Re: Lake of fire
I don't believe that you have a accurate understanding of "hell." Allow me to expound.
This will be a short version.
In the Contemporary English Version Bible, at Mark 9: 47,48, Jesus says: "If your eye causes you to sin, get rid of it. You would be better off to go into God's kingdom with only one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell. The worms there never die, and the fire never stops burning."
On another occasion, Jesus spoke of a judgement period when he would say to the wicked: "Depart from me, you accursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels." He also said that these ones will "go off to eternal punishment." (Matthew 25: 41,46) I'm referencing The New American Bible.
At first glance, those words above that Jesus spoke may seem to promote the teaching of hellfire.
Obviously, Jesus did not intend to contradict God's Word, which clearly states: "The dead no longer know anything." Ecclesiastes 9:5, (NAB) |
