Hell in Christian beliefs
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The term Hell, in a Christian context, refers to a place or state of punishment for individuals unfaithful to Jesus. The nature of hell and its punishment is a subject of debate between various denominations. A three-tenths of the Christian population believe hell is a place with a physical location.[1] This viewpoint is often associated with fundamental Christians.[2] Liberal Christians consider Hell a metaphor for the separative state of mind from God. In popular culture the first concept is dominant.[citation needed] The concept of hell and its imagery is developed from Hellenic traditions, as well as from Judaic traditions, and (in Western Christianity) from medieval European culture.[citation needed] It should be noted however that Judaism does not have a concept of hell analagous to Christian ideas (See Jewish eschatology).
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[edit] Origins
Hell, as it exists in the Western population, has its origins in Hellenized Christianity, particularly taken from adaptation of the Hellenistic afterlife known as Tartarus. As the concept of Hell began to flourish in Medieval Europe, it took on recognizably Greek concepts, such as a satyr as Satan and Heaven from the concept of Elysium.[3] Hell was also influenced by Zoroastrian eschatology, from which "Judgment Day" originated.[citation needed]
Judaism, at least initially[4], believed in Sheol, a shadowy existence to which all were sent indiscriminately. Sheol may have been little more than a poetic metaphor for death, not really an afterlife at all: see for example Sirach and Isaiah 14:3-11. However, by the third to second century B.C. the idea had grown to encompass a far more complex concept.
The New Hebrew Sheol was translated in the Septuagint as 'Hades', the name for the underworld in Greek mythology and is still considered to be distinct from "Hell" by Eastern Orthodox Christians. In Strong's Hebrew and Greek Dictionaries and Concordances it is transliterated "Sheh-ole". The Lake of Fire and realm of Eternal Punishment in Hellenistic mythology was in fact Tartarus. Hades was not Hell in Hellenistic mythology, but was rather a form of limbo where the dead went to be judged. The New Testament uses this word, but it also uses the word 'Gehenna', from the valley of Hinnom, a valley near Jerusalem originally used as a location in which human sacrifices were offered to an idol called "Molech" (or Moloch).
2 Kings 23.10 (on King Josiah's reform):
- And he defiled the Tophet, which is in the valley of Ben-hinnom, that no man might make his son or his daughter pass through the fire lmlk.
- And they built the high places of the Ba‘al, which are in the valley of Ben-hinnom, to cause their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire lmlk; which I did not command them, nor did it come into my mind that they should do this abomination, to cause Judah to sin.
It was later used as a landfill in order to emphasize the disgusting nature of its original use. Ancient landfills were very unsanitary and unpleasant when compared to modern landfills; these places were filled with rotting garbage and the Hebrews would periodically burn them down. However, by that point they were generally so large that they would burn for weeks or even months. In other words they were fiery mountains of garbage. The early Christian teaching was that the damned would be burnt in the valley just as the garbage was. (It is ironic to note that the valley of Hinnom is today, far from being a garbage dump, a public park.) It is argued by theologians opposed to hell but desirous to defend the Bible as a source, that a reference to a place on Earth where rubbish was burnt cannot refer to any conscious after-death state.
Punishment for the damned and reward for the saved is a constant theme of Christianity.
[edit] General history and description
The Christian idea of Hell is different from the Sheol of Judaism. The nature of Hell is described in the New Testament on several occasions. For example, in Matthew 3:10-12, Matthew 5:22, Matthew 5:29-30, Matthew 8:12, Matthew 22:13, Matthew 25:30, Matthew 25:41-46, Luke 3:9, Luke 12:5, Luke 13:28, Luke 16:19-28, and Revelation 12:9, Revelation 14:9-11, Revelation 19:20, Revelation 20:10, Revelation 20:14-15, Revelation 21:8; in the Book of Revelation Hell is also mentioned as the "abyss" and "the Earth". Jesus himself describes Hell as a place of "weeping and gnashing of teeth"; this quotation has overwhelmingly frequent appearance in the New Testament.
The population of Hell comprises the souls of those who died without accepting Christ as their saviour, God's grace, in sin and without repentance, although beliefs on these categories differ among Christian denominations. Some consider the fate of righteous people who lived before the time of Christ (thus being non-Christian through no fault of their own) a complication, especially for the many righteous Jews of the Old Testament. In some traditions, these people went straight to Heaven despite not being Christians because Christ had not yet come and gone. In other traditions, they had to wait in Limbo until the Harrowing of Hell during the three days between the Crucifixion and the Resurrection.
According to Western Christian beliefs, the Devil and his angels (demons), who are receiving punishment, reside in hell along with the souls of the damned. This doctrine is not part of Eastern Orthodox teachings. Yet, Matthew 25:41 mentions the eternal fire prepared for the Devil and his angels. Revelation 14:9-11 and Revelation 20:10 can be interpreted to mean that after the Day of the Lord those who were condemned to Hell will remain there physically, tormented by eternal fire that will never consume them nor be extinguished - although Revelation 20:14-15 can be interpreted to mean Hell is death rather than eternal torment.
According to Luke 16:19-28 (Lazarus and Dives) nobody can pass from the bosom of Abraham to the place where the wicked burn or vice versa. Fire is not the only tormentor, thirst being another, and more that are not described; in this biblical passage it is also mentioned that the souls that are in Hell can see those that are in Heaven and vice versa. Many view this story as a parable, and as such, believe its meaning may not literally define the existence in the afterlife, but instead serve as a lesson about the dangers of wealth and the unwillingness to listen to God.
Concerning the fire, some scholars speculated that the idea came from the fire consecrated to some Pagan deities like Adramelech, Moloch, etc., to whom children were sacrificed by throwing them into the flames; but other scholars, more recently, speculated that, since Hell is considered an underground place, fire was associated with volcanic eruptions; the idea that volcanoes could be gateways to Hell was present in the mind of the ancient Romans, and later of Icelanders and other European peoples. Some claim that the conditions thought to prevail in Hell are influenced by the generally hot, dry climates found in the cradlelands of Judaism, Christianity and Islam alike; these observers point to the fact that the equivalent of Hell in Norse mythology, known as Niflheim, is pictured as a cold, foggy place (the name itself meaning "home of the fog").
Medieval imagination added cauldrons inside which people will be "cooked" forever by demons and Christian demonology acquired a "terrifying" aspect concerning imagery of Hell. Medieval theologians were keen to portray all manner of hideous tortures, designed to inflict horrific pain upon the eternally-damned inhabitants of Hell.
More recently and to some theologians, the idea of an underground Hell gave place to the conception of an abstract spiritual status in an also intangible plane of existence, which is sometimes associated to a site in an unknown point of the universe or also abstract, but tradition continues referring to Hell as "down", meanwhile religion refers to it as the place of eternal punishment and torment, far from God's presence (2 Thessalonians 1:9).
[edit] Words in the Bible translated as "hell"
The words "sheol" (Hebrew), "hades" (Greek), "gehenna" (Greek, from Hebrew), and "Tartarus" (Greek) are sometimes translated as "hell."
The Greek words "Hades" and "Gehenna" are sometimes translated into the word "hell", though the concepts are dissimilar. Martin Luther, for example, translated the word "Hades" five times as the German word for "hell" (Hölle) (for example Matthew 16:18), and twice as "the dead", twice as the "world of the dead", and once as "his kingdom" (all in German). "Gehenna" was translated by Martin Luther eight times as "hell" (for example: Matthew 5:22,29,30; 18:9; Mark 9:43,45; and so on) and four times as "hellish". In Norse mythology the underworld was a cold, monotonous place, which was commanded by the goddess Hel. The place was called Hel, too.
Newer translations of the Bible translate "Hades" or "Sheol" into the words "world of dead", "underworld", "grave", "crypt" or similar, but still translate the word "Gehenna" into the word "hell".
The word "Hades" of the New Testament is the Greek translation of the Hebrew word "Sheol" of the Old Testament (Acts 2:27, Psalms 16:10). What happens in Hades, or rather Sheol, Ecclesiastes tells us: "for in the Sheol, where you are going, there is neither working nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom." (Ecclesiastes 9,10) and "For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing; they have no further reward, and even the memory of them is forgotten. " (Ecclesiastes 9:5; see also Psalms 89:49; 139:8; Numbers 16:30). "The Lord brings death and makes alive; he brings down to the Sheol and raises up. " (1 Samuel 2:6). The souls of all human beings are going to Hades, whether they believe or not (John 5:28-29; Job 3:11-19, 14:13; Ez 32:18-32; Ps. 31:17; Dan. 12:2).
Geenna (or Gehenna) is the name of an earthly place. It comes from Hebrew and means "Gorge of Hinnom (Ge-Hinnom)". This gorge can still be visited today near Jerusalem. In the time of the Old Testament it was a place where children were sacrificed to the Ammonite god Molech (2 Kings 23:10). That cultic practice was, according to the Old Testament, imitated by King Solomon in the 10th Century B.C.E. and under the leadership of king Manasseh in the 7th Century B.C.E. and in times of crisis until the time of exile of the Jews in Babylon (6th Century B.C.E.). The prophet Jeremiah, who condemned that cult strictly, called the valley the "gorge of killing" (Jeremiah 7:31-32; 19:5-9). Gehenna became later a central garbage dump, to stop the practice of child sacrifice. At the turn of the 1st Century C.E. the gorge was used also to burn the dead bodies of criminals after their execution. The image of burning dead bodies probably inspired Jewish, and later Christian theologians to translate that place into the word "hell".
The sea of fire after the last tribunal in Revelation 20:14 isn't translated into the word "hell", but sometimes gets the connotations of "hell". In that sea of fire are thrown the beast, the devil, the false prophet, and Hell (Hades) itself, along with evil-doers, according to Revelation 20:12-15.
In 2 Peter 2:4 [5] a deep, dark dungeon reserved for certain fallen angels is referred to as Tartarus and often translated as hell.
[edit] Protestant
In most Protestant traditions, Hell is a place originally designed by God for placement of the Devil (i.e. Lucifer, Beelzebub, or Satan) and fallen angels (demons). Hell will be the final dwelling place of every soul that did not obey and put their faith in God before the Cross, and those that did not accept the salvation of Jesus by puting their faith in God after the Cross.[citation needed] Those souls will suffer God's holy wrath with accomplices (demons) of Satan (Matt. 25:41, Acts 4:11-13). Hell is described by many different symbols in the Bible; "outer darkness", "abyss", "lake of fire", "eternal fire". Reality is understood to be more severe than the earthly symbols representing them. Jesus Christ spoke about Hell more than any other person in the Bible. Those in Hell will receive God's righteous and holy judgment for an eternity based on their deeds (Acts 17:30-31,Rom. 2:1-11, Rev. 20:11-15). It is a place of everlasting punishment and separation from God (2 Thes. 1:8-10, Jude 1:7, Luke 16:24, Matt. 25:30,46). Their punishment will be proportional to the deeds of each soul (Luke 12:47-49, Matt. 10:15, Matt. 11:24, Rev. 20:12-13).
[edit] Roman Catholic
Hell is described in the Catechism of the Catholic Church as, "To die in mortal sin without repenting and accepting God's merciful love means remaining separated from Him for ever by [one's] own free choice. This state of definitive self-exclusion from communion with God and the blessed is called 'Hell'."(1033) Pope John Paul II is known to have said, "The images of hell that Sacred Scripture presents to us must be correctly interpreted. They show the complete frustration and emptiness of life without God. Rather than a place, Hell indicates the state of those who freely and definitively separate themselves from God, the source of all life and joy". [6]
An earlier catechism, however, describes the suffering of those in hell in more traditional terms, as fiery "punishment" rather than as "self-exclusion" from God.[7]
The idea of hell as a place, in traditional Catholic circles, has been promoted in recent years by the publication of the purported visions of the Blessed Virgin Mary at Fatima, Portugal in 1917. Mary is supposed to have revealed a vision of hell as a "great sea of fire."[8] Many Catholics point out that the Magisterium of the Catholic Church does not require Catholics to give credence to any private revelation, though the vision has been declared worthy of belief. It is also suggested that these visions (if true) are using imagery that uneducated people might understand (the seers of Fatima were peasant children).
[edit] Eastern Orthodoxy
For many ancient Christians, Hell was the same "place" as Heaven: living in the presence of God and directly experiencing God's love. Whether this was experienced as pleasure or torment depended on one's disposition towards God. St. Isaac of Syria wrote in Mystic Treatises: "... those who find themselves in Hell will be chastised by the scourge of love. How cruel and bitter this torment of love will be! For those who understand that they have sinned against love, undergo greater suffering than those produced by the most fearful tortures. The sorrow which takes hold of the heart, which has sinned against love, is more piercing than any other pain. It is not right to say that the sinners in Hell are deprived of the love of God ... But love acts in two ways, as suffering of the reproved, and as joy in the blessed!" This ancient view is still the doctrine of the Eastern Orthodox Church.
[edit] Other Christian views of Hell
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[edit] Adventist
Distinct from other Christian denominations, Seventh-day Adventists do not believe the wicked suffer conscious torture and torment for all eternity in a fiery hell, but rather that God allows each person to choose his or her own fate, life or death. Adventists teach that by nature all are disconnected from God as the Source of Life. But Jesus Christ came to this world and by dying on the cross, a way was opened up by which all could be reconnected with God. By accepting through faith Jesus Christ's death on one's behalf, individuals are reconnected to God and pass from death to life. Those who, by faith, continue in that life giving connection with God, through Jesus Christ, will have life eternal in heaven rejoicing in His love and grace. Those who choose not to be reconnected to God, the Source of Life, have by default chosen death.
Because God, in Adventist theology, allows every person free will God accepts that decision and they suffer the consequences of their sin and then they die. The Adventist view of hell is often referred to as annihilationism. However, SDAs see sin as intrinsically self defeating. Those who reject connection to the Source of Life, could not live forever, in heaven or hell, since there is no eternal life apart from God.
- 1. SDA's support their viewpoint by pointing out that the Bible, in Romans 6:23, states that "...the wages of sin is death". If the Bible says that the wages of sin is death, SDA’s ask, why do many Christians preach that the wages of sin is eternal life, in torment?
- 2. SDA's further point out that the Bible, in I Timothy 6:15,16, states that, "God ... alone is immortal". If God alone is immortal, how do Satan, his evil angels, and those who rejected Jesus Christ become immortal too and live forever in hell?
- 3. SDA's further argue that the entire Bible portrays God as the Source of Life. (Genesis 1, In the beginning God created the earth, mankind and everything else) SDA's argue that God is not simply alive, He is the Source of Life itself. If God is in fact the Source of Life, how could sinners survive for an eternity of burning while being totally cut off from that Source of Life, God?
- 4. Furthermore, SDA's say the concept of an everlasting torture chamber, presided over by God, terribly misrepresents God's true character of love, justice and free will. How could a God of love, torture people forever? How could a God of justice, punish a few years of sin with an infinity of torture? How could a God who is committed to free will force a person to stay alive throughout eternity and torture them for ever and ever?
- 5. SDA's say that an ever burning hell would make Christ's victory on the cross only a partial victory. Hebrews 2:14 says that Jesus' death made it possible for Him (Jesus Christ) to "destroy him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil." Note it uses the word "destroy" in reference to the Devil, not the word torture. The Bible makes it clear Christ's victory over Satan is a total victory. If that is true, then why would God have to settle for a stalemate with sin, with the screams and cries of sinners and Satan echoing through the universe for all eternity? SDA's say that since Christ's victory over Satan was total and complete, one day the universe will be cleansed of all sin and sinners. It will then be restored to its former sinless state.
- 6. In both the Old and New Testament, SDA’s point out that God gives mankind a free will choice between life and death. (Deuteronomy 30:19, for example, says, “I have set before you life and death … Now choose life”.) Why would God mislead us by saying the choice is between “life” and “death” if, the real choice is between life or life? Eternal life in heaven or eternal life in hell.
- 7. SDA’s say the Bible contains hundreds of references to the fate of the wicked which show that the wicked will ultimately be, “burned up”, “destroyed”, “consumed”, “devoured”, “ashes on the ground”, “slain”, brought to “nothing”, “annihilated”, “perish”, “blotted out forever”, etc. Why then, SDA’s ask, do many denominations argue that the wicked are immortal and cannot die?
- 8. Finally, SDA’s believe that God will create a new heaven and a new earth (Revelation 21:1, Isaiah 65:17) and “God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.” Revelation 21:4. The text says "all" crying and sorrow and pain and death and tears will be "wiped away". SDA’s say there will not be an ever burning hell where those things go on forever. The entire universe will have been restored to its original sinless state. Sin and sinners will be no more and every heart will throb with joy as the redeemed gaze on the face of their Lord and Savior Jesus Christ who saved them by His grace. Adventists conclude that it will then be clear that in the entire war between God and Satan, God will have never violated His character of love and justice and He will never have violated mankind's free will.
[edit] Annihilationism
Also known as Conditionalism. Many believe in the existence of hell, but deny the idea of hell continuing to exist for all eternity. Annihilationists/Conditionalists reject the idea of the immortality of the soul, and assert that after undergoing a certain amount of punishment, the souls of the wicked will be annihilated. Others believe there is no conscious Hell at all but the word refers to the decay of Earthly remains in the ground.
[edit] Christian Science
Christian Science defines "Hell" as follows: "Mortal belief; error; lust; remorse; hatred; revenge; sin; sickness; death; suffering and self-destruction; self-imposed agony; effects of sin; that which 'worketh abomination or maketh a lie.'" (Science and Health with Key to the Scripture by Mary Baker Eddy, 588: 1-4.)
[edit] Latter-day Saints/Mormons
Mormons believe in a concept of temporary hell, commonly called Spirit Prison, for the disembodied spirits of the wicked awaiting resurrection. They also believe in a concept of permanent hell for a very small number of mankind, including Cain, and for the "third of the hosts of heaven" who in the pre-existence followed Lucifer (Doctrine and Covenants 29:36-39). Unlike the common Christian belief of eternal torment, this hell is the state of being completely severed from the presence of God, cut off from all light, love and knowledge. This place or state of existence is commonly called Outer Darkness. Only Sons of Perdition, those who are irredeemably evil to their core and therefore continually fight against God will suffer this fate. To become a Son of Perdition, one must have a perfect witness of Christ (must have a sure knowledge that he is the Son of God and the only way a man can achieve salvation) and then fight against that knowledge.
Since LDS doctrine teaches that there are separate levels of heaven and that only those in the highest level of heaven will be in the constant presence of God, the term "hell" may also be used to describe the anguish of those souls who, while in the paradise of one of the lower levels of heaven, will never know the joy and light of living in the direct presence of God the Father, though they enjoy the presence of the Son or of the Holy Ghost.
Joseph Smith taught of the final judgment that would come to mankind:
| While one portion of the human race is judging and condemning the other without mercy, the Great Parent of the universe looks upon the whole of the human family with a fatherly care and paternal regard; He views them as His offspring.... He holds the reins of judgment in His hands; He is a wise Lawgiver, and will judge all men, not according to the narrow, contracted notions of men, but, "according to the deeds done in the body whether they be good or evil," or whether these deeds were done in England, America, Spain, Turkey, or India. He will judge them, "not according to what they have not, but according to what they have," those who have lived without law will be judged without law, and those who have a law will be judged by that law. We need not doubt the wisdom and intelligence of the Great Jehovah; He will award judgment or mercy to all nations according to their several deserts, their means of obtaining intelligence, the laws by which they are governed, the facilities afforded them of obtaining correct information, and His inscrutable designs in relation to the human family; and when the designs of God shall be made manifest, and the curtain of futurity be withdrawn, we shall all of us eventually have to confess that the Judge of all the earth has done right. (History of the Church 4:595–96; April 1842.) |
[edit] Jehovah's Witnesses
Jehovah's Witnesses believe the Bible presents "hell", as translated from "Sheol" and "Hades", to be mankind's common grave for both the good and the bad, whereas "Gehenna" signifies eternal destruction or annihilation, and that the idea of a place of eternal torment is something detestible to God.
Jehovah's Witnesses reject the traditional concept of "hellfire" awaiting sinners immediately after death. They consider particular judgment, the doctrine that one is judged and either punished or rewarded immediately after death, to be an innovation of the early Church. They do not believe the traditional concept of Hell to be supported by the Bible. They find the Hellfire view of hell to be inconsistent with the loving and just God.
Jehovah's Witnesses believe Hell to be the common grave of mankind where they unconsciously await resurrection to eternal life, or a resurrection to judgement. (John 5:28, 29)
Witnesses do not believe in the immortality of the soul.[1] and thus do not believe a soul can suffer eternally.
[edit] Universalism
Others believe that after serving their time in Hell all souls are reconciled to God and admitted to heaven, or ways are found at the time of death of drawing all souls to repentance so that Hell is never experienced. See universal salvation and the problem of Hell.
[edit] Heaven, purgatory, and limbo
The opposite of hell is heaven. Just as hell is traditionally (if not doctrinally) seen as under the ground, heaven is frequently pictured as above the sky ("the heavens"). Demons are popularly depicted as living in hell, while angels live in heaven, the demons' original home.
A number of Christian communities, notably the Catholic Church, the Eastern apostolic churches (eg the Eastern Orthodox Communion), and Anglo-Catholic communities believe in the existence of purgatory, a place or state of existence where the saved are purified after death before entering into the presence of God. This concept is very different from the idea of hell.
In Roman Catholic tradition (but not doctrine), Limbo is the afterlife for those who deserve neither heaven nor hell, such as unbaptized babies and the righteous who died before Jesus Christ's crucifixion.
[edit] Notes and References
- ^
- The Wikicite software that assists users to cite sources into Wikipedia is at User:Dmoss/Wikicite.
Survey results from The Barna Group, 1996. See Is Hell Real? for context.] - ^ Jordan, Anne. Philosophy of Religion. Nelson Thornes, pp.161. “If Bible passages are to be taken literally, then a physical body is required to ensure that torment in Hell can take place. Such a view would be found amongst fundamental Christians. More liberal Christians...reject the concept of Hell as a physical location and interpret it metaphorically.”
- ^ Walter Balfour (1832). An Inquiry Into the Scriptural Import of the Words Sheol, Hades, Tartarus, and Gehenna. B.B. Mussey, pp.15.
- ^ What the Bible says about Death, Afterlife, and the Future, James Tabor
- ^ BibleGateway.com footnotes this here. Retrieved on August 26, 2006.
- ^ July 28, 1999 statement of Pope John Paul II concerning the topic of Hell
- ^ "Those are punished in hell who die in mortal sin; they are deprived of the vision of God and suffer dreadful torments, especially that of fire, for all eternity...The souls in hell are beyond all help...The souls in hell do not have supernatural faith. They believe, however, the truths revealed by Almighty God, not with divine faith, but because they cannot escape the evidence of God's authority...The punishment of hell is eternal."A Catechism of Christian Doctrine, Revised Edition of the Baltimore Catechism, St. Anthony Guild Press, New Jersey (1949), pp144, 145
- ^ "Our Lady showed us a great sea of fire which seemed to be under the earth. Plunged in this fire were demons and souls in human form, like transparent burning embers, all blackened or burnished bronze, floating about in the conflagration, now raised into the air by the flames that issued from within themselves together with great clouds of smoke, now falling back on every side like sparks in a huge fire, without weight or equilibrium, and amid shrieks and groans of pain and despair, which horrified us and made us tremble with fear. The demons could be distinguished by their terrifying and repulsive likeness to frightful and unknown animals, all black and transparent." Lucia Santos: Fatima, In Lucia's Own Words, The Ravengate Press, Still River Massachusetts (1995), p104
