Hell

[Sillyman]

I was just reading the a questionairre that popped up on another thread I started, and it had qouted various Biblical passages as arguments for not being Christian. I was checking against the bible for general persuasiveness of the arguments and general ability to reinterpret them to other meanings, when I came across the passages about hell, specifically in Revelations, and from the description I would say it doesn't sound like a place of eternal fire and suffering. It doesn't even sound like a place of mental anguish or seperation from God. What it sounds like is in fact, oblivion, total non existence, which is the atheists view of the afterlife anyway. Kind of funny in an odd way.

 

[Never]

First off, if you're interested in learning more about this subject I suggest reading 'The History of Hell' by Alice K Turner. The afterlife has been evolving for thousands of years and it a very interesting and insightful read.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/A...7566663/sr=8-1/ref=sr_8_1/103-3366176-1551846

I stumbled across it years ago in a library – some kind soul had torn out large pieces of the book and I knew I had to get myself a copy.

You're correct. Hell was not originally a place of fire and brimstone. The Jews originally conceived of the afterlife as Sheol, a gloomy place that EVERYONE ended up in cut off from God or life. In Psalms King David asks God to let him live a long time so he wouldn't have to go there for a while even though King David knew he was beloved of God.

Psalm 6: "Turn, O Lord, save my life...For in death there is no remembrance of you; in Sheol who can give you praise?"
Ecclesiastes 3:20: “All go to one place; all are from the dust, and all turn to dust again.”

They did not believe in the immortal soul until they were influenced by Greek culture. The concept of eternal salvation or damnation didn't appear until the Hellenistic era when the Jewish peoples were controlled by the Ptolemies and the Seleucids.

 

[Marilyth]

Another think that I have learned recently, is that Hell was a creation of the men who were recruiting for Christianity. It was meant to scare the children & adults for that matter, into becoming Christian, or else they would "burn in hell." Kinda sad to think of scare tactics to make people follow someone elses beliefs. ::shrug:: Oh well...

 

[Ice Cold]

If you follow the theory in Dante's inferno. There is no fire and brimstone in hell... It is a cold place, where the devil is frozen in a block of ice, while heaven is described as warm and sunny.

 

[Never]

Then there's gehenna, it's a place of unquenchable fire in which the damned are punished. Gehenna means 'Valley of the son(s) of Hinnom', a valley outside of Jerusalem. The Jews used to take their death there and burn them to prevent contamination.

In Gehenna a soul would burn until it was 'purified' of its sin at which point it either was annihilated or redeemed.

 

[Never]

Marilyth, the concept of 'Hell' evolved before the creation of Christianity and involves many aspects from Greek and Babylonian culture.

 

[kotori]

l'enfer, c'est les autres.

 

[Marilyth]

Marilyth, the concept of 'Hell' evolved before the creation of Christianity and involves many aspects from Greek and Babylonian culture.

I'm sure it is. But the christians, sure have millked the hell outta that cow

 

[Never]

Marilyth:
"I'm sure it is. But the christians, sure have millked the hell outta that cow"

I'll have to give you that.

 

[scylis]

Hell is to a place of hellish (well duh) fires and raging infernos. to be more precise, the Nine Hells are. there is a "hell" for nine different Archdevils, who are collectivly known as "the Lords of the Nine." once upon a time Bhaal ruled over all the Nine Hells, though he kinda died a bit a handfull of years back when the gods were temporarily banished from their realms. the Nine Hells are often refered to as Baator (after Bhaal, in a fasion), and are an all around shitty place to be.

personally, i'd go there over the Abyss any day, but then again Lloth resides there, and she and i arn't on the best of terms, to say the least. that cold-hearted she-demon bitch.

 

[Sillyman]

How about Pandemonium? I hear it's really great in the screaming bone fragment season.

 

[glamorilla]

I'm very impressed Never. It's been a long time since I read on any of that stuff.

I'm pretty sure you would love that "Shade" comic I suggested a few weeks ago. It's very good and I think you'd fall in love with Lenny,Cathy's girlfriend or possibly even Cathy...who's Shade's girlfriend...

I don't have any steadfast beliefs in what hell is or will be like or if it even exists except for what I'm told and from what I've read. Personally I like the idea that it's something you may be creating as you travel the Earth and none of us understand what will pass as our judgements.

 

[scylis]

Hell is having no cheese.

 

[weed]

....
Personally I like the idea that it's something you may be creating as you travel the Earth and none of us understand what will pass as our judgements.

Mmmmm, hell is what you make it. Then you die.