The inferno, Hades, the Abyss, these all conjure visceral images in the Christian mind. It is a place of eternal torment where unrepentant sinners and unbelievers will receive their just reward. Some hold that it is merely a gloomy, hopeless separation from the presence of God, while others maintain it as a place of far more proactive horrors. A cavernous hollow filled with flaming pools of molten sulfur, noxious fumes, and of cours, the shrieks of the Damned. Lucifer and the fallen angels who followed him in rebellion against the Throne of God are both prisoners and punishers here for time everlasting. Abandon all hope all ye who enter here, is the common theme of both inceptions of Hell.
But, is this the Truth?
If Christianity is truly a transformative process in which believers conform themselves to the image of Christ, the answer is: No. Christ would not agree with either common Christian conception, or even as a place of eternal punishment.
God is Love and full of Grace,
believe in Him or be forever
Damned to a hellish place.
Does that sum up your understanding of Salvation and Damnation? If it does, you're the in the majority as this "Believe or Burn" ultimatum is at the core of mainstream Christian doctrine. However, does it conform to the image of Christ, and if not then which is wrong Christ or mainstream Christian doctrine?
The most prominent of early Church "Fathers" (Who's the Father?) insist that Jesus descended into hell as The Apostle's Creed emphatically states...
"[Jesus] suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried; he descended into hell."
There is no evidence, nor suggestion in the Gospels that Jesus spent a long weekend in Hell. One would think the Gospel writers would mention such an unusual excursion, yet the biographers of the Keystone of Christianity are silent on this clause of Creed. Why?
It seems that the many early Church fathers were intent on rescuing the Patriarchs of Judaism, especially Moses, from where they were which would obviously be hell. I know it sounds crazy, but that was the reasoning in the opening era of Christian thought.
If we refer to the original blueprints of Creation, we find no account of the Creator including a physical place of eternal torment, the hell which mainstream Christian doctrine dogmatically decrees. Perhaps, God was remiss in His documentation or His execution of His Creation?
Hmm? God's Word vs. Man's traditions?
What a unique scenario. Never before have we encountered such a quandary. It boggles the mind that our clear view of God could be blocked by thick walls and a curtain built by men.
This is our human nature at work once again, but this is not the Nature of our God, and I praise God for it. We can and do believe that a God of Mercy and Love which endures forever can and will change into a God of ceaseless anger and eternal vindictiveness at some Heavenly Appointed time in the future.
Our concept of consistency is kind of pathetic like our physical beings, wisps of smoke that are here today and gone tomorrow. We ASSUME that God is made in our (specifically, my) image. That's a distorted picture, a doctrinal error, but it's a hit in our theology.
The rationalization of this skewed view is that Jesus descended into hell to declare His victory over death and Satan. It makes perfect sense, sort of like Christ taking a victory lap or spiking the ball. The issue is it presents a more anthropomorphic God than we have. The pre-Resurrection Jesus did not need to post a Three Day "I paid-You Quit" notice on the Gates of Hell.
The story is cute, however I believe this is another "wakadoodle" (that's me being creative with a pen) bit of priestly fabricated tradition. The Church Fathers may have been suffering from a touch of post-Ascension depression or someone was just being "creative" with a pen, again. The Jews redacted the Name of God and we augmented His interim itinerary and Final Intention, thus completely obscuring... You guessed it... The Nature of God.
We are awesome(ly stupid)!
Speaking of those troublesome followers of Yahweh who may still consider Jesus most troublesome (Man, we are confused, aren't we?), Judaism has no eternal Hell, Hades, or any such long-term inferno equivalent, and it never did. If this central understanding of our relationship with God was wrong, Jesus would have been very specific in clarifying and correcting the error. Setting things straight was His Purpose.
I do not expect anyone to take my word for it, but you should. Let's go ask the Yehudi, the People of Yahweh (AKA - the Jews)...
Question:
Dear Rabbi,
Do Jews believe in Hell? I am not planning any trips there or anything, but I have heard conflicting reports about its existence.
Answer:
We do believe in a type of Hell, but not the one found in cartoons and joke books. Hell is not a punishment in the conventional sense; it is, in fact, the expression of a great kindness.
The Jewish mystics described a spiritual place called “Gehinnom.” This is usually translated as “Hell,” but a better translation would be “the Supernal Washing Machine.” Because that’s exactly how it works. The way our soul is cleansed in Gehinnom is similar to the way our clothes are cleansed in a washing machine.
Put yourself in your socks’ shoes, so to speak. If you were to be thrown into boiling hot water and flung around for half an hour, you might start to feel that someone doesn't like you. However, the fact is that it is only after going through a wash cycle that the socks can be worn again.
We don’t put our socks in the washing machine to punish them. We put them through what seems like a rough and painful procedure only to make them clean and wearable again. The intense heat of the water loosens the dirt, and the force of being swirled around shakes it off completely. Far from hurting your socks, you are doing them a favor by putting them through this process.
Rabbi Aron Moss
Jesus would not know, agree with, and certainly would not visit the demonic place that some, but not all, of the early church fathers claimed Christ whistlestopped on His postmortem itinerary. Eternal torment of His children, even His prodigals, is not in the Nature of our God, I Am. He declares us "Not Guilty" because the Law has been fulfilled.
Perhaps, we should be more attentive to preventing infection rather than spreading the yeast, but eventually God will provide the (washing) solution to our problems.
God Bless!
P.S. - I prefer my stake unburned.
Footnote of Interest:
The concept of "I am on the way to Heaven and you (should you disagree with me) are bound for (eternal) hell" is a very clear precept in Islam. The Koran clearly states that this is where Allah will spend much of his time roasting the souls of those who dared to disagree with Muhammad.
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