The following extract discusses whether we can take the Bible literally when it talks (or rather, Jesus talks) of a hell-fire like Gehenna, the everlasting burning rubbish tip outside Jerusalem. The argument here is – if we take this literally, why aren’t we plucking our eyes out when they look lustfully at a woman (which is another of Jesus’ sayings?). A geenral principle of biblical hermeneutics is that we need to interpret Scripture with Scripture and not take isolated texts to ‘prove’ a case. PB

source: http://bible-truths.com/23-minutes-in-hell.html

If there are Scriptures that clearly show that “hell fire” is not literal nor eternal, then how can there also be contradicting Scriptures which would suggest that “hell fire” is literal and is eternal? Hell fire cannot be both literal and eternal at one place in the Scriptures, but then it is also figurative and temporary at another place in the Scriptures. It is either one or the other, it cannot be both.

Let’s look at a few examples from no less an authority on this subject than Jesus Christ Himself (Note: All quotations of Jesus in this paper will appear in red type).

“You have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shall not commit adultery: But I say unto you, That whosoever looks on a woman to lust after her has committed adultery with her already in his heart. And if your right eye offend you, pluck it out, and cast it from you: for it is profitable for you that one of your members should perish, and not that your whole body should be cast into hell. And if your right hand offend thee, cut it off, and cast it from you: for it is profitable for you that one of your members should perish, and not that your whole body should be cast into hell” (Matt. 5:27-30).

Mark’s account adds these words:

“…into hell fire…where their worm dies not, and the fire is not quenched. For everyone shall be salted with fire…” (Mark 9:48-49).Let’s pay close attention to just one statement from Jesus that should help everyone to see that this is figurative language that teaches us a great spiritual truth. Jesus did not say what most Christians think He said.

Jesus did not say: “And if your eye offends you, repent of your lust or God will cast you into an hell of immortal worms and everlasting fire which will never stop burning.”

This word “offend” means: “to entice you to sin” (Strong’s Greek Dictionary).

Is it even “literally” possible for a physical organ of the body to be the cause of a moral or spiritual sin? No, it is not possible. Lusting after a woman does not have its origin in the eyes but rather in the heart.

“…whosoever looks [with the eyes] on a woman to lust [in his heart, not in his eyes] after her has committed adultery with her already in his heart.”

The lust of the eyes is itself a “figure of speech.” We “look” with our eyes, but we “lust” with our heart. And the “heart” in Scripture virtually never means the organ of the body which pumps blood. The “heart” in Scripture is the inner most man, the seat of emotions and passions, conscience, and moral character. No physical organ of the body has even one of these spiritual attributes. More proof:

“For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders” (Mark 7:21).

Did you notice that “looking on a woman to lust after her” is  equivalent to adultery, and it comes not from the eyes, but from the heart. So then, is this teaching in Matt. 5:27-30, literal, or figurative? It is figurative.

If this teaching on hell by Jesus Christ is to be taken literally, how come you don’t see millions and millions of Christians around the world having no eyes? But what about the “worms that don’t die,” and the “fire never quenched?” Simple: Jesus never used the words “hell fire.”

Two things we should never find in a Bible: [1] The old Anglo Saxon word “hell,” and [2] any word denoting “endless time,” as in “for ever AND ever,” “everlasting,” or “eternal.” There is no such equivalent in any Hebrew or Greek manuscripts of the Holy Scriptures.

Furthermore, if “for ever” means an eternity, what pray tell does “for ever and ever” mean? Multiple eternities? How many eternities are there?

The first place that “hell fire” appears in the Greek New Testament is in Matt. 5:22. Virtually all Bibles with a centre reference will refer you to the marginal note on “hell” where it says, “Greek: Gehenna.” And Gehenna is Greek for the Hebrew word “Hinnom” or “Valley of Hinnom,” which is found outside the city walls of Jerusalem on the south side. In the time of Christ’s ministry this valley was the Jerusalem city garbage dump, and for centuries, as long as garbage was thrown into it, the fires kept burning and the worms which ate the garbage didn’t die out – they kept reproducing, year after year after year.

The only way  that hell, hell fire, immortal worms, never-ending fire, eternal torture can be literal is if we take everything literally that Jesus said regarding hell (Gehenna fire). Jesus did not say: “If your right literal eye literally offends you, figuratively pluck your literal eye out…”

METAPHORS, PARABLES, AND FIGURES OF SPEECH

Fire is figurative language for judgment – cleansing and purifying. Heb. 12:29 says that

“GOD is a consuming fire.”

Is God literally composed of physical fire? No, God is “spirit” (John 4:24), and God is “invisible” (Col. 1:15). How can something that is visible and physical as fire be spirit?

This is a metaphor, where one thing is said to be something else. such as:

“the lake of fire IS the second death”

“this bread is My body”

“the word of God is sharper than a sword”

“the good seed are the children of the kingdom”

“you are the salt of the earth”

None of these are literal. They are only “like” the things they are said to be, and even then, they are like these things, but only in certain ways.

And so God is “like a consuming fire” in certain ways. Many times Scriptures will use the word “like” rather than “is.” Here’s a perfect example in Malachi 3:2-3, where fire is also used, figuratively:

“But who may abide the day of His coming? and who shall stand when He appears? for He is LIKE a refiner’s fire, and LIKE fullers’ soap.”

Some Christians think God tortures people with real fire for all eternity, but for what purpose does God really use His figurative fire? Answer:

And just as with the parable of the eyes, hands, and feet, we cannot deduce that cutting off our hands and feet, and plucking out our eyes is figurative, and yet be doing this figurative act to avoid a literal Gehenna fire of judgment. Now then, let’s notice Malachi 3:2 again. It is total foolishness to believe or teach that the “refiner’s fire” in this Scripture is literal fire seeing that we have not one, but two purifying agents in this Scripture: a “refiner’s fire” and “fullers’ soap.” Both are used for the same one purpose – to  purify.

The primary way that Jesus taught during His ministry was through “parables.” A parable is what in Anglo Saxon England was called a “near-story,” or an “example,” as the German Bei-spiel. In the Greek New Testament parable means: “a similitude, symbolically, a fictitious narrative” (Strong’s Greek Dictionary). A parable is “fictitious,” and is therefore never literally true. It teaches a truth, but the story itself is NOT “literally” true. Not one of Jesus’ parables was or is “literally” true.

We have innumerable parables, metaphors, colloquialisms, and figures of speech: “Don’t cry over spilled milk,” “it’s raining cats and dogs,” “a stitch in time saves nine,” “the devil made me do it,” etc., etc. None of these figures of speech or Christ’s parables are literal.

The parable of the two builders (one on rock and the other on sand) has absolutely nothing to do with constructional procedures in building houses.

The parable of the new cloth on an old garment has nothing to do with clothing.

The parable of new wine in old bottles is not talking about alcoholic beverages..

The parable of the lost sheep has nothing to do with sheep herding.

None of these stories (parables) are literal, historical accounts. They are “fictitious narratives” which teach a moral or spiritual principle. And one of the greatest proofs of this is the fact that no one understood them! Not the multitudes, not the Scribes, Priests, or Pharisees, nor even Christ’s Own disciples.

I will quote from a portion of a study by the late Pope John Paul II. Although his understanding is far from complete, he did at least concede that much of Christ’s teachings and the book of Revelation contain countless parabolic, metaphorical, examples in figurative language. Hence he didn’t believe that heaven and hell are literal places – geographical places. The Scriptures do not, however, back up most of his other statements on these subjects.

Pope John Paul II (HEAVEN)

“In three controversial Wednesday Audiences [28 July 1999], Pope John Paul II pointed out that the essential characteristic of heaven, hell or purgatory is that they are states of being of a spirit (angel/demon) or human soul, rather than places, as commonly perceived and represented in human language. This language of place is, according to the Pope, inadequate to describe the realities involved… Metaphorically speaking, heaven is understood as the dwelling-place of God, who is thus distinguished from human beings (cf. Ps 104:2f.; 115:16; Is 66:1). He sees and judges from the heights of heaven (Ps113:4-9)…However the biblical metaphor makes it clear that God does not identify himself with heaven, nor can he be contained in it (1 Kings 8:27).

(HELL) At the General Audience the Holy Father reflected on hell as the definitive rejection of God. In his catechesis, the Pope said that care should be taken to interpret correctly the images of hell in Sacred Scripture, and explained that “hell is the ultimate consequence of sin itself… Rather than a place, hell indicates the state of those who freely and definitively separate themselves from God, the source of all life and joy.”