Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!cs.utexas.edu!samsung!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!usc!rutgers!aramis.rutgers.edu!athos.rutgers.edu!christian From: gevans@oiscola.columbia.ncr.com (GKEvans) Newsgroups: soc.religion.christian Subject: Re: Where's "hell"(Re: a Christian motif) Message-ID: Date: 7 Jun 90 04:50:47 GMT Sender: hedrick@athos.rutgers.edu Organization: NCR/OISD Columbia Lines: 43 Approved: christian@aramis.rutgers.edu In article kamphau@oktext..sbc.com (Mark Kamphaus) writes: >In article tbvanbelle@watcgl.waterloo.edu (Terry Van Belle) writes: ># Remember, part of Christian doctrine >#is that he not only was crucified, but also went to hell for a time >#(wherever that is). > >"hell" as used in 20 century america is much different than the "hell" >Jesus went to. The "hell" is more akin to the greek "hades" which is >just the abode of the dead. It did not mean a place of torment. This is Mark, you are correct that "hades" is the abode of the dead, and that many Greeks believed this. Others of a more mystical bent, however, did not have such a neutral view of the after-life. But what the "rational" Greeks thought (even the Pythagoreans held wildly mystical views) is not completely germaine to what the 1st century Hebrew writers of the Gospels meant by the term hell (or sheol). I am aware of no Biblical exegesis from the Greek or Hebrew which does not describe "hell" (no matter what word you use for it) as: 1. a place in which spirits may reside 2. a state of eternal existence (ALL have eternal life; the issue is "where?"), and 3. that it is a place of "accountability" - i.e. paying the piper. Note: I specifically reject the theologies of the Mormons and the Jehovah's Witnesses in this area because the Mormons believe in 3 levels of heaven (and no hell) but also have their own late-model revelations which take precedence over the Bible, and the Witnesses continue to equate "sheol" with the burning garbage dump outside Jerusalem. They do not meet the requirement of using established Greek or Hebrew Biblical scriptures. I find "hell" in my modern translations - to which ones are you referring? -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Gary K. Evans, Software type |"Come now, and let us reason together..." gevans@oiscola.columbia.ncr.com | (Isa. 1:18) These are my opinions, | and not my employer's. | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------