Did you know the English rendering of "hell" in the bible created a false teaching from its original languages?

[seekandfind]

Hebrew(Old Testament)
1"Sheohl" the correct translation would be grave, pit

Greek(New Testament)
2"Hades" same as "sheohl" meaning grave, pit
3"Tartarus" meaning a holding place(prison) for rebellious angels(demons) awaiting judgement
4"Gehenna" Greek transliteration of the Hebrew term "Valley of Hinnom"
5? Lake of fire

Why is this important?
1.
Because of the false teaching of hell there are many left wondering if they or a loved one suffers after death- which they dont. The bible clearly teaches the "dead know nothing"- Eccl 9:5
2.
The biggest reason the truth matters is for God's reputation. Burning people alive forever is not an act from a loving or just God. Their ceasing to exist is enough of a punishment, "For the wages sin pays is death"-Rom 6:23 The false teaching of hell pushes people away from Him...who would want to serve that unjust god?

 

[Rival]

It's only a problem if you don't know the etymology of 'hell'. It was and is not a place of torment but equivalent to the Hebrew concept of Sheol. The English just used our own native word to describe the same thing. So the translation isn't wrong, it's peoples' understanding of Hell that is wrong.

 

[seekandfind]

It's only a problem if you don't know the etymology of 'hell'. It was and is not a place of torment but equivalent to the Hebrew concept of Sheol. The English just used our own native word to describe the same thing. So the translation isn't wrong, it's peoples' understanding of Hell that is wrong.

Yes, it is only a problem if you dont know; thats why i shared it. Sheohl and Hades are of the same meaning, yes. But Gehenna and tartarus are NOT and thats the point- using hell as a blanket for 3 different meanings is what causes the bad translation and worse a false teaching.

 

[ChristineM]

The christian belief of hell, though based loosely on a few passages from the bible actually gets its fear factor from the works of Dante Alighieri and Heironimus Bosch.
It's good to know when a Christian threatens me with hell because i don't believe as they believe that they are threatening me with a comedy poem and some great art

 

[Soapy]

Hebrew(Old Testament)
1"Sheohl" the correct translation would be grave, pit

Greek(New Testament)
2"Hades" same as "sheohl" meaning grave, pit
3"Tartarus" meaning a holding place(prison) for rebellious angels(demons) awaiting judgement
4"Gehenna" Greek transliteration of the Hebrew term "Valley of Hinnom"
5? Lake of fire

Why is this important?
1.
Because of the false teaching of hell there are many left wondering if they or a loved one suffers after death- which they dont. The bible clearly teaches the "dead know nothing"- Eccl 9:5
2.
The biggest reason the truth matters is for God's reputation. Burning people alive forever is not an act from a loving or just God. Their ceasing to exist is enough of a punishment, "For the wages sin pays is death"-Rom 6:23 The false teaching of hell pushes people away from Him...who would want to serve that unjust god?

The ‘Suffering’ of the dead is only in the minds of the living: ‘The dead know nothing’.

 

[seekandfind]

The ‘Suffering’ of the dead is only in the minds of the living: ‘The dead know nothing’.

Its sad God gets credited with torturing people in an afterlife when its not true.

 

[Jayhawker Soule]

For those with access (and interest), Kin, Cult, Land and Afterlife -- a Biblical Complex by H. C. Brichto is worth reading.

 

[Estro Felino]

As far as I know, neither in the Ancient nor in the New Testament there is the description of what Dante called Inferno.
Of course it deals with allegories. Biblical allegories.
Of course it doesn't deal with physical places.

And by the way, the afterlife is a branch of theology which is very complex and debated, and the hereafter does exist, according to Christian theology.

 

[Soapy]

Its sad God gets credited with torturing people in an afterlife when its not true.

True. God puts out every effort to try to get his ‘image’ (mankind) to revert back to being ‘Sons’ (doing as the works commands them!) but there must be a punishment for bad behaviour. Thus punishment is ETERNAL DEATH - COMPLETE DESTRUCTION of their Spirit and Body. But this only occurs AT THE END OF TIME… it is not a continuous ‘torture’ process.

Jesus used the great fire outside Jerusalem which was used to burn up waste from the city to illustrate how the wicked would be DESTROYED like in that fire… not a remnant of them will be left… in fact, in the new world there will be no remembrance of anything wicked or debauched. No one will say, ‘Do you remember that wicked person…?’ Nor even, ‘I see God forgave you for hurting me - I’ll be your friend from now on!’… all wickedness will be destroyed and all rifts will be healed to the extent they won’t be remembered!

No one is tortured in a ‘Hell’ except that ‘THE DEAD’ who die in wickedness are virtually already judged so, like the demon angels, they are ‘tortured in essence’ only at their dying knowing they are going to destruction at the judgement seat at the second resurrection.

For those who think God tortures the dead… exactly how are the dead tortured. Pain, mental or physical, comes from sensations in the body of mind… since the body is lifeless even to decaying in the grave, and the Spirit is inert, dormant, resting with God, how and who torments - Does a stone feel pain…

The whole idea of a torture in the grave comes from medieval depictions in paintings and drawings in which Satan tortures the dead in gruesome manners reminiscent of the torture methods of their imagination. Very few people could read in those times so it would be very easy to ‘paint a picture’ in words of such imaginations and reinforce it with drawings and paintings. Just think: Satan rewards those he misleads by torturing them… who would want to be misled by him?? So the idea is to meant to stop people doing wicked deeds - sadly it’s presentation is badly designed and plays into the hands of naysayers, gnostics, and atheists.

 

[RestlessSoul]

The christian belief of hell, though based loosely on a few passages from the bible actually gets its fear factor from the works of Dante Alighieri and Heironimus Bosch.
It's good to know when a Christian threatens me with hell because i don't believe as they believe that they are threatening me with a comedy poem and some great art

You can add John Milton to that list, though Milton's hell is arguably a place of the mind, and his Satan a very human character - a tragic hero in the classical/Shakespearean sense.

 

[nPeace]

Yes, it is only a problem if you dont know; thats why i shared it. Sheohl and Hades are of the same meaning, yes. But Gehenna and tartarus are NOT and thats the point- using hell as a blanket for 3 different meanings is what causes the bad translation and worse a false teaching.

True.
Furthermore, why the word hell is used, is interesting.
Hell - from helan, means to conceal, according to Webster’s Third New International Dictionary.
*** it-1 p. 1087 Hell ***
The word “hell” thus originally conveyed no thought of heat or torment but simply of a ‘covered over or concealed place.’ In the old English dialect the expression “helling potatoes” meant, not to roast them, but simply to place the potatoes in the ground or in a cellar.
The meaning given today to the word “hell” is that portrayed in Dante’s Divine Comedy and Milton’s Paradise Lost, which meaning is completely foreign to the original definition of the word. The idea of a “hell” of fiery torment, however, dates back long before Dante or Milton. The Grolier Universal Encyclopedia (1971, Vol. 9, p. 205) under “Hell” says: “Hindus and Buddhists regard hell as a place of spiritual cleansing and final restoration. Islamic tradition considers it as a place of everlasting punishment.” The idea of suffering after death is found among the pagan religious teachings of ancient peoples in Babylon and Egypt. Babylonian and Assyrian beliefs depicted the “nether world . . . as a place full of horrors, . . . presided over by gods and demons of great strength and fierceness.” Although ancient Egyptian religious texts do not teach that the burning of any individual victim would go on forever, they do portray the “Other World” as featuring “pits of fire” for “the damned.”—The Religion of Babylonia and Assyria, by Morris Jastrow, Jr., 1898, p. 581; The Book of the Dead, with introduction by E. Wallis Budge, 1960, pp. 135, 144, 149, 151, 153, 161, 200.

 

[seekandfind]

True. God puts out every effort to try to get his ‘image’ (mankind) to revert back to being ‘Sons’ (doing as the works commands them!) but there must be a punishment for bad behaviour. Thus punishment is ETERNAL DEATH - COMPLETE DESTRUCTION of their Spirit and Body. But this only occurs AT THE END OF TIME… it is not a continuous ‘torture’ process.

Jesus used the great fire outside Jerusalem which was used to burn up waste from the city to illustrate how the wicked would be DESTROYED like in that fire… not a remnant of them will be left… in fact, in the new world there will be no remembrance of anything wicked or debauched. No one will say, ‘Do you remember that wicked person…?’ Nor even, ‘I see God forgave you for hurting me - I’ll be your friend from now on!’… all wickedness will be destroyed and all rifts will be healed to the extent they won’t be remembered!

No one is tortured in a ‘Hell’ except that ‘THE DEAD’ who die in wickedness are virtually already judged so, like the demon angels, they are ‘tortured in essence’ only at their dying knowing they are going to destruction at the judgement seat at the second resurrection.

For those who think God tortures the dead… exactly how are the dead tortured. Pain, mental or physical, comes from sensations in the body of mind… since the body is lifeless even to decaying in the grave, and the Spirit is inert, dormant, resting with God, how and who torments - Does a stone feel pain…

The whole idea of a torture in the grave comes from medieval depictions in paintings and drawings in which Satan tortures the dead in gruesome manners reminiscent of the torture methods of their imagination. Very few people could read in those times so it would be very easy to ‘paint a picture’ in words of such imaginations and reinforce it with drawings and paintings. Just think: Satan rewards those he misleads by torturing them… who would want to be misled by him?? So the idea is to meant to stop people doing wicked deeds - sadly it’s presentation is badly designed and plays into the hands of naysayers, gnostics, and atheists.

Excellent.
About Gehenna, the real place to burn trash outside Jerusalem, itt had a scriptural history prior to a trash heap. The original use was quite possibly what Jesus was teaching..."They have built the high places of Toʹpheth, which is in the Valley of the Son of Hinʹnom, in order to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire, something that I had not commanded and that had never even come into my heart.’- Jer 7:31

This is a great source of Bible truth as Jesus' listeners would have learned 2 things. 1 They knew those children werent still alive so it would teach that the death he spoke of was permanent. 2 It shows burning people "never even came into" Gods heart.

Yes, the God who is the embodiment of both love and justice would not burn people forever.

 

[nPeace]

The JWs had a slogan, back in the 1970s - "turning the hose on hell".
At that time, they were freeing people from the belief in what they described as "the God dishonoring doctrine of hell".
The scriptures they shared with people, so enlightened many, that even some churches had to ditch the teaching, as members and pastors of churches used the 'hose' - scriptures, to denounce the teaching.

 

[seekandfind]

The JWs had a slogan, back in the 1970s - "turning the hose on hell".
At that time, they were freeing people from the belief in what they described as "the God dishonoring doctrine of hell".
The scriptures they shared with people, so enlightened many, that even some churches had to ditch the teaching, as members and pastors of churches used the 'hose' - scriptures, to denounce the teaching.

That would have been awesome to see on a big/ at once scale, where it effected churches. It obviously happens since then as i am one of them but not to that degree.

 

[nPeace]

That would have been awesome to see on a big/ at once scale, where it effected churches. It obviously happens since then as i am one of them but not to that degree.

It wasn't on a grand scale, and certainly not mainstream churches... although I believe JWs did influence some breakaways in the SDA, and Pentecostal that do not agree with eternal torment in hellfire.
We have a picture we can look at in the first century, though not regarding the teaching on hell.
(Acts 6:7) 7 Consequently, the word of God continued to spread, and the number of the disciples kept multiplying very much in Jerusalem; and a large crowd of priests began to be obedient to the faith.

Thank God your eyes were opened.

 

[seekandfind]

And its still growing!

 

[seekandfind]

And its still growing!

Did you see the temperature in the ocean in Florida?

"I will bring to ruin those ruining the earth"- Rev 11:18

Soon!!!

 

[Jimmy]

I think everybody knows hell isn’t real. The people that preach it even believe it isn’t real. they just say it to help people do better. Nothing deep about it imo

 

[seekandfind]

I know a lot of people that believe it is real. Its rarely appropriate to use: always, never, everybody, etc.

 

[shunyadragon]

There are a lot more problems of mistranslation for Hebrew and Aramaic that resulted in the Roman Western versions of Christianity we have today