There is a plethora of imaginations that have overtaken the churches around the world, and they are assumed to be grounded in firm scripture, but they are not. The subject of hell and the lake of fire is the quintessential example of doctrine built upon by a wide range of imaginations.

One of the imaginations of the lake of fire is said to be a literal lake that burns with the intensity of molten brimstone (sulfur), which would be slightly less than 444.6°C or 832.28°F, the temperature at which sulfur changes from a liquid to a gas. This speculation comes from Revelations 21:8: "But the fearful and unbelieving... shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone." A lake of molten brimstone means that its temperature must be at or below the boiling point, which is 832.28°F. Above that point, it would be a vapor, not a lake. It is not uncommon for some preachers, teachers, and writers to discard reason by increasing the temperature of their imaginary lake by thousands of degrees, and I suppose this is an attempt to scare the hell out them, as if hell could be sacred out of anyone. Just another strange way to "save" people.

Regardless of what they believe the temperature will be, there have been various calculations as to how many lost souls will be cast into this lake of fire that man built, and one of them, a nineteenth century mathematician, has provided some groundwork for us. Using his figures, we conclude that up to the year 2000 the total number of the damned would have been at least 29,422,641,251,519,917,000 souls (that is 29 + quintillion). Yet the area of the valley of Hinnom, or Gehenna, is only 4,350 square miles, and the damned would have to be stacked like cordwood to fit in the confines of the valley. However, that might not work either; for how high would they be stacked to contain everyone?

One statement made by Dr. Tim Healey, F. R. C. R.; M. I. Nuc. E. is an interesting concept: "I have assumed that not more than two layers of damned persons can be accommodated, since otherwise those in the middle layers would escape the full rigors of Hell."