Sorry but I’m going to have to disagree with you here.
Why does the New Testament have so many warnings against putting yourself in danger of going to hell? It literally tells you to gouge your eye out if it causes you to stumble because it’s better to enter the kingdom of god with one eye than to have two and be cast into hellfire
Also in revelations it says something like “the smoke of their torment rised up forever and ever” regarding those who recieve the mark of the beast in revelations.
I do admit there's some stuff that may convince a person otherwise. But I think the evidence rules in favor of Universalism. I hope you will read through this, even if it doesn't convince you, because it really is very interesting to read about.
Matthew 5:29 (The one about gouging out your eye): The correct translation reads: "to be cast into
Gehenna", not "Hell". This is relevant because Gehenna was a LITERAL PLACE of fire where criminals and worthless things were thrown. You can look it up. Jesus may have been speaking metaphorically (He did this more often than he spoke literally) when he said that people would be thrown into Gehenna. This easily could have meant that sinning makes you worthless. As far as "eternal life", this could easily pertain to 1. A new kingdom coming to followers of Christ, or 2 MORE LIKELY a SPIRITUAL KINGDOM for people in which the Holy Spirit dwells. It may sound like a reach, but John 17:3 tells us "eternal life is knowing God", and Luke 17:21 essentially says "You cannot see the Kingdom of God because the Kingdom is within you"
Revelation: Ahh, this is a fantastic book, and there a couple of ways to interpret it. Some people believe that the prophecies have ALREADY been fulfilled. You have to keep in mind that this is a book of PICTURES THAT SYMBOLIZE EVENTS, it's not meant to be taken literally. People believe this book was written to prophecy the fall of Jerusalem in the year 70 AD. After all, verse 22:7 tells us "Behold, I am coming quickly", which may indicate that these events already occurred, or at least perhaps some of them already occurred.
Revelation 14:11 talks about the "smoke of their torment ascends forever and ever". However, this torment could be metaphorical for the fall of Jerusalem.
EVEN IF IT'S NOT, many NT authors quoted from the OT, and this
EXACT word picture is used in Isaiah 34:10 to describe a destruction who's
RESULTS were everlasting. In other words, the
DESTRUCTION/PUNISHMENT has everlasting
RESULTS, but that doesn't mean the "
TORMENT" is everlasting. (The OT word picture symbolizes the destruction of Edom. It's not literally still burning today).
Revelation 20:10: This says "The devil was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet were cast. They shall be tormented day and night forever and ever". Again, maybe a metaphor for an event that already happened. But let's say this is an actual event that is going to take place. For one, it only talks about the devil, beast, and false prophet being "tormented", not normal sinners.
HOWEVER, there is an even more interesting way to look at this. The literal translation from Greek does not read "forever and ever", rather it reads "for the ages and the ages". This could imply an eventual end (Once again Isaiah 34:10 uses the phrase "forever and "ever", but those events are not still taking place today"). Where it gets
REALLY interesting is with the words "brimstone" and "torment". Brimstone is also known as sulfur, and "torment" in Greek was "basanizo".
THE PRIMARY MEANING OF "BASANIZO" WAS TO TEST THE PURITY OF GOLD, WHILE "SULFUR" WAS THE KEY ELEMENT USED IN THE PURIFYING OF GOLD. Think about that for a minute. Why else would John include the picture of sulfur? This verse, translated correctly, can actually be a picture of these things being
PURIFIED until it is completely finished (Until the "ages").
