What does the Bible say about hell?

Luther has translated two words by "hell," although their meaning is altogether and entirely distinct. One expression is used for the place of future torment prepared for the devil and his angels; the other in general for the unseen or invisible world of spirits... But since we find the same word applied to Christ, who went into paradise, we have preferred to keep the Greek word itself, "hades," so that it would not be confused with "hell" (gehenna), which is the place of eternal torment. In hades there may be joy as well as torment. The rich man and Lazarus were both in hades. In hell there is only torment.

The proof lies in the fact that while the Lord speaks of the danger of being cast into gehenna, and clearly states that such a doom will affect both soul and body, the Apostle John in vision presents the lake of fire as that into which the souls and bodies of unbelievers will be consigned in their final doom. They cannot possibly be two different places.

It is not a little remarkable that every time hell [gehenna] is spoken of, except once (see James 3:6), it is from the lips of the Son of God Himself. If it had been otherwise the critics would have cried out, "Paul spoke of gehenna, Peter spoke of gehenna, but Christ never did."

If there had been no heaven to win, He would have told us; and if there had been no hell to shun, would He not have told us?

Nor can we imagine that the blessed Lord would have repeated five times within the space of a few verses the conclusive statement, "Where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched," if He had not intended to show the final and eternal doom awaiting the guilty and lost.

God never gives up His character as Judge of evil. The lake of fire is an actual and eternal place of punishment. In what part of the universe it is situated we do not know. The current denial of eternal punishment finds no support here, but absolute condemnation in the solemn passage before us. The eighth verse is as distinctly eternal as the first or second.

The explanation shows that the thought is not extinction, which is only a conclusion drawn from the effect of fire on weeds. The effect of the fire, like that of the outer darkness, is weeping and gnashing of teeth. So what is indicated is not a cessation of existence, as they claim, but suffering — suffering called everlasting (Matt. 25:46), in contrast with everlasting life. The fire is a figure, the habitual figure of judgment.

He does not say, "Cursed of My Father," matching "Blessed of My Father." God hates putting away... Hell was not prepared for poor guilty man. He deserves it; but it was prepared for the devil and his angels... There was no hope of deliverance for those fallen angels — no redemption for them. They wilfully and without a tempter departed from God. Man was tempted by an enemy; and God feels for guilty man, drawn away by a mightier, if not more guilty, rebel than himself.

The solemn session of judgment referred to in Revelation 20 will not be an indiscriminate act... Each one has committed his own sins, and for them he will be judged and punished everlastingly. We are aware that many hold the notion that people will only be judged for rejecting the gospel. It is a fatal mistake... What are we to learn from the "many stripes" and the "few stripes" of Luke 12? What is the force of the words "more tolerable" in Matthew 11?

At infinite cost to Himself, God has provided a way of escape, even through the death of the Lord Jesus Christ, who bore all the wrath of God against sin and made full atonement for it.