March 31, 2011
-
A Literal Hell
Remember the good old days when people believed in a literal hell? I am not talking about the place you go and are separated from God.
I mean the literal hell where people burned forever in torment and no one wanted to go there.
Do you believe in a literal burning hell?
Comments (123)
i dunno about literally burning….and i’d rather not find out
Yes, the bible clearly teaches a literal, eternal, hell for all those who don’t have their sin forgiven in Christ.
No, as a physical body cannot burn for more than five hours. Ask any Hindu.
Nope.
Even though I love Dante’s Inferno.
Yep. The end.
I think the idea of literal hell is ridiculous.
When I was Christian, I did believe in the literal hell. Now… well, I think you can guess.
honestly if i died and went to hell…i picture myself being right back on Earth, except there are no good people and everything is burning
No.
Burning Hell? Everyone knows that Hell froze over in 1994.
I’m an atheist. Take a guess.
Yes. I also believe it wasn’t created by God for people, but people who will end up there will do so because they choose to go there…
I don’t think a hell that that exists… or that most of the population would deserve to go there since supposedly most don’t go to heaven anyways…
Yes, it is real/ Literal .
yep
yes because I’ve been there…Kasota, MN.
Yes, but I also believe that God is much more forgiving than my Baptist upbringing led me to believe in my youth.
@SoapAndShampoo - Every time I start wondering where you’ve gone and worrying that you’ve left, you pop back up and I’m ridiculously happy. (((HUGS)))
Grad school?
I strongly suspect that any language about the new creation is at best figurative, but I can’t prove it.
Do you believe in a literal burning hell?
No, because hell is described as darkness and fire gives off light. And how could a spiritual body literally burn forever? Even if it’s not literal, whatever it symbolizes doesn’t sound like fun.
No, but the hell I do believe in is far worse than I care to think much about. And I don’t have to think about it that much. Thank God!
Are you describing the shores of New Jersey in July?
Being a Jew, never have. We never had that stuff.
no…
I like to think that it’s like the part in Johnny The Homicidal Maniac (it’s a comic by Jhonen Vasquez) when Nny dies. He goes to hell and he’s basically back on Earth but the sins of the world are shoved in his face so much so that he can’t enjoy anything. It’s like hell is other people.
It’s a good read. And quite funny.
Meh, I’ll be dead so I won’t feel it.
Plus I heard all the best (people? hang out there…. Elvis, The Rat-Pack etc. At least there will be “cool” music playing.
no, but i do believe in something after death, weather it be good or bad………
ill tell you when i get there ;D
Xanga, isn’t this it?
Yes.
Nope.
nope. everyone who’s read Dante knows that Hell at its core is a frozen wasteland.
Yup. I believe it is very real, but not a place that we can find while living. It’s on the other side. Good thing God forgives all for those who love Him!
@BooduhX3Belly - I love Johnny The The Homicidal Maniac =P
@xxSHhHxxBExxQUiETxx - Fucking marry me, bitch. (I love that book)
Nope, and even if I did, it never made sense to me. I mean, pain, hunger and other things like that are all physical attributes that we need to inform us of the state of our bodies for our survival. Say that souls existed and in death, your soul gets separated from your body and you undergo judgment. If you were sent to a burning inferno for a hell, you wouldn’t feel a damn thing. Again, pain is a physical thing, for the most part.
If hell were real, I would believe that instead of physical torture, that it would punish a soul through psychological or emotional means. In my version of hell, I would be stuck in an infinite white room, with nothing but a wet rug, a splintery wooden chair and an old TV that only shows the face of an old lady sneering at you with constant white noise. Even if you ran to get away from the room, you’d end up in front of the same TV set and chair, every time. That would be hell.
@carolinavenger - And has a layer that’s composed of shit. I love that book.
No. Atheism FTW.
Yea its literal alright. Go walk down the street in the inner cities in most metropolitan cities. Huff, Compton, Smith Homes in Greensboro, North Charlotte (NC). If hell is a place of suffering, indignity, pain, regret, fear, violence, nihilism, and meaninglessness you don’t have to look underneath the ground. shit.
Nope.
Hell, if it exists has got to be terrible, but I cant imagine it as some random endless plain of fire. It’s just so crude and medieval. If anything it’d be dark and isolating while somehow overloading all our senses to the point of psychic and perceived physical anguish. Like an alternate dimension where the separation of our minds from what we know as bodies is unlimited and indescribably horrible. I guess if you think of Hell like that, no, I don’t. I cant imagine how anyone would. :/
@TakingxOverxMe - -
@PervyPenguin - YES, you get what I’m talking about!!!
I don’t believe in Hell.
@BooduhX3Belly - I LOVE that version of Hell. I like his version of Heaven too — pretty reasonable to me. I’m an atheist, but those assessments seem pretty accurate to me.
I’m also happy that there’s someone else floating around here who’s read JTHM.
I wondered where hell actually would be, then I decided that since we are basically returning to the earth when we die, our bodies get cycled into the Earth’s core. 9000 degrees Fahrenheit, that’s pretty hot. So yeah, I believe in hell.
I’m a Christian so I do believe in a literal Hell where people burn in
eternal torment AND they are eternally separated from God. So, I’m
confused how you can think you’re referring to one Hell without
referring to the other? They are one and the same . So maybe you could
explain further so I’m not confused. If you don’t, I’m going to assume
you don’t read your comments and then I’ll wonder if it’s worth reading
here.
@MagisterTom - Amen!
That or worse.
I don’t know if I believe in a literal hell. I mean, if I believe in God, does that mean I believe in Heaven? And if I believe in Heaven, does that mean I believe in Hell, too?
I’m really not sure…it’s almost as if I’m scared NOT to believe it.
Yes.
I thought the christian god was suppose to be loving? why would such a loving god invoke such torture.
I’d rather not think about it. Eww
@exatreides - that’s interesting… i always thought that the holy books for christians, muslims, and jews speak of same or similar eternal literal hell… i’m quite sure about chistian and islam (what is being said in the book), but never had the chance to interact with a jew on the subject…
Yup.
yes
Jesus believed in hell. Just how literally his words – ‘be cast into hell where their worm does not die and their fire is not quenched’ – are to be taken is something for interpretation. Gehenna was the place outside the city where the rubbish was continually burnt and Jesus compared hell to it though as an eternal version. Whatever, I certainly don’t want to go there. Hence I am so so thankful that Jesus, has made it possible for my sins to be forgiven and for me to be rescued from that place, wherever it is. Of course, there are stacks of other benefits to knowing Jesus but that is one of them.
no, I envision hell as a blacklight rave party, where I nonchalantly surf in the lava with my smokin hot friends, one of which is the devil, who isn’t that evil, the haters are just gossip mongers
You should never yield added lida than the recommended dosage (3 a day best of Lida daidaihua 60mg pills) in an attack to lose added weight. Doing so abundantly increases your accident of ancillary effects, artlessly because you will see added fat getting anesthetized undigested through the body.
Throughout Christian history, there have been many Christians who’ve believed that Hell isn’t a literal “lake of fire”. In fact, the Eastern Orthodox Church believes that hell is still in the presence of God, but the ones that suffer there are suffering because they find the presence of God to be tormenting in their sinful state. Some churches even believe that in hell, you just plain out cease to exist.
I’m not saying that that’s correct, but I am saying that it isn’t necessarily “traditional” to believe that Hell is a place where a soul burns for all eternity. I stand by the fact that we really don’t know much about it, and we don’t know much about it for a reason. We tend to put too much emphasis on Hell and not enough on the hell we (and others) experience on earth.
Back in the day, people believed that there were physical entrances to hell… like, you could enter a cave and get to Hell by traveling through it. Lol.
Nope.
The problem that exists with your view of hell, Dan, is that it’s not the literal view, it is merely assumption and a product of over-active imagination. A literal view is a view that the Bible supports, and the idea that eternal torment awaits anyone besides Satan and his devils does not come from the Bible.
The Bible teaches about the termination of the soul. The word “hell” is an old English term that refers to a pit where garbage is disposed of, often by burning. Jesus compares the termination of the soul to the nearby garbage dump of Gehenna. He is quoting from Isaiah 66:24, which specifically tells us that what goes in that fire will be dead bodies.
By definition, hell refers to disposal of garbage in a pit. When analogously applied to the destination after death, it refers to complete termination by fire. Unlike the devil, we have mortal souls which can be destroyed.
When I was growing up, they were one in the same…I didn’t realize it was different now.
If Hell existed, most of the general population would probably go. I see Hell as not going to an afterlife and just existing as rotting flesh and a wasted soul.
HELL O.E. hel, helle “nether world, abode of the dead, infernal regions,” from P.Gmc. *khaljo (cf. O.Fris. helle, O.N. hel, Ger. Hölle, Goth. halja “hell”) “the underworld,” lit. “concealed place,” from PIE *kel- “to cover, conceal, save” (see cell). The English word may be in part from O.N. Hel (from P.Gmc. *khalija “one who covers up or hides something”), in Norse mythology Loki’s daughter, who rules over the evil dead in Niflheim, the lowest of all worlds (nifl “mist”). Transfer of a pagan concept and word to a Christian idiom, used in the KJV for O.T. Heb. Sheol and N.T. Gk. Hades, Gehenna. Used figuratively for “any bad experience” since at least late 14c. As an expression of disgust, etc., first recorded 1670s. Hell-raiser is from 1914 (to raise hell is from 1896); Expression Hell in a handbasket is c.1941, perhaps a revision of earlier heaven in a handbasket (c.1913), with a sense of “easy passage” to whichever destination. Hell or high water is apparently a variation of between the devil and the deep blue sea. To wish someone would go to hell is in Shakespeare (1596). Snowball’s chance in hell “no chance” is from 1931; till hell freezes over “never” is from 1919. To ride hell for leather is from 1889, originally with reference to riding on horseback. Hell on wheels is from 1843.
You know hell is only mentioned in the bible 15 times and it is all in the new testament.
As a side note there are a few words that were translated from the torah to english that make the king james version of the bible also have more uses of hell in it. There are 54 uses of the word hell in KJV. This is another one of those times where it can be said that through hundreds of translations and re writing of the bible you can change the meaning. Gehenna is not hell but an area outside of jerusalem but it is translated as hell in the KJV.
I believe in what the bible actually teaches and the only place where it mentions hell fire is the part in revalations where everyone who was raised and judged will be cast into the lake of fire or second death. Aka the end of existence. I am fairly certain that God would not create a realm for his rival to have dominion over as a “war” for mans souls.
Also even if Hell is fire and brimstone according to the bible God already knows whos going where so why try this little experiment of time to begin with? Just send all those destined to fail straight to hell and sort out the rest. Seriously though the bible is so full of contradictory opinions and has been subject to the corruption of man for so long that it really is hard to make an discernable belief out of the entire mess. Oh and btw I may believe in God but I am a misotheist. If you don’t know what it is look it up.
Hell is being cast out of God’s kingdom into the lake of fire which is also known as the second death. You won’t be allowed into his private city and have to wander the earth if you sided with neither him nor his adversary. Which sounds pretty shitty as well.
@FracturedOne - BTW You are much better at explaining what I am too retarded to explain well put. I basically dont believe in any other eternal torment than immortality on earth.
Nah.
I’m not convinced the people who wrote the bible weren’t just trying to scare people into doing what they wanted them to do.
Anyway, I don’t think that either heaven or hell are physical places.
Not at all. If I’m bad santa won’t give me presents. Same thing.Such a place isn’t even described in the bible until revelation (and that’s for the devil and his two companions) so no, I’m not worried.
It shouldn’t be a secret for you that intellectual minds figured this out long time ago. .. just look at the statistics.
I’ll find out when i kick the bucket lol
@maniacsicko - For Jews there is no lake of fire or pitch folks or Uwe bole movies. Being in heaven is just being close to god’s presence, and being in hell is just being further away from him. No physical presence at all, just a completely spiritual thing.
your blog is a literal hell. jk =)
hahahahaha no
Yes. And thinking about it is very scary!
Negative, captain.
I discussed this briefly with a fellow Xangan a short while ago.
I really don’t know what I believe in, in regards to the existence of Hell. I don’t think it’s a literal burning inferno several miles beneath my feet, but it’s a place that banishes me far from God, severs whatever sort of relationship that I had with Him, and is probably a place that gives me emotional and spiritual torture.
No, sir!
@Shades0f_Grey - That’s funny. I think life on this plane of reality is ridiculous.
Yes. Well, depending on what you mean by “literally burning”.
@acomfortingcolloquy - I would say this is probably the most accurate answer.
I’m not much on the Bible or Dante, & I burn too easy on Earth for that to matter. For me, Hell is a place where the theatres all show “Jackass” & Ashton Kutcher, & there are 100 TV channels all showing “The Bachelor”.
I hope so. I would hate to think that the sodomites get to escape the punishment they deserve.
I hear it was meant to be a temporary thing, like detention, but they changed it so that way people would conform… interesting eh?
Literal? Metaphorical? From C.S. Lewis, The Problem Of Pain:
it was admitted that the pain which alone could rouse the bad man to a knowledge that all was not well, might also lead to a final and unrepented rebellion. And it has been admitted throughout that man has free will and that all gifts to him are therefore two-edged. From these premises it follows directly that the Divine labour to redeem the world cannot be certain of succeeding as regards every individual soul. Some will not be redeemed. There is no doctrine which I would more willingly remove from Christianity than this, if it lay in my power. But it has the full support of Scripture and, specially, of Our Lord’s own words; it has always been held by Christendom; and it has the support of reason. If a game is played, it must be possible to lose it. If the happiness of a creature lies in self-surrender, no one can make that surrender but himself (though many can help him to make it) and he may refuse. I would pay any price to be able to say truthfully ‘All will be saved.’ But my reason retorts ‘Without their will, or with it?’
people don’t still believe in that?
not literally, “the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23), I believe that hell is death and eternal separation from God.
@Rob_of_the_Sky - WIN. That comment is so full of win I actually squealed when I read it. I guess there are no other Eagles fans here…:(
As for me, I did…until I went through some stuff recently.
haha…I love the comments.
Oddly, I kind of do. I think I’m at the tail end of the final generation this portrayal of hell was taught to, at least in this area of the Catholic church (not proud of that, but not ashamed).
Nope. Hell is mankind’s common grave. So when you die, you’re dead or don’t exist anymore. Only in God’s memory do you exist. ”From dust you are to dust you shall return.”-Genesis 3:19. Isn’t that what he told Adam? Or did he tell him that when he died he’d go to be burned or tormented by fire eternally? I think we all know the answer to that one.
I’ve been to literal Hell, and it wasn’t all that hot. Actually, it was spring and -4°C. Yes, I’m talking about Hell, Norway. And yes, I’ve really been there!
where the fires is not quenched and the worm dieth not? Where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth? Yes, I believe in it as much as I believe in Atlanta, GA.
@Rob_of_the_Sky - no rob of the sky comment. you actually said something. whoa!
@hevcoh - there is Hell in Michigan. A real place.
@Kampj - Do I crack a joke about it being in Michigan? One state I’ve never really spent time in, so no. But the one in Norway was all frozen over!
I don’t believe in a hell at all.
Yes, I believe in a literal hell.
@hevcoh - i was not joking either. look it up, there is a place call Hell in Michigan.
@Kampj - I know, it’s just I’m not 100% sure I want to offend the whole population of Michigan.
Wrong question. The question shouldn’t be “Do you believe in a literal Hell?”, but rather it should be “Why would anyone want to believe in a literal Hell?”
Being separated from God forever is worse than burning forever in torment, IMO.
Yes
No.
@Shades0f_Grey - Amen.
@Rob_of_the_Sky - I love it!
Yep. If Jesus said it and warned us about Hell, then I believe there is one. I can’t believe Jesus would lie.
if you have lived a bad enough life here on earth then you’ve already seen hell and you just want to stay out of it .
Sometimes I do…sometimes I don’t…sometimes I believe that Hell is a spiritual place…One thing that I always liked about people who believe in a literal Hell and atheists..is their clarity…they and atheists know for sure that their beliefs are correct…whereas a lot of the rest of us are not so sure and muddle around the issue a bit.
One assortment of observe that is accessible available for you arrives through the type concerning the copy watch . The astonishingly very simple alternative toward above query is you choose a design and design of observe that most fits your personality.
Hell yes!!!
Otherwise replicas have a price that affordable for some of us, not like the genuine discount replica watches that some rich people is easy for them to buy, and sometime just only for their ego. Replica is a perfect clone of genuine or the original one. And have also big difference in terms of genuine parts. Some line about Replica Watch from this Article.
Of course not. If Hell does exist and it’s reserved for all the people who sin ect… then I expect it would look a lot more like my Saturday nights than the inside of a volcano.
Yeah, I believe in a Hell. Jesus said it and I believe it.
yessir
I’m a [Sunni] Muslim.Yah, I believe in a literal Hell. It’ll be eternal for the majority of its inhabitants.
..I don’t. Call me a heathen, but I think God’s restoration plan -y’know, how death is necessary and we’ll be sinless and well -would be slightly flawed with more humans than not being tortured just over the gulf. That would take some effort to ignore. For eternity.
Yes I do. See my site for a good interview with noted theologian Dr. J. I. Packer on this subject ( http://bnafreedom.posterous.com ) or go to the Vimeo site and type in the name of J. I. Packer. The interview is in English with Spanish subtitles. I hope you’ll give it a listen. God bless you all!
“And whosoever was not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.” Revelation 20:15
If you read in verse 14 it tells that this is the second death. This is not a physical death but one for the very soul, the soul is eternal.God’s word doesn’t lie! Do you really want to find out the hard way?
yes.
Yes, hell is real. No matter how badly you don’t believe in it, when it’s time for death to approach you, you will finally see it because you didn’t believe in it. Open your eyes people, life is a test and these things are true no matter what. you can keep trying to make yourself feel better by saying it’s not real but it is.
You bet I do.
Hell will be a psychological nightmare. It’s eternally figuring out you screwed up, kinda like being a Christian, then not being one! LOL! The burning part is more Hades from the Greeks. The Jews actually did have such a place called Sheol. Translated it is more the place where saints await the resurrection, or the damned await judgement,
@democrab - No that would be New Jersey in general during the fourth of July. I ‘m giving you Eprops cause you made my night after a crappy day.
I believe that their is a place of everlasting tourment call hell. Hey Hitler, Nero, and Stalin had to go someplace didn’t they.
The “separated from God” hell and the burning hell that no one wants to go to…are one and the same.
Yep, I believe in it…
@TheThinkingPerson - No such thing
Absolutly, Only a fool in there heart says there is no God. And since there is a God there is a HELL. There is also the evil one. Do you all believe there is no evil in the world? There has to be a balance of good and evil. Satan is the prince of Hell just as Jesus is the King of salvation andredemption