Topical Bible: Hell: The Body Suffers In

◄ Hell: The Body Suffers In ►

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Hell, as depicted in the Bible, is a place of eternal punishment and suffering for the wicked. It is often described as a realm where both the soul and the body endure torment. The concept of hell is rooted in the justice of God, serving as the ultimate consequence for sin and rebellion against His divine authority.

Biblical Descriptions of Hell

The Bible provides vivid imagery of hell, emphasizing the physical and spiritual anguish experienced by its inhabitants. In the New Testament, Jesus frequently speaks of hell, using the term "Gehenna" to describe a place of fiery torment. In Matthew 5:29-30 , Jesus warns, "If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell." This passage underscores the severity of hell as a place where the body suffers.

In Mark 9:43-48 , Jesus further elaborates on the nature of hell, stating, "If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life maimed than to have two hands and go into hell, into the unquenchable fire." Here, the imagery of unquenchable fire highlights the perpetual suffering and destruction that characterize hell.

The Physical Aspect of Suffering

The Bible indicates that hell involves physical suffering, as the resurrected bodies of the wicked are subjected to eternal punishment. In Matthew 10:28 , Jesus teaches, "Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Instead, fear the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell." This verse suggests that the body, along with the soul, experiences destruction and torment in hell.

Revelation 14:10-11 provides further insight into the physical torment of hell, describing the fate of those who worship the beast: "He will also drink the wine of God’s wrath, poured full strength into the cup of His anger, and he will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment rises forever and ever." The imagery of fire and sulfur conveys the intense physical suffering endured by the damned.

The Eternal Nature of Hell

The suffering in hell is not only physical but also eternal. The Bible consistently portrays hell as a place of everlasting punishment. In Matthew 25:46 , Jesus declares, "And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life." This parallelism between eternal punishment and eternal life emphasizes the unending nature of the suffering in hell.

The concept of eternal suffering is further reinforced in 2 Thessalonians 1:9 , which states, "They will suffer the penalty of eternal destruction, separated from the presence of the Lord and the glory of His might." The eternal separation from God and His glory is a key aspect of the torment experienced in hell.

Conclusion

The Bible presents hell as a place where the body suffers in unimaginable ways. Through vivid imagery and direct teachings, Scripture underscores the physical and eternal nature of the punishment awaiting the wicked. The doctrine of hell serves as a sobering reminder of the consequences of sin and the justice of God.

Torrey's Topical Textbook

Matthew 5:29
And if your right eye offend you, pluck it out, and cast it from you: for it is profitable for you that one of your members should perish, and not that your whole body should be cast into hell.
Torrey's Topical Textbook

Matthew 10:28
And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.
Torrey's Topical Textbook

Library

Whether Bodily Suffering Necessarily Terminates in the Destruction ...
... it is pained; for certainly that rich man was suffering in hell when he cried,
"I am tormented in this flame." [1496] But as for the body, it suffers no pain ...
/.../augustine/city of god/chapter 3 whether bodily suffering necessarily.htm

Whether Suffrages Profit those who are in Hell?
... remains unchanged, it cannot be that he suffers less punishment ... First, because the
damned in hell are cut off ... remaining punishment or glory of the body does not ...
/.../aquinas/summa theologica/whether suffrages profit those who.htm

Whether the Separated Soul Can Suffer from a Bodily Fire?
... contrary, if the soul sees the fire of hell, it cannot ... 6: Further, if it be said
that the soul suffers from the ... even as now it is held by the body while living ...
/.../aquinas/summa theologica/whether the separated soul can 2.htm

Psalm LXXXVI.
... such sins as might have been the means of drawing him down to the torments of the
nethermost hell....Some one ... Thinkest thou His Body suffers no such thing now? ...
/.../augustine/exposition on the book of psalms/psalm lxxxvi.htm

Fifth Sunday after Trinity Exhortation to the Fruits of Faith.
... itself, either by repentance here or in hell hereafter ... spares neither the neighbor's
honor nor his body and life ... righteousness of God"; that is, it suffers not a ...
/.../luther/epistle sermons vol iii/fifth sunday after trinity exhortation.htm

On the Last Judgment and the Resurrection, Hell, Purgatory, and ...
... than the fire of earth, for it affects both body and soul ... and yet God would not send
him to Hell for so ... The good man who suffers gets all his reward in the next ...
/.../kinkead/baltimore catechism no 4/lesson 37 on the last.htm

Commendation of those who came to Hear after Taking a Meal. ...
... the sun, yet the light thereof suffers eclipse." [1463 ... assume incorruptible bodies;
then also this body of the ... For if there were no hell, neither punishment for ...
/.../chrysostom/on the priesthood/homily x commendation of those.htm

This ChapterShows How, when God Bestows Greater Favours on the ...
... BESTOWS GREATER FAVOURS ON THE SOUL, IT SUFFERS MORE SEVERE ... being also, affecting
both spirit and body, so that ... very light in comparison with the hell she had ...
/.../teresa/the interior castle or the mansions/chapter i this chapter shows.htm

Of Sloth
... As sloth is the way to hell, so is holy diligence the way to heaven ... all his heart
and with all his mind, who labours and suffers with mind and body for the ...
/.../ugolino/the little flowers of st francis of assisi/chapter vi of sloth.htm

Of the Prayer of Recollection which God Generally Gives the Soul ...
... It is no longer distressed by the terror of hell, for though more ... absorbed again,
yet, as I said, unless already feeble, the body suffers neither exhaustion ...
/.../teresa/the interior castle or the mansions/chapter iii of the prayer.htm