Exorcism is the religious or spiritual practice of evicting demons, jinns, or other malevolent spiritual entities from a person, or an area, that is believed to be possessed. Depending on the spiritual beliefs of the exorcist, this may be done by causing the entity to swear an oath, performing an elaborate ritual, or simply by commanding it to depart in the name of a higher power. The practice is ancient and part of the belief system of many cultures and religions.

Ever come face-to-face with an alien?

Cast your votes, folks...

Can you hear the Hum? The mystery noise that says a lot about modern life

The insistent low-frequency sound has been heard from Bristol to Swansea and ascribed to everything from horny fish to 5G – but the enigma itself is telling

Could the Hum be the background thrum of electricity, gas lines or cell towers?

Maybe you hear it. A low frequency hum, almost a vibration, just on the threshold of human hearing. It’s not particularly loud. In fact, you might not have even noticed it yet – but once you do, you can’t stop hearing it. It sounds like a truck, idling on the street in front your house. Or the atmospheric din of an airplane flying overhead, that never gets further away. You can hear it when you’re outside, but it seems louder indoors, and particularly at night, when you’re lying in bed. Maybe it keeps you awake. Maybe it causes you headaches, dizziness, even nosebleeds.

If you do hear it, you’re among the roughly 4% of the world’s population affected by “the Hum”, a frequently reported but little understood global phenomenon. The earliest reliable reports of the Hum date from the UK in the mid-1970s, most notably from Bristol, when letters began appearing in the Bristol Evening Post about a low rumble heard by dozens of residents throughout the city. What began as an irritating if innocuous noise eventually drove many who heard it to distraction, and was said to be linked to two suicides. A prevailing theory was that the Bristol Hum originated from large industrial fans used at a warehouse in nearby Avonmouth. But according to some Bristolians the Hum persists to this day, despite the warehouse having long been decommissioned.

An aeroplane prepares to land at Heathrow airport.
What is the mysterious 'global Hum' – and is it simply noise pollution?

Numerous reports of the Hum have been made across the UK, usually clustered around specific towns or cities: Hythe, Plymouth and, as recently as last month, Swansea. Studies are sometimes conducted, and theories proposed, but without conclusive findings. In the case of Hythe, the Scottish Association for Marine Science hypothesised that the noise might be caused by the mating call of male midshipman fish, which emit ever-louder drones, sometimes for hours, in an escalating competition to attract potential mates.

Though there must certainly be cases of localised hums caused by overzealous warehouse fans and horny fish, there are too many persistent commonalities between global reports of the Hum for there not to be the lingering question – is there something larger at play here? A number of natural theories have been proposed over the years, all of which have a certain poetic sublimity to them. At an Institute of Biology conference in 1973, it was suggested the jet stream shearing against slower-moving air might cause a very low frequency sound which could then be amplified by electricity pylons. In 2015, a team of French scientists proposed that the Hum was caused by ocean waves extending down to the ocean floor, and shaking the Earth as they collided with ridges and continental shelves. Other scientists have suggested vibrations caused by volcanic eruptions and earthquakes might be responsible (the eruption of Krakatoa in 1883 left the Earth reverberating for days).

Yet another theory points to the nearly 8m lightning strikes that hit Earth every day. These strikes build up a massive electromagnetic charge which, in turn, causes the air between the surface of the Earth and the ionosphere to resonate – much like the inside of a bottle when one blows across its top.

As much as the Hum speaks to the enduring mysteries of the natural world, it also speaks to the enduring mysteries of our constructed one, and our conflictual relationships with both. The fact that the Hum seems to have only really emerged as a documented concern in the past half-century suggests it could be a byproduct of technological advances. As much as our innovations have the capacity to nurture and sustain us, they also have the capacity to assail us. We have all, at some point, been struck by the sudden silence that befalls us in a modern home when the power is cut. It always comes as a small surprise to remember we are constantly beset by high- and low-pitched frequencies, which our brain actively tunes out. Could the Hum be the background thrum of electricity, gas lines or cell towers? One theory even posits ultra-low frequency radio signals used to communicate with submarines in the depths of oceans might be interacting with soft tissue in our skulls that stimulate the auditory nerve – a phenomenon known as the “microwave auditory effect”, which, incidentally, has been studied by the Pentagon for use as a sonic weapon.

The humming sound has been emanating from San Francisco’s famous bridge for the past year. As you might imagine, it’s not a far leap from here to full-blown conspiratorial thinking. When it comes to online discourse about the Hum, the boundaries between science, conspiracy theory and New Age spiritualism are thin. One doesn’t have to look far to find the forums detailing how the Hum is a government mind-control experiment. Many 5G conspiracies readily incorporate the Hum into their matrix of evidence. There are also blogs dedicated to how we can harness “the Mother Earth frequency” to ignite hitherto dormant areas of our brains. By resisting definitive scientific explanation and categorisation, the Hum becomes a kind of empty vessel for us to fill with our fears, desires and flights of fancy.

There is a sense that hearers hold a secret, insider knowledge of which the rest of the world is oblivious. I do not hear the Hum. But ever since I became aware of its existence seven or eight years ago, after stumbling on a forum for hearers, I have been fascinated by it and, more specifically, by those who hear it. Reading their testimonials, I am reminded of the way some people speak about spiritual revelation – deeply felt experiences, often contested by others, and largely unprovable by empirical evidence. Sometimes, hearers will be the only people in their family or group of friends who hear the Hum. This can be a profoundly isolating experience. From another perspective, this also marks them out as special. And when connected with fellow hearers online, there is a sense that they hold a secret, insider knowledge of which the rest of the world is oblivious. It is this feeling of being part of a select, perhaps maligned or misunderstood group, which believes itself to be in possession of a unique truth, that forms the foundations of both conspiracy theories and religious sects.

This is what inspired my novel, The Listeners, which follows Claire, a high school teacher who, while lying in bed next to her husband one night, begins to hear a low hum. It begins causing migraines, nosebleeds and insomnia, though no obvious cause can be found. When she discovers that a student of hers can also hear the hum, the two strike up an unlikely and intimate friendship. Finding themselves increasingly alienated from their families and colleagues, they fall in with a disparate group of neighbours who can also hear it. What starts as a kind of community self-help group gradually transforms into something far more extreme.

There can never be one answer to what the Hum is. For every study of ocean waves or theory about radio signals, there has never been anything close to universal scientific consensus. Even if there was, you could be sure there would be scores who would insist it was something else. A government plot. An alien intervention. For as long as we feel oppressed by a force that seems to defy comprehension, there will be a certain comfort offered by explanations that elevate that suffering to the state of grand narrative. There is a dignity of purpose, a sense of wonder, even a degree of false agency promised by a narrative of global geopolitical significance. Rather more so, at least, than is offered by mating fish or industrial fans in an Avonmouth warehouse.

Taken from an article in The Guardian by Jordan Tannahill

[Jack] can just go back to ploughing the forum into the ground. Keep [himself] in stitches while [he's] farming away on [his] own.

(Closed Caption Contest)



'KUDOS, KODOS!'

Many Christian churches place great emphasis on fearing God. Here are a few examples of the topics you might hear in sermons:

God will sit in judgment over each of us;

Because of His holiness, God must punish sinners;

God hates sin and cannot fellowship with sinners;

God carefully remembers every evil deed and word you have spoken;

Being in the presence of God is fearful and terrifying;

Without faith it’s impossible to please God.

But all of these issues pale into insignificance when compared to Christianity’s premier instrument of fear:

The prospect of being tormented for all eternity in the fires of Hell.

Christianity teaches:

That God condemns all those who have not repented and accepted Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. Then after death, the condemned are sent to Hell, where they will be tormented forever without end.

But Jesus Christ taught:

Absolutely nothing about eternal punishing in Hell. Instead, our Lord taught that those who refuse to repent will be punished with an eternal unconscious death.

The scene is a cold and cloudy winter day at the town cemetery, where the family and a few of Jacob Price’s friends have gathered together at his memorial service. As Pastor Smith finishes his eulogy, the little group says goodbye and slowly shuffles away from the burial site.

A middle-aged woman quietly walks up to the preacher and says, “Pastor, could I have a word with you?” “Certainly,” he replies. Amanda asks, “Pastor, what is going to happen to my father?” Pastor Smith stares at the ground for a few moments and then says, “Amanda, your mother and I have discussed this many times. And you know better than most how your Father was not a very nice man. He was a heavy drinker and a gambler. Your mother confided in how he cheated on her, and how he beat you and your sister.

And Amanda, your father just would not change! On several occasions, your mother and I talked to him for hours, trying to help him see the error of his ways and to accept Christ. But as you know, he never did.”

Amanda waited for a while and then repeated, “But what is going to happen to my father? What will God do to him?” After staring at the ground again for a long time, the pastor finally responded: “Amanda, you know your father was a sinner — and a sinner who obstinately refused to repent. No matter what I said to him, he would not acknowledge God and accept Christ’s sacrifice for his sins. And as I’m sure you know, the Bible says that because of his actions your father is now in Hell, where he will spend eternity being punished for his rebellion against God.”

So Jacob Price’s daughter, with tears flowing down her face, slowly turned and walked away from the grave site. While Pastor Smith lowered his head, closed his eyes, and sadly pondered why so many Christians cannot understand the justice of God.

Most Christians Believe in Hell

The scene just described occurs hundreds of times a day, on virtually every day of the year. And most Christians completely agree with Pastor Smith: those who die without repenting and accepting Christ will spend eternity being punished for their sins.

A 2004 Gallup Poll111 disclosed that 70% of all Americans believe in Hell. And as one might expect, this belief is highest among regular churchgoers, with 92% stating that God eternally torments unrepentant sinners.

According to traditional Christian theology, Hell is the place or state into which unrepentant sinners pass after their physical life. Basically, the Hell doctrine concludes that all men have sinned; therefore without repentance and acceptance of Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, God must punish the unsaved sinner in a never-ending, fiery torment. Theologians often refer to this punishment as the “justice of God.”

The Origins of Hell

The earliest Christian writings about Hell are found in 2nd Century literature (so why was nothing written for over 100 years?). And the doctrine has been around so long, few Christians ever consider questioning it.

Once the doctrine of Hell got going, the institutionalized church viewed it as a strong incentive for Christians to lead a righteous life. It was the fear of judgment and Hell that led a terrified Martin Luther into his quest for spiritual enlightenment. While Hell was central to the Puritan Jonathan Edwards’ famous sermon Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God, and countless other fire and brimstone sermons since that time.

But for many potential Christians, Hell has been a major stumbling block to accepting Christ. These people find the claim that God torments and burns people for all eternity so repulsive, they cannot accept that He can be loving, kind and merciful. Furthermore, the doctrine of Hell has caused many a seasoned Christian to walk away from the faith.

Do You Want Sinners to be Sent to Hell?

Allow me to pose several questions about the doctrine of Hell — this belief that most Christians never seem to question:

1) As a Christian, do you wish for sinners to be tormented in Hell?

2) Do you long to dwell with a God who tortures sinners for all eternity?

3) Do you think it fair that God would eternally torment those who never even heard Christ’s name?

4) There are pastors who preach that once you are in Heaven, you will be able to see your friends and relatives suffering in Hell. And if indeed this were true, would you be able to enjoy the eternal bliss of Heaven, while watching your parents, grandparents, and deceased children, along with tens-of-billions of other people being tormented in Hell?

5) In John 15:15, Jesus called His disciples “friends.” So do you desire fellowship with an infinitely powerful, intimate friend who eternally tortures and torments your unbelieving family and friends — and frankly, most of humanity? Would you feel safe and comfortable around such a Being? And would a God who is capable of dishing out such anguish be the kind of Deity you would want to worship, follow and have fellowship with for all eternity?

The reality is that most Christians are secretly uncomfortable with the Hell doctrine. They’re unable to look this teaching “directly in the eye,” because they’re scared to death of a God who is capable of tormenting them for all eternity!

So God’s people try to justify the existence of Hell, by believing that God is so holy and so righteous — and that He has so much hate for sin — that He must judge and punish all unrepentant sinners.

Incredibly, most Christian believe that God considers it more important to punish sinners, than it is to reach out and try to save them!

So most Christians just go along with the crowd, believing they have no option but to accept the reality that God will eternally torment most of humanity. Taking a pragmatic approach to Hell, they reason it’s far better to quietly accept a God who operates a place of eternal torment, than it is to question Hell — and risk being sent there.

1) The Bible — that same Bible you have in your home — does not support the doctrine of punishing sinners with eternal torment;

2) The early New Testament Church knew nothing about a place of eternal punishing for human beings;

3) Pagans invented the concept of Hell. It then was adopted by the Catholics, who later passed it on to Protestants;

4) Ancient Bible translators substituted the English word “hell” for words that had entirely different meanings. And they did this to generate support their humanly-devised doctrine of eternal punishing.

Think About This

If I could prove all of the above statements, would it change your opinion about Hell? Probably not.

Christians Are Afraid of Questioning Hell

Many years ago, I shared an article about Hell with friends. The subject was how the King James Bible modified various passages to support this doctrine of eternal punishing. One person read the paper and said, “Well, I prefer what pastor so-and-so says on this issue.” While the other readers weren’t even interested in the subject. For most of these people, the doctrine of Hell was not open for discussion.

So as I prepared to write this volume, I went to Google and typed in the phrase “hell is a lie.” And I used quotes so Google would search for this exact phrase. Google listed 364,000 articles and videos promoting the idea that Hell is a myth — that it’s not a factual Christian doctrine. Yet even with all this information at peoples’ fingertips, most Christians remain disinterested.

In Year 2012, the motion picture “Hellbound” was released. This movie has hours of testimony by pastors, theologians, and religious authors — experts who carefully document why the traditional teaching of Hell cannot be true. But few Christians were interested in the movie; while most of those who watched it came away disbelieving its thesis. And now just a few years later, Hellbound rests in that large pile of forgotten movies.

After 1,500 years of churches promoting Hell, the doctrine is so deeply ingrained in Christianity, that most believe it spiritually dangerous to even talk about it.

So I won’t spend a lot of time discussing incorrect Bible translations, how pagan traditions of eternal punishing got into the church, or how Christian history proves that Hell was something associated with ancient worldly events (these issues are addressed later in Chapters 5 and 6).

Instead, I’m going to show how the teachings of Jesus Christ, His apostles, and the prophets are completely incompatible with — and openly contradictory to — any doctrine that mandates eternal punishing for sinners.

Hell Has Defined God’s Nature

The doctrine of Hell has defined the nature of God. Hell tells us about a God who makes no compromise with sin. A God who forces every sinner pay for every last unrepentant sin. And a God who created a universe where the vast majority of humanity — including those who never had the opportunity to hear about Christ — will end up being tormented forever in the Devil’s kingdom of eternal punishing.

The God who created Hell is incredibly terrifying and frightful!

And I believe this is why many Christians want pastors between them and God, so they can keep their distance from this terrifying Deity.

But what if the doctrine of Hell is not true?

And what if God does not eternally torment sinners?

And what if in reality, God is busy saving all sinners?

Think About This

If all of the above really were true, would it change your understanding of God? Frankly, most of us would have to admit that if Hell is not a reality, then we don’t even know who God is!

So fasten your seat belt, because you are about to take a trip through Scriptures that will literally redefine the nature of God. These passages will introduce you to a God who is virtually unknown to Christianity. You will meet a Creator who is always loving, always caring, who always forgives every sin (except one) — a tender and merciful God who is working hard to save every human being that has ever lived!

Jesus and Eternal Punishing

The Bible contains many Scriptures that openly contradict the concept of eternal torment in Hell. Unfortunately, most pastors pay little attention to these passages, because their seminary training told them to unquestionably believe in Hell, just as they have trained church members to do the same.

So let’s review some of these little-known Scriptures, starting with Matthew 5:44 (KJV):

But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you.

According to Jesus Christ, this is how Christians are to behave toward sinners. And then in verse 45, Jesus explains why:

That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.

Jesus asked Christians to love their enemies, to bless people who curse them, and to do good to those who hate them because this is what God the Father does. And when Jesus spoke about those who curse, hate, abuse and persecute others, He was talking about sinners.

Think About This

According to Jesus Christ, God the Father — the highest spiritual authority that exists — loves sinners and wants to do good for them! So do you believe what Jesus said in the above verses?

That’s an important question, because the doctrine of Hell openly contradicts Christ’s words. If there really is a place of eternal torment for sinners, this means the Father has turned His back on His Son’s words, as He sends these sinners into indescribable eternal torment without offering most of them even the slightest chance to repent of their sins.

God’s Forgiveness? — Or Eternal Punishing?

Earlier I mentioned how the doctrine of Hell concludes that all human beings have sinned, therefore without repentance and acceptance of Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, all must suffer eternal torment. So even if you grew up and lived in a place where you could not hear about Christ, where you never learned that you are a sinner, where no one ever told you of your need to repent, God must consign you to suffer in Hell. And even if you lived a perfect life, but committed only one sin of which you had not repented, you must be punished for all eternity.

But now I want you to compare the above paragraph with what Jesus said in Matthew 18:21-22:

Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times? Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven.

Jesus said that ordinary people — people just like you and me — are required to forgive sinners. Moreover, the Lord said we must forgive those who sin against us a minimum of 490 times!

So imagine this situation. You have a neighbor who constantly argues with his wife. And quite often, he gets upset — very upset. So he starts drinking. Then he decides to go for a drive. And as he is backing out his driveway, he hits your fence. But later he sobers up, comes over, and apologizes for his actions.

So what is your Christian responsibility? You must forgive him.

But then a week later, your neighbor gets into another argument and does the same thing: he drinks too much, gets in his car, and damages your fence. But again, he comes over and apologizes. So you forgive him.

Yet the neighbor’s drinking continues. He’s getting drunk and damaging your fence every weekend. And he does this week after week, year after year, for an incredible nine years! Over the years this man has damaged your fence 468 times; but because you are a Christian, you have obeyed Jesus and forgiven him each time. Furthermore, your neighbor still has 22 more times to wreck your fence until he reaches Jesus’ “seventy times seven.”

Think About This

According to Jesus Christ, Christians should never stop forgiving someone who genuinely repents. Yet the doctrine of Hell states that our Most Holy, Righteous, and kind God — the God of “love” we just read about in Matthew Chapter 5 — will roast and torment most of humanity in Hell, without giving them even one chance to repent!

Sinful Roman Soldiers Were Not Sent to Hell

Now look at Luke 23:33, where we find the story of Jesus being crucified:

 When they came to the place called The Skull, there they crucified Him …

After almost beating Jesus to death, several carnally-minded, sinful and unrepentant Roman soldiers brutally nailed their Creator to a tree, so He would wither and die (take a few seconds and consider what kind of person could do that).

Now continue with verse 34, where we read how Jesus carried out God’s hot anger and wrath against these sinful and godless men:

But Jesus was saying, Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.

So where was Christ’s anger and desire to punish these unrepentant sinners? And why didn’t Jesus warn these soldiers of how they were on the road to eternal punishment in Hell? These men were carrying out the supreme pinnacle of human rebellion against God, as they laughingly (Luke 23:36-37) crushed the life out of their Creator. They drove stakes through Jesus’ arms and legs. Then they ridiculed the Holy and Majestic Creator of humankind, as they watched Him suffer and die!

You’ve probably heard sermons outlining God’s harsh punishment for sinners — and how His holiness demands that He execute infinite wrath against sin. So if ever there were people worthy of God’s eternal wrath in a tormenting, fiery punishment, it was these Roman soldiers who joyously killed their Creator. This was the time for all the holy angels to cry out in unison, “Man has gone too far!” God’s anger should have burned hot enough to melt stones. Furthermore, these soldiers were not the slightest bit repentant; neither did they have any desire to accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior.

But instead of confirming that these sinners were destined to suffer in Hell, Jesus asked God the Father to forgive them!

Then there’s also the issue of “why” Jesus asked the Father to forgive these men. At the end of verse 34 where Jesus requested forgiveness, His justification was “for they know not what they are doing.”

Yet the doctrine of Hell states that God will punish tens-of-billions of people in a specially-prepared place of eternal torment for far lesser evils than laughingly killing their Creator — simply because they never heard about Christ and His gospel; simply because they “knew not what they were doing.”

The Thief on the Cross Was Not Sent to Hell

At the same time Jesus was crucified, there were two thieves executed with Him. Let’s read about them in Luke 23:39-43:

One of the criminals who were hanged there was hurling abuse at Him, saying, “Are You not the Christ? Save Yourself and us!” But the other answered, and rebuking him said, “Do you not even fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed are suffering justly, for we are receiving what we deserve for our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.”

And he was saying, “Jesus, remember me when You come in Your kingdom!” And He (Jesus) said to him, “Truly I say to you, today you shall be with Me in Paradise.”

These men had been sentenced to death for their crimes. The author of the gospel of Luke called them “criminals.” The Greek is pronounced kakourgos, which means “one who commits gross misdeeds and serious crimes.” So these men were not small time purse snatchers: they were hardened criminals, perhaps guilty of multiple robberies, assaults, and even murder.

Both men seemed to know who Jesus was. But they had not responded to His gospel. How do we know? Because Matthew 27:44 tells us they yelled insulting words at Jesus as He was being crucified. Therefore, according to traditional Christian doctrine, these men should have gone straight to Hell.

But one of the men cried out to Jesus for help, even though there was no time for repentance, or to hear the gospel, or to accept Jesus as Lord and Savior and be baptized. And how did Jesus respond to this sinner’s cry for help?

Jesus said, “Truly I say to you, today you shall be with Me in Paradise.”

Now I’m pretty sure you believe that Jesus’ went to Heaven after His death. Yet our Lord and Savior said this unrepentant sinner — this hardened criminal — would find himself in Heaven with Jesus that very day!

Think About This

This convicted criminal went to Heaven — he did not go to Hell.

At the time Jesus told this individual he was going to Heaven, there were many other people around the world facing death. And with certainty we can know that just like this man, some made last-minute cries out to a God they did not know, follow, respect or worship. Modern Christianity tells us that because these people were sinners — because they had never heard the gospel, repented and accepted Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior — that God had no choice but to send them off to be eternally tormented in Hell.

Yet how can we reconcile Christ’s promise to an unrepentant hardened criminal — that he would find himself in Heaven immediately after his death — if God sentenced all these other people to eternal punishment in Hell?

The Scriptures we just read remain unsolvable problems for those who promote Hell. Either the Bible is not true — and Jesus didn’t say what these Scriptures quote — or we need to re-examine our thinking about the Hell doctrine.

And indeed, there is another way to look at these passages:

1) What if Jesus asks us to love our neighbors and endlessly forgive them, because this is precisely what God the Father does?

2) And what if Jesus told this criminal he would immediately find himself in Heaven because God does love His enemies, blesses those who curse Him, does good to those who hate Him, and wants to save them?

3) And what if Jesus never mentioned Hell to these sinners, because there is no Hell?

Questioning Hell

You may have noticed how pastors are unwilling to discuss the subject of Hell. They may preach long Hell-fire sermons designed to scare the daylights out of you, but few are willing to sit down with you and explain the Scriptures we just read.

For most pastors, Hell was just another doctrine they learned in seminary — something their professors told them was already proven — one of the “core” doctrines they were cautioned to never question. And should a pastor through his own study generate enough interest and courage to question Hell, he or she will find the full weight of the Christian community bearing down on him.

In Year 2011, Chad Holtz was pastor of a United Methodist church in North Carolina. Pastor Holtz wrote a short post on his Facebook page supporting a book by Rob Bell, an author who is critical of the traditional view of Hell. Two days later the church fired pastor Holtz.

When Holtz questioned the doctrine of Hell, he lost his job!

I suspect that Mr. Holtz’s church reacted this way because the concept of Hell is downright scary. The Hell doctrine portrays a cruel God who genuinely desires to torment every sinner in horrible anguish for all eternity. And if it weren’t for the fact that Jesus stepped in and gave His life for us, every human being that has ever lived would be forever tormented in Hell.

Yet even though Jesus volunteered to pay the penalty for our sins, we are told that God established strict rules that prevent most people from being saved. First, a person must be in the right place at the right time, so they can hear the gospel. Then they must choose to believe the gospel and repent of their sins. After this they must be baptized. And finally they must receive the Holy Spirit. And preachers tell us that if even one of these requirements fails to happen just as God prescribes, then it’s off to Hell when the person dies.

And because it’s estimated that only a very small percentage of humanity has even heard the name Jesus Christ, this means the majority of all that have lived on planet earth are now being (or will be) tormented in Hell.

So let’s be honest: a God like this is almost too terrible to imagine!

Therefore, what Christian in their right mind would want to “test” his or her relationship with such a wrathful God? Far better to let the pastors and ministers deal with God, go along with what they tell you at church, and not risk awakening God’s unimaginable anger and fury by asking questions.


But Aren’t Christians Supposed to Ask Questions?

In I Thessalonians 5:19-21, the apostle Paul wrote that Christians should question everything they hear and believe. And the King James translation of this verse states that when it comes to doctrine, Christians must “Prove all things.” 

Thus according to Paul, we should never accept what others preach to us. Because whether we are in church or in seminary, God’s people have a duty to personally prove what they hear, then “hold fast to that which is good.”

And the apostle John felt the same way. In I John 4:1, he wrote: “… believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God, because many false prophets are gone out into the world.”

But now that almost 2,000 years have passed and there are thousands of disagreeing Christian denominations, how many false prophets are there today?

Christ’s apostles had great boldness when it came to searching out and proving God’s truth. And do you know why?

Because the apostles had never heard of a God that could torture sinners for all eternity.

The Bible and Eternal Life

Most Christians assume that God gives every human being an immortal soul. Therefore, people have two options: if they lived a “good” life, they will go to Heaven; but if they lived a “bad” life, they will be sent to suffer forever in Hell.

But what if this belief in an immortal soul is incorrect — and human beings are not born with eternal life? Wouldn’t we have to reevaluate the entire concept of “eternal” punishment in Hell?

In this chapter, you will read many Scriptures proving that human beings do not have an immortal soul. You will also see how the Bible teaches that God only grants eternal life to those who repent and accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.

And if unrepentant sinners cannot have eternal life, then simple logic tells us they will not be punished “eternally” in Hell.

Eternal Life: Do You Have it?

Mathew 19:16-17 records a discussion between Jesus and a worshiper:

And someone came to Him and said, “Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may obtain eternal life?” And He said to him, “Why are you asking Me about what is good? There is only One who is good; but if you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments.”

Jesus told this person he could have eternal life, if he did certain things. This person did not already possess an endless life.

Then in John 3:16 — one of the most famous verses of the Bible — we again read the words of Jesus Christ:

For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.

Here the Greek translated “perish” means to fully destroy. Therefore, Jesus described how the saved obtain eternal life; while the unsaved will be “fully destroyed.”

Then a few verses later in John 3:36, the apostle John wrote this:

He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.

So John repeated exactly what Jesus said: belief in Christ brings eternal life; while unbelief brings destruction and death.

Jesus made several more statements about whether or not humans have eternal life. So let’s review a few passages you will never hear during a Hell sermon:

John 10:27-28 My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand.

John 6:53-54 So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in yourselves. He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”

John 6:49-51 Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. This is the bread which comes down out of heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread that came down out of heaven; if anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread also which I will give for the life of the world is My flesh.

John 5:24 Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life.

John 8:51 Truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps my word he will never see death.

In the first passage, Jesus stated that mortal human beings do not possess eternal life; instead, it’s something God must give to us. In the second and third passages, the Lord said that without accepting His sacrifice, one cannot have eternal life. In the fourth verse, Jesus explained how belief in His message causes one to pass from death to eternal life. And in the last verse, He said we escape death through observing His teachings.

So understand: certain prerequisites must be met before God will grant the gift of eternal life to human beings.

First, we must repent and accept Christ’s sacrifice. Then we must believe the words Jesus brought from God the Father. Finally, we must practice what Jesus commanded.

Therefore, we can summarize whether or not humans are born with eternal life with this statement by Jesus Christ:

John 6:33 For the bread of God is that which comes down out of heaven, and gives life to the world.

Think About This

Human beings are not born with an immortal soul. Instead, never-ending life is God’s gift. And if a person does not accept the sacrifice of Christ, believe His teachings, repent of sin, and practice His commandments, that person will not be allowed to live forever.

Death: A Separation From God?

Theologians try to get around Christ’s statements by declaring that death is nothing more than a “separation” from God. They claim that sinners do not really stop living after their death; instead, their immortal soul continues on in a place that has no access to God.

So let’s see if the Bible agrees with this concept:

Ecclesiastes 9:5 For the living know they will die; but the dead do not know anything…

Psalm 6:5 (KJV) For in death there is no remembrance of thee …

Psalm 115:17 The dead do not praise the LORD, Nor do any who go down into silence.

Psalm 145:20 The LORD keeps all who love Him, But all the wicked He will destroy.

Isaiah 26:14 The dead will not live, the departed spirits will not rise; Therefore You have punished and destroyed them, And You have wiped out all remembrance of them (unless God resurrects them).

Isaiah 38:18 (KJV) For the grave cannot praise thee, death can not celebrate thee: they that go down into the pit cannot hope for thy truth.

The Old Testament is rather precise about the state of the dead: they know nothing; they have no remembrance of God; they are silent; they have been destroyed; they cannot rise on their own; all remembrance of them has perished; they cannot praise God; neither can they hope for God’s truth (while they supposedly suffer in Hell).

Think About This

The Bible teaches the dead have ceased to exist. They are not merely separated from God; they have been permanently separated from conscious life itself (unless God resurrects them).

The Wages of Sin

Several thousand years ago, the prophet Jeremiah wrote: “Every one shall die for his own iniquity” (Jeremiah 31:30). And then a few years later, the prophet Ezekiel wrote down these words of the Lord:

Ezekiel 18:4 Behold, all souls are Mine; the soul of the father as well as the soul of the son is Mine. The soul who sins will die.

Ezekiel 18:20 The person who sins will die.

Then about six-hundred years later, the apostle James wrote the following:

James 1:15 Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death.

And the apostle Peter wrote:

II Peter 2:12 (KJV) But these, as natural brute beasts, made to be taken and destroyed, speak evil of the things that they understand not; and shall utterly perish in their own corruption.

While the apostle Paul wrote:

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 6:23).

And finally, the Lord explained the end-result of unrepentant sin:

Now on the same occasion there were some present who reported to Him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. And Jesus said to them, “Do you suppose that these Galileans were greater sinners than all other Galileans because they suffered this fate? I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish” (Luke 13:1-3).

Think About This

The Old Covenant prophets, New Testament apostles, and our Lord and Savior were quite clear: sin produces unconscious and permanent death.

Eternal Life: An Ancient False Teaching

Let’s go back to that famous verse of John 3:16 and read it in the GNB translation:

For God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not die but have eternal life.

As we have already seen, the penalty for sin is death. And this death is an “eternal” punishment, because the sinner is forever dead (unless God resurrects them). We’ve also seen how death is without awareness, consciousness or knowledge of God.

Yet since the beginning of creation, self-appointed spiritual authorities have been claiming that humans have eternal life — even when they remain rebellious, unrepentant sinners. This claim started way back in the Garden of Eden:

The woman said to the serpent, “From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat; but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat from it or touch it, or you will die.’” The serpent said to the woman, “You surely will not die!” (Genesis 3:2-4).

Notice how the very first lie Satan introduced into human minds was the falsehood that we are born with an immortal soul. And we do know that Satan was lying, because of what happened to Adam and Eve after they sinned:

Then to Adam He said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree about which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat from it’; Cursed is the ground because of you; In toil you will eat of it All the days of your life. Both thorns and thistles it shall grow for you; And you will eat the plants of the field; By the sweat of your face You will eat bread, Till you return to the ground, Because from it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return” (Genesis 3:17-19).

Then thousands of years later in Jesus’ day, the Devil was busy deceiving 1st Century Jews with this same lie. Read what Jesus had to tell these people:

John 5:39-40 You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me; and you are unwilling to come to Me so that you may have life.

John 5:25: Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live.

John 11:25 (KJV) … he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die.

Much like the Christian leaders of our day, 1st Century religious authorities taught that everyone has eternal life — even though Jesus most emphatically declared how there is no never-ending life apart from His salvation.

Then several decades later, the apostle John closed his gospel by reiterating how eternal life comes only through believing in Christ:

John 20:31 but these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name.

And finally, John wrote the following in his first epistle:

This is the promise which He Himself made to us: eternal life (I John 2:25).

In the Greek used by John, the word translated “promise” also means an announcement. Thus John reiterated how Jesus came to announce how people might have eternal life — something they do not already possess.

Think About This

Contrary to the lies of the Devil and many misled preachers, Jesus, His apostles, and the prophets all taught that without Christ’s salvation, human beings cannot and will not have eternal life.

And if unrepentant sinners do not possess eternal life, then it’s impossible for such sinners to endure “eternal” punishing in Hell.

Promoting the Hell Lie

Hopefully, the previous material has convinced you of how a kind and loving God cannot be operating a place of eternal torment and punishment. Nevertheless, those who study the Bible see numerous Scriptures that appear to support the doctrine of Hell. So how do we explain such contradictions?

In Chapter 4, we saw how the Devil created the false doctrine of an eternal soul. But to make his lie effective, Satan had to keep it moving down through history. So here was the Devil’s tactic: Satan inspired institutional theologians to make subtle changes to the biblical texts, so it would appear that the Bible supports his lie.

Readers who believe in an inerrant Bible, the text of which equates with the “Word of God,” will have difficulties with this concept. Nevertheless, it remains a fact that theologians have translated the Bible into more than 2,500 languages. And when there are this many instances of something copied and translated by mortal human beings, there will be errors and differences within the texts — along with some purposeful modifications.

Furthermore, Bible scholars have explained how other factors created problems within the biblical texts. One of these is the process of translation, which creates situations where words and phrases cannot be accurately represented in other languages. But the biggest issue was the lack of early (written close to the 1st Century) manuscripts.

The world had to wait until year 1881, when two British scholars published the first New Testament based on early manuscripts. This text, produced by Brook Foss Westcott and Fenton John Anthony Hort, made several departures from the traditional King James version. For example, the Westcott-Hort Bible had a shorter New Testament because the older, more accurate manuscripts did not contain the long ending of Mark’s gospel (Mark 16:9-20) and the story of the woman caught in adultery.

Then in 1885, when the English Revised Version appeared, the world had its first New Testament translated from truly ancient manuscripts. But this version introduced many more changes to the biblical texts. And since that time, continuing discoveries of ancient manuscripts have corrected several more errant renderings within the older, traditional versions.

Finally, and in addition to all the above issues, we also must acknowledge that Bible translators have their own particular beliefs, which produce unavoidable (and sometimes unconscious) doctrinal bias. For example, those who wrote the King James Bible believed in the doctrine of the Trinity. But because there was little evidence from the original biblical texts to support this doctrine, the King James translators actually fabricated I John 5:7, an addition that is uniformly rejected by modern biblical scholars.

The King James translators also believed in the ancient doctrine of eternal punishing in Hell. And as we continue through this study, you will see how theologians of the Church of England went to great lengths to support this early Catholic doctrine.

Think About This

God always knew there would be inaccuracies within the Bible. And this is why Jeremiah 23:36 condemns the prophets with: “you have perverted the words of the living God.” While Isaiah 28:9-10 warn us to study the Scriptures “here a little, and there a little,” rather than basing doctrine on just one verse. As Jesus mandated in Matthew 18:16, every fact should be established by two or three witnesses.

Satan’s Lie Travels Down Through History
Historical documents prove the doctrine of eternal punishing was around long before the Christian Church. Hundreds of years before Jesus walked the earth, pagan religions were using the concept of Hell to keep their worshipers in line. The Greek historian Polybius (200–118 BCE) wrote about this, and described how the concept of eternal fiery punishment had been “contrived” to control pagan worshipers:

Since the multitude is ever fickle, full of lawless desires, irrational passions and violence, there is no other way to keep them in order but by the fear and terror of the invisible world; on which account our ancestors seem to me to have acted judiciously, when they contrived to bring into the popular belief these notions of the gods, and of the infernal regions.

Then about 100 years later, the historian Seneca (4 BCE — 65 CE) termed the concept of eternal punishing a “fable”:

Those things which make the infernal regions terrible, the darkness, the prison, the river of flaming fire, the judgment seat, etc., are all a fable, with which the poets amuse themselves, and by them agitate us with vain terrors.

Think About This

The humanly-derived doctrine of eternal punishment in fiery torment existed hundreds of years before Jesus walked the earth.

Christians Adopt Hell

In earlier chapters, we saw how eternal punishing in Hell is not supported by the teachings of Jesus, His apostles, or the Old Testament. Yet beginning in the 2nd Century, we find Catholic theologians embracing and promoting this doctrine.

Ancient documents also show how the nature of Hell evolved over time. Up until the end of the 2nd Century, punishment in Hell was nothing more than burning in fire. But as the years progressed, the descriptions of Hell began to include fantastic and incredible atrocities. Notice how the nature of Hell changes over time:

150 CE — Clement refers only to eternal punishment:

If we do the will of Christ, we shall obtain rest; but if not, if we neglect his commandments, nothing will rescue us from eternal punishment (Second Clement 5:5).

155 CE — Polycarp describes a burning Hell with eternal fire:

Fixing their minds on the grace of Christ, (the martyrs) despised worldly tortures and purchased eternal life with but a single hour. To them, the fire of their cruel torturers was cold. They kept before their eyes their escape from the eternal and unquenchable fire (Martyrdom of Polycarp 2:3).

212 CE — Hippolytus adds an unquenchable and unending fire, a fiery worm that wastes the body, a continual bursting with unceasing pain, and no rest from sleep:

Standing before (Christ’s) judgment, all of them, men, angels, and demons, crying out in one voice, shall say: “Just is your judgment!” And the righteousness of that cry will be apparent in the recompense made to each. To those who have done well, everlasting enjoyment shall be given; while to the lovers of evil shall be given eternal punishment. The unquenchable and unending fire awaits these latter, and a certain fiery worm which does not die and which does not waste the body but continually bursts forth from the body with unceasing pain. No sleep will give them rest; no night will soothe them; no death will deliver them from punishment; no appeal of interceding friends will profit them (Against the Greeks 3).

252 CE — Cyprian of Carthage describes an ever-burning punishment and devouring living flames, as tormented souls have their bodies preserved for suffering in unlimited agonies, useless weeping, and ineffectual prayer:

An ever-burning Gehenna and the punishment of being devoured by living flames will consume the condemned; nor will there be any way in which the tormented can ever have respite or be at an end. Souls along with their bodies will be preserved for suffering in unlimited agonies … The grief at punishment will then be without the fruit of repentance; weeping will be useless, and prayer ineffectual. Too late will they believe in eternal punishment, who would not believe in eternal life (To Demetrian 24).

Think About This

Hundreds of years of evolving Christian doctrine provide some of the best evidence that Hell is not a matter of biblical revelation. Instead, the Catholics adopted this doctrine from the pagans, then added their own bizarre fantasies.

Theologians Promote Hell

The next efforts to promote Hell were made by Bible translators who modified the biblical texts so that Hell would appear to be legitimate doctrine. For example, the King James Bible has 31 occurrences of the English word “Hell.” Yet all but one of these occurrences were translated from Hebrew and Greek words that have nothing to do with a place of eternal punishing.

In the Old Testament, Hell is always translated from the Hebrew sheh-ole’, which means underworld. More than half the occurrences of sheh-ole’ are translated into the English words “grave” or “pit.” The Bible uses this word too often to quote all the passages here, but several are worthy of note:

Isaiah 14:15 (KJV) Yet thou shalt be brought down to Hell [sheh-ole’], to the sides of the pit.

Isaiah equated Hell with a pit or hole in the ground. And notice what Bible commentator Albert Barnes wrote about this verse:

To the sides of the pit — The word ‘pit,’ here, is evidently synonymous with “Hell” or “hades,” represented as a deep, dark region under ground. The dead were often buried in caves, and the descent was often dark and dreary, to the vaults where they reposed.

We see similar usage in Ezekiel 31:16 (KJV):

I made the nations to shake at the sound of his fall, when I cast him down to Hell [sheh-ole’] with them that descend into the pit …

In both of these passages where translators used the English word Hell, the Hebrew sheh-ole’ equates to a pit, hole, or cave: the locations in which dead bodies were placed.

And here is something else you will find quite interesting. In 15th Century England, it was common for those who stored potatoes underground to say they had “put their potatoes in hell.”

New Testament Words Translated “Hell”

The King James New Testament has three Greek words translated into the English “hell.” The first is hades, which means the realm of the dead. This word is derived from the name of a Greek god, which was said to rule the underground places or lower regions of the earth. And here again, the Bible provides excellent examples of what this word actually means:

Therefore being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne; He seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in Hell [hades], neither his flesh did see corruption. This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses (Act 2:30-32 — KJV).

The author of Acts quoted the prophet David, who foretold how Christ’s soul (Greek: breath of life) would not be left in “Hell” (hades). And without any doubt, David was writing about Christ’s physical resurrection from the grave.

The apostle Paul also knew what hades meant. Notice how he used it in I Corinthians 15:55 (KJV):

O death, where is thy sting? O grave [hades], where is thy victory?

Passages Where Translators Substituted Hell for Hades

The following King James Bible passages translate the Greek word hades into the English word “hell.” To make these verses more accurate, I have inserted the word “grave.” Observe how the meaning of each verse changes:

Matthew 11:23 And thou, Capernaum, which art exalted unto heaven, shalt be brought down to the grave: for if the mighty works, which have been done in thee, had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day.

Matthew 16:18 And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of the grave shall not prevail against it.

Luke 10:15 And thou, Capernaum, which art exalted to heaven, shalt be thrust down to the grave.

Luke 16:23 — see the end of Chapter 7 for a discussion of this verse.

Revelation 1:18 I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of the grave and of death.

Revelation 6:8 And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and the grave followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth.

Revelation 20:13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and the grave delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.

Revelation 20:14 And death and the grave were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.

When translated with the correct meaning of hades, all of these verses make perfect sense. Furthermore, these corrected translations do not even hint at a place of eternal torment and punishment (Luke 16:23 is an exception addressed later in the book).

If We Can’t Confuse Them, Let’s Scare Them

The King James translators apparently considered their scriptural modifications insufficient support for the Hell doctrine, because they went on to translate a second Greek word into the English “Hell.” These modified Scriptures scare the daylights out of Christians, causing them to believe that God would like nothing better than to “fry” most of humanity in eternal Hell fire:

Matthew 10:28 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.

Mark 9:43-44 And if thy hand offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than having two hands to go into Hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched: Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.

Mark 9:45-46 And if thy foot offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter halt into life, than having two feet to be cast into Hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched: Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.

With these statements, Jesus described the punishments God would mete out to the rebellious Jews of His day — in other words, those who rejected Him during His earthly ministry.

But one would never know this by reading the King James Bible!

In all of these passages, “hell” is translated from the Greek γέεννα, which is pronounced “Gehenna”. This word is a proper noun, which means it’s the name of a person, place, or thing. And in early Greek manuscripts, it always refers to the Valley of Hinnom, a deep narrow ravine southeast of Jerusalem.

Anciently, Hinnom was the place where the Israelites worshiped the pagan gods Moloch and Baal. Here they sacrificed their children by burning them alive, a practice the Old Testament calls “passing through the fire” (See II Kings 16:3, & II Kings 23:10; II Chronicles 28:3, and Jeremiah 7:31).

Some Bible commentators claim that after returning to Jerusalem from the Babylonian captivity, the Jews used the Valley of Hinnom as the city dump for general refuse. Jerusalem was situated on a hill with entrance gates on all sides. So the city designers positioned one gate over the Hinnom Valley, while another was placed over the Kidron Valley. This supposedly allowed residents to discharge their refuse into these two unoccupied areas. And historians tell us that from time to time, both locations were used for public executions.

Thus commentators surmise that both valleys were vile and extremely toxic, with the air polluted from the odors of putrefying garbage, dead animal carcasses, and decaying human flesh. So the Jews kept fires burning continually, throughout what were essentially heaps of rotting garbage, which is why both valleys became associated with the term “unquenchable fire.”

Therefore in the above-quoted verses, Jesus warned those who might reject His message how they were at risk of punishment in the fires of the Valley of Hinnom. Of course, those who heard Jesus surely thought His assertion was absurd. But in 70 CE, when the Jews rebelled against the Romans, it was in this very valley that the Romans dumped and burned the bodies of most of the Jewish casualties.

The Jewish historian Josephus estimated that 1.1 million Jews died during the 70 CE war112. Josephus then went on to describe how 115,880 corpses passed through just one of these city gates into the valley below. And before the war ended, over 600,000 human bodies would be burned in the Hinnom and Kidron valleys113.

The prophet Jeremiah wrote a chilling prophecy about what would occur during this war:

“Therefore, behold, days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when it will no longer be called Topheth, or the valley of the son of Hinnom, but the valley of the Slaughter; for they will bury in Topheth because there is no other place. The dead bodies of this people will be food for the birds of the sky and for the beasts of the earth; and no one will frighten them away. Then I will make to cease from the cities of Judah and from the streets of Jerusalem the voice of joy and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride; for the land will become a ruin” (Jeremiah 7:32-34).

Therefore, with the Matthew 10 and Mark 9 passages quoted above, the Lord was not discussing our modern theological version of Hell. Instead, Jesus warned 1st Century Jews who refused to repent, how they would be punished with an eternally-lasting death — a death that would culminate with their bodies being cast into the fires of the Valley of Hinnom.

Now that we know the truth about Gehenna (the Valley of Hinnom), let’s move on to some of Jesus’ teachings that were not modified by Bible translators. Notice how these passages take on an entirely different meaning, once we know the history and purpose of Gehenna, that proper noun incorrectly rendered “hell” by the King James translators:

If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire and they are burned (John 15:6).

So just as the tares are gathered up and burned with fire, so shall it be at the end of the age (the Old Testament era). “The Son of Man will send forth His angels [Greek: ἄγγελος — used in the Bible to refer to angels, human beings, and even messengers of Satan — in this case the Roman armies], and they will gather out of His kingdom all stumbling blocks, and those who commit lawlessness, and will throw them into the furnace of fire; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matthew 13:40-42).

So it will be at the end of the age (the Old Testament era); the angels [again the Greek is ἄγγελος] will come forth and take out the wicked from among the righteous, and will throw them into the furnace of fire; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth (Matthew 13:49-50).

I want you to notice how none of these verses support “eternal” punishing by fire. Yes, people were burned and died in the Valley of Hinnom — but their bodies were entirely burned up.

Therefore, in the John 15:6 passage quoted above, Jesus used a Greek word that implies consumed. And in Matthew 13:40, the Lord used a word that means burned down to the ground. While in Matthew 13:50, the Greek translated into the English “furnace” means a smelting furnace (a device used to fire pottery).

Additional Translator Modifications

The King James translators weren’t content with changing the most prominent occurrences of γε’εννα (Gehenna); instead, they changed every passage they could find. What follows are all the other passages where the translators substituted the English word “Hell” for the original Greek word γε’εννα.

I have modified these verses by substituting the correct translation of this proper noun (in italics). So as you read through these verses, remember how Jesus warned the unrepentant Jews of a soon-coming punishment in this Valley. Then ask yourself: Was the Lord talking about a never-ending eternal Hell for unrepentant sinners? Or was He describing a soon-coming punishment for rebellious Jews?

The Jews were angry at Jesus without cause:

But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of the Valley of Hinnom fire (Matthew 5:22 — KJV).

Jesus pleaded with the Jews to clean up their act and repent:

Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of the Valley of Hinnom than yourselves (Matthew 23:15 — KJV). 

Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of the Valley of Hinnom? (Matthew 23:33 — KJV).

Jesus warned His disciples about a future punishment for those who refused to repent and follow Him:

And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into the Valley of Hinnom. And if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into the Valley of Hinnom (Matthew 5:29-30 — KJV). 

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 the Valley of Hinnom (Matthew 10:28 — KJV).

And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: it is better for thee to enter into life with one eye, rather than having two eyes to be cast into the Valley of Hinnom fire (Matthew 18:9 — KJV).

And if thy hand offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than having two hands to go into the Valley of Hinnom, into the fire that never shall be quenched: Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched (Mark 9:43-44 — KJV).

And if thy foot offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter halt into life, than having two feet to be cast into the Valley of Hinnom, into the fire that never shall be quenched: Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched (Mark 9:45-46 — KJV).

And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out: it is better for thee to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye, than having two eyes to be cast into the Valley of Hinnom, fire: Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched (Mark 9:47-48 — KJV).

And I say unto you my friends, Be not afraid of them that kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. But I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear: Fear him, which after he hath killed hath power to cast into the Valley of Hinnom; yea, I say unto you, Fear him (Luke 12:4-5 — KJV).

The above passages provide a great deal of information about the Valley of Hinnom:

When discussing this valley, Jesus makes no mention of eternal punishing;

In five of the passages, the Lord states that fires would be burning in the Valley of Hinnom;

When Matthew 23:33 refers to the damnation of the Valley of Hinnom, the Greek literally means judgment;

And finally in Matthew 10:28, Jesus warned how the Valley of Hinnom judgment would kill both the body and the soul (Greek: life).

Therefore, rather than describing the traditional doctrine of Hell, these passages explain how 1st Century Jews would be judged by God, killed by the Roman armies, and then their bodies would be cast into the fires of the Valley of Hinnom.

Finally, let’s look at how the apostle James compared the evil of the human tongue to the fires of the Valley of Hinnom. And once again, the translators substituted the English word “Hell” for what James actually wrote:

James 3:6 And the tongue is a fire, the very world of iniquity; the tongue is set among our members as that which defiles the entire body, and sets on fire the course of our life, and is set on fire by Hell [Greek: Valley of Hinnom].

All of the above passages directly refer to the Valley of Hinnom, a deep ravine southeast of Jerusalem, where Jesus foretold how the Jews would be punished for their rebellion against God. And especially note this: throughout all of the above Scriptures, there is not a single reference to a place of eternal punishing for sinners.

Think About This

You just read through fourteen separate passages where King James translators changed the proper name of a Jerusalem valley into the English word “Hell.”

Question: Are all of these mistranslated verses merely coincidences?

APRIL FOOLS!!!

This is just a little thread to THANK ALL THOSE OF YOU who offered an outpouring of financial support - by way of donations - in order to secure the existence of AzzGab.

You know who you are, and in the interest of privacy I will not mention names.

I hope you can understand my keeping your identities anonymous.

Its not that I don't appreciate you, I just don't want to put you on blast.

It was very charitable and kind.

At first, I wanted AzzGab to be an ad-free venture.

I am however considering introducing AdSense to the forum, with the purpose of using any revenues obtained doing so to fund the existence of this site, despite my financial position at any time in the future.

While I mention AdSense above, I will only introduce it as an option if I encounter another crisis as I did recently.

Lastly, I wanted to thank you all from my Twitter account, where I tweeted about the impending doom of AzzGab's inevitable expiry (at the time), however, my account there has been locked, due to something I tweeted recently.

So, please know, that even though I wish to thank those who donated to the site, on Twitter I'm currently unable to do so.

Thanks again.

- AZZERAE

P.S. There is more good news coming. Soon. Go tell it on the mountain.