Study on Everlasting Torment Study to determine if there is really a place of everlasting torment in fire. By Donna Dorsey Wulfemeyer As C.S. Lewis famously said, hell is a place where the door is locked from the inside; in other words, it is a destination of our own choosing. He writes, “There are only two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God, ‘Thy will be done,’ and those to whom God says, in the end, ‘Thy will be done.'” I found this paragraph during this study and am including it here because it states what I believe: At the human level we associate excessive torture with evil tyrants and dictators, we have a difficult time reconciling such never-ending conscious punishment with the truth that “God is love”. We think that because we find the idea of conscious, perpetual punishment repulsive, it must mean that God does not plan to subject anyone to such a fate. Surely, we say to ourselves, the biblical language suggesting the reality of hell must be metaphorical, not literal. There is an error in such reasoning however because we don’t think as God does. God’s thoughts are beyond our thoughts, and his ways beyond our ways. Consequently, he is not only more merciful than we are but more just. Because we are a fallen people, our sense of compassion may be well meaning, but our sense of justice, when weighted against God’s holiness, leaves much to be desired. I found these 3 different views about Eternal Fire. Once I was finished with this study I completely agree with Traditionalism however I was hoping that Conditionalism would be my final determination. Traditionalism The traditional, majority view is commonly called "Traditionalism", and sometimes described as "Eternal, Conscious Torment". Traditionalism holds that hell, the lake of fire, involves a permanent state of conscious suffering. Conditionalism Conditionalism is short for “Conditional Immortality”, a perspective incorporating annihilation. Conditionalism agrees with Traditionalism that Hell, the lake of fire, is permanent, and that the unsaved will suffer. However, framed against the biblical metaphor of fire, Conditionalists hold that God's judgment ultimately consumes or annihilates a person. Its complete destruction, obliteration. Universalism Universalism is sometimes referred to as “Universal Restoration or Universal Reconciliation”. Universalism suggests that everybody eventually ends up reconciled to God, after a period of refinement in Hell. Universalists focus on the metaphor of fire signifying refinement and purification, burning away that which is unfit for eternal life with God. I began this study because my father died believing that after death a person returns to dust from which he came and that there is no afterlife. I found his comment interesting because he obviously believed God created us from the ground and yet he didn’t believe in Jesus or anything after this life. My goal in this study was to know if my father is currently in eternal fire or if he is unaware of anything until the Great White Throne Judgment. MY FINAL CONCLUSION ON ETERNAL TORMENT AFTER COMPLETING THIS STUDY. Although I had never heard the term Traditionalism, that definition is what I believed before and after this study. I believed that the terms Hell, Sheol and Hades all refer to the same place. It is a place where the Spirit of the unsaved dead, no longer in their physical body, go upon death prior to the White Throne Judgment and their final destination in the Lake of Fire which is another form of Hell. I never considered what the difference between hell and the Lake of Fire was. I believed the Lake of Fire is eternal, produces conscious suffering for those thrown into it in the final judgment. I believed the bodies of those throw into the lake aren’t consumed by the fire so they feel the hot fire burning them forever. Another way to explain my belief, after this study, is that I believe there is a place called Hell and a Lake of Fire. The lake burns the bodies and spirits of the unsaved in it forever and ever. The unsaved are those who choose not to believe that Jesus is the Son of God, the Messiah who died for our sins. The spirit of the unsaved goes directly to hell upon their physical death where they await the resurrection of their bodies. There is torment and fire in hell. Once their body and spirit are reunited and they are judged by God, they will be thrown into the Lake of Fire, which is a Hell for the body and spirit and they will be there in the flames forever and ever. Eternal Torment is real and I’m thankful I will not experience it. Throughout the bible God uses fire as a method of punishment to warn people that his final punishment will be extreme. In many verses the use of fire can certainly be metaphorical but in many it shows a picture of hell’s torment. I believe what the bible says and I’m thankful that God gives people a way not to experience his extreme judgment. Physical death is not the end of existence, but only a change in the state of our existence. When we physically die, our spirit temporarily leaves our body. Physical death takes a person from our visible world to the invisible world. For the believer (those saved) it is entrance into eternity with God. For the non-believer (unsaved person) it is entrance into eternal torment. The lake of fire is a term used in only a few verses near the end in the book of Revelation (Revelation 19:20; 20:10, 14, 15; 21:8). Jesus refers to Gehenna/hell several times (Matthew 10:28; Mark 9:43; Luke 12:5), as well as an “outer darkness” (Matthew 8:12; 22:13). These all seem to be different references to where no one should want to be. Hell, the lake of fire, and outer darkness are all terms describing the final destination of those who reject Christ. This study was more difficult than I anticipated. There were several things I had to study and clarify before I could state my final beliefs. 1. Is a person’s soul and spirit the same? 2. Do the unsaved have an immortal body when they are resurrected? 3. Is there a place known as Hell/Sheol/Hades where the unsaved go directly after physical death? Are they in fire there? 4. Where do saved people go directly upon their physical death? 5. After Hell, at the final judgment, there is a Lake of Fire. Are the bodies and spirits of the unsaved burned here forever? STUDY #1: Is a person’s soul and spirit the same? I still have difficulty in understanding the difference between our soul and spirit. I believe it is enough to understand that once our body physically dies, our soul and/or spirit leaves it. There is nothing in scripture that states that something different happens to our soul compared to what happens to our spirit. The bible seems to use the terms spirit and soul interchangeably to represent a person’s spiritual side as compared to the physical body. It is clear that our spirit leaves our body when we die because most of the New Testament verses use the word spirit. I don’t believe it is critical to this study to make a distinction between soul and spirit so I will refer to the spiritual part of us as spirit for the purpose of this study. Jesus said we must be born again spiritually to enter the kingdom of God. 1 Peter states when we are born again we become imperishable, meaning immortal. Therefore the moment we are born again our body, soul and spirit are judged righteous. Both our spiritual and physical body is immortal; will have eternal life with God. All verses regarding Jesus’ last words on the cross stated he yielded/committed his spirit to God. When Jesus told a dead child to get up, the verses states that it was her spirit that returned to her body. In Acts, Luke wrote about Stephen being stoned. When he was near death he saw a vision of Jesus and asked him to receive his Spirit. James also uses the word spirit when he said the body without the spirit is dead. Matthew uses the term soul when he reminds us to be afraid of God who can destroy both our soul and body in hell. Paul uses both spirit and soul along with the word body to represent our entire being. Although we see that physical bodies decay and nothing is left but bones, God will someday join our spirit with our body during the resurrection regardless of how it is disposed of upon death. This applies to the saved and unsaved. Backup Verses Matthew 10:28 And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul (Strong’s 5590). But rather fear Him who is able to destroy (Strong’s 622) both soul (Strong’s 5590) and body in hell (KJV & NKJ) Matthew 27:50 And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit (Strong’s 4151). Luke 8:53-55 They laughed at him, knowing she was dead. But he took her by the hand and said, “My child, get up!” Her spirit (Strong’s 4151) returned, and at once she stood up. Luke 23:46 Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Father into your hands I commit my spirit (Strong’s 4151).” Notes/Thoughts It is our Spirit that leaves the body after death.