Spiritual

Hell in the Holy Bible Might be a Pagan Concept

August 3, 2016
“We are each our own devil, and we make this world our hell”
― Oscar Wilde
 

 Introduction

 
The ‘Key Verse’ of the New Testament says, “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16).  The implication is that those who believe in Jesus “should not perish” but will “have eternal life”. This led to the assumption that when believers receive eternal life, non-believers should correspondingly be condemned to suffer eternal ‘hell’. Consequently, the church teaches of a burning hell in which the non-believers would roast forever.  
 

This idea of hell as a torture chamber built by a loving and compassionate God of Christianity to inflict unremitting punishment on the human beings that He created in His own image has been troubling me from the days I started thinking of the inevitability of death. The Bible says, “There is no one righteous, not even one; There is no one who understands; no one who seeks God” (Romans 3:10-11). This means that as things stand, none is likely to reach ‘heaven’. There is hardly any chance of anyone turning eligible for eternal life. (I do not believe in the holiness of those bearing titles of ‘His Holiness’ or on whom ‘Sainthood’ is conferred by a corrupt Church system). The argument against this could be that Jesus came to save the sinners who believed in him. But, aren’t the people who claim to have their names written in the ‘book of life’ continuing to wallow in the filth of their continuing sins? Thus, life on this earth becomes just the staging area for an eternal life of everlasting torture in a divinely designed hell.  That is not a very inviting proposition…

Now, the question is whether the Bible really speaks about a fiery hell in which the sinners would burn everlastingly. This post seeks to examine whether the terms ‘hell’ and ‘hellfire’ appearing in the Bible really meant the hell that the priests and pastors have been trying to paint before the faithful to put the fear of Satan into their hearts.  Let us see to what extent, if any, such arguments are sustainable in the light of the Holy Bible they quote.

(Let me make it clear that what I present below is the understanding I have gained through my research on the topic.  I have no intention to challenge, upset, mock or belittle any other views or beliefs).   
 

The Meaning of the Word ‘Hell’  

 
Encyclopedia Americana says,“…As generally understood, hell is the abode of evil spirits; the infernal regions…whither lost and condemned souls go after death to suffer indescribable torments and eternal punishment…Some have thought of it as the place created by the Deity, where He punishes with inconceivable severity, and through all eternity, the souls of those who through unbelief or through the worship of false gods have angered Him. It is the place of divine revenge, untempered, never ending.” Encyclopedia Americana also says: “The main features of hell as conceived by Hindu, Persian, Egyptian, Grecian and Christian theologians are essentially the same.”
 

Is Hell a Pagan Idea?

 

The term ‘pagan’ denotes those who practiced Polytheism prior to the emergence of the Monotheistic faith of the Abrahamic Religions viz. Jewish, Christian and Islamic faiths. It is quite possible that the widely believed concept of an ever-burning (subterranean) hell originates from the views of the pre-Christian (pagan) poetic ideas.

Much of the Christian tradition surrounding the idea of a burning hell comes from ‘Divine Comedy’, the famous work of Dante Alighieri (1265-1321). This work comes in three parts to describe the poet’s ideas of Paradise, Purgatory and Hell. ‘Inferno’, which means intense and uncontrollable fire, is the title of the part dealing with hell. “He wrote, in incomprehensible verse, an imaginative and lurid account of a dismal hell“. Although Dante had a tremendous influence on the popular Christian thought and teaching about the term ‘hell’, the inferno that Dante had painted was not his own. He had borrowed it from ancient philosophers.

  
Dante had believed that the pagan philosophers Plato and Virgil were divinely inspired. Plato’s ideas with regard to the immortality of the soul as described in his famous work ‘Phaedo’ (On the Soul) fascinated Dante. He believed in those ideas as evident in his works. About Virgil, here is what the Encyclopedia Americana says, “Virgil, pagan Roman poet, 70-12 B.C. Belonged to the national school of pagan Roman thought, influenced by the Greek writers. Christians of the Middle Ages, including Dante, believed he had received some measure of divine inspiration.” Thus, we could safely assume that the very idea of an ever-burning hell came into the monotheistic Christianity of Dante from the polytheistic paganism.

The Concept of ‘Hell’ in the Bible

Anyone trying to examine what the Bible says about hell and hellfire, with an open mind, would see that the Bible has hardly anything to do with the popular Christian misconception that hell is a horrible place readied by God for the unending torture of dead sinners.  It is true that we find mentions of helland hell fire in numerous passages in the Bible. Even Jesus had referred to it several times.  So did some of the Apostles. We can also find mentions of these terms in the Old Testament. Perhaps, the authors of the Old Testament and New Testament who wrote in Hebrew and Greek respectively had not used the terms translated in English as ‘hell’ or ‘hellfire’, to mean an ever raging inferno.  

The Hebrew  ‘Hell’ 

Hell’ is the translation of the Hebrew word ‘Sheol’, which has the meaning, “the state and abode of the dead; hence the grave in which the body rests” (William Wilson, Wilson’s Old Testament Word Studies, “Hell,” p. 215). The Expository Dictionary of Bible Words says, “Thus there are no references to eternal destiny but simply to the grave as the resting place of the bodies of all people” (Lawrence Richards, 1985, p. 336).
 
In the Old Testament Bible, we find that some of God’s most faithful servants knew that they themselves were going to Sheol. This word is translated as ‘hell’ at some places and ‘grave’ at other places. In Genesis 37:35 we can see Jacob lamenting, “I will go down into grave (sheol) unto my son grieving”.  And Job says, “O that thou wouldest hide me in the grave…” (sheol), (Job 14:13). ”For my soul is full of troubles; my life draweth nigh into the grave” (sheol), writes David (Psalm 88:3).  Prophet Hezekiah says, “I shall go into the gates of the grave…“, (sheol) (Isaiah 38:10). 
 
It is impossible that these devoted servants of God were speaking about going to an ever-burning ‘hell’ of the Christian imagination. Therefore, it is only reasonable to believe that the word ‘sheol’ as used in the Old Testament simply meant the grave into which dead bodies go and not a place of fire and brimstone that burns the dead forever.

 The Greek ‘Hell’  

Three different Greek words appearing in the New Testament have all been translated as ‘hell’ or ‘hellfire’ in English. These words are Hades, ‘Tartaroo’ and ‘Gehenna’.  Do these words really mean the ‘hell’ of horror that Dante had painted in ‘Inferno’?

Hades

If we look up the Hebrew word Sheol in a concordance, we will find that the corresponding Greek word is Hades, which means, “the grave, pit, world of the dead or hell.” It is true that the word Hades is used in Greek mythology to refer to some subterranean realm for the dead. However, it is more or less certain that the biblical usage of the word Hades is to mean grave and not ‘hell’. In fact, the same Greek word Hades is found translated as both grave and hell in the Bible. The translators simply used their own personal discretion.
 
In Greek, the word corresponding to ‘Sheol’ is Hades. However, Old Testament verses carrying the word ‘Sheol’ when translated into English became ‘hell’. For example, “And thou, Capernaum, which art exalted unto heaven shalt be brought down to hell (Sheol/Hades)”(Matthew 11:23). Incidentally, the terms Sheol and Hades are left in its original Hebrew/Greek forms in some of the recent translated versions of the Bible, indicating the uncertainty of the applicable meaning of those words. 
 
Apostle Peter refers to Christ Himself as having been in “Hades” (Acts 2:27, 31) or “hell” (King James Version) during the period Jesus remained entombed after his death. Christians would never believe that. So, Sheol or Hades is the resting place of the dead, which apparently is the grave (and not hell). It was only with the passing of time that the pagan view of hell, as an ever blazing subterranean inferno, came to replace this original intent of the words Sheol in Hebrew and Hades in Greek.

‘Tartaroo’

A second Greek word, tartaroo, used only once in the New Testament, is also translated as ‘hell’.   “For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell (tartaroo)…“ (2 Peter 2:4).  The meaning of the word is a prison, incarceration, place of restraint or a dark abyss.” The Expository Dictionary of Bible Words explains that tartaroo means, “to confine in Tartaros” and that “Tartaros was the Greek name for the mythological abyss in which rebellious gods were confined” (Lawrence Richards, 1985, “Heaven and Hell”).
 

Apostle Peter used this reference to contemporary mythology to show that the sinning angels were “delivered…into chains of darkness, to be reserved for judgment.” These fallen angels are now restrained and awaiting their ultimate judgment for their rebellion against God and destructive influence on humanity. The place where they are restrained is the earth, where they wield influence over the nations, not some dark netherworld. Furthermore, tartaroo applies only to demons. Nowhere does it refer to a fiery hell into which people are deposited after death.

‘Gehenna’

‘Gehenna’ is the third Greek word used in the New Testament, which too is translated as ‘hell’. (The Urdu word Jehannum might be connected to this). This word indeed has some elements people commonly associate with their traditional view of hell. The original Greek word gehenna is translated either as hell or hellfirein the New Testament. However, this word also has significant differences from the popular impressions about hell.

The term‘Gehenna’ comes from the Hebrew expression, ga-Hinnom or the Valley of Hinnom. Hasting’s Dictionary defines the word as follows, “Gehenna: the word occurs twelve times in the New Testament. This term ‘gehenna’ represents ‘the Valley of Hinnom’ (Neh. 11:30, II Kings 23:10, etc.). The place was…a deep narrow gorge in the vicinity of Jerusalem, understood to be on the south side. It is repeatedly mentioned in the Old Testament (Jer. 19:6, etc.). The Valley of Hinnom became an object of horror to the Jews, and is said to have been made the receptacle for the bodies of beasts and criminals, refuse and all unclean things. The terrible associations of the place…the fires said to have been kept burning in it in order to consume the foul and corrupt objects that were thrown into it, made it [an]…unmistakable symbol of dire evil…absolute ruin. So it came to designate the place of future punishment.”

We read in the book of Jeremiah, “So beware, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when people will no longer call this place Topheth or the Valley of Ben Hinnom, but the Valley of Slaughter“ (Jer. 19:6). “Religiously it was a place of idolatrous and human sacrifices . . . In order to put an end to these abominations, [Judah’s King] Josiah polluted it with human bones and other corruptions(2 Kgs. 23:10, 13, 14)” (Spiros Zodhiates, The Complete Word Study Dictionary: New Testament, 1992, p. 360). Thanks in large part to its evil reputation, this valley bordering Jerusalem on the south became the city’s garbage dump. Trash was burned there, along with the bodies of dead animals and criminals, and all kinds of abominable items.

The word Gehenna occurs also in passages that Jesus spoke. When Jesus mentioned gehenna, His listeners knew that this “hell” was a consuming fire, in which garbage and the bodies of the wicked were destroyed. Here are some examples of the saying of Jesus. “…but whosever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire (Matthew 5:22); “…not that thy whole body should be cast into hell (Matthew 5:29,30); “Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell? (Mathew23:33). In all these instances, the words “hell“ and “hellfire” are translations of the original Greek word “gehenna“, which was an area close to Jerusalem in which fires burned constantly, fueled by rotting trash and the decomposing dead bodies of animals and humans.  Nevertheless, it is unlikely that Jesus was warning people of unending suffering in hellfire after they died.

The bodies of criminals and animals thrown over the edge of the ravine often remained caught on a ledge where they rotted and decomposed with worms all over. So, Jesus says, “In that place, worms never die, and the fire is never put out” (Mark 9:48). In fact Jesus was referring to an Old Testament verse which says, “And they shall go forth, and look upon the carcasses of the men that have transgressed against Me: for their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched; and they shall be an abhorring unto all flesh” (Isaiah 66:24).

Of course, the punishment in Gehenna is eternal in the sense that it is irrevocable, permanent and total. It does not necessarily mean that the sinners would be kept alive perpetually and tortured incessantly. I find it impossible that God could be so vengeful and sadistic.

Living and Dying ‘Eternally’

One of the reasons for the idea of everlasting punishment creeping into Christian faith might be the content of the ‘key verse’ I mentioned at the start. It says, “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16).   The verse suggests that those who receive salvation through Christ “should not perish” but will “have eternal life”. Then the assumption went, ‘if those saved receive eternal life, those cast into ‘hell’ should receive eternal torture’.  However, the verse says that salvation prevents people from perishing. It simply does not say that the unsaved would also have ‘eternal life’ to suffer in hell. The wages of sin is eternal death, not eternal life (of suffering). For the ‘saved’, it is eternal life after death.  For the ‘unsaved, death meant the final end.   

The above view is borne out by Prophet Malachi who says, ““Surely the day is coming; it will burn like a furnace. All the arrogant and every evildoer will be stubble, and the day that is coming will set them on fire,” says the Lord Almighty. “Not a root or a branch will be left to them. But for you who revere my name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its rays. And you will go out and frolic like well-fed calves. Then you will trample on the wicked; they will be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day when I act,” says the Lord Almighty.” (Mal. 4:1-3).  Anyone who walks through a fire that has burned itself out understands that there would be ashes under their feet. Thus,  total annihilation is the destiny of the wicked.

The Ever Burning Hell of Christian Theology

Christians apparently believe in an ever-burning hell because they have been told by their priests and pastors that the Bible says so. The Bible, perhaps, does not say so. It is true that there are Bible verses that are interpreted as pointers to an everlasting fire and a never-ending torment in store for the ‘unredeemed’. But these verses could be interpreted differently to support the view that the dead do not live eternally to burn in hell.  Let us examine a few Biblical texts most frequently cited as “proof” for eternal torture of the unsaved.   
 
  1. Mathew 25:41, 46: “Then shall He say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from Me, you cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels…And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.”
The term ‘everlasting’ found in the above verse is the translation of the Greek word, Aionios (from which comes the English word eon). The Greek wordAionios means, “age-lasting” NOT “everlasting”. The event referred to is the Millennium (1,000-years) when Satan and his demons remain thrown into the bottomless pit as mentioned in the Book of Revelation (Rev. 20:2-3). Also, the Greek word ‘tartaroo’ has been wrongly translated as ‘hell’ here. It is only a place of restraint for a specific period. (More explanations on this aspect of the Book of Revelation are beyond the scope of this post).
 
The point is that the verse only mentions an everlasting “punishment,” not a “punishing” that would continue without end. We must realize that death (for the unredeemed) is an everlasting and irreversible event. They are dead forever.
 
  1. Acts 2:31: “He seeing this before spoke of the resurrection of Christ, that His soul was not left in hell, neither His flesh did see corruption.”
The Greek word translated here as “hell” is ‘hades’.  As already explained, it simply means the grave. Besides, any thoughts of Jesus being left in ‘hell’ should shake the very foundations of the Christian faith.
 
3.    Some twenty-five hundred years ago, God warned His people that Jerusalem would burn with an ‘unquenchable fire’.  “…then will I kindle a fire in the gates thereof, and it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem, and it shall not be quenched“, (Jeremiah 17:27). In CE 70, the Romans burned down Jerusalem. However, the fire died down after a while. Obviously, the fire was not meant to be ‘unquenchable’ in its literal sense.  

 (I am refraining from citing more examples owing to constraints of space)

Conclusion

Jesus once told the parable of a rich man who lived a luxurious life and a poor man who survived on the leftovers from the table of the rich man. Both died. The poor man was taken to heaven and the rich man was cast into the eternally burning fire of hell. The rich man looked up and saw the poor man sitting in heaven by the side of Patriarch Abraham…. 

Jesus probably told the parable to teach the rich to be compassionate to the poor. However, the whole imagery of the beggar on earth sitting in Paradise by the side of the Patriarch (in some translations, Lazarus, the poor man, is sitting on the lap of Abraham) and the affluent on earth suffering in the burning fire of hell became the standard post-death image etched into the Christian psyche. I do not believe that the parable was to be understood literally. In any case, I would never be happy in a heaven from where I would be watching people suffering ‘eternal’ torture in an ever-burning hell.
Then why the Church paints such a fearsome picture of the ‘devil’ and ‘hell’? Well. Fear is the key that opens purse strings, chequebooks and bank lockers. 
 
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  1. @Tamil selvan Samuel

    Dear Sam,

    I do not have answers to all the questions. I have a personal point of view. Another person has another view. I do not know who is right. I do not know who is wrong. Today, my views are based on my understanding as of today. Tomorrow I might know more, think differently and might modify or discard my current views. I have done so in the past. Remember what St Paul said, "When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me" (1 Corinthians 13:11).

    Evolution is a reality. We keep changing. Change is the evidence of life. Once we stop changing, we are dead. Today, I do not believe in Heaven somewhere up and a Hell somewhere down. I do not take scripture in its literal meaning. Jesus had said that the Kingdom of Heaven is within you. May be, I will write a separate post on this.

    Remember what St Paul said. "I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for it. And even now you are not yet ready" (1 Corinthians 3:2). Jesus as well as the Apostles tried to simplify deep spiritual truths through stories, parables and images familiar to their target audience.

    I try to understand the meaning behind those stories, parables and images. The meaning I obtain today might not be the meaning I would obtain tomorrow. The meaning I find might not be the meaning another person finds. We are all unique. I believe that God would not judge everyone using the same yardstick. Everyone is evaluated individually, uniquely. "For the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart" (1 Samuel 16:7). That is my view today.

    St Paul wrote about Jesus coming again before his own death and the death of the faithful in the ancient church. Then Christians started dying. There was confusion. The consequence is the Second Epistle to Thessalonians. It is uncertain whether Paul wrote it. In it we find reference to Old Testament apocalyptic prophesies (Daniel) to find justification for the delay in the Second Coming. The question is, could we be sure the St Paul really understood the meaning of the teachings of Jesus? Who knows?

    I hope you have caught the point I wished to make. We are all looking at the same truth in our own ways. I do not believe that God would be offended since He knows that each one of us is unique.

    Thank you,
    vgkutty

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