Jesus and Hell

By Dyfed Wyn Roberts

Does hell exist? Will God punish some in a place of eternal concious torment? What does Jesus have to say about the issue? In this short book the author looks at each passage in the New Testament where Jesus refers to hell in some way. By studying the word Gehenna and the OT references to fire as God's judgement the author comes to a conclusion that is very different to traditional teaching.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Dyfed Wyn Roberts
• Release date: Mar 1, 2012
• ISBN: 9781466125209

Dyfed Wyn Roberts

Dyfed is a trained theologian and church historian from Wales, UK. He is passionate about issues of justice and peace and especially how the church can be positioned to be a world-changing presence within creation.He was trained at Bangor University, north Wales, and has a PhD degree in Welsh revival history. He blogs regularly and has plans to publish more e-books.He lives on the island of Anglesey with his wife Helen who runs the village post office. They have a springer spaniel, Ruth, who loves long walks on the local beaches.

Book preview

Jesus and Hell

By Dyfed Wyn Roberts

Copyright 2012 Dyfed Wyn Roberts

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Table of Contents

Chapter 1 - Introduction

Chapter 2 - Hades

Chapter 3 - Gehenna

Chapter 4 - Hell as fire

Chapter 5 - Final thoughts

Introduction

2011 proved to be a controversial year for theology. Was it not ever thus? By far the most controversy was stirred up by Rob Bell’s book Love Wins. Quickly condemned as doctrinally wrong by his detractors, Bell was accused of denying the existence of hell and of being a Universalist. Having read the book I’m not sure either charge really sticks. But the book did cause many to think again about their views on hell as a place where God punishes the unrighteous for eternity.

I had actually been asking myself some questions before the controversy became public. And as a result of these questions and the furore surrounding Bell I embarked on a series of blogposts on the biblical passages that are considered to be referring to hell. I have to be honest and confess that I had already come very close to changing my mind on the subject before this study. Could God really be considered to be loving and just if he consigned millions of people to an eternity of conscious suffering? My conclusion in the past was ‘Yes’; he could and was. But my position was shifting and hence my study of the ‘hell passages’.

Over many weeks I blogged my way through what Jesus in particular had to say about hell and it is the fruit of that work that is presented here. It is published in more or less the way the posts appeared on my blog and as result there is inevitably some repetition in this e-book; it may also appear a little disjointed. No matter. I trust you will still gain some value in reading through the work. Whether you agree with my conclusions or not I also trust that thinking again about such an important subject will quicken your spirit as