They’re being pretty misleading IMO. The word “hell” doesnt appear anywhere in the original text, no. But neither does the word “heaven”.
And yet the concepts of heaven and hell, as Christians understand them, do exist in the text. There is the threat of eternal punishment after death. There is the promise of eternal reward after death.
That the english word we use doesnt exactly appear in the Hebrew, Greek or aramaic texts is quite frankly not worth mentioning.
This is incorrect. The word “hell” is not Greek, Hebrew, or Aramaic and does not occur anywhere in scripture. Every time you see the word “hell” that word has been intentionally mistranslated from other words that already have clear, unambiguous meanings. Aside from word choices, the concept itself originates in Hellenism, the literal Greek Hades. The Roman cults injected their own tradition into the growing Christian cult, and gradually it evolved in the cartoonishly silly “fiery underworld of eternal torture” concept, a very convenient tool for controlling a populace through dogmatic terror.
Hebrews had a concept “Shaol,” which later early Christians connected to Hades.
Also, Jesus references a “Lake of fire” and an “Outer darkness” where there will be “weeping and gnashing of teeth,” but those seem to be reserved for the hypocrite and oppressors who “laden men with burdens grievous to bear” and hoard resources while ignoring the needy.
Coincidentally, I just posted a more detailed breakdown to the other user. Even conceptually, words and phrases have been intentionally taken out of context and twisted to fit Hellenistic culture, tradition, and comfort.
Studying how religions, languages, and cultures change and evolve over time is fascinating. But Christianity is unique in that we have documentation for it all and can clearly see how history’s powerful twisted it into something that its namesake and founder would violently condemn.
I’m pretty sure that the Abrahamic concept of Hell isn’t from Hades, since Hades is not a place of suffering, just a place where dead people go without punishments or rewards, a concept that occurs in many, many religions. Tartarus, on the other hand, is more similar to the Abrahamic (or especially Christian) Hell, but the main distinction here is that Tartarus is reserved for the people that the gods are REALLY pissed with.
Basically, ancient Hellenic afterlife can be split into three places: Elysium, for very, very good people, Tartarus, for very, very bad people, and Hades for everyone else.
That’s about the word “hell”. The concept is there. In fact many of the verses do not mention the name of the place, just the description or punishment
The concept is also not there. In the Hebrew the word sheol is used. This literally means “the grave” and is used for death and the dead, exactly as we understand it in a modern secular sense.
Gehenna is one of the words used by Jesus. This is dripping with meaning from the Old Testament, where children were burned alive in sacrifice to other gods and buried in a potters field nearby. It is symbolic of meaningless, pointless, anti-covenantal death, then being anonymously buried and forgotten like garbage, rather than beloved family.
Jesus also uses Hades — literally the Greek underworld — for a parable to a Hellenist audience. The parable is about culpability and the permanence of the consequences of wickedness. Wicked people would not be swayed even by a dead relative appearing and warning them. This is a parable, a literary device, not a sudden declaration that the Hellenist underworld, foreign to Judaism, is physically objectively real.
Jewish scripture is surprisingly consistent about this. Dead means dead. None of the New Testament authors contradict this. The controversy of the time was whether the dead would be resurrected and judged at the end of all things. That mythology began during the Maccabean revolt — which is also when the book of Daniel was written and assembled — and which is a major influence on Jesus and his teaching. In that mythology, dead is still dead, but they will be resurrected and judged. The righteous will be given a retirement plan and eternal life in a new creation, those who are not found righteous will be burned like trash and remain dead and forgotten forever.
I’m atheist but Jesus definitely references hell in the Bible
A quick Google search returned this (a few are from the new testament and the evangelists):
https://bibletolife.com/resources/verse-collections/33-bible-verses-on-hell/?gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=23327403313&gbraid=0AAAAAoQ3EMbRTOXZgsVfcZl7ZtKbhQK9m
They’re being pretty misleading IMO. The word “hell” doesnt appear anywhere in the original text, no. But neither does the word “heaven”.
And yet the concepts of heaven and hell, as Christians understand them, do exist in the text. There is the threat of eternal punishment after death. There is the promise of eternal reward after death.
That the english word we use doesnt exactly appear in the Hebrew, Greek or aramaic texts is quite frankly not worth mentioning.
This is incorrect. The word “hell” is not Greek, Hebrew, or Aramaic and does not occur anywhere in scripture. Every time you see the word “hell” that word has been intentionally mistranslated from other words that already have clear, unambiguous meanings. Aside from word choices, the concept itself originates in Hellenism, the literal Greek Hades. The Roman cults injected their own tradition into the growing Christian cult, and gradually it evolved in the cartoonishly silly “fiery underworld of eternal torture” concept, a very convenient tool for controlling a populace through dogmatic terror.
Hebrews had a concept “Shaol,” which later early Christians connected to Hades.
Also, Jesus references a “Lake of fire” and an “Outer darkness” where there will be “weeping and gnashing of teeth,” but those seem to be reserved for the hypocrite and oppressors who “laden men with burdens grievous to bear” and hoard resources while ignoring the needy.
Coincidentally, I just posted a more detailed breakdown to the other user. Even conceptually, words and phrases have been intentionally taken out of context and twisted to fit Hellenistic culture, tradition, and comfort.
Studying how religions, languages, and cultures change and evolve over time is fascinating. But Christianity is unique in that we have documentation for it all and can clearly see how history’s powerful twisted it into something that its namesake and founder would violently condemn.
https://lemmy.world/comment/21630972
I’m pretty sure that the Abrahamic concept of Hell isn’t from Hades, since Hades is not a place of suffering, just a place where dead people go without punishments or rewards, a concept that occurs in many, many religions. Tartarus, on the other hand, is more similar to the Abrahamic (or especially Christian) Hell, but the main distinction here is that Tartarus is reserved for the people that the gods are REALLY pissed with.
Basically, ancient Hellenic afterlife can be split into three places: Elysium, for very, very good people, Tartarus, for very, very bad people, and Hades for everyone else.
That’s about the word “hell”. The concept is there. In fact many of the verses do not mention the name of the place, just the description or punishment
The concept is also not there. In the Hebrew the word sheol is used. This literally means “the grave” and is used for death and the dead, exactly as we understand it in a modern secular sense.
Gehenna is one of the words used by Jesus. This is dripping with meaning from the Old Testament, where children were burned alive in sacrifice to other gods and buried in a potters field nearby. It is symbolic of meaningless, pointless, anti-covenantal death, then being anonymously buried and forgotten like garbage, rather than beloved family.
Jesus also uses Hades — literally the Greek underworld — for a parable to a Hellenist audience. The parable is about culpability and the permanence of the consequences of wickedness. Wicked people would not be swayed even by a dead relative appearing and warning them. This is a parable, a literary device, not a sudden declaration that the Hellenist underworld, foreign to Judaism, is physically objectively real.
Jewish scripture is surprisingly consistent about this. Dead means dead. None of the New Testament authors contradict this. The controversy of the time was whether the dead would be resurrected and judged at the end of all things. That mythology began during the Maccabean revolt — which is also when the book of Daniel was written and assembled — and which is a major influence on Jesus and his teaching. In that mythology, dead is still dead, but they will be resurrected and judged. The righteous will be given a retirement plan and eternal life in a new creation, those who are not found righteous will be burned like trash and remain dead and forgotten forever.
Where can I read more on this?
Googled (ddgd actually), found this: https://earlychristianhistory.net/hell.html haven’t read it yet, so don’t judge my reading comprehension.
They talk about three words and it’s pretty meaningless:
Just because people use a word that doesn’t mean it’s used accurately. See previous comments about how hell is a later mistranslation.
Ok. Irrelevant.
This word from greek mythology appears only once in book of Peter. Never mentioned by Jesus.
The weakness of all this “evidence” kinda says it all.