The church I like to visit, not my home church, mentioned on Easter that Hell was in the center of the earth. I started skimming online and see where that comes from, and I believe Hell is a literal place. It is weird for me to think the center of the earth is Hell though. No offense to any who believe this way. I just never heard of it before. Anyone believe this way? What are your main arguments for this/against this? I never heard of anything like that. If I did, I dismissed the idea without thinking about it.
If hell was at the center of the earth, I think God would have mentioned it when he created earth and chastised Adam and Eve for being disobedient. Also, if "hell" is a place of torment for the wicked, then its also a place of torment for the saintly since David believed this was his destination when he died.
(Psalms 16:10-11) "For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption. {11} Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore."
Of course I am aware that there are three different hell's referred to throughout the Bible, this one in particular being "sheol" which is nothing more than the abode of the dead, "wicked" or not. Now this is the first "hell", the second hell I'll address is this place called "tarturus", also known by other names like "chains of darkness", and "bottomless pit". It is this one that I find most interesting, and may very well be located on earth, in a sense, if the book of revelation has anything to say about it. There are currently angels imprisoned there right now, and is the same place that Satan will be locked in during the millennial kingdom.
(2 Peter 2:4-5) "For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment; {5} And spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly;"
The key word here is "chains", because "chains" will also be used to bind Satan to cast him into the pit, and it must be one hell of an awesome chain if it can bind a mighty angelic being. I also find it interesting that a seal is placed on Satan as well. This is always overlooked.
(Revelation 20:1-3) "And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. {2} And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, {3} And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season."
So it can be stated with some certainty that this is the "chains of darkness" Peter referred to. With the way the bottomless pit is depicted, it is possible that it is at least somewhere within the vicinity of earth since the angel that has the key to it has to fall from heaven "unto the earth" to open it to begin with. The smoke rising from this "pit" blackening the sky and sun is also another huge indication of it being on earth.
The Fifth Trumpet:
(Revelation 9:1-2) "And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth: and to him was given the key of the bottomless pit. {2} And he opened the bottomless pit; and there arose a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit."
The notion that there are angels bound in the earth has been postulated by many for a long time. They often use the book of Enoch as their source for this, but we really don't have to use it since revelation yet again states on no uncertain terms that there are indeed angels bound in the earth somehow.
The Sixth Trumpet:
(Revelation 9:13-16) "And the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God, {14} Saying to the sixth angel which had the trumpet, Loose the four angels which are bound in the great river Euphrates. {15} And the four angels were loosed, which were prepared for an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year, for to slay the third part of men. {16} And the number of the army of the horsemen were two hundred thousand thousand: and I heard the number of them."
To me this is smoking gun evidence that there are places on earth that are specifically designed to bind angels. This may come as a shock to some believers when it happens, although it shouldn't because the book is pretty clear on this, including extra Biblical sources. But this is only the second hell referred to in the Bible. We now come to the last hell often referred to as a place of torment, the place reserved for Satan and his angels for judgment where the fire is never quenched, or "Gehenna". I need not use any other scripture but the one about the Great White throne judgement. To me this shows that the lake of fire is not a place in the earth. It can't possibly be in the earth since heaven and earth passes away during the judgement, while the Lake of Fire is still alive and kicking.
(Revelation 20:10-11) "And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever. {11} And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them."..............
(Revelation 20:14-15) "And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. {15} And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire."
