Question:
Is there a place where non-christians go before hell?
Answer:
So far as we know the scriptures do not tell us the name of the place where unbelievers are after they die. But before they are cast into the Lake of Fire they will have a fair trial at the Great White Throne (Revelation 20:11-15).
Those who die today without Christ are in torment (see Luke 16:19-23). The Greek word translated “hell” in this passage is not “gehenna” which is the Lake of Fire, but “hades” which means “unseen.” Hades is not a place, but it is a condition of the soul and spirit.
When the Lord died He was in the condition of hades (Acts 2:27), but He was in the place called “paradise” (Luke 23:43). Death is the condition of the body without the souland hades is the condition of the soul without the body.
When the believer dies he departs to be “with Christ” (Philippians 1:23), but when the unbeliever dies he is in torment (Luke 16:23).