Hellenized Judaism

[Rob LentzParticipant]

As I understand it, the OT has no word for the concept of Hell as we typically envision it.  Sheol, I’ve read was just the abode of the dead and righteous and unrighteous souls – all went there and it was neither reward, nor punishment.  So I’ve heard that the idea of Hell was actually a concept that came from Greek philosophy/mythology (dualism and Hades) and that when Jesus talked of throwing people into the fires of “Gehenna” he was speaking of a literal garbage dump on the outskirts of town and this alludes to passages in the OT as well.  i.e. “where the worm never dies, and smoke that rises for eternity, etc.”  Anyways, I was wondering if anyone had come across any good references for how much Greek thought affected NT concepts of hell and how they differ with OT concepts of Sheol.  Does anyone know what observant Jews believe about these concepts?

[Anonymous]

All I know is that the concept of hell did not come into Christianity until either the 3rd or 5th century (I never can remember which one it is.) Don’t know anything about how it relates to Judaism.

[Rob LentzParticipant]

Thanks @Jo – 3rd or 5th century AD would have been after the canonization of the Bible and the imperialization/standardization of becoming the official Roman religion probably, huh?  Interesting – now, when I think of hell, I think of spiritual terrorism – very effective in the hands of the church/state.

[David HaywardKeymaster]

I think the concept of hell is totally political.

[DanielleParticipant]

What do you mean political?

[David HaywardKeymaster]

What I mean is that Hell may have been imagined and developed as a way of controlling people… hence “political”.

[DanielleParticipant]

Oh yeah, do I know that effect. I used to obsessively worry about people I knew who were going to hell. It consumed everything.

[Rob LentzParticipant]

I’ve tried to have this discussion with my evangelical friends. It goes over like you might imagine. I think a lead balloon might go further. It is interesting how much fear there is involved in most religion. Fear/shame are so unhealthy for us, but it’s grip is so strong it is hard to scratch the surface.

[DanielleParticipant]

That’s one of the things that made me wonder about religion in the first place – if these things (shame, fear) are unhealthy for us, why would God make it such a part of religion? I was in a same-sex relationship for a while (turns out I’m not gay), and I used to go to work every day, petrified that I was going to hell. It was its own form of private hell. Then I started thinking… if someone in my city did one thing wrong, like stealing, and didn’t admit to it (repent), and he was sentenced to burn forever and ever, we as Christians would be outraged. We’d stage a protest. And yet we think that’s a perfectly reasonable punishment for someone after they die.

[WadeParticipant]

Author Brian McLaren argues that the idea of Hell is indeed a Hellenic concept, added to Christianity quite deliberately perhaps a few hundred years after Jesus. Scholars aren’t sure when, though, other than it is a Hellenic and not a Judaistic concept. But remember Paul was well-versed in Greek thinking.

McLaren mentions it in his book “A New Type Of Christianity”. In addition, the idea of a permanent, continuous punishment (which is embodied in the idea of Hell) is also very Hellenistic. Judaistic ideas of that are of a single punishment event, then it’s over and everyone moves forward.

[DanielleParticipant]

And the “gnashing of teeth” bit?

[Rob LentzParticipant]

Thanks Wade, I’ll have to add McLaren’s book to my library/reading list.

[Rob LentzParticipant]

I no longer believe in any sort of hell and I take issue with the institutions that propagate it. Especially when spoon feeding it to little ones in children’s programs and youth group. Children have a natural tendency to trust authority/adults so it can be hard to root that out once it’s taken hold. And that’s (in my opinion) reprehensible. Makes me want to gnash my teeth and weep.

• This reply was modified 4 months, 2 weeks ago by  Rob Lentz.

[David HaywardKeymaster]

I agree Rob.

[DerekParticipant]

I totally despise the idea of hell as well. I used to be so concerned about other people who were “headed to hell” and was agonized about my own eternal fate. What a waste of time and what a horrible thing to believe – God wants people who don’t believe or live “correctly” to burn forever. What happened to love and forgiveness? No, I choose to believe in a God who wants no pain or harm to come to anyone. Ever.

[Author]

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