Month: August 2022

Categories
Christian Apologetics Faith Religion

What a Hell !!

The Nature and Duration of Punishment

The Nature of Hell/ The Nature and Duration of Punishment

Russel, the founder of JW, was sixteen years old when he became a skeptic because he couldn’t accept the doctrine of hell. 1 In 1879 Russel attended a lecture on hell given by Advent Christian Church leader Jonas Wendell. Relieved that there was no eternal conscious punishment Russel’s faith in the Bible was restored. 2

Professor Allan Gomez says that the discussion on the annihilationist’s arguments against the doctrine of eternal conscious punishment for the wicked revolves around only two main points:

Does the wicked experience conscious torment? and Do they suffer this torment eternally?

He says: “But I believe that there are two sets of texts that answer these two questions conclusively. One set of passages comes from Matthew 25; the other verses come from the Book of Revelation 14:9-11; 20:10 3

“The Nature of Hell (Matthew 25:41, 46)

[v. 41] “Then He will also say to those on His left, ‘Depart from me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire [to pur to aionion] which has been prepared for the devil and his angels….’ [v. 46] And these will go away into eternal punishment [kolasin aionion], but the righteous into life eternal [zoen aionion].” 4

We observe first of all that the wicked share the same fate as Satan and his demonic hosts. Indeed, this text tells us that hell was created specifically for Satan and his angels. As followers of Satan, impenitent men will meet the same fate as he. This is significant because when we look at other passages in the Book of Revelation that speak of the Devil’s fate (see below), we are fully justified in ascribing this same fate to unredeemed men.” Notice that this passage describes hell as a place of “eternal fire.” Should we understand this to mean literal, material, and physical fire? Or should we regard the expression as metaphorical language, designed to convey an awful spiritual reality through physical language? Most conservatives — who affirm the doctrine of eternal, conscious punishment — would say that this is metaphorical language. For one thing, the rich man in Luke 16:24 is described as being in agony in the flames. He is also described as having a tongue, and Lazarus is said to have a finger. But this scene occurs in Hades, during the disembodied state between death and resurrection. It is therefore difficult to see how a nonphysical being could have a literal tongue, much less be tormented by literal, physical fire. The same would apply to the other physical metaphors used to describe hell, such as the undying worm (Mark 9:48) and the chains of darkness (Jude 6). 5

The Nature of Punishment (Revelation 14:9-11; 20:10)

[14:9] “…If anyone worships the beast and his image… [14:10] he will be tormented [basanisthesetai] with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. [14:11] And the smoke of their torment [basanismou] goes up forever and ever [eis aionas aionon]; and they have no rest day or night, those who worship the beast and his image,… [20:10] And the Devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are also; and they will be tormented [basanisthesontai] day and night forever and ever [eis tous aionas ton aionon].” 6

These texts describe the nature of the punishment as “torment.” The words used in these texts are forms of the Greek word basanizo. As Thayer states, basanizo means “to vex with grievous pains (of body or mind), to torment.” Likewise, Arndt and Gingrich say that basanizo means “to torture, torment,” and may apply to either physical or mental vexation. When we examine the uses of the verb basanizo and its various noun forms throughout the New Testament, we see that great pain and conscious misery are in view, not annihilation or cessation of consciousness. For example, the centurion’s sick servant is grievously tormented (deinos basanizomenos) by his palsy (Matt. 8:6). Revelation 12:2 uses the verb to describe the pains of childbirth. In 2 Peter 2:8, righteous Lot is described as tormented (ebasanizen) in his soul by the wicked deeds of the Sodomites. In Luke 16:23 and 28, the plural noun “torments” (basanoi) is used to describe the rich man’s conscious suffering in Hades. Indeed, in verse 28 Hades is described as “the place of torment” (ho topos tou basanou). 7

The Duration of Punishment in Revelation

When we considered Matthew 25:46 above, we noted that aionos can, in some contexts, qualify nouns of limited duration. (Though, as we also observed, the context of Matthew 25 demands that we take aionios in its unlimited signification there.) But here, we find the emphatic forms eis aionas aionon and eis tous aionas ton aionon (“unto the ages of the ages”). This construction is only used to describe unending duration. As Sasse points out, the “twofold use of the term [aionios]” is designed “to emphasize the concept of eternity.” The fact that the forms used are plural in number further reinforces the idea of never-ending duration. Speaking of the Greek construction in this verse, the great biblical commentator R. C. H. Lenski observes: “The strongest expression for our ‘forever’ is eis tous aionan ton aionon, ‘for the eons of eons’; many aeons, each of vast duration, are multiplied by many more, which we imitate by ‘forever and ever.’ Human language is able to use only temporal terms to express what is altogether beyond time and timeless. The Greek takes its greatest term for time, the eon, pluralizes this, and then multiplies it by its own plural, even using articles which make these eons the definite ones.” 8

This same emphatic construction is found in Revelation 1:6; 4:9; and 5:3, where it refers to the unending worship of God. Revelation 4:10 and 10:6 it is used to describe God’s own endless life. And in Revelation 22:5 the construction is employed to characterize the everlasting reign of the saints. 9

Note also that the unending nature of the torment is shown by the fact that the expression “day and night” is used to describe its duration. The expression “day and night” is indicative of ceaseless activity. This same phrase is used of the never-ending worship of God in Revelation 4:8 and 7:15. By juxtaposing the words “day and night” with “forever and ever” in 20:10, we have the most emphatic expression of unending, ceaseless activity possible in the Greek language. In summary, these verses from Matthew and Revelation are more than adequate to answer the two questions before us. The language is unambiguous, emphatic, and conclusive. These verses by themselves should be sufficient to settle the argument forever. 10

Jesus more than anyone annunciated the doctrine of everlasting torment for the lost. He was a perfect manifestation of love and justice and stooped to become one of us and bore the vengeance of God’s fire. If God should open our eyes to understand the terrible price He paid, we would in that instant comprehend the awful guilt of spurning that price. If those who scorned the old covenant were consumed with the fire of this present age, “how much severer punishment do you think he will deserve who has trampled underfoot the Son of God and has regarded as unclean the blood of the covenant” (Heb. 10:29)? 11

Professor Jones in his book “Why God Allows Evil” says that occupants of hell will remain eternally unrepentant and it is consistent with the Scriptures. Why should we think they will ever repent? When God’s wrath is poured out on the wicked in Revelation 16:9, we read that “they were seared with intense heat and they cursed the name of God, who had control over the plagues, but they refused to repent and glorify Him” 12

It seems that Russel’s sentimentalism assumed that in heaven our feelings about others will be as present and our joy in the manifesting of God’s justice will be no greater than it is now, says Professor Gomez.  

These arguments clearly refute JW’s arguments. What do you think?

  1. Robert Bowman, Jehovah’s Witnesses (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1995), 9.[↩]
  2. Ibid., 10.[↩]
  3. http://www.bible-researcher.com/hell4.html[↩]
  4. Ibid.,[↩]
  5. Ibid.,[↩]
  6. http://www.bible-researcher.com/hell4.html[↩]
  7. Ibid.,[↩]
  8. Ibid.,[↩]
  9. Ibid.,[↩]
  10. http://www.bible-researcher.com/hell4.html[↩]
  11. Ibid.,[↩]
  12. Jones, Why God Allows Evil (Oregon: Harvest, 2017), 99[↩]
Categories
Christian Apologetics Faith Religion World History

Understanding Inerrancy of Bible

The doctrine of Inerrancy has been long an emphatic affirmation of the Christian theological tradition in both Catholics and Protestants. 1 But it has been looked at with considerable suspicion starting from the first decades of the twenty-first century, many skeptics considered the doctrine as a shibboleth.

But if the Bible contains errors then Christians are faced with a bigger problem. What is true and what is not true in the Bible? What is at stake is the shipwreck of our faith. How can we trust Paul and the others when they wrote that God resurrected Jesus from the dead? How can we believe that God will keep his promises if he could not keep his Word true through the centuries?

I don’t think that the inerrancy was a theory that was developed through the centuries but Jesus and the apostles themselves looked upon the entire truthfulness and utter worthiness of the Scripture. 2 I understand that the inerrancy of the Bible is that the Bible does not contain errors.

The authors inspired by the Holy Spirit wrote exactly what God wanted. The text we have today is what the Holy Spirit inspired the authors to write. God revealed Himself through special revelations that were given directly from Him. These revelations were recorded in books as God told his prophets to do so, like in Jeremiah 30:2. “Write in a book all the words I have spoken to you”. Paul wrote in 2 Timothy 3:16-17 “All Scripture is God-breathed (Gk. theopneustos).

Paul Wegner explains that this process is not just that God breathed life into the words of an author after he had written them; if this was the case, they would be primarily man’s words. 3 God was intimately involved in the lives of the authors that He knew what they would say and even how they would say it. 4 The individual personalities were thus combined with the indwelling, guiding work of the Holy Spirit to Create Scripture. 5

My understanding of the relationship of inerrancy to the doctrines of inspiration and infallibility is that the infallibility of Scripture does not rest on the infallibility of the human writers but on the integrity of God. 6 Because God is perfect, His Word is perfect and Scripture is perfect. It takes into account God’s character and the nature of his dealings with humans in the world. God used imperfect faulty men to write His Words but inspiration is not the elimination of all human involvement in the production of Scripture. Yet, the critical biblical affirmation of the inspiration is of the inspiration of the text. 7

So, God used fallible and faulty human beings and words as his own words. While inspiration and inerrancy are not synonyms, God is not a man that he should lie (Numbers 23:19). The text is God-breathed and it is the unfailing veracity of God that gives a truthful character to the text. 8 We don’t need to solve all difficulties in the Bible but it doesn’t mean it is not true, perhaps we need more time studying it.

The purpose of the Bible is to bring us in fellowship with Christ. 9 God created the human language and there is no reason why genuinely human language or a genuinely human text must be fallible or contain errors. 10 When difficulties arise, it is an invitation to engage in Scripture that is unfailingly true and always speaks and acts in accordance with the nature of God. 11

Joel M Stevao

  1. James K. Hoffmeier and Dennis R. Magary, Do Historical Matters Matter to Faith? (Illinois: Crossway, 2012),71.[↩]
  2. James K. Hoffmeier and Dennis R. Magary, Do Historical Matters Matter to Faith? (Illinois: Crossway, 2012),77.[↩]
  3. Paul G Wegner, The Journey from Text to Translations: The Origin and Development of the Bible (Baker: Grand Rapids, 2004), 29.[↩]
  4. Ibid.,29.[↩]
  5. Ibid.,29.[↩]
  6. James K. Hoffmeier and Dennis R. Magary, Do Historical Matters Matter to Faith? (Illinois: Crossway, 2012),84.[↩]
  7. Ibid.,95.[↩]
  8. Ibid.,96.[↩]
  9. Ibid.,97.[↩]
  10. Ibid.,94.[↩]
  11. Ibid.,97.[↩]
Categories
Christian Apologetics Faith Religion

The Victory of the Cross

The Servant of God succeeded in His Mission

I wrote a text in 2015 criticizing the words of Pope Francis when he was visiting the United States. He said that because Jesus had failed on the cross, we can fail too in our daily actions. But that is not what the Bible says about Jesus’ death on the cross and I responded to Pope Francis by saying he was wrong.

Our failures and sins can be forgiven because Jesus did not fail on the cross.

Some criticized my text saying that maybe I had misunderstood him, and even some religious leaders agreed with the Pope, in an attempt to soften the pontiff’s words. The text is on the web “The Failure or the Victory of the Cross” and it is in Portuguese ” (O Fracasso da Cruz ou a Vitória da Cruz) 1

According to the Pope, Jesus, in his human nature, failed on the cross, because he died on the cross, so His death was a failure and thus we can fail too. In addition to the lack of biblical basis for such a position, as I have shown in my first text, I will show here what God said in relation to his “Servant” Jesus and His death on the cross.

In the first text “The Failure or the Victory of the Cross”, I used the New Testament to show that Jesus did not fail on the cross, in this text I will show through the Old Testament that Jesus succeeded in his mission and did not fail as Pope Francis implied.

When we do an exegesis of the text in Isaiah 52:13 – 53:12, which speaks of the suffering and glory of the Servant of the Lord, we find that God is saying that his Servant would be successful in his mission.

The Servant of the Lord introduced in Isaiah 52:13 – 53:12 describes the suffering of the Messiah. This text speaks of how He was disfigured, had no beauty, was despised, took our iniquities upon Himself, and was oppressed, and humiliated, among other things.

When we read Isaiah 52:13 “Behold, my servant deal prudently; He shall be exalted and extolled and be very high” (NKJV) we have the perfect figure of the Messiah who is Jesus.

In the original Hebrew, the words “prudence” or “wisdom” is sakal which also means “to succeed, or to be successful”; then the text says He “shall be exalted” which in Hebrew is rum which means “to be lifted up, indicating beginning”; then text still says; “extolled” which is nasa in Hebrew indicating to ascend, in a continuation sense, and finally “very high” which is gabah, which indicates “highly exalted”. In Hebrew there is an “e” before the “highly exalted”, which is called “waw consecutive”, indicating sequence.

In the NIV translation, we have: “Behold, my servant will act wisely, He shall be raised and lifted up and highly exalted”.

So what we have here is God saying that his Servant will act with prudence or wisdom and be successful (sakal). And the result or proof of this is that He will be raised (rum), referring to His resurrection; He will then be lifted up (nasa), which refers to his ascension, and He will be highly exalted (gabah) which refers to his final state, at the climax of the sequence of events.

In verse 14 we find the word “shaman” which means to be “speechless or speechless” due to the terrible scene, for He did not seem human. In verse 15 we find the word “naza” or “sprinkle” which is the same word used in the Old Testament when the sacrifice was made and the blood was sprinkled for the remission of sins. Then the Servant should die, resurrect, suffer and sprinkle his blood for the nations, bringing salvation to the whole world, and finally, the Kings of the world will close their mouths and worship him because they will understand what the Servant accomplished. 2 In Jesus, we have the fulfillment of that prophecy.

In conclusion, we have God (Yahweh) saying that his Servant WOULD be successful and that he WAS successful in his mission. The Servant fulfilled the work God gave him, dying on the cross for our sins (Isaiah 53:10-12), the Servant will triumph (v10), because of his prudent act many will be justified (v11), and because he bore our sins He will be exalted. (v12).

We find in this text in Isaiah (52:13 – 53:12), not only the prophecy but the fulfillment of the prophecy written approximately 700 years earlier.

So with all certainty, we can say that Jesus did not fail on the cross, for God himself said that His Servant Jesus would not fail on the Cross.

And you will know the truth, and it will set you free. (John 8:32)

Joel Marcos Stevao
Christian Apologist

  1. https://apologian.blogspot.com/2015/09/o-fracasso-da-cruz-ou-vitoria-da-cruz.html[↩]
  2. Bruce Waltke, Ph.D. professor de Grego e Velho Testament no Biola University. (Understanding the Old Testament), 89 [↩]
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