Hell.
I will preface this post by saying that I may be inquisitive but also not to be mistaken for a scholar. While I have read extensively on this subject, it was done in more of a hobbyist’s manner than as a serious scholarly feat. So, take everything I say here with a grain of salt. I’m discussing my own beliefs and ambivalence, not making an indictment against other people’s faith or telling anyone else what to believe.
That being said- I’m not sure I believe in Hell. The concept of a loving and embracing God that has kept me in my faith seems at odds with the idea of eternal condemnation. Ever since childhood I’ve struggled against the idea that people I have come to care for might be condemned to eternal punishment simply because they have not “accepted Christ”. This internal struggle has only intensified as I’ve seen more and more people rebel against the faith because of the intolerance and cruelty of self-professed Christians. Why would God punish the victim for the wrongs of the abuser? Why would God condemn a man to hell that left his faith because he was sexually abused by a Priest?
At some point I saw a History Channel special about Hell, and one of the scholars said that “historically speaking, Hell as we know it is a recent invention”. That statement both baffled and horrified me, because I’d been taught to interpret a lot of Old Testament verses as references to Hell. So that’s when I decided to start doing a little research of my own.
Here is an interesting article I found online about possible interpretations of Biblical passages as references to Hell. I will sum it up by saying that several words that we now translate as Hell could refer also to “the grave”, “death”, or “punishment”. One of the words we now translate as Hell originates from the Hebrew word Gahenna which refers to a valley were bodies were burned. The stench and smoke were easily representative of punishment and agony. Tartarus and Hades are also interpreted as Hell, both of those words being references to a mythological afterlife.
The simple truth is that the Bible never spells things out in plain language, it never says, “accept Christ as your personal savior or you will burn in Hell”. I didn’t become a Christian out of fear of punishment, I did so because I felt drawn by God and I want to love him, I want to life a life exemplary of Love and Sacrifice, and what better way to do so than by emulating Christ himself? I don’t believe it is healthy for a person’s primary motivation to be one of fear.
Historically fear has been a great motivator. Fear was easily used by the Catholic Church in the dark ages as a way to keep the populace under control, plus it yielded a great deal of cold hard cash as people tried to buy their way out of retribution. I find it hard to align myself with a belief that has been so misused.
I will end by saying I’m really not sure what I believe when it comes to Hell, I just know that I cannot allow the thought of punishment to be so central to my beliefs. I know that I love God, and I serve him. I know that when I minister to others I want to do so out of love, not motivated by guilt that if I do not convert them they will burn in Hell for an eternity. I have a certain amount of peace with my own ambivalence.
I don’t need to know everything with certainty. I know that God is Love, that’s enough.
DKN replied:
I don’t believe in hell either. I mean, what use would God have for an after life detention hall? Why reward Satan?
February 15, 2008 at 3:20 pm. Permalink.
shush replied:
It just doesn’t make SENSE to me. There’s a lot of inconsistencies in Biblical interpretation that I would go into if I didn’t feel like I’m dying from bronchitis (and the boychild has it, too). Maybe I’ll get into the nitty gritty some time next week.
February 15, 2008 at 3:26 pm. Permalink.
DKN replied:
You should! And get to feeling better!
February 15, 2008 at 3:43 pm. Permalink.
Matthew replied:
Thanks, Shush…
I believe Hell should be the last thing on our minds when it comes to our Love of GOD and our Service of people… continue to “Live in Love as Christ loves us”… the afterlife will take care of itself…
SDG,
Matty
PS - i pray you and boychild get well soon!
February 15, 2008 at 5:57 pm. Permalink.
PolitiPornster replied:
What I find is that the folks who really get off on the vengeful God stuff, tend to be the ones that talk and preach the most about Hell. Less attention to spent on God’s love. It’s probably because I live in South, but most of these “Fire & Brimstone” types tend to be Baptists.
February 15, 2008 at 8:59 pm. Permalink.
shush replied:
Matt: Thanks for the comment and well wishes. It’s nice to feel like I’m not the only one who feels the way I do.
PolitiP: I’ve noticed that as well. Some people love to feed off the fear, but seeing what it produces… I like to draw as thick a line between myself and that kind of doctrine as possible.
February 15, 2008 at 9:12 pm. Permalink.
PolitiPornster replied:
In the same vain as my earlier comment, it is also remarkable how many of the fire & brimstoners seem to view the Bible as some sort of Action-Adventure novel. The focus is on the Book of Revelations and stories of the Old Testament.
February 16, 2008 at 11:32 pm. Permalink.
anita replied:
Shush,
I gave up the idea of hell a few years ago. The further I got into reflecting on the grace and love of God the less plausible the whole concept became. That’s not to say it didn’t make perfect since when I was growing up in conservative Christianity with it’s high stake on retribution theology and a God who sat on a judges seat swinging a gavel rather than a God who became flesh so he could look at the outcast in the eyes when he called them God’s beloved.
From God we’ve all come, in God we all live, and to God we all return. I have no control over the first or the last so best I focus my attention where I have any power at all, and that’s how I might best live today as God’s own.
February 18, 2008 at 7:50 pm. Permalink.
gray1962 replied:
Hi just thought i would drop in a few lines on the subject of hell. Ii quite clearly says in ECCLESIASTES 9:5 the dead are consious of nothing. So how could they be suffering in hell. There is only one thing JEHOVAH GOD can not do and that is lie. And it says in 2nd TIMOTHY 3:16 ALL SCRIPTURE IS INSPIRED BY GOD benificial for teaching,reproveing and setting things straight.
February 19, 2008 at 1:45 pm. Permalink.
shush replied:
Anita: that was a beautiful comment. Thank you!
Gray1962: thanks for referring me to those verses.
February 19, 2008 at 4:23 pm. Permalink.
Ray replied:
God! We’ve got the 21st century ..no one should need to believe in such theoretical concepts like hell - only made up to make people ‘believe’ and to let them pay for absolution and the luxurious life of church-members.
Life is good.
Death is too.
There are reasons for everything to end.
Kind regards!
February 22, 2008 at 11:25 am. Permalink.
shush replied:
Ray: Thanks! I find it sad that people don’t really research what they believe and why. So much is based off of theory, mistranslations and inferences put there by people with an agenda.
February 22, 2008 at 1:10 pm. Permalink.
Rob V. replied:
Walking into this discussion a little late, and again it may open up a can of worms, but here I go… (Understand that I am not attacking you personally, I am attacking your idea.)
Hell exists. It’s scary to think about, but there’s no room for interpretation, no matter what we feel and want to believe. Jesus Himself spoke about it 11 times (Matthew 5:22, Matthew 5:29, Matthew 5:30, Matthew 10:28, Matthew 18:9, Matthew 23:15, Matthew 23:33, Mark 9:43, Mark 9:45, Mark 9:47, Luke 12:5). The word He used is indeed Gehenna, and it is not hard to interpret what it means: the unquenchable fire. The way I look at it, if Jesus says Hell is real, I find it hard to think otherwise, no matter how hard I try.
You said, “The concept of a loving and embracing God that has kept me in my faith seems at odds with the idea of eternal condemnation.” The question is not, “Why would God condemn anyone to Hell?”, rather, it is, “Why would anyone voluntarily choose Hell?” Because that’s how people get there.
Why does Hell exist at all? Hell is really an issue of justice, something I talked about in a post of mine called The only way into Heaven is by Jesus, or by your own perfection!
How many will be in Hell? No way I can know, but this verse haunts me: “Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it.” Matthew 7:13-14
Remember: the Bible is the Word of God, ALL of it, and if we pick and choose what to believe, then we have no foundation to stand on - if we say that some of the Bible isn’t true, how can we be absolutely sure that the other parts we like are true? It has to be either all true, or it’s all just words.
April 17, 2008 at 7:57 pm. Permalink.
shush replied:
Rob V: Thanks for your comment, and sorry that it’s taken me so long to respond (I’ve been on vacation for the past few weeks). I’ll take all of this to heart and think about it for a while. But can I ask one question? You said, ” “Why would anyone voluntarily choose Hell?” Because that’s how people get there”. That question is troublesome for me. People who do not believe in God don’t believe they are making a choice, for one… but what about people who are never exposed to the Gospel (something that is still possible)? These things truly do trouble me.
I’ll check out the post that you linked to when I get time.
May 1, 2008 at 1:00 pm. Permalink.