Heaven is a wonderful place to think about.  Hell, not so much.  Few people talk about hell these days.  Even fewer take it seriously.  But hell is real.  In his parables, Jesus uses various terms to describe what seems to be hell:  a place of outer darkness (Matt. 8:12); a fiery furnace where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth (Matt. 25:41); and eternal punishment (Matt. 25:46).

And then you have these graphic descriptions  by John in Revelation:  the bottomless pit (9:1); a huge furnace (9:2); fire and burning sulfur (14:10); no relief day or night (14:11); the fiery lake of burning sulfur (21:8); and the second death (21:8).

Sounds pretty grim.  Can you blame people for shying away from the topic of hell, especially people who struggle with a God who seems to allow suffering and evil in this life?  That's bad enough, but it pales in comparison to a God who is evidently (if we take this stuff literally) going to torture people in hell forever in the next life.

Honestly, we need a new perspective, a truly biblical perspective (not one offered by those classic "fire and brimstone" preachers who used to scare sinners into buying an eternal fire insurance policy).  The eminent philosopher J.P. Moreland has done a lot of thinking on the subject of hell, and he has some thoughts on what hell is not.

Hell is not a torture chamber. Moreland maintains that hell is a punishment, not a place of punishing.  It's not torture.  The punishment of hell is separation from God, bringing shame, anguish, and terrible regret.  Because we will have both body and soul in the resurrected state, the misery people will experience in hell will be both mental and physical. Moreland says:  "The pain that's suffered will be due to the sorrow from the final, ultimate, unending banishment from God, his kingdom, and the good life for which we were created in the first place.  People in hell will deeply grieve for all they've lost."

Hell is not a place of fire.  No doubt this is a controversial statement for some, and while no one can know for sure, Moreland does make a pretty good case.  Clearly Jesus and John used fire to describe hell.  But how could hell be both a place of "outer darkness" and "eternal fire"?  Fire would light things up!  Okay, if the fire isn't literal, then what does it symbolize?  In Scripture, fire and flames are an image for God's judgment.  In Revelation, John writes of the "Word of God," who will come with eyes like "flames of fire" and a sharp sword coming out of his mouth (Rev. 19:11-15).  The flames stand for Christ coming in judgment.  In Hebrews 12:29, God is called a "devouring fire," but that doesn't mean he is literally made of fire (come to think of it, God isn't made of anything physical).  The fire is an image for God's judgment.

So if hell isn't a place of torture or a place of fire, then what is it?  Well, even if you take away these descriptions that people have used through the ages to portray hell, you still have a terrible place.  Maybe not a place like a dungeon or a lake of fire, but a place in the sense that it will be a part of the universe where people will be cut off from that glorious place where God and his people will be in blissful harmony.  Moreland believes that the reason Jesus used the image of people gnashing their teeth in hell is that people will be in a state of anger and anguish, realizing what a great loss they are suffering.

Before we get angry at God for creating a place like hell--regardless of how you view it--we need to keep in mind that hell was not part of God's original creation.  Hell was something God had to create because people chose to rebel against him, and it saddens him.  There are two places in Scripture where we see this.  The first occurs before Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem, where Jesus weeps even as he is pronouncing judgment because the city did not accept its opportunity for salvation (Luke 19:44).  Another place where we see God's heart for the lost is in Peter's letter to the persecuted church.  Peter writes that God is being patient with us because he doesn't want anyone to perish (2 Peter 3:9).  But someday, Peter continues, God's patience will run out, and the "day of the Lord will come as unexpectedly as a thief."