Are there people in hell right now

It just stops. The Hebrew Bible itself assumes that the dead are simply dead—that their body lies in the grave, and there is no consciousness, ever again.

And so, traditional Israelites did not believe in life after death, only death after death. That is what made death so mournful: nothing could make an afterlife existence sweet, since there was no life at all, and thus no family, friends, conversations, food, drink — no communion even with God.

God would forget the person and the person could not even worship. The most one could hope for was a good and particularly long life here and now. But Jews began to change their view over time, although it too never involved imagining a heaven or hell. About two hundred years before Jesus, Jewish thinkers began to believe that there had to be something beyond death—a kind of justice to come. Jews had long believed that God was lord of the entire world and all people, both the living and the dead.

If God loves his people and is sovereign over all the world why do his people experience so much tragedy? This new idea maintained that there are evil forces in the world aligned against God and determined to afflict his people. Even though God is the ultimate ruler over all, he has temporarily relinquished control of this world for some mysterious reason.

But the forces of evil have little time left. God is soon to intervene in earthly affairs to destroy everything and everyone that opposes him and to bring in a new realm for his true followers, a Kingdom of God, a paradise on earth. Most important, this new earthly kingdom will come not only to those alive at the time, but also to those who have died. Indeed, God will breathe life back into the dead, restoring them to an earthly existence.

And God will bring all the dead back to life, not just the righteous. The multitude who had been opposed to God will also be raised, but for a different reason: to see the errors of their ways and be judged. Once they are shocked and filled with regret — but too late — they will permanently be wiped out of existence. This view of the coming resurrection dominated the view of Jewish thought in the days of Jesus.

It was also the view he himself embraced and proclaimed. The end of time is coming soon. God will soon destroy everything and everyone opposed to him and establish a new order on earth. Those who enter this kingdom will enjoy a utopian existence for all time. All others will be annihilated. But Jesus put his own twist on the idea. Put most simply, that involves loving God above all things despite personal hardship, and working diligently for the welfare of others, even when it is exceedingly difficult.

This may be simple, but it is not easy. Since your neighbor is anyone you know, see, or hear about, as in the parable of the Good Samaritan, true love means helping everyone in need, not just those in your preferred social circles. Jesus was concerned principally for the poor, the outcasts, the foreigners, the marginalized, and even the most hated enemies. Few people are. Especially those with good lives and abundant resources. Most people today would be surprised to learn that Jesus believed in a bodily eternal life here on earth, instead of eternal bliss for souls, but even more that he did not believe in hell as a place of eternal torment.

It was where, according to the Old Testament, ancient Israelites practiced child sacrifice to foreign gods. The God of Israel had condemned and forsaken the place. In the ancient world whether Greek, Roman, or Jewish , the worst punishment a person could experience after death was to be denied a decent burial. Jesus developed this view into a repugnant scenario: corpses of those excluded from the kingdom would be unceremoniously tossed into the most desecrated dumping ground on the planet.

Jesus did not say souls would be tortured there. A monster? A mascot? A movie star? Satan is real. The Bible calls Satan a fallen angel.

At first there were only good angels. God gave them a choice to serve him or serve themselves. Some of them rebelled against God and decided to serve themselves. Satan was a leader of this group and he led a large number of angels in a rebellion against God. Satan and the evil angels rejected God, hate him with a passion, and serve themselves. See 2 Peter and Jude 6. As an evil angel, Satan is pretty powerful, but not nearly as powerful as God.

Jesus is proof of that. It turned out just as God said it would. Satan bruised the heal of Jesus, but got his head crushed in the process. The amazing thing is that Jesus crushed all our sins in the process. Like Satan, the bad things we do are real. Yet the cross is also real. And that is where Christ defeated Satan and won real life, real hope, real forgiveness. You ask important questions.

Satan is a formidable enemy Ephesians Satan has been defeated. While the Bible does describe Satan, a fallen angel, as having powers and abilities greater than ours, it does not give us many specifics.

Satan certainly knows our weaknesses and can use that knowledge to his advantage in ways we can only imagine. In your first question you mention our sinful natures. That is an area of our lives that certainly deserves attention. It is so easy for Christians and the televangelists you mentioned to blame Satan for all their sins and troubles.

I sometimes get the impression that people think that locking up Satan somewhere right now would eliminate their struggles with sin. That kind of thinking fails to realize how thoroughly corrupt the sinful nature is. The sinful nature is an ally of Satan.

It is hostile toward God Romans It is the place where evil thoughts originate Matthew It wants nothing to do with God or godliness.

It continually wars against our new self Romans The sinful nature is an enemy that needs our continual attention. At the same time, we build up the new self through the use of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Christians long for the day when they no longer fight against the ungodly trio: the devil, the world and our sinful flesh. That day is when our earthly lives come to an end. Faustus made such a deal with the devil. At the heart of such a concept is some truth and lots of error. The truth part takes Satan seriously. He is powerful, deceptive, and constantly seeking to lead people away from revealed truth of Scripture and saving faith in Jesus Christ. This is their own fault. They really sold their soul to wickedness and forfeited divine blessing.

General word of wisdom: Neither underestimate nor overestimate the power and deceptive nature of the devil. Be alert to his working yet never forget he is already defeated and not an independent agent who enjoys freedom to work evil. And never neglect or underestimate the power and comfort of the gospel of Jesus Christ for ourselves and the world! Revelation chapter 13 speaks of two beasts. Lutheran commentators have seen the first beast representing secular governments that are anti-Christian in nature, being in league with Satan.

How do we recognize these beasts, you wonder? We will recognize anti-Christian governments and the Antichrist by what they say and do. We need to know the Bible so that we can recognize truth and error. And when we recognize error and false teaching, we reject that. One little word can fell him. It is good that your friend is receiving the kind of help you described. Hopefully he is seeing a Christian therapist who can offer biblical guidance.

And hopefully the church he is attending is rock-solid in its teachings, and its pastor can provide counseling as he is able. Satan is not free to do as he pleases. The opening chapters of the book of Job make that clear. With his word God has given us a powerful weapon Ephesians to combat the devil James Continue to point your friend to the Bible so he can replace his feelings with the objective truths that God has revealed. You can remind your friend that what God says is true, regardless of his feelings.

You are certainly doing the right thing by encouraging him to remember the truths of his baptism. Keep praying for your friend. God bless all your efforts to restore the joy of salvation for your friend Psalm They are states of being in which we dwell either in a loving relationship with God or one of separation from the source of all life and joy.

Heaven is not about belonging to the right group or following the correct rituals. There are just as many Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, and Jews who live in love—serving their neighbor and the poor—as there are Christians.

What makes us think that our little minds and hearts could discern the mind and heart of anyone else? That was Plato. Jesus taught the immortality of love. A torture chamber was an unfortunate metaphor to keep people from never loving, trusting, or hoping. I am not sure it ever really worked because you cannot threaten people into love. Foster Herder and Herder: , Hell, No! Now I know that everyone is loved and saved. God loves me and all people and things with an everlasting love. Thank you for your wonderful words of hope and love.