Jehovah’s Witnesses believe that everyone who is in the Bible Hell will be released and have a second chance at eternal life during the 1,000 year reign of Jesus Christ.  Many religions of Christendom believe the opposite, that all those in the Bible Hell will never be released but will be tormented there for all eternity.

That is putting the matter simply - however, it becomes more complex when it is realized that this stand depends on what Bible translation one is using and therefore what is actually being referred to Biblically. 

And, btw, this is the subject of my assigned talk in our Ministry School this Tuesday night - so any input will be appreciated, pro and con - preferably friendly.

The primary Biblical account in my assigned material is as follows - quoted within my assigned source material:

Rev. 20:13, 14, KJ: “The sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell* delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire.” (So the dead will be delivered from hell. Notice also that hell is not the same as the lake of fire but will be cast into the lake of fire.) (*“Hell,” Dy, Kx; “the world of the dead,” TEV; “Hades,” NE, AS, RS, JB, NW.)

KJ = KJV = AV = Authorized King James Version - which, in the Scoffield Reference addition (the original, not the new one which removed some of Scoffield’s scholarly notes), is the Bible I originally studied when brought up Dutch Reformed to Lutheran, and was my mom’s favorite Bible translation when first starting to study with Jehovah’s Witnesses.

So, our stand as I opened with is based on this KJV rendering which simply states that “Hell delivered up the dead which were in them.”

This runs counter to what I was taught as a Lutheran - in that religion is was taught that those in Hell are alive, not dead -and that they are there eternally - never released - and, therefore, Lutherans are taught exactly opposite to what this verse states in KJV.

However, my assigned material then considers the translation aspect of this - the fact that Revelation 20:13,14 is referring to the Hebrew sheol/ Greek hades as Hell, whereas the Greek Gehenna is actually the lake of fire in the account.  Some translations confuse the matter by translating both hades and gehenna as Hell.  The simple truth of the verse is that hades is cast into gehenna - not that hades is gehenna. 

The simple truth, Biblically, is that all are released from hades while no one is released from gehenna.  Also, hades (sheol in Hebrew) is simply the common grave of mankind from which all are resurrected except those is the lake of fire which is gehenna - the latter are eternally dead with no hope of a resurrection - hence eternal condemnatory judgment and also eternal destruction.

Before continuing in depth concerning the various translations and verses involved in understanding this subject in depth, I would like to share my source material and invite critique or further research from anyone here - pro or con. 

"“Much confusion and misunderstanding has been caused through the early translators of the Bible persistently rendering the Hebrew Sheol and the Greek Hades and Gehenna by the word hell. The simple transliteration of these words by the translators of the revised editions of the Bible has not sufficed to appreciably clear up this confusion and misconception.”—The Encyclopedia Americana (1942), Vol. XIV, p. 81.

Translators have allowed their personal beliefs to color their work instead of being consistent in their rendering of the original-language words. For example: (1) The King James Version rendered she’ohl´ as “hell,” “the grave,” and “the pit”; hai´des is therein rendered both “hell” and “grave”; ge´en·na is also translated “hell.” (2) Today’s English Version transliterates hai´des as “Hades” and also renders it as “hell” and “the world of the dead.” But besides rendering “hell” from hai´des it uses that same translation for ge´en·na. (3) The Jerusalem Bible transliterates hai´des six times, but in other passages it translates it as “hell” and as “the underworld.” It also translates ge´en·na as “hell,” as it does hai´des in two instances. Thus the exact meanings of the original-language words have been obscured.” - “Reasoning from the Scriptures,” pp. 170,171

To sum up - hades/sheol is the common grave of mankind at the first death and all will be resurrected from the grave.  Gehenna is the lake of fire, the second death, from which no one is resurrected but all there will be destroyed eternally symbolized by being consumed by eternal fire.

Proving that in depth is what I hope to do in this thread - as well as considering all other beliefs of all posters who post on this thread in the light of the Bible, which I/we believe is truth:

(John 17:3) . . .This means everlasting life, their taking in knowledge of you, the only true God, and of the one whom you sent forth, Jesus Christ.

I agree; even their beloved KJV admits that hell is the grave. Anyone with a KJV Bible that has a reference column can see this at Psalm 55:15 where "hell" has a reference that says "or, the grave." (Some newer editions have "or, sheol." They cahnge it when they see that they are accidently teaching the truth.)

Again in Revelation 20:13 & 14 the marginal reference for "hell" reads: "Hades, or the grave."

Let’s see if we can make some head way on this one. I must confess, to begin with, that I have not majored on the doctrines of hell and damnation… being more interested in the doctrines of grace and salvation. However… I digress.

Rev 20:11-15

Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books. The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works. Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.

In the Greek death and hell both have the definite article… and they should be, at the very least, capitalized… as in the NKJV as quoted above. And this is because they are angels… fallen angels. This may be easier to discern in Rev 6:8

So I looked, and behold, a pale horse. And the name of him who sat on it was Death, and Hades followed with him. And power was given to them over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword, with hunger, with death, and by the beasts of the earth.

Thus as I understand it… the angels Death and Hades have power over the dead, apparently not over all the dead, just many of those who do not believe in our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, when the ungodly die, their souls are claimed by Death and Hades. Afterwards, at the White Throne judgment, or what some call “the general resurrection,” after the 1000 year Kingdom, the dead will be released from the power of Death and Hades, who will then be cast into the Lake of Fire – which is the second death. Then those who will be released from their power will be judged - each according to their works.  

 Again, as I understand this passage, the White Throne Judgment happens after the consummation of the Kingdom Age. For Christians, that means that we will have been raised from the dead and will have ruled and reigned with Jesus Christ for 1000 years. Thus we will not be part of this judgment. Therefore, those who are judged according to their works, as found written in the books and the Book of Life, are those who lived during the Kingdom Age. After this follows the judgment of Death and Hades and the rest of the dead under their power – and they were judged according to their works.

 The passage is reasonably clear, and it says nothing about the dead not existing until they are resurrected. Indeed, it is clear that the ungodly dead are in a prison run by the angels Death and Hades. Why would Death and Hades have power over the ungodly dead if they do not exist?

 So in summary… the dead do not cease to exist. The dead are being kept by the angels Death and Hades until the Last Judgment. These angels will be cast into the Lake of Fire at that time, and the dead who were in them will be judged according to their works – and anyone not found written in the Book of Life will be cast into the Lake of Fire with them.

 To me, this does not sound remotely like what I hear you saying. I do not see anywhere where anyone gets a second chance to believe in Christ during the Millennium. I do not see anywhere were the dead do not exist until they are raised from the dead. And I do not see anywhere were those who are cast into the Lake of Fire cease to exist.

~ Theophilus

Jehovah’s Witnesses believe that everyone who is in the Bible Hell will be released and have a second chance at eternal life during the 1,000 year reign of Jesus Christ...

I just can't believe how alike our made-in-America sects really are.  The Mormons also believe the dear departed will have another chance to become Mormon so that they can be eligible to rule over their very own planet with all the wives they can handle.  (This scenario seems a bit more attractive than some silly apple orchard on an eternal Earth amongst grass-eating lions and tigers.)  And bears.

Jan 25, 2010 -- 2:03PM, Sup wrote:

Were you assigned this part from the Reasoning book this week, Newt?

If so, good luck on your delivery.

Hi Sup!  Yes!  Thank you!

[Er -  I am thanking you for your thought - I/we do not believe in luck!]