Baqash : To Seek

What is Hell according to world historical understanding?

Mesopotamia: “hell is described as a distant land of no return, a house of dust where the dead dwell without distinction of rank or merit, and a sealed fortress, typically of seven gates, barred against invasion or escape.” Encyclopedia Brittanica

Egypt: “rarely is there the suggestion of eternal condemnation” Encyclopedia Brittanica

Zoroastrians: “The Zoroastrian hell is presided over by Yima, the first victim of death, and is home to all that is evil, dark, corrupt, cold, and hostile to life. The demons who dwell there take delight in torturing sinners; but since evil is destined to be utterly vanquished, hell itself will be destroyed with the restoration of Ahura Mazdā’s good creation.” Encyclopedia Brittanica

Ancient Jewish Tradition: “Sheol (Sheʾōl) is a place of darkness, silence, and dust to which the spirit, or vital principle, descends at death.” Encyclopedia Brittanica

Catholicism: The Catholic Christian stance on hell is…difficult to pin down. We often associate their belief in what hell is based off the depiction from Dante’s Inferno, where sinners a tortured for eternity based off of their particular sins. However, when reading from the official Catholic.com website it becomes a bit less clear. They first state it is a simply a state of being that is torturous because of a total separation from God suggesting more of an emotional and mental torture, but then go on to say that there is a literal pain involved after the return of Jesus and the giving of a new body. This is quite confusing to me, as they seem to suggest that Hell isn’t like Dante in that people are living forever in an eternal state of hellfire burning them….but then seem to say that it is indeed the case that people will after being given a new body be living forever burning in fire…or at least in an immense amount of physical and emotional pain because of their choice to reject God. Maybe a reader of mine will help me make sense of this, because I sure as hell can’t find the logical pathway to truth in their explanation.

Christianity as a whole: Hell is one of the more highly debated topics within Christianity as a whole, and creates much conflict. Most mainstream denominations will take a Dante position that presents immortal souls of dead sinners being tortured in hellfire for all of eternity feeling a very real physical and emotional pain. Others refer to a casting out into what they refer to as the “outer darkness” where your soul exists in a state of sorrow and emotional turmoil because of your separation from God. Others will straight up say there is no such thing as hell.

Google: a place regarded in various religions as a spiritual realm of evil and suffering, often traditionally depicted as a place of perpetual fire beneath the earth where the wicked are punished after death.

Hopefully I can clear some things up and provide you with information that might help you decide where you land on this topic.

Biblical Texts on the idea of Hell

Most common texts include excerpts from:

Luke 16 “And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.”

Matthew 25: And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal….Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:

Matthew 5: And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.

Psalm 9: The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God.

Revelation 20: And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.

Revelation 14: And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name.

Mark 9: Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.

Matthew 13: And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.

Though these are some of the most often brought up when trying to prove a more literal and physical tormenting existence of hell…there is another stance I personally find a lot of merit in, which many call “Antihalation”. The reason people find this sentiment more compelling is because not only do they feel it aligns more with the idea that God is “Love” as stated by John in 1 John 4, but that it also has a more convincing basis of evidence.

Annihalation

Matthew 10: And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. [Key words being: DESTROY both Soul and body in “hell”]

John 3.16: For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. [Key: Whoever believe should not PERISH, but will instead be given everlasting life. It seems this is suggesting that everlasting life is not a given from the get-go. Instead, you must “believe” to receive everlasting life]

Psalm 21: Thou shalt make them as a fiery oven in the time of thine anger: the Lord shall swallow them up in his wrath, and the fire shall devour them. [Key: the fire shall DEVOUR them]

Matthew 25: And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal. [Would not being annihilated be an everlasting punishment? Must everlasting be a conscious torture, or can it also be that quite simply…you don’t get the reward that the righteous get of “life eternal”]

Romans 6: For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. [Key: this text says that sin causes DEATH, not burning torment forever and ever. Again, the gift through Jesus Christ is Eternal Life. Meaning that to get eternal life, you must accept that gift from Jesus. Do we think everyone accepts that gift?]

2 Thessalonians 1: Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power; [Key: DESTRUCTION. Many will read this and think “Well he skipped the everlasting part”. Though, would not the burning of a chair mean its destruction is indeed everlasting?]

Everlasting: lasting forever or a very long time. Google Definitions

Psalm 145: The Lord preserveth all them that love him: but all the wicked will he destroy. [Key: the Wicked he will DESTROY]

Revelation 20: And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. [Question: Death and Hell were cast into the lake? Is this figurative? And if it is…then what does that mean about the rest of this text?]

The final text I will present that hopefully will provoke thought in the reader is this: “Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice,” John 5.

If when everyone dies they go to either heaven or hell, then there is no one in their graves to hear the voice of God waking them up. Maybe I am making a stretch here and simplifying it too much…but I don’t think so.

Mythological Perspective

Is it that much of a stretch to say that maybe the idea of Hell is a mythological way of explaining what happens when you die? The darkness and cold of the grave is often something people point to with much fear. What does it mean to simply die and be “nowhere”?

Job 17: “My breath is corrupt, my days are extinct, the graves [are ready] for me”

Job describes the grave(s) as something that almost has a personality or life of its own. The graves are ready for him. This suggests that the grave was thought of as a life of it’s own in the ancient world. In fact, it is common that the word Sheol be used interchangeably with “The Grave“. This same use can be found with the word Hades for the Greek translations.

Hades itself is a word with many uses, not only to satisfy our modern understanding of what Hell is. Hades is the name of an ancient Greek diety who ruled over the “underworld” and was the god of the dead. If we reject the fact that this particular diety is real and instead frame it as a mythological understanding of how the Greeks understood death, then it stands to reason that we could do the same with the Hebrew Bible. Hades is not only a personification of death, the grave, but also an answer to the question “what happens when we die?” we go to death(hades) to meet the grave(sheol).

Now I know that this is a difficult subject that even presents some confusion when reading each Biblical “proof text” side by side, but I do not think we need to rush to a conclusion. We are on our own journey seeking the truth, and must take it at a pace that allows for calm, rational, and trustworthy conclusions. Do not think that you know the answer, because most likely you don’t and neither do I.

Keep Seeking, knocking, and humbling yourself at every turn.

Sources to look at

This is a list of a few sources to expand your knowledge on what other people believe and to help you on your exploration to find the truth.

https://www.britannica.com/topic/hell/Greece-and-Rome

https://www.britannica.com/topic/Hades-Greek-mythology

https://www.catholic.com/magazine/online-edition/what-is-hell

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-43596919

https://www.logosapostolic.org/hebrew-word-studies/7585-sheol-hell-grave.htm

redeeminggod.com/hades-hell/

149 Bible Verses about Hell

https://sojo.net/articles/where-did-our-ideas-about-hell-originate