Hell is a Christian Hoax 2

METAPHORS, PARABLES, AND FIGURES OF SPEECH

Fire is figurative language for judgment - cleansing and purifying. Heb. 12:29 says that

"GOD is a CONSUMING FIRE."

Is God literally composed of physical fire? No, God is "SPIRIT" (John 4:24), and God is "INVISIBLE" (Col. 1:15). How can something that is visible and physical as fire be SPIRIT?

This is a metaphor, where one thing is said to be something else. such as:

"the lake of fire IS the second death"

"this bread IS My body"

"the word of God IS sharper than a sword"

"the good seed ARE the children of the kingdom"

"you ARE the salt of the earth"

"the seven candle sticks ARE the seven churches"

None of these are literal. They are only "like" the things they are said to be, and even then, they are like these things, but only in certain ways.

And so God is "like a consuming fire" in certain ways. Many times Scriptures will use the word "like" rather than "is." Here's a perfect example in Malachi 3:2-3, where fire is also used, figuratively:

"But who may abide the day of His coming? and who shall stand when He appears? for He is LIKE a refiner's fire, and LIKE fullers' soap."

Shamefully, Christians think God tortures people with real fire for all eternity, but for what purpose does God really use His figurative fire? Answer:

"And He shall sit AS a refiner and purifier of silver, and He shall purify..."

Notice that God is not literally "a refiner and purifier of silver." That's why we find the word "AS" in this verse.

God is "LIKE a refiner's fire"

God is "LIKE fullers' soap"

God shall sit "AS a refiner and purifier"

But what is God going to "refine and purify?" Silver? Gold? - No. What is God going to wash with "fullers' soap?" Silver? Gold? - No.

Here is what God Who is "like" a refiner and purifier of Silver and is "as" fullers' soap is going to refine, purify, and wash with soap:

"...and He shall purify THE SONS OF LEVI, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness" (Malachi 3:2-3) .

(I will identify "the sons of Levi" in another paper)

And just as with the parable of the eyes, hands, and feet, we cannot deduce that cutting off our hands and feet, and plucking out our eyes is figurative, and yet be doing this figurative act to avoid a literal Gehenna fire of judgment. Now then, let's notice Malachi 3:2 again. It is total foolishness to believe or teach that the "refiner's fire" in this Scripture is literal fire seeing that we have not one, but two purifying agents in this Scripture: a "refiner's fire" and "fullers' soap." Both are used for the same one purpose - to "...purify the sons of Levi..."

First of all if God used literal fire it would kill the sons of Levi, not purify them. Second, does anyone really believe that God will have people strip down naked, and then scrub them clean in a literal bath tub of literal water and literal fullers' soap? Or, is God going to physically and literally bath these people clean with water and fullers' soap so He can then burn them with literal fire? What was the purpose of cleaning them first with soap and water?

Surely no one can be so incredibly stubborn as to believe such a thing. The purpose of God's figurative language of "fullers' soap" and "refiner's fire" is to purify people. One cannot purify one's heart, mind, and spirit, by using literal soap and fire.

This is not difficult. Yes, God is ( like) a consuming fire," and God is ( like) a "refiner's fire," and God is ( like) "fullers' soap," and God sits "as" a refiner and purifier," but God is not "literally" any of these things. God is only "like" or "as" these things to teach us that He is going to spiritually refine, purify, and wash clean the Sons of Levi. The Scriptures tell us this.

And what happens when God spiritually purifies and cleans up the wicked hearts of Levi? Why the very same thing we are told happens in Isaiah 26:9 when God's judgments are in the earth:

"...the inhabitants of the WORLD will learn RIGHTEOUSNESS"

Malachi 3:3 tells us that the result will be "righteousness," "...that they ( the washed and purified Sons of Levi) may offer unto the Lord an offering IN RIGHTEOUSNESS"!

Now what's so hard about that? Why is it that "babes in Christ" can understand these things, yet theologians with a half dozen doctoral degrees cannot? God is like a consuming fire because He consumes the carnality out of the hearts of men and women whom He is purifying for His Kingdom. And God is like fullers' soap, in that he washes us clean of our filthy and ungodly character traits and sins.

We "pluck out our eyes" by asking God to "pluck out the lust" from our hearts, not that we should pull our eyeballs out of our heads - give me break! Surely you can understand these things if you will but get rid of your stubborn and God-rejecting attitudes.

So unless you can show me thousands of examples of Christians who no longer have hands or feet or eyes because they cut them off and plucked them out, don't be trying to tell me that virtually all of the teachings of Jesus and the Bible are "literal," or that God is going to burn with fire most of humanity in the literal burning garbage dump in Jerusalem called "Gehenna fire."

The primary way that Jesus taught during His ministry was through "parables." A parable is what in Anglo Saxon England was called a "near-story," or an "example," as the German Bei-spiel. In the Greek New Testament parable means: "a similitude, symbolically, a fictitious narrative" (Strong's Greek Dictionary). A parable is "fictitious," and is therefore never literally true. It teaches a truth, but the story itself is NOT "literally" true. Not one of Jesus' parables was or is "literally" true.

We have innumerable parables, metaphors, colloquialisms, and figures of speech: "Don't cry over spilled milk," "it's raining cats and dogs," "a stitch in time saves nine," "the devil made me do it," etc., etc. None of these figures of speech or Christ's parables are literal.

The parable of the two builders (one on rock and the other on sand) has absolutely nothing to do with constructional procedures in building houses.

The parable of the new cloth on an old garment has nothing to do with clothing.

The parable of new wine in old bottles is not talking about alcoholic beverages..

The parable of the Dragnet has nothing to do with fish processing.

The parable of the ten virgins has nothing to do with virgins or oil lamps.

The parable of the lost sheep has nothing to do with sheep herding.

None of these stories (parables) are literal, historical accounts. They are "fictitious narratives" which teach a moral or spiritual principle. And one of the greatest proofs of this is the fact that no one understood them! Not the multitudes, not the Scribes, Priests, or Pharisees, nor even Christ's Own disciples.

Jesus spoke ONLY in parables to the multitudes: "ALL these things spoke Jesus unto the multitudes ( the crowds of people who followed and listened to Jesus wherever He spoke) in PARABLES, and without a parable spoke He NOT unto them" (Matt. 13:34).

Jesus spoke in parables so that NO ONE would understand Him:

"And the disciples came, and ask unto Him, 'Why do you speak unto them in parables'? Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven, but to them it is NOT given...they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand" (Matt. 13:10-13)

And notice what happened after Jesus spoke many parable to the masses:

"Then Jesus sent the multitude away, and went into the house: and His disciples came unto Him saying, 'Declare unto US the parable of the tares" (Matt. 13:36).

Are you getting this? Not even His Own disciples understood Jesus' parables! Yet any minister, pastor, priest, or theologian will tell you that Jesus taught in parables to make His teaching simple and CLEAR. Nothing is further from the truth.

And so on occasion Jesus explained His parables to His disciples, and guess what? Since Jesus often explained His parables with other parables, they didn't understand His parables or His explanations.

"This parable spoke Jesus unto them: but they understood not what things they were which He spoke unto them" (John 10:6).

"But they understood not ...and were afraid to ask Him" (Mark 9:32).

"They understood not that He spoke to them of the Father" (John 8:27).

"These things understood not His disciples at the first: but when Jesus was glorified, then remembered they that these things were written of Him" (John 12:16).

The disciples did not begin to understand Christ's parabolic teachings until after His resurrection (John 12:16).

"These things have I spoken unto you in proverbs ( Margin: 'figurative language') : but the time comes, when I shall no more speak unto you in proverbs, but I shall show you plainly of the Father" (John 16:25).

So here I have given you adequate proof from the Scriptures that Christ's instructions on avoiding severe Gehenna fire (judgment) by cutting off our hands and feet, and plucking out our eyes is figurative language, and not literal. Jesus never taught a place of eternal torture in literal fire. That's blasphemy. And furthermore, most teachers and theologians know that these things are not literal.

I will quote from a portion of a study by the late Pope John Paul II. Although his understanding is far from complete, he did at least concede that much of Christ's teachings and the book of Revelation contain countless parabolic, metaphorical, examples in figurative language. Hence he didn't believe that heaven and hell are literal places - geographical places. The Scriptures do not, however, back up most of his other statements on these subjects.

Pope John Paul II (HEAVEN) "In three controversial Wednesday Audiences ( 28 July 1999) , Pope John Paul II pointed out that the essential characteristic of heaven, hell or purgatory is that they are states of being of a spirit (angel/demon) or human soul, rather than places, as commonly perceived and represented in human language. This language of place is, according to the Pope, inadequate to describe the realities involved... Metaphorically speaking, heaven is understood as the dwelling-place of God, who is thus distinguished from human beings (cf. Ps 104:2f.; 115:16; Is 66:1). He sees and judges from the heights of heaven (Ps113:4-9)...However the biblical metaphor makes it clear that God does not identify himself with heaven, nor can he be contained in it (1 Kings 8:27).

(HELL) At the General Audience the Holy Father reflected on hell as the definitive rejection of God. In his catechesis, the Pope said that care should be taken to interpret correctly the images of hell in Sacred Scripture, and explained that "hell is the ultimate consequence of sin itself... Rather than a place, hell indicates the state of those who freely and definitively separate themselves from God, the source of all life and joy"

COMMENT: No, most of humanity did not "freely" separate themselves from God. Most of humanity has been totally ignorant of God and His ways. This will be corrected in Judgment.

"By using images, the New Testament presents the place destined for evildoers as a fiery furnace, where people will "weep and gnash their teeth" (Mt 13:42; cf. 25:30, 41), or like Gehenna with its "unquenchable fire" (Mk 9:43). All this is narrated ( remember that a 'parable' is a 'fictitious narrative'- not literal) in the parable of the rich man, which explains that hell is a place of eternal suffering, with no possibility of return, nor of the alleviation of pain (cf. Lk. 16:19-3 1).

The Book of Revelation also figuratively portrays in a "pool of fire" those who exclude themselves from the book of life, thus meeting with a "second death" (Rv. 20:13f.). Whoever continues to be closed to the Gospel is therefore preparing for 'eternal destruction and exclusion from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might" (2 Thes 1:9).

And so, unless you can show that Jesus LITERALLY taught us to cut off our arms and legs, and pull our eyes out of their sockets whenever we do anything that is offensive to our well-being, then you have no Scriptural reasons whatsoever in believing that hell is a literal place of literal fire where people are literally tortured for all eternity (for proof that "everlasting" and "eternal" are not words of inspiration, see my paper: "Is Everlasting Scriptural?" found near the top of our bible-truths.com home page).