Monday, December 22, 2014
Philosopher's Corner:- There Is No Hellfire
A Yoruba
clinche will lead us on the argument on this article "aye lorun wa"
meaning "heaven is on earth". Another one is "aye lesan wa"
meaning "rewards are on here on earth". Following these two clinches,
heaven and hell are not on a different supernatural world, and man will
experience both here on planet earth. Are these not establishing the facts that
there is no heaven or hell anywhere else as claimed by religious institutions?
Some Yorubas believed that everyone will get the rewards or punishments for all
their deeds here on earth before they die.
In many
mythological instances, a folklore and religious tradition, hell is a place of
eternal torment in an afterlife, often after resurrection. It is viewed by most
Abrahamic traditions as a place of punishment. Religions with a linear divine
history often depict hells as eternal destinations. Religions with a cyclic
history often depict a hell as an intermediary period between incarnations.
Typically, these traditions locate hell in another dimension or under the Earth's
surface and often include entrances to Hell from the land of the living. Other
afterlife destinations include Heaven, Purgatory, Paradise, and Limbo.
Other
traditions, which do not conceive of the afterlife as a place of punishment or
reward, merely describe hell as an abode of the dead, a neutral place located
under the surface of Earth. Modern understanding of hell often depict it in abstract
sense, as a state of loss rather than as fiery torture literally underground,
but this view of the concept of a hell can, in fact, be traced back into the
ancient and medieval periods as well. Hell is sometimes portrayed as populated
with demons that torment those dwelling there. Many are ruled by a death god
such as Nergal, Hades, Hel, Enma or the Devil.
Two verses
that many assume prove the wicked are to be eternally tortured in hellfire are
Matthew:25:41 and 25:46. But do they? Let's take a closer look.
First,
notice the setting to which they refer—when Jesus "comes in His
glory" (verses 31-32). We are told that He separates the sheep from the
goats. The sheep represent the righteous (verses 34-40). At His return He sets
the sheep at His right hand. The goats in this instance represent sinners. They
are appointed to assemble on Jesus' left hand. He then consigns the goats to
"the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels" (Matthew:
25:41).
The word
everlasting is translated from the Greek word aionios. The key to understanding
this verse is knowing what will occur everlastingly. Does it refer to a fire
that tortures without end, or does it have another meaning?
In Matthew 25:46,
Jesus spoke in a single sentence of everlasting ( aionios ) punishment and of
life eternal ( aionios ). Since the righteous will be given eternal, or
everlasting, life, many theologians believe the punishing of the wicked must
last as long as the life given to the righteous. But this cannot be reconciled
with the statement that those cast into the lake of fire perish— they are
killed. As explained elsewhere, they suffer death—the second death (Revelation:
2:11; 20:6, 14; 21:8).
A plain and
simple meaning of Matthew 25:46, that fits with the rest of the Bible is that
the wicked are cast into a fire that annihilates them—renders them forever
extinct. The resulting punishment of being cast into the aionios fire is a
one-time event. It is a permanent punishment, the results of which will remain
forever—that is, eternal death. It is not ongoing punishing that continues
forever without end. This is the only explanation that agrees with the rest of
the Scriptures.
Hell exists
at the present time and will continue to exist forever. It will never die
down, and its inhabitants will remain in it forever. No one will come out
of Hell except sinful believers who believed in the Oneness of God in this life
and believed in the specific prophet sent to them (before the coming of
Muhammad). The polytheists and unbelievers will reside in it
forever. This belief has been held from classical times and is based on
clear verses of the Quran and confirmed reports from the Prophet of
Islam. The Quran speaks of Hell in the past tense and states that it has
already been created:
“And fear
the Fire which is prepared for the disbelievers.” (Quran 3:131)
The Prophet
of Islam said:
“When any
of you dies, he is shown his position (in the Hereafter) morning and
evening. If he is one of the people of Paradise, he is shown the place of
the people of Paradise. If he is one of the people of Hell, he is shown
the place of people of Hell. He is told, ‘this is your position, until
God resurrects you on the Day of Resurrection.” (Saheeh Al-Bukhari, Saheeh
Muslim)
In another
report, the Prophet said:
“Surely,
the soul of a believer is a bird hanging on the trees of Paradise, until God
returns it to his body on the Day of Resurrection.” (Muwatta of Malik)
These texts
make it clear that Hell and Paradise exists, and that souls may enter them
before the Day of Resurrection.
Jehovah
witness contribution
Psalm
16:10. And how does that read in the King James? "For thou wilt not leave
my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see
corruption." And according to the King James Old Testament Hebrew Lexicon,
what is the Hebrew word translated hell? Sheol. And what is that? The abode of
the dead.
Now
according to the King James Version, in Acts chapter 2, where was Jesus? In
hell as we read in verse 27. What was his condition? Dead, according to verse
24. What is the condition of the dead? Ecclesiastes 9:5 says they are conscious
of nothing. Nothing. Where are the dead? In the grave according to verse 10.
What is the Hebrew word for grave here? Sheol according to the King James Old
Testament Hebrew Lexicon, as mentioned above. What is Sheol again? The abode of
the dead.
What is the
cure for death? Resurrection. Resurrection is for dead people, not live people.
So how did Jesus escape death? Resurrection according to Acts 2:31. It is
noteworthy that the Hebrew word Sheol and the Greek word Hades are used
interchangeably by Peter and mean the same thing – the place or abode of the
dead.
Now,
according to Revelation 20:13, what does hell gives up? Pick up your King James
Bible and read: "And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; AND DEATH
AND HELL DELIVERED UP THE DEAD which were in them . . ." Ah. Dead people
in hell. And what happens to hell according to verse 14? "And death and
hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death."
What is the
second death? The lake of fire. And is there consciousness in death according
to Ecclesiastes? No. And what, again, is thrown into the lake of fire? Hell.
Now if hell is a place of fire and torment, what would be the point,
reasonably, in throwing fire into fire?
Jehovah's
Witnesses believe in hell since the Bible teaches about it. Jehovah's Witnesses
simply reject the traditional belief that hell is a place of fire, brimstone,
torment, torture, agony and anguish. That matches the sadistic personality of
Satan, not the loving personality of God. Moreover, God himself plainly teaches
that the punishment for sin is death – it always has been. The ultimate
punishment is eternal death.
With the
above argument, is not clear that man should rejoice because there is nothing
like hell fire after death. Our God is too good to condemn His own hand work in
His own image to fire. Let's look it from the point of determinism, if it is
true that all what we are doing here on earth is predetermined by God, it means
after our existence here on earth, God should applaud man for playing the
script He wrote for man irrespective of what evil man does on earth. God
predetermined that a person will kill one million people in a day and does
other evils and rights other days, then man did accordingly. Do you not think
such a person deserve to be celebrated after returning to his heavenly father
for a job well done?
Man should
rejoice. Some of us are already in the heaven Jesus promised us. Jesus said: in
my father house in heaven, there are many mansions. This has been the gospel
since the time of our great parents. Just imagine God decided to wake someone
who died in a remote village in Nigeria that did not travel abroad during his
entire life time, in United State of America of our present time and tell him
that this is the heaven Jesus promised him, will he doubt it? The Quran also
said that the time will not come until all the tall houses must have been built
by man. Then which heaven are we waiting for?
Let me tell
you some truth. No new thing here on earth. As it is in the days of Noah, so it
is now. This life will not end one day for everyone to just die. Whoever dies,
his own end had come, he faced is own judgment once. This is according to our
religions believed. God will just raise our soul and take us to where on earth
we deserve as our heaven or hell. As per "aye lorun wa" meaning
"heaven is here on earth". Europe is the heaven Jesus promised us,
Africa is the hell the Quran promised us. Heaven and hell are in categories as
we were told. I think Nigeria is one of the darkest parts of hell. Yobe, Borno
and Adamawa state are the hottest part as promised. Is it not sounding like
truth?
Amodu Murisiku Ayoku(aka: ayo murisiku)
Email: ayomurisiku@yahoo.com
08057356316
Email: ayomurisiku@yahoo.com
08057356316
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