In the article “Hell (2): Eternal Torment, Eternal Fire, Eternal Death?” (https://margmowczko.com/eternal-torment-or-death/) by Marg Mowczko, it is posited that there is little to no scriptural support for either eternal burning in Hell and the Lake of Fire, or for eternal torment. Part of the support she uses to contend for this is the following extended quote:
Eternal and Unquenchable Fire
Several verses in the Bible refer to an eternal or unquenchable fire in regards to judgment (e.g., Matt. 3:12; Mark 9:43, 48; cf. John 15:6). In Matthew 25:41, Jesus tells a parable that includes this line:
Then he will say to those on his left, “Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.”
This verse seems to support a traditional understanding of hell as a place of eternal fire, and yet Jesus may be using “eternal fire” rhetorically here. We need to keep in mind that Jesus is telling a story, a parable. He used parables to teach, illustrate, or highlight spiritual and moral principles, not to narrate actual or future events.[3] Nevertheless, eternal torment is not mentioned here either.
Note especially that Jesus says the fire is for the devil and his angels. This may indicate that “hell-fire”, whether metaphorical or real, is for fallen angels and not for torturing people (cf. 2 Pet. 2:4).
Here, she states that Matthew 25:41 sits in a parable. However, Marg does not define the verses that are supposedly this parable. Hence, we are left to guess what verses that would be. Most commonly, that would be verse 31 to verse 46. She also does not state what version she used to make her determination, but most commonly she cites the CSB (aka HCSB or Holman Christian Standard Bible) which is a Westcott-Hort text that uses a less precise translation method than the King James’ formal equivalence method. Hence, the underlying text of the CSB is a text that is defective. Thus, it is possible that the text she used could also say it was a parable. What I can tell from her website is she never consults the King James Version.
However, since I do, this analysis will be done strictly from the KJV. Immediately, we can see that the problem with her interpretation of the above passage that Matthew 25:41 is in, is that this passage sets in a context that does not support her contention that it is a parable. The entirety of Matthew 25:31-46 does not read like a parable, which we can readily perceive:
Matthew 25:31-46
31-33 When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory: And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats: And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.
34-36 Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.
37 Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink?
38 When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee?
39 Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?
40 And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.
41-43 Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels: For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not.
44 Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee?
45 Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me.
46 And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.
Clearly this is not a parable, but a foretelling of events to come. We can know this because it begins with this statement: “When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory: And before him shall be gathered all nations:. . .” No parable begins like this, or ends like this. Rather, the Lord Jesus is revealing to his disciples things to come, which is in the context of the following question:
And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world? (Matthew 24:3)
Chapters 24 and 25 are both the events “of the end of the world,” and this event is the return of Christ at the end of the Great Tribulation, to establish His 1000 year reign over the earth. This then makes the statements in verses 41 and 46 literal events and literal places which exist. There is nothing “metaphorical” about them.
We should also note that the Lord Jesus never spoke to the disciples in parables as He clearly stated that they were privy to the truths of the Kingdom of Heaven:
And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables? He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given. For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath. Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand. And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive: For this people’s heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them. But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear. For verily I say unto you, That many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them. (Matthew 13:10-17)
Hence, Matthew 25:31-46 cannot be a parable as this is expressly to His disciples. Yet, we find none of this analysis by Marg Mowczko.
Hence, what we can say is this is her personal opinion masquerading as biblical analysis and scholarship. It is obvious by the three articles she has written about eternal condemnation and torment, that she really doesn’t like the idea of eternal suffering, of ever burning, never consumed, all because one refused to believe. Her personal preference is to have the condemned wink out of existence. This use of personal preference over the clear evidence of Scripture is the essence of postmodernism.
Regardless of what our druthers are, we are not called to insert our personal opinions into Scriptural doctrine, but to express that doctrine as Scripture expresses it.
That being the case, everything about Matthew 25:31-46 is literal. The Lord Jesus Christ will literally return at the end of the Great Tribulation. He will literally judge the nations at the beginning of His 1000 year reign. He will literally separate everyone alive on earth into two groups: Saved and unsaved. He will literally welcome the saved into the kingdom, and He will literally cast the unsaved into Hell, to be reserved to the Great White Throne of judgment.
Since all that is literal, so also is the everlasting (aka unquenchable) fire, and everlasting punishment. This is not a parable, and it most definitely is not metaphorical speech.
Last Updated on 1 year by Paul