(4 minute read)
(From the previous post): The early Christian writers seem to take the doctrine of hell for granted as if:
- despite no written evidence the intended audience is already familiar with the topic, no need to go into detail
- the topic hadn’t been fully developed yet, details TBD over the centuries.
The second explanation is more plausible.
“Hindsight is Like Riding a Horse Backwards and Thinking You Still Have the Reins”*
Theocentrics, or literalists, like to point to the Book of Revelation to confirm their belief in a literal hell.
Revelation was written 90-110 years after the death of Jesus. It describes the common belief of an ongoing cosmic war. This was during a time when Christians faced persecution in several regions.
It describes what it is like when evil is unleashed on the earth. It reads like a fever dream. This is obviously not the original intent of the author. Revelation is about the total destruction of evil on the earth. This destruction is necessary for God to establish a new kingdom. In this kingdom, Christians will live for an eternity.
And what happens to the wicked? Exactly what happens in other Christian testament references, the wicked are simply wiped out. Dead. Like a dead parrot they have ceased to exist. They are expired, gone, late, and bereft of life. This was expected because the myth of hell in the afterlife had not been developed yet.
Revelation is hardly a systematic treatise on a literal hell. Yet, here we are. Nearly six out of 10 Americans believe in 2,000 years of horrendous hindsight. They are guided by blind misinterpretations.
And what is found in the rest of the Christian writings on the topic adds more to the confusion. For example, the Christian myth of hell is often described in two main ways. It is a literal place of eternal fire. At the same time, it is a place of total and utter darkness.
Are we supposed to take that literally? And yet for centuries it has been. Total and utter darkness can’t be a place where fire exists and vice versa. Fire, by definition, emits light. How does total darkness and light exist together?
But the details of the myth, like all other details of any other myth, is almost inconsequential to the literalist. “With God all things are possible,” is the go to answer I hear. This phrase comes from those who have given up all hope of exercising any logic whatsoever.
This problem is exacerbated by theologians over the years. They have attempted to fill in the gaps. Unfortunately, they provided poor translations. As evidence of hell, literalists are quick to point to scriptural references like Sheol, Hades, and Gehinnom (Gehenna).
But Sheol and Hades refer to a “dark pit of nothingness.” Gehenna refers to “the valley of fire.” It is a literal valley south of Jerusalem. People believe that human sacrifices occurred there. First century rabbis condemned and forbade anyone to set foot there.
Gehinnom becomes “Gehenna” in the Greek translation of Matt. 18:9.
“And if your eye causes you to stumble, tear it out and throw it away; it is better for you to enter life with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into the Gehenna of fire.”
Note that Jesus is referring to the literal valley and not the mythical place of hell.
In Matthew’s gospel Jesus also warns against living a life of sin and the two “gates” one may walk through. One is narrow and difficult but leads to life. The other is wide and easy but leads to death. But notice that it does not lead to eternal torture.
Need more evidence?
Literalists reference another scripture as evidence of the existence of hell. It is the parable of the rich man and the beggar in Luke’s gospel. This gospel was written more than 55 years after the death of Jesus.
Here the story is told of two men arriving at two very different locations. It is a parable, a story told to convey a truth. The purpose of the parable is to teach a lesson of truth …that God favors the needy and rejects those that do not help them. The story was never meant to tackle the topic of an afterlife, let alone hell.
Another example is found in Matthew’s gospel, written around the same time of Luke ‘s. The references (Matt 5:22; 8:12; 18:8-9; 22:13; 25:41) used by Jesus is Gehenna, means outer darkness and eternal fire. They have been mistranslated. The word hell was inserted in their place (see below).
We’ve been told that hell exists with all its torturous amenities. Our bias leads us to conclude that anything reading like a “Crypt Keepers” tale only validates its existence.
The earliest Christian writings by the Apostle Paul are noteworthy. They predate any other writings of the Second Testament. These writings include many foundational Christian doctrines …except hell.
In his earlier writings, Paul deliberately avoids writing about eternal damnation, punishment, or torture. Why? The doctrine hadn’t been created yet. Why hadn’t it been created just yet?
Because Paul was certain that Jesus was coming back, at any moment, to usher in his kingdom. Paul believed he would live in God’s kingdom on earth and never experience physical death.
Paul wrote to the Christians in Rome. He claimed that “the wages of sin is death,” implying destruction and utter oblivion …but, again, not eternal suffering and damnation in a literal place. They simply would be wiped out. They would not live forever in God’s kingdom.
It is only in his later writings that Paul realizes that he may die before Jesus returns. He begins to contemplate an afterlife. Yet, he does not offer many details.
To add insult to injury, the Greek translation of the scriptures was transcribed into the Latin in 400 CE. The translators substituted the word hell for these references.
The translation from the Latin to the English language in 1611 CE continued that error. This mistake completely changed the meaning of the scriptures.
Those errors led to the myth of hell. It describes a literal place for eternal punishment for the wicked. Without those errors, such a myth would never have existed. I am also convinced that the Gallup survey numbers shown earlier would also be non-existent.
The modern myth of hell is the product of many years. Doctrines were crow-barred in and, in some cases, strong-armed into the Church. This was done through the threat of excommunication or death. Oppressive Church leaders insisted that they were “led by the Spirit” on such matters.
The scriptural passages noted do not refer to a literal place called hell. Jesus never presented any evidence for its existence. What we think are references to hell in the Second Testament are not representative of any eternal punishment after death.
Add any attempt to crowbar the concept of hell into a translation of the First Testament are Christians weak attempt to:
- Validate the existence of the Christian faith
- Co-opting (a nicer word, but hijacking or stealing has the same meaning) of Hebrew scriptures for the advantage of elevating the Christian faith as the “TRUE” faith
Both have created horrendous consequences over the centuries where human beings have justified the cumulative killing of countless others.
Read The Emerging Christian Myths, Pt. 10
Sources
- R. Allen Killen, Hell, Wycliffe Bible Encyclopedia, Moody Press, 1982
- Elaine Pagels, The Origin of Satan, Vintage Books, 1995
- Charles Panati, Sacred Origins of Profound Things, Penguin/Arkana Books, 1996
- Russel Shorto, Gospel Truth, Riverhead Books, 1998
