Is Hell Symbolic?

Is Hell Symbolic?

Here is how to refute the Jehovah's Witnesses false claim that hell doesn't exist and is only mentioned in the Bible as a symbolic place.

Jehovah's Witness - But hell is only symbolic, not a real place.

Christian - Please show me where the Bible says hell is only symbolic and not a real place.
Jehovah's Witness - Well, when I click on the explanation for the "Grave" in Luke 16:23 on the right side of this page of my website, it explains that it is "described in the Bible as a symbolic place or condition wherein all activity and consciousness cease."

Christian - What you read is not the Bible but what the Watch Tower Society wants you to believe about the Bible. Instead of blindly obeying what they or anyone else tells you to believe about the Bible, you should simply read the Bible for yourself and believe what the Bible says. What the Watch Tower Society wants you to believe is contradicted by even their own translation in the left column, which says that the rich man is "in torment" (Luke 16:23) in hell and said, "I am in anguish in this blazing fire" (Luke 16:24) in "this place of torment" (Luke 16:28). A person who says, "I am in anguish in this blazing fire" is very much "conscious," isn't he?
Jehovah's Witness - Well, yes.

Christian - So the Bible refutes the Watch Tower Society's claim that "all ... consciousness cease," doesn't it?
Jehovah's Witness - Yes, but I was taught that this is just a parable, so just allegorical and not real.

Christian - Does the Bible say this is a parable?
Jehovah's Witness - I guess not.

Christian - Jesus specifies "Lazarus" and "Abraham" by name in this passage. In which of His parables did Jesus specify anyone by name?
Jehovah's Witness - I guess in none of them.

Christian - So why do you call this a parable?
Jehovah's Witness - Well, I was told that it was one.

Christian - Even if it were a parable, Jesus' parables described what is real and physical - eg. sower and seed (Matthew 13:1-23), wheat and tares (Matthew 13:24-30), mustard seed (Matthew 13:31-32), fig tree (Matthew 24:32-35), etc. - to teach what is spiritual. So whether or not this passage is a parable is irrelevant since in either case, it refutes the claim that it is not real and only allegorical. Do you see this?
Jehovah's Witness - Yes.

Christian - And this isn't the only mention of hell in the Bible, which teaches that those who continue to sin, including blaspheming the Creator God as a creature and lying about what the Bible says will "go to hell, into the fire that shall never be quenched" (Mark 9:43) "where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth" (Luke 13:18). Do you understand this?
Jehovah's Witness - Yes.