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After an extensive study on Hell and many other chapters of theology related to it, I think I have come to the tentative conclusion that Hell is not Annihilationism or eternal undying conscious torment... it's both. Annihilationists have to skew over the passages that speak of the eternality of Hell; Traditionalists (eternal conscious punishment) have to skew over the TON of passages that refer to the wicked being utterly consummed. Why do we do this when we don't have to fudge over anything? Are they intrinsically imcompatible: complete destruction/death and eternal duration?

No.

I offer the Dream Hypothesis.

C.S. Lewis has some very interesting things to say about Hell (Problem of Pain)...
o When a table is consumed by fire, it is completely destroyed, but there is something that remains...ashes.
o So what happens when a soul is destroyed? Could there not be ashes? And since we are talking about another form of reality than what we now experience...could those ashes not have a form of consciousness? Hmm...

In essence, my hypothesis (and I call it that because my "jury" is still out as to whether its really conclusive) states that "Hell" could possibly be briefly described as the following...

o It is the punitive destination of the unrighteous
o God sends each occupant of hell to hell
o It is a dream-like state of post-mortem consciousness in which each person experiences a unique and solitary reality of unreality
o God can control this unreality as He deems appropriate
§ Some may endure an eternity of a miserable unreality
§ Some may endure an eternity of a neutral unreality
§ Some may endure an eternity of a pleasant unreality
§ The rest will enjoy an eternity of the ultimate reality
o It is the final destination of that person with no possibility of exit.

My hypothesis is based on multiple conclusions I found in my research on the topic, among those:

Hell and Sheol are almost the same thing...
o The only real difference between "Sheol" (i.e., "the first death" and "Hell" ("the second death") is...
o It is the punitive destination of the unrighteous only
o God sends each occupant of hell to hell
o It is the final destination of that person with no possibility of exit.

So what is Sheol??? Call it "soul sleep" if you wish...
o Sheol is the intermediate state between death and the resurrection to which both the righteous and the unrighteous "go" when they die.
o Sheol (i.e., the state of being dead) is described multiple times throughout OT and NT as being "sleep," although modern theologians dismisses it as a mere euphemism.

What is a dream???
o During repose, a person dreams.
o Dreams can be pleasant, neutral, and they can also be quite hideous at times, described as "nightmares" an "night terrors."
o The contents of a dream is determined (according to a modern theory) to hold both message from the unconcsious (as Frued suggests) as well as mere "brain farts" or regurgitations of the events of the day which your brain tries to make sense of (as another theory claims).
o If a person has unpleasant experiences in the state of wakefulness, they are often reflected in "nightmares" and "night terrors," and thus the state of being asleep is unpleasant.

The state of being dead is like a dream-consciousness...
o The experience of Sheol is determined by the events of your life - the righteous have a pleasant experience in Sheol and the unrighteous have an unpleasant experience in Sheol.
o Similar to Freud's dream theory, the experience of those in Sheol can also be affected by communication of God (be it positive or negative) to Sheol's occupants.

After Sheol/Intermediate State - Heaven and Hell...
o The occupants of Sheol are raised at the judgement. Some are sent back to the state of being dead by God, others enter into His eternal kingdom - the ultimate reality - of joy in His presence.
o Those who are sent to the Second Death also experience being destroyed by whatever means God destroys them.
o Even in our life, we think of some deaths as being "preferable" to other deaths, (i.e., being burned alive by fire is about the most unpleasant way to die I could imagine).
o There seem to be degrees of punishment in Hell just as there are degrees of reward in Heaven.
o The deaths of each person who doesn't receive the atoning sacrifice of Christ may each be different degrees of "preferability."
o The experience of dying would be echoed throughout your "dream" in eternity just as experiences of life "echo" in a dream and the experiences of life and of dying "echo" in Sheol.

Now, I have left out pretty much all of my textual "evidence" for my theory for the purpose of brevity. However, I would be happy to elaborate whereever anyone would like for me to.

I'm working toward putting this into an actual paper, but I would really like to get some feedback on this theory before doing so. I have not yet seen a place in scripture that seems to refute this notion. Also, I've shared it with a number of people, and I've not yet heard a criticism of it. That really baffles me! I'm most certain I will receive some criticisms now, however, which is my goal of posting this. An unqualified theology is a pointless one.

I welcome all comments, and I hope to respond to all of them. I would like to take <b> one question at a time,</b> however. I'm scared to start this thread because these things usually end up completely consumming my time, and I'm going to do my best to avoid that while answering questions the best that I can.

Again, my whole hypothesis remains to be a "what if." I don't hold it as doctrine, and probably never will. However, my goal has been to come to an understanding of what Hell and the afterlife *might* be like, expanding the way we think about it, and hopefully bringing some solace to the questions such as "What of the fates of those who have never heard the Gospel?"

So...please tell me what you think!

Many blessings...

hand_carved

P.S. - Greg Boyd (Satan and the Problem of Evil) and C.S. Lewis (The Problem of Pain) have views somewhat similar to mine, primarily in regard to post-mortem consciousness and the integration of "Annihilationism" and "Traditionalism." However, they do not make the connection to the dreaming consciousness.

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Originally posted by lock

Spen-

The story of the rich man and poor Lazarus is straight out of the traditions of the Pharisees! Dr. John Lightfoot found references to each part of this story is the writings of the Talmud. Jesus was using the Pharisees' tradition to show them how they made the word of God useless through their vain traditions. The OT does not teach about Abraham's bosom or torment for the sinner, but the Pharisees taught it. In the Talmud you can find other stories of 2 men, one a sinner and the other who lived righteously, being paired up and having conversations after they had died. If the theology of hell is even partially based on the parable of the rich man and poor lazarus, then it finds its roots in the vain traditions of the pharisees!

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Originally posted by JEE

However we understand the nature of Hell, we still have to deal with the apostolic exhoration that we must serve God in fear and awe, for our God IS a consuming fire.

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Originally posted by spenlake

Thank you Albert.

If I understand you, the parallel construction using the identical Greek words being applied both to the reference of punishment and to the reference of glory of God means that if one limits the punishment to 1,000 years then the glory is also limited to the same 1,000 years. This would mean that the period for God's glory would be finite. Is this what you mean?

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Originally posted by spenlake

Thank you Albert.

I am hoping for eternal life that lasts eternally and not for a temporary eternal life.

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Originally posted by hand_carved

So... no one wants to entertain the thought of "Both/and"? Or did I enter the discussion too late to matter? lol

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Originally posted by lock

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Another brutal parallel given in Matthew 25:46
"And will go off these into punishment eternal (aionion) the but right ones into life eternal (aionion)"

So, spenlake, do you think you will go into "1000 year" life after you die or "eternal" life?

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First of all Matthew 25:46 in context speaks of nations

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Matthew 12:32
"Whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come."

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Thanks for bringing this scripture up Albert! The Greek word for "age" is aion.

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In the Old Testament when the English is translated "forever and ever" the Hebrew is olam va-ed which means for the olam and further. If olam is suppose to be forever, then what can be further? Olam is used for the 40 year period of Saul's reign (1 Chron. 22:10), the period of time a person will be a bondman; i.e. his lifetime (Ex. 21:6), and the amount of time Jonah spent in the whale, i.e. 3 days and 3 nights (Jonah 2:6). Olam was never intended to be a period of endless time, and the Hebrew experts who wrote the Septuagint translated olam with aion.

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The passage never switches from nations to individuals.

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Eternal

(From International Standard Bible Encyclopedia) e-tur'-nal ('olam; aionios, from aion): The word "eternal" is of very varying import, both in the Scriptures and out of them.

1. 'Olam:

In the Old Testament, the Hebrew word 'olam is used for "eternity," sometimes in the sense of unlimited duration, sometimes in the sense of a cycle or an age, and sometimes, in later Hebrew, in the signification of world. The Hebrew 'olam has, for its proper New Testament equivalent, aion, as signifying either time of particular duration, or the unending duration of time in general. Only, the Hebrew term primarily signified unlimited time, and only in a secondary sense represented a definite or specific period. Both the Hebrew and the Greek terms signify the world itself, as it moves in time.

2. Aion, Aionios:

In the New Testament, aion and aionios are often used with the meaning "eternal," in the predominant sense of futurity. The word aion primarily signifies time, in the sense of age or generation; it also comes to denote all that exists under time-conditions; and, finally, superimposed upon the temporal is an ethical use, relative to the world's course. Thus aion may be said to mean the subtle informing spirit of the world or cosmos--the totality of things. By Plato, in his Timaeus, aion was used of the eternal Being, whose counterpart, in the sense-world, is Time. To Aristotle, in speaking of the world, aion is the ultimate principle which, in itself, sums up all existence.. In the New Testament, aion is found combined with prepositions in nearly three score and ten instances, where the idea of unlimited duration appears to be meant. This is the usual method of expressing eternity in the Septuagint also. The aionios of 2 Corinthians 4:18 must be eternal, in a temporal use or reference, else the antithesis would be gone.

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Originally posted by lock

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Even if we didn't know what it meant, the parallelism would allow us to see the equality of the duration of the two statements.

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Albert-
I agree. The duration of eonian life is the same as eonian damnation.

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Originally posted by lock

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Originally posted by Albert Einstein
Aionion being "endless".

You obviously think God's dominion will end and His glory exhaust itself.

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Aionion meaing an indefinite duration of time.

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2. Aion, Aionios:

In the New Testament, aion and aionios are often used with the meaning "eternal," in the predominant sense of futurity. The word aion primarily signifies time, in the sense of age or generation; it also comes to denote all that exists under time-conditions; and, finally, superimposed upon the temporal is an ethical use, relative to the world's course. Thus aion may be said to mean the subtle informing spirit of the world or cosmos--the totality of things. By Plato, in his Timaeus, aion was used of the eternal Being, whose counterpart, in the sense-world, is Time. To Aristotle, in speaking of the world, aion is the ultimate principle which, in itself, sums up all existence.. In the New Testament, aion is found combined with prepositions in nearly three score and ten instances, where the idea of unlimited duration appears to be meant. This is the usual method of expressing eternity in the Septuagint also. The aionios of 2 Corinthians 4:18 must be eternal, in a temporal use or reference, else the antithesis would be gone.

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