5 Reasons to Believe Hell is a Reality

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The existence of hell has been a central doctrine of Christianity for centuries. It was discussed by the early church and became arguably the most central tenet of faith during the Middle Ages. Infants were baptized before they had even finished leaving the birth canal so that they would be safe from eternal damnation even if they died shortly after birth. John Calvin sent a massive portion of the Christian population into a panic as they tried to determine whether or not they had actually been saved. Jonathan Edwards preached the infamous sermon “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” which came to epitomize the form of preaching described as “fire and brimstone.” In modern Christianity, however, the doctrine of hell is rarely discussed. There are the occasional fiery sermons, but most pastors seem to avoid the topic. This has led many Christians to wonder whether or not hell is really biblical. Does hell really appear in the Bible, or is it one of those ideas that developed later and translators simply found ways to interpret the wording of the original manuscripts to support the doctrine? Regardless of whether preachers discuss it or not, hell does appear in the Bible. Here are five verses that give Christians a reason to believe hell is a reality.

Revelation 21:8

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Revelation is filled with descriptions of the calamities that will befall those who are still alive at the end of days. During that time, there will be numerous plagues and disasters that will ravage the Earth. Some will be familiar to people from every age. War, after all, has existed since humans figured out how to throw rocks at the neighboring tribe. Similarly, disease has been humanity’s constant, cruel shadow. Revelation, however, also describes the supernatural catastrophes that will come during the end times. After all these terrible things have occurred, “a new heaven and a new earth” will be created. When that happens, the righteous will dwell in the new Jerusalem, but according to Revelation, the wicked will face a cruel fate. “As for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”

Matthew 25:46

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The Gospel of Matthew describes hell several times during Jesus’ parables and preaching. One of the times eternal doom is mentioned is during Jesus’ famous description of the sheep and the goats. According to this story, the righteous and wicked will be separated like “a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.” As is famously described, the righteous will be those who clothed the naked, fed the hungry and helped the needy. The wicked are those who ignored the needs of others. Depending on a person’s choices, they will be viewed as either having helped Jesus Himself in a time of need or having turned Him aside. The righteous, will be rewarded, but “then He will say to [the wicked] on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels'…Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous go to eternal life.”

Matthew 13:49-50

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Many of the parables in the New Testament that describe hell have to do with the wicked being separated out from the righteous. In Matthew 25, the comparison is between sheep and goats. In Matthew 13, the parable involves fishermen and their net. After managing to snag a huge catch of fish in a lake, the fishermen sat down to sort through the fish and determine which were good to eat and which were not. According to the parable, the fishermen “collected the good fish in baskets, but threw the bad away.” Matthew 13:49-50 says that the same thing will happen at the end of the world only it will be people that are being sorted, not fish. On that day, “the angels will come and separate the wicked from the righteous and throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

2 Thessalonians 1:9

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Paul was an apocalyptic writer. Most people do not think of him as such, but it is abundantly clear from his writings that he believed “that the time is short…for this world in its present form is passing away.” As such, it is not surprising that Paul had things to say on the subject of heaven and hell. After all, he believed that the question was urgent, not something that would occur generations in the future. As such, he wanted to make sure that he brought as many people over to the side of righteousness as possible since, according to 2 Thessalonians 1, the wicked “will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His might on the day He comes to be glorified in His holy people and to be marveled at among all those who have believed.”

Mark 9:43, 47-48

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Matthew is not the only gospel that describes hell and how unfortunate souls will end up residing there. Mark 9 features one of Jesus’ most famous statements about avoiding hell. In it, He tells His followers “if your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life maimed than with two hands to go into hell, where the fire never goes out… And if your eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell, where ‘the worms that eat them do not die, and the fire is not quenched.’” In those days a bad hand or missing eye could make the difference between successfully growing food for the winter or starving to death. As such, the idea that it was preferable to be maimed and face a slow death by infection or starvation rather than be thrown into hell would have driven home the horrors of hell with staggering effectiveness.