The doctrine of hell is among the most troubling teachings in Christian theology. According to the New Testament, God has prepared a place of eternal fire for the punishment of the wicked.1 This is not merely a metaphor or a temporary state but an eternal conscious torment that was planned before the creation of the world.2 The moral implications are profound: a loving God who creates beings knowing that many will suffer eternal torment, who prepares the place of that torment in advance, and who inflicts infinite punishment for finite transgressions.
Matthew 25 and eternal fire
The most explicit statement about God preparing hell comes from Jesus' teaching on the final judgment in Matthew 25. After describing the separation of the righteous from the unrighteous, Jesus declares what will happen to those condemned:
"Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.'" Matthew 25:41 (English Standard Version)1
The Greek text is unambiguous. The phrase "eternal fire" is "pur to aiōnion" (πῦρ τὸ αἰώνιον), where "aiōnion" means everlasting or without end.3 The fire is described as "prepared" (hētoimasmenon, ἡτοιμασμένον), a perfect passive participle indicating a completed action in the past with ongoing results.4 This fire was not improvised at the moment of judgment but was made ready beforehand, in anticipation of its use.
The passage states that this fire was originally prepared "for the devil and his angels," yet humans are also consigned to it.1 This raises an immediate question: if hell was prepared for the devil before humanity's creation, and if God is omniscient and knew that many humans would end up there, then hell was effectively prepared for humans as well, even if that was not its stated original purpose.5
The judgment concludes with a parallel statement: "And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life."6 The Greek word for "punishment" is "kolasin" (κόλασιν), which refers to penal torment or chastisement.7 The deliberate parallelism between "eternal punishment" and "eternal life" underscores that both states are of equal duration—aiōnion, without end.8
The undying worm and unquenchable fire
The Gospel of Mark provides one of the most vivid descriptions of hell in Jesus' teaching. Warning against sin, Jesus repeatedly uses the phrase describing the damned as going to a place "where their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched."9
"And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into hell, where their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched." Mark 9:47-48 (English Standard Version)9
The word translated "hell" is "Gehenna" (γέεννα), which refers to the Valley of Hinnom outside Jerusalem, a place associated with fire and refuse in Jewish tradition.10 By the time of Jesus, Gehenna had become a common metaphor for the place of final punishment in Jewish apocalyptic literature.11
The imagery of the undying worm and unquenchable fire comes from Isaiah 66:24, where the prophet describes the fate of those who rebelled against God: "And they shall go out and look on the dead bodies of the men who have rebelled against me. For their worm shall not die, their fire shall not be quenched, and they shall be an abhorrence to all flesh."12 Jesus adopts this imagery but applies it to eternal conscious punishment rather than the destruction of corpses.13
The phrase "worm does not die" (ho skōlēx autōn ou teleuta, ὁ σκώληξ αὐτῶν οὐ τελευτᾷ) suggests ongoing decay and corruption that never reaches completion.14 The fire that "is not quenched" (to pur ou sbennutai, τὸ πῦρ οὐ σβέννυται) is a fire that cannot be extinguished, that continues burning perpetually.15 Together, these images depict a state of permanent suffering and destruction that never achieves finality.
The lake of fire in Revelation
The Book of Revelation provides the fullest apocalyptic description of eternal punishment in the New Testament. After describing the final judgment, John writes:
"And the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever." Revelation 20:10 (English Standard Version)16
The lake of fire (limnēn tou puros, λίμνην τοῦ πυρός) is described with sulfur (theiou, θείου), evoking the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah.17 The torment is continuous, "day and night," and its duration is expressed by the phrase "eis tous aiōnas tōn aiōnōn" (εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων), literally "unto the ages of ages," the strongest possible expression of eternality in Greek.18
This punishment is not reserved only for spiritual beings. After describing the judgment of the dead, Revelation states:
"Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire." Revelation 20:14-15 (English Standard Version)19
Those whose names are not in the book of life are thrown into the same lake of fire prepared for the devil, experiencing the "second death."19 Earlier in Revelation, this second death is described as a state where "the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever, and they have no rest, day or night."20 The language could scarcely be clearer: this is eternal conscious torment without respite.
New Testament passages on eternal punishment1, 6, 9, 16, 19, 20, 21
| Passage | Description | Duration |
|---|---|---|
| Matthew 25:41 | Eternal fire prepared for the devil | Eternal (aiōnion) |
| Matthew 25:46 | Eternal punishment | Eternal (aiōnion) |
| Mark 9:43-48 | Gehenna, where worm does not die | Unquenchable |
| Revelation 14:11 | Smoke of torment goes up forever | Forever and ever |
| Revelation 20:10 | Lake of fire and sulfur | Day and night forever and ever |
| 2 Thessalonians 1:9 | Eternal destruction away from God | Eternal (aiōnion) |
| Jude 7 | Punishment of eternal fire | Eternal (aiōnios) |
The development of hell
The concept of hell as eternal conscious torment is largely absent from the Hebrew Bible and developed gradually through Second Temple Judaism before becoming central to Christian theology.22
The Hebrew Bible contains no clear doctrine of hell. Sheol, the Hebrew term usually translated as "grave" or "underworld," is portrayed as a shadowy realm of the dead, not a place of punishment.23 Both the righteous and the wicked go to Sheol, which is described as a place of darkness and silence where there is no activity or consciousness.24 As the Psalmist writes, "The dead do not praise the LORD, nor do any who go down into silence."25
The few passages in the Hebrew Bible that might suggest postmortem punishment, such as Isaiah 66:24, describe the disgrace of corpses, not the conscious torment of souls.12 The book of Ecclesiastes states explicitly that "the dead know nothing" and that death is the end of thought and emotion.26
During the Second Temple period (roughly 516 BCE to 70 CE), Jewish apocalyptic literature began developing concepts of postmortem judgment and punishment that would later influence Christianity.27 Books like 1 Enoch describe places of punishment for the wicked, with fire and torment.28 The concept of Gehenna as a place of fiery punishment appears in texts from this period.11 These developments occurred under the influence of Persian Zoroastrianism, which featured elaborate doctrines of afterlife judgment and punishment.29
By the time of Jesus, multiple views on the afterlife coexisted within Judaism. The Sadducees denied any resurrection or afterlife, adhering to the older Hebrew Bible view.30 The Pharisees affirmed resurrection and judgment, beliefs Jesus shared.31 The Essenes, known from the Dead Sea Scrolls, held dualistic beliefs about the eternal fate of souls.32
Christianity adopted and expanded the apocalyptic Jewish view, making eternal punishment central to its message. The New Testament writers, particularly in the Synoptic Gospels and Revelation, elaborate the doctrine of hell in ways that go beyond Jewish sources, emphasizing its eternality and the conscious suffering involved.13
Moral problems with eternal punishment
The doctrine of eternal conscious torment raises severe moral objections that have troubled theologians throughout Christian history.33
The problem of proportionality
Finite sins cannot justly merit infinite punishment. A human lifetime, even one filled with the worst crimes imaginable, is temporally limited. No finite quantity of wrongdoing can equal an infinite quantity of punishment.34 As the philosopher Bertrand Russell observed, "The infliction of cruelty with a good conscience is a delight to moralists. That is why they invented Hell."35
Consider a person who lives 80 years and commits terrible crimes for half that time—40 years of active evil. Eternal punishment means that after a trillion years of torment, the punishment is no closer to being complete than when it began. After a trillion trillion years, still no progress. The punishment never fits the crime because it never ends, while the crime was necessarily finite.36
Many people consigned to hell, according to Christian teaching, are not even guilty of what we would recognize as serious crimes. The Gospel of John states that unbelief itself merits condemnation: "Whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God."37 Eternal torment for intellectual doubt or for being born in the wrong culture with the wrong religious framework seems grotesquely disproportionate.38
The problem of premeditation
Matthew 25:41 states that eternal fire was "prepared" before any humans had sinned.1 This means God created a torture chamber before creating the beings who would be tortured in it. If God is omniscient, as traditional theology affirms, then God knew before creating the world exactly which humans would end up in hell.39
This creates a disturbing picture: God creates billions of people knowing that many will suffer eternal conscious torment, prepares the place of their torment in advance, and then proceeds with creation anyway. The premeditation transforms hell from a reluctant necessity into an intentional feature of God's plan.40
Some theologians argue that hell is the natural consequence of rejecting God rather than a punishment God imposes.41 But this defense fails when confronted with Matthew 25:41. God prepared the fire. God assigns people to it. God sustains its burning forever. This is not a natural consequence but an active, ongoing punishment administered by God.13
The problem of love
Christian theology declares that "God is love."42 Yet love, as we understand it, is incompatible with eternally tormenting those we love. A human parent who eternally tortured their child for any reason would be considered a moral monster. The standard Christian response is that God's love is different from human love, that divine justice requires hell, that the damned choose their fate freely.43
But these responses fail to address the fundamental incompatibility. If God loves all people and desires that none perish but that all come to repentance, as 2 Peter 3:9 states, then why does an omnipotent being allow eternal damnation at all?44 An all-powerful God who truly desired universal salvation could achieve it. The existence of eternal hell demonstrates either that God lacks the power to save everyone (contradicting omnipotence) or lacks the desire to do so (contradicting perfect love).45
The problem of purpose
Punishment in human justice systems serves purposes: deterrence, rehabilitation, protection of society, or retribution within proportionate limits.46 Eternal punishment in hell serves none of these purposes effectively.
It cannot rehabilitate, because it never ends and offers no possibility of reform. It cannot protect, because the damned are already separated from the redeemed and pose no ongoing threat. It cannot deter, because those in heaven will no longer be tempted to sin, and those in hell have no further choices to make. It can serve only retribution, but retribution without limit becomes pointless cruelty—suffering for its own sake, with no constructive goal.47
Moreover, if the purpose is retribution, eternal torment suggests that God's desire for vengeance is infinite and never satisfied. The punishment never balances the scales because it never ends. This portrays God as eternally vindictive, taking satisfaction in the endless suffering of billions of conscious beings.48
Alternative interpretations
Recognizing these moral difficulties, some Christians have developed alternative interpretations of hell that attempt to mitigate its harshness while remaining within broadly Christian frameworks.49
Annihilationism
Annihilationists argue that the wicked are destroyed rather than tormented forever, ceasing to exist after judgment.50 They point to biblical language of "destruction" and "perishing," arguing that the fire of hell consumes the damned rather than tormenting them eternally.51
This view has the advantage of eliminating eternal conscious torment while maintaining divine judgment. However, it faces difficulties with the explicit New Testament language about eternal punishment. The phrase "forever and ever" in Revelation 20:10 is hard to reconcile with annihilation.16 The parallel between "eternal life" and "eternal punishment" in Matthew 25:46 suggests both are of the same duration.6 If the punishment is temporary (ending in annihilation), why isn't the life also temporary?8
Universalism
Christian universalists believe that eventually all people will be reconciled to God, that hell's punishments are remedial and temporary, leading ultimately to universal salvation.52 They appeal to passages suggesting God's desire to save all people and the restoration of all things.53
Universalism solves the moral problems by denying that anyone suffers eternally. However, it contradicts the plain meaning of numerous New Testament texts that describe eternal punishment, including Jesus' own teachings.54 The language of eternal fire, unquenchable flame, and punishment that endures "forever and ever" is difficult to interpret as temporary corrective discipline.13
Metaphorical interpretation
Some argue that hell's fire is metaphorical, representing separation from God rather than literal flames.55 While this may address the specific horror of burning, it does not resolve the fundamental problem. Eternal conscious separation from God, if experienced as suffering, is still eternal conscious torment. Calling it "separation" rather than "fire" does not make it morally acceptable if it is eternal and if God both prepared it and assigns people to it.56
Moreover, the New Testament describes hell using multiple metaphors—fire, darkness, weeping, gnashing of teeth—suggesting these images point to a reality of suffering rather than being purely symbolic substitutes for a non-suffering state.57
Implications for understanding God
The doctrine of eternal punishment reveals a God who prepared a place of unending torment before creating humanity, who knows in advance which humans will be consigned there, and who proceeds with creation and judgment anyway. This God sentences finite beings to infinite suffering for finite sins. This God maintains the torment forever, ensuring that the fire is never quenched and the suffering never ends.
For many people, including many who were raised in Christian traditions, this doctrine is what drives them away from belief in the biblical God. As the theologian David Bentley Hart writes, "If Christianity taken as a whole is indeed committed to the concept of an eternal hell... then we Christians have done little more than invent a god even more terrible than the cruelest tyrants of human history, one whose retributive cruelty is infinite."58
Defenders of the doctrine argue that human moral intuitions are inadequate to judge God, that divine justice operates on principles beyond our understanding, and that the glory of God requires the punishment of the wicked.59 But these defenses require abandoning the claim that God is good in any sense that humans can recognize as good. If "love" and "justice" mean something completely different when applied to God than when applied to anyone else, then the words lose their meaning.60
The New Testament is unambiguous that God prepared eternal fire as punishment and that many will suffer in it forever. Whether this doctrine is true is a question each person must decide. What cannot be denied is that the God it portrays is one who created, prepared, and administers eternal conscious torment—and does so by design, not accident.