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THE DOCTRINE OF ANNIHILATION (2)

Victor M. Eskew

 

            The Jehovah’s Witnesses have a very unique view of hell.  In their system of belief, hell is simply the grave.  They do not believe that hell can be defined as the unseen realm of the dead.  Too, they do not believe that hell involves eternal condemnation is a lake of fire and brimstone that burns forever.  They also believe that hell, the grave, will eventually come to an end.  Here is a quote from an article entitled, “Who Goes to Hell?”  “Hell (‘Sheol’ and ‘Hades’ in the Bible’s original languages) is simply the grave, not a place of fiery torment.  Who goes to hell?  Both good and bad people (Job 14:13; Psalm 9:17).”

            There is one Hebrew word and two Greek words that are at the forefront of this study.  Let’s begin by looking at the Hebrew word “sheol.”  This word is found 64 times in the Old Testament.  It is translated by three English words:  “pit” (Num. 16:30); “grave” (Gen. 37:35); and “hell” (Deut. 32:22).  The Jehovah’s Witnesses believe the word should never be translated “hell.”  They assert the word only means “grave.”  Lexicons that define the word indicate that the word can mean more than simply the grave.  Strong defines the word as:  “hades, the world of the dead, (as if in a subterranean retreat).”  Brown, Driver, and Briggs set forth this definition of sheol:  “underworld, grave, hell, pit, the OT designation for the abode of the dead.”  The Jehovah’s Witnesses reject these definitions.  Instead of arguing over this matter, let’s turn our attention to the word “hades.”

            The Jehovah’s Witnesses affirm that “hades” in the New Testament is equivalent to “sheol” in the Old Testament.  The word “hades” is found eleven times in the Greek New Testament.  In the King James Version, it is translated “hell” ten times and “grave” once (See I Cor. 15:55).  Strong defines this word as:  “properly ‘unseen,’ the place (or state) of departed souls.”  Thayer’s Greek-English Lexicon provides this definition:  “Orcus, nether world, the realm of the dead.”  The Jehovah’s Witnesses would not object to these definitions too much.  They believe the place of departed souls, the realm of the dead, is simply the grave.

            There is one text wherein the word “hades” is used that causes a lot of trouble for the Jehovah’s Witnesses.  It is the account of “The Rich Man and Lazarus” found in Luke 16:19-31.  These two men knew each other.  Lazarus was a beggar who was laid at the rich man’s gate to beg for help.  In verses 22 -23, we read about the deaths of these two men.  “And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham’s bosom:  the rich man also died and was buried; and in hell he lifted up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.”  The word translated “hell” in the KJV is the word “hades.”  In the context, it is much more than the grave.  It is a place beyond the grave.  It is a place wherein there is consciousness.  It is a place where feelings exist.  The rich man could correspond with Abraham in this place.  If the word “hades” simply means the grave, the rich man should not have been able to do any of these things once he arrived there. 

The argument made by the Jehovah’s Witnesses is that this story that Jesus told is a parable.  In other words, they would have us to believe it is a fictitious account.  Let’s assume for a moment that this is a parable.  It would not change the problem that the Jehovah’s Witnesses have.  The first portion of the definition of a parable is “an earthly story.”  It is a real, earthly story.  The earthly story of The Parable of the Sower involves a man sowing seed into various soil types.  This was not fictitious.  It happened all of the time in the land of Canaan.  In The Parable of the Leaven, we are told about a woman who put leaven into three measures of meal and the whole was ultimately leavened.  Again, this happened almost every day in the homes of the Jews.  Jesus always used true, real-life, stories in His parables.  If The Rich Man and Lazarus is a parable, the story itself is still true and real to life.  It is not a myth or a fable.  The account, however, does not read like a parable.  Jesus opened with these words:  “There was a certain rich man…and there was a certain beggar named Lazarus…” (Luke 16:19-20).  Whether it was an actual event or a parable, Jesus still teaches us that hades involves more than the grave.  It is a real place to which both the wicked and the righteous go when they die.  While there, they are fully conscious of their surroundings.  Their senses are completely engaged in the hadean realm.  Much more could be said to describe hades, but that is another lesson.  Note, the Jehovah’s Witnesses agree that sheol and hades are the same place.  If hades is more than just the grave, the same can be said of sheol as well.

            The second Greek word that needs our attention is “gehenna.”  This word is translated “hell” every time, eleven in total, in the King James Version.  There are times when the word “fire” is attached to it rendering it hell fire (See Mark 9:47).  Jehovah’s Witnesses tell us that gehenna is nothing more than a state of nonexistence.  They do not believe it is a place of eternal punishment and suffering.  Strong defines “gehenna” as:  “”used figuratively as a name for the place (or state) of everlasting punishment.”  Thayer echoes Strong’s definition, stating:  “Hell is the place of future punishment.”  It is this place that we will consider more in our next article.  The primary purpose of this article is to prove that hades and sheol refer to more than just the grave.  Hades is the unseen realm of the dead to which the spirits of men go upon death.