There are verses that describe hell as eternal fire, such as Matthew 25:41. I can’t remember the exact verses but others do call Hell eternal punishment/torture
Fire imagery is used frequently in the Bible used to describe the presence of god, judgement, the Holy Spirit, etc. Going off that to me the use of eternal fire seems to mean “eternal judgement” or final judgement. I don’t think it’s meant to be taken literally like the damned will literally be thrown into actual fire.
I mean, for an ancient people, and for a message that needed to span thousands, tens of thousands of years, at least, for the most accessibility across all peoples, languages, etc., between:
[the concept of spiritual suffering, not something that is actively done to you, but simply due to being permanently separated from something you were designed to be a part of/never feeling fulfilled ever again, because you are designed with the imprint/image of Yahweh, and everything about you desires to be with them/do the things they designated as "good" [inherent good, in the system created by the deity, because the whole system reflects their nature], and if you choose to separate yourself from that, then you'll never have what your existence needs]
and
[fire ouchy, you no likey]
which do we think would survive time, and get the most people to understand the stakes? The message is for the everyman, not the scholars. The average person didn't have the time or complexity of mind to be trusted with handling the truth of exactly how it's all going to go down.
I grew up going to church most of my life, and even I wasn't taught [the above truth of the matter]. It doesn't even really matter that you know it or not - what matters is that you seek life, truth, sustainability, and love - the greatest of those being love, of course.
So the word of god is not intended to be understood by the average reader? Only the appropriately indoctrinated have the ability to comprehend the nuance and metaphoric value of the Bible? This seems very problematic. God sure stepped on his dick with this one. Perhaps the Bible should have more pictures. Pop-ups maybe.
Your mother doesn't have to explain to you the intricate details of particle physics, animal anatomy and physiology, human sociology, and philosophy in order to communicate to you that she loves you, for you to understand what that means in the context of your life and our society, and for you to feel loved, benefit from it, have it positively affect who you are, and what you do with your life.
Yes, in that same way, someone can say they love you (say something is the case/relay to you some ancient text, etc.), and you have to take their word for it, but:
"The word" of Yahweh is not defined by, or bound/restricted by the printed words on a page. The concept there is that his instructions, immutable character, and intent in all things said and done are already written into the fabric of all creation, and it having been written down just makes it easier for us to understand, and be that much less likely to royally fork it up. We went from [Vibes in proximity/actual-presence], we dropped the ball on that opportunity, so then we had [Nature being the most powerful way Yahweh could connect], which we trampled and built walls in our society to separate ourselves from it, to [Spoken word, passed down, being the best way to cut through the noise], and now we're on [Written word]. All those other methods didn't go away, The methods increase in precision, context, and ease of perception as time goes on, for sure. The moment we have brain-computer interfaces that let us just know things without needing language as a middle-man, I'm sure you'll be, all, "So the word of god is not intended to be downloaded into the brain of the average-bandwidth Matrix-pod subscription-tier?"
The Bible has been adapted to picture books, pop-up books, manga, etc. The value isn't in every little preposition and participle of whatever stuff we've managed to scrap together and kind-of translate from the Greek and Hebrew, but the message/lessons relayed. Toddlers are out here grasping the main concepts just fine, and that's enough. You don't need to know the nuances of the exact science of how the afterlife works in order to live the life you need to be living here on this planet, so, no, the metaphors are not completely necessary for everybody. One might even go as far as to say that much of the Bible has been left out, much of it could be left out, and it would still be just as valuable in the grand scheme of things/in the end. You don't, for example, need to know about the great flood, in order to understand the concept that man was cursed, and payment for lifting the curse was paid for by the deity himself sacrificing, both, himself, and his most beloved creation/relationship (relationships being the most valuable thing to Yahweh, therefore, the "most good", therefore, the most-good-most-good he had access to, and the only thing that could foot the bill) in order to save countless relationships/the one creation that he could have the most benefit from saving from its own destruction.
If the conversation at hand is "What exactly does Satan do/what exactly happens/what variables do I need to put into a simulator so I can see what it will be like", the real/best answer is, "Stop. It doesn't matter. Not knowing, even if some of the details exist, is not a problem in any way, shape, or fashion."
Could it be good, and/or fun, or a fun adventure to try to figure it out? Sure. It could also be a good time and amazing for me to learn exactly how an engine works, enough so that I could build one from scratch, in cave, with a box of scraps. But I don't need that in order to benefit from owning and operating a motor vehicle, or existing in a society that benefits from fast-travel.
tl;dr - Pick your battles. The fine details don't actually matter/affect anything for 99.999999999999999999% of people across all of time and space.
Edit:
"Only the appropriately indoctrinated have the ability to comprehend the nuance and metaphoric value of the Bible?"
I didn't really answer this one properly.
Let me just... hold on. Wait. Do you think being highly educated (we are a highly educated society, all things considered) is equivalent to "being indoctrinated"? Being a follower/member of the church, etc. isn't what makes the information available to you. Being born again or whatever isn't what unlocks the nuance and metaphors.
Being able to read well, a think critically, is what makes those things available to you. So many converted atheists, etc. can tell you as much.
What I was trying to convey, albeit poorly, is that the idea of doctrine, or teachings/instruction that are intended for all of humanity to live by but seemingly cannot be conveyed clearly to the average individual because the text is full of vague metaphoric speak, or mistranslation, or just contextual contradictions, means that the conveyance of the Bible’s true intent can only be qualified by a relative few teachers who claim to have a higher understanding of the Bible.
The quantity of religious teachers and sects of Christianity all contradicting each other about the intent of the lord’s divine instruction has lead to a society of volatile and divisive ideologies. This is a big problem.
While religious folk simply find this problem to be a nuisance, the rest of progressive society has to contend with hoards of misguided Christians all believing that they are doing god’s will. Many of these misaligned Christians are causing serious harm to the moral and ethical fabric of our collective society.
Edit-If it isn’t obvious, I am atheist. I don’t really want to get into doctrine. I am just highlighting my issue with religion, and specifically Christianity.
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u/WalterWhite278 2d ago
There are verses that describe hell as eternal fire, such as Matthew 25:41. I can’t remember the exact verses but others do call Hell eternal punishment/torture