Myth: “Jesus spoke more often about Hell than Heaven”

​by George Sidney Hurd
 
Most of us have heard the assertion made from pulpits on more than one occasion: “Jesus spoke more often about Hell than He did about heaven.” Some of us may have even repeated this ourselves, assuming it to be true.
 
The truth is, we would expect Jesus and His disciples to have been pleading with the lost multitudes on every possible occasion to avoid Hell, if in fact it were a place of unending torment without any redemptive purpose beyond the condemned suffering eternal torments in order to pay an infinite penalty for the sins committed during their brief lifetime, as commonly taught. This is especially true considering the love and compassion Jesus had for the lost multitudes, and knowing that, as the Creator and sustainer of all things, He was the one who would have to sustain their continued existence in that dreadful place of unspeakable torments (Col 1:17; Heb 1:3; Acts 17:28).
 
However, contrary to the claims made by some Hellfire-and-brimstone preachers, the primary focus of Christ’s ministry was not upon Hell, but the kingdom of heaven in both its present and future forms. He often spoke to the multitudes concerning their Father in heaven (Matt 5:16, 45, 48, 6:1,9; 11:25). He told them to lay up for themselves treasures in heaven and to pray for the coming of their Father’s kingdom (Matt 6:10,20). He told the Sadducees that in the resurrection we will be like the angels in heaven (Matt 22:30). When the disciples were troubled concerning His departure, He gave them these wonderful words of comfort:
 
"Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me.  2 In My Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.  3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.” (John 14:1-3)
 
Without in any way diminishing the warnings Jesus gave concerning postmortem judgments, I felt the need to once-and-for-all dispel the myth that Jesus spoke more often about Hell than heaven. First it is necessary to clarify what is meant by Hell, since there is so much misunderstanding concerning its actual meaning.
 
There are two different Greek words used by Jesus that were rendered as “Hell” in the KJV in spite of their distinct meaning. On three occasions in the gospels Jesus used the word Hades (ᾅδης). Hades literally means “invisible” and is the equivalent of the Hebrew word Sheol used in the Old Testament to refer to the invisible realm of the souls of the dead, both the just (Gen 37:35; Ps 16:10) and the unjust (Job 24:19). I consider further the meaning of these terms in my blog, Is Sheol the Grave? While Jesus mentioned Hades on three occasions, the only time He implied that some in Hades (the unseen realm of the dead) are in torments is in the parable of the rich man and Lazarus in Luke 16:23.
 
The other word used by Jesus that was rendered as “Hell” in the KJV is Gehenna (Γέεννα). While Gehenna was the name of the actual Valley of Hinnom outside of Jerusalem, by the time of Christ, the terms “Gehenna fire” and “eonian fire” were figuratively used in reference to postmortem purifying fires. I develop this subject further in my blog, What is Gehenna?
 
The word Gehenna (Gr.) is used by Jesus 11 times but only on four different occasions, first in the Olivet Discourse, speaking to the multitudes (Matt 5:22,29,30). Afterwards, He mentioned Gehenna once when speaking to His own disciples (Matt 10:28), once when warning against causing one of His little ones to stumble (Matt 18:9) and once as a warning to the scribes and Pharisees (Matt 23:15,33).
 
So, we see that Jesus only used the actual words Hades and Gehenna, rendered in the KJV as Hell on seven different occasions. In contrast, He used the word heaven (ouranos, οὐρανός) a total of 120 times! So clearly, based upon His actual mention of these terms, Jesus spoke of heaven much more frequently than He spoke of Hell.
 
Even factoring in all the indirect references made to Hades or Gehenna such as, “outer darkness,” “weeping and gnashing of teeth” “eonian fire,” “eonian punishment,” “eonian destruction,” etc., Jesus still spoke much more frequently of heaven and a positive future than He spoke of Hell or a negative future.
 
The four Gospels contain around 1,850 verses containing words of Jesus. Of those 1,850 verses, the total of verses which contain direct or indirect references to Hell is 25 on 10 different occasions. However, the total of verses where Jesus mentions heaven either directly or indirectly is 125. That amounts to only 1.35% of the verses about Hell as opposed to 6.75% about heaven.
 
Therefore, Jesus spoke about heaven 5 times more frequently than He did about Hell! If in fact Hell were eternal torment, rather than eonian and correctional, resulting in the eventual restoration of all who will be subjected to it, we would at the very least expect that these figures would be inverted. Yet, instead of us seeing Jesus focusing upon an eternal hell awaiting the multitudes, we see Him focused upon the good news of the kingdom of heaven. When it says of Him that He had compassion on the multitudes, we would expect that it would have moved Him to preach, warning of the eternal hell which awaited them, if the traditional model were true, but that is not what we find:
 
“And when Jesus went out He saw a great multitude; and He was moved with compassion for them, and healed their sick.” (Matt 14:14)
 
“I have compassion on the multitude, because they have now continued with Me three days and have nothing to eat.  3 And if I send them away hungry to their own houses, they will faint on the way; for some of them have come from afar.” (Mark 8:2-3)
 
Jesus had compassion on the multitudes because they were sick; because they were like sheep without a shepherd, or because they had nothing to eat. But nowhere do we find the loving Savior saying that He had compassion on them because He knew the majority of them would be eternally tormented in hell. Which would have been more urgent, healing, multiplying food, or warning them that they were headed for an eternal hell?
 
That is not to take lightly the warnings that Jesus gave to the multitudes (and the disciples) concerning Gehenna. But if Gehenna really were eternal and with literal flames, without any hope of restoration, having been invented for the sole purpose of eternally torturing its occupants, don’t you think He would have dedicated more of His time to warning them than doing good deeds and healing all those who were oppressed of the devil?
 
Therefore, the fact that Jesus spoke of heaven and a positive future much more frequently than He spoke of Hell and a negative future, is just another clear indicator that Hell, or more correctly, Gehenna fire or the Lake of Fire, is not everlasting punishment, as commonly taught, but eonian correction, resulting in the final restoration of all.
 

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