Article — Heaven and Hell — Q & A
Are there different levels of punishment in hell?
Levels are not mentioned, but there appear to be degrees of punishment
The idea of levels of punishment in hell comes from a popular poem written by Dante called The Divine Comedy. It portrays nine circles of hell, with each lower level representing people who were more wicked than those above. Traitors like Judas Iscariot, who betrayed Jesus, and Brutus and Cassius, who betrayed Julius Caesar, are at the lowest level, where they are being perpetually chewed by Satan. However, nine levels of hell don’t match up with the Bible.
Instead, the Bible indicates there may be different degrees of punishment depending on our actions in this life.
Let's look at several potential areas of comparative punishment.
Judged on how much gospel was heard and rejected
Punishment seems to be tied to the amount of light or how much of the gospel someone has heard and rejected.
In Luke 10, Jesus told the apostles that when you go to a town and they reject you,
“I tell you, it will be more bearable on that day for Sodom than for that town.”
The background of this verse is that the sexually immoral town of Sodom never had Jesus preach to them, but God still destroyed it with fire and brimstone. However, the town that rejected the apostles will be punished even more severely than the city of Sodom.
Jesus also tells the story of two groups of hired servants who got either a “severe beating” or a “light beating,” indicating degrees of punishment. Both did things worthy of punishment, but one group had more understanding than the other about what they did wrong (Luke 12:47-48).
Judged on the accumulation of sin (quantity)
Punishment also seems related to our amount of sin. Every time we sin, we are storing up God's wrath. It's like making a deposit in a bank that we will eventually withdraw in judgment.
Paul says,
“But because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, who will render to each person according to his deeds” (Rom. 2:5-6).
Judged on the severity of sin (degree)
The apostle John also shows us that a higher degree of sin results in a higher degree of punishment when he referenced the wickedness of Babylon.
John heard an angel from heaven saying,
“. . . for her sins have piled up as high as heaven . . . give back to her double according to her deeds; in the cup which she has mixed, mix twice as much for her . . . to the degree that she glorified herself and lived sensuously, to the same degree give her torment and mourning” (Rev. 18:5-7).
The punishment to Babylon is double the sin committed.
Judged on influencing others to sin and reject God
There appears to be greater punishment for those who cause or influence others to sin or to reject God.
Jesus said,
“Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him to have a heavy millstone hung around his neck, and to be drowned in the depth of the sea” . . . “but woe to that man through whom the stumbling comes” (Matt. 18:6-7).
In another verse, Jesus condemns the scribes and Pharisees for blocking the way to salvation for themselves and for others.
Jesus said,
“Woe to you . . . For you shut the kingdom of heaven in people's faces. For you neither enter yourselves nor allow those who would enter to go in” (Matt. 23:13).
Today, these verses may apply to parents who turn their kids away from Christ or to those who influence their friends to reject Christ. It seems that wicked influencers will suffer a greater punishment on judgment day.
Judged according to what they have done
The overarching premise is that unbelievers at the Great White Throne will be judged according to what they have done, and they will all be thrown into the final hell, the Lake of Fire.
“Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat upon it . . . And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne . . . and they were judged, every one of them according to their deeds. . . And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown in the lake of fire” (Rev. 20:11-15).
Rather than speculating too much on the degrees of punishment in hell, we should focus on avoiding hell at all costs and helping others avoid it too.
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