There is no hell.

[TerraMGP]

In light of much of the religious discussion going on in the forums, and because of some very interesting points being brought up I thought it would be worthwhile to bring up one subject in particular that I think is a key issue for Christan and non Christians alike when dealing with This particular faith. Hell. From Dante's inferno to Tom and Jerry we all know the overall concept of eternal punishment for our transgressions in life. But is that really what the bible promises? Rather than attempting to explain why Hell is not a true biblical concept myself, I think it best to give some material for people to read and mull over. This material shows in detail that the Early Roman construct of Hell has no basis in actual scripture giving the actual translations and meanings for the words in Hebrew. I hope in reading this that people can gain a new understanding of the christian faith, and perhaps re-examine a falsehood perpetuated for almost 2000 years.

http://gospelthemes.com/hell.htm
http://www.tentmaker.org/articles/ifhellisreal.htm

I hope that we can discuss this openly and with a mind towards a better understanding of the text, be it out of a desire to grow as a christian or simply a wish to understand what may be one of the biggest and most shocking mass lies in all of human history.

P.S. If you are going to post here about your stance on Hell, PLEASE read the materials first. If you are an atheist Please try to look at it as a scholar trying to understand the history of a religion some people follow and have respect for it rather than writing it all off as bunk anyways outright.

 

[xitel]

You have to remember the Covenant (I'm sorry, but I can't remember exactly which), in which God promised that whatever the church decides on Earth, he will hold true in Heaven. Which means that if the Church says that there is a Hell, then Hell exists.

 

[ZenMonkey47]

While I'm not clever enough to know if Hell exists in the here after, I do believe that we can create hell for ourselves (and others) here on earth through sin.

 

[space_oddity]

There is no hell. When you die you are dead. You return to what you were before you were conceived.

The idea that one would be punished for an eternity for a handful of 'sins' most likely committed in ignorance is ludicrous.

I usually a pretty upbeat guy, sorry if this post has a bit of a negative tone haha.

 

[Thunderbrew]

You have to remember the Covenant (I'm sorry, but I can't remember exactly which), in which God promised that whatever the church decides on Earth, he will hold true in Heaven. Which means that if the Church says that there is a Hell, then Hell exists.

This has always been quite confusing for me, back when I regularly went to Church around half the Priests that I discussed Christianity with believed in the "All Loving God", the God in question loved all of his creations and will all go to heaven as he forgives us all for our sins.

Every sect of Christianity has a different view on heaven and hell but I find the "All loving God" a much more comforting angle than any other.

Of course this means that there is no hell in this view whatsoever.

 

[The_Deleted]

Also, like a lot of ancient myth and religion, this is all romanticism and westernised thought. There is no reason why Jesus et al would have been caucasion except for the westernised ideas. Why would a man from the middle east not be of middle east extraction?
Hell, like Heaven is whatever we deem it to be. One mans Paradise is another mans Hades.

 

[Cahlee]

I'm not really religious and I'm comfortable with death and whatever it may or may not have in store for me. What matters to me is how I live, on earth. How I treat people and that I live my life to be the most that it can.

 

[Samurai Goomba]

It seems to me that anyone who accepts the idea of Heaven must also accept the alternative, Hell. I mean, Hell is mentioned multiple times in scripture. Yeah, there are PARTS of the Bible that don't mention it, maybe even most of the Bible doesn't, but it's still there.

If Hell was mentioned even once in the Bible, it would still be something that must be considered by those who choose to believe that what the Bible says is true.

When it comes to religion, I believe that one must either accept it all or reject it all. I don't believe people can "pick and choose" parts of their religion based on what they do and don't like.

But hey, most of the people on the Escapist are atheists (I think) so it's not like it really matters one way or another.

 

[latenightapplepie]

I don't think there is a hell or a heaven, because I don't believe in the afterlife of any sort. Although it means I'm a more than a little bit scared of death, I can't make myself believe there's anything more than this. So yeah, go ahead. Go crazy. You only get you shot at it, in my opinion.

I've yet to seriously do anything seriously immoral (in my mind, at least), so I don't think I need a belief in heaven and/or hell to motivate me to be a good person. But people are different. If they think they might go to hell for all eternity by committing act X, they should try their best to keep it to themselves. Because when I'm enjoying myself commiting act X, I don't want them up in my grill about it, because it's highly likely that either I don't believe in the same things, or that I don't give a toss anyway.

 

[itsnotyouitsme]

If there's a heaven there's a hell. If you wanna say there is no hell, then there is no heaven. No matter what it is there's always newtons law. Everything has an equal and opposite. This is the law of the universe and even god can't escape it. As there is a god there is the devil, as there is a heaven there is a hell, as there is up there is down. Trying to say there is no hell but is a heaven is like trying to say you have 2 left eyes and both of them are above the other.

 

[Aardvark]

Look around you. Look at the people you deal with every day. Look at the people who run the world. Take a moment and take this all in.

Then tell me that you aren't already in Hell.

 

[space_oddity]

Look around you. Look at the people you deal with every day. Look at the people who run the world. Take a moment and take this all in.

Then tell me that you aren't already in Hell.

I view the world in the exact opposite way, but i totally get what you're saying.

 

[Alex_P]

If there's a heaven there's a hell. If you wanna say there is no hell, then there is no heaven. No matter what it is there's always newtons law. Everything has an equal and opposite. This is the law of the universe and even god can't escape it. As there is a god there is the devil, as there is a heaven there is a hell, as there is up there is down. Trying to say there is no hell but is a heaven is like trying to say you have 2 left eyes and both of them are above the other.

... What the hell, man?
1. It's called "Newton's third law".
2. Newton's laws are about forces, not metaphors.
3. Here I should probably also save myself some future grief by pointing out that a physical law is just a generalization or model that's supported by a lot of empirical evidence. They're not magical absolutes.

-- Alex

 

[Adam Jenson]

As morbid as it's going to sound, I confess that my views of the afterlife i.e Heaven, Hell Purgatory, is very much influenced by the ancient Death Cults of Greece and India. From Oblivion we are born and to it we will return, thus is the nature of the wheel. We die only so we can then return to live a more, productive life when we come back.

Buddhists believe that after we have learned and have seen things from the point of view from all things (race, gender, species, rich, poor etc) are we then released from the wheel and enter/achieve Enlightenment/ Heaven/ Valhalla etc.

By comparison to Enlightenment/ Heaven, the lives we live are the Hell/Purgatory.

 

[Adam Jenson]

With you 90% Aar! Though I'm more optimistic myself

 

[nekolux]

You have to remember the Covenant (I'm sorry, but I can't remember exactly which), in which God promised that whatever the church decides on Earth, he will hold true in Heaven. Which means that if the Church says that there is a Hell, then Hell exists.

This has always been quite confusing for me, back when I regularly went to Church around half the Priests that I discussed Christianity with believed in the "All Loving God", the God in question loved all of his creations and will all go to heaven as he forgives us all for our sins.

Every sect of Christianity has a different view on heaven and hell but I find the "All loving God" a much more comforting angle than any other.

Of course this means that there is no hell in this view whatsoever.

And there you go. This. This is what religion is about. Providing comfort, not truth. Providing a false hope that everyone can forever be conscious. There's a reason why people still sin even if they believe in a god, in a heaven and in a hell. Dont you see? It is not about being in eternal pleasure. It never was. The real tempting thought, is the thought that you never really die. To go to heaven is just an extra.

Now with regards to the OP. To me, hell is used in so many different religions, you can't actually assign a single concept to hell anymore. What i think hell is, is that it's a concept on it's own. It is a place, an idea of a place where people get what they deserve. Or what someone thinks they deserve. It is a place of torture and pain. Where people ( rightly or wrongly ) believe that people would be dealt their just deserts.

This idea is clearly seen when someone tells someone else to " Go to hell " or " I hope you go to hell " because they want this person, to pay for whatever injustice that have been dealt to themselves.

Of course that being said.... dante is just hella cool to quote if you wanna act all like an elitist literature ass =P

 

[sirdanrhodes]

There is no hell, welcome to fucking Atherstone!

 

[The_Deleted]

Look around you. Look at the people you deal with every day. Look at the people who run the world. Take a moment and take this all in.

Then tell me that you aren't already in Hell.

That is one miserable point of view.
Hell exists because Baal Ze Buul / Satan was kicked out of Heaven. So it did not exist before. Yahweh may have brought it about because of Satans behaviour.

 

[itsnotyouitsme]

... What the hell, man?
1. It's called "Newton's third law".
2. Newton's laws are about forces, not metaphors.
3. Here I should probably also save myself some future grief by pointing out that a physical law is just a generalization or model that's supported by a lot of empirical evidence. They're not magical absolutes.

-- Alex

Yes, it is about forces but the principles are still the same. And it is an absolute. Everything you do does have an equal and opposite. Everything without exception. Even reading this now is an example. You now know what i type, but you used the time you read it. It's not a magical absolute it's just an absolute.

 

[Jursa]

I have 2 theories on hell.
1. It's a place where you go when you majorly screw up life after life again.
2. Hell is another lie coming from a institution that keeps lying to everyone.