Is it OK to torment a person forever?
Are you ashamed of what you believe
about hell?
Are you unsure of its truth?
Read this excerpt from “Hell Know:Eternal Torture or Everlasting Destruction?” by Dirk Waren
(underlines are mine), and then order the book!
Eternal Torture: The Silent Subject
of the Church
“I read in a major news magazine that
the teaching of hell as eternal torture has all but disappeared from
the pulpit ministry in both mainline and evangelical churches. Why is
this so? Why are Christians who are committed to this doctrine so
reluctant to openly and honestly preach it?
Why do they mask what they really
believe by saying that the unredeemed will ultimately “perish” or
be “destroyed” or suffer eternal “separation from God”? Yes,
you'll hear 'hell' thrown around now and then, but rarely, if
ever, hear anyone explain what he or she really
means by the term – suffering fiery conscious torment forever and
ever with no merciful respite from the agony.
If this is true, why is everyone so
timid about spelling it out loud and clear? The answer is obvious:
They're ashamed of it. They're ashamed of it because, as Clark
Pinnock aptly put it, the doctrine of eternal torture makes God out
to be a morally worse than Hitler,
“who maintains an everlasting Auschwitz for his enemies who He does not even allow to die. How can one love a God like that? I suppose one might be afraid of Him, but could we love and respect Him? Would we want to strive to be like Him in His mercilessness?”...
Although there are many good reasons
for questioning this teaching, the most important reason is the
simple fact that the Bible does not teach it. Contrary to the loud
claims of its staunch supporters, it is not a scriptural doctrine;
and this is being realized by a growing number of biblically faithful
Christians today...
The Bible gives strong, irrefutable
proof to any honest reader that hell, the lake of fire, signifies
literal everlasting destruction for ungodly people, not
eternal conscious torment.
… a thorough, honest study of the
Bible will always reveal the truth.”
Scriptures to meditate on: Romans 6:23,
Matthew 7:13-14, John 3:16, 36, Romans 8:13, Galatians 6:8, Psalm
145:20, Proverbs 11:19.
Dirk Waren is the director of Fountain
of Life Teaching Ministry and author of several books, including
“Hell Know” and “Sheol Know”. Visit the website hellhadesafterlife.com.
