Christians: do you believe in a Jewish type hell, or a new testiment type hell?

Question

Most Jewish Rabbi say hell is just a distance from god, and at times say there are different distances from god.
Most Christian leaders preach hell fire, and pain, and a complete lack of god.
What do you believe, and why? (I'm asking because Christianity came from Judaism, and this idea seems to have been skewwed over the years)

Answer 1

Jesus didn't teach about hell fire and brimstone.

Answer 2

I'm Mormon. And while I've never thought of it in the phrases you used, I guess we believe in both.
We believe there are three kingdoms of Heaven. The one that is actually in the presence of God the Father and Jesus Christ, is the highest and is the Celestial Kingdom. The next one "down" is only allowed the presence of Christ but is able to see the glory of God. The third one is only allowed to see the glory of Christ, but not his presence and not able to see the glory of God the Father at all. So in each case you are distanced from God, unless you are in the Celestial Kingdom, which is where we all want to be. After those three kingdoms of Heaven, there is what we call Outer Darkness. While almost all people will recieve one of the kingdoms of heaven, there will be a very, very, very few who are so bad that they spend eternity in a place that is void of anything good, who are so far away from the glory of anyone in any kingdom of Heaven that it is imperceptable to them. This place devoid of anything good is Outer Darkness.
We also have a concept of Paradise and Hell. Briefly discribing them, requires thinking about what happens to us when we die, but before the judgement day. We believe that we go to a Spirit World. A place where those who have had the saving ordinances done (while in the flesh) preach the Everlasting Gospel to those who have not. Those who preach are in Paradise and are seperated from those who did not have the saving ordinances done while in the flesh, who are in Hell. If those preached to accept the Gospel, they can accept any ordinances done in their behalf (some must wait until the ordinance work is done for them), and when they are restored to their bodies, they can have the opportunity to recieve a kingdom of Heaven. Hell, as we see it, is a place with out hope. They have not had the Gospel preached to them yet, or their work (the saving ordinances) has not been done by proxy for them, so if the Judgement Day were to come, and they were to be resurrected, they wouldn't even have the hope of gaining entrance into some kingdom of Heaven.

It makes better since if you can see the handout the missionaries use.

Answer 3

Actually there is a large number of Christians that agree that Hell is more of a separation from God rather than a place of fire and brim stone. The question is was Jesus talking literally or metaphorically when He referred to Hell as a lake of fire. In other words did he mean we would literally feel the burning sensation for eternity or is the total separation from God like being burned for all eternity? Before you quickly say well literally burning would be much worse than a separation from the all Loving God, think about how very real emotional pain can be.... then multiply times infinity.

I don't think Hell should be perceived as a punishment as much as it should be viewed as an inevitability. God can not co-exist with sin. Therefore choosing a life of sin separates you from God and thus you end up in Hell, completely separate from God.

Answer 4

actually one of the key differences between a Jewish hell and Christian hell is who goes and for how long.

in Christianity anyone that has not accepted Jesus goes to hell and never returns.

In Judaism hell is more of a purgatory that cleanses people from any remaining sin. As a result most people go to hell and leave it in less than a years time.

Answer 5

many parts of the bible compare hell to a pit, but one thing it does say is the dead go there. the problem is that many confuse the gehenna that Jesus described as hell. if hell is already a burning place, why is it then thrown into the lake of fire. What's not usually mentioned is there at Rev 20;13, it says that the sea and hell gave up their dead and these r judged, and then verse 14 says death itself along with hades would be thrown into the lake of fire which is the second death and then those not in the book of life would be hurled there also. now most will defend the insufferable pain by what verse 10 describes the devil being thrown there along with the false prophet and the wild beast and tormented forever. torment in older times meant inmprisonment. this can be interpreted in several ways, but how can death be tortured. usually when u burn something u destroy it, so the second death and lake of fire can mean total destruction with no hope for salvation or resurrection. Please research the actual valley of Hinnom in Jerusalem which Jesus used as Gehenna, where they threw their garbage and the dead bodies of criminals.

Answer 6

Actually, many Christians explain hell exactly like you explained the Rabbis do. Yet, I did not think Jewish people believed in hell, as there is no teaching on it in the Torah.

Answer 7

I've heard Christians take both views. For my part, I haven't decided which I believe (and note that the two views are not mutually exclusive). The main point is that Hell will not be enjoyable. If it was important to know all the physical/emotional/spiritual detail of Hell, it would be more clearly spelled out in scripture.

Answer 8

I do believe that hell is both fire and brimstone and at the same time an overall distance from God's love. You should look at Dante's Inferno. It will explain alot to you.

Answer 9

Do a word search on H E L L in the Jewish Bible. It's mentioned a lot, especially by the Psalmist.

Answer 10

The bible mentions hell more than heaven and the later description is correct along with separation from God.

Answer 11

I think a hell like Dante's Inferno seem like the right kind of hell.

If hell was not scary people wouldn't mind going there.