To Hell And Back
The False Doctrine Of Eternal Punishment
Do all Christians believe in the doctrine of an eternity in hell for unbelievers? No. Do I believe it? No. But I once did, and worried about it often. After all, it is terrifying to think of anyone, even the worst of us, being burned alive without ever dying.
I do believe there is a lake of fire which is, as the Bible clearly states, the “second death”, but the purpose of the fiery lake is destruction, not the endless burning of souls.
I once believed in the doctrine and could substantiate my view by what I thought the Bible was telling me. I now know that what I believed was doctrinal error on my part. Blaming the church, no matter the denomination or sect, for my faulty belief system gets me nowhere spiritually. It is my responsibility to study the Bible, research the works of great theological minds, apply critical analysis, common sense, and what little I know of Greek and Hebrew, and weed out false doctrine to the best of my ability. “Seek and ye shall find”, sayeth the Master.
One day not so long ago I stumbled upon the website, Christianquestions.com and started listening to its podcasts. In episodes 1021, 1024 and 1027, they give Biblical and historical proofs that the doctrine of eternal damnation in hell is false and something God would never condone. The podcasts are easy to follow, and the conclusions rely heavily on the outstanding work of Thomas B. Thayer, “The Origin and History of the Doctrine of Endless Punishment”. My next step was to read this book for myself.
Published in 1881, it begins with a beautiful example of the author’s mastery of the English language:
“This little work is written for the purpose of furnishing a sketch of the argument by which it is shown that the doctrine of Endless Punishment is not of divine origin, but traceable directly to a heathen source.”
Akin to a skilled prosecuting attorney, Thayer lays the foundation on which his case is to be built and unveils the strength of evidence we can expect; all this accomplished in 38 words. He goes on to reveal that by the late nineteenth century, inquiries were being made within all sects of the Christian church as to the source, origin and history of the doctrine of endless and fiery torture awaiting non-believers.
Proponents of the dogma of eternal punishment are taken to task early on. In the opening chapter, Thayer takes us back to the Book of Genesis and God’s first warning to Adam and Eve to illustrate the nature of divine justice we would expect from a loving Creator and Judge.
Our first ancestors are told that if they eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, they “shalt surely die”. (Literal translation from the original Hebrew is closer to, “dying you shall die”, meaning they would not die immediately, but the curse of certain death would be upon them.) The warning is given with no mention of endless torment in hell.
The gist of Thayer’s argument is that God would not hide the greater punishment of eternal agony, roasting in hellfire with no chance of escape, while making plain the lesser penalty of death. That would be neither fair nor just, and far from God’s character as the Revealer of Truth. Furthermore, it would make no sense.
The next few chapters give a loose chronological view of the Old Testament drawing the reader’s attention to facts proving the non-existence of any mention of eternal suffering as a Divine penalty, but a recurring practice by God to warn the Israelites that their earthly actions would bring earthly consequences. Endless punishment is nowhere mentioned in the Bible’s historical account of the Jews. Thayer then provides a glimpse into the origin of the doctrine.
He tells of God’s chosen lawgiver, Moses, growing up in Egypt and being well acquainted with the culture’s practice of idolatry (worship of false gods), the sacrifices the gods demanded and the posthumous and everlasting punishments these entities promised as penalty for disobedience. This was not of God.
The Hebrew children spent four-hundred years under Egyptian rule before the law was given and were also aware of, and evidently took part in, idolatrous customs. God’s task of getting His chosen people out of Egypt was far easier for Him than getting Egypt out of His chosen people. He referred to them as stubborn and stiff-necked (much like some modern-day Christians). Idolatry had become deeply ingrained, but penalty for this sin by way of eternal torture never entered the mind of God.
Thayer then goes on to explain how New Testament scripture has been misinterpreted to foster the case for this false doctrine, but I will leave it to the reader to listen to the episodes at the Christian Questions website to get a full understanding of where church teaching has erred on this topic. (Links to Thayer’s book online and Christian Questions website are given at the end of this article.)
The enemy of our souls is the “father of lies”. He falsely portrays God as an unjust and tyrannical schoolmaster wishing to unleash eternal fury upon those who disobey His commands; promising endless agony in hell for non-compliance. The devil’s minions have done a great job in twisting scripture and the minds of believers to this end. But my God is Love, and as a loving Father, He disciplines His children, here and now, in this life. He is slow to anger and has, in Christ, forgiven our sins.
“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” John 3:16
The Bible is quite clear that the “second death” is for those opposed to God’s Christ, not everlasting hellfire.
Surely, as Thomas B. Thayer states, “the doctrine of Endless Punishment is not of divine origin”.
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Daniel (Murphy) Kennedy
Find: The Origin and History of the Doctrine of Endless Punishment, by Thomas B. Thayer at:
https://archive.org/details/originhistoryofd00thay_0/page/11/mode/1up?view=theater
And Listen to Podcast Episodes 1021, 1024 and 1027 at:
www.christianquestions.com