Why has Hell been reduced to a metaphor

[dyanaprajna2011]

I have no problem with the teachings of hell, as long as it's not coupled with the idea of a loving god. Personally, I don't believe in any of it.

 

[Penumbra]

Hell centuries ago was as it was taught in the Bible, a place of eternal torment. Christians now a days along with other libeal movements of theists teach that it is temporary, metaphorical or a "threatening device not intended to be actually used". This has become a norm now amongst Christians and is replacing the fire and brimstone preaching Baptist ministers. Why this sudden change in interpretation?

This in many cases has come down to intellectual deceit as most people reject the 'evilness' of an eternal hell. So newer interpretations have been formulated to replace older doctrines which is about as deceptive as it gets.

Muslims have kept to their stance and still preach the existence of a literal hell which I find honest although many now are backing away from this. Honesty is something in which I respect greatly but this new Fluffy Doctrine is becoming annoying.

Why is there a need to make hell something it is obviously not.

I myself believe in hell and I do not try to make it anything else but real

I think a lot of Christians are letting it go because ethics have generally been improved and refined since the Iron Age when those beliefs were originally held.

Keeping Iron Age ideas within a modern culture because a book says so, is not a compelling argument to a lot of people.

 

[nazz]

I think a lot of Christians are letting it go because ethics have generally been improved and refined since the Iron Age when those beliefs were originally held.

Keeping Iron Age ideas within a modern culture because a book says so, is not a compelling argument to a lot of people.

When it comes to hell there was no belief in it in the Abrahamic tradition in the Iron Age.

 

[Penumbra]

When it comes to hell there was no belief in it in the Abrahamic tradition in the Iron Age.

Depends how the dates of the Iron Age are defined, as it varies by source.

Both Christianity and Islam included beliefs in hell in the early AD period. Not exclusively though- Christians were varied on the topic.

 

[nazz]

Depends how the dates of the Iron Age are defined, as it varies by source.

Both Christianity and Islam included beliefs in hell in the early AD period. Not exclusively though- Christians were varied on the topic.

OK, I was going with a 500BCE cutoff.

 

[Sha'irullah]

OK, I was going with a 500BCE cutoff.

Christians nor Muslims existed in 500 BC

 

[nazz]

Christians nor Muslims existed in 500 BC

Yes, that was my point.

 

[Sha'irullah]

Maybe because, like many other things in existence, religious belief is not stagnant and is subject to change in interpretation due to surrounding influence (developments in science and philosophy, change in overall moral thought, general decrease in orthodoxy, etc.). It's not a bad thing; it just kind of is.

Although, slightly irrelevant question: I thought you didn't believe in an afterlife, RF user formally known as Sterling Archer?

Shhh hush fool, you can't let the admins know I changed my name.

I actually did not at one point. That has changed obviously ever since I heavily studied ontology

 

[arcanum]

Hell centuries ago was as it was taught in the Bible, a place of eternal torment. Christians now a days along with other libeal movements of theists teach that it is temporary, metaphorical or a "threatening device not intended to be actually used". This has become a norm now amongst Christians and is replacing the fire and brimstone preaching Baptist ministers. Why this sudden change in interpretation?

This in many cases has come down to intellectual deceit as most people reject the 'evilness' of an eternal hell. So newer interpretations have been formulated to replace older doctrines which is about as deceptive as it gets.

Muslims have kept to their stance and still preach the existence of a literal hell which I find honest although many now are backing away from this. Honesty is something in which I respect greatly but this new Fluffy Doctrine is becoming annoying.

Why is there a need to make hell something it is obviously not.

I myself believe in hell and I do not try to make it anything else but real

Being raised as a fundamentalist christian, this was one of the things from a very early age that never set right with me. And after much analysis I doubt it was ever a part of true early Christian ideology in the first place, Paul never once mentions it. Ah but what an effective tool to use against humanity aye? Believe, go to mass every sunday and give your money to the church or burn for eternity bwahahaaaaa::icon_razz:

 

[Terrywoodenpic]

If you believe in hell, that is no problem for me.
I neither believe in Heaven nor hell as places.
and I do not have any vested interest in saying so.

At a childish level it is easy to believe in them, the difficulty comes in accepting that they neither do nor need to exist.

 

[Runewolf1973]

Hell is becoming less hellish and Heaven is becoming less heavenly. This "fluffy doctrine" is just the beginning. Eventually people will just stop believing in literal gods or magical places entirely, and the only gods or magical places left will be those of legend.

 

[Penumbra]

Hell is becoming less hellish and Heaven is becoming less heavenly. This "fluffy doctrine" is just the beginning. Eventually people will just stop believing in literal gods or magical places entirely, and the only gods or magical places left will be those of legend.

In some instances, theism becomes metaphorical enough that it seems like atheism. That's only certain demographics though; I don't see much evidence that societies are broadly moving in that direction.

There have been some religious people of ancient times that explicitly did not believe in an afterlife. The Jewish Sadducees, for example, apparently believed in a god but no afterlife.

 

[Sha'irullah]

In some instances, theism becomes metaphorical enough that it seems like atheism. That's only certain demographics though; I don't see much evidence that societies are broadly moving in that direction.

There have been some religious people of ancient times that explicitly did not believe in an afterlife. The Jewish Sadducees, for example, apparently believed in a god but no afterlife.

This is something common in Semitic Paganism. Arab pagans did not believe in an afterlife also, early Judaism held the same view

 

[Runewolf1973]

I believe in the natural, continuous transformaton of matter through the fundamental forces. This includes that matter or those forces which give rise to awareness or consciousness. Therefore, I believe in a reincarnation of sorts, but I don't believe in gods.

 

[Saint Frankenstein]

I think society at large does have an influence on religion but I think it is mainly due to thinking people having a hard time reconciling the notion of hell with an all-loving deity.

Yes, that's true. But those people are kidding themselves since Jesus is the character who introduced the notion of hell into the Bible in the first place.

 

[Quagmire]

"Why has Hell been reduced to a metaphor"

Maybe it started out that way.

 

[Terrywoodenpic]

Yes, that's true. But those people are kidding themselves since Jesus is the character who introduced the notion of hell into the Bible in the first place.

The Jews had no concept of hell and the devil as we know it. Nor would Jesus have had.
it is more likely that it is a corruption and incorporation of the Greek underworld. And Hades its god.
The essence of God being of one substance in the trinity is also entirely a Greek concept. And it was not even thinkable in any other language. Even then it does not translate well.

 

[Saint Frankenstein]

The Jews had no concept of hell as we know it. Nor would Jesus have had.
it is more likely that it is a corruption and incorporation of the Greek underworld. And Hades its god.
The essence of God being of one substance in the trinity is entirely a Greek concept. And it was not even thinkable in any other language. Even then it does not translate well.

Rich man and Lazarus - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Whatever you want to call it, Jesus certainly did seem to believe in some sort of eternal punishment and often associated it with fire and torment. Of course it wasn't called "hell" until later on since that's a Germanic word for the Norse underworld and its Goddess.

 

[CynthiaCypher]

Some conception of Heaven of seem like a hell to me. At least in hell you are burning for eternity with all your sorrows and regrets, but at least you are still a human being instead of some automaton. Some people believe they will be in heaven constantly singing praises to the Lord while in a state of eternal bliss as if they went through some sort of angelic mind-wipe or lobotomy.

That sounds more like hell than the hells others propose, sound like Brave New World and frankly I would rather burn in hell than live eternally in Brave New World.

 

[CynthiaCypher]

"Why has Hell been reduced to a metaphor"

Maybe it started out that way.

In fact some early Christians believe hell was a metaphor for the crucible that all souls would have to endure to purify them.