Hell, Yes
I am abandoning the wishful thought that we are free to regard hell as essentially a state of mind, where the torments are "spiritual," and that hell-fire and the undying worm may be reasonably conceived as figurative. The only thing that seems to work now in my understanding is that actual physical pain, which the Lord's words on hell invite us to think of, is the only appropriate description of the sufferings of the damned, however analogous its relation to the "real thing" may be. This is because wicked people on this earth enjoy their wickedness (otherwise there would be no desire to commit it), whereas hell is a place where they no longer can. Getting people to believe that hell is in some way less than it is is another demonic lie. One frequently hears it from the deluded who say, "I'd rather go to hell than heaven because the company will be so much more interesting." No, it won't.
S. M. Hutchens is a senior editor and longtime writer for Touchstone.
Get six issues (one year) of Touchstone PLUS full online access including pdf downloads for only $39.95. That's only $3.34 per month!
Get a one-year full-access subscription to the Touchstone online archives for only $19.95. That's only $1.66 per month!
bulk subscriptions
Order Touchstone subscriptions in bulk and save $10 per sub! Each subscription includes 6 issues of Touchstone plus full online access to touchstonemag.com—including archives, videos, and pdf downloads of recent issues for only $29.95 each! Great for churches or study groups.
Transactions will be processed on a secure server.
more from the online archives
32.1—January/February 2019
Answers Secular & Religious by Allan C. Carlson
24.6—Nov/Dec 2011
on the Tyranny of Modern Freedom versus the Freedom of Jesus by Gillis J. Harp
27.2—March/April 2014
on C. S. Lewis & the New State Paganism by W. E. Knickerbocker
calling all readers
Please Donate
"There are magazines worth reading but few worth saving . . . Touchstone is just such a magazine."
—Alice von Hildebrand
"Here we do not concede one square millimeter of territory to falsehood, folly, contemporary sentimentality, or fashion. We speak the truth, and let God be our judge. . . . Touchstone is the one committedly Christian conservative journal."
—Anthony Esolen, Touchstone senior editor
