Eternal Damnation: What does the Bible Really Teach? Part 1 Traditionally, the most prominent view regarding eternal damnation is that the people cast into hell—the lake of fire—will suffer fiery conscious torments forever and ever. Depicting the horrors of this belief was a favorite subject amongst artists in medieval times, resulting in all manner of imaginative and ghastly portraits of people suffering unending agony. Some have since tried to modify this position a bit, suggesting a more metaphorical view, that the unending pain experienced probably refers to the mental anguish of eternal loss and “separation from God;” but it makes no significant difference as both views involve the notion of eternal torment. This may indeed be the traditionally prominent view regarding human damnation, but is it biblical? That is, do the Judeo-Christian scriptures really teach it? Will the multitudes of people who reject God, and hence are rejected by God, really be subjected to never-ending conscious misery—with no merciful pause to their agony? One might contend that it is heretical to even question such a long-standing, widely accepted Christian teaching, but if this doctrine is truly scriptural then its proponents have nothing to worry about. Furthermore, it is only proper that all doctrines, no matter how traditional or popular, be questioned in light of what the bible clearly teaches, for it is the God-breathed scriptures alone which we must look to for truth, not popularity or religious tradition. This is the theological principle of sola scriptura, Latin for “by scripture alone,” which maintains that the bible is the final authority regarding all judgments of Christian doctrine and practice. Because of this sound principle many traditional doctrines and practices have proven to be false over the years and have properly been discarded. Needless to say it’s a very positive thing for Christians to periodically reevaluate their beliefs and practices because it helps prevent Christendom from straying from the biblical model. Since reevaluating official church teachings is very much a part of the Christian heritage, and is indeed a healthy practice, there should be no problem presently in simply entertaining the possibility that tradition may be in error regarding this belief of perpetual conscious torment.
Posted on: Sat, 27 Sep 2014 00:33:38 +0000
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