I really find it hard to believe that anyone can read the Bible, particularly the NT and conclude that there is not a literal hell for those who have rejected God and His decisive revelation in Christ Jesus. To be consistent, one would have to reject the doctrine of eternal peace. I don’t think any conservative Christian would do that which makes it all the harder to believe that one would reject eternal punishment, which is clearly displayed in the Scriptures.
First off, God does not send anyone to hell, they send themselves. The oft-asked question of "why would a loving God banish the wicked to an eternal punishment?" is relatively easy to answer. The reason that God confines those to hell is simply because they wanted nothing to do with God in this life so God simply gives them what they want, eternal separation from Him. He puts them in their little compartment so to speak, where they can hurt nobody but themselves. As the Scripture says, "Draw nigh to God, and God will draw nigh to thee…ASK, and it shall be given you, SEEK, and ye shall find, KNOCK, and it shall be opened unto you." (James 4:8, Matthew 7:7) God is not going to bust your door down in the middle of the night and beat you upside the head. He has ways of dealing with us and bringing us to repentance. The Pharisees saw some of the miracles of Christ right before their eyes yet they still rejected Him. Abraham told the Rich Man that his brothers had the testimony of Moses and the prophets and if they reject that they would still not be persuaded if one came back from the grave and testified before them. (Luke 16:19-31) I think we underestimate the hardness of the human heart at times. (Jeremiah 17:9-10) So, in light of that, let’s move on and examine what the Scriptures say about hell.
Jesus spoke a lot about hell, in fact He spoke more about hell then He did heaven. For starters, Jesus paralleled the two in Matthew 10:28--Jesus says: "And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul, but rather fear Him which is able to DESTROY both soul and body in hell." The Greek word "apollumi," which comes from the Greek word "apo" and "olethros" means, to "destroy fully, to perish or lose." Now when one reads that they automatically assume under their 21st century thinking that it means that the soul of the unsaved person ceases to exist. That is not the case however. Consider this analogy. Someone carrying a bowl to the sink after dinner accidently drops it on the floor and it shatters. Now the bowl as been "destroyed" and its normal function has ceased, but it has not been "annihilated" by any means. The shards of glass are still there. The bowl has been destroyed but not annihilated. The next word in question is the Greek "geenna," translated "hell." "Gehenna" was a perpetually smoldering garbage dump outside of Jerusalem and the rabbis of that day threatened the unbelievers with Gehenna. Jesus however, stated that those who rejected God’s offer of salvation would participate in everlasting Gehenna. (Matthew 18:8, 25:41,46) These two fates are also linked together in John 3:36 where it is written: " He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him." In that text we clearly see that those who believe will attain everlasting life and those who believe not will receive the everlasting wrath of God. The same Greek word, "aionios" that we covered earlier, is used in 1 John 5:11, 13. It indicates something that is perpetual or never-ending. Jesus mentioned hell in many other passages such as: Matthew 5:22,29-30, 11:23,16:18,18:9,23:15,23:33, Mark 9:43,45,47, Luke 10:15,12:5,16:23, and Revelation 1:18. The point is really pretty clear as far as I am concerned.
In 2 Thessalonians 1:8-9 it is readily displayed that those who "obey not the gospel" will be "punished with everlasting destruction." Again, the Greek "aionios" is used. "Olethros," translated "destruction" means "to ruin, a prolonged from, death and punishment." A soul that is annihilated, or does not exist cannot and could not be punished in any sense. The point is very clear that those who reject Christ will take part in this punishment. Don’t forget the bowl analogy.
We can tie in John 3:36 and Revelation 20:10 right here. As was stated earlier, the former indicates eternal punishment for unbelievers. Revelation 20:10 states: "And the devil that deceived them was cast into the ‘lake of fire and brimstone…" We can also tie in Revelation 14:10 and Romans 2:8-9 into this. "He shall be tormented with fire and brimstone…But to them that are contentious, and do not obey the truth…tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil…" It is apparent that those who deny the truth will be consigned to everlasting "gehenna" and be "tormented" day and night for eternity. The Greek "meno," translated "abide" means, "to stay (in a given place, state, relation, or expectancy.)" The Greek "basanizo," translated "tormented" means, "to torture, pain toil, torment, toss and/or vex." You cannot vex or torment something that ceases to exist. In John 3:16 Jesus says, "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not PERISH, but have everlasting life." The Greek word that is translated "perish" is "apollumi." We have already gone over what that word means. You cannot "perish" in heaven.
Lastly, the meaning is very clear when one digs into the Greek. In light of the fact that Jesus and other Scriptures in general, speak of everlasting life and contempt in the same breath. (1 John 2:22-23) It is utterly impossible to reject the doctrine of eternal banishment from God and still hold to the same doctrine of eternal life. You cannot have one without the other.
