Is “the eternal fire” Jesus warned of literal or symbolic? Note that “the eternal fire” mentioned by Jesus and recorded at
Matthew 25:41 was prepared “for the devil and his angels.” Do you think that literal fire can burn spirit creatures? Or was Jesus using the term “fire” symbolically? Certainly “the sheep” and “the goats” mentioned in the same discourse are not literal; they are word pictures that represent two types of people. (
Matthew 25:32, 33) The eternal fire that Jesus spoke of completely burns up the wicked in a figurative sense.
In what sense do the wicked “go off to eternal punishment”? Although most translations use the word “punishment” at
Matthew 25:46, the basic meaning of the Greek word
koʹla·sin is “checking the growth of trees,” or pruning, cutting off needless branches. So while the sheeplike ones receive everlasting life, the unrepentant goatlike ones suffer “eternal punishment,” being forever cut off from life.
Jesus never taught that humans have an immortal soul. However, he often did teach about the resurrection of the dead. (
Luke 14:13, 14; John 5:25-29; 11:25) Why would Jesus say that the dead would be resurrected if he believed that their souls had not died?
Jesus did not teach that God would maliciously torture the wicked forever. Rather, Jesus said: “God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life.” (
John 3:16,
NAB) Why would Jesus imply that those who did not believe in him would die? If he really meant that they would live forever, suffering misery in a fiery hell, would he not have said so?
The doctrine that hell is a place of torment is not based on the Bible. Rather, it is a pagan belief masquerading as a Christian teaching. (See the box
“A Brief History of Hell,” on page 6.) No, God does not torture people eternally in hell. How can learning the truth about hell affect your attitude toward God?