How Hot is Hell?
The Christian teaching on Hell is cited by many agnostics and atheists as an obstacle in them being able to come to Christ. Some Christians are equally troubled over the concept of their fellow human beings being subjected to the eternal torture of being burned by a fire that never goes out. Paul Copan, yesterday, talked about reconciling Hell and the goodness of God. His beginning statement was that Hell is “not a place with high thermal output.” This goes against some of the literal descriptions of Hell contained in the Bible. Copan is not the first to understand the description of eternal flames in a figurative sense. In fact, there is strong reason to believe that it should be understood figuratively.
First, the Scripture describes Hell as being a place of “darkness” and well as a place of eternal “flames.” These two descriptions are contradictory if meant to be interpreted literally. When I light a candle, I universally find that I generate light. It seems difficult to see how hell could be full of fire and yet be dark at the same time. Isaiah 66:24 speaks of “worms” in Hell. Once again, it seems obvious that there are not literal worms in Hell.
Lest one think that this figurative understanding of the fire of Hell is a departure from the traditional understanding of the Church, even Calvin and Luther held that the “fiery” passages are metaphorical. Yielding further evidence in support of the figurative view is the description of the original purpose of Hell in Matthew 25:41. Hell, we are told, was prepared for the devil and his angels - spirit beings who lack physical bodies endowed with pain fibers and therefore unable to be physically pained with fire. William Crockett, speaking on this subject, states:
Physical fire works on physical bodies with physical nerve endings, not on spirit beings.
So, if it is not the high thermal output of Hell which makes it suitable for the punishment of those who reject God’s grace, what is it? The essence of Hell, according to Copan, is the…
… agony and utter hopelessness of separation from God - to be “away from the presence of the Lord” (2 Thes 1:9), the greatest loss possible.
Mortimer Adler stated:
The damned in hell do not suffer bodily fires or tortures. Their punishment is pain of loss, not of sense.