Hell and God

When the Hebrew and the Greek scriptures are studied for understanding rather than presupposed doctrine, they provide an understanding far different than what is taught in the Churches of today.  When hell comes from the Greek word hades, the understanding is consistent with that of sheol in the Hebrew scriptures.  It is the place where people go when they die.  It is an unconscious state rather than a place of burning, fiery place of torment.

When hell comes from the Greek word gehenna, it is either a reference to the garbage dump in Jerusalem for the bodies of criminals or it is a spiritual condition.  It is the future annihilation of those who reject Messiah at the end of the Millennium.

When hell comes from the Greek word tartaroo, it has nothing to do with believers or non-believers.  It is specifically in reference to the disobedient angels.

Nowhere in any of the verses that contain hell is it a place of burning torment prior to the judgment of the lake of fire.

So, where did the teaching of a fiery place from which there is no release come from?  It came from the Catholic writer Dante.  He described this place in Dante’s Inferno.  It is a teaching that dates to the Hindus and other pagan religions.

The Hebrew Scriptures and the New Testament are consistent, there is not a fiery place one goes to when they die.

One may wonder if any of this matters for the believer on their way to heaven.  However, this is of great concern for the believer.  The doctrine of a burning hell contradicts the teaching that we have a loving and compassionate God.  To understand the true meaning of hell is to have an appreciation of the overwhelming love and compassion of our God.  Our God is not a God of wrath.  He is a God of love not only for the believer, but for the non-believer as well.

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