Immortality or Resurrection by William West (philippa perry book txt) π
Excerpt from the book:
Is "The Wages Of Sin Death"
Or "Eternal Life With Torment In Hell"
An Immortal Soul and the Doctrine of Hell
Or "Eternal Life With Torment In Hell"
An Immortal Soul and the Doctrine of Hell
Read free book Β«Immortality or Resurrection by William West (philippa perry book txt) πΒ» - read online or download for free at americanlibrarybooks.com
Download in Format:
- Author: William West
Read book online Β«Immortality or Resurrection by William West (philippa perry book txt) πΒ». Author - William West
IS ALIVE IN IT AND DEAD PEOPLE THAT ARE NOT IN HELL BEING EATEN BY BIRDS.
The lake of fire is used only in the Book of Revelation and is a symbolic picture taken from this earth. Literal fire will not exist after the end of this age [1 Peter 3]. Anything cast into a literal lake of fire would be totally destroyed, not tormented forever. It is a symbol of total destruction, not of eternal torment, not something that will exist after the destruction of the earth. To have their Hell in this passage, they must mix symbols and literal together in the same passage and only they can tell us what part is literal, and even then they cannot find anything that is close to the Hell that is preached today in it.
Homer Hailey "Revelation, An Introduction And Commentary" Chapter 19, Baker Book House. "The beast is the great heathen world power of that day, the Roman Empire" Page 387. Then on page 388 he says "These 'two were cast alive into the lake of fire that burns with brimstone,' where the harlot had already met her fate, being 'utterly burns with fire'...Because of the expression, 'cast alive,' some writers have concluded that these two are literally individuals who will appear in person before the end of time. But this does not necessarily follow; for 'being cast alive into the lake' indicates that up to the actual time when they were cast into the lake of brimstone and WERE BROUGHT TO FINAL DESTRUCTION by His mighty power and judgment, these two personified forces of political and spiritual power were actively fighting against the Lamb. The Roman Empire and emperor worship backed by the imperial power were now BROUGHT TO A FINAL AND COMPLETE END, never to rise again" On the same page he says "The Roman power and the paganism which it supported ARE NOW DESTROYED FOREVER. The vision of Daniel is fulfilled [Daniel 7:11], AND IN THIS DEFEAT AND DESTRUCTION IS REVEALED THE DESTINY OF ALL SUCH POWERS THAT SHOULD EVER ARISE TO FIGHT AGAINST GOD AND HIS KINGDOM. This is God's guarantee to victory to the saints who lived then and to all who would come after them, even until the end of time. 'And all the birds were filled with their flesh' completes the symbolism of verses 17-18. Not a vestige of the anti-Christian forces were left; THE DESTRUCTION WAS COMPLETE." And on page 398, "The devil, man's great deceiver from the beginning, now reaches his final doom and eternal end. First, he was cast down to the earth [12:9], then into the pit of the abyss [20:3], and now into the lake of fire and brimstone, his ultimate end." When he gets to Revelation 20:11 he says, "THUS FAR IN THE BOOK SEVERAL SCENES OF JUDGMENT HAVE BEEN DESCRIBED, BUT NONE DEPICTED THE FINAL JUDGMENT" Page 399
Foy E. Wallace, Jr. says the lake of fire is a figurative description of complete destruction and annihilation of all persecuting powers opposed to the church [Page 434], and then of the complete destruction and annihilation of Satan, and all who are not in the book of life. "The ones who had part in it [the lake of fire] came to the same end as the persecuting beast-a figurative description of complete destruction and annihilation of all persecuting powers opposed to the church whose opposition was crushed." Wallace said, "ONE OF THESE PASSAGES CANNOT BE CONSIDERED MORE OR LESS LITERAL THAN THE OTHER-BOTH WERE FIGURATIVE EXPRESSIONS WHICH SIGNIFIED THE UTTER END OF THE PERSECUTING AUTHORITIES OF HEATHENISM AGAINST CHRISTIANITY. The phrase cast alive into a lake of fire was equivalent to burned alive, AND IT SYMBOLIZED COMPLETE DESTRUCTION. The signal triumph of the cause of truth represented by the burning alive of the beast and the false prophet did not symbolize the destruction to the Roman Empire, but of the persecutions waged by the emperors, which the beasts represented. THE LAKE OF FIRE WAS NOT LITERAL ANY MORE THAN THE BEAST WAS LITERAL. NEITHER WAS SUBJECT TO LITERAL APPLICATION, BOTH WERE FIGURATIVE. THE BEAST SYMBOLIZED THE PERSECUTING POWER OF THE ROMAN EMPEROR: AND CASTING HIM INTO A LAKE OF FIRE SIGNIFIED THE COMPLETE DEFEAT OF THE HEATHEN POWER HE REPRESENTED IN THE WAR AGAINST THE CHURCH " The Book Of Revelation, Page 397.
Of the final judgment in Revelation 20:14-15, Hailey says, "'He that overcomes shall not be hurt of the second death' [2:11]; those that overcome had part in the first resurrection [20:6]. Thus far the harlot, the beast, the false prophet, Satan, and now death and Hades, HAVE BEEN BROUGHT TO THEIR END IN THE LAKE OF FIRE...There remains only one group to be dealt with: those not found written in the book of life...Of this second death, Alford writes, 'As there is a second higher life, so there is also a second and deeper death. And as after that life there is no more death, so after that death there is no more life'" Page 403.
Death and hades are nonliving things. They have no life, thoughts, or feelings. They can be destroyed and "brought to a final and complete end," but it would not be possible to torment them. They can no more be tormented than a rock, but both will come to an end. Both will be made not to exist.
A. M. Ogden said the lake of fire in Revelation 19:20 is symbolic of God's fire of destruction coming upon the Roman Empire and its pagan religions that were the persecutor of the church. Page 354.
Both Wallace and Arthur Ogden said, "The holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband" [Revelation 21:2] is the kingdom of God, the church of Christ; and not a vision of Heaven; but is a vision of the church, the bride of Christ.
B. W. Johnson on Revelation 19:20 said, "Here the false prophet, both symbols of the same power, is cast in the lake of fire. THE SYMBOL INDICATES UTTER DESTRUCTION. WHAT IS CAST INTO THIS LAKE IS SEEN NO MORE."
Frank Walton said it is not a literal lake of fire. It symbolizes the total defeat of heathen powers that war against the church. Florida College Lectures 1994, Page 176.
Jim McGuiggan in his commentary on Revelation 19:20 said he believes the lake of fire stands for the utter defeat of the enemy.
These commentaries are some of the best, if not the best, and they all say the lake of fire is symbolic of destruction or death, not of eternal life in torment. If Revelation 21 is a symbolic picture of the church on earth as the bride of Christ, or if it is a symbolic picture of the church in Heaven, in either case the lake of fire is symbolic and not a real place. John clearly says in Revelation 21:8 that it is symbolic of the second death. Many who believe in Hell are forced to admit that in Revelation 19:20 the lake of fire is symbolic, but insist the same lake of fire in chapters 20 and 21 is a real literal lake of fire.
"FALSE PROPHET" IN HELL BEFORE THE JUDGMENT: On page 169, Peterson says the "false prophet" [Revelation 19:20] are thrown alive into it and are still there a thousand years later. Then he says Revelation 20:14 speaks of all human standing before God at the Last Judgment. By making symbols literal, he changed nations [false prophets] into people and puts people into Hell before they are judged at the Judgment Day.
"DEVOURED" not "TORMENTED" Even if they make the symbolical language literal, it would teach God would destroy His enemies, not torment them. "And fire came down out of heaven, and devoured them" Revelation 20:9; the Bible language does not suit today's teaching of fire that eternality burns but never devours, fire that never consumes.
[2] LAKE OF FIRE: Second time it is used. Revelation 20:10 The devil is cast in with the beast and the false prophet. Nothing of the physical realm could live in a lake of fire. It is a symbolic picture of destruction, not of torment. Just as any living thing of the earthly realm we know, if it were cast into a lake of fire it would be totally destroyed, a symbolic picture of the devil being cast into it would be a picture to us of his total destruction, for if the devil were a flesh and blood being, he would be totally destroyed by a literal lake of fire. The devil, the beast, false prophet, death, the grave, and all that are not in the book of life will be totally destroyed. After the resurrection and judgment, no one will be of the physical realm and could not be tormented by a literal lake of fire that is of the physical realm. A literal lake of fire could not torment a spiritual being and could have no effective on Satan or a "soul" as the word is used today. The devil that is a being not of the earthly realm, a being of the spiritual realm, is cast to the lake of fire along with two earthly things, the beast, and the false prophet. It is a symbolic picture of their destruction, not a literal casting of beings of two realms, both earthly and spiritual, into a literal lake of fire, which is of this earthly realm. Things of the earthly and spiritual realms can be mixed in symbolic pictures, but not in reality. If the lake of fire were of the earthly realm Satan could not be cast into it, and if it were of the spiritual realm, the beast and the false prophet could not be cast into it. In Revelation 20:15 and 21:8, John interpreted the figure or symbol he used and said the symbolic picture of the lake of fire is in reality the second death. THE LAKE OF FIRE WILL HAVE THE SAME EFFECT ON SATAN THAT IT WILL HAVE ON DEATH. "AND DEATH SHALL BE NO MORE" [Revelation 21:4]. If it is the end of death, then it is the end of Satan. It is a symbolic picture of the end of both.
SATAN'S MINISTERS: The ministers of Satan, like Satan, shall have an end. "WHOSE END shall be according to their works" [2 Corinthians 11:15].
REVELATION 20:10 IS A SYMBOLIC PICTURE OF THE END OF SATAN, OF HIS BEING ABOLISHED (DESTROYED), NOT TORMENTED FOREVER. Hebrews 2:14 IS A LITERAL STATEMENT OF HIS END. "That through death he might BRING TO NOUGHT (nothing) him that has the power of death, that is, the devil" [American Standard Version]. God made the world and all that is in it out of nothing. It will go back to nothing. Satan also will be brought to nothing. "So that through death he might DESTROY the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil" [New Revised Standard Version]. In Hebrews 2:14 "naught" [nothing] is translated from "katargeo" which is translated ABOLISHED, VANISH AWAY, BRING TO NAUGHT, DO AWAY WITH, DESTROY, BE DONE WAY, AND CEASED.
β’ "That through death he might BRING TO NAUGHT [katargeo] him that had the power of death, that is, the devil" [Hebrews 2:14]. "That through death he might DESTROY [katargeo] him" King James Version.
β’ Death "SHALL BE ABOLISHED [katargeo]" [1 Corinthians 15:26].
β’ Knowledge "SHALL VANISH AWAY [katargeo]"
The lake of fire is used only in the Book of Revelation and is a symbolic picture taken from this earth. Literal fire will not exist after the end of this age [1 Peter 3]. Anything cast into a literal lake of fire would be totally destroyed, not tormented forever. It is a symbol of total destruction, not of eternal torment, not something that will exist after the destruction of the earth. To have their Hell in this passage, they must mix symbols and literal together in the same passage and only they can tell us what part is literal, and even then they cannot find anything that is close to the Hell that is preached today in it.
Homer Hailey "Revelation, An Introduction And Commentary" Chapter 19, Baker Book House. "The beast is the great heathen world power of that day, the Roman Empire" Page 387. Then on page 388 he says "These 'two were cast alive into the lake of fire that burns with brimstone,' where the harlot had already met her fate, being 'utterly burns with fire'...Because of the expression, 'cast alive,' some writers have concluded that these two are literally individuals who will appear in person before the end of time. But this does not necessarily follow; for 'being cast alive into the lake' indicates that up to the actual time when they were cast into the lake of brimstone and WERE BROUGHT TO FINAL DESTRUCTION by His mighty power and judgment, these two personified forces of political and spiritual power were actively fighting against the Lamb. The Roman Empire and emperor worship backed by the imperial power were now BROUGHT TO A FINAL AND COMPLETE END, never to rise again" On the same page he says "The Roman power and the paganism which it supported ARE NOW DESTROYED FOREVER. The vision of Daniel is fulfilled [Daniel 7:11], AND IN THIS DEFEAT AND DESTRUCTION IS REVEALED THE DESTINY OF ALL SUCH POWERS THAT SHOULD EVER ARISE TO FIGHT AGAINST GOD AND HIS KINGDOM. This is God's guarantee to victory to the saints who lived then and to all who would come after them, even until the end of time. 'And all the birds were filled with their flesh' completes the symbolism of verses 17-18. Not a vestige of the anti-Christian forces were left; THE DESTRUCTION WAS COMPLETE." And on page 398, "The devil, man's great deceiver from the beginning, now reaches his final doom and eternal end. First, he was cast down to the earth [12:9], then into the pit of the abyss [20:3], and now into the lake of fire and brimstone, his ultimate end." When he gets to Revelation 20:11 he says, "THUS FAR IN THE BOOK SEVERAL SCENES OF JUDGMENT HAVE BEEN DESCRIBED, BUT NONE DEPICTED THE FINAL JUDGMENT" Page 399
Foy E. Wallace, Jr. says the lake of fire is a figurative description of complete destruction and annihilation of all persecuting powers opposed to the church [Page 434], and then of the complete destruction and annihilation of Satan, and all who are not in the book of life. "The ones who had part in it [the lake of fire] came to the same end as the persecuting beast-a figurative description of complete destruction and annihilation of all persecuting powers opposed to the church whose opposition was crushed." Wallace said, "ONE OF THESE PASSAGES CANNOT BE CONSIDERED MORE OR LESS LITERAL THAN THE OTHER-BOTH WERE FIGURATIVE EXPRESSIONS WHICH SIGNIFIED THE UTTER END OF THE PERSECUTING AUTHORITIES OF HEATHENISM AGAINST CHRISTIANITY. The phrase cast alive into a lake of fire was equivalent to burned alive, AND IT SYMBOLIZED COMPLETE DESTRUCTION. The signal triumph of the cause of truth represented by the burning alive of the beast and the false prophet did not symbolize the destruction to the Roman Empire, but of the persecutions waged by the emperors, which the beasts represented. THE LAKE OF FIRE WAS NOT LITERAL ANY MORE THAN THE BEAST WAS LITERAL. NEITHER WAS SUBJECT TO LITERAL APPLICATION, BOTH WERE FIGURATIVE. THE BEAST SYMBOLIZED THE PERSECUTING POWER OF THE ROMAN EMPEROR: AND CASTING HIM INTO A LAKE OF FIRE SIGNIFIED THE COMPLETE DEFEAT OF THE HEATHEN POWER HE REPRESENTED IN THE WAR AGAINST THE CHURCH " The Book Of Revelation, Page 397.
Of the final judgment in Revelation 20:14-15, Hailey says, "'He that overcomes shall not be hurt of the second death' [2:11]; those that overcome had part in the first resurrection [20:6]. Thus far the harlot, the beast, the false prophet, Satan, and now death and Hades, HAVE BEEN BROUGHT TO THEIR END IN THE LAKE OF FIRE...There remains only one group to be dealt with: those not found written in the book of life...Of this second death, Alford writes, 'As there is a second higher life, so there is also a second and deeper death. And as after that life there is no more death, so after that death there is no more life'" Page 403.
Death and hades are nonliving things. They have no life, thoughts, or feelings. They can be destroyed and "brought to a final and complete end," but it would not be possible to torment them. They can no more be tormented than a rock, but both will come to an end. Both will be made not to exist.
A. M. Ogden said the lake of fire in Revelation 19:20 is symbolic of God's fire of destruction coming upon the Roman Empire and its pagan religions that were the persecutor of the church. Page 354.
Both Wallace and Arthur Ogden said, "The holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband" [Revelation 21:2] is the kingdom of God, the church of Christ; and not a vision of Heaven; but is a vision of the church, the bride of Christ.
B. W. Johnson on Revelation 19:20 said, "Here the false prophet, both symbols of the same power, is cast in the lake of fire. THE SYMBOL INDICATES UTTER DESTRUCTION. WHAT IS CAST INTO THIS LAKE IS SEEN NO MORE."
Frank Walton said it is not a literal lake of fire. It symbolizes the total defeat of heathen powers that war against the church. Florida College Lectures 1994, Page 176.
Jim McGuiggan in his commentary on Revelation 19:20 said he believes the lake of fire stands for the utter defeat of the enemy.
These commentaries are some of the best, if not the best, and they all say the lake of fire is symbolic of destruction or death, not of eternal life in torment. If Revelation 21 is a symbolic picture of the church on earth as the bride of Christ, or if it is a symbolic picture of the church in Heaven, in either case the lake of fire is symbolic and not a real place. John clearly says in Revelation 21:8 that it is symbolic of the second death. Many who believe in Hell are forced to admit that in Revelation 19:20 the lake of fire is symbolic, but insist the same lake of fire in chapters 20 and 21 is a real literal lake of fire.
"FALSE PROPHET" IN HELL BEFORE THE JUDGMENT: On page 169, Peterson says the "false prophet" [Revelation 19:20] are thrown alive into it and are still there a thousand years later. Then he says Revelation 20:14 speaks of all human standing before God at the Last Judgment. By making symbols literal, he changed nations [false prophets] into people and puts people into Hell before they are judged at the Judgment Day.
"DEVOURED" not "TORMENTED" Even if they make the symbolical language literal, it would teach God would destroy His enemies, not torment them. "And fire came down out of heaven, and devoured them" Revelation 20:9; the Bible language does not suit today's teaching of fire that eternality burns but never devours, fire that never consumes.
[2] LAKE OF FIRE: Second time it is used. Revelation 20:10 The devil is cast in with the beast and the false prophet. Nothing of the physical realm could live in a lake of fire. It is a symbolic picture of destruction, not of torment. Just as any living thing of the earthly realm we know, if it were cast into a lake of fire it would be totally destroyed, a symbolic picture of the devil being cast into it would be a picture to us of his total destruction, for if the devil were a flesh and blood being, he would be totally destroyed by a literal lake of fire. The devil, the beast, false prophet, death, the grave, and all that are not in the book of life will be totally destroyed. After the resurrection and judgment, no one will be of the physical realm and could not be tormented by a literal lake of fire that is of the physical realm. A literal lake of fire could not torment a spiritual being and could have no effective on Satan or a "soul" as the word is used today. The devil that is a being not of the earthly realm, a being of the spiritual realm, is cast to the lake of fire along with two earthly things, the beast, and the false prophet. It is a symbolic picture of their destruction, not a literal casting of beings of two realms, both earthly and spiritual, into a literal lake of fire, which is of this earthly realm. Things of the earthly and spiritual realms can be mixed in symbolic pictures, but not in reality. If the lake of fire were of the earthly realm Satan could not be cast into it, and if it were of the spiritual realm, the beast and the false prophet could not be cast into it. In Revelation 20:15 and 21:8, John interpreted the figure or symbol he used and said the symbolic picture of the lake of fire is in reality the second death. THE LAKE OF FIRE WILL HAVE THE SAME EFFECT ON SATAN THAT IT WILL HAVE ON DEATH. "AND DEATH SHALL BE NO MORE" [Revelation 21:4]. If it is the end of death, then it is the end of Satan. It is a symbolic picture of the end of both.
SATAN'S MINISTERS: The ministers of Satan, like Satan, shall have an end. "WHOSE END shall be according to their works" [2 Corinthians 11:15].
REVELATION 20:10 IS A SYMBOLIC PICTURE OF THE END OF SATAN, OF HIS BEING ABOLISHED (DESTROYED), NOT TORMENTED FOREVER. Hebrews 2:14 IS A LITERAL STATEMENT OF HIS END. "That through death he might BRING TO NOUGHT (nothing) him that has the power of death, that is, the devil" [American Standard Version]. God made the world and all that is in it out of nothing. It will go back to nothing. Satan also will be brought to nothing. "So that through death he might DESTROY the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil" [New Revised Standard Version]. In Hebrews 2:14 "naught" [nothing] is translated from "katargeo" which is translated ABOLISHED, VANISH AWAY, BRING TO NAUGHT, DO AWAY WITH, DESTROY, BE DONE WAY, AND CEASED.
β’ "That through death he might BRING TO NAUGHT [katargeo] him that had the power of death, that is, the devil" [Hebrews 2:14]. "That through death he might DESTROY [katargeo] him" King James Version.
β’ Death "SHALL BE ABOLISHED [katargeo]" [1 Corinthians 15:26].
β’ Knowledge "SHALL VANISH AWAY [katargeo]"
Free e-book: Β«Immortality or Resurrection by William West (philippa perry book txt) πΒ» - read online now on website american library books (americanlibrarybooks.com)
Add a comment
Comments (0)