Does the story of Lazarus prove hellfire?

In the previous columns in this series we’ve done our best to ‘turn the hose on hell’, as an old expression goes.

The Bible is very clear that the dead are asleep, that their thought processes have ended, that they know nothing. (Eccl. 9:5, 10; Ps. 146:4) That is incontrovertible – the dead are asleep and will continue to sleep until they are raised from the grave.

 But we haven’t convinced everyone. Those whose sense of justice demands that bad people be eternally tormented in fire still have one card up their sleeve: Jesus’ parable of The Rich Man and Lazarus. So let’s take a close look at that. 

[Just in case anyone is confused, the Lazarus Jesus resurrected, brother of Martha and Mary, was a real person. The 'Lazarus' in this parable, or illustration, is an unrelated fictitious character.] 

Here's how the parable starts: 

“Now the Pharisees, who were money lovers, were listening.”(Luke 16:14-31)

Who is the parable addressed to? The Pharisees. Which of their qualities does the introduction emphasize? Their greed.

 But that isn’t the only descriptor. It next says, “They began to sneer at him.” This highlights their contempt for others. Is that important? Let’s look at another account where they sneered:

“The officers replied: “Never has any man spoken like this.” In turn the Pharisees answered: “You have not been misled also, have you? Not one of the rulers or of the Pharisees has put faith in him, has he? But this crowd who do not know the Law are accursed people.”” (John 7:46-49)

What was the relationship between the Pharisees and “this crowd” supposed to be? The Pharisees were their teachers. What kind of teachers sneer at, insult, their students?

“The Pharisees heard the crowd murmuring these [complimentary] things about [Jesus], and the chief priests and the Pharisees sent officers to seize him.” (John 7:32)

“. . .the crowd went to meet him, because they heard he had performed this sign. So the Pharisees said among themselves: “You see that you are not getting anywhere. Look! The whole world has gone after him.”” (John 12:18, 19)

The Pharisees called the uneducated masses by the Hebrew term ʽam ha·ʼaʹrets. Politely, that translates as “people of the land.” Less politely, it was their way of calling them ‘dirt people’. They regarded the common people as ignorant of the Mosaic Law, who didn’t observe or even know the minutiae of Jewish traditions their leaders tried to burden them with.

So Jesus scathing remarks to the Pharisees make more sense as he continues:

“You are those who declare yourselves righteous before men, but God knows your hearts. For what is considered exalted by men is a disgusting thing in God’s sight.”

Again, highlighting their second negative trait: pride. He went on:

 “The Law and the Prophets were until John. From then on, the Kingdom of God is being declared as good news, and every sort of person is pressing forward toward it. Indeed, it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one stroke of a letter of the Law to go unfulfilled.”

Jesus’ words here focus on the change that began with John the Baptist’s ministry. 'The Law was until John.' Jesus is not insulting the Law; he is emphasizing the significant change the Pharisees failed to notice. When John’s ministry began preparing the nation for the messiah, that change began. When Jesus completed his ministry, that change would be complete. Next he says:

 “Everyone who divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery, and whoever marries a woman divorced from her husband commits adultery.”

Some commentators suggest that Luke or copyists here inserted words that belong somewhere else, but there is no reason to believe that. Jesus is still talking about the Law, and the changed circumstance he introduced in the previous sentence. The relationship between the people and the Law, represented by religious leaders, was much like a marriage. If the people left the Law to begin following Jesus, that would be tantamount to adultery. The appropriate end of the former relationship had to be more like a death - a complete break. (Paul made exactly the same argument in Romans 7:2-6.)

And now we are better positioned to understand Jesus’ illustration of the Rich man and Lazarus.

“There was a rich man who used to dress in purple and linen, enjoying himself day after day with magnificence. But a beggar named Lazarus used to be put at his gate, covered with ulcers and desiring to be filled with the things dropping from the table of the rich man. Yes, even the dogs would come and lick his ulcers. Now in the course of time, the beggar died and was carried off by the angels to Abraham’s side. Also, the rich man died and was buried. And in the Grave he lifted up his eyes, being in torment, and he saw Abraham from afar and Lazarus by his side. So he called and said, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in anguish in this blazing fire.’ But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that you had your fill of good things in your lifetime, but Lazarus for his part received bad things. Now, however, he is being comforted here, but you are in anguish. And besides all these things, a great chasm has been fixed between us and you, so that those who want to go over from here to you cannot, neither may people cross over from there to us.’ Then he said, ‘That being so, I ask you, father, to send him to the house of my father, for I have five brothers, in order that he may give them a thorough witness so that they will not also come into this place of torment.’ But Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to these.’ Then he said, ‘No, indeed, father Abraham, but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’ But he said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be persuaded if someone rises from the dead.’”

The last line was an arrow into the heart of Pharisaical thinking: If they were not persuaded by their clear understanding of the pronouncements of Moses and other prophets that he, Jesus, was the messiah, they were not going to be persuaded even when he rose from the dead.

Now, let’s tear the story down further. What sins did the rich man commit that got him consigned to ‘hell’? None. Just being rich. But surely that isn’t enough to send someone to hell, is it? We are told that Lazarus ‘desired’ to eat what fell from the rich man’s table… does Jesus say the rich man prevented Lazarus from eat the scraps? No.

While we’re on that subject: what did the beggar Lazarus do to gain the great privilege of going to ‘heaven’ to lie in Abraham’s bosom? (Ignoring the fact that Jesus had already told the Pharisee Nicodemus that Abraham wasn't in heaven. John 3:13)What faith or deeds did Lazarus display? If we take Jesus’ words literally then all rich people go to hell, just for being rich; and all poor beggars go to heaven, just for being poor! 

Jesus was not teaching hellfire. He was simply describing the change, how the 'dirt people' were now being comforted by his ministry, at the same time that the Pharisees were being tormented by it.

According to Josephus, the Pharisees believed in immortality of the soul. They also believed that the “souls of bad men are subject to eternal punishment.” Does that mean that we should believe that, or that Jesus believed that? Certainly not. 

In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus told the people, “You heard that it was said: ‘You must love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’” Who had the people “heard” this said by? Their religious teachers, including the Pharisees. But Jesus wasn’t teaching that. Neither was he teaching that the poor go to heaven and the rich go to hell. Nor was he teaching that a dead person could be tormented, nor that Abraham was alive somewhere – How could Jesus teach things that contradict clear statements in the scriptures? (Eccl. 3:20; Ps. 104:29)

No real ‘rich men’ were harmed in the making of this illustration. And there is no biblical basis for believing in hellfire. 

 Please feel free to leave a comment. To go to the previous column in this series 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.

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.