Straight Dope on Medicine: Hell

Author

Scott Ganser
May 23, 2023

Fiery pastors are said to preach brimstone and hellfire.

This isn’t what typically goes on in the pulpit. Today, pastors bend over backward not to “offend” anyone, or heaven forbid, be “controversial.”

So we get warmed-over, feel-good tripe that amounts to unfettered affirmation (whatever you want affirmed) and carte-blanch endorsement of the wayward culture.

I couldn’t be more disgusted.

How about speaking the truth whether good or bad?

In 2 Timothy 4:3-4, Paul writes: “For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.”


What Religions Believe in Hell?

Hell does not belong exclusively to Christian theology. Everyone seems to have a version of it.[i]

Patheos tells us, “Nearly all religions believe in Hell, a realm of retribution or purification after death. As a result of wicked activity or rejecting God, it is frequently linked to suffering or torment. While each religion has its own version of Hell, they all share a common goal: to deal with human depravity and its conflict with the divine. Let's explore Hell in different religions.”

The term “hell” is found twenty-three times in the King James Version of the English Bible. There is a great deal of confusion among religious folks regarding this word due to the fact that the English form “hell” actually represents three different terms in the Greek New Testament: Hades, Tartarus, Gehenna.

One of the reasons people don’t want to hear of Hell is that if it exists, they are at risk of going there. They might have to do something about that, like change their ways or beliefs. Honor and worship God.

That is counter-cultural. In this day and age, where everything must be affirmed, how dare anyone try to curtail anyone’s behavior? It’s all good.

No, it’s not.

Jesus describes Hell as a region of "outer darkness" and "everlasting burning" in the New Testament (Matthew). Some denominations, such as the Latter-day Saints, suggest that mortals can experience spiritual Hell (separation from God) in this life due to their behavior, sins, and unwillingness to repent ushering in negative consequences in mortality.

Do Jews believe in Hell?

In Judaism, the concept of Hell is known as Gehenna or Sheol, and is not seen as a permanent residence. Instead, it is a place of temporary punishment and purification, where souls are cleansed before entering the afterlife.

This is not consistent with the Tanakh.

Psalm 2:12 Kiss the Son,
lest he be angry, and you perish in the way,
for his wrath is quickly kindled.
Blessed are all who take refuge in him.

'... though the wicked spring up like grass and all evil doers flourish, they will be forever destroyed' (Psalm 92:7, Psalmist speaking)

Daniel 12:2, “Many of those who sleep in the dust of the ground will awake, these to everlasting life, but the others to disgrace and everlasting contempt.”

Chabad has a “just so” argument. Based on nothing. No scripture cited. They should copyright this. An original invention.

We do believe in a type of Hell, but not the one found in cartoons and joke books. Hell is not a punishment in the conventional sense; it is, in fact, the expression of a great kindness.

The Jewish mystics described a spiritual place called “Gehinnom.” This is usually translated as “Hell,” but a better translation would be “the Supernal Washing Machine.” Because that’s exactly how it works. The way our soul is cleansed in Gehinnom is similar to the way our clothes are cleansed in a washing machine.[ii]

They are taking their cues from the Talmud.[iii]

Gehenna, also called Gehinnom, abode of the damned in the afterlife in Jewish and Christian eschatology (the doctrine of last things). Named in the New Testament in Greek form (from the Hebrew Ge Hinnom, meaning “valley of Hinnom”), Gehenna originally was a valley west and south of Jerusalem where children were burned as sacrifices to the Ammonite god Moloch. This practice was carried out by the Israelites during the reigns of King Solomon in the 10th century BC and King Manesseh in the 7th century BC and continued until the Babylonian Exile in the 6th century BC. Gehenna later was made a garbage center to discourage a reintroduction of such sacrifices.

The imagery of the burning of humans supplied the concept of “hellfire” to Jewish and Christian eschatology. Mentioned several times in the New Testament (e.g., Matthew, Mark, Luke, and James) as a place in which fire will destroy the wicked, it also is noted in the Talmud, a compendium of Jewish law, lore, and commentary, as a place of purification, after which one is released from further torture. 

‘Hitler in Hell’ masterpiece makes Berlin debut. George Grosz was a pioneer of irreverent Dada art in Berlin, an ardent critic of war and nationalism who went into exile before Hitler seized power in 1933. In 1944, while living in the US, he completed a painting that portrays Hitler as a monster dictator reigning over an underworld of mass death and destruction. Titled Cair or Hitler in Hell, the masterwork has been privately owned (by the Grosz family) since its creation, but in 2019 was acquired by the German Historical Museum in Berlin (DHM).

Do Muslims believe in Hell?

Islam also teaches that Hell is the everlasting residence of the wicked and those who reject God. However, Islamic theology also includes the concept of temporary punishment in the grave before judgment day. In Zoroastrianism, the devil and his followers will be permanently annihilated, but the vast majority of humans will receive some heavenly reward.

 Jahannam or Hell is a place made by Allah to punish evildoers in the afterlife. The concept of levels in Jahannam is based on the weight of the sins committed by the sinner. Muslims believe that there are seven levels of Jahannam, just like seven levels of heaven. These are also referred to as the gates to hell and are associated with different kinds of punishments that are both physical and spiritual in nature.[iv] 

6. Saeer, the sixth level: This level of Jahannam is situated below Jaheem. This level has been kindling since it was made. It consists of 300 castles which have 300 huts each in which there are 300 rooms each and, in each room, there are 300 different types of penalties. The pain here is unimaginable, unbearable and it is very painful. Here there are scorpions, snakes, chain, ropes and whatnot. Also, it has a pit of Agony which is the most painful punishment in the whole Jahannam.

7. Al-Hawwiyah, the last level of Jahhanam: This is the last and the worst level of hell. It is the seventh level of jahannam, situated below Saeer. It is said that no sinner will be released from this level. There is pitch darkness on this level. Backbiters and non-believers are punished here. The sinners in this level will be crushed under mountains with them lying on their faces. The hands of the sinners will be bound to their necks and their necks to their legs. And Zabanniyah( angels of Janhannam) surely will stand on them. The hands of the angels are supposed to be made of strong iron and as punishment to the sinners they will beat the sinners with their bare hands. The Quran says that Al-Hawwiyah is the level in which kindled fire will embrace the sinner as a mother embraces her son.

Do Buddhists Believe in Hell?

In Buddhism, Hell is seen as a realm of rebirth resulting from unresolved karmic actions. However, it is not permanent and one can be reborn into a different realm based on their actions. (Bardo)

Psychological Hell

Psychologists, given to dismissing anything supernatural a priori, have conjured up a version of Hell compatible with their worldview and predilections.

The Wizards!

Hell exists everywhere on earth as the ignorance and enslavement in the minds of all who suffer needlessly, driven by the energy of unresolved trauma which creates violence in the mind that leads to violence in the world. Hell in this sense is a psychological condition. The psychology of hell is simple: hell is pure fear, psychic fragmentation seeking resolution through vengeance. Hell is a reenactment, or repetition compulsion, of violence, which is behind every trauma. However, even though hell is the opposite of love, it is at bottom a desperate unconscious cry for love, a manifestation of enslaved consciousness seeking release from suffering through reenactment.[i]

Already we have a problem. The opposite of love is not Hell or hate, but indifference. Love and hate requiring caring or concern. Indifference does not. No investment whatsoever.

What is “suffer needlessly?” According to who, or what standard? They won’t say. They don’t have one. It is just something that they would prefer. They are very short on defining terms. I would like to know what “violence in the mind” is. Violence tends to be defined as physical.

According to them, no one has to wait for Hell. It is already here.

Theologically speaking, it is rendered after life is over. It is the telos.

The SIN problem

Oh yes, everyone would like to wash this one away. Jesus did, except on His terms.

If we meditated on the stunning nature of the absolute perfection of God, and if we meditated on the dark, horrendous, heinous, ugliness of our sin, I’m deeply persuaded that we would have a different response to what the Bible says about hell and judgment.[i]

- Paul Tripp

What to do with sin? 

People murder, rape, steal, bear false witness, mutilate, sex-traffic, poison, lie, cheat and betray. Sometimes on a grand scale. Do we just turn a blind eye? Define the criminal as the victim, like we are increasingly doing? Absolve them? Call on repentance (I’d like to see a whole lot more of this)?

Throw up our hands?

None of those choices are justice.

People are NOT to behave this way. It is wrong and destructive.

According to Cornell Law School:[ii]

justice

Justice has three meanings:

Society (and God) has expectations. They are not optional. You have to color within the lines.

People have agency and can harm others.

Negative consequences have to be put in place to dissuade and punish offenders. There must be a cost attached to violating our norms, or we are not serious people. There must be standards for everyone, and they need to be respected.

A holy God does not turn a blind eye to injustice and sin. Sin is a great offense to Him. It is reasonable that He will do something about it. We should have some fear of God’s consequences. Sin and rebellion merit a Hell and rejection by God.

If we sew corn, we reap corn. Not wheat or soy.

Repentance is a start to healing and restoration. Our sin does not condemn us forever, if we receive God as He is and as he wants to be. It brings us life.


[i]Patheos