Professor Hoek on Hell

31-03-2025 - Posted by Geert-Jan
Originally posted on January 06, 2024 - by Andre Piet

On CVandaag (formerly known as CIP) an article can be read in which prof. dr. J. Hoek is interviewed on the subject of ‘hell’. Now, on the website of GoedBericht, much has already been written about this theme, and a few months ago CVandaag also (with permission) published a blog from GoedBericht.nl on this topic. The reason I bring up this subject again now is because, in the aforementioned interview with prof. Hoek, my blog is explicitly referenced and GB is contradicted and questioned.

Derivation of the Word Hell

The professor rightly brings forward in the conversation that the Hebrew ‘sheol’ (=realm of the dead) must not be translated as hell, as the Statenvertaling does. He also observes that the word for ‘hell’ in the New Testament traces back to the Greek word ‘gehenna’, which is nothing other than the valley of Hinnom, just outside the gates of Jerusalem. Unfortunately, he fails to conclude that the word ‘hell’ has therefore wrongly found its way into our Bible translations. Since Gehenna is a place name, just as Jerusalem and Nazareth are, it should thus (untranslated) be designated as a geographical place name and not as a shadowy subterranean realm.

The Lake of Fire and Gehenna

Hoek rightly notes that there is a difference between “the lake of fire” and ‘Gehenna’, but then says the following about it:

“In the last book of the Bible (Revelation) the lake of fire is discussed. That is the place where the devil and his henchmen are ultimately thrown. That is a definitive, eternal destination. Gehenna points more to a transitional period between your death and the day of Jesus’ return and His final judgment. One could say that eternal perdition lies in the continuation of Gehenna.”

These are two colossal errors. First, the idea that “the lake of fire (…) which is the second death” would be the final destination. Certainly, it lasts for an age, but that does not mean forever, but throughout the ages (aeons). Death and judgment never have the final word in Scripture.

The second error is Hoek’s claim that Gehenna would refer to the fate that befalls the lost directly after their death but before Jesus’ return. That is completely incorrect. Point one: “the dead know not anything” (Eccl. 9:5), and the first conscious moment after their death is only at the resurrection. Added to that, Gehenna serves in prophecy as a place of warning in the Messianic kingdom after the return. In this valley near Jerusalem the unburied corpses of wicked men will lie in public view (see the last verse of Isaiah).

Golgotha as Hell?

Hoek distinguishes between biblical imagery concerning hell and reality. “Reality is most clearly revealed at Golgotha; at the crucifixion of Jesus. The established churches confess that He descended into hell. Jesus cried out: ‘My God, My God, why didst Thou forsake Me?’ At that moment, Jesus no longer experienced connection with the heavenly Father. God was, at that moment, infinitely far away. Hell, in that sense, is therefore not so much about torment and torture, but about exclusion.”

When Jesus died and was buried, He descended into the realm of the dead. He was dead for three days until God the Father raised Him from among the dead. Jesus’ stay in the realm of the dead (Heb. sheol; Gr. hades; Acts 2:27) took place after His death. The God-forsakenness that Jesus experienced during the three hours of darkness is related neither to the realm of the dead nor to Gehenna. Prof. Hoek declares the God-forsakenness that Jesus experienced to be ‘hell’ and is able to theologize about that, but fails to provide biblical receipts to support it.

At the same time, Hoek severely contradicts himself here, because if Jesus’ experience at Golgotha were already a prototype of ‘hell’, then he thereby also proves that hell is not endless. After all, Jesus’ God-forsakenness lasted three hours…

Hell as a Path of Purification or Purgatory?

The interviewer from CVandaag then refers to the blog of the undersigned and asks:

Bible teacher André Piet recently wrote: ‘God does not punish for the sake of punishing, but to set right and to bring into the right place,’ referring to Psalm 30 verse 5: ‘For a moment is His anger, life is in His good-will.’ Is this line of thought in agreement with the Bible?

Hoek’s response to this is:

“Behind this lies the view of hell as a path of purification; a kind of purgatory that ceases after a while.”

This analysis by prof. Hoek misses the mark because I have never claimed that hell is a path of purification or a kind of purgatory. I do not believe in ‘hell’ at all, as it is an unscriptural concept. What I believe is that at “the great white throne”, after the thousand years, “the rest of the dead” will rise and will be judged there (Rev. 20). Those who will then be cast into “the lake of fire” will die “the second death”. All these processes are necessary in order to ultimately abolish death so that God may be all in all (1 Cor. 15:22–28).

Also the Devil?

In this universalistic thinking, it ultimately turns out well for all people. I wonder, with adherents of this view, whether this also applies to the devil: is he also punished only temporarily?

Indeed, Scripture teaches that God is the Saviour of all men (1 Tim. 4:10) and also that He will justify all men (Rom. 5:18) and make them alive just as Christ, the Firstfruit (1 Cor. 15:22). The saving work of Christ is universal and encompasses all of humanity.

Hoek’s question as to whether the devil will also be excluded only temporarily seems here a diversionary tactic. Intended to evade the force of the argument from Psalm 30:5. Although the question in itself is reasonable. My answer is: the principle that God’s judgments aim to set right and to bring into the right place applies to all the works of His hands. Indeed, the fate of the devil, the beast, and the false prophet will last “to the aeons of the aeons”, but that is not the same as endless. Also Christ’s reign is not endless, despite the fact that it likewise lasts “to the aeons of the aeons” (cf. Rev. 11:15 and 1 Cor. 15:25). A moment will come when all creatures, heavenly, earthly, and subterranean, will wholeheartedly acknowledge Jesus as Lord. To the glory of God the Father (Phil. 2:9–11). Then the devil will be no longer a devil (=slanderer), and satan (=adversary) no longer a satan. Then will be fulfilled what Jesus once said to the devil: you shall worship the Lord your God and Him only shall you serve (Matt. 4:10).

‘Expression of Faith’?

Prof. Hoek makes another attempt to diminish the universal impact of Psalm 30:5 by reducing it to a subjective expression of faith.

Psalm 30:5 is not some kind of dogmatic statement about hell. In this Psalm, a man speaks who has been close to death and looks back on a difficult time. The psalmist compares hard earthly circumstances with life in the heavenly light. An expression of faith, one might say. In that perspective, ‘His anger is but for a moment’.

Of course, Psalm 30:5 is not a dogmatic statement about hell. For Scripture knows no hell. Psalm 30:5 speaks of God’s anger, which can be exceedingly intense, but… in proportion to His good-will it relates as a moment to a long life. Those are the proportions and relationships. God’s anger, in this perspective, does not stand opposed to God’s good-will and love, but rather flows forth from it. God’s anger serves to set right and to bring into the right place. Whoever makes God’s anger endless, therefore, does not take that anger seriously. Even more: one thereby makes God’s anger diabolical. For becoming angry is Divine, but remaining angry is devilish.

Believing the Whole of Scripture

Finally, prof. Hoek notes:

“One cannot, by appealing to this psalm verse, set aside other Bible texts that clearly speak of an eternal judgment,” says the theologian.

Here Hoek turns the matter upside down. For it is not acceptable to cross out one group of texts against another. One should believe the whole of Scripture. Scripture speaks of an age-during judgment, that is, a judgment pertaining to one or more ages (aeons). Just as Scripture also speaks of universal salvation, vivification, justification, and reconciliation. And what becomes evident? Both types of Scripture passages fit together seamlessly. God judges and sets upright, precisely in order to thereby bring everything into its right place and thus to prove His universal love!

Delen: