Above image by Jeroným Pelikovský from Pixabay

The Black Dolphin

Near the border of Kazakhstan, there is a prison called the Black Dolphin, which holds roughly 700 of Russia’s worst criminals. It has existed since the mid-1700s, initially serving as a jail for serious offenders. In 2000, it began to receive prisoners who were serving life for some of the worst crimes imaginable.

When moving prisoners between locations, they are handcuffed, hooded, and walk bent at the waist with three guards always watching them and directing them to the new location. They, in turn, are followed by another guard with a guard dog. The prisoners are allowed outside 60 minutes a day to pace back and forth in a cage that does not even offer them a view of the sky. Temps in the winter time are often 50 degrees below zero.

The brutal conditions, combined with claims of prisoner abuse, solidify the Black Dolphin’s reputation as one of the most inhumane prisons in the world.

In the Black Dolphin you will find murderers, terrorists, cannibals, serial killers, and child molesters. The prisoners are condemned to life without parole, spending 23 out of 24 hours a day in a small isolated cell.

No one has ever escaped from its maximum security unit for those serving life sentences. It is a life sentence without hope or expectancy of ever being free again. Some might call it Hell on Earth.

Heaven and Hell

Most Americans believe in Heaven and Hell, but more Americans believe in Heaven (73%) than they do in Hell (62%).¹ I considered this for a moment, and then I realized some must believe everyone makes it to Heaven and no one goes to Hell. The 1989 animated movie All Dogs Go To Heaven came to mind; no pun intended for my Jewish readers.

Why would some believe in Heaven but not Hell? Maybe some believe in a god who loves everyone no matter what they do or believe, a god who has everyone hold hands in the hereafter and sing Kumbaya. Not the kind of God I would want.

Without a Hell, everyone is forgiven, regardless of their beliefs or actions. If that were the case, we have a god who lacks justice in his character. But let’s face it, an all-loving god is much more appetizing to the hand-holding Kumbaya singers than a god who demands justice.

Unless of course, there is a way to have justice without Hell. That does sound counterintuitive; how is justice satisfied, something we all innately feel is necessary, if those who deserve a penalty are excused? The way around is to believe Hell is just a temporary holding cell, a belief that many progressive Christians have.

Hell – A Time Out Room

One young blogger puts it this way, “I believe what the ‘fires ‘of Hell should be interpreted as is the possible feeling of the pain that a soul caused on Earth. Once a soul feels the deep amount of pain they caused on Earth, they are able to pass on to Heaven, for lack of a better word.” ²

This is a much more ‘tolerant and inclusive’ view. This view, and many variations of it, are held by progressive Christians everywhere. It certainly makes Christianity more palatable.

She goes on to say Hell is not mentioned in the Old Testament, and only one place in the New Testament, 2 Peter 2:4. She further explains the word used, ‘tartarus,’ means temporary place or restraint.

This is very misleading, even inaccurate. The word ‘Hell’ comes from three Greek words, Gehenna, Hades, and Tartaros, and the King James version mentions it more than any others. More modern translations may use ‘Hell’ or ‘Hades’.

Also consider Luke 16:25-26, a great chasm the rich man could not cross, which does not even hint at something temporary, but rather an impossible breach or gap in time and space that could not be crossed, ever. 

Hell in Scripture

In the Hebrew Scriptures, the word Sheol means place of the dead. The Greek word used in place of sheol is hades, which is a reference to the place of the dead.³

In Hebrew, the word ge-hinnom is used to name a valley near Jerusalem where trash and garbage were burned, an unpleasant place, and where we get the Greek word gehenna for Hell. You will find that in Matthew 5:29 and Matthew 23:33

The lake of fire is mentioned several times in Revelation; also Matthew 25:41, Luke 16:24,  and Mark 9:45-46 is described as a place of burning sulfur, fire, and agony and a final destination for those who have rejected Christ as their savior.⁴

Finally, the word Tartarus used in 2 Peter 2:4 is defined as the deepest abyss of Hades; to incarcerate in eternal torment: — cast down to hell. The name of the subterranean region, doleful and dark, regarded by the ancient Greeks as the abode of the wicked dead, where they suffer punishment for their evil deeds.⁵

In a New York Times opinion piece dated January 10th, 2020, Dr. David Hart, a Christian, believes all will be saved and the doctrine of Hell is incorrect. “It’s entirely absent from St. Paul’s writings; the only eschatological fire he ever mentions brings salvation to those whom it tries (1 Corinthians 3:15). Neither is it found in the other New Testament epistles or in any extant documents (like the Didache) from the earliest post-apostolic period. There are a few terrible, surreal, allegorical images of judgment in the Book of Revelation, but nothing that, properly read, yields a clear doctrine of eternal torment.”⁶This is a distinctly un-Christian view, and the verses Hart uses are taken completely out of context.

Hell Is Real

Despite the claims of many, Hell is mentioned throughout the New Testament: Revelation 21:8, Matthew 10:28, 2 Thessalonians 1:9, Acts 2:27, and Mark 9:43 are just a few. Examples can be found throughout scripture, granted the word for Hell may not be found in the epistles; it is certainly implied from being separated from God.

Many verses in the Old and New Testament discuss and describe Hell. If given a taste of what Hell would be like, no one in their right mind would want to go there and the Black Dolphin would pale in comparassion. And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life. – Matthew 25:46

Thankfully, we have a God who loves, but we also have a God who is just, and scripture is clear on this. Deuteronomy 32:4, Psalm 33:5, 1 John 1:9, Acts 10:34, 2 Thessalonians 1:5-7 Got Questions explains it this way, “Where else would a just God send rebels who stubbornly and steadfastly refused to repent of their evil? Even in our own sometimes corrupt criminal justice system, lawbreakers are sent to prison.”⁷

We are wired for justice. Everyone, without exception, wants justice done to those who wrong or harm us in some way. Sometimes even more so for those who harm our loved ones, especially our children. Do they get to avoid any accountability for their actions in harming innocent children?

I just finished reading a book on human trafficking. One of several stories was of a father who would use his daughter to get to other young teen girls. He would get them drunk and then rape these young girls. This went on for years, destroying the lives of dozens of young girls just for his own selfish pleasure. Is he held accountable?

Feel Good God

The view that everyone makes it to Heaven is one of the many aspects of Moralistic Therapeutic Deism, a belief that God is here to help us feel better about ourselves. God may steer us through tight turns, assist us over the ridges, and help us apply the breaks down the steep hills. He is a helper god; a co-pilot is how many Christians view their relationship with God. John Stonestreet puts it this way, “Moralistic Therapeutic deists believe that God visits their world, not that they live in God’s world. They believe that God serves their agenda, helping them feel good about themselves along the way. God, in their view, demands nothing of them. Rather, He exists to help them in whatever way they wish. Moralistic therapeutic deism is not Christianity at all.⁸

Others believe there is no Heaven, and consequently no Hell. You will find a children’s show called The Amazing World of Gumball on the Cartoon Network. One of their popular songs goes like this:

“Think you’ve got a problem

When your life is full of doubt,

Remember in the scheme of things

Your puny, little, tiny, weeny,

Meager, futile, worthless, teeny,

Boring, foolish, pointless, minimal,

Wretched, gloomy, bleak, and pitiful

Life just does not count!”⁹ This atheist show, made for children, has 4.9 million followers on YouTube. Do you pay any attention to what your children are watching?

Longing for More

C.S. Lewis said, “The most dangerous ideas in society are not the ones being argued, but the ones that are assumed.” We have scores of youth today who don’t even begin to question the atheistic worldview, and it is reinforced in public education.

It would be safe to say everyone who claims to be a Christian has a deep desire for there to be a Heaven. By examining the nature of our desires, we can cultivate an argument for God. C.S. Lewis did this in Mere Christianity. “Creatures are not born with desires unless satisfaction for those desires exists. A baby feels hunger: well, there is such a thing as food. A duckling wants to swim: well, there is such a thing as water. Men feel sexual desire: well, there is such a thing as sex.”¹⁰

Most long for the supernatural, for transcendence, something beyond what we experience here on this planet. So much of what we experience here is difficult, painful, and full of heartbreak. Lewis recognized our hunger for something metaphysical, something that explains why we have suffered in this life that will provide us with not only answers, but comfort and joy in the next. We long for a home, a permanent place to be at peace with ourselves and our surroundings. For those who conclude home to be just a place, a location, cuts out the deeper essence of the word.

Paul Gould writes, “Home is more than a place… It also represents a path that leads to life. We might put it this way: home is a place to stand and a story in which to live. It is a place of rest and return and a path of flourishing and delight. The Hebrew word describing this state of well-being is shalom.”¹¹ Gould goes on to quote Theologian Cornelius Plantinga, who describes the word shalom as meaning universal flourishing, wholeness, and delight.

Many verses in the Old and New Testament discuss and describe Hell. If given a taste of what Hell would be like, no one in their right mind would want to go there, and the Black Dolphin would pale in comparison.

And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life. – Matthew 25:46