Most people who are not Christians seem to think the worst that can happen to them when they die is that they will just remain in their grave (i.e., they believe they will just cease to exist).  They don’t expect to spend eternity in a place that the Bible calls “hell.”  Even Christians differ in their opinions as to what happens to people who die without having trusted in Jesus Christ as their Savior. 

In attempting to reconcile this matter, let’s first define the term “hell.”  There are three words in the Bible that are translated as “hell” in the English translations.  These three words are sheol, which is used in the Old Testament, and hades and gehenna, which are used in the New Testament. 

According to Unger’s Bible Dictionary, the Hebrew word sheol refers to “’the place of the dead;’ and by this is meant, not the grave, but the place of those who have departed from this life.”  [However, various other sources state that sheol may also refer to the grave.]  Unger’s adds that, “The term is thus used with reference to both the righteous and the wicked.” 

Unger’s says that the Greek word hades, “like the Old Testament ‘sheol’ is comprehensive, and has a quite similar significance.  It refers to the underworld, or region of the departed, the intermediate state between death and the resurrection.”  Other sources seem to concur with this explanation.

Neither of these terms for hell is the one that we will be addressing subsequently in this article.  The term we will be addressing is gehenna, a Greek word, which Unger’s says denotes “the eternal state of the lost after resurrection.” 

Let’s consider some scripture passages that describe gehenna.  [Note:  When we quote Scripture in this article, we use the wording in the New King James Version of the Bible, except when we quote a non-biblical source that is using Scripture from a different version of the Bible.]   

Matthew 25:31-46 tells what will occur after the second coming of Jesus Christ to Earth, when He will judge every person.  The people who have genuinely trusted in Him as their Savior (as reflected by the love that they have shown for other people) will “inherit the kingdom prepared for you” (verse 34), but those who have not sincerely trusted in Him as their Savior (as reflected by the lack of love they have shown for other people) will be sent away to “the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels” (verse 41), which is eternal hell. 

And Revelation 20:15, in providing an account of what will happen at the final judgment of every person who has ever lived, declares, “[A]nyone not found written in the Book of Life [i.e., those who have not actually trusted in Jesus Christ as their Lord] was cast into the lake of fire,” which is where the devil “will be tormented day and night forever and ever” (verse 10).

However, Revelation 20:14 strongly indicates that the fire in eternal hell is merely symbolic.  The passage says that Death and Hades are thrown into the fire.  Obviously, Death and Hades cannot literally be burned. 

Furthermore, physical punishment or torment in the afterlife (i.e., after the death of our earthly body) is improbable, since the Bible gives no indication that people who are sent to hell will have a physical body.  Strong’s Concordance of the Bible suggests that the punishment may actually be distress or the loss of well-being, rather than extinction.  J. P. Moreland, Ph.D., on page 174 of Lee Strobel’s book entitled The Case for Faith, says, “[T]he pain that’s suffered will be due to the sorrow from the final, ultimate, unending banishment from God. . . .”  And a number of other Christian scholars likewise believe that the worst part of the suffering that comes from being in eternal hell will be attributable to separation from God. 

Several scripture passages in the book of Revelation (2:11; 20:6, 14; and 21:8) mention “the second death.”  According to Strong’s Concordance, the Greek word that is translated as “the second death” has the basic meaning of separation.  Thus, everyone who is sent to eternal hell will experience the second death.

While the preceding scripture passages indicate not only that gehenna is eternal, but also that it is also a place (or state) of punishment or torment, other biblical passages seem to indicate that it is a place (or state) of destruction.  Philippians 3:19 uses the term “destruction” and 2 Thessalonians 1:9 uses the phrase “everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord.”  The word “destruction” infers the punishment will result in annihilation (i.e., the termination of a person’s existence), whereas the word “everlasting” indicates the punishment will never cease.  

On page 493 of their book entitled When Critics Ask, Norman Geisler, Ph.D., and Thomas Howe, M.A., assert with regard to 2 Thessalonians 1:9,

“Destruction” does not mean annihilation here, otherwise it would not be “everlasting” destruction.  Annihilation only takes an instant, and it is over.  If someone undergoes everlasting destruction, then they have to have everlasting existence.

Furthermore, “death” does not mean annihilation, but separation.  Adam and Eve died spiritually the moment they sinned, yet they still existed. . . . Likewise, before one is saved, he is “dead in trespasses and sins” (Eph. 2:1). . . .

In addition, Strong’s Expanded Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible notes that the Greek word klimmah that some Bibles translate as “destruction” generally means shame, although sometimes it suggests confusion, dishonor, or reproach.  In other words, it is the shame (or confusion, dishonor, or reproach) that is everlasting.

In light of the preceding considerations, we can conclude that eternal hell will be a place (or a state) of punishment, rather than a place (or a state) of destruction, and that the punishment will be permanent separation from God, rather than physical torment by actual fire.