HEN they read the word “hell”
in the Bible, many persons
think of a subterranean region
of fire into which immortal souls of
‘sinners have been streaming, through
some mysterious and undiscovered en-
trance, ever since the death of Cain, and
that they will burn there eternally with-
‘out any respite or relaxation. Some
there are who still believe that even
infants who have died unbaptized are
there to burn eternally. One theologian,
believing in the damnation of “‘non-elect
infants,” has said that he doubted not
that there were infants not a span long
crawling about on the floor of hell.
In the Bible the term hell” does not
always refer to a place of punishment. In
the Old Testament the English word is
translated from the Hebrew noun she’ol
which is rendered 31 times “hell,” 31
times “grave,” and 3 times “pit.” In
the New Testament the English word
“hell” is derived from three different
Greek nouns: Geenna, occuring 12 times;
Hades, 11 times; and Tartarus, once.
Geenna is always translated “hell” in
the Authorized Version, and always refers
to a place of punishment. The word is a
Greek transliteration of the Hebrew
name Ge Hinnom (the Valley of Hinnom).
The Valley of Hinnom lay on the south
side of Jerusalem, and there the refuse of
the city was consumed. Ofttimes the
bodies of beasts and malefactors were
thrown therein. Constant fires were kept
burning, and what the fires in the center
did not consume, worms on the outer
edge did. It was a most repulsive and
forcible picture of utter destruction.
Jesus used it as an illustration of the final
punishment of the wicked.
Hades occurs 11 times, and in our
Authorized Version it is translated hell”
10 times, and “grave” once (1 Corinthi-
ans 15: 55). Also in the margin of Reve-
lation 20:13 it is rendered ‘‘grave.”
Hades does not refer to a place of punish-
ment, but like the Hebrew word she’ol it
is used to designate the place of the dead.
Tartarus is found once in the Bible
(2 Peter 2:4), and refers to the lower
region into which the devil and his
angels are cast.
Let us now consider two questions.
First, are the wicked dead now burning
in hell-fire, and will they burn there
eternally?
. The Bible teaches plainly that the
devil, his angels, and the wicked dead
are not now being punished. If there is
such a place as a burning hell now, the
evil angels are not there, because “God
spared not the angels that sinned, but
cast them down to hell [Tartarus), and
delivered them into chains of darkness,
to be reserved unto judgment.” 2 Peter 2: 4.
PAGE 12
The demons of Christ's time knew that
there was a future time set for their pun-
ishment. They said to Christ: “Art Thou
come hither to torment us before the
time?’ Matthew 8: 29.
Likewise the wicked dead are reserved.
“Have ye not asked them that.go by the
way? And do ye not know their tokens,
that the wicked is reserved to the day of destruc-
tion? They shall be brought forth to the
day of wrath.” Job 21:29, 30. The
apostle Peter writes: “The Lord knoweth
how . . . to reserve the unjust unto the day
of judgment to be punished.” 2 Peter 2:9.
Is not this reasonable? Why should they
go to hell before they are judged? The
Bible teaches that all the wicked will be
punished together. (Isaiah 1:28.)
From the place where they are now
being reserved, the unjust will be brought
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their graves, and they will remain there
in an unconscious sleep until the resur-
rection. (Job 14: 21; Psalm 6: 5; 115: 17;
146: 4; Ecclesiastes 9: 5.)
Now let us consider the second ques-
tion. Will the wicked burn eternally?
Eternity is an awful word. The human
mind cannot comprehend its boundless
limits, If the great oceans should lose
only one drop of water every million
years, how long would it be before their
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By Jesse C. Stevens
forth (resurrected) to be punished in the
day of wrath. That place where they are
being kept now is the grave, for Christ has
said: “The hour is coming, in the which
all that are in the graves shall hear His
voice, and shall ‘come forth; they that
have done good, unto the resurrection of
life, and they that have done evil unto the
resurrection of damnation.” John 5:
28, 29. Now if at death evildoers enter
into their punishment in hell, why should
there be a resurrection of them unto dam-
nation? The truth is that both the
righteous and the wicked dead are now in
beds would be left dry and dusty? Then
eternity would be in its beginning.
There was a time when there was no
sin, not one discordant note in the vast
universe of God. Sin entered. Is it to
exist eternally, or is it to be eradicated?
God’s plan of redemption, centering in
Christ’s atoning death on the cross of
Calvary, is to eradicate sin so com-
pletely that there will not remain a
vestige of it in all His universe, so that
“the former [things] shall not be remem-
bered, nor come into mind.” Isaiah
65:17. (See also Revelation 21:4.)
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