We’ve all been there. The dreaded knock at the door. They come in pairs, leaving pamphlets of information, about God, about the coming kingdom.
Most won’t even open the door. Those that do will generally send them off with a polite “No, thank you!”
Me, being a glutton for punishment, chose the latter, and instead of sending them off, I listened briefly to what they had to say, accepted the materials they handed me, wished them well, and then sent them on their way.
That was more than 30 years ago, and at the time, I was doing my own study of the Bible. My mother was going through her “born again” phase, and though I was a believer, I felt like she had suddenly become this judgmental woman who would quote things her pastor said that just seemed off-the-wall to me.
First and foremost, I’m grateful I was introduced to God at an early age. I was fascinated by stories from the Bible: The Garden of Eden; the Tower of Babel, David and Goliath, the birth of Jesus and his teachings. These were all biblical stories presented for the ears of a child, and set the foundation for my faith. After entering adulthood, I kept a Bible at home, and certainly wouldn’t consider myself an expert, but when mom would say something that sounded ridiculous to me, I had to look it up for myself.
You see, I was at a time in my life where I considered myself a believer, yet I questioned the why. I called myself a Christian, but why did I believe what I did? There were so many other religions out there. Who’s to say I was right and they weren’t?
What began as a soul-searching desire became an obsessive quest for the truth. I learned that the Bible contained some of the oldest religious writings ever found, preceding many of the modern religions of the day. I also discovered there was a great deal of archaeological evidence of its historic accuracy. Ancient cities once considered myths were uncovered, such as Ur, the home of the biblical patriarch Abraham. The city of Jericho, hidden amongst its collapsed walls. As if this wasn’t enough, the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls. Hidden within several caves along the Dead Sea, multiple jars containing the oldest known copies of the Hebrew Bible, were carefully preserved. The words in the book of Isaiah were practically unchanged from today’s translations, despite being more than two thousand years old. Then there’s the Merneptah Stele, discovered in 1895, containing an ancient Egyptian inscription that mentions Israel by name.
To me, the historical relevance was reassurance that something incredible and believable happened in the past, but what about the “other” stuff? The supernatural-seeming accounts that supposedly disagree with science, yet in many aspects, science actually validates scripture (Something I’ll address at another time). Suffice it to say, I compared many of the different religions of the modern day and became more confident in my faith as a proud follower of Christ.
So, back to our door-knocking friends. As a young mother, I was blessed with a great partner in my husband, and was able to spend much of my girls’ developmental years at home. Like clockwork, every Wednesday, two Jehovah’s Witness ladies would come calling. The debates were incredible. They’d quote scripture from their Bible and explain what it meant, and I’d research it the rest of the week until they returned. It was interesting to me, as the more I researched, the more it reinforced my own beliefs, and honestly, brought me closer to God than I’d ever felt. In the end, we agreed to disagree. It was a debate about hell, that to this day, I struggle to understand their view.
Fast forward to the present. We’ve since moved to Florida, my girls are adults, and it’s just hubby and me living out our golden years. Nearing retirement, the old desire to write stories has come back with a vengeance, but at fifty-seven, it’s not easy to make a name as a new author. Regardless whether any of my works ever get published, it was the subject matter that brought me back to researching biblical lore, and wouldn’t you know it, two witnesses made their way to my front porch.
It was ironic to me that they appeared when they did, and I felt that perhaps I was the one that had something to learn. Call me crazy, but once again, I answered the door. Regardless what you think of them, Jehovah’s Witnesses are people of faith. They believe in God and Jesus, but they don’t believe in the existence of hell or the physical resurrection of Christ. I’m not a preacher, scholar, or the perfect example of a Christian woman, so I probably should leave it to those smarter than me, but when it comes to hell, I raised the old argument from the past. The one answer that the witnesses of the past couldn’t provide.
Those who know a bit about Jesus and his teachings understand that he taught in parables. He always used something the people of the time could relate to in order to describe a scenario. Often, after he would teach the public, he would meet with his disciples and explain what the parables meant. The analogies were fascinating: the Lamp on a Stand (Matthew 5:14-16, Mark 4:21-25, Luke 8:16-18), the Watchful Servants (Mark 13:34-37, Luke 12:35-40), the Growing Seed (Mark 4:26-29), and one of my personal favorites, the Mustard Seed (Matthew 13:31-32, Mark 4:30-32, Luke 13:18-19). In each example, Jesus used real and relatable examples. We knew there was such a thing as a lampstand, we understood what a seed did and what happened when it landed on rocky, sandy or fertile soil, yet in the parable about the Rich Man and the poor man, His description of the rich man in Hades (Shoel or Gehenna in other translations) was as a place of torment. A place of anguish in flame. My question to my witness friends was why, in this one circumstance, would Jesus describe something in this manner if it wasn’t real? This followed me to today.
The two witnesses I spoke with that morning were quite friendly (they usually are) and wanted to leave a pamphlet. I don’t think either of us expected what happened next, but instead of politely bobbing my head in a polite thanks, I stepped out on the stoop and (oh, the horror) had a conversation with them. My point was simple: I appreciated their need to share the good news, but that I had met with their followers before, and that in the end, we agreed to disagree. I explained the parable of the rich man and poor man, asked the question why would Jesus make up hell as being a place of torment if it weren’t a real thing. Not being prepared with a response, they did something surprising. They agreed it was something they would have to research, and that they would come back once they had an answer.
The holidays came and went, and honestly, I figured they’d written me off and decided to find another neighborhood to visit, but lo and behold, they pulled up in front of the house while I was working outside. They shared a printout explaining what Jesus meant and why he used this particular teaching. Their rationale was that Jesus’ specific teaching was directed at the religious leaders at the time who were listening to his sermons trying to find fault, and not meant to be taken literally. The printout explained that Jesus was informing the Pharisees that the old law was changed, yet they quoted a passage from the Old Testament (Ecclesiastes 9:5-10) to argue their point about death. The argument completely disregarded more than 20 verses that indicated otherwise. Again, I’m not an expert, and in some ways, I hope they are correct that when a man dies without Christ, his soul simply becomes no more. But if they’re wrong, and the biblical evidence I’ve found indicates they are, there are a lot of souls who will regret turning their backs on God and choosing a lifestyle of evil and corruption.
So, with thoughtful prayer and research, I’ve put together my own printout, (content below) and anxiously await their return. I wonder what insightful information they’ll bring next.
Scriptural references to Hell as a place of fire and eternal torment
Note: NWT refers to the New World Translation version of the Bible, which is used by Jehovah Witnesses. NWT references are not called out if translations are in agreement with standard versions of the Bible.
Italics indicate my personal thoughts
Isaiah – 33:14 (devouring fire, everlasting burnings) – NWT (consuming fire, unquenchable flames)
Matthew – 5:22 (fiery hell) – NWT (fiery Gehenna)
Matthew – 5:29-30 (better not to fall into hell)
Matthew – 8:12 (describes a place where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth)
Matthew – 10:28 (fear him who is able to destroy both soul and body in Gehenna)
Matthew – 13:42 (…and will throw them into the furnace of fire: in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth) – NWT (fiery furnace)
Matthew – 13:50 (…will throw them into the furnace of fire; there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth) – NWT (fiery furnace)
Matthew – 18:8-9 (everlasting fire)
Matthew – 25:41 (everlasting fire)
Matthew – 25:46 (everlasting torment) – NWT (everlasting cutting-off?)
Mark – 9:47-48 (cast into the Gehenna of fire where the embers do not die and fire does not go out) – NWT (where the maggot does not die and the fire is not put out)
Luke – 13: 28 (There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth)
Luke – 16:19 (Jesus uses a parable to describe the Rich man’s torment in hell and pleads for Lazarus to dip his finger in water to cool his tongue for “I am in agony in this flame.”
My question, in all of Jesus’ parables, He spoke of real things to make them relatable. Why in this instance would He make an exception and refer to hell as a fiery place of torment if it weren’t true?
2Thessalonians – 1:8-9 (avenge with flaming fire, everlasting destruction)
Revelation – 14:11 (the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever; they have no rest day and night…)
Revelation – 19:20 (lake of fire which burns with brimstone) – NWT (fiery lake that burns with sulfur)
Revelation – 20:10 (they will be tormented day and night forever and ever)
I found this particular verse interesting, as to me, it clearly indicates continuous torment. Note that it is the same in the NWT version of the Bible.
Revelation – 20:13-15 (thrown into the lake of fire)