I’m not really into the Hell theological debate but there is the “outer darkness” of Hell as recorded in the Bible.
There also is the Rich Man and Lazarus, and the Rich Man in Hell clearly saw what was happening and other souls.
(just off the top of my head)
Regardless of this man’s vision, Hell is real, and Christ warns us over and over and over about its finality.
The entire “hell for eternity” for mistakes made over thirty years or so just never made a lot of sense to me.
The rich man and lazarus is a parable that is not about hell.
Jewishnotgreek.com
Actually, Jesus never mentioned Hell. He DID, however, mention Gehenna quite a bit. That word is translated, in SOME bibles, as the catch-all phrase, “hell”, but it is a made up English word.
The second chapter of acts sums up the gospel (good news) and the book of romans talks a lot about the fate of the saved vs the fate of the lost. It is all about eternal life vs death.
And Jesus talked about Gehenna (a real place) and unquenchable fire. In that day, the way you destroyed something was with fire. Anyone living at Jesus time would have clearly understood Jesus’ references to the lost and Gehenna to mean the lost were destroyed.
Jewishnotgreek.com covers it very well, including Lazarus and the rich man. BTW, Lazarus is “named” because of the meaning of the name.
Other good resources:
http://www.jeremyandchristine.com/articles/lazarus.html
http://rethinkinghell.com/explore/
In the above, click on the scriptures tab and see the scriptures that support “hell” and those that support “death” regarding the lost.
There is a lot more out there from both sides. For me, once I studied BOTH sides within the context of the whole bible, it became pretty clear. :-)
“I’m not really into the Hell theological debate but there is the “outer darkness” of Hell as recorded in the Bible.”
This layer is real. It is an etheric fence with illusions of gargoyles and demons to create fear in the non pure souls, thus blocking them from moving through to Heaven
Hell is a place of darkness. Jude 13 speaks of “the blackness of darkness” to which false teachers will be confined forever. God is light (1 John 1:5) and the Father of lights (Jas. 1:17). Hell is described as darkness because it is the place farthest removed from God.
http://www.centervilleroad.com/articles/hell.html
The parable of the rich man was just that- a parable- There are certain things about the parable that show that- Hell will be a place where people can not talk- they also will not be civil and be full of hatred- their hatred on earth will be magnified in hell- the rich man obviously wasn’t full of rage and hatred- The bible also talks about the Dead knowing nothing- (those lost souls won’t know what is going on on earth)- Jesus used many parables- ones where trees talk- or have wisdom etc- the parables are meant simply to teach life lessons ie: don’t store up treasures for yourself on earth- they are useless in the afterlife- etc-