The Bible declares that the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them because they are spiritually discerned (1 Cor. 2:14). JWs argue that hell as a place of conscious torment cannot exist because it is contrary to the love of God (1 John 4:8). Emphasizing, however, the qualities of the true God, they teach that He has revealed His justice by inflicting punishment on obstinate opponents and oppressors of His people (“Knowledge That Leads to Eternal Life,” p. 27/14). They further assert that God does not cease to be a God of love because He loves justice (Ps. 37:28) by punishing the enemies of His people (Deut. 7:1-3). On the contrary, they say, God’s love for justice has a corresponding hatred of iniquity. This justifies God’s order to kill all the inhabitants of Canaan, including pregnant women and minor children (1 Sam 15:1-3). We also believe this. God does not send anyone to hell out of sadism; on the contrary, His love for man was proven when He sent His Son Jesus Christ to free us from condemnation (John 3:16-18). Man goes to hell because he despises God’s favor for his salvation (2 Pet 3:9). Paul states in 1 Cor 11:22 that we must consider two attributes of God: His goodness and His severity. HELL IN THE BIBLE: SHEL AND HADES The word Sheol is found 65 times in the Old Testament: Some references where the word Sheol is found: Gen 37:35: For I will go down to Sheol mourning for my son. Gen 42:38: ...then you will surely bring my gray hairs down to Sheol with sorrow. The word Hades is found ten times in the New Testament: Mt 11.23: And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? You will descend to Hades... Mt 16.18: ...and the gates of Hades will not overcome you. NOTE: Sheol and Hades are synonymous words indicating the same place. Sheol-Hades was divided into two parts: the place of the righteous called Abraham's Bosom or Paradise, the place of rest. Before the coming of Christ, the saints of the Old Testament went to this place when they died and remained in a state of conscious rest. The place of the lost was properly hell, a place of conscious torment - Lk 16.22-25. After the resurrection of Christ, Christians no longer go to Abraham's Bosom or Paradise from Hades. They go straight to heaven where they remain in a state of conscious happiness (2 Cor 5.6-8; Phil 1.21-23; Rev 6.9-11). At the return of Christ the spirits of the righteous will descend with Christ for the resurrection of the body (1 Thess. 4:14-16). Stephen, the first martyr of Christianity, went to heaven when he died (Acts 7:55-60). GEHENNA The word Gehenna appears 12 times in the NT, as a place of conscious torment after the final resurrection: Matthew 5:22,29, 30: ...you will be subject to the fiery Gehenna. ...than for your whole body to be thrown into Gehenna. ...than for your whole body to end in Gehenna. LAKE OF FIRE The word 'lake of fire' appears in Rev. 19:20; 20:10,14-15; 21:8; 22:15 as a place of conscious torment for all eternity (Rev. 14:10-11). The word Tartarus is found only once in 2 Peter 2:4 as a place of torment for fallen angels. GRAVE – A Place Distinct from Sheol Hades Sheol, Hades, cannot be confused with the grave. The NWT itself has the word grave translated from the Hebrew words Kever, Kevurah: Gen 23.4, 6, 9, 20: Give me the property of a grave (kever). Bury your dead in the choicest of our graves. Give it to me... as the property of a grave. The NWT has the words Sheol and Hades transliterated and not translated. This indicates that the grave is the place of the body, while Sheol and Hades (the world of the dead or the invisible place) the place of the soul or spirit. In Greek the words for grave, tomb, sepulcher are: Mnemeion, Mnema or Taphos: Mt 27.52: And the memorial tombs (mnemeion) were opened. Mt 27.60: and laid him in his new memorial tomb... (mnemeion). Mt 27.61: Mary Magdalene and the other Mary remained there sitting before the tomb (Taphos). Differences between Sheol/Hades: place of the spirits of the dead in a conscious state and Kever, Kevura/Mnema, Mnemeion, Taphos: place of the body in an unconscious state: 1. While Jonah compared his anguish in the belly of the great fish to Sheol, demonstrating that it is a place of consciousness (Jn 2.1-2), in Kever the body is unconscious; 2. While Sheol/Hades only appears in the singular, Kever appears in the singular and plural [grave, graves (Ex 14.11)]; 3. While Kever/mnema is always related to the body, Sheol/Hades is only mentioned in relation to the spirit and soul; 4. While there is no reference to the soul going down to the Kever/Mnemeion (grave) and the body going down to Sheol/Hades, there are references to the soul going to Sheol/Hades (Luke 16:22-23); 5. While at Jesus' death his body went to the Kever (Isaiah 53:9) in the Greek Mnemeion (John 19:41-42), his soul went to Sheol (Psalm 16:10) in the Greek Hades (Acts 2:27). Channel = / icpweb Site = http://www.icp.com.br