The evolution of the Hell concept

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The post on hell got a lot of activity, so I started thinking about where I remembered reading about hell in scripture. Regardless of their beliefs I got out my trusty reference bible, and found a hard time finding anything conclusive regarding a hell. According to what I’ve read Sheol is the word used as reference to hell. Now I investigated this a little bit, and found plenty of references to sheol which can’t possible mean hell. Job wanted to be hidden from suffering in a place called Sheol. Why would someone want to be hidden from suffering in hell? That makes no sense. David (King) said that if he made his bed in Sheol, God would be there. Why would god be in hell? Did Paul ever mention hell? I guess Jesus mentioned hell all the time? Go figure. Did it ever mention hell in regards to Cain, Noah, Adam and Eve? It’s seems like the Hell, and Satan constructs evolved with the scripture. Quick research has quite a few theologians define Sheol - as “grave”. Now I’m completely lost on the Hell concept.
 
ManRay said:
The post on hell got a lot of activity, so I started thinking about where I remembered reading about hell in scripture. Regardless of their beliefs I got out my trusty reference bible, and found a hard time finding anything conclusive regarding a hell. According to what I’ve read Sheol is the word used as reference to hell. Now I investigated this a little bit, and found plenty of references to sheol which can’t possible mean hell. Job wanted to be hidden from suffering in a place called Sheol. Why would someone want to be hidden from suffering in hell? That makes no sense. David (King) said that if he made his bed in Sheol, God would be there. Why would god be in hell? Did Paul ever mention hell? I guess Jesus mentioned hell all the time? Go figure. Did it ever mention hell in regards to Cain, Noah, Adam and Eve? It’s seems like the Hell, and Satan constructs evolved with the scripture. Quick research has quite a few theologians define Sheol - as “grave”. Now I’m completely lost on the Hell concept.
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The Sacred Scriptures are only one source of Revelation.

We also have Sacred Tradition and it is quite clear on the reality of Hell.
 
Our Lord has said that in hell, the worm dieth not and neither is the fire quenched, with great darkness and a grinding and gnashing of teeth.
 
Hell is not a concept…it is reality…Our Lord Jesus himself tells us.
B]Matthew 25: 1-2; 41-46
English Standard Version (ESV)
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The Final Judgment
1 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left.

41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ 44 Then they also will answer, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?’ 45 Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ 46** And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life**.”
Jude 1: 5-7
English Standard Version (ESV)
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5 Now I want to remind you, although you once fully knew it, that Jesus, who saved[c] a people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe. 6 And the angels who did not stay within their own position of authority, but left their proper dwelling, he has kept in eternal chains under gloomy darkness until the judgment of the great day— 7 just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding cities, which likewise indulged in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural desire,[d] serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire.
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Make sense now?

Pax Christi
 
We need to distinguish context when speaking of what we call “Hell”-the place of the damned. Hades and Sheol can also refer to the Limbo of the Just where the righteous went to await the coming of the Messiah-almost definitely what Job was referring to. Figuring out when Jesus is talking about Hell as we know it and when he’s merely talking about the Limbo of the Just depends heavily on context.
 
Their right, Hell is a twisted reality that the OP is somehow trying to avoid…
 
I would be more interested in the evolution of humanity, that it could work past such wicked superstitions as hell.

Speaking for Jesus though, can any of us blame him for spreading a teaching about hell while he was living practically among braindead barbarians? I’d be pretty angry too if I happened to be an enlightened guru living among such refuse. Fry 'em all.
 
And to address your mentioning of Sheol, Sheol (or Hades) is the land of the dead. In Jesus’ parable of the rich man and Lazarus, we catch a glimpse as to what it was like. It is described as having two sections, one where those who were out of God’s favor suffered, and a place for those within God’s favor, called Abraham’s Bosom, where they were protected from the punishment those in the other area received. These two places were separated by a great chasm. And it is said that God was with those in Abraham’s Bosom. Abraham’s Bosom is the waiting place for those who Jesus would preach to in Sheol after He died. Those that accepted his teaching would get to go to Heaven.
 
Viewscreen said:
I would be more interested in the evolution of humanity, that it could work past such wicked superstitions as hell.

Speaking for Jesus though, can any of us blame him for spreading a teaching about hell while he was living practically among braindead barbarians? I’d be pretty angry too if I happened to be an enlightened guru living among such refuse. Fry 'em all.
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If I remember Jesus didn’t say, “fry em all”.
I think he said “Father forgive them for they know not what they do.”

Just a thought.
 
fred_conty said:
If I remember Jesus didn’t say, “fry em all”.
I think he said “Father forgive them for they know not what they do.”

Just a thought.
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I know. I have confidence that Jesus did have a universal love for mankind.

I was only getting at the deep visceral feeling of indignation I’d have for, well, barbarians.
 
The difference is that Jesus loved those barbarians…

Although I must say the Hell, as a concept by which to live one’s life is just plain silly. There is plenty enough to fear from a life ill-used right here on earth. Gnashing of teeth in the afterlife? All you need to do is watch an episode of Jerry Springer or Real Housewives of anywhere and you see that we can exist in a very real and definable hell without having to buy the farm. Is there any question that there are people alive today who exist apparently purely as examples of how not to live?
 
Sometimes when I go to sleep - it’s dark…and I grind my teeth. I’m glad there isn’t fire or I’d be hit.
 
bzkoss236 said:
And to address your mentioning of Sheol, Sheol (or Hades) is the land of the dead. In Jesus’ parable of the rich man and Lazarus, we catch a glimpse as to what it was like. It is described as having two sections, one where those who were out of God’s favor suffered, and a place for those within God’s favor, called Abraham’s Bosom, where they were protected from the punishment those in the other area received. These two places were separated by a great chasm. And it is said that God was with those in Abraham’s Bosom. Abraham’s Bosom is the waiting place for those who Jesus would preach to in Sheol after He died. **Those that accepted his teaching would get to go to Heaven. * **
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…and those that didn’t were sent to a post-Jesus type Hell – even though they had apparently already been judged to have been righteous? That doesn’t seem fair. Also, without an apparent consistent, definitive teaching on Hell from a centralized Jewish authority (see ManRay’s link in post #9) how would anyone before Jesus even know the jeopardy their souls were in? Of course, this also doesn’t even begin to address all those non-Jewish souls who had lived and died without ever learning of any concept of a place of post-death punishment – with its obvious deterrent benefit .
  • Emphasis always mine unless indicated otherwise.
 
cornbread_r2 said:
…and those that didn’t were sent to a post-Jesus type Hell – even though they had apparently already been judged to have been righteous? That doesn’t seem fair. Also, without an apparent consistent, definitive teaching on Hell from a centralized Jewish authority (see ManRay’s link in post #9) how would anyone before Jesus even know the jeopardy their souls were in? Of course, this also doesn’t even begin to address all those non-Jewish souls who had lived and died without ever learning of any concept of a place of post-death punishment – with its obvious deterrent benefit .
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Only Jesus can make somebody righteous.
Not only the souls from the Bossom of Abraham were saved.
What fruit did Adam and Eve ate from?
 
It seems as if ManyRay is trying to dodge this scary reality, a dangerous practice… with unsound doctrine…
 
cornbread_r2 said:
how would anyone before Jesus even know the jeopardy their souls were in?
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They had the Laws of Moses and before that, they had revelations from God. And no one truly knows the state of their soul, we as Catholics have confidence that when we follow Church teaching, and confess our sins to receive forgiveness, that we are doing alright, but if our confession wasn’t done with sincere contrition and repentance, then the confession was invalid because we wouldn’t have really had remorse for what we’d done or had the intention of trying to never do it again.
 
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