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S
hocking as it may seem,
you may go to "hell"!
Many of your loved
ones are right now in
" hell"!
Bu t don' t be alarmed!
You have probably never heard
the truth about what "hell" really
is-and where your ideas carne
from in the first place. So open
your mind to sorne truth you may
not have understood before. Don't
blindly accept anyone's ideas, but,
"prove all things; hold fast that
which is good"
(1
Thess.
5:2 1).
You may have been
taught about the idea of
a horrifying, nightmarish
place of never-ending
torture for lost sinners.
changed or modified their beliefs
on this subject over the years.
However, the common present–
day belief on hell is given in the
Encyclopedia Americana,
vol. 14,
page 81. Here are sorne excerpts
from its article titled " Hell": ' 'Hell
as generally understood is the
abode of evil spirits; the infernal
regions, where the devil ru .les
supreme, and where lost or con–
demned sou1s go after death to suf–
fer indescribable torments and
eterna! punishment either for
wickedness inherited from the sin
HELL
the author of Ecclesiastes declares
that 'al! [men and beasts) go unto
one place' (Eccl. 3:20) and 'there
is one event to the righteous and
[to the] wicked' (Eccl.
9:2)."
T he men who compiled this
encyclopedia found that the early
. religions- which they term the
"primitive" religions- had no idea
of "heaven" or "hell" as we know
them.
Note, too, their comment that
even so recent a writer as the
author of Ecclesiastes believed
that all living things went to one
place - the grave!
It
might interest these
Iearned gentlemen to
know that Goo ALMIGH–
TY
inspired the author of
Ecclesiastes! But per–
haps, they reason, God
Many religious people
use this conception of
"hell" as a means of
playing upon the emo–
tions of people who are
sincerely trying to find
God's will.
But where did they-
and where did you- Iearn
these ideas?
Man's Idea
vs.
didn
't
know what he was
talking about. He wasn' t
"educated" yet. Is that
the way you reason?
But let's continue with
another excerpt from
this encyclopedia article
on hell: "The popular
idea of hell as a place of
punishment- either re–
demptive or rigidly retri–
butive in character-did
not come suddenly and
full-formed into exis-
Bear in mind that any–
thing relating to the
future of man or anything
supernatural cannot pos–
sibly be known by mortal
TheBible
man unless God himself
by
Roderick C. Meredith
tence. I t is the product
of centuries of thinking
reveals the answers.
A standing witness
that the people of this
world are in utmost con-
fusion about spirítual
l s God an " angry Judge"?-a God
who tortures helpless
sinners ages without end?
on the great problem of
reward and punishment
which, instinctively al -
most, man associates
with human deeds. "
matters is the fact that
there are hundreds of
different sects and denominations
in this world- each one having its
own different ideas. Who has the
truth?
Jesus said, "Thy word is truth."
Jt
is time we quit swallowing the
ideas and theories of confused
humanity, and begin to study these
things for ourselves in God's
Word!
Man ' s Idea o f He ll
As in nearly everyth ing else of a
spiritual nature, mankind is con–
fused and divided as to the kind of
future puníshment the wicked will
receive. Even most churches have
September/ Oct o ber 1982
of Adam or for more or less seri–
ous infractions of t he divine
law."
Notice that t he devil is supposed
to rule supreme in hell. He is often
pictured with a tail, a pitchfork
and a fiendish smile-delighting
himself in inAicting these "inde–
scribable torments" on 1ost sin–
ners.
Continuing the article: ' 'Hell , in
the theological sense, has no place
in most primitive religions, nor has
heaven.... T here was no thought
of dividing the future state into
separate and distinct conditions of
existence. Even so late a writer as
So today's concept of
hell is admittedly a prod–
uct of man's instinctive thinking.
lt
did not come fully revealed
from God, but rather "is the prod–
uct of centuries of thinking"–
using human reason to decide
what only GOD can reveal !
God 's Purpose
The primary reason so many men
and organizations of men have a
false conception of hell is that
they view it just as an isolated
doctrine. They fail to look at the
overall pu rpose of God in putting
man on this earth, of offering him
the gift of eterna! life for obe–
dience, or of everlasting punish-
15