“What do you believe about hell?” She said earnestly.

That was a problem.  We were supposed to be discussing the life of Jesus.  I had invited this couple over along with several other friends to eat food, vent about our jobs and stresses, and read scripture.  Our lives were the serious things, the theology wasn’t supposed to be.  We were supposed to discuss divorcing friends, quitting or getting fired from jobs, how scary it is to talk to our neighbors.  Life was scary, not the theology.  I said the wisest answer possible, “I don’t know.”

I knew stuff about hell, but I still don’t “know” hell.  When it comes to the afterlife, I have no firsthand experience.  Is there fire?  Do people continue in agony forever?  Is it God’s idea?  Where is it at? I resolved to look for answers.  I followed with, “I’ll find out.”

So, to continue my theological explorations of terrible, dreary, and scary things (see last January’s “Brief Theology of Miscarriage” http://wp.me/p5pi3B-h); I present a theology of hell.  It was supposed to be brief.  Then my wife in her wisdom said, “That’s not brief.  You should chop it up.”

First off, hell presents a scriptural problem.  Not because of too few references, as is the case with miscarriage.  Hell or judgement by fire is mentioned over one hundred and thirty times in scripture.  From all these references questions arise.  Where is hell?  What is it like?  How absolute is it?  And most importantly, how do I not go there? Add to all these other questions the fact that there is a gradual progression of cosmology – how the universe is structured – and eschatology – how everything ends – in scripture.  Instead of chasing every loose end, I will examine just Jesus’ statements from the Gospels on hell.  Why Jesus?  If you believe he is the Son of God, then his opinion on the afterlife is pretty important.  Jesus references hell using three words or phrases: gehenna, hades, pur.

Gehenna

“Whoever says, ‘You fool,’ shall be guilty enough to go into the fiery hell.” (Matt 5:22 NASB)

Jesus invents hell.  That is to say, if you are using a very literal translation of the Greek or Hebrew from scripture the word “hell” won’t occur until Matthew 5:22.  Jesus is repurposing the word gehenna to mean hell. Today the valley of Ge Hinnom is a place you can visit, and it is pretty scenic.  You can drive down Gey Ben Hinnom Street just south of old town Jerusalem.

Why would Jesus reference this scenic valley to discuss the severity and danger of anger, judgment, and sin in general?  The valley of Hinnom, ge hinnom, is a pretty evil zip code in Jeremiah 7:31.  In this valley just outside of Jerusalem, people were performing child sacrifices.  Also, during the gap between the writing of the Old Testament (OT) and the New Testament (NT) the idea that a valley or pit would be the place of end times torment enters Jewish thought (1Enoch 27:2; 4Ezra 7:36).  When Jesus says gehenna, he is using his audiences’ understanding that 1) the Hinnom Valley is an evil or tainted place, and 2) that end-time torment involves a pit or valley.  Let’s look at the “flavors” of how Jesus uses gehenna.

Do Anything to Avoid Passages

“If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell.” (Matt 5:29 NASB)

These are some of the scariest verses in scripture.  Jesus wanted them to be.  If your body is causing you to sin, you are better off with self-mutilation than hell.  Pluck out your eye; chop off your hand.  Matt 5:29-30; Matt 18:9; Mark 9:43-47 all have this idea of mutilation to avoid sin in order to avoid hell, but listen to the hyperbole.  The context of Matt 5:29-30 is Jesus’ teaching on adultery.  Jesus wouldn’t tell an adulterer, “Oh you plucked out your eyes!  All good now.”  The context of Mark 9:43-47 is causing “little ones” to sin.  Jesus wouldn’t tell a lead-others-to-sin amputee, “You lost your hand! That made it all better.”   These passages are hyperbole, but not because they overestimate the severity of sin or the extremes that should be taken to avoid hell.  Jesus is overplaying what “causes” – skandalizw – to snare, to cause to stumble – sin.  He reveals a more fleshed out theology on human corruption in Matthew 15:18-29; Mark 7:20-22.  “Out of the heart” is the source of evil.  Your eye can’t force you to sin.  Your hand can’t make you do evil.  You make you sin.  Jesus is playing up to the audience, “Do whatever it takes to avoid hell,” but he hasn’t revealed just how drastic the measures will be.  And remember, these are Jews who might say, “We have Abraham as our father,” which meant that God was categorically on their side (Matt 3:9).  He is teaching that sin is dangerous; hell is a possibility; and you should do anything to avoid both.

Judging Passages

“You serpents, you brood of vipers, how shall you escape the sentence of hell?” (Matt 23:33 NASB)

Jesus is kind and merciful to a lot of people: tax collectors, adulterers, zealots/terrorists, gentiles, crazed demoniacs, old Pharisees, etc.  However, he doesn’t shy away from judgment.  Matt 23:15, 33 detail how Jesus is pronouncing “Woe” against the Pharisees.  These were Jewish religious guys whose mission in life was to be righteous enough and train enough disciples to usher in God’s kingdom. Interestingly, v23 details how the Pharisees and scribes are in trouble for not showing “justice and mercy and faithfulness” while overemphasizing super tithing.  The root for the word justice is krisis, which is the same root for “the sentence/judgment of hell.”  They neglected justice; they will know the krisis of gehenna.

Mat 23:15 is condemning the Pharisees’ whole disciple-making enterprise, “you travel around on sea and land to make one proselyte; and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves” (Mat 23:15 NASB).  This verse is less intense than v33, but it does undercut half of the Pharisees’ game plan.  Their making disciples isn’t bringing God’s kingdom closer but instead advances gehenna.

“But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court; and whoever shall say to his brother, ‘Raca,’ shall be guilty before the supreme court; and whoever shall say, ‘You fool,’ shall be guilty enough to go into the fiery hell.” (Mat 5:22 NASB)

Here is the progression laid out in this verse.  Anger => court; Raca/Empty-one => supreme court; Fool => fiery gehenna.  This passage is part of Jesus’ super expansion of the Mosaic law. “Don’t commit adultery” now is don’t look lustfully.  “Don’t swear falsely” now is don’t swear.  We are way past “Don’t murder.” Insults are worthy of hell.  Jesus is using gehenna here as a warning, but notice that the language is court room language.  Read v23-26.  All those words for court and judge are krisis words.  Unlike the Pharisees that would say, “Take care of the dill and mint tithes before the krisis,” Jesus is saying, “Leave the altar, pause the temple stuff!  Run and take care of krisis right now.”  Jesus is teaching that hell is a just response to our refusal to be just.

Who Is the Boss Passages

Matt 10:28; Luke 12:5

“But I will warn you whom to fear: fear the One who, after He has killed, has authority to cast into hell; yes, I tell you, fear Him!” (Luke 12:5 NASB)

Luke 12:5 and its parallel in Matt 10:28 come after Jesus’ warning about future persecution.  Luke 12 is more centered on the Pharisees challenging and silencing the message.  Matt 10 is more broad and end-timesy.  From either passage, Jesus’ message is, “They (Pharisees/World in general) will try to stop you.  Don’t fear them.  Fear God.”  And why should they fear God?  God has authority over hell.  The smiter has the smite button.  However, both Luke and Matthew pair this fear passage with, “Fear not; you are of more value than many sparrows” (Matt 10:31; Luke 12:7).  The root word for the verb “fear not” and the noun “fear” in these passages is phobos, which is common everyday fear.  Jesus warns about hell, but he tells us to fear the God who is the boss of hell.  However, the boss cares for us more than we can imagine.

What do we learn about Hell from how Jesus uses gehenna?

Most importantly, God is the boss of hell, and this should be a source of comfort.  Our imaginations have run wild with the concept of hell.  We think the devil sits on a throne and commands legions of biker-gangs who are eternally partying.  God is the boss.  There are no demons that will drag you there.  And no earthly judgment can send you there.  There is no dualism for Jesus.  There isn’t a kingdom of darkness with skills and forces strong enough to pose a real threat.  He knows his followers will die from persecution just like he will, but it is only a flesh wound.

Hell is not unjust.  We are unjust.  The Pharisees were much better at their religion than you ever will be.  They tried to follow every law, but they couldn’t produce an ounce of justice.  It is important that we see Jesus pronouncing judgments or sentences.  Hell is not an accidental place.  God doesn’t look at those in hell and say, “Oops!  That one was a mistake.”

Now that we have laid out that God is the boss, and hell is not unjust, there is a big question.  What is hell?  After all, gehenna was a place Jesus could point to.  This was part of the reason he references the valley in his teaching.  We say, “in hell” and “in heaven,” but can you pull them up on a map?  From these passages, we haven’t determined much about the character of hell.  We just know it is connected to sin, and we should try to avoid it.  But since Jesus is so severe in these passages, it is safe to assume he is not joking.  That is to say, sometimes people read gehenna passages and begin analogizing and making everything metaphor.  Does Jesus sound like he wants us to make gehenna less scary?  Since Jesus invented hell, we will have to study the other ways he references it to understand more of its nature and character.  Next time is hades.