Original Question Link: https://www.quora.com/What-if-everyone-went-to-hell | The username of the person who made this answer is J. K Mendell
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"Hi. Bible Scholar, here. You’ll definitely enjoy this point. It’s a real surprise to most people! Don’t worry, though. There’s a perfectly logical explanation.

Would you believe it, but the question you’re asking, is in fact already covered in the Bible. Scripture talks about how everyone will go to ‘hell’ in multiple verses. It even goes further mentioning that ‘good people’, such as Job, Jacob and even Jesus also were sent to Hell after dying. (Job 14:13; Job 30:23; Psalm 9:17; ).

As Job says, “for I know that you will bring me down to hell, to the house where everyone living will meet.”(Job 30:23)

How Can This Be?

It sounds crazy to say we all go to a place of fiery torment, and truth be told it really is. Humans aren’t banished to a fiery place of torment. But there is a logical explanation behind why such statements seem to say such a thing — one that uncovers a severe issue with religious doctrine. Allow me to explain:

See, the problem is that your question is technically rendered obsolete, as Hell is not actually a coherent Bible-based doctrine.

It is really just a gross misinterpretation that has become ingrained into the core values of the old Church — but it does not harmonize with scripture.

In fact, the doctrine of Hellfire is largely contradicted by many, many Biblical Scriptures — directly conflicting with other coherent scriptural passages.

The origin of Hell is also traceable to the direct misinterpretation made by second-century monotheistic christianity— succesive of the original Christian congregation in the first century. Interestingly, the traditional idea of Hellfire is mostly influenced by platoism, not the actual Bible. Isn’t that odd?

Here are a few examples of direct biblical contradiction, just to list a few:

Those in hell are unconscious and so cannot feel pain. “There is no work nor devising nor knowledge nor wisdom in Sheol.”—Ecclesiastes 9:10.
When we die, our thoughts cease completely. There is nothing after death. “His spirit goes out, he returns to the ground; On that very day his thoughts perish.” (Psalm 146:4;) “For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing at all, nor do they have any more reward, because all memory of them is forgotten. Also, their love and their hate and their jealousy have already perished, and they no longer have any share in what is done under the sun… Whatever your hand finds to do, do with all your might, for there is no work nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom in the Grave,*a where you are going.” (Ecclesiastes 9:5, 6, 10.)
Humans are made from dust. (Genesis 2:7) We are not spirits living in a body of flesh. We are physical creatures, so no part of us survives death. When we die, our brain dies too, and our thoughts perish. “Dust you are and to dust you will return.” (Genesis 3:19)In fact, the concept of an immortal soul is taken from the same word that literally means “a creature that breathes” or a “living being”. Its actual origin, like Hellfire, is contradicted by the Bible, and is traced back to philosophers and religious leaders successive of the first century.
Good people go to hell. The faithful men Jacob and Job expected to go there.—Genesis 37:35; Job 14:13. Even Jesus was left in hell before his resurrection.
Death is the penalty for sin, not eternal punishment in Hellfire. “He who has died has been acquitted from his sin.”—Romans 6:7. Therefore, as imperfect humans, erasure from life itself was already a fair punishment.
Everyone apparently will go to ‘hell’. (Job 14:13; Psalm 9:17) The Bible uses the word we translate as ‘hell’, to actually indicate that the common grave of mankind is “the house of meeting for everyone living.”—Job 30:23. Not Hellfire.
God does not even contemplate eternal torment. He takes no delight in the suffering of others. The idea that he would punish people in hellfire is contrary to the Bible’s teaching that “God is love.”—1 John 4:8; Jeremiah 7:31. He hated seeing people burn other humans. Some translations render it as being “detestable” to Him.
Eternal torment would violate God’s justice. (Deuteronomy 32:4) When the first man, Adam, sinned, God told him that his punishment would simply be to pass out of existence: “Dust you are and to dust you will return.” (Genesis 3:19) God would have been lying if he were actually sending Adam to a fiery hell.
The Bible says that all those who go to hell will come back out, brought to life by Jesus through God’s power. (John 5:28, 29; Acts 24:15) Speaking of that future resurrection, the prophecy at Revelation 20:13 says that “death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them.” (King James Version) Once hell has been emptied, it will no longer exist; no one will ever go there again because “death will be no more.”—Revelation 21:3, 4; 20:14..
Humans were originally supposed to live forever on a paradise Earth. No sickness, no death. We were made on Earth for a reason, and the Angels were made in Heaven. However, we lost the privilege to live forever on Earth when humans rejected God’s right to rule us. However, out of love, god immediately set in motion a plan to help bring Humanity back to perfection, and re accomplish his original purpose for mankind.
Is Hellfire conflictive enough, yet?

Well, to find out where we even got the term ‘Hell’, and its subsequent meaning, all you have to do is examine the original Hebrew and Greek words that ‘Hell’ is derived from — Sheol and Had’es . The context behind such wording is crucial, also.

As such, it is surprising to realize the same words used (Sheol and Had’es) to imply a hellfire, have actually been referring to the common grave of mankind in every other verse. However, Hellfire can seem to be a reasonable interpretation to some, because the bible does speak of a fiery lake of sulfur, or paints symbolic pictures of “eternal punishment” using dramatic language.

However, scriptural reasoning disproves as to why we shouldn't think it as a literal place of fire. Here’s some reasons as to why:

The five Bible verses that mention “the lake of fire” show it to be a symbol rather than a literal lake. (Revelation 19:20; 20:10, 14, 15; 21:8) The following are cast into the lake of fire:

The Devil. (Revelation 20:10) As a spirit creature, the Devil cannot be harmed by literal fire.—Exodus 3:2; Judges 13:20.
Death. (Revelation 20:14) This is not a literal entity but represents a state of inactivity, the absence of life. (Ecclesiastes 9:10) Death cannot literally be burned.
“The wild beast” and “the false prophet.” (Revelation 19:20) Since these are symbols, doesn’t it seem reasonable to conclude that the lake they are thrown into is also a symbol?—Revelation 13:11, 12;16:13.
As to the scriptures saying “eternal punishment” awaits them. Here’s more information:

For the Devil to be tortured eternally, he would have to be kept alive forever. However, the Bible says that he will be brought to nothing, or put out of existence.—Hebrews 2:14.
Everlasting life is a gift from God, not a way to needlessly punish others — Romans 6:23.
The wild beast and the false prophet are symbols and cannot experience literal torture.
The context of the Bible indicates that the torment of the Devil is everlasting restraint or destruction.
The word used for “torment” in the Bible can also mean “a condition of restraint.” For example, the Greek word for “tormentors” used at Matthew 18:34 is rendered as “jailers” in many translations, showing the connection between the words “torment” and “restraint.” Likewise, the parallel accounts at Matthew 8:29 and Luke 8:30, 31equate “torment” with “the abyss,” a figurative place of complete inactivity or death. (Romans 10:7; Revelation 20:1, 3) In fact, several times the book of Revelation uses the word “torment” in a symbolic sense.—Revelation 9:5; 11:10; 18:7, 10.

This is just the basics of it. I used URL links for the scriptures. They go to different websites that explain these topics really well. There is no way to work around it, you can make a rebuttal but there is too much evidence against the Doctrine of Hellfire and Eternal Punishment; and too little in favour, after considering all this.

Anyways, here’s a final thought from some other sources that speak about the origin of the myth:

“Of all classical Greek philosophers, the one who has had the greatest influence on traditional views of Hell is Plato.”​—Histoire des enfers (The History of Hell), by Georges Minois, page 50.

“From the middle of the 2nd century AD Christians who had some training in Greek philosophy began to feel the need to express their faith in its terms . . . The philosophy that suited them best was Platonism [the teachings of Plato].”​—The New Encyclopædia Britannica (1988), Volume 25, page 890.

“The teaching of the Church affirms the existence of hell and its eternity. Immediately after death the souls of those who die in a state of mortal sin descend into hell, where they suffer the punishments of hell, ‘eternal fire.’ The chief punishment of hell is eternal separation from God.”​—Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1994 edition, page 270.

I hope this answers your question.

Everyone goes to Hell. But as the Bible indicates, ‘hell’ simply refers to a state of inactivity — Death — not a place of eternal torture. There is no thought, no feeling and no work. It’s just nothingness to us.

Never forget, the idea of an eternal, fiery place of torture is severely contradicted by scripture. Its actual origin is based on religious doctrine, and philosophical ideas, and is not actually based on Bible teachings."