Holly Brezee
THEO 201-001
Dr. Chris Gnanakan
February 26, 2018
Theology & Culture Essay
What happens to you after your life on earth stops, ends, and ceases to be? Do you know
which eternity- heaven or hell- will become the reality of your existence? The truth is that you
will inevitably spend eternity in one or the other. The Bible clearly informs us that every
individual on earth will one day reach the moment when God’s judgement is passed which
definitively determines where every single soul will be spending eternity.
The Bible is completely inerrant, meaning that there are no errors or faults in it’s text. It
is a belief in total certainty, truthfulness, and reliability of God’s words. “All Scripture is
breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in
righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy
3:16-17). God does not make a mistake; therefore, the words in the Bible which are “God-
breathed” do not contain mistakes. The truth of the Bible’s words can be proven not only through
it’s very own Biblical Scripture and words of God, but also through historical, archeological, and
scientific evidence. “There is overwhelming support for inerrancy from history. The idea that the Bible
can contain errors is a relatively new belief. Author and scholar Harold Lindsell stated, ‘Apart from a
few exceptions, the church through the ages has consistently believed that the entire Bible is the inerrant
or infallible Word of God’” (Geisler). The Dead Sea Scrolls, universally proclaimed as the greatest
archeological find of the 20th century, further present archeological and historical evidence which
validate Biblical truth. “The Dead Sea Scrolls are generally dated from around 200 B.C. to A.D.
68. This is more than 1,000 years older than any manuscripts of the Hebrew Old Testament that
we had before their discovery. Because of their age and close similarity with the Masoretic Text,
we now have an objective basis for determining that the biblical text used in our modern copies
of the Old Testament is accurate” (Franks). While there is evidence in many different aspects in
Holly Brezee
THEO 201-001
Dr. Chris Gnanakan
February 26, 2018
life that provide the support of inerrancy in the Bible, God’s word is ultimately the most reliable
doctrine of support. John 17:17 says, “Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.”
The Bible clearly addresses one of the most debatably discussed topics people often
question and consider; Life after death: Heaven or Hell. No one on this earth can tell us a definite
answer about it since every living human on this earth is not dead, but alive, thus having no
experience of what life after death truly is. As finite humans, we can only conjure up enough
information to make theories, ideas, and guesses at what life after deaths holds for each
individual. This is why we must look to the Bible for answers. There are only two places one can
spend eternity: heaven or hell, and the decision of which one becomes each individual’s eternity
is by God’s Judgement. John 5:28-29 says, “Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when
all who are in their graves will hear his voice and come out—those who have done what is good
will rise to live, and those who have done what is evil will rise to be condemned.” The Bible
teaches that there are precisely two – no more and no less – groups of people: those who belong
to God and those who do not. Unfortunately, some individual’s chose not to accept Christ or
belong to Him in any way, and they’re condemned to eternity in hell. “If anyone’s name was not
found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire” (Revelation 20:15). Brian
Strider, a writer for Cru’s Christian belief organization, explains, “If heaven is the ultimate
marriage, then hell is the final divorce. In keeping with these analogies, our understanding of
heaven is informed by our knowledge of hell and vice versa. The two realities are on extreme
opposite trajectories, making heaven unfathomably amazing and hell unthinkably hideous”
(Strider). We need to understand the seriousness that every single living soul on this earth will
one day face the judgement of which eternity they will be spending the rest of their perpetual
existence in. Hell is described throughout the Bible in various places, but always portrayed as a
Holly Brezee
THEO 201-001
Dr. Chris Gnanakan
February 26, 2018
lake of burning sulfur, a fiery furnace, a place of no rest, filled with destruction, suffering,
weeping, and the gnashing of teeth in eternal darkness. In the Bible it says, “The Son of Man will
send His angels, and they will collect out of His kingdom all causes of sin and all evildoers, and
they will throw them into the furnace of fire, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth”
(Matthew 13:41-42). Being sentenced to eternity in hell is just that: an eternal, forever, ongoing,
never-ending state to be lost to in torment and suffering. “Eternal punishment is as much a truth
of God’s Word as is the eternal rewards for the righteous. Jesus said: “And these shall go away
into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into life eternal” (Matthew 25:46). The life of the
righteous is everlasting, but so is the punishment of the wicked everlasting” (Strauss).
Therefore, if all of this is true – that life after death is only the beginning of eternity in
either heaven or hell – which it is entire truth based off of the inerrancy of the Bible, why is
knowing all of this so important? What it comes down to is the security of every single and
individual soul God created on this earth. It is inevitable that at some point every person’s life on
earth will cease to exist, but it is how one choses to live during that time that determines which
eternity will become reality.
Holly Brezee
THEO 201-001
Dr. Chris Gnanakan
February 26, 2018
Bibliography
Franks, Jim. “Is the Bible True? Proof 2: Dead Sea Scrolls.” Life, Hope & Truth,
lifehopeandtruth.com/bible/is-the-bible-true/proof-2-dead-sea-scrolls/.
Geisler, Norman. “Proof Inerrancy Is Historical / Biblical.” Defending Inerrancy, 2013,
defendinginerrancy.com/historical-evidence-for-inerrancy/.
Strauss, Lehman. “The Eternal Punishment of the Lost.” Bible.org, 2 Feb. 2009,
bible.org/seriespage/7-eternal-punishment-lost.
Strider, Brian. “Heaven and Hell.” Cru.org, www.cru.org/us/en/train-and-grow/spiritual-
growth/core-christian-beliefs/heaven-and-hell.html.
The Bible
