I Repented Already!
Below is a letter I received from a man whom, to my knowledge, I have never met nor sent any of our literature to. Judging from the tone of the letter, this response will probably not be heard by him. I think the grating of his teeth is making too much noise and his hands over his ears probably do not help the matter much. However, just in case a little part of him does want to hear and for the benefit of you, the reader, I will answer the letter below. It was originally hand-written on stationary bearing the title of a Great Commission Ministry. (His last name is removed from the letter and the spelling in the letter is as is in the original.)
January 24, 1994
Sir Gary,I ajure you by the Most High God to repent for your "Hell ain't Hot heresy." If I were the devil or his messenger-thats exactly what I would try to get people to believe. "Don't worry-hell ain't real, ain't hot, ain't long. You ain't goin' there-go ahead commit your sin-you'll be all right."
If you don't stop this-God will shut you down and shut you up and send you to an eternal hot hell you are preaching against.
John
P.S. Please do not respond to me in any way-unless it is a response of repentance.
My response:
Dear Mr. X;Since you refuse to correspond with me and have already consigned me to your hot hell unless I repent, I will share with you some of the things I have repented of since leaving organizations run by people with your kind of spirit. I know this spirit very well, having had a kindred spirit when I, also, was out to "save the world." I used to preach your "hot hell" and know where you are coming from. But a day came when God decided it was time for me to learn a thing or two instead of teaching the "tradition of the elders." This caused me to do some serious repenting.
I have repented...of superficial Bible study. As a result, I know that the English word "Hell" simply means "the unseen, hidden, imperceptible." But when one adds pagan mythology to this simple and good word, this simple word becomes a religious confusion. The Encyclopedia Britannica tells us that "Hel, or Hela, in Scandinavian mythology, goddess of the dead, a child of Loki, and the giantess Angurboda, dwelt beneath the roots of the sacred ash, Yggrragil (q.v.), and ruled the nine worlds of Helheim. In early myth all the dead went to her: in later legend only those who died of old age or sickness; she then became synonymous with suffering and horror." Here, Mr. Bohlen, is the origin of your mythological place called "Hell." Obviously, you are unaware of this origin, as well as being unaware of how the Roman Catholic church incorporated thousands of pagan myths into Christianity, corrupting the Truth, and substituting mythology by Christening the pagan practices from countries which it tried to convert. This is historical fact, Mr. Bohlen. But it requires a repentance from laziness and ignorance for one to discover this fact! I have repented from being lazy and hiding in my ignorance. I allowed superstition and "tradition" to blind me to the Truth. I won't bore you with how "Hel" a female turned into "Satan" a male and how a place where all the death went turned into a fiery place where "sinners" go...I'll leave that for you to search out for yourself, when you finally repent. You might start by looking at some of the superstition King James and his translators believed in. It shocked me how ignorant even the educated were during this time in history. A study into King James' personal life will also make the eyes bulge! So then, in repenting from laziness, I discovered that the Greek and Hebrew words translated into our English word "Hell" did not have a meaning anything like the old Scandinavian Mythology nor anything like the modern teaching of "Hell" which has changed considerably from its original form.
No one ever told me that the King James Bible and its sister Bibles translated four different Greek and Hebrew words each with different meanings into one English word. While I may no longer believe in your "Hell," I now believe in the Biblical word "Hades" which literally means "unseen." I believe in that. I do not believe in the Greek mythological fables of the god of the underworld. I now know another of the words mistranslated "Hell" is Gehenna. Gehenna was the city dump outside the walls of Jerusalem in which Israel at one time in their history burned their own children to Moloch. In Jeremiah 32:35, Yahweh was shocked Israel would do such a terrible thing, burn their own children, but then is that not what you say, that God will one day burn most of the souls of this world which God in His own Bible says belong to Him? (Ezekiel 18:4; Numbers 16:22) The Greek word "Tartarus" in Greek mythology a place for holding fallen giants is found once in the Greek and mistranslated "Hell." In the Old Testament the word "Sheol," a place which everyone goes according to the Hebrew, is translated "grave," and "pit," and "Hell" by the King James Bible. Most Bibles do not commit the grave mistake the King's translators committed. They not longer render "Sheol" as "Hell." Therefore, most leading Bibles printed in the 20th Century do not contain "Hell" in the first three quarters of the Bible. The foundation of the Christian faith, commonly called the Old Testament no longer contains the word "Hell." Isn't that interesting! This should cause a person to think...and study. I suppose what is worst of all, is that the place which most fits the fiery place of torment which you so forcefully preach which is found only in the Book of Revelation is not even translated into the English word "Hell." As a matter of fact, your "Hell" is to be thrown into this place defined by the Bible as "the second death." Death and "Hell" will die the second death. The Bible says one day all death will be destroyed. Casting the first death into the "second death," that is, the lake of fire, will be the end of all death-the death of death! (1 Cor. 15:56; Rev.20:14)
Since I have repented of laziness in study, I have discovered many things which I wasn't taught in the fundamental/evangelical churches I used to attend. I discovered the word for "punishment" in Matthew 25:46 in the Greek was a word describing pruning a tree to make it bear more fruit, not vindictive punishment. The Greek word translated "torment" in Revelation 20:10 meant "touchstone," a stone used to test the quality of gold, which represents divinity. Torture or torment inaccurately represents the original meaning. I discovered that the Bible always stated that the "wages of sin was death" not eternal torment. Jesus holds the keys to both death and Hades. To me, that is Good News!
Mr. Bohlen, recently I have done a lot of repenting, turning from "traditions of men and doctrines of demons" to seriously studying and praying. I have repented from not believing that according to Scriptures, Jesus Christ, the Son of the Living God, created all things, reconciles all things, is Heir of all things, has authority over all things, will have all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth, His grace comes to all men, He takes away the sin of the world, give His flesh for the life of the world, is the propitiation for the sins of the world, whose gifts are irrevocable one of which is His Life for the world, who was manifested to put away sin, preached to spirits in prison, Who holds the keys to death and Hell, Who changes not, Who will always be love, Who made all things alive, Who completed the work the Father gave Him which was to restore all things, be a ransom for all, to take away the curse, to be the Savior of the whole world and then deliver it up to God the Father that He may be all in all! In case you are selective in what parts of the Bible you read, I want to notify you that the above list of things Jesus Christ will accomplish came from the Bible. Oh, I left a good one out (and there are many more) and that is "Love never fails!" The God you want me to embrace, Mr. Bohlen, is a gross failure. As a matter of fact, by your own standards, he may fail to save even an upstanding citizen such as yourself. Mr. Bohlen, I have repented of remaining ignorant and since then darkness has been fleeing and the Creator of this wonderful universe is becoming larger and more awesome than I ever conceived or was taught in the "tradition of the elders."
As for my teaching "Hell ain't hot," I am going to a place that is much hotter than your pagan "Hell." I am going to my Father-Who is an All-Consuming Fire and so are you! I hope you like heat because when you find out how badly you misrepresented our Father, you face will be red hot with shame. Mr. Bohlen, I have repented, but I ask...when will you? Will you wait for the fire that Malachi says will come upon the Priests to purify them? Instead of commanding fire down upon peoples heads like John and James did and receive a strong rebuke from Jesus (Luke 9:54-57), why don't you try to bring down hot coals of fire upon people by loving them the way Jesus commanded you to ...by laying down your life for them instead of "adjuring" them, rebuking them, and judging them. (Rom. 12:20) Hell, Mr. Bohlen, is very cold, as cold as the heart of a man who would write a letter such as yours. You did not plead with me, reason with me, lay down your life to save me from this "Hell" you believe I am destined to. No, you wouldn't even talk with me, which tells me the condition of your heart. You didn't quote me a single Scripture, I gave you many. By the way, I don't teach "Hell ain't hot." I don't teach your pagan concept of "Hell" at all. I teach about the Biblical terms of Sheol, Gehenna, Hades, and Tartarus, none of which match the pagan traditions you believe. Should you repent from your lack of study and decide to "search to see if these things be so," write me for a good study on how "hot" heaven will be. I am guilty of that teaching, and I will not repent from that. I know my Heavenly Father's love towards me is very hot as it is towards all His children.
Your repentant brother, Gary Amirault
P.S. You may not feel I will ever repent, but I am absolutely certain one day you will repent, turn, and be healed.
"If I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all mankind unto Myself." (John 12:32)