Is The Pain In Hell Real? - Soul Choice Ministries

Some say that the pain in hell is only a state of mind, and not actual physical pain. Many of the Professors and scholars at our Christian Universities state that the fire’s of hell, the maggots, the location, and the torment are all only metaphorical, and not literal. Some say that hell itself is only a state of mind. The question is, are there any scriptures to support that the pain experienced in hell is metaphorical? I have never seen any. And actually, there are many verses to support actual torment, fire, and literal maggots.

Josh McDowell and Don Stewart say in their book “Reasons” pg. 36, “To interpret figuratively we must find a good reason in the passage to justify doing this . . . The words of a given text should be interpreted literally if possible.”

Let’s look at this very clear true account Jesus gives of the rich man in hell. Luke 16:23-31 says, “And being in torments in Hades, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. Then he cried and said, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.’”

There are two words used here in the account, torments and tormented, and each word used twice. They mean, severe pain, agony, torture, grief, sorrows. The man was clearly in actual pain. Notice also, the rich man had a mouth to speak, eyes to see, he recognized Abraham, and wanted water for his thirst, for he was tormented by the flames. How could all those things be metaphorical as some theologians say? Was Abraham also a metaphorical person? Of course not! The torment he was experiencing was burning and real thirst. The maggots are said by some to also be metaphorical.

Even in the Vine’s pg. 686, the word, “Worm” is used metaphorically by Jesus.”

However, this next commentary says otherwise John MacArthur in his teaching, “Hell—the Furnace of Fire” says, “When a body is put into a grave, worms begin to consume it. Once the body is consumed, the worms die. But in hell, the worms that consume the bodies will never die because the bodies will never be totally consumed. In other words, the Lord was saying that the unrelieved torment of the body will go on forever in hell.”

Job 24:20 says that “the worm shall feed sweetly on him.” The word worm in the Strong’s is the word, “maggot” (see also Job 21:26; Isaiah 66:24).

“The Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary” Re: Isaiah 14:11, “Maggots are spread out as your bed beneath you and worms for your covering.” Maggots are feeding on a person in hell, and that would involve actual pain. Some believe the maggots are only tormenting thoughts. Where do they get that interpretation? The Bible means what it says, and it says actual maggots.

In addition, the fire is literal, thereby resulting in real pain. A metaphorical fire wouldn’t be felt. “Holman Bible Dictionary” pg. 745, 746, Re: Matthew 13, “However, there is strong evidence to indicate that literal language is used and that the Bible does in fact teach literal fire and other sufferings. The parable of the tares in Matthew 13, which discusses eternal judgment, is helpful here. The Son of man, the world, children of the kingdom, the children of the wicked one, the devil, the end of the world, the angels, the gathering—all are literal figures in the parable. It is then natural to conclude that the burning of the tares should also be taken literally.”.

Charles Spurgeon in “Hell Under Fire” pg. 28, “There is a real fire in hell, as truly as you now have a real body; a fire exactly like that which we have on the earth.”

John Wesley, “Essential Works of John Wesley” pg. 761, “Indeed, if there is any fire, it is unquestionably material. For what is immaterial fire? …Either, therefore, we must affirm it to be material, or we deny its existence…”

A W. Pink states, “Personally, we believe that when God says ‘fire’ He means fire. We refuse to blunt the sharp edge of His Word.”

Jesus said in John 15:6, “If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.” This sounds clearly like Jesus meant actual fire; therefore it would include actual pain.

Many want to downplay the horrors of hell in order to either make God a God of only love, or they don’t want to acknowledge that their sins deserve such punishment. Either way they are mistaken. God is a God of love, but He is also a God of justice and judgment.

Psalms 89:14, “Justice and judgment are the habitation of thy throne.”

In addition, our sins are deserving of eternal punishment. We need to realize how holy of a God He is. However, because God is love, He endured the terrible punishment for us on the cross. He took what we deserve. We only have to acknowledge it, repent of our sins, and receive Him as our Lord and Savior. We have to place our trust in Him, and not in ourselves.

But just realize that if you don’t, you will experience real, physical, literal pain in hell for all eternity. You must decide if you believe Jesus was telling the truth, or that He was lying. You decide.