Sheol, Gehenna, Tartarus, and Hades... please discuss :)

Yes.

You're a great discusser :gotcha:

Yes.

DWT

Erm.... whats there to discuss? Hell is where the wicked, unsaved go.....

Does it exist now? Is it the fire & brimstone that's in all the stories? Does the Devil have cloven hooves (sp?) and a pitchfork?

Discuss.... B)

I think that the descriptions of fire and brimstone were the best thing the writers of the Bible could compare the total absense of God to. I mean what is worse than being burned by fire? Not so sure that hell is a literal burning place..

Not sure we will know - or are to know. I don't want to know! I plan on never finding out!

Sheol (Hebrew) = Hades (Greek): It's the land of the dead. No, there are not disembodied spirits walking around there, waiting for the judgement, it's simply a holding place that existed until Christ came. Is there still a holding place? I do not know.

Tartarus (Greek): It's a holding place for a specific group of evil spirits that are bound until Satan is conquered. Peter mentions it in 2 Peter 2:4, that God did not spare angels when they sinned, but sent them to hell[a] the footnote [a] specifies that Peter wrote "Tartarus" in the Greek. In Greek Mythology, Tartarus was the holding place for defeated gods. The term worked quite well for Paul's illustration of fallen angels. These fallen angels were the "Sons of God" in Genesis 5.

Gehenna (Hebrew): A dump outside of Jerusalem. It is the Valley of Gehenna - where all of Jerusalem's waste was deposited and burned. The fires burned constantly to consume the waste. Jesus used Gehenna to describe Hell 'cuz the fires burn forever and the worm is always eating.

Hell (English): A place of eternal separation from God. Hell was not created for men. Matthew 25:41 tells us that it was created for the devil and his angels. But, men who choose to follow the devil become his angels.

A dear friend of mine, Edward Fudge, has written a book called "The Fire that Consumes". It details his study into whether or not Hell is eternal punishment or if it consumes a soul and annihilates it. I'm not sure I'm sold on it, as there is much debate on the subject. Check out "Two Views of Hell", co-written by Edward Fudge.

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OH it exists all right ! !

I visit every night from 10pm-6am.

Some theories are that hell is just death and a grave with nothing furhter... I gotta find my supporting text for this... but I have seen that one mentioned a few times....


Hell is what you make it...

Isn't there a scripture that I'm about to butcher that states something similar to "Those that are sure they are bound for hell are not just as assuredly as those that are sure they are bound for heaven are not?" I want to say it was dealing with pride.....

I heard something, somewhere (excuse my dippyness...I think those kids sucked my brain dry sometimes) where even the saved will see hell. There's supposed to be scriptural support for this. Anyone know what I'm talking about?

I had heard this, too. But I don't think it's true, and here's why: Jesus said, "Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me." John 12:26, NIV.

If we are with Him (or He with us), we cannot be in a place that is devoid of Him. Hell is an absence of God, right? If we are in Hell, we are without Him. But He promised to always be with us.

Remember, He told the thief on the cross, "I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise." Key word is today.

I don't think we will spend any time in Hell. In my opinion, we're already there. Satan is in charge of Earth. Adam was put in charge, but when he chose Satan over God, Satan assumed power. So, as I liked to say when I was in the Navy, "I know I'm going to Heaven when I die, cuz I done spent my time in Hell."

Forgive MY dippyness (the coffee hasn't kicked in yet....) but isn't there something about Jesus binding Satan in chains & sending him to a firey pit when Jesus returns?

Maybe the verse Lynn's thinking about is something about the saved getting a glimpse of "hell" when that happens....I mean, we'll all be there watching & cheering, right?

Excuse my dippyness as well (just got an earful of bad news). But is hell just a dark place with the gnashing of teeth?

:doh:

This could be metaphorical - meaning eternal suffering, etc. The Bible is a piece of literature so it doesn't have to be completely literal all the time.

All I have to say is: Hell = complete separation from God. ::shrudder:: Terrifies me just thinking about it.

I hope you are at least speaking of your job and not your family otherwise this attitude disgusts me.

Nah, don't worry about it. I've been chatting a lot with Squat, and his family is more important to him than just about anything else. The only reason he works is so he can feed them. And, yes, he does work from 10pm to 6am.

Squat's a good bro.

Yeah that's his shift at work....

Maybe that's his Bed Time and He has Nightmares!

don't forget in the bible when it talks about Lazarus and the rich man, Lazarus goes to Abraham's Bosom and the Rich man went to the other side... The first thing out of the Rich Mans Mouth, He was asking for a single drop of water to touch his toungue for relief.

Interesting Thing about Hell UNLIKE Heaven. No one has ever Been there and Come Back to Talk About it. So it's true, all the descriptions are just descriptions, but as the Scriptures say, Hell is most certain a HOT place.

k good

Jobs can be stinky

This is a tough topic. I really don't know anything.... and that after tons of reading.... I think its just all speculation. :doh:

Hmmm, I disagree. I believe, except for Revelation, that the bible is COMPLETELY literal.

And yes, the bible does say that Satan will be sent to Hell for a period of time (1,000 years? The Mellenial Reign of Christ) but then he will be allowed back on earth when Christ dwells with us and there will, once again, be temptation.

The Bible is completely literal? What are you speaking of? I think it is clear it is not all literal, here is a random example from the Bible:

Daniel 8

1 In the third year of King Belshazzar's reign, I, Daniel, had a vision, after the one that had already appeared to me. 2 In my vision I saw myself in the citadel of Susa in the province of Elam; in the vision I was beside the Ulai Canal. 3 I looked up, and there before me was a ram with two horns, standing beside the canal, and the horns were long. One of the horns was longer than the other but grew up later. 4 I watched the ram as he charged toward the west and the north and the south. No animal could stand against him, and none could rescue from his power. He did as he pleased and became great.

5 As I was thinking about this, suddenly a goat with a prominent horn between his eyes came from the west, crossing the whole earth without touching the ground. 6 He came toward the two-horned ram I had seen standing beside the canal and charged at him in great rage. 7 I saw him attack the ram furiously, striking the ram and shattering his two horns. The ram was powerless to stand against him; the goat knocked him to the ground and trampled on him, and none could rescue the ram from his power. 8 The goat became very great, but at the height of his power his large horn was broken off, and in its place four prominent horns grew up toward the four winds of heaven.

9 Out of one of them came another horn, which started small but grew in power to the south and to the east and toward the Beautiful Land. 10 It grew until it reached the host of the heavens, and it threw some of the starry host down to the earth and trampled on them. 11 It set itself up to be as great as the Prince of the host; it took away the daily sacrifice from him, and the place of his sanctuary was brought low. 12 Because of rebellion, the host of the saints [a] and the daily sacrifice were given over to it. It prospered in everything it did, and truth was thrown to the ground.

Why just Revelation? If the Bible should always be interpreted literally, that sure takes the wind out of the sails of all the 'Song of Solomon = sex manual' folks. All us women need to go out and plant ourselves a literal garden for our husbands to frolic in. :thanks:

I personally don't think that saying that the Bible is not always literal lessens it in any way. In fact, I think it gives it many deeper levels of meaning. In addition to being an excellent artist, I believe our God is pretty darn good author too.

Ceres - that was a vision.

Gracefaith - Revelation was the only book written with symbols, and isn't taken literally. It was specifically written like that because we're not supposed to know when Jesus will return. All our guessing and speculating is pure earthly entertainment. Only God knows when Jesus will return. And so, it cannot be taken literally.

The rest of the bible happened. And so, it should be taken literally.

Psalms and SOS are written like praise and worship because they were songs, but they are the word of God. Proverbs are not prophecy but wisdom based on the Word.

What about all of the prophets?

You mean like the vision you quoted in Daniel? I studied Daniel and the prophets a few years ago, but my text books are packed away in the attic. I won't have a chance to pull them out before I go away this weekend. But Daniel's visions are of what is foretold in Revelation. So it's the same symbolic images

The other prophets foretold the coming of Christ, again and again - accurately.

This would be an interesting new thread in Theology. Do you take the Word of God at it's Word?

Okay I'm going to chime in... this might cause another debate... please no.... and maybe another split since it's not really on topic.

The Bible has been written and rewritten and retranslated so many times you cannot take too much away from it as literal because the church has spun it so many ways to Sunday (no pun intended).

Throughout history our more religious texts have been more parable then set in stone record no matter what religion you look at.

Yes the Bible is the word of God, but it's been edited by man.

Back to Hell...

I don't know what it is... I don't want to know what it is....

If you look at Dante's point of view it would be a lake of ice not fire as it's the place farthest from God's love. My late BIL Tim. RIP bro. Thought there was a place in space where there were no planets stars black holes etc and he thought that is where hell was.

I personally don't really want to know where it is or what it is. I really don't even like knowing that it is.

Slightly off topic---The idea that the scriptures have been rewritten and twisted is a popular myth. Usually it is the people who do not wan to accept that the Word of God says that certain things are sin--like homosexuality for example--those people will be the first to propigate the idea that the scriptures are twisted. hoever, some manuscripts remain intact and also handwritten copies of the bible from earlier centuries that prove that the content has not been changed much..

Okay--you can go back to hell now :D

I'm talking about Isaiah, Jeremiah, Malachi, etc. And they were not always talking about Jesus but were filled with a lot of figurative descriptions of things. The Bible is not all literal, that's the only point I was trying to make.

You guys can go back to hell, I ain't goin'!!! :cheeky:

Amen, String!

Hell is EVIL. People will be going to hell for all eternity. Should we even be joking about it? I don't think so. We as Christians should NEVER say or even wish someone would "go to hell". What do you guys think? Would you like it if someone said it to you? Would you not get offended?

I wouldn't be that offended. It's more an expression

In the above case Hell = Squat's Job .. and he is saying he is going back to Hell... no Biggie....

Also, Hell is not Evil.... I don't believe you can correctly say that... God actually Created hell for the Devil. I'm pretty sure that is the verb used "Created" ... God does not Create Evil.... I'm sure there is a better description for it..


Here is a serious question, will People, the devil and the demons be allowed or permitted to Sin in Hell?

Do you think God will Allow Sin in Hell?

Ok, dude....I'm gonna get me some linkies....stay tuned! :P

Wow I've never seen Lena get serious, that's cool and unexpected. I would never wish someone to tell and I wasn't, any further questions you can contact me using my inbox.

It takes a lot to offend me. But not much to piss me off. So...... :nono: