I’ve been reading a lot of threads where people talk about hell and what it means and I thought this deserves some research. Personally, I don’t believe in eternal punishment in a hell of fire and I find that belief to be an unnecessary source of fear.
I read a lot of articles about the origin of the concept of hell and I selected a few to share, from different sources so you don't think I'm biased.
They all say more or less the same thing: confusion and misunderstanding have been caused through the early translators of the Bible replacing the Hebrew Sheol and the Greek Hades and Gehenna by the word hell.
The meaning given today to the word “hell” is that portrayed in Dante’s Divine Comedy and Milton’s Paradise Lost but the idea of a “hell” of fiery torment, however, dates back long before these books were written.
Hindus and Buddhists seem to regard hell as a place of spiritual cleansing and final restoration. Islamic tradition considers it as a place of everlasting punishment. The idea of suffering after death is found among the pagan religious teachings of ancient peoples in Babylon and Egypt. Babylonian and Assyrian beliefs depicted the underworld as a place full of horrors, presided over by gods and demons of great strength and fierceness. Although ancient Egyptian religious texts do not teach that the burning of any individual victim would go on forever, they do portray the “Other World” as featuring “pits of fire” for “the damned.”
Here are some links with the best articles I found in case anyone is interested. For those who don’t feel like reading, there is a very good youtube video by a pastor (can’t remember his religion):
Religion and Spirituality: Hell: Origins of an Idea
The Origin and History of the Doctrine of Endless Punishment
Merciful Truth : The Origin of Hell
Hell - New World Encyclopedia
There is no Hell in the Bible
Hell | Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy
I read a lot of articles about the origin of the concept of hell and I selected a few to share, from different sources so you don't think I'm biased.
They all say more or less the same thing: confusion and misunderstanding have been caused through the early translators of the Bible replacing the Hebrew Sheol and the Greek Hades and Gehenna by the word hell.
The meaning given today to the word “hell” is that portrayed in Dante’s Divine Comedy and Milton’s Paradise Lost but the idea of a “hell” of fiery torment, however, dates back long before these books were written.
Hindus and Buddhists seem to regard hell as a place of spiritual cleansing and final restoration. Islamic tradition considers it as a place of everlasting punishment. The idea of suffering after death is found among the pagan religious teachings of ancient peoples in Babylon and Egypt. Babylonian and Assyrian beliefs depicted the underworld as a place full of horrors, presided over by gods and demons of great strength and fierceness. Although ancient Egyptian religious texts do not teach that the burning of any individual victim would go on forever, they do portray the “Other World” as featuring “pits of fire” for “the damned.”
Here are some links with the best articles I found in case anyone is interested. For those who don’t feel like reading, there is a very good youtube video by a pastor (can’t remember his religion):
Religion and Spirituality: Hell: Origins of an Idea
The Origin and History of the Doctrine of Endless Punishment
Merciful Truth : The Origin of Hell
Hell - New World Encyclopedia
There is no Hell in the Bible
Hell | Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy