Wanted: A Definitive Description of "Hell"

[TexasBEAST]

"Hell" elicits ~4000 hits from a search, so I'll just ask here.

Has anyone ever done a really good, in-depth job of describing the Biblical Hell? I'm curious. I'd like to either watch a CGFX film or read a detailed book describing it up close and personal.

I think most people just leave it at, "You get thrown into a fire and you burn." Any good writers or artists ever go into it with a little more detail than that?

Might make a good idea for a short indie film. Definitely would be a challenge for a writer: just how many ways can you say "burn baby burn"?

I don't want some talky character dialog. I want vivid imagery!

"Hell", aka:

She'ol
Haides

Ge-Hinnom
Geena

Tartaros

[rwald]

One time, I wrote a paper on Dante's Inferno for an English class. Want me to post that? I think it's more than 10 pages long, though... ;)

But it's better than reading the original, which is ~200 pages of epic poetry. :D

[Pyrrho]

http://www.literature.org/authors/milton-john/paradise-lost/chapter-01.html

[rwald]

Oh, yea...I guess I could have mentioned some summaries of Dante's Inferno:

http://www.pinkmonkey.com/booknotes/monkeynotes/pmDivine02.asp
http://www.pinkmonkey.com/booknotes/barrons/inferno02.asp
http://www.sparknotes.com/poetry/inferno/

(BTW, the first two look kinda similar, but they're different, trust me.)

And the full text, if you want it (hint: you don't):

http://pd.sparknotes.com/poetry/inferno/

[joyrex]

Hell could be a state of mind. That of a paranoid delusional schizophrenic with an LSD hangover.

[NoZed Avenger]

Other people.

[UnrepentantSinner]

The answer to what heaven and hell are like are found quite easily by looking to the EU, aka the Beast governmental system, including Italy, which is home to the Anti-Christ religious system. Here's how it breaks down.

Heaven
Administrators = German
Lovers = Italian
Policemen = British
Cooks = French

Hell
Administrators = Italian
Lovers = German
Policemen = French
Cooks = British

[Pahansiri]

Wanted: A Definitive Description of "Hell"

A very nice tropical town in Grand Cayman in the Grand Cayman Islands.http://home.hiwaay.net/~brogers/Hell-Grand-Cayman/images/hell-grand-cayman01.JPG

[triadboy]

Originally posted by TexasBEAST
Has anyone ever done a really good, in-depth job of describing the Biblical Hell?

I think 'hell' changed through time. I think the original 'hell' was the burning refuse dump outside Jerusalem - then somehow it morphed into what the Puritans wanted to happen to you if you didn't tow their line. Now fundamentalists still use that image to scare people into the church.

"Hell" is the church bouncer. You smile - you pay your money - once inside, you don't cause any trouble.

[Pahansiri]

In the NT Jesus or the writers of the Bible do used the term "hell fire" several times. The reason he/they use fire and “hell” together.

The Greek word for hell is “Gehenna".

Outside of the ancient city of Jerusalem there was a ( is a) valley called Gehenna. It was the garbage dump of Jerusalem. Garbage was disposed of there where it was burned.

[evildave]

Can you imagine going to the place where all those nice Jehova's Witlesses end up? You'd never have a moment's rest for all the door-knocking.

How about those (certain) Southern Baptists we keep reading about? Want to spend an eternity with them?

How about the people who've done the very best work for their god in Inquisitions and such?

Hell would be spending a lengthy amount of time with "holier than thou" church people who are CONVINCED they are right.

[EdipisReks]

Originally posted by evildave
Can you imagine going to the place where all those nice Jehova's Witlesses end up? You'd never have a moment's rest for all the door-knocking.

How about those (certain) Southern Baptists we keep reading about? Want to spend an eternity with them?

How about the people who've done the very best work for their god in Inquisitions and such?

Hell would be spending a lengthy amount of time with "holier than thou" church people who are CONVINCED they are right.

give me a shotgun and 500,000 shells, and i'll make that hell into a heaven ;)

[TexasBEAST]

Originally posted by TexasBEAST
I don't want some talky character dialog. I want vivid imagery!
Uh, dude, that "Inferno" and "Paradise Lost" stuff definitely don't qualify. I ain't wading through some ancient English crap that's even harder to read than the Bible. And, um, seems to me that there is quite a bit of tedious dialog in those two works. No gracias.

The original view of the afterlife was simply a boring existence of near-nothingness. The Hebrews called it She'ol and the Greeks called it Haides. Darkness, disembodied spirits, no joy, no drama, basically just depression ad infinitum. This was the destiny of all--good or bad. The good or bad deeds of your life did not determine your personal final end, but instead translated to the fortune of your survivors in the earthly life. (I think this idea served as the basis of the "Limbo" concept.)

Then along come the Parsim (Persians), with their notions of duality of deity, and duality of afterlife. They apparently introduced the notion of a separate positive and negative afterlife. The Greeks separated Haides into the Elysian Fields for good guys, and Tartaros for the baddies. And then there's the Jews.

In the Greek New Testament, we have some indication of the developing Jewish views of the afterlife. There was still contention as to whether there would ever be a resurrection of the dead; indeed, that was one of the sticky points between some of the Jewish leaders and Iesous (Jesus). Iesous alternatively spoke of eternal life and life in Ouranos (sky or heaven). But the word most often used for the final destination of bad guys was "Geena": gamma epsilon epsilon nu alfa.

Outside the walls of the city of JYerushalem was a small valley nestled at the foot of the hills. In days of old, this valley had been known as Gai Hinnom (Valley of Hinnom), or Gai benim-Hinom (Valley of the Sons of Hinom). "Ge-Hinom" is just a contracted form. There is little mention in the Bible of this character Hinom, but the valley is mentioned often. Apparently, during the monarchy period of JYisra'el, many people engaged in pagan child-sacrifice somewhere in this valley. A stigma developed around this place as a result. Centuries later, this valley began being used as a trash dump, indicating that the harsh feelings for the place still lingered. The name of the place began being used as a metaphor for the destination of evil people. Iesous appears to have liked this metaphor very much. "Geena" (GEH-eh-nuh) is just the Greek transliteration of "Ge-Hinom".

Ironically, the word "Hell" comes from the Anglo-Saxon word "Hel", which was the name of the Norse Viking final abode of evil-doers. Only, "Hel" was a place of cold torture, rather than the fire torture of Ge-Hinom "Hell". Fancy that! (Maybe this is why Dante's lower regions of Hell were icy?)

Anyway, I still want more imagery. Horror movie stuff! Less talk, more violence!

[triadboy]

Originally posted by TexasBEAST

Anyway, I still want more imagery. Horror movie stuff!

TexasBeast,

Sounds like you have it right.

So you want to know who's going to be eating you? I always heard from xians that you were in a lake of molten fire and your skin is burning off and you're screaming and the guy next to you is screaming. And everybody's looking at each others' skin burn off and screaming. And this happens for eternity!

So I'm planning on bringing some earplugs and Vaseline Intensive Care lotion.

[EdipisReks]

Originally posted by TexasBEAST

Uh, dude, that "Inferno" and "Paradise Lost" stuff definitely don't qualify. I ain't wading through some ancient English crap that's even harder to read than the Bible. And, um, seems to me that there is quite a bit of tedious dialog in those two works. No gracias.



both of those works are beautifully written and highly enjoyable, and hardly "ancient". i know you are trying for levity here, but that just makes you seem uncultured

[TexasBEAST]

Hey Triadboy, that was cool! That was exactly what I'm talking about.

Question: If your skin is burning off, how long does that go on? Eventually, all your "spiritual" skin would disappear, and along with it, your "spiritual" nerve endings, right? Problem solved: no more pain sensation!

In some passages, Geena is characterized as "eternal punishment", and in others, as "the second death". So...which is it? Do you suffer eternally, or do you just suffer really bad for a short bit and then finally die for once and for all?

The Greek view of Tartaros was that the torture of evil-doers was personalized to the individual, rather than just one catch-all category of a "lake of fire". And those individualized torture devices were rigged to repeat themselves indefinitely. Sounds a lot more creative than the fire-pit idea!

With that in mind, maybe in Geena your spiritual skin and nerves re-grow, and you experience the pain all over again?

("Spiritual skin and nerve endings"??? I'm trying desperately not to laugh!)

[TexasBEAST]

Originally posted by EdipisReks
both of those works are beautifully written and highly enjoyable, and hardly "ancient". i know you are trying for levity here, but that just makes you seem uncultured
True, they are classic lit. And I don't mean to demean them as writers. But they do little to answer my original question. I'm looking for a description of Hell itself--not a description of people going on a vacation through it. All that stilted dialog is just a distraction. I'll concede that I'm uncultured. For me, that dialog is as bad as Hell itself!

[bjornart]

Originally posted by TexasBEAST
Ironically, the word "Hell" comes from the Anglo-Saxon word "Hel", which was the name of the Norse Viking final abode of evil-doers. Only, "Hel" was a place of cold torture, rather than the fire torture of Ge-Hinom "Hell". Fancy that! (Maybe this is why Dante's lower regions of Hell were icy?)

And it's the default destination for anyone who didn't die by the sword (or spear, or axe, or...). No active torture though, just pain, cold and hunger until the end of the world.

(And there is Hell, which is a small town in middle Norway. Spent 7 weeks there for initial training during my military service.)

[triadboy]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by TexasBEAST
Hey Triadboy, that was cool! That was exactly what I'm talking about.

Question: If your skin is burning off, how long does that go on?

I think 28 minutes for the outer skin.

Eventually, all your "spiritual" skin would disappear, and along with it, your "spiritual" nerve endings, right? Problem solved: no more pain sensation!

You're not getting off that easy. You burn forever while Hitler has his way with you.

In some passages, Geena is characterized as "eternal punishment", and in others, as "the second death". So...which is it? Do you suffer eternally, or do you just suffer really bad for a short bit and then finally die for once and for all?

You DO understand I don't believe in hell, right?

Sounds a lot more creative than the fire-pit idea!

If hell was creative, we would have to listen to John Tesh for eternity. Slow and agonizing.

With that in mind, maybe in Geena your spiritual skin and nerves re-grow, and you experience the pain all over again?

Ok, now you're starting to freak me out. Do you believe in hell? Because if you do, you need to see an atheist - you may be all eaten up with Jebus! People who don't believe in god and other invisible creatures, surely don't believe in hell.

[Earthborn]

Question: If your skin is burning off, how long does that go on? Eventually, all your "spiritual" skin would disappear, and along with it, your "spiritual" nerve endings, right? Problem solved: no more pain sensation!The Koran offers a perfect solution. People simply get new skins when their old one burned and no longer sensitive:Those who reject our signs. We shall soon cast into the fire; as often as their skins are roasted through. We shall change them for fresh skins, that they may taste the chastisement: for Allah is Exalted in Power, Wise (Qur’aan 4:56).It is sometimes used to argue that the Koran is divinely inspired (http://www.beconvinced.com/science/QURANSKIN.htm). After all, how else did the people of the time know only the skin is senstive to pain, trial and error? Okay, maybe that's possible too... :)

[Roadtoad]

Originally posted by triadboy


I think 'hell' changed through time. I think the original 'hell' was the burning refuse dump outside Jerusalem - then somehow it morphed into what the Puritans wanted to happen to you if you didn't tow their line. Now fundamentalists still use that image to scare people into the church.

"Hell" is the church bouncer. You smile - you pay your money - once inside, you don't cause any trouble.

Probably the most accurate description I've seen in a while.

Actually, from what I've read, Hell is the absolute absence of God's presence.

Beyond that, you're on your own.

[Yahweh]

I have done extensive research (drinking) and I have formulated what Hell consists of. From my website, I have written this:


Yes, there would be a Heaven, and there would be Hell. Hell wouldn't be a lake of fire. No, that's a little weak. And seriously, I know how the American Judicial system works, and I know I would make mistakes too. I know that not all the people who I send to Hell won't exactly deserve it so I would turn Hell into water park. Every blasphemer will get there own little park filled with not more than 150 slides and tube rides, and filled with only the most pure Evian water. Because I'm a nice god. For the truly evil ones like Hitler, Sadaam, Osama, I would reincarnate them as plants. Because plants are pretty and they smell good. They would have very pretty white flowers with swastika shaped petals that would only bloom in the Fall.

[evildave]

Originally posted by Earthborn
After all, how else did the people of the time know only the skin is senstive to pain, trial and error? Okay, maybe that's possible too... :)

Well, the people of the time (and prior times, and more recent times) did practice such things as skinning people alive, and/or boiling them in oil and such. Lots of tortures, burnings, etc., so lots of experience with this.

Then there's always the slow-roast variation some native Americans practiced. Suspend you over hot coals and gradually lower you as your flesh is consumed. The trick was to keep the victim alive for as long as possible. The burning would prevent infection, and the bleeding would be prevented as well. They could keep it up for days, with your legs consumed up to your hips before you died.

Even cursory experimentation with any such techniques would yield up the information that once the flesh was sufficiently destroyed, the pain was gone. Then the holy inquisitor merely moved on to fresh flesh.

[Yahweh]

Originally posted by evildave


Then there's always the slow-roast variation some native Americans practiced. Suspend you over hot coals and gradually lower you as your flesh is consumed. The trick was to keep the victim alive for as long as possible. The burning would prevent infection, and the bleeding would be prevented as well. They could keep it up for days, with your legs consumed up to your hips before you died.


I've never heard of that form of torture. Perhaps if the Native Americans had tried that a little sooner, us White Folk wouldnt be so opt to manifest destiny would we?

[Yahweh]

Perhaps Hell is big bare room with no carpeting. All the bad people are sent to Hell. There is nothing to do... except... on one wall there is small door. It only opens up for 6 seconds one time everyone 1 million years. Anyone who passes through the door is instantly taken to Heaven by Angels... of course there is always the joker who sits in the doorway for 5 seconds so no one else has a chance... funny guy...

[Craig]

You may enjoy this (http://amightywind.com/hell/citizenhell.htm).

Especially the lyrics. :)

Flaming worms crawl in, flaming worms crawl out in the belly button and out the mouth! In the front and out the rear ! In the eyes and out the ears! We scream for mercy yet NO one cares or hears! Red hot pain in my blood rivers of feces, lava,vomit and blood it looks like a flood! Flames everywhere yet they cast NO light! All I have is every kind of pain, terror , torture and fright! I am a Citizen in HELL!

Edited to add: You might want to turn your speakers down or off before you click the link. There're basically a lot of screams of agony in the background.

[Hexxenhammer]

Best description of Hell I ever read was in Heinlein's "Job". Alex, the main character, gets himself kicked out of heaven after being caught up in the Rapture. He falls and falls. Then he sees it. A planet with a huge crater of lava that he is falling straight for. Just as he's about to hit it, a net catches him and puts on the edge. Turns out Hell ain't such a bad place. It's government is anarchy ruled over by an absolute dictator, Satan. The thing is, he lets everyone do whatever they want. But you're on your own. Good thing all the major credit companies are willing to extend credit to a new arrival. Watch that interest over a few millenia. Hell also has a sense of humor. One character says "Well I'll be a monkey's uncle," and poof! he's a monkey!

[evildave]

Originally posted by Yahweh

I've never heard of that form of torture. Perhaps if the Native Americans had tried that a little sooner, us White Folk wouldnt be so opt to manifest destiny would we?

They probably learned it from the "white folk".

The Spanish missions were nothing, if not effective.

[Roadtoad]

Originally posted by Craig
You may enjoy this (http://amightywind.com/hell/citizenhell.htm).

Especially the lyrics. :)

Edited to add: You might want to turn your speakers down or off before you click the link. There're basically a lot of screams of agony in the background.

Geez, that was annoying.

[TexasBEAST]

Originally posted by triadboy
You DO understand I don't believe in hell, right?

Ok, now you're starting to freak me out. Do you believe in hell? Because if you do, you need to see an atheist - you may be all eaten up with Jebus! People who don't believe in god and other invisible creatures, surely don't believe in hell.
Yeah, I know. I don't believe in it either.

I'm just interested in pursuing it to its logical end. I think religious people have for too long relied on the mere threat of Hell and then left it at that. Many Atheists have just said that's silly and left it at that. But in order to better combat the Bible's silly notions, I think it's a good idea to think their claims through for a moment. Plus, I just like horror movies.:D

[TexasBEAST]

Originally posted by Roadtoad
Actually, from what I've read, Hell is the absolute absence of God's presence.
IOW, an Atheist's Heaven?

[Dancing David]

Hel, is supposedly a norse goddess who is half alive and half dead.

I always thought hell was cold.

[Gregor]

To borrow from Voltaire

Hell is other people's children.

That and Billiefan2000 - all day, every day

[Roadtoad]

Originally posted by TexasBEAST

IOW, an Atheist's Heaven?

Hmmmmm.

[Roadtoad]

Originally posted by Gregor
To borrow from Voltaire

Hell is other people's children.

That and Billiefan2000 - all day, every day

:D :D :D

[KS_SKEPTIC]

Originally posted by Pahansiri


A very nice tropical town in Grand Cayman in the Grand Cayman Islands.http://home.hiwaay.net/~brogers/Hell-Grand-Cayman/images/hell-grand-cayman01.JPG

:eek: ;) :D

[GroundStrength]

Anywhere all of the fundies go in the end...

[Small Town Jesus]

Hell - The proof! (http://www.av1611.org/hell.html) :eek:

[Zep]

Originally posted by Small Town Jesus
Hell - The proof! (http://www.av1611.org/hell.html) :eek: You mean these guys?
Dial-the-Truth Ministries is a resource, tract (both electronic and printed) and evangelistic ministry. Our purpose is presenting the truth and exposing error with the light of the Word of God, (with emphasis on The King James Bible, prophecy and Christian music), and reaching the lost with the glorious gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. We stand on the sole authority of the King James Bible (AV 1611). Our tracts are also available in printed format. Info on ordering printed tracts.
What can I say? What can ANYONE say! How about "Delivered hot in 45 minutes or your money back." :D :D :D :D

[Small Town Jesus]

Originally posted by Zep
You mean these guys?

What can I say? What can ANYONE say! How about "Delivered hot in 45 minutes or your money back." :D :D :D :D

LOL!

Just make sure you read it quickly before it burns your fingers! :D

I just love the idea of hearing the tortured cries of the damned coming from active volcanos. :roll:

[swstephe]

London? England? (it could be Texas...), you guys just hit 100F for the first time in recorded history.

Notice how "Hel", is cold, to scare people living in very cold climates and "Hell", (the Biblical and Koranic versions), use fire, which is used to scare people living in hot climates.

That reminds me of some cross-cultural class I had years ago. They said that the heaven of the white American slave-owners pictured the saved working (as priests) in Heaven, while the black slaves pictured heaven as a place of rest where they wouldn't have to work anymore.

Hell actually doesn't serve any purpose after the day of judgement. If it *is* punishment. The whole concept of punishment is not to torture the people who have committed some offense, but to serve as a warning to/prevention against those who might, at some time in the future, commit an offense. On earth, in prisons, that might include people currently in those prisons. But if you are placed in an area where you are punished forever, with no chance of escape, then Hell would simply become your reality. People in hell can't do anything one way or the other to change their state. You might end up surrounded by a bunch of "glass-half-full" types saying, "well, at least it can't get any worse than this".

[Roadtoad]

As I've always understood it, Hell is supposed to be the one place where the presence of God would be completely absent, thus, making it unbearable for any and all. The question would therefore be, if you're an atheist, and you're sent to Hell, would that not, in fact, be Heaven to you?

Yahzi has made a valid point in another thread, that far too often, Christianity has wasted what impact it could have had by concentrating so much of its energy on a Heaven that no one has seen, and that it's a crapshoot to reach. (How many good people who have been an asset to the world are, according to some, damned to Hell because they never professed loving Jesus? Is that just, and is that a Heaven you would want to inhabit?) My own personal definition of Hell would be more along the lines of dwelling eternally with those who condemned others unjustly, while the just stood damned.

Think of it as an eternity with the likes of Pat Robertson and Oral Roberts. Or even Billiefan2000. It's enough to make you choose to become an atheist.