Do you think man created Hell and the Devil?

Question

I watched a really interesting show about Christianity and hell. In the beginning of Christianity there wasn't very much mention of hell or the devil in the bible. Then during the Dark Ages priests started pusing the idea of being punished by going to hell to try to keep people in line. What do you think about this?

Answer 1

Makes sense. Fear tactics are the best way to preserve order.

Answer 2

"Steven G" has pretty much nailed it, but I want to add my own two cents. Ever heard of a place called "Gehenna"? It was a fiery pit that burned round the clock - it was a garbage dump, and it stunk to "high heaven". THIS is what hell is modeled after. Hell is a metaphysical place and NOT a real one. The bible thumpers will tell you otherwise, but this IS a part of biblical history which they very often do not know or simply chose to ignore. The term "saatan" or "sataan" (not sure of the translation's spelling) is Hebrew for "the enemy" (Steven G says "adversary" which is similar). It easy to see how if you drop a single "a" from the word it becomes "satan". People want to believe in a sense of cosmic justice, so the idea of hell persists - "if you don't get punished in this life you will be punished in the next". Hell was therefore without question created by mankind, as was the devil. Steven G's mention of the horned god ("Pan") as Satan is dead-on accurate - they wanted to make the Pagans look evil, and after countless witch burnings and inquistions they seem to have succeeded. Again, the fundamentalists will argue with this till they are blue in the face and say "its in the bible" but the bible is riddled with inaccuracies that biblical archhaeology has shown to actually be historical errors. Ignoring history doesn't make false beliefs true. Hell and the devil WERE created by mankind, and its time that mankind killed the idea - permanently. Justice is not perfect - sometimes murderers do get away with it. Remember O.J? Evil is in the minds of humans - it is not a metaphysical being, and the place of punishment for them is prison, as there is no hell - it is a myth perpetuated by superstition, and superstition's days are numbered.

Answer 3

The concept of the devil was absorbed into Christianity by the early church to com-bate Paganism, the horned image of the devil was adopted from the Greek God Pan and the Pagan God of the animals.

The term Satan means adversary, so a personified imagery of the devil was created and accepted largely by people who love to abdicate responsibility for their own actions onto a mythical personality.

The psychological device that also conditions the fundamental mindset is the view that the devil himself forces individuals not to believe in him.

Hell is also a component of the same scare tactic,a fictitious realm where the adversary of Godly behaviour resides and will torture you eternally if you fail in the endeavour to live in an appropriate way, this was a very good method of achieving social order.

Is it justifiable? Does the end justify the means? The fundamentalists would certainly denounce the devil as a concept negating the question, for most non conditioned minds the devil is a concept of explaining to a primitive people the difference between Godly and worldly behaviour, knowing the value of improper action to be diametrically opposed to achieving the objective of human life, which is love for God.

To discuss further:-Sriman Sankarshan Das Adhikari ([e-mail])

Answer 4

bustylaroo99,
Well, the Roman Catholic Church pushed the heretical teaching of Purgatory. That was done along with the persecutions of any that defied them in respect of any theological matter. Owning a Bible was against the Law, for instance.

Jesus did enough talking about Hell to convince me. John and the Book of Revelation was just a nudge in that direction too. Now these two little factoids predated the Dark Ages by several hundred years.

Answer 5

this one is hard to answer because when you become a believer. You come to know things. and how do you tell someone who hasn't gone thought it about it. there is a HELL. and there is a DEVIL! and he want you to no believe in him so he can work on you. But if you believe in GOD and HEAVEN you much know that there is evil as well. I know because I KNOW. you have night and day then you have GOOD AND evil. if only i could put it in better words for you. I have meet evil and i want no part of it. and when you say in the bible it do not talk much about hell and devil are you talking the old testament or new? you need to read on. for Cain was evil he kill his brother and the make was put on him by GOD. reread the Bible and open you eyes to what it say. you will see a lot was said about EVIL.

Answer 6

I had an opportunity to seefirst hand miracles being performed like those mentioned in the Bible two thousand years ago.

Heres what I saw and it's displayed on Benny Hinn's website:
http://www.bennyhinn.org/articles/articledesc.cfm?id=169

Quote

A man who had suffered a stroke walked up the steps and onto the platform, leaving his wheelchair behind. He moved back and forth across the platform, walking with a strong stride. As the crowd filled the hall with praise, the man walked faster and moved with ease, no longer suffering any impairment or weakness from the stroke.

A woman who had suffered with cancer came forward to testify of her miracle. A friend who accompanied her explained that the woman had suffered with severe pain and had previously been unable to bend over. With that, the woman lifted her arms overhead and slowly bent down, her fingertips almost touching the floor. Then she began to lift her arms until they were extended overhead again. She repeated this action a few times, each time telling the interpreter, “No pain!” The woman’s face was beaming with joy as she moved up and down, free at last from the pain that had tormented her.

A man who had been almost completely deaf for three decades was healed. He came forward carrying his hearing aids in hand, no longer needing them to hear clearly. His face told the story of delight and joy from finally being able to hear after so many years of silence.

Unquote

You may read more on www.bennyhinn.org/

What do you think of this ? God does exist !

Answer 7

God created heaven and hell. The Devil is mentioned in the bible.

Whoever said that man created heaven and hell is a liar

Answer 8

You know, according to many religions, the afterlife affords evildoers to suffer eternally. In some monotheistic doctrines, Hell is often populated by demons who torment the damned. The fallen angel Lucifer in Christian cultures, otherwise known as Satan, is popularly portrayed in popular culture as the ruler of Hell. Christian theologians portray Hell as the final resting place of the Devil, prepared as his punishment by God Himself. Hell is also defined as an utter absence of God or redemptive force. Purgatory, as believed by Catholicism, is a place of penance for the sinner who has ultimately achieved salvation but has not paid penance for the sins committed in life. Hell on the contrary is commonly believed to be for eternity with no chance of redemption or salvation for those who suffer there. Some branches of the Christian faith teach it is a domain of boundless dimension, scope, and torment. Many monotheistic religions regard Hell as the absolute ultimate worst-case-scenario, per se. For some Gnostics including the Cathars hell was none other than this present life on earth.

Answer 9

The funny thing is, I saw the exact same show as you did. In my personal opinion I think Hell is a physical place that our sole goes to after death. Not all people of course. And I think the devil is very real. His goal is to keep our minds busy and keep our minds off of God. So there is my two cents. : D

Answer 10

Don't believe everything you see on TV. Read the Bible. It'll tell you about Hell and the devil. More important things to learn about tho like Jesus.

Answer 11

Hell was created in order to allow people who were wronged to feel that they'd be avenged one day. It let them go on with their lives without seeking violent vengence. It was a social device to prevent family feuds.