Why do J. Witnesses say that hell doesn't exist?

In old English the word hell simply meant to hide or to cover - helling potatoes meant putting them into pits, helling a house meant covering or thatching it, etc.; the word hell was therefore properly used as signifying the hidden condition of death. It had no reference to a place of eternal suffering until that meaning was attached to it by the theologians who adopted and adapted such ideas from the Jewish and heathen mythologies.

For example good people when they die go to hell.

Jacob went down to sheol (Genesis 37:35); and Job prayed to go to sheol, to be hidden there, until the resurrection (Job 14:13).

Accordingly, hell (sheol or hades) means the unconscious, oblivious condition or realm of death, where all souls, good and bad, go at death, and from which only the awakening from death can deliver any.

"There is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in Sheol, where you are going." - "in death there is no memory of you. In Sheol, who shall give you thanks?" - "For Sheol can't praise you, death can't celebrate you." -- Ecclesiastes 9:10; Psalm 6:5; Isaiah 38:18.

Hell DOES exist. But if we're going to take the "literal" route...

1.) Where in Daniel 12:2 does it say that "everlasting contempt" means being burned forever? 'EVERLASTING CONTEMPT' and 'EVERLASTING TORTURE' are not the same.

2.) If you're saying (according to your translation) that at Matthew 15:22 Jesus asserts that anyone who says to another "You fool!" is liable to everlasting torment in fire, then by accusing Jehovah's Witnesses of being "foolish" for not believing in hellfire, you yourself are liable to hellfire by your own judgment.

3.) If something is "destroyed," it doesn't exist. So if, as you assert that at Matthew 10:28 Jesus meant that a person's "soul and body" will be 'destroyed in hell,' what kind of torture is non-existence?

4.) Read Mark 9:43-47. If the everlasting fire that Jesus spoke about there is a real, literal place where God sends bad people when they die, then get ready to cut off one or both your hands and/or feet and gouge out your own eyes. Jesus must have been speaking literally about that too, right? Nonsense. The whole illustration was symbolic.

5.) The same is true about Revelation 20:14. Taking this verse literally means that one must take EVERY verse in Revelation literally. Read that verse again and think about it... How can death be thrown into a Lake of Fire? And if ''Death and Hades are going to give up those dead in them," as mentioned at 20:13, why have these ones all of a sudden been absolved of the sins that put them in "Hell" in the first place? You claim that they were supposed to be EVERLASTINGLY TORTURED in a burning Hell. So, people will be tortured everlastingly...but only until Death and Hades give them up? Which people will be given up? Where will they go? Heaven?!

Don't you see the plain contradictions? This language is not to be taken literally. So they must mean something symbolic. If you REALLY want to know what these things mean, don't ask Yahoo! Answers. Ask one of Jehovah's Witnesses.

Finally, some Bibles say that our Lord and savior Jesus Christ was sent to "Hell" after he was killed. How can that possibly be true according to the popular definition? How do you account for that? (Acts 2:31 King James Version)

Repeat: How do you account for that?

Humble yourself. Learn the truth.

http://watchtower.org/

The word 'hell' wasn't even coined until after 700 AD:

Hell - "The modern English word Hell is derived from Old English hel, helle (about 725 AD) and ultimately from Proto-Germanic halja, meaning 'one who covers up or hides something' ".**

The concept of eternal torture originated in pagan myth:

"Hell appears in several mythologies and religions." **

Fire in Bible times was the very best method of cleansing.

Revelation is written in symbolic language.

And, both:

"Death and Ha′des were hurled into the lake of fire.

This means *the second death*, the lake of fire." --Revelation 20:14 http://watchtower.org/bible/re/chapter_020.htm?bk=...

How can 'Death & Ha′des' [the grave] be tortured?

Besides,

"The soul that is sinning--it itself will die." --Ezekiel 18:4

". . . He goes back to his ground.

In that day his thoughts do perish." --Psalm 146:4

". . . There is no work nor devising nor knowledge nor wisdom in She′ol [Hebrew for 'grave'], the place to which you are going."

On top of that,

". . . With evil things God cannot be tried

nor does he himself try anyone." --James 1:13

“Far be it from the true God to act wickedly, the Almighty to act unjustly!” --Job 34:10

Would *you* spend unlimited amounts of your energy keeping *your* enemies alive?

Satan ['resister'] & his hordes are *all* created beings.

Our Grand Creator will not forever allow them to live,

but only long enough . . . http://watchtower.org/e/dg/article_06.htm

Hell is the same as Hades and Sheol, man kinds common grave.

Would it make sense for God to punish the wicked eternally for a short life time of sins?

"Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell."

—Matthew 10:28

If something is destroyed, how can it be alive?

If you knew anything at all about the Bible, you would know that the word "hell" appears nowhere. Everyone knows (except you) that the original word was "Gehennah", which was Jerusalem's trash heap. Get an accurate translation.

In 2 Peter 2:4, ''hell'' is the rendering of a Greek word signifying a place of punishment.

they refuse to believe they have their own version of the Bible

even none christian believe in hell

go figure

pray for them. that's what the lord said.

Cause the watchtower cult told them it doesn't and they don't think, eat or breathe without their permission.

We'll just go over some simple reasoning from the Bible itself, shall we. Honestly though, I don't think it will matter to you what I say. You seem to WANT there to be this 'hell'. I wonder why people insist on this? Does the Bible indicate whether the dead experience pain?

Eccl. 9:5, 10: “The living are conscious that they will die; but as for the dead, they are conscious of nothing at all . . . All that your hand finds to do, do with your very power, for there is no work nor devising nor knowledge nor wisdom in Sheol,* the place to which you are going.” (If they are conscious of nothing, they obviously feel no pain.) (*“Sheol,” AS, RS, NE, JB; “the grave,” KJ, Kx; “hell,” Dy; “the world of the dead,” TEV.)

Ps. 146:4: “His spirit goes out, he goes back to his ground; in that day his thoughts* do perish.” (*“Thoughts,” KJ, 145:4 in Dy; “schemes,” JB; “plans,” RS, TEV.)

What sort of people go to the Bible hell? Does the Bible say that the wicked go to hell?

Ps. 9:17, KJ: “The wicked shall be turned into hell,* and all the nations that forget God.” (*“Hell,” 9:18 in Dy; “death,” TEV; “the place of death,” Kx; “Sheol,” AS, RS, NE, JB, NW.)

Does the Bible also say that upright people go to hell?

Job 14:13, Dy: “[Job prayed:] Who will grant me this, that thou mayst protect me in hell,* and hide me till thy wrath pass, and appoint me a time when thou wilt remember me?” (God himself said that Job was “a man blameless and upright, fearing God and turning aside from bad.”—Job 1:8.) (*“The grave,” KJ; “the world of the dead,” TEV; “Sheol,” AS, RS, NE, JB, NW.)

Acts 2:25-27, KJ: “David speaketh concerning him [Jesus Christ], . . . Because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell,* neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.” (The fact that God did not “leave” Jesus in hell implies that Jesus was in hell, or Hades, at least for a time, does it not?) (*“Hell,” Dy; “death,” NE; “the place of death,” Kx; “the world of the dead,” TEV; “Hades,” AS, RS, JB, NW.)

Does anyone ever get out of the Bible hell?

Rev. 20:13, 14, KJ: “The sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell* delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire.” (So the dead will be delivered from hell. Notice also that hell is not the same as the lake of fire but will be cast into the lake of fire.) (*“Hell,” Dy, Kx; “the world of the dead,” TEV; “Hades,” NE, AS, RS, JB, NW.)

Reasoning further..“Much confusion and misunderstanding has been caused through the early translators of the Bible persistently rendering the Hebrew Sheol and the Greek Hades and Gehenna by the word hell. The simple transliteration of these words by the translators of the revised editions of the Bible has not sufficed to appreciably clear up this confusion and misconception.”—The Encyclopedia Americana (1942), Vol. XIV, p. 81.

Translators have allowed their personal beliefs to color their work instead of being consistent in their rendering of the original-language words. For example: (1) The King James Version rendered she’ohl′ as “hell,” “the grave,” and “the pit”; hai′des is therein rendered both “hell” and “grave”; ge′en·na is also translated “hell.” (2) Today’s English Version transliterates hai′des as “Hades” and also renders it as “hell” and “the world of the dead.” But besides rendering “hell” from hai′des it uses that same translation for ge′en·na. (3) The Jerusalem Bible transliterates hai′des six times, but in other passages it translates it as “hell” and as “the underworld.” It also translates ge′en·na as “hell,” as it does hai′des in two instances. Thus the exact meanings of the original-language words have been obscured.

What is the ‘fiery Gehenna’ to which Jesus referred?

Reference to Gehenna appears 12 times in the Christian Greek Scriptures. Five times it is directly associated with fire. Translators have rendered the Greek expression ge′en·nan tou py·ros′ as “hell fire” (KJ, Dy), “fires of hell” (NE), “fiery pit” (AT), and “fires of Gehenna” (NAB).

Historical background: The Valley of Hinnom (Gehenna) was outside the walls of Jerusalem. For a time it was the site of idolatrous worship, including child sacrifice. In the first century Gehenna was being used as the incinerator for the filth of Jerusalem. Bodies of dead animals were thrown into the valley to be consumed in the fires, to which sulfur, or brimstone, was added to assist the burning. Also bodies of executed criminals, who were considered undeserving of burial in a memorial tomb, were thrown into Gehenna. Thus, at Matthew 5:29, 30, Jesus spoke of the casting of one’s “whole body” into Gehenna. If the body fell into the constantly burning fire it was consumed, but if it landed on a ledge of the deep ravine its putrefying flesh became infested with the ever-present worms, or maggots. (Mark 9:47, 48) Living humans were not pitched into Gehenna; so i