Not all conservative Christians believe that the Bible teaches or supports the traditional view of hell with its teaching of eternal torment or suffering. The Bible does teach a period of conscious punishment in hell for individual sins, but the ultimate and eternal punishment for sin itself is the eternal death (the eternal loss of life and access to immortality) for soul and body - not eternal existence in conscious torment.



In his article "The Bible Vs. The Traditional View of Hell", on his website, conservative Christian (Baptist) theologian, B.G. Ranganathan, explains how certain words, phrases, verses, and, in some cases, entire passages in Scripture have been misinterpreted and taken out of context to support the teaching of eternal suffering. An historical explanation and understanding is given as to how and why belief in eternal suffering entered very early into the Christian church is also given by the author.

All Christians, regardless of denomination, share in common the primary or core doctrines of Christianity. Where Christians have differed throughout history are on matters of secondary doctrine such as the one being presented here.

Below is the first paragraph of the article. The rest of the article may be read at the author's website.

The conditionalist view is that the wicked in hell will suffer a period of agony and anguish in proportion to their individual guilt and then be eternally destroyed or cease to exist. Thus, although the wicked will suffer consciously for their individual sins, the ultimate penalty for sin itself will be their eternal death (i.e., their eternal destruction or loss of life). That, then, is their eternal punishment (i.e., their eternal loss to life and immortality). But, what about those passages in the Bible which say that the wicked will go into "eternal fire" and that in hell there will be "weeping and gnashing of teeth forever and ever," and other similar passages that seem to teach eternal torment? We shall examine, in this essay, those and other passages from the Bible in the light of the context of Scripture. Be assured, however, that the ultimate and eternal annihilation (destruction) of the wicked is supported abundantly by the Christian Scriptures.

Is God's righteous wrath an end in itself or is God's righteous wrath a means to an end (that end being the eternal destruction of the wicked)? Will a thrice holy God allow sin the right to exist for eternity in His universe by sustaining and keeping sinners alive eternally and burning in hell? Is eternal torment the only way God can satisfy His eternal justice? Is the ultimate penalty for sin in the Bible eternal torment or is it eternal death (of both soul and body)? These and many other important questions and issues (such as how to reconcile the immutability of Christ as God with His death on the Cross) will be biblically answered in this essay.

The view that the wicked will be eternally destroyed is also supported in the writings of the first and second century Christian Fathers, as well as by some prominent groups of the Protestant Reformation such as the Anabaptists, and today the conditionalist view is supported by some very prominent evangelical Christian scholars and theologians such as John R. W. Stott and Clark H. Pinnock. Although there have been individual Christians in various denominations, and even some famous such as the great hymn writer Isaac Watts (author of "When I Survey The Wondrous Cross"), who have come to believe in the conditionalist view, the only major Christian denomination today which officially incorporates this belief as part of church doctrine and creed is the Seventh Day Adventist...