Christians...can worshipers in denominations other than your own reach heaven?

Question

Or must one belong to your chosen denomination (LDS, Catholic, JW, Lutheran, Scientologist, etc.) in order to reach heaven?

Answer 1

Hell, as it exists in the Western popular imagination, has its origins in Hellenized Christianity, particularly taken from adaptation of the Hellenistic afterlife known as Tartarus. Judaism, at least initially, believed in Sheol, a shadowy existence to which all were sent indiscriminately. Sheol may have been little more than a poetic metaphor for death, not really an afterlife at all: see for example Sirach and Isaiah 14:3-11. However, by the third to second century B.C. the idea had grown to encompass a far more complex concept.

The Hebrew Sheol was translated in the Septuagint as 'Hades', the name for the underworld in Greek mythology and is still considered to be distinct from "Hell" by Eastern Orthodox Christians. It is also spelled Sheh-ole, in Strong's Hebrew and Greek Dictionaries and Concordances. The Lake of Fire and realm of Eternal Punishment in Hellenistic mythology was in fact Tartarus. Hades was not Hell in Hellenistic mythology, but was rather a form of limbo where the dead went to be judged. The New Testament uses this word, but it also uses the word 'Gehenna', from the valley of Hinnom, a valley near Jerusalem originally used as a location in which human sacrifices were offered to an idol called "Molech" (or Moloch).

2 Kings 23.10 (on King Josiah's reform):

And he defiled the Tophet, which is in the valley of Ben-hinnom, that no man might make his son or his daughter pass through the fire lmlk.
Jeremiah 32.35:

And they built the high places of the Ba‘al, which are in the valley of Ben-hinnom, to cause their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire lmlk; which I did not command them, nor did it come into my mind that they should do this abomination, to cause Judah to sin.
It was later used as a landfill in order to emphasize the disgusting nature of its original use. Ancient landfills were very unsanitary and unpleasant when compared to modern landfills; these places were filled with rotting garbage and the Hebrews would periodically burn them down. However, by that point they were generally so large that they would burn for weeks or even months. In other words they were fiery mountains of garbage. The early Christian teaching was that the damned would be burnt in the valley just as the garbage was. (It is ironic to note that the valley of Hinnom is today, far from being a garbage dump, a public park.) It is argued by theologians opposed to hell but desirous to defend the Bible as a source, that a reference to a place on Earth where rubbish was burnt can not refer to any conscious after-death state.

Punishment for the damned and reward for the saved is a constant theme of early Christianity.

Rabbinic Judaism
Gehenna is defined in rabbinic literature. It is sometimes translated as "Hell", but this doesn't effectively convey its meaning. In Judaism, Gehenna is not hell, but rather a sort of Purgatory where one is judged based on their life's deeds. The Kabbalah describes it as a "waiting room" (commonly translated as an "entry way") for all souls (not just the wicked). The overwhelming majority of rabbinic thought maintains that people are not in Gehenna forever; the longest that one can be there is said to be 12 months. Some consider it a spiritual forge where the soul is purified for its eventual ascent to Olam Habah (heb. עולם הבא; lit. "The world to come", often viewed as analogous to Heaven). This is also mentioned in the Kabbalah, where the soul is described as breaking, like the flame of a candle lighting another: the part of the soul that ascends being pure, and the "unfinished" piece being reborn.

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Ancient Greek religion
Another source for the modern idea of 'Hell' is the Greek and Roman Tartarus, a place in which conquered gods, men and other spirits were punished. Tartarus formed part of Hades in Greek mythology and Roman mythology, but Hades also included Elysium, a place for the reward for those who lead virtuous lives, whilst others spent their afterlife in the asphodels fields. Like most ancient (pre-Christian) religions, the underworld was not viewed as negatively as it is in Christianity.

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Christianity
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General history and description
The Christian idea of Hell is different from the Sheol of Judaism. The nature of Hell is described in the New Testament on several occasions. For example, in Matthew 3:10-12, Matthew 5:22, Matthew 5:29-30, Matthew 8:12, Matthew 22:13, Matthew 25:30, Matthew 25:41-46, Luke 3:9, Luke 12:5, Luke 13:28, Luke 16:19-28, and Revelations 12:9, Revelations 14:9-11, Revelations 19:20, Revelations 20:10, Revelations 20:14-15, Revelations 21:8; in the Book of Revelation Hell is also mentioned as the "abyss" and "the Earth". Jesus himself describes Hell as a place of "weeping and gnashing of teeth"; this quotation has frequent appearance in the New Testament.

The population of Hell comprises the souls of those who died without accepting Christ as their saviour, God's grace, in sin and without repentance, although beliefs on these categories differs among Christian denominations. Some consider the fate of righteous people who lived before the time of Christ (thus being non-Christian through no fault of their own) a complication, especially for the many righteous Jews of the Old Testament. In some traditions, these people went straight to Heaven despite not being Christians because Christ had not come and gone yet. In other traditions, they had to wait in Limbo until the Harrowing of Hell during the three days between the Crucifixion and the Resurrection.

According to Western Christian beliefs, the Devil and his angels (demons), who are receiving punishment, reside in hell along with the souls of the damned. This doctrine is not part of Eastern Orthodox teachings. Yet, Matthew 25:41 mentions the eternal fire prepared for the Devil and his angels. According to the Book of Revelation, after the Day of the Lord soul and body will be united again, and so those who were condemned to Hell will remain there physically, tormented by eternal fire that will never consume them nor be extinguished.

According to Luke 16:19-28 (Lazarus and Dives) nobody can pass from Hell to Heaven or vice versa, and fire is not the only tormentor, thirst being another, and more that are not described; in this biblical passage it is also mentioned that the souls that are in Hell can see those that are in Heaven and vice versa, but nothing is said of the sight of God; those that are in Hell can see the happiness reigning in Heaven, and those in Heaven do not feel compassion for the others in Hell. Many view this story as a parable, and as such, believe its meaning may not literally define the existence in the afterlife, but instead serve as a lesson about the dangers of wealth and the unwillingness to listen to God.

Concerning the fire, some scholars speculated that the idea came from the fire consecrated to some Pagan deities like Adramelech, Moloch, etc., to whom children were sacrificed by throwing them into the flames; but other scholars, more recently, speculated that, since Hell is considered an underground place, fire was associated with volcanic eruptions; the idea that volcanoes could be gateways to Hell was present in the mind of the ancient Romans, and later of Icelanders and other European peoples. Some claim that the conditions thought to prevail in Hell are influenced by the generally hot, dry climates found in the cradlelands of Judaism, Christianity and Islam alike; these observers point to the fact that the equivalent of Hell in Norse mythology, known as Niflheim, is pictured as a cold, foggy place (the name itself meaning "home of the fog").

Medieval imagination added cauldrons inside which people will be "cooked" forever by demons and Christian demonology acquired a "terrifying" aspect concerning imagery of Hell. Medieval theologians were keen to portray all manner of hideous tortures, designed to inflict horrific pain upon the eternally-damned inhabitants of Hell.

More recently and to some theologians, the idea of an underground Hell gave place to the conception of an abstract spiritual status in an also intangible plane of existence, which is sometimes associated to a site in an unknown point of the universe or also abstract, but tradition continues referring to Hell as "down", meanwhile religion refers to it as the place of eternal punishment and torment, far from God's presence (2 Thessalonians 1:9).

Jeff Priddy, writing in The Idle Babbler Illustrated (Volume 4, Issue 2), expresses the problem:

The religious and secular man's nightmarish ideas of HELL (that is, of a Christ-managed hothouse where sinners get burned forever) come to them compliments of ... careless translating ... the practice of ignoring separate Greek words.

In 2 Pet. 2:4, God chose the Greek word "Tartaros" (ταρταροω; English transliteration, "Tartarus") to identify the temporary abode of sinning angels. Tartarus holds spirit beings, not humans, and there is not a flame on the premises. The KJV and NIV translators (neither of whose versions have any influence in the expression of Eastern Orthodox doctrine) gave this specific Greek word the English equivalent, "hell".

In Matthew 5:22 (and in several other places), God chose a different Greek word, "Geenna," (English transliteration: "Gehenna") to name a valley on the southwest corner of Jerusalem where the corpses of criminals will be disposed of during the thousand-year kingdom. There are flames here, yes, but the flames cremate the dead (Is. 66:24), they don't torture the living. Most of humanity is not even alive to see Gehenna (Rev. 20:5), let alone be tormented there. The KJV and NIV translators gave this specific Greek word the English equivalent, "hell".

In Luke 16:23 (and in other places), God chose the Greek word, "hades", to describe the state of invisibility; in Greek, the word means "unseen". God uses this word often to describe a person's nonexistence in death: unless spoken of figuratively, a dead person doesn't see anything, hear anything, feel anything, know anything, do anything: hades. Flames, screams, pointy tails and pitchforks are conspicuously absent. All the dead "go" here, not just the wicked. The KJV and NIV translators gave this specific Greek word the English equivalent, "hell".

Priddy goes on to point out that if a (Western) Christian says that someone is in "Hell", that "is a terrible lack of information", because many versions of the Bible indiscriminately use the word "Hell" to describe three different places. If you press the point, and the Christian says that person is in Gehenna, then you could take a plane to Jerusalem and look for the person there. If the claim is that the person is in Tartarus, you can point out that they were never a stubborn, sinning angel who surrendered their sovereignty during the days of Noah (1 Pet. 3:19-20. 2 Pet. 2:4, Jude 6). And if in Hades, you could rejoice that, like Christ (briefly, Acts 2:3 l), David (Ps. 16: 10), and Jacob (Gn. 37:35) before him, the person has ceased from their troubles and sufferings (Jb. 3:11-19), and now rests, as if asleep (Jn. 11:11,14). However, given the perfectly natural evolution of concepts over a long period of time, examples such as Sheol, provide us with a good example of how ideas can begin with a simple meaning - "the grave" - and morph into a far larger concept - a place of eternal torment.

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Words in the Bible translated as "hell"
The Greek words "Hades" and "Gehenna" are sometimes translated into the word "hell", though the concepts are dissimilar. Martin Luther, for example, translated the word "Hades" five times as the German word for "hell" (Hölle) (for example Matthew 16:18), and twice as "the dead", twice as the "world of the dead", and once as "his kingdom" (all in German). "Gehenna" was translated by Martin Luther eight times as "hell" (for example: Matthew 5:22,29,30; 18:9; Mark 9:43,45; and so on) and four times as "hellish". In Norse mythology the underworld was a cold, monotonous place, which was commanded by the goddess Hel. The place was called Hel, too.

Newer translations of the Bible translate "Hades" or "Sheol" into the words "world of dead", "underworld", "grave", "crypt" or similar, but still translate the word "Gehenna" into the word "hell".

The word "Hades" of the New Testament is the Greek translation of the Hebrew word "Sheol" of the Old Testament (Acts 2:27, Psalms 16:10). What happens in Hades, or rather Sheol, Ecclesiastes tells us: "for in the Sheol, where you are going, there is neither working nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom." (Ecclesiastes 9,10) and "For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing; they have no further reward, and even the memory of them is forgotten. " (Ecclesiastes 9:5; see also Psalms 89:49; 139:8; Numbers 16:30). "The Lord brings death and makes alive; he brings down to the Sheol and raises up. " (1 Samuel 2:6). The souls of all human beings are going to Hades, whether they believe or not (John 5:28-29; Job 3:11-19, 14:13; Ez 32:18-32; Ps. 31:17; Dan. 12:2).

Geenna (or Gehenna) is the name of an earthly place. It comes from Hebrew and means "Gorge of Hinnom (Ge-Hinnom)". This gorge can still be visited today near Jerusalem. In the time of the Old Testament it was a place where children were sacrificed to the Ammonite god Molech (2 Kings 23:10). That cultic practice was, according to the Old Testament, imitated by King Solomon in the 10th Century B.C.E. and under the leadership of king Manasseh in the 7th Century B.C.E. and in times of crisis until the time of exile of the Jews in Babylon (6th Century B.C.E.). The prophet Jeremiah, who condemned that cult strictly, called the valley the "gorge of killing" (Jeremiah 7:31-32; 19:5-9). Gehenna became later a central garbage dump, to stop the practice of child sacrifice. At the turn of the 1st Century C.E. the gorge was used also to burn the dead bodies of criminals after their execution. The image of burning dead bodies probably inspired Jewish, and later Christian theologians to translate that place into the word "hell".

The sea of fire after the last tribunal in Revelation 20:14 isn't translated into the word "hell", but sometimes gets the connotations of "hell". In that sea of fire are thrown the beast, the devil, the false prophet, and Hell (Hades) itself, along with evil-doers, according to Revelation 20:12-15. "And the devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown. They will be tormented day and night for aeons of aeons." (Revelation 20:10) Many people mistakenly assume "Ages of Ages" to mean forever, but Aeon is definitely a fixed length. See [1]

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Protestant

Hell as depicted in Hieronymus Bosch's triptych The Garden of Earthly Delights (cca 1504).In most Protestant Christianity traditions, hell is a place originally designed by God for placement of the Devil (ie Lucifer, Beelzebub, or Satan) and fallen angels (demons). Hell will be the final dwelling place of every soul that did not obey and put their faith in God before the Cross, and those that did not accept the salvation of Jesus by puting their faith in God after the Cross. Those souls will suffer God's holy wrath with accomplices (demons) of Satan (Matt. 25:41, Acts 4:11-13). Hell is described by many different symbols in the Bible; "outer darkness", "abyss", "lake of fire", "eternal fire". Reality is always more severe then the earthly symbols representing them. Jesus Christ spoke about Hell more than any other person in the Bible. Those in Hell will receive God's righteous and holy judgment for an eternity based on their deeds (Acts 17:30-31,Rom. 2:1-11, Rev. 20:11-15). It is a place of everlasting punishment and separation from God (2 Thes. 1:8-10, Jude 1:7, Luke 16:24, Matt. 25:30,46). Their punishment will be proportional to the deeds of each soul (Luke 12:47-49, Matt. 10:15, Matt. 11:24).

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Roman Catholic
The unchangeable traditional Catholic teaching on hell is found in the Baltimore Catechism, at question 185, as follows: "Those are punished in hell who die in mortal sin; they are deprived of the vision of God and suffer dreadful torments, especially that of fire, for all eternity...The souls in hell are beyond all help...The souls in hell do not have supernatural faith. They believe, however, the truths revealed by Almighty God, not with divine faith, but because they cannot escape the evidence of God's authority...The punishment of hell is eternal."[1] Hell is described in the Catechism of the Catholic Church as, "To die in mortal sin without repenting and accepting God's merciful love means remaining separated from Him for ever by [one's] own free choice. This state of definitive self-exclusion from communion with God and the blessed is called 'Hell'."(1033) Pope John Paul II is known to have said (see link below), "The images of hell that Sacred Scripture presents to us must be correctly interpreted. They show the complete frustration and emptiness of life without God. Rather than a place, Hell indicates the state of those who freely and definitively separate themselves from God, the source of all life and joy". However, the Catholic version of Hell as a place was confirmed at Fátima in 1917 during the church-approved apparition of Our Lady of Fatima to three young shepherd children. Lucia Santos, the eldest of three children, reported in 1941 that Mary revealed Hell to them as follows, "Our Lady showed us a great sea of fire which seemed to be under the earth. Plunged in this fire were demons and souls in human form, like transparent burning embers, all blackened or burnished bronze, floating about in the conflagration, now raised into the air by the flames that issued from within themselves together with great clouds of smoke, now falling back on every side like sparks in a huge fire, without weight or equilibrium, and amid shrieks and groans of pain and despair, which horrified us and made us tremble with fear. The demons could be distinguished by their terrifying and repulsive likeness to frightful and unknown animals, all black and transparent."[2]

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Eastern Orthodoxy
For many ancient Christians, Hell was the same "place" as Heaven: living in the presence of God and directly experiencing God's love. Whether this was experienced as pleasure or torment depended on one's disposition towards God. St. Isaac of Syria wrote in Mystic Treatises: "... those who find themselves in Hell will be chastised by the scourge of love. How cruel and bitter this torment of love will be! For those who understand that they have sinned against love, undergo greater suffering than those produced by the most fearful tortures. The sorrow which takes hold of the heart, which has sinned against love, is more piercing than any other pain. It is not right to say that the sinners in Hell are deprived of the love of God ... But love acts in two ways, as suffering of the reproved, and as joy in the blessed!" This ancient view is still the doctrine of the Eastern Orthodox Church.

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Other Christian views of Hell
Adventist Adventism: Unlike many other Christian denominations, Seventh-day Adventists do not believe the wicked suffer conscious torture and torment for all eternity in a fiery hell. Instead, in a perfect balance of love, justice, and free will, God considers each person’s case and decides their fate. For those who have, by faith, accepted Jesus Christ's death on the cross for their sin and have united their lives with Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior, they will spend eternity in heaven rejoicing in His love and grace. Those who reject Jesus Christ’s punishment and death for their sins have by default chosen to be punished and die for their own sins. Because God allows every person free will, God accepts that decision and grants them a punishment that exactly matches their sin and then they die. The Adventist view of hell is often referred to as annihilationism. However Seventh Day Adventists would argue that such a label has pejorative connotations which imply that the punishment of the wicked is an act of vengeance in which an angry God annihilates anyone who dares to rebel against His sovereignty. Instead of a vengeful God "rubbing out" sinners, SDAs see sin as intrinsically self defeating. Because sinners refuse to be connected to the Source of Life, they cannot live forever since there is no eternal life apart from God.

1. SDA's support their viewpoint by pointing out that the Bible, in Romans 6:23, states that "...the wages of sin is death". If the Bible says that the wages of sin is death, SDA’s ask, why do many Christians preach that the wages of sin is eternal life, in torment? 2. SDA's further point out that the Bible, in I Timothy 6:15,16, states that, "God ... alone is immortal". If God alone is immortal, how do Satan, his evil angels, and those who rejected Jesus Christ magically become immortal too and live forever in hell? 3. SDA's further argue that the entire Bible portrays God as the Source of Life. (Genesis 1, In the beginning God created the earth, mankind and everything else) SDA's argue that God is not simply alive, He is the Source of Life itself. If God is in fact the Source of Life, how could sinners survive for an eternity of burning while being totally cut off from that Source of Life, God? 4. Furthermore, SDA's say the concept of an everlasting torture chamber, presided over by God, terribly misrepresents God's true character of love, justice and free will. How could a God of love, torture people forever? How could a God of justice, punish a few years of sin with an infinity of torture? How could a God who is committed to free will force a person to stay alive throughout eternity and torture them for ever and ever? 5. SDA's say that an ever burning hell would make Christ's victory on the cross only a partial victory. The Bible makes it clear Christ's victory over Satan is a total victory. If that is true, then why would God have to settle for sin and sinners continuing to inhabit a part of the universe for all eternity? SDA's say that since Christ's victory over Satan was total and complete, one day the universe will be cleansed of all sin and restored to its former sinless state. 6. In both the Old and New Testament, SDA’s point out that God gives mankind a free will choice between life and death. (Deuteronomy 30:19, for example, says, “I have set before you life and death … Now choose life”.) Why would God mislead us by saying the choice is between “life” and “death” if, the real choice is between life or life? Eternal life in heaven or eternal life in hell. 7. SDA’s say the Bible contains hundreds of references to the fate of the wicked which show that the wicked will ultimately be, “burned up”, “destroyed”, “consumed”, “devoured”, “ashes on the ground”, “slain”, brought to “nothing”, “annihilated”, “perish”, “blotted out forever”, etc. Why then, SDA’s ask, do many denominations argue that the wicked are immortal and cannot die? 8. Finally, SDA’s believe that God will create a new heaven and a new earth (Revelation 21:1, Isaiah 65:17) and “God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.” Revelation 21:4. The text says "all" crying and sorrow and pain and death and tears will be "wiped away". SDA’s say there will not be an ever burning hell where those things go on forever. The entire universe will have been restored to its original sinless state. Sin and sinners will be no more and every heart will throb with joy as the redeemed gaze on the face of their Lord and Savior Jesus Christ who saved them by His grace. It will then be clear that in the entire war between God and Satan, good and evil, God will have never violated His character of love and justice and He will never have violated mankind's free will.

Annihilationism. Most Christian groups teach that Hell is eternal. Some, such as Seventh-day Adventists, believe that Hell is only temporary, and that souls in Hell cease to exist after serving their time there. Others believe there is no conscious Hell at all but the word refers to the decay of Earthly remains in the ground.

Christian Science defines "Hell" as follows: "Mortal belief; error; lust; remorse; hatred; revenge; sin; sickness; death; suffering and self-destruction; self-imposed agony; effects of sin; that which 'worketh abomination or maketh a lie.'" (Science and Health with Key to the Scripture by Mary Baker Eddy, 588: 1-4.)

Latter-day Saints/Mormons believe in a concept of temporary hell, commonly called Spirit Prison, for the disembodied spirits of the wicked awaiting resurrection. They also believe in a concept of permanent hell for a very small number of mankind, including Cain, and for the "third of the hosts of heaven" who in the pre-existence followed Lucifer (Doctrine and Covenants 29:36-39). Unlike the common Christian belief of eternal torment, this hell is the state of being completely severed from the presence of God, literally cut off from all light, love and knowledge. This place or state of existence is commonly called Outer Darkness. Only Sons of Perdition, those who are irredeemably evil to their core and therefore continually fight against God will suffer this fate. To become a Son of Perdition, one must have a perfect witness of Christ (must have a sure knowledge that he is the Son of God and the only way a man can achieve salvation) and then fight against that knowledge. Since LDS doctrine teaches that there are separate levels of heaven and that only those in the highest level of heaven will be in the constant presence of God, the term hell may also be used to describe the anguish of those souls who, while in the paradise of one of the lower levels of heaven, will never know the joy and light of living in the direct presence of God the Father, though they enjoy the presence of the Son or of the Holy Ghost.

Joseph Smith taught of the final judgment that would come to mankind: "While one portion of the human race is judging and condemning the other without mercy, the Great Parent of the universe looks upon the whole of the human family with a fatherly care and paternal regard; He views them as His offspring... He holds the reins of judgment in His hands; He is a wise Lawgiver, and will judge all men, not according to the narrow, contracted notions of men, but, 'according to the deeds done in the body whether they be good or evil,' or whether these deeds were done in England, America, Spain, Turkey, or India. He will judge them, 'not according to what they have not, but according to what they have,' those who have lived without law will be judged without law, and those who have a law will be judged by that law. We need not doubt the wisdom and intelligence of the Great Jehovah; He will award judgment or mercy to all nations according to their several deserts, their means of obtaining intelligence, the laws by which they are governed, the facilities afforded them of obtaining correct information, and His inscrutable designs in relation to the human family; and when the designs of God shall be made manifest, and the curtain of futurity be withdrawn, we shall all of us eventually have to confess that the Judge of all the earth has done right." -Joseph Smith, Jr., Documentary History of the Church 4:595-596; April, 1842


Jehovah's Witnesses believe the Bible presents "hell", as translated from "Sheol" and "Hades", to be mankind's common grave for both the good and the bad, whereas "Gehenna" signifies eternal destruction or annihilation, and that the idea of a place of eternal torment is something detestible to God. [2] They further do not believe in the immortality of the soul. [3].

Universalism. Others believe that after serving their time in Hell all souls are reconciled to God and admitted to heaven, or ways are found at the time of death of drawing all souls to repentance so that Hell is never experienced.

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Popular culture
Hell is often depicted as a place underground, with fire and molten rock where the devil lives. The devil is popularly depicted as a being or creature who carries a pitchfork (which in turn is actually a trident), has flaming red skin, horns on his head, a black goatee beard, and a long thin tail with a triangle shaped barb on it.

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Islam
The Muslim belief in jahannam (in Arabic: جهنم) (similar to Hebrew ge-hinnom and resembles that of other Abrahamic religions). In the Qur'an, the holy book of Islam, there are literal descriptions of the condemned in a fiery Hell, as contrasted to the garden-like Paradise enjoyed by righteous believers.

The meaning of jahannam is to do with hotness (whereas in Hebrew Gehenna is said to mean a narrow deep valley). The word for paradise is jannah which means garden.

In addition, Heaven and Hell are split into many levels depending on the actions taken in life, where punishment is given depending on the level of evil done in life, and good is separated into other levels depending on how well one followed Allah (God) while alive.

There is an equal number of mentions of both hell and paradise in the Qur'an.

The Qur'an also says that some of those who are damned to hell are not damned forever, but instead for an indefinite period of time. When Judgement Day comes, the formerly damned will be judged as to whether or not they may enter into Paradise.

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Chinese and Japanese religions
The structure of Hell is remarkably complex in many Chinese and Japanese religions. The ruler of Hell has to deal with politics, just as human rulers do. Hell is the subject of many folk stories and manga. In many such stories, people in hell are able to die again.

See Di Yu for more information on Chinese Hell.

The Chinese depiction of Hell doesn't necessarily mean a long time suffering for those who enter Hell, nor does it mean that person is bad. The Chinese view Hell as similar to a present day passport or immigration control station. In a Chinese funeral, they burn many Hell Bank Notes for the dead. With this Hell money, the dead person can bribe the ruler of Hell, and spend the rest of the money either in Hell or in Heaven.

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Hinduism
In Hinduism, there are contradictions as to whether or not there is a hell. For some it is a metaphor for a conscience. But in Mahabharata there is a mention of the Pandavas and the Kauravas going to hell. Hells are also described in various Puranas and other scriptures.

It is believed that people who commit 'paap' (sin) go to hell and have to go through the punishments in accordance to the sins they committed. The god Yama, who is also the god of death, is the king of hell. The detailed accounts of all the sins committed by an individual are supposed to be kept by Chitragupta who is the record keeper in Yama's court. Chitragupta reads out the sins committed and Yama orders the appropriate punishments to be given to the individuals. These punishments include dipping in boiling oil, burning in fire, torture using various weapons etc. in various hells. Individuals who finish their quota of the punishments are reborn according to their karma. All of the created are imperfect and thus have at least one sin to their record, but if one has led a generally pious life, one ascends to Heaven, or Swarga after a brief period of expiation in hell.

Tour of Vedic universe

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Buddhism
As diverse as other religions, there are many beliefs about Hell in Buddhism.

Most of the schools of thought, Theravāda, Mahāyāna, and Vajrayāna would acknowledge several hells, which are places of great suffering for those who commit evil actions, such as cold hells and hot hells. Like all the different realms within cyclic existence, an existence in hell is temporary for its inhabitants. Those with sufficiently negative karma are reborn there, where they stay until their specific negative karma has been used up, at which point they are reborn in another realm, such as that of humans, of hungry ghosts, of animals, of asuras, of devas, or of Naraka (Hell) all according to the individual's karma.

Zen does not really focus or use the idea of Hell. Rather, consider this koan:

A roshi meets two students in the garden. To them, he asks, "where is Hell?"

"In Heaven," the first student replies.

The roshi humphs, disappointedly. He then looks at the second.

"In the flower by your foot," the second replies. He then bends down and kisses it. The first student bows, enlightened.

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Bahá'í Faith
Bahá'ís do not accept Hell as a place, but rather as a state of being. "Heaven is nearness to Me and Hell is separation from Me." – Bahá'u'lláh

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Taoism
Taoism has a slightly nebulous version of Hell. Some claim it has no Hell at all, but - particularly in its home country China - popular belief endows Taoist Hell with many deities and spirits who punish sin in a variety of horrible ways. (See Di Yu.)

Answer 2

While each individual person "feels" whether his personal calling is to heaven or the earth, the vast majority of Jehovah's Witnesses do not themselves expect to go to heaven. Instead they hope to live forever in a restored paradise earth similar to that lost by Adam and Eve.

Ps 37:11 'the meek will possess the earth'
Prov 2:21 'upright will reside in the earth'
Isa 45:18 'God formed the earth to be inhabited'
Matt 5:5 'the mild will inherit the earth'
Rev 21:3 The tent of God is with mankind

Until Armageddon, those with heavenly and earthly hopes work shoulder-to-shoulder in the preaching work, so there is no real incentive to delude oneself regarding your calling. The heavenly group is not elevated until after death.

Jehovah's Witnesses believe that between Christ's impalement and Armageddon, the Almighty will have selected exactly 144,000 from among mankind to serve as kings and priests in heaven with Christ Jesus. Over whom will they rule? Over those on the earth, of course.

(Revelation 20:6) they will be priests of God and of the Christ, and will rule as kings with him

Since Jehovah's Witnesses' modern organization was not in place until the 1870's, it seems pretty likely that many with the heavenly calling will be from other religions. Really, the choice is up to our Almighty God!

Answer 3

Denomination has nothing to do with reaching heaven. Jesus said, I am the Way, the Truth and the Life. He meant He was the only road to heaven. Once you believe, you're held accountable for everything you say and do, but believing is the key.

Answer 4

Only a chosen few go to heaven. It is a gift of God. Others get resurrected to a life on earth.

One does not require to belong to any 'denomination.' Worship the Father in spirit and in truth and the path to Heaven or resurredted Life on earth is only through Faith and Belief in the sacrifice of Jesus - accepting the fact that He died for us - so that we can be released from the bondage of sin and death.

Answer 5

Anyone can gao to heaven regardless of the religion or denomination that they belong to as long as they follow the path of the scriptures. JOhn 3:16 says that who ever believes in Him shall have everlasting life. Another scripture says that whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. The wages of sin is death but the gift of GOd is eternally life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Revelation says that who ever's name is written in the Lambs book of Life. You make these decisons not a religion or denomination.

Answer 6

I believe people of other religions can reach Heaven if they are true to their faith and follow the basic rule, do unto others as you would have them do unto you, and live a good life. everyone sins no matter what religion. even the Pope goes to confession. I don't think the denomination matters, I think it depends how you live your life.

Answer 7

Of course they can. It isnt up to us to judge people. And when its their time to face whichever God they have chosen to worship, he will judge them.....I don't believe anyone actually worships their god exactly as thier nieghbor even if they attend the same church or belong to the same religion. You believe according to your heart..not when you attend church or because someone has told you how to believe. I dont go to church, but I do believe in God and I have given my soul to him...and I believe I will reach heaven.

Answer 8

If you believe in God and accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior and repent from your sins then yes you will go to Heaven

Answer 9

Im not Christian, but it seems that unless you accept Christ into your life, you are banned from Heaven.

And last I checked, Scientology was made up by a crack addict sci fi writer, and was not a denomination of Christianity.

Answer 10

as long as you have a daily relationship with Jesus Christ, born again and filled with His Spirit, that is the only way to go. it is not by denominations that we go to Heaven it is the work that Jesus did for us!

Answer 11

most denominations will say all christians go to heaven, but scientology isnt a form of christianity