"destruction" and "perish" must both be changed to figurative both to mean the same, "an eternal life of torment." One word must be made figurative even when nothing is figurative in the context that the word is in.
Death, when made figuratively, is eternal life in Hell separated from God but definitely not dead.
Destruction, when made figuratively, is only a loss of well being.
Destroy and perish, when made figuratively, means to preserve forever. Did God intend to say imperishable when He said perish?
Sleep, when made figuratively, is to be awake in Heaven or Hell but definitely not asleep, that would make their "immaterial, invisible part of men" be asleep in Hell; therefore, they have labeled this "soul sleeping." It is true that the Bible says nothing about "soul sleeping" of an "immaterial, invisible part of men," but it repeatedly says a person, not an immaterial something in a person, sleeps unto he
or she wakes at the resurrection.
(6) PERISH like destruction and destroy, perish must be changed to mean, "can never perish or be destroyed but to live forever in an unhappy and miserable condition in Hell." Forever perishing but imperishable!
(7) FIRE destroys useless things like chaff, we know what fire is and what it does, fire consumes, devours and destroys. For today‘s theology to be true fire must be changed into figurative language of something that is nothing like fire, something that is altogether different from fire, something that cannot consume. With this kind of "fire"
you would only have to put wood in your fireplace one time and it would heat your house forever. It took some thought to come up with a fire that does not do what fire does, a fire that burns but never burns, which consumes but never consumes. Fire destroys, consumes; in figurative language there is always a parallel; if it were figurative language, just as real fire consumes the chaff the wicked will be consumed, devoured, destroyed by the wrath of God (Hebrews 10:27).
Fire will burn up the useless chaff of wheat [Matthew 3:12, Luke 3:17]
Fire will burn up the weeds, tares and bad fish [Matthew 13:30-50]
Fire will burn up the withered branches [John 15:6]
Chaff, tares, weeds, stubble, dry branches are highly combustible materials, but the
―figurative fire‖ of today‘s theology is nothing like fire and the ―figurative fire‖ burn up nothing.
(8) SPIRITUAL DEATH is not found in the Bible but has been added and is used repeatedly in today's preaching. To escape from death being death the word ―spiritual‖ is added to death despite the fact that ―spiritual death‖ is not in the Bible. The wages of sin is not spiritual death, which would be a death that cannot really be death to a spirit if that 134
spirit can never be dead. The wages of sin is death to the person whom sins are not washed away by the blood of Christ. If adding to God‘s word is a sin, why would adding, and preaching ―spiritual death‖ that is not in the Bible not be a sin? Many who say they
―speak when the Bible speaks and are silent where the Bible is silent‖ add ―spiritual‖ to Romans 6:23, ―The wages of sin is (spiritual) death.‖
(9) SLEEP does not mean sleep but awake. If the dead are being tormented in Hell, how could they in any way be sleeping? All the dead are sleeping unto the resurrection.
The metaphor of the dead being asleep that is used repeatedly is made void and foolishness by the doctrine of an immortal soul being awake in Heaven or Hell. The Bible does not use words in such a self-contradictory manner. Death is referred as sleep about 67 times in the Bible, about 47 in the Old Testament and about 20 in the New Testament with both the righteous dead and the unrighteous dead being asleep.
"The body of our humiliation, that it may be conformed to the body
of His glory (Phil. 3:20, 21). We do not expect this at the moment of each one's death, for at death we sleep in Jesus and rest, but when He
comes from heaven." Bill Reeves, Truth Magazine, February 15, 1973.
―May they rest in peace‖ that is often on graves would make no sense if the person in the grave was not in asleep in the grave but were awake and enjoying Heaven or suffering in Hell.
(10) KILL "And I will kill her children with pestilence" (Revelation 2:23). Kill is used interchangeably with die and destroyed. "To be killed," "to die," "to be destroyed."
Summary: Like death, these words must be changed into figurative language even
when they are in plain passages. All these words must be given a theological meaning that is not found in the words, but they never tell us how they know what this theological meaning is. But, one thing is clear, if they did not change them into figurative language, their theology would be destroyed. Death, destruction, destroy, and perish are simple words and there is no hint of them being figurative language when they are used in plain passages, therefore, they must be taken in their simple literal meaning. They cannot be changed to be figurative and given a meaning not found in the words to save a theologically that is not in the bible. They can and therefore should be taken literally. The only reason these words are made to be figuratively language is that if these words are taken with their literal meaning they make the doctrine of an immortal soul and eternal life in Hell not passable.
When figurative language (Lake of Fire) is made literal, then the literal language must be changed to agree with the figurative language that has been changed into literal language. If not, the Bible would say in one place that destruction is not destruction, and in many others that destruction is destruction; and say that there is no death .
When figurative language is changed to literal language
Literal language must be changed to figurative language in order for them not to conflict with each other
To say an immortal soul can die, be destroyed or perish is a contradiction of words or terms. The present definitions of words must be destroyed, and new definitions given. The new definitions end up being the opposite of the old definition, death is no longer death; death is life, eternal life in Hell. When we say anything, a plaint, animal, or 135
person is dead, we do not mean that plaint, animal, or person is alive and being tormented. Death must be made to mean one thing when it is a plaint or animal that is dead, and another when it is a person that is dead. Where is the revelation by which this is known; where is the book, chapter and verse for it? Is there any word God could have used that they would not say it does not mean what it says? No, there is not a one that would not be changed if it would conflict with their theology.
"My mind fails to conceive a grosser misinterpretation of language then when the five or six strongest words which the Greek tongue possesses, signifying 'destroy,' or 'destruction,' are explained to mean maintaining an everlasting but wretched existence. To translate black as white is nothing to this" R. F. Weymouth, Life In Christ, page 365. R. F. Weymouth is the translator of "The New Testament in Modern Speech."
Dr. C. Campbell, who believed in eternal torment said, "If the words and phrases employed by the apostles and evangelist, in delivering the revelation committed to them by the Holy Spirit, had not been agreeable to the received usage of the people to whom they spoke, their discourse being unintelligible, could have conveyed no information, and consequently would have been no revelation to the hearers" Preliminary Dissertation, Part 1, Sect. 1, 1854.
"There must exist some argument of almost overpowering influence which has thus determined the interpretation of masses of language to a sense exactly contrary to its natural meaning. For the process by which such terms as death, perishing, destruction are made to stand for the idea of endless misery, is one so remarkable as to arrest attention and demand instant inquiry. A corresponding action on the word 'life' so often used in the Bible to denote the eternal reward of the saints would result in making it stand for the strange idea of a happy extinction, or a blessed abolition of existence--an euthanasia. The radical idea of destruction, that is extinction of being, if first taken out of the term Death; then the word is made to stand for its opposite, eternal being; and then the associated idea of misery is grafted upon the stock of the converted primary; the result being, that destruction stand for endless misery. An exactly parallel treatment of the promise of Life, therefore, will result, first, in taking out of it its radical idea or conscious existence--
next, in making it stand for its opposite, extinction--and lastly, in joining the idea of happiness with the converted primary, -so that you obtain the complex result of a happy extinction. It would require some argument of overmastering force to persuade nine-tenths of the scholars of Christendom to perform this operation upon the promise of life to the righteous" Edward White, "Life in Christ," page 357.
The Bible must be made to use opposite word than what it means. The theological use of these words today is the same as saying white is black, sweet is bitter, night is day.
White must be changed to mean black
Sleep must be changed to mean awake
Death must be changed to mean life
To die must be changed to mean to live forever in torment
Destruction must be changed to mean eternal torment
To perish, be destroyed, must be changed to mean to be preserved incorruptible and imperishable in Hell. Perish and destroy do not mean a loss of well being and never has
Fire must be changed into something that preserves, not something that devours or consumes With definitions such as are given by today's theology, anything, whatever anyone wants can be proved; and whatever anyone does not want can be disproved.
To put eternal torment by God in an eternal Hell in the Bible the exactly opposite of what the scripture clearly say must be read into the Bible.
Those who believe in Hell give God the power to "destroy both body and soul in Gehenna," but only after they put their own meaning on both destroy and Gehenna, and they say the meaning of both is an eternal life of misery and suffering in Hell.
There is no way anyone could know that death is not death but eternal life in torment.
How could the wages of sin be death when the sinner will have an eternal life in Hell?
Without a revelation from God, no one could know that God meant only a loss of well being when He used these words.
If Hell exists then death cannot be death, if death is death there cannot be a Hell.
THE MISSING WORDS
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Words that are not in the Bible but are preached today as if they were on every page (1) Immortal soul (2) Hell (3) An eternal life of torment. The Bible is made to say what the readers want it to say and their faith (what they believe) is only a projection of their own desires.
John Locke wrote, "By death some understand endless torments in hell fire; but it seems a strange way of understanding a law, which requires the plainest and directs of word, that by death should be meant eternal life in misery."
Dean Alford, "A canon of interpretation, which should be constantly born in mind, is that a figurative sense of words is never admissible except when required by the context" Commentary on Acts 10:42. "Death" used in a figurative sense to be "eternal life separated from God" is never required by the context but that "death" means "eternal life" is a must for today's theology. Today's teaching is that the Bible almost never means what it says and must be interpreted, and one of the ways it must be interpreted is to explain the meaning of death to be life.
H. L. Hastings, "Eight times he (Paul) speaks of the wicked as destined to perish. Death is used to express their destiny seven times. Nine times they are spoken of as be destroyed, once as devoured by fire, and once as burned.
Not one of these words has, in the original or the translation, the meaning of eternal torment. Not one of them means any such thing in common conversation, and it is only by a 'theological' or false definition, alike repugnant to the laws of language and common sense, that such an idea can be conveyed by such language. Paul does not tell us that he used these words in a peculiar or theological sense. No Greek would have supposed so, had they heard him; and we are led to conclude that as Paul would not use words calculated to mislead, therefore, we should take these words in their most obvious and current signification. Paul did teach the utter destruction or perishing, or death, or extermination of ungodly men. He would not have taught it unless it was true; therefore, it is the truth" The Last Judgment, Page 22.
Summary: If immorality is unconditional and the only part of a person that will live forever in Heaven or any other place cannot die, then many words cannot "be translated, interpreted, and understood according to the same code of laws and principles of interpretation by which other ancient writings are translated and understood." Many words, life, death, die, dead, destroy, perish, destruction, consumed, kill, end, burned up, and sleep, must be redefined in a way that the world does not use them. We must have "a class of inspired men to unfold and reveal its true sense to mankind." The belief that men are born immortal and can never die makes death impossible and death must be redefined as a different kind of life in a different place. This is just what they have done by saying death does not mean to be dead, but death means to be alive and living an eternal life with torment separated from God. Anyone who reads the Bible believing that a soul is an
"immaterial, invisible part of a person" (W. E. Vine) that is immortal and can never die, is compelled to change all texts that speak of the lost being destroyed to mean that they are only tortured forever but are not destroyed. "Destroy" cannot be understood " in the fair, stipulated, and well-established meaning of the terms." Parables, symbols, and figurative languages are made to be superior over plain statements. What is clear language is made to agree with what they think is said in the symbolic language. In truth, they are saying the clear language just is not the truth, and God did not know what He was saying. If God had used words in a way that those hearing Him would not understand them in the way He used them, and those reading them today would also not understand them in the way He used the words then He deliberately misleads them.
God said it the way He meant it.
1. Life is life, not just a reward to an immaterial invisible part of a person that now has eternal life and can never be dead.
2. Death is death and it is the opposite of life, not a different form of life. Not eternal life with torment.
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3. Destruction is destruction. Destruction does not mean there is a part of a person that can never be destroyed. Destruction does not mean kept alive in eternal torment.
4. End is end, not going on without an end.
5. Kill is to end life and does not mean never able to be killed, never able to end life.
6. Burned up is burned up, not never able to be burned up.
7. Consumed is consumed, not never able to be consumed.
8. Perish is perish, not just a loss of well being to those who cannot perish.
9. Sleep is sleep, not to be awake in Heaven or Hell.
There is no way that God could have said, “the wages of sin is death” any clearer than that what He did. There was words in the Greek that was used by the writers of the New Testament that would have conveyed the same thoughts that we are told by preachers that tell us that death is not death but only a lost of well being, that the wages of sin is eternal torment, but not once did God lead them to use those words.
CHANGES THAT MUST BE MADE BY THOSE WHO BELIEVE
IN ETERANL LIFE IN HELL MUST MAKE
TO MAKE THE BIBLE AGREE WITH THEM
Traditionalist must change the Bible to say the opposite of what it says.
“He that believes on the Son has eternal life; but he that believes not the Son shall not see life” [John 3:36] must be changed to, ―He that believes not the Son was born with eternal life and will see life in Hell where he will live forever.‖
“For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and few are they that find it” [Matthew 7:13-14] must be changed to, ―For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life in Heaven, and most shall see life in Hell.‖
“For God so loved the world that He give His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes on Him should not perish, but have eternal life” [John 3:16] must be changed to, ―That all will have eternal life someplace, in Heaven or in Hell.‖
“Even He who is able to save and to destroy” [James 4:12] must be changed to,
―Even He who is able to save alive in Heaven or save alive in Hell.‖
“For he that sows unto his own flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption: but he that sows unto the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap eternal life” [Galatians 5:8] must be changed to, ―Both shall reap eternal life, just not in the same place, some eternal life in Heaven and some eternal life in Hell.‖
“For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” [Romans 6:23] must be changed to, ―For the wages of sin is eternal torment in Hell for those who were born with eternal life, but the gift of God is a reward for those who were born with eternal life.‖
“Whosoever shall seek to gain his life shall lose it: but whosoever shall lose his life shall preserve it” [Luke 17:33] must be changed to, ―Whosoever shall seek to gain his life shall preserve it in Hell: but whosoever shall lose his life shall preserve it in Heaven.‖
The changes that must be made by those who teach eternal life in Hell could be extended to many pages but this should be enough for anyone who loves the truth more than the “doctrines and precepts of men” [Matthew 15:9].
The reinterpretation of the many words used that mean the end of life has no equal. Other reinterpretations are based on the changing of a few passages; Peter 138
being the first Pope is based mostly on a reinterpretation of Matthew 16:18; but for souls to be deathless and tormented forever there had to be many plus many more changes or adding to. "Everlasting destruction" had to be changed to be "everlasting life with torment." Was Paul trying to deceive by using the word "destruction" and today's theology has to correct him by saying, "No Paul, you really meant to say everlasting torment"? Destruction does not mean to preserve alive in eternal torment.
In Matthew 10:39 Lose his life (Greek psukee-soul) must be changed to mean an everlasting life of torment.
1. "He who finds his life (soul-psukee) shall lose it."
2. "He who loses his life (soul-psukee) shall find it."
The person who saves his life by denying Christ will lose it at the judgment. The
person that loses his life because he is a Christian and will not deny Christ will find life at the judgment. There is no way Christ could have said it any clearer or plainer.
It is " life" that is being spoken of, not a part of a person that was born with life and cannot lose it. There is not a word said about eternal life with torment in this passage.
Those who do not obey Christ shall lose the very thing that is saved by those who do obey him. They shall lose life. The lost shall die. The saved shall live.
"And you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him" (1 John 3:15).
Was John wrong when he said no murderer has eternal life? If, as many say, mankind has a "soul" that is immortal and cannot die, and if the only part of men that shall live after the judgment is an ever-living soul which all even murderers have, then a murderer does have eternal life from birth and can never die, for all the lost have the same "immaterial, invisible part of man" (W. E. Vine) that will live forever that the saved have. Without eternal life, a murderer cannot have an immortal soul. If he did have an immortal soul, he would have eternal life abiding in him; if he does not have eternal life abiding in him, he does not have an immortal soul. To teach the soul of all is eternal and can never die make all have eternal life, it can only be a question of where they will spend their eternal life. John said, "And this is the promise which he promised us, even the life eternal" (1 John 2:25). "We have passed out of death into life...no murderer has eternal life abiding in him" (1 John 3:14-15). Is there anyway John could have said any clearer that a murderer does not have an immortal soul or eternal life?
Death is not Hell. A dead person cannot be tormented; they can feel no pain.
Only the living can be tormented. If Hell were a real place, those in it would be alive, not dead. Their life would be just as eternal as the life of the saved.
Death makes Hell impossible
Hell makes death impossible
Hell makes the resurrection of the dead impossible
If there is no death, there cannot be a resurrection of the undead. If there is no resurrection, we have no hope 1 Corinthians 15:16-19. Can there be a doctrine more harmful than the doctrine of Hell, which takes away our resurrection and hope of salvation?
WHAT THE DEAD DO NOT DO?
1. There is no activity (Ecclesiastes 9:10)
2. They do not have plan (Ecclesiastes 9:10)
3. They have no wisdom (Ecclesiastes 9:10)
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4. Their bed is in darkness (Job 17:13)
5. They do not mention God (Psalms 6:5)
6. They give God no thanks (Psalms 6:5)
7. They have no thoughts (Psalms 146:4)
8. They know nothing (Ecclesiastes 9:5)
9. The wicked are silent, no speech (Ps. 31:17)
What do the dead do, think, and know? Nothing. Does anyone think this is a picture of Heaven or Hell? Without the resurrection the dead would never know anything after death (1 Corinthians 15:12-22).
Unwilling to accept God's word: Inspired writers speak often about death being a sleep, and about its unconscious nature . "His breath goes forth, he returns to the earth; in that very day his thoughts perish" (Psalms 146:4). If Solomon had said, "Their love, as their hatred and their envy will continue...for there is work, and device, and knowledge, and wisdom, in Sheol, whither you go" (Ecclesiastes 9:5-10), then those who teach a
"immaterial, invisible part of man" is alive from our death unto the resurrection, could rightly say this ends all debate on this subject. But, when it is put the way God inspired it; they reject it. If you try for the rest of your life, you would never be able to say any stronger than Solomon that there is nothing after death unto the resurrection.
Unconditional immorality must have knowledge in sheol, the grave, and therefore, many plain statements that there is no knowledge in the grave must be rejected, and many plain statements that death is a sleep must be rejected. See Isaiah 38:18-19; Psalms 115:17; 6:5; John 11:11-14; Daniel 12:1-2; Job 14:12-15; 1 Corinthians 15:20.
Some say that Ecclesiastes is the view of those in the world, the way they see life when God is left out, but it is not the way a child of God sees life. Ecclesiastes has statements that are so conductivity to the soul being immortal that many try to make the whole book not be the truth but it is only "life...viewed from the perspective where God is left out." Because it was conductivity to his belief that salvation is by faith only without works Calvin did with the book of James the same as many do to Ecclesiastes. There is much in Ecclesiastes that cannot be said to be the way those in the world look at life (see Ecclesiastes 12:1, 12:13 and many other statements throughout the book) but to do away with these statements, they are willing to do away with all. If Ecclesiastes is
"life...viewed from the perspective where God is left out" why do they not use it that way when they use Ecclesiastes 12:7 to prove the "soul" is immortal?
Death that never dies! The living dead! The undead dead! If this sounds like something out of a horror film, it is the teaching of many about some deathless something which is an "immaterial, invisible part of man." If there is a "part of man" that can never die, the lost can never be dead; common sense tells you that an immortal being can never die would have no need of a savior to die in its place to keep it from dying. Death is not life whether good or bad. To die is not to live. There cannot be life after death without a resurrection that ends the death.
"If a man die, shall he live again?" Job 14:14 must be changed to read, "When a man dies, his soul does not die but continues to live." It must be changed from a quest