engxladso

I am looking for information about the origination of the Christian concept of hell.

Since there is no mention of hell in the Old Testament I kind of figured that it was a Roman concept that got incorporated into Christianity. I originally picked up this idea from a British TV Series called "I Claudius".

I did a search for "origin of hell" at this site, but could find nothing definitive.

Can anyone here point my in the right direction?

Thanks,

Adso

Sarpedon

Most of the NT was originally written in Greek. I'd look for a Greek origin. I think it is wrong to think that Christianity came from Judea. Its as jewish as I am.

Beetle

All this time I thought you were Lycian!

CX

The short answer is that the Hebrews appear to have adopted the Zoroastrian concept of hell and applied to their own concept of "Sheol" (a murky underworld were the dead sort of mill around) in the concept of "Gehenna". Xian theologians syncretized this with the Hellenic idea of Hades.

I'd recommend reading "The Origin of Satan" by Elaine Pagels for the Socio-political origins.

mike_decock

Here's an excellent article called The Origin and History of the Doctrine of Endless Punishment.

-Mike...

judge

The word usually translated as hell in our english bibles is an aramaic word g'henna. This is an aramaic word for the valley of hinnon located outside jerusalem.
Apparently in our lord's day it was a rubbish dump where rubbish and even bodies were burned. Prior to this it is said to have been the place of various sacrifices including those of children by certain cultures.
IOW it was seen as a detestable place. As far as I am aware the first instance of this word is in an aramaic targum (translation) of isaiah.
It is from here that Christ draws his reference in Marks gospel for example to "g'henna where the worm dieth not".
If one can understand the portion of Isaiah that contains this phrase then it seems reasonable that one will understand our lords reference to it.
It seems to me that every reference to it (g'henna) refers quite plainly to a judgement on the jewish nation that occurred in the forst century and not to a place where men go (although this does not preclude men meeting their just desserts after death)

I would argue that this is not to be confused with the "house of the dead" as paul refers to it in his letters (in aramaic). This was the place the dead went to await "resurrection". As I beleive the resurrection to have already happened I would conclude that this house of the dead must be empty now.

We can see this as early as 1 or 2 samuel where samuel tries to call up the ghost of saul.

I believe Josephus some where writes a vivid description of the abode of the dead, I will try to find it, althougfh assuming he is correct this would be a pre resurrection description

judge

...and the house of the dead is empty, then where did this guy go??

http://www.near-death.com/storm.html

"On June 1, 1985, at the age of 38, Howard Storm had a near-death experience due to a perforation of the stomach and his life was forever changed. His near-death experience is one of the most profound, if not the most profound, afterlife experience I have ever documented." ..............from the above site

NearNihil Experience

look for a development of the idea of individual accountability, that seems to have started with the prophets to rail against the priesthood,

and coming to a middle developing point during the the Hellenistic era (Alexander defeats Persia, hence the Zoroastorian influence) which was a motley of persecutions giving the need for "pie in the sky" reward for the persecuted and eternal fire punishment for the persecutor.(notice heaven was just God's place until Xtians decide they were worthy to enter heaven and everyone could go to hell; being one with God and deserved seperation and anguish are both Xtian inventions)

finally Jesus comes along and validates the line of the prophets, personal accountability has now turned to eternal reward and punishment to help a frustrated and persecuted people cope with the realities of being a consistently occupied and conquered peoples.

The idea of Hell basically developed to help Jews feel like although beaten in life, in death they would conquer as God's chosen people. This also helps reinforce the "turn the other cheek" idea Jesus so proudly flaunted. If one truly believes in the might and right of God, then fighting back is a sin against God's soverign authority over all Creation and sole right to exact retailiation as he see fit only.

that idea just kinda relates to Hell, but do check out the pattern in the Bible mostly, Isiah,Jeremiah,etc...(prophets),--->
Daniel, Macabees... (Hellenistic era)--->
Gospels, Paul, Revelations(Jesus and coming Apocolypse)

Historical refrences help too. Persia, Babylonian captivity, Alexander's time line, Ptolemys, Selucids and such...

most of this is from a jewish historical perspective and xtian biblical perspective
of course, there really is no Hell....

hope this helps

Sojourner553

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Response

"We can produce the fog, the tunnel, the light and an out-of-body
experience. This proves that the near-death "phenomenon arises from common
structures in the brain and nervous system."
(Ronald K. Siegel, in Greyson and Flynn, THE NEAR-DEATH EXPERIENCE, p 110)

Out of body experiences have been reported by individuals while they
were NOT near death. They can occur, for example, during meditation,
during a period when one is relaxing and about to fall asleep, during
drug sessions (such as marijuana) and also in cases of epilepsy and migrane.
Interestingly, one survey found that 50% of marijuana users had reported
an out of body experience.(Susan Blackmore "Near-Death Experiences: In or
Out of the Body? SKEPTICAL INQUIRER, Fall 1991, Vol. 15, No1, p 34-41).

According to Susan Blackmore, tunnels "are experienced in epilepsy and
migraine, when falling asleep, meditating, or just relaxing, with pressure
on both eyeballs, and with certain drugs, such as LSD, psilocybin, and
mescaline." (Ibid). Ms. Blackmore also describes a model developed by the
neurobiologist Jack Cowan--that shows how an increase in electrical activity
on the visual cortex can give the illusion that one is moving forward into
a tunnel.

According to some neuroscientists (such as Peter Brugger of the University
Hospital in Zurich) out-of-body experiences are probably phantom sensations
similar to what amputees feel as "ghost" sensations when they have lost a limb.
People who see their double, often as a mirror image, may have damaged their
parietal lobes (which are responsible for distinguishing between the body and
surrounding space). Out-of-body experiences may result from temporary activity
of certain brain regions, says Brugger, who believes "Ghosts are probably
nothing more but also nothing less than phantoms [sensations] of the body."

People's experiences appear to be very different. My favorite story was the lady who saw "Elvis" as a godlike figure:


According to
Melvin Morse, M.D.'s TRANSFORMED BY THE LIGHT (Villard; 1992) one 45-year
Mid-western teacher saw Elvis Presley in an intense light:

"I entered into a dark tunnel and suddenly I was in a place filled up with
love and a beautiful, bright light. The place seemed holy. My father, who
had died two years earlier, was there, as were my grandparents. Everyone
was happy to see me, but my father told me it was not my time and I would be
going back. Just as I turned to go, I caught sight of Elvis! He was
standing in this place of intense bright light. He just came over to me,
took my hand and said: 'Hi, Bev, do you remember me?'"

see more examples at:
http://mac-2001.com/philo/crit/PSYCH.TXT
http://mac-2001.com/philo/crit/index.html