mynameisstephen said:
There are three words translated "hell" in Scripture:
Gehenna (Greek): The place of punishment (Matthew 5:22,29; 10:28; and James 3:6)
Actually, Gehenna referred to a real place on earth- the local city dump, where there were piles of burning refuse and carcasses. As an actual place, it is a metaphor for the awfulness of being separated from God.
If they are correct, then a man like Adolph Hitler, who was responsible for the deaths of millions, is being "punished" merely with eternal sleep. His fate is simply to return to the non-existent state he was in before he was born, where he doesn’t even know that he is being punished.
This depends on how horrid you perceive being consciously separated from God to be. Physical torment is irrelevent from the ultimate pain of the soul recognizing his very real separation from the love of God. Here on earth we have temporary distractions to alleviate this suffering if we don't experience God- other people, our work, our stuff. After we die, we're alone. We're suddenly our deepest self, and all our actions are laid bare, and we are without occupation, status, or wealth. All we have is ourselves and God, and if we haven't prepared ourselves to be with God, we will not recognize Him. We will be utterly alone and afraid, because humans were created to return to God and also to be social creatures. It is the ultimate torment to be consciously alone and unable to be with God.
Maybe you see this as getting off easy, but I don't. If I ask you, as a believer, what is the best thing about your life? Would you say your physical health, or not being in danger of physical harm? My guess is that you'd say the best thing about your life, your greatest blessing, is God. Conversely, the worst torment is being without Him.
I don't believe this state is permanent, however, nor do I think that these unfortunate souls are winked out of existence. I think they will continue in their pain and misery until they turn toward God and put in the effort to prepare themselves to live in Him.
He said that if your hand, foot, or eye causes you to sin, it would be better to remove it than to "go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched: where their worm dies not, and the fire is not quenched" (Mark 9:43–48).
The saying to remove your hand/eye that causes sin are common Aramaic expressions. To remove the "hand that causes you to sin" is an idiomatic expression that means "Don't steal." And the "eye that causes you to sin" means "Don't covet." These expressions are still used by people in that area today.
I think that fire is appropriately a symbol of the torment of hell, because fire is also refining, purifying. In being in the state of conscious separation from God, utterly alone, one is in an anguished state that has the capacity to cause a purification of one's soul and a desire to turn toward God. I think this state continues until one comes to God, but I believe God is love and that any who come to Him at any time will be saved. I think our consciousness and capacity for choice continue after this life. And for those that think this is "too easy" for those that don't come to God in this life, I disagree. A life without connection to God is a life of spiritual pain, and I don't think we can overestimate the deep pain that the soul feels until s/he returns to God.