In the marketplace of ideas in our culture today, the idea of hell is a hot topic. The word is used in so many contexts as to render it virtually meaningless. As an expletive, it is used incorrectly in the grammatical sense. As a threat, it is ambiguous and generally ineffective. It is hard to tell someone seriously to "go to hell" when you're not quite sure what you mean by it or if you even believe it exists. It is a term borrowed from an earlier day (mid 19th century) when hellfire and brimstone bellowed from the pulpits, and it was so effective for a short time that it caught the public eye, and more importantly, it showed up on the radar of detractors who ridiculed the idea. They ridiculed it so effectively that it is now a byword used only by religious wackos and by people who want to add some "umph" to their statement, and, of course, by comedians, comic strip writers, and is used comically by atheists who are debating religious wackos. Most others do not seem to consider it worth much thought.
As an aspect of the afterlife (its original context), it is misunderstood, miscommunicated, and sometimes thought of as foolish and old fashioned, dogmatic, and often as a fear mechanism used by some churches to control the behavior and finances of the weak minded. It has been touted like a club by the church in the past. It has been ridiculed like a court jester by many popular sources. Images of caves aflame and a mischievous goat-hoofed and horned red dude with a pointed tail and a pitchfork have been ingrained in our minds from youth by cartoons, comic strips and movies.
This is the idea of hell that I personally grew up with. And I think it's hilarious. But I have a sinking feeling that this is the idea of hell most of us grew up with. Intellect aside (where you know there is more to the story), when you think of hell, this is probably the kind of thing most of you first think of. These kinds of images make hell ludicrous deep down in our minds, no matter how much we try to keep it real up top. But if there is a hell, what is it really like?
A recent Gallup poll found that 73% of Americans believe in hell, as compared to 32% from Great Britain. A much higher percentage from both countries believe in heaven, however, 90% and 62% respectively. These people believe that there is a place called hell that serves as an afterlife of torment. These percentages are surprisingly high if you are engulfed in our modern media, showing the disconnect between the views of the populace and the views of those from whom we get our information. To be raised by a TV set (the way that, sadly, many of us are these days) you might think that no one takes hell seriously anymore. They do. However, among some Christian denominations and non-religious categories, belief in hell is falling, slowly, but consistently.
Famed pastor/author/speaker Rob Bell of Mars Hill Church (known among many church types by his NOOMA videos) in Grand Rapids, Michigan recently wrote a book entitled "Love Wins: Heaven, Hell, and the Fate of Every Person Who Ever Lived". It was number 2 on the New York Times bestsellers list last week. In this book, Bell questions the biblical doctrine of hell and postulates that God's love will win out in the end for all. In interviews about the subject (going much farther back than the release of this book) he has remained vague and elusive about whether or not he believes that hell as an afterlife destination exists at all. His theory is that God loves everyone too much to ever send anyone to hell.
I'm not going to debate his points here, because I have not yet read his book and am only going off of news stories as to what it's all about. What I want to do instead, though, is to give you a rundown of what the Bible actually says about this place we call "hell". Does it exist? What is it like? Who goes there? Can you get out? How long does it last? These are questions I will try to answer, mostly by pointing out the relevant text and letting it speak for itself.
The word "hell" is an English term that appears nowhere in the original texts of the Bible. In Hebrew, the abode of the dead is termed "Sheol". In the Greek New Testament writings, there are three words associated with the idea of hell, "Hades", "Tartaros", and "Gehenna", each of them having slightly different meanings. Sheol appears 67 times in the Old Testament. Hades appears 11 times, Tartaros once, and Gehenna 12 times in the New Testament. Hell is mentioned directly 89 times throughout the 66 books of the Bible. It is referred to indirectly several times as well, and two other terms ("the pit" and "the lake of fire") are also closely associated with it.
I am going to cover all of its different uses in the Bible, and try to draw a comprehensive picture of what they all together say about this place we call hell. Stay tuned for more.
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