The story of the rich man and Lazarus in Luke 16:19-31 is often cited as evidence that Jesus believed in hell as a place of conscious torment. The basic issue here is probably a literary one. Is this story of such a character that it requires to be read as a more or less literal account of post-mortem realities? Or is it rather a parable or symbolic narrative that speaks of a state of affairs other than that which it purports to describe? It seems to me that the weight of evidence is very much in favour of the latter opinion.
1. Stories of a reversal of fortunes after death appear to have been commonplace in the ancient world. In an Egyptian folktale Si-Osire is upset by the wretched burial of a poor man but is comforted by a vision of his transformed circumstances in the afterlife. One Jewish legend tells of a wealthy but ungodly woman who communicates a message of repentance to her husband; another relates the reversed fortunes of a rich tax collector and a poor teacher of the Law. It cannot be demonstrated conclusively, but it seems likely that Jesus is deliberately evoking such traditional stories in order to construct a vivid and populist critique of the complacency of the wealthy. The parable is addressed to the Pharisees, who were “lovers of money” (Luke 16:14).
2. In Jewish understanding “Hades” is not normally a place of torment: it is effectively a metonymy for “death”. The rich man is buried and is therefore in Hades (16:22-23). In 2 Maccabees 6:23 the righteous Eleazar refuses to eat the flesh of an unlawful sacrifice and tells Antiochus’ officials to “send him to Hades”. He means only that they should kill him, not that they should send him to a place of eternal punishment. In view of this and the literary character of the story, we should hesitate to conclude that Jesus thought of Hades as being literally a place where sinners are tormented.
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Author: Andrew Perriman
Keywords: Rich man and Lazarus, Lazarus in hell, Dives and Lazarus, Hell, Gehena, Gehenna, Judgment of Gehenna, Judgement of Gehenna, Judgement of hell, Judgment of hell, Hell fire, Eternal fire, Eternal hell fire, Hellfire, Eternal hellfire, Eternal punishment, Everlasting punishment, Everlasting punishing, Eternal torture, Burn in hell, Burn in hell forever, Hell forever, Hades, Sheol, Eternal torment, Everlasting torment
Bible reference(s): Luke 16:19-31
Source: “The Rich Man And Lazarus, And What The Story Tells Us About Hell,” P.OST.
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