Digital Logos Edition
Nobody can think seriously about hell and remain emotionally and psychologically unaffected. The idea that after a few years of life on earth an untold number of human beings, many of whom would be thought of as decent, law-abiding citizens, will spend eternity in indescribable agony and exposed to God’s relentless anger is overwhelming. Reaction to the paralyzing prospect of everlasting punishment varies from those who dismiss the whole idea because they reject the authority of Scripture to those who seek to soften its impact by reducing hell to manageable proportions. What does happen after death? What if the traditional pictures of hell as a place of endless punishment and suffering are true? What if millions of ordinary men and woman are on their way there? What if we are? And if so, is there any way in which we can avoid hell or evade it? These are vitally important questions and this book sets out to find answers to them.
“We have seen that fire is the most pervasive element in hell; what then is the single greatest factor that makes hell to be hell? The answer is the presence of God.” (Page 159)
“What is significant is that Jesus did not describe hell as ‘darkness’ but as ‘the darkness’, as if to emphasize that it will be infinitely worse than any physical, moral, mental or spiritual darkness ever experienced here on earth.” (Page 136)
“These scriptures all point us to the fearful conclusion that the fire of hell is the indescribable and unrestrained wrath of God unleashed against sinners in exactly the way their sinfulness deserves and God’s holiness demands.” (Page 162)
“Paul wrote about people who ‘did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God’ (Romans 1:28)—in other words, who deliberately pushed God out of their thinking—and went on to warn them, ‘You are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God’s wrath, when his righteous judgement will be revealed’ (Romans 2:5).” (Pages 149–150)
“As one seventeenth-century writer put it, ‘Not only will the unbeliever be in hell, but hell will be in him too.’2 If this is the case, it suggests that the ‘worm’ refers to the sinner’s conscience.” (Page 143)
2 ratings
Forrest Cole
11/9/2021
Peter O'Handley
10/5/2020