Now that I have your attention lol let’s take a look at this whole idea of a fiery place of torment for evil-doers.
First of all practically every religion has some concept of a place after death for the wicked. Buddhism teaches that there are five or six levels of hell or Naraka though these are frozen places not lakes of fire. Not sure which is worse to be burned or frozen for all of eternity.
Hinduism teaches a similar Naraka where punishments include dipping in boiling oil, burning in fire, torture using various weapons, etc. in various Hells. The god Yamarija presides over Naraka but souls do not stay forever only for a few billion years. What a relief.
The Bible mentions four different words which are all (mis)translated as hell.
1. Sheol which means grave not hell 2. Hades which is the Greek word for the after life where everybody goes not just the wicked 3. Gehenna which was a garbage dump outside Jerusalem. This is the word that Jesus uses 11 times. 4. Tartarus which is the Greek word for a place where the wicked are sent and it is underneath Hades underground. It is used once in the whole Bible in the book of revelation.
The reason why there is no hell is very simple. No just and fair God of perfection and love would torture his children for all of eternity or even send them to a place of perpetual torment.
Torture is very wrong. Currently the Canadian government is attempting to pass a law that would ban solitary confinement because it is basically a form of torture. The entire international community has condemned the American torture facility Guantanamo Bay. If it’s wrong for us then it’s definitely wrong for God.
Joshua Ben Joseph taught a method of dealing with our enemies and it definitely wasn’t torture or endless punishment. In fact, quite the opposite, he taught us to love our enemies; and when he was being tortured to death by his enemies he asked his father to forgive them. Revenge and retaliation just were not part of his religious ideology.
Have a great day. The only way to go is up. ❤️☕️🍪🍭
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