Christian Publishing House Blog
Apologetic Defense of the faith, the Bible, and Christianity
Life is animate being, and once it begins it inexorably leads to death. At least this is the case after the fall of Adam in the Garden of Eden. (Gen. 2:17; 3:1-6) This will not be the case after Jesus' Second Coming. Death is a cessation of life, an irreversible state that is characterized by the cessation of all those processes that sustain life.
Almost every religion teaches that there is something after death, a hereafter: heaven, hell (eternal torment), purgatory (a place or state of suffering inhabited by the souls of sinners who are expiating their sins before going to heaven), or Limbo. Other religions believe in rebirth as a different life-form. The atheist and Agnostic say that we cannot know.
When the Bible talks about the condition of the dead it presents it in five senses, (1) knowing nothing, (2) asleep like state, (3) powerless, (4) returning to the dust of the ground, (5) and awaiting a resurrection. Almost every religion teaches that there is something after death, a hereafter: heaven, hell (eternal torment), purgatory... Continue Reading →
Should You Be Afraid of Death or of People Who Have Died? People grow old, get sick, and die. Even some children die. Should you be afraid of death or of anybody who has died? Do you know what happens if we die? Will you ever see your dead loved ones again? “If a man... Continue Reading →
All of us have lost a loved one to this force to be reckoned with, and it is only a matter of time before we have to face the greatest enemy humankind has ever known, death! However, we have been given a hope that is as great as the penalty that we are under. We... Continue Reading →
Psalm 37:10 10 In just a little while, the wicked will be no more; though you look carefully at his place, he will not be there. The wicked in the Bible is the absence of good. This person is often one who is involved in profound wickedness.
What did Jesus mean in the above text when he said people would be ‘thrown into hell?’ How are we to understand “the eternal fire” that Jesus warned us about, is it literal or symbolic? What did Jesus really teach about hell? What does the Bible really say?
Why did God withhold knowledge of eternal hellfire from Adam? Satan told Eve, “For God knows that when you eat of [the tree of knowledge] your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” Was Satan right, was God withhold knowledge of eternal hellfire from Adam and Eve?
It is worth noting that the doctrine of hellfire, like all other aspects of the Christian faith, should be understood within the broader context of God's character as a loving and merciful God and what the Bible authors meant by the words that they used. While the Bible does speak about the reality of hell (Hades, Sheol, Gehenna, Tartarus and the punishment (eternal destruction) that will be inflicted on those who are condemned to it, it also emphasizes the fact that God is willing to forgive sin and to restore a right relationship with those who turn to him in repentance and faith.