Different Levels Of Punishment

[Cancelled Membership]

Over the years I've heard one sermon at a rally and at least

two radio sermons about different levels of punishment in

hell, implying there are different punishments for different

sins.

 

For instance, gamblers will spend eternity winning at the

tables but never allowed to leave with their winnings. They

are consigned to gambling for all eternity.

 

Drunks are strapped down to a table and demons use clamps

to hold the drunks mouth open while the demons pour booze

down their throats, one fater another for all eternity.

 

Sexual deviants have all the sex they want but never experiencing

bliss afterwards. VD (the way we called it) consumes their flesh

one after another, again, for eternity.

 

The devil cooks and eats (an actual metaphore used by one radio

preacher) those who served him as satan-worshippers, witches

and warlocks.

 

Those who abused children are abused "10's upon billions of times

worse" eternally by the demons.

 

I heard something interesting, though I don't recall when or where

because it was so long ago. When someone is consigned to hell,

he or she is not only alone with no one to see or talk to, but see's

a vast field before him or her. There he or she see's a huge mountain

taller than anyone expects.

 

Every  500-Billion years (or so) a bird with a huge beak will fly onto that

mountain, briefly sharpen it's beak, and then fly's away. It returns in

another 500-billion years to do the same thing and fly's away. The bird

repeats this pattern until the entire mountain is pecked down to nothing.

 

That means one day in eternity has passed. The process begins again,

and again, and again.....

 

 

[Anon]

There are levels of punishment in hell but it's all the same fire and torment. But the Bible does teach in a few places (can't quote them offhand) that those who are given more opportunity to be saved and neglect it will have worse punishment than those who die in ignorance.

The ideas mentioned above are rather ridiculous, since we all have more than one sin....for instance a gambler does much more wrong than just gambling, so the idea that they would be punished for one sin in particular is wrong. Anyway, the worst sin anyone ever does is reject Christ.

[Cancelled Membership]

Agreed. These are misguided teachings for sure. I wanted

to list them here to see if anyone else here heard of them.

 

The only punishment fit for sinners (those listed above

and all the rest) is fire and brimstone along with the

eternal memory (regret) of not having accepted Christ

as Savior.

[Miss Daisy]

No, I hadn't heard what you did on the radio. I read a book by a woman who claims to have been to heaven and hell. She spoke of different levels of hell where she saw people being eaten by a worm over and over. Constant torment by demons. Horrible smells. That's all I remember. I've read something about her account not being Biblical and was more likely a dream or something.

Two years ago I read the book 17 minutes in hell (I think) by Bill Weiss(?). It was really interesting also whether true or not about a man who was in hell. Good read.

[Ukulelemike]

I saw on the Simpsons once when Homer went to hell and was forced to eat all the donuts in the world-of course, he liked it. Sadly, the reast of these things you mention are just as sure as Homer's incident. Of course, the demon delivering the punishment was confusd, declaring that James Coco went crazy after fifteen miniutes.

 

Most of these seem based, loosely, anyways, upon Dante's Inferno, where Hell was pictured as being nine circles, eache one going further down, and getting smaller and more intensely punishing, moving toward the bottom and the center, where Satan stands, eternally chewing up Judas Iscariot.

[Salyan]

Aren't the demons going to be punished too? And Satan? Wonder where the idea came from that they're supposed to be in charge down there...

[Ukulelemike]

Aren't the demons going to be punished too? And Satan? Wonder where the idea came from that they're supposed to be in charge down there...

I believe it is essentially Catholic-driven ideas-that the Sevil is ruling Hell with the demons, and they punish humans. According to the Bible, though, Hell was prepared as a place of everlasting punishment for Satan and his devils-when man fel to sin, it became the place of punishment for him, as well.

 

I think Dante really pushed the idea, made it more popular, with his Divine Comedy, the Inferno, where the demons are seen administering the punishments; much of what many people believe about hell is driven directly from that.

 

I read a modernized version of Dante's book, just called 'Inferno', which follows a  science fiction writer who dies and finds himself in the outer rim of Hell, referred to there as Purgatory-he meets someone who says he can help him through Hell to get to heaven, but he had to go through all nine circles and climb Satan to get there. And all the time, it turns out the one leading him is Benito Mussolini, who is working off the sins of his life. An entertaining book, but absolutely filled with what is clearly man's idea of the afterlife, expecially the idea that we can work our way out eventually.

 

All this being said, back to the OP, the Bible does seem to indicate there will be some sort of levels of punishment-that it will be more tolerable for, Sodom and Gomorrah, because if they had had Jesus there Himself to preach, they might have repented-however in their destruction, they had no such witness, yet Jerusalem in that generation had Jesus, Almighty God Himself, as witness to them, but they refused to turn again to Him, so their punishment would be worse.

[John81]

Yes, the devil and the other fallen angels in hell will be suffering their own punishment of torment, not tormenting others.

 

I don't recall the verses off hand, but I've read some pastors sermons pointing out the reasoning behind the idea of levels of punishment in hell. If such is the case, we have to remember that the "best" conditions in hell, where the "lightest" punishment/torment levels are, would be exceedingly horrible and would differ from those suffering more only be degrees. There is nothing good about hell, despite what the media, liberal Christians and others try to tell us. The "good people" who end up in hell will suffer eternal torment just the same as some mass murderer, even if their suffering differs by some degree.

 

Those who spend eternity with Christ will rejoice and be blessed forever. Those who spend their eternity in hell will know only continual torment and punishment no matter what "level" of hell they are in.

[Salyan]

Just think - even if the lightest degree of Hell were just to be eternally alone in darkness - and that doesn't even cover the burning - that by itself would be torment. Without any physical pain to back it up. And there will be such pain as well. :-(

[John81]

Just think - even if the lightest degree of Hell were just to be eternally alone in darkness - and that doesn't even cover the burning - that by itself would be torment. Without any physical pain to back it up. And there will be such pain as well. :-(

True, and just as heaven is said to be far greater than we can comprehend, we can be sure hell is far worse than we can comprehend as well.