Why would anyone, especially people who are redeemed and survive the coming of the Lord to judge all flesh (v.16) want to go out to look at corpses full of worms and burning? For this reason, it became the city dump. Gehenna Gehenna is the plane of suspicion and greed. Of hhe three valleys below Jerusalem, Hinnom lies dead center below the Old City and temple. 60. What has that got to do with it. The picture of the valley itself proves that it gas been filled in with a huge amount of fill. At least there is no evidence of any other fires having been kept up in the valley; as has sometimes been supposed(Biblical Researches, vol. One is kolasin, the other timoria. Still, because it seems like a reasonable explanation for the origin of the Hinnom Valley as "hell," commentators and preachers have accepted it. It is amazing how putting on the legalistic "glasses" that came into the church from the Latin converts can blind people to verses that out to stop them in their tracks and make them wonder "What is going on here?". It is one of a number of alignment-based Outer Planes that form part of the standard Dungeons & Dragons ( D&D ) cosmology, used in the Planescape , Greyhawk , and some editions of . Does no one know about the millennium, a period of teaching, after which satan is loosed for a season to test those that followed him in the first earth age. What a waste of time this would mean. This combination of abominable fires and divine judgment led to the association of the valley with a place of perpetual judgment (see Isa. Rome? Gehenna -- the Valley of Hinnom -- was indeed a valley outside Jerusalem. There was a fire there, burning constantly to consume the trash. Are you referring to Origen? By Patrick Hunt - Gehenna is an old Hebrew toponym (place name) that began as a literal, physical location - the Valley of Hinnom - and gradually transformed into a metaphor for hell through various processes including religious defilement. Chief among the modern ideas surrounding Gehenna is that of a smouldering garbage dump south of Jerusalem where perpetual fires consumed the city waste and the dead bodies of criminals thrown into it. She offers the following highly imaginative description of this burning refuse heap, which serves as a nice, detailed amalgamation of all the descriptions Ive heard of it over the years. For more details, see copyright information. Thank you. The punishment is given with the goal of improving the one punished. It was because Gehenna outside the city of Jerusalem was the place where the bodies of criminals were burned and when the . Voting for the Political Party of Infanticide in 2020 is Great Says JD Greear. The doors were certainly locked as long as the wedding feast endures. Click the card to flip It is also the location where bodies of executed criminals, or individuals denied a proper burial, and animals would be dumped. 20The Law came in so that the transgression would increase; but where sin increased,grace abounded all the more, 21 so that, as sin reigned in death, even so grace would reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Where are you getting this? Gehenna was a burning trash dump outside Jerusalem. It traveled through the city gate and emptied into a nearby valley. Though a duration of time is the most common use of the word, just as with most any word, there can be different meanings depending on the context. A longer one, written by Sinclair Ferguson: Universalism and The Reality of Eternal Punishment: The Biblical Basis of the Doctrine of Eternal Punishment. Gehenna - The Prophetic Garbage Dump. Thanks for the article! "For thus says the Lord God: I will deal with you as you have done, who despised the oath by breaking the covenant.". You however are reading things into the words "aion" and "aionian". The move is part of its restructuring following the acquisition of Neovia in 2019 for US$1.81bn. It is amazing how many things we take as "established fact" that simply are not true. Mk. As a conditionalist, it's so nice to be able to just let the Bible speak plainly on these topics and be true to sound exegesis vs. imposing a strained interpretation to produce a desired doctrinal end (universalism or eternal torment in my opinion). Out of six major "seminaries" ". The thing is, that as the "aion" during which the punishment takes place is coming to an end,DEATH WILL BE SWALLOWED UP BY LIFE! The objection that "eternal punishment" and "eternal life" are used in parallel in Matthew 25:46, and therefore aionian must means eternal is based on a false presumption that the "aionian life" which is spoken of would have to come to an end at the same time that the "aionian" punishment does. Even if they are used to describe God as "the aionian God" they do not have to mean eternal. En contraire. Jesus actually talked of kolasis aionian temporary correction/discipline. And can we actualle be cartain about the identity of Sodom and her daughters? But, I agree, that Universalists play the "eternal is not always time" hand way too much! "Worms" in Isaiah 66:24 is towlah, and Gesenius notes that this word is especially used to denote worms that feed on FLESH, although it is also used to talk about worms in bread and the worm that killed Jonah's shade plant. Still, that's no basis for any claims about how eternal does not mean eternal or how undying fire/worms suddenly mean dying-only-later fire/worms. Its fires were kept continually burning (an everlasting lake of fire!) [.] 1:7 where it says Jesus will be revealed from heaven in "blazing fire" and those who do not know God will be eternally destroyed by the fire of his presence, like how Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed by eternal fire (p.s. I confused the council of Nicea with the Nicene Creed that came out of the council at Constantinople later on. It is also very instructive to study the writings of the early church fathers and church history to see how prevalent a belief universal salvation was, and then compare the conditions that surrounded the second council at Constantinople where they decided that a confession of belief in an eternal hell was one of the conditions for being accepted into "the church". New garbage was piled on top of the old decaying garbage: rotting fish, slimy vegetation, decaying human refuse of every imaginable sort. His funeral pyre is deep and wide, with plenty of fire and wood. Are there going to be new moons and sabbaths in eternity? There are a dozen parables by Christ talking about salvation and punishment I can't think of one which has one first being shut out and then being admitted after all not the foolish virgins with their lamps, not the Rich Man begging poor Lazarus, not the one being thrown out because of his not wearing a wedding garment etc. 66:24) and later with a place of judgment by fire without any special connection to Jerusalem (see, for example, 1 Enoch 27:1ff., 54:1ff., 63:3-4, and 90:26ff) (Jesus and the Kingdom of God, 376-77). You will forgive me that I will not go and read through all the parables but if I have immediately three springing to mind that teach a final, unchangeable judgement than I don't need to have dozens others agree with that or read anything into them. Only the latter is grounds for personal condemnation. James A. Montgomery observes this medieval commentators logic, but does not accept it. [I have no clue what v.15 you are talking about so you can spare us that.]. 24 And they will go out and look upon the dead bodies of those who rebelled against me; their worm will not die, nor will their fire be quenched, and they will be loathsome to all mankind., "If it was clearly taught in scripture, why was no council convened to condemn the heresy of universal salvation ". From "The Fires of Gehenna: View of Scholars" by Todd Bolen, "The first is Edward Robinson, preeminent explorer of the Holy Land beginning in 1838. I find the scriptures remarkable, and you, sir, have nailed these difficult questions to the cross itself. He does not cast off forever. Required fields are marked *. I just got done reading Rob Bell's new book, and he relies heavily on this garbage myth as evidence that Jesus' teachings on hell are metaphorical. Because the church is not a "club for solving real and apparent biblical contradictions", it is not a "bible study club". We are not all doomed as so many believe. "age-during" isn't a word but if you are insisting on such literalist readings, you should be consistent and take things literally. Did Isaiah lie? He writes: I consulted over a dozen study Bibles on Matthew 5:22 and no less than eight of them made a reference to the rubbish heap. For example, eternal salvation doesn't mean God is saving us daily (rather an eternal result of a one time event) just as eternal judgment not mean God is tormenting the lost daily, rather the one time event (the second death) had eternal result as well. I thought the Passover lambs were all sacrificed on the Temple Mount. I would look at a phrase like this and wonder how anyone who didn't want to be deceived could think that it was talking about anything less than the rest of eternity: . No, it means the valley pictured is no longer a steep ravine because it became a landfill, and today is a city park. It is never used by Jesus, and is only found in three places in the new testament, Acts 22:5 and 26:11 where Paul is talking about his 'punishment' of Christians before his conversion, and in Hebrews 10:29 where the context again is between those who adhere to the old covenant in opposition to the new, only this time the tables are turned. It might have been just as well to not press it. No one. ["Who is it that is going to go out of the city and look at the worm-eaten, burning bodies? If it had been one, we would expect to find evidence. But that was the exception and in violation of the principles. Rather, god gives the gift of immortality to the saved only per apostle Paul. The chastisement is in reference to the Second Death, which can't be eternal if we are to take any of the passages about death itself being destroyed literally. The people in the surrounding areas dumped their trash in Gehenna, where it burned day and night. the creed), negative condemnations ("Whosover says . If it was consistently translated as 'eternal' people would see how ridiculous that idea is. I am talking about the entire early Church, which did not adhere to your universal salvation theology. See Joachim Jeremias Jerusalem in the Time of Jesus, p. 44. One of the immediate problems of any hermeneutics about Gehenna is the religious . Obviously, this fire is not still burning today, so this fire had an "age to come" or better put a "forever result" quality to it vs. a duration quality to it. It is also the location where bodies of executed criminals, or individuals denied a proper burial, would be dumped. It is a widespread misconception by twisting around this or that word in the bible, you suddenly can change the content of the Christian faith. Gregory Nazianzen and Gregory of Nyssa, both staunch universalists, recognized by the eastern and western churchs as 'saints', played prominent roles at the council of Nicea. If eternal hell doctrine is so clearly taught in scripture as we have been told, where was the protest over these men even being allowed to attend the council, much less play major roles?