Studies have shown that humans will prefer pain over boredom. We as humans need stimulation. When left in a room with the options being complete boredom or a painful electric shock, many will choose the electric shock just to feel something.
You can watch this YouTube video for an interesting study on this:
There is this idea that perpetuates throughout Christianity that hell is fire and pain. I don’t think that’s actually the case. I think hell is boredom, stagnation, lack of growth, lack of purpose, selfishness to the point of looking only at oneself. I think hell is being stuck.
Mark 9:43-44 reads:
43 And if thy hand offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than having two hands to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched:
44 Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.
Doctrine and Covenants 76:43-44 reads:
43 Who glorifies the Father, and saves all the works of his hands, except those sons of perdition who deny the Son after the Father has revealed him.
44 Wherefore, he saves all except them-they shall go away into everlasting punishment, which is endless punishment, which is eternal punishment, to reign with the devil and his angels in eternity, where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched, which is their torment-
The word translated “hell” in Mark 9:43 is the Greek word Gehenna. Gehenna was a garbage dump in ancient Jerusalem.
“Gehenna was located on the south end of Jerusalem and had been a site for pagan child sacrifices during Old Testament times (2 Kings 23:10). During Jesus’ lifetime, Gehenna had a constant fire burning to dispose of the waste that was left there—from regular household trash to the carcasses of animals and convicted criminals (Jeremiah 7:31–33). Because of this, the Jews considered Gehenna to be a cursed place full of filth.” (See this link for more information).
This is where we get the reference in Mark 9:44 “fire is not quenched.” Gehenna or hell was literally a place where fire never stopped, and I believe this is where the popular idea of hell being a place of fire comes from. I think the more critical point in those verses is the phrase, “Where their worm dieth not.” This is not referring to a literal worm, as I don’t believe the endless fire represent literal fire in hell. I believe the fire represents never ending torment.
But what is this torment? Is it physical pain? Worse.
As I mentioned earlier for that study, people would prefer any sensation to that of no sensation. I think the endless torment is being stuck for eternity.
I read a book that once described what hell might be like. It considered hell to be like being a worm deep within mud. The worm squirms around, with no purpose or meaning. The worm can’t see, it can’t feel, it can’t think. It’s getting nowhere. It endlessly squirms in the mud.
I believe the worm that dieth not is our eternal soul. What could be worse than an eternity of… nothing? What could be worse than being the equivalent of a worm squirming within mud, forever?
Just the thought should terrify you.
God has provided us a plan of growth and progression. He has provided us a way to become like Him. Those who reject Him will be stuck, forever. There will be no progressing for them. Their “worm dieth not.”
I am grateful to God for all that He has given me and all that He has afforded me. I know that because He loves me He has allowed me to grow and progress in eternity. Not to be stuck and stagnant. Growth. I am grateful for that gift He has provided me.
No Coincidences 