Did people who died before Christ was born go to Heaven or Hell or neither?

Question

My basic point is this:

The Christian concept of Hell, which comprises fire and brimstone for all of eternity, apparently did not preexist Christ. And, but-for Christ, this Hell would not exist. Therefore, Christ is responsible for this Hell.

Is this correct?

Answer 1

Hell was invented at the same time Christendom was at the Council of Nicea, if I remember correctly.

Some form of pleasant afterlife is common in a lot of world beliefs but I'm not sure that the idea of being tormented in the afterlife isn't just a scare tactic by Christianity to keep people afraid of NOT go to church. 'God is love' but we should all be terrified of making Him mad. That's contradictory to me.

Answer 2

I may have the answer for you. In the Bible, in Romans chapters 1 & 2 there are some verses that I believe explain this. In Romans 1, verse 20, it says that since the creation of the world that God's invisible attributes, power and divine nature have clearly been seen through what He has made, so that no one is without excuse. Then in Romans 2, verses 14 -16, it says that those people who did not have the Law (the Bible such as it was at that time, not in the complete book that we have now) are a law unto themselves "in that they show the work of the Law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness, and their thoughts alternatively accusing or else defending them, on the day when...God will judge the secrets of men through Jesus Christ." As Christians, God sees us through the blood of Jesus Christ as innocent. I believe that last part of the above verse is saying that God will judge those early people and people on earth who still have not heard the Good News, innocent (if they lived their lives according to their consciences) because of Jesus' sacrifice. I hope that makes some sense and is not too confusing. You ought to read all of Romans 1 & 2 and it might make more sense. I have just started attending a Bible study that answers all our hard questions each Thursday night, so if I find out any other information on this I'll send it on. Great question, by the way!

Answer 3

The bible declares that those in bc times went a waiting place where Jesus then set the captives free, quote after the cross.
in Revelation it describes that the dead IN CHRIST will rise at the 1st resurrection and then the 2nd resurrection will of all mankind.
those to rule and reighn with Jesus and those into the Lake of Fire for ETERNITY.
Hell is now, and is real. however the Lake of Fire is the final domain for ALL UNGODLY, UN4GIVEN souls.

Answer 4

between the warning signs of the top situations is that each the place/place in the international might have had the prospect to hearken to Gods be conscious! some believe that the internet is a demonstration of the situations through quantity of people it could attain! Now the people in the previous testomony in the previous Christ will settle for the prospect by utilising Christ to settle for the gospel. in the event that they settle for they are going to accompany him into heaven! God Bless

Answer 5

This is why only bent Christianity goes on about heaven and hell.

The Bible actually says that the dead are dead and are conscious of nothing. Come the day, we get to be judged. The good guys get to inherit the earth, the bad guys return to death.

Answer 6

Hell existed before Christ because hell is the absence of God.
Think of hell as a mercy for those who cannot face the awesome glory of God, a place to hide and weep and gnash their teeth in the outer darkness because they hate God.

As soon as a man dies, he undergoes his own individual judgment by God. (see the parable of Lazarus and the rich neighbour when Jesus was speaking before His resurrection) and there is also the collective judgment at the end of the world at the hands of Jesus). Before Jesus Christ opened heaven, there was only Sheol (hell and the bosom of Abraham in the highest level and the chasm in between)

In Matthew 17:1-5, we read:
And after six days Jesus taketh unto him Peter and James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into a high mountain apart: And he was transfigured before them. And his face did shine as the sun: and his garments became white as snow. And behold there appeared to them Moses and Elias talking with him.

Now, this was kind of difficult for Moses to do if he was "dead" in his grave, still waiting to come to life again through Christ Jesus

Moses died; yet, he showed up at the Mount of Transfiguration. Was he not sleeping? If Moses was resurrected before Christ died on the Cross, then Jesus is not the first one ever to have risen from the dead but we know that Jesus is the first(as mentioned clearly in Acts 26:23), and therefore Moses' resurrection must have occurred after Jesus' own Resurrection. Thus, Moses showed up with Elijah while he was not yet resurrected, so that proves that because Moses cannot be
sleeping and showing up at the Transfiguration at the same time.

Let's go further: Mark 12:26-27 tells us:

And as concerning the dead that they rise again have you not read in the book of Moses, how in the bush God spoke to him, saying: I am the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob? He is not the God of the dead, but of the living. You therefore do greatly err. "

Read the whole chapter for yourself. The key verses are 26 and 27, the ones quoted above. What they are saying is, obviously, that when Moses was in front of the burning bush, talking to God, at that time Abraham and Isaac and Jacob were "alive," that is, in Sheol (and not "asleep" somehow), because God is God
"of the living"--they were not dead or asleep, but alive (as Matthew 17:1-5 clearly shows with Moses).
Jesus was accusing the Sadducees, who denied the Resurrection of the dead, of being misled. And that was before the New Covenant was made with God.
How much truer is it now that the New Covenant is in effect?


Finally, Luke 16:19-24 makes the position perfectly clear:

And lifting up his eyes when he was in torments, he saw Abraham afar off and Lazarus in his bosom: And he cried and said: Father Abraham, have mercy on me and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water to cool my tongue: for I am tormented in this flame.
Secondly, whether we take this story literally or figuratively makes no difference; it says that those who die go to their destiny immediately. We are nowhere told of a "sleep" that they have to undergo until the General Judgment.

If Jesus had wanted to teach that "sleep," He would have had a perfect opportunity to do just that. Yet, He didn't. Neither did He call the bosom of Abraham paradise meaning that the patriarchs and those who were in a state of grace waited for the Redeemer that they anticipated when they were alive. The Redeemer opened the gates of heaven, which is why the Jews do not mention heaven before Jesus, only Sheol (hell and the bosom of Abraham in the highest level and the chasm in between) because they were not aware of heaven.

Answer 7

In Leviticus (the book of law) it explains how you had to be fogiven before Jesus came along. There were very specific thing that needed to be done i.e. the flawleff lamb of your stock had to be sacrificed. Which is why we call Jesus the Lamb of God, becuase he was the flawless Man that was sacrificed for all of man kind. So if the tasks were done according to the Lords Law, I would imagine they would go to heaven. The Lord is very forgiving and merciful.

Answer 8

Neither... who is dead now before the Day of Judgement are in the grave still.

The judgement will be for everyone _ dead and alive together where will be decided who will go to Heaven who will go to Hell

Answer 9

The idea is that they went to Sheol, the Jewish concept of the afterlife. Its where Jesus went after he died, that Christians usually call Hell.

Answer 10

After Jesus was crucified and he resurrected, he descended to Hell and got those who believed.
Romans 4:9