Is Hell literally a place of fire and brimstone?

By raining down fire and brimstone upon the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, God not only demonstrated how He felt about overt sin, but He also launched an enduring metaphor. After the events of Genesis 19:24, the mere mention of fire, brimstone, Sodom or Gomorrah instantly transports a reader into the context of God’s judgment. Such an emotionally potent symbol, however, has trouble escaping its own gravity. This fiery image can impede, rather than advance, its purpose. A symbol should show a similarity between two dissimilar entities. Fire and brimstone describes some of what hell is like—but not all of what hell is.

The word the Bible uses to describe a burning hell—Gehenna—comes from an actual burning place, the valley of Gehenna adjacent to Jerusalem on the south. Gehenna is an English transliteration of the Greek form of an Aramaic word, which is derived from the Hebrew phrase “the Valley of (the son[s] of) Hinnom.” In one of their greatest apostasies, the Jews (especially under kings Ahaz and Manasseh) passed their children through the fires in sacrifice to the god Molech in that very valley (2 Kings 16:3; 2 Chronicles 33:6;Jeremiah 32:35). Eventually, the Jews considered that location to be ritually unclean (2 Kings 23:10), and they defiled it all the more by casting the bodies of criminals into its smoldering heaps. In Jesus’ time this was a place of constant fire, but more so, it was a refuse heap, the last stop for all items judged by men to be worthless. When Jesus spoke of Gehenna hell, He was speaking of the city dump of all eternity. Yes, fire was part of it, but the purposeful casting away—the separation and loss—was all of it.

In Mark 9:43 Jesus used another powerful image to illustrate the seriousness of hell. “If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life maimed than with two hands to go into hell, where the fire never goes out.” For most readers, this imagedoes escape its own gravity—in spite of the goriness! Few believe that Jesus wants us literally to cut off our own hand. He would rather that we do whatever is necessary to avoid going to hell, and that is the purpose of such language—to polarize, to set up an either/or dynamic, to compare. Since the first part of the passage uses imagery, the second part does also, and therefore should not be understood as an encyclopedic description of hell.

How is eternity in Hell a fair punishment for sin?

This is an issue that bothers many people who have an incomplete understanding of three things: the nature of God, the nature of man, and the nature of sin. As fallen, sinful human beings, the nature of God is a difficult concept for us to grasp. We tend to see God as a kind, merciful Being whose love for us overrides and overshadows all His other attributes. Of course God is loving, kind, and merciful, but He is first and foremost a holy and righteous God. So holy is He that He cannot tolerate sin. He is a God whose anger burns against the wicked and disobedient (Isaiah 5:25; Hosea 8:5; Zechariah 10:3). He is not only a loving God—He is love itself! But the Bible also tells us that He hates all manner of sin (Proverbs 6:16-19). And while He is merciful, there are limits to His mercy. “Seek the LORD while he may be found; call on him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake his way and the evil man his thoughts. Let him turn to the LORD, and he will have mercy on him, and to our God, for he will freely pardon” (Isaiah 55:6-7).

Humanity is corrupted by sin, and that sin is always directly against God. When David sinned by committing adultery with Bathsheba and having Uriah murdered, he responded with an interesting prayer: “Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight…” (Psalm 51:4). Since David had sinned against Bathsheba and Uriah, how could he claim to have only sinned against God? David understood that all sin is ultimately against God. God is an eternal and infinite Being (Psalm 90:2). As a result, all sin requires an eternal punishment. God’s holy, perfect, and infinite character has been offended by our sin. Although to our finite minds our sin is limited in time, to God—who is outside of time—the sin He hates goes on and on. Our sin is eternally before Him and must be eternally punished in order to satisfy His holy justice.

No one understands this better than someone in hell. A perfect example is the story of the rich man and Lazarus. Both died, and the rich man went to hell while Lazarus went to paradise (Luke 16). Of course, the rich man was aware that his sins were only committed during his lifetime. But, interestingly, he never says, “How did I end up here?” That question is never asked in hell. He does not say, “Did I really deserve this? Don't you think this is a little extreme? A little over the top?” He only asks that someone go to his brothers who are still alive and warn them against his fate. 

The Deity of the Holy Spirit

Christianity has traditionally taught that the Holy Spirit is the third Person or Hypostasis of the Godhead. Some, however, have taught that the Holy Spirit is an impersonal force used by God. Is the Holy Spirit God, or simply a power of God? Let's examine the biblical teachings.

I. The Deity of the Holy Spirit

Scripture speaks repeatedly of the Holy Spirit, known also as the Spirit of God and the Spirit of Jesus Christ. Scripture indicates that the Holy Spirit is of the same essence as the Father and the Son. The Holy Spirit is ascribed with the attributes of God, is equated with God and does work that only God does.

A. Attributes of God

1. Holiness: In more than 90 places, the Bible calls the Spirit of God "the Holy Spirit." Holiness is a basic characteristic of the Spirit. The Spirit is so holy that blasphemy against the Spirit cannot be forgiven, although blasphemy against Jesus could be (Matt. 12:32). Insulting the Spirit is just as sinful as trampling the Son of God under foot (Heb. 10:29). This indicates that the Spirit is inherently holy, holy in essence, rather than having an assigned or secondary holiness such as the temple had.

The Spirit also has the infinite attributes of God: unlimited in time, space, power and knowledge.

2. Eternality: The Holy Spirit, the Counselor, will be with us "forever" (John 14:16). The Spirit is "eternal" (Heb. 9:14).

3. Omnipresence: David, praising God's greatness, asked, "Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there" (Ps. 139:7-8). God's Spirit, which David uses as a synonym for the presence of God himself, is in heaven and in sheol (v. 8), in the east and in the west (v. 9).

God's Spirit can be said to be poured out on someone, to fill a person, or to descend — yet without implying that the Spirit has moved away from or vacated some other place. Thomas Oden observes that "such statements are grounded in the premises of omnipresence and eternality — attributes ascribed properly only to God" (Life in the Spirit, p. 18).

4. Omnipotence: The works that God does, such as creation, are also ascribed to the Holy Spirit (Job 33:4; Ps. 104:30). Miracles of Jesus Christ were done "by the Spirit" (Matt. 12:28). In Paul's ministry, the work that "Christ has accomplished" was done "through the power of the Spirit" (Rom. 15:18-19).

5. Omniscience: "The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God," Paul said (1 Cor. 2:10). The Spirit of God "knows the thoughts of God" (v. 11). The Spirit therefore knows all things, and is able to teach all things (John 14:26).

Holiness, eternality, omnipresence, omnipotence and omniscience are attributes of God's essence, that is, characteristic of the nature of divine existence. The Holy Spirit has the basic attributes of God.

B. Equated with God

1. Triadic formulas: Several passages discuss the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit as equals. In a discussion of spiritual gifts, Paul puts the Spirit, the Lord, and God in grammatically parallel constructions (1 Cor. 12:4-6). Paul closes a letter with a three-part prayer: "May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all" (2 Cor. 13:14). Peter begins a letter with this three-part formula: "who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and sprinkling by his blood" (1 Peter 1:2).

If Jesus is God, then who did He pray to?

This is a very common question and the answer is found in understanding the Trinity and the incarnation of Jesus.

The Trinity is the doctrine that there is only one God in all existence. This one God exists as three persons: The Father, The Son, and the Holy Spirit. They are not three gods, but one God. Each is a separate person, yet each of them is, in essence, divine in nature.

A close analogy of the Trinity can be found by looking at the concept of time. Time is past, present, and future. There are three "aspects" or "parts" of time. This does not mean that there are three "times," but only one. Each is separate, in a sense, yet each shares the same nature, or essence. In a similar way, the Trinity is three separate persons who share the same nature.

The Incarnation

The doctrine of the incarnation in Christian teaching is that Jesus, who is the second person of the Trinity, added to himself human nature and became a man.

The Bible says that Jesus is God in flesh, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.....and the word became flesh and dwelt among us," (John 1:1, 14); and, "For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form," (Col. 2:9). Jesus, therefore, has two natures. He is both God and man.

Jesus is completely human, but He also has a divine nature.

GOD	MAN
He is worshiped (Matt. 2:2,11; 14:33; 28:9) He is prayed to (Acts 7:59; 1 Cor. 1:2) He was called God (John 20:28; Heb. 1:8) He was called Son of God (Mark 1:1) He is sinless (1 Pet. 2:22; Heb. 4:15) He knew all things (John 21:17) He gives eternal life (John 10:28; 17:2) The fullness of deity dwells in Him (Col. 2:9)	He worshiped the Father (John 17) He prayed to the Father (John 17:1) He was called man (Mark 15:39; John 19:5). He was called Son of Man (John 9:35-37) He was tempted (Matt. 4:1) He grew in wisdom (Luke 2:52) He died (Rom. 5:8) He has a body of flesh and bones (Luke 24:39)

As a man, Jesus needed to pray. When He was praying he was not praying to Himself, but to God the Father.

If Jesus is God, then why did He say the Father was greater than He?

"You heard that I said to you, ‘I go away, and I will come to you.’  If you loved Me, you would have rejoiced, because I go to the Father; for the Father is greater than I,'" (John 14:28).

Jesus said the Father was greater than He not because Jesus is not God, but because Jesus was also a man and as a man he was in a lower position.   He was ". . . made for a little while lower than the angels . . ." (Heb. 2:9).  Also in Phil. 2:5-8, it says that Jesus "emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men . . ."

Jesus has two natures.  Jesus was not denying that He was God.  He was merely acknowledging the fact that He was also a man.  Jesus is both God and man.  As a man, he was in a lesser position than the Father.  He had added to Himself human nature (Col. 2:9).  He became a man to die for people.

A comparison can be found in the marriage relationship.    Biblically, a husband is greater in position and authority than his wife.  But, he is no different in nature and he is not better than she.  They share the same nature, being human, and they work together by love.

So, Jesus was not denying that He was God.  He was simply acknowledging that He was also a man and as a man, he was subject to the laws of God ⁵so that He might redeem those who were under the law; namely, sinners (Gal. 4:4-5).

For further reading please see the two natures of Jesus.

SCRIPTURES QUOTED:

• Phil. 2:5-8, "Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, ⁶who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, ⁷but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. ⁸And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross."
• Col. 2:9, "For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form,"
• Gal. 4:4-5, "But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, ⁵in order that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons."
• Heb. 2:9, "But we do see Him who has been made for a little while lower than the angels, namely, Jesus, because of the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, that by the grace of God He might taste death for everyone."

If Jesus is God, then why did He not know the time of His return?

In Matt. 24:35-37 Jesus said, "Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words shall not pass away. ³⁶"But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone. ³⁷For the coming of the Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah."

If Jesus is God in flesh, then shouldn't He know what the day and hour of his return would be? After all, God knows all things. Therefore, if Jesus doesn't know all things, then He cannot be God.

This objection is most often raised by the Jehovah's Witnesses but is also echoed by the Christadelphians. It is a good question.

Jesus was both God and man. He had two natures. He was divine and human at the same time. This teaching is known as the hypostatic union; that is, the coming-together of two natures in one person. In Heb. 2:9 that Jesus was ". . . made for a little while lower than the angels . . ." Also in Phil. 2:5-8, it says that Jesus "emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men . . ." Col. 2:9 says, "For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form." Jesus was both God and man at the same time.

As a man, Jesus cooperated with the limitations of being a man. That is why we have verses like Luke 2:52 that says "Jesus kept increasing in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men." Therefore, at this point in his ministry he could say He did not know the day nor hour of His return. It is not a denial of His being God, but a confirmation of Him being man.

Also, the logic that Jesus could not be God because He did not know all things works both ways. If we could find a scripture where Jesus does know all things, then that would prove that He was God, wouldn't it?

Responding to the Jehovah’s Witness attacks on the deity of Christ

If Jesus is God, why did he pray to the Father in John 17?

Jesus prayed to the Father because as a man, under the Law (Gal. 4:4), he needed to pray to the Father.  The Bible teaches that he was both God and man (Col. 2:9; John 8:58 with Ex. 3:14).  Also, Jesus has two natures.  Therefore, we will see two types of scripture concerning Jesus: those that seem to focus on His divine-side, and those that seem to focus on His human-side. The Jehovah's Witnesses are simply ignoring, or changing, the divine-side scriptures and concentrating on those that describe His human-side.  See Hypostatic Union for information on the two natures of Jesus.

Also, God is a Trinity which means that the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit are all divine, but are distinct persons, not three gods.  The person of the Son prayed to the person of the Father.  This makes sense since Jesus was fully divine and fully human at the same time.

If Jesus is God, why did Jesus say the Father was greater than He (John 14:28)?

He said this because His position was different than that of God the Father, not His nature.  Heb. 2:9 says that Jesus was made for a little while lower than the angels and Gal. 4:4 says, He was under the Law.  Therefore, as a man he was in a lesser position that the Father, but not different in nature.  This would also explain why he grew in wisdom and stature (Luke 2:52).

By comparison, a husband is the head of the family and the wife is not.  Though their positions are different, he has greater authority, their natures are the same.  This is how it works with Jesus.  His nature is the same as the Father, but he was sent by the Father (John 6:44) and was in a lesser position due to his incarnation and being under the Law.

Why did Jesus ask, "Why call me good, only God is good?" in Luke 18:19?

Jesus said this because it is true that only God is good.  When Jesus said this he wasn't saying that people can't do good things on a human level but that true goodness belongs to God alone.  He is the standard of what is good.  So, we must ask the Jehovah's Witness, "Was Jesus good?" Obviously, the answer has to be yes.  Therefore, when Jesus said only God was good, he was confirming His own deity because what He was doing was good.

Why did Jesus say that He could only do those things that He saw the Father do in John 5:19?

He said this because as God in flesh he was able to do the same things that God the Father could do.  No mere man or angel could rightfully say this.  If Jesus is the second person of the Trinity, then he would naturally be able to do whatever the Father can do.  Therefore, Jesus is divine.

Can Christians be demon-possessed?

No, Christians cannot be demon-possessed.  Possession implies ownership, and Christians are not owned by the devil.  Instead, we have been bought with a price, the blood of Jesus Christ (1 Cor. 6:20; 7:23).  Also, a demon cannot dwell in the house of the Lord because of the surpassing greatness of God's glory and purity.  As Christians, we are the house of God (Heb. 10:21; 1 Tim. 3:15) when we are indwelt by God when we receive Christ (John 14:23).  

Furthermore, the Bible says "Greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world," (1 John 4:4).  So, it would make no sense to affirm that demonic presence could actually inhabit a person who is also indwelt by God.

Furthermore, Jesus told a parable about casting demons out of someone that can shed some light here:

Matt. 12:43-45, “Now when the unclean spirit goes out of a man, it passes through waterless places, seeking rest, and does not find it. 44 “Then it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came’; and when it comes, it finds it unoccupied, swept, and put in order. 45 “Then it goes, and takes along with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there; and the last state of that man becomes worse than the first. That is the way it will also be with this evil generation.”

As you can see, when someone is possessed and the demon is then cast out, the unclean spirit tries to come back later.  Notice that Jesus says that in this case the house is found unoccupied.  This most probably means that a person is not a Christian since the house is empty; that is, he does not have the indwelling presence of God.  An empty house allows other spirits to enter into this person and his condition is worse than it was before.

So, it seems clear in scripture that a Christian cannot be demon-possessed.

Can Satan read our minds?

The short answer is no, Satan cannot read our minds. While we learn in Scripture that Satan is powerful and influential, he is not all knowing, or omniscient. Only God has the ability to know all things.

Furthermore, there are no examples in the Bible of Satan reading someone's mind.

The Long Answer:

Satan and his demons are fallen angels (Revelation 12:7-10). In Ephesians 2:2, Satan is called "the prince of the power of the air."

So, the devil and his demons do have power--the same power given to angels. In Genesis 19, angels struck men with blindness. In Daniel 6:22, we read, "My God sent his angel and shut the lions' mouths, and they have not harmed me." And angels can fly (Daniel 9:21, Revelation 14:6).

But no angel or demon has ever been depicted in Scripture with mind reading abilities. In fact, the encounters between God and Satan in the beginning chapters of the book of Job, strongly indicate that Satan cannot read the thoughts and minds of humans. If Satan had known the mind and heart of Job, he'd have known that Job would never curse God.

Understand, however, while Satan cannot read our minds, he does have an advantage. He has been observing humans and human nature for thousands of years. This fact is evidenced in the book of Job as well:

"One day the members of the heavenly court came to present themselves before the Lord, and the Accuser, Satan, came with them. 'Where have you come from?' the Lord asked Satan.

"Satan answered the Lord, 'I have been patrolling the earth, watching everything that's going on.' " (Job 1:6-7, NLT)

You might even say that Satan and his demons are experts in human behavior.

Satan certainly has a fairly good idea how we will react to temptation, after all, he has been tempting humans since the Garden of Eden. Through ceaseless observation and long experience, Satan and his demons can usually guess with a high degree of accuracy just what we are thinking.

What are demons?

Demons are evil spirits that are opposed to God and God's people.  They appear to be fallen angels:  2 Pet. 2:4& Jude 6 are primarily referenced  in the New Testament.

• Matt. 4:24, "And the news about Him went out into all Syria; and they brought to Him all who were ill, taken with various diseases and pains, demoniacs, epileptics, paralytics; and He healed them."
• Matt. 8:28, "And when He had come to the other side into the country of the Gadarenes, two men who were demon-possessed met Him as they were coming out of the tombs; they were so exceedingly violent that no one could pass by that road."
• Mark 3:22, "And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem were saying, 'He is possessed by Beelzebul,' and "He casts out the demons by the ruler of the demons."
• Luke 4:35, "And Jesus rebuked him, saying, "Be quiet and come out of him!" And when the demon had thrown him down in their midst, he came out of him without doing him any harm."
• John 8:48-49, "The Jews answered and said to Him, "Do we not say rightly that You are a Samaritan and have a demon?" ⁴⁹ Jesus answered, "I do not have a demon; but I honor My Father, and you dishonor Me"

Demons are spiritual beings without physical form.  They are evil spirits that are opposed to God and his work.  They were probably created before the world was and, like Satan, fell away from God. Some believe that Rev. 12:4 is a reference to a third of the angels falling and becoming demons.

The term demon comes from the Greek "daimon."  Demons are found in the New Testament as being able to possess people (Matt.  8:28-34; Mark 5:1-4) and animals (Matt. 8:32).  They are very strong (Mark 5:4).  They are also called unclean spirits (Luke 8:29), seem to have a heirarchy of rulership in their demonic realm (Matt. 12:24-27), and can have sacrifices offered to them (1 Cor. 10:20).  Also, they will be judged in the future (Matt. 8:29).  They cannot be redeemed.

Paul recognized demonic forces and referred to them as principalities (Rom. 8:38) and said that we struggle against them (Eph. 6:11-12).  He speaks of them in the heavenly places, but this does not mean heaven where God is, but the upper area above the earth.

Jesus was able to cast out demons from the demon-possessed people (Matt. 8:32) and was accused of being demon-possessed (John 7:20; 8:48).