I need different Basic Views Of hell now as quick.....

[Singalphile]

Oh, boy.

Hi, emilysmith. That's not directed at you. It's just the nature of what is commonly called "hell" is often greatly disputed.

In my opinion, the clearest, most direct description of God's ultimate judgement can be found in Revelation 20:11-15 in the Bible. That's not saying much, though. It's all a bit complicated. You will read different opinions from different Christians.

But I have to go now. Welcome to the forum.

[steve7150]

I need different Basic Views Of hell now as quick as possible for a project...?
In my English class I have to do a research project, wikipedia not involved, and alot of websites are not helping at all...








Under digitalministries.us under Steve Gregg and topical lectures you can find "3 views of hell". It's only 3 different Christian views although i think Islam believes in eternal hell and i think other religions generally do not believe in eternal hell.

[jriccitelli]

I would look for terms like afterlife, immortality, reincarnation and punishment if I was researching hell in other religions. Hell is just one word within a variety of concepts concerning where we go after death (although some religious views may refer to ‘this life here’ on earth as a punishment also, where we suffer for our bad behavior. Or, life as we know it 'on earth' may even as a place of ‘purification’ where we can overcome desires and impulses, cleansed of evil even if it is difficult and sometimes painful).

Hell is predominantly a Biblical term for the place of punishment - how long it lasts - what it is like - how painful it is - can you be released - or never released – or whether it ultimately ends in annihilation of the person – are all debates within Christianity over what Hell is. The Bible does not provide a whole lot of definitive information about Hell, just as the Bible does not give a whole lot of information about heaven either.
The Bible does give ample descriptions of blessings for obedience and faith, just as the bible gives ample descriptions of punishments for disobedience and unfaithfulness (Whether or not all these descriptions refer to the afterlife is also a debate among some, as this forum would confirm).

Hell, or Gehenna is not necessarily the same thing as Sheol, Tartarus or the ‘pit’ in the bible, but all of these usually fall into one of two categories:
1: Before a person goes to hell after dying, it is believed there is a good conscious state in a literal place somewhere known as Paradise, or Abraham's Bosom. Or they go to a bad place to be purified or punished - a place called Purgatory. Some believe there is a neutral state of ‘limbo’ or sleep where people go. And some within Christianity associate hell with purgatory also.
(What happens 'between' paradise and hell is The Judgment. Where people go 'after' Gods Judgment is understood as punishment (hell) or blessing's (heaven), this judgment may have already started or happened for some, but God promised an ultimate Judgment for everyone to happen at 'some' point. So after that Judgment…)
2: Hell can be either ongoing and eternal, or temporary and purifying, ‘or’ it can culminate in the destruction and end of the person, otherwise ending in what is called annihilation. Either way, hell is a Jewish/Christian term to describe the ‘place’ where this takes place. It may be that only descriptive or allegorical descriptions can be made of this place because it may not even exist yet, or it has been prepared already but no one is there yet. Or because it would be hard for us to understand hell in earthly terms, as heaven also is hard to understand or imagine, as is life after life.

Judaism, Islam, Protestantism, Catholicism, Eastern Orthodox and most all the other denominations of Christianity hold to some form of punishment either before or after death. Yet some groups and denominations hold to a belief that there is no hell, only heaven or ‘extinction’ such as the Jehovah’s Witnesses.
Islam has many definite warning about hell. Islam usually refers to it as fire, Jahannam, or other descriptions similar to the Bible, but Islam also provides a form of purgatory also for some, even the devil perchance could be purified enough to escape.

Hell may be difficult enough to research in biblical religions, but in other religions the key word may be suffering or punishment. Most all of the religions today are based either on the Old Testament or derived from Hinduism, and if not directly from Hinduism they are all similar to eastern mysticism.
Just as heaven is not generally a term in other world religions (usually understood as Brahma or achieving immortality, paradise is more of an escape from the repeating incarnations. Nirvana, Oneness, Dao, etc. are also terms similar with the progression towards immortality and peace), so again: hell would be better understood as punishment and suffering.

Death in the eastern religions may be understood as 'another day in the ongoing cycle of life', not a destiny but an ongoing purification or phase in life. Karma represents an ongoing progression of life that depends on ones actions, attitude and thoughts. This law of cause and effect is similar to the biblical phrase “you reap what you sow” but karma is not always interpreted the same way, nor has it always had the same definition as it varies with ancient Hinduism and varies throughout eastern thought. Between incarnations a traditional Hindu may find himself in a realm that contains many levels, some good and some bad. The lower levels are like hell, but similar to Catholic purgatory they are places that the disobedient will suffer yet eventually gain wisdom to progress, hopefully upwards toward a better level, or a better incarnation.
Buddhists are very similar to Hindus in that they believe in reincarnation, but Buddha taught that focusing on the soul itself would impair our ability to progress, so he proposed a soulless attitude of self-denial that focused on the liberation of soul from desire, even the desire for paradise. So I suppose any existence other than a complete denial of self leads to suffering. Like Hinduism, Buddhism has various, even innumerable levels of paradise or suffering, some with animals. These are otherworldly realms but these generally result in rebirths into earthly or cosmic realms of peace and hopefully, eventually Nirvana.

Shinto has a nether world of darkness and gloom, and Daoism has ten lower levels like hell even with devil like figures ruling in each level. In Daoism people may wander around hopeless, it may be permanent or it may also be like purgatory - temporary. Confucianism, although the contemporary of the Buddha and Lao Zi, he doesn’t speak much of the afterlife in general… but I’m out of time.

One thing I did think of when writing this is - that we should not put off our research and questions about the afterlife until the last moment, as the teacher has set a day, a day of Judgment. May God bless you Emily.

[Soulsnaxx]

This might help.

"Hell in a Nutshell"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=pl ... EosKQPJkmA

[steve]

Emily,

Here is a summary of the arguments for the three views. This was originally posted by me on our original forum (though I have not been able to locate the link for you. It is from the introduction to my book. It sort of says it all. It should help you with your project:


1. Eternal Torment (aka “Traditionalism”)

Primary Texts: Matt.25:41, 46 / Mk.9:43-48 / 2 Thess.1:9 / Rev.14:10-11; 19:20; 20:10, 15
Notable advocates: Tertullian, Augustine, Thomas Aquinas, and the majority of evangelical theologians throughout most (though not all) of church history

Affirmations and Arguments:

A. As a consequence of being made in the image of God (Gen.1:26-27), people, unlike animals, are immortal beings, and must necessarily spend eternity consciously in one state or another (alternatively: immortality is not innate, but will be conferred by God after the resurrection);

B. Though the wages of sin is “death,” this does not preclude continuing conscious existence beyond the grave, as is seen in the story of “Lazarus and the Rich Man” (Luke 16:19ff). The terms “dead” and “death” do not necessarily refer to a cessation of existence, nor of consciousness, in scripture (Eph.2:1; Col.2:13; 1 Tim.5:6);

C. Only those who believe in Christ may dwell in God’s presence for all eternity (John 3:16). All others, must remain forever absent from God, apart from all light, joy, and consolation (2 Thess.1:9);

D. After the final judgment, the souls, as well as the bodies, of the lost will be cast into Gehenna (Matt.10:28; Mark 9:43, 45, 47), which is also called “the lake of fire” (Rev.20:10, 14-15);

E. In Gehenna, the unbeliever will suffer torment, possibly of both body and soul, suggested by terms like “furnace of fire...weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matt.13:42, 50) and “cast into outer darkness” (Matt.8:12; 22:13; 25:30);

F. That this torment never ends for the lost in hell is suggested by terms “eternal” and “forever” in phrases like “eternal fire” (Matt.25:41), “eternal punishment” (Matt.25:46), “eternal destruction” (2 Thess.1:9) and “tormented...forever” (Rev.20:10). All this is contrasted with the “eternal life” enjoyed by the redeemed (John 3:16; Matt.26:46);

G. Justice demands eternal punishment. Only a punishment that is eternal is suited to the crime of sinning against the eternal God. Sinning against God is a crime against infinite Majesty, and warrants punishment of infinite duration;

H. There will be no eternal grieving on the part of believers for those who are lost. God will wipe away all tears from their eyes (Rev.21:4). This may involve the erasing of memories about former relationships (Isa.43:18), or it may involve a change in perspective on the part of believers, once they see the matter from God’s point of view (Isa.55:8-9; Job 42:5-6).



2. Conditional Immortality (aka, "Conditionalism," “Annihilationism,” “Extinctionism,” “Terminalism”)

Notable Advocates: John R.W. Stott, Clark Pinnock, Greg Boyd, Roger Forster, John Wenham, Michael Green, Edward William Fudge, Glenn Peoples, Ben Witherington III, F.F. Bruce (open but undecided)

Affirmations and Arguments:

A. Only God is immortal by nature (1 Tim.6:16)

B. Man, not innately possessing immortality, must seek to obtain it (Rom.2:7)

C. God gives eternal life (immortality) to men, on the condition of their believing in Christ (John 3:16; 10:28/ 1 John 5:11-12/ Rom.6:23)

D. In scripture, the lost are never declared to be immortal. Their fate is described using terms such as “destroy,” “consume,” “perish,” and “death” (Matt.10:28/ 1 Thess.5:3/ 2 Thess.1:9; 2:8/ John 3:16/ Rom.2:12);

E. Certain scriptures assert that conscious existence does not continue beyond the grave (Ps.6:5; 146:4; Eccl.9:5);

F. After death, the wicked will be punished proportionately to their guilt (Luke 12:47-48), and not all suffer equally (Matt.11:22, 24), which means that the suffering is not infinite or eternal;

G. The punishment (though not the punishing) of the wicked is eternal, permanent and irrevocable (Matt.25:46);

H. God’s eternal loss of those who will not repent is the terrible cost that He Himself endures out of His determination to honor the creature’s freedom of choice (Isa.5:3-7; 66:3-4; Ezek.33:11; Matt.23:37; Luke 19:41-44). Nonetheless, it brings a just and final solution to the problem of sin in the universe, and does not require God (or us) to eternally endure the grief of knowing that millions of souls who were loved in this life are being tormented endlessly in the next;

I. The lost will be resurrected, along with the righteous, in order to face the judgment (John 5:28-29/ Acts 24:15). Upon being condemned, they will be cast into the lake of fire (hell) where they will either be immediately consumed, and cease to exist, or they will suffer punishment proportionate to their guilt (Luke 12:47-48), after which they will be allowed to pass into natural non-existence (the same condition they were in before they were born). In the end, it will be as if they never existed;

J. Though this view does not have as happy an ending as does Christian Universalism, it nonetheless ends with a tolerable and just resolution to the problem of sin in the world, and it takes seriously the scriptures about the eternal forfeiture of eternal life by those who die in rebellion against Christ.



3. Universal Reconciliation (aka, “Christian Universalism,” “Restorationism”)

Notable Advocates: Clement of Alexandria (AD 150-215), Origen (185-254), Gregory of Nyssa (332-398), Gregory of Nazianzus (329-390), William Law, George MacDonald, Hannah Whitall Smith, F.W. Farrar, William Barclay, Jacques Ellul, Thomas Talbott, Rob Bell (apparently, but not certainly).

Affirmations and Arguments:

A. God desires for all people to be saved (1 Tim.2:4/ 2 Peter 3:9/ John 3:16/ Ezek.18:23, 32)

B. Christ died to redeem the whole world (John 1:29/ 1 John 2:2/ 1 Tim.2:6)

C. If all for whom Christ died are not ultimately reconciled, then Christ will never receive all that He died to obtain, and He becomes the cosmic Loser for all eternity, while the devil wins his desired object—which hardly agrees with biblical statements about Christ’s victory over sin, death and Satan (Isa. 42:1-4/Col.2:15/ Heb.2:14/ 1 John 3:8);

D. The Bible often speaks in terms of universal salvation and restoration (1 Tim. 4:10/ Rom.5:18-19/ Col.1:19-20/ Eph.1:9-10/ John 12:32/ Isa.53:11);

E. After death, the wicked will be punished proportionately to their guilt, or until they are brought to repentance (Luke 12:47-48);

F. There is no obvious reason (in scripture or in logic) why the God who desires that all would repent, and who will accept the genuine repentance of a life-long sinner even the moment before death, would arbitrarily declare death to be the cut-off point for any opportunity to repent and be forgiven.

G. Given enough pressure and time, all men will—if not before death, then afterward—turn to Christ and be saved (Phil.2:10-11);

H. There is nothing in this teaching to offend the sentiments of Christians, since it affirms every cardinal doctrine of the evangelical faith—in fact, it is the view that would most satisfy those who share God’s heartfelt desire for the salvation of the lost.