- What is hell?
- In mythology
- In the Christian religion
- Representation in Buddhism
- Representation in Taoism
- According to Mormons
- According to Jehovah's Witnesses
- According to Muslims. Hell in Islam Koran about hell
Hell is a place where sinners receive their well-deserved punishment after death, and this punishment involves suffering and torment, and hell itself is described as a terrible, terrible place, and is opposed to the concept of “Paradise”. The concept of “hell” in Russian has a synonym “underworld”.
This term is used by almost all religions and mythologies, including the Abrahamic religions and Zoroastrianism. The concept originated from the ancient word “Hades,” with the help of which the Hebrew word “Sheol” was conveyed in the Septuagint, and after that the word passed into the New Testament with a slightly rethought meaning.
In mythology
In ancient mythology, this concept is compared with such concepts as:
— Hades or the kingdom of the dead. Hades was also the name given to the god of this kingdom, who was the eldest son of Kronos and Rhea, and the brother of Zeus.
— Amentes or Amenti, the underworld, as the ancient Egyptians called it and where, according to their ideas, the soul went after death,
- Tartarus or the abyss that exists under the kingdom of Hades.
In German-Scandinavian mythology, this concept is compared with such concepts as:
— Helheim or the world of the dead, where the giantess Hel rules, it is also called Helgard
- Gjöll or the river that flows past the gate to the underworld.
In the Christian religion
Ideas and understanding of the existence of hell within Christianity itself vary greatly.
Hell in the Christian religion is mentioned in the New Testament, where it is given the definition of a possible afterlife place where sinners are tormented as punishment. According to the description, hell is a place filled with flames. The New Testament also speaks of the gates of hell.
Catholicism has historically divided hell into two concepts - hell and limbo. Limbo is intended for certain categories of people, including unbaptized infants and virtuous ancient saints, but the modern Catholic Church rejects this idea.
The Orthodox Church compares the concept of hell with such concepts as eternal torment, tartarus, and fiery Gehenna. In Orthodoxy, hell is a place where sinners go after the end of the world and remain there forever. This is stated in the words of God: “.. into Gehenna, into unquenchable fire ...”, “... and these will go away into eternal torment, but the righteous into eternal life ...”.
According to the teachings of the Orthodox Church, before the Last Judgment occurs, only the souls of sinners and demons will exist and experience torment in hell, but after the Last Judgment occurs, the material bodies of sinful people will be resurrected and will also experience terrible torment.
From the point of view of Origen in his doctrine of apocatharsis, which Emperor Justinian demanded from the Fifth Ecumenical Council to condemn, Christ will remain on his cross until then, and Golgotha will continue as long as at least one creature remains in Hell.
Nikolai Berdyaev believes that Origen's idea clashes with his own point of view, since, in his opinion, hell and its existence is a temporary concept, not an eternal one, and in its essence it exists as a purgatory, acquiring more pedagogical meaning. He considers Hell to be more of a subjective realm where the soul is plunged into its own darkness as a result of a person's sinful existence, but not a punishment for sins.
From the point of view of representatives of the Seventh-day Adventist Church , sinners who did not repent before death will be resurrected after death in order for them to be convicted. After this, fire will descend from heaven, Satan will appear accompanied by his minions, and all unrepentant sinners will be destroyed forever.
There is also another point of view, which is also shared by Alexey Osipov , according to which it is still a mystery for humanity what the otherworldly fate of a person is, and definitely humanity has not been told about what exists after death.
The idea of eternal torment in hell arose in the Middle Ages to frighten sinners
But where did the idea come from that a soul in hell undergoes terrible torture, and its torment knows no end? Since this is not in the Holy Scriptures, then it has nothing to do with Christianity?
That's how to say it.
If we are talking about Christianity, which Jesus Christ preached, then yes, such an idea really has nothing to do with this teaching. If we are talking about the entire tradition, then it is in it that we need to look for the roots of the ideas about how terrible everything is in hell.
Let's imagine the Middle Ages:
- due to the plague epidemic, innocent cats are being exterminated en masse;
- supposedly for the sake of Christ, participants in the crusades destroy entire cities;
- unfortunate people are burned at the stake on charges of witchcraft.
There are many mistakes of humanity, right? And, as we see, the Church accomplished a lot of them in those years.
Only in the 20th century will Pope John Paul II find enough strength to ask forgiveness from the whole world for the sins of the Church.
But let's get back to the mistakes. We should not idealize either the era or people, even if they are theologians and clergy. One of the mistakes of the medieval Church was the idea of manipulating people, frightening them with the horrors of hell, in order to force them to profess the Christian faith through fear.
The horrors of hell are not taken from the Bible, but were generated by unscrupulous preachers of the Middle Ages (painting by I. Bosch)
Many people in those years were baptized not out of their sincere spiritual impulse, but with the same thoughts with which we, for example, take out medical insurance today. Is there much use in such faith?
Alas, the Middle Ages were not the best period in the history of the Church. Forcibly converted Muslims and other infidels, the Inquisition, politicized priests. The list could be long.
Hell became a bogeyman - which should not have been the case. Did Christ convert anyone by force? Did Moses demand that Pharaoh change his faith? No.
Faith cannot be accepted under pressure.
Today the situation is different. Reasonable preachers have stopped frightening their flock with the horrors of the afterlife and honestly answer that they know nothing about it, since there is nothing in the Bible on this topic.
This is a book about something else - about relationships with God. It is love for the Almighty, and not a selfish desire to be saved, that can be a worthy incentive for accepting faith.
Representation in Taoism
Chinese tradition views the idea of hell differently than mainstream tradition. The Taoist understanding of the concept of hell does not provide ethical interpretations, as does Christianity or Buddhism. The Chinese tradition calls hell “huang quan,” which translated into Russian means “yellow springs” or can be translated as “the abode of darkness.”
Chinese tradition says that a person consists of many souls. And some of these souls, after the death of a person, go to Heaven, which is associated in the Chinese tradition with Paradise, and some of these souls end up after death at the yellow springs.
From rough souls after their death, the spirit Gui was formed, which is located at the yellow springs, where it drags out a ghostly shadow-like existence. Yellow springs are compared to a place that looks like ancient Hades - here souls drag out a joyless existence, there is no light and no liveliness. Chinese mythology contains stories of journeys to yellow springs, but travelers put themselves in danger by going there. The Yellow Springs consist of nine worlds, and the lowest world is ruled by Tu-bo, who is a horned deity. Each of the nine worlds has its own yellow source.
What the hell is this
The poem absorbed all the religious morality and ideas about life after death of medieval Christianity. The hero of the work, Dante himself, sets off on a journey to Paradise, but first he must go through Hell and Purgatory.
Hell is described as an unimaginable abyss narrowing towards the center of the Earth. The descent into hell occurs through levels - nine concentric circles, on each of which sinners serve their eternal punishment.
Hell according to Dante
According to Mormons
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has different meanings for this term.
Hell is a spiritual prison, a place that is located in the spiritual after-earth world, and this place is prepared for those who did not repent of their sins before death or did not believe. Hell in this meaning exists as a temporary place or state in which sinners are in order to study the Gospel, to repent, and then accept the sacraments of salvation that are performed for them in the temple. After these souls accept the Gospels, they go to Paradise, where they remain until the Resurrection, after which they will be given the degree of glory that they deserve. If the souls do not repent, but they are not counted among the sons of perdition, then they are left in spiritual prison until the end of the Millennium, and after that they will be released from Hell, punished, and then resurrected to telestial glory.
According to Jehovah's Witnesses
The views of Jehovah's Witnesses are based on the words given in the Bible: “... in the grave where you go there is no work, no reflection, no knowledge, no wisdom .” In their view, this is a common grave for humanity, a place where the dead are temporarily stored, and it exists only until the resurrection of the dead occurs after the End of the World, that is, as long as the very concept of death exists.
Jehovah's Witnesses believe that death is a sleep, based on the words of Jesus Christ when he said: “Our friend Lazarus fell asleep; but I’m going to wake him up...”
According to Muslims. Hell in Islam
Islam represents hell as a place where dead unbelievers and sinners reside, whom Allah Almighty has not forgiven, relying as sources on the words of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ and on the texts of the Holy Book of the Koran.
In Islamic texts you can find other names for Hell: “ jahim ”, which means “fire”, “ lyaza ” or “burning fire”, “ sa’ir ” or “scorching fire”, “ saqar ” or “underworld”, " hutama " or "crushing", " hawiyah " or "abyss", "abyss".
Prophet Muhammad ﷺ said that both Paradise and Hell have already been created by the Almighty, but only after the Last Judgment (Judgment Day) will people enter them.
The Islamic religion believes that Hell already exists in reality, and hell will always exist . There is no end to its existence, and those who are in it will remain there forever, and its torments and horrors will forever happen to them.
According to the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ: “ When one of you dies, he will be shown his place every morning and every evening... If he is from the inhabitants of Hell, he will see his place in Hell .”
Hell appears to Muslims as an afterlife where fiery torment awaits sinners, but hellish fire is many times more painful than earthly fire, where they will be presented with drinks made from pus and boiling water, where they will have to eat the fruits of the hellish thorny tree of Zakkum. Unbelievers will remain in Hell forever, and Muslim sinners can be freed from the flames of Hell after some time , and only Allah knows after what time, and after that they will also enter Paradise.
Regarding the fate of the sinners and whether they will exist there forever or whether they will have a way to leave Hell, it is mentioned in the hadith of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, narrated by al-Bukhari in his collection of Hadith Sahih, where it is said that the Almighty Lord can deliver some of the inhabitants of the Hell from torment if they have faith in their heart. This hadith implies that the inhabitants of the Hell will be divided into two categories of people:
- - monotheists who committed bad deeds along with the righteous, and the Almighty will send them to Hell so that for some time they exist there and accept punishment for their deeds.
- unbelievers and hypocrites who existed in unbelief and died without accepting the One Lord, and such people will be sent by the Almighty to Hell forever.
How did the devil get to heaven?
– If to stay in paradise you must agree with the will of God, then how did the serpent-devil get into paradise, who actually walked there (not yet cursed to crawl on his belly), not even embarrassed by the presence of God?
– Indeed, on the first pages of the Bible we read about how Adam and Eve talked with God in paradise, and this communication with Him “in a thin voice” was blissful for our first parents. But at the same time, there is someone in heaven who does not perceive heaven as such - this is the devil. And in paradise he tempts Adam and Eve with evil.
Theology does not talk about how the devil got to heaven.
There are suggestions that for the devil, who inhabits the serpent, perhaps this place was not yet literally closed, there was no finality in deciding his fate.
Because God, perhaps, expected a change from the devil. But the deception of a person by the devil entails the final curse of God against the devil. After all, before this we never hear words of curse towards him. Maybe God, as one who loves his creation, also gave him the opportunity to stay in paradise? But the devil did not take advantage of this opportunity for good.
