Hell No: A Little Book on Hell

By Victor Sylvester

Most religions believe in some kind of afterlife; however, Christianity is one of the few that teaches about the concept of eternal punishment. Most religions agree that in this present domain called earth, we all live and we all die. I suppose the questions “What is life? What is it about? Where did I come from? Where do I go when I die?” are ones that most of us ask from time to time. For those who believe in life after death, death is difficult to talk about without bringing up the subject of hell and where a person goes when he or she dies. Because of my personal beliefs that have been shaped by Scripture, I will attempt to answer some of these questions throughout this book.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse UK
• Release date: Apr 4, 2022
• ISBN: 9781665588935

Victor Sylvester

Victor Sylvester, lives in London and owns ten bibles a bass guitar and a bicycle.

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2022 Victor Sylvester. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse 03/31/2022

ISBN: 978-1-6655-8892-8 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-6655-8893-5 (e)

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and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Unless otherwise noted, all Bible quotations are taken from the New King James Version (NKJV) Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 Biblica. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved. The NIV and New International Version trademarks are registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica. Use of either trademark requires the permission of Biblica.

Scripture quotations marked (NCV) taken from the New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, IL 60188. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. www.lockman.org

Scripture quotations marked (AMPCE) are taken from the Amplified Bible, Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.Scripture taken from the New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

CONTENTS

Introduction

Chapter 1 Biblical Description of Hell

Chapter 2 Where Is Sheol?

Chapter 3 What about the Death of Jesus?

Chapter 4 Who Is Death?

Chapter 5 Who Will Inherit the Kingdom of God?

Conclusion

INTRODUCTION

In the spring of 2003, I attended a weekend course focused on a few of the New Testament books the apostle Paul wrote. During one of the talks, the teacher said he did not believe hell is a literal place of eternal punishment for those who don’t believe in Jesus. His belief was that hell is a metaphor for a place of punishment that would be eternal, but it would not be a place of fire. I was amazed this man claimed to be Christian and didn’t believe in hell as a place of eternal punishment. I had thought that surely everyone who is a Christian believes in hell.

Over the course of that weekend, I thought about what he said and began questioning what I believed and had been taught on the subject. In the following months, I researched hell by studying the Bible, listening to sermons, and reading books and articles I found online. The varied points of view on the subject of hell were interesting—from literal (fire and brimstone), metaphorical (a place of conscious punishment), conditional mortality (God destroys the souls of the wicked after a time, so there is no eternal pain and suffering), purgatory (a place of punishment before eventually going to heaven), or hell on earth (irrespective of belief or lifestyle, everyone makes it to heaven because Jesus died for all). All these beliefs in the Christian faith are dependent upon religious points of view or are theories informed by people’s experiences.

Most religions believe in some kind of afterlife; however, Christianity is one of the few that teaches about the concept of eternal punishment. Most religions agree that in this present domain called earth, we all live and we all die. I suppose the questions What is life? What is it about? Where did I come from? Where do I go when I die? are ones that most of us ask from time to time. For those who believe in life after death, death is difficult to talk about without bringing up the subject of hell and where a person goes when he or she dies. Because of my personal beliefs that have been shaped by Scripture, I will attempt to answer some of these questions throughout this