A True Church - Hunt Rejects Hell Fire

Hunt Rejects Physical Hell Fire

Dave Hunt, the "bestselling author" and "esteemed researcher" (back cover of What Love Is This? by Dave Hunt) rejects "the idea of torment in physical fire" (April 1, 2008) in an eternal hell, and he openly admits this false teaching.

As for why I don't believe the flames of hell are physical, I have given many sound biblical reasons for that conviction. This is a belief that I have not tried to hide but have declared in many writings and talks. (article dated April 25, 2008, entitled, "Dave Hunt Addresses the 'Fire of Hell' Controversy")

Core to Hunts deceit is his rejection of a physical resurrection for the damned. In his April 1, 2008 Newsletter he writes,

The question is often asked, "What about the bodies of evildoers mentioned in John 5:28-29? And what about 'I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God ....the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them' (Rv 20:12:13)? Doesn't that sound as though their bodies have been resurrected?" No, it couldn't be.

By saying, "No, it couldn't be," Hunt calls Christ a liar, because Jesus says,

Do not marvel at this: for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice and come forth - those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation. (John 5:28-29)

Jesus here speaks of "the resurrection of condemnation." Hunt says to this, "No, it couldn't be." Hunt is the liar, not Jesus.

Immediately after the above quote, Hunt writes,

Nothing is said in these passages about "the dead" having bodies.

Nothing but the term "resurrection" (John 5:28-29). That's what it means. The dead body comes back to life (Acts 24:15; 1 Corinthians 15:22, 35-38, 42-44). Hunt completely misses the utter horror and reality of the "second death" (Revelation 2:11; 20:6, 14; 21:8).

Immediately after the above quote Hunt asks,

How could those standing before God in judgment be described as "dead" if they had been raised body, soul, and spirit?

The answer? The same way those alive with a body, soul, and spirit are called "dead" in Luke 9:60.

Thus, with this rejection of "the resurrection of condemnation," Hunt discards all the physical descriptions of hell as being just what they say they are. For example, speaking of the rich man in Hades in Luke 16 Hunt writes,

The rich man's body was in the grave, not in the flames of hell, even though he spoke of his tongue. (ibid)

Hunt explains away this language, this mention of the tongue by the rich man, as delusional on the rich man's part.

Of the rich man, Jesus said, "In hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments" and begged for a drop of water to be placed on his tongue (Luke 16:23,24). That strange request betrayed confusion between the physical and spiritual/moral, since his body and its tongue were rotting in the grave. Having sought pleasure, joy, and fulfillment in the physical alone to the exclusion of the moral and spiritual, the rich man was apparently locked into that delusion for eternity.

So, Hunt claims hell is not physical, yet those in hell think it is? If that truly was the case, what difference would it make if it was physical or not? Hunt here does well at mooting his own case.

With Hunt's rejection of "the resurrection of condemnation" any and all physical descriptions of hell are thrust aside as not literal, that is, not physical. The body (Matthew 5:29-30), the eyes (Luke 16:23), the fire (Mark 9:44), the flame (Luke 16:24), the worm (Isaiah 14:11), the torment (Revelation 20:10), the smoke (Revelation 14:11), the darkness (Matthew 8:12), the heat (Revelation 19:20), the death (Psalm 49:14; Isaiah 66:24), the poverty (Proverbs 28:22), the hunger and thirst (Isaiah 65:13), the weeping and gnashing of teeth (Luke 13:28), the pit (Psalm 55:23), the lake (Revelation 20:15), the furnace (Matthew 13:42), the coals and burning wind (Psalm 11:6), the brimstone (Revelation 21:8), the pieces (Psalm 50:22; Luke 12:46), are all brushed aside as not physical realities by Hunt, because, according to him, there is no resurrection of the ungodly. By rejecting the resurrection of condemnation Hunt rejects the truth of Jesus Christ, and thus denies Him (2 Peter 2:1).

For more info on the Biblical hell, please see our report on hell.

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