WHAT AND WHERE IS HELL?
W. ROSE
12/2002

In this study we will look at several common questions and misconceptions about what is referred to as ‘hell’. As you will see, there are many varying views of the ‘Who, What, and Wheres’ of hell. I do not believe that it is God’s will for us to be ignorant of the TRUTH behind this subject. Unfortunately for most, they will never take the time to study this subject out and see what scripture says about it, so they just accept what the church tells them to believe about it, and that is not very wise to do , because all too often the church is teaching contrary to what the Word of God teaches.

It is the aim of this study to bring to light the TRUTH of the subject, not for any other reason than that your Faith may be strong in the Lord and you will be able to give an answer for the Hope that lies within you.(1 Peter 3:15) May we find new strength in Christ and a fresh focus on His Kingdom.

SOME COMMON QUESTIONS AND MISCONCEPTIONS

I am going to list here some common questions and misconceptions about hell and then we’ll take our time in this study to try to answer these as thoroughly as possible.

– WHAT DOES HELL MEAN?
– WHERE IS HELL?
– WHO WILL GO TO HELL?
– IS HELL ETERNAL TORTURE IN FIRE?
– IS HELL REALLY JUST AN END OF A LIFE IN THE GRAVE?
– WOULD A GOD OF LOVE PUNISH PEOPLE IN EVERLASTING FIRE?
– WHEN WILL PEOPLE GO TO HELL?
– WHERE DO CHRISTIANS GO WHEN THEY DIE?
– CAN ANYONE EVER GET OUT OF HELL?

Hopefully we will be able to sift through the evidence and come to a rightful understanding of ‘hell’. Just a note for those with preconceived ideas about all these questions, Leave them at the door. You are going to learn things that you probably have never even heard before concerning this subject, NOT because they have never been taught, but because they haven’t been taught in modern times, just like a lot of things in the Bible have been left out of most churches. Remember the object of this web-site is for those seeking the TRUTH. Please let me EMPHASIZE that we do not claim full knowledge of the TRUTH, we are ourselves seeking for more of an understanding. 1 Cor. 13:12 says, ‘ What we see now is like a dim image in a mirror; then we shall see face-to-face. What I know now is only partial; then it will be complete- as complete as God’s knowledge of me.’ So we know that we CAN NOT know everything there is to know, we do not want to be thought of as self-righteous ‘know it all’. All we want to do is dig into the Word and learn ALL about what God has prepared for those He loves and for those He condemns. He also commands us to study or be diligent to show that we want His approval and are seeking after Him.(2 Tim. 2:15)

WHAT DOES HELL MEAN?

I want to start with this question, because this is where a lot of the confusion about hell originates. If you have a faulty understanding of what the word ‘hell’ actually means then you will easily be misled in other aspects of this subject. If you are a reader of the King James Version, then you especially will have been presented a ‘faulty’ or at best misleading view of what hell actually is. Let me explain— The word that the KJV uses is hell, where as in the Greek manuscripts, there are actually three (3) different words being used. Such is common with not only the KJV, but other English versions as well, that they ‘broad brush’ several Greek words with one English word. This is done mostly because our language is not as complete as the Greek. (meaning they have very descriptive words, each with a unique meaning, whereas in English we often have one word mean many things.) It is also done, unfortunately sometimes because of wanting to gloss over or ‘hide’ a doctrine. Such is the case with ‘baptism’ in most bibles. This word ‘baptism’ is merely a transliteration from the Greek word – baptizo-(Strongs # 907)- which means – to make overwhelmed, immersed. There was no reason to transliterate this word, because in our language we have a suitable translation- immersed or overwhelmed. BUT the ramifications of translating this in it’s proper way would have not went over very well at the time, because of all the debate over infant baptism and sprinkling vs. submersion, etc. This ‘smooth’ transliteration somehow jumped right over the controversy. If it were translated properly, there would have been no debate about it, baptism meant immersion, not sprinkling. It is so unfortunate that the translators made this awful mistake, to avoid dealing with an issue head on. However, this is a subject for another study, let’s get back to our current thought.

The three Greek words for ‘hell’ are as follows –

Hades (Strongs 86) – the place (state) of departed souls. This is the new testament version of the Hebrew word Sheol -(Strongs 7585)
The usage of Hades is the following in the New Testament:
Matthew 11:23 ; 16:18
Luke 10:15 ; 16:23
Acts 2:27 ; 2:31
1 Corinthians 15:55 (KJV has ‘grave’)
Revelation 1:18 ; 6:8 ; 20:13 ; 20:14

Ge-henna (Strongs 1067) – a valley in Jerusalem (the hinnom valley), figurative of the place (or state) of everlasting punishment.
The New Testament usage is:
Matthew 5:22,29,30 ; 18:9 ; 23:15,33
Mark 9:43,45,47
Luke 12:5
James 3:6

Tartaros (Strongs 5020) – (the deepest abyss of Hades), to incarcerate in eternal torment.
This word is used only once in 2 Peter 2:4

The word ‘hell’ comes from the Anglo-Saxon word Helan or Helle – meaning – to cover, hide, hidden place. It is a rather non scholarly way that the translators handled this word. This is such a serious and important subject, it only makes sense to translate it as accurately as possible, to avoid any misunderstandings. However, we know that that was not the case. The translators of the more modern Bibles have done a much better job in handling this subject, and I applaud them for clearing up the confusion from the KJV and other ‘hell’ using bibles. I have heard so many OUTRAGEOUS claims by those who support the KJV only argument, that Hades is Greek mythology, and they are trying to turn the bible in to a new age bible, and on and on, but they never admit to the shady translation in their very own version. For more about Bible translations check back in the future, as I will have an article dealing with this very topic. It is NOT online right now.

We will go further into each of these various renderings in this article. This section was meant only to familiarize you with the actual Greek words being translated as ‘hell’. With a firm understanding of each of these definitions we can now go on to the next section –

WHERE IS HELL?

Once we understand that ‘hell’ is more than one single place, we can quickly deduce that there are several places that need to be looked at. Let’s start with the first ‘hell’ usage, which is Hades –

Hades is by definition – the place of departed souls. Thus meaning that when a person dies, their soul goes to Hades. We can see this clearly taught in scripture. In Luke 16:22b-23 it says, ‘ The rich man also died and was buried. And being in torments in Hades, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.’ Here we see that the rich man, after death, went to be in Hades. Not his body, for that was in the grave, just like any dead mans body is in the grave. However his soul went into Hades immediately after his death. We’ll discuss this important portion of scripture in detail in a little bit, but next we also see in Acts 2:25-28 a prophecy of David concerning Christ. In verse 27 it says, ‘ For you will not leave My soul in Hades, Nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption.’ Then in verse 31 it says, ‘ he(David), foreseeing this, spoke concerning the resurrection of the Christ, that His soul was not left in Hades, nor did His flesh see corruption.’ So here we see that even Christ’s soul went to Hades after His death, but it did not remain there. But it was removed after the resurrection.

We will discuss more about this is the – Who goes to Hell? section.Right now we’re concerned with – Where is Hades? According to the verses in Acts 2, we know that Christ’s soul went to Hades after His death, and in Ephesians 4:9 says that Christ ‘ascended’, but first he ‘descended’ into the lower parts of the earth.

Tertullian (c. ad 210) – Hades is not supposed by us to be a bare captivity, nor some subterranean sewer of the world, Rather it is a vast deep space in the interior of the earth…For we read that Christ in His death spent three days in the heart of the earth… He did not ascend into the heights of Heaven before descending into the lower parts of the earth. This was so that He might there(Hades) make the Patriarchs and Prophets partakers of Himself.

So the answer to where is Hades is that it is in the center of the earth or the ‘lower parts’. It is also referred to as outer darkness in several passages. Which leads us to the next point – Where is the other ‘hell’ or Ge-henna?

Ge-henna is what we know as the Lake of Fire, or the place of eternal torment, where the worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched. (Mark 9:43-44) This Ge-henna is located next to Hades in the lower parts of the earth. However, they are not the same place, as we have seen from the word usage. This is also easily seen in the book of Revelation. In Rev. 20:14 it says, ‘ Then Death and Hades were cast into the Lake of Fire. This is the second death.’ Here we are told that Hades ( a literal place) was cast into the Lake of Fire( another literal place), proving that these are two separate places. This is one place where the KJV confuses itself, because all through the KJV is renders the Lake of Fire( which is the same as Ge-henna) as ‘hell’. Now in Rev. 20:14 it says, ‘death and HELL were cast into the Lake of Fire.’ Can you see the contradiction in their usage of these terms. Even though the Greek for lake of fire is ‘lemne pur’ not Ge-henna, the two are synonymous places. Ge-henna, remember, is a fulfillment of the figurative torment in the valley of hinnom in Jerusalem. It is here where they burned people outside of the city. Thus the lake of fire is a specific term for the place of eternal punishment (Ge-henna), both , however, representing the one and same place. I could say it like this – There is a place where some will spend eternity in everlasting punishment(Ge-henna), this place is called the lake of fire(lemne pur). As you can see, I’m speaking of the same place, just in two different senses. This is exactly the case here. So using the logic of the KJV, ‘hell’ is being cast into itself. This obviously is why so many people are confused on this subject. There is no way to differentiate between Hades and Ge-henna in the KJV. The teaching does not exist. If you can clearly see the teaching in the KJV of both Hades and Ge-henna please email me and let me know.

There is a beautiful piece of writing from one of the early church writers concerning this subject. Before we read it let me make one quick point –

All of the early church writers had a clear understanding of Hades and Ge-henna. There was no confusion on their part. There will be many quotes in this article from them, and you will easily see that they had a complete grasp on the Who’s and What’s and Where’s. That should be a clear statement to us that we have strayed far from the early churches knoweledge of the application of scripture. It would behoove us to not so hastily overlook the testimony of the earliest recorded Christian documents. That would be foolish!! Their writings are FULL of insight into many of the ‘divisive and controversial’ doctrines and teachings of the bible.

Hippolytus (c ad 205) – …However, the unrighteous are dragged toward the left by angels who are ministers of punishment. These souls no longer go of their own accord. Rather, they are dragged as prisoners by force. And the angels appointed over them hurry them along, reproaching them and threatening them with an eye of terror, forcing them down into the lower parts. And when the souls are brought there, those appointed to that task drag them on to the vicinity of Ge-henna. And those who are so near (to Ge-henna) hear incessantly its agitation, and they feel the hot smoke. And when that vision is so near, as they see the terrible and excessively glowing spectacle of the fire, they shudder in horror at the expectation of the future judgment, already feeling the power of their punishment. And again, when they see the place of the Fathers and the righteous( Abraham’s bosom), they also suffer punishment merely from seeing this. For a deep and vast abyss is set there in the midst, so that neither can any of the righteous in sympathy think to cross it, nor do any of the unrighteous dare to cross it.(see Luke 16)

So we can see from this and from the scripture that Ge-henna is also in the ‘lower parts’ of the earth, very close to the place called Hades. It is like the lake of fire is in the backyard of Hades, which could be likened to a house that sits near a lake. Though they are extremely close to one another, they are indeed two separate places. This brings us to the third ‘hell’- Tartaros –

Tartaros is said to be the deepest part of the abyss(Hades). It is only mentioned once in 2 Peter 2:4. We can probably only speculate as to the details of this one, however, there are a few insightful quotes from the early church on Tartaros –

Hippolytus (c 205) – In order to teach us this, He uses the examples of Hades, the love of woman, Tartaros, and the earth that is not filled with water….Tartaros, which is situated in a doleful and dark locality, is not touched by a ray of light.

Hippolytus (c 225) – By means of this knowledge, you will escape the approaching threat of the fire of judgment and the black scenery of gloomy Tartaros, where a beam from the radiant voice of the Word never shines.

Apparently from these quotes and the scripture in 2 Peter, Tartaros is a prison for the fallen angels, probably in the far reaches of Hades, where not even the unrighteous are located. This is the sum of the information available about Tartaros, but nothing more is needed, because we know that it was for the fallen angels anyways and not for man.

IS HELL REALLY ETERNAL PUNISHMENT IN FIRE?

I must confess, it is terribly hard for me to understand how people can mistake this. There are many groups out there that teach that ‘hell’ is merely the grave and that once you die, it’s just lights out, and that’s it. No punishment, or justice for your sins, just dust. One of the main proponents of this stark heresy is the Jehovah Witnesses. Stay away from this group at all cost!! This is just the beginning of their heresy.

It seems that scripture is all too clear in this area, but I will give a few verses that show that , YES, ‘hell’ is eternal punishment in the lake of fire. –

First let’s look at the word ‘eternal’ as used in the KJV – it is Strongs # 166 – meaning PERPETUAL. So we can see that whatever is represented by eternity is going to be perpetual, never ending. The question is, Is it perpetual sleep, or perpetual torment? Let’s look at some verses –

Jude 7 – As Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities around them in a similar manner to these, having given themselves over to sexual immorality and gone after strange flesh, are set forth as an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.

Mark 9:47-48 – And if your eyes causes you to sin, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the Kingdom of God with one eye, rather than having two eyes, to be cast into Ge-hennas fire- where, ‘their worm does not die, And the fire is not quenched.’

Revelation 14:11 – And the smoke of their torment ascends forever and ever; and they have no rest day or night….

1 Thessalonians 1:9 – These shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power.

Revelation 20:10 – The devil, who deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are. And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever…vs.15 and anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.

These are just a few of the verses that clearly prove that eternal punishment is real. It is the devil’s doctrine that teaches otherwise. If you are a teacher of the ‘annihilation’ theory or ‘all people go to heaven’ theory, you are HERETICS and you know it!!! There is sure destruction waiting for you, be sure of it. You cannot sweep TRUTH under a rug and pretend it doesn’t exist, God will not be mocked!! Do you really believe that garbage, I don’t think you do, you just want to, because you have no peace with God,so must try to create a god for yourself that is ‘loving’ and would never hurt anyone. You are an IDOLATER and you have your part in this same lake of fire you deny!! I pray for you, rebellious devils, you drag men to eternal flames with your foolish lies from Satan!! God help this world to open their eyes to this lie from the pit!!

Here are a few quotes from the early writers concerning eternal punishment –

Barnabas (ad 70) – The way of darkness is crooked, and it is full of cursing. It is the way of eternal death with punishment.

Martyrdom of Polycarp (135) – They despised all the torments of this world, redeeming themselves from eternal punishment by the suffering of a single hour…For they kept before their view escape from that fire which is eternal and will never be quenched.

Justin Martyr (c 160) – He goes to the everlasting punishment of fire.

Justin Martyr (c 160) – Christ foretold that Satan would be sent into the fire with his host, along with the men who follow him, and they will be punished for an endless duration.

Irenaeus (c 180) – Eternal fire is prepared for sinners. The Lord has plainly declared this, and the rest of scriptures demonstrates it.

Clement of Alexandria (c 195) – All souls are immortal, even those of the wicked. Yet, it would be better for them if they were not deathless. For they are punished with the endless vengeance of quenchless fire, it is impossible for them to have an end put to their misery.

Tertullian (c197) – After the last judgment, their is neither death nor repeated resurrections. But we will be the same as we are now, and still unchanged. That is, we will be the servants of God, ever with God, clothed with the proper substance of eternity. But the profane, and all who are not true worshipers of God, in like manner will be consigned to the punishment of everlasting fire. That fire, from its very nature indeed, directly attends to their incorruptibility….There is a distinction between ordinary fire and a secret fire. That which is in common use is far different from that which we see in divine judgments… For the secret fire does not consume what it scorches. Instead, it repairs while it burns…A notable proof that this fire is eternal is that…the mountains burn and yet last. How will it be with the wicked and the enemies of God?

Mark Minucius Felix (c 200) – I am not ignorant that many pagans, in the consciousness of what they deserve, would prefer to believe that they will become nothing after death. For they would rather be altogether extinguished, rather than to be restored for the purpose of punishment.

Hippolytus (c 225) – By means of this knoweledge, you will escape the approaching threat of the fire of judgment and the sunless scenery of gloomy Tartaros, where there never shines a beam from the irradiating voice of the Word. You will also escape the boiling flood of Ge-henna’s eternal lake of fire, and the eye ever fixed in menacing glare of the angels who are chained in Tartaros as punishment for their sins. And you will also escape the worm that endlessly coils for food around the body whose scum has bred it…

Commodianus (c 240) – You will wail in Ge-henna. Certainly God lives, who makes the dead to live, that He may give worthy rewards to the innocent and to the good. But to the fierce and impious, He gives the cruel Ge-henna…You seek to recklessly live without God, believing that death is merely extinction and that it is absolute. But God has not arranged it as you think, you who believe that the dead are forgetful of what they have previously done…You will not escape from God. He will distribute punishment according to your deeds. So I would have you be careful that you do not come to the burning of fire. Give yourself up at once to Christ….Otherwise, you will be taken where it will grieve you to be. There the spiritual punishment, which is eternal, is undergone. There is always wailing there, for you do not absolutely die in it.

I could go on and on with these quotes, from every single early writer on record. Doesn’t that bother you, if you believe in something other than eternal punishment in the lake of fire, knowing that not one early church leader agrees with you? Not to mention that the bible is crystal clear on this subject too!! If after this evidence, you can go on in your ideas, then you are TOTALLY deceived and you do not LOVE the TRUTH. God be with you!

WOULD A GOD OF LOVE PUNISH PEOPLE IN ETERNAL FLAMES?

Let me quickly address this point. If this is what you think about God, then you do not know God. You have NEVER understood His character or His nature. YES, God is a God of love, in fact , HE IS LOVE!! The problem is, your idea of love and His are two different things. You have a fleshly, sensual, happy feel good love, whereas God has a Holy and Righteous and Perfect Love! You cannot adjust the qualities of God after your own experience, HOW ABSURD!!! You must recognize that you can’t love like He can, and that you don’t know what love is. Nor do you understand anything about God!! Not only is God LOVE, But He is also Just. Everything He does in Judgment is 100% totally fair. He NEVER cheats or acts UNJUSTLY. The problem is, is that you don’t realize that you deserve eternal fire, SO DO I!! But God in His love, Gave His only Son, Jesus to die for us, that we wouldn’t have to suffer in hell. If that’s not love, what is? He didn’t have to do that. He could have sentenced all of us to hell, rightfully and justly without one ounce of guilt!

Please do not bring God down to your pitiful level of human soulish thinking, what a mockery of the eternal GOD!! Trust in His Word and LIVE, doubt His Word and DIE!! The Word of God declares that He demonstrated His love for us in that , while WE were yet sinners, Christ died for us. And you think that He is not Just in sending you to hell, because you reject Him and His offer of eternal Life!! You, my friend, are your own judge in condemning yourself, by walking in darkness and not putting your trust in His provision – Christ Jesus our Savior!!

WHEN WILL PEOPLE GO TO HELL?

In this section we’ll focus on when the unrighteous people will go to ‘hell’. remembering that ‘hell’ is more than one place, we’ll look at the progression of a sinners path after death. When a sinner( we are all sinners, but I am referring to those who do not TRUST in Christ and are not TRULY saved) dies, his body (that is, his flesh, skin and bones) goes to the grave. Immediately at this time his soul( his mind, will, emotions, feelings, thoughts, character, personality) goes straight to Hades, which, in review, is the place of departed souls. In this Hades, you are tormented by the nearby flames of Ge-henna (the lake of fire) and there is no relief for you, EVER! Now, when the end of the ages comes, you will be raised out of Hades, to meet your fleshly body again, and your reunited soul and body will stand before God’s throne to receive your judgment sentence to everlasting flames. At this point, all your screaming and gnashing teeth, and begging, will do NO GOOD, because you have had the opportunity to accept the Lamb that paid this price for you, Jesus, BUT you rejected Him, so now you must pay the price for your sins. The bible says that the wages (or payment) for sin is death, eternal death in the lake of fire. Upon receiving your guilty verdict, you will be cast into the lake of fire, where the worm does not die and the fire is not quenched. Here you will spend eternity. Exactly how long is eternity? Here’s the formula for figuring it out – take 1 billion years, then multiply it by 100 trillion centuries, add to that 9999999999 trillion millennium, and you’ve just began to start the first nanosecond of eternity!! GET THE POINT!! Is that really worth you rejecting Christ for? What a blind madman it would take to exchange this measly 80 year life for that!! IT”S YOUR CHOICE THOUGH, I cannot force you. Neither will God!!

Right now, Hades is full of screaming , gnashing, cursing souls who were at one time on the threshold of salvation, but they thought they were smarter than God, and they thought they could wait one more day, or they thought that since they went to church they were o.k., or because they knew the scripture, they were a dead lock for Heaven. But God will not be mocked, for WHATEVER a man sows, he will reap. They sowed damnation, and now that is what they are receiving. God is not guilty for their blood, after all , He gave everything He had to try to save them, but they refused His offer, what about you, have you refused His offer? Are you TRULY a disciple of the Lord Jesus? One who has died to self and come out form among man and separated yourself to righteousness and holiness? Do you walk in the Spirit of God, obeying His EVERY command without the slightest hesitation? If you cannot answer yes, to all of these and more, then you one day will be that screamer in the darkness of the pit of Hades, lamenting that you had the opportunity this very day, but refused to give God your FULL life and trust TOTALLY in Him.

CAN ANYONE EVER GET OUT OF HELL?

The answer to this should be obvious by now, NO!! Once you have died, your fate is sealed instantly, without ever a chance to change your mind. The bible says that you are not promised your next breath, so what are you waiting for? Will you be one that procrastinates and ends up sucking flames for billions of eons? Listening to the screams of billions of people with their flesh simmering off their skin, then reappearing only to roast like a turkey again and again, thousands of times- A DAY!! Watching all those televangelists, and teachers, and Presidents, and old ladies, and relatives, and preachers, and musicians, and teenagers, gnash their teeth in agony at the flames of eternal torment? Today is the day for you, right now, seek His face and be saved!!

…In Hades there is no repentance…So while the way of mercy is open, brethren, let us entreat God with full atonement.

Luke 16:24-26 – Then he(rich man) cried out and said, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.’ But Abraham said, ‘remember in your lifetime you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things; but now he is comforted and you are tormented. And besides all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed, so that those who want to pass from here to you cannot, nor can those form there pass to us.’

As you can see, NO ONE is escaping, once they are in the chains of Hades. Your doom is certain and your judgment deserved!

WHERE DO CHRISTIANS GO WHEN THEY DIE?

This section more than any of the others will probably come as a surprise. There is much misunderstanding as to what happens to souls after the death of their body. This is also another area where we have been led by the ‘church’ without truly studying for ourselves, and we have been taken down the wrong path. I understand that I cannot be dogmatic about these teachings, primarily because I could be wrong. However, I TRULY believe that scripture supports the position I hold more than the common ‘fundamental’ view of what life after death is for the believer. We will take our time and look into this closely and try to find God’s way in all of this. There is a sure hope in all of this, an inner joy that cannot be shaken, if you are a child of God. Yet, if you are a child of the devil, you have much to fear!! Let’s look at the common belief of life after death as the mainstream church knows it –

The common church teaches that when a Christian dies, their bodies go to the grave, and their souls go immediately to Heaven to be with the Lord. Then when the ‘rapture’ takes place their souls come back with Christ and meet their bodies that will rise out of the ground and be reunited together with them, and from this point will have their physical bodies once again. They will then return to Heaven to take part in the marriage supper and prepare to come back to earth torule and reign with Christ during the 1000 years of Kingly reign. Does this sound similar to what you believe? I thought it would. There are some points of this that are true, but other points that are false. We’ll look at this in detail now. –

The main misconception is what happens to the believer immediately after death. Contrary to what most think, the believer DOES NOT go straight to Heaven to be with the Lord. This wrong concept not only is NOT taught in scripture, but is actually AGAINST the clear teaching of scripture. We will look at some verses that deal with this issue. –

1 Corinthians 15 – vs 12, ‘Now if Christ is preached that He has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection from the dead? But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ is NOT risen.’ vs. 20 – ‘But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the FIRST FRUITS of those who have fallen asleep(died).- vs 23 – But each one in his own order: Christ the first fruits, afterward those who are Christ’s at His coming. ‘ vs. 54 – ‘So when this corruptible has put on incorruptibility, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.” ” O death, where is your sting? O HADES, where is your victory?”

As we can see from this passage, Christ was the FIRST FRUITS of those who have died, meaning He is the predecessor of His people. What He went through, we must go through. That is the only way He could be the first fruits, or the example, the pattern by which we will follow. We know that after Christ died, He went to Hades for several days, then His body was resurrected, and He reunited with His body, then He went to Heaven to be with His Lord.

This distinction is made in verse 54-55 when it says that AT the POINT of the resurrection, the Old Testament prophecy will come to pass that states – O Hades, where is your victory? It is only now that Hades does not have an effect upon the children of God. This is unmistakeably clear. When we say that we go straight to heaven after death, we are saying that we are above our Master, and that he is a liar when He said He was our first fruits. As you can see it not only is wrong teaching, but it is in essence calling the Word of God a lie! If Christ is our first fruits, then we MUST follow His pattern. This must be understood. This in no way means a believer does not go to Heaven, but only after the resurrection, not until. Until the resurrection, a believer dwells in the same place that ALL the Old Testament saints went to dwell in – Abraham’s Bosom, or Paradise. Remember that Jesus told the thief on the cross, that TODAY you will be with Me in Paradise. This was not Heaven, but Abraham’s Bosom. We know that from the teaching of the bible, and from the fact that scripture says that He went to the lower parts after His death, BEFORE ascending to be with the Father. Think about what Jesus told Mary near the tomb in John 20:17 – ‘Jesus said to her, “Do not cling to me, for I have NOT YET ascended to My Father; but go to My brethren and say to them, I am ascending to My Father and your Father, and to My God and your God.”‘ This happened immediately after His resurrection, making it clear that He had not been to Heaven yet. So, is Christ our first fruit or not?

A point of confusion in this stems from the verse in Ephesians 4 that says – vs.8 ‘Therefore He says: “When He ascended on high, He led captivity captive, And gave gifts to men.”‘ Most modern scholars take this to mean that when Christ went to the lower parts, He released those in Abraham’s Bosom, and they went with Him to Heaven, so now that place (Paradise) is now empty and all New Testament believers go straight to Heaven now, without first going to Paradise. But we must be honest with scripture. Does it say that or even allude to it? Even when I did believe the common way about this subject, I always wrestled with this verse, because no matter how much I wanted to believe it, I could never be at peace with this interpretation. It just didn’t make sense. Now, of course, I understand why, because the Spirit of God was telling me that that wasn’t a correct application. I thank Him for His Holy Spirit that guides me into ALL TRUTH. He will do the same for you, if you yield to Him, and forget about your own agendas and preconceived ideas. Be honest about why you believe the way you do, is it because you thoroughly studied it out and are convinced of it, or are you taking the churches opinion for TRUTH over what the Word of God says? If you have been believing in ignorance, now you are accountable for your actions.

But some may say, well what about the bodies of the saints that were seen roaming around after the resurrection of Christ? At first glance, this would appear to be Him emptying Paradise and all those He released came with Him to earth for a while. But the scripture says that MANY, not ALL of the saints who had died were seen walking around town. If ALL of the Old Testament saints had rose out of their graves, there would be millions of them roaming around. What exactly happened in this verse is not quite clear, but we can be sure that it does not contradict God’s Word in other places. If so, then God is a liar, and our religion is in vain. If Christ is not OUR first fruits, then we have a useless religion. We are told in one scripture that NO servant is above his Master. The problem is that we think we are above our Master, and that we want to be in Heaven immediately, so we twist scripture to make it fit our mold. What a gross error! We must allow scripture to conform us to it’s ways, not vice-versa.

 Now you are probably going through alot of things in your mind right now, trying to defend your preconcieved way, and I understand that. But please be open to the fact that you might just be wrong. Can you do that? Are you willing to admit that there is a slight possibility that you have been taught wrong all these years. We must be willing to atleast accept that fact.

You are probaby wondering, because of all the quotes from the early church, what they feel about this. Surely they knew what the Apostles taught, seeing how they were directly taught by the Apostles. Surely on a subject of this importance there would be no confusion amongst them. Surely they knew that all Christians go to Heaven immediately after death. If these are your thoughts, you are going to be shocked with what I am about to write –

Clement of Rome (ad 96) – All the generations from Adam unto this day have passed away. However, those who, through the grace of God, have been made perfect in love, now possess a place among the godly. And they will be made manifest at the revelation of the kingdom of Christ. For it is written, “Enter into your secret chambers for a little time, until my wrath and fury pass away. And I will remember a propitious day, and will raise you up out of your graves.”

Ireneaus (c 180) – The heretics…do not acknoweledge the salvation of their flesh…but claim that immediately upon their death, they will pass above the heavens and the Creator and go to the Mother or Father that they pretend exists…For they do not choose to understand, that if these things are as they say, the Lord Himself, in whom they profess to believe, did not rise again upon the third day. Rather, immediately upon His expiring on the cross, He undoubtedly departed on high, leaving His body to the earth…The Lord observed the law of the dead so that He might become the First-begotten from the dead. And He waited until the third day ‘in the lower parts of the earth’…Accordingly, these men(the gnostics) must be put to confusion, who allege that the ‘lower parts’ refer to this world of ours, but that their inner man, leaving the body here, ascends into the Super-celestial place… The Lord ‘went away in the midst of the shadow of death,’ where the souls of the dead were. However, afterwards, He arose in the body. And after the resurrection, He was taken up into Heaven. From this, it is clear that the souls of His disciples also will go away into the invisible place(Hades) allotted to them by God. And they will remain there until the resurrection, awaiting that event. Then recieveing their bodies, and rising in their entirety, just as the Lord arose, they will come in that manner into the presence of God.

Tertullian (c207) – It must therefore be evident to every man of intelligence who has ever heard of the Elysian fields, that there is some determinate place called Abraham’s Bosom. It is designed for the reception of souls of Abraham’s children – even from among the gentiles…This region, therefore, I call Abraham’s Bosom. Although it is not in Heaven, it is yet higher than Hades. And it is appointed to afford an interval of rest to the souls of the righteous until the consummation of all things completes the resurrection of all men with the full recompense of their reward… By Abraham’s Bosom is meant some temporary receptacle of faithful souls, wherin is even foreshadowed an image of the future, and where is given some forsight of the glory of both judgments.

Tertullian (c210) – You must believe Hades is a subterranian region. You should keep at arms length those heretics who are too proud to believe that the souls of the faithful deserve a place in Hades. These persons- who are servants above their Lord, and disciples above their Master- would no doubt spurn to recieve the comfort of the resurrection, if they must expect it in Abraham’s Bosom. But it was for this purpose, they say, that Christ descended into Hades- that we might not ourselves have to descend there. Well, then, what difference is there between pagans and Christians, if the same prison awaits them all when dead? How, indeed, will the soul mount up to Heaven, where Christ is already sitting at the Father’s right hand? For the archangel’s trumpet has not yet been heard by the command of God…To no one is Heaven opened…When the world,indeed, will pass away,, then the kingdom of heaven will be opened.

Hippolytus (c 205) – Now we must speak of Hades, in which the souls of the righteous and the unrighteous are detained. Hades is a place in the created system, rude, a locality beneath the earth, in which the light of the world does not shine. And since the sun does not shine in this place, there is necessarily perpetual darkness there. This place has been destined to be, as it were, a guard house for souls. The angels are stationed there as guards distributing temporary punishments for characters, according to each one’s deeds. And in this locality there is a certain place set apart by itself, a lake of unquenchable fire, into which we suppose no one has ever yet been cast…But the righteous are indeed presently detained in Hades, but not in the same place with the unrighteous. For to this locality there is one descent, at the gate of which we believe an archangel is stationed with an army. And when those who are conducted by the angels who are appointed unto the souls have passed through this gate, they do not all proceed down one and the same path. Rather, the righteous are conducted in the light toward the right. And being hymned by the angels stationed at the place, they are brought to a locality full of light. And there all the righteous persons form the beginning dwell. They are not ruled by any necessity. Rather, they perpetually enjoy the contemplation of the blessings, ever new. In fact, they consider the new blessings as ever better than the first ones. And that place brings no labor for them. In that locale, their are neither fierce heat, cold, nor thorns. But the faces of the Fathers and the righteous are seen to be always smiling, as they wait for the rest and eternal revival in Heaven that follow this location. And we call this place by the name of Abraham’s Bosom.

As we can see by these few writings, the early church unanimously agreed on the belief that ALL souls still go to Hades, the righteous to one side, the unrighteous to the other. Specifically speaking the unrighteous side is referred to as Hades, while the other side is called Abraham’s Bosom. While generically speaking, Hades refers to both places.

How does this settle with you? Are you dissappointed? Are you encouraged? I pray that you would be like I was, and encouraged. It is something to look forward to, a blessing to have rest for our weary souls after living life on this evil planet. If this is God’s way, then LET IT BE!! I cannot even think I can do better than Him.

IF THIS IS TRUE, WHAT HAPPENS IN ABRAHAM’S BOSOM?

Obviously the first thought would be if this were true, what will Abraham’s Bosom be like? This is a fair question and needs looking into. When we look at the story of the Rich man and Lazarus in Luke 16, we get a picture of what is happening, though in a very limited way. In verse 25 Abraham says that NOW Lazarus is comforted and the rich man is tormented. From this we know that Paradise is a place of comfort for the righteous, and Hades is a place of torture for the wicked. There is a reason Jesus told the thief that he would be with Christ in Paradise, because it was just that, Paradise. Paradise is a transliteration of the Greek word Paradeisos which means – A park, an Eden( place of future happiness). So Christ was telling the thief that he and Christ were going to be in a place of happiness, a type of Eden, such as was in the beginning. This was common knowledge in the Old Testament that saints went to Paradise and waited for the resurrection. Many of the early writers speculated as to what took place and will take place in Paradise, with many scriptures to verify their theories. Here are a few –

Hermas (c 150) – These Apostles and teachers preached the name of the Son of God. After falling asleep in the power and faith of the Son of God, the Apostles not only preached it to those who were asleep, but they themselves also gave them the seal of the preaching (baptism). Accordingly, the Apostles descended with them into the water and ascended again…For such ones slept in righteousness and in great purity. Only, they did not have this seal.

Here we see Hermas stating that in Paradise, they would go and preach the gospel to the Old Testament saints, and then upon them believing would baptize them. 1 Peter 4:6 – For this reason the gospel was preached also to those who are dead, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit.

Ireneaus (c 180) – The Lord was made ‘the First-Begotten of the dead.’ Receiving into His bosom the ancient fathers, He has regenerated them into the life of God.

Clement of Alexandria (c 195) – He preached the gospel to those in the flesh so that they would not be condemned unjustly. So how is it conceivable that He did not for the same reason preach the Gospel to those who had departed this life before His coming.

What they are saying is that Jesus, after he died, went to Hades and preached the Gospel of Himself to the Believing Jews of the Old Covenant. For even though they were righteous men, they still needed to accept the Savior and His Gospel. This leads us to an even more interesting thought –

Hippolytus (c 205) – John the Baptist also first preached to those in Hades, becoming a forerunner there when he was put to death by Herod. So even there, too, John revealed that the Savior would descend to ransom the souls of the saints form the hand of death.

Isn’t that an interesting thought, that John the Immerser who was the one chosen to herald in the coming of Christ on earth, would also be the forerunner in Hades, heralding in His soon coming appearance in Hades itself. Preparing the way for the Savior to come and bring life to the Old Testament saints.

Getting back to NOW, what is happening in Paradise, is that the faithful are at rest, awaiting the soon coming resurrection, that Christ partook of Himself first. There is Joy and unending Happiness and there is no sin there. There is just ALL the family of Christ who have died, together in one great big fellowship, waiting for the return of Christ. It is similar to having all the Christians on earth assemble together, and be together in perfect unity without any sin to come between true brotherly love. What a Blessed HOPE!! Hallelujah!! Do not suppose it to be a dark dungeon of waiting, that is reserved for the unfaithful, in Paradise there will be unending Bliss and commune with All the saints of Old. Imagine, hearing Abraham tell of His days of old, and talking to the Apostles about their experiences. Rejoicing together with brethren from every race and era, all in complete perfection, praising and singing psalms and hymns awaiting the soon and expected return of Christ. I CAN”T WAIT!!

CONCLUSION

I hope you have understood all that has been taught in this article. It is a must for us to understand what the Lord has prepared for them who love Him. This gives us a hope, a reason to share the gospel of Jesus Christ. Eternity is real, whether you believe it or not. Your ideas do not change TRUTH! There can only be one absolute, all others are frauds. Don’t you desire to know the only true absolute? That is the message of Christ and His Apostles, to seek to know Christ and be conformed to His image. We must long for Him more than Anything!! I hope this article has shed light on a confused doctrine in the church today. If you feel that I have misrepresented scripture here in any way, let me know, and I’ll look into it, to make sure I haven’t taught something false. GOD FORBID!! May your desire to be like Christ and Him alone, not knowledge for the sake of knowledge, but a new found peace and rest in our Savior, Jesus Christ. May Christ receive any glory out of this weak attempt to declare His TRUTH!! Amen!

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ADDED: I wanted to add just a small section as an addendum to this article. This deals with the idea in the early church that MARTYRS would bypass Hades and go straight to be with the Lord. Although this was not universally agreed upon in the early church, there were several who did give it much thought and attention. I’ll include a few quotes and some scriptures that help to support their idea. I am adding this here, so you will know that I am NOT 100% sure about this point, but I definitely ‘see’ their point and can agree that it might make sense. However, I would not declare this as TRUTH, but as a possibility, one of those ‘gray’ areas, if such a thing exists.

TERTULLIAN (C 210) – ‘We are indeed confident and deem it good rather to be absent from the body and present with the Lord.’…Observe how he here also ascribes to the excellence of martyrdom a contempt for the body. For no one, on becoming absent from the body, is at once a dweller in the presence of the Lord- UNLESS if by the prerogative of martyrdom, he gains a lodging in Paradise(Rev 2:7), rather than in Hades.

CYPRIAN (C250) – The Lord desired that we should rejoice and leap for joy in persecutions. For when persecutions occur, then are given the crowns of faith. Then the soldiers of God are proved. Then the Heavens are opened to martyrs…..We should not fear to be slain, for we are sure to be crowned when we are slain.

TREATISE ON THE GLORY OF MARTYRDOM(C 255) – Martyrs rejoice in Heaven. The fire will consume those who are enemies of the truth. The Paradise of God blooms for the martyrs; Gehenna will envelope those who deny- and eternal fire will burn them up.

TERTULLIAN (C210) – Shall we have to [go to Hades]? No, but in Paradise, you tell me. This is where the patriarchs and prophets have already been transported, from Hades in retinue of the Lord’s resurrection. How is it then, that the region of Paradise displays no other souls as in it besides the souls of the martyrs? For it was revealed unto John in the Spirit as lying ‘under the altar.’… The key to unlock Paradise is your own life’s blood.

MARTYRDOM OF POLYCARP (C135) – [IN REFERENCE TO SOME FAITHFUL MARTYRS:] They are in their due place in the presence of the Lord, with whom they also suffered.

As you can see, there was a common belief that only Martyrs were allowed immediate access into heaven, apparently, because 1) They had, because of martyrdom, taken on the form of an angel- and 2) this was the greatest honor with which you could give Christ, which had it’s own special reward. They felt that martyrdom was in and of itself a form of cleansing of sins. To be martyred meant that it would deliver their soul from evil. see Proverbs 14:25 . Whether or not all the early writers agreed as to martyrs going to Heaven immediately, they did however, agree that martyrdom had it’s own special reward and that it was an honor and privilege to die for their Lord. Do we have the same love for Christ, that we are willing to be martyrs for Him?

The passage in Revelation about John seeing the martyrs is Rev. 6:9 – When He opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the testimony which they held.

COMMON OBJECTIONS

Here I will list a few of the objections to the belief that ALL souls must still go first to Hades, even those of the righteous. –

2 Corinthians 5:1-9 – focusing on vs. 8 – We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord.

This is viewed as saying that immediately upon death we are present with the Lord, HOWEVER, context shows that this is not the subject, the subject is receiving our new heavenly bodies. We KNOW that this takes place at the resurrection (1 cor 15). Even though one dies, they are still in THIS body, because it has not yet been changed into the incorruptible. This happens at the resurrection, which no one should deny that doesn’t happen upon death, but at an appointed time in the future. Simply stated, this passage deals head on AGAINST the ‘go to heaven’ scenario. It clearly shows that as long as we have this ‘tent’ (corruption, mortality) we are absent from the Lord, However, when we are changed in the twinkling of an eye, our mortality puts on immortality and death is swallowed up in victory (see vs. 4) then we are to be present with the Lord.

1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 offers a clear insight, no gray ‘fuzzy’ scriptures, just pure solid teaching. In vs 13 He says he does not want us to be ignorant concerning the condition of those who have died in the Lord,vs 14, IF we believe that Jesus is our first fruits, then we’ll have hope knowing that Christ will also raise those who have died. Then vs. 16 makes it super clear, The Lord will descend from heaven, and the dead in Christ will rise FIRST, then those who are alive at this moment will be ‘raptured’ with the dead and taken into heaven. This is when heaven is opened for believers. vs 17 shows that up to this point these that are caught up haven’t been with the Lord yet, because it says, – THEN we will always be with the Lord, Not before.

2 Corinthians 12:2-4 – This passage tells of a story about either Paul himself (trying to be humble) or actually another man, that is given some sort of vision of Heaven. Then Paul either repeats himself or gives another example of another man who has a vision of Paradise, and this time hears things not allowed to be retold. The belief is that these verses prove that Heaven is the same as Paradise, thus proving that believers now dwell in Paradise n Heaven. I see this differently, of course. Either way you look at it, it in NO WAY implies that believers go to Heaven, this isn’t even the subject. While very ambiguous in it’s clear meaning, my take is that this is referring to the Paradise in Heaven that is spoken of in Rev. 2:7. There is no scripture to show that this is the Paradise that Jesus went to even though your bible will have a cross reference to Luke 23:43 at this verse. We must be careful in letting our bibles study guides lead us into false teaching, which is very common with them. All of those study notes and commentaries are just like what you’re reading, an opinion by a man. God desires you to seek HIS TRUTH, not mine. It is clear that the Paradise Jesus went to was in the center of the earth, not in heaven. This Paradise in Heaven is more of an expression of the conditions in Heaven, rather than a certain PLACE in Heaven.

May Father Yahweh receive all the glory from this article and may you receive it in the spirit in which it was written…