Charles Pogue
Some words are appropriate to use when used correctly but are inappropriate when used incorrectly. Perhaps a more understandable way to express that is, some words are filthy, profane, dirty words when they are not used right, but are not when they are used correctly.
The word damned is found three times in the New Testament. Those times are Mark 16:16, Romans 14:12, and 2 Timothy 2:12. On all three occasions, the word is used to express the eternal destination of those who fail to obey God. When used in either its present tense or past tense in the everyday language of people to express a feeling or a reaction to someone or something else, it then becomes a curse word.
The word hell is found 54 times in the King James Version of the Bible. Sometimes the word is used referring to the abode of the dead. When it is, it should be translated hades, as it is in the American Standard Version. Hell is used 13 Times in the ASV referring to eternal punishment. The word hades appears 10 times referring to the place of departed spirits. The word hell is found in both the KJV and the ASV in Matthew 11:23, where it is used in connection with the eternal destruction of the wicked in hellfire. When the word hell refers to the place of eternal fire in the everlasting destruction of the wicked, it is from the Greek, geenna (pronounced Gheh-en-nah). The use of the word by the Bible is appropriate in its usage. Hell is used in everyday language to express things such as how one feels or a personal condemnation of someone or something. These and other usages of the word turn it from one used appropriately into one that is now a curse word.
There are doubtless other improper uses of the two examples above which make them words which in such cases should not emit from a Christian’s mouth. There are many other words when used properly are fit to use, but are unfit when they are used improperly, it should also be noted as has been called to our attention many times before, words which take the place of a profane, filthy, curse, or dirty word (euphemisms) or every bit as bad as the words they replace. “But now ye also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth” (Col. 3:8).
