Hell Question

Hey, if you're here to say "that's OT, that doesn't mean anything" then frankly I have no interest in talking to you to be honest. I'm very sick and tired of that excuse. If it steps on toes, so be it, but the Bible is the Old and the New.I'd be happy to quote NT Scripture if you'd like.Number two, I don't particularly care to see you mischaracterize what I say and try to lump it in the Pharisees and Saducees because it's an apples to oranges kind of thing. Let's really talk Scripture and not make up silly little assertions that what I'm documenting Biblically is not what some cult or sect would have said.I'm sure you are aware of this verse, but just in case:II Corinthians 11:13-14
For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.
I don't flock to every "vision" - believe you me as owner of this site I've seen my share of people to claiming to see this and that. I certainly believe some of them, but when they don't quite match up with Scripture, or I heard a second-hand interpretation, I am wary.Frankly, you're quoting a verse that is taken from one in the Old Testament earlier about the unquenchable fire! But hey, as you said, we can believe as we want, right? Isaiah 66:24
And they shall go forth, and look upon the carcases of the men that have transgressed against me: for their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched; and they shall be an abhorring unto all flesh.
Looks a bit familiar, no? Do you even know what a worm is in this verse? It's a direct reference to a maggot, which does not feed on the living, it feeds on the dead.Revelation 20:14
And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.
Death.

Just as our bodies as we have them right now return to dust when we die. CS Lewis in decsribing this transition suggests what "remains" in Hell no longer resembles anything human, yet still exists and is self-aware. So in that sense too, what was before is no longer, it has died. Yet something else remains.
CS Lewis was a very wise man, he did an excellent job at recognizing what demons are and how they work. The Screwtape Letters is an excellent work indeed, but CS Lewis is not God. The authority stops at the Word, if you've read the Word and you feel that it says something that another doesn't agree with, that's fine, but I am not going to base my beliefs in something I cannot find in Scripture for myself. A comment like this, even though it is perhaps not the intention of CS Lewis, suggests Zombie-like monsters walking around in hell, and this tends to go back to the popular interpretation of hell as being run by a red man and a pitchfork.
Am still stuck on why we need to believe that the damned must be annihilated. What is the problem with believing they are not?
Well the short answer is I don't particularly care too much about others disagreeing or not with me. However, I care very dearly for the truth and I wish that everyone could see it and understand it. Obviously, this is not a salvational issue, but it is one that I think Christianity has suffered from to a large degree.

I think the bringing up on the "problems" associated with translations of the OT is a red herring when one fails to mention the very same limitations that apply to the New Testament Greek. Again, I'm not interested in hearing that the New is somehow better than the Old.The phrase in Revelation 20:10, eis tous aionas ton aionon, roughly translates to the age of ages. Admittedly, this is the single verse where I can understand the belief for the everlasting punishment idea. However, when you understand how the three Earth Ages work, this phrase makes sense. Herein lies a problem with the translation. This is why a note was written in the original King James by the translators. As someone has said, the presence of a single verse shouldn't make null and void others. What the ages are has to be understood.Right after that, we have this casting as the second death, not torture.As for Revelation 13, it's a very clear Hebraism in the Greek.Isaiah 34:10
It shall not be quenched night nor day; the smoke thereof shall go up for ever: from generation to generation it shall lie waste; none shall pass through it for ever and ever.
Read the verse about the destruction there, in fact, read the entire chapter. What people where there in the first part of the chapter are gone, nothing is left by the end. There are no people wriggling around in agony once again.We could argue all day about who is inspired and one can claim that just as easily as the next. The problem is, when an arguments breaks down into an I'm divinely inspired and you're not, well, its not worth much is it? The answer always lies in the Word and you'll be lead to it one way or another. Knowing Greek, Hebrew, Aramaic, or Chaldee is just one way of many, I agree.
Hebrews 12 saying that God is a consuming fire doesn't cancel out the fact that scripture says that there will be torment day and night forever and ever in the Lake of fire:
And I shall kindly point out that I never said it did contradict. In fact, I think I explain quite clearly that it tells us a lot about hell.Matthew 25 asserts my point, the punishment lasts forever. As I have outlined, the fire is in fact Our Father, His fire is unquenchable and does last forever. The fire that this verse (41) speaks about was explained by Ezekiel 38.No offense guys, but I see one of you has already run to the end of the discussion here. I can quote verses all day long that show what the second death is. Here's a couple for you NT'ers:II Thessalonians 1:8-9
In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power;
John 3:16
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.