Thursday, August 28, 2025

Is Hell real?


Does the Bible really teach hellfire? No, it does not. Absolutely, positively, no.

Why do so many conservative Christians believe in Hell – not, typically for themselves, mind you, but more especially for those who disagree with them?

  • You don’t believe the universe is only 6,000 years old? You’re going to Hell.
  • You don’t believe Jesus is God? You’re going to Hell.
  • You don’t believe that all good people go to heaven? You’re going to Hell.
  • You don’t observe the Sabbath? You’re going to Hell.
  • You don’t believe that being saved by God’s grace is the most vital teaching in the Bible? You’re going to Hell.

As I’ve said in several earlier columns: If ONE scripture, properly understood, contradicts your belief, it's time to abandon the belief.

So let’s start at the beginning:

Our English word “hell” derives from a German word, which is also the root of the English word “hole”. The German word was also closely connected with the Hebrew word “sheol”.

Why should we care about word origins? Well, the Hebrew word “sheol” occurs 65 times in the Old Testament. When the King James was translated in 1611, it rendered sheol as “hell” only 31 times, not the full 65.

Wait; what?

Exactly. If the Bible’s message was that bad people go to hell, shouldn’t all 65 times have been consistently translated as hell? Why did the KJV sometimes render sheol as something else? Because some of those other verses directly contradicted their beliefs about Hell.

For example: 

Ecclesiastes 9:10 says, “Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest.”

 Why did the translators render sheol as “grave” in that passage instead of “hell”?

Clearly, because it says we are all going to…whatever sheol is. It also makes it clear that we will all be asleep there – no work, no devising, no thinking, certainly no torture. If you believe Sheol is hellfire, then this verse contradicts your belief. So let’s not tell people this is one of the places that says “sheol” in Hebrew and should be rendered “hell” if we were honest. Let’s just change it to read ‘grave’. 

 Here's another one:

"O that thou wouldest hide me in the grave, that thou wouldest keep me secret, until thy wrath be past, that thou wouldest appoint me a set time, and remember me!" (Job 14:13)

The Hebrew says "sheol"; the KJV translators rendered it 'the grave'. Why? Well, why would Job pray to go to hell? He wouldn't. But Job understood not only that there was no torture after death, but also that God would remember him at some future time and bring him back to life. If his choices were heaven or hell instantly at death, as many Christians today believe, why would he pray to be remembered?

But what about all those places in the Bible that teach torment in “hellfire”? 

Well: First of all, name one. I’ll wait. The Bible does not include the word "hellfire" in any verse at all. While there are passages that seem to teach about a burning place where souls are tormented forever, they can't mean that; we've just proven that the Bible teaches that the dead are unconscious, awaiting a resurrection. How can you torment someone who is unconscious? Therefore, the verses that seem to be suggesting torment after death, have to mean something else.

We’ll deal with that false teaching in the next column.

 Please feel free to leave a comment. To read another of my columns on a similar subject click here.

 Bill K. Underwood is a columnist and author of several books. You can help support this channel by clicking on this link to purchase one of his books at Amazon.com.

 


Wednesday, July 23, 2025

Why does everyone think they are going to heaven?

As we posited in the last column, Pope Francis did not go to heaven when he died, despite the diehard beliefs of millions. Nor did any of the popes that came before him. This is not to denigrate any of those men, though some may deserve denigrating. It’s simply a statement of fact about what doesn't happen when we die.

Where did that idea of going to heaven after we die originate?

People have believed, since almost the beginning of humanity, that they have a spirit or soul that continues on after death. Some attach the idea of an immortal soul to Satan’s false promise to Eve: “You certainly will not die.” (Genesis 3:4) But he wasn’t trying to teach this very inexperienced human a new philosophy. He was talking about her current, present, fleshly life. That was the life that she feared losing if she disobeyed God’s command about eating from the tree. She clearly understood that eating from the tree would end her life. She had no concept of life being temporary, of a soul that could pass on to some other world if her flesh died.

However, some time after she did in fact die Satan began spreading the lie that people didn’t really die when they seemed to; that some part of Eve, some part of every human descended from Adam and Eve, has had some spirit part of themselves that lived on.

It makes great fiction. But it has no basis in fact.

When false religion arose – or rose again, perhaps – in the days of Nimrod a couple centuries after the flood, Satan was able to use those religionists to teach that souls or spirits from dead people continued. Satan or his pet religious leaders eventually settled on the idea that promising good people a better afterlife, and promising those who disobeyed them a horrible one, was a great tool for persuading folks to do their bidding. The plentiful finds of archaeologists of food, wine, canoes, etc., in ancient tombs proves that the idea of life continuing after death has been around for a long time.

The belief was refined for the western world by Plato more than 400 years before Christ. According to Josephus , by the time Jesus came along the teaching of an immortal soul had infected even the Jews, who should have known better. Their scriptures, inspired by God, said clearly: “The living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing at all.” (Ecclesiastes 9:5) ‘[When] he returns to the ground, on that very day his thoughts perish.’ (Psalm 146:4) They also knew what reward they could properly look forward to: “The meek will possess the earth, and they will find exquisite delight in the abundance of peace.” (Psalm 37:11)

 Did Jesus teach contrary to this? That people had an immortal soul, that they would go to heaven when they died? No!

Jesus reiterated Psalm 37: “Happy are the meek, because they shall inherit the earth.” (Matthew 5:5) He had grown up in the synagogue and had no doubt memorized this and all the scriptures. Further, Jesus had been there when his father told Adam and Eve, ‘fill the earth and subdue it.’ (Genesis 1:28) And he had been there when Satan lyingly told Eve she wouldn’t die.

So if Jesus didn’t teach it, where did everyone get the idea that they’re all going to heaven when they die? They got it at church. But the church didn’t get it from the Bible. They got it from Plato, who got it from Socrates, who got it from earlier pagan Eastern religions, all influenced by Satan.

Now, wait though: The Bible does talk about people going to heaven, doesn’t it? Yes, it does. But not everybody.

Here’s a rule you have to follow when reading the Bible: If one straightforward verse (correctly understood) contradicts your belief – even if your belief is based on another verse – it isn’t the Bible that’s contradictory. It’s your belief.

So Jesus told the apostles: “If I go my way and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will receive you home to myself, so that where I am you also may be.” (John 14:3)

'AHA! There you go! We’re going to heaven to be with Jesus!' But that's not what it says. 

Can we safely assume that the apostles have joined Jesus is heaven? Yes. But did Jesus say that to you and me? No. 

On one occasion Jesus told Peter to go throw a fishhook into the sea and the fish he caught would have a coin in its mouth with which to pay their taxes. So does that mean that we all should expect to find a coin in the mouth of a fish when we go fishing? Of course not.  

The belief that all good people go to heaven can’t be based on Jesus telling the apostles that they would be going to heaven. That belief contradicts Matthew 5:5 and Psalm 37:11.

What about this one: “But now they are reaching out for a better place, that is, one belonging to heaven. Therefore, God is not ashamed of them, to be called on as their God, for he has prepared a city for them.” (Hebrews 11:16) Doesn’t that say that all Christians have a ‘city’ prepared for them in heaven? Not at all. 

We have to ask, about whom is Paul speaking? In this chapter, Paul lists many faithful people from the past, such as Abraham and Sarah. Was Paul saying they went to heaven? No. “In faith all of these died, although they did not receive the fulfillment of the promises.” (Hebrews 11:13) Who is Paul speaking to, then? “Those who speak in such a way” – speak, present tense, in Paul’s day, about Abraham and Sarah’s example of living their lives in the Promised Land as temporary residents, dying faithful without receiving their reward –  “make it evident that they” – the speakers, the Hebrew Christians Paul was writing to – “are earnestly seeking a place of their own.” (Hebrews 11:14)

Paul reassured those Hebrew Christians that they could have faith in a reward in heaven, even as Abraham and Sarah had faith in a future reward of being resurrected to inherit the earth.

So, can Hebrews 11 be used to back the belief that all good people go to heaven? No. That belief contradicts Matthew 5:5 and Psalm 37:11.

What about this one: “For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised up incorruptible, and we will be changed.” (1 Corinthians 15:52) Does that say that everyone goes to heaven? No. Paul’s hope for the future had been changed, by God, from inheriting the earth to a hope of heavenly life. That was true also of those faithful Christians he wrote to in Corinth. But it cannot mean that everyone is going to heaven. That belief contradicts Matthew 5:5 and Psalm 37:11.

Other passages in the Bible add details about those humans whose future hope got changed, by God, from earth to heaven. It tells us that this arrangement of people going to heaven is a special arrangement rather than the future hope the rest of us have been promised. (2 Corinthians 5:17) The Bible tells us the people in heaven will be kings and priests, that is, intermediaries between God and humankind on earth. (Revelation 5:10) And it tells us that the ones going to heaven are a very small percentage of the human race. (Revelation 14:1-4; Luke 12:32)

Imagine this: my neighbor hands me a letter he received. I read it, and it says ‘Coming for a visit, Son. Look forward to seeing you. Love, Mom.’ What would you think of me if I read that and said, Oh! My mom’s coming for a visit!’ Idiotic, right? The letter is not telling me what is in my future, it is telling me what is in his. Paul was telling some of those Christians in his day what was in their future.

What is in my future? ‘Happy are the meek, for they will possess the earth.’

 Please feel free to leave a comment. To read another of my columns on a similar subject click here.

 

 Bill K. Underwood is a columnist and author of several books. You can help support this channel by clicking on this link to purchase one of his books at Amazon.com. 

 

 

 

Tuesday, April 29, 2025

Did the pope go to heaven or hell?

I know most Catholics would confidently answer that he surely went to heaven. I’m also sure there are detractors who would consign him to hell.

I can say with equal confidence, based on the Bible, that neither answer is correct.

God’s original purpose for humans was clear: “Be fruitful and become many, fill the earth and subdue it.” (Genesis 1:28)

He also educated Adam about death: “. . .as for the tree of the knowledge of good and bad, you must not eat from it, for in the day you eat from it you will certainly die.” (Genesis 2:17)

It was very clear: Adam and Eve were to live on the earth forever, 'subduing it', that is, turning the whole earth into a paradise like their garden of Eden. They need only worry about dying if they disobeyed God.

Ultimately they did disobey. Did they go to heaven, or hell? No.


 God told them what would happen next: “In the sweat of your face you will eat bread until you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken. For dust you are and to dust you will return.” (Genesis 3:19)

God is the ultimate definition of justice. If torment in hell awaited Adam and Eve for disobedience, wouldn’t God have warned them of that in advance? For that matter, if some blissful life in heaven waited in their future if they were obedient, better even than their life in their paradise garden, wouldn’t God have let them know that reward awaited them?

They died disobedient, and they returned to the dust.

They had no offspring while they were still sinless in the garden. Cain, Abel, and their dozens of other kids and grandkids came along after Adam and Eve sinned. So the kids all inherited their parent’s imperfection. Over the past however-many-hundreds of generations since then, we all have inherited that imperfection. And every single human who ever lived died. It is such a normal part of life that, even though we hate death and the Bible rightly calls death an “enemy” (1 Cor. 15:26), it makes it difficult to get our heads around the basic fact that Adam and Eve had the prospect of never dying, of living forever in paradise. They deprived us of that potential.

When Adam and Eve sinned, would God have said, ‘Okay, new plan: Good people will go to heaven when they die, bad people to hell, and we’ll just burn up the earth.’Does that make sense to you?

Me neither.

So why do nearly all Christians believe they are going to heaven when they die? Why do so many believe that hellfire awaits them if they are bad?

We’ll get into that in Part Two. 

 

Feel free to leave a polite comment. To read another of my columns on a related subject, click here.

 

Bill K. Underwood is the author of several books, all available at Amazon.com. You can help support this site by purchasing one of his books.

Wednesday, October 23, 2024

Why Real Christians Don’t Vote


I walked past a neighbor’s house that was festooned with half a dozen “Vote for…” signs, all bearing names of people I’d never heard of. He was on his porch, so I asked him: “Do you know all these people?”

“Personally? No.”

“Then why are you advertising their campaigns?”

“I’m Republican. So are they,” was his answer.

Sure didn’t seem like a good enough reason to me, but thankfully I managed to bite my tongue.

As I’ve mentioned in previous columns, I don’t vote. I'm not registered to vote. I made a conscious choice long ago to never vote. I work hard to have no opinion as to who should win or lose.

A person may abstain from voting this time around simply because they don’t like either of the candidates. But that doesn’t mean they have rejected the system of a government run by individuals who won election.

You may be promoting a candidate; or you may be less than thrilled with any of the candidates but believe in the process, so you vote for the 'lesser of two evils'. In either case, until you separate yourself from the system, you are the system.

A renowned scholar of the 19th century, Herbert Spencer, noted that whether a person votes for the winning candidate, votes for a losing candidate, or abstains from voting, he will be “deemed to have consented to the rule” of the winning candidate because of his tacit approval of the system.

Even if you don’t vote? Yes. Why? 

In parliamentary procedure, which also applies in the U.S. House of Representatives, the U.S. Senate - really most groups or classes that make decisions by voting - a member may be required to abstain from a vote in the case of a real or perceived conflict of interest, or may choose to abstain for ethical reasons. (In reality, most politicians have proven that they have no ethics. They are most likely to abstain from voting on a thorny issue for fear their constituents back home might hate them for voting for or against it.)

But: abstaining from voting doesn’t mean they are no longer a representative or a senator. Their simple presence provides a quorum; it makes it possible for the vote to go forward.

But you’re not a senator or a representative. Does the “quorum” rule apply to you? Yes, it does.

For example, let’s say you were a registered voter in 1968. You could have voted for Richard Nixon, voted for Hubert Humphrey, or voted for George Wallace. You could have tried to vote but found the lines too long at the polls; you could have been too sick to get to the polls; or you could have chosen to abstain from voting that year because you didn’t like any of the choices. Still: if you were part of the political system you were at least partially responsible for the 543,000 U.S. soldiers Nixon ordered to Vietnam in 1969, 11,780 of whom never returned. “But I wouldn’t have voted for that!” Doesn’t matter. You were part of the system. It's called Community Responsibility which I addressed in another column.

But, we've all been told that voting is a civic duty. Does voting really go against Christian principles?

When Pontius Pilate asked Jesus about his kingship Jesus replied, “My Kingdom is no part of this world. If my Kingdom were part of this world, my attendants would have fought that I should not be handed over to the Jews.” (John 18:36)

Being a Christian, then, means being “no part.” I am not for Trump; I am not for Kamala; I am not leaning toward one or the other.

But Bill, I can hear someone saying, until the kingdom is established, don't you want to have some say in these political decisions that might affect you?

No. None of those political decisions will have any effect on the kingdom I support. Here’s what I care about: The Bible told us what to look for in these last days: Major wars, check; Earthquakes in one place after another, check; Food shortage, starvation and inflation, check; pandemics and plagues, check; rapidly increasing lawlessness and loss of love of neighbor, check; ruining planet Earth, check. (Matthew 24, Luke 21, Revelation 6 & 11) Those prophecies have all been fulfilled. 

And they were fulfilled regardless of who was in office.

The next big thing I’m watching for will be a major outcry of “Peace and Security!” followed almost immediately by a governmental attack on religion.  Will that happen if Trump is president? Yes. Will it happen if someone else is? Yes. The simple fact is, it will happen regardless of who is in office.  

My stand is quite adamantly that this system does not work, cannot be made to work, and is no substitute for Christ’s kingdom. It isn’t a ‘back-up plan’, it isn’t some sort of God-approved band-aid to fill in until the kingdom is established.

Daniel 2:44 says very clearly that in our time God’s kingdom ‘will crush all these kingdoms.’ It does not say that somehow these governments are going to help establish the kingdom. "Crush." Picture the kingdom as a locomotive. In comparison, the world's governments are an ant standing on the tracks, trying to demand the train go around.

I don’t want to show even grudging acceptance of any of these man-made kingdoms that God is about to crush. I want to be as far away from all these kingdoms as I can get. 

Feel free to leave a polite comment. To read another of my columns on a similar subject, click here.

 

Bill K. Underwood is the author of several books, all available at Amazon.com. You can help support this site by purchasing one of his books.