By: Gen. Jim – 10/24/24
Hippolytus (b.170 – d.236 A.D.) wrote many things concerning the intermediate state of the dead. Allow me to quote a few things he penned in 205 A.D.:
“However, the unrighteous are DRAGGED TOWARD the LEFT by angels who are ministers of punishment. These souls no longer go of their own accord. Rather, they are DRAGGED as prisoners by force. And the angels appointed over them hurry them along, reproaching them and threatening them with an eye of TERROR, forcing them down into the lower parts. And when the souls are brought there, those appointed to that task DRAG them on the vicinity of Gehenna.”
What is meant by “Gehenna” (Greek, geenna = “valley of Hinnon or Ge-Hinnon (used fig.), a name for the place (or state) of everlasting/eternal/never ending punishment. (See my Hell/Sheol/Hades/Pit articles). The N.T. refers to this dreadful place in Matthew 5:22,29; 10:28; 18:9; 23:15,33; Mark 9:43,45,47; Luke 12:5; James 3:6.
The Greek word for Hell is Hades (“hades” = “the unseen, i.e. ‘Hades’ or the place (state) of departed souls.”). It can also mean the “grave” (where the body of the dead is placed). Some Christians believe there is no Hell/Hades/Sheol/Gehenna, i.e. there is no afterlife punishment. Well, they are WRONG. When the unrighteous die in their sins, they go to Hell or Hades, not Gehenna. The latter place is also called “lake of fire,” in which those in Hell will, in the end, be cast into it (see Revelations 20:14 – death and Hell will be cast into it also (Revelations 20:13).
All-in-all, there are 3 Greek words that describe the afterlife for the unsaved souls: Hell/Hades; Hell/Gehenna; Hell/Tartaros (or Tartaroo) = “the deepest abyss of Hades, as in 2 Peter 2:4. all-in-all Hell is mentioned 22 times in the N.T.. Are we to call Jesus et al a liar?
Peter wrote: “For if God did not spare the angels who sinned, but cast them down to Hell and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved for judgment.” Hell here is Tartarus. It is not the intermediate Hell (Hades), nor is it Hell (Gehenna), as Hippolytus wrote about, but below these, the DEEPEST ABYSS of Hades. There the sinning angels await Hell/Gehenna!
Some call this horrid place the “pit of nether gloom.” Some MSS of 2 Peter read “chains” instead of “pits,” in agreement with Jude (6). If one looks at the two Greek words “pits” (αιροις) and “chains” (αειραΐς), they look similar (Pits = RSV/chains = KJV), both belong to the imagery of the book of Enoch (see 10:4-6; 19:1; 54:3-5). One can also read 2 Barach 56:13. Peter says the sinning angels are there, awaiting trial for eternal punishment in the lake of fire (Gehenna).
Peter explains in v.5 that God did not spare the old (ancient) world (except Noah and family). No! He brought the Great Flood upon the whole world – all DIED and were committed to the watery grave… awaiting Gehenna in the final judgment. Peter goes on to mention those two sexual perverse cities, Sodom and Gomorrah (v.6), DESTROYED by FIRE!
Noah was known as a herald of righteousness (see Josephus Antiq. 1. 3.1; 1 Clem. 7:6). Sodom and Gomorrah was turned into ashes, which resembles III Macc. 2:4,5, which states, “Thou didst destroy those who afore-time did iniquity… bringing upon them a boundless flood of water (in reference to the ancient world in Noah’s day). Thou didst BURN UP with fire and brimstone the men of Sodom.” The sequence also prepares for 3:6,7 where destruction of “the world that then existed” by water serves to warn that “the heavens of earth that now exist have been stored up for fire.”
How many in the world know this? How many in church la la land know what Peter wrote? [Read Enoch 83:3-5; Isaiah 29:6; 30:30; 34:4; 51:6; 66:15,16; Daniel 7:9,10; Joel 2:30,31; Joel 3:15; Nahum 1:5,6; Malachi 4:1].
The Bible, dear ones, leaves no basis for doubt and unbelief in these matters. Yet we here in “Christian” America live like HELL day-after-day, never giving thought of tomorrow. The church that should be WARNING the lost has itself become LOST!
Peter says that, “The Lord is not slack concerning His promise” (2 Peter 3:9). What promise? The promise of punishment for the unrighteous. Peter goes on to state that the “day of God, wherein the heaven being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements will melt with fervent heat” (v.12). God’s warning, God’s promise. His people are to be found without spot, and blameless (v.14).
Peter goes on to write “… seeing ye know these things before, beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked (lawless), FALL from your own steadfastness” (v.17). Peter was writing to believers (1:1-3). How many “Christians” are being led AWAY from the righteousness of God these days? Better yet, how many have been destroyed by the error of men? Political correctness/wokeness have taken over a large chunk of the Christian church. The LGBTQ plus itself have captured whole denominations. Marxism/socialism et al. have infiltrated, now dominates much of the professing church. Not only false doctrines have been incorporated into the Body of Christ, but vile activities as well.
Knowledge, however, provides no automatic protection against error. Even those who perchance preach and teach against unrighteousness, are doing evil things. It is one thing to be accused of doing evil, it is another thing to be GUILTY of such. Satan will always ACCUSE: it is up to the individual to STAND AGAINST the devil and his wiles. Have we forgotten Ephesians 6?
Believers must BEWARE (i.e. be on your guard, as the Goodspeed Bible states) to avoid capture (i.e. being carried away) (see also Jude 1:21,24).
Peter’s warning against loss of stability corresponds to Jude’s admonition against falling (Jude 24). “στηριγμός” is the Greek noun (“stability” is used in the RSV: “steadfastness” is used in the KJV/NKJV). The corresponding verb (as opposed to the above noun), however, occurs 6 times in Paul’s letters and 4 times in Luke/ Acts. The meaning usually given is “firmness.” Bible scholars think it designates “a strong foundation” (see an Int’l critical commentary). The emphasis on “stability” – contrast “unsteady” (2:14) and “unstable (3:16) – refers back to the earlier description of believers as “established in the truth” (1:12). Loss of “stability” begins in skepticism regarding “the truth that you have” and eventuates in “licentiousness.”
But, in this hour, the Spirit of God is calling for “Warriors of Righteousness” to fight like HELL against HELL!!! Not all is lost. Some that have been taken captive will be rescued by W.O.R ops!
Hippolytus continues with his article on Gehenna:
“And those who are near [to Gehenna] hear incessantly its agitation, and they feel the HOT smoke. And when that vision is so near, as they see the terrible and excessively glowing spectacle of the fire, they shudder in horror at the expectation of future judgment, already feeling the power of their punishment. And again, when they see the place of the fathers of the righteousness, they also suffer punishment merely from seeing this. For a deep and vast abyss is set there in the midst, so that neither can any of the righteous in sympathy think to cross it, nor do any of the unrighteous dare to cross it.”
He goes on to write about Hades:
“I think I have said enough on the subject of Hades, in which all souls are detained until the time that God determined. And then He will accomplish a resurrection of all – not by transferring souls into other bodies – but by raising the bodies themselves” (205 A.D. 5:222).
The “all souls” that he mentions, at death will go to Hell or Hades. But as we know, Hades was also the place for the departed spirits/souls of both righteous and unrighteous – a great gulf separating the two. The intermediate state of the dead refers to the condition of the (physically) dead between the time of death and the resurrection from the dead. The best N.T. examples of this found in Luke 16:22,23, 23:43; Acts 2:22-27.
Many church fathers wrote about Hell/Hades, which include Clement of Rome, Polycarp, Second Clement, Justin Martyr, Tatian, Irenaeus, Clement of Alexandria, and Tertullian (who wrote extensively on Hades). The righteous went into one section of Hades called Paradise, aka Abraham’s bosom (Luke 16:22); the unrighteous went into the other section called Hades, v.23. Verse 26, Jesus says that “a great gulf fixed” separated the two. One place was rest and peace, the other was the “place of torment” (v.28).
Hippolytus also stated,
“A person of old used to say that only those who are instructed in the knowledge of divine things descend alive into Hades. For he who has not tasted of the words of life is already dead” (205 A.D. 5:202). The Bible teaches that the soul/spirit does not die – cease to exist – but lives after physical death. In finishing up this short article, I will quote Hippolytus’ longer quote:
“Now we must speak of Hades, in which the souls both of the righteous and the unrighteous are detained. Hades is a place in the created system, rude, a locality beneath the earth, in which the light of the world does not shine. And since the sun does not shine in this place there is necessarily perpetual darkness. This place has been destined to be, as it were, a guard house for souls. The angels are stationed there as guards distributing temporary punishments for character, according to each one’s deeds. And in this locality there is a certain place set apart by itself, a lake of unquenchable fire, into which we suppose no one has ever yet been cast… But the righteous are indeed presently detained in Hades, but not in the same place with the unrighteous. For to this locality there is one descent, at the gate of which we believe an archangel is stationed with an army. And when those who are conducted by the angels who are appointed unto the souls have passed through this gate, they do not all proceed down one and the same path. Rather, the righteous are conducted in the light toward the right. And being hymned by the angels stationed at the place, they are brought to a locality full of light. And there all the righteous persons from the beginning dwell. They are not ruled by any necessity. Rather, they perpetually enjoy the contemplation of the blessings that are in this view. Also, they delight themselves with expectation of other blessings, ever new. In fact, they consider the new blessings as ever better than the first ones. And that place brings no labors for them. In that locale, there are neither fierce heat, cold, nor thorns. But the faces of the fathers of the righteous are seen to be always smiling, as they wait for the rest of eternal revival in heaven that follow this location. And we call this place the name of ‘Abraham’s bosom’” (205 A.D. 5:222).
Origen (185-255 A.D.) wrote about Hades (225 A.D.);
Novation (d.257 A.D.) calls Hades “the dooms of future judgment” (235 A.D.);
Cyprian (d.258 A.D.) wrote, “for there is no confession in Hades” (250 A.D.); Victorinus (d.304 A.D.) says Hades is a place where “the wicked see the righteous, but they cannot be carried across to them” (280 A.D.);
Methodius (d.311 A.D.) wrote that “the rich man was in torment and the poor man was comforted in the bosom of Abraham. The one was to be punished in Hades, and the other was to be comforted in Abraham’s bosom”;
Lactantius (250-325 A.D.) wrote that the unrighteous “will be hidden in darkness, being destined to certain punishment” (304 A.D.);
Arnobius (d.330 A.D.) wrote, “what about the punishment in Hades, of which we have heard, which assumes also many forms of torture?” (305 A.D.);
Alexander of Alexandria (d.328 A.D.) wrote concerning the body (“rotting in the ground”) and the soul, “… it was detained separately from the body in a dark place that is called Hades. So there was a separation of the soul from the body. The soul was banished to Hades while the body was returned back to dust” (324 A.D.).
Alexander no doubt was quoting from Ecclesiastes 12:7: “Then the dust will return to the earth as it was, and the spirit will return to God who gave it.” (See also 3:21). Daniel 12:2 could have inspired him to write about the righteous vs. the unrighteous: “And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, some to shame and everlasting contempt.” Jesus no doubt had in mind Daniel’s words when He spoke, “And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life” (Matthew 25:46).
Some try to tell us that Jesus would never send anyone to Hell/Hades. Are we to call Him a liar? Jesus spoke more about Hell than heaven. Our actions/unbelief send us to hell. Jesus offers a way – THE WAY – out. Once in Hades (like jail awaiting prison – lake of fire), no appeal, no remedy, for all eternity! This is truly frightening! By dying in a settled rebellion/opposition to our Creator, we/they cast ourselves into a necessity of continuing in an eternal/never-ending aversion from Him.
No! No! The Bible does not speak of an END, for eternal/everlasting has NO END! There is NO END to Heaven (eternal); the same Greek word used for eternal/eternity for the righteous is the same used for the unrighteous: Look up “eternal life” and “eternal damnation” – same Greek word, “aionios”, from “aion,” meaning “perpetual, eternal, forever, everlasting, no end.” [Note: “elenal”, “aion,” can mean “limited time” but depends upon the context; example, in Jewish thought it can mean “an age.” But Jesus used it with full force as never-ending]. There is a Greek word in reference to “aion,” “aei” (a prim noun) that means “continued duration;” “ever,” by qualification regularly; by implied earnestly: – always, ever.
Note how Jesus uses the words “eternal damnation” in Mark 3:9, meaning everlasting judgment/damnation (see the Codex Bezae, the Coptic, Armenian, Gothic, Vulgate and the Itala). Some try to omit Jesus’ damning words about the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit – never forgiveness.
The Hebrew (O.T.) has 2 words for “eternal” (Deuteronomy 33:27 and Isaiah 60:15). the first is qedem or qedmah, meaning “time of antiquity, eternal, everlasting, old past/eternal future (e.g. qidmah = future); the latter Hebrew word is ‘owlam or ‘olam, meaning eternity, always continuance, eternal, everlasting, perpetual, without end.
When Jesus spoke about “everlasting punishment” and “life eternal” (Matthew 25:46). He was not using hyperboles, He was factual.
The FINAL redemption of the righteous is eternal life; the FINAL damnation for the unrighteous is the lake. We can’t jerk certain passages out of content & context because we do not agree with them. Those who teach and preach “NO Hell” will end up in Hell (Hades) than the lake of fire. The Greek words, the original words is certainly to be taken in its proper grammatical sense, “continued being,” “never-ending.” and don’t even try to use the “A” word on me (“annihilated”). This is nowhere to be found in the whole Bible. It is a word the “Hell Haters” have come up with. If one goes away “into eternal punishment,” they CONTINUE to EXIST; for that which ceases to be, ceases to suffer.
God, in the Book of Genesis, is called “the everlasting God” (Genesis 21:33), “Yehovah el olam” = “the Strong God,” “the Eternal One.” This is the first mention in Scripture in which “olam” occurs as an attribute of God, and here it is evidently designed to point out His “eternal” duration; that it can mean no limited time, because nothing of this kind can be attributed to Him.
Scholars point out that the Septuagint render the words “θεος” the “ever-existing God”; and the vulgate has “Invocavitibi nomen Domini, Dei aterni,” “there He invoked the name of the Lord, the eternal God.” The Arabic Scriptures reads almost the same. So, from this application of both Hebrew/Greek words we learn that “olam” and “aion” originally signified “Eternal,” or “duration without end.” “Alom” signifies He was hidden, concealed, or kept secret; and “αιων” according to Aristotle, (see De Caelo, lib. I, chap.9, and a higher authority need not be sought,) is compounded of “αει,” always, and “ων” being, “αιων εστιν, απο τον αει ειναι.” The same author informs us that God was termed Aisa, because He was always existing. The Hebrew et al forcibly expresses the grand Spiritual characteristics of eternity. Eternity is (present tense) always existing… interminable, incessant, and immeasurable duration. I personally cannot grasp this with my carnal mind; I only believe.
As stated already, some try to use the Hebrew/Greek words to express Hell as only a limited duration, never everlasting. They present God’s “love” over powering His “punishment,” which according to Scripture is just as long as eternal life, which we all know is endless.
Both Hebrew and Greek – olam/ “αιων” – expresses “eternal,” in the proper meaning of that word in reference to punishment. Pay close attention to Ecclesiastes 3:14: “I know that whatever God does, It shall be forever…” “Forever” = (Hebrew) “Olam.” It is rightly said that words, when applied to things which from their nature must have a limited duration, are properly to be understood in this sense, because those things, though temporal in themselves, shadow forth things that are eternal. Thus, as I stated beforehand, the Jewish dispensation, which in the whole and in its parts is frequently said to be “leolam,” i.e. “forever,” and which has terminated in the Christian dispensation, has the word properly applied to it, because it typified and introduced that dispensation which is to CONTINUE not only while time shall last, but is to have its incessant accumulating consummation throughout “eternity.” The N.T. church is the new Israel, its foundation is Jewish.
The word is, with the same strict propriety, applied to the duration of the rewards/punishments in a future state. And, as scholars tell us, the argument that pretends to prove that in the future punishment of the wicked “the worm shall die,” and “the fire shall be quenched.” The Bible never teaches this. Isaiah 66:24 teaches that “their worm does not die, and their fire is not quenched.” Jesus quotes from Isaiah 66:24 in reference to “Hell Fire” in Mark 9:43,44,45,46. Wow!
Jesus repeats the “fire not quenched” 4 times! Yes! Hell Fire is everlasting. But our heretical churchites try to make out that Jesus is a liar!
There will be NO END to Hell/Fire nor and END to glorification. We who are born again (and stay born again) will have eternal/everlasting life – no interruptions. (See Genesis 17:7,8 where the word “everlasting” is found); berith olam. The “everlasting covenant” for the Israelites/Jews is never-ending. Their racial covenant/dispensation ended when Jesus started His New World order, i.e. repentant/born-again Jews and Gentile converts being ONE Nation called “Christianity.” So, His covenant to the Jewish people has never ended – the Jews who accept their Messiah – Jesus Christ – will be saved, hence continue forever. But for those unconverted Jews, they will not be included in His blessing. So, it is our duty to witness to both lost Jew and lost Gentile. Jesus died, rose from the dead in order to give eternal life to the dead (see Ephesians 2:1-22). Be blessed!