Is Hell a real place or a metaphor to deter evil – Part 2
From a religious and atheistic point of view, the undeniable truth of the matter is that hell, a place of endless suffering for sinners, is simply an extended metaphor for a metaphysical nonexistence. The ambiguity of the concept of hell extends from culture to culture, changing with the differences in religious beliefs, but fundamentally keeping the same basis of belief; like fire, brimstone, and torture.
From the dawn of religious belief, hell has always existed as an equilibria, or counter balance, to the popular notion of Heaven. This counter balance existed as an insurance policy for the indoctrinated. Without the existence of hell, there wouldn’t have been any motivation for the populous to lead a “good” life.
This is the belief from which the christian doctrine of hell extends. It is believed that if God created an all good kingdome of love, he would also have to create a place for those spiritually unclean.
While this belief may be sound, the concept of hell shared among today’s populous is a misinterpretation of a dogmatic concept. The origin of the abrahamic definition of hell, in fact, has nothing to do with torture or fire, but purely of nonexistence. When translating the bible from Hebrew to English, there were three words believed to have the same meaning, which were translated into “hell.” The first two words were “sheol,” and “hades.” These words were literally held to mean “unseen/ grave.” The third word “Gehanna,” was a tangle place; it was a trash pit outside of Jerusalem which was constantly on fire.
When translating these words from Hebrew to English, the translators felt it appropriate to use the old English word “hel.” At this time, the translation was valid; the literal meaning of “hel” was the same at “sheol” and “gahenna;” unseen.
During the time of translation, a story was written which edited the concept of hell to incorporate fire and torture. This story is popular referred to as Dante’s Inferno. This divine comedy was a pagan adaptation of a long held notion of the underworld. It incorporated pagan gods as well as christian beliefs.
While just a story, the catholic church adopted its fundamental ideas of hell, and incorporated it into their teachings. The reasons for this, as well as the outcomes, are subjects of other articles. One lesson to be taken from this information though is that hell is not the place of fire and brimstone everyone believes it to be!
Today children are taught that if they misbehave, there is a cozy domain of pain and suffering awaiting them. This concept is simply wrong; hell is not a physical place, but a state of nonexistence. The bible describes it in great detail; Once a person dies, their spirit goes to hell. This is to say that their spirit is at rest and unseen; it doesn’t exist in the normal tangible realm of existence. During Jesus’ second coming, the spirits will rise and walk again, awaiting his second judgement.
Those who are found holy will be allowed entrance into the kingdom of heaven, while those who are found unholy are said to be cast into the lake of fire. The literal quote from the book of revelations is that “hell and death are cast into the lake of fire.” Logic is proof that hell could not be the lake of fire if is is cast into the lake of fire! Once casted into “gehanna,” the souls of the unclean are destroyed, and are once again nonexistent.
This is proof, beyond a doubt, that hell is not a literal place of fire and brimstone, but rather an extended metaphor for a state of nonexistence.
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