Take Hell Literally?

Q. Should hell as described in the Bible be taken literally? How about children and hell?

Hell as described in the Bible should definitely be taken literally. Why? Because of the literal, and not symbolic nature of the terms that are used in the Bible.

Jesus Took It Literally

When Jesus talked about “hell” he used the expression translated in Greek as geenna (or gehenna).  It is a contraction of “ge” valley and “Hinnom” (which means sorrow in Hebrew).

The Old Testament refers to this same place that Jesus mentions as Tophet (Heb. the place of burning bodies, the place of fire) in Is 30:33 and Jer 7:31.  It was a literal place where people burned their children as sacrifices to Molech, the hideous god of the Ammonites. (2 Chron 28:3).

This was all done in the Valley of Hinnom, out side of the dung gate of Jerusalem.  So Jesus would look at this place on the southeast end of the city of Jerusalem as he would talk about future judgment, where the smoke continually rose from burning trash and dead animals full of maggots…and he would say: “cast into geenna fire that never shall be quenched, where the worm dies not and the fire is not quenched” Mark 9:43, 44, 46, and 48 (he just kept repeating this for emphasis).

Matt 10:28 “destroy both soul and body in geenna” – Jesus speaks to His disciples about the extent of the punishment (soul and body). Rev 19:20 tells us that the beast and false prophet “both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone (flashing sulfur).” Rev 20:10 tells us that “tormented day and night for ever and ever” is the descriptive result.

Q. How about children and hell?

If one understands the Bible, then regarding this issue, one must think that there is some sort of theology of accountability. Romans 10:9 says that in order to be saved, one must “confess with (their) mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in (their) heart that God has raised Him from the dead.”

As we know, this is not possible for children under a certain age as well as those who suffer from certain mental disabilities. We see evidence of this in 2 Samuel 12:23 where David says after losing his infant son whom Bathsheba birthed: “I shall go to him.”

This entry was posted on February 10, 2010 at February 10, 2010 and is filed under Heaven/Hell, Jesus, The Bible. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.