The hell of the Middle Ages

Hell is said to be a place where, after dying, unbelievers are tormented forever. Where exactly this place is, no one really knows. Is it underground? Or in another dimension? Or do we have to imagine this place merely as a visual language? Well, the representatives of a doctrine of heaven and hell usually imagine this place very concretely, roughly as Dante Alleghieri described it in the Middle Ages in the “Divine Comedy”. Dante describes hell, purgatory and paradise with great detail and terrible embellishment. The multi-level hell lies within the earth.

Hell is a place of punishment, torment, and remoteness from God. Proponents of a heaven and hell doctrine pick out the Bible passages that contain such aspects. In my experience, the “hell texts” are never explained in context, but always selectively “picked out” in order to “prove” something with them. They evoke a threat of hell, such as Dante outlined. Whether this interpretation holds up in the light of the Bible is irrelevant. The most important thing is that it “sounds” like there is hell. For the proof of a hell every means is right, one could think. “Hell” is above all a feeling, a feeling of orthodoxy. The hell namely, it “exists”. That is the premise. It is not openly discussed and people do not ask questions about it. Discrepancies with other biblical passages are always interpreted in favor of a hell. Hell, the assumption goes, is “true”. All other thoughts, e.g. of an all reconciliation, are by definition and from the outset “untrue”.

The traditional image of a hell is an absurdity. We must go back to the Scriptures to put an end to this absurdity. We must go back to the Bible so that the untenability of the statements can be brought to light. On this website, a lot of emphasis is being placed right now on following up all the so-called “proofs of hell” from the Bible one by one and correcting them in the light of the basic text and context.

Fire and brimstone, for example, are seen as characteristics of hell. However, it is rarely examined where the terms are used and whether the idea of a hell is actually found there. There are many discrepancies between the rationale of the doctrine and the actual biblical findings. If you want to follow up on this, you can find more articles here:

• The courts of God
• Universal Reconciliation
• Bible texts interpreted

The image of a hell

Let us try to describe the image of hell that is still conjured up by some Christians:

1. how to go to hell

In hell comes he who does not believe. This is about a very specific faith, namely faith in Jesus Christ. Whoever does not believe in Him will be lost forever. Being eternally lost is equivalent to “going to hell.” He who does not believe stews in the flames. Life is about this one decision for or against Jesus, and whoever gives the wrong answer or no answer to Jesus’ offer has lost his chance: God will punish him for it forever. Do you see it the same way?

2. an eternal consequence

Although man does not even know what will happen in the next minute, God has placed the burden on him to decide for a fictitious eternity. Man is limited, but with regard to an eternity, all responsibility lies with himself. Can this really be? Does this fit with the God of the Bible?

3. the expiration date on God’s grace and love

Amazing but true: according to the doctrine of hell, there is an expiration date on God’s love. God pretends to really love, but that is not really true. If you do not decide for Jesus, there is an expiration date on God’s love and grace. For then, when you die, the offering of His love expires. So God’s love must be earned. If you believe in Jesus, God loves you. If you do not decide for Jesus, then the “offer” will not come to pass. After dying, you go straight to hell. There is also a reason why this is so: God’s justice conditions it! Because this is what it is all about: God’s love is less than His righteousness. If you do not love Him, He revokes His love and sends you to hell. Could you actually love such a God?

4. the justice of God requires punishment

It is God’s justice that overrides God’s love according to the doctrine of heaven and hell. If man does not choose Jesus, God simply turns off His love. The pious deception is that love and justice are mutually dependent. If God cannot love, then justice must be done! It’s either one or the other.

That sounds super pious, but it is fundamentally wrong. What is completely forgotten is that God has already achieved His righteousness on the cross, and the gospel speaks of just that(Rom 1:16-17). The Gospel is about God’s own righteousness, which He brought about. This is more and it is more important than we could ever contribute. “But God exalts His love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us!” (Rom 5:8). God loves not only the good or the pious, but He reconciles enemies (Rom 5:10). This is the God of the Bible. It starts from Him. This has been accomplished (John 19:30) and it has been confirmed by God with the raising of Christ (Rom 4:25).

God’s righteousness can never be satisfied or achieved with hell punishments. Already this idea is completely absurd and shows arrogance of those who think they are on the “good side”. God’s justice, on the other hand, was fully satisfied on the cross. For this purpose, He sent His Son. This is the good news that is lost in a heaven and hell doctrine. The good news is not that everything depends on me, but that everything depends on God’s work in Christ. The good news is: “Therefore, just as through the one offense there came to condemnation for all men, so also through the one legal judgment there comes to justification of life for all men” (Rom 5:18).

What do you think about the righteousness of God? Do you infer God from yourself, or have you internalized the image of a punishing God? What shapes your image of a righteous God?

5. When do you end up in heaven or hell?

It is not clear when you end up in heaven or hell. Is that right after you die or later? Do you end up in hell completely without judgment? Is there no case law? Surprisingly, this is often not clear. Those who advocate hell usually do not know themselves how it happens. Therefore, there are also quite different views, none of which can be properly based on the Bible.

After dying, isn’t the first thing you do when you die? So: You don’t end up in hell, but in Hades or in Sheol. (Compare also the account of the Rich Man and Lazarus). Because then it needs a resurrection before it continues. And isn’t there also a resurrection to judgment (John 5:28-29)? If this is true, then no one ends up in a hell or in heaven after dying. Only in a resurrection does it go to judgment.

Ignorance of biblical contexts tempts us to simply jumble everything up – thoughts, fantasies, hopes, misinterpretations. However, this does not have to be the case. The Bible can be studied and valuable things can be taken from it, both for living and dying, and certainly for final things.

How does a person survive eternal torment?

No human being survives eternal torment. God must perform a few miracles for this to happen. First, he must make us “indestructible,” namely, indestructible, fire-resistant. Our sensations today would literally be extinguished by fire. In the descriptions of hell, however, they do not. The body must maintain this sensitivity. What a miracle from God! God wants to save us, but cannot if we are cross. He has found something on that: He makes us indestructible so that He can torment us eternally. There is no other way.

The image of God that now emerges has nothing to do with the Bible. This god seems to be a real sadist. He tortures for pleasure. Those who cannot stand this, but still want to hold on to hell (of which there is nothing in the Bible), type that God destroys the “unbelievers”. However, the annihilation does not improve the image of God significantly. More on these strange views in> this post.

7. immortal worms

The Heaven and Hell Doctrine reads like a science fantasy novel in places. Wildly, texts from the New Testament are compiled so that the fictitious image of a hell can be maintained. One of these images concerns a strange creature. There are said to be “immortal worms” in hell (Mark 9:48). After all, you have to come up with something for eternity. Otherwise, it becomes a bit tedious to torment people for billions of years who may never have heard of Jesus. A little variety is a must – let’s introduce immortal worms! That would be then something like the increase of the agonies, if in addition to the fire still immortal worms make the “further life to hell”. The linked article refutes this view.

8. hell exists only in the new testament

Did you know that? There is no hell in the Old Testament! Nowhere does a prophet speak of it, no one warns of it. Hell does not come into play until Jesus appears. He did not speak of it either, but in His words it was interpreted into it. No wonder some people ask critically, “If hell comes only with the Savior, why did the Savior come at all? Wouldn’t we have been better off without Him?”. That seems like a fair question.

9. much is unresolved

If everything hinges on our decision, what about:

• Unborn children who die?
• Newborns, infants, children who are dying but have not yet heard about Jesus?
• Sick, disabled, coma patients?
• Peoples who have never been reached?
• Peoples who lived before Christ?

There are no biblical answers to these questions. Many people, pastors, counselors and others are inclined to let God’s grace prevail here. But then why not with the other people as well? Salvation may be impossible with human beings, but not with God? (Mt 19:25, Mk 10:26, Lk 18:26).

10. hard teachings make hard hearts

The doctrine of heaven and hell is a dark legacy of Christianity. Fortunately, there are more and more people who are speaking out, bringing better interpretations to Scripture that are closer to the context and the basic text. Orthodoxy is often only anorthodoxy, a certain attitude toward life. The Bible is neither right nor left. It is relationship oriented. The Word is alive. It speaks of a God who has reconciled himself to the world and now asks through us “be reconciled to God!” (2Cor 5:14-21).

This is precisely where some people come in and insist that God can only work His salvation through a decision on our part. This projects into the Bible a toxic body of thought that is not there. See also the article “The Lostness of Christianity”.

Hard lessons make hard hearts. Of course, relationship is based on reciprocity, of course, it concerns Christ who died for us and thus opened the way to God the Father. However, my choice of him is not a magical act in this process. My faith is not a payment for Him saving me. My faith is not a required achievement that makes everything dependent on man. I would like to simply remain dependent on God Himself. Salvation is not a free-will offering for a few who believe “rightly.” God is the Savior of all people, especially of believers – and not exclusively of believers(1Tim 4:9-11). That is a big difference.

11. the majority of humanity is lost?

The heaven and hell doctrine simply makes the majority of humanity end up in hell. There is, of course, no concrete evidence. Nevertheless, one should try to imagine how this looks like with reality. What about all the people who do not accept Christ? Even if Christianity knows the most followers, this is probably not the number of people who have really “accepted Christ”. However, this is precisely what would be necessary, according to the teachings of heaven and hell. Only a few people remain who make this decision consciously. There are only a few called, it is a selection, a congregation (Gr. ekklesia, a called out multitude). Only a few are saved. The rest are lost and burn in hell. They are endlessly tormented.

A friend of mine once pictured this and drew the consequences from this teaching. He realized he would have to go evangelizing day and night to reach at least some people! He was serious. Every free minute he was on the road, talking to people and telling them about Jesus. After about two weeks, it was burned out. He had too little sleep. His body could take no more. The desire to evangelize was there, driven by terrible images of hell, but the power to save even a few people, he did not have. So after about two weeks this hyperactivity was over. A change of thinking began, in which he had to hand over his own limitations to his God and Father. What he was unable to do as a human being, God in His grace and wisdom was to make possible. This realization became a major impetus to re-examine the Bible according to this teaching and see if it was probably correct. We asked ourselves these questions a lot together and looked for answers together. We have found good answers.

The reality check

This is the reality check for every preacher of a hell: if he can still sleep at night in the face of this terrible teaching, then he does not believe it in consequence.

What is it really about? It is about the understanding of God that we have. It is whether we understand the gospel. For in the final analysis, only one question remains: Is God really God? Will God one day become all in all, as He says in the Bible, or only something in a few? Can I trust my God and Father to achieve His goal?

“But if the universe is subordinate to Him [Christus], then the Son Himself will also be subordinate to Him who subordinated the universe to Him, so that God may be all in all.”
1Cor 15,28