The Evangelical Universalist Forum

Gehenna?

Evangelical Universalism Arguments for Evangelical Universalism
#19

Yes, that is true. They are in Gehenna, the judgment of God which occurred in 70AD.

Luke 19:43-45
“For the days will come upon you when your enemies will throw up a barricade against you, and surround you and hem you in on every side, and they will level you to the ground and your children within you, and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not recognize the time of your visitation.”

Mark 9:43
"If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life maimed than with two hands to go into Gehenna, where the fire never goes out. And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than to have two feet and be thrown into Gehenna.

Jeremiah 19:5-7
They have built the high places of Baal to burn their sons in the fire as offerings to foreign gods and false idols—something I did not command or mention, nor did it enter my mind. So beware, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when people will no longer call this place Topheth or the Valley of Ben Hinnom, but the Valley of Slaughter (Gehenna)."

'In this place I will ruin the plans of Judah and Jerusalem. I will make them fall by the sword before their enemies, at the hands of those who seek their lives, and I will give their carcasses as food to the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth.

Gehenna is a physical valley which literally was filled with bodies of those who stayed in Jerusalem when Rome attacked in 70AD and destroyed the Temple. This prophesy was literally fulfilled, and God is no respecter of persons, the religion of Christianity has become like the apostate Judah and the calloused Jerusalem.

Romans 11:13
I am talking to you Gentiles. Inasmuch as I am the apostle to the Gentiles, I make much of my ministry in the hope that I may somehow arouse my own people to envy and save some of them. For if their rejection is the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead? If the part of the dough offered as firstfruits is holy, then the whole batch is holy; if the root is holy, so are the branches.

If some of the branches have been broken off, and you, though a wild olive shoot, have been grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing sap from the olive root, do not boast over those branches. If you do, consider this: You do not support the root, but the root supports you. You will say then, “Branches were broken off so that I could be grafted in.” Granted. But they were broken off because of unbelief, and you stand by faith. Do not be arrogant, but be afraid. For if God did not spare the natural branches, he will not spare you either.

Consider therefore the kindness and sternness of God: sternness to those who fell, but kindness to you, provided that you continue in his kindness. Otherwise, you also will be cut off. And if they do not persist in unbelief, they will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again. After all, if you were cut out of an olive tree that is wild by nature, and contrary to nature were grafted into a cultivated olive tree, how much more readily will these, the natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree!

That which happened to Israel was physical destruction, but as prophesy is being fulfilled, Israel is being grafted back in because we, as gentiles, have gone astray concerning God and His promises. Gehenna is a warning, but it is not a permanent end, it is a sign to the generations.

#20

Studentoftheword.

Isaiah 66:24 is teaching the new heavens and the new earth manifests after the millennium reign of Christ and people who view the corpses are in hell during the time of the New heavens and the New Earth which is eternal Glory with God.

#21

You cannot pick and choose what you are reading, if you believe that, then you need to continue reading the Scriptures.

Revelation 20:5
(The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended.)

So they are indeed dead, but but they too will come back to life after the thousand years is ended.

There is nothing you can come up with or say, which will contradict the evidence in Scripture concerning the fact there will be none dead, and those in Gehenna will be raised back to life and all will be saved.

#22

Studentoftheword.

I appreciate your zeal, but where does it say in the word of God that the people who are in the lake of fire will be saved? Rev 20: 5 refers to the Great White Judgment of the unbelievers after the millennial reign of Christ who were not found in the book of life. ( Rev 20:11-15).

Read Isaiah 65:17 to 66:24 in context. The millennial reign of Christ precedes the New Heavens and New Earth which is the time when the people look down in hell at the corpses. Read Revelation 19 -21 that describes what Isaiah prophesied. Your arguments do not have their source from the word of God, but rather philosophy and your own personal moralism.

#23

If you say so born-again, anyone could say the same about your beliefs, therefore yours is rather a useless point and a fallacious argument to stand on.

#24

Born Again,

God is the Savior of all people, especially of those who believe (1 Tim 4:10). Christ’s death means all people will be forgiven and reconciled to God - even those who were judged in what the apostle John calls “the lake of fire” (for my understanding of the time and nature of this judgment, go here: The Hell on Earth View - a subset of UR). God sent Christ into the world to offer himself up as a sin-offering on behalf of all people. - including the unjust and unrighteous. And God accepted the sacrifice of his Son, as is evidenced from the fact that he raised Jesus from the dead and exalted him as Lord over all. And since God accepted this sin-offering made by his Son on behalf of all people, it can only mean that Christ’s death is the divine pledge that the sins of all people will ultimately be forgiven. That is, the cross is the divine pledge of the ultimate reconciliation of all people to God (see Col 1:19-20). :smiley:

#25

Christ did make a way for rebellious man to be reconciled back to God… that way is by faith in Jesus’ sacrifice. Man must receive this free gift of salvation from God and receive it by their faith. No where in the bible does it say that the lake of fire is a purification process for unbelievers to come to faith in Jesus. That is a fallacy. Please show me chapter and verse where people come to repentance and faith after they die in their sins as an unbeliever?

#26

Free gifts have no obligation. Either it is free, or it isn’t.

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#27

Studentoftheword.

The gift is free meaning you can’t do anything to earn it or pay for it…you are saved by grace through your faith. Show me in the bible where the lake of fire is a purification process for unbelievers to come to faith in Jesus. That is a fallacy. Please show me chapter and verse where people come to repentance and faith after they die in their sins as an unbeliever?

#28

Christ didn’t merely “make a way” for sinners to be reconciled to God; his death and resurrection fully secured the reconciliation of all people to God. Or do you think Christ is either unable or unwilling to save rebellious man from his own rebellion?

Evidently you did not read the post I linked for you earlier :frowning: Here it is again: The Hell on Earth View - a subset of UR.
Nowhere in this post do I even suggest that “the lake of fire is a purification process for unbelievers to come to faith in Jesus.”

Rom 5:15-19; 8:19-21; 11:25-26-36; 1 Cor 15:21-28, 42-57; Eph 1:7-10; Phil 2:9-10; 3:21; Col 1:15-20; 1 Tim 2:1-7; 4:10 (etc.) :smiley:

Now, please show me chapter and verse where we’re taught that people must come to repentance and faith before they die in order to avoid a state of endless suffering after they die. :wink:

#29

Well Paul says…

‘By grace you are saved through faith, and that not of yourselves it is the gift of God’ - so even the faith isn’t of the one being saved but the one doing the saving surely?

Also the parable of the lost sheep pretty much sums it up for me - the ninety and nine ‘saved ones’ are left and the lost one found and hoisted onto the shepherd’s shoulders and taken home. The sheep is probably so battered and weary of its experiences that it gives up struggling to be free and allows the shepherd to pick it up.

(It’s nice as an agnostic to join the game of ‘well this Bible passage says…x yes but that Bible passage says…y’ :smiley: when we all know it’s the overall picture that counts not so-called proof-verses).

Anyway - Born Again do you have any knowledge of the prophetic role of Israels 3 feast days (passover, pentecost and tabernacles)? Or the harvests they coincided with - barley, wheat and grape (barley yields first with only the gentle winnowing of the wind (the overcomers raised in the first ressurrection), wheat needs to be threshed (Christians raised in the general ressurrection and saved so as by fire) and grapes that need treading under foot to produce their bounty (sound familiar?).

So we have 3 harvests/feasts that prophecy of 3 events… here’s Paul again…

Parentheses are my comments.

‘But each in his own order - First christ the firstfruits (possibly not Jesus himself as he had already been raised when this was written - but could just as well mean the annointed firstfruits, the overcomers or the Barley harvest of sons), **then those that are Christ’s at his coming **(the rest of the Christians who never made it to be overcomers, corresponding to the Wheat harvest). **Then the end **(the 3rd and last harvest of grapes that need crushing)’ It’s after the 3rd and final set that Paul goes on to describe rebels being put under Jesus’s feet (just like grapes). There seems no point in using the term each in his own order (or squadron as it can be translated) for just jesus and then all Christians. It makes far more sense in the light of the prophetic feasts of Israel.

Also remember during the Old Testament if the firstfruits were accepted then the entire harvest was acceptable to God; so what does that say about Jesus’s sacrifice as a perfect firstfruit (he died at the time of the Wave Sheaf offering at passover).

I’ll stop there except to ask one more question - do you know anything of the law of Jubilee (which is abundantly described in the Bible)?

#30

Aaron.

Nowhere in those scriptures does it teach that man can come to repentance and faith in Jesus after they died in their sins an unbeliever.

Hebrews 9:27" it is appointed man to die once and after this comes judgment." You are judged as soon as your heart stops beating. How? if you are in Christ’s righteousness by faith you are covered by his precious blood and you go to be with the Lord in Heaven or if your found to be not in Christ’s righteousness… but in your own self-righteousness( dirty rags) not covered in his precious blood…you go to Hades and await final judgment to the lake of fire.( Rev 20:11-15)

#31

Since you don’t understand what it is we believe, much of what you said has no relevancy. A fallacy is a logical inconsistency, and so how about you tell us all how the lake of fire is logically inconsistent to a purification process for unbelievers? If you cannot find one, then it is not a fallacy.

Isaiah 45:21-24
Declare what is to be, present it—let them take counsel together.
Who foretold this long ago, who declared it from the distant past? Was it not I, the LORD ? And there is no God apart from me, a righteous God and a Savior; there is none but me.
"Turn to me and be saved, all you ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is no other.

By myself I have sworn, my mouth has uttered in all integrity a word that will not be revoked:
Before me every knee will bow; by me every tongue will swear.

They will say of me, ‘In the LORD alone are righteousness and strength.’ "All who have raged against him will come to him and be ashamed.

Romans 14:9-12
For to this end Christ died and lived again, that He might be Lord both of the dead and of the living.

But you, why do you judge your brother? Or you again, why do you regard your brother with contempt? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God.

For it is written,“AS I LIVE, SAYS THE LORD, EVERY KNEE SHALL BOW TO ME, AND EVERY TONGUE SHALL GIVE PRAISE TO GOD.”

So then each one of us will give an account of himself to God.

Philippians 2:9-12
For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus EVERY KNEE WILL BOW, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth,and that EVERY TONGUE WILL CONFESS that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Any other questions you have?

#32

Hi Sven,
I don’t buy that. I don’t think the lake of fire is a literal physical place; I believe it to be metaphorical. Of course, I could be wrong. :smiley:

Sonia

#33

The problem is understanding the difference between Gehenna and the judgment of Gehenna. They are two different things. Gehenna is a physical literal place with literal lake of fire, it was a garbage dump outside Jerusalem. The judgment of Gehenna is a spiritual thing, it is the reason why the beautiful valley of Ben Hinnom became a garbage dump outside Jerusalem. Although Gehenna is no longer, the judgment of Gehenna is still relevant.

#34

Actually, every one of those verses teach that all who have not come to faith in Christ before they die will be saved, since every one of those verses teach universal salvation. And since all will ultimately be saved, it follows that all conditions for salvation will ultimately be met. There’s not one verse in Scripture that teaches that those to whom God does not grant repentance and faith before they die will never be saved.

I don’t think this verse is even talking about physical death, or all people for that matter (if you’d like to start a thread on it, I’d love to discuss it with you). So no, I don’t think the author of Hebrews is teaching your view that we are judged as soon as our heart stops beating. As soon as our heart stops beating, we start returning to the dust from which we were made. Sheol/Hades is simply the state of the dead, and the state of the dead is a state of unconscious non-existence (Eccl 9:10).

No, there is not a single verse that teaches that our faith in this life determines our post-mortem destiny. Christ, who is Lord of all, is the one who determines our post-mortem destiny. And since Christ loves us at least as much as he loves himself, we can rest assured that he will save all people from everything they need to be saved from - especially their sin and rebellion. And as far as Rev 20:11-15 goes, click here for my view on this passage: The Hell on Earth View - a subset of UR

#35

Huge props to both Aaron & Student of the Word for their outstanding contributions lately. We appreciate you both!

#36

Aaron.

you said: No, there is not a single verse that teaches that our faith in this life determines our post-mortem destiny. Christ, who is Lord of all, is the one who determines our post-mortem destiny.

Born Again: Wrong. Jesus himself said… John 6:47 " Truly ,truly I say to you, he who BELIEVES in me has eternal life."
John 3:36 " He who BELIEVES IN THE SON HAS ETERNAL LIFE; BUT HE WHO DOES NOT OBEY THE SON WILL NOT SEE THE LIFE, BUT THE WRATH OF GOD ABIDES ON HIM." Jesus said if you believe on me you will have eternal life, but if you do not believe on me you will not see the life( Eternal Life) and you will get your just judgment for your unbelief.

There are many more scriptures, but I think these are very clear.

#37

By eternal life I presume you mean aionian life or the life of the ages. have you ever read anything on the meaning of words such as the hebrew ‘olam’ meaning hidden or of unknown duration (similar to the English word hellen from which we get hell - this was a word originally meaning covered or hidden - as in to hell potatoes - or gradually bury them in earth as they grow in order for them to produce more crop). Aion gives us our English word Eon or Age (how long is an eon - is it endless?).

Tolkien in his Lord of the Rings uses ages (first, second and third ages) which although pretty long are not endless and are not even the same length as each other). Punishment may well be very very long but not endless.

In hebrew law a man could only be given a maximum of 40 lashes for a non-capital offence lest he was degraded in his brethrens’ eyes. The man forgiven a massive debt who then demands payment of a much lesser debt himself is thrown into prison until he pays the last farthing. Does God forget these things once a man has died in sin?

Lastly, Hebrew law was set up with the intention that restitution and punishment by and to the offender ensured that BOTH the perpetrator and victim were restored to a right state. The punishments are never punative for their own sake.

#38

As I said before, BA, since it is apparent you don’t understand what we believe what you are asking and stating really has no relevancy as an objection with Christian Universalists.

Both Aaron and I have already stated and do not deny that “He who believes in the Son has AIONIOS ZOE, but he who does not obey the Son will not see ZOE, but the wrath of God abides on Him.”

So two questions arise.

  1. Why does God’s wrath abide on him in the first place?
  2. How long does wrath abide on him who does not believe?

The question of why is because we are bound by a holy law and missing the mark leads to one

The question of how is His wrath only lasts only so long as they are alive, the wages of sin is death.

So once a person has died, God’s wrath is satisfied and His wrath is no more, they are dead and once dead they are released from the law which bound them and there is no reason to have wrath against them.

That is why, the hope has never been anything but the RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD! Read the Scriptures, that is our hope, nothing more. Everyone will be raised, those who believe are raised first and reign with Christ, those who did not believe remain dead until after the reign has finished and in the End all are raised and God becomes all in all.

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