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.