In the 14th century, Dante Alighieri wrote an epic poem called Divine Comedy in which the spirit of a Roman poet named Virgil gave him (Dante) a tour of the nine circles of Hell. These nine circles represented varying degrees of punishment. The first circle, Limbo, was the least severe while the ninth circle, Treachery, was the most severe.
Over the years, I have heard some Christians use the story of Dante's Inferno to mock the idea that there are different levels of hell, or varying degrees of punishment. But the poem by Dante Alighieri no more negates the reality of different levels of punishment (if such exist) than do the comical pictures of Satan as a little red demon with a pitchfork and pointy tail negate the reality of the devil.
All that matters here is what the Scriptures teach.
Do the Scriptures teach that there may be varying degrees of punishment in hell? Consider these passages with me...
"Assuredly, I say to you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for this city" (Matthew 10:15).
"Then He began to rebuke the cities in which most of His mighty works had been done, because they did not repent: 'Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. But I say to you, it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the day of judgment than for you. And you, Capernaum, who are exalted to heaven, will be brought down to Hades; for if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. But I say to you that it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment than for you" (Matthew 11:20-24).
"Then He said to them in His teaching, 'Beware of the scribes, who desire to go around in long robes, love greetings in the marketplaces, the best seats in the synagogue, and the best places at feasts, who devour widows' houses, and for a pretense make long prayers. These will receive greater condemnation" (Mark 12:38-40).
"And that servant who knew his master's will, and did not prepare himself to do according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes. But he who did not know, yet committed things deserving of stripes, shall be beaten with few. For everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required; and to whom much has been committed, of him they will ask the more" (Luke 12:47-48).
"Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, will be he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace?" (Hebrews 10:29).
For many years, I believed (and taught) that there will be no varying degrees of punishment in hell. I was one of those who used the story of Dante's Inferno to mock the very idea that hell might be less miserable for some than for others.
But the fact is, these verses exist...and they do appear to teach that there will be varying degrees of punishment in hell. This is something I have been pondering in the back of my head for many years now, and I'm at a point where I'd like to figure this out, if possible. I'd like to briefly address a few of the common objections that I have had (and that perhaps you have), and then make a few concluding points.
First, the two common objections that I have heard (and made)...
- In the past, I would have objected on the basis that the varying degrees of "punishment" will be experienced in some way on the day of judgment, not in hell itself. But will the wicked be punished on the day of judgment before they are sent to be punished in hell? Certainly not. That just doesn't make any sense. Maybe certain ones will be punished more severely in that they will suffer more mental torment. Again, this seems to be a forced interpretation...just so that we can avoid the notion of varying degrees of punishment in hell itself. The fact is, the wicked will be punished in hell, and according to these verses, there will be varying degrees of punishment.
- I also once objected on the basis that because there aren't different levels of reward in heaven, there cannot be different levels of punishment in hell. Some religious people actually do believe that there will be different levels of reward in heaven. However, what I have come to realize is that whether there will be or won't be, it's not germane to the question at hand. In other words, it's possible that the heavenly reward will be the same for all of God's people while punishment in hell will be experienced in varying degrees (pun intended) by the wicked.
While I believe that God is just no matter what and will happily submit to His established form of justice, whatever it may be, I do believe that the point of this article, if true, enhances God's justice. In the Old Testament, God's revealed laws of civic justice allowed for varying degrees of punishment. This has been true of nearly every (if not every) justice system in the world ever since. It just makes sense that there will be different degrees of punishment in hell. This is a part of our hardwired sense of justice.
In closing, I want to appeal to you for help and counsel.
If you believe that I'm wrong or that I'm missing something, please let me know. This is still something I'm trying to work through in my head. Really, this article is less a declaration of my convictions on hell, and more an honest question about a traditional viewpoint.
What do you think?
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