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| Hell is a real place for the condemned. |
First, one must assume that the person asking this question would know the difference between right and wrong and secondly, this person believes there are consequences for doing evil.
If we look up the term "hell" in a Thesaurus, we find that hell is defined as "place of the condemned; bad situation". We also find the following synonyms: "Hades, abyss, affliction, agony, anguish, blazes, bottomless pit, everlasting fire, hell-fire, misery, pit, place of torment, purgatory, suffering, torment", among others. The only antonym I can find is "heaven". I think we would all agree that most of these terms refer to real places.
The dictionary defines "hell" as:
"the place or state of punishment of the wicked after death; the abode of evil and condemned spirits."Again, if we used the dictionary to decide whether or not hell is a real place, we would have to conclude that it is real.
Most of us have used the word "hell" in describing any place or state of torment or misery and some utter the word in swearing or for emphasis, metaphorically speaking.
A metaphor is a figure of speech in which a word or phrase that ordinarily designates one thing is used to designate another, thus making an implicit comparison.
We must now turn to the Bible for some help in answering this complex question, after all, if there were no Bibles, we would have probably never heard the word "hell" and we certainly would not be involved in this debate.
Let's take a look at the book of Jonah, Chapter 2 (v. 2)(KJV) -
"And said, I cried by reason of mine affliction unto the LORD, and he heard me; out of the belly of hell cried I, and thou heardest my voice."It is important to understand here that Jonah had been disobedient to God, but Jonah even in a very difficult situation, still believed in prayer and God's readiness to hear and answer prayer. To Jonah, being at the bottom of the sea in the belly of a large fish was his "hell". Obviously, the term "hell" in this situation was used metaphorically.
In the book of Psalm, Chapter 9 (v. 17)(KJV), we find this verse of scripture;
"The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God."In this psalm, David praises God for pleading his cause and for bringing his enemies to ruin. There are nations that totally forget God and have no desire for the knowledge of His ways. Hell, in this situation, is a very real place that will be a place of everlasing torment and misery for the enemies of God.
In the book of James, Chapter 3 (v. 6)(KJV), we find:
"And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell."We are taught here that an unruly tongue is one of the greatest sins against God. The sins of the tongue are compared to a little fire placed near combustible materials which soon consumes everything. Since Satan promotes these type sins, the phrase "set on fire of hell" is used as a metaphor for Satan's influence.
Finally, the psalmist David writes:
"Let death seize upon them, and let them go down quick into hell: for wickedness is in their dwellings, and among them." (Psalm 55:15(KJV))David was in great distress when he wrote this psalm and this prayer is a prophecy of the
everlasting misery and anguish of all who oppose and rebel against God.
Even those who do not believe in the existence of God, certainly have "faith" in something and surely must believe there are rewards for those who live an honorable life and consequences for those who do not.
In conclusion, we must understand that faith is believing in that which we cannot see, so whether one considers Hell a real physical place or uses Hell as simply a reason to live a good life, what difference does it really make?
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