What is “hell"? Let’s get clarity of its origin in language so as to shine light on what it isn’t. This word gets thrown around in our conversations and is common place all over the world, in different connotations. Some consider the word profanity. There’s a figurative usage of being in a hard place. In the very least usage it is slang, in its’worst a place of eternal torment, specifically by fire. Now where did that concept come from? It came from dark visions raging inside the minds of dead men, themselves smoldering in their love of condemnation, as we shall see.
For those who don’t already know this, “hell" is ONLY a translated word, and not found in original scriptures. When the word hell was chosen, it came from an old German root word "hel", which means “to cover or conceal”. “Helling" the potatoes, for instance, means to cover them up. A covered thing is in a dark place, and unseen. So hell is not about fire. Neither are three of the four original words that were later translated hell (in some Bibles): Sheol, Hades, Gehenna, Tartaroo.
Sheol and Hades were Hebrew (Old Testament) and Greek (New Testament) equivalents of the same thing: where people went when they died. Sheol was the grave or pit, an unseen realm. Likewise, Hades meant hidden, or out of sight. And the destination upon death was the same for everyone. No other options were available.
Gehenna was Greek for a literal place of waste, a despicable valley outside of Jerusalem (Ge-hinnom). A constant fire burned there for garbage and anything unclean. Criminals’ carcasses were also buried/burned there. An earlier religious group, the Moloch’s, had sacrificed their babies in that place.
Tartaroo was only used one time. It was a Greek word, possibly referring to mythology, concerning a lower realm of the unseen (Hades). Sinning angels (messengers) were put into containment in a dark place, for their period of punishment (correction). (2 Peter 2:4)
From the above words, only one refers to fire--a literal one, in a garbage dump. Jesus spoke a hard word to the Pharisees about their fate of a Gehenna purging, or a time of correctional adjustment for them. This strong sentencing resulted from their hardened rebellious condition. But it would be temporary, because he also revealed when their time of release would come. (See Matthew chap 23) However, He wasn’t speaking to unbelievers about Gehenna, but to the religious hierarchy. I see correction coming to the house of God first. Should the religious be fearing hellfire (Gehenna fire)?
What about Lazareth and the rich man? This was a parable, or an allegorical story. Jesus spoke in parables to keep the religious leaders blind. They only wanted control and didn't care about truth, so he protected his kingdom in that way, and explained this reasoning to his disciples. (Math 13:10-11, 34) To sum up this parable, two men died, a poor man named Lazareth and a rich man. One was being comforted and one was in torment. How this story has been used to prove the existence of eternal fire, but that wasn't the moral of the story at all! The parable was indicative of the rejection of Jesus by the Jewish system with the Gentiles being the new recipients. This was 1 of 5 parables that Jesus spoke with different plots (Luke, chapters 15-16), telling the same story. Lazareth (Gentiles) and the rich man (Jews) were the players in the 5th tale.
Dark concepts have been passed on--visions of hysteria--turning God into a despot, one who doesn’t even have control of things. I was a grownup before I realized that Dante's "inferno" (from his novel Divine Comedy) wasn’t even representative of the Bible. But that fictional book highly affected the religious community from the time of its conception--and still does, with fear tactics.
The domain of a devil or Satan ruling and reigning in an arena of fire and torment, an endless existence with no mercy, no hope. How sadistic! How totally human! I shutter to think of the evangelists (whom I apologize for) who have used this fictitious depiction of God's plans for us "if we don't accept him". This dark, beastly view of God is not scriptural! But it has sadly become main stream religion's view of "life after death".
This scenario shows an unwise creator who gave himself so passionately, but let man's "free will" overtake his plans. The majority of mankind will, therefore, burn in "hell" forever and there's nothing he can do about it. Of course, the self-righteous minority will then get the reward of an endless paradise experience, with no thought of lost family and friends who have no escape from torment, and no one cares about them anymore. Good lord! Any compassionate human can come up with a more just ending than that! Periods of time to suffer is one thing, but endlessly?! What a horror story.
Just like the gods of other religions, this made-up god of Christianity does not compute with the loving, compassionate Father I have come to know. He sent his son (out of Himself) to provide escape for all from the realm of death we dwell in. There is no life after death until we see the light concerning death and its true location. Here is really where we live: Block the sun’s light, then block out all lights from the other luminaries in the heavens. No sun, no moon, no stars. Even at noon, it’s pitch black. Without candles or electricity, we are always in the dark. We cannot see and we cannot be seen. Therefore, we dwell in the unseen, covered up with darkness. We are in hell. The natural lights in the heavens were only given to us so we could see our way around in the spiritual darkness we dwell in.
Jesus told his disciples to "let the dead bury the dead" when they wanted to attend a funeral. What a revelation. He had just stated that everyone was dead. He was really the only one alive, but was still subject to the rules of death, until he conquered it for us. We are born into the realm of death. And we will only have "life after death" upon an awakening of our spirit, experiencing God's presence with us by the Holy Spirit. Evidence of this is about nothing discerned by our natural senses. Evidence is an inward change that affects our attitudes and perspectives. We will know that we have a new master. And our new outward expression will show it!
Jesus gave us his two commandments, and they both were about love. He told us to forgive endlessly. If we love to hate and judge and condemn, we are not the off-spring of Jesus. We are spouting the words of the death realm ruled by the natural mind--God's enemy. (Roman 8:7)
I can attest to being in hell, while standing here alive. Humans dwell there until spiritual light lifts us out. Our spirit--the only vessel of true light, is covered up with religion (fig leaves). We are in hell. But I am not concerned with burning forever when I die because of it. "Going to hell" is a hot religious stance that heats up (excuse the pun) many a pulpit, and is the deceived subject of many sermons, spewing lies of a toxic personality against the true nature of our loving Father. Shallow, selfish, vengeful human nature loves those lies, almost gleefully. The religious don’t mind that people will suffer endless torment, for these Pharisees of the Christian movement are full of condemnation. The fear of a burning, unending torment is used as a power play to control people and keep them afraid of God: fire insurance--the only reason many people go to church. Sadly, the teachers and followers of this heresy are in hell--Gehenna style, smelling of death, and burning refuge from their mouth in that despised place they dwell in.
