Difference between revisions of "Hell"

Revision as of 20:50, April 2, 2008

Hell is a lie made by Christians to scare people into believing their 2,000 year old myths.

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-[[Image:Hieronymus Bosch - The Garden of Earthly Delights - Hell.jpg|right|300px|thumb|''Hell'', painted by [[Hieronymus Bosch]], part of ''[[The Garden of Earthly Delights]]''.]]
+Hell is a lie made by Christians to scare people into believing their 2,000 year old myths.
-In the English translation of the [[Bible]]'s [[Old Testament]], the word '''hell''' normally corresponds to the [[Hebrew]] ''sheol'', which was simply the place of the dead. But in the [[Greek]] [[New Testament]] the word used is either ''Gehenna'' (the garbage dump outside the walls of Jerusalem where fires were kept eternally burning to consume the refuse and keep down the stench) or ''Hades'', the [[Greek]]s' dark, gloomy underworld. The modern English word appears to derive most directly from "Holle" or "Hela" or "Hel", goddess of the dead in Germanic/[[Norse mythology]]. When the [[Anglo-Saxons]] later embraced [[Christianity]], the existing word in the language was reused in the new Christian concepts.
-To Christians, hell is a place where the souls of the wicked are punished eternally for all the [[sins]] they perpetrated during their lifetime on Earth.  Since all have sinned (Rom 3:23) hell can not be avoided on one's own merits, but through the love gift of [[Jesus]] one can know, love, and serve [[God]] and share eternity with Him in [[heaven]].
-The Christian and [[Muslim]] religious traditions often emphasize the ''Gehenna'' aspect: Hell is extremely hot and filled with fire and [[brimstone]]. Opinion varies on the question of whether, while hell itself is eternal, experience of it purges away the sins of sufferers to the point of eventual redemption. See [[purgatory]]. A minority of Christians do not believe in an eternal hell as punishment, believing instead that the souls of the wicked are annihilated. This view is referred to as [[Annihilationism]].  There is also a question of whether hell has a literal burning fire, or whether it is separation from God and therefore has the same torment as if there was a burning fire. This view has been supported by writers such as [[J.P. Moreland]].
-Although hell is a focus and a concern in Christian theology, the Bible has an even greater focus.  In the [[King James Version]] the word hell is mentioned 54 times, but [[heaven]] is mentioned 551 times.
-* [[Gospel of Matthew|Matthew]] 13:41-42 - ''The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.'''
-* Matthew 25:41 - ''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 25:46 - ''And these shall go away into  everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.''
-* [[Gospel of Mark|Mark]] 9:43 - ''And if thy hand offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than having two hands to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched.''
-* 2 Thes 1:7-8 - ''And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.''
-* [[Book of Revelation|Revelation]] 20:10 - ''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 20:14-15 - ''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.''
-[[Image:Devilbar trans.gif|center]]
-[[Category:Abrahamic Religions]]

Difference between revisions of "Hell"

Revision as of 20:50, April 2, 2008

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