Eternal Separation

An Exegetical View of Hell in the Bible

Jun 27, 2024

Introduction

The concept of hell has long been a subject of theological debate and contemplation within Christianity. Traditionally, hell has been perceived as a place of eternal torment for sinners, a perspective heavily influenced by various interpretations of scripture and extra-biblical sources. However, this essay proposes an alternative understanding: hell as a final state of separation from God, a state chosen by individuals through their own free will. This view aligns with a more nuanced hermeneutic of the Bible, which sees hell not as a realm of perpetual suffering, but as the ultimate consequence of a life lived apart from God's presence and grace.

A Hell of My Own Making

Before I found Jesus, my life was characterized by anguish and depression. This period of my life felt like hell on earth, and I now realize that this suffering stemmed from my own separation from God. The choices I made led me into a state of despair and isolation, revealing to me the profound truth that separation from God is, in itself, a form of hell. My journey towards faith has illuminated the fact that the absence of God's influence and blessings can result in profound emotional and spiritual torment.

Biblical Depictions of God's Judgment

The Bible consistently portrays God's judgment as an act of withdrawing His influence and blessings, effectively "turning people over" to their own desires. This concept is vividly illustrated in several scriptural passages, where God allows individuals to follow their chosen paths, even when those paths lead away from Him. This withdrawal can be seen as an act of divine justice and respect for human free will, rather than a vengeful punishment.

Romans 1:24-28: "Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves... And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done."
Psalm 81:12: "So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts, to follow their own counsels."

Free Will as an Act of Love

Free will is a fundamental aspect of a loving God. Forced love is no love at all; it is coercion. A loving God allows His creation the freedom to choose, even if that choice leads away from Him. This respect for human autonomy underscores the depth of God's love, as He desires genuine relationship rather than forced compliance.

Deuteronomy 30:19: "I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live."
Joshua 24:15: "And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve... But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord."

Justice and the End of the Age

God's justice necessitates that those who do not align with His will are ultimately turned over to their desires. If heaven and earth are to be united in perfect harmony, those who persist in sin and rebellion must be separated. This separation is not an act of cruelty, but of justice and love.

Matthew 25:31-33: "When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats."
Revelation 21:27: "But nothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who does what is detestable or false, but only those who are written in the Lamb's book of life."

The Destruction of Sin

The desires of the wicked lead to sin, which in turn causes harm to others as we discussed in our article Hurt People Hurt People. Therefore, sin must be destroyed to preserve the integrity of the restored Eden in the age to come when Jesus returns. A just and loving God would not allow sin to perpetuate indefinitely, hence the necessity of annihilation.

Malachi 4:1: "For behold, the day is coming, burning like an oven, when all the arrogant and all evildoers will be stubble. The day that is coming shall set them ablaze, says the Lord of hosts, so that it will leave them neither root nor branch."
2 Peter 3:7: "But by the same word the heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly."

God's Merciful Obliteration

As a just and loving God, it is more plausible that He chooses to blot out of existence those who would otherwise harm others, rather than subject them to eternal torment. This view aligns with the concept of God's wrath being redemptive, not retributive.

Matthew 10:28: "And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell."
Psalm 37:20: "But the wicked will perish; the enemies of the Lord are like the glory of the pastures; they vanish—like smoke they vanish away."

Redemptive Wrath Through Jesus Christ

God's redemptive wrath is exemplified in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. The wrath of God was poured out on His Son as He suffered and died on the cross, a redemptive act to save humanity from sin. This is described in several key biblical passages.

1 Peter 2:24: "He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed."
Galatians 3:13: "Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, 'Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree.'"
John 3:16: "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life."
Isaiah 53:10: "Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him; he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand."

Complete Satisfaction of God's Wrath

It is possible that God's wrath was fully satisfied on the cross, allowing Him to showcase His redemptive love through the ages. If this is the case, the notion of eternal torment becomes unnecessary, as the ultimate sacrifice has already been made.

Hebrews 10:10: "And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all."
Romans 5:9: "Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God."

Influence of Extra-Biblical Sources

The traditional view of hell as a place of eternal torment may have been influenced by Platonic and other extra-biblical sources as we discussed in our article Atonement. When reading scripture, it is essential to distinguish between eisegesis—interpreting texts through the lens of preconceived ideas—and exegesis, which seeks to understand the original meaning of the text.

Annihilationism: A Biblical Perspective

Annihilationism posits that the wicked are ultimately destroyed rather than tormented eternally. This view finds support in several scriptural passages and aligns with the understanding of God's character as both just and merciful.

Matthew 7:13-14: "Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few."
2 Thessalonians 1:9: "They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might."
Revelation 20:14-15: "Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire."

These are but a few of many scriptures that describe judgement as “destruction” or death. If the bible were attempting to describe a place of eternal torment then why does it not employ any such description?

Let’s do a biblical word study looking at two occurrences in scripture of the word eternal or everlasting from 2 Thessalonians 1:5-10:

eternal
αἰώνιον (aiōnion)
Adjective - Accusative Masculine Singular
Strong's 166: From aion; perpetual.

destruction,
ὄλεθρον (olethron)
Noun - Accusative Masculine Singular
Strong's 3639: Ruin, doom, destruction, death. From a primary ollumi; ruin, i.e. Death, punishment.
Source: Bible Hub

And from the most famous scripture in the Bible John 3:15-16:

eternal
αἰώνιον (aiōnion)
Adjective - Accusative Feminine Singular
Strong's 166: From aion; perpetual.

life.
ζωὴν (zōēn)
Noun - Accusative Feminine Singular
Strong's 2222: Life, both of physical (present) and of spiritual (particularly future) existence. From zao; life.
Source: Bible Hub

Both use the same greek word for “eternal” which is αἰώνιον (aiōnion) to describe the state of the proceeding word. So for eternal life, does this mean that you eternally receive life continually or does it mean that you receive life and that lasts for eternity? This could also be said for destruction: you receive the punishment of destruction and that is an eternal consequence because you will never be revived from the destruction for all eternity.

There are two instances where one can claim the Bible is referring to a place of eternal torment. The parable of Lazarus and the rich man and the lake of fire described in the Revelation. We will tackle these two references in a later article.

The Nature of Hell

This is not as to say that there is no Hell. Jesus clearly taught about a place of judgment, often referred to as hell. However, the method of punishment, particularly eternal torment, is not explicitly mentioned in the Bible apart from the word “destruction”. The argument for Annihilationism hinges on the character of God and a careful exegesis of the relevant scriptures.

Matthew 10:28: "And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell."
Matthew 25:46: "And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life."

However, we urge you to take a closer look at Matthew 10:28. The greek word that is translated as “hell” in this scripture is the following:

hell.
γεέννῃ (geennē)
Noun - Dative Feminine Singular
Strong's 1067: Of Hebrew origin; valley of Hinnom; ge-henna, a valley of Jerusalem, used as a name for the place of everlasting punishment.
Source: Bible Hub

There are three greek words used interchangeably by Jesus and the writers of the new testament that are translated as “hell”:

Hades - Hades, in ancient Greek religion, god of the underworld. Hades was a son of the Titans Cronus and Rhea, and brother of the deities Zeus, Poseidon, Demeter, Hera, and Hestia.
Gehenna - The greek transliteration of the Hebrew name for the Valley of Ben Hinom.
Tartarus - In Greek mythology, Tartarus the deep abyss that is used as a dungeon of torment and suffering for the wicked and as the prison for the Titans. Tartarus is the place where, according to Plato's Gorgias (c. 400 BC), souls are judged after death and where the wicked received divine punishment.

Tartarus is only used once in 2 Peter 2:4 to describe the fate of the fallen angels after the flood. The other two are used interchangeably by Jesus and have both been translated as “hell”. It is important to keep in mind that no translator is free from bias. They bring their own world views into the translation especially when translating text which are centuries old from a context and culture relatively unknown to us. Perhaps there is another likely meaning behind Jesus’s reference to Gehenna? We will tackle this topic in a later article.

The Character of God

Ultimately, the argument for Annihilationism rests on the character of God. Is the God of the Bible one who would torture non-believers for eternity, or is He a loving God who administers a just and merciful punishment? The latter view is more consistent with the overarching narrative of the Bible, which emphasizes God's love, mercy, and desire for redemption.

Psalm 103:8: "The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love."
1 John 4:8: "Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love."

Conclusion

The traditional view of hell as a place of eternal torment has been deeply ingrained in Christian thought, influenced by what I believe is a combination of scriptural misinterpretation and extra-biblical philosophies. However, a closer examination of the Bible reveals a more nuanced understanding of hell as a state of eternal separation from God, chosen by individuals through their free will. This perspective aligns with the character of God as loving, just, and merciful, offering a coherent and compassionate understanding of divine judgment.

*Emphasis mine.

Bibliography

The Holy Bible, English Standard Version.
Fudge, Edward. "The Fire That Consumes: A Biblical and Historical Study of the Doctrine of Final Punishment." Cascade Books, 2011.
Pinnock, Clark H. "The Destruction of the Finally Impenitent." Criswell Theological Review, 1990.
Stott, John R.W., and David L. Edwards. "Evangelical Essentials: A Liberal-Evangelical Dialogue." IVP Books, 1988.
Wenham, John. "The Case for Conditional Immortality." in "Universalism and the Doctrine of Hell," ed. Nigel M. de S. Cameron. Paternoster Press, 1992.

Footnotes

Romans 1:24-28, ESV.
Psalm 81:12, ESV.
Deuteronomy 30:19, ESV.
Joshua 24:15, ESV.
Matthew 25:31-33, ESV.
Revelation 21:27, ESV.
Malachi 4:1, ESV.
2 Peter 3:7, ESV.
Matthew 10:28, ESV.
Psalm 37:20, ESV.
1 Peter 2:24, ESV.
Galatians 3:13, ESV.
John 3:16, ESV.
Isaiah 53:10, ESV.
Hebrews 10:10, ESV.
Romans 5:9, ESV.
Colossians 2:8, ESV.
1 Timothy 6:20-21, ESV.
Romans 12:19, ESV.
Deuteronomy 32:35, ESV.
Matthew 7:13-14, ESV.
2 Thessalonians 1:9, ESV.
Revelation 20:14-15, ESV.
Matthew 10:28, ESV.
Matthew 25:46, ESV.
Psalm 103:8, ESV.
1 John 4:8, ESV.
2 Thessalonians 1:5-10, ESV.
John 3:15, ESV.