One of the major tenets of historic Christianity is that of rewards and punishment. Put in simple terms, most Christian churches and individuals believe that righteous people are rewarded for their righteousness by going forever to a place called "Heaven," and that unrighteous people are punished for their sinful life styles by going forever to a place called "Hell." I do not wish to discuss in this article the biblical affirmations and the misconceptions of Christians about the eternal destiny of the righteous and good people. That is a topic of discussion for another occasion.
In this article I would invite the reader to seriously examine the assumptions and presuppositions that have been ingrained into us about the destiny of evil people. We have been taught that at the end of time, sinners will be relegated to a place called "hell" where they will "roast and toast" forever and ever. In other words the word "hell" has been used to describe the last stop for the wicked. "Hell" is thought of as a place or condition where wicked people will suffer eternal conscious torment.
In historic Christianity (especially fundamentalist and evangelical Christianity), we are taught that if one does not accept Jesus the Christ as Lord and Savior of their lives, that God will send them to hell to suffer the consequences of their sin. Many Christians "move heaven and earth," to insure that people avoid this terrible catastrophe. They will badger, harass, and intimidate people non-Christians into accepting Christ, joining the Church, and then adopt a lifestyle contrary to their previous one. In many cases, this previous lifestyle is one which even many non-Christians do not adhere to. For example, people are expected to refrain from alcohol, tobacco usage, sexual immorality, etc. once they become Christians. They are constantly bombarded with biblical texts such as "if any person be in Christ, they are new creations." Ironically enough, there are many non-Christians, non-religious people, and even atheists who do not indulge in these vices nor practice sexual immorality. Consequently, the expectation of a new life-style is a rather superfluous one.
This type of Gospel message is proclaimed by literally scaring the "hell out" of people in order to Christianize them. Many Christians even intimate that if you are not a member of their church or type of church that you are definitely hell-bound.
The truth of the matter is that the word "hell" is never used in the Bible with the destiny of the wicked. Unless one is a biblical literalist, it is impossible to reconcile the biblical doctrine of the love of God with the proclamation of a God who would relegate some to eternal conscious suffering because they didn't practice the "right" religion, and were not members of the "good ole boys club."
There are several terms in the original languages of the Bible (Hebrew for the Old Testament and Greek for the New Testament) which are translated into English as "hell." They are the following:
1. Sheol (in Hebrew) and Hades (in Greek) Sheol and Hades are a biblical reference to the grave or tomb. In a very technical sense, when we die (whether we are believers or not), we all go to "hell", i.e. the tomb.
2. Gehenna (in Greek) Gehenna referred to a garbage dump or incinerator outside the confines of ancient Jerusalem where the bodies of criminals and other social rejects were buried.
3. Tartaros (in Greek). Tartaros was a Greek word used to describe the condition or state of death.
Depending on which one of these three words is translated into the word "hell" in a particular biblical text, the word should be used in conjunction with its originally intended purpose and not to concoct something which was never envisioned by the biblical writers. We need to be careful to avoid the trap of misusing the Bible by simply misquoting a text or simply quoting it without taking into account its meaning in the original language of Scripture. We also need to avoid the trap of quoting a biblical text without taking into consideration its cultural context and also the role that metaphorical and symbolic language play in Scripture. Otherwise, we become biblical literalists, and miss the point which was originally intended, subsequently distorting the message.
Having said all of the above, I humbly submit that it is time to:
1. Rethink how we read the Bible. We must avoid the impulsive, literalist, mechanical, robotic, and quick to verse approaches to Scripture reading. We must also avoid at all costs, a decontextualized reading of Scripture.
2. Having reconfigured the way we read Scripture, we must :
a. Reevaluate our biblical theology regarding particular teachings.
b. Discard for once and for all, the gory and monstrous doctrine of eternal consciousness suffering in a place called "hell."
c. Having discarded this doctrine, take the logical step of saying "the hell with hell."
Please share you opinions and views with us on this subject. You can respond to this article, telling us why you agree or disagree with what has been said. In responding, please make sure that you have "done your homework" in examining the biblical languages, the historical background of the Scriptures, church history, and the historic traditions of the church. I look forward to your engagement with us.
Grace and peace,
Dr. Juan A. Ayala-Carmona
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