Wrested Scriptures

Hell - Place of Torment
Common
Trinity
Soul
Heaven
Hell
  Matthew 25:46
  Mark 9:43-48
  Luke 16:19-31
  Rev. 14:10,11;
     19:3; 20:10
  Rev. 19:20;
     20:14; 21:8
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of Christ
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Partial
Contradictions
& Inaccuracies

Revelation 19:20
"These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone."

Revelation 20:14
"And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire."

Revelation 21:8
"But the fearful . . . shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death."

Problem:
These verses are cited by Pentecostals and Evangelicals to prove that hell is a literal place of torment.

Solution:
  1. The non-literal character of "the lake of fire" is established by the following considerations:
    1. Death is cast into the lake of fire. (Rev. 20:14). How can death literally be cast into a lake of fire?
    2. Hell is cast into the lake of fire. (Rev. 20:14). Therefore hell is not the same place as the lake of fire.
    3. Frequently in the Revelation symbols are interpreted. For example: "the woman" is "that great city" (Rev. 17:18); "waters" are "peoples" (Rev. 17:15). Similarly, the "lake of fire" is interpreted to be "the second death". (Rev. 20:14; 21:8).

  2. The "lake of fire and brimstone" expressesd figuratively what is stated literally - "the second death." To die means to have no thoughts (Psa. 146:4), and to "know not anything." (Ecc. 9:5). This Scriptural definition of death is incompatible with the interpretation that the lake of fire and the second death refer to conscious eternal torment.