"Much confusion and misunderstanding has been caused through the early translators of the Bible persistently rendering the Hebrew Sheol and the Greek Hades and Gehenna by the word hell. The simple transliteration of these words by the translators of the revised editions of the Bible has not sufficed to appreciably clear up this confusion and misconception."-The Encyclopedia Americana (1942), Vol. XIV, p. 81.

"The talk of everlasting perdition is crazy. It is not Christianity. It was only in times past that there were hell preachers who from the pulpit thundered about the devil and the inextinguishable fire. But that time is over."-Hvor gaar vi hen (Where Do We Go?), p. 119.

Abbreviations:

• A.O.D. = Abode of the Dead
• R.O.D. = Realm of the Dead
• W.O.D. = World of the Dead
• R.O.D. = Realm of the Dead
• P.O.D. = Place of the Dead
• P.O.T. = Pit of Torture
• S.O.D. = State of the Dead
• N.W. = Nether World
• D.U.C. = Dark Underground Caves
• N = New
• S = Standard
• A = American
• I = International
• L = Living
• E = English
• M = Modern
• B = Bible
• V = Version
• T = Translation
• W = World
• C = Contemporary

What is Gehenna?
Catholic periodical Commonweal:
"The final place of punishment, evidently, is Gehenna, the Valley of Hinno[m], which at one time had been a place where human sacrifice was offered to pagan gods, but in biblical times had already become the city dump, a refuse heap on the outskirts of Jerusalem. Here the stench and smoke and fire were a constant reminder to the inhabitants of what happened to things that had served their purpose-they were destroyed."
Simply put, Gehenna is a garbage dump-See Phillips
"Jewish Views of the Afterlife," by Dr. Simcah Paull Raphael (1994).
Any doctrine of eternal torment or suffering in the afterlife depends on the doctrine of soul immortality. According to Dr. Raphael, this doctrine did not develop until "the apocryphal period," and was "a radically new idea that did not exist in biblical times." (p. 83)

Further, it is only "with the First Book of Enoch [that] another new conception enters Jewish postmortem philosophy -- the notion of Gehenna as a place of eternal damnation," thus sometime between the 3rd and 2nd centuries BCE. (p. 88) It is with the apocryphal book of Enoch that "tours of hell," describing with vivid detail the torments and punishments of the underworld, begin. Interestingly, for some time into the Christian century and beyond, Jewish scholars argued over whether the torments of Gehenna were temporary and purgative, or eternal. (pp. 140-149)

What is Tartarus?
Their being cast into "Tartarus" refers to their being debased, cut off from God's favor and all enlightenment. This is evident from the fact that the expression 'throwing into Tartarus' in the original Greek is a verb. So it refers to an act of debasement and not to a literal place. The idea conveyed is similar to the English word "debase," which uses the noun "base" but does not in itself suggest the existence of a literal base. The Bible here uses symbolic language that the Greeks would understand with Homer's Iliad. See Jude 6.

What is Hades and Sheol?
As we see from the above, Hades and Sheol are simply the grave. That is why the Rotherham Bible says, "Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do> < with thy might> do, for there is no work nor calculation nor knowledge nor wisdom, in hades, whither thou art going." Eccl 9:10
Checking the marginal references in the 1611 Edition of the King James Version at Psalms 55:15; 86:13; Isaiah 14:9; and Jonah 2:2, you will see that "Hell" is indeed the "Grave."

It actually seems that the Bible more often uses the term "FIRE" as coming from God and Heaven:
See Gen 19:24; Ex 9:23; Numbers 11:1; Deut 4:11, 36; 9:3; 18:16; 1 Kings 18:24; 2 Ki 1:10, 12, 14; 2:11; 1 Chron 21:26; 2 Chron 7:1; Job 1:16; Ps 18:13; Ps 50:3; 68:2; 78:21; Isaiah 30:27; 42:25; Jer 5:14; 17:4; Joel 2:30; Luke 9:54; Lu 17:29; 2 Thess 1:7;2 Pet 3:12; Rev 10:1; 13:13; 20:9; Song of Solomon 8:6

Isaiah 66:15,  For, behold, Jehovah will come with fire, and his chariots shall be like the whirlwind; to render his anger with fierceness, and his rebuke with flames of fire. ASV

JER 15:14.  And I will make them to pass with thine enemies into a land which thou knowest not; for a fire is kindled in mine anger, which shall burn upon you. ASV

LAM 4:11.  Jehovah hath accomplished his wrath, he hath poured out his fierce anger; And he hath kindled a fire in Zion, which hath devoured the foundations thereof. ASV

ZEPH 3:8.  Therefore wait ye for me, saith Jehovah, until the day that I rise up to the prey; for my determination is to gather the nations, that I may assemble the kingdoms, to pour upon them mine indignation, even all my fierce anger; for all the earth shall be devoured with the fire of my jealousy. ASV

DEUT 4:24.  For Jehovah thy God is a devouring fire, a jealous God. ASV

Heb 12:29.  for our God is a consuming fire.

God's fiery judgment is reserved for ONE day, "the day of Jehovah:"
"For, behold, the day cometh, it burneth as a furnace; and all the proud, and all that work wickedness, shall be stubble; and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith Jehovah of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch." Mal 4:1 ASV
"Behold, the day of Jehovah cometh, cruel, with wrath and fierce anger; to make the land a desolation, and to destroy the sinners thereof out of it." Isa. 13:9 ASV
"That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of wasteness and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness." Zeph 1:13 ASV

E-mail comments:
"Your approach and understanding of Hell is a parallel of my own.  In Luke
16:23, It is my
understanding from a scriptural point of view that this is a parable,
because the word(s)
"There was" is translated from the simple Greek connective DE.  Of lately,
on the B-Greek List, there is a good thread along this subject line.  The
common understanding is that DE is a weak connective of continuance; thus,
if we translate correctly, it should be "but" or substitute the connective
with a semicolon, which signals a continuing thought or closely related
subject.  Another thing to reflect upon is Jesus' words in Matt. 13:10 and
Mark 4:33.  They plainly state that Jesus did not speak unto the people
except in parable, especially to the Scribe, Pharisee and Sadducee.

Semper in Christi,
W."

One student, however, wrote the following:

First, we need to know how the mass of Hell is changing in time.
So, we need to know the rate that souls are moving into Hell
and the rate they are leaving. I think that we can safely assume
that once a soul gets to Hell, it will not leave. Therefore, no
souls are leaving. As for how many souls are entering Hell,
let's look at the different religions that exist in the world
today. Some of these religions state that if you are not a member
of their religion, you will go to Hell. Since there are more
than one of these religions and since most people do not
belong to more than one religion, we can project that all people
and all souls go to Hell.  With birth and death rates as they
are, we can expect the number of souls in Hell to increases
exponentially. Second, we look at the rate of change of the
volume in Hell because Boyle's Law states that in order for the
temperature and pressure in Hell to stay the same, the volume in
Hell has to expand as souls are added. This gives two possibilities:

1. If Hell is expanding at a slower rate than the rate at which
souls enter Hell, then the temperature and pressure in Hell
will increase until all Hell breaks loose.
2. Of course, if Hell is expanding at a rate faster than the
increase of souls in Hell, then the temperature and pressure
will drop until Hell freezes over.

So which is it? If we accept the postulate given to me by Miss
Therese Banyan during my freshman year that, "It will be a cold
night in Hell before I go bowling with you," and take into account
the fact that I still have not succeeded with her, then #2 cannot
be true, and so Hell is exothermic.

The student got the only "A".

THE DESTINY OF MAN
A POEM
SATAN THE DEVIL INVENTED THE LIE

Listen, dear friends, and I'll tell you a lie,
"The soul is immortal, and cannot die."

Now this is the way that the lie was begun,
That's believed by most men that lives under the sun.

In Eden God planted a garden fair,
And there He placed the first human pair.

To dress it and keep it and make it their home,
Throughout the whole land they had privilege to roam.

In the midst of the Garden of Eden stood,
The Tree of the Knowledge of Evil and Good.

God said, "If you eatest of this certain tree,
Surely your lives I'll require of thee."

But Satan, that Serpent, was lurking there,
Intent on deceiving the first human pair.

"Thou shalt not surely die", Said the Father of Lies,
"Eat of the tree; It shall make thee wise."

So they ate of the tree and Jehovah said,
'By the sweat of thy face, shalt thou eat thy bread.'

"Thistles and thorns shall the earth yield for thee,
Because thou didst eat of that certain tree.”

But to Satan The Serpent, Jehovah Said,
The Seed of the Woman shall crush thy head.

Thus also the doom of the Father of lies,
Was first made known in Paradise.

Nine hundred and thirty were the years of his life,
Who disobeyed God just to please his dear Wife.

But a thousand years is to God but a day,
So God in that day Adams life took away.

A precious God gave to man through old faithful Abraham.
Saying, 'tho the whole world is by Satan oppressed,
Thru thee and thy seed shall all Nations be blessed.'

The whole human race is under the curse;
It's the sentence of death but nothing worse.

In the fulness of time God sent His dear Son,
To redeem the whole world from the wicked one.

He who was rich for Our sakes became poor,
That we thru His blood, might have life evermore.

Men scorned and reviled Him, and put Him to shame,
But now He has honor O'er every name.

He is calling a people to be His dear Wife,
And they with the Lord to the world will give life.

These are already wearing their White Wedding Dress,
Called the robe of Christ's righteousness.

We must keep the robe free from all wrinkle or stain,
Thru the merit of the blood, Of the Lamb that was slain.

Men's hearts are fast failing for dread and for fear,
Of the great time of trouble that soon will be here.

Thruout the whole World are the Nation's distressed,
They know not that soon shall all nations be Blessed.

For soon the desire of all nations shall come,
They shall learn war no more, for God's will shall be done.

When the very last one of the Bride has been sealed,
Then God's Holy arm shall to all be revealed.

The glory of God shall fill the whole earth,
Sorrow and sighing shall give place to mirth.

No evil, no sickness, no sin shall be found,
For a thousand years shall Satan be bound.

But when Christ's reign o'er the world has ceased.
Then old Satan, shall be released.

He shall try everyone to determine if they shall be loyal to God,or
Satan obey.

Those who are loyal to their Father in Heaven,
Shall eternal life on this planet be given.
But if for their leader they Satan shall choose,
Surely forever they their life rights shall lose.

Yes, Satan and all those against God rebel,
Shall be turned into the 'Bible Hell".

Thanks be to God that we have learned,
That hell's not a place where people are burned.

For God is to be loving and kind and just,
To torture his creatures that He made of the dust.

But all of the wicked will God destroy,
And the righteous Eternal life shall enjoy.
Written by: Milton Moyer        1915
(Father of Gladys Taylor)
(Grandfather of Yvonne Galbraith)

Even apart from the image of a truly merciless God that contradicts everything we can assume from what Jesus says of the Father of the lost, can we be suprised at a time when retibutive punishments without an opportunity of probation are being increasingly abandoned in education
and penal justice, that the idea not only of a lifelong, but even eternal punishment of body and
soul, seems to many people absolutely monstrous.
-Hans Kung

The Clergy Take Another Look at Hell:

U.S. Catholic magazine: "There are in fact so many strong biblical, doctrinal, and logical arguments against the existence of a literal hell that this question naturally arises: Why do the churches teach it and why do people often believe it?" The minister, Robert Short, suggests that the answer lies in the churches' "faithless fear of giving up 'the gospel at gunpoint.'" He said: "The churches tend to believe, consciously or unconsciously, that fear-rather than love-conquers all."
The clergyman asserted that the "most powerful argument against the existence of a literal hell is . . . that we can know a thing by its fruits. (Matt. 7:16, 20)" Using this test, he observed: "It has become painfully apparent that the 'Christian' doctrine which has yielded the most poisonous fruits is the teaching of a literal hell. For not only can it be proven that this doctrine has produced cruel, self-righteous 'Christians' throughout Western history, Christians who have felt justified in hating and even killing since it can be argued that any action is justified if it saves more people from hell, but a literal hell's more modern and even deadlier fruit has been atheism."
In conclusion, Short declared: "Only if the teaching of hell were true would the churches be justified in retaining it. And a growing number of theologians-both Catholic and Protestant-are now saying it is not true. If it is not true, then the churches have no time to lose in loudly and clearly saying this to the world."
Jehovah's Witnesses had a hundred-year head start in "clearly saying this to the world."-U.S. Catholic, April 1980, pp. 37-40.

Back to Main Page

Jehovah's Witnesses