other teachings; and was opposed by such men as Luther, Tyndale, Moses Lord, and many others. It came into the church in the Dark Age from Pagan Greek philosophers and writers like Dante Aligheri (1265-1321), "The Divine Comedy" and Milton's "Paradise Lost" added things like Satan has a red suit, horns, and pitchfork and is forever tormenting the damned. Aligheri was a pagan who believed the teaching of Plato on the soul being immortal and his book "The Divine Comedy" is basically Plato's view of the soul. This view of Hell was adopted in the Middle Age Church to create fear of leaving the church. The church in the Dark Age and the translators of the King James Bible were more influenced by this Pagan philosophy and writers of that time then they were from the teaching of God.
Growler 1995 Encyclopedia ASPS says, "In Greek Mythology, Hades is the underworld ruled by the god of that name, who is also known as Pluto; in Nurse Mythology, Hel is a cold and shadowy subterranean realm." Both Hel and Hell are from the same root word- "Kel."
The American Heritage Dictionary, Page 2108 says, "KEL-1. O-grade from kal 1. A Hell, from Old English Hell, Hell; B HEL, from Old Nurse Hel, the underworld, goddess of death."
Compton's 1995 Encyclopedia, "Hell and Hades" "The modern Western understanding of Hell derives from the latest period in ancient Israel's history, and it was more fully developed by early Christianity...There is no fully developed teaching about Hell in the New Testament, though there are frequent mentions of it. Only in the course of later church history was it elaborated into official church doctrine. Today the New Testament statements and their later explanation are taken literally by some Christians, regarded as allegory or myth by some, and denied altogether by others."
Encyclopedia Britannica, Volume 2, Page 402, "Old English. Hel, a Teutonic word from a root meaning 'to cover.'"
Encyclopedia Americana, Volume 14, Page 81, "Much confusion and misunderstanding has been caused through the early translators of the Bible persistently rendering the Hebrew Sheol and the Greek Hades and Gehenna by the word hell. The simple transliteration of these words by the translators of the revised editions of the Bible has not sufficed to appreciably clear up this confusion and misconception."
[1]. HEL AND OTHER PAGAN TEACHING WERE BROUGHT INTO THE BIBLE [as Hell] BY REINTERPRETING FOUR WORDS FIFTY-SEVEN TIMES in the King James Version, but much fewer times in later translations, and none at all in many translations. The American Standard Version, which many say is the most accurate translation ["This honored version of 1901, long held to be the most accurate translation in the English language" Star Bible catalog Page 3, 1996], uses it 13 times; and even then has a footnote which says, "Gr. Gehenna" or "Gr. Tartarus."
Csonka says, "Every good Bible student know Hades is not Hell" Truth Magazine, 1995, Page 17. Then why do so many in the Lord's church teach it is?
"The word Gehenna does not occur in the LXX or Greek literature...In contrast with later Christian writings and ideas, the torments of hell are not described in the NT...Neither does the NT contain the idea that Satan is the prince of gehenna, to whom sinners are handed over for punishment" The Dictionary of New Testament Theology, Volume 2, Page 208-209.
One writer in the Lord's church [who believes in Hell] said, "The New Testament is loaded with metaphors that describe Hell" and then he says Gehenna is one of the metaphors. On the page before he said that Gehenna is not used in secular Greek literature, not used in the Septuagint, and not by Josephus in the last part of the first century in any of his writings. When he said they did not use Gehenna, he is using it to mean Hell; therefore, he is saying Hell was not used by any of the above. Neither is it in any of the Apocryphal books. The first time Gehenna (not Hell) is used by any Christian writer was by Justin Martyr in about A. D. 150 and he said the unrighteous will suffer and then pass out of existence. NO ONE KNOW OF OR USED “HELL” FOR THE FIRST 15O YEARS! THEN IT WAS A HELL THAT LASTED FOR ONLY A LIMITED TIME THEN ENDED!
[2]. NOT IN VOCABULARY: Heaven and Earth are named together about 30 times, and each is named separately 100's of times, but not one time is Hell named or even spoken of. Why? No doubt, it would have been if Hell was real and there is such a place. We are told not to swear by Heaven or Earth [Matthew 5:34], but today men swear by Hell more than both Heaven and Earth together. Why were they not told not to swear by Hell? It was because Hell is a word that was not in their vocabulary? No word with the meaning of today's English Hell was used in the ancient writing as a swear word or any other way; no such word was in their vocabulary and they knew of no such place. THE CONCEPT OF THE PLACE CALLED HELL, OR THE NAME HELL IS NOT IN THE BIBLE, AND DOES NOT OCCUR IN ANY WRITING OF EITHER THE HEBREWS OR THE GREEKS UNTO LONG AFTER THE BIBLE. THE OLD TESTAMENT HEBREW, OR THE NEW TESTAMENT GREEK, HAS NO WORD THAT IS EVEN CLOSE TO TODAY'S ENGLISH WORD "HELL." It is not in Greek literature in New Testaments times or before, first century writers did not use it, Josephus or any other historian of that time did not use it, it is not in the Septuagint, it was unknown about unto long after the last book of the Bible was written.
HOW DO WE KNOW ABOUT THIS PLACE CALLED HELL? WHERE DID HELL COME FROM? Not by faith that comes by hearing God's word. It is from the doctrines and precepts of men [Matthew 15:9]. It was not used in the first century because it was a place they knew nothing about. The word "Hell" is of Saxon origin about the 3rd to 5th century A. D. and originally was any covered over place such a roof or a grave. The nearest thing I can find to the English word Hell is in Greek Mythology and Nurse Mythology [According to Socrates, Plato and other Greek philosopher], was a shadowy subterranean realm somewhere under the earth where souls went unto they could be reincarnated; but this shadowy place was far from being as terrible or as dreadful a place as today's Hell is, and "souls" would only be in it unto they were reincarnated. This underground place did not have the name Hell and is nothing like the Hell that grew out of it in the Dark Age.
"Three hundred years or so ago the word 'Hell' was commonly used to refer to any dark or foreboding place. A grave could be referred to by that term without readers or hearers automatically envisioning 'the lake of fire, which is the second death' [Rev. 20:15]. The hole dug in the ground to receive the body of a deceased loved one is certainly a foreboding place. A prison, dungeon, lunatic asylum, or a valley such as the valley of Hinnom outside of Jerusalem with equal propriety could be spoken of as 'Hell' three or four hundred years ago. That is no longer so...in our time 'Hell' has a fairly settled meaning...its use conjures up visions of the awesome lake of fire judgment reserved for sinners" Russell Boatman, Dean at Saint Louis Christian College, Christian Church, "What The Bible Says, The End Time," College Press, Page 305.
"Hell has entirely changed its old harmless sense of dim under-world: and that meaning, as it now does, to myriads of readers...it conveys meanings which are not to be found in any of the New or Old Testament words for which it is presented as an equivalent" Canon Farrar, Excursus II, "Eternal Hope."
A doctrine as terrible as Hell must not be assumed, but demonstrated by unquestionable proof. Such proof is not in the Bible. Heaven is in the Bible over 600 times, but Hell not one time. Why? The Bible is full of warnings. Paul warned that many "shall not inherit the kingdom of God" [1 Corinthians 5:9], but he never said anyone would "go to Hell." Paul said he declared the whole counsel of God [Acts 20:27]; yet not one time [even in the King James Version] did he use the word Hell. Why? T. L. Andrews said our English word Hell has come to mean the eternal abode of the sinner where this tormenting punishment takes place? Florida College Lectures, 1997, Page 168. When? The English word Hell did not exist in Paul's time. It therefore come to mean the eternal abode of sinners long after the New Testament; and came from man, not God. Therefore Paul could not, and did not use it.
IF HELL WERE A REAL PLACE, WHICH WAS KNOWN ABOUT IN THE TIME OF CHRIST, OTHERS OF THAT TIME WOULD HAVE KNOWN ABOUT IT AND USED ITS NAME; BUT NONE DID. Gehenna was the name of a real place near Jerusalem [the city dump], which the people near Jerusalem would know about, and they have would understand what Christ was saying when He used its name as a place of destruction. The rest of the world would not know about Jerusalem's trash dump or know what its name was, and would not have understood. If Paul had used the name Gehenna in Rome or in writing to Gentiles, it is unlikely that any would have known what or where Gehenna was. When the Greek philosophy about the underworld was brought into the church by the "church fathers," what Christ had said about Gehenna was made to order for them to misuse. "Gehenna" was soon mistranslated into Hell; probably it came from "Hel" [see above]. Whatever is not taught in the Bible cannot be a Bible doctrine. If it is the doctrine of man, is it not sinful to teach it as God's word?
Hell is not a Bible word. It is a word chosen by Bible Translators to translate four Bible words, sheol, hades, Gehenna, and Tartarus. Not one of the four has the meaning of Hell as it is used today. Not only is there no Hebrew or Greek word for Hell, but also at first even the English word Hell did not mean a place of torment after death as it does today; like many English words it has had a radical change of meaning. In Old English it was a covered place. A farmer would say, "I helled my potatoes" meaning he put them in a hole and covered them to keep them from the cold. Helling a house meant to cover it with a roof. Helmet, a covering for the head is derived from the same word. Hell was never the best translations of hades, but formerly it would have been acceptable in Old English. It is not an acceptable translation of hades in modern English and has been abandoned by many of the newer translations. When the King James Version was made, the doctrine of Hell was completely developed and the translation of sheol and hades into Hell were a mistranslation. Most likely a deliberate mistranslation for in 1611 it had taken on the modern meaning of a place of torment after death.
Those who believe in Hell use the word as if both the place and the name are used repeatedly in the Bible. Their proof texts are metaphors, parables, and symbolical language as is found in the book of Revelation. If there is a place as terrible as Hell, why is it never spoken of in clear words that the common person could not misunderstand? If Hell were real, it would be strange if a doctrine as important as Hell would have been would have to depend on an interpretation of a parable or symbolical language.
[3]. NOT IN EARLY CREEDS The two earliest creeds, The Apostles Creed, traditionally ascribed to the 12 Apostles, and the Nicean Creed, 325 A. D., were both doctrinal statements saying what those that used them believed, but neither one contained the concept of Hell.
[4]. TODAY'S PREACHING - versus - FIRST CENTURY PREACHING. Heaven is taught throughout the Bible [used about 635 times in the New American Standard Bible], but there is nothing about today's Hell. Adam was warned that he would die if he ate, but not that he would go to Hell. Moses warned about death to those who did not keep the law, but he said nothing about Hell. The Bible is as silent as a tomb on it. It is beyond belief that there would not be many clear and unmistakable warning about Hell if there were such a place. There are many clear and unmistakable warning that the wages of sin is death, but not a one about Hell or an eternal life of torment.
HOW HELL WAS PUT INTO THE BIBLE
AND IS BEING KEPT IN THE BIBLE
"Jesus said it [Hell] was a place where 'the fire...never shall be quenched...Hell is further described as a place where" Whitlock, Seibles Road Church of Christ bulletin, August 9, 1998.
Christ did not say anything about Hell, but was using Gehenna as a metaphor of destruction; but Whitlock uses Hell and in the same sentence he quotes only a part of a sentence used by Christ, adds to it, and makes it all one sentence. In doing so he has put the word Hell into the mouth of Christ, but he must deny that this is a metaphor. [1] He changes one proper noun into another proper noun, but does not tell us from where he got the proper noun "Hell." [2] He makes Christ say something He did not say. [3] He says, "Hell is further described as a place where," but he did not say where it is described as a place. Hell is not described as a place or is not described in any other way in the Bible. This is the very way the words of Christ were first misused by some of the so called church fathers in about the third century and after, long before it was mistranslated into any Bible translation. Unto after the end of the second century only a few of the "church fathers" taught that men have an immaterial, invisible part of a person that is immortal and it was not unto later that Hell came into being. The half converted "church fathers," looking for a way to put their philosophy into Christianity, used the words of Christ in the same way Whitlock did. The church fathers had to have a place to put their immortal soul, which came from their Greek philosophy. Very often statements like the one John Benton made, that the same word aionios, (eternal) is used to describe both Heaven and Hell. "How Can a God of Love Send People to Hell?" Page 44, 1985. Dr. Bert Thompson said both Heaven and Hell are described with the exact same terminology in the Bible. Reason and Revelation, July 2000. The sad thing is that many will believe such a statements without question. The truth is that aionios, (eternal) is not used in any passage with sheol, hades or Gehenna, not in any passage that any of the three words that are translated Hell in the King James Version. Dr. Thompson did not give one passage where Hell is described with the same terminology as Heaven. There is not one.
Summary: In Pagan and Greek philosophy [Plato, Socrates and others], souls went to a place underground to "a cold and shadowy subterranean realm" unto they could be reincarnated. They believed in the soul being immortal and would be reincarnated, but they did not believe in Hell, a place of everlasting torment before or after the judgment was unknown to them; and they had no word for it. The doctrine of Hell, as is believed today, became fully developed in the medieval Dark Age. Tyndale and many others in the Protestant reformation fought the Catholic Church teaching that most go to Purgatory to be purified on their way to Heaven, but "Hell" was accepted without Purgatory by most Protestant churches. It was preached in all its terror by the Jonathan Edwards type of Hell fire preacher and many Gospel preachers a few years back, with Satan tormenting the lost from the time of their death. Today it is almost never preached or written about by Gospel preachers; but when it is, it is almost always toned down from the Jonathan Edwards type of Hell fire preaching; and it is now God, not Satan, who will be doing the tormenting.
ANOTHER CHANGE: In the same way the King James Version changed Gehenna into Hell, it also changed the proper noun "Passover (Pasha in Greek)" into "Easter." "Pasha" is in the New Testament twenty-nine times. Twenty-eight times the King James Version translates it Passover. Only one time [Acts 12:4] is it translated Easter, which according to Webster’s New World Dictionary came from “Eastre” which is the Anglos Saxon goddess of the dawn. There is no way the King James translators could not have known Pasha is not Easter; this is another deliberate change where a Proper Noun was changed into another Proper Noun, which they know had a completely different meaning. Most other translations have corrected this change.
IF GEHENNA IS A METAPHOR, WHAT IS IT A METAPHOR OF? Present day preachers make it be a metaphor of a place unknown unto long after the last page of the Bible was written. BUT (after they change it's name) THEY CONTINUOUSLY USE IT AS IF IT IS A REAL PLACE, NOT AS A METAPHOR.
CAN ONE METAPHOR HAVE SEVERAL OTHER METAPHORS THAT ARE METAPHORS OF IT? After saying Gehenna was a valley that was used as a place of refuse where fires were always needed to consume, Hamilton said Jesus took the term and applied it to the place of eternal torment. C. Hamilton in Truth Commentaries, 1 Peter, Page 385. This is a typical example of how even well-educated men who know how Christ used Gehenna, but they are compelled to use the mistranslation of the King James Version to prove their belief. Then he said Hell is represented by several metaphors. He said Gehenna is a metaphor, and then he said this metaphor (Gehenna) is represented by several metaphors. He has one metaphor that has several other metaphors that are metaphors of it. Then on the same page he said, Gehenna, Hell, means the place of punishment in the next life. First, he says Gehenna, a valley used for the destruction of the unwanted city garbage, is a metaphor of Hell, and then on the same page said Gehenna is Hell! Which one does he think Gehenna is, a metaphor, or a real place? It comes down to what is the real thing, and what is the metaphor. He said all three, that Gehenna, the lake of fire, and the second death, are all metaphors. Then how could any of them be hell if all three are metaphors? How could he say Hell-Gehenna is a real place when he has just said it is a metaphor? His problem is that he knew Gehenna was the city dump (a real place), but needed to make it into another real place, namely Hell. He has the both the lake of fire and the second death being a metaphor of Gehenna-Jerusalem's trash dump. He said Hell is called the second death, and the lake of fire on page 385; but he did not give one verse where either one is called Hell. He did not for there is not one. This is one of the biggest adding to the word of God that can be found anywhere by anyone. When was Gehenna changed into Hell? When was one place changed into another place? When did a place of destruction of unwanted trash become a place of eternal torment and damnation? The second death is not a metaphor of anything. If the second death is only a metaphor then the first death would also have to be only a metaphor; or there would not be the first and the second, but two different and unlike things. The second death is a real death, just as real as is the first death. He changed Gehenna into Hell and used it over and over as if it were a Bible name for a real place (but not the name of the city dump). He has done what many do, He has taken the name of a particular place [the city dump] and made it into another particular place, which does not exist in the Bible; and then made the second death into a metaphor of the place he has made. He has taken a thing [death-the second death] and then made this thing into a place and calls this place he had made out of death "Hell."
How could he know Gehenna is a metaphor of Hell? If it is, then he would have to know about Hell from some other place, for he could never know Gehenna was a metaphor of a place called Hell if the Bible said nothing about that place. We would never be able to understand a metaphor if it were about somewhere far out in space which we know nothing about if we are not told by revelation that there is such a place. This is just what he is doing if he does not know there is a Hell from another part of the Bible. From where did he learn of Hell? From where did he learn it name? Maybe from the very badly mistranslated King James Version, and the theology he has heard all his life, but not from any revelation from God for there is not a word in the Bible that has the meaning of today's English word hell. He says in one breath that Gehenna is a metaphor of Hell and in the next breath it is not a metaphor, but that it is Hell. He and most others that believe in Hell say Gehenna is a metaphor of Hell. But if Gehenna, the city dump, is a metaphor of Hell why is this metaphor of Hell translated into Hell? If it is a metaphor of Hell, in what passage is "Hell" to be found? Without changing Gehenna into Hell, there is nowhere that Hell can be found in the Bible. They seem to be between a rock and a hard place. They know Gehenna is a metaphor, but if it is a metaphor then they have no place to get the name of Hell; yet, they tell us it is a metaphor and then tell us it is not a metaphor but that they know it is an actual real place of eternal torment even if they cannot tell us what passage they know this from.
Here is a strange statement for one who believes Hell is found in revelation from God. Hamilton quotes Henry Thayer who said, "Gehenna, the name of a valley on the S. and E. of Jerusalem...which was so called from the cries of little children who were thrown into the fiery arms of Moloch...an idol having the form of a bull. The Jews so abhorred the place after these horrible sacrifices had been abolished by King Josiah...that they cast into it not only all manner or refuse, but even the dead bodies of animals and of unburied criminals who had been executed. And since fires were always needed to consume the dead bodies, that the air might not become tainted by the putrefaction, it came to pass that the place was called Gehenna tou puros" A Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament, Page 111. THAYER SAID GEHENNA IS A VALLEY THAT IS NEAR JERUSALEM; IF IT IS A VALLEY ON THIS EARTH, IT COULD NOT BE HELL THAT IS NOT ON THIS EARTH.
Hamilton said the concept of hell is derived from a valley south and east of Jerusalem. Truth Commentaries, 1 Peter, Page 385. Who does he think had this "concept," man or God? Is he saying God or man had this concept from the misuses of a valley on this earth? When was this "concept"? A big part of the Old Testament was past history before the Jews so abhorred the place, Page 385. Was it just a late afterthought with God, which he derived from man's misuse of a valley? He overlooked the fact that "Hell" is in the King James Version before the "Jews so abhorred the place after these horrible sacrifices." He said (1) Hell was unknown in much of the Old Testament and (2) "the concept of Hell is derived" by man. Do you see what he has done? He has taken what Thayer said about the origin of the name of a real valley that is "S. and E. of Jerusalem" then he changed the name of this real valley from Gehenna to Hell, and then applied what was said in the lexicon about the valley of Gehenna to the origin to his Hell, which he says is a place not on this earth. He completely changed what Thayer said about the name of a valley on this earth to make it be proof of what he needed, but did not have. THAYER SAYS WHERE THE NAME OF A VALLEY NEAR JERUSALEM (Gehenna) IS DERIVED FROM, BUT WHERE IS HELL (as we use the word today) DERIVED FROM? EITHER THE NAME OR THE PLACE? The answer is clear that it came from pagan philosophy and was brought into the church by the so-called church fathers. NEITHER A PLACE OF ETERNAL TORMENT NOR IT’S NAME IS IN THE BIBLE.
If Gehenna were a metaphor of Hell, a place of eternal torment, it would be a very poor one, for GEHENNA THE CITY DUMP WAS A PLACE OF DESTRUCTION WITH NO TORMENT; BUT HELL AS IT IS TAUGHT TODAY IS A PLACE OF TORMENT WITH NO DESTRUCTION. IN THE TIME OF CHRIST GEHENNA WAS A REAL PLACE OF DESTRUCTION ON THIS EARTH, NOT A PLACE OF TORMENT THAT IS NOT ON THIS EARTH.
STEP AFTER STEP AFTER STEP
• First step: Many teach and believe that Gehenna was the valley outside of Jerusalem [the city dump].
• Second step: The name is changed to the name of another place, but not a place near Jerusalem. Changed from "Gehenna" near Jerusalem to "Hell" who knows where it is but not near Jerusalem, not on this earth.
• Third step: Then the place of destruction which is near Jerusalem named Gehenna is changed into a place of torment that is not on this earth and renamed Hell, and the very words (mistranslated words) of Christ are used to make Him be speaking of their Hell. Christ is made to be speaking of a place not of this earth, and not the Gehenna near Jerusalem. With this kind of reasoning anything can be proved. THE VALLEY THAT WAS CALLED "GEHENNA" BY CHRIST IS NOT THE PLACE THAT IS CALLED "HELL" TODAY.
Summary: Major changes must be made to the Bible to teach a person now has an immortal immaterial, invisible part of a person that will be tormented in Hell.
1. Destroy what? Soul [psukee - a living creature] MUST BE CHANGED TO A FORMLESS, NO SUBSTANCE BEING THAT CANNOT DIE THAT ANIMALS DO NOT HAVE. A mortal living being (psukee) must be changed to an immortal being. How did the translators know when it was one and when it was the other? The same word is used four times in Matthew 10:28-39 and is translated soul two times and life two times, and in Matthew 16:25-39 it is used four times and in the King James Version it is also translated soul two times and life two times, but life all four times in the American Standard Version. In verse 39 Christ says, "He that finds his life [psukee-life or soul] shall lose it; and he that loses his life [psukee-life or soul] for my sake shall find it." Although the translators have tried to make it sometimes refer to one part of a person and sometimes to another part of a person, it always refers to the whole person, not just a part of him. When it refers to God, it is referring to all of God, not just an immortal inter part of Him. When both nehphesh in the Old Testament and psukee in the New Testament are used with reference to God, angels, man, or animals, it is always a living being, not just a part of a living being.
2. Destroy where? Gehenna, a place where there was destruction but no torment must be changed to a place where there is torment but no destruction. CHRIST SAID DESTROY IN GEHENNA, BUT THIS MUST BE CHANGED TO TORMENT IN HELL.
3. The name Gehenna must be changed to another name, Hell. The name of the city dump of Jerusalem, a real place, must be changed to the name of another place which those who have made the change say is a place that is not on this earth. Many who say they speak where the Bible speaks and are silent where the Bible is silent make all these changes. IF THEY DID NOT CHANGE THE NAME "GEHENNA" TO "HELL" THEY WOULD HAVE NOTHING ABOUT "HELL" IN THE BIBLE.
4. The fire of Gehenna must be changed to the fire of "Hell" Our earthly bodies cannot be burned forever in a literal fire. Both our bodies and the fire would have to be changed in such a way that it would be something other than the bodies we now have, and it could not literal fire as we know it. Would it not mean God would make something new, then forever burn this new something as if it were our bodies in place of our bodies?
5. Death must be changed to life for the lost to have eternal life in Hell. "The wages of sin is death" [Romans 6:23]. "But for the fearful...their part shall be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone; which is the second death" [Revelation 21:8].
Nowhere does the Bible say there is such a place as Hell, and it is up to those who teach it to prove there is a place in the Bible. This they have not, and cannot prove.
1. Not one passage that says most of mankind will be given to Satan to forever torment for his pleasure.
2. Not one passage that says most of mankind was made by a sadistic and fiendish God who knew before He made them that He would forever torment them.

USE OF FIRE IN THE NEW TESTAMENT
Consumed Or Not Consumed
Fire is always used for destruction, never for preservation. It is never used for torment. Fire always destroys and never preserves anything.
• Burning of unfruitful trees and useless chaff of wheat by John the Baptist [Matthew 3:4-12].
• Burning of trash in the city dump-Gehenna [see chapter four].
• Burning of tares at the end of the age [Matthew 13:24-50].
• Burning of unfruitful branches [John 15:6]. Unfruitful trees [Luke 3:9].
• Land that bears thorns and thistles is to be burned. To get rid of the thorns. Those that fell away are likened or compared too thorns and thistles that are destroyed by fire, not tormented by fire [Hebrews 6:1-7].
• God is a consuming fire. [Hebrews 12:29] See Luke 9:54.
• Sodom-punishment of eternal fire-was forever destroyed by fire, not forever burning [Jude 7; 2 Peter 2:6].
• The heavens shall pass away, be dissolved, and the earth and the works that are therein shall be burned up [2 Peter 3:7-14]. The lost are of the world, which will pass away [1 John 2:16-17].
• 2 Thessalonians 1:7
• Lake of fire, which is the second death (not preserved alive) [Revelation 21:8; 2:11].
Fire is never used by God to torment, but for destruction. "Gather his wheat [the saved] into the garner, but He will burn up the chaff [the lost] with unquenchable fire" Matthew 3:12. Tares and bad fish are burned to get rid of them, NOT TO TORMENT FOREVER, OR AS SOME SAY "TO BURN IN HELL FOREVER" Matthew 13. Theology teaches the exact opposite of the Bible that the chaff will not be burned up but will be tormented forever, but not burned, not consumed and destroyed as the farmer does the chaff.
• Farmer: Burns up chaff to destroy it.
• God: Burns up sinful to destroy them.
• Fisher: Burns bad fish to get rid of them. [There is no parallel if you say, "torment them." It would make God be using very poor metaphors, for the ones God used do not teach torment, and would not make sense.]
o Tares are burned, the wheat is saved [Matthew 13:30]
o Lost are burned, the faithful are saved. Does the farmer burn the tares to torment them or to destroy them?
When tares are cast into a furnace of fire they are burnt. Like the chaff that is totally consumed in the furnace, there is no suggestion of life beyond the burning in the lake of fire.
FURNACE OF FIRE in the Old Testament, destruction not eternal torment or preservation, Psalm 21:9; Malachi 4:1-3; Daniel 3:13-27; Psalm 12:6.
CONSUMED OR NOT CONSUMED: Those who believe a person has a soul that is immortal also believe a person's soul can never be consumed. How is consumed used in the Bible. Is a consuming fire one that burns up (consumes) or one that is forever burning but cannot consume what it is burning? Why would God use "consumed" if a person has a soul that cannot be consumed?
1. Leviticus 10:2: “And fire came out from the presence of the Lord and consumed them, and they died before the Lord.”
2. Exodus 3:2-5: The burning bush was "not consumed." This was so unnatural of fire that Moses said, "I must turn aside now, and see this marvelous sight, why the bush is not burnt up."
3. Exodus 15:7 "You do send forth your burning anger, and it consumes them as chaff." When chaff is consumed by fire the chaff no longer exists.
4. Exodus 32:10: "Now therefore let me alone, that my wrath may wax hot against them, and that I may consume them; and I will make of you a great nation." "Destroy" in New American Standard Version. They would no longer exist.
5. Exodus 32:12: "Wherefore should the Egyptians speak, saying, For evil did he bring them forth, to slay them in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the earth? Turn from your fierce wrath, and repent of this evil against your people." They would have been completely removed from the face of the earth.
6. Leviticus 9:23-24: The fat was on the altar. Fire comes forth and consumed it. The consumed fat no longer existed.
7. Psalms 37:20: "They shall consume; in smoke shall they consume away."
8. Hebrews 12:29: "For our God is a consuming fire."

USE OF TORMENT IN THE NEW TESTAMENT
Those who teach the sinner will be tormented forever in Hell use:
1. The symbolic language in the parable of the rich man, which must be made literal for it to support their teaching. [Luke 16:23; 24; 25; 28].
2. The symbolic language of Revelation, which must also be made literal, if not neither would it support their teaching.
a. Revelation 9:5: Locusts out of the pit torment those who have not the seal of God tormented for five months. Believers in Hell do not believe the torment in the Hell they believe in will be for only five months.
b. Revelation 11:10: "Tormented them that dwell on the earth." A symbolical picture of something on this earth, not in Hell. "Tormented them that dwell on the earth." must be changed to. “Tormented them that dwell in Hell.”
c. Revelation 14:10, 11: Worshipers of Babylon tormented. Babylon: "Roman Empire and its pagan religions that were the persecutor of the church" [See Hailey, Wallace, and Ogden above].
d. Revelation 18:7 10, 15: Babylon tormented. "In one hour God is she made desolate...for has judged your judgment on her." This is an evil nation on this earth, not the lost in "Hell" although it is often misused to prove "Hell."
3. Revelation 20:10: The devil tormented by being cast into the lake of fire, which is the second death. "Day and night," as long as there is day and night, unto the ages of ages.
4. Torment is used in non-symbolical language in the New Testament, but it is never applied to the lost after Judgment Day. Matthew 4:24; 8:6; Mark 8:6, 18:34; Hebrews 11:37; 1 John 4:18. Those that teach unconditional immortality uses only the symbolic language passages to prove torment in Hell. Yet in their preaching they frequently use it literally, saying God will forever torment the lost, and then say they are "speaking where the scriptures speak, and keeping silent where the scriptures are silent."
Demons tormented [Matthew 8:29; Mark 5:7; Luke 8:28] Knowles on page 203 in "What the Bible says about Angels and Demons" said, "Demons Believe in Hell," and he uses "BEFORE the appointed time" in Matthew 8:29, as his proof. "To torment us BEFORE THE APPOINTED TIME?" The question is WHEN and WHAT torment is being spoken of. What is "the appointed time?" The only torment in this is what the demon's thought Christ was going to do to them THEN AT THAT TIME ["before the appointed time"], not in Hell. [Torment "...2. to agitate or upset greatly 3. to annoy, pester, or harass." American Heritage Dictionary]. They asked Christ if He came to torment [harass] them at that time. Nothing is said about Hell or TORMENT AT THE APPOINTED TIME [at the judgment], OR TORMENT AFTER THE APPOINTED TIME [after the judgment], but many read it in. THE DEMONS DID NOT ASK CHRIST IF HE WERE GOING TO TORMENT THEM AT THE JUDGMENT (the appointed time) BUT WAS CHRIST GOING TO TORMENT THEM AT THE TIME HE WAS TALKING TO THEM (before the appointed time). How does he find Hell or the Demons believing in Hell in this passage?
Thomas P. Connelly in "A Debate On The State Of The Dead" makes the argument that demons are the departed souls of dead men. For this to be true, it must first be shown that men do have a part that lives after the death of the body, and second, contrary to the Protestant theology that the lost goes to Hell at death, and contrary to the Abraham's bosom view that the lost are not on the bad side of hades, but that the lost dead are now alive and are on this earth; it would have to be shown that are now roaming around on this earth. If the lost were in Hell it would make them able to leave Hell and return to earth.
As was said at the first of this chapter, those who believe in the Pagan doctrine of an immortal soul from birth and Hell have no plain statement. That they must make figurative language, metaphors and symbolic passages into literal statements SHOWS THE WEAKNESS OF THEIR BELIEF, that it is from man and not from God. They must make parables, and figurative language to be superior over plain statements. What is clear language must be made to agree with what they think is said in the symbolic language.
Both the Old Testament and the New Testament are completely silent on today's concept of a place where God will unending torment most of mankind. HOW CAN ANYONE BELIEVE IT IS NOT A SIN TO ADD SUCH A PLACE TO GOD'S WORD? WHAT DO THEY THINK GOD WILL SAY AT THE JUDGMENT TO THOSE WHO ATTRIBUTE SUCH AN EVIL TEACHING TO HIM? Does not attributing this evil to God make them a sinner?

CHAPTER FIVE
Sheol, Hades, Gehenna, Tartarus
In the King James Bible, there are four words translated Hell [sheol, hades, Tartarus, and Gehenna]. Most Bible students now admit that sheol, hades and Tartarus should never have been translated into Hell, but many still hold onto the badly mistranslated King James Version, and Gospel preachers and Bible teachers do little or nothing to teach the truth. Many, who do all they can too correct any lesser error just do not seem to care about this one.
[1] SHEOL IN THE OLD TESTAMENT
Sheol in the King James Version is translated grave 31 times, Hell 31 times, and pit 3 times. The American Standard Version used the untranslated Hebrew word "sheol." The New International Version translated it "grave" 60 times and "death" 5 times. The New Century Version and others also translated it grave. The American Standard Version and other newer translations knew Hell as used today [a place of eternal punishment after the resurrection] was not right, but did not translate it "grave"; they left the Hebrew word untranslated. Maybe they thought it would make their translation unacceptable if they translated it, and it most likely would have. Neither sheol nor hades have any meaning in English and it leave every one free to use any theological definition they want. Hamilton said contrary to popular opinion it does not mean Hell as we use this term, Page 384, Truth Commentaries.
The King James Version makes one place, sheol be three different places with the same name, the grave, Hell, and a pit. How did they know the one common noun means three different places, two common nouns, and one proper noun? "HELL" AS IT IS USED TODAY IS NOT A THIRTY-FIRST COUSIN TO GRAVE YET THEY TRANSLATED IT FROM THE SAME WORD IN THE HEBREW OLD TESTAMENT. How did they know when the same word in one place was a grave (a common noun) for the dead that is on this earth, and when the same word was an entirely different place (a proper noun), a place of torment that is not on this earth for those who can never be dead?
"THERE DOES NOT SEEM TO BE A VERY CLEAR DISTINCTION IN THE O. T. BETWEEN THE FINAL DESTINY OF THE GOOD AND THE EVIL. THEY ALL ALIKE GO TO THE GRAVE" Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible, "SHEOL," Volume 1, Page 953. The reason for there being no distinction in the Old Testament is that both the good and the evil do go to the grave, and will not come out unto the resurrection.
The Hebrew word "sheol" is left not translated all sixty-five times it is used in the American Standard Version, New American Standard Version, and many others. A Hebrew word that is not translated in an English translation does not help the English reader understand what was said, but it is better than mistranslating it as the King James Version did and teaching a lie. Why do many translations translate all other words and leave this one not translated? Was the reason that if sheol were translated, it would be contrary to what the translators believed, or is it an attempt to side step the question and not have to deal with it. Were the translators afraid that if they told us the truth their translation would not be accepted?
ALL SIXTY-FIVE TIMES SHEOL IS USED
IN THE OLD TESTAMENT IN SEVEN TRANSLATIONS
| ASV |
SHEOL in the | NASV |
Old Testament | KJV | NKJV | NRSV | NIV |
1. Genesis 37:35 | grave | grave | Sheol | grave |
2. Genesis 42:38 | grave | grave | Sheol | grave |
3. Genesis 44:29 | grave | grave | Sheol | grave |
4. Genesis 44:31 | grave | grave | Sheol | grave |
5. Numbers 16:30 | pit | pit | Sheol | grave |
6. Numbers 16:33 | pit | pit | Sheol | grave |
7. Deuteronomy 32:22| Hell | Hell | Sheol | death |
8. 1 Samuel 2:6 | grave | grave | Sheol | grave |
9. 2 Samuel 22:6 (1)| HELL | SHEOL | Sheol | grave |
1 Kings 2:6 | grave | grave | Sheol | grave |
10. 1 Kings 2:9 | grave | grave | Sheol | grave |
11. Job 7:9 | grave | grave | Sheol | grave |
12. Job 11:8 (2)| HELL | SHEOL | Sheol | grave |
13. Job 14:13 | grave | grave | Sheol | grave |
14. Job 17:13 | grave | grave | Sheol | grave |
15. Job 17:16 (3)| PIT | SHEOL | Sheol | death |
16. Job 21:13 | grave | grave | Sheol | grave |
17. Job 24:19 | grave | grave | Sheol | grave |
18. Job 26:6 (4)| HELL | SHEOL | Sheol | death |
19. Psalms 6:5 | grave | grave | Sheol | grave |
20. Psalms 9:17 | Hell | Hell | Sheol | grave |
21. Psalms 16:10 (5)| HELL | SHEOL | Sheol | grave |
22. Psalms 18:5 (6)| HELL | SHEOL | Sheol | grave |
23. Psalms 30:3 | grave | grave | Sheol | grave |
24. Psalms 31:17 | grave | grave | Sheol | grave |
25. Psalms 49:14 | grave | grave | Sheol | grave |
26. Psalms 49:14 | grave | grave | Sheol | grave |
27. Psalms 49:15 | grave | grave | Sheol | grave |
28. Psalms 55:15 | Hell | Hell | Sheol | grave |
29. Psalms 86:13 (7)| HELL | SHEOL | Sheol | grave |
30. Psalms 88:3 | grave | grave | Sheol | grave |
31. Psalms 89:48 | grave | grave | Sheol | grave |
32. Psalms 116:3 (8)| HELL | SHEOL | Sheol | grave |
33. Psalms 139:8 | Hell | Hell | Sheol | depths|
34. Psalms 141:7 |Grave's| Grave | Sheol | grave |
35. Proverbs 1:12 (9)| GRAVE | SHEOL | Sheol | grave |
36. Proverbs 5:5 | Hell | Hell | Sheol | grave |
37. Proverbs 7:27 | Hell | Hell | Sheol | grave |
38. Proverbs 9:18 | Hell | Hell | Sheol | grave |
39. Proverbs 15:11 | Hell | Hell | Sheol | grave |
40. Proverbs 15:24 | Hell | Hell | Sheol | grave |
41. Proverbs 23:14 | Hell | Hell | Sheol | grave |
42. Proverbs 27:20 | Hell | Hell | Sheol | grave |
43. Proverbs 30:16 | grave | grave | Sheol | death |
44. Ecclesiastes 9:10| grave | grave | Sheol | grave |
45. Song of Solomon 8:6 | grave | grave | Sheol#| grave |
46. Isaiah 5:14 (10)| HELL | SHEOL | Sheol | grave |
47. Isaiah 14:9 | Hell* | Hell | Sheol | grave |
48. Isaiah 14:11 (11)| GRAVE | SHEOL | Sheol | grave |
49. Isaiah 14:15 (12)| HELL | SHEOL | Sheol | grave |
50. Isaiah 28:15 (13)| HELL | SHEOL | Sheol | grave |
51. Isaiah 28:18 (14)| HELL | SHEOL | Sheol | grave |
52. Isaiah 38:10 (15)| GRAVE | SHEOL | Sheol | grave |
53. Isaiah 38:18 (16)| GRAVE | SHEOL | Sheol | grave |
54. Isaiah 57:9 (17)| HELL | SHEOL | Sheol | grave |
55. Ezekiel 31:15(18)| GRAVE | HELL | Sheol | grave |
56. Ezekiel 31:16 | Hell | Hell | Sheol | grave |
57. Ezekiel 31:17 | Hell | Hell | Sheol | grave |
58. Ezekiel 32:21 | Hell | Hell | Sheol | grave |
59. Ezekiel 32:27 | Hell | Hell | Sheol | grave |
60. Hosea 13:14 | grave | grave | Sheol | grave |
61. Hosea 13:14 | grave | grave | Sheol | grave |
62. Amos 9:2 | Hell* | Hell | Sheol | grave |
63. Jonah 2:2 (19)| HELL* | SHEOL | Sheol | grave |
64. Habakkuk 2:5 | Hell | Hell | Sheol | grave |
KJV, King James Version; == NKJV, New King James Version, == ASV; American Standard Version, == NASV; New American Standard Version, == NRSV ; New Revised Standard Version, == NIV ; New International Version
#Song of Solomon 8:6 is the only time grave is used in place of sheol in the New Revised Standard Version.
*Margin reads "or the grave" in Isaiah 14:9, Amos 9:2, and Jonah 2:2 in the King James Version.
THERE ARE NINETEEN CHANGES in the King James and the New King James [See (1) to (19) in the above chart]. If there were a way to know when to translate sheol into Hell and when not to, the translators of the only two of the major translations that have Hell in the Old Testament should have known and be in agreement. Are they? The New King James Version takes Hell out of many passages where it is in the King James Version. When they translated a common noun [sheol-grave] into a proper noun [Hell], they did not agree often. Men never agree on what they want when they change the word of God.
Sheol in Hebrew, hades in Greek, and grave in English are common nouns and should not be capitalized but some translations do. If the translators of the New American Standard Version had been honest with their reader they would have translated sheol; it looks as if they were afraid to tell us the truth, but were did not want to lie by translating sheol into Hell so they used the Hebrew word knowing that most of there readers would understand sheol and Hell to the same place.
“The uniform substitution of ‘sheol’ for ‘the grave,’ ‘the pit,’ and ‘hell,’ in places where these terms have been retained by the English Revision, has little need of justification. The English Revisers use ‘Sheol’ twenty-nine times out of the sixty-fore in which it occurs in the original. No good reason has been given for such a discrimination. If the new term can be fitly used at all, it is clear that it ought to be used uniformly” Preface to the American Standard Bible.
OBVIOUSLY, IF "SHEOL" MEANS "HELL" IT SHOULD NEVER HAVE BEEN TRANSLATED "GRAVE" IN THE KING JAMES OR ANY OTHER TRANSLATIONS FOR THEY ARE DIFFERENT PLACES. IT IS ALSO OBVIOUS THAT IT CANNOT MEAN BOTH.
W. E. Vine said, "First, the word means the state of death. ‘ For in death, there is no remembrance of thee: in the grave who shall give thee thanks' (Ps 6:5; cf. 18:5). It is the final resting place of all men: 'they spend their days in wealth, and in a moment go down to the grave' Job 21:13...second, 'sheol' is used of a place of conscious existence after death" "Vine's Complete Expository Dictionary Of Old And New Testament Words" Page 227. If, as he said, sheol is both a place with no conscious existence after death, and a place of conscious existence after death, he could not (or anyone) ever know for sure when sheol was used the first or second way in any verse. How could they? Does everyone just use the one they want to? Although he is Protestant, this is not anything like the orthodox Protestant version of all going to directly to Heaven or Hell at death.
• FIRST VINE SAID SHEOL IS THE STATE OF DEATH WHERE THERE IS NO REMEMBRANCE.
• SECOND HE USED THE SAME WORD FOR A PLACE OF CONSCIOUS EXISTENCE.
HOW DOES HE THINK THE SAME PLACE COULD BE BOTH A PLACE OF DEATH WITH NO REMEMBRANCE AND AT THE SAME TIME A PLACE OF LIFE WITH CONSCIOUS EXISTENCE but not life in Heaven or Hell? He is speaking of conscious existence in sheol-the grave after death; therefore, he is saying the orthodox Protestant view of all be transported instantaneous to Heaven or Hell at death is not true. He tries to prove the second with Genesis 3:7-35 "I will go down to sheol in mourning for my son" New American Standard Version. The New Century Version says, "unto the day I die." "You will not abandon my soul to Sheol; neither will thou allow your holy one to undergo decay" (Psalms 16:10 New American Standard Version). "And lie silent in the grave" (Psalms 31:17 New International Version). "As heat and drought snatch away the melted snow, so the grave snatches away those who have sinned" (Job 24:19 New International Version). "So MAN lies down and does not roused from their sleep. If only you would hide ME in the grave" (Job 14:12-13 New International Version). It is man that lies down in sleep, not an immaterial part of man; Job wanted God to hide him (“me”) in the grave, not just his body while the real Job was in Heaven. In the very verses W. E. Vine uses to prove his second use of the word, God could not be saying the first any clearer. IN THESE PASSAGES AND OTHERS, IT IS SO CERTAIN AND UNDENIABLE THAT SHEOL IS THE GRAVE THAT MANY (LIKE W. E. VINE) HAD TO CREATE A NEW SHEOL. A DIFFERENT GOSPEL IS PREACHED WITH TWO SHEOLS (OR HADES). ONE FOR THE BODY TO "SLEEP" IN FROM DEATH UNTO THE RESURRECTION, AND ONE FOR THE SOUL (OR THE LIVING DEAD) TO "LIVE" IN FROM DEATH UNTO THE RESURRECTION; AND THEN A THIRD PLACE MUST BE ADDED FOR THE LOST TO BE TORMENTED IN FOREVER AFTER THE JUDGMENT DAY.
Summary: The King James translators tried to put the preconceived belief of Hell in the Bible by mistranslating sheol, but could not consistently conceal the truth in all 65 times sheol is used. If they had:
1. THEY WOULD HAVE PUT ALL MAN KIND IN HELL: They found it impossible to translate sheol into Hell every time it is used. If they had been consistent in their mistranslation, they would have put the righteous in Hell. All go to sheol at death. Even with all their mistranslating, they sometimes ended up with the righteous in Hell.
o a) Jacob goes to Hell (sheol). Genesis 37:35 "For I will go down to Hell (sheol) to my son mourning."
o b) Job prayed to go to Hell (sheol) (Job 14:13). He was praying to go to the grave where his suffering would end, not to a place where his suffering would be increased many times over and would last forever. THE TRANSLATERS OF THE KING JAME VERSON KNOW IT WOULD HAVE BEEN ABSURD TO HAVE JOB PRAYING TO GO TO HELL.
o c) "My soul is full of troubles: and my life draws nigh unto the Hell" (sheol-grave in King James Version). Psalm 88:3. Sheol (the grave-a quiet place of unconsciousness sleep where both the righteous and the wicked go) is the nearest thing to today's Hell that the translators could find and then could translate it Hell less than half the time. For the thousands of years of the Old Testament, God told no one about a place called Hell.
2. THEY WOULD HAVE MADE A RESURRECTION FROM HELL: They would have caused themselves a problem by making some be resurrected from Hell. (1 Samuel 2:6; Job 21:23:32; 30:23; Psalms 30:3; 49:15: 86:13; Hosea 13:14; Nahum 1:14). All go to sheol. If sheol were Hell, any resurrection, even at the second coming of Christ, would have to be a resurrection from Hell. "But God will redeem my soul from the power of the Hell" (sheol-translated grave in King James Version) Psalm 49:14-15.
3. THEY WOULD HAVE MADE THOSE IN HELL COMPLETELY UNCONSCIOUS with "no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in Hell (sheol-grave) where you go" (Ecclesiastes 9:10). Did they know that a person with no knowledge would not know he was being tormented?
4. W. E. Vine who is a Protestant seems to have abandoned the orthodox Protestant view and made many of the dead be in the grave. "Sheol" Page 277, Vine's Complete Expository Dictionary Of Old and New Testament Words.

WHERE ARE THE DEAD?
[1] ACCORDING TO THE KING JAMES VERSION:
(a) It sometimes puts all the dead in sheol (the grave) with none in Heaven or Hell.
(b) It sometimes put the dead in Hell.
(c) It sometimes puts past nations in both sheol and Hell.
(e) It puts none of those in sheol (grave) in Heaven, not even David, Abraham, or Job.
(d) It sometimes puts all the dead in Hell. If sheol is Hell as it is translated in the King James Version, all instantly go to Hell at death and none to Heaven. Even Abraham, Isaac and Jacob went to the Hell of the King James Version and their spirit could not have "returned to God." In trying to put the evil in Hell, they had trouble keeping the good out of it. The King James translators did put the name Hell in the Bible by mistranslating, but could not put in today's concept of Hell.
[2] ACCORDING TO THE OLD TESTAMENT (most translations): All the dead are in the grave. The way sheol is used in the Old Testament it cannot be made to fit the Catholic or Protestant versions of Hell for if all go to sheol at death, no one could go to Heaven or Hell at death. The Hebrews believed that all, both good and evil together went to sheol [the grave] when they died. Examples: "You shall bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to the grave" [Genesis 37:35; 42:38; 44:29]. "O that you would hide me in the grave" [Job 14:13]. Not one of the sixty-five times "sheol" is used does it teach the Protestant version of Hell.
"Nowhere in the Old Testament is the abode of the dead regarded as a place of punishment or torment. The concept of an infernal 'hell' developed in Israel only during the Hellenistic period" The Interpreter's Dictionary of the Bible, Page 788.
[3] ACCORDING TO MOST PROTESTANTS AND CATHOLICS: Everyone will be in Heaven or Hell at death. Not all together in sheol. Many Protestants put all, even everyone that lived under the Old Testament in Heaven or Hell at death. IF THE “SOUL” OF ALL GO TO HEAVEN OR HELL AT DEATH, NO “SOUL” HAD EVER BEEN IN SHEOL OR ABRAHAM’S BOSOM OR EVER WILL BE. There would be no time when they could be. All the passages in the King James Version where the translators translated sheol sometimes grave and sometimes Hell would be worse than meaningless; they would be untruthful, for the King James Version puts ALL, both the good and the evil together, sometimes ALL together in the grave and sometimes it puts ALL together in Hell. Sheol is translated "down to the grave" one time and "down to hell" two times in the same passage [Ezekiel 31:15-17]. Why such inconsistency? The Septuagint, a Greek version of the Old Testament made in the third century B. C. translated the Hebrew "sheol" into Greek "hades." These Hebrew scholars put all (both the righteous and the unrighteous) together in hades just as both are together in sheol in the Hebrew Old Testament. Did the King James translators know more about the Hebrew language than the Hebrews? Why did they tell God He was wrong when He put both together in one place - sheol? The reason is obvious; they had to put some in Hell. They did a poor job of it for by their mistranslating they put some of those in sheol in Hell, but could not put some in Heaven. They had to leave them in sheol where God put them for they could not translate sheol into Heaven in any passages.
[4] ACCORDING TO MANY PROTESTANTS: All return to God in Heaven at death, both the saved and the lost. At death the spirit of all "will return to God who gave it" [Ecclesiastes 12:7]. If the spirit or the soul is the only part(s) of a person that lives after the death of the body and "The spirit returns to God who gives it" then the soul never goes to sheol or hades; therefore, if there were a place under the earth called "sheol" no person ever goes to it. Sheol could not be the receptacle or the place of abode of disembodied spirits if the spirit returns to God in Heaven at death. NONE COULD BE IN HELL IF AT DEATH ALL RETURN TO GOD IN HEAVEN. Today's theology repeatedly makes the Bible speak of a place that does not exist. Nevertheless, we are repeatedly told the saved go to Heaven at death and the lost go to Hell at death. The same preachers put the dead in three places simultaneously.
1. The spirit of all returns to God.
2. The dead are in sheol which is believed by many to be somewhere under the earth.
3. The soul of the saved go directly to Heaven at death and the soul of the lost go directly to Hell at death.
[5] ACCORDING TO THE ABRAHAM'S BOSOM VERSION: Nor can sheol be made to fit the after judgment view. No one will be in Heaven or Hell at death, not unto after the resurrection and judgment. In this view Hell is a place where only the evil will go only after the judgment, but no one will be in Hell unto after the judgment, and no one in the Old Testament times was in Hell before or after his or her death. Therefore, if sheol were Hell, none would go directly to it at death, therefore, no one in the Old Testament could have gone to sheol at death. But, even when it is completely contradictory to their view, most that believe the after judgment version of Hell use the mistranslation of sheol into Hell in the Old Testament of the King James Version to prove there is a Hell and that some were in it even in the Old Testament times. Can they not see how inconsistent they are being with their own view?
It seems as if no one today believes what the Old Testament says about sheol. Not even the translators of the King James Version; they believed as most Protestants of their time did that all the lost are in Hell and all the saved are in Heaven, therefore, no one was in a place called sheol.
[6] ACCORDING TO THE BIBLE: In both the Old Testament and the New Testament the dead are all asleep and will be asleep unto the Resurrection.
[2] HADES in the New Testament
Hades is the same word in Greek as sheol is in Hebrew [Psalms 16:10-Acts 2:27]. It is used eleven times and mistranslated “Hell” in the King James Version; it is not translated but transliterated (English letters used in place of Greek letters) just as sheol is transliterated in the Old Testament in many translations.
The way hades is mistranslated or transliterated in eight translations
| RSV | |REVISED |AMERICAN
KJV| NKJV | ASV | NIV |PHILLIPS|ENGLISH B| BIBLE
MATT 11:23| HELL| HADES| HADES| DEPTHS| DEAD | HADES | DEATH
MATT 16:18| HELL| HADES| HADES| HADES | DEATH | DEATH | DEATH
LUKE 10:15| HELL| HADES| HADES| DEPTHS| DEAD | HADES | DEATH
LUKE 16:23| HELL| HADES| HADES| HELL | DEAD | HADES | DEAD
ACTS 2:27 | HELL| HADES| HADES| GRAVE | HADES | DEATH |NETHER WORLD
ACTS 2:31 | HELL| HADES| HADES| GRAVE | HADES | DEATH |NETHER WORLD
1 COR15:55|GRAVE| HADES| DEATH| DEATH | DEATH | DEATH | DEATH
REV 1:18 | HELL| HADES| HADES| GRAVE | GRAVE | HADES |NETHER WORLD
REV 6:8 | HELL| HADES| HADES| HADES | GRAVE | HADES |NETHER WORLD
REV 20:13 | HELL| HADES| HADES| HADES | GRAVE | HADES |NETHER WORLD
REV 20:14 | HELL| HADES| HADES| HADES | GRAVE | HADES |NETHER WORLD
The way hades is translated or not translated (transliterated) in five translations. NOT EVEN THE NEW KING JAMES WOULD GO ALONG KING JAMES WITH THIS BAD TRANSLATION OF TRANSLATING "HADES" INTO HELL. Even in 1 Corinthians 15:55 where the King James translated it grave, the New King James transliterated it hades.
| HELL | GRAVE | DEATH | TRANSLITERATED
KING JAMES VERSION | 10 | 1 | 0 | 0
NEW KING JAMES VERSION | 0 | 0 | O | 11
AMERICAN STANDARD VERSION | 0 | 0 | 1 | 10
REVISED STANDARD VERSION | 0 | 0 | 2 | 9
NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION | 1 | 2 | 1 | 5 |DEPTHS 2 |
The translators believed in Hell, but could not get away from grave every time. The one time the King James translators did not try to put their Hell into the Bible; they translated it grave. If they had translated hades into Hell in 1 Corinthians 15:55 as they did in the other ten passages, It would have said, "O Hell, were is your victory?" They had to change "Hell" to "grave" because it is obvious that Paul is speaking of victory over death, not victory over Hell.
The New American Bible (Catholic) removed Hell but added a new place, the Nether World that is neither a translation nor a transliteration but a change of one place into another place despite the fact that in their earlier translation they changed hades into Hell.
• In the same passage in some translations Catholics put the dead in “Hell.”
• Then in the same passage in other translations put the dead in “The Nether World.”
They changed hades into two altogether differ places.
In the New Testament there are only two words the translators did not want to or would not translate into English words, therefore they transliterated them (translated the letters of the Greek alphabet into English letters). They are baptizo (immersion) and hades (grave). Baptizo, if translated into English would be "immersion," which would not have fit into the theology of the King James translators. Many uphold and even use the mistranslation of hades into “Hell” in the King James Version, and the non-translation in the American Standard Version of both hades and sheol. Both are common nouns, which some use as if they were proper nouns [names of particular place] to have a biblical name for their non-biblical place. If any other word were put into the Bible, as was the word Hell, there would have been sermon after sermon and articles after articles showing it was a mistranslation, just as there has been on baptism. Although the translators of the New International Version believed in Hell, they were honest enough to translate sheol correctly but would not translate hades in four of the eleven times it is used. In many translations the Greek word hades was put into many English versions with out translating it for if it had been translated it would not fit with the belief of the translators, or the belief of many they wanted to sell it to; but there is a correct translation, and even the King James Version had to translate it correctly part of the time. They do not want to translate hades, for them it would not say what they want it to say, therefore, the Greek word hades is either mistranslated into Hell in the King James; or is left untranslated in many others. They want "hades" to be the only Greek word in the New Testament that cannot be translated into English. Why? The problem was made because the translators did not want hades understood the way it was by Greek speaking people. DO YOU THINK GOD GIVE THEM A REVELATION THEY COULD NOT UNDERSTAND, OR THAT HE USED A WORD WE CANNOT TRANSLATE OR UNDERSTAND IN OUR OWN LANGUAGE? IF HE DID, HE IS SAYING NOTHING TO US. The right translation of sheol and hades is grave and we can understand it. In the Old or New Testament, no one used or understood these names as we use them. We do not, and the world does not use or understand them in this way. The Hebrew "sheol" or the Greek "hades" have no meaning in English, therefore, English-speaking people would not understand them. Proper names like Jerusalem, New York, and Gehenna are the same in most languages and should not be translated but common nouns must be translated to be understood, not left untranslated or transliterated. Both sheol and hades are common nouns and need to be translated just as all other common nouns were.
1. Baptizo transliterated into baptism because the translators believed in sprinkling and would not translate it.
2. Hades mistranslated into "Hell" because the translators believed the wages of sin is an eternal life of torment and sinners instantly went to "Hell" at death, not to the grave.
3. Hades left untranslated into many English translations because the translators did not want it understood and would not translate it.
[3] GEHENNA
See Chapter four for notes on the four occasions that Christ used Gehenna.
[4] TARTARUS
2 Peter 2:4 is the only time this word is used. Tartarus in the Greek, and was changed to Hell in the King James Version. "For if God spared not angels when they sinned, but cast them down to Tartarus ["Hell" in the King James Version], and committed them to pits of darkness, TO BE RESERVED UNTO JUDGMENT" [2 Peter 2:4]. "And angels that kept not their own principality, but left their proper habitation, he has kept in everlasting bonds under darkness UNTO THE JUDGMENT OF THE GREAT DAY" [Jude 6]. This is the place where the angels that sinned ARE NOW BEING KEPT UNTO THE JUDGMENT DAY. Neither Peter nor Jude says anything about fire, torment, or pain, but those who believe in Hell most always add them after the place where these angels NOW ARE has been changed from Tartarus to Hell. As far as we know, no man will ever be in Tartarus and it will last only "unto the judgment." If, as many teach, the angels are now being tormented in Hell, why bring them out of torment for judgment only to put them back into torment? Note: This is a difficult passage to understand, and just as difficult to use, as many do, as the base of any theology in the light of the other passages on the angels that sinned. It is not my purpose to go into Demonology, but I think it is safe to say the angels that sinned are the demons of the New Testament. Just what the "everlasting bonds" ["chains" King James Version] are is difficult to say, but they are not chains of iron as we think of chains being. "Your adversary the devil as a roaring lion, walks about seeking whom he may devour" [1 Peter 5:8]. "His (Satan) ministers also fashion themselves as ministers of righteousness" [2 Corinthians 11:14]. Since both Satan and his angels are still deceiving people it is obviously that that are only in bonds in what they can do, that there is a limit to what they can do? These angels were "delivered into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment." God also bounds Satan. In tempting Job, he was allowed to go so far and no farther. He has the power to tempt us, but not the power to make us do anything we do not want to. "Be sober, be watchful: you adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walks about seeking whom he may devour" [1 Peter 5:8]. "And no marvel for even Satan fashions himself into an angel of light" [2 Corinthians 11:14]. Space will not allow a long discourse on demons, but most likely they are the angels that sinned and they are bound in what they can do just as Satan is, but it is nowhere said that Satan, demons or fallen angels are now in a place called Hell. If the King James Version were right and they were in Hell, it would be great for us for then they could not tempt us, but they still do.
Forever in Jude: In speaking of the angels that sinned (verse 6), Jude used "aidion," which is used only one other time in the New Testament in Romans 1:20 where it is applied to God. If, as some assume aidion always means eternal as eternal is used today (never an end), why is it never used with reference to the "eternal soul"? "He has kept in EVERLASTING (aidion) bonds under darkness UNTO the judgment of the great day." This "EVERLASTING" (aidion) will last only "UNTO the judgment of the great day," therefore, it is clearly not endless for it will end at the judgment.
• In the very next verse Jude changes from aidion when speaking of angels to aionios (age) in verse 7 when speaking of Sodom suffering the punishment of eternal (aionios - age) fire. In verse 7 he used "aionios" the adjective form of the noun "aion." In verses 12 and 25 he used the noun "aion" (age).
• Why, if the writers of the New Testament had a word that always had the same meaning as eternal does today, why did they never use it with reference to man?
• If, as some say without any authority, aidion means endless and aionios means age, then endless would be applied only to one time to God [Romans 1:20] and one time to angels [Jude 6], never to man. If aidion did mean endless, then throughout the New Testament "endless" is strictly avoided as descriptive of mankind or any invisible immaterial part of a person.
JUST AS THEY DID WITH GEHENNA, THE KING JAMES TRANSLATORS CHANGED ONE PROPER NOUN, THE NAME OF ONE PARTICULAR PLACE THAT NOW EXISTS, INTO ANOTHER PROPER NOUN, THE NAME OF ANOTHER PARTICULAR PLACE THAT MANY BELIEVE WILL NOT EXIST UNTO AFTER THE JUDGMENT.
1. GEHENNA, a proper noun is the name of a particular place, HAS BEEN CHANGED INTO HELL, another proper noun, the name of another particular place where some think angels plus evil men will go to after the judgment.
2. THE NAME OF A PLACE THAT NOW IS TARTARUS, a proper noun is the name of a particular place, THE PLACE WHERE THE ANGELS THAT SINNED ARE NOW AT, HAS BEEN CHANGED INTO HELL, another proper noun, the name of another particular place, but not a place or name that is in the Bible.
3. THEY HAVE TWO "HELLS." ONE HELL THAT NOW IS WHERE THESE ANGELS ARE NOW AT, AND ONE HELL THAT SOME BELIEVE WILL NOT BE UNTO AFTER THE JUDGMENT. According to the King James Version, these angels are in one Hell now before they are judged; but they will come out of it at the Judgment Day, be judged and go into another Hell. They did what they had to do to have the name Hell into the Bible. That a group of men who were as learned in languages as they were would do this shows how far they were willing to go to keep their Hell. When we know that they were wrong, as many do, but use and teach their mistranslation to others, do we not sin? Do elders sin when they let such teaching go on and do nothing?
4. FIVE WORDS FROM ONE WORD, "CAST THEM DOWN TO HELL" IS TRANSLATED FROM ONE GREEK WORD, "TARTARUS." It looks as if the translators did not know what to do with this word, but they knew where they wanted the angels to be and put them there; but they used five English words to translate one Greek word to move these angels from Tartarus to "Hell" where they wanted them to be.
ARE THESE ANGELS NOW IN TARTARUS OR HELL? WHY ARE THESE ANGLES USED TO PROVE HELL? Jude 6; 2 Peter 2:4 "UNTO the judgment," not "after the judgment," for these angels are being kept in Tartarus NOW and will be kept there UNTO the judgment day. The place where these fallen angels are now at is changed into the place where some think these angels will be after the judgment. Many do not believe anyone will be in Hell unto after the judgment, but the King James Version is mistranslated to say these angels are NOW in Hell before and without the judgment.
The orthodox Protestant view is inconsistent in that they put lost in Hell now without the judgment, but the angles that sinned are being kept in Tartarus unto the judgment, they are not now in Hell. They have the lost in Hell before the angles that sinned will be there even though they say Hell was first made for the angles [Matthew 25:41].
Those who believe in Abraham's bosom think that the lost will not be in Hell unto after the Judgment, and these angels are not now in Hell. They use this passage teaches these angles are now in Hell despite the fact that Jude 6 says nothing about Hell.
• This passage says where these angels are NOW but it says nothing about were they will be after the Judgment Day, or about where lost men will be, and IT SAYS NOTHING ABOUT A PLACE CALLED HELL.
• CHANGED, THEN MOVED: "Tartarus" is changed to "hell," and then is moved from where these angels are now unto where many think they will be after the judgment.
Many say it is a sin to change God's word, but despite this some have made many changes in it.
1. Changed a common noun [sheol-grave] into a proper noun [SHEOL changed into HELL].
2. Changed another common noun [hades-grave] into a proper noun [HADES changed into HELL].
3. Changed a proper noun [Gehenna] into another proper noun [GEHENNA changed into HELL].
4. Changed another proper noun [Tartarus] into another proper noun [TARTARUS changed into HELL].
5. Changed GEHENNA that existed then into the HELL that they think will not exist unto after the Judgment day.
6. Changed "TARTARUS" a prison that existed then into the HELL that they think will not exist unto after the Judgment day, then changed who is in it, the angels that sinned are changed unto both the angels and men that sinned.
THE THREE PROPER NOUNS THAT ARE CHANGED INTO ANOTHER PROPER NOUN IN THE KING JAMES VERSION
1. GEHENNA changed into HELL
2. TARTARUS changed into HELL
3. PASHA [Passover] changed into EASTER [Acts 12:4]
THE TWO COMMON NOUNS THAT ARE CHANGED INTO THE SAME PROPER NOUN IN THE KING JAMES VERSION
• A common noun [sheol-grave] changed into a proper noun. [SHEOL changed into HELL]
• A common noun [hades-grave] changed into a proper noun. [HADES changed into HELL]
• A common noun [hades-grave] changed into a proper noun. [HADES changed into NETHER WORLD]. "Hades" is changed into "Nether World" in some of the newer translations of the Catholic Church. In the same passage (Acts 2:27) they used to change hades into Hell in older translations.
Summary: SHEOL, HADES, OR TARTARUS ARE OFTEN USED TO PROVE AN ETERNAL LIFE OF TORMENT IN HELL, BUT THEY HAVE NEVER HAD THE MEANING THAT HELL HAS TODAY AND SHOULD HAVE NEVER BEEN TRANSLATED HELL. THOSE WHO USE THIS MISTRANLATION OF SHEOL INTO HELL ARE CHANGING THE BIBLE.

CHAPTER SIX
The Sixty-Five Sheol Passage And The Eleven Hades Passages

THE WAY SHEOL IS TRANSLATED IN THE KING JAME VERSION
[1] Down into a pit in the earth (in 3 passages)
[2] Nations in sheol (in 18 passages)
• Nations in the grave in 4 passages
• Nations in Hell in 14 passages
[3] Individual in sheol (in 17 passages)
• The good in the grave in 10 passages
• The bad in the grave in 7 passages
[4] Both the good and bad together in sheol (in 12 passages)
• The good and bad in the grave together in 10 passages
• The good and bad in Hell together in 2 passages
[5] Both the good and bad in sheol (in 15 passages)
• The good in Hell in 7 passages
• The bad in Hell. In only 8 of the 65 passages that have sheol
HADES IS USED ELEVEN TIMES IN THE NEW TESTAMENT
• Hades in the three passages that have reference to the death of Christ.
• Hades in the one passage that have reference to death.
• Hades in the two passages that have reference to the destruction of cities or countries.
• Hades in the five symbolic passage.
THE WAY SHEOL IS TRANSLATED IN
THE KING JAME VERSION
The only word that is translated Hell in the Old Testament is translated Hell only 31 of the 65 times it is used in the King James Version, and only 19 of the 65 times it is used in the New King James Version. In most cases, the King James translators put the wicked in Hell and the just in the grave even though many Protestants believe the just go directly to Heaven at death, not to sheol. The Hebrew Old Testament has them all in one place, the grave [sheol]. Almost all other translations have removed Hell from the Old Testament [American Standard Version, New American Standard Version, Revised Standard Version, New Revised Standard Version, New International Version and most others], but as long as the King James and New King James Versions are used, those who are new in Christ and those who still need milk and not solid food will be misled by them.
SHEOL IS NOT USED WITH ETERNAL IN ANY OF THE SIXTY-FIVE TIMES IT IS IN THE OLD TESTAMENT, AND THERE IS NO ETERNAL TORMENT IN ANY OF THEM.
• 18 passages with dead nations that no longer existed are spoken of as being in the grave (sheol) Deuteronomy 32:22; Psalms 9:17; Isaiah 5:14; 14:9; 14:11; 14:15; 28:15; 28:18; 57:9; Ezekiel 31:15; 31:16; 31:17; 32:21; 32:27; Hosea 13:14; 13:14; Amos 9:2; Habakkuk 2:5.
• 18 passages with the good in the grave (sheol) Genesis 37:35; 42:38; 44:29; 44:31; 2 Samuel 22:6; Job 14:13; 17:13; Psalms 16:10; 18:5; 30:3; 49:15; 86:13; 88:3; 116:3; 139:8 Isaiah 38:10; 88:10 Jonah 2:2.
• 13 passages with the good and bad together in the grave (sheol) 1 Samuel 2:6; Job 7:9; 11:8; 26:6; Psalms 6:5; 89:48; 141:7; Proverbs 1:12; 30:16; 39:16; Ecclesiastes 9:19; Song Of Solomon 8:6; Isaiah 38:18.
• 16 passages with the bad in the grave (sheol) Numbers 16:30; 16:33; Psalms 55:15; Proverbs 5:5; 7:27; 9:18; 15:14; 15:24; 23:14; 27:20; Psalms 31:17; 49:14; Job 17:16; 21:13; 24:19 1 Kings 2:6; 2:9. Of these 16 passages 8 have the bad in the grave, not Hell and 8 have the bad in Hell, 8 of the 54 times sheol is used
o Sheol is not represented as a place of eternal torment in fire in any of the sixty-five passages, but today Hell always means eternal torment in fire; all that believe the King James Version believe a lie in thirty-one passages.
o Everlasting or eternal is not in any of the sixty-five passages.
THE SIXTY-FIVE TIMES SHEOL IS USED
AS TRANSLATED IN THE KING JAMES VERSION
In the King James Version, three words are translated from one Hebrew word. The thirty-four times it is translated pit and grave give most no problem, but the thirty-one times it is translated Hell does. That the translators of the King James Version translated sheol into Hell less than half the time shows they found it not to fit with their theology. They made one place "sheol" be three different places, grave, pit, and Hell. THEY DID NOT, AND MOST TODAY WHO BELIEVES IN HELL DO NOT BELIEVE THE GRAVE AND HELL TO BE THE SAME PLACE. HOW DID THEY KNOW WHEN THE SAME WORD WAS ONE PLACE (grave) OR WHEN IT WAS ANOTHER PLACE (Hell)? SOME TIMES EVEN WHEN IT IS IN THE SAME PASSAGE, SHEOL WAS MADE TO BE TWO COMPLETELY DIFFERENT PLACES. Is it that they could not find a way to put their view, the Protestant view, into the Bible and had to settle for the best they could, even if it was not what they believed, even if it did not always put all the saved in Heaven immediately after death or did not put all the lost immediately in Hell? There is nothing in the Hebrew that would make it mean one place (grave) in one passage and another completely different place (Hell) in another; they picked the passages where they thought they could put their Theology in the Bible and get away with it.
• Sheol is translated pit three times
• Sheol is translated grave thirty-one times
• Sheol is translated Hell thirty-one times

THE THIRTY-ONE "GRAVE" TRANSLATIONS
It is hid from those who use the King James Version that "grave" in these thirty-one passages is the same word that is translated "Hell" in thirty-one passages and “pit” in three passages. Did the translators do this deliberately? THE DEFINITION OF DEATH BY TODAY'S THEOLOGY IS THAT DEATH IS ONLY SEPARATION OF AN IMMORTAL SOUL FROM GOD. IF THAT WERE RIGHT THE SEPARATED SOUL COULD NOT BE IN SHEOL (THE GRAVE) FOR IF IT WERE THEN IT COULD NOT BE IN HELL WHERE THEY BELIEVE IT TO BE. The King James Version used the same word to put the dead in both the grave and Hell at the same time without and before the judgment, and by putting the dead in the grave it destroyed the Protestant view that ALL the dead are in Heaven or Hell and none are in sheol. The American Standard Version and many others left sheol untranslated and put ALL the dead in it with none in Heaven or Hell before the resurrection. The New International Version translated sheol into grave and puts ALL the dead, both the good and the bad together in the grave. I read the Bible for many years without seeing this so I can understand how many read it and cannot see through their theology and see what God has so clearly said that now or at the judgment we can have no excuse for not understanding and believing His word. No excuse for teaching something in His name, which is in opposition to what God did say.

THE THIRTY-ONE "HELL" TRANSLATIONS
In the Hebrew, sheol is a common noun as is grave in English [SHEOL a common noun in Hebrew = GRAVE a common noun in English]. How can a common noun be translated into a proper noun [SHEOL a common noun in Hebrew = HELL a proper noun in English]? It is against all rules of translation to change a common noun into a proper noun. The King James Version left it a common noun thirty-four times, but thirty-one times they changed it into a proper noun. The same word is translated into two common nouns, grave and pit, and one proper noun, Hell. Which one did they think it is, common or proper? How did they know when it is a common noun and when they should change it to a proper noun? They put Hezekiah, a godly king in the grave [Isaiah 38:10 but put the wicked in Hell [Psalm 9:17] despite the fact that God used the same word (sheol-grave) for where both would go after their death. The New American Standard Version did not translate it but used the Hebrew word in the English translation; however, they capitalized it as if it were a proper noun. The New International Version translates the common noun "sheol" into the common noun "grave" sixty times and into the common noun "death" five times and did not capitalized it.
In none of the sixty-five passages where sheol is used is it said to be a place of fire or torment. It is said to be a place of silence and darkness but never fire. Sheol is never used with the word eternal or everlasting, and sheol will be destroyed [Hosea 13:14].

HOW SHEOL IS TRANSLATED ALL SIXTY-FIVE TIMES
IN THE KING JAME VERSION

[1] DOWN INTO A PIT IN THE EARTH (In 3 passages)
(1) Numbers 16:30 "But if the Lord make a new thing, and the earth open her mouth, and swallow them up, with all that appertain unto them. And they go down quick into the PIT [sheol-Hell]." They and all that belong to them fell into the pit in the ground. It is undeniable that the "pit" is a hole in the ground that they fell into. Does anyone think this hole in the ground is Hell? The translators of the King James Version did not seem to. They went down into sheol alive, their earthly bodies alive with all their belongings into the hole in the ground, which was their grave. Can the earthly body go alive to a place for the soul? Can anyone take all their earthly belongings with them to Hell or Heaven? This simply says they were buried alive and all their belongings were buried with them, not that they took their belongings with them to Hell. Physical things, such as all their belongings and weapons of war [Ezekiel 32:26-27] are put in graves, but not in "Hell." Neither could they have taken their things to the bad side of hades that many believe in.
(2) Numbers 16:33 "And the earthed opened her mouth, and swallowed them up, and their houses, and all the men that appertained unto Korah, and all their goods. They and all that appertained to them, went down alive into the PIT [sheol-Hell], and the earth closed upon them: and they perished from among the congregation." It was their earthly bodies that went into sheol while they were alive; they had not died at the time the earth closed upon their bodies. Do any that believe in Hell think they went to Hell while their bodies were alive? It was not their immortal souls that went to Hell or to either side of a subterranean chamber under the earth; God called this hole in the ground in which they were buried alive sheol.
(3) Job 17:13-16 "If I wait, the GRAVE [sheol-Hell] is mine house: I have made my bed in the darkness...They shall go down to the bars of the PIT [sheol-Hell], when our rest together is in the dust." The dead rest in the dust; both Korah and Job went to sheol, not to Heaven or Hell. The same word in the same context is translated both grave and pit.

[2] THE NATIONS IN SHEOL (In 18 passages)
Nations in the grave in 4 passages
PASSAGES THAT ARE SPEAKING OF THE DESTRUCTION OF NATIONS AND SAY NOTHING ABOUT THE DESTRUCTION INDIVIDUALS, NOTHING ABOUT WHERE ANY INDIVIDUSAL WILL BE AFTER DEATH.
(1) Isaiah 14:11 "Your pomp is brought down to the GRAVE [sheol-Hell], and the noise of your viols: the worm is spread under you, and the worms cover you." In the same context sheol is translated HELL in Isaiah 14:9, GRAVE in Isaiah 14:11, and HELL in Isaiah 14:15 in the King James Version and in all three it is Israel's "taunt against the king of Babylon" [Isaiah 14:4], and of the description of Babylon joining the other dead nations in sheol [Isaiah 14:9-10]. They do not seem to know whether they wanted to put Babylon in "Hell" or in the "grave." How inconsistent could they be? They were just as inconsistent throughout the Old Testament. "Maggots are spread out as your bed beneath you, and worms are your covering" New American Standard Bible. The worms that eat the body are in the grave, not maggots in Heaven or Hell; Babylon was dead and in its grave.
(2) Ezekiel 31:15 "Thus says the Lord God; In the day when he went down to the GRAVE [sheol-Hell] I caused a mourning." See notes on Ezekiel 31:16 where sheol is translated "Hell."
(3) And (4) Hosea 13:14 "I will ransom them from the power to the GRAVE [sheol-Hell]; I will redeem them from death: O death, I will be your plagues; O GRAVE [sheol-Hell], I will be your destruction." This is God redeeming the nation of Israel from captivity, not individual Jews being resurrected from the grave. The whole chapter is about the nation of Israel; God brought them out of Egypt [Hosea 13:4]. "It is your destruction, O Israel, that you are against me, against your help. Where now is your king that he may save you in all your cities, and your judges of whom you requested, ‘Give me a king and a prince’? I gave you a king in My anger, and took him away in My wrath" [Hosea 13:9-11]. "O Israel, return unto Jehovah your God; for you have fallen by your iniquity" [Hosea 14:1]. The translators did not believe any one would be redeemed, individuals or nations, from Hell, therefore, they have the redeeming being from the grave; if they had translated sheol into Hell they would have had Hell being destroyed by God (“O sheol I will be your destruction”), but the Hell they believed in could not be destroyed and no one could ever be redeemed from it.
Because 1 Corinthians 15:54 says, “Then shall come to pass the saying that is written” many think Paul quoted Hosea 13:14 in 1 Corinthians 15:55 but it is difficult to see how “Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is your victory? O death where is your sting?” is a quotation from “O death, I will be your plagues; O grave I will be your destruction" [Hosea 13:14]. Hosea was speaking of Israel rebellion being their plagues and destruction. Paul was speaking of death being swallowed up in victory by the resurrection at the second coming of Christ. Hosea was speaking of the destruction of Israel, Paul of the victory of the faithful. NEITHER HOSEA NOR PAUL WAS SPEAKING OF ETERNAL TORMENT AFTER DEATH.
Nations in Hell in 14 passages
FOURTEEN OF THE THIRTY-ONE PASSAGES TRANSLATED HELL IN THE KING JAMES VERSION, EIGHTEEN OF THE FIFTY-FOUR PASSAGES WITH SHEOL ARE THE DESTRUCTION OF NATIONS AND HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH INDIVIDUALS. ALTHOUGH WHAT IS SAID IN THESE EIGHTEEN PASSAGES DO NOT IN ANYWAY FIT WITH TODAY'S THEOLOGY OF "HELL," THEY ARE OFTEN USED ANYWAY, mostly by the Jonathan Edwards type of Hell fire preacher who take them out of their context of speaking about the end of nations and make they be speaking of lost individuals that they will have no end but will live forever being tormented by God.
• Changed from the end of nations
• To the endlessness of individuals
(1) Deuteronomy 32:22 GOD'S ANGER TOWARD ISRAEL. "For a fire is kindled in mine anger, and shall burn unto the lowest HELL [sheol], and shall consume the earth with her increase, and set on fire the foundations of the mountains." Hundreds of years from Genesis to Deuteronomy had passed, and it was not unto the seventh time sheol is used before the King James translators thought they could put the Hell they believed in into the Bible. But, what does this passage say? Jeshurun forsook God [32:15]. They (Israel) provoked God to jealousy with strange gods [32:16]. They (Israel) sacrificed unto devils [32:17]. They moved God to jealousy with that which is not a god and provoked Him to anger [32:21]. In God's anger, a fire is kindled which would burn to the lowest sheol [grave] and shall consume the earth. This fire is on earth, not in Hell. "I will heap mischief upon them (Israel); I will spend mine arrows upon them. They shall be burnt with hunger, and devoured with burning heat, and with bitter destruction: I will also send the teeth of beasts upon them, with the poison of serpents of the dust. The sword without, and terror within, shall destroy both the young man and virgin, the suckling also with the man of gray hairs. I said, I would scatter them into corners, I would make the remembrance of them to cease from among men" [Deuteronomy 23:23-26, Also 1 Thessalonians 2:16]. ALL THIS, INCLUDING THE FIRE UNTO THE LOWEST GRAVE IS GOD'S PUNISHMENT TO THE NATION OF ISRAEL AT THAT TIME. ALL THESE PUNISHMENTS ARE THOSE THAT CAN ONLY BE INFLICTED ON THE LIVING, NOT ON AN IMMATERIAL, INVISIBLE PART OF A PERSON THAT HAS NO SUBSTANCE. THERE IS NOT ONE WORD ABOUT ANYONE BURNING IN HELL AFTER DEATH OR AFTER THE JUDGMENT. If it were a Hell, there would be beast, poison serpents, swords, etc. in Hell. Suckling babies would be destroyed in Hell.
The "how" of this burning "unto the lowest hell [grave-sheol]," is described in Deuteronomy 32:21-26 in a way that it could not be the "Hell" that is believed in by many today, but is God's anger with the nation of Israel. This is almost a repeat of Leviticus 26:14ff of what would happen to Israel if they did not obey God.
• Verse 21 "I will provoke them (Israel) to anger with a foolish nation."
• Verse 22 "And consumes the earth with it yield."
• Verse 23 "I will heap disasters upon them (Israel)."
• Verse 24 "They (Israel) shall be wasted with hunger, devoured with pestilence." See 2 Samuel 24:13-15; Exodus 9:15; 2 Chronicles 21:14
• Verse 24 "And the teeth of beasts I will send upon them (Israel), with the venom of crawling things of the dust."
• Verse 25 "The sword will destroy outside."
• Verse 26 "I would scatter them (Israel) afar, I would make the remembrance of them (Israel) to cease from among men."
If "lowest Hell" spoken of in this passage were the "Hell" that is taught today, was Israel forever tormented by God in this "lowest Hell"? Or was Israel in it for a period of time and came out of it? See Psalm 86:13 below where in the King James Version David says he was delivered out of the “lowest Hell.” Had David literally been in Hell and delivered out of it before his death, or had the nation of Israel literally been in Hell; or had both had been in exile and had returned to their homeland?
FROM GENESIS TO DEUTERONOMY, CENTURIES HAD PASSED BEFORE THE KING JAMES TRANSLATORS FIRST PUT HELL IN THE BIBLE ALTHOUGH SHEOL HAD BEEN USED OFTEN. HUNDREDS MORE YEARS PASSED BEFORE THE NEW KING JAMES TRANSLATORS TRANSLATED SHEOL INTO HELL THE SECOND TIME.
FIVE OUT OF THIRTY-SIX The New King James Version translates "sheol" into Hell only five times out of the first thirty-six times "sheol" is used.
1. THE 7TH TIME SHEOL IS USED IS THE FIRST TIME IT IS TRANSLATED "HELL" and then it is the nation of Israel, not individuals, that is in “Hell” Deuteronomy 32:22.
2. THE 20TH TIME SHEOL IS USED IS THE SECOND TIME IT IS TRANSLATED "HELL" where the wicked nations that forget God “return to sheol” Psalms 9:17. Psalms 9:17-20 is speaking of nations that forget God and are judged by Him. Centuries has passed from when Adam sinned and was put out of the garden before the King James translators thought they had found a second place where it was safe to put “Hell” in the Bible. Did it not mean Hell in eighteen of the first twenty times sheol is used? Did it mean "grave" a place on this earth for centuries and then the same word was changed to "Hell," a place not on this earth? A place where there is no life or torment changed to a place of eternal life in torment?
3. THE 28TH TIME SHEOL IS USED IS ONLY THE THIRD TIME IT IS TRANSLATED "HELL" Psalms 55:15. This is the first passage where it is an individual that the King James Version that is put in Hell (sheol, grave).
4. THE 33RD TIME SHEOL IS USED IS ONLY THE FOURTH TIME IT IS TRANSLATED "HELL" Psalms 139:8. Then it is David who said, “If I make my bed in sheol, behold, You are there.” The just will make the bed in sheol, will sleep in the grave unto the resurrection, but the just cannot make there bed in the Hell that is taught today.
5. THE 36TH TIME SHEOL IS USED IS ONLY THE FIFTH TIME IT IS TRANSLATED "HELL" Proverbs 5:5. All the other thirty one times sheol is used before this is either translated grave or pit. EVEN IN "HELL'S BIBLE," THE KING JAMES VERSION, THE TRANSLATORS DID NOT THINK SHEOL MEANS "HELL" IN THIRTY-ONE OF THE FIRST THIRTY-SIX TIMES IT IS USED AND DID NOT TRANSLATE IT "HELL."
(2) Psalms 9:15-17 "The nations have sunk down in the pit which they have made...The Lord is known by the judgment which he executes: the wicked is snared in the work of his own hands ... The wicked shall be turned into HELL [grave-sheol], and all the nations that forget God" ["return to Sheol" New American Standard Bible, Psalms 9:15-17]. The same thing will happen to both the wicked persons and the nations that forget God. They both will go to sheol, the grave. Do some think evil nations live in torment in Hell after the nations no longer exists on this earth or that evil nations do not have some good people in them that would not be in Hell? Both will be in the grave, both will be dead, not both in eternal torment together in Hell. According to the American Standard Version the wicked are the wicked nations. "The wicked shall be turned back unto sheol, even all the nations that forget God." Psalms 9:15-20 is speaking of the nations that forget God. There is no threat of after-death punishment of individuals in this passage.
(3) Isaiah 5:14 "Therefore my people are gone into captivity, because they have no knowledge: and their honorable men are famished, and their multitude dried up with thirst. Therefore, HELL [grave-sheol] has enlarged herself and opened her mouth without measure." Because they had left the Lord, they went into captivity. See Proverbs 27:20 above. Their captivity was a grave [sheol] to them as a nation; grave is used as a metaphor of their captivity, their death as a nation, a literal grave cannot enlarge herself and has no mouth. Can anyone tell my why the translators put the nation of Israel in Hell; does a nation in captivity being make Hell be on the earth and end when the captivity of that nation ends?
(4) Isaiah 14:9 "HELL [sheol "grave" in margin of King James Version] from beneath is moved for thee to meet you at your coming: it stirs up the dead [rephaim] for you, even all the chief ones of the earth; it has raised up from the earth; it has raised up from their thrones all the kings of the nations. All they shall speak and say unto you, Are you also become weak as we? Are you become like unto us?" This is a deception of the fall of Babylon and has nothing to do with the soul after death. In this metaphor, the past dead nations were surprised to see a nation as strong as Babylon joining them. If the dead were alive in sheol, why would they be surprised to see other persons joining them when all would? Isaiah 26:14 "They [the Nations] are dead, [rephaim] they shall not live; they are deceased, they shall not rise; therefore has you visited and destroyed them, and made all remembrance of them to perish." This is about nations that did not remember God. It has nothing to do with an immortal immaterial part of a person after death being tormented by God. Because dead nations (not dead souls) are speaking in verse 9, the King James Version translated it Hell but verse 11 has worms and worms feed on dead bodies not an immaterial immortal part of a man, therefore, they translated it "grave." This parable where dead nations speak is not to be taken literally any more then the parable before it where the trees speak [Isaiah 14:8]. If it were taken literally, it would be a completely different Hell than any Hell that is taught today, a Hell where God “visited and destroyed them, and made all remembrance of them to perish." God destroyed nations but in the Hell that is taught today no one can ever be destroyed. How did the translators think they could get the Hell they believed in out of this passage?
(5) Isaiah 14:15 "Yet you shall be brought down to HELL [grave-sheol]." See Isaiah 14:9 above. The picture of maggots and worms covering the king of Babylon [Isaiah 14:15] and warriors lying with their swords under their heads [Ezekiel 32:27] is a picture of the grave, and is far from what the Hell is that is taught today.
(6) (7) Isaiah 28:15 and Isaiah 28:18 "Wherefore hear the word of the Lord, you scornful men, that rule this people which is in Jerusalem. Because you have said, we have made a covenant with death, and with HELL [grave-sheol] [HELL CHANGED TO SHEOL IN NEW KING JAMES VERSION] are we at agreement; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us." Isaiah 28:18 "And your covenant with death shall be disannulled, and your agreement with HELL [grave-sheol] [HELL CHANGED TO SHEOL IN NEW KING JAMES VERSION] not stand; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, then you shall be trodden down by it." When the "overflowing scourge" passed through, many would die, but they thought they could escape death and the grave. This is the nation of Israel that had made a covenant with some and thought they were safe but were not; it is not about individuals going to Hell.
(8) Isaiah 57:9 "And you went to the king with ointment, and did increase your perfumes, and did send your messengers far off, and did debase yourself even unto HELL [grave-sheol] [HELL CHANGED TO SHEOL IN NEW KING JAMES VERSION]." See Isaiah 57:8 and notes on Proverbs 15:24 above. Israel is spoken of as a woman who is unfaithful to her husband (God). Ultimately this leads to the death of any nation. Does anyone believe nations will be forever tormented in Hell; does anyone believe the nation of Israel is or has ever been in eternal torment in an eternal Hell? Nothing is said about an individual going to Hell.
(9) Ezekiel 31:16 In this chapter God is saying to Egypt about Assyria, “I made the nations to shake at the sound of his fall, when I cast him down to HELL [grave-sheol] with them that descend into the pit: and all the trees of Eden, the choice and best of Lebanon.” This chapter of Ezekiel is about a nation, Assyria, which God had cast down and it was no more, not people being tormented in Hell, see notes on Isaiah 14:9-20 above.
(10) Ezekiel 31:17 "They also went down into HELL [grave-sheol] with him unto them that be slain with the sword; and they that were his arm, that dwelled under his shadow in the midst of the heathen." The nations around Assyria also perished.
In the same context, the King James Version translated the same Hebrew word both Hell and grave [GRAVE in 31:15 and HELL in both 31:16 and 31:17]. In the same passage they put the same nations in both the grave and in Hell at the same time.
Ezekiel 31:15-17 "Thus says the Lord God; in the day when he went down to the GRAVE [sheol-Hell] I caused a mourning: I covered the deep for him, and I restrained the floods thereof, and the great waters were stayed: and I caused Lebanon to mourn for him, and all the trees of the field fainted for him. 16. I made the nations to shake at the sound of his fall, when I cast him down to HELL [grave-sheol] with them that descend into the pit: and all the trees of Eden, the choice and best of Lebanon, all that drink water, shall be comforted in the earth beneath. 17. They also went down into HELL [grave-sheol] with him unto them that be slain with sword; and they that were his arm, that dwelt under his shadow in the midst of the heathen (Hebrew - nations).”
(11) Ezekiel 32:21 "The strong among the mighty shall speak to him out of the midst of HELL [grave-sheol]." Egypt will join the other mighty nations in SHEOL [the grave]. Ezekiel is talking about nations, not individual people. In this metaphor dead nations have the power to speak. “They have come down and they lie with the uncircumcised, with those killed by the sword. Assyria is there with her whole army; she is surrounded by the graves of all her slain, all who have fallen by the sword. Their graves are in the depths of the pit and her army lies around her grave. All who had spread terror in the land of the living are slain, fallen by the sword” [Ezekiel 32:21-23 New International Version].
(12) Ezekiel 32:26-27 "There is Meshech, Tubal, and all her multitude: her graves are round about him: all to the uncircumcised slain by the sword, through they caused their terror in the land of the living. And do they not lie with the mighty that are fallen of the uncircumcised, which are gone down to HELL [grave-sheol] with their weapons of war: and they have laid their swords under their heads, but their iniquities shall be upon their bones." Swords under their heads refer to ancient practice of burying the weapons of warriors with them. Their weapons of war could be under their heads in the grave but not taken with them after death to Hell or to a subterranean chamber for souls someplace under ground, neither would there be graves in an under ground chamber or in graves in Hell. Those who believe in Hell do not believe any belongings from this life can be taken to Hell; those who believe souls of the dead are storied in a chamber do not believe they have their weapons. It was those that were killed by the sword that were in the grave with their weapons under their head; they have gone down to the grave with their swords under their heads, not down under the earth to Hell.
(13) Amos 9:2 "I saw the Lord standing upon the altar; and he said, Smite the lintel of the door, that the posts may shake: and cut them in the head, all of them; and I will slay the last of them with the sword: he that flees of them shall not flee away, and he that escapes of them shall not be delivered. Though they dig into HELL [grave-sheol], thence shall mine hand take them." Amos 8 and 9 is speaking of God punishing the nation of Israel, not tormenting individuals in Hell after their death. "Have I not brought up Israel from the land of Egypt...And I will destroy it from the face of the earth" [Amos 9:7-10]. There was no place where Israel could flee from God. Even if they dug into the grave [sheol] God would find them. Many of the graves were caves or a room dug out of rock and sealed up. Does anyone think that a living person or a nation can dig into the place where they say the "immaterial invisible" souls of the lost are being tormented after their death? DOES ANYONE SERIOUSLY BELIEVE ANY LIVING PERSON CAN DIG INTO HELL? Can "souls" in Hell run away, and can souls in Hell be slain with the sword? Will there be a sword in Hell? Anyone can see that this is the living that are the enemies of God that cannot find a place to hide from His wrath, not even by hiding in a grave or pit. The very idea of the nation of Israel or individuals digging down into the earth into the Hell that is taught today is absurd, just as ridiculous or unreasonable as Israel digging into a chamber under the earth where God has souls stored, but it would, if possible, be even more absurd if the souls were being tormented on one side of this chamber and in Abraham’s bosom was on the other side.
(14) Habakkuk 2:5 "Yea also, because he transgress by wine, he is a proud man, neither keeps at home, who enlarges his desire as HELL [grave-sheol], and is as death, and cannot be satisfied." Habakkuk is a book of prophecy about Chaldea. Chapter 2:4-17 Chaldea conquered many nations. "He enlarges his appetite like Sheol...He also gathers to himself all nations" Habakkuk 2:5 New American Standard Bible. They were like a man intoxicated with power and their desire was as the grave [sheol] that can never be satisfied. See Proverbs 27:20.

[3] INDIVIDUAL IN SHEOL (In 17 passages)
The good in the grave in 10 passages
(1) Genesis 37:35, 42:38, 44:29, and 44:31 "You shall bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to the GRAVE [sheol-Hell]." The only word translated Hell in the Old Testament is sheol; the first three times sheol is used, if it means Hell is Jacob saying his son is being tormented in Hell and he will go down to "Hell to be with him?" No, he is saying he will go down to the grave mourning the death of his son; he was not saying he expected to go to eternal torment in Hell. The King James translators know that Hell would not teach what they wanted to teach. They did not want Jacob in HELL. This and many others times they know they could not translate sheol into Hell.
• (2) Genesis 42:38 "Then will you bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to the GRAVE [sheol-Hell]."
• (3) Genesis 44:29 "You will bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to the GRAVE [sheol-Hell]."
• (4) Genesis 44:31 "Shall bring down the gray hairs of your servant our father with sorrow to the GRAVE [sheol-Hell]."
Some say that the "grave" is the abode of departed spirits. My question to them is where did they learn this? There is not one passage in the Bible that speaks of "a place" where all departed spirits go, and not one passage that speaks of "departed spirits." Do they out of thin air come up with both a place and departed spirits to put in that place? They manufacture terms and use them as if they were Biblical and expect all others to accept their manufactured terms without question.
If Jacob were going to Heaven at death, why did he say he was going DOWN to his son IN SORROW? If he were going to Heaven, he should have said he was going UP to his son REJOICING. Those today who speak of going to Heaven always speak of going UP, never DOWN, and never speak of there being SORROW in Heaven.
(5) Job 14:13 "O that you would hide ME in the GRAVE [sheol-Hell], that you would keep ME secret, until your wrath be past, that you would appoint me a set time, and remember ME!" Job was in so much pain that he was asking God let him die, he wanted to go to the grave-sheol [Hell] for relief from his sufferings, but today's Hell is incomparably worse than the suffering he wanted relief from. The translators did not dare to make this Hell for them they would have Job asking to go to Hell for relief from his sufferings. "There is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man" [Job 1:8] asking to go to "Hell" to escape his sufferings. Those who believe in Hell teach the sufferings in it are much worse than anything in this life. Job certainly would not have wanted to escape from the painful time he was having by going to a place much more painful, a place where there would be no end to suffering. "Why died I not from the womb? Why did I not give up the ghost when my mother bare me? Why did the knees receive me, or why the breasts, that I should suck? For now should I have lain down and been quiet; I would have slept; then had I been at rest ... There the wicked cease from troubling: and there the weary are at rest" [Job 3:11-17]. Beyond any doubt, Job did not know about or believe in Hell as it is taught today. Job did not want to go to today's Hell and be tormented; he wanted to go the "grave" to avoid the torment he was in. WHY IS IT THAT NO PREACHER WHO BELIEVES IN "HELL" NEVER SPEAKS OF "HELL" IN THE WAY JOB DID? THE ANSWER IS SIMPLE, SHEOL DID NOT MEAN A PLACE OF TORMENT, BUT A PLACE OF REST, AND THOSE WHO PREACH "HELL FIRE" TODAY JUST DO NOT BELIEVE JOB.
(6) Job 17:13 "If I wait, the GRAVE [sheol-Hell] is my house: I have made my bed in darkness. I have said to corruption, you are my father: to the worm, you are my mother, and my sister. And where is my hope? As for my hope, who shall see it? They shall go down to the bars of the PIT [sheol-Hell], when our rest together is in the dust." It was clear even to the King James translators that Job was not saying Hell was gong to be his bed. He gives a description of the corruption and maggots of the grave. An undeniable statement that the grave was to be his house, not Heaven, Hell, or Abraham's bosom; he had no thought of being eternally tortured in the Dark Age Hell, but all of both the good and the bad are resting together in the dust. Death is never said to be a gateway to Heaven. It is described as a place of darkness and forgetfulness. In the same passage they translated the same word, sheol, into both grave and pit.
• Verse 13: "If I wait, the GRAVE [sheol-Hell] is my HOUSE" A house is an abode, not a place of torment.
• Verse 13: "I have made my BED in DARKNESS." The darkness of the grave. Is a place of fire or darkness?
• Verse 14: "I have said to CORRUPTION, you are my father." Corruption is in the grave.
• Verse 14: "To the WORM, you are my mother, and my sister." The worms that eat dead bodies are in the grave.
• Verse 16: "They shall go down to the bars of the PIT [sheol-Hell], when our REST together IS IN THE DUST." There is no rest in the "Hell" that is taught today, and I know of none that think "Hell" is in the dust of the earth [Job 17:13-16].
(7) Psalms 30:3 "O lord, you have brought up my soul from the GRAVE [sheol-Hell]: you have kept me alive, that I should not go down to the pit." David was not saying he had been dead and his soul was in Hell. God had saved him from his foes and death, therefore, saved him from going to the grave. He did not come back from Hell. He was expressing his gratitude for his recovery, not being brought back from Heaven or Hell. "You have kept me alive, that I should not go down to the pit" and "you have brought up my soul from the grave" is Hebrew dualism where the same thing is said in two ways. In verse nine David said, “What profit is there in my blood, if I go down to the pit? Will the dust praise you? Will it declare Your fullness?” The dust of the dead is in the grave. This is Hebrew dualism where the same thing is said in two ways. David who was not dead but was giving thinks to God for saving him and keeping him alive said:
1. “O lord, you have brought up my soul from the GRAVE [sheol]”
2. “You have kept me alive, that I should not go down to the PIT [bohr]”
Grave [sheol] and pit [bohr] are parallel. What is the meaning of pit [bohr] in the Old Testament; it is used 69 times and in the King James Version is translated: pit 42 times, dungeon 13 times, well 9 times, cistern 4 times and fountain 1 time. All except maybe fountain, which would have been better translated well or cistern, means a hole in the ground does; (a grave, pit or well which was dug by man or a natural pit - hole) not a place where an immaterial, invisible something that is in a person would go down to, and not a chamber someplace under ground where all souls are kept together unto the resurrection are a chamber that has two sides, one side for the saved and one side for the lost.
PIT (bohr), which is used in Hebrew parallelism or dualism as being parallel in meaning to GRAVE (sheol) is a hole in the ground and was a pit or well that was sometimes dug by man.
“Cast him (Joseph) into some pit (bohr)” Genesis 37:20
“Cast him into this pit (bohr)” Genesis 37:22
“Cast him into a pit (bohr): and the pit (bohr) was…” Genesis 37:24
“Reuben returned unto the pit (bohr); and behold, Joseph was not in the pit (bohr)” Genesis 37:29
“Should put me into the dungeon (bohr)” Genesis 40:15
“Brought him hastily out of the dungeon (bohr)” Genesis 41:14
“The captive that was in the dungeon (bohr)” Exodus 12:29
“Open a pit (bohr), or if a man shall dig a pit (bohr)” Exodus 12:33
“The owner of the pit (bohr) shall make” Exodus 21:34
“Nevertheless a fountain or pit (bohr)” Leviticus 11:36
“And wells (bohr) dug” Deuteronomy 6:1
“In high places, and in pits (bohr)” 1 Samuel 13:6
“Came to a great well (bohr)” 1 Samuel 19:22
“Brought him again from the well (bohr)” 2 Samuel 3:26
“The water of the well (bohr) of Bethlehem” 2 Samuel 23:15
“Drew water out of the well (bohr)” 2 Samuel 23:16
“In the midst of a pit (bohr) in time” 2 Samuel 23:20
“Slew them at the pit (bohr) of the shearing house” 2 Kings 10:14
“The water of his cistern (bohr)” 2 Kings 18:31
“The water of the well (bohr) of Bethlehem” 1 Chronicles 11:17
“Drew water out of the well (bohr) of Bethlehem” 1 Chronicles 11:18
“Slew a lion in a pit (bohr)” 1 Chronicles 11:22
“Dug many wells (bohr)” 2 Chronicles 26:10
“Wells (bohr) dug” Nehemiah 9:25
“He made a pit (bohr), and dug it” Psalms 7:15-16
“Them that go down into the pit (bohr)” Psalms 28:l
“That I should not go down into the pit (bohr)” Psalms 30:3
“Out of an horrible pit (bohr)” Psalms 40:2
“Them that go down into the pit (bohr)…like the slain who lie in the grave” Psalms 88:4-5
“You have laid me in the lowest pit (bohr)” Psalms 88:6
“Them that do down into the pit (bohr)” Psalms 143:7
“As those that go down into the pit (bohr)” Proverbs 1:12
“Drink waters out of your own cistern (bohr)” Proverbs 5:15
“Person shall flee to the pit (bohr)” Proverbs 28:17
“Or the wheel broken at the cistern (bohr)” Ecclesiastes 12:6
“To the sides of the pit (bohr)” Isaiah 14:15
“That go down to the stones of the pit (bohr)” Isaiah 14:19
“Prisoners are gathered in the pit (bohr)” Isaiah 24:22
“The waters of his own cistern (bohr)” Isaiah 36:16
“They that go down into the pit (bohr)” Isaiah 38:18
“To the hole of the pit (bohr)” Isaiah 51:1
“As a fountain (bohr) cast out” Jeremiah 6:7
“Into the dungeon (bohr)” Jeremiah 37:16
“Cast him into the dungeon (bohr)” Jeremiah 38:6
“And in the dungeon (bohr) there was no” Jeremiah 38:6
“Had put Jeremiah in the dungeon (bohr)” Jeremiah 38:7
“They have cast into the dungeon (bohr)” Jeremiah 38:9
“The prophet out of the dungeon (bohr)” Jeremiah 38:10
“Down by cords into the dungeon (bohr)” Jeremiah 38:11
“Took him up out of the dungeon (bohr)” Jeremiah 38:13
“Into the midst of the pit (bohr)” Jeremiah 41:7
“Now the pit (bohr) wherein Ishmael” Jeremiah 41:9
“Cut off my life in the dungeon (bohr)” Lamentations 3:53
“Out of the low dungeon (bohr)” Lamentations 3:55
“With them that descend into the pit (bohr)” Ezekiel 26:20
“With them that go down to the pit (bohr)” Ezekiel 26:20
“With them that go down to the pit (bohr)” Ezekiel 31:14
“With them that descend into the pit (bohr)” Ezekiel 31:16
“With them that go down into the pit (bohr)” Ezekiel 32:18
“Set in the sides of the pit (bohr)” Ezekiel 32:23
“With them that go down to the pit (bohr)” Ezekiel 32:24; 32:25; 32:29; 32:30
“Sent forth your prisoners out of the pit (bohr)” Zechariah 9:11
In Psalms 30:9 David spoke of going down to the pit, but used ghath, which is translated much the same way as bohr, pit 13 times, ditch 2 times, grave 1 time, corruption 4 times and destruction 2 times in the King James Version.
1. “That I should not go down to the PIT (bohr)” verse 2
2. “You have brought up my soul (Nshahmah – life) from the GRAVE [sheol]” verse 3
3. “When I go down to the PIT (ghath)” verse 9
Sheol, bohr and ghath are also used by in Isaiah 38:17-18.
• “Behold, for peace I had great bitterness: but you have in love to my soul (Nshahmah – life) delivered it from the PIT (ghath) of corruptionfor you have cast all my sins behind your back. For the GRAVE (sheol) cannot praise you, death cannot celebrate you: they that go down into the PIT (bohr) cannot hope for your truth”
His life was delivered from the pit of corruption, the grave for the grave cannot praise God; the pit of corruption and the grave are the same, corruption is in the grave but there could be no corruption in a chamber someplace under ground where an immaterial, incorruptible part of persons were stored.
“Yet shall you plunge me in the DITCH (ghath)” Job 9:21
“I have said to CORRUPTION (ghath), you are my father” Job 17:14
“Deliver him from going down in the PIT (ghath)” Job 33:28
“Is fallen into the DITCH (ghath)” Psalms 7:15
“Down into the PIT of destruction (ghath)” Psalms 55:23
“Soul” as it is used today (an immaterial immortal part of a person) would have no need to be delivered from the pit or corruption, the grave which is would never be in and it would not be subject to corruption.
Summery: Bohr is used in Hebrew parallelism or dualism as being parallel in meaning to grave (sheol); it is a hole in the ground and was sometimes dug by man.
Bohr and ghath are a pit, dungeon or well, a real place on this earth that the living can go down into and come up out of as Joseph when he was cast into a pit, or dead persons as David was asking God not to let him die or be killed and go down to the pit; they are not a place where bodiless souls are put; they are not a subterranean chamber someplace under ground where all immaterial, bodiless, living but totally unconscious and unaware of anything souls are kept together, not God’s warehouse where He keeps both the unconscious saved and the unconscious lost together unto the resurrection; or not a chamber that has two sides, one side for the conscious saved and one side for the conscious lost who are in torment. It is used in Hebrew dualism in verse 2 as parallel in meaning to sheol – grave.
(8) Psalms 49:15 "But God will redeem my soul from the power of the GRAVE [sheol-Hell] for he shall receive me." The translators did not believe God would redeem any from Hell. At the resurrection, his life will be redeemed from the grave, from death. If "sheol" were really "Hell," then this passage would be saying God will redeem from Hell, and the writer of this Psalm would have been saying he expected to be in Hell and redeemed from it.
(9) Psalms 88:3 "And my life draws nigh unto the GRAVE [sheol-Hell]." He thought he would soon die, not soon be in Hell. This is one of the good guys but he clearly indicates that he was expecting to be in sheol soon; therefore, sheol was not translated Hell. He asked, “Will you show wonders to the dead? Shall they that are deceased arise and praise you? Shall your loving kindness be declared in the grave? Or your faithfulness in destruction? Shall your wonders be known in the dark? And your righteousness in the land of forgetfulness?” [Psalms 88:10-12]. It is certain that this righteous man did not think he would be alive in Heaven or conscious any place after death and this Psalm is a prayer for deliverance from death; he was asking to be saved from the darkness of death, not from the light of Heaven.
(10) Isaiah 38:9-12 "A writing of Hezekiah king of Judah, after his illness and recovery: I said in the cutting off of my days, I shall go to the gates of the GRAVE [sheol-Hell]: I am deprived of the residue of my years…You do make an end of me." King Hezekiah, a godly king of Israel when he was ill had thought he would die and go to the grave before he was old. If sheol had been translated Hell in this passage, he would have said he expected to go into eternal torment in Hell.
(11) Isaiah 38:16-18 King Hezekiah continues by asking God, "Restore me to health, and let me live…for the GRAVE [sheol-Hell] cannot praise you, death cannot celebrate you: they that go down into the pit cannot hope for your truth." No distinction is made of the dead. Neither the good or bad dead can praise God. If the good dead are living in Heaven, why could they not praise God? Those who go down to the pit [the grave] are asleep and know nothing; they cannot hope for God's truth while they are asleep. Death, pit and grave (sheol) are used interchangeably in this passage. If the faithful goes to Heaven at death why was Hazekiah earnestly praying not to.
The bad in the grave in 7 passages
(1) 1 Kings 2:6 "And let not his hoar head go down to the GRAVE [sheol-Hell] in peace." No one could have peace while he was being burned by Satan or burned by God with a fire many times hotter than any fire on earth and tormented far worse than any torment known to anyone. The Hell preached today is not a place of peace. In 1 Kings 2:6-9 David is telling Solomon not to let Joab die peacefully because of the evil he had done. There is nothing about Joab being forever tormented in Hell in this. David knew Solomon had the power to bring Joab down the grave, but no one has the power to send anyone to the "Hell" that is preached today, but to make this teach their theology, they seem to be more than willing to give Solomon this power.
(2) 1 Kings 2:9 "But his hoar head bring you down to the GRAVE [sheol-Hell] with blood," see notes on 1 Kings 2:6 above. A man can shed the blood of another man and bring him down to the grave, but only God could say he was going to Hell if there were one.
(3) Job 21:13 "They spend their day in wealth, and in a moment go down to the GRAVE [sheol-Hell]." They "go DOWN to the grave," not to somewhere out in space or who knows where. At one time Hell was believed to be under the earth. In Greek philosophy after death the souls waiting to be reincarnated were under the earth; and Hell, which grew out of Greek philosophy had the souls in torment under the earth. From the Dark Age unto not many years ago, most who believed in Hell believed it was under or deep in the earth just as many who believed in pagan reincarnation believed it was under the earth. Most, but not all, now realize there is no place of torment under the earth and have moved it. Now who knows where they think it is, maybe somewhere out in space, but under the earth is no more unscriptural than any other place. Any torment in the grave [sheol] has to be read into this passage; The New International Version says, “And they go DOWN to the grave IN PEACE.” In Job 3:17-19 Job gives a picture of sheol – the grave with the wicked and the righteous at rest together that is nothing like today’s teaching of the soul or all being in Heaven or tormented in Hell. “
There the wicked cease from raging, 
 and there the weary are at rest. 
The prisoners are at ease together; 
they do not hear the voice of the taskmaster. 
The small and the great are there, 
and the slave is free from his master.” They all sleep; Job would be out of his torment.
(4) Job 24:19 "Drought and heat consume the snow waters: so does the GRAVE [sheol-Hell] those which have sinned." All those who have sinned and are consumed by the grave just as heat consumes the snow is a far cry from torment in a Hell where we are told that those that have sinned are never consumed. Job just did not understand and needed Jonathan Edwards to tell him that those that sinned are not in the grave but are in Hell, a place of endless torment where they will never be consumed, that the heat of Hell will never consume them “as heat consumes the snow.”
(5) Psalms 31:17 "Let me not be ashamed, O Lord; for I have called upon you: let the wicked be ashamed, and let them be silent in the GRAVE [sheol-Hell]." This is David asking God to let his enemies that were trying to kill him die. The translators knew David was not asking God not to let those in Hell cry out in pain as they were being tormented. He was asking for their end, not for them to be silent when they are being tormented in Hell. Most who believe in Hell believe that it will be anything but silent, but that there will be eternal yells in the pain there; those who believe in Hell teach that the wicked will be weeping, wailing and gnashing their teeth, there is nothing silent about weeping and wailing. According to the view of the Hell that many believe in David would be asking God to torment many, but most of those who believe in eternal torment in Hell would condemn anyone who prayed in church for God to forever burn most in the hot fires of the Hell they believe in.
(6) (7) Psalms 49:14 "Like sheep they are lain in the GRAVE [sheol-Hell]; death shall feed on them" Also Hebrew dualism. Although this is speaking of the wicked, no one believes sheep will be tormented in Hell, therefore, the translators could not put them in Hell as they usually did with the wicked; sheep do go to sheol – the grave just as the dead of mankind and all animals, but not to a chamber under the earth where many believe all the dead go; if sheol was such a chamber this passage would put sheep and all living being in it. "And the upright shall have dominion over them in the morning; and their beauty shall consume in the GRAVE [sheol-Hell].” No matter how much beauty a person may have when living, that beauty will consume in the grave. They will swell up and decay in the grave. Although this is speaking of the wicked, sheol was not translated Hell for the translators did not believe anyone will decay and be consumed in Hell; they believed an immortal soul is the part of a person that will always be the same, not consume or decay away with the swelling of the dead body, but they had to put both decaying bodies and sheep in sheol, but neither decaying bodies or sheep could be in sheol if it was a chamber or place (called by some “the place of the dead” or “the holding place of souls”) where God has all the souls of the dead are stored away. "And their form shall be for Sheol to consume, so that they have no habitation" [New American Standard Bible]. If they were in Hell they would have an eternal habitation and sheol could not consume a soul if it were immortal; “their form” is their bodies, which are consumed in sheol – the grave.
[4] BOTH THE GOOD AND BAD
IN THE GRAVE TOGETHER in 11 passages

The good and bad together in the grave in 9 passages
(1) 1 Samuel 2:6 "The lord kills and makes alive: he brings down to the GRAVE [sheol-Hell], and brings up." If they had translated this Hell, they would have the Lord brings up from Hell, but they believed no one could come out of Hell and have a second chance after they were in Hell, therefore, they did not use Hell. Coming out of Hell would completely upset their theology.
(2) Job 7:9 "As the cloud is consumed and vanishes away: so he that goes down to the GRAVE [sheol-Hell] shall come up no more." ALL go down to the grave. They could not have translated this into Hell for then they would have put ALL in Hell together, both the good and the bad. Neither do they believe any soul in "Hell" will vanish away as bodies in the grave do; there is no torment in bodies vanishing away in the grave.
(3) Psalms 6:5 "For in death there is no remembrance of you: in the GRAVE [sheol-Hell] who shall give you thanks?" David is not saying that only these in Hell have no remembrance of God, but that none of the dead have any remembrance or none can give Him thanks. If the bad were in Hell and the good in Heaven or Abraham's bosom, then both the bad and the good would have a remembrance of God. Could anyone be in Heaven and have no remembrance of God, or those who are being tormented in Hell will have no remembrance of the God who is tormenting them? If they had translated this Hell, they would have put ALL, both the good and the bad in Hell with no remembrance of why they were there or of the God that was tormenting them. THIS STATEMENT IS A FLAT CONTRADICTION OF TODAY'S THEOLOGY OF AN IMMORTAL SOUL THAT IS ONLY A PART OF A PERSON. That the dead are unconscious is so strongly stated in this passage that those who believe the dead are conscious have a hard time with it. This is shown in the Connelly-Field "Debate On The State Of The Dead" when Thomas P. Connelly said, "The desire expressed here is for salvation, in view of the fact that there is no chance of salvation in the grave; those who go to the grave unprepared give God no thanks, they do not remember the Lord, the term remembrance being used in the sense of obedience." David was asking God to save him from death "for in death there is no remembrance of You." It was David who did believe in God that would have no remembrance of Him, not someone who went to the grave not believing in God. David was not, as Connelly said, someone who went "to the grave unprepared."
• Although it may be out of place to bring up Psalm 146:3-4 at this time, but Connelly's statement on it again shows the dilemma of those who do not want to believe God. "Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help. His breath goes forth, he returns to his earth; IN THAT VERY DAY HIS THOUGHTS PERISH." Connelly said, "The term thoughts in this text, as is evident not only from the word used in the Septuagint, but from the context, means designs or purposes. We are exhorted not to trust in man, for though he may design to bless us, he is destined to die, when his purpose must fail--they must perish." The Christian Church, in which he is an Evangelist, believes no one can change God's word, but he changes "thoughts" into "purpose" when they are different words in the Hebrew and the word "thoughts" never means "purpose." and is never translated "purpose." Connelly-Field "Debate On The State Of The Dead"
(4) Psalms 89:48 "What man is he that lives and shall not see death? Shall he deliver his soul [life - nehphesh] from the hand of the GRAVE [sheol-Hell]?” This is another Hebrew dualism that is used throughout Psalm; in this dualism the grave and sheol are synonymous terms. A person cannot keep himself from death and the grave; he was speaking of his life [nehphesh] that he could not be kept from the grave, not an “immaterial invisible” something that cannot die and will never go to the grave. If this grave [sheol] were Hell, then no person could keep himself from Hell, not even the righteous. All die and go to the grave [sheol], but no one believes all go to Hell. Although this Psalm is speaking of all, both the good and the bad, all can see why the translators did not translate sheol into Hell in this passage for they believed the righteous will keep their souls from Hell, but why did the translators make the writer of this Psalm say no one can keep their “soul” (that the translators believed could not die) from the grave?
(5) Psalms 141:7 "Our bones are scattered at the GRAVE'S [sheol-Hell] mouth, as when one cuts and cleaves wood upon the earth." Will the bones of those in Hell be scattered at the mouth of Hell and not be in it? Whatever David means by grave's mouth, he is not saying that the inside of the grave [sheol/hades] has two sides, one side for the good and one for the bad. Even the King James translators did not think so and translated it grave, not Hell. There is nothing about torment or an immortal soul in this Psalm.
(6) Proverbs 1:12 "Let us swallow them up alive as the GRAVE [sheol-Hell]: and whole, as those that go down into the pit."
(7) Proverbs 30:16 "The GRAVE [sheol-Hell] says not 'It is enough.'" No matter how many die, the point will never be reached when no more can die.
(8) Ecclesiastes 9:10 "Whatsoever your hand finds to do, do it with your might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the GRAVE [sheol-Hell], whether you go." In the same chapter Solomon says, "The dead know not anything" [Ecclesiastes 9:5]. “His breath departs, he returns to the earth; in that very day his thoughts perish” [Psalms 146:4]. “The dead do no praise the Lord, nor do any that go down into silence, but we (those who are alive) will bless the Lord” [Psalm 115:17]. Those in the grave know nothing and will know nothing unto the resurrection. A Hell or a Heaven where those in them knows nothing and does nothing neither good or bad would not be the Hell or the Heaven the Catholics or the Protestants believe the dead to be living in. Solomon is not speaking in figurative language. A more positive statement that the dead are now unconscious could not be made; “whether you go” not “whether an immaterial something in you goes.” It could not be said any plainer that death is death and no part of anyone is alive before the resurrection; that after death no part of a person has thoughts or knows anything.
(9) Song of Solomon 8:6 "Love is as strong as death; jealousy is cruel as the GRAVE [sheol-Hell]." No distinction is made of the good or the bad. The bad and the good are the same to the grave, it takes everything from all.
The good and bad together in Hell in 2 passages
(1) Job 11:8 "It is as high as heaven; what can you do? Deeper than HELL [grave-sheol] [HELL CHANGED TO SHEOL IN NEW KING JAMES VERSION]; what can you know?" "They are higher than the heavens-what can you do? They are deeper than the depths of the grave-what can you know" New International Version. This is one of Job's comforters, Zophar. God said, "My wrath is kindled against you and against your two friends, because you have not spoken of Me what is right as My servant Job has" [Job 42:7]. Can the words of Job's friends, which God says are not "right," be used to prove any truth? WHAT IS BOTH HIGHER THAN THE HEAVENS AND DEEPER THAN THE DEPTHS OF THE GRAVE? THE MYSTERIES OF GOD AND THE LIMITS OF THE ALMIGHTY [11:7]. All though Job's friend might not have been speaking what was right, there still is nothing in what they said about anything after death or after the judgment. In this, as in all the sixty-five uses of sheol, there is no torment after death.
(2) Job 26:6 " HELL [grave-sheol] [HELL CHANGED TO SHEOL IN NEW KING JAMES VERSION] is naked before him, and destruction has no covering."
When a person who believes in the Hell that is taught today reads the King James Old Testament he or she finds a Hell that is totally difference and contradictorily to what they have been taught. The passages where sheol was mistranslated to put Hell in the Bible describe a place very unlike the Hell that is now believed in by many, and the wrong people are sometimes in it.
[5] BOTH THE GOOD AND BAD IN HELL (In 15 passages)
Both in Hell in King James Version
The good in Hell in 7 passages
(1) 2 Samuel 22:6 "When the waves of death compassed me, the floods of ungodly men made me afraid; The sorrows of HELL [grave-sheol] [HELL CHANGED TO SHEOL IN NEW KING JAMES VERSION] compassed me about; the snares of death prevented me." Up to the time of David, Hell is used in the King James Version only one time. FROM GENESIS ONE TO THE TIME OF DAVID IN 2 SAMUEL, OVER THREE THOUSAND YEARS HAD PASSED BEFORE THE SECOND TIME THE WORD HELL WAS PUT INTO THE KING JAMES VERSION; BUT, EVEN THEN, THE NEW KING JAMES TAKES IT OUT. 2 Samuel 22:5-6 is David speaking about troubles and fears he had, including fear of death for he was running from Saul who was trying to kill him. It is difficult to see why the King James Version put "Hell" in this passage for when they did it is far from being what those who believe in "Hell" believe. Was David running from Saul because he thought Saul would send him to the grave or would send him to Hell? Even those who believe in Hell do not believe Saul could have sent David to it. THERE IS NOTHING IN IT ABOUT ANYTHING AFTER DEATH OR AFTER THE JUDGMENT DAY. "The sorrows of HELL compassed me about" and "the snares of death prevented me" are Hebrew dualism.
Matthew Henry said, "This is expressed figuratively. He was surrounded with death on every side, threatened to be overwhelmed, and saw no way of escape" Matthew Henry's Commentary, Page 357.
(2) Psalms 16:10 "For you will not leave my soul in HELL [grave-sheol] [HELL CHANGED TO SHEOL IN NEW KING JAMES VERSION]: neither wilt you suffer your Holy One to see corruption." This is used in Acts 2 and is about Christ. The translators put most of the saved in the grave, not in Hell, but this says his soul was not left in sheol. The translators were in a dilemma in this passage.
1. They could not put a "soul" (as the word is used today-an invisible, immaterial, no substance nothing) in the grave, which would be to admit that a soul could be dead.
2. Or they had to put Christ in Hell. If Christ were alive in Hell, He was alive and never was dead, therefore, there was no resurrection of Christ. Did God raise Christ from the dead, or did God just take the living Christ who was not dead out of Hell? Christ paid our debt, which was death, not eternal torment.
This is Hebrew dualism where the same thought is given in two ways.
1. “For you will not leave my soul in HELL [grave-sheol].”
2. “Neither wilt you suffer your Holy One to see corruption.” Corruption is in the grave, not in “Hell.”
(3) Psalms 18:5 "I will call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised: so shall I be saved from mine enemies. The sorrows of death compassed me, and the floods of ungodly men made me afraid. The sorrows of HELL [grave-sheol "grave" in margin of King James Version] [HELL CHANGED TO SHEOL IN NEW KING JAMES VERSION] compassed me about: the snares of death prevented me. In my distress I called upon the Lord, and cried unto my God; he heard my voice out of his temple, and my cry came before him even into his ears." This is David saying about the same thing that he said in 2 Samuel 22:5-6. See notes there. This is Hebrew dualism where the same thing is said in two ways. "The sorrows of sheol compassed me about" and "the snares of death prevented me" are two ways of saying the same thing. If Hell were a place of eternal torment after death and David had been compassed about by it, he would not have been alive on earth to write this. This is one of the good guys who came near unto death that was saved “from mine enemies,” not near unto Hell.
(4) Psalms 86:13 "For great is your mercy toward me: and you have delivered my soul from the lowest HELL [grave-sheol]." [HELL CHANGED TO SHEOL IN NEW KING JAMES VERSION]. [Footnote in King James Version: "Or, grave"]. Neither the Catholic, Protestant nor the after judgment versions of Hell believe that a person can go the Hell and come back to live on Earth. The writer of this Psalm is thanking God for saving his life from the grave, not for bring him back from eternal torment in Hell, but for bring him back from a place he had been and was delivered from it while he was alive in the body. The New Revised Standard Version says, "You have delivered my soul from the depths of Sheol" [sheol-grave]. AT THE TIME DAVID WAS WRITING THIS HE HAD NOT BEEN TO THE HELL THAT IS TAUGHT TODAY TO BE DELIVERED FROM IT FOR THE TODAY’S HELL IS A PLACE OF ETERNAL TORMENT FROM WHICH NONE WILL EVER BE DELIVERED. It is no wonder that the New King James took "Hell" out of this passage.
IF THIS PASSAGE WERE BELIEVED AS IT IS TRANSLATED IN THE KING JAMES VERSION, USING THE WORDS "SOUL" AND "HELL" AS THEY ARE USED AND UNDERSTOOD TODAY IT WOULD TEACH:
• THE SOUL CAN BE IN HELL AND BE TORMENTED WHEN THE PERSON IS STILL LIVING ON EARTH, BEFORE DEATH.
• THE SOUL CAN COME BACK FROM HELL. A soul in Hell can be delivered from Hell! Also 1 Samuel 2:6; Psalms 16:10: 30:3 49:15; 88:3.
• THERE IS MORE THAN ONE HELL. If there were a "lowest hell," there would have to be one or more Hells above it. Does anyone believe that are many Hells?
• THE SOUL OF THE RIGHTEOUS CAN BE IN HELL. The soul of David would have had to be in Hell if it was delivered from Hell.
• SOULS ARE IN HELL BEFORE THE JUDGMENT DAY.
In trying to put Hell in the Bible, they made a mess of things, a mess that no one believes, not even the translators that made the mess. In the next verse it is clearly indicated that this is deliverance from a threat of death from those who sought his life. "O God, arrogant men have risen up against me, and a band of violent men have sought my life [nehphesh]" [New American Standard Bible].
In this Psalm the beliefs of the translators give them only two choices. They had to:
• Put a soul that could not be dead in the grave
• Or put a soul in Hell
There choice was to put a soul in Hell even if it was David’s soul in Hell before his death.
(5) Psalms 116:3 "The sorrows of death compassed me, and the pains of HELL [grave-sheol] [HELL CHANGED TO SHEOL IN NEW KING JAMES VERSION] gat hold upon me: I found trouble and sorrow. Then called I upon the name of the Lord; O Lord, I beseech thee, deliver my soul." The writer could see that death and the grave may be close. When they translated sheol into Hell did they not put the righteous in Hell? Did he pray that his soul be taken out of Hell while he was living, when according to today's teaching his soul would not have been in Hell? The New King James Version did not think so and changed Hell to sheol. His trouble and sorrow were in this life, and he called upon the name of the Lord to deliver him from death and the grave, which he thought was near, not to deliver him from Hell when he was not in Hell.
(6) Psalms 139:8 "If I ascend up into heaven, you are there: if I make my bed in HELL [grave-sheol], behold, you are there." He is saying God is everywhere, He is omnipresent. There is nowhere one can go away from God for He can reach into the grave and raise the dead. The King James Version makes God be in Hell, but if He were, then those in Hell would not be away from the presence of God and death would not be a separation from God as some teach it is. Sleep is used as a metaphor of death throughout the Bible. "If I make my bed in Sheol" [Hell in the King James Version], those who believe in Hell do not believe those in Hell will have a bed and sleep. If David had made his bed in Hell, this would be saying one of the good guys was asleep in Hell? See GATHERED TO HIS PEOPLE - WAKENING UP AT THE RESURRECTION in chapter three on the use of sleep in the Bible.
• Also 2 Samuel 22:5-6; Psalms 18:3-6 David was in fear of death (not in fear of Hell as is translated in the King James Version) and was running from Saul who was trying to kill him. Also Psalms 86:13; 116:3-4; Jonah 2:2
• Most of the times when sheol is referring to the good it is translated grave. See Genesis 37:35; 42:38; 4429: 44:31; Job 14:13; 17:13-16; Psalms 49:15 etc.
(7) Jonah 2:2 "And said, I cried by reason of mine affliction unto the Lord, and he heard me; out of the belly of HELL [grave-sheol] ["grave" in margin of King James Version] [HELL CHANGED TO SHEOL IN NEW KING JAMES VERSION] cried I, and you heard my voice." In the belly of the great fish was a dark covered place as the grave is but nothing like a place of torture in fire brimstone. Jonah was not dead and neither the Catholics, Protestants, nor the after judgment versions of Hell believe that a person can be in Hell before his death or that he can come back to this world from Hell. For 374 years [from 1611 to 1985] the readers of the King James Version were told Jonah was in Hell, then the New Kings James Version came along and said not so, he was in sheol. This passage is as are many others, difficult to see how the King James translators thought they could get their view of "Hell" out of it even when they mistranslated it.
1. NO ONE BELIEVES HELL IS IN THE BELLY OF A GREAT FISH.
2. DO ANY BELIEVE A LIVING PERSON IN THE FLESH CAN EVER BE IN HELL?
3. OR THAT ANYONE THAT DOES GO TO HELL WILL EVER COME OUT OF IT TO LIVE ON THIS EARTH?
BUT THE KING JAMES VERSION MAKES ALL THREE OF THESE TRUE. DID THE TRANSLATORS BELIEVE WHAT THEY MADE THIS PASSAGE SAY? DOES ANY ONE THAT BELIEVES IN HELL BELIEVE WHAT THEY MADE IT SAY?

The bad in Hell
In only 8 of the 54 passages that have sheol.
(1) Psalms 55:15 "Let death seize upon them, and let them go down quick into HELL [sheol-grave in the margin of the King James Version]: for wickedness is in their dwellings, and among them." David is asking that they die and go to SHEOL [the grave] quickly. He is not asking that they be tormented in Hell forever. Those who believe in the after judgment Hell do not believe the wicked go quickly to Hell at death, but some of them are desperate enough for proof of their Hell that they use this and other verses like it. Though this is the twenty-ninth time sheol is used, it is only the eighth time Hell is in the New King James Version. Numbers 16:29-33 is similar. "If these men die the death of all men, or if they suffer the fate of all men, then the Lord has not sent me. But, if the Lord brings about an entirely new thing and the ground opens its mouth and swallows them up with all that is theirs, and they descend alive into SHEOL [grave-sheol, PIT in King James Version], then you will understand that these men have spurned the Lord. Then it came about as he finished speaking all these words, that the ground that was under them split opened; and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up, and their households, and all the men who belonged to Korah, with their possession, So they and all that belonged to them went down alive to SHEOL [sheol-grave-pit in King James Version]; and they perished from the midst of the assembly" New American Standard Bible. If they had translated this sheol into Hell, it would have put Hell in a hole in the ground and on this earth; if Hell is eternal torment then this hole is still some place on this earth and this earth will have to last for eternality.
• Psalms 55:15 "Let death seize upon them, and let them go down quick into HELL [sheol] for wickedness is in their dwellings."
• Psalms 32:17 "Let the wicked be ashamed, and let them be silent in the GRAVE [sheol]." The King James translators did not know whether they wanted the wicked in the grave or in Hell. They most certainly are not the same place. Did they divide up the dead and put some in Hell, some in the grave, and some in a hole in the ground? Sheol is translated grave and Hell at random.
Hebrew dualism where the same thing is said in two ways is used throughout Psalms and Proverbs. Sheol is used in dualism repeatedly.
Psalms 30:3
1. "O lord, you have brought up my soul from the GRAVE [sheol-Hell]:
2. You have kept me alive."
Psalms 55:15
1. "Let death seize upon them,
2. And let them go down quick into HELL [sheol-grave]."
Psalms 89:48
1. "What man is he that lives and shall not see death?
2. Shall he deliver his soul from the hand of the GRAVE [sheol-Hell]?"
Psalms 116:3-4
1. "The sorrows of death compassed me,
2. And the pains of HELL [sheol-grave] gat hold upon me."
Proverbs 5:5
1. "Her feet go down to death:
2. Her steps take hold on HELL [sheol-grave]."
Proverbs 7:27
1. "Her house is the way to HELL [sheol-grave],"
2. "Going down to the chambers of death."
Proverbs 9:18
1. "But he knows not that the dead are there;
2. And that her guests are in the depths of HELL [sheol-grave]."
Proverbs 15:10-11
1. "He that hates reproof shall die.
2. HELL [sheol-grave] and destruction are before the Lord."
Isaiah 38:18
• "For the GRAVE [sheol-Hell] cannot praise you,
• Death cannot celebrate you."
(2) Proverbs 5:5 "Her feet go down to death: her steps take hold on HELL [grave-sheol]." Through out the poetry books, a statement is made and then for emphasis will be repeated in a different way.
1. "Her feet going down to death" is repeated for emphasis
2. "Her steps taking hold on sheol [the grave]."
Adultery had the death penalty under the Law [Leviticus 20:10-16]; they were stoned to death [John 83-11]; even today many die from Aids and other incurable sexual diseases. In Proverbs 1:11-12, it was the innocent victims of the evil, therefore, the King James Version puts the victims in the grave; but in Proverbs 5:5, it is the evil women, therefore, the King James Version puts her in Hell even though they had to translated the same word into two completely difference places, even though they had to make the same word be both a common noun and a proper noun; even though the same word cannot be both. Proverbs 5 is about prostitutes, and it says of those that go to them, "And you groan at your latter end, when your flesh and your body are consumed" [Proverbs 5:11].
(3) Proverbs 7:27 Another Hebrew dualism where the same thing is said in two ways. Going down to the chambers of death is the same as the way to the grave [sheol]. Proverbs 7 is a comparison of keeping God’s commandments or not keeping them pictured as being enticed by an adulteress woman.
• "Her house is the way to sheol"
• "Going down to the chambers of death,"
“Do not let your heart turn aside to her ways, do not stray into her paths. For many are the victims she has cast down, and numerous are all her slain. Her house is the way to the grave, descending to the chambers of death” [Proverbs 7:25-27].
(4) Proverbs 9:18 "But he knows not that the dead are there; and that her guests are in the depths of HELL [grave-sheol]." Proverbs 9 is a comparison of wisdom and folly with folly pictured as a wicked woman and those who come to her dying a premature death.
1. "The dead are there"
2. "Her guests are in the depths of sheol [the grave]" is a repeat of the same thing.
(5) Proverbs 15:11 "Correction is grievous unto him that forsakes the way: and he that hates reproof shall die. HELL [grave-sheol] and destruction are before the Lord." The grave and destruction is not a picture of Hell as it is painted by today's Theology where none that are in Hell shall never die or be destroyed.
(6) Proverbs 15:24 "The way of life is above to the wise, that he may depart from the HELL [grave-sheol] beneath." Protestants do not believe that any will depart from Hell once they are there. See Psalms 18:3-6 and Psalms 55:15. The writers of Psalms, Proverbs and all the Old Testament believed God would in their lifetime reward the righteous and punish the evil even with premature death; “All these blessings” and “All these curses” in Deuteronomy 28 were in their lifetime. Israel went into captivity frequently and many of them died in captivity; when they would repent God would bring them out of captivity. Even under the New Covenant the wrath of God is on the sinner now in this life [Romans 1:18; 2 Peter 2:9].
(7) Proverbs 23:14 "You shall beat him with the rod, and shall deliver his soul from HELL [grave-sheol]." A child that is not punished when it does wrong will not keep the law and may be punished even with death [see note on Proverbs 15:24 above]. "You shall beat him with the rod, and deliver (save) his life from the grave."
(8) Proverbs 27:20 "HELL [grave-sheol] and destruction are never full." "And he that hates reproof shall die [Proverbs 15:24]. Hell [grave-sheol] and destruction are before the Lord" [Proverbs 15:10-11]. The grave and destruction are associated many times. No matter how many die, as long as time goes on, there will be room for more. In Proverbs 30:16 the translators translated the same thought as grave. "The GRAVE [sheol]...says not 'It is enough.'" This is not saying Hell is so large a place that it can never be filled. This passage is like the other 64 passages that have sheol in them, nothing is said about torment in Hell.
Mr. Stuart, who believes in "Hell" said, "The inconsistency with which they have sometimes rendered the word Sheol, in the same connection and with the same sense, is a striking circumstance which cannot but be regarded with some wonder by an attentive inquirer."
Note: There are four others words in the Hebrew Old Testament that are translated "grave" in the King James Version (kvooraf, kehver, shahaghath, bgee), but to my knowledge none of them are used by anyone to prove there is any kind of life in the grave.
PASSAGES FROM WHICH THE NEW KING JAMES VERSION REMOVED "HELL" THAT WAS IN THE KING JAMES VERSION The New King James Version took Hell out of thirteen of the thirty-one times it is in the King James Version. It changed the way sheol was translated in the King James Version 19 of the 65 times sheol is used. It also changed the three words used in the King James Version Old Testament to four words; pit, grave, Hell, and sheol.
| KJV | NKJV |
2 Samuel 22:6 | Hell | Sheol|
Job 11:8 | Hell | Sheol|
Job 26:6 | Hell | Sheol|
Psalms 16:10 | Hell | Sheol|
Psalms 18:5 | Hell | Sheol|
Psalms 86:13 | Hell | Sheol|
Psalms 116:3 | Hell | Sheol|
Isaiah 5:14 | Hell | Sheol|
Isaiah 14:15 | Hell | Sheol|
Isaiah 28:15 | Hell | Sheol|
Isaiah 28:18 | Hell | Sheol|
Isaiah 57:9 | Hell | Sheol|
Jonah 2:2 | Hell | Sheol|

More Changes | KJV | NKJV |
Job 17:16 | Pit | Sheol|
Ezekiel 31:15 | Grave| Hell |
Isaiah 14:11 | Grave| Sheol|
Isaiah 38:10 | Grave| Sheol|
Isaiah 38:18 | Grave| Sheol|
Proverbs 1:12 | Grave| Sheol|
The New King James Version removes much of the foundation on which the belief in Hell was built, and the American Standard Version and most others removed the foundation completely from the Old Testament, but the belief now still stands without it.
After looking at the sixty-five passages where sheol is used in the Old Testament, there is only one conclusion that we can come to, death really is death for both the good and the evil, and there is no life for anyone or any part of anyone before the resurrection.
• THERE IS NO HINT OF AN ETERNAL LIFE OF TORMENT AFTER DEATH OR AFTER THE JUDGMENT IN ANY OF THE SIXTY-FIVE PASSAGES.
• THE OLD TESTAMENT DOES NOT CONTAIN TODAY'S CONCEPT OF HELL.
• THERE IS NO WORD IN THE OLD TESTAMENT THAT EVEN COMES CLOSE TO THE MEANING THAT HELL HAS TODAY.
TWO DEFINITIONS: Webster's New World Dictionary.
1. A place in the ground where a dead body is buried. Any place where a dead body is laid or comes to rest."
2. Today's theology, "A place where the living that can never be dead are tormented forever by Satan or by God."
HOW DID THE TRANSLATORS GET TWO WORDS, GRAVE AND HELL, WITH SUCH A VAST DIFFERENCE IN MEANING FROM THE SAME HEBREW WORD? It is as if the same word [sheol] means "white" in thirty-four passage and "black" in thirty-one passages. TO MISTRANSLATE THE WAY THE KING JAMES TRANSLATORS DID IS NOT ONLY A BAD TRANSLATION, IT IS SINFUL TO SO MISUSE GOD'S WORD, BOTH SINFUL FOR THE TRANSLATORS AND SINFUL FOR THOSE WHO KNOW IT IS WRONG BUT USE IT ANYWAY AND DO NOT SPEAK OUT ABOUT WHAT THEY KNOW TO BE WRONG. What will they say to God at the judgment?
L. Ray Smith, "I do not even contend that this is bad scholarship. This is NO scholarship at all. This is nothing less than FRAUD-a Christian HOAX! Show me where else in historic academia we find such reckless abandonment of the facts? I am not contending for my personal preference in translating the scriptures, but to merely translate accurately and consistently what we find in all the Hebrew and Greek manuscripts."
Often, the person who teaches sheol is somewhere beneath the surface of the earth and the dead all to sheol will at other times teach all go to Heaven or Hell at death. The Old Testament teaching of all the dead being asleep in sheol, the grave is in direct contradiction to today's teaching of going directly to Heaven at death, yet many teach both depending, I guess on what their needs are at any given time, but most seem to be unaware of what they are doing, unaware that they are changing back and forth between two contradictory teachings.
THE ENGLISH "HELL" OF TODAY ------ VERSUS - SHEOL OF THE OLD TESTAMENT
A PLACE OF REMORSE AND SUFFERING -- VERSUS - "FORGETFULNESS" PS 88:11-12
A PLACE OF ENDLESS FIRE ---------- VERSUS - "DARKNESS" JOB 10:21
OF TORMENT WITH SHRIEKS AND GROANS - VERSUS - "SILENCE" PSALMS 115:17

HADES IN THE NEW TESTAMENT (Used 11 times)
Hades used with reference to the death of Christ (3 passages)
Hades used with reference to death (1 passage)
Hades used with reference to the destruction of cities or nations (2 passages)
Hades in the symbolic passages (5 passages)

The Greek word hades in the New Testament corresponds to sheol in the Old Testament. Hades is used in the Septuagint Version, a translation of the Old Testament into Greek, sixty of the sixty-five times where sheol is used. It is used in the New Testament when the Old Testament is quoted [Psalms 16:10; Acts 2:27]. HADES DOES NOT HAVE ANY REFERENCE TO THE SOUL OF ANYONE IN ANY OF THE ELEVEN PASSAGES WHERE IT IS USED. NOR DOES IT HAVE ANY REFERENCE TO TORMENT IN HELL. An examination of every passage where hades is used in the New Testament shows that not one of them says anything about everlasting conscious torment or of eternal punishment. Not a one of them says anything about what will be after the judgment day.
Hades in the three passages
That has reference to the death of Christ.
(1) Matthew 16:18 "And I say also unto you, that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church: and the gates of HELL [the grave-hades] shall not prevail against it." "And the gates of HADES shall not prevail against it" New King James Version. The grave is pictured as a fortified city with gates as many cities at that time had; the believers were told pray that their flight be not on a Sabbath for then the gates of the city would be closed and would hold them in [Matthew 24:20]. The fortified gates of death were unable to hold Christ in the grave and will be unable to hold the dead in Christ, they will be resurrected and have the victory over death. Death and the grave will “not prevail against IT” – the church, which is all that are in Christ.
"Death shall neither destroy the organic church which is in the world, nor the members thereof which go down into the grave." J. W. McGarvey, The Fourfold Gospel, Standard Publishing Company, Page 412.
• "And the gates of HELL shall not prevail against it" King James.
• "And the gates of HADES shall not prevail against it" New King James.
Which translation do you believe? There is no way that both could be right. According to today's theology Hell and Hades are two entirely different places, but these two translations are in conflict with each other on the place all through the New Testament.
(2) Acts 2:27 "Because you will not leave my soul in HELL [the grave-hades], neither will you suffer your Holy One to see corruption." Hades is the Greek translation of the Hebrew sheol. In Acts 2:27, hades is a translation of sheol from Psalm 16:10. Only the King James Version translates hades into Hell. Most translations, even the New King James Version, have not translated hades into Hell. Many would not translate it and therefore left the untranslated Greek word in the English translation. This does not help the English reader who does not know Greek; but it was left untranslated in many versions of the Bible because those who believe the soul is immortal and believe in Hell do not want neither sheol in the Old Testament or hades in the New Testament to be translated.
(3) Acts 2:31 "He seeing this before spoke of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in HELL [the grave-hades]; neither his flesh did see corruption." "That His soul was not left in HADES" New King James Version. This is a quotation of Psalms 16:10. David "both died and were buried, and his tomb is with us unto this day" [Acts 2:29]. If David were living at this time and he was not in the tomb, Peter had no point or argument, and what he said had no meaning. "From the day that the fathers fell asleep" 2 Peter 3:4. This shows that David is still asleep, along with all other's that "are fallen asleep" 1 Corinthians 15:6. To say that David is not dead or has been raised is to say the resurrection is passed, and Christ was not the "first fruits" 1 Corinthians 15:20, or the "first born" Colossians 1:18, Revelation 1:5. To say that David was never dead is to make a resurrection impossible. The resurrection at the coming of Christ is the subject, and nothing is said about what will be from death to the resurrection. Jesus was in His grave until God resurrected Him, and David will be in his grave until the resurrection. David and all who have died except Christ are still in the grave [in sheol-hades] and will be unto the Resurrection. The King James Version has the "soul" of David being taken out of Hell but those who believe in Hell do not believe that a "soul" that has gone to Hell will ever be taken out of it. If His soul [Hebrew-nehphesh; Greek-psukee] "was not left in hades [the grave]," then His soul, the part of Him that cannot die, according to those who say the soul is immortal, was in the grave [hades], IF NOT, IT COULD NOT HAVE BEEN LEFT IN THE GRAVE OR TAKEN OUT OF THE GRAVE, IF HIS SOUL WAS NEVER IN THE GRAVE IT WAS NEVER DEAD, THEREFORE, THIS PASSAGES MAKES NO SENSE. IF, AS THE KING JAMES VERSION AND MANY TEACH, CHRIST WAS ALIVE IN “HELL” HE WAS NEVER DEAD AND THERE WAS NO RESURRECTION.
Hades in the passage
That has reference to death
(4) 1 Corinthians 15:55 "O death [thanatos], where is your sting; O grave [hades], where is your victory?" It is so obvious that a place of torment after death is not what Paul was speaking of that even the King James translators could not translate this into Hell, see Revelation 20:13-14 below. This is the only time in the King James Version that hades is translated grave. The New American Standard and many others translate both "thanatos" and "hades" into "death" only in this passage. "Death [thanatos] is swallowed up in victory. O death [thanatos], where is your victory? O death [hades], where is your sting? The sting of death [thanatos] is sin" [1 Corinthians 15:54-56]. They translate "thanatos" into death many places, but this is the only time they translate "hades" into death. Why the inconsistency? Was it not because if death is only separation of a living immortal soul from God, the separated living soul could not be in the grave; if this living soul were in the grave, then it could not be in Hell where many believe it to be.
This is believed by many to be a quote from Hosea 13:14 where the King James Version translated "sheol" into "grave," not "death." "I will ransom them from the power of the grave [sheol]; I will redeem them from death; O death, I will be your plagues; O grave [sheol], I will be thy destruction." The whole chapter of Hosea 12 is about the nation of Israel; God redeeming the nation of Israel from captivity, restoring or resurrecting the nation, not individual Jews being resurrected from the grave then or at the second coming of Christ. 1 Corinthians 15:55 is speaking of the victory over death by individuals that are in Christ at the resurrection. Neither Hosea 13:14 or 1 Corinthians 15:55 does not say anything about endless torment or what will happen to those who are not saved.
1. Restoring or resurrection of a nation (living Jews) from captivity [Hosea 13:14].
2. Resurrecting to eternal life all individuals that are asleep in Christ [1 Corinthians 15:55].
Hades in the two passages
That has reference to the destruction of cities or nations
(5) Matthew 11:23 "And you, Capernaum, which are exalted unto heaven, shall be brought down to HELL [grave-hades]: for if the mighty works, which have been done in you, had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day." A city to be brought down to the grave and remain no more just as Sodom did not remain.
(6) Luke 10:15 "And you, Capernaum, which are exalted to heaven, shall be thrust down to HELL [grave-hades]." They were favored more than most cities by seeing and hearing Christ "exalted unto heaven," but because of their unbelief they were brought down to the grave. Capernaum ceased to exalt and was covered by sand of Galilee's seashore, its grave. Not even those who believe in Hell believe cities will go to Heaven or Hell, yet they use this passage to prove that lost souls of individuals will go to Hell just as the King James translators sends Capernaum to Hell. Cities do cease to exalt [brought down to hades-the grave]: as both Capernaum and Sodom have been. There is nothing said about eternal torment of cities or nations. JUST AS CAPERNAUM WAS NEVER LITERALLY IN HEAVEN, IT WAS NEVER LITERALLY IN "HELL."
"And you, Capernaum, which are [present tense] exalted to heaven, shall be [future tense] be brought down to the grave." I know of no one who believes Capernaum, was at the time Christ was speaking [present tense], was in Heaven with God, but this city would be [future tense] brought down to Hell to be with Satan, yet this is what this passage says as it is in the King James Version and would have to be saying if it proved "Hell."
Albert Barnes, who believes in Hell, admits that in this passage Hell does not mean Hell. He said, "This does not mean that all the people should go to hell; but that the city which had flourished so prosperously, should lose its prosperity, and occupy the lowest place among cities. The word hell is used here, not to denote a place of punishment in the future world, but a state of desolation and destruction as a city" Note on Matthew 11:23.
Hades in the symbolic passages
(7) Luke 16:23 "And in HELL [grave-hades] he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeing Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom." This is one of the first passages many use to prove there is torment after death. See THE INTERMEDIATE BOSOM in chapter eight for notes on this parable.
(8) Revelation 1:18 "I am he that lives and was dead; and behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen: and have the keys of HELL [grave-hades] and of death." Many do not believe Hell will exist unto after the judgment, but they make Him be saying He has the keys to a place that does not yet exist.
What this passage does not and does say:
• If it exists now or will not exist unto after the judgment, most all who believe in Hell do not believe Christ will use the keys to open Hell and take out any who are in it. They believe that once a person is in Hell he is there forever.
• Christ will use the keys to take all out of the grave [hades] at the resurrection and judgment day.
(9) Revelation 6:8 "And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that set on him was Death, and HELL [grave-hades] followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth." This is a symbolic passage of a judgment on this earth where:
1. Some are killed with the sword
2. Some are killed with hunger
3. Some are killed with death
4. Some are killed with beasts of the earth
But to prove Hell it is taken out of context and made literal, but if it were literal then Hell, which is believed to be a place of torment after death is killing the living before their death with beasts of the earth, which is definitely not what anyone I know of believes. If those in Hell will be killed with the sword and with hunger, how can they be tormented forever? If this were made literal, then death and Hell would have power over only one fourth of mankind. Will the other three fourths live forever without dying and never go to Hell? If so, then they had no need of the death of Christ to save them from death or Hell. EVEN FOR THOSE WHO BELIEVE IN HELL IT MUST BE DIFFICULT TO IMAGINE DEATH LITERALLY RIDING ON A HORSE, AND HELL AND A PLACE LITERALLY FOLLOWING THE HORSE; but without badly mistranslating there is nothing about Hell in Revelation 6:8. The New King James Version has hades, not Hell, following death; which do you believe, Hell or hades?
(10) Revelation 20:13 "And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and HELL [hades-footnote in King James Version says "the grave"] delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works." Will the "Hell" that is taught today give up those who are in it? If made literal, this also would not be today's theology; those in this “Hell” are dead, not alive in torment. This passage makes a distinction between the dead in the sea and the dead in the grave [hades]. If hades were a place where all the dead go, the good to one side of hades (Abraham's bosom) and the lost to the other side of hades, all the dead would be in hades and none in the sea. Neither the Catholics or Protestant versions of Hell believe any will come out of Hell, but the way the King James Version is translated ALL that are in Hell do come out of Hell when this is made literal, and many do make it literal when they are trying to prove Hell is real.
(11) Revelation 20:14 "And death and HELL [grave-hades] were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death." NEITHER DO THEY BELIEVE HELL WILL BE CAST INTO THE LAKE OF FIRE. THEY BELIEVE HELL IS THE LAKE OF FIRE. If the Lake of Fire were Hell, then the King James Version would have Hell being cast into Hell, but John says it is death and the grave that are being cast into the lake of fire, not Hell cast into Hell. THE GRAVE, NOT HELL, WILL DELIVER UP THE DEAD AT THE COMING OF CHRIST. The victory of death over mankind will have ended [See I Corinthians 15:55 above]. MOST ALL THAT USE THIS MISTRANSLATION IN THE KING JAMES VERSION DO NOT BELIEVE WHAT THE KING JAMES VERSION SAYS, THAT HELL WILL DELIVER UP THOSE IN IT, FOR IF IT DID THEIR HELL WOULD NOT BE ETERNAL. This mistranslation in the King James Version makes Hell end at the resurrection.
Dr. George Campbell: "It is very [interesting] that neither in the Septuagint version of the Old Testament, nor in the New, does the word hades convey the meaning which the present English word hell, in the Christian usage, always conveys to our minds" Diss. vi., Page 181.
Conscious in sheol-hades or Conscious in Heaven or Hell; some believes and teach two contradictory beliefs at the same time.
1. CONSCIOUS IN SHEOL-HADES. A disembodied soul in sheol that will be transmigrated back to its earthly body at the judgment. They believe sheol to be under the Earth or who knows where, but anyone in sheol is not in Heaven or Hell.
2. OR CONSCIOUS IN HEAVEN OR HELL. A living soul in Heaven or Hell, which will leave there and come back to Earth for judgment, then go back to Heaven or Hell after the judgment. If the dead are in Heaven or Hell, they are not in sheol.
Both cannot be right, but I have heard preachers say one at one time, then the other at another time. Did they just forget what they had said the first time? If they prove one, they disprove the other. They spend much time and use many passages of scripture to prove both. Which one do they believe? MANY THAT BELIEVE THE PROTESTANT VERSION WORK HARD TO PROVE THERE IS CONSCIOUSNESS IN SHEOL BUT WHY? IF THE LOST GO DIRECTLY TO HELL AND THE SAVED GO TO THEIR ETERNAL HOME IN HEAVEN AT DEATH, THEN THEIR IMMORTAL SOULS CANNOT BE IN SHEOL. THEY COULD NOT BE IN TWO PLACES AT THE SAME TIME. IF THEY DID PROVE THE DEAD ARE ALIVE IN SHEOL, THEY WOULD PROVE THAT THE DEAD ARE NOT IN HELL OR HEAVEN. ARE THEY TRYING TO DISPROVE THEIR OWN BELIEF? HOW CAN THEY NOT SEE HOW INCONSISTENT THEY ARE?
Summary of chapter six: TO TRANSLATE SHEOL, GEHENNA, HADES, OR TARTARUS INTO HELL, IS A TOTAL PERVERSION OF THE TRUTH; AND IS AN INTENTIONAL MISTRANSLATION. IF WE USE IT OR TEACH IT, CAN THERE BE ANY HOPE FOR US? HELL IS A VERY DIFFERENT GOSPEL [GALATIANS 1:9]. IT IS CERTAINLY MORE DIFFERENT THAN ANYTHING THAT WAS PREACHED IN PAUL'S TIME.

CHAPTER SEVEN
A STRANGE AND UNEXPLAINABLE SILENCE

THE SILENCE OF THE OLD TESTAMENT
ON PUNISHMENT AFTER DEATH
In the Old Testament the penalty for disobedience is always in this lifetime. There is no allusion made to any punishment after this lifetime. THE PUNISHMENTS WERE TEMPORAL, NOT ENDLESS BUT LIMITED PUNISHMENTS, NOT PUNISHMENTS IN THE HEREAFTER BUT IN THIS LIFETIME.
FROM ADAM TO MOSES
[1] ADAM: God told Adam in the day he ate he would die. The day he ate was the beginning of the dying process, "Dying you shall die." The death that came into the world by Adam's sin is the same death that he died for eating, a physical death. His punishment was that he had to work to live, and dying. It was not the death of Adam's "soul," an inward immortal never dying part of Adam that could not die but it would die anyway if he eat. He was not told that after his death he would be subjected to endless torment in Hell, but endless torment is almost always read into this. The complete silence of any punishment after death would be unthinkable if the doctrine of Hell were true.
[2] CAIN: His sin was the first murder, which by most is believed to be the greatest of all sins. What was his punishment? Today he would be told that he would go to Hell if he did not repent, but his punishment was that he was to be a fugitive and a vagabond in his lifetime on the earth. Not one word about any punishment after his death. The punishment for anyone who killed Cain would be SEVEN TIMES GREATER than the punishment of Cain. How could anything be seven times greater than today's Hell?
[3] THE FLOOD: The people had become so evil that God destroyed them. Only eight were saved. What was their punishment? Read the Bible. It was death. There is no mention of any punishment after their death. They were not told they had lost their souls or that they would go to Hell. Their punishment was not something that would be after the flood; it was the flood and their death. "And the Lord was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart. And the Lord said, 'I will BLOT OUT MAN whom I have created from the face of the land'" [Genesis 6:6-7 New American Standard]. "And all flesh DIED that moved upon the earth, both birds, and cattle, and beasts, and every creeping thing that creeping that creeps upon the earth, and every man: all in whose nostrils was the breath of the spirit of life, of all that was on the dry land DIED. And every living thing was DESTROYED that was upon the face of the ground, both man, and cattle, and creeping things, and birds of the heavens; and they were DESTROYED from the earth" [Genesis 7:21-23]. The same thing happened to "every man" also happened to every beast; their punishment was death, not eternal torment. If the punishment of Hell awaited all those who drown in the flood, the punishment given to them utterly pales into insignificance when it compared to an eternal life of torment in Hell, yet absolutely nothing is said about eternal punishment after death.
"I establish my covenant with you, and with your seed after you; and with every living creature (soul-nehphesh) that is with you, the birds, the cattle, and every beast of the earth with you; of all that go out of the ark, even every beast of the earth. And I will establish my covenant with you; neither shall all flesh be cut off any more by the waters of the flood; neither shall there any more be a flood to DESTROY the earth" [Genesis 9:9-11]. All the souls, both of beast and man were destroyed, not forever tormented.
"For this they willfully forget, that there were heavens from of old, and an earth compacted out of water and amid water, by the word of God; by which means the world that then was, being overflowed with water, PERISHED [apollumi]" [2 Peter 3:5-6 American Standard Version]. "WAS DESTROYED" New American Standard Bible. Nothing is said about endless torment or any torment after death.
[4] THE DESTRUCTION OF SODOM AND GOMORRAH: Genesis 13 and 14: These cities were literally burnt up [Psalms 11:6; Isaiah 34:9], not still burning with the people walking around in torment. Their end was complete total destruction and is an example of the total destruction that is coming to the ungodly at the judgment. Sodom did not just suffer a lost of “will being” but was completely and forever totally destroyed “by burning them to ashes and made them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly” [2 Peter 2:6]. Peter adds in the next chapter that the earth will be “burned up.” The earth has been stored up for fire “being reserved against the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men” [2 Peter 3:7-13].
[5] FROM ADAM TO MOSES: For about twenty-five centuries, from Adam to Moses, Lot's wife, Pharaoh, building of Babel, etc., punishment was always in this life, not in life after death.
THE LAW OF MOSES
ALL THESE BLESSING, ALL THESE CURSING
"Now it shall be, if you will diligently obey the Lord our God, being careful to do all His commandments which I command you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth. AND ALL THESE BLESSING SHALL COME UPON YOU AND OVERTAKE YOU, if you will obey the Lord your God" [Deuteronomy 28:1-2]. "Moses was instructed in all the wisdom of the Egyptians" [Acts 7:22], therefore, he knew of their teaching of life after death, but he did not put a word of it in the Law.
ALL THESE BLESSINGS of the Law were in this lifetime, not after death [Deuteronomy 28:11]. NOT ONE WORD ABOUT A BLESSING AFTER DEATH.
• God would set Israel high above all nations [Deuteronomy 28:1].
• Blessing in the city and in the country [Deuteronomy 28:4].
• Blessing in children, cattle, and the ground [Deuteronomy 28:5].
• Blessing in full barns [Deuteronomy 28:8].
• Blessing in all they set their hand to do [Deuteronomy 28:8].
• The Lord will establish them as a holy people to Himself [Deuteronomy 28:9].
• All nations will see and be afraid of you [Deuteronomy 28:10].
• They will abound in prosperity, in children, and the fruit of the land [Deuteronomy 28:11-12].
• They will lend to many nations and not borrow, be the head and not the tail [Deuteronomy 28:12-13].
ALL THESE CURSES of the Law if they did not keep it were in this lifetime [Deuteronomy 28:18-19]. NOT ONE WORD ABOUT A CURSE AFTER THIS LIFETIME. "But it shall come about, if you will not obey the Lord your God, to observe to do all His commandments and His statutes with which I charge you today, that ALL THESE CURSES SHALL COME UPON YOU AND OVERTAKE YOU" [Deuteronomy 28:15].
• Cursed in the city and the country [Deuteronomy 28:16].
• Cursed in your basket and kneading bowl [Deuteronomy 28:17].
• Cursed in their children, the produce of their ground, the increase of their herd [Deuteronomy 28:18].
• Cursed when they come in and when they went out [Deuteronomy 28:19].
• Confusion, rebuke, in all they did unto they was destroyed [Deuteronomy 28:20].
• Cursed with pestilence until they were consumed from the land [Deuteronomy 28:21].
• Smite with consumption, with fever, with inflammation, with fiery heat, with the sword, with blight, with mildew, and pursued unto they perished [Deuteronomy 28:22].
• The heaven over their head as bronze and the earth under them as iron [Deuteronomy 28:23].
• The rain on their land made as power and dust unto they were destroyed [Deuteronomy 28:24].
• Defeated before their enemies and their carcasses shall be food for birds [Deuteronomy 28:25-26].
• Smite with boils of Egypt, with tumors, with scab, with an itch, which cannot be healed, with blindness, madness, and bewilderment of heart [Deuteronomy 28:27-28].
• They would not prosper and would be oppressed and robbed continually [Deuteronomy 28:29].
• Their wives would be violated, and they would build a house and not live in it, plant a vineyard but not use it [Deuteronomy 28:30].
• Many more curses if they did not obey the Lord [Deuteronomy 28:31-68]. Those who came out of Egypt and provoked the Lord died in the wilderness. Death was their punishment, not eternal torment after death [Numbers 14; Hebrews 3:16-19].
"I declare unto you this day, that you shall surely PERISH; you shall not prolong your days in the land" [Deuteronomy 30:18]. "So they, and all that appertained to them, went down alive into Sheol: and the earth closed upon them, and they PERISHED from among the assembly" [Numbers 16:33]. "And whatsoever soul it be that does any manner of work in that same day, that soul will I DESTROY from among his people" [Leviticus 23:30]. Throughout the Old Testament perish and destroy means dying and has nothing to do with any kind of torment after death. It would be past comprehension that God would give them such detail of what would happen to then in this lifetime and say nothing of the unending pain He was going to forever heap on them in Hell that awaited them.
"One of the first phenomena which draws attention in the Pentateuch is the omission, both in the historical and perceptive portions of it, of any mention of the immortality of the soul. If this view of man's nature were true in our time, it was true from the beginning, and true in the time of Moses. And if it were as important as it is supposed to be now, it was equally important then. Yet no single indication of it is discoverable in the writings of Moses...There is but one tolerable explanation of this silence. Moses was withheld by divine control from teaching what was not true; a doctrine which was radically opposed to the fundamental facts of man's sin and mortality, on which redemption proceeds" Edward White, Life In Christ, Third Edition, Page 148, 1878.
The fifth commandment is the "first commandment with promise" [Ephesians 6:2]. What was the promise? Was it that one would be rewarded in Heaven? No, it had nothing to do with life after death, but life on earth, "That your days may be prolonged, and that it may go well with you on the land which the Lord your God gives you" [Deuteronomy 5:16].
UNDER THE JUDGES AND KINGS
Both under the Judges and later under the Kings the history of the Jews is one of rebellion against God followed by defeat and captivity. When they repented and turned back to God, they came out of exile and prospered.
"The entire history of the Jewish people as a nation, and as individuals, from generation to generation, shows with what exactness the threatening of the law was fulfilled in judgment. When they were obedient, the Lord prospered them, and rewarded them with fruitful seasons, with increasing wealth and power, and made them superior to their enemies. But, when they were rebellious and wicked, then followed adversity, defeat, captivity, and all the physical calamities threatened in the Law. But, all this while we have not one syllable of an endless woe, which is to be added to all the other woes. In no instance of rebellion against God, not when their corruption and idolatry were at the highest reaches of crime and blasphemy, do we find them threatened with the torments of a hell beyond the present life." Thomas Thayer, "Origin And History Of The Doctrine Of Endless Punishment"
All the blessings and all the punishments of the Law were physical in their lifetime. Punishment or reward after death is not promised. For thousands of years throughout the Old Testament, God warned of punishments in this lifetime if anyone did not keep the Law, but not one warning that anyone would "go to Hell." Death [mooth] is used hundreds of times and except the few times it is used in a symbolic passage it always means an actual physical death. The concept of Heaven is in the Old Testament but only as the dwelling place of God [Psalms 11:4; 33:13-14] and of angels [Genesis 21:17; 22:11; 28:12]. Heaven in the Old Testament was not a place where any person would ever be and where they would live forever. The God of Israel was a God who would protect them, give them blessings in this lifetime if they were faithful to Him and punish them only in this lifetime if they were not. The savior they looked for was A PERSON LIKE DAVID (not the Son of God) who would restore Israel as a nation and make it be superior to other nations. Even after His death and resurrection His apostles still thought the Christ they and all Israel looked for would restore the nation of Israel to their land and rule national Israel in his lifetime, that He would be a human king only of Israel only in his lifetime as David was [Acts 1:6]. A resurrection to immortality and life in Heaven was a new teaching by Christ [2 Timothy 1:10] and was unknown in the Old Testament. The word resurrection is used forty-one times in the New Testament but not once in the Old Testament. One of the great difficulties with the eternal torment view is the profound silence of the Old Testament about it. How could God have warned Israel in detail about punishments in this life, droughts, plagues, and other punishments and not say one word about an eternal Hell which would be the worst of all punishments? The TOTAL SILENCE of the Old Testament for thousands of years about this endless torment is proof that it does not exist.
"For man to endure unending pain (characterized by fire) is a doctrine so awful to contemplate, that it is reasonable to conclude it would be revealed to man from the beginning, and so revealed that he could by no possibility misapprehend the consequences of sinning against his Maker; and we might expect to find the terrible sentence reiterated from time to time throughout the Scriptures, especially upon occasions of aggravated sin and wickedness" W. T. Berger, The Wages Of Sin And Everlasting Punishment, 1886.
"First. If their belief was the same as in our day, why did they never express themselves as people now do in books, sermons, and common conversation? None can deny the wide difference in the language used, or that the difference is proof that the new language had its origin in new views concerning the future. An unscriptural doctrine always give rise to unscriptural language; for the words of Scripture are the very best which could be chosen to express the will of God to man. If the doctrine were of God, the words of Scripture would be sufficient to express it. As we do not find this new phraseology in the Bible, we infer that the doctrine it was introduced to teach is not there. Second. How is it to be accounted for that the fears and feeling and exertions of good people, under the old dispensation, were so different from the fears and feelings and exertions of Christians in our day, about saving men from hell? I do not find that they express and fear of hell, and it is fair to conclude that they had none. I find no examples of their fears about their children, their relations, their neighbors, or the world at large, gong to eternal misery. As to their feelings, I do not find a sigh heaved, a tear shed, a groan uttered, a prayer offered, or any exertions made, as if they believed men were exposed to endless misery. We see parents, and others, deeply affected at the lost of their children and friends by death; we see pious people grieved on account of their disobedience to God's laws; but we find no expression of feeling arising from the belief that such persons would lift up their eyes in endless misery. Now, is it not strange that all this should be the state of the fears and feelings of good people, if they believed such misery was to be the portion of the wicked? The whole race of mankind was swept from the earth by a flood, Noah and his family excepted; but does this good man deplore, in any shape, that as many precious souls should be sent to hell? God also destroyed the cities of the plain. Abraham interceded that they might be spared, but used no argument with God that the people might not go to hell to suffer eternal misery. If Abraham believed this doctrine, it is possible he should have failed to urge it as an argument that all those wicked persons must go to hell, if God destroyed them? No notice is taken of the very argument, which, in our day, would be most urged in prayer to God, if anything similar was to take place. All who have read the Old Testament know what vast numbers were cut off in a day, by war and pestilence, and other means; yet do you ever hear it deplored by a single individual, as is often done in our day, that so many were sent out of the world to eternal misery? If, in short, this doctrine was then believed, a dead silence and the most stoical apathy were maintained even by good men about it.”
“Under the Old Testament dispensation the sinful condition of the heathen nations is often spoken of. But do we ever find the inspired writers representing those nations as all going to eternal misery, or did they use similar exertions to save them from it as are used in the present day? If the doctrine of eternal misery was know and believe in those day, is it not unaccountable that so many ages should pass away before God commanded the gospel to be preached to every creature, and before those who knew their danger should use exertions to save them from it? If the doctrine be false, we may cease to wonder at this; but if it be true, it is not easy to reconcile these things with the well known character of God, and the feelings of every good man. What an immense multitude of human beings, during four thousand years, must have lived and died ignorant that such a place of misery awaited them!" Walter Balfour, "An Inquiry Into The Scriptural Import Of The Words, Sheol, Hades, Tartarus And Gehenna" 1854.
The Law of Moses offered no atonement of reconciliation, if it had, the death of Jesus would not have been needed. Then Jesus, our High Priest, would not have presented his sacrifice to the Father, and would not have brought life and immortality to light through the gospel [2 Timothy 1:10].
From the first page to the last page of the Old Testament God warns no one of an eternal life of torment after death if they were not faithful to Him.
THE SILENCE OF THE NEW TESTAMENT
ON PUNISHMENT AFTER DEATH
Gehenna was used on four occasions by Christ and recorded in three of the four Gospels, and one time by James. In the rest of the New Testament Gehenna was not used, as Gentiles would not understand it; and the people not living near Jerusalem would not know what Gehenna was, that it was the name of the trash dump of Jerusalem. Just as most who read this would not know the name of the trash dump of London. John did not use Gehenna in his gospel for when he wrote the destruction of Jerusalem was passed and most believe his gospel was written to Gentiles, and Paul was an apostle to the Gentiles; neither John nor Paul used Gehenna. EVERY TIME CHRIST USED GEHENNA, ON ALL FOUR OCCASIONS IT WAS SPOKEN TO THE JEWS. Gentiles are not once threatened with destruction in Gehenna.
Today, those who believe in Hell are always warning unbelievers about going to Hell if they do not believe. Acts covers about thirty years of preaching, but not one time is anything said about Hell. Paul said he did not keep back anything that was profitable [Acts 20:20] and that he declared the whole counsel of God [Acts 20:27], yet he did not say anything about Hell in any of his letters. In about thirty years of preaching to many in many countries, he never told anyone that they would be forever tormented in Hell if they did not believe. Why? He certainly would not have omitted such a doctrine as Hell. Today it is preached as a most profitable teaching, and the fear of Hell is used to keep many going to church. Paul did not declare anything about Hell for the same reason he did not declare anything about purgatory; there are no such places.
If the lost shall be forever tormented in Hell, it is only reasonably to believe there would be many warning anyone about it, but there are none. The Hell, which is preached today, was not a part of the teaching of the apostles and early church. The same strange silence that is found through out the Old Testament is also through out the New Testament. Did God just forget to warn of the awful place some are always preaching about?
Those who believe in Hell, try to prove it by their interpretation of metaphors and symbols for they have not one plain statement in the whole Bible. The name they give it (Hell) is not in the Bible. The place they preach about is not in the Bible under any name. Its origin is Pagan to the core.
With no revelation from God about Hell, how could we: (1) Know about it. (2) Know what it is. (3) Know its name. (4) Know there will be torment in it. (5) Know it will last forever. (6) Know who or if anyone will be in it. (7) Who told us these things? God has given us not one word of revelation on it.

GOD WAS NOT SILENT ON THE FATE OF THE LOST
The apostles did tell what would be the fate of the unbelieving, but the words they used are very different than what is preached today. Most churches would throw a preacher out if he preached the lost would be destroyed, perish, die, death, or end. Death is very different than everlasting life in Hell [see chapter two, "Life and Death"]. The words used to describe the fate of the lost are miles apart from much of today's preaching.
SOME OF THE NONE SYMBOLIC GREEK WORDS USED TO DESCRIBE THE FATE OF THE LOST ARE:
[1] DEATH "For the wages of sin is DEATH" [Romans 6:23]. See chapter two "Life or Death." DEATH IS DEATH, NOT EVERLASTING LIFE WITH TORMENT; LIFE AND DEATH ARE OPPOSITES, NOT TWO KINDS OF LIFE.
Unconditional immortality makes both life and death into life in a different place. Death has been changed to be life.
1. To them, death is eternal life in Hell
2. To them, the only difference in life and death is the place where all will have eternal life. Neither one means to be dead. Both the saved and the lost will be alive and have eternal life; they just will not live at the same place.
• To them life is life in Heaven.
• To them death is life in Hell.
Death deprives us of all life. It does not give more life than we now have. It is not just a continuation of life in a different form. The resurrection restores the life death took away. It is a return to life from death, not a return of the undead to still being undead just as they were before the resurrection. The resurrection is our only hope of life after death. A change from one state of being to another state of being, moving from one place to another place, is not a resurrection.
• Moving from earth to Abraham's bosom and then moving from Abraham's bosom to Heaven is not a death or a resurrection.
• Moving from earth to Heaven or Hell is not a death or a resurrection.
o To them, no one dies; they just change their address.
DEATH IS THE BIG PROBLEM FOR UNCONDITIONAL IMMORALISTS. Innate immortality says whether it is a sinner or saint, an immortal soul cannot die and cannot be subject to death. They MUST prove that death is not death but is only a change from one kind of life to another kind of life. THEY MUST PROVE THAT DEATH IS ETERNAL LIFE, THAT DEATH IS NOT DEATH, but if they did, then they would have proven that Christ could not have died and that He has not been raised from the dead. Unconditional immoralists have taken all resurrections, both of Christ and ours, out of the Gospel. Without the resurrection death is the end of life and means our utter destruction.
The immortal soul doctrine says death is not the enemy Paul thought it to be [1 Corinthians 15:26], but the friend Plato and Greek philosophy thought it to be. IN GREEK PHILOSOPHY THE PREACHING OF THE RESURRECTION WAS FOOLISHNESS FOR DEATH WAS A GATEWAY TO A BETTER LIFE. IN TODAY TEACHING DEATH HAS REPLACED THE RESURRECTION BY BEING THE GATEWAY TO A BETTER LIFE IN HEAVEN.
"The words of the Bible contain all the ideas in it. These words, then, rightly understood, and the ideas are clearly perceived. The words and sentences of the Bible are to be translated, interpreted, and understood according to the same code of laws and principles of interpretation by which other ancient writings are translated and understood; for, when God spoke to man in his own language, He spoke as one person converses with another-IN THE FAIR, STIPULATED, AND WELL-ESTABLISHED MEANING OF THE TERMS. This is essential to its character, as a revelation from God; otherwise, it would be no revelation, but would always require a class of inspired men to unfold and reveal its true sense to mankind." A. Campbell, "The Christian System," Page 3, Gospel Advocate, 1970.
In today's teaching of an immortal part of a person that is not subject to death, and death cannot be used "IN THE FAIR, STIPULATED, AND WELL-ESTABLISHED MEANING OF THE TERMS." Death must be changed to be life.
1. "The END of these things is death" Romans 6:21
2. "Whose END is destruction" Philippians 3:19
3. "Whose END is to be burned" Hebrews 6:18
4. "Sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth DEATH" James 1:15
5. "Sin unto DEATH" Romans 6:16
6. "Wages of sin is DEATH" Romans 6:23
7. “For if you live according to the flesh, you must DIE” [Romans 8:13]
THE WORLD'S GREATEST SCHOLARSHIP IS COLLECTIVELY SEEN IN THE TRANSLATIONS AS TO THE MEANING OF [1] DEATH [2] APOLLUMI [3] APOLIA [4] OLETHROS [5] PHTHIRO [6] PHTHORA [7] KATAPHILEO [8] "PASSES AWAY...ABIDES FOREVER" [9] EXOLOTHREUO [10] KATARGEO, AND [11] DESTROY BY THE WAY THEY TRANSLATED THEM. THE TRANSLATORS CHOSE WORDS THAT TO THE AVERAGE MIND CONVEY THE END OF LIFE, NOT LIFE IN ANOTHER LOCATION. The Bible is not a physics textbook and does not give a scientific definition of annihilation, but God could not have been any clearer on what will happen to the lost, and the translators of most versions give us a true translation of the above words. God could have used words that means separation from God in torment, eternal life in torment, deathless, but instead He used death, die, destruction, destroy and perish.
Robert Dozier gives us a true picture of the way many try to prove these scholars wrong. He says, "The scripture in Mt. 10:28 is translated 'destroy.' But I don't want to believe that, as it contradicts my preconceived ideas. So I go to the lexicon and find out if the translators and translation is correct. I know little of the language compared to the translators, but I do find out that the Greek word translated 'destroy' is defined by the lexicons. The first definition is, 'to destroy' but that won't work for me. If I accept that, the translators are correct. Also included in the definition is 'to put out of the way entirely.' That is just not precise enough. Next is 'abolish' but that is not much better than destroy. Then, 'put an end to.' Nope, that may be the worst yet! Then 'ruin.' Finally! Something I can work with! I am not saying that James or others are consciously or deliberately trying to avoid the meaning of words or discredit the scholarship of the translations, but if we start out with a false premise and then try to defend it, we can find ourselves making some unreasonable arguments and claims along the way. That all the translators made huge blunders over and over regarding the end of the lost is such a claim. The men who wrote the lexicons rendered it 'destroy' in our Bible, and defined it the same way, but if that won't fit our idea, we must point out their error and be thankful that they left us one word in a lexicon to grasp at. While the word 'annihilation' is not in our scripture, the words translated are much closer to it than they are to 'never ending conscious torment.' that's for sure...Even the rendering of 'ruined' doesn't help that much. It may neutralize that text from being one that favors annihilation, but it sure doesn't teach 'never ending conscious torment.'" Robert Dozier-James Johnson Debate on eternal punishment at: http://www.religiousdebates.com/
BUT, WHAT DO LEXICONS MEAN BY "RUINED"?
A book that is burned up is "ruined." As a book it does not exist anymore. It has been destroyed; the ashes are not the book.
A school teacher has a good reputation, then everyone finds that she is working at a house of prostitution at night. Her good reputation is "ruined." It is destroyed, it does not exist anymore.
“As one examines the many biblical examples of God’s dealings with the wicked, it will be quickly perceived that not one single time in all of recorded biblical teaching is the punishment for sin against God ever declared to be torture. The ultimate punishment, instead, is always declared to be death. Thus, if indeed God’s final punishment for the wicked is endless torture, as some maintain, it is a fate completely without biblical precedents. Nowhere in Scripture does God ever use torture as divine punishment for man. Not even once!” Al Maxey, Reflections, Issue 46, June 6, 2003.
“It will be noted that in each case the thing that threatened was DEATH, not incessant torture. The types and shadows in no instance teach the idea of an immortal soul or eternal spirit being tortured as the punishment for sin. In ALL cases they show the penalty for sin to be death of the person…If God intended for us to understand something other then total death for the wicked, certainly He could have found the means in the marvelous Greek language to express such. Instead He used the plainest terms indicating destruction of the whole man” Curtis Dickinson, “What The Bible Teaches About Immortality And Future Punishment,” Pages 20-21, 1984.
[2] APOLLUMI Used 92 times in the New Testament. "Englishman's Greek Concordance," Page 74. In King James Version, it is translated [1] Destroy 19 times, [2] Destroyed 7 times, [3] Perish 25 times, [4] Perished 8 times, [5] Lost 13 times, [6] Lose 18 times, [7] Die 1 time, [8] Be marred 1 time (perished in American Standard Version).
All from the same Greek word: "Bottles perish" (apollumi) [Matthew 9:17]. "Lose (apollumi) his reward" [1 Peter 1:7]. The Heavens and Earth "shall perish"; (apollumi see 2 Peter 3:10). Even those who believe in eternal torment do not believe these things will be tormented forever, but will come to an end: yet, when the same word is used for people [Romans 2:12, 1 Corinthians 1:18, 2 Corinthians 2:15, 4:3], some teach they will not and cannot come to an end; but must live forever in torment. It would be hard to say any plainer that "apollumi" means to perish, to come to an end, to be destroyed than the King James Version says it. "Slain" and "perished" [apollumi] are used interchangeability in Acts 6:36:37.
"TO DESTROY UTTERLY, TO MURDER, TO KILL, TO LAY WASTE; FROM OLLUMI, TO DESTROY, TO CONSUME, TO MAKE AN END OF, TO PERISH, TO COME TO AN END, TO DIE" Liddell and Scott.
1) To destroy (apollumi) is to kill. Matthew 2:13; 12:14; 21:41; 22:7; 27:20; Mark 3:6; 9:22; 11:18; 12:9; Luke 11:51; 17:27; 17:29; 19:47; 20:16; Jude 5; 2 Peter 3:6
2) To perish (apollumi) is to die, Matthew 8:25; Mark 4:38; Luke 8:24; 13:33; 15:17; John 18:14; Acts 5:37; 1 Corinthians 10:9; 15:18; Hebrews 11:31. Perish must be changed to live. When it is the body that perishes, as in Mark 4:38 "Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing [apollumi]," even those who say to perish does not mean to die if it is the soul must admit that when the same word is applied to the body of a person or to a tree, it means the person and the tree unquestionably dies. They want the body that perishes to be dead, but the soul that perishes to be alive. I marvel that they cannot see their inconsistency, but then I remember that when I believed as they do I could not see it either. "Theudas was slain" Acts 5:34-36. A Pharisee, named Gamaliel said Theudas died [was slain]. "Judas...also perished.” Both apollumi [perished] and slain are same thing, both means to die, to be dead; neither Theudas who was slain, nor Judas who perished, was alive and being tormented. MOST ADMIT IT IS ACTUAL DEATH WHEN IT REFERS TO THE EARTHLY BODY BEING DESTROYED OR PERISHING BUT SAY IT MEANS TO PRESERVE ALIVE FOREVER WHEN IT REFERS TO THE "SOUL" BEING DESTROYED OR PERISHING. It must first be assumed mankind has a "soul" that can never die, then the meaning of any word must be change if it would be in conflict with what have been assumed. However, they see that it cannot be changed to preserve alive in the many times the same words are used when it refers to the earthly body being dead. The same questions must be asked again, how do they know it must be changed and how do they know what it must be changed to? What new revelation do they have? How would those who Paul was writing to know when Paul used it one way and when he used it the other way?
3) "In like manner perish (apollumi)" "Now there were some present at that very season who told him of the Galilaeans, whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. And he answered and said unto them, Think you that these Galilaeans were sinners above all the Galilaeans, because they have suffered these things? I tell you, No: but, except you repent, you shall all in like manner perish (apollumi). Or those eighteen, upon whom the tower in Siloam fell, and killed them, think you that they were offenders above all the men that dwell in Jerusalem? I tell you, No: but, except you repent, you shall all likewise perish *(apollumi)" [Luke 13:1-5]. Both groups literally died, and all who do not repent will literally likewise perish [apollumi], not literally live forever in torment. "Killed" and "perish" are the same thing in this passage. They were being told that all who do not repent will likewise be killed, will literally lose their life (after the judgment, not their earthly life).
2 PETER 3:6 APOLLUMI-PERISHED. The world before the flood "perished" [2 Peter 3:6]. When the Lord comes, the heavens "shall pass away...shall be dissolved...burned up" [2 Peter 3:10]. "To be dissolved...shall be dissolved" [2 Peter 3:12]. "Shall melt" [2 Peter 3:12]. Just as those who "perished" [2 Peter 3:6] when the flood came, the lost "perished" with the world that then was, the lost "Shall...surely be destroyed" [2 Peter 2:12]. Peter could not have said any clearer that the heavens and the lost will both come to the same end at the same time at the Judgment Day. Theology says, "Not so Peter, God can destroy the heavens and the earth; but He cannot destroy the immaterial, invisible, inter part of a person; for our theology says it is immortal, therefore, He must torment this immaterial part of a person." "Burned up" in 2 Peter 3:10 is from the Greek word "katakaio." The same thing that happened to the chaff and tares will happen to the earth and those who perish. "He will burn up (katakaio) the chaff" [Matthew 3:12; Luke 3:17]. Not, "He will eternally torment the chaff." "The tares are gathered and burned (katakaio)" [Matthew 13:40].
"Pass away" in 2 Peter 3:10 is from the Greek word "parerchomai." There is no sense of being made new in parerchomai.
• Both the flower of the grass and the rich shall "pass away" [parerchomai] [James 1:10].
• The fast was now already "passed" [parerchomai] [Acts 27:9].
• “Heaven and earth shall pass away [parerchomai] but my words shall not pass away [parerchomai]” [Luke 21:33].
o “Earth shall pass away --- my word shall not pass away.” How can anyone read this an say the earth will last as long an His word?
• "But the day of the Lord...in which the heavens shall pass away" [parerchomai]. [2 Peter 3:10].
"In the beginning, Lord, you founded the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands; they will PERISH [Apollumi], but you will remain" [Hebrews 1:11].
THE QUESTION IS, WHAT WOULD THE GREEK PEOPLE IN THE TIME OF THE NEW TESTAMENT UNDERSTAND BY THE ONE WORD ALL NINETY-TWO TIMES THAT APOLLUME IS USED AND IS THERE A WORD IN ENGLISH THAT WOULD BE UNDERSTOOD IN THE SAME WAY? Would it not be unreasonable to continually say that any will perish or be destroyed if they are forever preserver alive in suffering and preserved from ever perishing or from being destroyed?
[3] APOLIA a noun derived from aplooumi and is used 20 times. Wigram, Page 79. In the King James Version it is translated [1] Destruction 5 times, [2] Waste 2 times, [3] Perdition 8 times, [4] Perish 1 time, [5] Damnation 1 time, [6] Damnable 1 time, [7] Pernicious ways 1 time, [8] To die 1 times.
• "Waste (apolia) of the ointment" [Mark 14:4]
• "Vessels of wrath fitted to destruction (apolia)" [Romans 9:22]
• "Money perish (apolia)" [Acts 8:22 King James Version] "Your silver perish (apolia) with you" [American Standard Version]. If perish (apolia) means that Simon is going to have an eternal life of torment, then his silver that will perish (apolia) with him is going to have an eternal life of torment.
These things will come to an end, not be tormented for eternity. If you destroy something, it does not then exist in another higher state of being; but this is just what those who believe in unconditional immortality believe will happen.
PHILIPPIANS 3:19 APOLIA DESTRUCTION
• "Whose END is DESTRUCTION (apolia)" King James Version, New King James Version, and New American Standard Version.
• "Whose END is PERDITION (apolia)" American Standard Version. [A Latin word in an English translation! WHY?]
• "Their END is DESTRUCTION (apolia)" Revised Standard Version and New Revised Standard Version.
• "Their DESTINY is DESTRUCTION (apolia)" New International Version.
• "Their DOOM is DESTRUCTION (apolia)" William's. New Testament
• "They are HEADING FOR DESTRUCTION (apolia)" Revised English Bible
• "Men...for UTTER DESTRUCTION (apolia)" Phillips New Testament
• "Their COMPLETION is DESTRUCTION (apolia)" The Christian Bible.
• "In the END they will be DESTROYED (apolia)" Beck
• "Whose END is DESTRUCTION (apolia)" Campbell, MacKnight and Doddridge. Gospel Advocate Co.
• "Their END is DESTRUCTION (apolia)" McCord's New Testament Translation, Freed Hardeman Press.
Put the translators of the major translations together, and you have hundreds of the most learned men on the New Testament Greek. Most if not all the translators of these translations did not believe a soul could be destroyed and most if not all of them believed in Hell, but they did not translate Apolia into "torment." If all of them translate a word in a way that disproves something those who did the translating believed in, there could be no stronger proof of the way that word should be translated. This is just what happened with the word "destruction." SOME OF THE WORLD'S BEST SCHOLARSHIP SAYS APOLIA IS THEIR UTTER DESTRUCTION, THEIR END, THEIR DOOM, THEIR DESTINY, AND COMPLETION EVEN WHEN THEY DID BELIEVE A PERSON HAS A SOUL THAT CANNOT BE DESTROYED AND WILL NOT COME TO AN END. THERE IS NO WAY GOD COULD HAVE SAID IT ANY CLEARER OR STRONGER. Some are openly saying God is wrong when they teach the lost will have no end, or completion, or doom; but will have an endless life in extreme pain and anguish. Men are driven to absurd reasoning when they try to avoid plain Bible teaching.
PHILIPPIANS 1:28 APOLIA-DESTRUCTION
• "Which is a sign of DESTRUCTION (apolia) for them, but of SALVATION for you" New American Standard Version.
• "A sure sign to them that DESTRUCTION (apolia) is in store for them and SALVATION for you" Revised English Bible.
• "Evidence of their DESTRUCTION (apolia), but of your SALVATION" New Revised Standard Version.
• "A clear omen to them of their DESTRUCTION (apolia), but of your SALVATION" Revised Standard Version.
• "A sign to them that they will be DESTROYED (apolia), but that you will be SAVED" New International Version.
This clearly says the wicked will be destroyed and the righteous saved, and the only way anyone can get around it is to use the word with a theological meaning that it does not have in English or Greek. Both the destruction and the salvation are at the Judgment Day. Paul is not telling the Philippians that their enemies are going to be destroyed or go away in this life, or that their salvation will be in this life.
• If the lost are now in Hell, what more "destruction is in store for them" at the resurrection and judgment? [Revised English Bible].
• If the saved are now in Heaven, what more salvation will there be for them at the resurrection and judgment?
HEBREWS 10:39 APOLIA - DESTRUCTION
• "But we are not of those who shrink back and are DESTROYED (apolia), but of those who believe and are SAVED" New International Version.
• "But we are not among those who shrink back and so are LOST (apolia), but among those who have faith and so are SAVED" New Revised Standard Version.
• "But we are not those who turn back and are LOST (apolia). We are people who have faith and are SAVED" New Century Version.
• We are not among those who draw back and PERISH (apolia), but among those who have faith and LIVE" New American Bible [Catholic].
• "But we are not among those who shrink back and are LOST (apolia); we have the faith to preserve our LIFE" Revised English Bible.
2 PETER 2:1 APOLIA - SWIFT DESTRUCTION
• "And bring on themselves SWIFT DESTRUCTION (apolia)" New King James Version.
• "Bringing SWIFT DESTRUCTION (apolia) upon themselves" New American Standard Version.
2 PETER 3:7 APOLIA - DESTRUCTION The destruction BY FIRE of "the ungodly" AND "the heavens that now are, and the earth" will BOTH be at:
• "DAY of JUDGMENT and DESTRUCTION (apolia) of ungodly man" American Standard Version, New American Standard Version, Revised Standard Version, New International Version, and Living Oracles by Campbell.
• "DAY of JUDGMENT and DESTRUCTION (apolia) of the Godless" New Revised Standard Version.
• "DAY of JUDGMENT and PERDITION (apolia) of ungodly men," King James Version, and New King James Version. Perdition is a Latin word, which means, "utter destruction."
• "DAY of JUDGMENT when the godless WILL BE DESTROYED (apolia)" Revised English Bible.
• "DAY of JUDGMENT and DESTRUCTION (apolia) of ungodly people" Amplified Bible.
• "DAY of JUDGMENT and DESTRUCTION (apolia) of godless men" McCord's New Testament Translation, Hardeman College.
• "The DAY of JUDGMENT, the DAY when godless men WILL BE DESTROYED (apolia)" New American Bible.
• "Are being kept for the JUDGMENT DAY AND THE DESTRUCTION (apolia) of all who are against God" New Century Bible.
IN 2 PETER CHAPTER 3 THE DESTRUCTION OF THE EARTH AND THE DESTRUCTION OF UNGODLY MEN IS THE SAME. WHAT HAPPENS TO ONE WILL HAPPEN TO THE OTHER. BOTH ARE TO BE DESTROYED BY FIRE AT THE SAME TIME, ON THE DAY OF JUDGMENT. If the same word in the same sentence was used with two different meanings there would be no way anyone could know the writer was saying God will destroy (apolia) the earth but will torment (apolia) men. God could not have said any clearer that He will destroy both? Do you believe God or man?
"PASSES AWAY...ABIDES FOREVER" 1 John 2:17. This is a contrast showing that the world with those who are of the world shall pass away, but
• "He that does the will of God abides forever."
• Those who are of the world shall pass away with the world, and do not "abides forever."
The world "shall pass away...be dissolved...be burned up...dissolved...shall melt with fervent heat" [2 Peter 3:10-11]. The unsaved are "not of the Father, but is of the world, and the world passes away" [1 John 2:17]. There is no way to say any stronger or clearer that the lost shall pass away [come to an end] just as the world will come to an end. "BUT THE HEAVENS THAT NOW ARE, AND THE EARTH, BY THE SAME WORD HAVE BEEN STORED UP FOR FIRE, BEING RESERVED AGAINST THE DAY OF JUDGMENT AND DESTRUCTION OF UNGODLY MAN" [2 Peter 3:7]. Both are destroyed "in the day of," not one [the earth] destroyed "in the day of," and one [the lost] being destroyed for all eternity but never destroyed; not that they will be just as undestroyed after a million years as they were at it's beginning and will be undestroyed for all eternity. Not the destruction of one and the everlasting torment of the other one, but it is the same destruction of both at the same time. THE DESTRUCTION OF THE EARTH AND THE UNGODLY IS ON THE JUDGMENT DAY, THE THEOLOGY OF TODAY SAYS, "NOT SO, SINNERS WILL HAVE NO DESTRUCTION, BUT WILL LIVE FOREVER IN TORMENT FOR THEY CAN NEVER BE DESTROYED."
JOHN 3:16 APOLIA - PERISH "Should not PERISH, (apolia) but have ETERNAL LIFE." This verse certainly teaches that God sent His Son that a person may have eternal life, not just a reward to those who are born with eternal life. It does not teach that a person is born with a soul that cannot die, and this part of a person had eternal life before Christ came and without the death of Christ. John 3:16 teaches those who believe on Christ will have life, and those who do not will have death, not life without end in Hell.
ACTS 8:20 APOLIA - PERISH "May your silver PERISH (apolia) with you" [Acts 8:20]. The SAME THING that happens to the silver happens to the person ["PERISH WITH YOU"], both the gold and the person will perish together. Is the silver being tormented WITH HIM or did both perish?
The King James and New King James translators try to cover this up by using "perdition." Apolia is translated "perdition" Eight times in the King James Version, and comes from the Latin Bible used by the Catholic Church, not from the Greek. Does this show the unwillingness of the translator's to translate it honestly? Were they trying to hide its true meaning; if not, WHY DID THEY TRANSLATE THIS GREEK WORD INTO A LATIN WORD IN AN ENGLISH TRANSLATION? Was it because they did not want it understood by there English readers that could not read Latin? Perdition in Latin is not a synonym for endless torture; perdition means "utter destruction," but not many English readers would know this. It hides the true meaning from all who do not understand Latin but nonetheless lets the translators say they did not mistranslate it. Apolia is translated "perdition" in both the King James Version and the American Standard Version in John 17:12; Philippians 1:28; 2 Thessalonians 2:3; 1 Timothy 6:9; Hebrews 10:39; Revelation 17:8; 17:11. In 2 Peter 3:7 the King James Version says, "perdition" and the American Standard Version says, “destruction." The New Revised Standard Version, New International Version, and most other translations have been more truthful to the English readers and taken "perdition" out and replaced it with "destruction."
[4] OLETHROS is used 4 times. Translated DESTRUCTION all 4 times. Wigram, Page 528.
2 Thessalonians 1:9 "Who shall be punished with EVERLASTING DESTRUCTION [olethros] from the presence of the Lord." WE ARE TOLD CLEARLY AND EXACTLY:
• (A) WHAT THE PUNISHMENT IS: EVERLASTING DESTRUCTION. Not punished with everlasting torment, but PUNISHED WITH EVERLASTING DESTRUCTION. "Punishment, even eternal destruction." American Standard Version, 2 Thessalonians 1:9. "And these will pay the penalty of eternal destruction" New American Standard Version
• (B) Also when it shall be: [2 Thessalonians 1:10] "when He shall come" [not forever or in "Hell"]. "At the revelation of the Lord Jesus from heaven with the angels of his power" [2 Thessalonians 1:7]
Two views of 2 Thessalonians l:9
One view) THE EVERLASTING DESTRUCTION COMES FROM THE PRESENCE OF THE LORD. The "everlasting destruction" comes "from [apo] the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power" New King James Version. This destruction is the penalty for sin [death] to those who are not in Christ and are not saved by His death. Henry Thayer said, "Destruction proceeding from the [incensed, wrathful] countenance of the Lord, 2 Th 1.9" A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament, Page 59. In Jeremiah 4:26, the origin of the destruction is from God. In Isaiah 2:10: 2:19; and 2:21 the Septuagint, a Greek version of the Old Testament made in third century BC, has the same Greek words ["from the presence of the Lord"] used by Peter in Acts 3:19 where it is used as proceeding from the Lord.
• "And fire came out FROM THE PRESENCE OF THE LORD and consumed them, than they died before the Lord" [Leviticus 10:2]
• "Fire also came forth FROM THE LORD and consumed the two hundred and fifty men" [Numbers 16:35]
• "We would see a sign FROM [apo] you" Matthew 12:38
• "So there may come seasons of refreshing FROM [apo] THE PRESENCE OF THE LORD" [Acts 3:19]
• "Everlasting destruction FROM [apo] THE PRESENCE OF THE LORD and from the glory of His power" [2 Thessalonians 1:9 New King James Version]
A second view) THE DESTRUCTION IS TO BE SENT AWAY FROM THE PRESENCE OF THE LORD. Unconditional immoralists add "away" from the presence of the Lord. They want this destruction to be only being sent away from the presence of God, as if there were such a place, to be banished to some place where God is not there. To be away from the presence of God is to be nowhere at all. Not to be; to have no existence at all anywhere. To be alive anywhere is to be where God is [Psalms 139:7-9]; and with God sustaining the life they have, for there can be no life that is not sustained by God. There cannot be a place where there is life away from the presence of God. Today's theology denies the omnipresence of God by saying there is a place where God is not present, then says mankind can forever live there without God being there to sustain their life. The destruction comes from God. It is "destruction from the presence of the Lord," not to be given eternal life but then "being sent away from the presence of the Lord."
Both Acts 3:19 and 2 Thessalonians 1:9 have the identical words, “FROM (apo) the presence of the Lord.” A sign, many things, destruction, and seasons of refreshing are all things that came FROM God, not things that were SENT AWAY FROM God and will exist forever away from His presence. Apo is used many times in the New Testament and never means away.
• “We would see a sign FROM (apo) you” [Matthew 12:38]. A sign that came FROM (apo) Christ, not a sign that was “forever away FROM the presence of Christ.”
• “FROM (apo) the presence of the Lord” [Acts 3:19]
• “FROM (apo) the presence of the Lord” [2 Thessalonians 1:9]
• “And suffer many things FROM (apo) the elders” [Matthew 16:21 New American Standard]. Christ suffered many things FROM (apo) the elders, not many things that were “forever away FROM the elders.”
• “So all the generations FROM (apo) Abraham unto David are fourteen generations [Matthew 1:17]
• “He is risen FROM (apo) the dead” [Matthew 14:2]
TWO PASSAGES THAT ARE USED BY SOME TO PROVE TORMENT IN HELL, 2 Thessalonians 1:8-9 and Revelation 14:10-11. Where is Hell? Those who believe in Hell use 2 Thessalonians 1:9 to prove Hell is away from the presence of God and that death, the wages of sin is separation from God, but not a real death. Yet, they make Revelation 14:10-11 be literal to prove Hell, but when they make this torment be literal torment, they literally make it be in Heaven, not Hell.
1. "IN THE PRESENCE OF THE LORD."
2. Or AWAY (which is added) "FROM THE PRESENCE OF THE LORD"
Those who believe in Hell use both to prove Hell; both "from" and "in" the presence of the Lord are where the torment of Hell will be, they clearly contradict themselves. Is Hell in Christ's presence or away from His presence? They say death is separation from God. They have it both ways with the dead both separated from God and at the same time in the presence of God.
Robert Peterson commenting of 2 Thessalonians 1:9 in "Hell on Trial" says:
• Peterson: A person EXISTS but remains excluded from God's good presence.
• Paul "Who shall be punished with everlasting DESTRUCTION from the presence of the Lord."
Peterson changed "destruction" to "exists." From what dictionary does Peterson find "destruction" to mean "exists"? The English or the Greek word does not mean to exist. Nothing can exist and be destroyed at the same time. There is no passage in the Bible that says a part of a person will exist apart from God before or after the judgment. He changed "everlasting destruction" to "everlasting existing."
• Anything that exists has not been destroyed.
• Anything that has been destroyed does not exist.
DESTRUCTION HAS BEEN CHANGED TO EXIST, to exist in some faraway place where God does not exist. Who made this place? Did God make it and then abandoned it to exist on it own just as those sent there must exist on their own and sustain their own life without the help of God who is not there? WHERE IS THE REVELATION FROM WHICH ANYONE COULD KNOW DESTRUCTION MEANS TO EXIST AWAY FROM GOD AND WITHOUT GOD? They know that if destruction is destruction, then those who are destroyed do not exist any longer, therefore, they must change the word God used to exist. They must say to God, "Not so God, even despite the fact that You said they will be destroyed, no one can be destroyed." This is an example of how far Peterson and all who believe this heathen teaching are willing to go to save their theology. BEING PERMANENTLY APART FROM GOD MAKES LIFE IMPOSSIBLE. IT MAKES TO EXIST IN ANY WAY IMPOSSIBLE. How can anyone who says he or she “speaks where the Bible speaks and is silent where the Bible is silent” change “everlasting destruction” into “everlasting torment” and still say they do not change God’s word when even a child can see they have changed it?
For this passage to prove God will forever be tormenting most of mankind, "eternal destruction" must be changed to "eternally destroying." God is made to be like a man that sets out to destroy a house by tearing it down, but works on it all his lifetime, and not one part of the house is destroyed. They have God spending eternity destroying a soul but never will destroy any part of that soul. "Destroy" and "torment" are different things and cannot be made to be the same thing.
1 Thessalonians 5:2-4 "For yourselves know perfectly that THE DAY OF THE LORD so comes as a thief in the night. When they (those of the world) are saying, Peace and safety, then sudden destruction (olethros) comes upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall in no wise escape. But you, brethren, are not in darkness, THAT DAY should overtake you as a thief." The sudden destruction, which "they shall in no wise escape" is on "THE DAY OF THE LORD," "THAT DAY" not eternal torment after "THE DAY OF THE LORD." Also 1 Timothy 6:9; 2 Corinthians 5:1-5.
Roger E. Dickson said, "2 Thessalonians 1:9 should thus be translated that 'these shall be punished with destruction that has unending result.' The word 'destruction' means something is terminated, that the action of destruction would not continuously go on forever and ever...The result of the destruction would continue forever. In other words, those destroyed would not come back into existence. Taken literally, they are destroyed" "Life, Death and Beyond" Biblical Research Library, Volume 11, 1998, Page 160, church of Christ.
[5] PHTHIRO is used 8 times: Wigram, Page 786. It is translated [1] Destroy 2 times, [2] Corrupt 4 times, [3] Corruption 2 times. "If any man DESTROYS (phthiro) the temple of God, God will DESTROY (phthiro) him" 1 Corinthians 3:17 New American Standard Version. Against all rules of interpretation, the same word is used in the same sentence with two completely different meanings. By today's theology it is changed to be, "If any man DESTROYS (phthiro) the temple of God, God will TORMENT (basanisnios) him." Why such inconsistency? Do those who have their own theory change the Bible to keep their theology?
[6] PHTHORA is used 9 times: Wigram, Page 786. It is translated [1] Corruption 7 times, [2] Perish 1 time, [3] Destroyed 1 time.
• "All which things are to PERISH (phthiro) with the using" [Colossians 2:22 American Standard Version]. Things are not going to be tormented, but will come to an end. Yet, when the same word is used in reference to a person, some say, "Not so, a person cannot perish; and not even God can destroy him, for a person is eternal and therefore cannot be destroyed."
• "Beast, made to be taken and DESTROYED (phthiro)" [2 Peter 2:12] King James Version].
• "Shall UTTERLY PERISH (kataphileo) in their own CORRUPTION (phthiro)" [2 Peter 2:12] King James Version. "DESTROYED" New American Standard Version.
• "But these, like unreasoning animals, born as creatures of instinct to be captured and KILLED, (phthiro) reviling where they have no knowledge, will in the DESTRUCTION (kataphileo) of these creatures also be DESTROYED (phthiro)" New American Standard Version. This is changed to say animals will be killed (phthiro), but men will be tormented (phthiro). When this passage is changed, the same word must be given two different interpretations in the same sentence to keep animals from having souls.
[7] KATAPHILEO is used 2 times: Wigram, Page 416, Translated [1] Utterly perish 1 time, 2 Peter 2:12, [2] Corrupt 1 time, 2 Timothy 3:8.
• "But these [men] as natural brute beast made to be taken and destroyed...SHALL UTTERLY PERISH (kataphileo) Wigram, Page 416] in their own CORRUPTION (phthiro)" King James Version. Both evil men and beast shall utterly perish.
• "But these (men), as creatures without reason, born mere animals to be taken and DESTROYED (kataphileo)...shall in their [men] destroying surely be DESTROYED (phthiro)." [At end of world]. American Standard Version.
• "But these (men), like unreasoning animals, born as creatures...to be captured and killed...will in the DESTRUCTION (kataphileo) of these creatures also be DESTROYED [phthiro]" New American Standard Version.
• "These people, however, are like irrational animals...born to be caught and KILLED (phthiro) and when these creatures are DESTROYED (kataphileo), they [men] also will be DESTROYED (phthiro) " New Revised Standard Version.
• "They, creatures of instinct, born only to be caught and are like brute beast, creatures of instinct, born only to be caught and DESTROYED (kataphileo) and like beasts they [men] too will PERISH (phthiro)." New International Version.
• "These [men] (like unreasoning wild animals born to be captured and DESTROYED (phthiro), ranting in their ignorance) will also be DESTROYED in their destroying." Hugo McCord, New Testament Translation, Printed by Freed-Hardeman College.
• “Animals...destruction...[men] shall be UTTERLY DESTROYED (kataphileo)” Living Oracles, A Campbell, Gospel Advocate Co.
"Truth Commentaries" on 2 Peter 2:12 changes what Peter said about the same thing shall happen to these men that happened to the beast, and tried to side step by saying they only act as if they are of the same nature. NOTHING IS SAID ABOUT A PERSON AND BEAST HAVING THE SAME NATURE, HE ADDED THAT, BUT PETER SAID THAT THEY BOTH WILL HAVE THE SAME END, BOTH WILL "BE DESTROYED" American Standard Version. The writer could not get around this so he changed what Peter said from both beast and corrupt men having the same end, to both having the same nature; and then he said they do not even have the same nature, but only act as if they do? The same end is not the same thing as "same nature." From where did he get same nature? Is he not a county mile from what Peter did say? Does he think only the "nature" of a person or beast is to be destroyed (phthora), but only one will be alive after their nature is destroyed [Psalms 49:20]?
[8] EXOLOTHREUO is used only one time. "And it shall be, that every soul [psukee] that shall not hearken to that prophet, shall be UTTERLY DESTROYED from among the people" [Acts 3:23]. It is the "psukee" [soul, living being, person] that shall be "utterly destroyed." If this were speaking of immaterial no substance part of a person the very thing many say is immortal from birth and cannot be destroyed is "utterly destroyed." In Acts 3:22-23 Peter is speaking of anyone who will not hear Christ shall be "utterly destroyed," not forever preserved alive. Not only shall they that do not hearken to Christ be destroyed, but they are to be “utterly destroyed.”
"Exolothreuo is found in this one passage. This is the strongest word in Greek for the action of God towards man in his evil. There is not a shade of modification from the idea or absolute eradication. The word means clearly 'the wiping out of existence.' Even the translators used an adjective, 'utterly' to convey the idea of eradication. It clearly refers to all those who reject Christ as being eradicated." G. A. Adams, "The Judgment," Page 25.
When the strongest words in the Greek language that signify destroy or destruction are made to mean an everlasting existence in torment; there cannot be a grosser misinterpretation of language.
[9] KATARGEO is used 27 times. Wigram, Page 415. Translated [1] Abolished, [2] Vanish away, [3] Bring to naught (nothing), [4] Do away with, [5] Destroy [6] Destroyed, [7] Be done away, [8] Ceased, [9] etc.
• Death "SHALL BE ABOLISHED (katargeo)" [1 Corinthians 15:26]. No one thinks death will exist forever in torment. If a person were immortal, there would be no death to be abolished.
• Knowledge "SHALL VANISH AWAY (katargeo)" [1 Corinthians 13:8]. Not be tormented.
• "God SHALL BRING TO NAUGHT (katargeo) both it and THEM" [1 Corinthians 6:13]. GOD WILL BRING TO NAUGHT [bring to nothing] BOTH THEIR BELLY AND THEM. "Do away with both" New American Standard Version. "Destroy both" New Revised Standard Version. Their belly will go back to the dust from which it came and cease to be just as they will. God will bring to nothing "both it (their belly) and them."
• "That through death he might BRING TO NAUGHT (katargeo) him that had the power of death, that is, the devil" [Hebrews 2:14], Satan is to be brought to nothing, not forever tormented. How? By being cast into the lake of fire [Revelation 20:10] "which is the second death " [Revelation 21:8]. God made Satan, man and all that was made out of nothing and both Satan and all lost men will return to nothing.
• "HAVING ABOLISHED (katargeo) in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments" [Ephesians 2:15]. No one thinks the law of commandments is being tormented forever. It was brought to naught (nothing), vanished away, was abolished just as Satan and all the lost will be. The same word is used for the end of death, knowledge, the belly, Satan, the Law of Moses, and the lost. Whatever happens to one happens to the others.
[10] DESTROY like death, is used in a way it is not used in any English Dictionary, or is not used in everyday language by us or the world, but only by some in their special theological way. The English word "destroy" never means "torment." If the Greek word did, then "destroy" would be a very bad mistranslation. None of the Bible translations translate it "torment."
If, as many teach, destroy means banishment to Hell, then it means the same for all the creatures named in Genesis 7:21-23 where all mankind was destroyed along with all living beings not in the ark. "Destroyed" in King James Version, "blotted out" in the New American Standard. I know of no one who believes all living creatures will be in Hell.
[11] APOTHNEESKO is used 110 times and is translated die, dying, died, dead, death, perished: Apothneesko always means die or dead. “Christ DIED (apothennsko) for us” [Romans 5:8]. “For as in Adam all die (apothennsko)” [1 Corinthians 15:22] those in Christ and those not in Christ get old and die. “So then, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh: for if you live after the flesh, you shall DIE (apothennsko): but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you shall live” [Romans 8:12-13]. Paul is speaking of a death (the second death) that only those who live after the flesh shall die but those who put to death the deeds of the body shall not die but shall live [Revelation 2:11]. To die (apothennsko) never means to live, it never means to live forever in torment, “for if you live after the flesh, you shall DIE (apothennsko).” Only believers are promised eternal life; not one passage ever says nonbelievers will ever have eternal life in Hell or any other place, many passages say they will die.
“For not one of us lives for himself, and not one DIES (apothennsko) for himself; for if we live, we live for the Lord, or if we DIE (apothennsko), we DIE (apothennsko) for the Lord; therefore whether we live or DIE (apothennsko), we are the Lord's. For to this end Christ DIED (apothennsko) and lived again” [Romans 14:7-9]. Paul is speaking of our life now on earth, being alive or being dead, if we live to preach Christ or if we die, are put to death because we believe in Christ, to say die means being alive makes nonsense of this passage just as it does in all the passages where die (apothennsko) is used.
[12] THE DEVOURING, CONSUMING, DESTROYING FIRE Hebrews 10:27: "But a certain terrifying expectation of judgment and the fury of a fire that will consume the adversaries" [New American Standard Version]. Some have made the wicked into a burning bush that is not consumed [Exodus 3:2], and have put out the consuming fire of God [Hebrews 12:29]. Therefore, God is no more a consuming fire. They use consume by fire to mean to burn up [see 1 Kings 18:38; Leviticus 9:24; Deuteronomy 28:38], except when it is God consuming the evil, for then it would not fit with their teaching. Therefore, they must use consume with two different meanings; consume means consume when it is a thing that has been burn up but consume mean eternal torment if it is a person. Consume has never meant torment, not if it is a thing that has been consumed by fire or if it is a person that has been consumed.
• "Judgment and fiery indignation, which SHALL DEVOUR the adversaries" King James Version.
• "Judgment, and fiery indignation which WILL DEVOUR the adversaries" New King James Version.
• "Judgment, and a fierceness of fire which SHALL DEVOUR the adversaries" American Standard Version.
• "Judgment and the fury of a fire which WILL CONSUME the adversaries" New American Standard Version.
• "Judgment, and a fury of fire which WILL CONSUME the adversaries" Revised Standard Version.
• "Judgment, and a fury of fire that WILL CONSUME the adversaries" New Revised Standard Version.
• "Judgment and of raging fire that WILL CONSUME the enemies of God" New International Version.
• "Judgment and a fierce fire which WILL CONSUME God's enemies" New English Bible.
• "Judgment, of a fierce fire which WILL CONSUME God's enemies" Revised English Bible.
• "Judgment and the fierce fire which WILL DESTROY those who oppose God" Today's English Version.
• "Judgment and the fire of God's indignation, which WILL CONSUME all that sets itself against him" Phillips Modern English.
• "Judgment and a flaming fire TO CONSUME the adversaries of God" New American Bible.
• "Judgment, and of a fiery indignation, which SHALL DEVOUR the adversaries" Living Oracles, Campbell.
• "Judgment and fierceness of fire which is READY TO CONSUME the enemies" McCord's New Testament Translation, Freed-Hardeman College.
The fury of fire is at the judgment and is a consuming, devouring, destroying fire, not an everlasting tormenting fire that cannot consume. There is a big difference. The adversaries of God will be judged and will be devoured, consumed, destroyed by the lake of fire, which is the second death, and will never be raised again. It is a death from which there will never be a resurrection.
THE DEVOURING, CONSUMING, DESTROYING FIRE
THE CHAFF [Matthew 3:11-12]: Those who responded to Christ are the wheat. The chaff is the useless parts of the wheat, those who do not respond to Christ, are "burned up." Peter used the same words when he said the world and its works will be "burned up" [2 Peter 3:10]. Neither the world nor the chaff will be tormented forever.
WEEDS, TARES AND BAD FISH [Matthew 13:30-50]: Both the wheat and the tares (the children of the devil) exist together in the world, but at the judgment, God will burn the tares and save the wheat. In the parables, both the tares and bad fish represent people.
DRY BRANCHES [John 15:1-10]: Jesus is the vine. Any branches that do not bear fruit are cut off. The dry dead branches are cast into the fire and burnt up. When dead lifeless branches are burnt up, the branches do not exist, there is nothing left but ashes. "If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and they gather them and cast them into the fire, and they are burned" [John 15:6]. A man that does not abide in Christ is burned and ashes are not immortal souls in eternal torment. Unless someone can find a way to torment ashes this teaching of Christ makes eternal torment impossible.
HOW FIRE IS USED IN THE OLD TESTAMENT
TO CONSUME NEVER TO TORMENT
"Then fire came out from before the Lord and CONSUMED the burnt offering and the positions of fat on the altar...And fire came out from the presence of the Lord and CONSUMED them, and they died before the Lord" [Leviticus 9:24-10:2].
"Fire also came forth from the Lord and CONSUMED the two hundred and fifty men who were offering the incense" [Numbers 16:35].
"So I will send fire upon the wall of Gaza, and it will CONSUME her citadels" [Amos 1:7]. "And it will CONSUME her citadels" [Amos 1:14].
"But I will send a fire on its cities that it may CONSUME its palatial dwellings" [Hoses 9:14].
"And Elijah answered and said to the captain of fifty. ‘ If I am a man of God, let fire come down from heaven and CONSUME you and your fifty.' Then fire came down from heaven and CONSUMED him and his fifty" [2 kings 1:10].
"But a certain terrifying expectation of judgment and the fury of a fire that will CONSUME the adversaries" [Hebrews 10:27].
HEBREWS 10:29: On the Judgment Day, when all the saved and the lost will most likely be able to see what Heaven will be like, and the lost to know that they are going to die; and know there will not be another resurrection, that they have forever missed being in Heaven, it will be a death very much sorer than physical death. It is not said that the "sorer punishment" is to be tormented forever; but some read this into it, and teach it as if it is a Bible truth; and that everlasting torment in Hell is the only "sorer punishment" that is possible. TO DIE FOREVER AFTER THE JUDGMENT IS A MUCH SORER PUNISHMENT THAN TO DIE ONLY UNTO THE RESURRECTION AND JUDGMENT WHEN THEY WILL BE RAISED FROM THE DEAD. When we die, that death is not endless for there will be a resurrection, but the second death will be without end for there will never be a resurrection from it.
HEBREWS 11:31: Rahab "PERISHED NOT with them that were disobedient." If we know what happened to those who were disobedient then we will know what did not happen to her. "And they UTTERLY DESTROYED everything in the city, both man and woman, young and old, and ox and sheep and donkey, with the edge of the sword" [Joshua 6:21]. To perish is to be utterly destroyed, not to have eternal life and be tormented forever. THE SAME THING HAPPENED TO BOTH AN OX AND A MAN. BOTH PERISHED. BOTH WERE UTTERLY DESTROYED WITH THE EDGE OF THE SWORD, BOTH WERE DEAD, ONLY RAHAB WAS ALIVE.
ROMANS 9:22: "Vessels of wrath fitted unto destruction." Many of today's preachers do not like the way God said this and change it to, "Vessels of wrath fitted unto an eternal life of torment;" after all they have been taught an immortal soul cannot be destroyed.
The response I get more than all others combined is that "if there is no Hell, then it does not make any difference what we do." I do not think most find life that useless. Most will do anything they can to live. Those who are sick do all they can to live a little longer. Only a few, who must not be right in the head, would not care if they did not live. Those who teach Hell are like a drowning man reaching for a straw. They reach for anything to save their theology. This theology belittles the death of Christ. God thought it important enough to give His only Son. Christ gave His life that we could live, but some say His gift of life to us is not important if there is no Hell to be tormented in. To die is O.K. with them. This is the same as saying, "If I will not go to Hell, then I do not care if I die and do not go to Heaven, for I only want to go to Heaven to keep from going to Hell." Fear of Hell has made many hypocrites who go to church and think that they are Christians, but it has never made one true Christian. Never saved one person, but it has made many hypocrites and will go on making them as long as it is taught. Anyone who goes to church because they fear Hell and would not go without this fear, is a hypocrite, not a Christian. Would they cheat on their wife, lie, and steal if it were not for fear they would be found out? If it is not from love of God, going to church for any other reason will do no good. If one is not a Christian because of the love of God and the hope of eternal life, he cannot be a Christian because of the fear of going to Hell. The Lord does not add anyone to the church because of fear of the nonexistence pagan Hell. Some would say, "Has not the fear of Hell made many Christian?" No, the believing of Satan's lie over God has made many be lost even while they think they are saved. No one can be frightened into Heaven. Hellfire preaching is the gospel of fear used by men like Jonathan Edwards. It cannot save, it deceives.
The Judgment Day will be a fearful day for the lost [Hebrews 10:26-31]. Maybe more fearful than anything a person has ever known. We will all stand before the judgment seat of God; those who have not obeyed the Gospel, or have not remained faithful will face God's wrath at the judgment.
Summary: IT WOULD NOT BE POSSIBLE TO SAY ANY CLEARER THAT EVIL MEN WILL BE KILLED, UTTERLY PERISH, BE UTTERLY DESTROYED JUST LIKE AND WITH THE ANIMALS AND THINGS AT THE END OF THE WORLD. ALL THE RIGHT WORDS, BOTH IN THE GREEK AND IN THE ENGLISH TRANSLATION ARE USED TO SHOW EVIL MEN WILL DIE, COME TO AN END. IT COULD NOT BE SAID ANY STRONGER OR CLEARER. ON THE OTHER HAND, NONE OF THE WORDS USED SO OFTEN TODAY ARE USED, AN UNDYING SOUL, AN IMMORTAL SOUL TO SAVE, EVERLASTING TORMENT, ETERNAL HELL, YOU ARE GOING TO HELL WHEN YOU DIE, ETC. THESE WORDS, WHICH ARE USED REPEATEDLY FROM TODAY'S PULPITS WOULD BE AN ABSOLUTE MUST TO PROVE TODAY'S TEACHING OF HELL, BUT THEY ARE TOTALLY ABSENT IN THE BIBLE. If you think you could say it better, try it. There are no better words in our language. There is not anything that shows a person will live forever in torment. The parables and metaphors Christ used clearly show destruction, not torment. Did the Holy Spirit do a poor job of choosing words when He was guiding into all truth? Luckily He has some with their theology to help Him out lest the new convert understand the English words the way they are translated. Is it not unreasonable to make words in the Bible have a meaning attached to them that is unlike their use in any other book in the world?

THE WRATH OF GOD
"Vengeance belongs unto me, I will recompense and again, the Lord shall judge His people. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God" Hebrews 10:30-31. See Romans 2:1-16; 1 Thessalonians 1:10. The Day of Judgment will be a fearful day to the lost, when they must give an account to God. The theology of many makes it essential that the wrath of God keeps the fire of Hell hot, and forever tormenting the lost in extreme pain and anguish. The Bible does not one time say His wrath will mean He will inflict everlasting pain and anguish on the lost.
1) WRATH OF GOD IN THIS LIFE: MANY OF THE SCRIPTURES ON THE WRATH OF GOD IS HIS WRATH ON THE SINNER NOW IN THIS LIFE [Romans 1:18; 2 Peter 2:9]. Sodom was destroyed. It was totally annihilated with all that were in it. In the flood all life not in the ark was totally destroyed, annihilated, abolished, not tormented. Throughout the Old Testament God's wrath has been on people, cities, and nations that disobey Him. They were destroyed by fire, sword, wars, floods, famines, pestilences, but never forever tormented. Capernaum was thrust down to the grave. It does not exist today.
2) WRATH OF GOD "IN THE DAY OF JUDGMENT." MANY OTHER SCRIPTURES ARE ABOUT HIS WRATH IS AT THE JUDGMENT DAY
• "Wrath IN THE DAY OF WRATH and revelation of the righteous judgment of God...but unto them that are factious, and obey not the truth, but obey unrighteousness, shall be wrath and indignation, tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that worked evil...IN THE DAY when God shall judge the secrets of man" [Romans 2:5-16 American Standard Version].
• "For if we sin willfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remains no more a sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and a fierceness of fire which shall devour the adversaries. A man that has set at naught Moses law died without compassion on the word of two or three witnesses: of how much sorer punishment, think you, shall he be judged worthy, who has trodden under foot the Son of God, and has counted the blood of the covenant wherewith he was sanctified and unholy thing, and has done despite unto the Spirit of grace? For we know him that said, vengeance belongs unto me, I will recompense, and again, the Lord shall judge his people. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God" [Hebrews 10:26-31].
• "And inasmuch as it is appointed unto men once to die, and after this comes judgment" [Hebrews 9:27].
• "Much more then, being now justified by his blood, shall we be saved from the wrath of God through him" [Romans 5:9].
• "Inasmuch as he has appointed a day in which he will judge the world in righteousness by the man whom he has ordained" [Acts 17:31].
• Also 1 Thessalonians 1:10; 5:9
3) WRATH OF GOD AFTER THE JUDGMENT: There is not one word about the wrath of God after the judgment day is over. MANY MIX THE FIRST TWO TOGETHER AND MISAPPLY MOST OF THEM TO THEIR HELL AFTER JUDGMENT DAY which they must prove at all cost. Is it that they want them burning in Hell while we are in Heaven? NOTHING IS SAID ABOUT GOD TORMENTING ANYONE AFTER THE JUDGMENT DAY IS OVER, OR ABOUT HIS WRATH AFTER THAT DAY; BUT IT IS TAUGHT AS IF IT WERE A GOSPEL FACT. God's wrath will be on the Judgment Day [Matthew 16:27; Luke 14:4; John 5:27-29; Acts 17:31; 1 Corinthians 4:5; 2 Timothy 4:1; 2 Peter 3:7; Malachi 4:1-3]. WHAT DOES THE BIBLE SAY ABOUT GOD'S WRATH AFTER THE JUDGMENT IS OVER? NOT ONE WORD.

THE TYPES OF THE JUDGMENT
The types and shadows all teach death, not an eternal life of torment. The punishment for sin is always death.
1. THE FLOOD 2 Peter 2:5: Eight lived; but for the rest of mankind there was only death in the flood, not a life of torment. Genesis 7:13-23 "And God said unto Noah, The END of all flesh is come before me... AND BEHOLD, I WILL DESTROY THEM WITH THE EARTH...And I, behold, I do bring the flood of waters upon the earth, to DESTROY all flesh, wherein is the breath of life, from under heaven; everything that is in the earth SHALL DIE...And all flesh that moved on the earth PERISHED, [died, King James Version] birds, and cattle and beasts and every swarming thing that swarms upon the earth, and all mankind; of all that was on the dry land, all in whose nostrils was the breath of the spirit of life DIED. Thus, He BLOTTED OUT [was destroyed, American Standard Version] every living thing that was upon the face of the land, from man to animals to creeping things and to birds of the sky, and they were BLOTTED OUT [was destroyed, American Standard Version] from the earth; and only Noah was left [alive] and they that were with him in the ark" [New American Standard Version]. DIED, PERISHED. WAS DESTROYED, BLOTTED OUT, AND NOT LEFT ALIVE WAS LITERALLY THE END OF THEM, ALL IN WHOSE NOSTRILS WAS THE BREATH OF THE SPIRIT OF LIFE DIED. Does anyone think "birds and cattle and beasts and every swarming thing..." etc., did not perish when they died, and are living in some third world somewhere with these evil men that did not perish when they died? The flood is a type of the judgment. THE WICKED WILL LITERALLY PERISH, DIE, BE BLOTTED OUT, AND NOT BE LEFT ALIVE; AND ONLY THE SAVED WILL "REMAINED" ALIVE. "For this they willfully forget, that there were heavens from of old, and an earth compacted out of water and amidst water, by the word of God; by which means the world that then was, being overflowed with water, PERISHED: but the heavens that now are, and the earth, by the same word have been stored up for fire, being reserved against the DAY OF JUDGMENT AND DESTRUCTION OF UNGODLY MAN" [2 Peter 3: 5-7]. Just as those outside of the ark were all destroyed by the flood and none, animals or man, were left alive and tormented, all those outside of Christ will be destroyed. There is no question or doubt that destroy, perish, die, and end was the end of all life at the time of the flood. THIS IS AN EXAMPLE [type] OF THE JUDGMENT TO COME. ONLY THOSE IN THE ARK [Christ] WILL BE LEFT ALIVE.
2. SODOM AND GOMORRAH Jude 7: "ARE SET FORTH AS AN EXAMPLE, SUFFERING THE PUNISHMENT OF ETERNAL FIRE" [American Standard Version]. GOD "CONDEMNED THEM TO EXTINCTION AND MADE THEM AN EXAMPLE OF WHAT IS COMING TO THE UNGODLY" [2 Peter 2:6 New Revised Standard Version]. These cities were literally burnt up, not still burning with the people walking around in torment. THEIR END [EXTINCTION] WAS COMPLETE TOTAL DESTRUCTION AND ETERNAL; AND IS AN EXAMPLE OF THE TOTAL DESTRUCTION THAT IS COMING TO THE UNGODLY AT THE JUDGMENT. SODOM HAS CEASED TO EXIST. SO THOROUGH WAS ITS DESTRUCTION THAT ITS LOCATION IS NOT KNOWN. Some believe it was under what is now the Dead Sea, some that it was other places. THE ANNIHILATION, END, DESTRUCTION, EXTINCTION OF THE UNGODLY WILL BE TOTAL AND ETERNAL, JUST AS IT WAS OF SODOM AND GOMORRAH. THEY WILL CEASE TO EXIST. This is the first use of "fire and brimstone" and the only time it was literally rained on anyone. It was the total destruction of the two cities, and is later used as a symbol of total and eternal destruction. [Psalms 11:6; Isaiah 34:9; Ezekiel 38:22; Revelation 19:20; 20:10; 21:8]. "By turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes he condemned them to extinction and made them an example of what is coming to the ungodly" [2 Peter 2:6 New Revised Standard Version]. That they were reduced to ashes and the fire went out is also a part of the example of what will happen to the ungodly. The fire did not preserve them in eternal torment, but eternity destroyed them. Where is the revelation that changes this example of total destruction by a fire that went out when the destruction was complete into an example of destruction that will never be complete and the fire will never go out?
2 Peter 2:6:
• "And if by turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes HE CONDEMNED THEM TO EXTINCTION AND MADE THEM AN EXAMPLE OF WHAT IS COMING TO THE UNGODLY" New Revised Standard Version.
• "And turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes condemned them with an overthrow, HAVING MADE THEM AN EXAMPLE UNTO THOSE THAT SHOULD LIVE UNGODLY" American Standard Version.
• "He condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to destruction by reducing them to ashes, HAVING MADE THEM AN EXAMPLE TO THOSE WHO WOULD LIVE UNGODLY THEREAFTER" New American Standard Version.
• "He condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah by burning them to ashes, AND MADE THEM AN EXAMPLE OF WHAT IS GOING TO HAPPEN TO THE UNGODLY" New International Version.
• "And turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes, condemned them to destruction, MAKING THEM AN EXAMPLE TO THOSE WHO AFTERWARD WOULD LIVE UNGODLY" New King James Version.
• "And God also destroyed the evil cities of Sodom and Gomorrah by burning them until they were ashes. HE MADE THESE CITIES AN EXAMPLE OF WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO THOSE WHO ARE AGAINST GOD" New Century Bible.
• "And He condemned to ruin and extinction the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, reducing them to ashes [AND THUS] SET THEM FORTH AS AN EXAMPLE TO THOSE WHO WOULD BE UNGODLY" The Amplified Bible.
• "God reduced the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes, condemning them to total ruin AS AN OBJECT LESSON FOR THE UNGODLY IN FUTURE DAYS" Revised English Bible.
If Sodom and Gomorrah are an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly, how could the ungodly have an eternal life of torment? These cities were both reduced to ashes and when there was nothing more to burn, the fire went out. They are an example of extinction, of total destruction, not of eternal torment.
What is Sodom an example of?
"Condemned them too extinction" -- Sodom -- or an eternal life of torment?
"Condemned them too extinction" -- ungodly - or an eternal life of torment?
Does anyone think Sodom is now being tormented in Hell today? If it is not, then how is it an example of being tormented in Hell?
WILL THERE BE DEGREES OF PUNISHMENT IN HELL? Christ spoke of the Day of Judgment for lands or cities.
1. More tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah than for Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum [Matthew 11:21-24, Luke 10:10-12].
2. More tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah than for the cities that did not receive those He sent out [Matthew 10:14-15, Mark 6:11, Luke 10:10-12].
There is no mention of eternal punishment of any individual and no mention of Hell in any of these passages. The punishment spoken of is a punishment of cites and took place IN THE DAY WHEN GOD JUDGED AND DESTORYED THEM, NOT IN HELL. HELL OR ETERNAL PUNISHMENT IS NOT MENTIONED IN ANY OF THESE PASSAGES. Those who believe in Hell read it in. WHEN ARE CITIES AND NATIONS JUDGED? WHEN IS THEIR DAY OF JUDGMENT TO BE? "And you, Capernaum, will not be exalted to heaven, will you? You shall descend to Hades" [Matthew 11:23]. It was a great city but would go down to hades-the grave. Today, there are only a few ruins of Capernaum. They went from greatness to non-existence. From exalted to heaven to the grave [hades].
Nations and cities will not be judged at the judgment at the coming of Christ. Matthew 24 is of the judgment of Jerusalem [Matthew 23:36-38]. ALL THESE CITIES HAVE HAD A DAY OF JUDGMENT AND WERE BROUGHT DOWN TO THE GRAVE. THE DAY OF JUDGMENT FOR THEM IS PAST. The destruction of Sodom was quick and soon over. The destruction of Jerusalem, which saw and rejected Christ was long and drawn out with much more suffering, therefore, much less tolerable. The Day of Judgment for a city or a nation is the time when God will cause it to be destroyed. The Old Testament is full of God's days of judgment on nations and cities.
"Punished by death and destruction, neither Sodom nor Gomorrah ever again became a living city. Rather, the two joined as one became a symbol of total destruction as used by Moses and the prophets (Deuteronomy 29:23; Isaiah 1:9; 3:9; Jeremiah. 49:18; Amos 4:11; Zephaniah 2:9), By Jesus (Luke 17:29), and by the apostles (II Peter 2:6; Jude 7; Romans 9:29)." Homer Hailey, "God's Judgments and Punishments of Nations and Individuals" Page 30.
"From that day until this day, Sodom and Gomorrah have symbolized God's fierce hatred of all immorality...The grave of Sodom and Gomorrah is not covered with fertile soil bearing grass, forests, and crops like other cities of antiquity, No, its grave is covered by the Salt Sea, the Dead Sea...God has utilized this symbol of his wrath over and over throughout the history of the world...Sodom represents brazen evil followed by the judgment of God from which none can escape...Thus, Sodom symbolizes utter ruin and desolation...When God rained 'brimstone and fire' upon Sodom, He literally turned the city 'into ashes.'" Ron Halbrook, "Sodom and Gomorrah..." Page 594, Guardian of Truth, October 3, 1991.
"AS AN EXAMPLE" Jude 7: If they are an example, what do they teach if is not that those who suffer the punishment of eternal fire will no longer exist.
• "They were overthrown in the wilderness" - They died in the wilderness [1 Corinthians 10:5].
• "Fell in one day three and twenty thousand" - Twenty-three thousand died in one day [1 Corinthians 10:8]. Not “Twenty-three thousand were eternally tormented in one day.”
• "Some of them made trial, and PERISHED by the serpents" - Those bit by the serpents died, they were not eternally tormented by the serpents [1 Corinthians 10:9].
• "Some of them murmured, and PERISHED by the destroyer" - They were killed [1 Corinthians 10:10].
• "Unto the day that Noah entered into the ark, and the flood came and DESTROYED them all" [Luke 17:27]. They died in the flood, not still being tormented by it.
o "Perished" and "destroyed" means death, not torment.
Some seem to think there will there be a resurrection and judgment of cities? If so, will the individuals of these cities be judged as individuals or as a part of the cities or both? If cities will be judged at the judgment day at the coming of Christ, then God would be condemning people for where they live, not for what they did or did not do themselves. BUT, EITHER WAY (1) If this is God's judgment day on their cities when they were destroyed (2) or even if God did judge cities in the judgment day at the coming of Christ, there is nothing said about an immortal soul or about God tormenting anyone in Hell. Hell is read into it. If the judgment is "in the Day of Judgment," it could not be in Hell after the Day of Judgment is over.
ANOTHER PASSAGE THAT IS SOMETIMES USED TO TEACH THERE BE DEGREES OF PUNISHMENT IN HELL. When will the many or few stripes be? The master "will come on a day when he does not expect him, and at an hour he does not know, and will cut him in pieces" [Luke 12:46]. THIS WILL BE WHEN THE MASTER COMES, whether this is speaking of His coming in judgment on Israel or His coming in judgment on the world. Nothing is said about the stripes being in Hell, but Hell is read into it. If the stripes will be given forever, the few would last as long as the many, therefore, they would be the same. A few would not be a few if they were given forever; both would be a countless and forever growing number of stripes. There would be no difference in the few and the many for both would last forever and have no end. Many and few are not specific as to how many, but both are a limited number of stripes, therefore could not last forever. Neither Hell nor forever are in this passage but both are read into it.
Anyone must reject many plain statements of the Bible to believe man has an immortal soul that will forever be tormented in Hell. The Bible does not support today's Hell fire preaching. It flatly opposes it.

THE NOTHING CAN BE DESTROYED ARGUMENT
In his reply to my article "From Where Came Hell" Csonka says, "They [bottles, gold, and sheep...spirits] would be in a state of detriment and not annihilation" [Truth Magazine, 1995, Page 17]. He makes broken bottles, and our spirits after death have the same "state." Will the bottles be "annihilation" after the earth is destroyed, or will they still be in the same "state" as our spirit? Does he think earthly bottles will be in Heaven? All the elements [atoms] in a tree come from the soil, and were created when God made the earth; and when a tree is burnt, the elements go back to the earth. They existed before the tree did, and will exist after the tree unto the end of the earth [Peter 3:12]. Does he think that a tree was a tree before the seed came up? But worst of all, does he think the all wise and all knowing God could not have used symbols that taught what He wanted to teach? He is saying matter cannot be destroyed, not even when it is burnt up, it just changes back to the base elements from which the bottle was made, therefore, the soul can never be destroyed. WHAT BASE ELEMENTS DOES HE THINK THE SOUL [the "immaterial, invisible part of man"] IS MADE OF THAT IT WILL GO BACK TO AT THE DEATH OF THE BODY? WHEN SOMETHING BURNS UP, ARE THE ASHES THAT REMAIN CONSCIOUS AND IN TORMENT? When a bottle changes back to the base elements, it is no longer a bottle; what does he think the soul is if it has changed from a soul back to its base elements, and what does he think are the base elements of a soul that he believes has no substance? Is he saying only the materials of which souls are made are in existence? A bottle has substance, but according to today's theology the soul has no substance. He is making a comparison of something he says has no substance with the substance of a bottle that was destroyed. Is he saying only the base element of a soul that has no base element, no substance, is in Abraham's bosom? He has made death be nothing but "a loss of well-being," or "a loss of all the quality of life." Therefore, life can be nothing but "well-being." The elements of tree and the elements that a person are made of existed before the tree or the person and will exist after their death, but they were not a person before his or her birth and are not after his or her death. The elements that make up my body existed from the time God made the earth, but I did not exist before my birth. If a dead body is burned, the smoke and ashes remain but are they still the person? The base elements of all things were made out of nothing and will go back to nothing at the end of the world, therefore, his argument, that nothing can be destroyed is not true for all things will be destroyed. When anyone tries to prove an error, they have to fall back on human wisdom and misusing or changing God's word. With all love and respect, this is one of the most far out arguments I have ever heard. He must have needed something very badly with which to prove his teaching. THE IMPACT OF THE TEACHINGS OF CHRIST IN THESE PARABLES IS SO STRONG THAT SOME WOULD MAKE THE WORDS OF CHRIST BE SAYING NOTHING JUST TO GET AWAY FROM IT. If a tree cannot be destroyed, then Christ the master teacher is saying nothing. They make Christ to be just a "vain babbler," speaking things that cannot be; for if they do not, then their Hell could not be.
The same science that tells us nothing can be destroyed also tells us that nothing can be created out of nothing. This science does not realize that the God that made all things out of nothing can send that which He made out of nothing, back to nothing. THOSE WHO USE THE NOTHING CAN BE DESTROYED ARGUMENT TO PROVE A PERSON HAS A PART THAT CANNOT BE DESTROYED MAY GIVE GOD THE POWER TO CREATE OUT OF NOTHING BUT DENIES HIM THE POWER TO DESTROY WHAT HE HAS CREATED OUT OF NOTHING. If all the elements that were in a person's body existing after his death proves that he is still alive somewhere, it would also prove he was alive somewhere before his birth for all the elements in his body also existed before his birth. The elements are not a body after it's death any more than they were a body before birth. BUT, WHY ARE THEY USING ELEMENTS OF THIS EARTH TO PROVE SOMETHING ABOUT SOULS THAT THEY SAY ARE NOT MADE OF ELEMENTS OF THIS EARTH? This is like a drowning man reaching for a straw.
Csonka said, "five of these passages are parables that do not describe what will literally happen; but, explain in the closest terms the things that will take place in the spiritual parallel." Csonka, " Truth Magazine, 1995, Page 16. Unless a tree is tormented, there is no close parallel to the teaching of eternal torment.
• If trees that are burnt up by the farmer are DESTROYED;
• And the lost that are burnt up by the Lake of Fire are DESTROYED; there is a parallel. It is the end of both.
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• If trees that are burnt up by the farmer are DESTROYED;
• And the lost that are burnt up by the Lake of Fire are TORMENTED; If one [a tree] is destroyed, and the other one [a lost man] is tormented, there is no parallel. It is the end of one but not the other.
Summary: When we burn up something, are the ashes in conscious torment? Skins, bottles that perish [Matthew 9:17], moths destroyed cloth [Luke 12:33], foods that perished [John 6:27] are not in conscious torment after they are destroyed or perished, yet traditionalists use these to prove conscious torment after death because these materials are not annihilated. By using the same logic, the bodies of beasts are not annihilated after their death for all the elements of their bodies still exist, therefore, they are now just as conscious as people are for none of the elements of their bodies has not been destroyed, they still exist.
We are told, "that which thinks and remembers cannot be matter, therefore, a person must have a soul, which is composed of some other substance." Animals can think and remember, some of them can think and remember very good, therefore, animals "must have a soul, which is composed of some other substance."

THE JUSTICE OF GOD
The argument of some is that God would not be a just God if He did not punish the sinner. They then jump from justice demands punishment to Hell being the only way God can punish the sinner; most of the time without any kind of an attempt to prove there is a Hell. They are so indoctrinated that they assume the only kind of punishment there could be is their Hell, and are blind to what God does say. The question is how do they know the punishment will be in Hell when there is not one word about it in the Bible? There is much on the punishment being death, but nothing on it being Hell. Death is the worst kind of punishment, but some cannot see it as a punishment because they are so blinded by their Hell theology.
It is almost beyond belief that not one time in any of the major translations of the Bible, made by men who believed in eternal torment, is any of these words ever translated torment. NOT ONE TIME IS IT SAID THAT GOD OR SATAN WILL TORMENT ANYONE FOREVER; BUT IT IS SAID REPEATEDLY, USING MANY DIFFERENT GREEK WORDS, THAT GOD WILL DESTROY THOSE WHO ARE NOT HIS CHILDREN.

CHAPTER EIGHT
First Resurrection And Second Death
An Immortal Soul or Resurrection of the Dead

The interpretation of figurative language, metaphors and symbolic passages
1. ISRAEL'S DESTRUCTION, her weeping, gnashing of teeth, outer darkness, Matthew 24
• Preterits Eschatology - Realized Eschatology - The A. D. 70 Doctrine
• The day of the Lord
• 2 Peter 3
2. THE RICH MAN AND LAZARUS The intermediate bosom
3. THE SYMBOLICAL PICTURES OF REVELATION VERSUS A LITERAL INTERPRETATION
• Souls under the altar
• The smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever
• The Lake of Fire
4. FOREVER AND EVER of the King James Version
5. ETERNAL
Those who believe in the Pagan doctrine of an immortal soul from birth and Hell have no plain statements. That they must reinterpret figurative language, metaphors and symbolic passages into literal statements SHOWS THE WEAKNESS OF THEIR BELIEF, that it is from man and not from God. Parables and figurative language are made to be superior over plain statements. The clear language must be changed to agree with what is thought to have been said in the symbolic language, therefore, MANY LITERAL PASSAGES MUST BE MADE FIGURATIVE TO KEEP THEM FROM BEING IN CONFLICT. Many of the metaphors about the destruction of Israel have been discussed in the first seven chapters. This chapter is a close look at some of the symbolic passages that are change into literal statements.
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PART ONE
SCRIPTURES ABOUT THE DESTRUCTION OF ISRAEL
THAT ARE MISAPPLIED TO HELL
Israel's destruction, her weeping, gnashing of teeth, outer darkness
Many of the passages spoken by John the Baptist and by Jesus about Israel's rejection of Christ and its destruction are misapplied to Hell. Matthew 24 is often misused to prove Israel will be restored, and Christ will return to earth and rule the world forever from Jerusalem and that the saved will forever live on this earth, not in Heaven.
JUDGMENT OF ISRAEL Matthew 21-25
• Cleaning of the Temple Matthew 21:12-16
• The fig tree Matthew 21:18-22
• Israel's rulers question Christ's authority. Parable of the two sons Matthew 21:23-32
• Parable of the wicked husbandman who Christ will destroy and give the vineyard to another Matthew 21:33-41
• The stone Israel rejected made head of the corner; the stone will scatter as dust. The kingdom taken from Israel and gave to another Matthew 21:42-46
• Parable of the marriage feast. His armies destroyed those invited and invited others Matthew 22:1-14
• Seven woes on Israel leaders, how can they escape the judgment of Gehenna; all these things shall come upon this generation. Matthew 23:13-36
• Their house left desolate Matthew 23:37-39
• The questions and His answer Matthew 24:1-51
o Parable of the fig tree. This generation shall not pass away, till all these things be accomplished Matthew 24:32-34
o Israel the unfaithful servant Matthew 24:45-51
• Unprofitable servant cast into outer darkness Matthew 25:30
THE JEWS THAT CAME TO JOHN THE BAPTIST
"But when he saw the PHARISEES AND SADDUCEES coming to his baptism, HE SAID UNTO THEM, YOU offspring of vipers, WHO WARNED YOU TO FLEE FROM THE WRATH TO COME? Bring forth; therefore, fruit worthy of repentance: and think not to say within yourselves, we have Abraham to out father: for I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to rise up children unto Abraham. AND EVEN NOW THE AXE LIES AT THE ROOT OF THE TREES: every tree; therefore, that brings not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. I indeed baptize you in water unto repentance; but he that comes after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you in the Holy Spirit and in fire: whose fan is in his hand, and he will thoroughly cleanse his threshing floor; and he will gather his wheat into the garner, BUT THE CHAFF HE WILL BURN UP WITH UNQUENCHABLE FIRE" [Matthew 3:7-12]. John was the Elijah that was to come [Matthew 17:11; 11:10]. Cutting down a tree or forest is a common symbol of judgment and destruction of cities and nations in the Old Testament [Isaiah 10:34; Jeremiah 46:22-23; 22:7-8; Ezekiel 31:3-14]. If a tree is cut down, there is hope that it will sprout again from the stump [Job 14:7-8; Isaiah 11:1], but when the axe is put to the root there is no hope that the tree will ever sprout again.
Adam Clarke said this is "the desolation which was about to fall on the Jewish nation."
Lightfoot: "By the axe being now laid to the root of the tree, may fitly be understood, first, the certainty of their desolation; and second, the nearness, in that the instrument of their destruction as already prepared, and brought close to them; the Romans that should ruin their city and nation, being already master and rulers over them."
B. W. Johnson: "Think not to say...we have Abraham to our father. They believed that Abraham's race was to be saved, if all else was destroyed...'The axe is laid at the root of the tree' a sign that the tree is to be cut down. The tree meant is the Jewish nation. Every tree. A fruitless fig tree was afterward made by our Lord to representative of the whole Jewish nation (Luke 13:6)." Also, Matthew 3:10-12 "And with fire. The term fire is used in verse 10, and there means a destroying agency; it is used again in verse 12 in the same sense; it is used in verse 11, also, the intervening verse, and must be used in exactly the same sense as in the other two verses. It cannot mean a curse in verses 10 and 12, and a blessing in verse 11, without a word of explanation. It is strange, therefore, that all commentators should not agree that the baptism of fire is a baptism of trial and suffering. THERE WERE TWO CLASSES BEFORE JOHN. SOME WOULD REPENT AND BE BAPTIZED FINALLY IN THE HOLY SPIRIT; THERE WERE OTHERS WHO WOULD REMAIN IMPENITENT, AND BE BAPTIZED IN THE AWFUL TRIALS THAT WOULD COME UPON ISRAEL" B. W. Johnson, "The People New Testament With Notes," 1889, Gospel Light Publishing Company.
OUTER DARKNESS, WEEPING
AND THE GNASHING OF TEETH
"But the SONS OF THE KINGDOM shall be cast forth into the outer darkness: there shall be the weeping and the gnashing of teeth" [Matthew 8:12]. Even according to those who believe in Hell, no one is cast out of Heaven, BUT WHEN THIS "WEEPING AND THE GNASHING OF TEETH" IS MADE TO BE AFTER THE JUDGMENT IN HELL, IT IS THE "SONS OF THE KINGDOM" THAT ARE CAST INTO THE OUTER DARKNESS. IN USING THIS PASSAGE TO PROVE THE OUTER DARKNESS IS HELL IT MAKES SOME THAT BE IN HEAVEN BUT THEY WILL BE CAST OUT OF HEAVEN INTO HELL AFTER THE JUDGMENT. If "and yourselves cast forth without" is cast into Hell where those who believe in Hell say the "weeping and gnashing of tenth" will be, THEN THIS MAKES THOSE FROM THE EAST AND WEST GO TO HEAVEN AFTER THE JUDGMENT DAY. THEY HAVE SOME GOING INTO HEAVEN, AND SOME BEING CAST OUT OF HEAVEN AFTER THE KINGDOM HAS BEEN DELIVERED UP TO GOD, THEREFORE, AFTER THE JUDGMENT. This is more than those trying to prove Hell want to prove, for they do not think any will be cast out of Heaven after the judgment and no one who is in Heaven after the judgment will go to Hell so why is this passage used in a way that makes it prove there will be some cast out of Heaven into Hell after the judgment?
J. W. McGarvey, Matthew 8:11: "AND I SAY UNTO YOU, THAT MANY SHALL COME FROM THE EAST AND THE WEST, AND SHALL SIT DOWN WITH ABRAHAM, AND ISAAC, AND JACOB, IN THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN [Jesus here predicts the conversion of the Gentiles, since that fact is suggested to him by the faith of this centurion. The east and the west represent the extreme points of the compass in the directions in which the world was most thickly inhabited. But Jesus refers rather to spiritual separation than to geographical distances--Mal. i. 11; Isa. xlix. 19; Jer. xvi. 19; Zech. viii. 22.] 12 But The Sons Of The Kingdom [The child of anything in Hebrew phraseology expressed the idea of special property which one has in the thing specified, as, for instance, children of disobedience (Eph. ii. 2). Jesus here means, then, the Jews, to whom the kingdom belonged by hereditary descent--Rom. ix. 4] SHALL BE CAST FORTH INTO THE OUTER DARKNESS: THERE SHALL BE THE WEEPING AND THE GNASHING OF TEETH. [In this paragraph Christ's kingdom is set forth under the simile of a great feast, a familiar simile with Jesus (Matt. xxvi. 29; Luke xxii. 30). The Jews were accustomed to speak of the delights of the Messianic kingdom as a feast with the patriarchs (Luke xiv. 15), but lost sight of the fact that Gentiles should share in its cheer and fellowship (Isa. xxv. 6). Marriage feasts and other great feasts of the Jews were usually held in the evening. Inside, therefore, there would be joy and light and gladness, but outside there would be darkness and disappointment, tears and bitter self-reproach (Matt. xxv. 10-13). The despised outcasts should be brought in and placed at the festal board, while the long-invited guests-the natural and fleshly heirs of Abraham's invitation-would be excluded (Matt. xxi. 43)" The Fourfold Gospel, Page 272, 1914, Standard Publishing Company.
J. W. McGarvey, Luke 13:28 28: "There shall be the weeping and the gnashing of teeth, when you shall see Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets, in the kingdom of God, AND YOURSELVES CAST FORTH without. 29 And they shall come from the east and west, and from the north and south, and shall sit down in the kingdom of God. 30 And behold [little as you may think it], they are last who shall be first, and they are first who shall be last. [A familiar proverb of Christ's (Matt. xix. 30; xx. 10), to be interpreted by such passages as Matt. xxi. 31 and Rom. ix. 30, 31. The Jew who thought the Gentile had no hope at all, and that he himself was sure of salvation, would be surprised to find that his opinion was the very reverse of the real fact as time developed it]." The Fourfold Gospel, 1914, Standard Publishing Company. The Jews were cast forth OUT OF THE KINGDOM, but nothing is said about CASTING INTO "HELL."
B. W. Johnson, Matthew 8:12: "BUT THE CHILDREN OF THE KINGDOM. The Jews, the natural children of Abraham, the 'Father of the faithful,' heirs of the promises made to him. CAST OUT because they rejected the Messiah, in whom all the promises center. INTO OUTER DARKNESS" The People's New Testament With Notes, Gospel Light Publishing Company.
THE THREE TIMES "OUTER DARKNESS" IS USED BY CHRIST [Matthew 8:12; 22:13; 25:30] ARE IN THREE PARABLES, WHICH REFER TO GOD'S DEALING WITH THE JEWS BEING CAST OUT AS GOD'S CHOSEN PEOPLE AND THEIR DESTRUCTION AS A NATION, BUT HAS BEEN CHANGED TO BE THE LOST IN HELL ARE IN OUTER DARKNESS.
THE SEVEN TIMES "WEEPING AND GNASHING OF TEETH" IS USED BY CHRIST [Matthew 8:12; 13:42; 13:50; 22:13; 24:51; 25:30; Luke 13:28] ALL SEVEN ARE ABOUT THE JEWS BEING CAST OUT AS GOD'S CHOSEN PEOPLE HAS ALSO BEEN CHANGED TO BE THE LOST IN HELL THAT ARE WEEPING AND GNASHING THEIR TEETH. None of these passages mention Hell although they are often used to prove there is a place called “Hell.” In Matthew 13:39 and 13:50 the Greek is the end of the “age” not the end of the world, the end of the age that then was, the Jewish age when they were cast out as God’s chosen people. To those who thought they were and would always be God’s chosen people, being told that they would be cast out was no small thing.
Although many of the wisest preachers and writers whose writings have stood the test of time like B. W. Johnson, J. W. McGarvey, Adam Clarke, Lightfoot, H. Leo Boles, Barnes, R. C. H. Lenski and many others say the "weeping and gnashing of teeth" is speaking of the Jews being rejected as God's chosen people, some still misuse this as did Stephen Wiggins in the Firm Foundation, 2006, Page 6. Gehenna is not in any of the seven passages with "weeping and gnashing of teeth." If he did any study it would be difficult to believe he did not know the weeping and gnashing of teeth has no reference to "Hell." Is this not just a desperate attempt to find a passage that teaches eternal torment?
SIX PARABLES CONDEMNING ISRAEL
[1] ISRAEL, THE FRUITLESS FIG TREE [Luke 13:6-9]: "And he spoke this parable; A certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard; and he came seeking fruit thereon, and found none. And he said unto the vinedresser, behold, these three years I came seeking fruit on this fig tree, and found none: cut it down; why does it also cumber the ground? And he answering said unto him, Lord, let it alone this year also, till I shall dig about it, and dung it: and if it bear fruit thenceforth, well; BUT IF NOT, YOU SHALL CUT IT DOWN." Barren national Israel would be cut down. "And seeing a fig tree by the way side, he came to it, and found nothing thereon, but leaves only; and he said unto it, Let there be no fruit from you hence forward forever” [Matthew 21:18-19; see John 1:11].
[2] THE RICH MAN AND LAZARUS [Luke 16:19-31]: See "Part two" of this chapter.
[3] THE TWO SONS [Matthew 21:28-32]: Christ speaking to “the chief priests and the elders” of Israel said, "But what do you think? A man had two sons, and he came to the first and said, Son, go work today in the vineyard. And he answered and said, I will, sir; and he did not go. And he came to the second and said the same thing. But, he answered and said, I will not; yet he afterward regretted it and went. Which of the two did the will of his father? They said, the latter. Jesus said to them, Truly I say to YOU the tax-gatherers and harlots will get into the kingdom of God before YOU. For John came to YOU in the way of righteousness and YOU did not believe him; but the tax-gatherers and harlots did believe him; and YOU, seeing this, did not ever feel remorse afterward so as to believe him."
[4] ISRAEL, THE HUSBANDMAN [Matthew 21:33-45]: Still speaking to “the chief priests and the elders” He said, "Hear another parable: there was a man that was a householder, who planted a vineyard, and set a hedge about it, and dug a winepress in it, and built a tower, and let it out to husbandman, and went into another country. And when the season of the fruits drew near, he sent his servants to the husbandman, to receive his fruits. And the husbandman took his servants, and beat one, and killed another, and stoned another. Again, he sent other servants more than the first: and they did unto them in like manner. But, afterward he sent unto them his son, saying, they will reverence my son. But the husbandman, when they saw the son, said among themselves, this is the heir; come, let us kill him, and take his inheritance. And they took him, and cast him forth out to the vineyard, and killed him. When; therefore, the lord of the vineyard shall come, what will he do unto these husbandman? They say unto him, HE WILL MISERABLY DESTROY THOSE MISERABLE MEN, AND WILL LET OUT THE VINEYARD UNTO OTHER HUSBANDMEN, who shall render him the fruits in their seasons, Jesus said unto them, did you never read in the scriptures, the stone which the builders rejected, the same was made the head of the corner: this was from the Lord, and it is marvelous in our eyes? THEREFORE SAY I UNTO YOU, THE KINGDOM OF GOD SHALL BE TAKEN AWAY FROM YOU, AND SHALL BE GIVEN TO A NATION BRINGING FORTH THE FRUITS THEREOF. And he that falls on this stone shall be broken to pieces: BUT, ON WHOMSOEVER IT SHALL FALL, IT WILL SCATTER HIM AS DUST. And when the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, THEY PERCEIVED THAT HE SPOKE OF THEM" Israel beat and killed many of the prophets and killed the Son of God and was scattered as dust in A. D. 70 when no Jews were left in Jerusalem or the country around it. Most Millennialists admit that this refers to the Jewish rejection of Christ; THE KINGDOM WAS TAKEN FROM THE JEWS AND GIVEN TO THE GENTILES AT THE DEATH AND RESURRECTION OF JESUS, but Millennialists think it will be taken from the Gentiles and given back to the Jews.
[5] THE MARRIAGE FEAST Matthew 22:1-14: Also still speaking to, “the chief priests and the elders” He said, "And Jesus answered and spoke to them again in parables, saying, The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king, who gave a wedding feast for his son. And he sent out his slaves to call those who had been invited to the wedding feast, and they were unwilling to come. Again, he sent out other slaves saying, Tell those who have been invited, Behold, I have prepared my dinner; my oxen and fattened livestock are all butchered and everything is ready; come to the wedding feast. But, they paid no attention and went their way, one to his own farm, another to his business, and the rest seized his slaves and mistreated them and killed them. BUT, THE KING WAS ENRAGED AND SENT HIS ARMIES, AND DESTROYED THOSE MURDERS, AND SET THEIR CITY ON FIRE. Then he said to his slaves, the wedding is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy. Go therefore to the main highways, and as many as you find there, invite to the wedding feast. And those slaves went out into the streets, and gathered together all they found, both evil and good; and the wedding hall was filled with dinner guests. But, when the king came in to look over the dinner guests, he saw there a man not dressed in wedding clothes, and he said to him, Friend, how did you come in here without wedding clothes? And he was speechless. Then the king said to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and cast him into the outer darkness; in that place there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. For many are called, but few are chosen." The Jews killed the prophets God send to them, and they and their city were destroyed and the Gentiles were brought into the kingdom.
[6] THE NARROW DOOR Luke 13:24-30: "Strive to enter in by the narrow door: for many, I say unto you, shall seek to enter in, and shall not be able. When once the master of the house is risen up, and has shut the door, and begin to stand without, and to knock at the door, saying, Lord, open to us; and he shall answer and say to you, I know you not where you are; then shall you begin to say, we did eat and drink in your presence, and you did teach in our streets; and he shall say, I tell you, I know not were you are; depart from me, all you workers of iniquity. THERE SHALL BE WEEPING AND THE GNASHING OF TEETH, WHEN YOU SHALL SEE ABRAHAM, ISAAC, JACOB AND ALL THE PROPHETS IN THE KINGDOM OF GOD AND YOURSELVES CAST FORTH WITHOUT. AND THERE SHALL COME FROM THE EAST AND THE WEST, AND FROM THE NORTH AND THE SOUTH, AND SHALL SIT DOWN IN THE KINGDOM OF GOD. AND BEHOLD, THERE ARE LAST WHO SHALL BE THE FIRST, AND THERE ARE FIRST WHO SHALL BE LAST" This is about the coming rejection of Israel and the Gentiles being accepted into the kingdom of Heaven, which is the church. Not about some being cast out of Heaven, which is what it would be if the weeping and gnashing of teeth were in Hell. ISRAEL WAS THE "SONS OF THE KINGDOM" ["children of the kingdom" King James Version] THAT WAS CAST INTO OUTER DARKNESS, NOT THOSE WHO NEVER BELIEVED. THE JEWS, WHO WERE THEN THE CHILDREN OF THE KINGDOM, WERE CAST OUT OF THE LIGHT AND ARE NO LONGER GOD'S CHOSEN PEOPLE, INTO THE DARKNESS OF THE WORLD WITHOUT THE LIGHT OF GOD'S REVELATION. "O JERUSALEM...BEHOLD YOUR HOUSE IS LEFT UNTO YOU DESOLATE" [Luke 13:34-35]. Those who believe in Hell leave out the rest of what Christ said in the next two versus when He says the Gentiles will come into the kingdom, and verse 30 the Gentles who were last become first. If this were after the judgment, the Gentiles would be coming into the kingdom in Heaven after the judgment.
"Therefore say I unto you, the kingdom of God shall be taken away from you [the Jews], and shall be given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof" [Matthew 21:43].
WEEPING AND GNASHING OF TEETH
Both are used in the Old and New Testament.
1]. WEEPING for miseries and grief, both for personal miseries and as a nation [too often to list them: use any good concordance]. It is used in the New Testament the same way it was in the Old Testament. See Matthew 2:18; Mark 5:28; Luke 7:38; 8:52: John 11:33; 20:11 Acts 9:39; 21:13; Philippians 3:18 and James 5:1. The weeping is the Jews when they see Israel being cast out as God's chosen people, and Jerusalem and the Temple being destroyed, and the end of their national identity See Matthew 24, Daniel 9 and 10.
2]. GNASHING OF TEETH shows anger and rage of the persons gnashing their teeth, not pain, and is used in both the Old and New Testament. "They hiss and gnash the teeth" Lamentations 2:16, See Psalms 35:16; Micah 3:5. Used the same way in the New Testament. "And they gnashed on him with their teeth" [Acts 7:54]. Those who stoned Stephen were angry with him, not in pain; they were not dead and in Hell, they were alive and on this earth. If gnashing of teeth were in Hell, as many teach it is, whom are they going to gnash with their teeth? Does anyone believe some in Hell will be angry with others in Hell and gnash them with their teeth? The gnashing of teeth is the anger and rage of the Jews towards those doing the destroying [the Roman army], and maybe even toward God for letting the destroying be happening. GNASHING OF TEETH IS BECAUSE OF ANGER OR RAGE. IT IS NOT BECAUSE OF THE PERSON DOING THE GNASHING OF HIS OR HER TEETH ARE BEING TORMENTED IN HELL. IN THE BIBLE IN BOTH THE OLD AND THE NEW TESTAMENT, GNASHING OF TEETH IS ALWAYS BECAUSE OF ANGER OF THE PERSON DOING THE GNASHING ON ANOTHER PERSON. IT IS MISUSED TODAY TO SHOW THOSE BEING TORMENTED IN "HELL" ARE GNASHING THEIR TEATH BECOUSE OF THEIR OWN PAIN.
• In the Old Testament: Gnashing of teeth is because of anger on the part of the one doing the gnashing.
• In the New Testament: Gnashing of teeth is changed by those who believe in Hell to be a person in Hell gnashing his or her teeth because of pain.
Weeping and gnashing of teeth are two different things, which are sometimes both found together, but most often are not together. Neither one ever occurs in the same passages with hades or Gehenna. That either one or both will be in Hell is an assumption that is preached over and over. Could an immaterial, invisible part of a person gnash its teeth?
THE CENTURION GENTILE Matthew 8:5-13: "And when he was entered into Capernaum, there came unto him a centurion, beseeching him, and saying, Lord, my servant lying in the house sick of the palsy, grievously tormented. 7 And he said unto him, I will come and heal him. And the centurion answered and said, Lord, I am not worthy that you should come under my roof; but only say the word, and my servant shall be healed. For I also am a man under authority, having under myself soldiers: and I say to this one, Go, and he goes; and to another, Come, and he comes; and to my servant, Do this, and he does it. And when Jesus heard it, he marveled, and said to them that followed, Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, NOT IN ISRAEL. And I say unto you, that many shall come from the east and the west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven: BUT THE SONS OF THE KINGDOM SHALL BE CAST FORTH INTO THE OUTER DARKNESS: THERE SHALL BE THE WEEPING AND THE GNASHING OF TEETH. And Jesus said unto the centurion, Go your way; as you have believed, [so] be it done unto you. And the servant was healed in that hour." After seeing the faith of this Gentile, Jesus says the Gentiles will sit in the kingdom and the sons [Jews] will be cast forth. The same as at the marriage feast (above), the Jews, because they rejected Christ as their king was cast out of the kingdom. The church, not Israel, is now God's kingdom. Those who teach Hell read the prophecies of Christ about the judgment of Israel in AD 70 and move the weeping and gnashing of teeth to Hell after the Judgment Day is over. They have not found one passage that says anything about the lost after the judgment. Nothing can happen to nothing. After the second death there could be nothing said, for there will be nothing to say anything about. There is this life, then the first death, a resurrection to life from the first death, then the second death for the lost, but nothing is said about a third life for the lost after the second death. They need something to prove eternal life in their Hell, and try to make it look as if weeping and gnashing of teeth could only be because of eternal torment in Hell; although both weeping and gnashing of teeth are used throughout the Old Testament and those who believe in Hell do not believe weeping and gnashing of teeth in the Old Testament have any reference to a time of punishment after the Judgment Day, but they assume that in the New Testament both are used in reference to punishment in Hell after the judgment day. Weeping and gnashing of teeth has a reference to Hell only when they want or need them to.
WEEPING AND GNASHING OF TEETH: God says the "wages of sin is death," not an eternal life of weeping and gnashing of teeth in Hell that will go on forever, for there is no death for the soul that cannot die. We would never be able to know that this weeping will be in Hell unless:
FIRST: Many say that there is a Hell, but there is not one word about it in the Bible.
SECOND: Then they tell us that this weeping shall be in Hell. How could they know this when there is not one passage that says there will be weeping in "Hell"?
Some of the words used by Christ to describe the Jews: blind guides, hypocrites, murderers, adulterous, transgressors, faithless, perverse, fools, generation of snakes. "O JERUSALEM, JERUSALEM...BEHOLD, YOUR HOUSE (the temple Christ had just left) IS LEFT UNTO YOU DESOLATE" [Matthew 23:38].
B. W. Johnson, Matthew 23:33-39, "The People's New Testament With Notes" Gospel Light Publishing Company, 1889. “33. You generations of vipers, how can you escape? Etc. Brood of vipers, full of venom, deadly as serpents, treacherous as the lurking serpent. So John had called them nearly four years before (Matt. 3:7). 34. Wherefore, I send unto you prophets and wise men. In Luke 11:49, is a passage much like this. The men sent were inspired apostles and evangelists. By giving the Jews still further opportunities after the sin of the cross, the guilt of those continued to reject the crucified Lord was aggravated. Prophets. Inspired teachers, like the apostles, Philip, Stephen, etc. Wise men. Faithful, devout and learned, but uninspired preachers. Scribes. Usually, those who copy and teach the wisdom of others, but I suppose also embracing those who wrote the New Testament Scriptures. Some of them you shall kill and crucify. Literally fulfilled in the next few years. 35. That upon you may come all the righteous blood. Thus would they fill the measure full and become guilty of all the righteous blood shed by the whole army of martyrs. Unto the blood of Zacharias. The reference is probably to 2 Chron. 24:20. 36. VERILY, I SAY UNTO YOU, ALL THESE THINGS SHALL COME UPON THIS GENERATION. As the Amorites were spared until ‘their iniquity was full’ (Gen. 15:16), so the iniquity of Israel was allowed to accumulate from age to age, till in that generation it came to the full, and the collected vengeance of justice broke at once upon it. So it is often in the destruction of a nation. The French Revolution of 1793 is another example. 37. Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you that kills the prophets. The intense feeling that spoke in this utterance comes out first in the redoubling of the word Jerusalem; next in the picture of the sins of the city which he draws--a city so wicked that it was not content with rejecting the messengers of God, but even slew them. I know of nothing more touching than this apostrophe. How often would I have gathered your children together. Not only had the city been warned again and again by the prophets, but the Lord had visited it at least six or seven times, and had for months taught in its streets. Nor did his solicitude end with the cross. His long suffering, patience and love are shown by his charge in the commission to the apostles: ‘To preach repentance and remission in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.’ You would not. ‘Would not’ explains the cause of the rejection of the gospel. It is not because God in Christ is not ready: he would gather them. It is not because men cannot come, but because they will not come. Christ wished the salvation of Jerusalem; his will was for them to be saved: he sought to influence their wills to make a choice of salvation, but they would not. So God still ‘is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance’ (2 Peter 3:9), but there are many ‘who will not come to Christ that they might have life’ (John 5:40). While God wills the salvation of men, he does not destroy free agency by coercing the human will, but says: ‘Whosoever will, let him come.’ 38. Behold, your house is left unto you desolate. This was the consequence of refusing to come to Christ. The temple is the house meant. God will abandon it and leave it desolate. He will no longer accept its worship. 39. You shall not see me henceforth. This seems to imply that the temple shall be deserted when he leaves it. With his departure the presence of God departs. He was the Lord of the temple. ‘Till you shall say.’ These were his last words in the temple precincts, but they do not shut out all hope. Even yet when the Jews shall join in the hosannas of those who, on the Sunday before, had sung his praises, and cry, ‘Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord,’ they may be permitted to behold their Messiah...When Christ abandoned the temple in Jerusalem, it was only fit for the destroyer.”
"That which Israel seeks for, that he obtained not; but the election obtained it, and the rest were hardened" [Romans 11:7]. Whatever Israel did not obtain, THE ELECT HAD OBTAINED IT, PAST TENSE AT THE TIME PAUL WROTE THIS. It is not something that will be obtained by Israel or anyone after at A. D. 70 or at the second coming of Christ. How is anyone saved today, Jew or Gentile? Only by the Gospel. I was saved when I heard the Gospel and obeyed it; all that are saved are saved in the same way. "For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is THE POWER of God for salvation to EVERYONE who believes, TO THE JEW FIRST and also to the Greek" [Romans 1:16]. Neither a Jew nor a Greek can be saved without believing in Christ and obeying the gospel. Today a nation cannot be saved as a nation (Israel or any other nation). Individuals must believe and obey the Gospel; there is no other way. "But if SOME OF THE BRANCHES were broken off, ["some of the branches," plural, are individuals Jews, not "some of the nations"] and you, being a wild olive, was grafted in among them [among some of the branches, the Jews that believed and were not broken off, Paul was one of the Jews that believed]...Well; by their unbelief they were broken off, and you stand by your faith...for if God spared not the natural branches [individuals Jews], neither will he spare you [individuals Gentiles, not nations]. Behold then the goodness and severity of God: toward them that fell (individuals, not nations), severity; but toward you, God's goodness; otherwise, you also shall be cut off. And they [individuals Jews] also, if they continue not in their unbelief, shall be grafted in" [Romans 11:17-24]. Many of the believers in the early church were Jews. Paul was a Jew, and he said, "Even so than at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace" [at the time Paul was writing this some Jews believed] [Romans 11:4]. Salvation is always available to anyone of any nation if they will accept Christ. The law was only a shadow of that which was to come. Israel cannot be restored as a nation without restoring the shadow, including restoring animal sacrifice, etc.
There is individuality "about the Christian religion that cannot be dispensed with. Those who accept Christ must do it as individuals, not as a nation. Each one must come to Christ on his own individual faith. He can come in no other way. In this way he can come now; and this is the only way a Gentile, or anyone else can come. The Jews were broken off for unbelief, and they must come in faith. This opportunity they have now, and have always had--they need not expect, or wait for any thing more." Dr T. W. Brents, Gospel Sermons, Page 329, 1918, Gospel Advocate Publishing Co.
"Woe unto you! For you build the tombs of the prophets, and your fathers killed them. So you are witnesses and consent unto the works of your fathers: for they kill them, and you build their tombs. Therefore, also said the wisdom of God, I will send unto them prophets and apostles; and some of them they shall kill and persecute; that the blood of all the prophets, which was shed from the foundation of the world, MAY BE REQUIRED OF THIS GENERATION; from the blood of Abel unto the blood of Zechariah, who perished between the altar and the sanctuary: yea, I say unto you, IT SHALL BE REQUIRED OF THIS GENERATION" [Luke 11:47-51].
[1] THE LORD'S LAMENT OVER JERUSALEM WHEN HE WAS ON THE ROAD TO JERUSALEM Luke 19:41-44: When Jesus drew nigh Jerusalem He wept over the city and tells His disciples of the destruction of it in language that is similar to what He said in Luke 21:5-33. "And when he drew nigh, he saw the city and wept over it, saying, ‘If you had known in this day, even you, the things which belong unto peace! But, now they are hid from your eyes. FOR THE DAYS SHALL COME UPON YOU, WHEN YOUR ENEMIES WILL THROW UP A BANK ABOUT YOU, AND SURROUND YOU, AND HEM YOU IN ON EVERY SIDE, AND WILL LEVEL YOU TO THE GROUND AND YOUR CHILDREN WITHIN YOU; AND THEY SHALL NOT LEAVE IN YOU ONE STONE UPON ANOTHER; because you did not recognize the time of your visitation’" [Luke 19:41-44 New American Standard Version]. The Romans did surround Jerusalem, put up a bank against the wall to go over it, and did not leave one stone upon another.
[2] IN AN ADDRESS TO THE SCRIBES AND PHARISEE AT JERUSALEM: In Matthew 23 Jesus gives seven woes to the scribes and Pharisees [Matthew 23:13, 15, 16, 23, 25, 27 29] and ends the address with "Verily I say unto you, ALL THESE THINGS SHALL COME UPON THIS GENERATION. O Jerusalem, Jerusalem that kills the prophets, and stones them that are sent unto her! How often would I have gathered your children together, even as a hen gathers her chickens under her wings, and you would not! BEHOLD, YOUR HOUSE IS LEFT UNTO YOU DESOLATE" [Matthew 23:36-38]. In Matthew 24:34 He again says, "THIS GENERATION SHALL NOT PASS AWAY, TILL ALL THESE THINGS BE ACCOMPLISHED." All the woes in Matthew 23 and all the signs of Matthew 24 were to come upon that generation, before that generation passed away.
"ALL THESE THINGS SHALL COME UPON THIS GENERATION" Christ used "generation" twenty-five times IN REFERENCE TO THE JEWS OF HIS DAY, nine of the twenty-five are in Matthew [Matthew 11:16; 12:39; 12:41; 12:42; 12:45; 16:4; 17:17; 23:36; 24:24]. "But first he (Christ) must suffer many things and be rejected of THIS GENERATION" [Luke 17:25; also Mark 8:12; 8:12; 8:38; 9:19; 13:30; Luke 7:31; 9:41; 11:29; 11:30; 11:31; 11:32; 11:50; 11:51; 16:8; 17:25; 21:32]. "Genea," the Greek word from which "generation" is translated never means "race" as the Millennialists contend that it does in Matthew 24:34.
• " THIS GENERATION shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled" King James.
• "I tell you this: THE PRESENT GENERATION will live to see it all." New English Bible.
• "Remember this! All these things will happen before THE PEOPLE NOW LIVING have all died" Today's English Version.
• "THE PRESENT GENERATION will not pass away, till all this happens" Moffatt's Translation.
• "I tell you in solemn truth that THE PRESENT GENERATION will certainly not pass away until all this has taken place" Weymouth's Translation.
• "THIS GENERATION will not disappear till all this has taken place" Phillips Translation.
• "All these things will take place before THIS PRESENT GENERATION passes on" Modern Language Bible.
• "THE PRESENT GENERATION will not pass away until all this takes place" New American Bible.
• "THE PRESENT GENERATION will not pass away, till all this happens" James Moffat.
"THIS GENERATION" The generation of Jews in the time of Christ.
• John the Baptist: "O GENERATION OF VIPERS, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?" [Luke 3:7].
• Christ: "O GENERATION OF VIPERS, how can you, being evil, speak what is good?" [Matthew 12:34].
• "But to what shall I liken THIS GENERATION? It is like children sitting in the market places, who call out to the other children, and say, We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we song a dirge, and you did not mourn" [Matthew 11:16-19; Luke 7:31-33].
• Likened to Tyre and Sodom, which would have repented if they had seen the works did in Israel, but Israel would not repent [Matthew 11:20-24].
• "The men of Nineveh shall stand up with THIS GENERATION at the judgment, AND SHALL CONDEMN IT because they repented at the preaching Jonah; and behold, something greater than Jonah is here" [Matthew 12:41].
• "The Queen of the South shall rise up with THIS GENERATION at the judgment AND SHALL CONDEMN IT, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and behold, something greater than Solomon is here" [Luke 12:42].
• Likened to a man from which an unclean spirit went out but returned with seven other spirits that were more wicked. "This is the way it will also be with THIS EVIL GENERATION" [Luke 1243-45].
• "Why does THIS GENERATION seek for a sign? Truly I say to you, no sign shall be to THIS GENERATION" [Mark 8:12]
• "An EVIL AND ADULTEROUS GENERATION seeks after a sign; and no sign will not be given it, except the sign of Jonah" [Matthew 12:39; 16:4].
• "O UNBELIEVING AND PERVERTED GENERATION, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I put up with you?" [Matthew 17:17; Mark 9:19; Luke 9:41].
• "Therefore also said the wisdom of God, I will send unto them prophets and apostles; and some of them they shall kill and persecute; the blood of all the prophets, which were shed from the foundation of the world, MAY BE REQUIRED OF THIS GENERATION; from the blood of Abel unto the blood of Zechariah, who perished between the altar and the sanctuary: yea, I say unto you, IT SHALL BE REQUIRED OF THIS GENERATION" [Luke 11:49-51].
• "You serpents, you GENERATION OF VIPERS, how can you escape the judgment of Gehenna?" [Matthew 23:33].
• "All these things shall come upon THIS GENERATION" [Matthew 23:36].
• "Truly I say unto you, THIS GENERATION shall not pass away till all these things be accomplished" [Matthew 24:34].
• "Truly I say to you, THIS GENERATION shall not pass away until all these things take place" [Mark 13:30]. That generation passed away long ago.
• "But first He must suffer many things and be rejected by THIS GENERATION" [Luke 17:25].
• "Be saved from THIS PERVERSE GENERATION" [Acts 3:40]. This was said before A. D. 70
• "That you may prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent, children of God above reproach in the midst of A CROOKED AND PERVERSE GENERATION" [Philippians 2:15].
If "this generation" means "this race" as some Millennialists teach, are there forty-two "races" spoken of in Matthew 1:1-17?
The use of "YOU" clearly identified the "generation" Jesus was speaking to in Matthew 24. When speaking to His disciples Jesus said:
• "Do YOU not see all these things? Truly I say to YOU, not one stone here shall be left upon another" Verse 2.
• "See to it that no one misleads YOU" Verse 4.
• "YOU will be hearing of wars and rumors of wars" Verse 6. Not someone today will hear of wars.
• "See that YOU are not frightened" Verse 6.
• "They will deliver YOU to tribulation and will kill YOU, and YOU will be hated by all nations" Verse 9.
• "When YOU see the abomination of desolation which was spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place" Verse 15. "When YOU see Jerusalem compassed with armies" Luke 21:20. Not when someone today sees this. JERUSALEM COMPASSED WITH ARMIES, WHICH WERE SPOKEN OF BY DANIEL [Daniel 9:27] WAS TO BE IN THEIR TIME AND SEEN BY THEM.
• "Even so YOU too, when YOU see all these things, know YOU that He is nigh, even at the door" Verse 33. Not when someone today sees all these things.
• "I say unto YOU, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place" Verse 34.
• "For this reason YOU be ready too; for the Son of Man is coming at an hour when YOU do not think He will" Verse 44.
[3] THEN AN ADDRESS TO HIS DISCIPLES ON THE MOUNT OF OLIVES OVERLOOKING JERUSALEM: Matthew 24:1-51. There have been thousands of speculations made on Matthew 24 over the centuries, and it has perhaps been abused more than any other passage.
THE CONTEXT OF MATTHEW 24: It is in the midst of passages about Israel.
• The Two Sons [Matthew 21:27-32] Israel believed not Christ
• The Wicked Husbandman [Matthew 21:33-46]. (a) "He will miserably destroy those miserable men" (b) The stone, Christ, rejected by Israel and Israel “scatted as dust”
• The Marriage Feast [Matthew 22:1-14] "They that were bidden (Israel) was not worthy"
• The Seven Woes [Matthew 23:1-36] "All these things shall come upon this generation." Pronounced upon the scribes and Pharisees of His day.
• Their House (the Temple) left desolate [Matthew 23:27-39]
• Not One Stone Upon Another [Matthew 24:1-2] The Temple to be destroyed
o There question about what He had just said [Matthew 24:3]
o His answer [Matthew 24:4-31]
• The Fig Tree [Matthew 24:32-36] "This generation shall not pass away, till all these things be accomplished"
• Israel The Unfaithful Servant [Matthew 24:45-25:30]
MATTHEW 24
Matthew 24:1-2 "And Jesus went out from the temple, and his disciples came to him TO SHOW HIM THE BUILDINGS OF THE TEMPLE, but he answered and said unto them, see you not all these things? Verily I say unto you, THERE SHALL NOT BE LEFT HERE ONE STONE UPON ANOTHER, THAT SHALL NOT BE THROWN DOWN." The stones were the "buildings of the temple." THESE WORDS ARE THE REASON FOR THE QUESTIONS BY HIS DISCIPLES AND THE REASON FOR THE DISCOURSE THAT FOLLOWED. The purpose of this discourse was not to give His disciples signs of His coming at the end of the world but signs of the destruction of Jerusalem, to warn believers in that generation of the coming destruction of Jerusalem and to give them a sign for them to flee from the destruction coming in their lifetime. "But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then recognize that her desolation is nigh" [Luke 21:20; Matthew 24:15].
Matthew 24:3 "And as he sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, tell us"
Matthew 24:3
Question one: "Tell us, when shall THESE THINGS be?"
Question two: "And what shall be the sign of your coming, and of the end of the age?"
• Except for the bad translation of the King James Version ("end of the world") no one would see the end of the world in these two questions. The Greek says, "end of the age" (aion); not "end of the world" (kosmos). Not even the New King James Version would go along with the King James Version on this bad translation.
Mark 13:4
Question one: "Tell us, when shall THESE THINGS be?"
Question two: "And what shall be the sign when THESE THINGS are all about to be accomplished?"
Luke 21:6-7
Question one: "When therefore shall THESE THINGS be?"
Question two: "And what shall be the sign when THESE THINGS are about to come to pass?"
Question two as given in the three parallel accounts. All are the same question.
1. Matthew "And what shall be the sign of your coming, and of the end of the age?"
2. Mark "And what shall be the sign when THESE THINGS are all about to be accomplished?"
3. Luke "And what shall be the sign when THESE THINGS are about to come to pass?"
"THESE THINGS" were the things Christ had just said, "And Jesus said unto him, ‘Do you see these great buildings? There shall not be left here one stone upon another, which shall not be thrown down.’ And as he seat on the Mount of Olives over against the temple, Peter and James and John and Andrew asked him privately, ‘Tell us, when shall THESE THINGS be?’" [Mark 13:2-3]. The disciples, thinking of what the Lord had said, asked two questions, which they supposed both would be at the same time. (1) When shall THESE THINGS You speak of be (2) and what shall be the sign that THESE THINGS are about to come to pass? NEITHER IN WHAT CHRIST SAID OR IN THE QUESTIONS THE DISCIPLES ASKED IS THERE ANY REFERENCE TO THE SECOND COMING OR TO A GREAT TRIBULATON THOUSANDS OF YEARS AFTER "THESE THING." AT THE TIME THEY ASKED THESE QUESTIONS THEY DID NOT BELIEVE OR KNOW THAT JESUS WOULD BE PUT TO DEATH OR THAT HE WOULD BE GOING BACK TO HEAVEN AND COMING A SECOND TIME. THE DISCIPLES STILL THOUGHT THE CHRIST WOULD RESTORE THE EARTHY KINGDOM OF ISRAEL JUST AS ALL THE JEWS DID.
1. “And they understood none of these things, and this saying was hidden from them, and they did not comprehend the things that were said” [Luke 18:34; 19:11; 24:21-27; John 16:16-18; 20:9].
2. When they asked these two questions they did not know or believe Christ would die and be resurrected from the dead or know or believe anything about the second coming of Christ or the judgment day.
3. On the day of His resurrection they did not know it was the resurrected Christ they were talking to and said to Him, "But we hoped (past tense) that it was he who should REDEEM ISRAEL" [Luke 24:21]. Hoped that Christ was the one the Jews looked for to redeem Israel from Rome and restore it as a nation as it was under David.
4. Forty days after He was raised from the dead they still did not understand therefore, they still did not expect Christ to go away and return to earth a second time at the end of the world; they expected Him to restore the kingdom to Israel "They therefore, when they were come together, asked him, saying, Lord, do you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?" [Acts 1:6].
AT THE TIME THEY ASKED THIS, THEY DID NOT BELIEVE JUST AS THE JEWS DID NOT BELIEVE THAT THEIR MESSIAH WOULD BE KILLED, BUT THEY BELIEVED THAT HE WOULD SET UP AN EARTHLY KINGDOM OF ISRAEL. HOW COULD THEY BE ASKING ABOUT HIS SECOND COMING WHEY THEY DID NOT KNOW THERE WOULD BE A SECOND COMING? MILLENNIALISTS MUST MAKE THE DISCIPLES BE ASKING A QUESTION ABOUT THE SECOND COMING OF CHRIST THAT THE DISCIPLES DID NOT UNDERSTAND ABOUT OR BELIEVE AT THAT TIME, BUT THEY MUST HAVE THE DISCIPLES ASKING QUESTIONS ABOUT THE MILLENNIAL AND THE RAPTURE TO MAKE THIS CHAPTER TEACH THEIR VIEW. I have never seen where any Premillennialists explain how the disciples could know anything about the rapture and the thousand years when the same disciples did not knew that Christ was to die and be raised from the dead and forty days later ascend to Heaven. From where do they think these disciples had this knowledge?
[1] SIGNS OF THE THINGS THAT WERE TO COME TO PAST
THAT CHRISTIANS WERE TO WATCH FOR
Matthew 24:4-15: "And Jesus answered (His answer was to the questions they had asked about the destruction of the temple, not about His second coming) and said unto them, Take heed that no man lead you astray. For many shall come in my name, saying, I am the Christ; and shall lead many astray. And you shall hear of wars and rumors of wars; see that you are not troubled: for these things must needs come to pass; but the end is not yet. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; and there shall be famines and earthquakes in divers places. But, all these things are the beginning of travail. Then shall they deliver you up unto tribulation, and shall kill you: and you shall be hated of all the nations for my name's sake. And then shall many stumble, and shall deliver up one another, and shall hate one another. And many false prophets shall arise, and shall lead many astray. And because iniquity shall be multiplied, the love of many shall wax cold. But, he that endures to the end, the same shall be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world for a testimony unto all the nations; and then shall the end come. When; therefore, you see the abomination of desolation, which was spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place (let him that reads understand)."
[2] NATURAL DISASTERS TO ISRAEL AND ROME
(a) WARS AND RUMORS OF WARS [Matthew 24:6; Mark 13:7-8; Luke 21:9-10] with nations and kingdoms rising against each other [Matthew 24:7]. There were many conflicts and battles before A. D. 70 in which thousands of Jews were killed. In one battle with the Syrians about 5,000 Jews were killed. From A. D. 66 to 70 there were many wars and rumors of wars. Many thousands were killed in the many wars in the 5 years before the destruction of the temple and Israel in A. D. 70.
"The Jewish war began in A. D. 66, and ended five years after. During this period all the Roman Empire was filled with commotion. Nero, the emperor, was overthrown by Galba; six months after, Galba was overthrown by Otho; a few months after, Otho was overthrown by Vitelius; a little later, he was overthrown by Vespasian. All of these but the last, who ascended the throne shortly before Jerusalem was destroyed, died violent deaths...Tacitus, the Roman historian, says of this period: 'It was full of calamities, horrible with battles, rent with seditions, savage in peace itself.'" B. W. Johnson, "The People's New Testament With Notes" Gospel Light Publishing Company, 1889.
From the writing of Josephus we learn that the Jews were divided into parties fighting among themselves and Jews killed others Jews in numbers far greater then those killed by the Roman soldiers, and villages of Syria and elsewhere were burnt to the ground in the five years of war before the Romans laid siege to Jerusalem. During the siege many more Jews were killed by warring bands of Jews in Jerusalem, and Josephus says the Jews suffered far more from one another inside the walls of the city than from the Romans outside. Thousand more were killed by bands of robbers.
• "When Christ was born, there was a universal peace in the empire...From the time that the Jews rejected Christ, and he left their house desolate, the sword did never depart from their house, the sword of the Lord was never quiet, because he had given it a charge against a hypocritical nation and the people of his wrath, and by it brought ruin upon them." Matthew Henry, Matthew 24:6. Zondervan Publishing House, 1721.
(b) FAMINES IN DIVERS PLACES [Matthew 24:7; Mark 13:8; Luke 21:11]: In the years between the death of Christ and the destruction of Jerusalem there were severe famines especially in the area of Jerusalem. Paul took up a contribution for the poor among the saints at Jerusalem [Romans 15:25; 1 Corinthians 16:1-4] which many churches took part in. Agabus signified by the Spirit that there would be a great famine over all the world, which came to pass in the days of Claudius, and the disciples sent relief unto the disciples in Judea [Acts 11:28-29].
(c) PESTILENCES [Matthew 24:7 King James Version]: Pestilences tend to come with famine. There was a great one in AD 40 in Babylon when many Jews died and many more fled because of it. Another one in AD 65 in Rome when many died. I have seen no history that tells how many died by wars, famines, pestilences and earthquakes in the years before the destruction of Jerusalem, but no doubt it was hundreds of thousands. During the siege of Jerusalem but before the fall, the dead from famines and pestilences filled all the room for burial within the walls of the city and Josephus claims 600,000 more bodies were thrown out of the gates of Jerusalem and left unburialed.
(d) EARTHQUAKES IN DIVERS PLACES [Matthew 24:7]: The earthquakes are spoken of as a dreadful judgment against the nation of Israel, "But all these things are the beginning of travail" [Matthew 24:8].
"Of these significant emblems of political commotions, there occurred several within the scene of this prophecy, and, as our Savior predicted, in divers places in the reign of Claudius there was one at Rome, and another at Apamea in Syria, where many Jews resided. The earthquake at the latter place was so destructive, that the emperor, in order to relieve the distresses of the inhabitants, remitted its tribute for five years. Both these earthquakes are recorded by Tacitus. There was one also, in the same reign in Crete that is mentioned by Philostratus, in his Life of Apollonius, who says, that 'there were others at Smyrna, Miletus, Chios, and Samos; IN ALL WHICH PLACES JEWS HAD SETTLED.' In the reign of Nero there was an earthquake at Laodicea. Tacitus records this also. It is likewise mentioned by Eusebius and Orosius, who add that Hieropolis and Colose, as well as Laodicea, were overthrown by an earthquake. There was also one in Campania in this reign (of this both Tacitus and Seneca speak) and another at Rome in the reign of Galba, recorded by Suetonius." George P. Holford, "The Destruction Of Jerusalem," 1805.
Some cities of Israel were totaled destroyed by earthquakes before the destruction of Jerusalem. I have not found an estimate of how many Jews died by earthquakes but like both the famines and the pestilences, without doubt many more thousands died in the earthquakes before A. D. 70. Dr. Philip Schaff says there is scarcely another period in history so full of corruption, vice, and disaster as the six years between Neronian persecution in A. D. 64 and the destruction of Jerusalem in A. D. 70, History Of the Christian Church, New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge.
FOR MANY YEARS EARTHQUAKES, FAMINES, WARS, PESTILENCES HAVE REPEATEDLY BEEN MADE INTO A SURE SIGN THAT THE END IS AT HAND BY MANY WRITERS OF FICTION.
[3] PERSECUTION FIRST FROM JEWS
AND THEN ROME, AND THE SPREAD OF THE GOSPEL
(a) "BUT ALL THESE THINGS ARE THE BEGINNING OF TRAVAIL" [Matthew 24:9].
(b) CHRISTIANS WOULD BE DELIVER UP, KILLED AND HATED BY ALL THE NATIONS [Matthew 24:9]. The persecution of believers came first from the Jews. Acts 4:3; 4:18; 4:21; 5:18; 5:28; 6:12-14; 7:58-60; 8:1; 8:3; 9:1-2; 13:44-51; 14:2; 14:19; 17:5-8; 17:13; 26:9-10; Paul was one of the persecutors and then one of the persecuted. "Five times I received from the Jews thirty-nine lashes. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned...I have been in...dangers from my countrymen" [2 Corinthians 11:24-26]. "For you also suffer the same things of your own countrymen, even as they did of the Jews; who both killed the Lord Jesus and the prophet, and drove out us" [1 Thessalonians 2:14-15]. It was soon followed by the persecution of Nero of believers, which began about A. D. 64. After the fire in Rome Nero attempted to clear himself by blaming it on the Christians. He then persecuted the Christians with such cruelty that even many of his fellow Romans were taken back by his cruelty "But before all these things, they shall lay their hands on you, and shall persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues and prison, bringing you before kings and governors for my name's sake" [Luke 21:12]. See Hebrews 10:32-34. Both the persecution from the Jews and the persecution from Rome were severe. I have just touched the hem of the garment.
(c) MANY SHALL STUMBLE, DELIVER UP ONE ANOTHER, AND HATE ONE ANOTHER [Matthew 24:10]. As a result of the persecutions the weak stumbled. "And brother will deliver up brother to death, and a father his child; and children will rise up against parents, and cause them to be put to death. And you will be hated by all on account of My name...and a man's enemies will be the members of his household" [Matthew 10:22-36].
(d) MANY FALSE PROPHETS [Matthew 24:11]. See 2 Peter 2:1; 1 John 4:1; 2:18; Galatians 1:7. Many false teachers saying they were the Christ [Matthew 24:5]. Josephus says that they did come about the time of the end of Jerusalem.
“But whenever they persecute you in one city, flee to the next; for truly I say to you, you will not finish going through the cities of Israel until the Son of Man comes” [Matthew10:23].
“It is a coming, which was to take place before all the cities of Israel should be evangelized, and hence the reference must be, we think, to the providential coming to destroy the Jewish nationality” J. W. McGarvey, New Testament Commentary, Matthew and Mark, page 92.
“It would take place before all the cities of Israel should be evangelized, hence it would mean the coming of Christ to destroy the Jewish nationality” H. Leo Boles, The Gospel According To Matthew, page 230, Gospel Advocate, 1954.
(e) LIGHTNING "For just as the lightning comes from the east, and flashes even to the west, so shall the coming of the Son of Man be" [Matthew 24:27]. For the use of "lightning" in the Old Testament for God's angry and judgment see Exodus 19:16; 2 Samuel 22:7-15; Isaiah 30:27. It is also used symbolically in Revelation of judgments. Revelation 4:5; 11:19; 16:18. The false prophets saying they were the Christ were only seen by some. The coming of Christ in judgment on Israel with the total destruction of Israel as a country was seen in the entire known world just as lightning in the east is seen in the west.
(f) MANY DISCIPLES WILL FALL AWAY, BUT THOSE WHO REMAIN FAITHFUL SHALL BE SAVED [Matthew 24:13-14].
(g) THE GOSPEL SHALL BE PREACHED TO THE WHOLE WORLD [Matthew 24:14]. The persecution against the church in Jerusalem scattered the saints abroad, and they went about preaching the word everywhere. [Acts 8:1-4]. The gospel was preached throughout the world, as it was known before A. D. 70. “The word of the truth of the gospel, which is come unto you; even as it is also in all the world” [Colossians 1:6]; and "The hope of the gospel which you heard, which was preached in all creation under heaven" [Colossians 1:23]. Paul says to the Romans, "Your faith is proclaimed throughout the whole world" [Romans 1:8]. In Romans 10:18 he says, "Their voice has gone out into all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world." "World" as it is used in the New Testament is all the civilized world of that day, the entire known world. See Luke 2:1; Acts 11:28. "Now there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, from every nation under heaven" [Acts 2:5]. The devout Jews came from all over the world to Jerusalem for Pentecost and when Pentecost was over, they returned to all nations under heaven and some that believed the preaching of Peter and others took the Gospel with them. "The mystery...has been made known to all the nations" [Romans 16:25-26].
[4] THEN COMES THE END OF THE NATION OF ISRAEL
(a) THEN COMES THE END WHEN THEY SEE THE ROMANS IN JERUSALEM. "When; therefore, you see the abomination of desolation, which was spoken of through Daniel the prophet [Daniel 9:27], standing in the holy place" [Matthew 24:14-15]. The parallel passage in Luke 21:20 says, "But when you see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that her desolation is at hand." There will be no armies compassing around Jerusalem to see at the second coming of Jesus. In the Old Testament the worship of other gods is an "abomination" [Deuteronomy 7:25; 12:31; 17:3]. The Romans worshiped many gods. The idolatrous army of Rome in Jerusalem was an "abomination of desolation" to them. Daniel speaks of an "abomination of desolation" at a time when the regular sacrifice were abolished because of Israel going into captivity [Daniel 12:11; 9:27].
(b) "THEN LET THEM THAT ARE IN JUDAEA FLEE UNTO THE MOUNTAINS" [Matthew 24:16]. The last signs the disciples were to look for was the Roman army around Jerusalem. After going through the country around about Jerusalem and destroying the cities and killing many thousand of the Jews, Cestius Gallus came to within one mile of Jerusalem, then after about four days entered the city but fled with many Jews pursuing him. THE DISCIPLES WERE TO FLEE UNTO THE MOUNTAINS WHEN THEY SAW ALL THE ABOVE SIGNS. If this passage were speaking of the second coming of Christ, as many Premillennialists say it is, why were Christians told to flee to the mountains? In Luke Christ is speaking of the coming destruction of Jerusalem and tells the disciples, "But watch at every season, making supplication, that you may prevail TO ESCAPE all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man" [Luke 21:36]. They did watch and escape by fleeing to the mountains beyond the cities of Israel.
"After this disaster had befallen Cestius, the more opulent of the Jews (says Josephus) forsook Jerusalem as men do a sinking ship. And it is with reason supposed that on this occasion many Christians, or converted Jews, who dwelt there, recollecting the warnings of their divine Master, retired to Pella, a place beyond Jordan, situated in a mountainous country, whither (according to Eusebius, who resided near the spot) they came from Jerusalem, and settled, before the war (under Vespasian) began. Other providential opportunities for escaping afterwards occurred, of which, it is probable, those who were now left behind availed themselves; for it is a striking act, and such as cannot be contemplated by the pious mind without sentiments of devout admiration, THAT HISTORY DOES NOT RECORD THAT EVEN ONE CHRISTIAN PERISHED IN THE SIEGE OF JERUSALEM. Enduring to the end faithful to their blessed master, they, gave credit to his predictions, and escaped the calamity. Thus were fulfilled the words of our Lord, Matt. 24. 13. 'He that shall endure unto the end (i. e. of the scene of this prophecy) shall be saved,' i. e. from the calamities which will involve all those who shall continue obstinate in unbelief" George P. Holford, "The Destruction of Jerusalem."
"It is very remarkable that not a single Christian perished in the destruction of Jerusalem, though there were many there when Cestis Gallus invested the city; and, had he persevered in the siege, he would soon have rendered himself master of it; but, when he unexpectedly and unaccountably raised the siege, the Christians took that opportunity to escape." Adam Clarke, Commentary on Matthew.
At the second coming of Jesus no one will see the Roman army and flee to the mountains. Premillennialists believe and teach that the rapture will be at the time of this great tribulation, therefore, the saints could not flee to the mountains for they would be "up in the sky with Christ" in the rapture; but Jesus clearly told them to flee to the mountains when the tribulation begins. Christians were to (and did) flee from Jerusalem; from the very place where Premillennialists say Christ will come to and set up His kingdom, and if this passage were about a millennial coming, they were told to flee from Jerusalem at the very time when many Millennialists say He will be coming to Jerusalem to set up His kingdom.
That this is not the second coming of Christ is shown by the fact that both living and dead believers did not meet the Lord in the air in A. D. 70, but that only the living believers were to flee to the mountains.
INSTRUCTIONS AND WARNING TO THE DISCIPLES
Matthew 24:17-20: "Let him that is on the housetop not go down to take out the things that are in his house: (18) and let him that is in the field not return back to take his cloak. (19) But woe unto them that give suck in those days! (20) And pray you that your flight be not in the winter, neither on a Sabbath; for then shall be great tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of the world (aion-age) until now, no, not ever shall be. (22) And except those days had been shortened, no flesh would have been saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened. (23) Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is the Christ, or, Here; believe it not. (24) For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders; so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect. (25) Behold, I have told you beforehand. (26) If; therefore, they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the wilderness; go not forth: Behold, he is in the inner chambers; believe it not. (27) For as the lightning comes forth from the east, and is seen even unto the west; so shall be the coming of the Son of man. (28) Where so ever the carcass is, there will the eagles be gathered together."
"For then shall be great tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of the world (aion-age) until now, no, not ever shall be." This is speaking of the Jewish age, not all time. Not of the destruction of the flood before the Jewish age and not speaking of any war after the end of the Jewish age. Daniel 12:1 says, "And there will be a time of distress such as never occurred since there was a nation until that time." Daniel vision about Israel and Michael was speaking only of Israel and should be understood as "since there was a nation of Israel." It is speaking only of the wars and captivities of Israel, not of other nations, not anything before Israel was a nation, or after the destruction of Israel.
(a) Those in Jerusalem were to flee without taking time to take things from their house, and those in field were not to take the time to return to their house for things [Matthew 24:18-19]. "But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then recognize that her desolation is at hand. Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, and let those who are in the midst of the city depart, and let not those who are in the country enter the city" [Luke 20:20-21].
No one, saved or lost, will be able to flee to the mountains to escape at the second coming of Jesus. The saved will not want to and the lost will not be able to. Neither will armies surround Jerusalem at the second coming of Christ. Nevertheless, Millennialists attempt to make this be an army of Satan surrounding Christ and His saints in the Millennial Kingdom. Would those who were with Christ in Jerusalem be told to flee to the mountains to escape the army of Satan? If they were, it would give Satan more power than Christ has for He would not be able to protect them from Satan.
The saints that were to flee to the mountains would be in the mountains at the time of rapture, not ruptured to Heaven where the Millennialists say they will be. Although this is a key passage to the Millennia theory it is an undeniable contradiction to the rapture theory.
(b) Woe unto them that have a small child [Matthew 24:29]. Those with a child would have hardships in fleeing to the mountains, but at the end of the world this will be no problem, no woe to those who will be caught up to meet Jesus in the air.
(c) They were to pray that it not be in the winter or on a Sabbath for the gates of Jerusalem were closed, and no one could depart from the city [Matthew 24:20]. Because the streams were then impassable from the heavy rains, the cold wet weather would be hard on those who were fleeing. The gates of Jerusalem have never been closed after A. D. 70 and it will be no problem if the gates of Jerusalem, or any city was closed at the second coming, nor will impassable streams or cold weather be a problem at the second coming.
Hindrances to flight from Jerusalem in A. D. 70 that would be no hindrances at the second coming.
• Having a small child [Matthew 24:19]
• In the winter and bad weather [Matthew 24:20]
• On a Sabbath day with the gates of Jerusalem closed [Matthew 24:20]
(d) There would be a greater tribulation than had been from the beginning of the age. [Matthew 24:20-22].
(e) There would be many false Christs and prophets that would show great signs [Matthew 24:23-27]. But, when Christ came in judgment on Israel He was seen by all through His judgment. False Christs and prophets will not be a sign of His second coming at the end of the world.
(f) Where so ever the dead body of Israel was (the carcass) the eagles would gather [Matthew 24:28]. The Jewish nation was a dead and rotting carcass with its birds of prey.
• First: many false Christs.
• Second: Christ coming seen by all.
• Third: Then the dead carcass of Israel. That Christ being seen by all is the coming of Christ in judgment on Israel and not His second coming is shown by it being between the false Christs and the dead carcass of Jerusalem.
1. False Christs
2. Then Christ coming in judgment on Israel
3. Then the dead carcass of Jerusalem
"For these are days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled" [Luke 21:22]. Jeremiah ends his prophecy made in Gehenna [valley of Topheth] outside of Jerusalem with, "Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, 'Behold, I am about to bring on this city and all its towns the entire calamity that I have declared against it because they have stiffened their necks so as not to heed My words'" [Jeremiah 19:15].
FIRST CENTURY OR TODAY?
(a) "Let him that is on the housetop not go down." Most first century houses in Jerusalem had flat roofs, and a person could travel through the city from one housetop to the next. Today there are almost none with flat roofs and what few there may be would not be useful as a roadway to the gate of the city.
(b) Not on the Sabbath. The gates would be closed, and no one would be able to leave the city. Today there are no gates. The Law forbids going more than a Sabbath day journey, which is less than a mile, and others Jews might have stopped them for breaking the Law.
(c) Not in the winter. Travel would be hard then but not today with today's ways of travel.
(d) "For the days shall come upon you when your enemies shall cast up a bank about you, and compass you round, and keep you on in on every side" [Luke 19:43-44]. Then the common way that was used by the Romans to take a walled city was to build an embankment next to the wall for the army to walk up to the top of the wall. Today's cities, not even Jerusalem, do not have walls as they would be useless with modern planes and explosives.
(f) "And except those days had been shortened, no flesh would have been saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened." After Jerusalem was completely destroyed, the cities of Israel that had not been destroyed before Jerusalem was also destroyed. If the Roman army had kept going, the fateful Jews beyond the mountains where Christians had fled to would have also been destroyed. This would make no sense when it is applied to the second coming of Christ as it is by many Millennialists.
Luke 21:24 "And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led captive into all the nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled." In A. D. 70 all the Jews that were in Israel that was not killed were led captive into all the nations. The siege of Jerusalem was at the time of the Passover when millions were within the walls of the city. IF THIS WERE SPEAKING OF THE MILLENNIUM WHO IS GOING TO FALL BY THE SWORD AND BE LED CAPTIVE AT THE COMING OF CHRIST?
"Of the Jews destroyed during the siege, Josephus reckons not less than ONE MILLION AND ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND, to which must be added, above TWO-HUNDRED AND THIRTY-SEVEN THOUSAND who perished in other places, AND INNUMERABLE MULTITUDES WHO WERE SWEPT AWAY BY FAMINE, AND PESTILENCE, AND OF WHICH NO CALCULATION COULD BE MADE. Not less than two thousand laid violent hands upon themselves. Of the captives the whole was about NINETY-SEVEN THOUSAND." George P. Holford, "The Destruction of Jerusalem." He also says that at this time bands of robbers and murderers plundered the other towns and slew the resistance of many of the towns.
"No history can furnish us with a parallel to the calamities and miseries of the Jews:-rape, murder, famine, and pestilence within: fire and sword, and all the horrors of war, without. Our Lord wept at the foresight of these calamities; and it is almost impossible for any humane person to read the relation of them in Josephus without weeping also." Adam Clarke, Commentary on Matthew.
"And indeed the multitude of carcasses that lay in heaps one upon another was a horrible sight, and produced a pestilential stench, which was a hindrance to those that would make sallies out of the city, and fight the enemy: but as those were to go in battle-array, who had been already use to ten thousand murders, and must tread upon those dead bodies as they marched along, so they were not terrified, nor did they pity men as they marched over them." Josephus, The Wars Of The Jews Or The History Of The Destruction Of Jerusalem, Book VI, Page 1. This is only a small sample of the pages in Josephus's history of the destruction of the Jews as a nation, of the wars of the Jews with the Romans before, during, and after the destruction of Jerusalem, of the famines, pestilence and earthquakes through out all Israel unto the entire nation was destroyed. It is not for those with a weak stomach.
"The Roman leaders endeavored to strike terror to the Jews and thus, cause them to surrender. Those prisoners, who resisted when taken, were scourged, tortured, and crucified before the wall of the city. Hundreds were daily put to death in this manner, and the dreadful work continued until, along the Valley Jehoshaphat and at Calvary, crosses were erected in so great numbers that there was scarcely room to move among them. So terrible was the visited that awful imprecation uttered before the judgment seat of Pilate: 'His blood be on us, and on our children Matthew 27:25'" “The Great Controversy” The nation of Israel sowed a cross and reaped thousands of crosses.
"Verily I say unto you, there shall not be left here one stone upon another" [Matthew 24:2]. Titus wanted to save the temple and give command that it be not destroyed, but Christ had said it would be. It was set on fire against the command of Titus, and the gold melted and ran down into the foundation stones and the soldiers dug down to the foundation stones looking for the gold; not one stone was left on another. In Luke's account of this [Luke 19:41-44] he says the temple would be even with the ground. After the destruction of Jerusalem one could not know by looking at the spot that the temple had been on it. A Moslem Mosque, called the Dome of the Rock, is now on the spot where the temple was.
"Daniel also wrote concerning the Roman government, and that our country should be made desolate by them." Josephus, "Antiquities of the Jews" 10.11.7.
IN THEIR BOOKS OF FICTION THE COMING MILLENNIUM TRIBULATION IS OFTEN BASED ON MATTHEW 24 WHICH HAS ALREALY CAME IN A. D. 70 BEFORE THAT GENERATION PASSED AWAY [MATTHEW 24:34]. "For then shall be great tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of the world (aion-age)." The purpose of this discourse was not to give his disciples signs of His coming at the end of the world but signs of the destruction of Jerusalem, to warn believers in that generation of the coming destruction of Jerusalem and to give them a sign for them to flee from the destruction coming in their lifetime. [Matthew 24:21].
THE CARCASS OF ISRAEL
"Where so ever the carcass is, there will the eagles be gathered together" Matthew 24:28.
"I wonder and can any understand these words of pious men flying to Christ, [in the rapture] when the discourse here is of quite a different thing: they are thus connected to the forgoing: Christ shall be revealed with a sudden vengeance; for when God shall cast of the city and people, grown ripe for destruction, like a carcass thrown out, the Roman soldiers, like eagles, shall straight fly to it with their eagles (ensigns) to tear and devout it." John Lightfoot, Matthew 24:28 "A Commentary on Matthew."
NOT JERUSALEM ONLY BUT ALL THE NATION OF ISRAEL WAS DESTROYED, AND ALL THE LAND THAT WAS THE NATION OF ISRAEL WAS TAKEN OVER BY OTHER PEOPLE. THE NATION OF ISRAEL CAME TO AN END. The Jewish religion was centered round and totally dependence on the sacrifices which could only be performed at the Temple and only by the Levitical priesthood. Both came to an end and have not been restored to this day.
IMMEDIATELY AFTER THE DESTRUCTION
OF JERUSALEM AND ALL ISRAEL
Matthew 24:29-31: "But immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: (30) and then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. (31) And he shall send forth his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other."
Matthew 24:1-28 is speaking of the destruction of Jerusalem. Then in the next verse Christ says, "But immediately after the tribulation of those days" and gives a list in verses 29-31 of things that are to happen then, immediately after the destruction, not at His second coming. Then in verses 32-44 He gives us the parable of Israel the fig tree in which His coming was "nigh, even at the doors." These verses are highly symbolic of something that took place immediately after the destruction of Jerusalem. In symbolic language the sun is a great ruler on this earth, and the stars are lesser rulers. There were no rulers or teachers in Israel immediately after the destruction of Jerusalem and all the cities of Israel. All was darkness for Israel. "And then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn" (see Matthew 10:23 where the coming of Christ is in judgment on Israel). In the next parable, Christ is "nigh, even at the doors" and "this generation shall not pass away till all these things be accomplished." Though not literally, Christ did come in judgment in the destruction of Jerusalem. If this were at the judgment when all will be raised from the dead for judgment by Christ, I find it difficult to see how any could think that He will not give forth His light at the Judgment, and what then are the stars that shall fall from Heaven? If verses 30 and 31 were speaking of the second coming, they would be out of place for the second coming was not "immediately after the tribulation of those days" (verse 29) and not in the "generation that shall not pass away till all these things be accomplished" (verse 34). Many teach that the things in Matthew 24 are events that are happening today, but if so, there would some very old people be living today.
The "great tribulation" of Matthew 24:21 is now past history, not something still to come. "But IMMEDIATELY AFTER THE TRIBULATION OF THESE DAY the sun shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken" [Matthew 24:29]. Jesus used the same symbolic language to describe the fall of Israel that Isaiah used to describe the fall of Babylon [Ezekiel 32:7-9] and is commonly used in the Old Testament. "For the stars of heaven and their constellations will not flash forth their light; the sun will be dark when it rises, and the moon will not shed its light" [Isaiah 13:10]. Luke added, "And upon the earth distress of nations" [Luke 21:21]. The sun being darkened was immediately after the tribulation Christ was speaking of, which was in A. D. 70, not a tribulation yet to come after the second coming of Christ. MOST MILLENNIALISTS MOVE THE SUN BEING DARKEN FROM “IMMEDIATELY AFTER THE TRIBULATION” AND MAKE IT BEING DARKEN BE THE TRIBULATION, not something that comes “after the tribulation.”
• Darken “immediately after the tribulation.”
• Not darken during the tribulation as Premillennialists teach.
1. The same figurative language of the sun, moon and stars being darken or falling from heaven is also used of the fall of Judea [a national judgment] in Jeremiah 4:1-28.
2. Of the fall of Israel [Amos 8:6-9; 8:18-20].
3. Of the fall of Israel [Zephaniah 1:14-18].
4. Of the fall of the Nations [Joel 3:15-16; 2:31].
5. Of the fall of Egypt [Ezekiel 30:3-4; 32:7-8; Isaiah 19:1].
6. Of the fall of Babylon [Isaiah 13:10-20].
7. Of the fall of Edom [Isaiah 34:4-6].
8. Of the city of Arier in Israel [Isaiah 29:5-6].
9. Of the fall of "My people" [Isaiah 51:5-6].
10. Also see Joel 2:1-31; 30:31; Haggai 2:6-7; Amos 8:9; Jeremiah 15:9 46:7; 49:23-24; Isaiah 17:12-13; 19:1; 47:20; 64:3; Daniel 7:2-17; Exodus 19:16; 13:21-22; 14:19-31; Psalm 18:13; 104:3; Ezekiel 34:4; Nahum 1:3. THIS WAS FAMILIAR LANGUAGE TO THOSE JESUS WAS SPEAKING TO AND THEY WOULD HAVE UNDERSTOOD HIM TO BE SPEAKING OF THE FALL OF A NATION, NOT OF THE END OF THE WORLD. It is similar to that in Deuteronomy 23:22-28 and both are a judgment on Israel.
11. Compare Matthew 24:29-30 to the fall of Egypt. "And when I extinguish you, I will cover the heavens, and darken their stars; I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon shall not give its light. All the shining lights in the heavens I will darken over you and will set darkness on your land, declares the Lord God. I will also trouble the hearts of many peoples, when I bring your destruction among the nations" [Ezekiel 32:7-9]. As far as these nations were concerned the lights went out.
Matthew 24:30: "Then shall appear the sign of the Son of Man in Heaven." "In Heaven" is where the Son of Man is, not where the sign would appear. What did appear was the destruction of Israel. The sign proves that the man Israel rejected is the Lord and is the ruler over all nations, and He has the power to destroy the nations that reject Him.
In speaking of God's coming in judgment on Egypt Isaiah says, "The oracle concerning Egypt. Behold, the Lord is riding on a swift cloud, and is about to come to Egypt" [Isaiah 19:1; also Jeremiah 4:13; Ezekiel 30:3-4]. This is not God literally riding a cloud into Egypt, but is figurative language of His coming in judgment on Egypt. When they saw Jerusalem destroyed, they were seeing Jesus coming in judgment on that city. Jesus told the high priest, "YOU SHALL SEE THE SON OF MAN SITTING AT THE RIGHT HAND OF POWER, AND COMING ON THE CLOUDS OF HEAVEN" [Mark 14:62]. The high priest did not literally see Jesus in Heaven, but he and all Israel did see the coming of Jesus in judgment on Israel.
"The signs in the heavens, the darkening sun and falling stars, refer to the falling of Jewish dignitaries, casting down of authorities and powers, long established, and signified the darkness that settled upon the Jewish state, the sun of the Hebrew temple was darkened, the moon of the Jewish commonwealth was as blood, the stars of Sanhendrin fell from their high seats of authority...The sign of the Son of man in the heaven was a signal, the evidence of divine visitation and intervention in the downfall of the Jewish authorities and in all the transpiring events. The mourning of all the tribes of the earth refers to the lamentation of the Jewish families all over the world because of the destruction of their city and their temple and their state. The coming of the Son of man in the clouds of heaven is not a reference to the second coming of Christ but to the coming foretold by Jesus to Caiaphas in Matthew 26:64: 'Hereafter shall you see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power and coming in the clouds of Heaven.' Jesus told Caiaphas that he would see it, he would be living witness to these event" Foy E. Wallace Jr., "The Book of Revelation" Page 354.
"And then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn." When their country was destroyed, the Jews that were in other parts of the earth would mourn. The word translated "earth" is "gee" and in the King James Version is translated "land" forty-one times, "ground" eighteen times and "country" two times. "Gee" is translated land in Matthew 2:6; 2:20; 2:21; 4:15; 9:26; 11:24; 14:34; 27:45; Mark 4:1; 6:47; 6:53; 15:33; Luke 4:25; 5:3; 5:11; 5:24; 8:27; 14:35; 21:23; John 3:22; 6:21; 21:8; 21:9; 21:11; Acts 7:3; 7:4; 7:4; 7:6; 7:11; 7:29; 7:33; 7:36; 7:4013:17; 13:19; 13:19; Hebrews 8:9; 11:9; Jude 5. "Gee" is translated "ground" in Matthew 9:29; 13:8; 13:23; 15:35; Mark 4:8; 4:20; 4:26; 8:6; 9:20; 24:35; Luke 8:8; 8:15; 22:44; John 8:6; 8:8; 12:24; Acts 7:33. "Gee" is translated "country" in Matthew 9:31 and Acts 7:3. Had it been translated "land" in Matthew 24:30, "And then shall all the tribes of the land [gee] mourn" most of the confusion would not have existed. See Zechariah 12:11-12.
"And he will send forth His angels with a great trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other" [Matthew 24:31]. Still speaking in figurative language Jesus is saying He will send His messengers into all the world with His Gospel and gather them to Him in His kingdom, the church. Just as there was not literally a "great trumpet" that was heard in Egypt and Assyria [Isaiah 27:13], there was not literally a "great trumpet" after the fall of Jerusalem. "And they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other," is figurative language meaning from all over the earth, just as is "from east and west, and from north and south" [Luke 13:29 also see Matthew 24:14]. All the saved "His elect" are now gathered together in His kingdom, the church.
Those in the first century would understand "blood, fire, vapor and smoke" to be used as it was in the Old Testament [Acts 2:19; Joel 2:28-32], but would never have understood it to be referring to a nuclear war as many Millennialists apply it. Christ used the symbolic language of the Old Testament as it was used in the Old Testament, as those hearing Him would have understood, not something in today's newspapers. Literally, that day was an ordinary day; the moon was not literally turned into blood, but spiritually it was an earth shaking day. Even the Millennialists who say all scripture must be interpreted literally do not believe the moon will ever literally be turned to blood.
THE SON OF MAN SEEN COMING IN HIS KINGDOM "Truly I say to you, there are some of those who are standing here who shall not taste death until they SEE THE SON OF MAN COMING in His kingdom" [Matthew 16:28]. The parallel passage in Mark says, "Truly I say to you, there are some of those who are standing here who shall not taste death until they see the kingdom of God after it has come with power" [Mark 9:1]. His kingdom came in Acts 2; therefore, Christ was seen coming in His kingdom in power and glory in A. D. 30. Christ came both in the coming of His kingdom and in judgment on Israel, but neither one was a visible coming as the second coming that will be seen by all, both all the living and all the dead will see Him. The problem many have when they read Matthew 24 is that they see only His second coming and therefore must interpret much of Matthew 24 to be speaking of the end of time. Neither His coming in His kingdom in A. D. 30, nor His coming in judgment on Israel in A. D. 70 was the second coming when the saved will put on immortality and forever be with Him.
COMING OF CHRIST BEFORE HIS DISCIPLES HAD GONE THROUGH THE CITIES OF ISRAEL. Matthew 10:16-23 "Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be you therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves. But beware of men: for they will deliver you up to councils, and in theirs synagogues they will scourge you; and before governors and kings shall you be brought for my sake, for a testimony to them and to the Gentiles. But when they deliver you up, be not anxious how or what you shall speak: for it shall be given you in that hour what you shall speak. For it is not you that speak, but the Spirit of your Father that speaks in you. And brother shall deliver up brother to death, and the father his child: and children shall rise up against parents, and cause them to be put to death. And you shall be hated of all men for my name's sake: but he that endures to the end, the same shall be saved. But when they persecute you in this city, flee into the next: for verily I say unto you, You shall not have gone through the cities of Israel, till the Son of man be come."
"After the destruction of Jerusalem seventeen hundred Jews who surrendered at Macherus were slain, and of fugitives not less than three thousand in the woods of Jardes. Titus having marched his army to Caesarea, he (Titus) there, with great splendor, celebrated the birthday of his brother Domitian; and according to the barbarous manner of those times, punished many Jews in honor of it. The number who was burnt, and who fell by fighting with wild beasts, and in mutual combats, exceeded two thousand five hundred." G. Holford, The Destruction of Jerusalem.
Adam Clarke lists some that were killed at other places. "The inhabitants of Caesarea, above 20,000. At Scythopolis, above 13,000. At Ascalon, 2,500. At Ptolemais, 2,000. At Alexandria, 50,000. At Joppa, when taken by Cestius Gallus, 8,400. In a mountain called Asamon, near Sepporis, above 2,000. At Damascus, 10,000. In a battle with the Romans at Ascalon, 10,000. In an ambuscade near the same place, 8,000. At Japha, 15,000. Of the Samaritans, on Mount Gerizim, 11,600. At Jotapa, 40,000. At Joppa, when taken by Vespasian, 4,200. At Tarichea, 6,500. And after the city was taken, 1,200. At Gamala, 4,000, besides 5,000 who threw themselves down a precipice. Of those who fled with John, of Gischala, 6,000. Of the Gadarenes, 15,000 slain, besides countless multitudes drowned. In the village of Idumea, above 10,000 slain. At Gerasa, 1,000. At Machaerus, 1,700. In the wood of Jardes, 3,000. In the castle of Masada, 960. In Cyrene, by Catullus the governor, 3,000. Besides these, many of every age, sex, and condition, were slain in the war, who are not reckoned; but, of those who are reckoned, the number amounts to upwards of 1,357,660, which would have appeared incredible, if their own historian had not so particularly enumerated them." Clarke's Commentary on Matthew. The unknown number that was destroyed throughout the country by pestilence, famine, earthquakes and robbers throughout the reign both before the destruction of Jerusalem, during the destruction, and the years after it must be added to this. Also, Adam Clarke says most of those taken captive "above seventeen years old were distributed through the Roman provinces, to be destroyed in their theaters by the sword, and by the wild beasts."
AFTER TITUS CAME ADRIAN
All of Israel was destroyed.
"'In the reign of Adrian,' say Bishop Newton, 'nine hundred and eighty-five of their best towns were sacked and demolished, five hundred and eighty thousand men fell by the sword, in battle, besides, an infinite multitude who perished by, famine, and sickness, and fire; so that Judea was depopulated, and an almost incredible number of every age and of each sex, were sold like horses and dispersed over the face of the earth' - (Newton, vol. I, Page xviii.) The war which gave rise to these calamities happened about forty-four years after the destruction of Jerusalem" G. Holford, The Destruction of Jerusalem.
"Therefore, behold, the days come, says Jehovah, that it shall no more be called Topheth, not the Valley of the son of Hinnom, but the valley of slaughter: for they shall bury in Topheth, till there be no place to bury. And the dead bodies of this people shall be food for the birds of the heavens, and for the beasts of the earth; and none shall frighten them away. THEN WILL I CAUSE TO CEASE FROM THE CITIES OF JUDAH, AND FROM THE STREETS OF JERUSALEM, THE VOICE OF MIRTH AND THE VOICE OF GLADNESS, THE VOICE OF THE BRIDEGROOM AND THE VOICE OF THE BRIDE; FOR THE LAND SHALL BECOME A WASTE" [Jeremiah 7:32-34].
John Calvin, "For within fifty years the city was destroyed and the temple ruined, THE WHOLE COUNTRY WAS REDUCED TO A HIDEOUS DESERT." "Commentary on a Harmony of the Evangelist, Matthew, Mark, and Luke." All Israel, the whole nation, not just the temple was totally destroyed, "reduced to a hideous desert."
David Chilton, "'Let Him be Crucified! Let Him be Crucified! His blood be on us, and on our children!' the apostates had cried forty years earlier (Matthew 27:22-25); and when it was all over, more than a million Jews had been killed in the siege of Jerusalem; close to a million more were sold into slavery throughout the empire, and whole of Judea lay smoldering in ruins, virtually depopulate." "The Great Tribulation" 1987, Dominion Press.
Josephus says, "The countryside, like the city, was a pitiful sight, for where once there had been a multitude of trees and parks, there was now an utter wilderness stripped bare of timber; and no stranger who has seen the old Judea and the glorious suburbs of her capital, and now beheld utter desolation, could refrain from tears or suppress a groan at so terrible a change. the war had blotted out every trace of beauty, and no one who had known it in the past and came upon it suddenly would have recognized the place, for though he was already there, he would still have been looking for the city" The Jewish War.
"The Dead Sea too was filled with corpses which the river (the Jordan River) carried down to it by the thousands" Josephus.
"And except these days had been shortened, no flesh would have been saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened" [Matthew 24:22]. If the war had gone on it would have reached beyond Israel unto Pella and other cities in the mountains where many Christians were that had left Israel; but it was stopped before it reached them. "No flesh" will be saved at the second coming. "Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God" [1 Corinthians 15:50]. That the days were shortened and some flesh was saved proves this is not speaking of the second coming of Christ.
[5] HE (CHRIST) IS NIGH, EVEN AT THE DOORS: Matthew 24:32-44
"Now from the fig tree learn her parable: when her branch is now become tender, and puts forth its leaves, you know that the summer is nigh; (33) even so you also, WHEN YOU SEE ALL THESE THINGS, KNOW YOU THAT HE IS NIGH, EVEN AT THE DOORS. (34) VERILY I SAY UNTO YOU, THIS GENERATION SHALL NOT PASS AWAY, TILL ALL THESE THINGS BE ACCOMPLISHED. (35) Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away. (36) But of that day and hour knows no one, not even the angels of heaven, neither the Son, but the Father only. (37) And as were the days of Noah, so shall be the coming of the Son of man. (38) For in those days which were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark, (39) and they knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall be the coming of the Son of man. (40) Then shall two men be in the field; one is taken, and one is left; (41) two women shall be grinding at the mill; one is taken, and one is left. (42) Watch; therefore: for you know not on what day your Lord comes. (43) But know this that if the master of the house had known in what watch the thief was coming, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to broken through. (44) Therefore be you also ready; for in an hour that you think not the Son of man comes." This makes it clear that all Jesus had said before this applies to the destruction of Jerusalem and not to His second coming for "this generation" has long ago passed away. "ALL THESE THINGS" are the things He has just told them. When they saw the signs coming to pass, they know that the end of the temple and Israel was at hand. Although we are to watch and always be ready, we are not given any signs as they were that we can see and know that His coming is soon, not even that it will be in our lifetime or in the next thousand or ten thousand years. Commentaries on verses 35-44 are divided on whether this is speaking of the coming of Christ in judgment on Israel or His second coming. It seems unlikely to me that He would have changed from speaking of judgment on Israel in verse 34, then His second coming in verse 35, and back to judgment on Israel in verse 40 with nothing to show He changed. He was speaking to His disciples at this time [Matthew 24:1], and telling them they were to watch for the signs He gave them of His coming in judgment on Israel. We are given no signs to watch for but are always to be ready for His second coming.
"ALL THESE THINGS" Is things before 70 A. D., not at the second coming of Jesus. Luke says, "But when THESE THINGS begin to come to pass, look up, and lift up your heads; because your redemption draws nigh" [Luke 21:38]. This redemption draws nigh to those of that generation. It was a redemption from the persecution of the Jews. "This generation shall not pass away, till ALL THINGS be accomplished" Luke 21:32. Not the redemption of the U. S. from Russia or any other redemption today.
• "But before all THESE THINGS, they shall lay hands on you, and shall persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues and prisons" Luke 21:12.
• "This generation shall not pass away, till ALL THINGS be accomplished" Luke 21:32, Matthew 24:34.
• "As for THESE THINGS which you behold (The temple and how it was adorned) the days will come, in which there shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down" Luke 21:5.
• "When therefore shall THESE THINGS be?" (Not one stone upon another) Luke 21:7.
• "And what shall be the sign when THESE THINGS are about to come to pass?" Luke 21:7.
• "And when you shall hear of wars and tumults, be not terrified: for THESE THINGS must needs come to pass first; but the end is not immediately" Luke 21:9.
• "But when THESE THINGS begin to come to pass" Luke 21:28.
• "Even so you also, when you see THESE THINGS coming to pass" Luke 21:31.
• "But watch you at every season, making supplication, that you may prevail to escape all THESE THINGS that shall come to pass" Luke 21:36.
Matthew 24:34 is a key to understanding all that came to pass before it, all that has been said up to this point must come before "this generation" would pass away. Not at the second coming of Jesus at the end of the world. A generation is about 40 years. It is the same "generation" spoken of in Matthew 23:36.
Matthew 24:35 "Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away." He had assured them that the end of Jerusalem was coming, now He assured them that His word would come to pass, that the heavens would end and the earth would pass away but not His word; the end of Jerusalem was sure. He was speaking of the end of the Jewish heavens and earth, the end of their nation, not the end of the world. They did not know the season when the end would come but was told to pray that it be not in the winter season, nor did they know the day but were told to pray that it not be on a Sabbath Day. "But watch you at every season, making supplication, THAT YOU MAY PREVAIL TO ESCAPE ALL THESE THINGS THAT SHALL COME TO PASS, and to stand before the Son of man" [Luke 21:36; Matthew 24:42-44; Mark 13:35-37]. The Christians did watch and did escape all these things, all the things He has just warned them about what was coming to Israel; but no one will escape the judgment to come.
Just as Noah warned of the destruction of the world but did not give the exact time and all went on with their lives and did not pay attention to the warning, the warning of Christ were not heeded by the Jews and the end came when they were not looking for it. As in the flood only the evil was destroyed and the righteous saved, the unbelieving Jews were destroyed and the believers were saved; "two men in the field; one will be taken, and one will be left." The righteous would be left.
JOSEPHUS, the Jewish first century historian, recorded concerning the year 70, "Thus were the miserable people persuaded by these deceivers, and such as belied God himself; while they did not attend, nor give credit to the signs that were so evident and did so plainly foretell their future desolation; but, like men infatuated, without either eyes to see, or minds to consider, did not regard the denunciations that God made to them."
JOHN LIGHTFOOT (1859) "This generation shall not pass. Hence, it appears plain enough that the foregoing verses are not to be understood of the last judgment but, as we said, of the destruction of Jerusalem." (A Commentary of The New Testament, Volume 2, Page 320).
JOHN WESLEY (1754) "This generation of men now living shall not pass till all these things be done - The expression implies that great part of that generation would be passed away, but not the whole. Just so it was; for the city and temple were destroyed thirty-nine or forty years after."
MATTHEW HENRY "As to these things, the wars, seductions, and persecutions, here foretold, and especially of the ruin of the Jewish nation; 'This generation shall not pass away, till all these things be fulfilled (Mt 24:34); there are those now alive that shall see Jerusalem destroyed, AND THE JEWISH CHURCH BROUGHT TO AN END." One Volume Commentary on the Whole Bible.
JAMES D. BALES "And the destruction of the whole Jewish economy was the fulfillment of the rest of it (Joel's prophecy of the last days Acts 2:16-21). If there was one thing the Jew felt sure of it was that Jerusalem was the favored city of God and that its future supremacy among the nations was as certain to come as the sunrise. Its sacrifices would always be acceptable offered on the altars by the sons of Levi. Now we see the national life of Israel forever ended; the temple forever closed; the sacrifices become useless; the priesthood forgotten; and Israel no more to God than any other nation...If you could think of a pious Jew having gone to sleep three years before Christ was crucified and then wakened in a few years after the destruction of Jerusalem, what an utter bewilderment he would have! All that he supposed to be permanent was gone, and in place of it a company of men preaching God's love to all men, worshiping in all places, and claiming earthly dominion in none. He would well say this in indeed what Joel said to us" The Hub Of The Bible Or Acts Two Analyzed, Page 70, 1960.
[6] ISRAEL THE UNFAITHFUL SERVANT
Matthew 24:45-51
"Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom his lord has set over his household, to give them their food in due season? (46) Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he comes shall find so doing. (47) Verily I say unto you, that he will set him over all that he has. (48) But if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord terries; (49) and shall begin to beat his fellow-servants, and shall eat and drink with the drunken; (50) the lord of that servant shall come in a day when he expects not, and in an hour when he knows not, (51) and shall cut him asunder, and appoint his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth." Like all parables, all that are in them are not to be taken literally. They teach a lesson which is the main point of the parable. The point of this one is that Israel had been unfaithful and a judgment was coming.
[7] UNPROFITABLE SERVANT - OUTER DARKNESS
Matthew 25:30; 8:12; 22:13
IT WAS THE "UNPROFITABLE SERVANT" AND "SONS OF THE KINGDOM" THAT WERE CAST INTO OUTER DARKNESS, NOT THE ONES WHO NEVER BELIEVED, NOT THE LOST FOR THEY WERE NEVER IN THE KINGDOM. The Jews who rejected Christ were cast out of the light, no longer to be God's chosen people, into the darkness of the world without the light of God's revelation. Christ said many [the Gentiles] shall "came from the east and the west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven; but the sons of the kingdom shall be cast forth into outer darkness: there shall be the weeping and the gnashing of teeth." This says nothing about there being outer darkness in Hell. Fire and darkness do not go together. "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, that kills the prophets, and stones them that are sent unto her! How often would I have gathered your children together, even as a hen gathers her own brood under her wings, and you would not! Behold, your house is left unto you desolate" [Luke 13:33-34]. Their house without God in it is darkness. God and His light is now in the Church.
[8] THE WRATH IS COME UPON THEM TO THE UTTERMOST
"And all the people answered and said, His blood be on us and on our children!" [Matthew 27:25]. "For you also suffered the same things of your own countrymen, even as they did of the Jews; who both killed the Lord Jesus and the prophets, and drove out us, and please not God, and are contrary to all men; forbidding us to speak to the Gentiles that they may be saved; to fill up their sins always: BUT THE WRATH IS COME UPON THEM TO THE UTTERMOST" [1 Thessalonians 2:14-16]. This was written about A. D. 53, just a few years before the destruction of the nation of Israel in A. D. 70.
[9] MORE TOLERABLE
Christ spoke of the Day of Judgment for lands or cities. More tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah than for the cities that did not receive those He sent out [Matthew 10:14-15, Mark 6:11, Luke 10:10-12]. More tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah than for Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum [Matthew 11:21-24, Luke 10:10-12]. WHEN ARE CITIES AND NATIONS JUDGED? WHEN IS THEIR DAY OF JUDGMENT TO BE? "And you, Capernaum, will not be exalted to heaven, will you? You shall descend to Hades" [Matthew 11:23]. It was a great city but would go down to hades-the grave. Today, there are only a few ruins of Capernaum. They went from greatness (exalted to heaven) to non-existence (hades-the grave). Individuals, not nations and cities will be judged at the judgment at the second coming of Christ. Matthew 24 is of the judgment of Jerusalem [Matthew 23:36-38]. ALL THESE CITIES HAVE HAD A DAY OF JUDGMENT AND WERE BROUGHT DOWN TO THE GRAVE. THE DAY OF JUDGMENT FOR THEM IS PAST. The destruction of Sodom was quick and soon over. The destruction of Jerusalem, which saw and rejected Christ was long and drawn out with much more suffering, therefore, much less tolerable. The Day of Judgment for a city or a nation is the time when God will cause it to be destroyed. The Old Testament is full of God's judgment of cities and nations. THE DESTRUCTION OF THE CITIES THAT REJECTED CHRIST AND HIS APOSTLES WERE WORSE (Matthew 24:21) THAN THE DESTRUCTION OF THOSE IN THE OLD TESTAMENT. "These twelve Jesus sent out after instructing them, saying, Do not go in the way of the Gentiles, and do not enter any city of the Samaritans; but rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And as you go, preach, saying the kingdom of heaven is at hand...And as you enter the house, give it your greeting. And if the house is worthy, let your greeting of peace come upon it; but if it is not worthy, let your greeting of peace return to you. And whoever does not receive you, not heed your word, as you go out of that house or that city, shake off the dust of your feet. Truly I say to you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the Day of Judgment, than for that city. Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves; therefore be shrewd as serpents, and innocent as doves. But, beware of men; for they will deliver you up to the courts, and scourge you in their synagogues; and you shall even be brought before governors and kings for My sake, as a testimony to them and to the Gentiles. But, when they deliver you up, do not become anxious about how or what you will speak; for it shall be given you in that hour what you are to speak; for it is not you who speak, but it is the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you. And brother will deliver up brother to death, and father his child; and children will rise up against parents, and cause them to be put to death. And you will be hated by all on account of My name, but it is the one who has endured to the end who will be saved. But whenever they persecute you in this city, flee to the next; for truly I say to you, YOU SHALL NOT FINISH GOING THROUGH THE CITES OF ISRAEL, UNTIL THE SON OF MAN COMES" [Matthew 10:5-23]. He did come in a judgment on these cities and though all were destroyed, the destruction of Old Testament cities was much less terrible than was the destruction of Israel and her cities. Christ coming in judgment on a city or nation in the Old Testament or the New Testament is not the second coming of Christ when the saved will put on immortality.
[10] DAUGHTERS OF JERUSALEM
Luke 23:27-31
When Jesus was being led to be crucified "there followed him a great multitude of the people, and of whom men who bewailed and lamented him. But, Jesus turning unto them said, Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for me, but weep for yourselves, and for your children. For behold, the days are coming, in which they shall say, blessed are the barren, and the wombs that never bare, and the breasts that never give suck. Then shall they begin to say to the mountains, fall on us; and the hills, Cover us. For if they do these things in the green tree, what shall be done in the dry?" Even at the time of His death the sufferings and the great tribulation that were coming to Israel was on His mind. See Hosea 19:7-8 where they cry to the mountains to cover them in the destruction of Samaria, which is an Old Testament expression of wanting to escape destruction.
[11] "YOUR HOUSE IS LEFT UNTO YOU DESOLATE"
Matthew 23:38; Luke 13:35
God left the temple. "And behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom" [Matthew 27:51]. As it is sometimes said today when an entertainer has finished, "God has left the building." After they put to death their saver, God gives them forty years to repent, but the book of Acts is a history of the "generation of vipers" persecuting and putting to death those who God sent to save them. They brought upon themselves retribution of such severity that it was as if they had killed all the prophets God had sent to turn Israel from their sin [Matthew 23:34-35].
IS MATTHEW 24:36 A "TRANSITION TEXT?"
Many think Matthew 24:36 is the "time text" or "transition text" where Jesus changes from the destruction of Israel to the second coming at the end of the world. Luke gives this view a problem. In his discourse to the disciples a few days before His discourse at Jerusalem, Luke put both the "two women" [Luke 17:35-36] and "as it was in the days of Noah" [Luke 17:26-27] before this "time text" [Luke 17:37]. If this were the "transition text" Matthew put both after the "transition text" and Luke put both before Matthew 24:27, "Where the body is there will the eagles also be gathered together" [Luke 17:37]. "Where so ever the carcass is, there will the eagles be gathered together" [Matthew 24:28].. Luke also used "that day" in reference to the destruction of Israel, not of the second coming [Luke 17:31, Matthew 24:17].
Luke 17:11 "On the way to Jerusalem." - Matthew 24:1 After they were leaving.
• "Him that is on the housetop" [Luke 17:31; Matthew 24:17]
• "Lo, here is the Christ" [Luke 17:23; Matthew 24:23]
• "As the lightning comes from the east" [Luke 17:24; Matthew 24:17]
• "The days of Noah" [Luke 17:26; Matthew 24:37]
• “Two men be in the field" [Luke 17:36; Matthew 24:40]
• "Where the carcass is there will the eagles be" [Luke 17:37; Matthew 24:28]
• "Two woman shall be grinding" [Luke 17:35; Matthew 24:41]
o The wrongly called "transition text" Matthew 24:36 not being in Luke makes it clear that no transition from the destruction of Israel to the second coming of Christ for Luke’s readers would have had no way to know Christ made a transition.
• “For this reason YOU be ready too; for the Son of Man is coming at an hour when YOU do not think he will” [Matthew 24:44]
"The coming of the Son of man" both before and after the "Transition Text"
2. BEFORE - "So shall be the coming of the Son of man" Matthew 24:27
3. BETWEEN THEM - the falsely called "Transition Text" Matthew 24:36
4. AFTER - "So shall be the coming of the Son of man" Matthew 24:37
BOTH are identical statements in the same discourse separated by only a few verses. How are we to understand one to be in A. D. 70 and the other one in the same discourse to be speaking of an event thousands of years later?
1. BEFORE - The lightning seen in the East and the West BEFORE the transition text [Matthew 24:27].
2. BETWEEN THEM - the falsely called "Transition Text" Matthew 24:36
3. AFTER - Eating drinking, marrying, and giving in marriage AFTER the transition text [Matthew 24:37].
"But of that day and hour É÷ÉÏÉø, here, is translated season by many eminent critics, and is used in this sense by both sacred and profane authors. As the day was not known, in which Jerusalem should be invested by the Romans, therefore our Lord advised his disciples to pray that it might not be on a Sabbath; and as the season was not known, therefore they were to pray that it might not be in the winter; Matthew 24:20." Adam Clarke, Commentary on Matthew 25:36.
SUMMARY:
• Christ came when He set up His kingdom [Matthew 16:28; Mark 9:1] on the day of Pentecost [Acts 2].
• Christ came in judgment on Israel in A. D. 70.
• But, neither of these is His coming in person at the end of this age [1 Thessalonians 3:13-18].
• The destruction of the temple put an end to the worship of Israel, the destruction of their genealogical records put an end to their identity and an end to their existence as a nation.
THE A. D. 70 DOCTRINES
The A. D. 70 doctrine that all the passages, which speak of the second coming, were fulfilled in A. D. 70, also called Preterit Eschatology, Realized Eschatology, Fulfilled Eschatology, Covenant Eschatology.
FOUR POINTS THAT MUST BE PROVEN FOR THE A. D. 70 DOCTRINES TO BE TRUE.
[1] That the Law and the Jewish age did not end unto 40 years after the death of Christ. That the Old Covenant and the New Covenant over lapped for 40 years.
[2] That all that died before A. D 70 was resurrected from the dead in A. D. 70.
[3] That the resurrection is passed and all the saved go to Heaven at the moment of death.
[4] That there will be no judgment day for the lost after the judgment they say took place in A. D. 70.
WAS A. D. 70 THE SECOND AND FINAL COMING OF CHRIST? OR IS THE SECOND COMING OF CHRIST AND THE JUDGMENT OF ALL YET TO COME?
1. According to Realized Eschatology the second coming of Christ was an invisible coming in A. D. 70, and He will not come again. There will be no resurrection and judgment day to come for all at the coming of Christ.
2. According to Realized Eschatology the resurrection was when all the Old Testament saints were resurrected in A. D. 70. The "judgment day" was when the Jewish age ended in A. D. 70.
3. According to Realized Eschatology after A. D. 70 all that die in Christ go to their eternal reward at the moment of death.
4. According to Realized Eschatology the Great Commission given in Matthew 28:18-19 has been completely fulfilled therefore, it is not for us today.
5. According to Realized Eschatology the old heavens and earth have passed away, and the new heavens and earth are now here.
6. According to Realized Eschatology all the New Testament was written before A. D. 70, and there is no revelation about anything that will happen after A. D. 70; therefore, there is no revelation about when or even if the earth will ever end. They must deny the vast amount of evident that much of the New Testament (including Peter's letters and Revelation) was written after A. D. 70 for if just one book was written after that date the Preterit Eschatology could not be true. Early writers, Eusebius, Irenaeus, Clement, Origin, and others say Revelation was written in the reign of Domitian.
7. According to Realized Eschatology the Great Tribulation and Armageddon are both past.
8. According to Realized Eschatology death and hades were thrown into the lake of fire in A. D. 70.
9. According to Realized Eschatology Satan has been put in the lake of fire. Max King, "The Spirit of Prophecy," Page 356, 1971.
o Their teaching is that in A. D. 70 Jesus moved all the righteous dead to Heaven and cast the Devil and his angels, and the wicked dead into the Lake of Fire. If Satin were cast into the Lake of Fire which is the second death, where does evil and temptations come from today?
10. According to Realized Eschatology all prophecy, including all of the Book of Revelation, has been fulfilled.
11. According to Realized Eschatology all New Testament writer believed that the coming of Christ was to be in their lifetime.
What the early non-inspired writers said about “the last days” and the second coming of Christ a few years after A. D. 70; from Florida College Annual Lectures, Almon L. Williams, 1986, page 217.
• Isnatius: "These are the last times"
• Barnabas: "Wherefore let us take heed in these last days"
• Clement: "Herein He speaks of the day of this appearing, when He shall come and redeem us, each man according to his works. And the unbelievers shall see His glory and His might: and they shall be amazed"
• Clement: "But you know that the day of judgment comes even now as a burning oven, and the powers of the heaven shall melt, and the earth as lead melting on the fire, and than shall appear the secret and open works of man"
• Polycarp: "Now He that raised Him from the dead will raise up also...Whoever shall pervert the oracles of the Lord to his own lusts and say there is neither resurrection nor judgment, that man is first-born of Satan"
There was revelation given in the Old Testament on the establishment of the kingdom [Micah 4:1] and the resurrection of Christ was given in types and shadows as Moses lifting up the serpent in the wilderness [John 3:14]; which few if any understood, but the doctrine of the resurrection, life, and immortality, which Christ taught, were new. The words, resurrection, immortal, and immortality are not in the Old Testament in the King James Version or the American Standard Version. The resurrection was new to the heathen world, which believed in an immortal soul that had no need for a resurrection. The first coming of Christ, His suffering and rejection, His death and resurrection were told about in the Old Testament; but there is noting about His second coming in it; the second coming of Christ, the resurrection, the judgment of all at His second coming and the promise of life after death in Heaven was new to the New Testament.
THE NEW TESTAMENT CLEARLY TEACHES THAT THE SECOND COMING, THE RESURRECTION OF ALL, AND THE JUDGMENT OF ALL HAVE NOT CAME. All the lost will awake from the dead and the saved will awake to eternal life at the same time. IT WILL BE A RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD, NOT AS REALIZED ESCHATOLOGY TEACHES, DEATH IS ONLY A CHANGE FROM ONE KIND OF LIFE TO ANOTHER KIND OF LIFE, WHICH WOULD NOT BE A RESURRECTION AND WOULD MAKE A RESURRECTION IMPOSSIBLE.
“For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God” (Romans 14:10).
“For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad” (2 Corinthians 5:10).
“He has been manifested to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment, so Christ also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, apart from sin, to them that wait for him, unto salvation” (Hebrews 9:26-28).
“For if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a terrifying expectation of judgment and the fury of a fire which will consume the adversaries” (Hebrews 10:26-27).
“But the heavens that now are, and the earth, by the same word have been stored up for fire, being reserved against the DAY OF JUDGMENT and destruction of ungodly men” (2 Peter 3:7).
John 5:28-29: "For an hour is coming, in which all who are in the tombs will hear His voice, and will come forth; those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life, those who committed the evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment." ALL, both the good and the evil will BE RESURRECTED FROM THE DEAD IN THE SAME HOUR, NOT SOME OVER TWO THOUSAND YEARS APART FROM A. D. 70 TO NOW AND STILL COUNTING; AND NOT CHANGED FROM ONE FORM OF LIFE TO ANTHER FORM OF LIFE IMMEDIATELY AFTER DEATH WITHOUT A RESURRECTION.
Philippians 3:20-21: "For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ; who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory, by the exertion of the power that He has even to subject all things to Himself." Our body being transformed into conformity with His body is at His coming from Heaven, not at our death. Christ does not come from Heaven ever time a person dies. That there will be a resurrection and judgment of all at the second coming of Christ is discussed throughout this book and in the review below.
A REVIEW OF "THE RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD"
By Samuel Dawson
A web page in which he attempts to prove from 1 Corinthians 15 that the Old Testament does teach that the dead in Christ will be resurrected, and that this resurrection was in A. D. 70.
Dawson says, "I think West inadvertently gives the Old Testament's teaching of the subject short shrift. You can be a good guy and do that because I've done exactly the same thing." Below is an examination of how he thinks I give the Old Testament teaching of the resurrection short shrift.
Some point to restoring of the nation of Israel as a nation as being a resurrection, but the restoring or resurrection of Israel as a nation after it had gone into captivity, which happen many times in the Old Testament, is not the resurrection of the New Testament. It is not the resurrecting of a person to eternal life or immortality. Not even the resurrection of a nation to immortality or to eternal life. IT IS NOT EVEN CLOSE TO BEING THE RESURRECTION TAUGHT IN THE NEW TESTAMENT. "Behold, I will cause breath to enter you that you may come to life" [Ezekiel 37:5] is speaking of a nation being restored as a nation, the people that were alive but in captivity being restored to their land and coming to life as a nation, this is not the resurrection of a single person that was dead; there is nothing in it about anyone or any nation being given immortality. THE RESURRECTION TAUGHT IN THE NEW TESTAMENT IS NOT THE RESURRECTION OF A NATION (RESTORING THAT NATION ONLY FOR A SHORT TIME) BUT IS THE RESURRECTION OF INDIVIDUALS TO ETERNAL LIFE AND THERE IS NOTHING LIKE IT IN THE OLD TESTAMENT. There is nothing in 1 Corinthians 15, or any of the New Testament about the resurrection of "fleshly bodies" at the coming of Christ. No one put on immortality in A. D. 70, and no one's corruptible (fleshly) bodies were changed to incorruption, and all that were living in A. D. 70 died; death was not "swallowed up in victory" [1 Corinthians 15:54], as it will be at the coming of Christ. IF PAUL WERE NOT SPEAKING OF A RESURRECTION THAT WILL COME AFTER THIS LIFETIME, THEN WHEN HE SAID, "THEN THEY ALSO THAT ARE FALLEN ASLEEP IN CHRIST HAVE PERISHED" THEY HAD PERISHED (depicting a process that had pass before Paul wrote this, not "an on going process." They had perished - died before he wrote, not were perishing - dying at the time he wrote) [1 Corinthians 15:18]; he was speaking of some that had died past tense that were dead present tense in about A. D. 57, but still would be raised, future tense, with a spiritual body at the coming of Christ. PAUL WAS NOT SPEAKING OF A RESURRECTION THAT HAD PASSED OR THAT WAS TAKING PLACE AT THAT TIME, BUT OF THE RESURRECTION TO LIFE AND IMMORTALITY THAT WILL NOT TAKE PLACE UNTO THE COMING OF CHRIST. At the coming of Christ, (1) all the saved that have died ("fallen asleep") "the dead in Christ shall rise" (2) and the living saints will be changed and both at the same time shall be caught up to meet the Lord in the air and shall "ever be with the Lord" [1 Thessalonians 3:14-17]; this did not happen in A. D. 70, and those who are fallen asleep are not yet with Christ. PAUL SAYS THE RESURRECTION OF THOSE WHO ARE ASLEEP IN CHRIST, AND PUTTING ON IMMORTALITY BY THOSE WHO ARE LIVING WILL BOTH BE AT THE SAME MOMENT, BOTH IN THE TWINKLING OF AN EYE. REALIZED ESCHATOLOGY SAYS, "NOT SO PAUL, THE RESURRECTION OF THE OLD TESTAMENT SAINT WAS IN A. D. 70, BUT THERE WILL BE NO RESURRECTION FOR US AS WE WILL BE CHANGED AT THE MOMENT OF DEATH, BOTH ARE NOT IN THE SAME MOMENT." IF ALL WERE TRANSFORMED (RECEIVES A "SPIRITUAL BODY" IN WHICH THEY WILL DWELL IN IMMEDIATELY AND ETERNALLY AT THE MOMENT OF DEATH) NOTHING IS RESURRECTED; THERE WOULD BE NO RESURRECTION FOR ANYONE AFTER A. D. 70. ACCORDING TO THEM, THE ONLY RESURRECTION DAY IN THE BIBLE WAS AT A. D. 70 AND IT IS PASSED. THERE WILL BE NO RESURRECTION AND JUDGMENT DAY FOR ANYONE. "Faithful is the saying: For if we died with him, we shall also live with him...Hymenaeus and Philetus, men who concerning the truth have erred, saying the resurrection is past already" [2 Timothy 10-19]. ISRAEL WAS NOT RESTORED IN A. D. 70, BUT WAS JUDGED AND TOTALLY DESTROYED. THERE IS NOTHING IN 1 CORINTHIANS 15, MATTHEW 24, OR ANY PASSAGE ABOUT ISRAEL BEING RESURRECTED OR RESTORED IN A. D. 70.
On page 6 he says, "Behold, I will cause breath to enter you that you may come to life" Ezekiel 37 refers to the death of Israel, then says, "West is absolutely right that the word 'resurrection' isn't there, but what word should we call the process whereby Israel was dead, and God's purpose was to bring them to life." He needs to see that when the Old Testament speaks of restoring or resurrecting a nation to life as a nation that would die again, it is not speaking of the resurrection to eternal life of even a resurrection to eternal life of one dead person. Not one dead person was restored to life and given immortality. There is no promise that anyone would ever be given immortality in Ezekiel 37 or the Old Testament. ISRAEL WAS RESURRECTED OR RESTORED AS A NATION FROM CAPTIVITY FOR A TIME BUT SOON DEID AGAIN (WENT BACK INTO CAPTIVITY), IT WAS NOT GIVEN IMMORTALITY. No nation, not even Israel, will ever be given immortality; but the saved individuals of all nations will at the resurrection. HOW CAN HE NOT SEE THAT THE RESURRECTION OR RESTORING OF ISRAEL AS A NATION FOR ONLY A SHORT TIME IN EZEKIEL 37 IS NOTHING LIKE THE RESURRECTION OF INDIVIDUALS TO IMMORTALITY PAUL WAS SPEAKING OF IN 1 CORINTHIANS 15? When Israel was restored as a nation after the seventy-year captivity in Daniel, it was not even the same individuals in "the resurrection" of the nation that was in Israel before the captivity from which the nation was resurrected. One group of Jews went into the captivity and Israel died as a nation, another group of Jews came out of the captivity and Israel were restored or resurrected as a nation; not one dead Jew was resurrected. The many restorations of Israel as a nation from captivity in the Old Testament, which was one hundred percent physical earthly restoring of a nation, is not the resurrection to eternal life for those who are in Christ, NOT THE RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD in 1 Corinthians 15. NOT ONE DEAD PERSON WAS RESURRECTED TO ETERNAL LIFE IN ANY OF THE RESURRECTIONS OR RESTORING OF ISRAEL AS A NATION; THERE IS NOTHING SAID IN ANY OF ISRAEL'S RESURRECTION AS A NATION ABOUT ANY PERSON EVER BEING GIVEN IMMORTALITY.
Page 89: "'We all shall not sleep, but we shall all be changed.' Here's a time statement. When Paul said, 'We shall not all sleep,' he affirmed that not all of those in Corinth were going to die physically before the resurrection happened" Samuel G. Dawson. IF PAUL WERE SAYING NOT ALL WOULD DIE PHYSICALLY BEFORE THE RESURRECTION HAPPENED IN A. D. 70, THEN HE WAS ALSO SAYING ALL THOSE IN CORINTH AND ALL LIVING CHRISTIANS WOULD BE CHANGED FROM PHYSICAL BODIES TO SPIRITUAL BODIES WHEN THE RESURRECTION DID HAPPEN IN A. D. 70. NOT ONE LIVING CHRISTIANS WAS CHANGED FROM PHYSICAL BODIES TO SPIRITUAL BODIES AT THAT TIME; BOTH CHRISTIANS AND NON CHRISTIANS STILL HAD PHYSICAL BODIES AFTER A. D. 70 JUST AS THEY DID BEFORE IT, AND ALL STILL HAVE PHYSICAL BODIES TODAY; ALL STILL DIE, THEREFORE, DEATH HAS NOT YET BEEN DESTOYED [1 Corinthians 15:54-57]. THIS TEACHING WOULD HAVE MADE THE CHURCH ON EARTH GO OUT OF EXISTENCE ON EARTH IN A. D. 70 FOR ALL LIVING CHRISTIANS WOULD HAVE BEEN “CHANGED” FROM PHYSICAL BODIES TO “SPIRITUAL BODIES” IN A MOMENT [1Corinthians 15:50-55]; AT THE SAME TIME THAT THOSE WHO ARE “FALLEN ASLEEP” ARE REISED, ALL THE LIVING CHRISTIANS “SHALL TOGETHER WITH THEM BE CAUGHT UP IN THE CLOUSDS, TO MEET THE LORD IN THE AIR: AND SO SHALL WE EVER BE WITH THE LORD” [1 Thessalonians 4:13-17]. NO ONE WILL HAVE THE SPIRITUAL BODY BEFORE THE RESURRECTION. Read this "time statement" in the context, "Behold, I tell you a mystery: We all shall not sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. But, when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory" [1 Corinthians 15:51-53]. The "time" is when "the trumpet shall sound." At the sound of the trumpet, "the dead shall be raised incorruptible" AND “we shall be changed.”
• BOTH THE LIVING AND THE DEAD IN THE SAME MOMENT.
• BOTH THE LIVING AND THE DEAD IN THE SAME TWINKLING OF AN EYE.
• BOTH THE LIVING AND THE DEAD AT THE SOUND OF THE SAME TRUMPET.
• BOTH THE LIVING AND THE DEAD SHALL “BE CAUGHT UP IN THE CLOUDS, TO MEET THE LORD IN THE AIR: AND SO SHALL WE EVER BE WITH THE LORD” [1 Thessalonians 4:16-17].
• ALL LIVING CHRISTIANS WILL BE CHANGED FROM PHYSICAL BODIES TO SPIRITUAL BODIES IN THE SAME MOMENT THE DEAD ARE RESURRECTED WITH SPIRITUAL BODIES.
If this had happened in A. D. 70, there would have been no Christians for the Romans to put to death. He changed, "and we shall all be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump" to "not all of those in Corinth were going to die physically before the resurrection happened" and nothing will happen to them in A. D. 70, nothing will happen to them at the coming of Christ and the time of the resurrection, nothing in the same moment. If I understand him, he says the living Christians in Corinth were not going to be changed in the same moment but each one changed in a different moment, each one at the moment of their death, which for most of them not be changed in A. D. 70; and each Christian will be changed to a spiritual body at a different moment than all other Christians. On page 57 he again changed "we shall all be changed in a moment" to the Old Covenant faithful being taken from the unseen Hadean state into the presence of Christ in the twinkling of an eye. It seems that Paul's "we" must be changed to "them." "Behold, I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we (them?) shall all (only all of "them," not "we" that are living) be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump" [1 Corinthians 15:51]. Does he think the first "we" is us but the second "we" them? If the first "we" is "them," some of the "them" did not all sleep, then some of the Old Covenant faithful (those who were faithful to the Law before the death of Christ) was alive in when Paul was writing this in A. D. 67 or 68, alive before A. D. 70.
"We that are alive." It is believed that Paul was put to death in about A. D. 67 or 68. If Christ did come in A. D. 70, Paul was not in the "we that are alive" at His coming. "We that are alive." is the faithful who will be alive when “the trumpet shall sound and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed” [1 Corinthians 15:52].
"But, some one will ask, how are the dead raised? And with what manner of body do they come" [1 Corinthians 15:35]. Paul was reassuring the Corinthians that the Corinthians that had "fallen asleep in Christ" had not perished, that their hope of the resurrection did not depend on them being alive at the time of the resurrection [1 Corinthians 15:18-19]. Dawson says, "Who were these 'dead ones?' They were the same Old Covenant dead ones Paul discussed throughout the chapter." HE SAYS, "WHEN WE CHANGE WHO THE 'WE' WAS, WE TOTALLY MISS THE TIME ELEMENT IN PAUL'S TEACHING." THEN HE CHANGED THE "WE" FROM "WE" TO "THEM"; HE CHANGES FROM THE ONES PAUL WAS WRITING TO AT CORINTH ABOUT THOSE IN CORINTH WHO HAD FALLEN ASLEEP "IN CHRIST" TO THOSE WHO HAD BEEN DEAD FOR MANY YEARS; HE CHANGED THE "WE" TO ABRAHAM AND ALL THE OLD TESTAMENT SAINTS. He "totally miss the time element in Paul's teaching" by changing the "we" from those who were alive at the time Paul was writing to "them," to those who had been dead for many years The "dead ones" are the Corinthians that had fallen asleep in Christ after they were baptized into Christ, not Old Testament saints who are not even mentioned in 1 Corinthians 15.
On pages 85 -88 he attempts to make the "natural body" be Old Testament Israel and the "spiritual body" be the new Israel; when he makes Israel be the "natural body" and the church be the "spiritual body," he takes the resurrection of the dead out of I Corinthians 15. In about A. D. 57, 13 years before A. D. 70, he has the old Israel "being sown a natural body, it is being raised a spiritual body (He added “being,” Paul said, “it is raised a spiritual body” but he changed it to, “it is being raised a spiritual body"). Paul said, "And as WE HAVE borne the image of the earthly (Adam, 15:45 a natural or earthly corruptible body), WE SHALL also bear the image of the heavenly (Christ, a spiritual incorruptible body)" [1 Corinthians 15:49]. He changes the "we have borne" to "is being sown" and "we shall also bear the image" to "is being raised." Then changes "we" (those Paul was writing to) to "it" (Israel), changes the “we” to a nation. Can anyone tell me how he get the nation of Israel out of “we”?
On page 77 he said, "Literally, Paul asked, ‘How are the dead ones being raised?’" 1 Corinthians 15 was written about 13 years before A. D. 70, - 13 years before he says Christ came, 13 years before he says the Old Covenant saints were raised he has Paul asking, "How are the dead ones being raised?" Did he forget that he had used "then they that are Christ's at His coming" and applied it to the resurrection of the Old Covenant faithful? Did he forget that he had applied, "Behold, I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we (them-Old Testament saints-Dawson) shall all (them-Old Testament saints-Dawson) be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump" [1 Corinthians 15:51]. Yet, he has them being raised 13 years before the moment, before the twinkling of an eye. On page 85 he says, "Literally, it is 'it is being sown a natural body, it is being raised a spiritual body'" Is he is not saying Old Covenant saints were being sown with a natural body and being raised with a spiritual body about 13 years before he says Christ came a second time, about 13 years before he says the resurrection occurred. Does he really believe Old Covenant saints were alive and being sown with a natural body in about A. D. 57 when Paul was writing this? "Presently 'is being raised'" is used on page 91 and throughout the 110 pages. He puts "is being raised" in quotation marks. Paul said, "Shall be raised incorruptible" [1 Corinthians 15:52]. "Presently 'is being raised'" is in no translation but his and then it puts the resurrection as taking place 13 years to soon for the Realized Eschatology view that the resurrection took place in A. D. 70.
On page 99 he quarts Christ saying 6 times of those who believe Him, "I will raise him up at the last day" [John 6:39; 640; 6:44; 6:54; 11:24; 12:48]. Which one does he believe? That the Old Testament faithful was being raised in A. D. 57 when Paul wrote 1 Corinthians or "at the last day" which he says was in A. D. 70? Christ is saying this to ALL THAT BELIEVED HIM, not just to the Jews that believe Him. Dawson says the Old Covenant had a last day but the New Covenant will not have a last day. Christ was not speaking of the last day of the Old or the New Covenant. He was speaking of the last day of the earth, "The day of the Lord" spoken of in 2 Peter 3:10 (see "The Day Of The Lord" below). Both John and Revelation (and other New Testament books) were written after A. D. 70.
1 Corinthians 15:45-49: On page 87 he changes the "natural" and "spiritual" to the Old Testament faithful being changed "from natural to spiritual as the result of the gospel" and this is in about A. D. 57 when Paul said this, before A. D. 70, which he says is when the second coming of Christ was, and before when he says the resurrection of the Old Testament faithful ones did take place. How he could think that "the first man Adam became a living soul" is speaking of the Old Testament faithful is beyond my understanding. There is nothing in this passage or any place in the Bible about Adam being the Old Testament Israel. "Then the Lord God formed man (Adam) of the dust from the ground, and breathed into his (Adam) nostrils the breath of life; and man (Adam) became a living soul" [Genesis 2:7]. Adam was the first man, not the nation of Israel; THERE WAS NO NATION OF ISRAEL WHEN ADAM “BECAME A LIVING SOUL,” NOT FOR HUNDARDS OF YEARS AFTER, NO NATION OF ISRAEL BEFORE ABRAHAM, THE FATHER OF THAT NATION. Adam was the natural man made "of the earth," he was not Israel. Both Adam and Christ (when He was on earth) were "a man," Israel was a nation. Christ is (present tense) "the second man is of heaven" [1 Corinthians 15:47]. By pointing out that this is present tense, he is saying that "the second man is of heaven" cannot be Christ, that the "second man" of heaven is the Old Testament faithful ones. If this is not what he is saying, then I cannot understand what he is saying; is he not saying that Christ is not of heaven, present tense in A. D. 57; is he not saying the Old Testament faithful ones was "the second man of heaven" 13 years before their resurrection in A. D. 70? This seems to me to be nothing more than a desperate attempt to make the resurrection be passed even if he has to use something that was, present tense, 13 years to soon for it to be speaking of something that was to be in A. D. 70, which would have been future tense at the time Paul said this, not “present tense.”
On page 92 and others pages, it seems to me that he basis his whole argument on all that believes the resurrection is yet to come must also believe the resurrection is to be "a physical resurrection out of the dust." He is taking what some men teach and making it into the teaching of the Bible for his argument depends on it. THERE IS NOTHING IN 1 CORINTHIANS 15 ABOUT "A PHYSICAL RESURRECTION OUT OF THE DUST." HE IS ATTEMPTING TO PROVE THIS IS SPEAKING OF THE RESURRECTION OF OLD TESTAMENT SAINTS JUST BECAUSE IT IS NOT SPEAKING OF THE RESURRECTION OF BODIES OUT OF THE DUST. TRY AS HARD AS I CAN, I CANNOT SEE HOW HE SEES THE RESURRECTION OF OLD TESTAMENT SAINTS JUST BECAUSE IT IS NOT SPEAKING OF EARTHLY BODIES WHEN THERE IS NOTHING IN THE CHAPTER THAT SAYS ANYTHING ABOUT OLD TESTAMENT SAINTS OR ISRAEL. It could not be said any clearer that it is "sown in corruption (a physical body of dust) it is raised in incorruption (NOT a physical body of dust)" [1 Corinthians 15:42]. HE MAKES A PHYSICAL RESURRECTION A MUST FOR HIS ARGUMENT, BUT THERE IS NOTHING IN THE NEW TESTAMENT THAT TEACHES A PHYSICAL BODY OF DUST IS TO BE RAISED AT THE SECOND COMING OF CHRIST. He repeatedly accused others of believing in "a physical resurrection out of the dirt, although we can't read that interpretation back into Isaiah," but then on the same page (page 92) he quotes Isaiah, "Your dead shall arise. Your dead will live; their corpses will rise, you who lie in the dust, awake and shout for joy, for your dew is as the dew of the dawn, and the earth will give birth to the departed spirits" [Isaiah 26:19]. Then says the resurrection of those lying in the dust sounds identical to Daniel 12:2, which says, "And many of those who sleep in the dust of the ground will awake." When he said no serious student of the prophets believes a physical resurrection of a physical body is depicted in Isaiah 25 he was right. Just as Ezekiel's valley of bones coming to life is a vision of a physical resurrection in Ezekiel 37 is figuratively language of the nation of Israel being restored to life as a nation, Isaiah 26:19 of a physical resurrection of the dead who had turned to dust is figuratively language of Israel the dead nation that is being restored to life from the dust and would live again as a nation. Neither one is teaching the resurrection to eternal life that is taught in the New Testament, neither one is teaching the resurrection of individuals to eternal life. Nevertheless, he attempts to somehow use a resurrection of Isaiah as a nation that took place long before Christ (a restoration that was long “past tense”) to prove Paul was not speaking of the resurrection of the dead at the coming of Christ, but Paul was only speaking of the resurrection of the Old Testament faithful in A. D. 70 (which would have been “future tense” at the time Paul said this).
“Death is swallowed up in victory” [1 Corinthians 15:54]
Throughout 1 Corinthians 15, Paul speaks of death and resurrection from the dead. What is the death and resurrection he is speaking of? The A. D. 70 doctrine says this is speaking of the death and restorations of Old Testament Israel and the Law of Moses, not our death and resurrection. How did Paul use death and resurrection in 1 Corinthians 15?
• Christ died and was buried and raised on the third day and appeared to many [1 Corinthians 15:3-6].
• Death had taken some of the above five hundred that Christ appeared to [1 Corinthians 15:6].
• Christ is preached that He has been raised from the dead, but if there is no resurrection Christ has not been raised, therefore, Christ is dead and their faith in Christ is useless [1 Corinthians 15:12-16].
• The Corinthians that had died (fallen asleep in Christ) had perished [1 Corinthians 15:18-19].
• Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of them that are dead (are asleep). Just as Christ was dead and resurrected, those who are asleep in Christ will be resurrected [1 Corinthians 15:20; 15:23].
• All Adam’s descendant’s die (all mankind), the resurrection of all (all shall be made alive) will come by Christ [1 Corinthians 15:21-22].
• Christ was raised the first fruits, raised form the dead, them all that belong to Christ at His coming will also be raised from the dead [1 Corinthians 15:23].
• Then comes the end when Christ shall deliver up the kingdom, the church, to God and the last enemy, death, will be abolished [1 Corinthians 15:24-26].
• If the dead (those who are asleep in Christ) are not to be raised then living godly is of no use, do anything you want to for death will soon bring you to an end [1 Corinthians 15:29-34].
• How are the dead raised, with what kind of body? [1 Corinthians 15:35-49].
o The earthly body of corruption is put in the ground; an incorruption body is raised.
o The earthly body is put in the ground in dishonor; it will be raised in glory.
o The earthly body is put in the ground in weakness; a body is raised in power.
o The earthly body is put in the ground a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. The earthly body (natural body) is first, then the spiritual body at the resurrection of the dead. As we have borne the image of the earthly (Adam) we shall bear the image of the heavenly (Christ).
• Not all Christians will die but all, those who are living when Christ returns and those who are asleep will both be changed in the same moment, in the twinkling of an eye to an incorruptible, immortality body [1 Corinthians 15:50-54].
o FROM THE ABOVE IT IS CLEAR THAT PAUL SAID NOTHING ABOUT OLD TESTAMET ISRAEL IN 1 CORINTHANS 15.
After the second coming of Christ and the resurrection and judgment and only then will there be no more death, it will be swallowed up in victory [1 Corinthians 15:54-58].
"But thanks be to God, who gives US the victory through OUR Lord Jesus Christ. Wherefore, my beloved brethren, be YOU steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as YOU know that YOUR labor is not vain in the Lord" [1 Corinthians 15:57-58, American Standard Version]. Throughout chapter 15 Paul is speaking to the Corinthians about THEIR resurrection, not the resurrection of Israel. "But we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve as do the rest who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus. For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord" [1 Thessalonians 4:13-17]. THE CHRISTIANS WHO WERE ALIVE IN A. D. 70 WERE NOT AT THAT TIME CHANGED FROM PHYSICAL TO SPIRITUAL BODIES, THEY WERE NOT CAUGHT UP “TO MEET THE LORD IN THE AIR.” I do not believe Dawson believes they were. I believe he was not trying to prove anyone alive was changed to a spiritual body in A. D. 70, but was trying to prove the dead Old Testament saints were resurrected and changed in A. D. 70, and after that time all saints are changed at the time of their death; not "caught up TOGETHER with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air." He is trying to prove there was one resurrection of all the Old Testament faithful in A. D. 70, then many resurrections, a resurrection at the time of death of each faithful. If this is not what he is trying to prove, them I cannot understand what he is saying.
Max King says, "The eternal kingdom was possessed (Heb. 12:28) and the new heaven and earth inherited." "The Spirit of Prophecy" page 239. The "new heavens and new earth" is not life on earth after the destruction of Jerusalem, for after Israel destruction Christians were still persecuted and the world is still full of evil today. It is the same world that existed before Israel was destroyed; we are now in the image of Adam, not Christ. All, even Christians, suffer and die, death has not been abolished. THE A. D. 70 DOCTRINE HAS NO PLACE FOR LIVING CHRISTIANS BEING “CHANGED” AT THE COMING OF CHRIST. NONE WERE IN A. D. 70.
Christ “brought life and immortality to light through the gospel” [2 Timothy 1:10].
WHO CAN READ THE HISTORY OF A. D. 70 AND BELIEVE ISRAEL WAS RESTORED AND NOT DESTROYED.
WHEN DID THE OLD COVENANT END?
At the death of Christ or in A. D. 70?
"Having been buried with him in baptism, wherein you were also raised with him through faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead. And you, being dead through your trespasses and the un-circumcision of your flesh, you, I say, did he make alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses; having blotted out the bond written in ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us: AND HE HAS TAKEN IT OUT OF THE WAY, NAILING IT TO THE CROSS; having despoiled the principalities and the powers, he made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it. Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of a feast day or a new moon or a Sabbath day" [Colossians 2:12-15]. I know of no way anyone could say any clearer that the Law of Moses was blotted out and nailed to the cross AT THE DEATH OF CHRIST, not in A. D. 70. This was written by Paul when he was in prison at Rome, about A. D 62, before Realized Eschatology says the Old Covenant Law ended, but at that time Paul said, “He has taken it out of the way” (past tense). The message of Hebrews, which was written before A. D. 70, is that the New Covenant replaced the Old Covenant with a new and better sacrifice, a new priesthood, new sacraments, a new tabernacle or temple [John 1:14; John 2:19; Corinthians 3:16; Ephesians 2:21]. Preterits tell us that there was an over lapping of the two, that the Old Covenant was not nailed to the cross; and it did not end unto A. D. 70, that the Old Covenant had not been replaced by the New Covenant when Hebrews was written.
Dawson used "The abomination of desolation" [Matthew 14:15; Daniel 9:27] to prove the resurrection took place in A. D. 70. Christ came in judgment on Israel at that time just as He did in judgment on nations in the Old Testament. I cannot understand how he gets a resurrection out of "The abomination of desolation," or as Luke puts it, "When you see Jerusalem compassed with armies" [Luke 21:20]. Luke then adds, "Then know that her desolation is at hand." The "Abomination of desolation" was the armies that DESTROYED Jerusalem, not restored it. HOW CAN A RESURRECTION OF THE OLD TESTAMENT FAITHFUL BE GOTTEN OUT OF "The abomination of desolation"?
Christ came in judgment on Israel at that time just as He did in judgment on nations in the Old Testament.
• On Israel [Zephaniah 1:14-18].
• On the Nations [Joel 3:16-16].
• On Egypt [Ezekiel 30:3-4; 32:7-8; Isaiah 19:1].
• On Babylon [Isaiah 13:10-20].
• On Edom [Isaiah 34:4-6].
• On Arier in Israel [Isaiah 29:5-6].
Israel was destroyed in the Jewish war with Rome, which last for about five years and ended in A. D. 70. JUDGMENT DID COME ON ISRAEL IN THAT GENERATION [Matthew 23:36], AND ISRAEL WAS DESTROYED IN THAT JUDGMENT, BUT THERE IS NOT ONE THING SAID ABOUT THE RESURRECTION OF ANYONE OR ANY NATION; NOTHING IS SAID ABOUT THE RESURRECTION OF THE OLD TESTAMENT SAINTS WHEN THE NATION WAS DESTROYED. A resurrection in A. D. 70, the only resurrection there will ever be had to have been at that time for realized Eschatology to be true; it is based entirely on a resurrection that is not in the Bible.
"The Galatians letter is an indignant protest against and refutation of Judaizing teachers" B. W. Johnson, The People's New testament With Notes, Volume 2, Page 163.
Speaking to Jews [Galatians 2:14-15] Paul said, "Even we believed on Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ, and not by the works of the law: because by the works of the law" and "You are severed from Christ, you who would be justified by the law; you are fallen away from grace" [Galatians 2:16 and 5:4]. This was written in about A. D. 57 when the law would have been in effect, and keeping the law would have justified if there had been an over lapping of the Old and New Covenants unto A. D. 70.
Sam and I have been in communication with each other a few times by e-mail, and I have thought of him as being a friend that I have not seen in person; I think the things he had written in the past are among the best books I have. He says on page 2, "I'm certainly not disparaging Robert, as he's only saying what most of us tacitly believe, that the subject of the resurrection is predominantly (or even exclusively) a New Testament subject. I believed the same thing until 2005 myself." My prayer is that he will see that Realized Eschatology is not the truth before it is too late.
“The A. D 70 doctrine says ‘all things’ have been fulfilled: John speaks of 'all thing' (19:28); Luke speaks of 'all things' (Acts13:29); Mark speaks of 'all things' (13:20); Luke again speaks of 'all thing' (24:44); Peter speaks of 'all thing' (1 Peter 4:7). What you need to notice is, the 'all things' of these passages have different things in mind. Because Max claim the 'all thing' in Matthew 17:11 is the same as the 'all things' in Acts 3:21 he is forced to the absurd view he told us of in a former proposition, viz., The Baptist was Elijah if they accepted him to be, otherwise he wasn't! But look: In John 19:28 Jesus knew all things were fulfilled and so he asked for a drink and died. Now 'all things' were not literally completed but the passage says 'all thing.' Obviously the 'all things' of that passage has a specialized reference. In Acts 13:29 we are more explicitly told that when they had 'fulfilled all things that were written of him' they took him down from the cross. Now clearly the 'all thing' here has a specific standpoint for you know there were other things written of Jesus -- his resurrection for example. See how each writer will have his own standpoint? Jesus said John has already ('Elijah is come already' -- Matthew 17:21) come and had...'restored all things.' But if John had restored 'all things' it must have a specialized meaning there. Because Max refuses to admit that the same expression may mean different things be believe the Church was 'Elijah.' How does that grab you? So what we do experience with Max? He gets a concordance and gathers together all the passages having the same phases and lists them and sits back smiling as if he had proved his point! The point I am making is abundantly clear CONTEMPORARIES MAY USE THE SAME EXPRESSIONS AND MEAN DIFFERENT THING.” Jim McGuiggan, "The McGuiggan-King Debate" Pages 171-172, Parkman Road Church of Christ, 1975.
ISRAEL HAD NOT OBTAINED, BUT THE ELECT HAD [Romans 11:7]. Paul was put to death in Rome before A. D. 70, yet he said the elect had obtained what Israel had not. What had the elect obtained? Being grafted in the olive tree - being accepted by God as His chosen. In A. D. 70 Israel was not grafted in, it was totally destroyed. This was written before A. D. 70 and the elect had obtained before when the A. D. 70 doctrine says Christ was to come; this passage is not speaking of a coming of Christ at any time.
If, as Max King clams, the A. D. 70 view was believed and taught by the New Testament writers, when was it lost? For many centuries no one believed it or know anything about it. Then came Max King and found it and the Bible was reinterpreted drastically to fit around his view.
In “Last Thing and Covenant Eschatology” in his answer to a question, “What is your understanding of ‘no marrying and giving in marriage’” Samuel says this is only speaking of the command given by Moses that a bother is to “perform the duty of a husband’s brother” that “the name of his dead brother may not be blotted our from Israel” [Deuteronomy 25:5-10]. The brother of the dead husband did not marry his brother’s wife; THERE WAS NO MARRYING AND GIVING IN MARRIAGE [Luke 20:32-35]. Moses did not command the brother who may have had a wife to take a second wife; if the brother had had 10 or more brothers that died, according to Samuel he would have had many wives. “In the resurrection” he changed to “after A. D. 70,” and says that in the resurrection marriage is optional, not mandatory. Christ did not say marriage will be optional after the resurrection but that there will be no marriage. “But they that are accounted worthy to attain to they age, and the resurrection from the dead, NEITHER MARRY, NOT ARE GIVEN IN MARRIAE: FOR NEITHER CAN THE DIE ANY MORE: FOR THEY ARE EQUAL TO THE ANGELS; AND ARE SONS OF GOD, BEING SONS OF THE RESURRECTIN” [Luke 20:2740]. Now christians both marry and die. After the coming of Christ and the resurrection the saved will not marry or die; marriage will not be “optional.” Where did he find that marriage would be “optional” after the resurrection when Christ says there would be no marriage or death?
He used Mark 10:29-30 to prove that in “the age to come” we will have house, etc. Christ said, “There is no man that has left house, or brethren, or sisters, or mother, or father, or children, or lands, for my sake, and the gospel’s sake, but he shall receive a hundredfold, [1] NOW IN THIS TIME, houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with persecutions; [2] AND IN THE AGE TO COME ETERNAL LIFE” [Mark 10:29-30]. He changes having “land” etc. “now in this time” to having them in the “age to come” in an attempt to prove the saved will have them after the resurrection which he says is now passed. It is a fact that Christians have “persecutions” in this life. If “the age to come” means after the Resurrection in A. D. 70, does he think Christians will always have both houses and persecutions? Read this passage, it says nothing about having houses in the age to come.
THE GRACE THAT IS TO BE BROUGHT UNTO YOU
In 1 Peter 1:10 Peter speaks of the grace to come to them. In 1:13 he speaks of “the grace that is to be brought unto YOU at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” In A. D. 70 nothing happened to the living, life went on with persecutions and death.
In summery: According to Realized Eschatology there is no resurrection to come at the coming of Christ, no judgment day at His coming, no second death. According to the Bible any life after death depends wholly on the resurrection of the dead at the coming of Christ (Luke 14:13-14; 1 Thessalonians 4:16; 1 Corinthians 15:51-55).
2 PETER 3
2 Peter 3:3-4: The mockers were saying, “Where is the promise of his coming, for from the day that the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation?” The creation is the creation of the world, not Israel. Peter’s reply to them was the they willfully forget that the earth that was that was created out of water was destroyed by water [destroyed before there was a Jewish nation, before Abraham the father of all Jews] and is now being reserved against the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men, it will be “burned up,” it is to “be dissolved,” and “the elements shall melt with fervent heat.” BOTH THE DESTROYING BY WATER AND BY FIRE ARE A DESTROYING OF THE WORLD, NOT JUST A PART OF IT, NOT JUST THE NATION OF ISRAEL.
WORLD - 2 Peter 3:6 is from "kesmos" Wigram, page 430. Kesmos is in the Greek about 185 times and in the King James Version it is translated "world" all but one time in 1 Peter 3:3 where it is translated "adorning." It is used to mean this planet earth, never the Jewish age from Moses to A. D. 70.
• "All the kingdoms of the world [kesmos]" [Matthew 4:8]
• "Go you into all the world [kesmos]" [Matthew 14:9]
• "For God so loved the world [kesmos]" [John 3:16]
• "The savior of the world [kesmos]" [John 4:42]
• "God that made the world [kesmos] and all things" [Acts 17:24]
• "From the foundation of the world [kesmos]" [Hebrews 4:3]
Kesmos is never translated "age." Peter is not speaking of "the end of the age" as Matthew is in Matthew 24:3.
EARTH - 2 Peter 3:7; 3:10; 3:13 is from "gee" Wigram page 116. Gee is in the Greek about 242 times and in the King James is translated "earth" about 184 times, "land" 39 times, "ground" 18 times, "country" 2 times, and "world" 1 time. It is used to mean this planet earth or some particular part of this earth.
ALL THE WORLD
• "I am come to send peace on earth [gee]" [Matthew 10:34]. Not just in Old Testament Israel.
• "Call no man your father upon the earth [gee]" [Matthew 23:9].
• "Went and dug in the earth [gee]" [Matthew 25:18]. He did not dig in Old Testament Israel.
• “To lead them out of the land [gee] of Egypt” [Hebrews 8:9].
• "That you may live long on the earth [gee]" [Ephesians 5:6]. According to Realized Eschatology Old Testament Israel was about to end when Paul said this.
• “For this they willfully forget, that there were heavens from of old, and an earth [gee] compacted out of water and amidst water, by the word of God; (the heavens and earth that was created by God, the “water” the earth was compacted out of was literal water) by which means the world [kesmos] that then was, being overflowed with water, perished (the world in the time of Noah was overflowed with literal water); but the heavens that now are, and the earth [gee], by the same word have been stored up for fire, being reserved against the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men” [2 Peter 3:5-7]. A person has to be hard up for proof has to take “the heavens that now are, and the earth [gee],” out of context to make it be only one nation, the nation of Israel that did not exist unto long after the flood and does not exist now; there is nothing said about Israel in this passage. IN THIS PASSAGE EARTH [GEE] IS USED THREE TIMES AND WORLD [KESMOS] ONE TIME. REALIZED ESCHATOLOGY SAYS THAT ONLY ONE OF THE FOUR IT IS USED FIGURATIVELY, AND ONLY THIS ONE TIME IT DOES NOT MEAN THE WHOLE WORLD.
ALL THE WORLD UNLESS SOME PARTICULAR PART OF THE EARTH IS NAMED
• "The land [gee] of Sodom" [Matthew 11:24]
• "Land [gee] of Gennesaret" [Matthew 14:34]
• "Land [gee] of Judah" [Matthew 2:6]
• "All the land [gee] of Egypt" [Acts 7:11]
ELEMENTS - 2 Peter 3:12 shall melt: Elements [stoikion] is used seven times.
• “And the elements [stoikion] shall be dissolved with fervent heat” [2 Peter 3:10].
• “And the elements [stoikion] shall melt with fervent heat” [2 Peter 3:12].
• “Were held in bondage under the elements [stoikion] of the world [kesmos]” [Galatians 4:3].
• “Howbeit at that time, not knowing God, you were in bondage to them that by nature are no gods: but now that your have come to know God, or rather to be know by God, how turn you back again to the weak and beggarly elements [stoikion] whereunto your desire to be in bondage over again?” [Galatians 4:8-9]. It was Gentiles that did not know God (“not knowing God”) that were in bondage to the gods that are not gods that turn from the weak and beggarly elements of the world [kesmos] to God, but desired to be in bondage to the world again; not Jews that turned from Christ back again to the Law.
• “Take heed lest there shall be any one that makes spoil of you through his philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments [stoikion] of the world [kesmos], and not after Christ…If you died with Christ from the rudiments [stoikion] of the world [kesmos] why as though living in the world [kesmos] …” [Colossians 2:8-20]. It was the rudiments [elements] of the world [kesmos] that they died to, the world [kesmos] that they were living in, not Israel that they had died to (past tense) before Realized Eschatology say the Law died in A. D. 70.
IN 2 PETER 3, IT IS THE HEAVENS THAT SHALL PASS AWAY AND THE EARTH [gee] THAT SHALL BE BURNED UP IN THE DAY OF THE LORD, NOTHING IS SAID ABOUT IT BEING ONLY A PARTICULAR PART OF THE EARTH, NOTHING IS SAID ABOUT ISRAEL.
• "By which means the world [kesmos] that then was" [2 Peter 3:6]. Israel did not exist at that time. It was the world [kesmos] that then was, not Old Testament Israel that did not exist unto many years after the world perished by water.
• "But the heavens that now are, and the earth [gee]” [2 Peter 3:7]. The earth that now exists that will perish by fire. “Earth” cannot be changed to be only one of the many nations that are on the “earth [gee].”
• "But the day of the Lord will come as a thief: in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall be dissolved with fervent heat, and the earth [gee] and the works that are therein shall be burned up" [2 Peter 3:10]. “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” [Genesis 1:1]. “For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth” [Colossians 1:16]. The heavens, which “the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall be dissolved with fervent heat” is the universe that was created.
• "But according to his promise, we look for new heavens and a new earth [gee], wherein dwells righteousness" [2 Peter 3:13].
FATE OF THE UNGODLY IN 2 PETER
• BURNED TO ASHES: Sodom was turned into ashes as example to those who live ungodly [2 Peter 2:6]. Sodom was “burned to ashes” and the earth “shall be burned up” and “have been stored up for fire” [2 Peter 3:7, 10], “the heavens shall pass away,” “the elements shall be dissolved with fervent heat,” “the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat” [2Peter 3:10-12]. In the same passage Sodom was literally destroyed by fire and the earth and heavens will be literally destroyed by fire. One is not a literal destruction by fire and the other a figuratively destruction. The “water” cannot be literal and the “fire” made figuratively in the same sentence [2 Peter 3:6], just as the wicked were literally destroyed by water the wicked will literally be destroyed by fire.
• DESTRUCTION of ungodly men [2 Peter 2:1; 3:7]
• DESTROYED: “To be taken and destroyed…shall in their destroying also be destroyed” [2 Peter 2:12]. “They are like brute beast (animals –Strong 2226), creatures of instinct, born only to be caught and destroyed, and like beast they too will perish” New International Version
• BLACKNESS OF DAKNESS has been reserved [2 Peter 2:17]
• PERISHED [2 Peter 3:6]
• DESTRUCTION: The day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men [2 Peter 3:7]
• PERISH [2 Peter 3:9]
• DESTRUCTION: Some “wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto the own destruction” [2 Peter 3:16]
2 PETER 3:7 IN EIGHT TRANSLATIONS
1. "The heavens SHALL PASS AWAY with a great noise, AND THE ELEMENTS SHALL MELT with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be BURNED UP. Seeing than that all these things shall be dissolved" King James Version.
2. "The heavens SHALL PASS AWAY with a great noise, AND THE ELEMENTS SHALL BE DISSOLVED with fervent heat, and the earth and the works that are therein shall BE BURNED UP. Seeing that these things are thus, all TO BE DISSOLVED" American Standard Version.
3. "The heavens WILL PASS AWAY with a roar, AND THE ELEMENTS WILL BE DESTROYED with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up. Since all these things are TO BE DESTROYED in this way" New American Standard Version.
4. "And then the heavens WILL PASS AWAY with a loud noise, AND THE ELEMENTS WILL BE DISSOLVED with fire, and the earth and everything that is done on it WILL BE DISSOLVED. Since all these things are TO BE DISSOLVED in this way" New Revised Standard Version.
5. "THE HEAVENS WILL DISAPPEAR with a roar; THE ELEMENTS WILL BE DESTROYED by fire, and the earth and everything in it WILL BE LAIN BARE" New International Version.
6. "The heavens WILL PASS AWAY with a terrible noise and the heavenly bodies WILL DISAPPEAR in fire, and the earth and everything on it will BE BURNED UP. And so since EVERYTHING AROUND US IS GOING TO MELT AWAY" The Living Bible.
7. "The skies WILL DISAPPEAR with a loud noise, everything in them will BE DESTROYED by fire, and the earth and everything in it will BE BURNED UP. In that way everything WILL BE DESTROYED" New Century Version.
8. "In that day the heavens WILL VANISH in a tearing blast, the very elements WILL DISINTEGRATE in heat and the earth and all its works WILL DISAPPEAR. In view of the fact that all these things are to BE DISSOLVED" J. B. Phillips.
If this passage does not say the heavens (the sky) and the earth shall pass away, all be dissolved, be burned up, will disappear, disintegrate, there is no way God could have said the heavens (the sky) and the earth will not be after the day of the Lord? THERE IS NO WAY TO READ THE EARTH WILL BE RESTORED TO BE THE WAY IT WAS BEFORE ADAM SINNED IN THIS PASSAGE. "DISAPPEAR" "MELT AWAY" "VANISH" "BE DESTROYED" "BE DISSOLVED" "PASS AWAY" "BURNED UP" DOES NOT MEAN "BE RESTORED"
If the second coming of Christ is passed and all end time prophecy has been fulfilled as Realized Eschatology teaches then life will go on forever on the earth as it is now for, according to them, nothing is said in the Bible about the earth ending, the victory over death when death will have been abolished, or the end of evil.
The fire is just a literal as the water; if one is figurative language the other must also be. "By which means [water] the world that them was...perished; but the heavens that now are, and the earth, by the same word have been stored up for fire." If the "fire" is spiritualized to be something other than real fire then the "water" must also be spiritualized to be something other than real water; therefore, the story of the ark must also be figurative language; therefore, there were no real ark and no real flood.
Figurative language of the sun, moon and stars being darken or falling from heaven is used of the fall of Judea [a national judgment] in Jeremiah 4:1-28, and "The sun shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken" [Matthew 24:29]. Compare Matthew 24:29-30 to the fall of Egypt. "And when I extinguish you, I will cover the heavens, and darken their stars; I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon shall not give its light. All the shining lights in the heavens I will darken over you and will set darkness on your land, declares the Lord God. I will also trouble the hearts of many peoples, when I bring your destruction among the nations" [Ezekiel 32:7-9]. However, Peter speaks of the utter destruction, passing away, disappearing, disintegrating, being dissolved of "the elements" on the day of the Lord; not just being darken and not giving their light. He is not using figurative language of the passing of a nation, but giving a literal description of the earth and the heavens, the same earth and heavens that He created out of nothing, passing away in one day.
Whichever way you make this [1] a figurative description of the end of a nation, [2] or a literal description, as a literal description of the end of the heavens and earth in the day of the Lord, it is a description of the end of something, not the restoring and making something better. The earth being restored is not in this passage; in it the earth is destroyed, not restored. THERE IS NOT A WORD ABOUT THE EARTH, ISRAEL, OR ANYTHING ON THIS EARTH BEING RESTORED AND MADE BETTER IN 2 PETER 3.
"You, Lord, in the beginning did lay the foundation of THE EARTH, AND THE HEAVENS are the works of your hands: THEY SHALL PERISH; BUT YOU CONTINUES: and they all shall wax old as does a garment; and as a mantle shall you roil them up, as a garment, and they shall be changed; but you are the same, and your years will not come to an end" [Hebrews 1:10-12]. There is no way the writer of Hebrews could have said any stronger that the Earth, not Israel, will end but Jesus will have no end. Realized Eschatology says all prophecy has been fulfilled, therefore, according to them, this has already been fulfilled.
All ungodly man will be destroyed on the day of the Lord, not just the ungodly Jews in A. D. 70 when Israel was destroyed. Is there anyone that cannot see that the ungodly have not yet been destroyed?
Summary: It was the world [kesmos] that was brought into being [“and an earth compacted out of water and amidst water”] by the word of God [2 Peter 3:5]. It was the same world [kesmos] that was destroyed by water, all the world, not just one nation that had not come into exists at the time the world was destroyed [2 Peter 3:6]. It is the world [kesmos] that now is that is stored up for fire at the Day of Judgment and destruction of ungodly men [2 Peter 3:7]. The same world [kesmos] (this earth) that was created in 2 Peter 3:5 is the same world that will be destroyed by fire in 2 Peter 3:6. THE FIRE IS JUST AS LITTERAL AS THE WATER. NOTHING IS SAID ABOUT ISRAEL OR ABOUT THE END OF AN AGE [ARION] IN 2 PETER 3. IT WAS REAL WATER THAT FLOATED A REAL BOAT THAT DESTORYED ALL OF THE WORLD [KESMOS], NOT JUST ONE NATION THAT DID NOT EXIST AT THAT TIME. IT WILL BE REAL FIRE THAT WILL DESTORY THE WORLD [KESMOS], NOT JUST THE END OF AN AGE [ARION] FOR ONE NATION.
NO PLACE FOR A RESURECTION
OF THE UNJUST IN THE A. D. 70 TEACHING
Most who believe the A. D. 70 teaching believe the just dead of the Old Testament was resurrected in A. D. 70 and the saved who have died after that time go to Heaven at the moment of death, but I have not found where they believe any unjust have been or will be resurrected from the dead for judgment; no place for the second death after the resurrection in there teaching; no place for a judgment that comes to them after death.
• "There shall be a resurrection both of the just and unjust" [Acts 24:15]
• "He has appointed a day in which he will judge the world" [Acts 17:31]. Not only the just and not only Israel, but in the same day Christ is going to judge the entire world. That day has not yet come.
• "If so be that it is a righteous thing with God to recompense affliction to them that afflict you, and to you that are afflicted rest with us, AT THE REVELATION OF THE LORD JESUS FROM HEAVEN with the angels of his power in flaming fire, RENDERING VENGEANCE TO THEM THAT KNOW NOT GOD, AND TO THEM THAT OBEY NOT THE GOSPEL OF OUR LORD JESUS WHO SHALL SUFFER PUNISHMENT, EVEN ETERNAL DESTRUCTION from the face of the Lord and from the glory of his might, WHEN HE SHALL COME TO BE GLORIFIED IN HIS SAINTS, and marveled at in all them that believe (because our testimony unto you was believed) IN THAT DAY" [2 Thessalonians 1:6-10].
• "He that rejects me, and receives not my sayings, has one that judges him: the word that I speak, the same shall judge him in the last day" [John 12:48].
• "Do not marvel at this; for THE HOUR IS COMING, IN WHICH ALL WHO ARE IN THE TOMBS SHALL HEAR HIS VOICE AND SHALL COME FORTH; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of judgment" [John 5:28-29]. The judgment is clearly said to take place after the resurrection, not at death.
• “I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and Christ Jesus, WHO IS TO JUDGE the living and the dead” [2 Timothy 4:1].
• “Who shall give account to him that is ready to judge the living and the dead” [1 Peter 4:5]. The dead had not been judged but were still to be judged (future tense) they were not already judged at the moment of death and transition from this world to Heaven or Hell.
• "For we shall all stand before the judgment-seat of God" [Romans 14:10].
• "For we must all be made manifest before the judgment-seat of Christ; that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he had done, whether it be good or bad" [2 Corinthians 5:10]. The Corinthians that had fallen asleep in Christ [1 Corinthians 15:20], the just and the unjust must be resurrected to stand before the judgment seat. That there was such a resurrection and judgment in A. D. 70 is pure fiction; there is nothing about it in the Bible.
• "Every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of' Judgment" [Matthew 12:36].
• "He that rejects me and receives not my words has one that judges him. The word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day" [John 12:48].
• "God now commands all men everywhere to repent because he has appointed a day in the which He will judge the world by righteousness by that man whom he has ordained, whereof he has given assurance unto all men in that he has raised him from the dead" [Acts 17:30-31].
• “For if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a terrifying expectation of judgment and THE FURY OF A FIRE WHICH WILL CONSUME THE ADVERSARIES. Anyone who has set aside the Law of Moses dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. How much severer punishment do you think he will deserve who has trampled under foot the Son of God, and has regarded as unclean the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has insulted the Spirit of grace? For we know Him who said, ‘VENGEANCE IS MINE, I WILL REPAY’ and again, ‘THE LORD WILL JUDGE HIS PEOPLE.’ It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God” [Hebrews 10:26-31].
• 2 Peter 3 (see notes above on 2 Peter 3)
THE RESURRECTION ON THE LAST DAY
THE DAY OF THE LORD
All this in one day, the day Christ comes, the day of the Lord.
• The second coming of Christ [2 Peter 3:10].
• The resurrection and judgment of the righteous [Acts 24:15; John 5:28-29; 6:40-41].
• The resurrection and judgment of the wicked [John 12:48].
• The final judgment [Acts 17:31; 2 Thessalonians 1:6-10].
• The total destruction of the earth and the heavens that were made from nothing and will return to nothing [2 Peter 3:7-11].
• The total destruction of the lost [2 Peter 2:12; 3:7].
• The second death [Revelation 2:11].
• Death will be abolished [1 Corinthians 15:24-16].
• The saved forever with the Lord [1 Thessalonians 4:14-17].
• The kingdom will be delivered up to God [1 Corinthians 15:24-26].
• Christ will bring the lawless one to an end by the appearance of His coming [2 Thessalonians 2:1-9].
• "Wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God" [2 Thessalonians 1:7-10].
[1] ON THE DAY OF THE LORD
THE SECOND COMING OF CHRIST
"But the day of the Lord will come as a thief" [2 Peter 3:10]. No one knows when the "day of the Lord" will come, but when it comes, EVERYONE on earth, living or dead, will know it. Coming "as a thief" shows the unexpectedness of His coming; no one knows what day or year. No one will be resurrected before the day of the Lord comes, all will be resurrected when it comes.
[2] ON THE DAY OF THE LORD
THE RESURRECTION AND JUDGMENT
OF THE RIGHTEOUS IN THE LAST DAY
"There shall be a resurrection both of the just and unjust" [Acts 24:15]. Both the righteous and the wicked will be raised and judged at the same time on the same day, not a thousand years apart. AS FAR AS I HAVE BEEN ABLE TO FIND NO ONE WHO BELIEVES CHRIST CAME IN A. D. 70 BELIEVES THERE WILL EVER BE A RESURRECTION OF THE “UNJUST.”
"Marvel not at this; for the hour comes in which all that are in the tombs shall hear his voice, and shall come forth; they that have done good unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil unto the resurrection of judgment" [John 5:28-29]. All will be raised in the same "hour." Not the saved raised and then the lost resurrected a thousand years later, and not many resurrection at the moment of death or each person. The resurrection does NOT take place at death; there is a day appointed when all the dead will rise [John 5:28-29].
"And this is the will of him that sent me, that of all that which he has given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day. For this is the will of my Father, that everyone that beholds the Son, and believes on him, should have eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day" [John 6:40-41]. Not a thousand years before the last day.
[3] ON THE DAY OF THE LORD
THE RESURRECTION AND JUDGMENT
OF THE WICKED IN THE LAST DAY
"He that rejects me, and receives not my sayings, has one that judges him: the word that I speak, the same shall judge him in the last day" [John 12:48].
[4] ON THE DAY OF THE LORD
THE FINAL JUDGMENT
Millennialists must divide the judgment into two parts. If it is shown that the judgment of both those in Christ and those who are not in Christ is one judgment of both at the same time and on the same day, not separated by a thousand years, it makes their view not be possible. In the passages above the judgment, it is not a broken judgment with the two parts a thousand years apart.
"He has appointed a day in which he will judge the world" [Acts 17:31].
"If so be that it is a righteous thing with God to recompense affliction to them that afflict you, and to you that are afflicted rest with us, AT THE REVELATION OF THE LORD JESUS FROM HEAVEN with the angels of his power in flaming fire, RENDERING VENGEANCE TO THEM THAT KNOW NOT GOD, AND TO THEM THAT OBEY NOT THE GOSPEL OF OUR LORD JESUS WHO SHALL SUFFER PUNISHMENT, EVEN ETERNAL DESTRUCTION from the face of the Lord and from the glory of his might, WHEN HE SHALL COME TO BE GLORIFIED IN HIS SAINTS, and marveled at in all them that believe (because our testimony unto you was believed) IN THAT DAY" [2 Thessalonians 1:5-10]. This passage tells:
• WHAT is to be done to both
1. Them that know not God, "Shall suffer punishment, even eternal destruction."
2. His saints: "Counted worthy of the kingdom of God" Verse 5.
• WHEN it is to be done to both
o "At the revelation of the Lord Jesus from Heaven...WHEN HE SHALL COME TO BE GLORIFIED IN HIS SAINTS...IN THAT DAY"
There is no way this passage can be broken apart and made to be speaking of two things that will be a thousand years apart. It is speaking of what will happen to both believers and nonbelievers "in that day," not a thousand years apart. If all the Bible is to be taken literally as the Millennialists say it is, could any passage say any clearer then this one that the resurrection and judgment are simultaneously on the same day?
"Do not marvel at this; for THE HOUR IS COMING, IN WHICH ALL WHO ARE IN THE TOMBS SHALL HEAR HIS VOICE AND SHALL COME FORTH; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of judgment" [John 5:28-29].
"But after your hardness and unrepentant heart treasures up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God; who will render to every man according to his works: to them that by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and incorruption, eternal life: but unto them that are factious, and obey not the truth, but obey unrighteousness, shall be wrath and indignation, tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that works evil" [Romans 2:5-6]. This will be "in the day when God shall judge the secrets of men, according to my gospel, by Jesus Christ" [Romans 2:16].
"For we must all be made manifest before the judgment-seat of Christ; that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he had done, whether it be good or bad" [2 Corinthians 5:10]. The Premillennialists time table has the judgment a thousand years after the day of the Lord. Also Matthew 25:46; Hebrews 10:27; Romans 14:10; 2:5-16; 1 Thessalonians 5:2-3; 2 Peter 2:12; 3:7-11; 2:10; Revelation 2:11; 21:8
[5] ON THE DAY OF THE LORD
THE TOTAL DESTRUCTION OF THE LOST [2 Peter 2:12; 3:7]
"For yourselves know perfectly THAT THE DAY OF THE LORD so comes as a thief in the night. When they are saying, peace and safety, then sudden destruction comes upon them...But you, brethren, are not in darkness, that THAT DAY should overtake you as a thief; for you are all sons of light" [1 Thessalonians 5:2-3, See 2 Peter 3:10]. Both are on the same day.
"At the revelation of the Lord Jesus from heaven with the angels of his power in flaming fire, rendering vengeance to then that know not God and to them that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus; who shall suffer punishment, even eternal destruction from the face of the Lord and from the glory of his might, when he shall come to be glorified in the saints" [2 Thessalonians 1:7-10]. There is no thousand year gap between the coming of Christ and the destruction of the wicked. Both are "in the day of the Lord."
"BUT WHEN THE SON OF MAN SHALL COME IN HIS GLORY, AND ALL THE ANGELS WITH HIM...HE SHALL SEPARATE THEM ONE FROM ANOTHER, AS THE SHEPHERD SEPARATES THE SHEEP FROM THE GOATS...AND THESE [the goats] SHALL GO AWAY INTO ETERNAL PUNISHMENT: BUT THE RIGHTEOUS [the sheep] INTO ETERNAL LIFE" [Matthew 25:46]. NO THOUSAND YEARS BETWEEN THE GOATS AND THE SHEEP. BOTH ARE AT THE SAME TIME. BOTH ARE, "WHEN THE SON OF MAN SHALL COME IN HIS GLORY." PREMILLENNIALISTS CANNOT EXPLAIN AWAY THIS PASSAGE AND MANY OTHERS THAT DO NOT FIT WITH THEIR VIEW.
[6] ON THE DAY OF THE LORD
THE SECOND DEATH
The second death is used four times only in Revelation. Another way of saying the total destruction of the lost [See The Second Death in chapter two]. Those who are buried and raised with Christ [Romans 6] in the first resurrection, "Over these the second death has no power" [Revelation 20:6].
FIRST RESURRECTION - SECOND DEATH: "He that over comes shall not be hurt of the second death" [Revelation 2:11, 20:6]. The first resurrection is when a person is "born anew...born of the water and the Spirit" [John 3:3-5]. "And you did he make ALIVE when you were dead...made us ALIVE together with Christ [by grace have you been saved], and RAISED us up with him" [Ephesians 2:1-6; Galatians 2:18-19; 3:1]. The first resurrection is when, "We were buried therefore with him through baptism into death: that like as Christ was RAISED from the dead" [Romans 6:3-4]. “Having been buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also RAISED up with Him through faith in the working of God, who RAISED Him from the dead When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, HE MADE YOU ALIVE together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgression” [Colossians 2:12-13].
"There are only two alternatives, the crown of life--eternal life--or the second death" Homer Hailey, Page 128, Revelation, Baker Book House.
THE ALL THAT “OVERCOMES SHALL NOT BE HURT OF THE SECOND DEATH” IS ALL THAT ARE THAT HAS BEEN SAVED AND ALL THAT WILL BE SAVED AND REMAINS FAITHFUL, NOT JUST SOME OF THE SAVED IN A LITERAL 1,000 YEARS. The second death will be for all that does not “have part in the first resurrection” (buried in baptism and raised up with Christ) [Revelation 20:6; 20:15; 21:8].
Death and hades, and any not found written in the book of life are cast into the lake of fire; which is the second death [Revelation 20:14-15].
Lake of fire, which is the second death. He that overcomes shall inherit and be God's son. For all other, "Their part shall be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone; which is the second death" [Revelation 21:8].
If, as some teach, the first resurrection is the resurrection of the soul in hades, then the first resurrection WOULD BE EVERYONE, SAVED AND LOST and it takes place at death. They believe both the good and bad wake up in hades immediately after death, therefore, all, both the saved and the lost, take part in the first resurrection.
All will die. "It is appointed unto man once to die, and after this comes judgment" [Hebrews 9:27]. All that are in the grave, both saved and lost, will hear His voice and come forth at the resurrection (John 5:28-29). All will be raised for the judgment that comes after the appointed death. All who are born again, made alive by being raised with Christ through Baptism; and live faithful shall not be hurt of the second death after the judgment. Christ paid the wages of sin for them. All others will pay their own wages of sin, which is death [Romans 6:23]. "But the fearful, and unbelieving, and abominable, and murderers, and fornicators, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, their part shall be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone; WHICH IS THE SECOND DEATH" [Revelation 21:8]. From this death there will never be a resurrection. The results will be eternal. The Dark Age doctrine of an endless life of torment is not a second death. It is eternal life with torment. IT BEARS NO RESEMBLANCE TO A DEATH. To feel pain, those in Hell would have to be just as alive as those in Heaven are. Eternal death is not life.
"As there is a second higher life, so there is also a second and deeper death. And as after that life there is no more death, SO AFTER THAT DEATH THERE IS NO MORE LIFE" Afford, quoted by Homer Hailey in "Revelation." The resurrection of all at the coming of Christ makes death be a sleep from which all will awake, but there will be no resurrection from the second death. It will be permanent and everlasting.
There is no room in "the day of the Lord" for one resurrection of a few when He comes and another resurrection of most of mankind after a thousand years as is taught by many.
"To him that overcomes, to him will I give to eat of the tree of life...He that overcomes shall not be hurt of the second death...He that overcome shall be arrayed in white garments; and I will in no wise blot his name out of the book of life" [Revelation 2:7-3:5]. The first resurrection is when one is born again. These are the only ones that will not be hurt of the second death. The overcoming is in this lifetime, not as the Premillennialists teach that the first resurrection will be at the coming of Christ.
[7] ON THE DAY OF THE LORD
DEATH WILL BE ABOLISHED
"Then comes the end, when he shall deliver up the kingdom to God, even the father; when he shall have abolished all rule and all authority and power, for he MUST REIGN, till he has put all his enemies under his feet. THE LAST ENEMY THAT SHALL BE ABOLISHED IS DEATH" [1 Corinthians 15:24-16]. For all that overcomes and "shall not be hurt of the second death" [Revelation 2:7] there will be no more death. Many Premillennialists believe Christ is not now reigning and will not reign unto the thousand years when He will reign on the throne of David in Jerusalem, at which time many of them believe all the saved will be in Heaven and will not return to earth unto after the thousand years. Is there anyway that death being abolished in the day of the Lord not be a problem for them?
[8] THE DAY OF THE LORD
THE SAVED FOREVER WITH THE LORD
"For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also that are fallen asleep in Jesus will God bring with him. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we that are alive, that are left unto the coming of the Lord, shall in no wise precede them that are fallen asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven, with a shout, the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first; then we that are alive, that are left, shall together with them be caught up in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord" [1 Thessalonians 4:14-17].
"When the Lord shall be revealed from heaven...when he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be marveled at in all them that believed...in that day" [2 Thessalonians 1:7-10]. Both the "shall be punished" and "to be marveled at in all them that believed" are "when the Lord shall be revealed from heaven...in that day," not two difference days that are a thousand years apart.
[9] ON THE DAY OF THE LORD
THE KINGDOM WILL BE DELIVERED UP TO GO
"Christ the first fruits, after that those who are Christ's AT HIS COMING, THEN COMES THE END, WHEN HE DELIVERS UP THE KINGDOM TO THE GOD AND FATHER, when he has abolished all rule and all authority and power. For HE MUST REIGN until He has put all His enemies under His feet. The last enemy that will be abolished is death" [1 Corinthians 15:24-26].
1. The Kingdom has been established and will be delivered up to God in the day of the Lord
• Not the Kingdom will be established on earth after the day of the Lord.
2. Will we have a "spiritual body" in Heaven with Christ
o Not we will have an earthly body on earth and Christ also an earthly body and rule the earth from Jerusalem for eternity?
[10] ON THE DAY OF THE LORD
CHRIST WILL BRING THE LAWLESS ONE TO AN END
BY THE APPEARANCE OF HIS COMING
"Now we beseech you, brethren, touching the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ...as that the day of the Lord is just at hand...for it will not be, except the falling away come first, and the man of lawlessness be revealed, the son of destruction...And then shall be revealed the lawless one, whom the Lord Jesus shall slay with the breath of his mouth, and bring to nothing by the manifestation of his coming; even he, whose coming is according to the working of Satan with all power" [2 Thessalonians 2:1-9]. Who or whatever the lawless one is; he will end on the day of the Lord. Some Premillennialists believe the lawless one to be the "Antichrist." If they were right then CHRIST WILL BRING THE ANTICHRIST TO AN END ON THE DAY OF THE LORD, ON THE DAY OF HIS SECOND COMING, NOT A THOUSAND YEARS AFTER THE DAY OF THE LORD. Some believe him to be the pope. If so, Christ will bring him to and end THAT DAY. Whatever "the lawless one" is, Christ will bring him or it to and end ON THE DAY He comes. If "the lawless one" is the "Antichrist" as many Premillennialists believe, the "Antichrist" will come to an end on the day of the second coming of Christ. WHAT EVER OR WHO EVER THE LAWLESS ONE IS, CHRIST WILL BRING IT TO AN END ON THE DAY OF HIS COMING. IT OR HE WILL NOT EXIST FOR A THOUSAND YEARS AFTER THE COMING OF CHRIST. IF THERE WERE A MILLENNIUM, THE LAWLESS ONE COULD NOT BE IN IT.
[11] ON THE DAY OF JUDGMENT
WRATH OF GOD
A day of wrath, not seven years or a thousand years of wrath. "And to you that are afflicted rest with us, AT THE REVELATION OF THE LORD JESUS FROM HEAVEN with the angels of His power in flaming fire, RENDERING VENGEANCE TO THEM THAT KNOW NOT GOD, AND TO THEM THAT OBEY NOT THE GOSPEL OF OUR LORD JESUS; WHO SHALL SUFFER PUNISHMENT EVEN ETERNAL DESTRUCTION from the face of the Lord and from the glory of His might, WHEN HE SHALL COME TO BE GLORIFIED IN HIS SAINTS, and to be marveled at in all them that believe...IN THAT DAY" [2 Thessalonians 1:7-10]. "Eternal destruction" for the lost is "in that day," and is the same day "when he shall come to be marveled at by them that believed."
"Wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God...but unto them that are factious, and obey not the truth, but obey unrighteousness, shall be wrath and indignation, tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that worked evil...in the day when God shall judge the secrets of man" [Romans 2:5-16 American Standard Version].
"For if we sin willfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remains no more a sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and a fierceness of fire which shall devour the adversaries. A man that has set at naught Moses law died without compassion on the word of two or three witnesses: of how much sorer punishment, think you, shall he be judged worthy, who has trodden underfoot the Son of God, and has counted the blood of the covenant wherewith he was sanctified and unholy thing, and has done despite unto the Spirit of grace? For we know him that said, vengeance belongs unto me, I will recompense, and again, The Lord shall judge his people. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God" [Hebrews 10:26-31].
"And inasmuch as it is appointed unto men once to die, and after this comes judgment" [Hebrews 9:27].
"But I would not have you ignorant, brethren, concerning them that fall asleep; that you sorrow not, even as the rest, who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also that are fallen asleep in Jesus will God bring with him. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we that are alive, that are left unto the coming of the Lord, shall in no will precede them that are fallen asleep, For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven, and with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first; then we that are alive, that are left, shall together with them be caught up in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air; and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words. But concerning the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need that anything be written unto you. For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night. When they are saying, Peace and safety, then sudden destruction comes open them, as travail upon a woman with child: and they shall in no wise escape. But you brethren, are not in darkness, that day should overtake you as a thief" [1 Thessalonians 4:13-5:5].
IN THIS PASSAGE THE DAY OF THE LORD IS CALLED:
1. The day of the Lord coming
2. The day the living saints being caught up
3. The day of the resurrection of those that are fallen asleep
4. The day the judgment all take place
5. The day of the Lord
6. The day when "the Lord himself shall descend from Heaven"
"Where is the promise of His coming...But the heavens that now are, and the earth, by the same word have been stored up for fire, being reserved against the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men...But the day of the Lord will come as a thief: in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall be dissolved with fervent heat, and the earth and the works that are therein shall be burned up" [2 Peter 3:4-13]. All on the same day, there is no thousand years [365,000 days] or seven years after any of the above. They are all on "that day." "Inasmuch as he has appointed a day in which he will judge the world in righteousness by the man whom he has ordained" [Acts 17:31]. Those who believe and teach Premillennial doctrines must deny the clear teaching on the Bible on the day of the Lord.
[12] ON THE DAY OF THE LORD
THE TOTAL DESTRUCTION OF THE EARTH AND THE HEAVENS
WHICH WERE MADE FROM NOTHING AND WILL RETURN TO NOTHING
"Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away" [Matthew 24:35; Psalms 102:25-27]. "By which means the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished, but the day of the Lord will come as a thief: in which the heavens that now are, and the earth, by the same word have been stored up for fire, being reserved against the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men...But the day of the Lord will come as a thief; IN THE WHICH THE HEAVENS SHALL PASS AWAY WITH A GREAT NOISE, AND THE ELEMENTS SHALL BE DISSOLVED WITH FERVENT HEAT (The elements are all the things of which the earth is made, the air, the water, etc. These shall be dissolved, burned up), AND THE EARTH AND WORKS THAT ARE THEREIN SHALL BE BURNED UP. SEEING THAT THESE THINGS ARE THUS ALL TO BE DISSOLVED" [2 Peter 3:7-11].
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PART TWO
The Interpretation Of Figurative Language
Metaphors And Symbolic Passages

THE INTERMEDIATE BOSOM: THE RICH MAN AND LAZARUS
Luke 16:19-31
Does hades have a good side and a bad side? This parable is one of the most used scriptures to prove both (1) that a person has a part of him that goes to Heaven or Hell, (2) or that a person has a part that goes into a holding place unto the resurrection. If it were a literal story and not a parable, as many believe it is, it would be both in conflict with and a contradiction of the belief that all go at once to Heaven or Hell at death; it would be positive proof that no one does.
Many realizing that the Orthodox teaching that a person goes to Heaven or Hell at death is not from the Bible, and no one will be in Heaven before and without a resurrection and judgment, knew they had to have an intermediate or third place that is not Heaven or Hell to put their immortal soul from death unto the resurrection. Is the best they can do is to try to make a parable into a true story, making Abraham's bosom into a holding place unto the resurrection? In doing this, they must set aside the plain teaching on death and the resurrection as if they did not exist. Making this into a real story and not a parable may be a life or death struggle with them, for the Bible gives them nowhere for the living soul to be living in before the resurrection, no other place, and they need to make this into a real place. If they do not, they have living souls with nowhere for them to be living in before the resurrection and judgment. They cannot have them in Heaven or their Hell unto the resurrection; but they must have somewhere to keep them. They cannot even agree among themselves, for some say it is a parable, and some say, "No it is a true story." Many that think it is a parable will use it as if it were a true story. They say it teaches the same thing either way. "Notes On The Parables Of Our Lord" by R. C. Trench is ranked as one of the best on the parables. He not only says this is a parable, but on page 17 says parables are not to be made the first sources to teach a doctrine. To go from the clear to the obscure has been recognized as the law of Scriptural interpretation, but this has been forgotten by those looking for an argument to sustain a weak position, and often invent for themselves support in parables. On page 162 Trench says it is most important to keep in mind that this parable has as it's central thought the rebuke of unbelief. Nevertheless, this parable is used as the first and only source to teach a doctrine that is not found in any other part of the Bible.
Some that believe in Hell often point to Luke 16 to prove there is torment after death; but when pushed, most of them will admit hades is not Hell; but they need to prove there is torment in Hell and therefore use the torment of the rich man in hades in this parable and hope in some way to transfer the torment in hades to torment in Hell. EVEN IF THIS WERE A TRUE STORY AND NOT A PARABLE, IT MAY PROVE THAT THERE IS TORMENT BEFORE THE RESURRECTION, BUT IT WOULD PROVE NOTHING ABOUT WHAT WILL BE AFTER THE RESURRECTION, OR THAT THERE WILL EVEN BE A HELL AFTER THE RESURRECTION; yet, Luke 16 is one of the most used passages to try to prove there is a Hell and there is torment in Hell even though there is nothing about Hell in the parable. They are desperately looking for proof of Hell, which they cannot find. It says nothing of Heaven. Hell, or a soul. The complete silence of the scriptures about the dead being anywhere before the resurrection other than the grave is a deathblow to the doctrine of an immortal soul; THOSE WHO MAKE THIS PARABLE INTO A LITERAL STORY AND ARE TRYING TO PROVE THE ABRAHAM'S BOSOM VIEW, OR TO PROVE HELL, USE IT TO PUT ASIDE HUNDREDS OF PLAIN PASSAGES OF SCRIPTURE.
This is the last in a series of five parables all spoken to the Pharisee and Scribes, all in the same speech.
1. The lost sheep [Luke 15:3-7].
2. The lost coin [Luke 15:8-10] not called a parable.
3. The lost son [Luke 15:11-32] "a certain man" not called a parable.
4. The unjust steward [Luke 16:1-13] "a certain rich man" not called a parable.
5. The rich man and Lazarus [Luke 16:19-31] "a certain rich man" not called a parable.
• Four of the five are not called a parable.
• Three of the five begin with "a certain...man."
• Two of the five have "a certain rich man."
• No one makes the other four be a true story, but they desperately need the rich man and Lazarus to be a true story to have proof of their doctrine.
Five "a certain" in a row.
1. "A certain man" [Luke 14:16].
2. "A certain man" [Luke 15:11]. No one questions these two being a parable.
3. "A certain rich man" [Luke 16:1]. And no one questions this being a parable.
4. "A certain rich man" [Luke 16:19]. Why do many question this being a parable?
5. "And a certain beggar named Lazarus" [Luke 16:20].
Christ used "a certain" 18 times, and all 18 are in parables [Matthew 18:23; 21:28; 31:23; 22:2; Mark 12:1; Luke 7:41; 10:30; 10:31; 10:33; 12:16; 13:6; 14:16; 15:11; 16:1; 16:19: 16:20; 19:12; 20:9]. No one questions that the other 16 times "a certain" is used as being in parables, only the two in this parable to make them fit with their literal view, but they DESPERATELY NEED this to be a parable for it to be proof of their doctrine of Hell EVEN IF IT MAKES THE PASSAGE CONTRADICT WHAT THEY BELIEVE ABOUT HELL.
THOSE WHO MAKE THIS PARABLE INTO A LITERAL STORY DO NOT ACCEPT THE MAIN PART OF IT AS BEING LITERAL. They do not accept Abraham’s bosom as being a literal place but as a symbolic place; his literal bosom had turned to dust many years before and there would not be room for even one person in Abraham’s literal bosom; therefore, if part of it cannot be literal none of it can be literal, if it is a true story all of it must be literal. It is a symbolic picture or a true story; it cannot be a mixture of the two.
The objection of some is that it is not called a parable. Less than half, only 11 of the 26 parables in Luke are called a parable. The three parables before this one that are a part of the series of five parables all spoken to the Pharisee and Scribes in the same speech are not called parables but no one questions them being parables. The objection of others is that parables do not use proper names. "And he took up his parable, and said, 'From ARAM has BALAK brought me, the king of MOAB from the mountains of the East: come, curse me JACOB, and come, defy ISRAEL'" [Numbers 23:7]. Not one but FIVE PROPER NAMES are used in one parable. "SATAN" [Mark 4:14] and "THE SON OF MAN" [Matthew 13:37] are used in parables.
If one attempts to explain all the elements as though they are literal, the difficulties of making this be a true story will be seen.
THE RICH MAN
This is an allegory of the Jews who were rich in God's blessing. Israel was spiritually rich [see Romans 9:3-5]. All Luke 16 is on the subject of stewardship. The Jews failed to share with the Gentiles giving them only the crumb, and most of the Jews failed to believe in Christ. The Gentiles were spiritually poor. This parable is a satire condemning the Jewish nation, the Scribes, and Pharisees. Christ used one of their own uninspired fables, which those He was speaking to would know about [see Josephus and others], which He changed only slightly as the base of this parable to show the end of the Jewish nation as God's chosen people. See Matthew 21:43-45; 24:2; Luke 13:28; Matthew 23:1-39. Throughout much of the Old Testament Israel did not obey God and rejected Christ, therefore, were rejected by God. Israel is no longer His chosen people. Their torment was being without God and rejected by Him, and as a nation Israel is dead and in hades, the grave. When they reject Christ there was no comfort for them, no water to cool their tongue [Luke 16:24].
A picture of the rich Jews and the poor Gentiles is given in Matthew 15:22-27. "And behold, a Canaanitish women came out from those borders, and saying, have mercy on me, O Lord...But he answered and said, I was not sent but unto the house of Israel. But, she came and worshipped him saying, Lord, help me. And he answered and said, It is not good to take the children's [Israel's] bread and cast it to the dogs [Gentiles]. But she said, Yea, Lord: for even the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters' table." He gives her the crumbs and healed her daughter.
"And I say unto you, that many shall come from the east and the west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven: but the sons of the kingdom shall be cast forth into outer darkness: there shall be the weeping and the gnashing of teeth" [Matthew 8:11-12]. "Therefore say I unto you, the kingdom of God shall be taken away from you, and shall be given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof" [Matthew 21:43]. "O Jerusalem...your house is left unto you desolate" [Matthew 23:37-38].
"Odunaomai" [Used only four times in the New Testament, Wigram, Page 524] is translated "tormented" in the King James Version in Luke 16:24 and 25, but is translated "in anguish" both times in the American Standard Version. It is used only two other times and was translated "sorrowing" in the King James Version, when Mary said to Christ "and I have sought thee sorrowing [odunaomai]" Luke 2:48 and when Paul told the elders at Miletus that they would see him no more, "sorrowing [odunaomai] most of all for the words which he had spoken" Acts 20:38; neither Mary or the elders at Miletus were tormented. THE ANGUISH (or sorrowing - not torment) OF THE RICH MAN WAS ISRAEL BEING REJECTED BY GOD AS A NATION. This parable is about those who were rich in God's blessing and those who were poor in God's blessing, not a literal story about a person who was a beggar. "Ptokos" is used thirty-four times in the New Testament and is always translated "poor" except in this parable and Galatians 4:9 and where it is translated beggar in the King James Version, and poor in the New American Standard.
• “And given to the poor (ptokos) Matthew 26:11
• “A certain poor (ptokos) widow” Mark 12:42
• “Preach the gospel to the poor (ptokos)” Luke 4:18
• “Contribution to the poor (ptokos) saints” Romans 15:26
• “As poor (ptokos), yet making many rich” 2 Corinthians 6:10
• “And a certain poor (ptokos) man named Lazarus” Luke 16:20 New American Standard.
This parable is about the Jews who were rich in God’s word and the rest of the world that was poor (ptokos), in spiritual poverty.
Dr. Gill, an orthodox Protestant who believed in the intermediate state of the dead, in his commentary of Luke said, "The rich man died: It may also be understood of the political and ecclesiastical death of the Jewish people, which lay in the destruction of the city of Jerusalem, and of the temple, and in the abolition of the temple worship, and the whole ceremonial law: a Loammi was written upon their church state, and the covenant between God and them was broken; the gospel was removed from them, which was as death...their civil power and authority, were taken away from them by the Romans." Many orthodox writers say the same.
LAZARUS
Lazarus is the Gentiles, the people in spiritual poverty who had only the crumbs of God's blessing [see Matthew 15:21-26], but become the seed of Abraham-the church. Lazarus [the Gentiles] becomes rich in God's blessing by the Gospel. Christ says, "The kingdom of God shall be taken away from you, and shall be given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof" [Matthew 21:43]. "That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ" [Galatians 3:14]. See Matthew 8:11-12; Luke 8:28' Acts 8:46; 26:23; Romans 2:28-29; 9:3-5; 9:8; 3:26-29; 4:28; Philippians 3:3; Romans 11:7; Ephesians 2:12-13]. IN THE PARABLE LAZARUS (THE CHURCH) IS NOW IN ABRAHAM'S BOSOM WHERE THE JEWS ONCE WERE. "Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are children of promise" [Galatians 4:28]. "For we are the circumcision, who worship by the spirit of God" [Philippians 3:3]. "For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision which is outward in the flesh: but he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart" [Romans 2:29]. "And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to promise" [Galatians 3:29]. Paul calls the church "a new creation" "the Israel of God" [Galatians 6:15-16]. EVER PERSON WHO IS NOW A CHRISTIAN IS THE SEED OF ABRAHAM AND AN HEIR OF THE PROMISE MADE TO ABRAHAM.
ABRAHAM
Galatians 3:6-22; Romans 9:8. The blessing of Abraham came to the Gentiles through the Church. Israel does not now by birth have the blessing of Abraham, therefore are "in anguish, and sees Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom." Israel is not now in covenant relationship with God. The Church is now the "sons of Abraham" [Galatians 3:7]. "So then they that are of faith are blessed with the faithful Abraham" [Galatians 3:9]. Israel has been "broken off" or "cast off" [Romans 11]. THE CHURCH IS NOW "THE ISRAEL OF GOD" [Galatians 6:16; also 1 Peter 2:9-10; Hebrews 12:22].
THE GULF
The rejection of Christ cut Israel off from Abraham and the blessing of God. One cannot reject Christ and worship God. Without believing in Christ and His resurrection, there is a gulf between God and Israel. One cannot go back to the Law as some Jews in Paul's time tried to do. As long as they reject Christ, there is not "a drop" of spiritual comfort for them in Christianity. Those that believe in Christ can give no comfort, no hope of salvation to them that do not believe whether they are Jews or Gentiles. The Law of Moses, which Israel gloried in, died at the death of Christ. "Having blotted out the bond written in ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us: and he has taken it out of the way, nailing it to the cross" [Colossians 2:14]. "Be not entangled again in a yoke of bondage" [Ephesians 2:11-22]. Also Acts 15:24. We cannot cross the gulf and go back to the Law [Galatians 5:1]. "That which Israel seeks for, that he obtained not; but the election obtained it" [Romans 11:7]. The only way any person can become a child of God today is by being born again. The Law is dead and will never be restored. The nation of Israel can never be restored. The only way any Jew could ever again be a child of God is to believe the Gospel and be baptized into Christ. "By their unbelief they (branches-plural, Jews, not nations-plural) were broken off" and Gentiles (not Gentiles nations) were grafted in. "And they (individual Jews) also, if they continue not in their unbelief, shall be grafted in: for God is able to graft them (branches - plural Jews - not plural nations of Israel) in again" [Romans 11:17-24].
The rich man [Israel] went to the grave [hades]. Israel is no longer God's chosen people. Lazarus, the Gentiles believers went to Abraham's bosom [into a covenant relationship with God], not to the grave. Abraham's bosom is not a division of [one side of] the grave [hades]. Many draw a circle and make one side of it be where the rich man is and the other side where Lazarus is with a gulf between the two sides. This circle is in the back of most Bibles printed by Star Bible and Tract, and in many other books printed by members of the church of Christ.
THE FIVE BROTHERS
Christ was telling the Pharisees and scribes they would not believe even when He rose from the dead [See Trench "Notes On The Parables" Page 162]. Judea and his five brothers became six of the twelve tribes. Some believe five brothers are used to identify the rich man as Judea to the Pharisees to whom He was speaking this parable.
In the parable Abraham tells the rich man that if their own scriptures cannot convince them of their error, neither would they be persuaded if one rose from the dead.
IF THIS WERE A TRUE STORY AND NOT A PARABLE
If this is a true story, IT IS IN DIRECT CONFLICT WITH CHRIST AND PAUL. Christ said, "for you shall be recompensed in the resurrection of the just" [Luke 14:14]; but if this is a true story, their recompense is in "Abraham's bosom" immediately after death before the resurrection. What will happen after death? Christ says, "For the hour comes, in which ALL THAT ARE IN THE TOMBS [not in Abraham's bosom] shall hear his voice, and come forth: they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of judgment" [John 5:28-29]. If hades is not the grave, no one will be in the tombs when Christ comes. Paul said, "There is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord...shall give me at that day" [2 Timothy 4:8]. The resurrection keeps getting in the way of the immortal soul doctrine for it seems to be more than just a little difficult to have a resurrection of something that is alive and not dead.
o If all go to Heaven or Hell instantly after death, no one will be in the tombs when Christ comes.
o If all go to Abraham’s bosom or the bad side across the gulf, no one will be in the tombs when Christ comes.
If this is a true story it makes the judgment a mockery and an empty show. All are judged instantly after death. The wicked are now being punished and the saved are now being rewarded before the Judgment Day, therefore, both punishment and reward would begin immediately after death without the judgment, not at the resurrection.
If this is a true story, it makes the resurrection useless and not needed. No one is dead. It makes void the teaching of Christ about the resurrection of the dead at His coming. Not only would the resurrection be useless but also a lie for if no one is dead, no one can be resurrected. The dead would be more alive than we are and at the second coming of Christ, no one will be in the grave to "come forth" [John 5:28-29]. They would have to "come back" from somewhere, but it would not be a resurrection of the dead. "Abraham's bosom," if made to be a real place in a true story, and the teaching of going directly to Heaven or Hell after death, both makes a resurrection impossible and not needed. A LIVING SOUL OR PERSON COMING BACK FROM ABRAHAM'S BOSOM OR FROM HEAVEN FOR THE JUDGMENT WOULD NOT BE A RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD. Any doctrine which makes the dead not be dead, and those who are asleep are not asleep, makes a resurrection an impossibility and useless. IF THIS IS A TRUE STORY AND NOT A PARABLE, IT IS AN UNDENIABLE CONTRADICTION OF THE PROTESTANT VIEW THAT EVERYONE GOES DIRECTLY TO HEAVEN OR TO HELL AT DEATH.
If this is a true story it makes the wages of sin being death not possible. There is no real death. To be dead is just to be alive in another form. It is used to show the nature of punishment after death in Hell. EVEN IF IT WERE A TRUE STORY, IT SAYS NOTHING ABOUT ANYTHING AFTER THE JUDGMENT OR ABOUT HELL. IT DOES NOT MENTION THE SOUL, HEAVEN OR HELL BUT IS USED TO PROVE ALL THREE.
If this is a true story it would be an actual description of the intermediate state, which must be true in ever detail, such as praying to Abraham, able to see and hear those in torment. Both the saved and the lost would receive their reward or punishment immediately after death before and without the resurrection and judgment day.
If this is a true story it is when the rich man had brothers living on earth, not after the judgment, therefore could not be used to prove that is a Hell after the judgment by those who believe the Abraham bosom version for they teach no one will be in Hell unto after Judgment Day and then no one in Hell will have brothers living on the earth.
If this is a true story those who believe souls are immortal and live after the death of the earthly body believe the rich man and Lazarus to be two immortal souls that do not have a body. THIS IS THE POINT THEY WANT TO MAKE, THAT A PERSON HAS A SOUL THAT LIVES AFTER THE DEATH OF THE BODY. Do they think one immortal soul would want another immortal soul to bring it a drop of water? They tell us the "soul" of both the saved and the lost are in hades, and tell us at death "the spirit returns to God" [Ecclesiastes 12:7]. They have the "soul" in hades and the "spirit" in Heaven at the same time.
If this were a true story those in Abraham's bosom would be able to hear and see those on the other side of the gulf. The gulf must be narrow enough to be in speaking distance. Could parents be in joy while they watched their children in agony? Could anyone be happy and have peace while they could hear the cries of anguish of those on the other side? Would you be happy if you were confined in a place for centuries where you had to see the agony and hear the screaming of some of your loved ones; would that be a reward for anyone; but if this is a true story them you will see and hear their agony and screaming? Even most who believes this to be a parable, do not believe the good and the bad dead can talk to each other, or that the dead can now come back and talk to the living as the rich man wanted Lazarus to do. The view taught today is Abraham's bosom is like a lake of fire with the lost in the lake and the saved sitting on the shore watching their torment, and according to the way Revelation 6:9-10 is used, those on the shore would be asking God to torment them more.
If it were a true story it is the one place in the Bible where the veil is drawn aside and we can see what it is like after death. We can even hear the conversation of those on the other side, and it was given to unbelievers, the Pharisees and Scribes. Luke 15 and 16 is a discourse to them, not to the Apostles.
If this were a true story we have a biblical example of praying to a Saint and to a person as if he were God, which we are forbidden to do. If after death anyone can pray to Saint Abraham, why do most why are orthodox teach we cannot pray to Saint Abraham or any other saint?
THIS PARABLE HAS ELEMENTS
THAT COULD NOT BE TRUE IN A TRUE STORY
[1] If this is not a parable, and if the rich man and Lazarus are real people, THEN ABRAHAM IS ALSO A REAL PERSON, BUT HE IS NOW IN THE PLACE OF A GOD. Is he a God? No, for this is a parable, not a true story. IF IT WERE A TRUE STORY IT WOULD MAKE ABRAHAM, NOT GOD THE SOURCE OF REWARD AFTER DEATH. GOD OR CHRIST IS NOT MENTIONED IN THE PARABLE. Coffman said the element of Abraham presiding over paradise forces one to seek an analogy. "Commentary On Luke" Page 385. Lazarus in the bosom of the God Abraham can have no parallel in reality; it is a parable, not a true story. It cannot be both. It cannot have both an allegorical and a literal meaning. If it did, how would one be different than the other? If taken literally, Abraham is put into a position of being a God, which he never was, is not, and never will be.
• Abraham is NOT a God. This is figurative language, not a true story.
• Abraham's bosom is NOT a place. This is figurative language, not a true story.
• Abraham's bosom is NOT literally the home of the saved after death. This is figurative language, not a true story. Many died before Abraham was born. They could not have gone to Abraham's bosom, a place where Abraham presided over before Abraham was born, before Abraham’s bosom could have existed; but those who believe in Abraham's bosom view believe all the saved in the Old Testament went to it, therefore, Abraham's bosom could only be symbolic language.
[2] MANY REGARD THIS AS A PARABLE, BUT THEY REASON AND DRAW CONCLUSIONS FROM IT AS THOUGH IT WERE A LITERAL TRUE STORY. They go both ways as it suits them. "No reason why Luke 16:19-31 should be viewed only as a parable" Csonka, Guardian Of Truth, January 5, 1995, Page 16. This article says it is a parable, but it’s author thinks it is also a true story both at the same time! It could not be both, and the article says it is a parable. It cannot, as many say, "mean the same thing" if it is a parable that it would if it is a true story. IT MUST BE 100% A TRUE STORY OR 100% A PARABLE. It cannot be a mixture of the two. IF IT IS A LITERAL TRUE STORY, EVERY DETAIL MUST BE TRUE AND HAVE A LITERAL TRUE MEANING. Those who say it is a true story find parts of it that will not fit into their views [what they believe]; and always try to make these parts be a metaphor or parable. Abraham's bosom had literally turned to dust long before Jesus gives this parable. If his bosom is used symbolical and is not his literal bosom, the rest of the account must also be symbolic and it is not the literal experience of the two men after they died. Part of it cannot be a symbolic parable, and part of it literal. It must all be a parable or all literal. In a metaphor, one part of it is never figurative with another part literal. If Abraham's bosom is figurative, then Lazarus in his bosom must also be figurative and not a real person, otherwise, a real person would be in a figurative bosom. We cannot make any part of a metaphor be a literal statement just because we want it to be, or we need it to be to prove something we want to prove. If "Abraham's bosom" is a real place, where is Abraham? In his own bosom!
“We want to know if this was a real experience, and if it teaches the condition of the dead. Let it be remembered, then, according to the philosophy that they are ‘spirits.’ Will you tell me how you reason that a ‘spirit’s tongue’ can be cooled with water? ‘Oh’ you say, ‘that represents’—HOLD ON, NO REPRESENTATIONS GO IN A REAL CIRCUMSTANCE. If you say it is real, stay with it. This policy of making it half literal and half figurative, just because there is an end to gain, is a nature ‘fakir’ in theology. It, therefore, represents nothing it is a real circumstance, as you affirm. How could Lazarus carry a drop of water on his ‘SPIRTUAL’ finger? You say, ‘Oh, that doesn’t mean literal water.’ Well sir, it does or you do not mean what you say, I care not who you are. But reason with me. How could a spiritual tongue be cooled with a drop of water? ‘Oh,’ you say, ‘that must not be pressed too literal.’ NO, NOT TOO LITERAL, BUT JUST A LITERAL AS IN ANY REAL CIRCUMSTANCE. If it was a literal fact, then the details, which make it up are literal fact also. And to deny that it to deny your position. Here is a stubborn fact. The narrative say the rich man did call on Abraham to send Lazarus. That he wanted Lazarus to dip his finger in water. And he wanted Lazarus to put that water on his tongue. And the reason was that he was tormented in the flame. That very portrait, if it be read circumstance, will compel every one of you to admit that the torment of the intermediate state is produced by fire. How do you like it? Then stop saying it is a sort of compunction of conscience. For understand, conscience was never known to call for water to cool it. Get that? It will no doubt be granted willingly, that for a real circumstance, the peculiar incidents connected with it here make this the most remarkable and phenomenal case on record. For we would be forced to concede that the spirit craved water, that it gets thirsty or feverish, and that it asked a favor of Abraham instead of God, that it was God who rendered the verdict and cast him in prison, that Abraham has no right or jurisdiction in the matter, and a hundred other things that make this narrative an absolute mystery, if it be a real circumstance .” E. D. Slough, “The Indictment Of Eternal Torment—The Self-negation Of A Monstrous Doctrine,” Page 262, F. L. Rowe, Publisher, 1914, evangelist, church of Christ.
[3] This is the only parable in which some try to make an allegory literal, but only the parts of it they want to be literal for they do not want the whole story to be literal. It would teach things they do not believe. It would teach that the many [the poor] will be saved, and that few [the rich] will be lost. What about Abraham? He was very rich. It is not said the rich man was evil or sinful, just rich; but those who teach innately immortal have a real person in torment before the judgment, before he is judged and found guilty. It is not said Lazarus was good and faithful, or even that he knows of God, just that he was poor, as are millions; but being rich is not sinful, and being poor will not save. NOT ONE GOOD THING IS SAID ABOUT LAZARUS AND NOT ONE BAD THING ABOUT THE RICH MAN. There is nothing negative said about the rich man and nothing positive about Lazarus in their lifetime, but they have Lazarus who they say is a real person being rewarded before being judged.
[4] It would teach that the rich man, who would then be in a supernatural state [not of this earth] and therefore, most likely have a much greater knowledge of supernatural things than we now have, that he would believe or know that the dead could come back to earth and teach the living. This is not what most believes, but it would greatly support the spiritualist who says they can call the dead back.
[5] What bodies would the rich man or Lazarus have when their earthly body was still in the grave? They will not have a "spiritual body" unto the resurrection [1 Corinthians 15:44]. Do disembodied spirits that have no body and are "immaterial, invisible" have human body parts? The rich man has "eyes" and "tongue." Lazarus has a "finger." Abraham has a "bosom." Is there a third kind of body, which has these earthly parts? What would a "spirit" or "soul" which does not have an earthly body want with water? Only in speaking in a metaphor can it be said that God or any spiritual being has a human part, or to want water. How could an "immaterial, invisible part of man" have body parts or want water if this were a true story and not a parable? It would make this "immaterial, invisible part of man" very material.
[6] If the rich man were a real person in torment, God would be unjust to be tormenting him without his knowing why. If he knew why he was being tormented, he would have known that Lazarus could not come to take his torment away by bring him water.
[7] The rich man wanted Lazarus to go to his brothers "from the dead." How could Lazarus "go to them from the dead" [Luke 16:30] or "rise from the dead," [Luke 16:31] if he were not dead but were alive in Heaven or Abraham's bosom?
Al Maxey: "To fabricate a theology of disembodied spirits and Hadean holding cells and everlasting torture of the wicked from this passage is an unconscionable abuse of biblical interpretation and should be rejected by all disciples intent upon discerning and declaring Truth rather than perpetuating the tedious tenets of paganistic Tradition" Reflections, Issue #28, April 4, 2003.
Adam Clarke: " Let it be remembered that by the consent of all (except the basely interested), no metaphor is ever to be produced in proof of a doctrine. In the things that concern our eternal salvation, we need the most pointed and express evidence on which to establish the faith of our souls" Note on Matthew 5:26.
R. C, Trench: "The parables are not to be made first sources of doctrine. Doctrines other wise grounded may be illustrated, or even further confirmed by them; but it is not allowable to constitute doctrines first by their aid. For from the literal to the figurative, from the clearer to the more obscure, has ever been recognized as the law of Scripture interpretation. This rule, however, has been often forgotten, and controversialists, looking around for arguments with which to sustain some weak position, often invent for themselves supports in these" Notes On The Parables Of Our Lord, Page 17,1948.
Luke 16:19-32 -- Very similar -- Isaiah 14:9-20
1. Both the rich man and king of Babylon go there after death
2. Both represent nations
3. Both are represented as being alive
4. Both found person(s) to speak with
5. Both are not to be taken literally
SUMMARY: THE THREE CONFLICTING VIEWS. THREE DIFFERENT GOSPELS Galatians 1:6-9
1. Luke 16 is used to prove at death the body dies and the spirit or soul (?) goes to hades or Abraham's bosom unto the resurrection.
2. At death the soul or spirit of all goes to Heaven or Hell
3. Ecclesiastes 12:7 is used to prove that the spirit or soul of ALL came from God at birth, both the saved and the unsaved, and at death ALL go back to God.
Which one do you believe? All three cannot be true. Many who believes the dead go to hades to be with the rich man in torment or to be in "Abraham's bosom" also believe and teach the soul goes directly to Heaven at death to "be with the Lord." They seem not to be able to see that they are making the dead go immediately to Heaven or Hell after death and, therefore, they have made this, which they teach as a true story impossible. No one could be in "Abraham's bosom" and in Heaven simultaneously. How many of the three conflicting gospels do you believe? Does the orthodox view not know what the orthodox view is? DO THOSE WHO BELIEVE THE ABRAHAM'S BOSOM VIEW FORGET THAT THEY TEACH NO ONE WILL BE IN HEAVEN BEFORE THE JUDGMENT? YES, THEY ALMOST ALWAYS DO AT FUNERALS AND HAVE THE DEAD LOOKING DOWN AT THEIR OWN FUNERAL.

PART THREE
THE SYMBOLIC PICTURES OF REVELATION
The Interpretation Of Figurative Language
Metaphors And Symbolical Passage
The symbolical pictures of Revelation versus a literal interpretation. All the literal passages in the Bible which use words like death, die, destruction, life, it is insisted that only one word be interpreted figuratively in these passages, not the whole passage, until they come to a book that is figurative, then it is insisted that the figurative be interpreted as being literal. It is a hopeless cause that requires such poor handing of God's word.
THE FIFTH SEAL - SOULS UNDER AN ALTAR
A SYMBOLICAL PICTURE [Revelation 6:9]: To understand this scripture we must keep it in the context. John was seeing a vision of what was to come to pass after the time he was writing [Revelation 4:1]. When we read the symbolism of Revelation, we must remember that the figures symbolizes something that is a word picture and are not to be taken literally. We must look for what is symbolized and not make the symbols into something real or literal. The red horse of Revelation 6:3 is not a literal or real red horse. John did not see a literal or real vision of what heaven is actually like when he saw a view of horses in Heaven or souls under an altar. None of the symbols can be taken literally. THE FIFTH SEAL IS FIGURATIVE JUST AS THE OTHER SEALS WERE. SOULS ARE NOT LITERALLY LIVING UNDER AN ALTAR. THAT THE SYMBOLIC SOULS UNDER AN ALTAR MUST MADE INTO LITERAL SOULS SHOWS THE WEAKNESS OF THIS BELIEF. Even those who believe souls go to their eternal abode in Heaven at death do not believe souls are now living in a prison under an altar, but they are desperate for any passage to prove we now have in immortal soul that goes to Heaven or Hell at death that they make it literal even if the souls must be living under an altar, even if it puts a literal altar in Heaven.
Souls under the altar crying out in Revelation 6:9 is similar to Abel's blood that "cries unto me from the ground" [Genesis 4:10]. Both are figurative and not literal. The fifth seal is only one of six seals in this vision, and cannot be made literal while the others are figurative. Is the 5th seal literal, but the 6th one figurative? Read all six. The 5th seal is taken out of context. Souls under an altar are no more literal than white, red, black, and pale horses running around in Heaven are. Like the horses, they are part of a symbolic picture. But when you take at look at the seven seals, they are all of things that are on this earth, not things that are in Heaven. IN THE SYMBOLIC PICTURE(S), THINGS OF THIS EARTH ARE SEEN IN HEAVEN THAT IS NOT LITERALLY THERE. There are not literally horses in Heaven. Souls under the altar is an allusion to the Jewish altar on which their sacrifices was offered, not to a real altar in Heaven. If this symbolism were made literal, not even those who believe we have a part of us that lives after the death of the body believes what this passage would say, that an immortal immaterial part of a person lives under an altar.
"That the blood of the sacrifices was poured out at 'the base' of the altar [Lev 4:7,18,30 et all.]. Therefore, when the blood was poured out, it was the life that was being offered. The 'souls' [psuchas], which John saw beneath the altar, was the lives of those who had been sacrificed for Christ." Homer Hailey, "Revelation, An Introduction and Commentary," Baker Book House, Page 194, Hailey was dean of Bible at Florida College.
The life is in the blood, which was under the altar. Psukee is translated "life" about as much as it is "soul." Lives would be a better translation of psukee than "souls?" The blood of the sacrifice was poured at the base of an altar. The life was in the blood [Genesis 9:4, Deuteronomy 12:23]. Just as the blood of Abel cried out from the ground for justice [Genesis 4:10], the blood of these who were sacrificed for Christ cries out for justice. It will come at the judgment. This symbol picture is taken from something on this earth before the judgment, not a literal picture of Heaven. Can anyone believe John literally saw souls living under the altar on which they were killed and that this altar where they were killed has been moved from earth to in Heaven?
"The souls of this altar scene are represented as the sacrifices of life in the aggregate slain for the word of God...the souls under the altar: as the figurative altar of this vision signifies martyrdom, the phrase under the altar describes the scene of defeat. The cause for which they were offered was represented as being despised and defeated. But it was temporary, because the same souls were removed from beneath the altar of chapter 6, and elevated to the thrones in chapter 20, signifying the resurrection of the cause for which they had died." Foy E. Wallace "The Book Of Revelation," Wallace Publications, 1966, Page 150.
The Protestant version of Hell is that the lost are now in Hell being tormented with more torment than anything we can know, but it has the saved that Protestants teach are now in Heaven now under an altar and are now wanting more torment on those who they believe are now being tormented in Hell. What would you think of some you now know that were seeing many being tormented by some one, if they were asking to see more torment? To make this passage literal to prove torment in Hell makes those in Heaven be more heartless than any living person and makes them be completely without any love. They would be seeing the agony and hearing the crying of unceasing anguish and asking for more.
SYMBOLIC PICTURES
A LITERAL ALTAR IN HEAVEN? There cannot be literal souls on a symbolic altar. If the souls are literal, then the altar must also be literal; when one part of the vision is made literal, there is nowhere to stop without making the whole vision literal. What sacrifice is made on this literal altar in Heaven? If the altar were literal, then there would be literal death in Heaven, for to have a literal sacrifice on the literal alter there must be a literal death of what is sacrificed. What would be the reason for the sacrifice? Not for sin, for there is none in Heaven. Who is making the sacrifice? Do angels have a reason to make a sacrifice? Are souls in Heaven confined to the area under the altar? See Genesis 4:10 and Hebrews 12:24. This altar in Heaven is no more literal than: (1) Jesus having a literal sword coming out of His mouth. (2) A church is a literal lamp stand. (3) False religion is a literal harlot riding a beast.
Revelation 6:9; 14:9-11 are symbolic pictures of events that happen in time just as the other symbolic pictures around them are of events that happen in time. To put an altar for sacrifice or smoke from burning flesh in Heaven is absurd. Just as absurd as making Revelation 12:1, "A woman arrayed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars" into a literal woman would be. Her head would need to be much larger than the sun to hold a crown with twelve suns in it. They are symbolic pictures; they are not literal or real events, not at the judgment or after it. The end of time is not described unto near the end of the book [see Hailey and Wallace below]. To prove Hell, the symbolic pictures of these in time judgments [judgments that take place on the earth before the Judgment Day] are taken out of context and moved unto after the end of the earth after the Judgment Day and placed in Hell even when there is no revelation that Hell exists. Those who believe in Hell think these symbolic pictures of in time judgments in Revelations are one of their strongest proofs of Hell. Peterson said, "The book of Revelation paints some of the most graphic pictures of hell found in the Bible" Page 93. He takes the visions out of context and makes them be literal by making all the judgment pictures in the book be torment in Hell after the Judgment Day is over. He ends up with such absurd things as Heaven being always full of smoke from the burning bodies of those in Hell. ALTHOUGH IT IS AGREED BY MOST THAT NO DOCTRINE CAN BE PROVED BY THE SYMBOLIC PICTURES OF REVELATION, YET "THE SMOKE OF THEIR TORMENT" IS CONSTANTLY QUOTED AS PROOF OF ENDLESS TORMENT. THE FACT THAT BELIEVERS IN HELL CAN PROVE THEIR HELL ONLY BY USING SYMBOLIC PASSAGES, METAPHORS, AND PARABLES; AND MUST USE THESE TO SET ASIDE PLAIN PASSAGES THAT SAY THE WAGES OF SIN IS DEATH, THE LOST DIE, PERISH, ARE DESTROYED SHOWS HOW UTTERLY GROUNDLESS THEIR BELIEF IN HELL IS. THE CLEAR STATEMENTS ARE THE TRUTH, NOT THE MISUSED SYMBOLIC PICTURES. The Bible does not say yes and no to the same thing. It does not prove both the affirmative and negative. A symbolic picture does not prove the opposite of a clear statement. A symbolic picture of smoke in Heaven does not prove "the wages of sin is death" to be "the wages of sin is eternal life burning in torment" with the smoke of their burning going into Heaven for all eternity.
Like most if not all the symbolic pictures in Revelation, this language is taken from the Old Testament and is speaking of judgments on this earth, not in Hell. On the judgment of Edom in Isaiah 34:5-17 it is said, "It shall not be quenched NIGHT OR DAY; IT SMOKE SHALL GO UP FOREVER," but after it did it work it went out and the land became a desert inhabited by jackals and other wild things. John says, "AND THE SMOKE OF THEIR TORMENT GOES UP FOR EVER AND EVER; AND THEY HAVE NO REST DAY AND NIGHT." Both are symbolic language speaking of an in time temporal punishment on this earth, not of eternal torment in Hell. If “the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever; and they have no rest day and night” were literal, THE TORMENT AND SMOKE WOULD NOT BE IN HELL BUT IN HEAVEN, “IN THE PRESENCE OF THE HOLY ANGELS AND IN THE PRESENCE OF THE LAMB” [Revelation 14:10]. “Day and night” has to do with time, not eternality; the American Standard Version say, “Greek, ‘unto the ages of ages’” which would put the smoke in time and end when time as we know it ends. When it said the smoke would be going up “unto the ages of ages” is saying the smoke will be going up in time and will end with time; there is no hint that it will go up throughout the “ages of ages.” “Unto” a given time “the ages of ages” is not forever.
“In the clause ‘they have no rest day nor night who worship’…is the present participle denoting they have no rest day nor night while they are worshipping” Charles Welch, The Wages of Sin, www.truthaccordingtoscripture.com/death/Wages-of-sin-6.php
“The smoke of their torment” is in the third of the seven bowls of the wrath of God poured out into the earth by seven angels having seven plagues. Revelation 15:1 says, “For in them is finished (complete) the wrath of God.” “Because in them the wrath of God is finished” New American Standard. According to those who believe in Hell the wrath of God will never be finished. The seven plagues are plagues that take place in time and will be finished in time, not plagues after the judgment day that will never be finished.
A CONTRADICTION TO THEIR OWN BELIEF. In an attempt to find their belief in the Bible, many make the symbolic picture of souls under the altar literal, but when they do it does not say what they want it to say.
1. SOULS UNDER THE ALTAR BEFORE THE JUDGMENT DOES NOT FIT WITH THE PROTESTANT VERSION OF HEAVEN, THAT ALL THE SAVED GO DIRECTLY TO HEAVEN AT DEATH. Those who believe souls go to Heaven to be at home with the Lord, but they do not believe those in Heaven will be shut up and unhappy under an altar crying out for revenge on those in Hell and/or some still on the earth. If made literal, it does not fit with their belief. If souls go to their eternal home with Christ in Heaven at death, why are they so unhappy that they cry unto God? Why are they crying to God for judgment and vengeance on those who are in torment if the lost go to Hell at death? Will those in Heaven want more vengeance than the awful torment they believe Hell will be for some who maybe their father, mother, brother, or sister?
2. SOULS UNDER THE ALTAR BEFORE THE JUDGMENT DOES NOT FIT WITH THE AFTER JUDGMENT VERSION, THAT ALL THE SAVED ARE IN ABRAHAM’S BOSOM AND WILL NOT BE IN HEAVEN UNTO THE JUDGMENT DAY. Many who believe in Abraham's bosom also make this literal, but when they do they have an even greater contradiction of their belief. They have people in Heaven before the Judgment Day. They have souls that are not in Abraham's bosom, but in prison under an altar before the judgment. They do not believe any will be in Heaven before the Judgment, but they have some that are now in Heaven under an altar. They have some that are in Heaven and some that are in Abraham's bosom simultaneously before The Judgment Day. This is inconsistent with their own teaching, particularly on Luke 16. They teach Abraham's bosom with the good and bad sides, then they use this passage and teach that souls are "under the altar," therefore; souls are in two different places before the resurrection. They change from one to the other, and then back to the first, as they need to. If a symbolic passage can be made to prove something they want it to prove by making it literal; they make it literal and use it just as they do Revelation 12:7-9 and other passages in Revelation. In their attempt to prove Hell, they make two symbolic passages literal, [Luke 16:19-31; Revelation 6:9], but if they did proved what they are trying to prove with each of the two passages they would contradict each other.
A drowning man will desperately grab at anything to try to keep his head above water. They have no plain statement [no boat to save them] that teaches men have an immortal inter part that is not subject to death, therefore, they grab at any symbolic language or parable.
"Some persons have turned to the Book of Revelation and hung over its sublime imagery, as if these were literal descriptions of our eternal home; but we must remember that this is a book of symbols, and that this fact will not permit a strict adherence to the letter in seeking the meaning of its glowing visions. Revelation does not aim to teach us, as some have thought, that the ceaseless employment of heaven is eternal singing or praising, but that it is an abode of rapturous joy of which song and praise are the natural expressions. Nor are we to conclude that the heavenly city is literally paved with gold and fenced in with jasper walls and pearly gates, but that it is a splendid and glorious home beyond anything that mortal eye has ever seen." B. W. Johnson, Christ and the Future Life, 1891.
Commonly accepted rules: (1) A symbolic passage cannot overturn the teaching of a passage that is not symbolic. (2) A symbolic passage cannot be used to build a doctrine on.
REVELATION 14:9-11 WORSHIPERS OF THE BEAST
"And the smoke of their torment doth go up to ages of ages; and they have no rest day and night, who are bowing before the beast and his image, also if any doth receive the mark of his name." Footnote in the American Standard Version, "Gr. UNTO the ages of the ages." This smoke goes up UNTO the ages of ages, not without end IN the ages of ages.
Revelation is a book of figurative language taken from the Old Testament. It was written to people who know the Old Testament and would be familiar with its symbolisms but those persecuting them would not understand it. The symbolism in Revelation can be understood by the way it is used in the Old Testament.
WHO ARE WHAT IS THE BEAST?
To understand whom the worships of the beast are we need to know what the beast symbolizes. In Daniel, "beast" is used to represent a great political empire.
A. M. Ogden says worshiping Babylon is Emperor worship. "The Avenging of the Apostles and Prophets" Page 295.
F. E. Wallace "The name Babylon had come to symbolize the ultimate in corruption, and the fallen Babylon of verse 8 is figurative of the spiritual degradation of Jerusalem-'the faithful city turned harlot.'" "The Book Of Revelation" Page 310.
Homer Hailey "Judgment should motivate and bring men to repentance [Acts 17:30f]. But, what judgment is in the divine mind here-the final judgment, or an immediate one? In the light of this exhortation to fear God, give Him glory, and worship Him, it is impossible to make 'the hour of his judgment' refer to the final judgment...but rather, it refers to the hour in which God is to judge Babylon." "Revelation, An Introduction and Commentary" Page 307, 1979, Baker Book House.
Ralph F. Brashears said he is not describing the eternal Judgment, but a temporal retribution, figuratively. "The Revelation of the Christian Age." Page 276, 1989, Vantage Press.
This passage speaks of a judgment that takes place in time before the coming of Christ and the judgment day. Whether the beast is pagan Rome or the papal power, it is only a small part of those who are not in Christ. It says nothing about all the lost in John's time or today, and nothing about any of the lost going to Hell. It is not the judgment at the coming of Christ for all the lost will be in that judgment. Those who believe in Hell do not believe anyone will worship the beast nor receive the mark of his name after they are in Hell. If the powers of this world are cast alive into Hell and tormented forever, then the evil powers of this world will exist forever, but even those who believe in Hell do not believe evil world powers will exist forever and be tormented in Hell.
There are four symbolisms in the passage, each one taken from the Old Testament.
2. Those that worship the beast shall drink of wine of the wrath of God, which is prepared unmixed in the cup of His anger. This is an Old Testament expression of destruction. See Jeremiah 25:15-27; Obadiah 16 and 18; Psalm 75:8; Job 21:20; Habakkuk 2:16; Malachi 3:2.
3. Those that worship the beast shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb. See “The Types Of The Judgment” in chapter seven.
4. They have no rest day and night. This is often applied to those in Hell being tormented forever, but it says nothing about all the lost in Hell but about those who are worshiping the beast (Emperor worship or pagan Rome) while that are worshiping him. All four symbolisms in this passage are speaking only about those who are worshiping the Emperor and not God, not about eternal torment in Hell.
5. The smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever. Even if Revelation 14:9-11 were literal, it would not be depicting torment, but the aftermath of the destruction just as the smoke of Sodom that Abraham saw depicted of the total destruction of Sodom. The ascending smoke is a sign of the destruction that has already taken place, a destruction that had been completed. Those in Sodom were dead when Abraham saw their smoke ascending. When a city or a person has been turned to smoke, the destruction is past, not forever ongoing. If the smoke were literal, the ascending smoke of Revelation 14 would show their destruction has taken place, not that they are undergoing torment. The ascending smoke seen by Abraham became the basis of much of the language of destruction found in the Bible. It is a sign of an utter destruction that is passed, not of eternal torment, Genesis 19:24-28; Isaiah 34:9; 66:24; Jeremiah 17:27; Ezekiel 20:45-50; Revelation 14:9-11; 18:9; 18:18. Much of the symbolism in Revelation can be understood by the way it is used in the Old Testament. In Daniel "beast" is used to represent a great political empire.
SMOKE IN HEAVEN Revelation 14:9-11: A symbolic picture of a judgment in the time of Emperor worship or pagan Rome, It is a picture of the destruction of these powers on this earth, not of the torment of individuals in Hell after the coming of Christ, after this earth does not exist. If this passage were literal, who would worship a beast with seven heads? How many have you ever seen with the mark of this seven headed beast on their forehead? That some would make everything about the beast be a symbolic picture unto it comes to the punishment of those with his mark on their forehead, but then change from symbolic to literal shows how desperate they are for anything that may support the doctrine of Hell. According to this passage, the torment referred to is occurring on this earth for it is while they are worshiping (present tense) the beast and while there is "day and night." WHERE IS HELL? If this passage were literal and is made to be literal picture of Hell, then Hell would be on this earth and those in it would not have died, but the smoke of the torment of those still living on the earth would go from the earth and fill Heaven with smoke. This passage speaks of a limited number when they are living on the earth, only those who worshiped the beast, not all the lost who will not be alive before the resurrection. Young's literal translation of the Bible translates this action in the present tense as "bowing" (i.e. worshiping). These people have no rest while they are still worshiping the beast, while on earth. WHAT IS NOT SAID IS THAT THEY ARE TORMENTED FOREVER BUT THE SMOKE FROM THEIR TORMENT (THE AFTERMATH OF DESTRUCTION) GOSE UP FOREVER, EVIDENCE THAT GOD HAS ALREADY DESTROYED THEM.
N. W. Allphin said smoke symbolizes the effects or evidences of fire and the evidences of this destruction will never end, "Visions Unveiled, or The Revelation Explained" Page 168, 1985, Star Bible Publications.
"Smoke has aptly been said to be the formless relic of an object that has been consumed or decomposed, by the action of fire. It is but a relic, a vestige, an emblem, a lingering trace of the passing, the drifting aftermath that remains from AN OBJECT THAT HAS BEEN DESTROYED. A perpetual smoke may, therefore, well stand for a perpetual reminder before the universe of an irreparable ruin that has taken place, a burning up that has accomplished its allotted purpose, The same inspired portrayed, it is to be ever remembered, declares that God will 'consume,' 'devour,' 'destroy,' cause to 'perish,' and 'blot out' all the wicked. That dread transaction, or operation, involves and constitutes the 'second death.' The perpetuity intended is not, therefore, of the torment, but of the death following thereafter and caused thereby" Leroy Edwin Froom, “The Conditionalist Faith of Our Father: The Conflict of the Ages Over the Nature and Destiny of Man,” Volume one, Page 409.
In Revelation 18:21 John says there will be a time when Babylon "shall be found no more at all." Revelation 19:3 says the smoke of Babylon goes up forever and ever [UNTO the ages of ages].
1. Babylon “shall be found no more at all” Revelation 18:21
2. “Voice of harpers…heard no more at all” Revelation 18:22
3. “Craftsman…found anymore at all” Revelation 18:22
4. “The voice of a mill shall be heard no more at all” Revelation 18:22
5. “A lamp shall shine no more at all” Revelation 18:23
6. “Voce of bridegroom…shall be heard no more at all” Revelation 18:23
• Being “found no more at all” clearly means Babylon will not exist forever in eternal torment
• Babylon is fallen [Revelation 18:2]
• Burned up with fire [Revelation 18:8]
• The "smoke of her burning" was seen [Revelation 18:18]
If this were a literal worshiping of the beast and image given by John and a literal receiving a mark on the forehead, few, if any would be guilty today. Have you ever seen anyone with this mark on his or her forehead? I have not. The smoke of their torment is a symbol just as are the wine and the cup. "The smoke of their torment" cannot be made literal without making the other symbol in the passage literal, which those that use it to teach eternal torment are not willing to do.
Those who believe in Hell take it out of context and make Heaven be literally full of smoke from the burning bodies of those in Hell after the Judgment Day, and this smoke has been changed from those who worship Babylon BEFORE THE JUDGMENT and has been made to be coming from all the unsaved who are in Hell AFTER THE JUDGMENT even though this judgment scene in Revelation 14:9-11 takes place on this earth before the judgment. SMOKE COMING FROM BABYLON BEFORE THE JUDGMENT MUST BE CHANGED TO SMOKE COMING FROM ALL THE LOST IN HELL AFTER THE JUDGMENT
Adam Clarke "Her smoke rose up. There was, and shall be, a continual evidence of God's judgments executed on this great whore or idolatrous city; nor shall it ever be restored."
It is the evidences of this destruction, which is symbolized by smoke that will last "unto the ages of the ages," and not evil world powers being tormented forever. In Isaiah 34:10 the smoke from Edom will go up forever.
Hailey says, "A constant reminder of the punishment for sin…Edom is not burning today, and Heaven is not literally full of smoke. It is the everlasting remembrance of God's victor over evil that is symbolized by the smoke." A Commentary On Isaiah" Page 290, 1985, Baker Book House.
Their "everlasting smoke" is that they will be forever remembered with disgrace and contempt.
Some say, "O. K., if we must put the smoke of Hell in Heaven forever to have our Hell, then we will take this symbol out of context, make it literal, and fill Heaven with the odor from the burning bodies of most of mankind forever."
Smoke in Heaven in chapter 14 is a vision of the fall of beast (Emperor worship or pagan Rome) and her worshipers. In chapter 18 the kings of the earth weep and lament over Babylon (probably symbolisms for Rome that would not be understood by those persecuting them and cause more persecution) when they see the smoke of her burning. "Babylon, the strong city! For in one hour your judgment has come" [Revelation 18:10]. And in verse 21 "THUS WILL BABYLON, THE GREAT CITY, BE THROWN DOWN WITH VIOLENCE, AND WILL NOT BE FOUND ANY LONGER." Then in 19:3 "And a second time they said, 'Hallelujah!' HER SMOKE RISES UP FOREVER AND EVER" ("Unto the ages of the ages" eiv touv aiwnav twn aiwnwn). It is clear that this is a vision of a judgment that takes place in time, a judgment on Babylon, not the judgment at the coming of Christ.
The same apocalyptic language is used in Isaiah of the judgment of Edom. "IT SHALL NOT BE QUENCHED NIGHT OR DAY; ITS SMOKE SHALL GO UP FOREVER" [Isaiah 34:10]. Edom's fire was not quenched "night or day" [Isaiah 34:10], but it did go out, and Edom became a place for wild creatures [Isaiah 35:11-15]. "Day and night" means there is no let up, no break until the end. The fire of Edom did not burn in the day and go out at night, but it burned "day and night" until there was nothing more to burn. The outcome of the unquenchable fire that burned "day and night" was permanent destruction, not burning forever. "From generation to generation it shall be desolate" [Isaiah 34:10] not "from generation to generation it shall be burning." A person suffering from cancer will suffer "day and night" until the end. "Day and night" does not mean "forever." Examples where "day and night" were temporary and means continued day and night as long as they existed but have ended. Isaiah 34:10; Acts. 9:24; 1 Thessalonians 2:9; 3:10. BOTH BABYLON AND EDOM ARE NATIONS, NOT PERSONS THAT ARE BEING JUDGED, AND I KNOW OF NO ONE THAT BELIEVES NATIONS WILL BE IN HELL. YET, THEY USE THIS PASSAGE THAT PROVES SOMETHING THEY DO NOT BELIEVE WHEN THEY MAKE IT LITERAL. They change it from nations before resurrection and judgment to people after the judgment, and then say they do not believe in changing the Bible.
Those who believe in Hell use 2 THESSALONIANS 1:9 to prove Hell is away “from the presents of God” and that death, the wages of sin is separation from God. Yet they make REVELATION 14:10-11 be literal to prove Hell. In doing so, they make Hell be in Heaven “in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb.”
“Angels who through the ages had watched the unfolding and revealing of God’s eternal purpose and the conflict between good and evil, now see the consummation of the purpose and final consequence of evil” Homer Hailey, Revelation: An Introduction and Commentary, page 310.
Even those who believe in Hell do not believe that any will be tormented in Heaven forever, but when they make this torment be literal torment, they make it literally be in Heaven in the presence of the angels and Christ, not in Hell. WHERE DO THEY THINK HELL IS? AWAY "FROM THE PRESENCE OF GOD" OR "IN THE PRESENCE OF GOD." THE SAME PEOPLE SAY BOTH.
THE LAKE OF FIRE
The "lake of fire" in which the Devil is cast is used five times, all five in the Book of Revelation.
[1] LAKE OF FIRE: First time it is used - Revelation 19:20: The beast and the false prophet-two world powers are cast into the lake of fire. The beast, which is the great heathen world power of that day, the Roman Empire, and the false prophet, "these two were thrown alive into the lake of fire." Those that worshiped the beast were not thrown alive into the lake of fire but were killed with the sword, which came from the mouth of him who sat upon the horse, "and all the birds were filled with their flesh." The fire was no more literal fire than the beast is a literal beast and the birds are literal birds that eat the literal flesh of literal people. It is a symbolic picture of total destruction, the end of the beast and the false prophet (world powers). THOSE WHO MAKE THIS LITERAL HAVE A LITERAL BEAST BEING BURNT IN A LITERAL LAKE OF FIRE. ONLY THE BEAST AND FALSE PROPHET WHERE CAST INTO THE LAKE OF FIRE. THE REST (those who people worshiped the world powers) WERE KILLED [not tormented] AND EATEN BY BIRDS. WHEN SOME MAKE THIS LITERAL TO PROVE THERE IS A HELL, IT IS NOT EVEN CLOSE TO THE HELL THAT IS TAUGHT TODAY, NOT EVEN CLOSE TO THE HELL THEY ARE TRYING TO PROVE. When something is not taught in the Bible, no passage that is misused to prove it will prove it. They want to make only the lake be literal, but all others things in this passage, the beast, the sword, the birds, etc. must be symbolism for if they were literal, they would not fit with today's Hell. Why do they use this passage to try to prove Hell when it is nothing like they say Hell will be? It puts a beast alive in Hell and leaves the people that they say will live forever in Hell not in the lake of fire [not in Hell], but they are dead and are eaten by birds, not alive and tormented in Hell. THE "HELL" THAT IS PREACHED TODAY DOES NOT HAVE A BEAST THAT IS ALIVE IN IT AND DEAD PEOPLE THAT ARE NOT IN HELL BEING EATEN BY BIRDS.
The lake of fire is used only in the Book of Revelation and is a symbolic picture taken from this earth. Literal fire will not exist after the end of this age [1 Peter 3]. Anything cast into a literal lake of fire would be totally destroyed, not tormented forever. It is a symbol of total destruction, not of eternal torment, not something that will exist after the destruction of the earth. To have their Hell in this passage, they must mix symbols and literal together in the same passage and only they can tell us what part is literal, and even then they cannot find anything that is close to the Hell that is preached today in it.
Homer Hailey "Revelation, An Introduction And Commentary" Chapter 19, Baker Book House. "The beast is the great heathen world power of that day, the Roman Empire" Page 387. Then on page 388 he says "These 'two were cast alive into the lake of fire that burns with brimstone,' where the harlot had already met her fate, being 'utterly burns with fire'...Because of the expression, 'cast alive,' some writers have concluded that these two are literally individuals who will appear in person before the end of time. But this does not necessarily follow; for 'being cast alive into the lake' indicates that up to the actual time when they were cast into the lake of brimstone and WERE BROUGHT TO FINAL DESTRUCTION by His mighty power and judgment, these two personified forces of political and spiritual power were actively fighting against the Lamb. The Roman Empire and emperor worship backed by the imperial power were now BROUGHT TO A FINAL AND COMPLETE END, never to rise again" On the same page he says "The Roman power and the paganism which it supported ARE NOW DESTROYED FOREVER. The vision of Daniel is fulfilled [Daniel 7:11], AND IN THIS DEFEAT AND DESTRUCTION IS REVEALED THE DESTINY OF ALL SUCH POWERS THAT SHOULD EVER ARISE TO FIGHT AGAINST GOD AND HIS KINGDOM. This is God's guarantee to victory to the saints who lived then and to all who would come after them, even until the end of time. 'And all the birds were filled with their flesh' completes the symbolism of verses 17-18. Not a vestige of the anti-Christian forces were left; THE DESTRUCTION WAS COMPLETE." And on page 398, "The devil, man's great deceiver from the beginning, now reaches his final doom and eternal end. First, he was cast down to the earth [12:9], then into the pit of the abyss [20:3], and now into the lake of fire and brimstone, his ultimate end." When he gets to Revelation 20:11 he says, "THUS FAR IN THE BOOK SEVERAL SCENES OF JUDGMENT HAVE BEEN DESCRIBED, BUT NONE DEPICTED THE FINAL JUDGMENT" Page 399
Foy E. Wallace, Jr. says the lake of fire is a figurative description of complete destruction and annihilation of all persecuting powers opposed to the church [Page 434], and then of the complete destruction and annihilation of Satan, and all who are not in the book of life. "The ones who had part in it [the lake of fire] came to the same end as the persecuting beast-a figurative description of complete destruction and annihilation of all persecuting powers opposed to the church whose opposition was crushed." Wallace said, "ONE OF THESE PASSAGES CANNOT BE CONSIDERED MORE OR LESS LITERAL THAN THE OTHER-BOTH WERE FIGURATIVE EXPRESSIONS WHICH SIGNIFIED THE UTTER END OF THE PERSECUTING AUTHORITIES OF HEATHENISM AGAINST CHRISTIANITY. The phrase cast alive into a lake of fire was equivalent to burned alive, AND IT SYMBOLIZED COMPLETE DESTRUCTION. The signal triumph of the cause of truth represented by the burning alive of the beast and the false prophet did not symbolize the destruction to the Roman Empire, but of the persecutions waged by the emperors, which the beasts represented. THE LAKE OF FIRE WAS NOT LITERAL ANY MORE THAN THE BEAST WAS LITERAL. NEITHER WAS SUBJECT TO LITERAL APPLICATION, BOTH WERE FIGURATIVE. THE BEAST SYMBOLIZED THE PERSECUTING POWER OF THE ROMAN EMPEROR: AND CASTING HIM INTO A LAKE OF FIRE SIGNIFIED THE COMPLETE DEFEAT OF THE HEATHEN POWER HE REPRESENTED IN THE WAR AGAINST THE CHURCH " The Book Of Revelation, Page 397.
Of the final judgment in Revelation 20:14-15, Hailey says, "'He that overcomes shall not be hurt of the second death' [2:11]; those that overcome had part in the first resurrection [20:6]. Thus far the harlot, the beast, the false prophet, Satan, and now death and Hades, HAVE BEEN BROUGHT TO THEIR END IN THE LAKE OF FIRE...There remains only one group to be dealt with: those not found written in the book of life...Of this second death, Alford writes, 'As there is a second higher life, so there is also a second and deeper death. And as after that life there is no more death, so after that death there is no more life'" Page 403.
Death and hades are nonliving things. They have no life, thoughts, or feelings. They can be destroyed and "brought to a final and complete end," but it would not be possible to torment them. They can no more be tormented than a rock, but both will come to an end. Both will be made not to exist.
A. M. Ogden said the lake of fire in Revelation 19:20 is symbolic of God's fire of destruction coming upon the Roman Empire and its pagan religions that were the persecutor of the church. Page 354.
Both Wallace and Arthur Ogden said, "The holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband" [Revelation 21:2] is the kingdom of God, the church of Christ; and not a vision of Heaven; but is a vision of the church, the bride of Christ.
B. W. Johnson on Revelation 19:20 said, "Here the false prophet, both symbols of the same power, is cast in the lake of fire. THE SYMBOL INDICATES UTTER DESTRUCTION. WHAT IS CAST INTO THIS LAKE IS SEEN NO MORE."
Frank Walton said it is not a literal lake of fire. It symbolizes the total defeat of heathen powers that war against the church. Florida College Lectures 1994, Page 176.
Jim McGuiggan in his commentary on Revelation 19:20 said he believes the lake of fire stands for the utter defeat of the enemy.
These commentaries are some of the best, if not the best, and they all say the lake of fire is symbolic of destruction or death, not of eternal life in torment. If Revelation 21 is a symbolic picture of the church on earth as the bride of Christ, or if it is a symbolic picture of the church in Heaven, in either case the lake of fire is symbolic and not a real place. John clearly says in Revelation 21:8 that it is symbolic of the second death. Many who believe in Hell are forced to admit that in Revelation 19:20 the lake of fire is symbolic, but insist the same lake of fire in chapters 20 and 21 is a real literal lake of fire.
"FALSE PROPHET" IN HELL BEFORE THE JUDGMENT: On page 169, Peterson says the "false prophet" [Revelation 19:20] are thrown alive into it and are still there a thousand years later. Then he says Revelation 20:14 speaks of all human standing before God at the Last Judgment. By making symbols literal, he changed nations [false prophets] into people and puts people into Hell before they are judged at the Judgment Day.
"DEVOURED" not "TORMENTED" Even if they make the symbolical language literal, it would teach God would destroy His enemies, not torment them. "And fire came down out of heaven, and devoured them" Revelation 20:9; the Bible language does not suit today's teaching of fire that eternality burns but never devours, fire that never consumes.
[2] LAKE OF FIRE: Second time it is used. Revelation 20:10 The devil is cast in with the beast and the false prophet. Nothing of the physical realm could live in a lake of fire. It is a symbolic picture of destruction, not of torment. Just as any living thing of the earthly realm we know, if it were cast into a lake of fire it would be totally destroyed, a symbolic picture of the devil being cast into it would be a picture to us of his total destruction, for if the devil were a flesh and blood being, he would be totally destroyed by a literal lake of fire. The devil, the beast, false prophet, death, the grave, and all that are not in the book of life will be totally destroyed. After the resurrection and judgment, no one will be of the physical realm and could not be tormented by a literal lake of fire that is of the physical realm. A literal lake of fire could not torment a spiritual being and could have no effective on Satan or a "soul" as the word is used today. The devil that is a being not of the earthly realm, a being of the spiritual realm, is cast to the lake of fire along with two earthly things, the beast, and the false prophet. It is a symbolic picture of their destruction, not a literal casting of beings of two realms, both earthly and spiritual, into a literal lake of fire, which is of this earthly realm. Things of the earthly and spiritual realms can be mixed in symbolic pictures, but not in reality. If the lake of fire were of the earthly realm Satan could not be cast into it, and if it were of the spiritual realm, the beast and the false prophet could not be cast into it. In Revelation 20:15 and 21:8, John interpreted the figure or symbol he used and said the symbolic picture of the lake of fire is in reality the second death. THE LAKE OF FIRE WILL HAVE THE SAME EFFECT ON SATAN THAT IT WILL HAVE ON DEATH. "AND DEATH SHALL BE NO MORE" [Revelation 21:4]. If it is the end of death, then it is the end of Satan. It is a symbolic picture of the end of both.
SATAN'S MINISTERS: The ministers of Satan, like Satan, shall have an end. "WHOSE END shall be according to their works" [2 Corinthians 11:15].
REVELATION 20:10 IS A SYMBOLIC PICTURE OF THE END OF SATAN, OF HIS BEING ABOLISHED (DESTROYED), NOT TORMENTED FOREVER. Hebrews 2:14 IS A LITERAL STATEMENT OF HIS END. "That through death he might BRING TO NOUGHT (nothing) him that has the power of death, that is, the devil" [American Standard Version]. God made the world and all that is in it out of nothing. It will go back to nothing. Satan also will be brought to nothing. "So that through death he might DESTROY the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil" [New Revised Standard Version]. In Hebrews 2:14 "naught" [nothing] is translated from "katargeo" which is translated ABOLISHED, VANISH AWAY, BRING TO NAUGHT, DO AWAY WITH, DESTROY, BE DONE WAY, AND CEASED.
• "That through death he might BRING TO NAUGHT [katargeo] him that had the power of death, that is, the devil" [Hebrews 2:14]. "That through death he might DESTROY [katargeo] him" King James Version.
• Death "SHALL BE ABOLISHED [katargeo]" [1 Corinthians 15:26].
• Knowledge "SHALL VANISH AWAY [katargeo]" [1 Corinthians 13:8].
• "God SHALL BRING TO NAUGHT [katargeo] both it (their belly) and THEM" [1 Corinthians 6:13].
• "The last enemy that shall be ABOLISHED [katargeo] is death" "DESTROYED" [katargeo] King James Version [1 Corinthians 15:26].
• "The stumbling-block of the cross been DONE AWAY [katargeo]" "CEASED" [katargeo] King James Version [Galatians 4:11].
• "It (the veil) is DONE AWAY [katargeo] in Christ" [2 Corinthians 3:14].
• "HAVING ABOLISHED [katargeo] in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments" [Ephesians 2:15]. The same word is used for
o The end of death
o The end of knowledge
o The end of belly
o The end of Satan
o The end of Law of Moses
o And the end of lost. Whatever happens to one happens to the others; they all have been or will be brought to nothing [katargeo].
A DEATH BRUISE TO THE HEAD OF SATAN: The serpent of Genesis 3 is not said to be Satan but most all believe it to be Satan working through the serpent, which was "more crafty than any beast of the field" [Genesis 3:1]. With the first lie, the devil brought death into the world and became the murderer of Adam and Eve, therefore, the murderer of all their seed [John 8:44]. He sinned "from the beginning" [1 John 3:8]. "He [Christ] shall bruise you [Satan] on the head, and you [Satan] shall bruise him [Christ] on the heel." See Romans 16:20.
Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown says, "Thus, fatal shall be the stroke which Satan shall receive from Christ" Commentary on Genesis 3:15.
"The terminology of this verse is such that it cannot apply to anything in heaven or upon earth except the long spiritual conflict between Christ and Satan" J. B. Coffman, Commentary on Genesis 3:15.
A wound to the heel is not fatal. Satan wounded Christ by sin and death, which he is responsible for being in the world. It made the death of Christ necessary, but Christ rose from the dead and in doing so bruised the head of Satan [Hebrews 2:1]. Did the serpent or any other animal have the power to speak or was it Satan speaking through it? God did speak through an animal [2 Peter 2:1]. It looks as if Satan did. See 2 Corinthians 11:3. Christ said the devil "is a liar, and the father of lies" [John 8:44].
Albert Barnes on John 8:44, "He was a murderer from the beginning. That is from the beginning of the world, or the first records there are of him. This refers to the seduction of Adam and Eve. Death was denounced against sin Genesis ii.17. The devil deceived our first parents and they became subject of death, Genesis iii. As he was the cause why death came into the world, he may be said to have been a murderer in that act, or from the beginning."
Revelation 20:7, which may be symbolic language and not intended to be taken literally says, "And the great dragon was thrown down, the serpent of old who is called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him." Also see Revelation 12:9.
It is difficult to know what John meant by much of the symbolic language he used in Revelation, but even more difficult to understand if it is made to be a literal non-symbolic passage, yet many use a symbolic passage as the base of their faith and make it override many clear passages.
[3] LAKE OF FIRE: The third time it is used is in Revelation 20:14 where Death and hades cast into the lake of fire. If death and hades are annihilated in the lake of fire, all who are not found written in the book of life must also be annihilated. IF ALL WHO ARE NOT FOUND WRITTEN IN THE BOOK OF LIFE ARE NOT ANNIHILATED, DEATH IS NOT ABOLISHED [1 Corinthians 15:26]. THE SAME THING HAPPENS TO ALL THREE [death, hades, and those that do not have their name in the book of life]. THEY COME TO AN END. "And death shall be no more" [Revelation 21:4].
HELL CAST INTO HELL [Revelation 20:14 King James Version]. I have often heard in sermons that the lost will forever be tormented in the lake of fire. Most who believe in Hell teach the lake of fire is Hell, but in the King James Version Hell is cast into the lake of fire, both cannot be the same place, but both Catholics and Protestants believe they are the same place. Both believe the lake of fire is Hell. For both the Catholic and Protestant versions of Hell, Hell being cast into Hell presents an absurd problem. Casting Hell into Hell is another blunder made by the King James Translators trying to put Hell into the Bible, but most other translations have corrected this blunder.
Dr. C. Campbell on Revelation 20:14 says, "If we interpret Hades, 'hell,' in the Christian sense of the word, the whole passage is rendered nonsense. Hell is represented as being cast into hell...THE PHRASE 'CAST INTO THE LAKE OF FIRE' IS A FIGURE OF UTTER DESTRUCTION. IT IS SIMPLY SAYING 'DEATH AND HELL WAS DESTROYED.'"
DEATH IS ALSO CAST INTO THE LAKE OF FIRE. [Revelation 20:14] Will the lake of fire be the end of death but not the end of Hell? Or will death be forever tormented in the lake of fire, which many say is Hell? Death cannot be tormented; this is a symbolic picture of the end of all three, death, hades and the wicked? DO SOME THINK THE LAKE OF FIRE WILL ABOLISH DEATH BUT TORMENT PEOPLE?
"AND HELL DELIVERED UP THE DEAD" Revelation 20:13 THE KING JAMES VERSION HAS HELL BEING EMPTIED BEFORE THE JUDGMENT, But, most who believe in Hell do not believe that any in Hell will ever get out, "And death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them" Revelation 20:13 King James Version. Many believe that no one will be in Hell unto after the Judgment Day to be "delivered up," but they use this passage to prove the lost will go to Hell after the Judgment although it will be emptied and cast into the lake of fire before the Judgment. IN THE KING JAMES VERSION THE JUDGMENT IS AFTER HELL HAS BEEN EMPTIED. NOT ONLY IS HELL EMPTIED BEFORE THE JUDGMENT, BUT ALSO (according to the King James Version) SOME THAT WERE IN IT BEFORE IT WAS EMPTIED WILL EVEN BE FOUND WRITTEN IN THE BOOK OF LIFE, AND THOSE TAKEN OUT OF HELL ARE NEVER PUT BACK INTO IT. According to the King James Version, the Judgment will not take place unto after all that are in Hell have been taken out, "And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and HELL DELIVER UP THE DEAD WHICH WERE IN THEM; AND THEY WERE JUDGED every man according to their works" [Revelation 20:13]. In trying to put a place of eternal torment in the Bible by mistranslating, they made the Bible teach something that they did not believe and most today that believe in Hell do not believe. Most new translations, including the New King James Version, have corrected this blunder, but unfortunately this has done little or nothing to correct any of the many Protestant versions of Hell.
The end will not come unto Christ "shall have abolished all rule and all authority and power for he must reign till he has put all his enemies under his feet, the last enemy that shall be abolished is death" [1 Corinthians 15:24-20].
[4 and 5] LAKE OF FIRE: Forth and fifth times it is used. Any not in the book of life will be thrown into the lake of fire [Revelation 20:15]. Lake of Fire is the second death [Revelation 21:8].
What is cast into the lake of fire?
[1] The BEAST AND THE FALSE PROPHET, which are symbols of two world powers, two nonliving things [Revelation 19:20].
[2] THE DEVIL cast in with the beast and the false prophet [Revelation 20:10].
[3] DEATH AND HADES, two more nonliving things are cast into the lake of fire [Revelation 20:14].
[4] AND ALL WHO ARE NOT IN THE BOOK OF LIFE [Revelation 20:15].
• FOUR NONLIVING THINGS that can come to an end but cannot be tormented. I know of no one that believes world powers will forever be tormented in "Hell." (1) The beast [symbol of a world power] (2) The false prophet (3) Death (4) Hades [the grave].
• TWO LIVING (1) The devil (2) Any not in the book of life. For them the wages of sin is death, not the death of the body that comes to all, but the second death.
IT IS THE BOOK OF LIFE – NOT A BOOK OF REWARDS
The book of life is not a book or rewards for soul that cannot die, not a book of rewards for souls that have life and cannot be dead. THE SECOND DEATH is not just a loss of well-being, a loss of privilege, pleasure, or a reward; the second death is death, not life with torment; death is the reverse of life, death is not life.
The book of life is in seven passages.
• Revelation 3:5: He that overcomes will not have his name blotted out of the book of life.
• Revelation 13:8: The beast given authority over all that dwell on the earth all worship the beast that do not have their name in the book of life.
• Revelation 17:8: The beast will go into destruction and all that dwell on the earth whose name has not been written in the book of life shall wonder.
• Revelation 20:12 and 20:15: There is to be a judgment with all the dead standing before the throne of God, the great and the small. At this judgment any not found written in the book of life is cast into the lake of fire, which is the second death. It is either or, either your name is in the book of life or it is not. If it is not then it will be the second death. It is life or death, not a reward or punishment. “I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely. He that overcomes shall inherit these things; and I will be his God, and he shall be My son. But for the fearful, and unbelieving, and abominable, and murderers, and fornicators, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, their part shall be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone; which is the second death” [Revelation 21:6-8]. LIFE OR DEATH, NOT LIFE IN HEAVEN OR LIFE IN HELL, NOT LIFE WITH A REWARD OR LIFE WITH PUNISHMENT.
• Revelation 21:27: Nothing unclean, only those that are written in the Lamb’s book of life shall enter in the holy city.
• Revelation 22:19: Any that adds to or takes from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the “tree of life, and out of the holy city, which are written in this book.” “The tree of life” in this passage seems to be the same as “the book of life.”
THE THOUSAND YEARS AND THE LAKE OF FIRE: In the New Testament many symbols are used and many of them we are told just what they are symbols of. We are given the interpretation in clear plan language. WHEN WE ARE TOLD EXACTLY WHAT THE INTERPRETATION IS IN PLAN LANGUAGE, WE MUST NOT CHANGE THE INTERPRETATION OF THE SYMBOL. THE PREMILLENNIALISTS MAKE A SYMBOL [the thousand years] INTO A LITERAL TIME. THE BIBLE'S INTERPRETATION OF THE THOUSAND-YEAR REIGN CANNOT BE ACCEPTED BY THEM FOR IF IT WERE, IT WOULD END THE PREMILLENNIAL DOCTRINE. IN THE SAME WAY THOSE WHO TEACH THE LAKE OF FIRE IS HELL CANNOT ACCEPT THE BIBLE'S INTERPRETATION OF WHAT THE LAKE OF FIRE IS, THE SECOND DEATH, FOR TO THEM THE LAKE OF FIRE IS AN ETERNAL LIFE OF TORMENT IN FIRE; THEREFORE, THE SECOND DEATH CANNOT BE DEATH. THE BIBLE'S OWN INTERPRETATION OF WHAT THE LAKE OF FIRE IS NOT ACCEPTED FOR IF IT WERE THERE COULD BE NO HELL.
THE SYMBOLS - - - - - -THE BIBLE'S INTERPRETATION
[1] THE FIELD -------- IS THE WORLD not a farm Matthew 13:38
[2] THE GOOD SEED ---- ARE THE SONS OF THE KINGDOM not a garden Matthew 13:38
[3] THE TARES -------- ARE THE SONS OF THE EVIL ONE not weeds Matthew 13:38
[4] BOWLS OF INCENSE - ARE PRAYERS OF THE SAINTS not cereal Revelation 5:8
[5] THE TEN HORNS ---- ARE TEN KINGS not ten trumpets Revelation 17:12
[6] THE WATERS ------- ARE PEOPLES, MULTITUDES, NATIONS not seas Revelation 17:15
[7] THE WOMAN -------- IS THE GREAT CITY not a female Revelation 17:18
[8] SEVEN CANDLESTICKS ARE THE SEVEN CHURCHES Revelation 1:20
[9] TEN HORNS -------- ARE TEN KINGS not a band Revelation 17:12
[10] FINE LINEN ------ IS RIGHTEOUS ACTS OF THE SAINTS not a tablecloth Revelation 19:8
[12] THE DRAGON ------ IS THE DEVIL AND SATAN Revelation 20:2
[13] 1,000 YEAR REIGN - IS THE FIRST RESURRECTION not a kingdom on earth after the second coming of Christ Revelation 20:5
[14] LAKE OF FIRE ----- IS THE SECOND DEATH not a deathless place of torment. All die once, sinners will die twice Revelation 21:8
The interpretation is ONLY what it is stated to be. The thousand years is the first resurrection. The thousand years and the lake of fire are the two most misused symbols in this book. It is as if God knew they would be misused, and He plainly said what they are symbols of so there could be no excuses to misuse them. Those in Christ are now "kings and priests" [Revelation 1:6]. Are a "kingdom and priests; and THEY REIGN UPON THE EARTH" [Revelation 5:9-10]. Those who are baptized into Christ have been raised with Him; they were dead and now have the life He gives and they live with Him. This is the first resurrection, and those who have a part in it will not be subject to the second death after the judgment. All others are dead in that they do not have the life Christ gives and after the resurrection and judgment they will die the second death. The 1,000 years is symbolic of an indefinite time in which the saints will reign with Christ; the saved reigning with Christ begins after the resurrection of Christ and will last to His second coming.
Strong lists ten Greek words that are translated thousand in the New Testament. Only two of them are used in Revelations.
• Strong's word 5505, "chalias" is used 22 times in the New Testament. Luke 14:31 used two times; Acts 4:4; 1 Corinthians 10:8; Revelations 5:11; 7:4; 7:5 three times; 7:6 three times; 7:7 three times; 7:8 three times; 11:13; 14:1; 14:3; 21:16. In all of the 22 times it is used the precisely number of thousands is stated.
• Strong's word 5507, "chiloi" which Strong says is "plural" and "uncertain" is used eleven times in the New Testament. Thousands (an indefinite plural) of years is a long indefinite period of time having no certain or fixed limit. "Chiloi" is used in 2 Peter 3:8 two times; Revelations 11:3; 12:6; 14:20; 20:2; 20:3; 20:4; 20:5; 20:6; 20:7.
In all four times the second death is used, death is from "thanatos," which is used 118 times in the New Testament. In all 118, death is death, not eternal life with torment, not alive but separated from God, not alive with only a loss of well being.
• "You do proclaim the Lord's death [thanatos] till He comes" [1 Corinthians 11:26].
• "He was sick nigh unto death [thanatos]" [Philippians 2:27].
• "Brother shall deliver up the brother to death [thanatos]" Matthew 10:21].
• "Shall not taste of death [thanatos]" [Mark 9:1].
• "What death [thanatos] he should die" [John 12:33; 18:32].
• "By the death [thanatos] of his Son" [Romans 5:10].
Thanatos always means death, never any kind of life, but today's theology tells us that John's interpretation of the Lake of Fire must be reinterpreted and death changed to eternal life with torment for there could not be death to a soul that cannot die, therefore, John's interpretation of the Lake of Fire being the second death must be reinterpreted to be the Lake of Fire is eternal life with torment.
• Lake of fire - interpreted by John to be the second death.
• Lake of fire - reinterpreted today to be eternal life with torment.
The lake of fire is only a symbol of the real thing [the second death], but many preach and teach it as if there is a real lake of literal fire somewhere but it is not on this earth and this fire will last forever. There is not now or ever will be a lake of literal fire. They must turn it around and make the second death be only a metaphor of the lake of fire, and it is not a real death, for the second death cannot be a real death if the "soul" can never die. They also make the second death be only a metaphor of Gehenna (but only after Gehenna has been mistranslated into "Hell"). They do not seem to be able to make up their minds on whether the second death is a metaphor of the lake of fire or a metaphor of Gehenna after Gehenna has been changed to "Hell."
Changes made by those who say they do not change the Bible.
• The Bible says THE LAKE OF FIRE ------ IS THE SECOND DEATH
• Today many say THE SECOND DEATH - IS THE LAKE OF FIRE
• Today many say THE LAKE OF FIRE ---- IS HELL
• Today many say THE LAKE OF FIRE ---- IS GEHENNA
DEATH WILL END AFTER THE JUDGMENT WHEN DEATH IS DESTROYED. The end will not come unto Christ "shall have abolished all rule and all authority and power for he must reign till he has put all his enemies under his feet, the last enemy that shall be abolished is death" [1 Corinthians 15:26].
• Death will be "DESTROYED" King James Version, New King James Version, New Revised Standard Version, New Century Version, and New International Version.
• Death will be "ABOLISHED" American Standard Version.
The lake of fire, which is the second death [Revelation 21:8], will be abolished, destroyed when the kingdom is delivered up to God [1 Corinthians 15:24-26].
BRIMSTONE AND FIRE IN NON-SYMBOLIC PASSAGES
THE BRIMSTONE AND FIRE OF THE SECOND DEATH. How "fire and brimstone" are used in the Bible and in the Book or Revelation.
Fire and brimstone [sulfur rock] were literally rained on Sodom and Gomorrah in Genesis 19:24. THE "FIRE AND BRIMSTONE" THAT DESTROYED SODOM WAS RAINED FROM JEHOVAH OUT OF HEAVEN, NOT FROM HELL, AND THE DESTROYING WAS ON THE EARTH, NOT IN HELL. "Then Jehovah rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from Jehovah out of Heaven" [Genesis 19:24; Luke 17:29]. Both cities were literally burned up and brought to a total end by the fire and brimstone that rained on them. Fire and brimstone are used six other times in the Old Testament [Deuteronomy 29:23; Job 18:15; Psalms 11:6; Isaiah 30:33; 34:9; Ezekiel 38:22], one time by Christ in Luke 17:29 speaking of the total destruction of Sodom. He said, IF THE DESTROYING WILL BE "AFTER THE SAME MANNER" THEN THE FIRE WILL BE RAINED FROM HEAVEN, NOT BE IN HELL, AND THIS FIRE WILL DESTROY, NOT FOREVER TORMENT THOSE ON WHICH IT IS RAINED. Most believers in Hell put both the brimstone and the fire in Hell, but in every passage in both the Old and New Testament this literal fire and brimstone is always on this earth, IT IS NEVER IN HELL. They must move the brimstone and fire from earth to Hell for they have no scripture which is not symbolic that put it where they want it.
Edom's destruction Isaiah 34:9-10: "Its smoke shall go up forever; from generation to generation it shall be desolate; none shall pass through it forever and ever." The fire did go out, and today there is no smoke going up. After the fire went out, it became the home for pelicans hedgehogs, owls and ravens [Isaiah 34:11]. Thorns came up in its fortified towers after the fire went out [Isaiah 34:13]. The fire was not quenched but went out when there was nothing more to burn. The smoke is a symbolic picture showing that the complete destruction was forever.
IT IS ALWAYS A TOTAL DESTRUCTION, NEVER A FOREVER ONGOING TORMENT. Today's preaching of "Hell fire and brimstone" does not fit with the use of fire and brimstone in the Bible. In today's theology the destruction is changed from total destruction into a never ending torment without destruction.
BRIMSTONE AND FIRE IN SYMBOLICAL PASSAGES
Fire and brimstone are used six times in Revelation as a symbol of total destruction, which is taken from its literal use in the rest of the Bible.
• (1) Revelation 9:17 "Out of their mouths proceeds fire and smoke and brimstone." Out of the mouths of horses! This does not sound like the fire and brimstone we are told will be in "Hell?"
• (2) Revelation 9:18 "The third part of men killed, by the fire and the smoke and the brimstone, which proceeded out of their mouths" Even most who believes in Hell say this fire and brimstone coming out of the mouth of horses are a symbol of something on this earth before the end of time, something before the coming of Christ and not an eternal torment. Believer's in Hell does not believe that a third part of those in Hell will be killed by the fire and brimstone that comes out of the mouths of horses; they believe no one that is in Hell can be killed. HELL COMING FROM HORSES MOUTHS is a symbolic picture. Does anyone believe this "fire and brimstone" that kills is the Hell-fire that torments as preached by Jonathan Edwards? THEY DO NOT THINK HELL COMES OUT OF HORSES MOUTHS and want to make only a part of the symbolic language be literal and they get to pick what part. Most who believe in Hell believe the first and second occurrences of "fire and brimstone" in Revelation is used figuratively, not literally. They only make it be used literally when it will prove their Hell, and fire and brimstone coming out if the mouth of horses is not what they are trying to find.
• (3) Revelation 14:10. Brimstone used in a symbolic picture of Babylon. A part of the same symbolic picture is smoke in Heaven in Revelation 14:11. See [17] REVELATION 14:11 above. THE BIBLE IS ITS OWN BEST INTERPRETER. Isaiah 34:10 says the smoke of Edom "shall go up for ever and ever." Today, there is no smoke. It is symbolic for a punishment that has eternal consequences and not a punishment that shall go on forever.
• (4)-(5)-(6) Revelation 19:20; 20:10; 21:8. Three times of the lake of fire, which burns with fire and brimstone is the second death. The symbolic use of brimstone and fire depends on its use in the non-symbolical passages for it meaning. In them, it is always a destruction that ends when the destruction is total. Many symbols in Revelations come from the Old Testament. In the Old Testament fire and brimstone always brought a literal death; in Revelations fire and brimstone are used as a symbolical picture of death.
PART FOUR
EVERLASTING OR FOREVER
Of The King James Version
OLAM in the Old Testament: "Age, age-lasting, olam" Robert Young, Young's Analytical Concordance To The Bible, Page 310. OLAM (olamim-plural) in the Hebrew Old Testament is translated everlasting in the King James Version and others, but does not mean without end as eternal in today's English does.
Olam-singer and olamim-plural are used of:
1. A Period of times that had both a beginning and an end. Forever (olam) is used about sixty-five times in the Old Testament for things that have already passed away.
2. Periods of times that had a beginning but the end is obscure or had not yet came.
3. A Period of time that is followed by another period of time; “from olam (age) to olam (age)” and “from olam (age) to olamim (ages), which are often translated “for ever and ever, ” which would make there be more than one eternality.
AGES WITH BOTH A BEGINNING AND AN END
SOME OF THE THINGS THAT ARE "EVERLASTING" OR "FOREVER" IN THE KING JAMES VERSION THAT WAS AGE LASTING, NOT "EVERLASTING."
1. THE LAW OF MOSES - "A statute forever (olam-age)" See Exodus 12:24; 27:21; 28:43; 29:28; 30:21; Leviticus 6:18; 6:22; 7:34; 7:36; 10:9; 10:15; 16:29; 16:31; 17:7; 23:14; 24:3; Numbers 10:8; 15:15; 18:8; 18:11; 18:23; 19:10; Deuteronomy 12:28; 13:16; 15:17; 23:3; 28:40; 29:29; Joshua 4:7; 8:28; 14:9. It lasted for an age (about 1500 years) and was replaced with a better covenant [Hebrews 8:7-14], it had a beginning and an ending; it was not "forever" with the meaning of forever in today's English. Forever in the King James Version is a bad translation of olam, for olam in the Old Testament did not have the same meaning that forever had in 1611.
2. JEWS WERE TO POSSES THE LAND "FOREVER" (olam-age) [Genesis 13:15].
3. TEMPLE RITUALS TO CONTINUE FOREVER (olam-age) [2 Chronicles2:4]. Today there is no temple in Jerusalem and no rituals in the temple that does not exist.
4. LEVITES WERE TO BEAR THE ARK FOREVER (olam-age) [1 Chronicles 15:2]. There are no Levites to bear the Ark and no Ark for them to bear.
5. SACRIFICES WERE FOREVER (olam-age) [Leviticus 3:17; 6:18; 7:36; 10:9-15; 16:29; 17:17; 23:14: 24:3; Numbers 10:8; 15:15: 18:8; 19:10].
6. CIRCUMCISION WAS FOREVER (olam-age) [Genesis 17:13].
7. DAVID'S THRONE WAS FOREVER (olam-age). [2 Samuel 7:12-13; 1 Kings 9:5].
8. A SLAVE WAS A SLAVE FOREVER (olam-age) [Exodus 21:6; Deuteronomy 15:17] Olam [forever] lasted only to the end of his life.
9. JONAH'S "EVERLASTING" (olam-age) lasted only three days [Jonah 2:6].
AGES THAT HAD A BEGANNING
BUT THE ENDING IS IN THE OBSCURE FUCTURE
THE EVERLASTING (olam) HILLS [Genesis 49:26]: The hills had a beginning when the earth was made but there ending is some times in the obscure future.
THE EVERLASTING (olam) COVENANT OF THE RAINBOW [Genesis 9:11-17]: Like the hills, the beginning of the rainbow covenant is known but it’s ending is some times in the obscure future, probability both the hills and the rainbow ends at the end of the earth.
Neither is eternal, without beginning or ending. The “olam hills” are not the “eternal hills.”
FROM ONE OLAM (age) TO ANOTHER OLAM (age)
From one age to another age
Not from one eternality to another eternality
Old Testament - "from olam to olam" [from age to age] is used twenty-one times. From one period of time to another period of time demands a separation of the two periods – ages; therefore, neither or the two olams could be without a beginning or ending. Two olams would demand that there be more than one olam, more than one age, not more than one eternality.
From olam (age) to olam (age) applied to people or things
1. “Thou hast blotted out their (the wicked) name for ever (olam-age) and ever (olam-age) [Psalms 9:5]
2. “He (the king) asked life of Thee, Thou didst give him length of days for ever (olam-age) and ever (olam-age)” [Psalms 21:4].
3. “The people praise thee for ever (olam-age) and ever (olam-age)” [Psalms 45:17]
4. “All His precepts are sure. They are upheld for ever (olam-age) and ever (olam-age)” [Psalms 111:8]. From one age to another age, not from one eternality to another eternality.
5. “Thy law continually for ever (olam-age) and ever (olam-age)” [Psalms 119:44]
6. “From this time forth and for ever (olam-age) and ever (olam-age)” [Psalms 125:2; 131:3]
7. “I will bless thy name for ever (olam-age) and ever (olam-age)” [Psalms 145:1]
8. “I will praise thy name for ever (olam-age) and ever (olam-age)” [Psalms 145:2]
9. “He has also established them (the heavens) for ever (olam-age) and ever (olam-age)” [Psalms 148:6]
10. “Also established them for ever (olam-age) and ever (olam-age)” [Isaiah 30:8]. “That it may serve in the time to come as a witness forever (olam-age)” New American Standard Version
11. "Then I will let you dwell in this place, in the land that I gave to your fathers forever and ever" "from olam to olam" [Jeremiah 7:7]. From a long time past to a long time to come, but not forever as the word "forever" is used today.
12. "And dwell in the land that the Lord has given unto you and to your fathers for ever and ever" "from olam to olam" [Jeremiah 25:5]. If "forever and ever" is for eternity, then the world cannot end for they must dwell in the land for eternity and then for another eternity. None of them could dwell in Heaven or in Hell for they would be dwelling in the land on this earth for eternity and then for another eternity.
13. “As the stars for ever (olam-age) and ever (olam-age)” [Daniel 12:3]
From olam (age) to olam (age) applied to God
1. “The Lord shall reign for ever (olam-age) and ever (olam-age) [Exodus 15:18]
2. “Blessed the Lord God of Israel for ever (olam-age) and ever (olam-age) [1 Chronicles 16:36]
3. “The Lord is King for ever (olam-age) and ever (olam-age)” [Psalms 10:16]
4. “God is our God for ever (olam-age) and ever (olam-age)” [Psalms 48:14]
5. “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel from everlasting (olam-age) and to everlasting (olam-age)” [Psalms 41:13]
6. “Even from everlasting (olam-age) to everlasting (olam-age) thou art God” [Psalms 90:2] ""from olam to olam" - from age to age. "From everlasting to everlasting" would mean one everlasting would have to end for there to be another. Two everlasting are not possible. There cannot be a "from one eternity to another eternity."
7. “The Lord is from everlasting (olam-age) to everlasting (olam-age)” [Psalms 103:17]
8. “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel from everlasting (olam-age) to everlasting (olam-age)” [Psalms 106:48]
a. From “everlasting to everlasting” from “one eternality to another eternality”? How could there be from everlasting to everlasting or from eternality to eternality? Today’s concept of eternality seems not to have existed in the Old Testament; they had the concept of one age after another age after another age, but not of today’s eternality.
DAYS OF OLD
If olam means everlasting or eternal, why did the King James Version translate it old and ancient; could it be that they knew eternal as it is used today would have made no sense in these passages? DAYS OF OLD (olam-age) IS DURATION ENDED, NOT ENDLESS DURATION.
[1] "Remember the DAYS OF OLD (olam-age), consider the years of many generations" [Deuteronomy 32:7]. One word translated into three words.
[2] "For those nations were OF OLD (olam-age) the inhabitants of the land" [1 Samuel 27:8]. The same one word translated into two words.
[3] "The OLD (olam-age) way which wicked men have trodden" [Job 22:15]. The same one word translated into only one word.
[4] "For they have been ever OF OLD (olam-age)" [Psalms 25:6].
[5] "I remembered the judgments OF OLD (olam-age)" [Psalms 119:52].
[6] "Is there anything whereof it may be said, see, this is new? It has been already OF OLD TIMES (olam-age) that was before us" [Ecclesiastes 1:10].
[7] "I held my peace even OF OLD (olam-age), and you feared me not" [Isaiah 57:11].
[8] "And he bare them, and carried them all the DAYS OF OLD (olam-age)" [Isaiah 63:9].
[9] "Then he remembered the DAYS OF OLD (olam-age), Moses, and his people" [Isaiah 63:11].
[10] "The prophets that have been before me and before you OF OLD (olam-age)" [Jeremiah 28:8].
[11] "He has set me in dark places, as they that be dead OF OLD (olam-age)" [Lamentations 3:6].
[12] "When I shall bring you down with them that descend into the pit, with the people OF OLD TIMES (olam-age), and shall set you in the low parts of the earth, in places desolate OF OLD (olam-age)" [Ezekiel 26:20].
[13] "Let them feed in Basham and Gilead, as in the DAYS OF OLD (olam-age)" [Micah 7:10].
[14] "Then shall the offering of Judea and Jerusalem be pleasant unto the Lord, as in the DAYS OF OLD (olam-age), and as in former years" [Malachi 3:4].
[15] "And they have caused them to stumble in their ways from ANCIENT [olam-age] paths, to walk in paths, in a way not cast up" [Jeremiah 18:15].
Olam is used repeatedly where it means an age but cannot mean everlasting. To go into them would take many pages. Look up "ever" in any good concordance or Wigam, pages 907-910, Old Testament. A few of them - 1 Samuel 13:13; 2 Samuel 7:13,16,25, 26, 29; 1 Kings 2:33; 2:45; 9:5; 1 Chronicles 17:12, 14, 23, 27; 22:19; 28:4, 7; 2 Chronicles 8:5; Psalms 89:4; Ezekiel 37:25. Olam is used many time for things where both the beginning and end are known; many times where the beginning is known but the end is unknown; the beginning of God’s covenant of the rainbow is known but not it’s end – probable at the end of the earth.
AION AND AIONIOS
AION (a noun - the plural is aions) and AIONIOS (the adjective form of aion) in the New Testament. Like olam in the Old Testament, aion in the New Testament is also used repeatedly where it means an age but cannot mean everlasting. One example is Colossians 1:26.
• King James Version: "The mystery which hath been hid from AGES [aions] and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints"
• New King James Version: "The Mystery which has been hidden from AGES [aions] and from generations, but now has been revealed to His saints"
• American Standard Version: "Even the mystery which hath been hid for AGES [aions] and generations: but now hath it been manifested to his saints"
• New American Standard Bible: "That is, the mystery which has been hidden from the past AGES [aions] and generations, but has now been manifested to His saints"
• New Revised Standard Version: "The mystery that has been hidden throughout the AGES [aions] and generations but has now been revealed to his saints"
• New International Version: "The mystery that has been kept hidden for AGES [aions] and generations, but is now disclosed to the saints"
• Young's Literal Translation: "The secret that hath been hid from the AGES [aions] and from the generations, but now was manifested to his saints"
Why did none of the translation use "forever"? It was obvious to them that God had kept this mystery hidden for ages but not for eternities.
An aion (age) HAS A BEGINNING [1 Corinthians 2:7, 2 Timothy 1:9, Hebrews 1:2].
An aion (age) HAS AN END [Matthew 24:3, 1 Corinthians 10:11, Hebrews 9:20]. Forever and eternality, as they are used today, have no beginning and no end.
"WORLD" [Greek-aion] in the King James Version
It had to be obvious to the translators that there are more than one aion, but they hid this from their reader by translating it "this world" and "the world to come." A PERIOD OF TIME (An Age) IS CHANGED TO A PLACE (World). “Age, indefinite time, dispensation” Robert Young, “Young’s Analytical Concordance To The Bible,” page 1073.
[1] Matthew 12:32 "Neither in this WORLD* (aion-age) nor in that which is to come." "Either in this age, or the age that is to come" New King James Version, New American Standard Version. Not "neither in this eternity or that eternity which is to come." There are not two forevers, one that now is and one to come.
[2] Matthew 13:22 "Care of this WORLD* (aion-age)." "Care of this forever or eternity"?
[3] Matthew 13:39 "The harvest is the end of the WORLD* (aion-age)." "The end of the forever or the end of eternity"? "The end of the age" New King James Version, New American Standard Version.
[4] Matthew 13:40 "So shall it be at the end of this WORLD (aion-age)." "At the end of this forever or this eternity"? "The end of this age" New King James Version, New American Standard Version.
[5] Matthew 24:3 "At the end of the WORLD* (aion-age)." "At the end of the forever or this eternity"? "The end of the age" New King James Version, New American Standard Version.
[6] Matthew 28:20 "Unto the end of the WORLD*" (aion-age). "The end of eternity"?
[7] Mark 4:19 "The cares of this WORLD (aion-age)." "Cares of this forever or this eternity"?
[8] Mark 10:30 "In the WORLD* (aion-age) to come." "In the forever to come"?
[9] Luke 1:70 "Since the WORLD (aion-age) began." "Since the forever began"?
[10] Luke 16:8 "Children of this WORLD* (aion-age)." "Children of this forever"?
[11] Luke 18:30 "In the WORLD* (aion-age) to come." "In the forever to come"?
[12] Luke 20:34 "Children of this WORLD* (aion-age) marry." "Children of this eternity"?
[13] Luke 20:35 "Worthy to obtain that WORLD* (aion-age)." "That eternity"?
[14] John 9:32 "Since the WORLD (aion-age) begin." "Since forever begin"? “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” [Genesis 1:1]. Beginning of what? The beginning of time. Although it seems there may be ages after the earth [Luke 18:30; Mark 10:30] and may have been ages before the earth, this is an age that had a beginning and is not the beginning of the world.
[15] Acts 3:21 "Since the WORLD (aion-age) begin." "Since eternity begin"?
[16] Acts 15:18 "From the beginning of the WORLD (aion age)." "From the beginning of the forever"?
[17] Romans 12:2 "From the beginning of the WORLD (aion-age). "From the beginning of the eternity"?
[18] 1 Corinthians 1:20 "Where is the disputer of this WORLD*" (aion-age)." "Disputer of this eternity"?
[19] 1 Corinthians 2:6 "Not of the wisdom of this WORLD*, (aion-age) nor of the princes of this WORLD* (aion-age)." "Wisdom of this forever ... princes of this eternity"?
[20] 1 Corinthians 2:7 "Which God ordained before the WORLDS" (aions-ages, plural in the Greek, singular in the King James, plural in most translations). Ordained before the eternities? God’s wisdom, which had been hidden but has now been made known, was foreordained before the ages, not before the worlds plural or before eternities plural. “In hope of eternal life, which God…promised before the ages (aionios-ages)” [Titus 1:2]. “Promised before the world began” (King James) or promised “before times eternal” American Standard makes no sense, promised to whom before the world began or before times eternal? If eternality has no beginning or ending when was before eternality?
• “Before the ages (aions-ages)” New American Standard and Revised Standard Version.
[21] 1 Corinthians 2:8 "None of the princes of this WORLD* (aion-age)." "Princes of this eternity"?
[22] 1 Corinthians 3:18 "Seems to be wise in this WORLD* (aion-age)." "Wise in this eternity"?
[23] 1 Corinthians 8:13 "While the WORLD (aion-age) stands." "While the forever stands"?
[24] 1 Corinthians 10:11 "The ends of the WORLD* (aions-ages)." "The ends of the eternities"? "Upon whom the ends of the ages are come" American Standard Version.
[25] 2 Corinthians 4:4 "The God of this WORLD (aion-age)." "The God of this eternity"?
[26] Galatians 1:4 "From this present evil WORLD* (aion-age)." "Present evil forever"? Is this present evil world to last for an age or to last for an eternity?
[27] Ephesians 1:21 "Not only in this WORLD (aion-age)." "Not only in this eternity but also in another eternity"?
[28] Ephesians 2:2 "According to the course of this WORLD (aion-age)." "Course of this forever"?
[29] Ephesians 3:9 "The beginning of the WORLD* (aion-age)." "The beginning of the eternity." Young's Literal Translation, "And to cause all to see what is the fellowship of the secret that has been hid FROM THE AGES in God, who the all things did create by Jesus Christ, that there might be made known now to the principalities and authorities in the heavenly places, through the assembly, the manifold wisdom of God, according to A PURPOSE OF THE AGES, which He made in Christ Jesus our Lord."
[30] Ephesians 3:21 “WORLD (aion) without end.” The footnote in the New American Standard says, “To all generations of the age of the ages.”
[31] Ephesians 6:12 "Of the darkness of this WORLD (aion age)." "Of the darkness of this eternity"?
[32] 1 Timothy 6:17 "That are rich in this WORLD* (aion-age)." "Rich in this eternity"?
[33] 2 Timothy 4:10 "Having loved this present WORLD (aion-age)." "Loved this present forever"?
[34] Titus 2:12 "Godly, in this present WORLD* (aion-age)." "In this present eternity"?
[35] Hebrews 1:2 "By whom also he made the WORLD (aions-ages)."
[36] Hebrews 6:5 "Powers of the WORLD* (aion-age) to come." "Powers of the forever to come"? Will there be another world?
[37] Hebrews 9:26 "Now once in the end of the WORLD (aion-age)." In the end of forever which was more than 1900 years ago? It was in the end of the age of the Law or Jewish age, which lasted from the giving of the law by Moses to the death of Christ, not the end of the world. The sacrifice of Christ was in the end of the age of the Law given through Moses not in the end of the world.
[38] Hebrews 11:3 "The WORLDS (aions-ages) were framed." God made the ages. Did the King James translators think there is more than one earth? “By faith we understand that the ages (aions-ages)." were prepared by the word of God” New American Standard footnote. Plural ages were prepared by the word of God, periods of time, not plural places or worlds.
Aionios, the adjective form of aion is translated world three times.
[39] Romans 16:25-26 “Kept secret since the WORLD* (aionios-age) began, but now is made manifest…is made known.” Was not kept secret for all eternality, as eternality is understood today.
• “For long ages past” New American Standard and New International Version.
• “For long ages” New Revised Standard Version.
[40] 2 Timothy 1:9 “Which was given us in Christ Jesus before the WORLD* (aionios-age) began.
• “Before times eternal” American Standard Version, footnote “long ages ago.” What times does anyone think was before eternality began?
• “From all eternity” New American Standard.
• “Before the ages (aionios-age) began” New Revised Standard Version.
• “Before the beginning of time” New International Version.
o The promise of salvation was first given in Genesis 3:15 at the beginning of the first age on earth, the Patriarchal age, which was from Adam to Moses, before the Christian age begin age that Paul was in.
[41] Titus 1:2 “Which God, that cannot lie, promised before the WORLD* (aionios-age) began.” Given or promised to whom before the world began, to whom before everlasting or eternality began? If eternality had no beginning and will have no ending, how could there be a “before eternality began?” “Before the age began” not before the world or the ages began, by “the age” Paul is probably speaking of before the age Christian we are now in began; Christ lived and give us the promise of the resurrection to life before the Christian age began.
• *Translated "age(s)" in the New Revised Standard Version.
In the above there are past age(s), the present age, and age(s) to come. There are not worlds past, present, and future. We speak of "the Stone Age," "the Iron Age." etc. Age (aion), century and year are all periods of time. The world is a place. HOW DID THE TRANSLATORS GET A PLACE FROM A WORD THAT MEANS A PERIOD OF TIME? HOW DID THEY GET "WORLD" FROM "AION"? The King James Version has “world without end” and “in the end of the world” [Ephesians 3:21; Hebrews 9:26]. Eternity has no beginning; therefore, they could not translate it forever so they change a word that means a period of time that has a beginning and an end to a place. Most translations used "age(s)." If aion means forever, what did the translators do when they came to Matthew 24:3? Did they translate it "the end of forever"? No, they could not have an end to eternity; therefore, they change aion to "world." In the Greek "world" is from "kosmos" not "aion." Were they not being less than truthful with their readers? Just as truthful as they were in the Old Testament where "olam" is translated "world" in Psalms 73:12. Despite the fact that they have translated "olam" into "everlasting" repeatedly, they could not have the ungodly prosper for "forever." An aion (age) in Matthew 24:3 is not a place, not a world.
PLURAL is changed to SINGULAR. When the King James translators translated aions into "worlds" [Hebrews 1:2; see Ephesians 2:7; Colossians 1:26] they left it in the plural, but when they translated it "forever and ever" they changed it to the singular. They could have plural worlds, but they could not have a plurality of forever or more than one eternality. Their Hell must last forever (singular), not forevers (plural), and not just UNTO the age of ages.
HOW DO THEY KNOW "HELL" IS EVERLASTING? NOT ONE OF THE FOUR WORDS TRANSLATED "HELL" IN THE KING JAMES VERSION IS USED WITH AION. NOT ONE OF FOUR WORDS (sheol, hades, Gehenna, Tartarus) IS SAID TO BE EVERLASTING OR AGE LASTING.
Aion is used of past ages, the present age, future ages, and in the plural about two thirds of its occurrences in the Bible. Therefore, there MUST be more than one age. It follows that eternity is not an acceptable meaning of this Greek word. There cannot be past eternities, a present eternity, and future eternities, neither can there be plural eternities. An aion (age) is a long period of time that has a beginning and an ending, but it is not eternity which has no beginning or ending. There are more than one aions, but there can be only one eternity.
In the Bible there is the Patriarchal dispensation (age), and the Law of Moses dispensation (age) [Luke 1:70; Romans 12:2; Colossians 1:26], and the Christian dispensation (age). Age (aion) is applied to the Jewish dispensation (age) that has ended. See Hebrews 9:26; 1 Corinthians 10:11; Matthew 24:3; Luke 1:70. In this age the good seed and the weeds are together, but at the end of this age (the Christian dispensation) the weeds will be "collected and burned up with fire" [Luke 13:40 New Revised Standard Version]. This age will end at the coming of Christ. Eternal life will be given in the age to come [Mark 10:30; Luke 18:30; 20:35; Ephesians 1:21; 2:7; Hebrews 6:5].
AION and AIONIOS: When both the singular and plural are used together in one passage there must be more than one aion (age). A plural eternity or forever is impossible; aionios refer to periods of time (ages). Unless an age means all of time, there must be another part(s) of time (another age or ages); an age is not forever or eternity as the English word "eternity" is used today.
The word "eternal" was first put into the Bible when the Latin Vulgate Version of Jerome was translated into English; there is no word in the Hebrew or Greek Bible that corresponds to the English word "eternal"; Jerome translation give aion two difference meaning. If the first English translation had come directly from the Hebrew and Greek, it is unlikely that "eternal" would have ever been in it. Jerome was inconsistent in the way he put eternal into his translation by translating aion into eternal twenty-seven times out of about one hundred twenty-five times that aion is used, nevertheless, his inconsistencies were translated into English and most later translations copied them.
"TO or UNTO the ages of [the] ages"
[1] “The smoke of their torment doth go up UNTO the ages of ages” [Revelation 14:11]. If, as some believe, the ages of the ages is eternity after the judgment, then the smoke of their torment, the torment of the devil, and the reigning last UNTO the end of time, but nothing is said about after the judgment.
[2] “Her smoke doth come up UNTO the ages of [the] ages” [Revelation 19:3].
[3] “They (the devil, the beast and the false prophet) shall be tormented day and night UNTO the ages of [the] ages” (20:10). "Day and night" belongs to time, not eternity [Revelation 22:5]. We do not know what is going on in the mind of Satan, but it is only reasonable to believe that he knows his time will come to an end. Would this not be torment to him? "The Lord knows how to...keep the unrighteous under punishment unto the Day of Judgment" [1 Peter 2:9]. UNTO the ages of ages could only mean the time that is before the ages to come, BEFORE ANY ONE WILL BE IN HEAVEN, not forever. NOT DURING OR THROUGHOUT ETERNITY. This torment, whether it is literal or figurative torment, IS ONLY SAID TO BE "UNTO THE AGES OF AGES" WHICH IS BEFORE MANY BELIEVE ANYONE WILL BE IN HELL. IT ENDS AT THE TIME THEY SAY HELL WILL BEGIN (“UNTO the ages of ages”). IT SAYS NOTHING ABOUT TORMENT NEITHER LITERAL TORMENT OR FIGURATIVE TORMENT IN THE "AGES OF AGES." When the Greek says, "unto the ages of ages," it is not "forever and ever." This is just another attempt of the translators to put an eternal place of torment in the Bible where there is not one.
The superlative degree:
• The song of songs - the best of all songs
• The book of books - the best of all books
• The party of parties - the best of all parties
• The lie of lies - the biggest of all lies
• The king of kings and lord of lords [1 Timothy 6:15] - the greatest of all kings and lords
• The ages of ages - does this mean the best age of all ages?
o “Ages” (plural – more then one age) “of the ages” (plural – also more then one age).
THE AGES TO COME: "UNTO the ages of [the] ages" [Revelation 1:6; 2 Timothy 4:18; etc.] Does eternity have ages? "Who shall not receive manifold more in this time, and in the world to come (aion, - the AGE to come) eternal (aionios, the adjective form of aion) life" [Luke 18:30; Mark 10:30]. Life that will have no end will be given at the judgment after the end of the Christian Age [Romans 6:22; Galatians 6:8; Titus 1:2]. Christ was speaking of life after the judgment when He said, "and in the age to come." Paul speaking to those in the Christian Age, those that were saved by grace when he say, “THAT IN THE AGES (aions) TO COME (ages to come after the Christian Age) he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus” [Ephesians 2:6-7].
There may be no way we can know, but it is possible that there was a time before God made anything, where there was just God, was one age. Then after He made Heaven and all was perfect was another age. After Satan and other angels sinned was another age, and things we know nothing about could be the beginning and ending of ages. There is no way we can know something God has not revealed to us, and it is unreasonable to think that we with our limited knowledge could know even the hem of the garment when it comes to knowing what an infinite God has done before He made this world and will do throughout all eternity. "Unto the ages of the ages" may mean that eternity after the judgment will have "ages." God does not change, but there is no reason to believe that after the judgment He will just sit and do nothing that could be the end of one age and the beginning of another. In all of time we know anything about, God has used ages that had begins and ends, and there is no reason to believe He cannot or will not always use them. There is no man in Heaven now but the saved will be in Heaven after the judgment; when all the saved of mankind are in Heaven will that not be one change from what Heaven is now, maybe the beginning of a new age? And there could be others changes later that would be the beginning and ending of ages. I do not believe He is a sleeping God who woke up one day and made the world in six days and went back to sleep. What He has done and will do throughout eternity is beyond my imagination and as He has not revealed it, no one can know, but eternity is a long time and it is not reasonable to believe He is now sleeping and will not frequently do many things as great or greater than making the earth; things that will be the beginning of an endless number of new ages. Angels are not self-existing being as God is, they were created by God; therefore, their creation may have been the beginning of an age in Heaven. Heaven itself was created; only God is self-existing, unchanging and without a beginning, not created things. All the things that God created that we know about and all the beings, angels and mankind, were not created at the same time there is no reason to believe that God will not go on creating both new things and new beings.
PAST AGES, A PRESENT AGE, FUTURE AGES: If, as many teach, "aion" did means "forever" or "eternity" then there would be past eternities, present eternities, and future eternities to come, both singular and plural.
SINGULAR
• A PAST AGE, NOT A PAST ETERNITY [singular] Acts 15:18 "From the beginning of the aion" Ephesians 3:9; Colossians 1:26; Luke 1:55.
• A PRESENT AGE, NOT A PRESENT ETERNITY [singular] Galatians 1:4 "From this present evil aion" Matthew 12:32; 13:22; 13:39; 13:40; 24:3; 28:20; Mark 4:19; Luke 1:70; Luke 16:8; 20:34; John 9:32; Acts 3:21; 15:18; Romans 12:2; 1 Corinthians 2:6; 2:8; 3:18; 8:13; 10:11; 2 Corinthians 4:4; Galatians 1:4; Ephesians 1:21; 2:2; 6:12; 1 Timothy 7:17; 2 Timothy 4:10. The present aion (age) is clearly distinguished from a past aion or a future aion, not a past or future eternality.
• A FUTURE AGE, NOT A FUTURE ETERNITY [singular] Luke 20:35 "Worthy to obtain that aion." Matthew 12:32; Mark 10:30 "In the aion to come." Luke 18:30; 20:35; Ephesians 1:21; 2:7; Hebrews 6:5.
PLURAL Of the one hundred twenty four times aion is used in the New Testament sixty six are in the plural, more than one age, not more than one eternality and in twenty one others that there is more than one age, the plural is implied by “this aion” or “that aion,” this age or that age, not this or that eternality.
• PAST AGES, NOT PAST ETERNITIES [plural] Colossians 1:26 "Hid from aions" Luke 1:33; Hebrews 1:2; 11:3.
• PRESENT AGES, NOT PRESENT ETERNITIES [plural] Hebrews 1:2 "By whom also he made the aions" Romans 1:25; 9:5; 11:36; 16:27; 2 Corinthians 11:31; Hebrews 13:8.
• FUTURE AGES, NOT FUTURE ETERNITIES [plural] Galatians 1:5; Philippians 4:20; 1 Timothy 1:17; 2 Timothy 4:18; Hebrews 13:21; 1 Peter 4:11; 5:11; Revelation 1:6; 1:18; 4:9; 4:10; 5:13; 5:14; 7:12; 10:6; 11:15; 14:11; 15:7; 19:3; 20:10; 22:5. It may be that what we think of as eternality as being one endless time period will be an infinite number of aions (ages).
• PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE AGES, not past, present and future eternities. "Throughout all ages" Ephesians 3:21 King James Version.
Singular/singular – age of the age (aiona tou aionos) Hebrews 1:8

Singular/plural – age of the ages (aionos ton aionon) Ephesians 3:21

Plural/plural – ages of the ages (aionas ton aionon) Revelation 20:10, 1 Peter 4:11
In the Bible there are:
1. Aion [age] in the SINGULAR. - - - 2. Aions [ages] in the PLURAL
3. Aions [ages] in the PAST. - - - - - - 4. Aion [age] in the PRESENT.
5. An aion [age] TO COME. - - - - - - 6. Aions [ages] TO COME.
7. The ENDS of the aions [ages].
The Greek is "unto the aions of the aions." It is not "ever + ever," not one "ever" added to another "ever" as in the King James Version. It is ages that last UNTO, not a plural of eternities which none can end. "Forever and ever" is a contradiction of itself. There cannot be more than one infinite eternity. Not more than one forever. There cannot be eternities after eternities. An age will fit into eternity, but eternity will not fit into an age. It is infinitely bigger. Neither can one eternity fit into another eternity, or two eternities exist at the same time. Neither can one eternity come after the end of another eternity.
“For ever (aionas) AND (ton) ever (aionon)” [Revelation 4:11]. Both Greek words are in the plural, “ever” that is used in the King James Version is singular; there is no plural of “ever” in English; it cannot be translated “for everS and everS.” The “and” between the two everS is from “ton” and never means “and” in the Greek. “For ever and ever” totally changes what the Greek says.
"Ages" long periods of time followed by more long periods of time might have been the nearest concept the early Hebrew people had to "eternity" as we understand the word "eternity" today. CAN "OLAM" OR "AION" EVER MEAN ETERNAL AS THE WORD IS USED TODAY? Endless is not inherent in either of the two words and in over 90% of the times they are used it is unquestionably that they mean a limited time - a time that has ended or will end. When they are applied to God [as in Exodus 3:15; Genesis 21:33] and things that are intrinsically endless, some say it takes on a meaning not inherent in the word itself but from the thing that is endless, but it is more likely that God was speaking to them using the only words that they would understand, words with nearest concept the early Hebrew people had to an eternity without beginning or end. The concept we have of eternity was is not in the Old Testament and may not have came about unto after the New Testament.
Marvin R. Vincent, "Word Studies In The New Testament" Note On Olethron Aionion (eternal destruction). "The word always carries the notion of time, and not of eternity. It always means a period of time. Otherwise it would be impossible to account for the plural, or for such qualifying expressions as this age, or the age to come. It does not mean something endless or everlasting. To deduce that meaning from its relation to aei is absurd; for, apart from the fact that the meaning of a word is not definitely fixed by its derivation, aei does not signify endless duration. When the writer of the Pastoral Epistles quotes the saying that the Cretans are always (aei) liars (Tit. 1:12), he surely does not mean that the Cretans will go on lying to all eternity. See also Acts 7:51; 2 Cor. 4:11; 6:10; Heb 3:10; 1 Pet. 3:15. Aei means habitually or continually within the limit of the subject's life. In our colloquial dialect everlastingly is used in the same way. 'The boy is everlastingly tormenting me to buy him a drum.' In the New Testament the history of the world is conceived as developed through a succession of aeons. A series of such aeons precedes the introduction of a new series inaugurated by the Christian dispensation, and the end of the world and the second coming of Christ are to mark the beginning of another series. Eph. 1:21; 2:7; 3:9,21; 1 Cor 10:11; compare Heb. 9:26. He includes the series of aeons in one great aeon, 'o aion ton aionon, the aeon of the aeons (Eph. 3:21); and the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews describe the throne of God as enduring unto the aeon of the aeons (Heb 1:8). The plural is also used, aeons of the aeons, signifying all the successive periods which make up the sum total of the ages collectively. Rom. 16:27; Gal. 1:5; Philip. 4:20, etc."
AIONIOS the adjective of aion is used 71 times in the New Testament and in the King James Version is translated (1) age, (2) eternal, (3) for ever and ever, (4) course, (5) for ever, (6) evermore, (7) everlasting, (8) world, (9) beginning of the world, (10) world began, (11) world without end.
FOREVER - UNTO THE AGES
[A] "Unto the ages" eiv touv aiwnav Wigram ("The Englishman's Greek Concordance" Page 19), Footnote in American Standard Version "Gr. unto the ages." Alfred Marshall in "Parallel New Testament In Greek And English" translates eiv touv aiwnav "unto the ages."
1. Luke 1:33 "Over the house of Jacob FOREVER (eiv touv aiwnav-unto the ages)."
2. Romans 1:25 "Who is blessed FOREVER (eiv touv aiwnav-unto the ages)."
3. Romans 9:5 "God blessed FOREVER (eiv touv aiwnav-unto the ages)."
4. Romans 11:36 "To whom be glory FOREVER (eiv touv aiwnav unto the ages)."
5. Romans 16:27 "Through Jesus Christ FOREVER (eiv touv aiwnav unto the ages)."
6. 2 Corinthians 11:31 "Which is blessed FOR EVERMORE (eiv touv aiwnav unto the ages)."
7. Hebrews 13:8 "Yesterday, and to day, and FOR EVER (eiv touv aiwnav-unto the ages)."
[B] "Unto the ages of [the] ages" eiv touv aiwnav twn aiwnwn is used twenty-one times in the New Testament, seventeen times it is applied to God or Christ, one time to Satan, one time to worshipers of the beast, one time to the great harlot, and one time to those who are in the book of life.
• Alfred Marshall translates it "Unto the ages of the ages," "Parallel New Testament In Greek And English" Page 747. "To whom [be] the glory unto the ages of the ages. Amen" Galatians 1:5.
• Adam Clarke translates it "To the ages of ages."
• Robert Young translates it "To the ages of [the] ages." Young's Analytical Concordance to the Bible, Page 310, and in "Young's Literal Translation."
• Ashley S. Johnson “Ages of ages, or ages upon ages” Founder and president of the Johnson Bible College.
• Jamieson, Fausset and Brown "Unto ages of ages."
• The Amplified Bible "Through all the ages of the ages" Galatians 1:5.
• The Christian Bible "For the remaining ages of the ages" Galatians 1:5.
• American Standard Version "The consummation of the age" Matthew 28:20 and in many other passages.
• New American Standard Version "Even to the end of the age" Matthew 28:20 and in many other passages.
• New Revised Standard Version "end of the age" Matthew 28:20 and others.
• New International Version "To the very end of the age" Matthew 28:20.
o Strong's word #165, Aion "An age" Comp 5550 "A space of time"
[1] - [17] The seventeen times "unto the ages of the ages" that are applied to God or Christ from Young's Literal Translation. In the same way that saying God is the God of Israel does not mean He is not also the God of the other nations, to say He is now the God of this age does not mean He was not the God of all the other ages that have been before, and the God of this age, and will not be the God of all ages that shall come after this age. He is the God of Abraham, the God of this age; God is the God of the ages, all the ages, past, present, and future. There are three main ages that covers all the time of this earth. (1) The Patriarchal Age: From Adam to the giving of the Law, when God spoke directly to men, mostly to the fathers. (2) The Law Age: From the giving of the Law to the death of Christ. (3) The Christian or Church Age: From Christ to the end of the world. These ages are often subdivided into smaller ages; for example, the Law is often divided into the Judges, the Untied Kingdom, and the Divided Kingdom. How many ages there might have been before the earth and how many there will be after it ends we have no way of knowing but the Bible speaks often of "ages to come" after this Christian Age. “And raised us up with him, and made us to sit with him in the heavenly places, in Christ Jesus: THAT IN THE AGES (aions) TO COME he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus” [Ephesians 2:6-7]; after the end of the earth it seems that there may be more ages with God over them, He will always be the God of the age that is. The concept we have of eternity was is not in the Old Testament and may not have come about unto after the New Testament; if there is a word in the Greek that was used in the time of the New Testament with today’s meaning of eternity it was not aion – age.
Young's Literal Translation
[1] Galatians 1:5 "To whom is the glory to the ages of the ages. Amen."
[2] Philippians 4:20 "And to God, even our Father, is the glory to the ages of the ages. Amen."
[3] 1 Timothy 1:17 "And to the King of the ages, the incorruptible, invisible, only wise God, is honor and glory to the ages of the ages! Amen."
[4] 2 Timothy 4:18 "And the Lord shall free me from every evil work, and shall save me to his heavenly kingdom; to whom is the glory to the ages of the ages! Amen."
[5] Hebrews 13:21 "Make you perfect in every good work to do His will, doing in you that which is well-pleasing before Him, through Jesus Christ, to whom is the glory to the ages of the ages! Amen."
[6] 1 Peter 4: 11 "That in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom is the glory and the power to the ages of the ages. Amen."
[7] 1 Peter 5:11 "To Him is the glory, and the power to the ages and the ages! Amen."
[8] Revelation 1:6 "To him is the glory and the power to the ages of the ages! Amen."
[9] Revelation 1:18 "And he who is living, and I did become dead, and, lo, I am living to the ages of the ages. Amen! And I have the keys of the hades and of the death."
[10] Revelation 4:9 "And when the living creatures do give glory, and honor, and thanks, to Him who is sitting upon the throne, who is living to the ages of the ages."
[11] Revelation 4:10 "Fall down do the twenty and four elders before Him who is sitting upon the throne, and bow before Him who is living to the ages of the ages, and they cast their crowns before the throne."
[12] Revelation 5:13 "To Him who is sitting upon the throne, and to the Lamb, is the blessing, and the honor, and the glory, and the might to the ages of the ages!"
[13] Revelation 5:14 "And the four living creatures said, 'Amen!' and the twenty-four elders fell down and they bow before Him who is living to the ages of the ages."
[14] Revelation 7:12 "Saying, 'Amen! The blessing, and the glory, and the wisdom, and the thanksgiving, and the honor, and the power, and the strength, are to our God to the ages of the ages! Amen!'"
[15] Revelation 10:6 "And did swear in Him who doth live to the ages of the ages, who did create the heaven and the things in it, and the land and the things in it, and the sea and the things in it."
[16] Revelation 11:15 "And the seventh messenger did sound, and there came great voices in the heaven, saying, 'The kingdoms of the world did become those of our Lord and of His Christ, and he shall reign to the ages of the ages!'"
[17] Revelation 15:7 "And one of the four living creatures did give to the seven messengers seven golden vials, full of the wrath of God, who is living to the ages of the ages"
These passages may simply be saying, "as long as this creation (age) last, God will be it’s God." Christ will reign as king and priest in the kingdom unto He has abolished all rule and authority, unto he has put all His enemies under His feet. The last enemy to be abolished is death [1 Corinthians 15:20-28]. As long as this age lasts, He will reign "unto the ages of ages." At the end of this creation, Christ "shall deliver up the kingdom to God...then shall the Son also himself be subjected to him that did subject all things unto him, that God may be all in all" [1 Corinthians 15:24-28].
"The word always carries the notion of time, and not of eternity, it always means a period of time." Marvin R. Vincent, "Word Studies in the New Testament"
Death and the grave will last only "to the age of the ages." After the end of this creation (age) they will not exist. Saying God is the God of this creation from its beginning unto it end is not to say He was not God before its beginning and after its end. He is the God of this age and all other ages. Revelation 7:12 Saying, "Amen, the blessing, and the glory, and the wisdom, and the thanksgiving, and the honor, and the power, and the strength, [are] to our God to the ages of [the] ages. Amen." Also for all ages that have been and will come after the end of this creation (age).
I think this is saying that after this world ends that God will not forever be doing nothing, but that He will forever be doing things that have a beginning and an end as great as the creation of this earth, and its end. There will forever be things that have a beginning and an end, forever ages. Just as angels may see this creation, the saved will maybe see the things God will forever be doing. The lost, the dead will forever miss all this. O that I may live in such a way that I will live and forever see the great things God will be forever doing in all the ages to come. We sometimes think of God to small for we think of Him as only having to do with our world, our creation; and in all eternity before He made this world we think He did nothing and will do nothing after the end of this world. As great as that would make Him, it still would make Him small in comparison with what He is, and makes His power small in comparison with what it is.
"Unto the ages of [the] ages"
The other four of the twenty-one times
[18] REVELATION 14:11 "Unto the ages of [the] ages" is applied one time to worshipers of the beast: "And the smoke of their torment doth go up TO ages of ages; and they have no rest day and night, who are bowing before the beast and his image, also if any doth receive the mark of his name." Footnote in the American Standard Version, "Gr. UNTO the ages of the ages." This smoke goes up UNTO the ages of ages, not without end IN the ages of ages. See notes above.
[19] REVELATION 19:3 “Unto the ages of [the] ages” is applied one time to the great harlot: “And a second time they said, ‘Alleluia;’ and the smoke doth come up to the ages of the ages” See notes above on Revelation 14:11.
[20] REVELATION 20:10 “Unto the ages of [the] ages” is applied one time to Satan: “And the Devil, who is leading them astray, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where [are] the beast and the false prophet, and they shall be tormented day and night to the ages of [the] ages.” See notes above on Revelation 14:11.
[21] REVELATION 22:5 "Unto the ages of [the] ages" is applied one time to those who are in the book of life: "And night shall not be there, and they have no need of a lamp and light of a sun, because the Lord God doth give them light, and they shall reign to [TO or UNTO] the ages of [the] ages." No matter what view you have, this may be one of the most difficult passages in the Bible.
THE MOST COMMON VIEW: This is speaking of the saints in Heaven after the judgment. This view puts the reign of the saints in the "ages of Ages" not "unto the ages of the ages." It makes the reign of the saints start after its end. The King James and other translations remove this difficulty by mistranslating.
ANOTHER VIEW: Christ is both king and priest unto the church. He is our high priest [Hebrews 8:1]. "For He must reign, TILL he has put all his enemies under his feet" [1 Corinthians 15:25]. When all his enemies are under his feet and the last enemy, death, has been abolished, then He shall deliver up the kingdom to God and be subjected to Him [1 Corinthians 15:23-28]. Christ is our high priest. Hebrews 2:17; 3:1; 4:14; 4:15; 5:1; 5:5; 5:10. He is "a priest forever [aion-age] after the order of Melchizedek" [Hebrews 5:6]. "A high priest for ever [aion-age] after the order of Melchizedek" [Hebrews 6:20]. "A priest for ever [aion-age] after the order of Melchizedek" [Hebrews 7:17]. "You are a priest for ever" [aion-age] [Hebrews 7:21]. Christ is now reigning as our high priest, but will He be our high priest after the judgment when there is no sin and therefore, no need for a priest? "And did make us kings and priests" [Revelation 1:6]. Those in Christ now reign as kings and priests. "For you were slain, and did purchase unto God with your blood men of every tribe, and tongue, and people, and nation, and made them to be unto our God a kingdom and priests; and THEY REIGN UPON THE EARTH" [Revelation 5:9-10]. ALL CHRISTIANS ARE NOW KINGS AND PRIESTS BUT WILL CHRISTIANS BE KINGS AND PRIESTS AFTER THE JUDGMENT WHEN THEY ARE NOT "UPON THE EARTH"? Will there be any need for priests in Heaven? Christ will be our Lord in Heaven, but maybe not our high priest. Christian now reign as kings and priests unto the ages of ages, but whatever we will be in Heaven, it does not look as if there will be any need for priests. In this age, those in Christ have Him as their light [John 8:12; 9:5; 11:10; 12:36] and He shines the same always. There is no nighttime when He shines less. THE REIGN OF THOSE IN CHRIST AS KINGS AND PRIESTS "UNTO THE AGES OF THE AGES" WILL BE OVER WHEN THEIR ETERNAL LIFE IN HEAVEN BEGINS IN THE AGES OF AGES. They shall reign UNTO the ages of [the] ages (22:5) "Unto the ages" is before the harvest at the end of this age [Matthew 12:36-43]. It is before the time many believe Hell will begin. It is NOW.
A THIRD VIEW: Most likely the right one. This passage is symbolic, not to be taken literally. The first two views both make the wording be literal, but just as most of this book is in symbols, this may also be symbols and no more to be taken literality than a woman arrayed with the sun [Revelation 12:1] or any of the other symbols in the book.
• Whatever view of this passage you may take, Christians will be "in the ages to come" after this age has ended [Ephesians 2:6-7].
That aion means forever when it is used with reference to the life of the believer, and that it takes on a meaning of unlimited time that is totally different than its meaning is without precedent with any other word. I understand that this dual definition came about by learned and faithful believers trying to explain some difficult passages, but it seems to me that it makes more problems than it helps. If God in His revelation to us used a word to sometimes mean a limited time with a beginning and an end and at other times used the same word to mean an unlimited time without beginning or end no one could know what He said to us, could not know when this word was limited and when it was unlimited without an inspired person to tell us.
It is obvious that forever or eternal with the meaning that eternal has today is a total mistranslation. Three days [Jonah 2:6] or a lifetime [Exodus 21:6] is not eternally.
Whatever view you take, this is in a book of symbols that are difficult to understand and it is unwise to base any doctrine on the interpretation of symbols, and less than unwise to make the interpretation of symbols over rule the plain statements of the Bible.
“If aion sometimes means a limited and sometimes an, unlimited time, then we need a pope, or a church, or human tradition to tell us what it means in each case, and divine inspiration vanishes, and is replaced by corrupt human mentality.” Unsearchable Riches, Volume 27, Page 175.
ETERNAL
[1] ETERNAL [Aionios] LIFE: About 43 times to the life Christ promised to those who obey Him. "In the world [age - aion] to come eternal [aionios] life [zoee]" Mark 19:30. "What shall I do to inherit eternal [aionios] life?" Luke 18:18. "In hope of eternal [aionios] life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the age [aion] began." Titus 1:2. Also in Matthew 19:16; 25:46; Mark 10:17; 10:30; Luke 10:25; 18:30; John 3:5; 3:16; 3:36; 4:14; 4:36 5:24; 5:39; 6:27; 6:40; 6:47; 6:54; 6:58; 17:2; 17:3; Acts 13:46; Romans 2:7; 5:21; 6:22; 6:23; Galatians 6:8; 1 Timothy 1:16; 6:12; 6:19; Titus 3:7; 1 John 1:2; 2:25; 3:15; 5:11; 5:13; 5:20; Jude 21.
Related terms [other ways of saying eternal life].
1. "Everlasting [aionios] HABITATIONS" [Luke 16:9; Hebrews 9:15].
2. "Everlasting [aionios] CONSOLATION" [2 Thessalonians 2:16].
3. "Eternal [aionios] INHERITANCE" [Hebrews 9:15].
4. "An eternal [aionios] WEIGHT OF GLORY" [2 Corinthians 4:16].
5. "A BUILDING FROM GOD, A HOUSE NOT MADE WITH HANDS, eternal [aionios], in the heavens" [2 Corinthians 5:1].
[2] ETERNAL GOD: (1) "Everlasting [aionios] God" [Romans 16:25]. (2) "Power everlasting"[aionios] [1 Timothy 6:16]. (3) "Called us unto His eternal [aionios] glory" [1 Peter 5:10].
There are other words that teach an endless duration that are applied to God and the saved that are never applied to the lost.
TO GOD:
1. Romans 1:23 "The glory of the INCORRUPTIBLE [aphthartos] God."
2. 1 Timothy 6:16 "Who only has IMMORTALITY [athanasin]."
3. Romans 1:20 "Even his EVERLASTING [aidios] power and divinity."
4. 1 Timothy 1:17 "Now unto the King eternal IMMORTAL [aphtharsia], invisible, the only God."
TO CHRIST:
1. 2 Timothy 1:10 "Who [Christ] abolished death, AND BROUGHT LIFE AND IMMORTALITY [aphtharsia] TO LIGHT"
2. Hebrews 7:3 “Abides a priest CONTINUALLY (dieenekes).” “But he, when he had offered one sacrifice for sins FOR EVER (dieenekes), sat down on the right hand of God” [Hebrews 10:12]. “For by one offering he has perfected FOR EVER (dieenekes) them that are sanctified” [Hebrews 10:14].
3. Hebrews 7:16 "After the power of an ENDLESS (akatalutos-indissoluble) LIFE."
4. Hebrews 7:24 “Because He (Christ) abides forever (pantote), holds His priesthood permanently.”
TO MAN:
1. 1 Corinthians 9:25 "Now they do it to receive a corruptible crown: but we an INCORRUPTIBLE [aphthartos]."
2. 1 Corinthians 15:42-44 "So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in INCORRUPTION [aphtharsia]; it is sown in dishonor; it is raised in GLORY; it is sown in weakness; it is raised in POWER; is sown a natural body; it is raised a SPIRITUAL BODY."
3. 1 Corinthians 15:52-54 "For the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised INCORRUPTIBLE [aphthartos], and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on INCORRUPTION [aphtharsia], and this mortal must put on IMMORTALITY [athanasia]. But, when this corruptible shall have put on IMMORTALITY [athanasia] then shall come to pass the saying that is written, DEATH IS SWALLOWED UP IN VICTORY."
4. 1 Peter 1:3-4 "Begat us again unto a living hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, unto AN INHERITANCE (aphtharton) INCORRUPTIBLE [aphthartos], AND UNDEFILED, AND THAT FADES NOT AWAY, RESERVED IN HEAVEN FOR YOU."
5. 1 Peter 5:4 “And when the chief Shepherd shall be manifested, you shall receive the crown of glory that fades not away.”
6. Romans 2:7 "To them that by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and INCORRUPTION [aththarsia], eternal life."
7. 1 Thessalonians 4:17 “Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and thus we shall ALWAYS (pantote) be with the Lord.” “Seeing he (Christ) EVER (pantote) lives” [Hebrews 7:25].
8. Ephesians 2:6-7 “And raised us up with him, and made us to sit with him in the heavenly places, in Christ Jesus: THAT IN THE AGES (aions) TO COME he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus”

CHAPTER NINE
UNIVERSALIST - The "age lasting" Hell

Universalist (sometimes called "Restoration" and "Unitarian Universalist") believes that all will end up saved. They believe no one will end up in Hell, that it is not possible for anyone, the worst person that ever lived, to not go to Heaven. Whether death is death or if death is only separation, they believe no one will die or be forever separated from God; therefore, there is no death, no wages of sin, no second death after the Judgment Day. There seems to be some who believe in a universal salvation mixed in many denominations, also there are Universalist groups like the "Tentmakers" with the one thing all have in common is the belief in universal salvation. There seems to be two kinds of Universalist. [1] Some who do not believe in any kind of Hell and that all sins are paid in full in this lifetime. [2] Some who believe there will be a Hell but a very different Hell than the Protestant versions for it will last only for an "age," and will be more of a disciplinary character than punishment. Both destroy the character of the sinner and turns them into them saints.
They do much writing to prove the word that is translated everlasting, eternal, forever, age, and world in the King James Version, is from the Greek word "aion," which means "age." In Matthew 24:3 the King James Version says, "end of the world," but the New King James Version, New American Standard Version, New International Version and many more say "end of the age." They have written hundreds of pages to prove that "aion" means "age," and their purpose was to prove that Hell will last for only an age. They may be right in their translation of aion to mean age, but not one of the repeatedly times "aion" is used says anything about Hell, aion (age) is not used in the same passage with any of the four words translated Hell in the King James Version (sheol, hades, Gehenna, Tartarus).
Without proving there is a Hell, and without "age lasting" (aion) being used with any word translated Hell, they make Hell be "age lasting," with a beginning and ending but not everlasting.
They have immortal souls in their "age lasting" Hell without proving the lost will be immortal and will live forever after the judgment.
They believe all those in the age lasting Hell will be saved when the age is over. Although Universalist have told me they do not believe in the soul being immortal they believe that no one will ever be destroyed, that all will sooner or later end up in Heaven; I can not see how all would not be immortal from the day of their birth if no one will ever be destroyed, if no one will ever really be dead.
THEIR BIG PROBLEMS FOR UNIVERSALISM TO BE TRUE
THEY MUST PROVE
[1] IMMORTALITY: THAT THE LOST HAVE A SOUL THAT IS NOW IMMORTAL OR THE LOST WILL ALL BE MADE IMMORTAL AFTER DEATH, this immaterial part of a person cannot die and will outlast the "age lasting" Hell. To have never ending life is as immortal as immortal can be. IF NO ONE WILL EVER DIE AND ALL WILL LIVE FOREVER IN HEAVEN, HOW COULD ALL NOT HAVE ETERNAL LIFE? HOW MUCH MORE IMMORTAL COULD A PERSON BE?
[2] THE DEATH PRNALTY: THAT THERE IS NO DEATH, those who do not believe on Christ will not perish but will have eternal life the same as those who do believe [John 3:16].
[3] HELL: THAT THERE IS A HELL even if it is only "age lasting" and will be more of a disciplinary character or “attitude adjustments” than punishment.
[1] IMMORTALITY
UNIVERSALIST MUST PROVE THAT ALL MEN NOW HAVE AN IMMATERIAL PART THAT IF IS NOT NOW IMMORTAL IT WILL BE MADE IMMORTAL IN ALL MANKIND AFTER THE “ATTITUDE ADJUSTMENT,” THAT IF ALL ARE NOW IMMORTAL THEN ALL WITH BE GIVEN IMMORTALTUY. In the "Debate on the Destiny of the Wicked" between George T. Carpenter of the church of Christ and John Hughes of the Universalist Church, 1875, Hughes says, "The soul, the principle of animal life. The spirit, the 'inward man,' the real man, to be invested in the resurrection with a new, spiritual body; clothed with immortality, to live forever in the spirit world." Even so, most Universalist seems to be as unsure of what part of a person, soul or spirit, they think has immortality, as are most Protestants who believe some part of a person is now immortal and can never die therefore, this immortal part of a person must live forever somewhere. Universalist must prove that Christ will give "eternal life" to all, even to those who do not come to Him [John 5:40]. They know this and know that all will not come to Christ in this lifetime; therefore, they have made up an "age" after the resurrection, which is not in the Bible, in which they think all will come to Christ.
[2] THE DEATH PENALTY
They MUST do away with the Bible teaching on death. There can be no wages of sin, as they believe there is no death. The only real difference with them and unconditional immoralist is where their immortal souls will end up, (1) some in Heaven and some in Hell, (2) or all in Heaven.
• Both must do away with death. Both must deny the Bible when it says, "The wages of sin is death."
• Both believe, "You shall not surely die," that from the day of your birth you can never be destroyed and it is not possible for you to die.
WILL THE SECOND DEATH MAKE ALL ALIVE, AS UNIVERSALIST BELIEVES IT WILL? They teach after the second death, all will be made alive. Both the good and the evil will be made alive, and both will then be immortal. They believe that when death the last enemy is destroyed, no one can be dead. They think the end of death must give life to all that are dead. All who die the second death will be alive and have immortality. THE UNIVERSALIST BELIEVES THE SECOND DEATH TO BE THE END OF DEATH, NOT THE END OF THE SINNER; THAT FOR DEATH TO END ALL THAT WAS DEAD MUST BE MADE ALIVE FOR THEY BELIEVE THAT AS LONG AS ANY ARE DEAD, IT CANNOT BE THE END OF DEATH. They seem to think that when "death shall be no more" [Revelation 21:4] could only mean that all who had died are raised from the dead, and all that ever lived would have to be alive for if any were dead it could not be said there is no more death. IT IS THE SINNER THAT WILL DIE [Revelation 21:8], AND WHEN THERE IS NO MORE SINNER LEFT TO DIE THERE WILL BE NO MORE DEATH, NO MORE WILL BE DYING. The wages of sin is death. It is the sinner who will be paid the wages of their sin, which is death. Universalist makes death pay the wages of the sin of the sinner, and the sinners pay nothing; THERE WOULD THEN BE NO DIFFERENCE IN A SINNER AND A SAINT. Death is an enemy and will be destroyed, but Universalist make there being "no more death" into a gateway to Heaven for all sinners, and God will forgive all sins of the worst sinner even if they rejected Christ all their life. DOES DEATH MEAN THE END OF LIFE or DOES DEATH MEAN THE BEGINNING OF ETERNAL LIFE? Death, the last enemy will be abolished [1 Corinthians 15:26]; Universalist makes the abolishment of death be a resurrection to eternal life of all the lost that are now the enemies of Christ. John said of unbelievers and murderers, "Their part shall be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone; which IS THE SECOND DEATH," but the Universalist changed this and say it is anyone being dead which will end, and all that have "their part" in the lake will be made alive at the death of the lake of fire (which will be the death of death)! DEATH MEANS THE END OF LIFE, NOT THE BEGINNING OF AN IMMORTAL LIFE, but they must find a way to do away with the second death. They believe the lost will be someplace, Hell or whatever name they give it, but not in Heaven and will undergo an "attitude adjustments;" then they will have their name in the book of life and never die, that the second death will be the end of death (the death of death, not the death of the sinner); for death to end they believe that life and immortality must be given to all and death being abolished must means eternal life in Heaven for all!
• Universalist believes that "the fearful, and unbelieving, and abominable, and murderers, and fornicators, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars" will be made alive in Heaven and that death will be cast into the lake of fire and there will be no more death.
• The Bible says, "the fearful, and unbelieving, and abominable, and murderers, and fornicators, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, their part shall be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone: which is the second death" [Revelation 21:8]. Both death and the lost are cast into the lake of fire [Revelation 20:14-15]; therefore, if the lake of fire is the end of death, it is also the end of the lost.
[3] THE HELL PROBLEM
Gary Amirault, a Tentmaker Minister in an e-mail to me said, "Most universalists I know who believe in 'age-during correction,' do NOT see it as God torturing people in a literal lake or anything like that, they see it as simply correcting or teaching them further." If they call it Hell or something else, they still have a place where the all the lost to go after the judgment for an "age." They have made Hell into an age lasting place where the all the lost are corrected and then go to Heaven. What if some would not repent then? Will God make them repent against their will?
G. Jessup said, "We can be sure there will be judgment, punishment, corrections, or whatever kind of 'attitude adjustments' necessary for the unbelievers according to their works, and for some it could be very long and painfully excruciating: but forever?" He did not give one passage from the Bible to prove this "attitude adjustment," and I cannot find where they try to prove it in any of their writing. Maybe the reason they do not is that they know there is no proof. If they had proof, I am sure they would use it in bold print. That there will be a second chance after death is opposed to what is taught in the Bible.
[1] THEY MUST PROVE THAT ALL THE LOST ARE NOW ALIVE SOMEPLACE OR WILL BE ALIVE THERE, THAT THERE IS SUCH A PLACE WHATEVER NAME THEY GIVE IT.
[2] THAT THE LOST WILL BE THERE FOR ONLY AN "AGE" OF DISCIPLINARY TRAINING.
[3] AND THAT ALL WILL REPENT AND WILL END UP IN HEAVEN.
They must disprove the "Hell" that many Protestants believe, but at the same time prove there is some kind of a "Hell" that is "age lasting" and not eternal. As is shown in the above quotation Universalist do not believe any will forever be in the lake of fire that is not a literal lake of fire, and they do not believe the Protestant view of Gehenna; therefore, they must prove that God will torment all who do not believe in Christ in this lifetime, some for a short time, some will be tormented more, some tormented much more extremely. G. Jessup said, "We can be sure there will be judgment, punishment, corrections, or whatever kind of 'attitude adjustments' necessary for the unbelievers according to their works, and for some it could be very long and painfully excruciating." I have not seen where they say why there will be a judgment. Maybe for God to decide how much He will have to torment them and how much He will torment Satan and his demons to make them repent. Whatever forms the Universalist says the torment will be, physical, mentally, or whatever, it would still be God doing the tormenting.
UNIVERSALIST MUST PROVE THAT THERE WILL BE AN "AGE" OF ATTITUDE ADJUSTMENT. They say there has been many "ages," and will be an "age" after the resurrection in which "judgment, punishment, corrections, or whatever kind of 'attitude adjustments' necessary for the unbelievers according to their works" takes place. They reason that there must be such an age for those who do not come to Christ in this life must have a time to come to Him. All must accept Christ, and most do not in this life. It is a made up "age" which is not found in the Bible. Not one word about it. UNTIL THEY PROVE THERE WILL BE SUCH AN "AGE," THEY ARE ON A MAKE BELIEVE FOUNDATION. THERE IS NO PLACE CALLED HELL IN THE BIBLE, WHETHER IT IS AN AGE LASTING ATTITUDE ADJUSTMENT, OR EVERLASTING LIFE WITH TORMENT.
• PROTESTANTS CHANGED THE SECOND DEATH INTO ETERNAL LIFE IN HELL FOR ALL THAT NEVER BELIEVED IN GOD.
• UNIVERSALIST CHANGED THE SECOND DEATH INTO A PLACE WHERE ALL THAT NEVER BELIEVED IN GOD WILL SOME HOW BE MADE BELIEVERS AND MOVED TO HEAVEN WITH ETERANL LIFE.
• BOTH MUST PROVE THE PLATONIC DOCTRINE THAT ALL ARE BORN WITH A PART THAT IS NOT SUBJECT TO DEATH. Both the doctrine of Hell and the Universalist doctrine that all will be saved are founded on an assumption that a person has an immaterial, invisible, immortal part in them that cannot die, and this immortal soul must live somewhere.
• BOTH MUST DENY THAT DEATH IS REAL AND NO ONE WILL DIE. Death cannot be the wages of sin for all will have the gift of eternal life; therefore, no sinner can pay the wages of sin if it is death. Universalist point to this passage to prove there is no Hell, but they do not believe it when it says, "the wages of sin is death."
• BOTH MUST DENY THAT THE PENALTY OF SIN IS DEATH. The Protestant does away with death by making death into an eternal life of torment in Hell separated from God; Universalist cannot have death being death or an eternal life separated from God, therefore, they must do away with death. They try to do this by making the end of death be eternal life in Heaven for all that have died. Both turn death into life, but both do it in different ways. Both make the dead that are not dead be living at different places. For both, if "the wages of sin is death," if death is death, it would completely destroy both; therefore, both try to destroy death by making death be life. Universalist take from the Platonic doctrine that when the soul is set free of the body, the soul will in time return to God, death becomes the instrument of salvation for all.
o According to one, the wages of sin is eternal life with torment.
o According to the other, the wages of sin is eternal life without torment even to those who reject Christ.
• BOTH MUST DENY THAT DIE, PERISH, DESTROYED, LOST, AND DEATH ARE NOT USED WITH THEIR TRUE MEANING, and must believe that they are only used in a peculiar or theological sense, therefore, they could not be understood without help from someone who is inspired. BOTH BELIEVE NO ONE WILL EVER DIE. ACCORDING TO BOTH, "THE WAGES OF SIN IS DEATH" TO NO ONE. Just as with innate immoralists, Universalist must redefine many words, life, death, die, dead, destroy, perish, destruction, consumed, kill, end, burned up, and sleep, must ALL be redefined in a way that the world does not use them. See chapter two.
UNIVERSALIST USE OF "ALL"
The way Universalist use “all” seems to be their main argument. "But what it really says is IN CHRIST...ALL A-L-L ALL shall be made ALIVE! Then each of the ALL in his own order" (from one of their web pages, "CAN THIS BE TRUE?"). They ask questions like: God will have all to be saved [1 Timothy 2:4]; can His will be thwarted? Jesus came to save all [John 12:47]; will He succeed? Jesus is the savior of the world (1 John 4:14); why don't you believe it? And many more like these. Their thinking seems to be that Christ came to save ALL; and if He does not do it in this lifetime, then He must save all who are not saved in this lifetime after the resurrection. This would be great if it was true, but nothing is said about anyone being saved after his or her death. They know that most do not believe in Christ in this lifetime, therefore, they MUST make ALL believe at some time after death. What will happen after death? Christ says "For the hour comes, in which ALL that are in the tombs shall hear his voice, and come forth: they that have done good, unto the resurrection of LIFE; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of JUDGMENT" [John 5:28-29]. There is nothing said about anyone being saved after death. The lost are raised to judgment, not to eternal life. "NOW is the acceptable time: behold, NOW is the day of salvation" [2 Corinthians 6:2]. God loves ALL, and Christ died for ALL, but ALL will not come to Him. He made a person where he or she could choose to or choose not to. Universalist teaching is that God will show His love to ALL in a way that ALL, even Satan, will love Him. To so overpower the freewill of a person is the same as making them love Him when they could not help it. It would be the same thing as taking their freewill away. This "attitude adjustments" must be strong enough to overpower the most evil; therefore, they are made to believe even against their will. They make up both this "attitude adjustments" and the place where it takes place because they must have them if ALL are to be saved. They are not in the Bible.
UNIVERSALIST TEACHING OF ALL WILL BE SAVED makes much of the Bible be foolishness, vain babbling, meaningless, or just an out right lie. It makes:
1. Satan's greatest lie would be no lie, but is the truth. If all will be saved, no one will die. Satan told the truth; but when God said they would die, He is the one who told the greatest lie [Genesis 3].
2. God said, "The fearful, and unbelieving, and abominable, and murderers, and fornicators, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars; their part shall be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone; which IS THE SECOND DEATH" [Revelation 20:8]. Universalist says, "Not so God, all will be saved. None will die the second death, for there cannot be a real second death, all will have eternal life in Heaven."
3. No broad way "that leads to destruction, and many are they that enter in thereby" [Matthew 7:13].
4. NO DEATH. Whatever you think death is, whether death is death, or if death is just a separation from God, no one will be dead; no one will be separated from God. Death could not death. The wages of sin could not be death [Romans 6:23]. “The wages of sin is death” must be changed to some "kind of 'attitude adjustments' necessary for the unbelievers according to their works," which will last for an "age"; but the wages of sin cannot be a real death that will be forever. While this attitude adjustment is going on, they must be very much alive, just as alive as they will be when it is over; IF THE WAGES OF SIN IS NOT DEATH, DOES SIN HAVE NO WAGES?
5. “But he that obeys not the Son SHALL NOT SEE LIFE” [John 3:36] must be changed to, “But he that obeys not the Son, even he that denies the Son and kills those that obey Him SHALL SEE ETERNAL LIFE.”
6. They use "all made alive" to teach all the lost will be raised with immortality. When they make "all made alive" to be all will be given eternal life at the second coming of Christ, there cannot be a judgment or a second death. All will be saved. No need of a judgment day to judge some good and some bad, it is made to be useless for both those who believe in this lifetime and those who do not believe will be the same, all will be saved. They over look the fact that THE "ALL" PAUL IS SPEAKING OF ARE ALL THE SAVED. ALL saints who are asleep in Christ, and ALL saints who will be living at His coming. Nothing is said in that passage about ALL the ones who are not in Christ; they will be raised to judgment, not life at the resurrection; they are not NOW IN CHRIST, and they never will have the "life" Christ gives to those who obey Him. Their names are not in the book of life. "For we are a sweet savor of Christ unto God, in them that are saved, and in them that perish: to the one a savor from death unto death; to the other a savor from life unto life" [2 Corinthians 2:15-16]. Christ will raise them from the dead, but only to be judged and return to the dead "from death unto death"; and there will never be another resurrection.
7. Makes parables of Christ not true. They do not teach anything and, therefore, are useless. THERE WILL BE NO TARES. Christ said, "I will say to the reapers, Gather up first the tares, and bind them into bundles to burn them; but gather the wheat into my barn" [Matthew 13:30]. Christ was wrong. The tares will not be gathered out of the kingdom and burned at the end of the age (aion-age, not world). The tares will not be turned into wheat and gathered into the kingdom, for they will not be burned as Christ said they would be "at the end of the age." NO BAD FISH. All the bad little fishes will be turned too good little fishes. There will be no bad little fishes to burn.
8. "I tell you Nay: but, except you repent, you shall all in like manner perish" [Luke 13:5]. Universalist says not so Jesus, all will be saved; no one will perish. It can be asked of them as they ask, "Did Christ not know what He was saying; why don't you believe it?" Even they cannot deny that Christ said, “Except you repent, you shall all likewise perish.” Why do they not believe Him? How do they change “perish” into “you shall all likewise be saved even if you do not repent”?
9. "Not every one that says unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of Heaven; but he that does the will of my Father who is in Heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy by your name, and by your name cast out demons, and by your name do many mighty works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, you that work iniquity" [Matthew 7:21-23]. How could Christ have been so wrong? How could He not know that the Universalist says ALL will enter into the kingdom of Heaven? Why would Christ be telling them in the Judgment Day after the resurrection that not all will enter into the kingdom of Heaven?
o UNIVERSALIST: ALL will enter into the kingdom of Heaven.
o CHRIST: Not ALL will enter into the kingdom of Heaven [Matthew 7:21-23]. Why do they not believe Him?
10. They must change the words of Christ. "He that believes and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believes not shall be condemned" must be changed to, "He that believes and he that believes not shall both be saved." Why do they not believe Christ? Why do they make, “Shall be saved,” and, “Shall be condemned” both mean, “Shall be saved”?
11. Makes being a Christian and living for Christ be no better than not being a Christian. All are going to end up being saved. Makes taking the Gospel to the lost a waste of time. They are all going to be saved anyway, and those who do not hear the Gospel may spend less time in the age lasting Hell and have less torment than will those who hear and reject the Gospel; therefore, taking the Gospel to them may do more harm to most than it will do good. Because most will not believe the Gospel and will reject Christ, most will be made to suffer longer in the "age lasting attitude adjustment" than they would if the Gospel were not taken to them.
Will Jesus save everyone? Gary Amorality in an E mail to me June 15,1999, said, "You've taken a big step out of Hell, but you still leave Jesus as a sinner. He didn't accomplish what He came to do...save the world. If He fails in His mission, He can't be the Messiah."
1. God give His Son to save "whosoever believeth on Him." [John 3:16], but they must believe in their lifetime, and many do not. "Without faith it is impossible to be well-pleasing unto God" [Hebrews 11:6]. God will not raise them and save everyone after He torments them for an age. He will not take away their freewill and make them believe.
2. Paul says they who practice the works of the flesh SHALL NOT inherit the kingdom of God [Galatians 5:16-24]. Universalist says Paul was wrong, they who practice the works of the flesh shall inherit the kingdom of God after they spend some time in some kind of torment having an "attitude adjustments."
3. Christ said, "He that obeys not the son SHALL NOT SEE LIFE," [John 3:36]. Universalist says they will see life. How could those who shall not see life, and shall not inherit the kingdom of God have everlasting life in the kingdom they shall not inherit [Matthew 7:21-23]?
HOW DOES UNIVERSALIST THINK JESUS IS A SINNER? Gary Amorality said, "But you still leave Jesus as a sinner." Jesus had no sins of His own and even if He saved no one, not one person, He had no sins, and not giving eternal life to those who do not believe in Him does not make Him a sinner as Gary Amorality said it would.
UNIVERSALIST says God is a God of love, and He will not kill any; all will be saved. They overlook the fact that He is also a just God, and sin must be paid for with death [Romans 6:23]. The death of the sinner is just if it be death in this life or is the second death at the judgment for ALL who has not had their sins washed away by the blood of Christ; for ALL have sinned, and therefore, it is just for them to receive the wages of their sins. If they have not had their sins washed away by the blood of Christ, raised with Christ in baptism, the sinner will die. Death is sure and just for them. Throughout the Old Testament, God destroyed those who rejected Him, as in the flood, or ordered the destruction as with the Amalekites. He never tormented His enemies. He destroyed them; their life ended. Death is the way God dealt with His enemies then, and the way He will deal with them at the judgment. He will destroy them with death, the second death, not torment them forever or for an age.
Universalist may think this cruel, but it is justice, not cruelly. God would not be God if He were not just? If He had no law, which has a penalty for not keeping it, He could not rule and there would be no sin. There is sin, and its penalty is death.
"In the first place we complain of its relative novelty. It does not appear in the history of doctrine until the beginning of the third century. Barnabas, Clement of Rome, Hermas, Ignatius, Polycarp, Justin Martyr, Theophilus of Antioch, Irenaeus, all the first fathers of the church are Conditionalists. Not one of them taught Universalism. Merely the first slight traces of the doctrine are contained in the writings of Clement of Alexandria." E. Petavel, D. D., The Extinction Of Evil, Page 90, 1889.
Note: Many in the Church of God and Congregation of God also teach there will be "an opportunity for salvation" after the resurrection, but unlike the Universalist, they believe some will reject it, and for them there will be the second death, not torment in Hell.

CHAPTER TEN
The Results Of Attributing Evil Pagan Teachings
To God By Religious People

THIS GOD SLANDERING DARK AGE DOCTRINE OF HELL MAKES GOD EVIL, CRUEL, SADISTIC, AND FIENDISH. By some unknown and twisted reasoning it is assumed that for God to be just He must forever torment the lost for His justice demands this; HOW DOES “GOD IS A JUST GOD” DEMAND THAT THERE IS A HELL OR PROVE THERE IS A HELL? From the first sin, God's sentence to Adam was not eternal torment but death. Throughout the Bible, the sentence for sin is always death, not torment. "The wages of sin is death." That His justice demands that He must forever torment the lost is without any foundation in His word. To put it pure and simple, it is a doctrine of man and it makes God evil, cruel, and fiendish for if the punishment exceeds the crime by millions of times, it is injustice, not justice.
If a man should put a single person that had raped and killed his wife in a dark pit and torment him day and night for ten years, most would condemn him to the hottest part of "Hell." Yet, some teach that God made mankind knowing that most of them would be lost, and many millions would never hear His word; yet He will torment them worse than anything we can imagine, not for ten years; but time without end. It will be God doing the tormenting; God will be the one who makes the fire and keeps it burning forever. Satan or the evil ones will not be tormenting themselves. Many try to justify God for doing more than any man can do, and being more cruel and sadistic than the most evil man could ever be by saying we cannot understand the evil of sin. The God of the Bible is a God of love and justice, not as many make Him, sadistic, fiendish, cruel, evil, and in character much like Satan. In the Hell that is preached today no one will be corrected by the torment; therefore, it can only be sadistic?
The Ultimate Evil: “The idea of never-ending conscious agony is so completely revolting to our instinctive moral and judicial senses that we could fittingly call it the ultimate evil. If we’re honest about the matter, this is exactly what it is. After all, is it possible to come up with a worse notion than perpetual fiery conscious misery – with no merciful respite or end to the suffering? The mere idea is so disturbing that it makes it a very hard subject to discuss calmly. How can anyone with an ounce of human compassion contemplate the idea dispassionately when the view of ceaseless torture is so profoundly disturbing?” Chapter eight, www.hell-know.net/
The Deprived, Revolting Evil: "To torment a child that dies without ever knowing anything about God or His word forever day and night with a torment worse than any pain we can have on this earth would not be 'justice,' but sadistic. What kind of a person could love a God who was tormenting his wife and children with more pain than anyone has ever had in this life? When we are in Heaven, do you think we will be singing of God's love and mercy while He is cruelly tormenting most of mankind and many you now love, your wife or husband, your father and mother, your child, your friend? Is there a greater perversion of Scripture than to attribute such characteristics to God? Is it reasonable to believe that the righteous in their glorified state can be indifferent to, and unaffected by, the endless sufferings of countless millions of their fellow beings; among whom would probably be found parents, children, husbands, wives, etc.? Is it possible that they will be destitute of deprived of qualities which are considered most lovely and godlike in this life; viz., piety, sympathy, compassion, commiseration for others' woes, etc.? Will insensibility to the woes of the wretched ever become a virtue? Will that which is a vice in this life, become a grace in the glorious future life?" From a web page by "Ron" which is no longer on the net.
Today, many think that the electric chair or hanging of a person who has killed many is inhumane though it takes only a few seconds; but these same people see no inconsistency in believing it is just for God to torment the same person, even if that person has never heard His word, with a torment which they say is much worse than the few seconds would be and this torment by God will not last only for a few seconds but for an endless eternity.
More Cruel And Sadistic Than Any Heathen God: THE CALVIN GOD, which is believed in and worshiped by many, is a God many times more evil, more cruel and sadistic than any heathen god. Before the Calvin God made the world, He rigged the outcome and chose to make most of mankind to be lost before He made them. He even made it impossible for them to believe, but will torment them forever for not believing. The torment by the worshipers of heathen gods soon end with death of the ones being tormented; but Calvinism teaches God made most men, many millions, just so He could torment them without end for eternity "for his good pleasure." According to Hell fire Calvin teachers, this torment will be many times worse than any torment by the worshipers of heathen gods; and will never end in the death of those being tormented. How could any person who has an ounce of compassion, love and worship such a God?
Those who believe in the Calvin God say this God chose you to be saved or to be lost before he made the world. If you are one of the few chosen by this evil God to be saved, even if you live in the most out of the way place in the world and never know of God or Christ, when the time comes for you to be saved you will be. You can do nothing about it and you cannot say no. If you are one of the many he chose, before you were born, to torment forever there is no use to send preachers to you; there is no use for you to read the Bible or do anything; there is nothing you or anyone can do. According to Calvin this God made you just because he wants to torment you forever, and he will. Such a God is like a very rich ruler who torments a thousand people "for his good pleasure" and enjoyment, and chose you to make rich and happy. He would not be worthily of your love, but only your contempt. To destroy those who chose to be evil one thing; but to make them be evil before they were born, and then torment them without end with more pain than they can know in this lifetime for being what he made them to be is not justice. He would be an unjust and evil God. He made them evil and gave them no chance not to be, and then torments them for being what He made them to be. If you put a person who worked in a store in the electric chair for unknowingly short changing a person one cent, your injustice would not equal that of a God that made one person just so he could torment that person forever. Many say He did this with most of mankind. Most are filled with grief when a loved one or friend has some sickness that makes them suffer even when they know the suffering will soon end with death. Yet, they worship a God who they believe will take pleasure in the suffering of billions without end; and not only will he take pleasure in it but he will be the one that is tormenting them and making them suffer and he made them just so he could torment and make them suffer. CALVIN DID NOT GET HIS DOCTRINE FROM THE HEATHENS FOR THE HEATHENS HAD NO DOCTRINE AS CRUEL, AS FIENDISH, AS BLACK, OR AS UNJUST.
A Scandal Against The Almighty: "For were a woman to commit a crime against her husband, and he punishes her by holding her hand in the fire until the flesh burned off the bones, he would be pronounced one of the most cruel beings in the world; and if he were to escape justice, he would be hunted as a wild beast; and when brought to trial and condemned, he would be pronounced worthy of thrice the punishment that the law could inflict. And he would have been tried and condemned by men, most of whom, perhaps, believed that God would take that same woman, for that same crime that she had committed against her husband, and put-not only her hand, but her whole self into a Lake of Fire and Brimstone;-not for half an hour-not for a day-not for a year-nor for ten thousand years only, but for all Eternity. Also, that this Burning of her in a Blazing Hell would be so agreeable to the determination of the Almighty that no pity could be excited, no mercy shown; but that there, in that Lake of Fire she should gnash, and groan, and wail Eternally. Oh! How horrid the picture! And what a terrible crime, even in the light of their own actions, to charge God with such cruelty!" John Kent, "Eternal Burning, A SCANDAL AGAINST THE ALMIGHTY" 1879.
A God Of Infinite Horror: "That God would rise the wicked and give them immortality only to torment them in a devil's hell unendingly is both gross and vulgar, even blasphemous. Such a God is not the one described in the Bible...If the God of heaven subjects innumerable billions to unending and indescribable torment, it can only be seen as the one infinite horror." Leroy Garrett, Restoration Review, November 1990.
A Mockery Of Truth And A Blasphemy Against Deity: "My opponent will make an effort to try and demonstrate that our loving, compassionate, merciful God will be content with nothing less than the perpetual, never diminishing, horrific torture of the vast majority of mankind. Not only is that not what the Scriptures teach, it has the distinct disadvantage of portraying our God as a Monster the likes of which the human mind cannot even conceive. It is to proclaim a God foreign to the inspired revelation. Thus, it is a mockery of Truth and a blasphemy against Deity." Al Maxey, Maxey-Thrasher Debate on the Eternal Destiny of the Wicked by two ministers of the church of Christ at: http://www.zianet.com/maxey/MxThrshr.htm - I recommend this debate to all members of the church of Christ of which he is a member, and to all who want the truth.
Worst Than Gods Of Paganism: "Paganism in its worst forms has never surpassed, if it has equaled, the savage and terrible descriptions which have been given by Christians of their God. The character ascribed to Him; the dreadful wrath and vengeance with which He is moved; the cold and malignant purpose of creation in regard to million of souls; the stern severity and gloom of His government; the horrible and never-ceasing tortures which He will inflict on His helpless, children-all this, and much more of like character, defies the power of language to set it forth in its true light, or to present it in a manner adequate to its shocking revolting reality." Thomas Thayer, "The Origin And History Of The Doctrine Of Endless Punishment."
Makes The Universe A Theater Of Cursing And Blasphemy: "What, then, is the doctrine of endless misery? Stripped of all its drapery, it is no more or less than this: That a large part of the human family are doomed to suffer the most intense and indescribable torments as long as God shall exist, without the least hope or possibility of being benefited by their sufferings. In some part of this beautiful universe, God has prepared an awful, dismal, burning hell, and there countless myriads of human beings shall weep and groan, unpitied and unrelieved, while ceaseless ages shall roll; and when ten thousand times ten thousand years shall have passed, they shall have as long to suffer as if their sufferings had but just began. And, then, to think of the number of the lost to remember that there are on this earth not less than eight hundred millions of human beings, and that out of these there are not more than fifty millions that can be saved, upon the broadest system of partialism; and that, by consequence, there must be more than seventy thousand souls going down to hell every day; and, then, to think of generations that have past, and reflect upon the vast and countless multitudes that must be congregated in that huge reservoir of tears and woe; the very thought bears the lie upon its front. The degree of the punishment outrages all ideas of proportion between guilt and punishment, and the number of the victims shocks all feelings of humanity or mercy. It makes the universe a theater of cursing and blasphemy, rather than a field for the display of the boundless perfections of a merciful and benevolent Creator." I. D. Williamson, An Examination Of The Doctrine Of Endless Punishment, 1860.
God The Tormentor: Spurgeon, one of the greatest of Baptist preachers, said, "When thou driest, thy soul will be tormented alone; that will be a hell for it; but at the day of judgment thy body will join thy soul and then thou wilt have twin hells, thy soul sweating drops of blood, and thy body suffused with agony. In fire exactly like that which we have on earth, thy body will lie, asbestos like, forever unconsumed, all thy veins roads for the feet of pain to travel on, every nerve a string on which the devil shall forever play his diabolical tune of hell's unutterable lament." From his sermon "The Resurrection of the Dead." Like most who believe God will forever torment many billions, he must have some revelation that is not in the Bible to tell him about their suffering. In his day most orthodox Protestants believed the Devil would be doing the tormenting, but today most orthodox Protestants think he was wrong, that God is the one who will be doing the tormenting. The man made "Hell" is forever changing. What was orthodox in his day is no longer orthodox. For many Baptists his truth is no longer truth.
Ebenezer Erskine in "The Judgment" "How shall the adulterer satisfy lust when he lies on a bed of flames? The swearer shall have enough of wounds and blood when the devil shall torture his body and rack his soul in hell. The drunkard shall have plenty of his cups when scalding lead shall be poured down his throat, and his breath draw flames of fire instead of air."
An Atrocious Slander On God: Henry Ward Beeches speaking of Michael Angelo's painting, The Last Judgment said, "Let anyone see the enormous gigantic coils of fiends and man; let anyone look at the defiant Christ that stands like a superb athlete at the front, hurling his enemies from him and calling his friends toward him as Hercules might have done; let anyone look upon that hideous wriggling mass that goes plunging down through the air-serpents and man and beasts of every nauseous kind, mixed together; let him look at the lower parts of the picture, where with the pitchforks men are by devils being cast into cauldrons and into burning fires, where hateful fiends are gnawing the skulls of suffering sinners, and where there is hellish cannibalism going on-let a man look at that picture and scenes which it depicts, and he sees what were the ideas which man once had of Hell and of divine justice. It was a night-mare as hideous as was ever begotten by the hellish brood it-self; and it was an atrocious slander on God...I do not wonder that men have reacted from these horrors."
Jonathan Edwards, "The world will probably be converted into a great lake or liquid globe of fire, in which the wicked shall be overwhelmed, which will always be in tempest, in which they shall be tossed to and fro, having no rest day or night, vast waves and billows of fire continually rolling over their heads, of which they shall forever be full of a quick sense within and without; their heads, their eyes, their tongues, their hands, their feet, their loins and their vitals, shall forever be full of a flowing, melting fire, fierce enough to melt the very rocks and elements; and, also, they shall eternally be full of the most quick and lively sense to feel the torments; not for one minute, not for one day, not for one age, not for two ages, not for a hundred ages, not for ten thousand millions of ages, one after another, but for forever and ever, without an end at all, and never to be delivered."
Benson, "He will exert all his divine attributes to make them as wretched as the capacity of their nature will admit...They must be perpetually swelling their enormous sums of guilt, and still running deeper, immensely deeper, in debt to divine and infinite justice. Hence after the longest imaginable period, they will be so far from having discharged their debt that they will find more due than when they first began to suffer." He has God charging interest on the debt of the suffering sinner owes Him at such a high rate that the sinner gets more behind as time goes on. If the punishment exceeds the crime by billions of times would it be justice or injustice?
Dr. E. Beecher said it, "Involves God, his whole administration, and his eternal kingdom in the deepest dishonor that the mind of man or angel can conceive, by the violation of the highest and most sacred principles of honor and right, and on the scale of infinity and eternity" Page 225. "The human mind cannot be held back from abhorring such a theory, except by the most unnatural violence to its divinely inspired convictions of honor and right" Page 306, Conflict of the Ages.
WHAT KIND OF JUSTICE IS THIS? To fill many books with the most harrowing descriptions of torment would not equal the torment we are told that God will give to just one person for all eternity. After someone who never knows of God in his lifetime on earth has been in torment in Hell for not believing in God for trillions times trillions of years, we are told they will still have eternity with not one second less time to suffer. Those who believe in Hell say, "It is justice." My question to them is how do they know it to be justice; where did God tell this to them? It being justice is something they had to make up to try to justify their heathen Hell even if they make God be much more evil than Satan. They are saying, “Stepping on a person’s lawn may get you a disapproving look, but stepping on God’s lawn will get you eternal torment by God.” No one could know this without a revelation from God and there is no such revelation, it is an addition, it is making God evil just to justify their evil teaching.
DO YOU WONDER WHERE IN THE BIBLE THEY FOUND THINGS LIKE THE DEVIL POURING SCALDING LEAD DOWN THE THROAT OF A PERSON AND MANY THOUSANDS OF LIKE THINGS? THE ANSWER IS THAT THEY ARE IN THE SAME PASSAGE WHERE THEY FOUND HELL AND THE SAME PASSAGE WHERE THEY FOUND THE NAME OF HELL. THEY FOUND THEM IN THE TEACHING OF MEN, NOT THE BIBLE.
"As a child, Robert Ingersoll heard a preacher proclaim the doctrine that God subjects sinners to unending torment in hell. Ingersoll decided that if God were like that, then he hated Him. Later he wrote of this belief that it 'makes man an eternal victim and God an eternal fiend. It is the one infinite horror. Below this Christian dogma, savagery cannot go.' There are substantial moral and logical difficulties in believing in a God who tortures His enemies forever. Like Ingersoll, thousands of thinking men have turned away from such a God" Tim Crosby in Ministry.
E. Petavel, D. D., "The lamentable results of the Platonic doctrine may be seen in the theology of a Tertullian and an Augustine,--theology called orthodox.--which makes the God of love an Executioner whom innumerable victims will curse eternally. Such a doctrine is a burden even to its adherents. It has drawn from them admissions, which we are bound to record. Henry Rogers declared that 'for his part he would not be sorry to see every child die at the age of four years.' Albert Barnes admits, with a soul full of anguish that he cannot understand why there are men destined to suffer forever. 'The Gospel,' says Isaac Taylor, 'fills us with a universal sympathy which sometimes make us regret that it must be true in all its teaching.' Calvin himself cannot refrain from confessing that the decree of God concerning sinners seems to him horrible ('decretum horrible fateor'). In a word, the traditional dogma conducts to pessimism by making evil eternal. What has been the result? Extremes meeting, the doctrine of eternal suffering has led to Universalism. More or less secretly many of the partisans of the traditional dogma, unable to hold it any longer, have quitted their position, to embrace the hope of a universal salvation; while others wander in the penumbra of eschatological skepticism" The Extinction Of Evil, Page 78, 1889.
THE CAUSE OF ATHEISM AND STUMBLING IN MANY Matthew 18:6
A DOCTRINE THAT MAKES ATHEISTS
God has been made so cruel, and this doctrine is so unthinkable that it has probably created more atheists, and caused more weak believers to fall away than any other false teaching. The dread of Hell has caused misery and metal anguish to countless millions and INSTEAD OF THE HORROR OF HELL TURNING MANY TO GOD TO ESCAPE ETERNAL TORMENT, MANY MILLIONS HAVE BEEN TURNED AWAY FROM SUCH AN UNJUST GOD. The doctrine of Hell is one of Satan's best tools to turn many away from Christ. Do you want to give an account to God at the judgment for teaching it? No heathen religion has a God as unjust and fiendish as many "Christians" make their God.
Edward White said, "It cannot be denied that the frightful doctrines on the future of humanity...supported by the general authority of nearly all Christendom for at least fourteen centuries, are regarded with contemptuous skepticism by the bulk of the existing male population of Europe, who assigns these articles of 'the faith' as the chief reason for their ever extending and fierce revolt against Christianity" Life In Christ, Page 65, 1878.
GOD IS NOT A GOD OF TERROR, A CRUEL AND EVIL BEING THIS DOCTRINE MAKES HIM TO BE. DO YOU THINK HE WILL SAY TO THOSE WHO TEACH HE IS UNJUST, "WELL DONE, GOOD AND FAITHFUL SERVANT...ENTER YOU INTO THE JOY OF YOUR LORD" [Matthew 15:21]?
If the reason anyone converts is because of a fear of Hell, his or her conversion is just superficial, not real, not because he or she had a love for God, just afraid of being tormented in Hell. A conversion because of the fear of Hell makes a hypocrite, not a Christians. The harm that has been done by the heresy of eternal torment is beyond belief.
DILEMMAS OF THEIR OWN MAKING
The doctrine of Hell puts those who teach it in dilemmas from which they have no way out.
[1] Dilemma number one: According to most who believe in Hell only a few will escape it, but they say all who die before the age accountably will escape Hell and will go to Heaven. By their own teaching, the Abortionist maybe sending more to Heaven and saving them from Hell than preaching is. Yet, many preachers that teach "Hell" with all its horrors bitterly oppose abortions, which by their own teaching, is saving more from "Hell" than they are. Why? According to their own teaching, in the US alone by abortion millions have been sent to Heaven but most of them would have ended up being in eternal torment if they had lived. If I believed their teaching about Hell, I would be all for a sure way to save millions from an eternity of torment and put them safely in Heaven.
[2] Dilemma number two: Many pagans count girl babies of little or no use and kill many of them. For centuries, millions of girl babies in China have been killed at birth. Today, because of the law in China of one child per family, many girl babies are being killed at birth by parents who want a boy. According to the teaching of those who believe in Hell there are millions of Chinese girls in Heaven that would have been tormented in Hell if they had lived, but not many Chinese boys are in Heaven.
[3] Dilemma number three: According to them, the children killed in the Old Testament in Gehenna would be blessed for by not having a few years of life with pain and problems they will forever live with God in Heaven.
There are many more dilemmas like these. How many children have been sent to Heaven by wars? How many children were send to Heaven when the two A-bombs were dropped in world war two; do we need more wars and bombs to keep more out or Hell and to send more to Heaven? How many children will be in Heaven because they had no food or some sickness? By their teaching, a child that is killed or dies soon after birth is blessed over those that live for most of them that do not die as a child will live forever in torment and all those that do die when they are a child will live forever in Heaven. According to their own teaching (if they were right), Heaven will have more in it that was killed as a child than by all the preaching.
Annihilationnation is God giving people freedom to choose not to accept Christ and the life He died to give them. Their not-accepting Christ and life means they have chosen to accept death. God gives them their choice, and lets them pay the wages of their sin, death, for they have chosen not to let Christ pay it for them. He is a just God, not a cruel sadistic God who will torment forever. Some say, "God is a God of justice and sin must be paid for, or God would not be just." Yes, but being sadistic is not justice in anyone's book, and the very fact that He is just would not let Him cruelly and sadistically torment anyone forever without end. The wages of our sins were paid by the death of Christ; those who have not been baptized into His death will pay for their own sins in the second death, not by having scalding lead poured down his or her throat for all eternity. God made all out of nothing and has the right to send any back to nothing. Sending those back to nothing that choose to not give Him the worship He is entitled to is His right and there is nothing cruel about it. They have the life He has given to them and have chosen to live it for themselves.
MAKES GOD HAVE A DOUBLE STANDARD
One for Him and another for us
What would be wrong for us, to torment all that do not believe, is made to be right and good for God to do “for His good pleasure” on a scale that is infinitely greater than would be possible for all men combined to do.
Many have tried to lessen the cruelty in a number of ways. [1] Perhaps the most common one is to make Hell be only in the mind of the lost. Billy Graham said, "I have often wondered if Hell is a terrible burning within our hearts for God, to fellowship with God, a fire that we can never quench." This does not help any and maybe makes it crueler. Mental pain is as bad and sometimes worse than physical pain. God tormenting most of mankind by making them live in mental pain for eternity would not make Him any less cruel. [2] Some have tried to justify this cruelty by saying the punishment must fit the crime. If a person commits a crime against a person he or she does not know, it is not as bad as the same crime would be if committed against his or her mother and the same crime committed against God is infinitely worse, but no one could know this without a revelation from God; where in God’s word does He say the same trespasses become infinitely worse when it is against God? Jesus teaches that what ever we do or do not do for mankind we do or do not do it for God [Matthew 25:40, 45], and He makes no distinction as to whom the sin was against. For centuries many of the best thinkers in the orthodox churches have tried to find a way to justify Hell. I think the best they have done is to say the same crime/sin committed against an infinite God demands an infinite punishment, and God would not be just if He did not torment all sinners forever; they have tried to make it look as if He has no way out and must torment in Hell. What new revelation do they have that makes God be wrong when He said, "The wages of sin is death"?
• First: they are speaking where the Bible does not say anything and are making God be bound by their theology; therefore, they give God no choice, making God be bound to forever torment most of mankind all to justify their "Hell."
• Second: God's law in the Old Testament had the same punishment if the sin were against man or against Himself. To lie was the same if the lie were to a person or to God. His law was an eye for an eye no matter whom the sin was against. Their theology makes it be one eye if the lie were told to a person, but if the same lie where told to God it would be an endless number of eyes.
• Third: If any sin against an infinite God demands an infinite punishment of eternal torment in Hell, all have sinned. If the only payment for our sin against an infinite God is eternal torment, Christ did not pay it for us. If the payment is death, Christ did pay it for us.
• Fourth: God made us and if He had chosen not to give anyone eternal life, to let us pass out of exists, to return to not existing, He would still be a good and merciful God for giving us the life we have. But, God has given us much more if we will only believe and obey Him. He has given His only Son that we may given life, not death. He has saved us from the wages of sin; the death that we deserve and given us life.
• Fifth: Who could love and worship a God that according to traditional doctrine would have made our father, mother, wife or husband, our children, and many we know and love just so He could torment them and He gives them no change to not be tormented.
Throughout the Old Testament, God destroyed His enemies, Sodom and Gomorrah, the flood, drowning in the Red Sea, etc. He did not torment them forever. The Bible does not teach it is the character or nature of God to torment the lost.
Not only is Hell an addition to the Bible but also Hell is many times crueler than anything the pagans ever even thought of. Because for most it is something that is far away and not something they can see now, I do not think they can see how cruel they are being too most, or how cruel they are making God be. Because it is not something that is not real to them, they are able to tell themselves "it is justice." If the Hell they teach was real and they could look over into it and see God tormenting most of mankind in the terrible way they now teach that He will be doing, they would be terrified of such an evil being as they say their God is. HOW CAN ANYONE NOT SEE THIS?
The doctrine of an immortal soul that cannot die and must forever be tormented is the most heartless doctrine any person ever believed. BELIEVING IN HELL IS AS HEARTLESS AS ANY PERSON CAN BE, AND IS LOVING AND WORSHIPING THE MOST CRUEL, SADISTIC AND FIENDISH OF ALL GODS. If being created in the image of God means mankind cannot die but must forever be tormented, then being in the image of God is a curse for most of mankind; it would have been better for them to be as animals are. God made all things that are, if Hell does exist, it could only have been God that thought it up and made it.
DO THOSE WHO TEACH THE DOCTRINE OF HELL REALLY BELIEVE IN HELL? The plain inference is that they do not believe in it. They see some of their family, their friends, those they work with or live next door, that they say are going to Hell at death, but do little or nothing about it. If they really believe in Hell when they see unsaved people they know and love dying all around them, why do they do so little to save them? They seem to care more about what is on television than they do about the eternal torment of those they say they love, and countess millions of others.
The Saints In Heaven Are Deprived Of Qualities God Has Given To Us, Sympathy, Pity, Love For Others.
"The smoke of their torment shall ascend up in the sight of the blessed forever and serve as a most clear glass always before their eyes to give them a constant, bright, and most affecting view... this display of the divine character and glory will be in favor of the redeemed, and most entertaining, and give the highest pleasure to those who love God, and raise their happiness to ineffable heights. Should this eternal punishment and this fire be extinguished, it would in a great measure obscure the light of Heaven and put an end to a great part of the happiness and glory of the blessed." Samuel Hopkins, "The works of Samuel Hopkins, D.D." Page 458.
What kind of sick man could get the highest pleasure from seeing a cruel God doing his cruel work on billions and even on many he knows and loves? He makes the saints in Heaven be deprived of qualities God has given to us, sympathy, pity, love for others, caring for others; and made them to be cruel monsters that delight in the pain of others, and loves to hear the groans of those they now love, and the groans of the countless millions of the lost. He makes the saints in Heaven taking satisfaction from seeing God inflict eternal pain without end on those who they loved on earth be more cruel and blood thirsty then those in Rome who took satisfaction in seeing lions eating Christians.
Saints On Earth Become Like The God they Worship: (See “The Crusades, bloody Mary” in chapter one.)
“I am reminded of this talk show, which showed a group of religious “Christians” screaming at people in a department store parking lot. Waving their bibles, they were shouting lines like ‘You’re all going to hell!’ (Of course what they really meant by this was ‘You’re all gonna be tortured forever and ever!)’ Needless to say, they looked like hideous fiends, and to think that such people actually believe they’re obediently doing God’s will. What deception. I can’t help but be a mite suspect of the character of those who unswervingly defend the eternal torture doctrine…I personally believe that these people who staunchly support eternal torture – these folks who almost seem to relish the idea of human beings consciously roasting in agony for all eternity and who become ridiculously irate when a fellow Christian rejects such a ghastly view (even though based upon a thorough biblical analysis) – I believe that such people have given reign to their flesh in this one area. Their very character must be questioned; it has somehow become warped and perverted. I say this because they would zealously do everything in their power to oppose supporters of everlasting destruction. Some go as far as to teach that adherents of literal destruction aren’t even saved, that they aren’t fellow brothers and sisters in the Lord. Such people have such a sinister, repulsive, hostile air to them that I wouldn’t doubt that, if this was the Inquisition era of medieval infamy, they would not hesitate to put to death or torture adherents of everlasting destruction” From a web page www.hell-know.net chapter eight.
“The smoke of their burning flesh shall be as a sweet smelling savor in the nostrils of the Almighty” Jonathan Edwards, “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.”
Summary: THE REAL ISSUE IN THE DOCTRINE OF HELL IS THE NATURE OF GOD. IS HE A GOD OF LOVE AND MERCY OR IS HE A CRUEL, SADISTIC, AND FIENDISH GOD TO MOST OF MANKIND AND MADE THEM JUST SO HE COULD TORMENT THEM AND GIVE THEM NO CHANCE TO NOT BE TORMENTED AND WILL NOT LET THEM DIE? THOSE WHO BELIEVE IN SUCH A GOD MUST DEFEND EVERLASTING TORMENT AND THE GOD WHO MADE MOST OF MANKIND KNOWING THAT HE WOULD TORMENT THEM FOREVER; AND ACCORDING TO THE CALVIN AND JONATHAN EDWARDS VERSIONS OF HELL THIS GOD WILL DELIGHT IN IT, AND ACCORDING TO CREEDS, AUGUSTINE, SPURGEON AND MANY OTHERS, THOSE IN HEAVEN WOULD FIND DELIGHT IN SEEING THOSE IN HELL BEING ROASTED IN FIRE. SUCH A GOD AND HEAVEN CANNOT BE DEFENDED. A GOD WITH SUCH VINDICTIVENESS IS A TOTALLY CONTRADICTION TO THE GOD WHO WOULD HAVE ALL MEN COME TO REPENTANCE. God is not an eternal prison keeper who loves to torments all that are in His prison. Those who believe in an immortal soul must believe in an eternal hell, and in eternal punishment that has no purpose, a punishment that is not proportionate to the sin, and in a god with a nature that the basest of men would not defend; eternal torment in Hell requires a god that is so dreadful that it make many reject him and his bible. When I gave up the evil God of Hell, and believed in the true God; it brought a peace and joy I never believed possible. I now worship a God who is worthy of being loved and worshiped.
THE FATE OF THOSE WHO ARE NOT IN CHRIST
[1] UTTERLY DESTROYED [Acts 3:23]
[2] DEATH [Romans 6:23; 6:21; 7:5; 4:17; 8:6; 1 Corinthians 3:22]
[3] MUST DIE [Romans 8:13; John 8:24; 6:50]. This is not the first death, which comes to all, to both those who are saved and those who are lost [Hebrews 9:27], but is the SECOND DEATH (eternal nothingness) [Revelation 21:8]. All will die once but the lost will die twice
[4] "And when sin is accomplished, it brings forth DEATH" [James 1:15]
[5] "Condemned them to EXTINCTION" Revised Standard Version [2 Peter 2:6]
[6] They “are WORTHY OF DEATH” [Romans 1:32]
[7] PASSES AWAY [1 John 2:17]
[8] Their END is DEATH [Romans 6:21-22]
[9] Their wages for sin “IS DEATH” [Romans 6:23]
[10] They “MUST DIE” [Romans 8:13]
[11] "Their END is DESTRUCTION" [Philippians 3:19]
[12] "Whose END is TO BE BURNED" [Hebrews 6:8]
[13] "Everlasting DESTRUCTION" [2 Thessalonians 1:9]
[14] "Sudden DESTRUCTION" [1 Thessalonians 5:2-3]
[15] "Swift DESTRUCTION" [2 Peter 2:1]
[16] "Will reap DESTRUCTION" [Galatians 6:8]
[17] "DESTRUCTION of ungodly man" [2 Peter 3:7]
[18] Are on the broad way leading to DESTRUCTION [Matthew 7:13-14; Philippians 3:19; 1:28; 2 Peter 3:7]
[19] God will DESTROY [1 Corinthians 3:17; 2 Peter 2:12]
[20] Will be "DESTROYED" like Sodom [Luke 17:29]
[21] BRING TO NOTHING [2 Thessalonians 2:8]
[22] Will be TURNED TO ASHES like Sodom and Gomorrah [Peter 2:6]
[23] Will "BE BURNED UP" [2 Peter 3:10]
[24] Will "PERISH" [John 3:16]
[25] Will be "SLAIN" [Luke 1914]
[26] Will be "THROWN AWAY" [Matthew 13:18]
[27] They "SHALL NOT SEE LIFE" [John 3:36; 5:40; 1 John 3:15]
[28] DO NOT HAVE THE "LIFE" Christ gives to them that obey Him [John 3:36; 5:21; 5:24; 5:29; 5:40; 6:27; Matthew 19:29; 1 John 5:12]
[29] Will LOSE LIFE [Matthew 10:39]
[30] Will have NO ACCESS TO THE TREE OF LIFE [Revelation 2:7; 22:2; 22:14]
[31] Will be BLOTTED OUT OF THE BOOK OF LIFE [Revelation 3:5]
[32] Shall PASS AWAY in "the Day of Judgment and DESTRUCTION OF UNGODLY MEN," the "heavens shall pass away...shall be dissolved...burned up" [2 Peter 3:7-13]
[33] Will be "DEVOUR" [American Standard Version] "CONSUME" [New American Standard Version] [Hebrews 10:27; 12:29]
[34] Fate of the wicked in the parable-always destroyed, death, not tormented
• THEY WILL BURN UP like the useless chaff of wheat [Matthew 3:12, Luke 3:17]
• BURNED like weeds, tares and bad fish [Matthew 13:30-50]
• Like harmful plants will be rooted up [Matthew 15:13]
• Cut asunder like the unfaithful servant [Matthew 24:45-51]
• Cut down like useless fig tree [Luke 13:6-9]
• SLAIN (killed) like enemies [Luke 19:27]
• Cast out and KILLED like the unfaithful husbandman [Luke 20:9-17]
• Are BURNED UP like withered branches [John 15:6]
If the above language does not denote the utter destruction of the wicked, what language could God have used that would? None. Those who try to explain away the above would try to explain away any language that could be used.
[35] Fate of the wicked in the Old Testament (the fate of people and nations in this lifetime)
• "Behold the day comes, it burns as a furnace [see 2 Peter 3:10-12] and all the proud and all that work wickedness shall be stubble; and the day that comes SHALL BURN THEM UP, says the LORD of hosts, that IT SHALL LEAVE THEM NEITHER ROOT NOR BRANCH" [Malachi 4:1-3]. Probably said of the nation of Israel. Burn up a plant and leave it neither root nor branch and nothing will remain of it. Nothing will remain of the nation.
• The wicked "shall soon be cut down like the grass" [Psalms 37:2]
• "Shall be cut off...shall not be" [Psalms 37:9-10]
• "Will be as nothing" [Isaiah 41:11]
• "Become as if they has never existed" [Obadiah 16]
• "Shall perish...in smoke shall they consume away" [Psalms 37:20]
• "They shall be destroyed" [Psalms 37:38]. "Altogether destroyed" New Revised Standard Version
• Shall "melt away" [Psalms 112:10; 68:2]
• "But the way of the wicked will perish" [Psalms 1:6]
• "But all the wicked, He will destroy" [Psalms 145:20]
• "Whoever has sinned against Me, I will blot him out of My book" [Exodus 32:33]
• "The wicked is reserved to the day of destruction" [Job 21:30]
• "They are like the chaff which the wind drives away" [Psalms 1:4]
• Souls shall die [Genesis 3:3; Ezekiel 18:4; 13:19]
[36] Add to this the fact that Hell is not in the Bible, not the name or the concept; nothing is said about God tormenting anyone after the judgment; nothing is said about the wicked after the second death; and you have a clear picture of the fate of the wicked. GOD COULD NOT HAVE SAID IN HUMAN LANGUAGE ANY CLEARER OR STRONGER WHAT THE FATE OF THE WICKED WILL BE. If you think it could be said any more clearly, try it. You cannot do it. BETWEEN THE STATEMENTS OF THE INSPIRED WRITERS OF THE BIBLE ABOVE, AND THE UNINSPIRED TEACHING OF MEN, THERE IS AN ENORMOUS DISCREPANCY AND CONTRADICTION THAT CANNOT BE EXPLAINED AWAY.
Our choice is life or death [see Deuteronomy 30:19-20]. To live or die [Ezekiel 18:20], an eternal life in Hell forever being tormented by God is not one of our choices.
“But even if we are an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we preached to you, let that one be accursed! As we have said before, so now I PRPEAT, if anyone preaches to you a gospel contrary to what you received, let that one be accursed” [Galatians 1:7-8]. Is there another time Paul said something so serious that he repeated it? If “the wages of sin is death” and someone preaches to you “the wages of sin is eternal life in torment” that one should be accursed of preaching a gospel contrary to that which Paul preached.
AFTER THE RESURRECTION
THE FATE OF THOSE WHO ARE IN CHRIST
[1] Eternal life [Romans 6:23]
[2]"Shall inherit eternal life" [Matthew 19:29]
[3] After the judgment they "shall go away into eternal life" [Matthew 25:46]
[4] Will "have eternal life" [John 3:5]
[5] Christ will raise them up on the last day [John 6:40]
[6] Will be immortal after the resurrection [1 Corinthians 15:51-56]
[7] Will have incorruption [1 Corinthians 15:42]
[8] Will have glory [1 Corinthians 15:43]
[9] Will be like Christ "We shall be like him; for we shall see him even as he is" [1 John 3:2]
[10] Are "heirs according to the hope of eternal life" [Titus 3:7]
[11] Will have a spiritual body [1 Corinthians 15:44]
[12] "And as we have borne the image of the earthly (The earthly flesh and blood body of Adam was made to live on this earth but it "cannot inherit the kingdom of God" 1 Corinthians 15:50), we shall also bear the image of the heavenly" (Shall be like the spiritual body of Christ for life in Heaven) [1 Corinthians 15:47-56]
[13] "Will never perish" [John 10:28]
[14] Forever with the Lord [1 Thessalonians 4:17]
[15] MANY MANSIONS IN MY FATHER'S HOUSE: "In my Father's house (Who is in Heaven Matthew 5:16; 5:45; 5:48; 6:1; 6:9; 7:21; 10:32-33) are many mansions...I go to prepare a place for you." (Where did Christ go to prepare a place for us? In the mansions in His Father's house in Heaven. "For it was not David who ascended into heaven, but himself says: 'THE LORD SAID TO MY LORD, SIT AT MY RIGHT HAND, UNTIL I MAKE YOUR ENEMIES A FOOTSTOOL FOR YOUR FEET.'" Acts 2:34-35) "And if I go and prepare a place for you, (A place in my Father's house in Heaven) I come again, and will receive you unto myself; that where I am there you may also be (With me in the place I go to prepare for you in My Father's house in Heaven [John 14:1-3]. But now I go unto him (unto My Father who is in Heaven) that sent me" ("The word-Christ who was with the Father in the beginning and has always been a heavenly being with God became flesh, and dwelt among us" John 1:14) [John 16:5]. He is no longer flesh, but has now gone back to Heaven to prepare a place for the saved and will come back for them. "He who overcomes, I will grant to him to sit down with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne" [Revelation 3:21]. Christ is now on His Fathers throne in Heaven where He went to prepare a place for us.
[16] FLESH AND BLOOD CANNOT INHERIT THE KINGDOM OF GOD: "And as we have borne the image of the earthy [flesh and blood], we shall also bear the image of the heavenly. Now this I say, brethren that FLESH AND BLOOD CANNOT INHERIT THE KINGDOM OF GOD; (Our bodies in the image of Adam made for this earth are not suitable for Heaven) neither do corruption inherit incorruption (Neither can our corruptible bodies in the image of Adam inherit in the heavenly realm). Behold, I tell you a mystery: We all shall not sleep, (Shall not die) but we shall all be changed, (ALL the saved that are asleep when Christ comes and ALL the saved that are alive) in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, (Raised in the heavenly image of Christ, not in the corruptible image of Adam which they had when they died). For this corruptible must put on incorruption, (This earthly body in the image of Adam must put on incorruption, a spiritual body in the image of Christ. Adam never had a spiritual body before or after he sined), and this mortal must put on immortality (This mortal body which is the body we now have must be changed to an immortal spiritual body which will not be the body of this earth which we now have). But, when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory" [1 Corinthians 15:50-54]. In this passage Paul is telling the Corinthians what their body will be after the resurrection.
• It cannot be "flesh and blood" for flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God [1 Corinthians 15:50].
• It cannot be a body of "corruption" in the image of Adam for a body of corruption cannot inherit incorruption [1 Corinthians 15:50-54].
• It cannot be the mortal body that we now have for this mortal body must put on immortality [1 Corinthians 15:53-54].
[17] "We that are alive, that are left unto the coming of the Lord, shall in no wise precede them that are fallen asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven, with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first; then we that are alive, that are left, shall together with them be caught up in the clouds (To meet Him in the air and will have a body not of this earth) to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall ever be with the Lord" [1 Thessalonians 4:16-17].
[18] "Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we shall be. (We know what the image of Adam is for we now have it. His image was flesh and blood both before and after he sinned, and we know that we now have his image, a body of flesh and blood, but we do not now know what the spiritual body in the image of Christ will be like.) We know that, when He appears, we shall be like Him because we shall see Him just as He is" [1 John 3:2].
[19] WILL BE LIKE ANGELS "The sons of this age marry and are given in marriage, but those who are considered worthy to attain to that age (The age to come. Not all will be worthy to attain to it) and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry, nor are given in marriage; for neither can they die any more, FOR THEY ARE LIKE ANGELS, (Like the angels, the saved will have a body that will be suitable for Heaven. Not an earthly being and will no longer have a body in the image of Adam made for this earth, but will have a spiritual body in the image of Christ. ANGELS HAVE NEVER HAD AN EARTHLY BODY IN THE IMAGE OF ADAM. WHEN WE ARE LIKE ANGELS WE WILL NOT HAVE AN EARTHLY BODY IN THE IMAGE OF ADAM) and are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection" [Luke 20:34-36]. Adam was made of the earth and had a flesh and blood body and Eve was made from his body before their sin, they never had a spiritual body or a body like the angels. To have a body like Adam before he sinned would be to have a flesh and blood body and be male and female. It would be nothing like the Angels.
[20] "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to his great mercy begat us again unto a living hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, unto an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fades not away, reserved in heaven for you, who by the power of God are guarded through faith unto a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time" [1 Peter 1:4].
[21] SEEK THE THINGS ABOVE "If then you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. For you have died and you life is hidden with Christ in God. WHEN CHRIST, WHO IS OUR LIFE, IS REVEALED, THEN YOU ALSO WILL BE REVEALED WITH HIM IN GLORY" [Colossians 2:1-4].
[22] WE NOW BEAR THE IMAGE OF THE EARTHLY [Adam] WE SHALL BEAR THE IMAGE OF THE HEAVENLY [Christ] "And just as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly" (Not the flesh and blood image of Adam before or after he sinned, not an earthly body, not a body of dust) [1 Corinthians 15:48].
AN ETERNITY IN HEAVEN OR ON EARTH
Some ask. "An eternity in Heaven doing what?" I ask them, "An eternity on earth doing what?" I have not seen anywhere that they say what they think we will be doing on earth for an eternity. Take whatever they think there will be to do on earth for eternity and multiply it by a 100, or 10,000, or even by 100,000 and you will not have all that we will be doing in Heaven for an eternity. All the best of this earth will be gone. There will be no marriage, therefore, no family life [Matthew 22:30]. No sea [Revelation 21:1] therefore, nothing that has to do will the sea, no boating, no fishing, no sunset over the water, etc. Multiply the beauty of earth by 100,000 or more and you still will not have the beauty of Heaven.
LIFE ON THIS EARTH - versus - LIFE IN HEAVEN
1. Life on this earth: a natural body - versus - after the resurrection: a spiritual body [1 Corinthians 15:42-58].
2. Life on this earth: a mortal being - versus- after the resurrection: an immortal being.
3. Life on this earth: image of Adam - versus - after the resurrection: image of Christ.
There are three major views of the fate of the lost after death. There may be many variations on each, not to over simplify, but I think all the variations will be on one of the three.
1. God made most of mankind to be tormented forever.
2. God will save all mankind no matter how evil they are.
3. The wages of sin is death for those not in Christ.
o a) The eternal home for those in Christ will be on earth.
o b) The eternal home for those in Christ will be in Heaven.
When Christ came to earth He became “flesh and blood” in the image of Adam, IF CHRIST IS TO COME BACK TO AND FOREVER BE A KING ON THIS EARTH HE WILL FOREVER BE “FLESH AND BLOOD” IN THE IMAGE OF ADAM.
A SUMMARY OF WHERE THE DEAD ARE. Four views on what happens at death, each one is in sharp conflict with the other three and makes them not possible. Yet, the same preachers put the dead in three places simultaneously.
1. The spirit of all returns to God – misused to prove all have an immortal soul.
2. The dead are alive in sheol.
3. The soul of the saved go directly to Heaven at death and the soul of the lost directly go to Hell at death.
4. All the dead are asleep unto the resurrection.
GOD HAS SPOKE
In The Clearest Way That Is Possible With Human Language
"For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not anything, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten...for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in Sheol, where you go" [Ecclesiastes 9:5-10]. "His breath goes forth, he returns to the earth: in that very day his thoughts perish" [Psalms 146:4]. "So man lies down and rises not: till the heavens be no more, they shall not awake, nor be roused out of their sleep" [Job 14:12]. If you read God's word and you still believe a person now has an immortal soul; and is not subject to death, there is no human language God could use to tell you otherwise. You have believed men and Satan, and will not hear God.
There is nothing hard to understand about the nature of a person or the fate of the wicked. It takes much help from theology to not understand the clear teaching of the Bible. Much help to make many believe Satan's lie over God's word. Much help for anyone to not be able to see the simple truth when he or she reads the Bible.
COULD GOD HAVE GIVEN HIS REVELATION ABOUT THE FATE OF MANKIND AFTER DEATH IN A WAY THAT ALL COULD UNDERSTAND IT? THE ANSWER IS YES. HE COULD AND DID CHOOSE WORDS, PARABLES, SYMBOLS, AND METAPHORS THAT CLEARLY TEACH THE DEATH OF, NOT THE ETERNAL TORMENT OF THE LOST. THE UNSAVED DIE, PERISH, ARE DESTROYED, AND ARE LOST. THE OBEDIENT ARE SAVED FROM DEATH, AND GIVEN LIFE AND IMMORTALITY AT THE JUDGMENT. GOD COULD NOT HAVE SAID IT ANY CLEARER. IF YOU THINK HE COULD HAVE, TRY TO SAY IT ANY CLEARER. The words and expressions are used that put the truth beyond all possibility of question. Eternal life with torment would not be death.
BE HONEST WITH YOURSELF, WITH GOD, AND GO TO HIS WORD WITH HONESTY, LOVE, AND REVERENCE. Can pagan teachings, which are promoted in the name of Christ, result in knowledge of the truth that can save?
DO YOU WANT TO DIE? WHEN THE BIBLE SAYS, "THE WAGES OF SIN IS DEATH" IT LITERALLY MEANS WHAT IT SAYS, “THE WAGES OF SIN IS DEATH” NOT ETERANL LIFE IN TORMENT. Do you want to face God's wrath at the judgment and be found not fit to live? Do you want to know that the second death will be an eternal end of you? If not, then: Hear and Believe [Romans 1:16; Hebrews 11:6]. Repent [Luke 13:5]. Die to sin, and through baptism be buried and raised to walk in newness of life with Christ [Romans 6:1-23; Mark 16:16; Acts 2:38 John 3:5]. "For if we have become united with him in the likeness of his death (through baptism), we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection" [Romans 6:5]. "God gave unto us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He that has the Son has the life; he that has not the Son of God has not the life" [1 John 5:11-12]. Live faithfully unto death, and receive the crown of life and immortality at the resurrection [Revelation 2:10; 1 Corinthians 15:52-55; John 5:21]. "But they that are accounted worthy to attain to that world, and the resurrection from the dead...neither can they die any more: for they...are sons of God" [Luke 20:35]. "It was necessary that the word of God should first be spoken to you. Seeing you thrust it from you AND JUDGE YOURSELVES UNWORTHY OF ETERNAL LIFE, lo, we turn to the Gentiles" [Acts 13:45-48]. THE QUESTION IS NOT WHERE WILL YOU SPEND YOUR ETERNITY, BUT WILL YOU HAVE AN ETERNITY.
"For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ; who WILL transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory" [Philippians 3:20-21]. "To him that overcomes, to him will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the Paradise of God" [Revelation 2:7]. THE RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD TOTALLY DESTROYS THE DOCTRINE OF AN IMMORTAL SOUL FROM BIRTH. IF ANYONE HAD A SOUL THAT WAS ALIVE AND IN HEAVEN, IT COULD NOT BE RESURRECTED FROM THE DEAD, IT WOULD HAVE NO NEED OF THE RESURRECTION.
A brief summary of some of the main points of this book.
• An immortal undying soul makes death, the wages of sin, and the resurrection impossible. Who do you believe, God or Satan?
• Going to Heaven at the moment of death makes a person judgment be at death, not at the second coming of Christ, and makes the resurrection impossible. Who do you believe, Christ or the Platonic philosophy of the survival of the soul?
• When unconditional immortality says the soul is the real person and can never die, that the soul of Christ, which was the real Christ was alive before the resurrection on the third day, that only the body of flesh dies, it makes the real Christ to have never died, only a body of flesh; therefore, the real Christ never died for us and we are still in our sins.
"But now has Christ been raised from the dead, the first fruits of them that are asleep. For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. But, each in his own order: Christ the first fruits; then they that are Christ's at his coming." Could Paul have been any more specific? ONLY THROUGH THE RESURRECTION AT THE SECOND COMING OF CHRIST WILL ANYONE HAVE LIFE AFTER DEATH.

CHAPTER ELEVEN
HISTORICAL PROOF
OF THE CHANGING OF THE TEACHING OF THE BIBLE
THE HEATHENIZING OF THE CHURCH IN THE MEDIEVAL DARK AGE: The Bible teaching were changed by bringing into the church the doctrines of Purgatory, the sale of indulgences, an immortal soul, Hell, going to Heaven or Hell at death without the judgment, worship of Mary and saints, Nether World, Holy Water, forbidding eating of meat on Friday, candle-burning, and many other teachings.
CHURCH FATHERS
The early so-called church fathers, Clement of Rome [said to be a companion of Paul], Ignatius [killed 107], Theophilus [died 181], Justin Martyr [killed 166], Tatian, Irenaeus, and others of the second century writers believed in conditional immortality. It was not unto the end the second and the third century that the doctrine of an immortal soul gained a foothold in the church.
J. A. BEETH summed it up very well. "The phrase, the soul immortal, so frequent and conspicuous in the writings of Plato, we have not found in pre-Christian literature outside the influence of Greek philosophy; nor have we found it in Christian literature until the latter part of the second century. We have noticed that all the earliest Christian writers who use this phrase were familiar with the teaching of Plato; that one of these, Tertullian, expressly refers both the phrase and doctrine to him; and that the early Christian writers never support this doctrine by appeals to the Bible, but only by arguments similar to those of Plato...We have failed to find any trace of this doctrine in the Bible...It is altogether alien, both in phrase and thought, to the teaching of Christ and His apostles" Immortality Of The Soul, Pages 53, 54. Tertullian is truthful about where his belief came from and said he based it on Plato, not the Bible. He said, "For some things are known even by nature: the immortality of the soul, for instance, is held by many...I may use, therefore, the opinion of a Plato, when he declares, 'Every soul is immortal'" Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 3, Page 1916.
JUSTIN MARTYR: Killed about A. D. 166. The Greek doctrine of an immortal soul was believed by some in his time and opposed by him and others of the Church Fathers. He said, "For if you have fallen in with some who are called Christians, but who do not admit this...who say there is no resurrection of the dead, and that their souls, when they die, are taken to heaven; do not imagine that they are Christians." The First Apology Of Justin, Edinburgh Edition, Page 480.
IRENAEUS MARTYR: Died about A. D. 202, a pupil of Polycarp, Martyr A. D. 147 said, “Some who are reckoned among the orthodox to beyond the prearranged plan for the exaltation of the just, and are ignorant of the methods by which they are disciplined beforehand for incorruption; they entertain heretical opinions. For the heretics…affirm that immediately upon their death they shall pass above to heavens. Those persons, therefore, who reject a resurrection affecting the whole man, and do their best to remove it from the Christian scheme, know nothing as to the plan of resurrection” Ante-Nicene Fathers, Eerdmans Publishing, Volume one, page 560. "It is the Father of all who IMPART CONTINUANCE FOREVER AND EVER TO THOSE WHO ARE SAVED. FOR LIFE DOES NOT ARISE FROM US, NOR FROM OUR OWN NATURE; but it is bestowed according to the grace of God. And therefore he who shall preserve the life bestowed on him, and give thanks to Him who imparted it, SHALL RECEIVE ALSO LENGTH OF DAYS FOREVER AND EVER, But he who shall reject it, and prove himself ungrateful to his Maker, inasmuch as he has been created and has not recognized Him who bestowed the gift upon him, DEPRIVES HIMSELF OF CONTINUANCE FOREVER AND EVER. And for this reason the Lord declared to those who showed themselves ungrateful towards Him: 'If you have not been faithful in that which is little, who will give you that which is great?'--indicating that those who in this brief temporal life have shown themselves ungrateful to Him who bestowed it, SHALL JUSTLY NOT RECEIVE FROM HIM LENGTH OF DAYS FOREVER AND EVER." Edinburgh Edition, Volume 1, Page 252.
ORIGEN Died A. D. 235: Mosheim said, "The foundation of all his faults was, that he fully believed nothing to be more true and certain than what the philosophy he received from Ammonius taught him respecting God, the world, souls, demons, etc. and therefore he in a measure recast and remolded the doctrines of Christ after the pattern of that philosophy" Historical Commentaries, Volume 2, Page 159.
The early non-inspired writers used Bible statements, which are used by both sides. Two examples:
1. An example: When an early writer quoted Matthew 10:28, "God is able to destroy...soul [psukee]," it is used today by the unconditional immoralists to prove the church fathers believed God will not destroy the soul [psukee], and by the conditional immoralists to prove the church fathers did believe God can and will destroy the soul [psukee]. Both sides assume that the early non-inspired writers understood the word "soul" [psukee] and other words just as they do. Therefore, both sides have many quotations from the early writers. The first and second century writers used Greek, and the word they used was "psukee" not the English word "soul" but the unconditional immoralists translate it "soul" and then apply today's English meaning, an undying part of a person to "psukee." Conditional immoralists read the same writers and say the early writers used "psukee" as the Hebrew word "nehphesh" is used in Genesis, a "living creature."
2. Another example: When Matthew 5:22 is quoted by the church father, they wrote in Greek and used "Gehenna" just as Christ did. Some English translations of the church fathers change Gehenna into Hell. They change one proper noun, the name if a particular place [Gehenna] into another proper noun, the name of another particular place [Hell] just as the King James Version did. When the early writers used "Gehenna," the way they are translated or the way they are mistranslated makes them say what the translator wanted them to say.
THE VIEW OF THE CHURCH FATHERS ON DEATH according to Henry Constable in "The Duration And Nature Of Future Punishment," 1871.
• Barnabas, Died A. D. 90. Believed the penalty of sin is ETERNAL DEATH.
• Clemens Romanus, Died A. D. 100. Believed the penalty of sin is ETERNAL DEATH.
• Hermas, Died A. D. 104. Believed the penalty of sin is ETERNAL DEATH.
• Ignatius, Martyr, Died A. D. 107. Believed the penalty of sin is ETERNAL DEATH.
• Polycarp, Martyr, Died A. D. 147. Believed the penalty of sin is ETERNAL DEATH.
• Justin Martyr, Died A. D. 164. Believed the penalty of sin is ETERNAL DEATH.
• Theophilus of Antioch, Died A. D. 183. Believed the penalty of sin is ETERNAL DEATH.
• Athenagoras, Died A. D. 190. Believed "YOU SHALL NOT SURELY DIE."
• Tatian, Died A.D. 200. Believed "YOU SHALL NOT SURELY DIE."
• Irenaeus Martyr, Died A. D. 202. Believed the penalty of sin is ETERNAL DEATH.
• Clemens Alexandrinus, Died A. D. 212. Believed the penalty of sin is ETERNAL DEATH.
• Tertullian, Died A. D. 235. Believed "YOU SHALL NOT SURELY DIE."
• Hippolytus, Died A. D. 235. Believed "YOU SHALL NOT SURELY DIE."
• Origen, Died A. D. 235. Believed UNIVERSAL RESTORATION.
• Amobios, Died A. D. 303. Believed the penalty of sin is ETERNAL DEATH.
• Augustine, Died A. D. 430. Believed "YOU SHALL NOT SURELY DIE." The Encyclopedia Britannica says of Augustine, "He fused the religion of the New Testament with the Platonic tradition of Greek philosophy."
From the above, it is clear that it was not unto near the end of the second century that "the wages of sin is eternal life with torment" was first believed. By teaching the resurrection, both the Bible and most of the early Church Fathers denied emphatically the unconditional immortally of the soul.
JOHN H. OGWYN, "The story of the Christian church between Pentecost of 31 a. d. and the council of Nicea in 325 a. d., almost 300 years later, is an amazing story. IT IS THE STORY OF HOW YESTERDAY'S ORTHODOXY BECAME TODAY'S HERESY AND HOW OLD HERESIES CAME TO BE CONSIDERED ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE. IT IS THE STORY OF HOW CHURCH TRADITION AND THE TEACHING OF THE BISHOPS CAME TO SUPERSEDE THE WORD OF GOD AS A SOURCE OF DOCTRINE. IT IS A STORY THAT IS STRANGER THEN FICTION, YET IS HISTORICALLY VERIFIABLE." "God's Church Through The Ages."
HENRY CONSTABLE, “Educated in Platonism, they (church fathers) did not like to renounce it, and flattered themselves that they might, with great advantage to the cause of Christianity, bring at least a portion of their old learning into its service. Some brought less, some more, according as they were more or less thoroughly acquainted with Christianity. But on one point they were substantially agreed. All of them, with Tertullian, adopted in the sense of Plato Plato’s sentiment—‘Every soul is immortal.’ On this point Plato took rank, not among prophets and apostles, but above all prophets and apostles. A doctrine which neither Old Testament nor New taught directly or indirectly, nay, which was contrary to a great part of the teaching of both, these Fathers brought in with them into the Church, and thus gave to the old Sage of the Academy a greater authority and a wider influence by far than he had ever attained or ever dreamed of attaining. It was in effect Plato teaching in the Church, under the supposed authority of Christ and his Apostles, doctrine subversive of, and contrary to, the doctrine, which they had one and all maintained. This dogma of Plato was made the rigid rule for the interpretation of Scripture. No Scripture, no matter what its language, could be interpreted in a sense inconsistent with Plato’s theory. Christ, and Paul, and John, all were forced to Platonise. The deduction of reason, half doubted by Plato himself, was by these Platonising Fathers palmed off on men’s minds as the teaching of revelation” Duration And Nature Of future Punishment, 1871.
W. ENFIELD, "Very soon after the rise of Christianity, many persons, who had been educated in the schools of the philosophers, becoming converts to the Christian faith, the doctrines of the Grecian sects, and especially Platonism, were interwoven with the simple truths of pure religion. As the Eclectic philosophy spread, Heathen and Christian doctrines were still more intimately blended, till, at last, both were almost entirely lost in the thick clouds of ignorance and barbarism which covered the earth." "The History Of Philosophy."
"The doctrine of hell evolved long after the core doctrines of the historic Christian faith were established. The views of the early Church fathers about hell were far from unanimous. It took the Christian community hundreds of years to come up with a consensus on the issue. The majority view - that hell is a place of eternal fiery torment - emerged only after a long debate within the Church. By the Middle Ages, the concept of a fiery underworld had become a dominant element in people's minds" www.inplainsite.org
The doctrine of Hell has been strongly opposed from the time is was first brought into the church by the church fathers, but in the last fifty years the opposition is rapidly growing in the Protestants churches and particularly in the church of Christ. As a result of the rapid growth in opposed to the God slandering doctrine of Hell two books by those why believe in Hell have been written. "Hell of Trial: The Case for Eternal Punishment" by Robert A. Peterson and "Hell Under Fire" by nine Protestant authors. The names they give to their books shows the doctrine of Hell is being strongly opposed and rejected by many.
The Egyptians might have been the first to believe in the dual nature of a person. They believed that death was a door to a new form of life, which may be higher or lower, depending on how good or bad a person was. They believed the body was evil and a prison to the soul. They built the pyramids and other tombs and put the things in them they thought would be needed in the next life. Death was a friend to them that freed the soul of the evil body; but it was the Greeks [Pythagoras, Socrates, Plato] who adopted this Egyptian belief of the dual nature of a person; and developed the philosophy of the immortal soul. Many church fathers were schooled in and believed in this Greek philosophy, and were only partly converted. They, after greatly expanding on the teaching of Plato, brought their Greek philosophy into the church in the apostasy. Unconditional immortality is the foundation of the doctrine of Hell. If a person had an unseen immortal part that could not die, there had to be a place to put the "souls" which were evil but could not die. The "souls" of the saved had to be put somewhere, therefore, the doctrine of a person going to Heaven or Hell immediately after death without a resurrection or a judgment came into being, and the New Testament teaching of the resurrection of the dead became unneeded and of little or no importance.
In the Greek philosophy a person never dies. Only the body dies, freeing the soul to a higher life. Christ taught the resurrection of man, not the Greek "immaterial, invisible part of man" (W. E. Vine) that never dies. The Greeks did not believe in or need a resurrection, or a savior, or redeemer; these would not fit into their belief. They believed in an immortal soul, therefore, there could be no death. The Greek philosophy of an immortal soul was opposed and opposite to the teaching of Christ on the resurrection. The immortal soul doctrine was believed by most pagan religions in the time of Paul, and when he was before Agrippa, he asked, "Why is it considered incredible among you people if God does raise the dead?" [Acts 26:8 New American Standard Version]. To Plato and Agrippa, the resurrection of the dead would have been a step backward. It would put the soul that was freed from its prison of a body back into the prison it had been freed from.
The Greek and heathen belief that the immortal soul is indestructible, demands that the soul cannot die, but must be alive forever somewhere. The resurrection as taught by Christ demands that a person be dead, if not, there cannot be a resurrection. The resurrection is a calling back to life the whole person God created, not a calling back to life some part of the person that is not dead. If the Greek doctrine of an immortal soul that cannot die, which is believed by many today were true, then the resurrection of Christ and our resurrection would be pointless.
PLATO AND SOCRATES -- VERSUS -- CHRIST
IMMORTALITY --------- VERSUS - LIFE AND RESURRECTION
DEATH A FRIEND ------ VERSUS - DEATH IS "THE LAST ENEMY"
PLATO: THE SOUL IS | IF THERE IS NO RESURRECTION
IMMORTAL, THEREFORE ONLY | DEATH IS THE END OF
"IT" IS ALIVE AFTER DEATH| ALL LIFE 1 CORINTHIANS 15:14-23
PLATO: ONLY THE BODY DIES| "THEN THEY ALSO THAT ARE
FREEING SOUL TO A HIGHER | FALLEN ASLEEP IN CHRIST
LIFE WITHOUT A BODY | HAVE PERISHED"
ONLY SOME INTER PART OF | A PERSON (WHO IN CHRIST) WILL BE
A PERSON IS IMMORTAL | IMMORTAL, NOT JUST PART OF A PERSON
ALL THE DEAD ARE ALIVE | CHRIST IS "THE FIRST BORN FROM THE DEAD"
PLATO'S IMMORTAL SOUL AND CHRIST'S RESURRECTION ARE NOT COMPATIBLE, BOTH CANNOT BE. ONE CAN BE TRUE, BUT NOT BOTH AT THE SAME TIME; THEY ARE ALIEN TO EACH OTHER.
Paul and Plato used the same Greek words, but not in the same way. Immortal, immortality, indestructible, never dying was used by Plato and by many today to describe the soul, but in the Old or New Testament, these words are never used referring to any lost person or to any part of a person after death. The expression "immortal soul" is very common in the writing of the pagan philosophers and today's preachers, but is not found in the Bible.
PAUL USED|PLATO AND MANY TODAY SAY THE SOUL
DIE |CANNOT DIE
DEATH |NO DEATH
DESTROYED |CANNOT BE DESTROYED
CORRUPTION |IS INCORRUPTIBLE
MORTAL |IS IMMORTAL
PERISH |CANNOT PERISH
HENRY CONSTABLE, "In the very terms in which the punishment of the wicked is asserted in the New Testament. Where the latter says the soul shall die, Plato says it shall not die; where the latter says it shall be destroyed, Plato says it shall not be destroyed; where the latter says it shall perish and suffer corruption, Plato says it shall not perish and is incorruptible. The phrases are the very same, only that what Plato denies of all souls alike, the New Testament asserts of some of the souls of men. But the discussion of the question was not confined to the school of Plato or to his times. Every school of philosophy took it up, whether to confirm Plato's view, or to deny it, or to heap ridicule upon it. All the phrases we have been discussing from the New Testament had been explained, turned over and over, handled with all the power of the masters of language, presented in every phase, so that of their sense there could be no doubt, nor could there be any one ignorant of their sense before Jesus spoke, or an Evangelist or Apostle wrote. The subject had not died out before the days of Christ. It never could and never will die out. In every city of the Roman world were schools of Grecian thought in the days of the Apostles. In every school the question before us was discussed in the phrases and language of the New Testament" "Duration and Nature of Future Punishment," 1871.
CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA, "Plato established the basic Western tradition on this topic by defining the soul as the spiritual part of the human that survived death" 1991.
Many believe that in the afterlife we will be nothing more than a collection of disembodied spirits or souls that will be just as alive and just the same from the day of birth as these souls will ever be. Death and the resurrection are out of step with the belief of Plato.
A part of a person being deathless is a philosophy of man that Paul warned about [Colossians 2:8]. An immortal soul was copied from heathen philosophy and superstition. NOTE: Those who believe we now have "an immortal soul" get their belief from Greek philosophy, but are inconstant and self-contradicting. They say the soul cannot die, but it needs a Savior anyway. If we were born with an immortal soul, it would have no need for Christ to save it from the death it cannot die. CHRISTIANITY DID NOT DESTROY THE PAGAN DOCTRINE OF EGYPT AND GREECE; IT ADOPTED IT.
Death is the enemy [1 Corinthians 15:26]. It is the destruction of the life given by God. It is not the liberator of an immortal soul, as Plato believed it to be. It is death, which must be conquered by the resurrection. When we understand that death is really death, not another kind of life for an immortal part of a person that has no substance, the resurrection is all-important. Without a resurrection we can do what we want for this life is all there is [1 Corinthians 15:32]. Our only hope is the resurrection, and without it there will be no life of any kind for us after death. Plato's immortal soul needs no resurrection. "Set your hope perfectly on the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ" [1 Peter 1:12]. It is at the resurrection that we "shall receive the crown of glory that fades not away" [1 Peter 5:4].
1. "Be patient; therefore, brethren, until the coming of the Lord" [James 4:7-8]. As the farmer is patient unto the harvest to receive his reward, the believers were to be patient unto the coming of Christ to receive their reward.
2. "It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body" [1 Corinthians 15:43]. It is not the spiritual body living in the natural body that will go to Heaven at the death of the natural body. "We shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible" [1 Corinthians 15:52].
3. "Beloved, now are we children of God, and it is not yet made manifest what we shall be. We know that, if he shall be manifested, we shall be like him; for we shall see him even as he is" [1 John 3:2].
4. The wrath of God will be "in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God" [Romans 2:5], not wrath at death before that day and not eternal wrath after the judgment day is over. On that day, it will be rendered "to them that by patience in well doing seek for glory and honor and incorruption, eternal life" [Romans 2:8], not to the souls of all on the day of their death. The judgment will be "in the day when God shall judge the secrets of men" [Romans 2:16], not at death. It is the judgment day when "we shall all stand before the judgment-seat of God" [Romans 14:10]. It is the day that the Lord will judge all, "Wherefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord comes who will both bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and make manifest the counsels of the hearts" [1 Corinthians 4:5, also, Ephesians 4:30].
5. "And to wait for his Son from heaven" [1 Thessalonians 1:10]. Death will not take anyone to Heaven without waiting for the second coming of Jesus.
6. When the Lord shall descend from Heaven, them that have fallen asleep in Jesus, "the dead in Christ shall rise first; then we that are alive, that are left, shall together with them be caught up in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord" [1 Thessalonians 4:17]. Their hope is to be raised from their sleep at the coming of Christ, not come back from living in Heaven or Abraham's bosom.
7. Paul says he will receive a "crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give to me at that day; and not to me only, but also to all them that have loved his appearing." [2 Timothy 4:8].
The Bible teaching, "The wages of sin is death" leaves no lost souls alive after the judgment and second death to be put anywhere. THE TEACHING OF CHRIST, THAT LIFE (EVERLASTING LIFE OR IMMORTALITY) WILL BE GIVEN ONLY TO THOSE WHO OBEY HIM, MAKES HELL IMPOSSIBLE. UNLESS CHRIST GIVES ETERNAL LIFE (IMMORTALITY) TO THE LOST, THEY CANNOT LIVE FOREVER ANYWHERE. The Greek teaching of an immortal soul must be made to stand, and the teaching of Christ that He will give life only to those who come to Him must be removed or there cannot be a Hell.
Socrates drinks hemlock and died with a smile on his face because he thought he was freeing his soul to live with the gods. Christ "sweats as it was great drops of blood" (Luke 22:44). Death is the enemy of man. It destroys him, and only the resurrection frees us from death, and gives us back the life death takes. In death there is no life in Heaven or any other place for us before the resurrection. The resurrection is not just a coming back from Heaven to be judged and then going back to Heaven, it is our only hope of life after our death. Without the resurrection "then they also that are fallen asleep in Christ have perished" (1 Corinthians 15:18). The Greek philosophy that found its way into the Church says they have not perished, but are freed to live with God in Heaven without the need of a resurrection. After the pagan immortal soul doctrine came Hellfire, Purgatory, worship of Mary and saints, etc. The Protestant Reformation was largely a reaction to medieval superstitious beliefs and Purgatory, an intermediate state of temporal punishment where souls that were not good enough to go to Heaven, and not bad enough to go to Hell; in the Church in the Dark Age, this was almost all people. The priests would have their loved ones pay for him to pray to shorten their time in Purgatory. Selling indulgences and paying to reduce the time the souls of departed loved spent ones in Purgatory was rejected by the Reformation, as was many other superstitious beliefs of the Roman Catholic Church; but the Greek dual nature of a person and Hell was retained. Calvin believed the soul did not sleep, but went to Heaven or Hell at death. The Westminster Confession says, "The souls of the righteous...are received unto the highest heavens...the soul of the wicked are cast into Hell." The doctrine of an immortal soul replaced the resurrection, and made it useless and impossible.
UNCONDITIONAL IMMORTALITY IS THE PAGAN TRANSMIGRATION OF SOULS. AUGUSTINE AND OTHER PARTLY CONVERTED "CHURCH FATHERS" WHO KNEW MORE OF THE TEACHING OF PLATO THAN OF CHRIST AND REWROTE REINCARNATION TO FIT CHRISTIANITY.
Transmigration of souls
• Transmigration of souls: Souls live somewhere after the death of the body. Where it is believed that a soul goes to after death varies from country to country and age to age.
• Unconditional immortality: Souls live somewhere after the death of the body. The place where souls go after death varies from one group to another. Heaven, Hell, Purgatory, or Abraham's bosom; but, wherever it goes it is as alive as it will ever be and that without the resurrection.
Reincarnation
• Reincarnation: Souls that are living somewhere come back to an earthly body.
• Unconditional immortality: Souls that are living in Heaven or Hell come back to the earthly body at the second coming of Christ.
Ancient Egyptian belief was that the soul had a gloomy existence in the underworld (transmigration). The Greeks and Romans believed about the same with some changes. Oriental and Pythagorean philosophy, Buddhists, Hindus, and Grand Lama all believed in some form reincarnation. All believed the "soul" of the evil had some punishment, but not all believed the same punishment. With most the punishment was only some kind of gloomy existence in the underworld, not torment as it is taught today. With most, the more evil a person was the lower his soul would have the capability to reincarnate. Some would come back as a person, the more evil as a plant or insect. Some believed the very evil would never be able to reincarnate, and must forever have a gloomy existence in the underworld. This punishment was believed to be under or down in the earth by most. Hell was and is still believed by some to be under the earth. This is the nearest thing to today's Hell in heathen philosophy and in any writing unto after the New Testament. The "church fathers" borrowed from the heathens (mostly Greek and Romans) and invented unto by the time of the Dark Age they had invented Hell, Limbo, Purgatory, worship of Mary and saints, the Pope declared to be God in the flesh, and much more. God was made into a cruel and sadistic being. Those who worshiped him truly became like the god they invented. Millions who believed the world was round, or in any way did not believe all the Church taught, were put to death as heretics. It put some to death for having the Bible in their own language-not in Latin. It was one of the bloodiest times of history, and continued into the Protestant Reformation (The Crusades, bloody Mary, witch-hunts, and much more). Some of the cruelest ways of torment the world has ever known were invented and used, and all in the name of their god. It would take many books to tell of all the bloody deeds of the Dark Age by the so-called "church." The reasons for them are summed up in the words of bloody Mary. "As the souls of heretics are hereafter to be eternally burning in Hell, there can be nothing more proper than for me to imitate the divine vengeance by burning them on earth." In the Dark Age, the "church" was a mixture of Christianity, Judaism, Paganism, and their own inventions, but mostly the last two. Before the Protestant Reformation there was more heathen philosophy in the Dark Age Church than true Christian teaching. It had apostatized into a satanic cult.
Did Plato believe the immortal soul would be in Hell? The concept of punishment for the soul after death was the invention of rulers as a way to keep the common people under control. To go into this would be another book, but for those who would like to know more, go to http://askelm.com/doctrine/d060101.htm, Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics, Volume 7, Page 61-63, The Nature of the Gods by Cicero at http://trisagionseraph.tripod,com/Texts/Cicero.html. Plato believed in reincarnation, that all souls would come back as a plant or animal, not that souls would go to a place of eternal torment. He had a system that the upper class knew of and would know if he was writing to them or to those who were ignorant and needed to be kept under control. If he used "God" he was writing to them, if he used "gods" he was writing of the ignorant to keep them under control. The church in the Dark Age used punishment after death to keep the people under control. See http://www.cimmay.us/pdf/balfour.pdf
SUMMARY: Believers in unconditional immortality are divided on where the soul goes after the death of the body. The Catholic Church and most Protestant Churches believe it goes to Heaven or Hell at death. Another view is an intermediate state of temporal punishment that is newer than Purgatory and not Catholic, is the belief that the soul goes to Abraham's bosom or the bad part of hades unto the resurrection. Others believe all will end up in Heaven. Many believe no one will ever be in Heaven, but the saved will live forever on this earth. There are always divisions when men teach something that is not in the Bible.
To fully document the apostasy that took place is beyond the scope of this book, but I have given enough to show those who have never read the history of the early church that there was a great apostasy with many changes in the beliefs and doctrines. The falling away Paul foretold did happen. "Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God. Do you not remember that while I was still with you, I was telling you these things? And you know what restrains him now, so that in his time he may be revealed. For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work, only he who now restrains will do so until he is taken out of the way. And then, that lawless one will be revealed whom the Lord will slay with the breath of His mouth and bring to an end by the appearance of His coming; that is, the one whose coming is in accord with the activity of Satan, with all power and signs and false wonders, and with all the deception of wickedness for those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved. And for this reason God will send upon them a deluding influence so that they might believe what is false, in order that they all may be judged who did not believe the truth, but took pleasure in wickedness" [2 Thessalonians 2:3-12; See 1 Timothy 4:1-3]. This apostasy led to the church of the Dark Age with its Pope who sits in the place of God and is worshiped as God. Paul said the falling away would come. History says it did come. The Catholic Church says there was no falling away. The Protestant Reformation says there was an apostasy, but they reformed the Catholic Church with many churches that teach many conductivity things. As Homer Hailey said, "Attitudes were no longer as they were in former years, and the pattern was altered. The pristine simplicity was gradually marred and covered, until little of the original simple plan of God could be recognized." The second coming of Christ and the resurrection was made to have little or no value by the doctrine of going to Heaven at death or after spending some time in Purgatory. The heart of the beliefs and hopes of the early church, the coming of Christ and the resurrection from the dead, was put into the background. The Church was not faithful one day and an apostate church the next day. The falling away took centuries. There were many changes, and every change had many who fought it. But, the falling away did come. The teaching of Christ on the resurrection of the dead was replaced by the teaching of Plato [the Heathenizing of the church with the pagan teaching of an immortal soul] along with many others: Purgatory, Limbo, worshiping of Mary and saints, etc. One by one, at first only a few in a congregation, but eventually the entire congregation were teaching the doctrines of man and not that of Christ.
[1] TERTULLIAN: Often known as the father of the Latin Church. "How indeed, shall the soul mount up to heaven, where Christ is already sitting at the Father's right hand, when as yet the archangel's trumpet has not been heard by the command of God. When as yet those whom the coming of the Lord is to find on the earth, have not been caught up into the air to meet Him at His coming, in company with the dead in Christ, who shall be the first to arise? To no one is heaven opened" Treatise on the Soul, Chapter 55. The Catholic Church would now call anyone who teaches this a heretic [See 1 Thessalonians 4:13].
[2] MARTIN LUTHER: "Solomon judged that the dead are asleep, and feel nothing at all. For the dead lie there accomplishing nether days not years, but then they are awaked, they shall seem to have slept scarce one minute." "An exposition of "Ecclesiastes or the Preacher" 1573. In Luther's Defense, proposition 27. "Now, if one would say that Abraham's soul lives with God but his body is dead, this distinction is rubbish. I will attack it. One must say, 'The whole Abraham, the whole man shall live.' The other way you tear off a part of Abraham and say, 'It lives.' This is the way the philosophers speak: 'Afterward the soul departed from its domicile,' etc. That would be a silly soul if it were in heaven and desired its body" Luther's Works, Volume 54, Page 447. Luther called the theory of the immortality of the soul the "monstrous fables that forms part of the Roman dunghill of decretals." E. Petavel, The Problem of Immortality, Page 255.
[3] PAUL ALTHAUS, “The hope of the early church centered on the resurrection of the Last Day. It is this which first calls the dead into eternal life (1 Cor. 15; Phil. 3:21). This resurrection happens to the man and not only to the body. Paul speaks of the resurrection not ‘of the body’ but ‘of the dead.’ This understanding of the resurrection implicitly understands death as also affecting the whole man…Thus the original Biblical concepts have been replaced by ideas from Hellenistic Gnostic dualism. The New Testament idea of the resurrection, which affects the whole man, has had to give way to the immortality of the soul. The Last Day also loses its significance, for souls have received all that is decisively important long before this. Eschatological tension is no longer strongly directed to the day of Jesus’ Coming. The difference between this and the hope of the New Testament is very great” “The Theology Of Martin Luther” pages 413-414, 1966.
[4] JOHN WESLEY "It is indeed generally supposed that the souls of good men as soon as dislodged from the body, go directly to heaven, but this opinion has not the least foundation in the oracles of God" From Wesley's sermon on Luke 16:23.
[5] WILLIAM TYNDALE translated the first English New Testament, "In putting them (sleeping souls) in heaven, hell or purgatory, you destroy the arguments wherewith Christ and Paul proves the resurrection...if the souls be in heaven, tell me why they be not in as good a case as the angels be? And then what cause is there of a resurrection...The true faith put forth the resurrection, which we be warned to look for every hour. The heathen philosophers, denying that, did put that the souls did ever live. And the pope join the spiritual doctrine of Christ and the fleshy doctrine of philosophers together: things so contrary that they cannot agree...And because the fleshy-minded pope consented unto heathen doctrine, therefore, he corrupted the Scripture to establish it." bk. 4, chapter 4, pages 108-109, in 1530, and also in Burns, "Christian Moralism,” Page 99. Tyndale (like Luther) said it was heathen philosophers and the Pope, not the Bible that taught, "souls did ever live."
[6] JOHN DARBY: "We would express our conviction, then the idea of the immortality of the soul has no source in the gospel; that it comes, on the contrary, from the Platonists, and that it was just when the coming of Christ was denied in the church, or at least began to be lost sight of, that the doctrine of the immortality of the soul came in to replace that of the resurrection. This was about the time of Origen." "The Hopes of the Church of God" Only in the early editions before what he said was changed by other persons.
Greek philosophy of an immortal soul was first bought into the church by the so-called church fathers that were believers in the Greek philosophy, and were only partly converted. They know more about the teaching of Plato than they did of Christ. It did not become commonly accepted unto after Tertullian in the third century. It was fought bitterly by Martin Luther, William Tyndale, and many others as being a part of the false Catholic doctrine. It was eventually accepted by most Protestant Churches, but only after a long fight. Most today know little or nothing of all this, and think the doctrine of an immortal soul was held by almost all, even back in the Old Testament.
NOTE: The teachings of many founders of the Protestant Reformation are an embarrassment to the Protestants Churches today, which bear their name and or claim them as their founders. The teaching of the churches they founded now makes them be heretics. Their own churches would now call anyone teaching the same as Luther and Wesley heretics.
Calvin might have been the leading influence in turning the Protestant Reformation back to Catholicism. Dr Joseph Priestley said, "Had it not been for the authority of Calvin, who wrote expressly against soul sleep, the doctrine of an intermediate conscious state would, in all probability, have been as effectually exploded as the doctrine of purgatory itself" Works, Volume 5, Page 229, 1818.
[7] JAMIESON, FAUSSET AND BROWN: "Nowhere is the immortality of the soul, distinct from the body, taught: A notion which many erroneously have derived from heathen philosophers. Scripture does not look for the anomalous state brought about by death, as the consummation to be earnestly looked for [2 Cor. 5:4], but the resurrection." Notes on 1 Corinthians 15:53.
[8] STRONG: "A breathing creature, i.e. animal..." word number 5315. "Strong's Exhaustive Concordance Of The Bible."
[9] W. E. VINE: "A Noun soul; self; life; person; heart...it occurs over 780 times in Old Testament...the noun refers to the essence of life, the act of breathing, taking breath...in its primary sense the noun appears in its first occurrence in Gen 1:20; 'the moving creature that has life,' and in its second occurrence in Gen 2:7; 'living soul... HOWEVER, IN OVER 400 LATER OCCURRENCES IT IS TRANSLATED 'SOUL.' WHILE THIS SERVES TO MAKE SENSE IN MOST PASSAGES, IT IS AN UNFORTUNATE MISTRANSLATION OF THE TERM. The real difficulty of the term is seen in the inability of almost all English translations to find a consistent equivalent or even a small group of high-frequency equivalents for the term. The KJV alone uses over 28 different English terms for this one Hebrew word...in narrative or historical passages of the Old Testament, NEPES CAN BE TRANSLATED AS 'LIFE' OR 'SELF' as in Leviticus 17:11; 'for the life of the flesh is in the blood... NEEDLESS TO SAY, THE READING 'SOUL' IS MEANINGLESS IN SUCH A TEXT...THE VERSIONS VERY WIDELY IN THE READING OF NEPES, WITH THE MORE CONTEMPORARY VERSIONS CASTING WIDELY FOR MEANING," Page 237 Old Testament, "Vine's Complete Expository Dictionary Of Old And New Testament Words." It did not change its meaning in the second part of the Old Testament, but the translators of the early English Bibles had to put in their beliefs, and later translators, those that are called "the major translations" have only partly gotten away from this mistakes, but a few of the latest translations have almost made it.
[10] THAYER: "1. Breath...a. the breath of life...b. life...2. The soul...a. the seat of the feelings, desires, affections, aversions (our soul, heart, etc.)." "A Greek-English Lexicon Of The New Testament."
[11] ROBERT YOUNG, author of Young's Literal Translation of the Bible said, "Animal soul...Nehphesh" Page 917 "It (nehphesh_ does not denote the immortal part of man, but his animal life." "Young's Analytical Concordance To The Bible."
[12] INTERNATIONAL STANDARD BIBLE ENCYCLOPEDIA: "Not, however, to dwell on the fact that many peoples have no clear conception of an immaterial 'soul' in the modern sense (the Egyptians, e. g. distinguished several parts, the Ka, the Ba, etc., which survived death; often the surviving self is simply a ghostly resemblance of the earthly self, nourished with food, offerings, etc.), there is the more serious consideration that the state into which the surviving part is supposed to enter as death is anything but a state which can be described as 'life,' or worthy to be dignified with the name 'immortality.' It is a state peculiar to 'death;' in most cases, shadowy, inert, feeble, dependent, joyless; a state to be dreaded and shrunk from, not one to be hoped for. If, on the other hand, as in the hope of immortality among the nobler heathen, it is conceived of, as for some, a state of happiness-the clog of the body being shaken off-this yields the idea, which has passed into so much of our modern thinking, of an 'immortality of the soul,' of an imperishableness of the spiritual part, sometimes supposed to extend backward as well as forward; an inherent indestructibility." From the article "Immortal; Immortality." Also from the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, "We are influenced always more or less by the Greek, Platonic idea that the body dies, yet the soul is immortal. Such an idea is utterly contrary to the Israelite consciousness and is nowhere found in the Old Testament" From the article "Death," Page 812. Also from the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, "Soul, like spirit, has various shades of meaning in the O.T., which may be summarized as follows: 'Soul,' 'living being,' 'life,' 'self,' 'person,' 'desire,' 'appetite,' 'emotion' and 'passion'...NEHPHESH OR SOUL, CAN ONLY DENOTE THE INDIVIDUAL LIFE WITH A MATERIAL ORGANIZATION OR BODY." Page 2837. "For the Hebrews a person was a unity, not to be divided into body, soul, and spirit as the Greeks did," Page 592.
[13] INTERPRETER’S DICTIONARY OF THE BIBLE: “No biblical text authorizes the statement that the soul is separated from the body at the moment of death” Volume one, page 802.
[14] JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA: "The belief that the soul continues its existence after the dissolution of the body is a matter of philosophical or theological speculation rather than of simple faith, and is accordingly, nowhere taught in the Holy Scripture...The belief in the immortality of the soul came to the Jews from contact with Greek thought and chiefly through the philosophy of Plato, its principal exponent, who was led to it through Orphic and Dleusinian mysteries in which Babylonian and Egyptian views were strangely blended," "Immortality of the Soul," 1925. The concept of punishment after death is not in the Old Testament. The Law given through Moses deals only with punishment in this life and has no provisions for punishment after death. From their contact with pagan philosophy, the pagan immortal soul teaching had made some inroads with some Jews by the time of Christ. Paul warned about this Philosophy [Colossians 2:8].
[15] FUNK AND WAGNALL ENCYCLOPEDIA: “The Christian doctrine of the immortal soul has been strongly influenced by pagans such as Plato and Aristotle.”
[16] C. R. GRESHAM: "It is generally conceived that there is little about resurrection or after-life in what the Jews called the Torah...and the Former Prophets...Death is seen as the end, the destruction of human existence." Page 25. "Man's soul is primarily his vitality, his life, not some separate part of a person that has independent existence and an immortal nature, God's spirit (His breath, His power) creates and sustains all living things (Ps 33:6; 104:29-30), even the human spirit (Zech 12:1), but never is man's soul or spirit seen as an immortal part of man surviving death." Page 40. "The widespread misunderstanding that the New Testament teaches the immortality of the soul...If one recognizes that death and eternal life in the New Testament are always bound up the Christ-event, then it becomes clear that for the first Christians the soul is not intrinsically immortal, but rather became so only through the resurrection of Jesus Christ." Page 275. "What The Bible Says About Resurrection" The College Press, 1983, (church of Christ).
[17] ADAM CLARKE: "The doctrine of the resurrection appears to have been thought of much more consequence among the primitive Christians than it is now! How is this? The apostles were continually insisting on it, and exciting the followers of God to diligence, obedience, and cheerfulness through it. And their successors in the present day seldom mention it! So apostles preached, and so primitive Christians believed; so we preach, and so our hearers believe. There is not a doctrine in the gospel on which more stress is laid; and there is not a doctrine in the present system of preaching which is treated with more neglect" Commentary on I Corinthians 15.
[18] WILLIAM ENFIELD: "Very soon after the rise of Christianity, many persons, who had been educated in the schools of the philosophers, becoming converts to the Christian faith, the doctrines of the Grecian sects, and especially Platonism, were interwoven with the simple truths of pure religion. As the Eclectic philosophy spread, Heathen and Christian doctrines were still more intimately blended, till, at last, both were almost entirely lost in the thick clouds of ignorance and barbarism which covered the earth" History of Philosophy.
[19] HOMER HAILEY: "Time passed and innovations came into the Church. When untaught individuals became nominal Christians, changes were made. Attitudes were no longer as they were in former years, and the pattern was altered. The pristine simplicity was gradually marred and covered, until little of the original simple plan of God could be recognized. Ambitions began to manifest themselves when pagan philosophies became a substitute for the word of God. Over time, darkness descended upon the face of the earth and the light of truth was covered by ignorance and superstition" From my class note in 1957 at Florida College, (church of Christ).
[20] JERRY CROSS: "When Jesus was on earth he didn't speak of immortality, but rather of eternal life. The Greeks taught that the soul had a natural and innate quality to enable it to pass through death and resist corruption. But, Jesus taught that our 'immortality' is anchored in a life-relationship with God. Jesus was a teacher of 'eternal life,' but Plato of the 'immortality of the soul.' Today these expressions are often confusingly used as synonyms. Yet, they spring from two different sources, one from Greek philosophy, and the other from New Testament Christianity... It is very easy to read the term 'soul' or 'spirit' in the English Bible and impart modern western philosophical beliefs into the terms. With Plato and (much later) Descartes, Western thinking became very much dualistic in its view of man. A person is composed, according to this view, of material, extended, substance (body) and immaterial, non-extended, substance (mind). The soul is the imperishable element that is housed in a bodily prison. Therefore, when western man hears the term 'soul,' he thinks of that element of himself that is confined within his body that is destined to live forever. The presentation of 'soul' in the Hebrew Old Testament is quite different however...the Old Testament presents man as an 'animated body' which is a 'complex of parts, drawing life and activity from a breath-soul, which has no existence apart from the body'" Magnolia Bible College 1984 Lectures, Page 48 and 49, (church of Christ).
[21] SAMUEL DAWSON: "You may be surprised to learn that most, if not all, of our popular concepts of Hell can be found in the writings of Roman Catholic writers...None of our concepts of Hell can be found in the teaching of Jesus Christ! You know how indignant we get at the mention of purgatory-we know that's not in the Bible. You may also find out that our popular concepts of Hell came from the same place that purgatory did-Roman Catholicism" "Jesus' Teaching On Hell," Page 13. A free copy of this book at: www.gospelthemes.com, (church of Christ).
[22] CURTIS DICKINSON: "There is not one scripture to support the idea that man is an immortal soul living for the moment in a temple of clay, and that when the body dies the man goes on living...It might come as a surprise to some to know that the term immortal is never used in scripture in connection with soul or man's spirit" "What The Bible Teaches About Immortality And Future Punishment," Page 8 and 9, (church of Christ).
[23] JOHN SCOTT: "Genesis 2:7 is the classic statement of the uniting of flesh and spirit. Here, we have the creature of flesh and bone created from the dust and then brought into a living existence by the Lord blowing into man's nostrils the breath of life. The phrase 'became a living soul' is the same Hebrew phrase used in verse 19 referring to 'every living creature,' that is, to the beasts and birds as other forms of life. In this sense of the word then, man is not distinguished from the animal world as far as life is concerned by the use of these special terms ...The nehphesh may even be said to die [Judges 16:30], but nehphesh is never used of the spirit of the dead; in fact, nowhere is the suggestion made that the soul survives the man whose life it was in the Old Testament" Harding Graduate School Lectures, 1971, Pages 130-131, Gospel Advocate Company, (church of Christ).
[24] ROGER DICKSON: "A general meaning would be that the soul has reference to any animate being of life that has sense perception ... thus, the soul would be the life principle of an individual" "Life, Death and Beyond," Biblical Research Library, Page 45, (church of Christ).
[25] ELIAS SMITH: Often referred to as "Elder" Elias Smith. "This year, in June, my attention was called to think of the real state of the wicked after the last judgment. Before this time, I had taken for truth the old pagan doctrine of 'eternal misery' for the wicked. In June, 1804, being in Mr. Holmes' bookstore, in Boston, I asked him if he had any new publications. He handed me Evan's Sketch. On opening the book my eyes first fixed on the word, 'destructionists.' I read one page, and concluded, people who held the wicked would be destroyed, were in strange error, as no such thing ever before entered my mind. I bought the book. Often after that the destruction of the wicked would pass through my mind, though I supposed eternal misery was recorded in the Bible. In April 1805, I concluded one day to take my Bible and concordance, and find eternal misery, and not have my mind any longer troubled about destruction. I examined the words misery, miserable, and miserably; and found there was not one place in the Bible where the word was used to describe the state of man beyond death. Next I looked for the word torment, and found that was limited, and that there was no torment mentioned beyond the Day of Judgment. I then looked at the words destroy, destruction, death, second death, perish, consumed, perdition, burnt up, end, etc. I examined the similitudes used to describe the end of the wicked, such as chaff and stubble burnt up; dry trees cast into the fire, and tares burnt up; the fat of lambs consumed, whirlwinds, a dream, and noise. All these things proved to me that at the last judgment, the wicked would be punished with everlasting destruction, which would be their end. My mind was settled upon the subject; but concluded to keep my discovery to myself; as the people were almost distracted with having so many new things; such as that God was one and not three, and that all rules but the Bible was useless, and that salvation was free for all. My first preaching and writing disturbed the clergy and the wicked; the next disturbed the Baptists, and I was about certain, if this were known, it would disturb my brethren with whom I was connected. I kept it back as long as duty would suffer me, and was constrained at last to make it known, or preach no more. It made some stir, but people bore it as well as could be expected. Soon after preaching it, I wrote and published five sermons upon the subject, which has never been answered to this day." The Life, Conversion, Preaching, Travel and Sufferings of Elias Smith, 1886, Page 347, (church of Christ).
[26] AL MAXEY: "The Maxey-Thrasher Debate" A debate on the eternal destiny of the wicked between two Gospel preachers, church of Christ. "'Then the Lord God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living SOUL/being' (Genesis 2:7). Some traditionalists virtually equate this last phrase (living soul) with 'immortal soul.' But, that is NOT what the passage says. God put breath within this body and the body became a living being. The exact same words are used of animals in the Scriptures. Further, it doesn't say man was GIVEN a soul. It says man BECAME a soul. Big difference!" Free on the web at: http://www.zianet.com/maxey/MxThrshr.htm (church of Christ)
[27] ROBERT DOZIER: "Dozier-Johnson Debate," The eternal destiny of the wicked by a Gospel preacher, church of Christ. "But Gehenna was all about destroying that which was dumped there. There were not cries of never ending conscious pain coming out of the bodies cast there. No conscious torment, just destruction of trash, carcasses of animals, and some dead human bodies. It was all about death and destruction. That is what those who heard Jesus speak of Gehenna would think of. Jesus spoke of the wicked and lost as being cast into Gehenna AFTER God killed them (Luke 12:5)." Free on the web at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Religiousdebates/message/1408 (church of Christ).
[28] MOSES E. LARD: "'For the wages of sin is death' it always pays. Whether the sinner stipulates for his wages or not, he is sure to receive it. What the wages of sin are, the apostle here tells us: it is eternal death. How astounding the fact that so many should serve for such a reward!" Commentary on Romans from “The Restoration Library” Page 218, 1875, Gospel Light Publishing Company, and also his book "Do The Holy Scriptures Teach The Endlessness Of Future Punishment?" I have been unable to find a copy of his book but found this about it by Steven Clark Goad in “church of Christ Christian Podcast.” He said in a recent conversation he had with Jimmy Allen of Harding University, Jimmy Allen said that he was rethinking and restudying the traditional understanding of Hell. That Jimmy Allen of Harding University shared with him more that confidentiality he would not be allow to repeat, but Jimmy Allen at Harding University sent him a copy of a paper by Moses E. Lard, 1879, “Do the Holy Scriptures Teach the Endlessness of Future Punishment?” Steven Clark Goad said this booklet by Moses E. Lord is a magnificent word study of the Greek word aion draws many of the conclusions he had outlined at: http://www.godsmessageontheweb.net/2010/07/25/thoughts-on-punishment-of-the-wicked/ this booklet by Lard points out that his understanding is not new or something a few harebrained fanatics have recently thought up to stir controversy, (church of Christ).
[29] F. LaGARD SMITH: Teacher at David Lipscomb University, “If, as we are told at funerals, out loved ones are already in heaven with Jesus, what is the purpose of Christ’s Coming and the Resurrection?” After Life, A Glimpse Of Eternity Beyond Death’s Door, (church of Christ).
[30] ROBERTSON L. WHITESIDE: "If you serve sin, you need not doubt as to what your wages are to be, nor as to whether you will be paid in full. The final reward for your service to sin is eternal death" A New Commentary On Paul's Letter To The Saints At Rome, Page 142, 1945, (church of Christ).
[31] B. W. JOHNSON: “For the wages of sin. Sin is a master of his servants and pays wages. The wages is death, one of the saddest, but profoundest truths of the world. But the gift of God. God gives to those who turn from sin, life eternal” The People’s New Testament With Notes, Gospel Light Publishing Company, (church of Christ).
[32] E. M. ZERR: "It denotes, therefore, that a life devoted to the service of sin will earn or merit the wages of death, not physical death, for all have to go through that, but the second death, designated in Revelation 21:8." Bible Commentary, Volume 5, Page 360, Copyrighted 1952 by E. M Zerr, (church of Christ).
[33] LEROY GARRETT: “Nowhere in Scripture will you find the idea that God bestows upon the wicked everlasting (unending) life or immortality so that he can then torment them forever in hell fire. The wicked die forever for two reasons: they do not have the gift of immortality, and they have to receive the wages earned for their life of sin, which is death.” Restoration Review, November 2990, “Is Hell Fire Endless?” (Church of Christ)
[34] STEVEN CLARK GOAD: “Our present traditional view of hell, borrowed from Catholicism and paganism, is no more biblical than their doctrine of limbo,” “Thoughts on Punishment of the Wicked” church of Christ Christian Ekklesia Podcast http://www.godsmessageontheweb.net/2010/07/25/thoughts-on-punishment-of-the-wicked/(church of Christ)
[35] JEREMY K. MORITZ: “I grew up in the church. For many years, I believed in the traditional view of Heaven and Hell—that souls are taken from the body immediately following death and are placed in either Heaven or Hell where they will spend eternity in bliss or unending torture. This is what most of the Christian church right now believes. For the last six or seven years, however, I have found countless scriptures that have changed my thinking considerably in this area. It seems to me that nearly the entire Bible teaches that eternal life is only experienced in Heaven, that Hell is a place of complete destruction and annihilation.” “HELL: Eternal Torment or Complete Annihilation?” http://www.jeremyandchristine.com/articles/eternal.php (church of Christ)
[36] ASHLEY S. JOHNSON: “Does the doctrine of endless punishment harmonize with the fundamental principles underlying God’s government that the hopelessly wicked, the incorrigibley wicked, shall be blotted out? Trace his dealings with the nations through the centuries. On this principle he destroyed the antediluvians (Gen. 5:1-7; 7:1-24). Also Sodom and Gomorrah (Gen., 18:20,21). Also Korah and his rebels (Num., 16:31-33). Also he made provision for the utter destruction of idolaters (Deut., 12:13-18). Also the Egyptians (Ex., 14:1-31). Also Babylon (Isa., 13:19-220.Moses predicted the destruction of the incorrigible (Deut., 18:18, 19). So did Peter (Acts, 3:22,23). John had a vision of the day (Rev., 3:13-21). Why should this be God’s method of getting rid of the wicked all through history if he is to suddenly change it at the judgment day, and consign all his sinful creatures to torment and punish that all alike and that without end? I cannot answer. Can you?” Founder and president of the Johnson Bible College, “The Resurrection And The Future Life,” Page 432-433, 1913, Knoxville Lithographing Company, (church of Christ).
[37] DILLARD THURMAN, Brown Trail Church of Christ: "The hope and aspiration of many has been shifted from His coming again to receive His own, to an immediate immortality and heavenly bliss immediately at death! Jesus DID NOT promise that!" Gospel Minutes, Volume 34, Number 5, February 1, 1985, (church of Christ).
[38] E. D. SLOUGH “Punishment lasts so long as its results last, and where death has been administered for the satisfaction of crime, THE PUNISMENT CONTINUES TILL LIFE IS RESTORED, AND IF NEVER RESTORED, IT IS AN EVERLSATING PUNISHMENT. Lost of property, loss of liberty, loss of life, may all be meted out to the transgressors under the label of punishment. And death as the capital punishment, legalized on the statutes of all civilized nations of the world, is the highest punishment man can inflict—or so recognized,--being the deprivation of life, the first source of all pleasures and enjoyments, and recognized as being forfeited for certain crimes.” “The Indictment Of Eternal Torment—The Self-negation Of A Monstrous Doctrine,” Page 196-197, F. L. Rowe, Publisher, 1914, (evangelist, church of Christ).
[39] OREN ORAHOOD and many other in the restoration movement and after (church of Christ).

LIFE IS THE MOST IMPORTANT POSSESION WE HAVE. WITHOUT IT THERE IS NOTHING. ONLY BY THE RESURRECTION AT THE SECOND COMING OF CHRIST WILL ANYONE HAVE LIFE AFTER DEATH.

BIBLLIOGRAPHY
Early in the Reformation there were many who did not believe, "You shall not surely die," but the Church of England and Calvin opposed them. A few of the many books by well known ministers, teachers, professors, Doctors, mostly orthodox Protestants or church of Christ ministers teaching that mankind does not have a part that is immortal from birth. That life after death is dependent of the resurrection, not on an immortal soul.
1. Tertullian, "Treatise on the Soul" Chapter 55
2. Martin Luther, E. Petavel, "The Problem of Immortality" Page 255
3. John Wesley, "Wesley's sermon on Luke 16:23"
4. William Tundale, "Christian Moralism" Page 99
5. Ashey S. Johnson, "The Resurrection And The Future Life" 1913 (church of Christ)
6. Elias Smith, (Often referred to as "Elder" Elias Smith) "The Life, Conversion, Preaching, Travel and Sufferings of Elias Smith, 1886 (church of Christ)
7. Dr. Joseph Priestley, "Corruptions Christianity" in Works (1818), Volume 5, Page 229
8. Edward Fudge, "The Fire That Consumes" 1982 (church of Christ)
9. R. O. Overton, "Man's Mortality," 1643
10. Moses E. Lord, "Do The Holy Scriptures Teach The Endlessness Of Future Punishment?" (church of Christ)
11. John Milton, "Treatise of Christian Doctrine" Volume. 1, chapter 13
12. Homer Hailey, "God's Judgments and Punishments" 2003 (church of Christ)
13. John Jackson, "A Dissertation on Matter and Spirit," 1735, "The Belief of a Future State" 1745, "A Clear Distinction Between True and False Religion" 1750
14. Dr. Joseph Priestley, "Disquisitions Relating to Matter and Spirit" in Works, Volume 3
15. F. LaGard Smith, "After Life, A Glimpse of Eternity Beyond Death's Door" 2003, Lipscomb University (church of Christ)
16. Bishop Edmund Law, "The State of the Dead," 1765 (Appendix)
17. Curtis Dickinson, "What The Bible Teaches About Immortality And Future Punishment" (church of Christ)
18. Archdeacon Blackburne, "A Short Historical View of the Controversy Concerning the Intermediate State" 1765
19. Samuel Bourn, "Christian Doctrine of Future Punishment" 1759
20. Dr. William Whiston, "The Eternity of Hell - Torments Considered" 1740
21. Prof. Henry Dodwell, "The Natural Mortality of Human Souls" 1708
22. Dr. William Thomson, "The Thought of Death" in the Bampton Lecture, 1862
23. Archbishop J. Tillotson, Works, 1717, Volume 1, Page 749
24. Dr. William Coward, "A Survey of the Search After Souls" and "Further Thoughts Concerning the Human Soul" 1703
25. E. D. Slough, "Indictment Of Eternal Torment—The Self-negation of a Monstrous Doctrine," 1914, (church of Christ)
26. Roger E. Dickson, "Life, Death, and Beyond" 1998 (church of Christ)
27. Henry Layton, "A Search After Souls" 1706
28. Russell Boatman, "The End Time" 1980 (church of Christ)
29. Clark Pinnock, "Four Views On Hell" 1992
30. Dr. Edward White, "Life in Christ" 1846, "That Unknown Country" and "Immortality, a Clerical Symposium" "The Unspeakable Gift" (1884)
31. Jerry Cross, "Magnolia Bible College 1984 Lectures" Page 48 and 49 (church of Christ)
32. Dr. John Thomas, "Final extinction of wicked; immortality a gift through Christ"
33. John Scott, "Harding Graduate School Lectures" 1971 (church of Christ)
34. H. H. Dobney, "Notes of Lectures on Future Punishment" 1844
35. Archbishop R. Whately, "A View of the Scriptural Revelations Concerning a Future State"
36. Sidney Hatch, Th. M., "Daring to Differ: Adventures in Conditional Immortality" 1991
37. James Panton Ham, "Life and Death; or, The Theology of the Bible in Relation to Human Mortality" 1849
38. Charles F. Hudson, "Debt and Grace as Related to the Doctrine of a Future Life" 1857, "Christ Our Life, The Scriptural Argument for Immortality Through Christ Alone" 1860
39. Samuele Bacchiocchi, "Immortality or Resurrection?" 1997
40. Dean Frenerick W., "Farrar, Mercy and Judgment" 1881
41. Dr. Robert W. Dale, "Edward White, His Life and Work" 1902
42. J. W. Hanson D.D., "The Hell Bible"
43. Samuel G. Dawson, "Jesus' Teaching on Hell" 1996 (church of Christ)
44. Canon Henry Constable, "Hades: or the Intermediate State of Man Restitution of All Things" "The Duration and Nature of Future Punishment"
45.Bishop John J. S. Perowne, "Hulsean Lectures on Immortality" 1868
46. Sir George Stokes, "That Unknown Country (A Symposium)" 1889, "Immortality, a Clerical Symposium"
47. Dr. W. A. Brown, "The Christian Hope" 1912
48. Dr. R. F. Weymouth translated The New Testament in Modern Speech. Note on 1 Corinthians 15:18: "By 'perish' the Apostle here apparently means 'pass out of existence'"
49. Dr. William Temple, "Christian Faith and Life" 1931; Drew Lecture on Immortality, 1931, "Nature, Man and God" 1953
50. Dr. Aubrey R. Vine, "An Approach to Christology" 1948
51. Dr. Lyman Abbott, "That Unknown Country" 1889
52. Dr. Emmanuel Petavel-Ollieff, "The Struggle for Eternal Life" "The Extinction of Evil" 1889, "The Problem of Immortality"
53. H. Pettingell, "The Theological Trilemma (Endless Misery) Universal Salvation, or Conditional Immortality" 1878, "Platonism versus Christianity" 1881, "The Life Everlasting: What Is It? Whence Is It? Whose Is It?" 1882, "The Unspeakable Gift" 1884
54. Al Maxey, "The Maxey-Thrasher Debate" (church of Christ)
55. Eric Lewis, "Life and Immortality" 1949. "Christ, the First Fruits" 1949
56. Dr. Basiil F. C. Atkinson, In "The Pocket Commentary of the Bible" Part One: Book of Genesis, 1954 Comment on Genesis 2:7:, Part 1, Book of Genesis, Page 32
57. DR. T. A. Kantonen, "The Christian Hope" 1954
58. Robert Dozier, "Dozier-Johnson Debate" (church of Christ)
59. DR. D. R. G. Owen, "Body and Soul" 1956
60. William Enfield, "History of Philosophy"
61. John Locke, "Reasonableness Of Christianity"
62. John Millton, "State of the Dead"
63. Dr. Reinhold Niebuhr, "The Nature and Destiny of Man" 1955, Gifford Lectures at Edinburgh, 1939
64. Jeremy K. Moritz, “HELL: Eternal Torment or complete Annihilation?” (church of Christ)
65. Steven Clark Goad, “Thoughts on Punishment of the Wicked” church of Christ Christian Ekklesia Podcast, (church of Christ)
66. William West, “Immortality Or Resurrection” 2006 and “Unconditional Immortality Or Resurrection Of The Dead” 2008, (church of Christ)
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Save this free pdf book "Unconditional Immortality Or Resurrection Of The Dead” By William Robert West
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Or html: CHAPTER ONE: The reinterpretation of the nature of man
• Soul in Genesis, Soul in the New Testament, Old Testament words, which are translated life, spirit, breath, or soul, are all used referring to both a person and animals, Soul in the Old Testament.
• Soul in the New Testament, Plato's immortal soul versus Christ's life and resurrection, Historical proof of reinterpretations of the Bible. The great confusion - Soul or Spirit or Both? http://robertwr.com/
CHAPTER TWO: Life or death? http://robertwr.com/life.html
CHAPTER THREE: The reinterpretations of the great doctrines of the Bible. http://robertwr.com/immortal.html
CHAPTERS FOUR, FIVE, SIX, AND SEVEN: http://robertwr.com/hell.html
1. CHAPTER FOUR: From where came hell? The given no chance Hell. Edward Fudge's Short Hell. The Changing Hell. The Vanishing Hell.
2. CHAPTER FIVE: Sheol, Hades, Tartarus, and the Nether World. The soul is the image of Adam.
3. CHAPTER SIX: The thirty-one passages where Hell is used in the King James Version.
4. CHAPTER SEVEN: A Strange and Unexplainable Silence.
CHAPTERS EIGHT, NINE, TEN, AND ELIVEN: http://robertwr.com/heaven.html
• CHAPTER EIGHT: The interpretation of figurative language, metaphors and symbolical passage.
o PART ONE: Israel's destruction, her weeping, gnashing of teeth, outer darkness.
o PART TWO: The intermediate bosom, the rich man and Lazarus.
o PART THREE: The symbolical pictures of Revelation versus a literal interpretation.
• CHAPTER NINE: Universalist: The "age lasting" Hell.
CHAPTER TEN: Evil Pagan teachings that are attributed to God.
CHAPTER ELEVEN: Historical proof of the changing of the teaching of the Bible
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OTHER WEB SITES of William Robert West, church of Christ, Tallahassee Florida
“The Rapture and Israel” at:https://www.createspace.com/3457158
http://robertwr.com/rapture.html The Premillennial thousand-year reign of Christ, the Rapture, and the Kingdom of Heaven.
• After the Judgment where will we spend eternity?
• When will the secret rapture come to pass? Will you miss it?
• Will there be cars without drivers after the rapture?
• What is the battle of Armageddon?
• Is Armageddon coming soon?
• Will Israel be restored? Will there be a worldwide conversion of Jews?
• Will the temple be rebuilt in Jerusalem?
• Will animal sacrifices be restored?
• What are the signs of the second coming of Christ?
• Who are the 144,000?
• Will there be one, two, or three resurrections?
• What is the "time of the Gentiles"?
• What is the "gap" theory?
• Who is the thirteenth tribe?

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Tag der Veröffentlichung: 28.01.2011

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