So you are saying we should change our view of what God is saying by carnal human’s changing their mind over word usage over time?
No, that is exactly what I did not say.
I said that we should consider readjusting the words we use to describe what God is saying, because the words we originally ascribed to things have since taken on a different meaning that is incompatible with the truth from God that they were originally meant to represent.
In this case, Hades and Sheol are synonymous with each other. They both refer to the state of the dead, after the time of earthly death, and before the time of the Resurrection of the Dead and the Last Judgement.
"Hell" or "Höhle" was once the Germanic equivalent of "Hades," but over time, "Hell" came to be more associated with the Lake of Fire. The word "Hell" came more and more to signify the Lake of Fire, and less and less to signify Hades, to the current point in time where "Hell" and "Lake of Fire" are synonymous, and where many Western Christians don't even know what to call the intermediate state of the dead pre-Judgement anymore. To this end, more and more Western Christians are beginning to turn back to the original names "Sheol" and "Hades" to denote the intermediate state of the deceased post-death and pre-Resurrection, and now use "Hell" to denote the "Lake of Fire" AKA "Gehenna."
Do you understand what I'm saying now? It's not about changing God's truth. It's about changing
our human language to
more clearly reflect God's truth.
That is why we have a Word of God and a spirit of truth to lead and guide us into all truth . You seem to have dismissed them both with this approach to seeking truth.
You seem to be jumping to hasty conclusions without first hearing what I have to say.
Nowhere is Greek Hades, and Hebrew Sheol are the same as The Lake of Devine purging.
Good, that means we're on the same page.
Death and Hades are specially linked in the Revelation.
Oh, no, it is not men who are destroyed in the lake of fire -- it is sin and death and hades that are destroyed.
Men are not obliterated, no. But they most certainly do suffer in the Lake of Fire, as attested to in Revelations and in the Gospels.
Revelation 14:9-11, 9 Then another angel, a third one, followed them, saying with a loud voice, “If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, he also will drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is mixed [
a]in full strength in the cup of His anger; and he will be tormented with fire and [
b]brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. 11 And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever; they have no rest day and night, those who worship the beast and his image, and [
c]whoever receives the mark of his name.” 12 Here is the [
d]perseverance of the [
e]saints who keep the commandments of God and [
f]their faith in Jesus.
Matthew 13:41-42
41 The Son of Man will send forth His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom [
a]all stumbling blocks, and those who commit lawlessness, 42 and will throw them into the furnace of fire; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Matthew 13:49-51
49 So it will be at the [
a]end of the age; the angels will come forth and [
b]take out the wicked from among the righteous, 50 and will throw them into the furnace of fire; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Mark 9:43-49 43 If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life crippled, than, having your two hands, to go into hell (Gehennah), into the unquenchable fire, 44 [where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.] 45 If your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life lame, than, having your two feet, to be cast into hell, 46 [where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.] 47 If your eye causes you to stumble, throw it out; it is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye, than, having two eyes, to be cast into hell, 48 where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched
In addition, it's well-attested that the personal students of the Apostles, i.e. those who sat at the feet at the Apostles, those disciples of the Apostles whose lives and works we still have today, these people also believed in an eternal Hell/Lake of Fire/Gehenna, where the wicked suffer forever.
Christ destroyed him that had the power of death, that is, the devil (Heb. 2:14), Christ came and abolished death (II Tim. 1:10) He now boldly proclaims: "I am He that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the KEYS OF HELL AND OF DEATH" (Rev. 1:18).
Christ destroyed him that had the power of death, that is, the devil (Heb. 2:14), Christ came and abolished death (II Tim. 1:10) He now boldly proclaims: "I am He that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the KEYS OF HELL AND OF DEATH" (Rev. 1:18).
And since the Christ now possesses both hades and death neither of them ride anywhere except by His power and will!
To kill with death means a death by death. Later on in the book of Revelation the same truth is presented thus: "Death and hell were cast into the lake of Fire. This is the second death" (Rev. 20:14).
Death itself is cast into the lake of fire.
Hades, the realm of the dead, is cast into the lake of fire.
And those whose names are not written in the Book of Life, i.e. those who are dead, in trespasses and in sins, who inhabit hades, are cast into the lake of fire.
It seems like you might understand that Jesus came to free humanity from sin and death, and that He trampled down Death by His death. This is a key point of Byzantine theology which is all too often overlooked by Western Christians, Protestants especially. If you understand this point, you're in good company with Catholics and Orthodox.
This is the end of death and hades and sin and sinners, for God shall destroy the whole realm of death in the lake of fire.
He shall burn up hell in the lake of fire, He shall destroy death in the lake of fire, and He shall consume sin in the lake of fire.
How I long to see the end of sin and death and hades!
It is clear that God does not destroy men in the lake of fire, nowhere does it say that, for that would be a contradiction of terms. How can you destroy death by creating death?
How can you abolish death by bringing men under the power of eternal death from which there is no escape?
"And the last enemy that shall be destroyed is death" (I Cor. 15:26). "And there shall be no more death: for the former things are passed away" (Rev. 21:4).
Thus, the lake of fire is nothing more nor less than THE DEATH OF DEATH! "And power was given unto them to kill...with death. " 0, the wonder of it!
So, if those in Hades are cast into the Lake of Fire, then do you hold to annihilationism, where sinners are simply erased from existence?
Why does hell make Jesus a monster?
Hitler, Stalin, Mao, Kim Jung Il, Osman Ben Laden only killed and tortured millions of God’s people. According to your belief
I'm sorry, but have you read what I believe about Hell in this thread? Hell isn't God being a sadistic monster. Hell is our choosing to reject God, suffering because we reject God's love, choosing instead to let hatred eat us from the inside out.
Jesus is going to torture trillions of God’s creation forever and ever with no mercy. That false doctrine of eternal torture in hell makes Jesus a monster.
Jesus is going to torture trillions of God's people forever and ever with no mercy? I would agree that that is a false doctrine. It is also neither the teaching of the Catholic Church nor the teaching of the Orthodox Church.
