While the Old Testament talks of ten thousand things of small importance, it has not a syllable nor a whisper of what ought to have been told first of all and most of all and continually. No one is said to have gone to such a place as is now denoted by the word Hell, or to be going to it, or saved from it, or exposed to it. Not a Core Doctrine While many conservative Christians believe the doctrine of hell to be a core belief of the church this is not the case. History tells us that the majority view “evolved long after the core doctrines of the historic Christian faith were established. The views of the early church fathers about hell were far from unanimous. It took the Christian community hundreds of years to come up with a consensus on the issue. The majority view -- that hell is a place of eternal fiery torment -- emerged only after a long debate within the Church”. (The Battle Over Hell by Keith W. Stump). Christians Don’t Really Believe In The Popular Version Of Hell Eternity is, admittedly, a difficult concept to grasp, but it seems to me that very few Christians really believe in the doctrine of eternal fires of hell, no matter how much they profess to do so. The idea of unending, conscious pain, whether physical or mental, is beyond anyone’s dark imagination or worst nightmares. Christians commonly believe that hell is a place of fire, torture and shrieks, yet, when was the last time any of us tearfully went to an unsaved person that we care about and begged them to ‘repent and believe’. The thought of hell should stir us into a state of near panic for the welfare of our unsaved relatives, friends and acquaintances, yet most of us do not blink an eye at the idea of some of our loved ones going there.. Hell in The Old Testament If endless punishment be true, it is a terrible fate for all those who are in danger. This alone is a powerful reason why this doctrine should have been made known in the clearest manner, on the very morning of creation! The Old and New Testaments should have been replete with dire warnings, not in obscure or indefinite terms, but in language which no man could misunderstand, even if he wanted to. If the popular concept of a fiery hell is true then it stands to reason that the pain of hell and the salvation of Christ should be the two most talked about doctrines in Scripture. However is this true…or is the Bible strangely silent on the subject of eternal suffering? Lets turn to the Old Testament.
THE PERIOD BEFORE THE LAW Adam and Eve In chapter Gen 2:15-17, we have this statement: " And Jehovah God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it. And Jehovah God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die."
God said the penalty for eating of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil was DEATH. He did NOT define death as eternal life being forever tortured in burning fire and brimstone. It is hard to believe that God would open the great drama of our life on this earth, involving such infinite consequences, in such brief and doubtful language, and with so little specification where so much was needed. God says, "In the day thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die;" but this is very far from saying, "Thou shalt, after the death of the body, be subjected to the torments of an endless hell." We are told, to be sure, that this means "death temporal, death spiritual, and death eternal;" but where is the proof of it? So terrible a doctrine must not be assumed, but demonstrated by unquestionable evidence. Who can believe that God would reveal so frightful a punishment in language so easily misunderstood - by the single word "die," a term employed in such a variety of senses, capable of such a wide latitude of usage? Additionally, after Adam and Eve transgressed and were banished from the garden of Eden God tells them about evils to be endured in this life, but not a word is said about any evil or punishment beyond this life, which would be infinitely worse than a finite life of misery, fear, anguish. If the doctrine of interminable torment after death be true, how are we to account for this?
Cain and Abel The most heinous of crimes, that of the murder of one’s brother came very early on when Cain slew his brother Abel. (Gen 4:1-16). After the murder this is what the Lord said to Cain .. "… The voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground! And now art thou cursed from the earth, which hath opened her mouth to receive thy brother's blood from thy hand. When thou tillest the ground, it shall not henceforth yield unto thee her strength; a fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be in the earth."
This is all we have in the way of punishment or threatenings; and is there anything here that looks like endless torments beyond this life? anything that would suggest the idea of such a judgment? Nothing at all; the guilty man is cursed from the earth, which is to refuse her fruits to his culture, and is driven out a vagabond; and there is the end of the account. And it is evident that Cain did not understand the threats of judgment as implying endless woe, for his fears are all confined to the earth - the dread of revenge, of being killed, and the horrors of the life of an outcast and a vagabond. "And Cain said unto the Lord, My punishment is greater than I can bear. Behold, thou hast driven me out this day from the face of the earth; and from thy face shall I be hid; and I shall be a fugitive and a vagabond in the earth; and it shall come to pass that every one who findeth me shall slay me."
These are all the evils of which Cain makes mention; and in view of them he exclaims, "My punishment is greater than I can bear." Was Cain simply ignorant of the dreadful fate that awaited him? And if the guilty and wretched man thought the punishment actually denounced greater than he could bear, what would he have said, if, in addition to this, there had been threatened the agonies of an endless hell? And is it possible to believe, if this was the purpose of God, that He would be wholly silent in regard to it? Was it right to be silent, if the terrible fate of Cain could have served as a warning and a restraint to all who should come after him? In verse 15, "Therefore, whosoever slayeth Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold."
If infinite, endless torment is the punishment of Cain, how can sevenfold more than this be inflicted on another?
The Deluge Is one of the most remarkable examples of wickedness and judgment recorded in the Bible. The description of the exceeding wickedness of the people who were destroyed in the flood may be seen in verses 5, 11, and 13, of Genesis 6. The heart was given to evil, and "only evil continually;" "the earth was filled with violence, and all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth."
Noah, who was "a preacher of righteousness," was not a preacher of endless punishment. No mention is made of his ever having breathed a syllable in reference to it; nor is there a single line in the record of this event, showing that God threatened this, or that any attempt was made to restrain or reform the people through its influence. But again; in the account of their judgment we are told that everything that had breath was destroyed by the flood from the face of the earth, and with this the record closes (Gen 6:10-24). Now if, as asserted, they were not only destroyed by the flood, but were afterwards subjected to the tortures of the world of ceaseless woe, is it not strange that no mention is made of this - not even an allusion to it? Is it possible that everything else should be carefully related, even to the height of the waters above the mountains, and the number of days they prevailed, and yet that the endless and indescribable torments of hell, the most terrible part of the judgment, and the most important to the world and to us, should be wholly omitted, and that without one word of explanation?
Destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. (Gen 19) Here we have another instance of remarkable wickedness, and of terrible judgment. Yet, on examination, we find no warning given to the Sodomites of an endless fire, to which the soul would be subjected, after the fire by which the body should perish. The extreme wickedness of the people is set forth with graphic power, in the scene described in Gen.19:23-33; and it would seem a proper occasion for a revelation of endless punishment, if true; for such, if any, must certainly be its victims. But if we turn to the record, Gen.19: 24- 25, we find it contains no hint of the matter, neither in the way of warning to the Sodomites, nor of history for restraining future transgressors. The difficulty is not removed by reference to Jude 7. Even as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities about them, having in like manner with these given themselves over to fornication and gone after strange flesh, are set forth as an example, suffering the punishment of eternal fire.
If the common interpretation of Jude is correct, there are two difficulties … 1] It states a falsehood, since the Sodomites were not set forth as an example of endless punishment in the invisible world, as no record of it is given by Moses, or the prophets, or any sacred writer. 2] How is it that all mention of the matter should have been omitted until the time of Jude, and then be introduced, as it clearly is, incidentally, in the way of illustration? If there is any restraining power in the example, why was it concealed from the world more than two thousand years? Why was not the awful fate which awaited them revealed to the victims in the first place? It might have saved them. Why did not the sacred historian give account of it, that the millions who lived and perished between the event and the time of Jude, might have had the benefit of the example? If he was inspired, did he not know it? and if so, why was he silent?
The apostle cannot mean future punishments, because he mentions it as something that was to be a visible example to all."
Other Examples It is exactly the same case with other Scriptural cases of great iniquity. In each case there are specific details as to the fate of the individual (or individuals), an account of the judgments inflicted on them while they lived and all the way up to their deaths, but an eerie silence in regard to the additional judgment of endless torment after death.. We have accounts of the Builders of Babel, Joseph's Brethren, the Destruction of Pharaoh and his Host, Lot's Wife, etc., but not a word in any of these of any judgment remotely similar to endless woe, If these sinners, after suffering the punishments recorded in the Bible, were subject to infinitely greater punishments to be perpetuated without end, then either the authors of the books of the Bible deliberately concealed the subject, or else they were as utterly ignorant of the whole matter as we are. The next step, therefore, is to examine the period under the law to ascertain if we have any revelation of the doctrine there. THE PERIOD UNDER THE LAW If Hell was real why didn't Moses warn about this fate? The Mosaic Law simply stated blessings and curses IN THIS LIFETIME for failure to keep the Mosaic Law. In the epistle to the Hebrews, we find this testimony … that under the Law, "every transgression and disobedience RECEIVED a just recompense of reward." Heb 2:2. The statement of the apostle is supported and illustrated by the whole course of Bible history. Take whatever offense you will, be it national or individual, be it offense of priest, king, prophet, or peasant, and it will be found that every instance of disobedience was promptly met with its just recompense. If every transgression actually received its just punishment, then endless punishment cannot be true; Space allows us to quote only a few verses of Deuteronomy 28, but the reader is urged to read the entire chapter. "It shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe to do all His commandments and statutes which I command thee this day, that all these curses shall come upon thee, and overtake thee: Cursed shalt thou be in the city, and cursed shalt thou be in the field. Cursed shall be thy basket and thy store. Cursed shall be the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy land, the increase of thy cattle, and the flocks of thy sheep. Cursed shalt thou be when thou comest in, and cursed shalt thou be when thou goest out. The Lord shall send upon thee cursing, vexation and rebuke in all that thou settest thine hand unto for to do... He shall smite thee with consumption, and with a fever, with blasting and mildew; and the Lord shall make the pestilence cleave unto thee, until he shall have consumed thee from off the land whither thou goest to possess it. "Moreover, all these curses shall come upon thee, and shall pursue thee till thou be destroyed; because thou hearkenedst not unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to keep his commandments and his statutes, which he commanded thee. Because thou servedst not the Lord thy God with joyfulness, and with gladness of heart, for the abundance of all things, therefore shalt thou serve thine enemies which the Lord shall send against thee, in hunger, and in thirst, and in nakedness, and in want of all things. And thine enemy shall besiege thee in all thy gates, until thy high and fenced walls come down, wherein thou trustedst. Thou shalt beget sons and daughters, but thou shalt not enjoy them; for they shall go into captivity. And thou shalt become an astonishment, a proverb, and a byword, among all nations whither the Lord shall lead thee."
This important chapter sets out with great detail the judgments and punishments with which God threatens to visit the Jews for their transgressions of His laws; but not a word is uttered in respect to the punishments of an endless hell after death. All the evils which are to fall upon them are of a temporal character, such only as can be inflicted on them while in the body, while on the earth: plagues and sickness, infectious diseases on the cattle, and mildew on their vines and grains; locusts in the fields and orchards; hunger, thirst, and nakedness; curses on the city and country, curses at home and abroad; the desolation of their country by their enemies, exile and captivity. These are the only penalties annexed to the Law of Moses of which we have any information; and these were fully visited on the heads of the offending and rebellious people. The entire history of the Jewish people as a nation, and as individuals, from generation to generation, demonstrates how exactly the threatening of the law was fulfilled in judgments. When they were obedient, the Lord prospered them, and rewarded them with fruitful seasons, with increasing wealth and power, and made them superior to their enemies. But when they were rebellious and wicked, then followed adversity, defeat, captivity, and all the physical calamities threatened in the Law. Virtue met its recompense, and vice its punishment, with a regularity that was at once unfailing and notorious. But all this while we have not one syllable of an endless woe which is to be added to all the other woes. In no instance of rebellion against God, not when their corruption and idolatry were at the highest reach of crime and blasphemy, do we find them threatened with the torments of a hell beyond the present life. Are we to believe that He reveals the law, but He carefully conceals the awful penalty. His children know nothing at all of the terrible fate which awaits them; they are entirely ignorant of the tremendous fact that their transgressions of the law involve this dreadful result, stretching into duration without end. Additionally "Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians." [Acts 7:22] All ancient Egyptians believed in the afterlife and spent their lives preparing for it. After death judgment in the Hall of Maat (the god of justice) was followed by being led to the world where the gods lived, or punished in hell where they undergo eternal punishment in lakes of fire flames. The guardians of these lakes were supposed to be voracious beasts that inflicted all sorts of torture on wicked hell residents. There is no doubt that Moses was acquainted with the belief of future endless punishment, and yet, knowing it as thoroughly as he must have done, he never alludes to it once in all his laws and penalties, but rejects it utterly from his doctrines and institutions. Sheol, (hell in the Old Testament) is never used by Moses or the Prophets in the sense of a place of torment after death.
The Case of Abimelech. Judges 9 "And Abimelech went unto his father's house at Ophrah, and slew his brethren, the sons of Jerubbaal, being three score and ten persons, upon one stone... And all the men of Shechem gathered together at the house of Millo, and went and made Abimelech king."
Nothing can surpass this bloody sacrifice on the altar of ambition. At one fell stroke seventy murders, save one, and the victims his own brethren, bone of his bone, flesh of his flesh; and through this sea of kindred blood, he waded to the throne! Surely, if ever there was a sinner of the hue of "the blackness of darkness," this Abimelech was the man; and if the flaming pit of endless woe is not a fiction, but a solemn fact, we shall now hear something of it in the way of recompensing the sin of this guilty wretch. Well, here is the record: "And Abimelech came unto the tower and fought against it, and a certain woman cast a piece of millstone upon Abimelech's head, and all to break his skull. Then he called hastily to the young man, his armor-bearer, and said unto him, Draw thy sword and slay me, that men say not of me, a woman slew him. And his young man thrust him through, and he died... Thus God rendered the wickedness of Abimelech, which he did unto his father, in slaying his seventy brethren: and all the evil of the men of Shechem did God render upon their heads." Judges 9:52-57; also Judges 9:46-49.
This is the whole record of judgment; but, as we see, not a word of endless punishment. The cruel and bloody man is followed with evil, with rebellion from his former friends, who made him king; and at last, after many struggles, he is slain in battle, and the men of Shechem are burned alive in their strongholds. And there the account ends, with only this brief statement: "Thus God rendered the wickedness of Abimelech,"
Other Transgressions The Sons of Eli disgrace the office of the priesthood by their unholy acts; a sentence from on high is pronounced against them, and they are slain as they bore the ark in battle with the Philistines. Balaam contends against Israel in spite of God's command to the contrary, and in return for his stubborn disobedience is killed in battle. Saul Throughout his reign Saul was guilty of continually breaking the law of that God who had given him the scepter, and accordingly he was visited with frequent reverses; his unchecked passions distempered his mind, and subjected him to seasons of madness and frenzy; his life is poisoned with jealousy, fear and remorse, and at length, when he had refused reproof and persisted in sin, he dies by his own hand on the field of battle. David, the man after God's own heart, is guilty of the heavy offenses of adultery and murder; he is expressly punished by the death of the child, and there was a series of misfortunes from this time to the close of his reign, which were sent as further chastisements of his dark crimes. Joab is guilty of deeds of wanton violence and bloodshed. Prosperity attends him throughout the reign of David, but under Solomon his sin finds him out, and he who had 'shed the blood of war in peace' is in his turn slain by the sword. Solomon carries too far the indulgence given the Jewish monarchs of a plurality of wives. His wisdom raised him above their evil influence during the vigor of his life, but in his declining years his wives become a snare to him, seduce him to adopt their idolatrous practices, and leave it a matter of considerable doubt whether the wise king really died in the faith of his fathers. Jeroboam encouraged his people in the worship of idols, and, in consequence, the favor of the Lord departed from him and his household and kingdom. Ahab and Jezebel favored the false prophets, insulted the prophets of the Lord, practiced oppression, fraud and cruelty, and they are notably punished for their dark offenses; the one is slain in battle, the other is cast from her window and devoured by the dogs. The princes and the people in general having through many generations grievously departed from the law of the Lord, they are carried into captivity in Babylon, where during seventy years they endure all the bitter evils of exile, bondage and oppression. Nebuchadnezzar insults the majesty of heaven by his pride, ambition, and ungodliness. He is cast down from his high place, and he who aspired to be equal with Jehovah is debased below the condition of the meanest among men, being doomed during seven years to herd with the beasts of the field, to feed with them on the same fare, and to repair with them to the same caverns. Belshazzar, forgetful of the warnings and the judgments that befell his grandsire, exhibits the same overweening arrogance, conjoined with profligacy and profanity. Vengeance descends upon him in the hour of his loftiest pride and exaltation. As he sat in the midst of his nobles and captains, rioting in drunkenness, sacrilege and licentiousness, a spectral hand is seen by him to write his doom in mystical characters on the wall, the sentence is expounded to him by the prophet of the Lord, and that very night his city was taken and sacked, he himself was slain, and his kingdom was given to another. Haman cherishes a deadly jealousy against the upright Mordecai, and carries his hatred so far as to erect a gallows on which he proposes to hang the object of his enmity. His dark schemes are discovered and turned against himself, and he and his sons are hanged on the gibbet which he had prepared for another." | 
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