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Why a Literal Hell? That is the question posed and I will try and answer the question with what the bible has to say about a hell.

First of all, lets see what the word 'hell' really means. It is found in many bible translations and in some verses it means, 'the grave' or 'the world of the dead'. Other bibles transliterate the original words that are sometimes rendered 'hell'; that is, they express them with the letters of our alphabet but leave the words untranslated. What are these words? In Hebrew, the word for hell is 'she'ohl' and in Greek it is 'hai'des', both of which refer not to an individual burial place but to the common grave of dead mankind; also the Greek word 'ge'en.na,' which is often used as a symbol of eternal destruction.

Does the bible indicate whether the dead experience pain or feel torment?

In Christendom and in many other religions and non religions it is taught that hell is a place inhabited by demons and where the wicked go to after death to be tormented day and night for all eternity. Lets take a look at a few scriptures.
In Ecclesiastes. 9:5,10, it says.

'The living are conscious that they will die;but as for the dead, they are conscious of nothing at all...All that your hand finds to do, do with your very power, for there is no work nor devising nor knowledge nor wisdom in Sheol, the place to which you are going.'

In Psalm. 146:4, it says.

'His spirit goes out, he goes back to his ground; in that day his thoughts do perish.'

In Ezekiel.18:4, it says.

'The soul that is sinning....it itself will die.'

It is quite clear from these scriptures that once we die we feel nothing at all, so where does the concept of hell come from?
Confusion has arisen from the early translators persistently rendering the words, Hades and Gehenna by the word hell. Historically, Gehenna was a place outside of Jerusalem used as an incinerator for dead bodies. Sulfur or brimstone was used to assist the burning. Also criminals who were considered undeserving of burial were thrown into Gehenna. Thus at Matthew 5:29,30, Jesus spoke of the casting of ones 'whole body' into Gehenna. If the body fell into the constantly burning fire it was consumed but if it landed on a ledge of the deep ravine its putrefying flesh became infested with maggots.
Jesus warned his followers to be wary of him that can destroy both soul and body in Gehenna. What does it mean? It means destruction. There is no mention here of torment in the fires of Gehenna. The references to the fiery Gehenna have the same meaning as the 'lake of fire' of Revelation 21:8, namely, destruction, the second death.

Bear in mind that the bible says that the wages sin pays is death, not eternal torment and it also says that he who has died has been acquitted from his sin, through of course the sacrifice of Jesus.

On the basis of scriptures in the bible then it seems that the concept of a literal hell is not a biblical teaching and may have arisen from ancient Babylonian and Assyrian beliefs.

In the bible it says that there will be a resurrection of judgement and a resurrection of life after a thousand years of peace. Those who are found to be judged evil will be cast into the lake of fire to be destroyed, from which there is no resurrection.

That is the punishment for the evil, not a literal hell.

Learn more about this author, Theresa Curnow.
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