clarification about Hell?

Question

Please whoever reads this question do no make any assumptions about my belief this is just a question.
I have heard different descriptions about the concept of Hell.
Could you clarify which Religion states that Hell is a burning place, which one states that is not a burning place but just being apart from God in the afterlife, and which one states there is no hell. thanks

Answer 1

Hell is often pictured as a fiery furnace where people are dragging around in chains, being continually burned and never being able to do anything about it. The Bible does use some symbols of hell that reflect that idea, but hell is really exclusion from the presence of the Lord. God is the source of everything that is good -- beauty and truth, life and love, joy, peace, grace, strength, forgiveness. All those things come only from God, and if a man won't have them, then God finally says to him, "I've been trying my best to get you to take these, but if you won't have them, then you must have your own way." And they are shut out from the presence of the Lord.

And if they're shut away from the source of all goodness, then what's left? The opposite -- darkness and death That is what they had been dishing out, and that is what they will finally obtain. God will let them have their own way, and when they get it, it will be the last thing they want.

2 THESSALONIANS: Restrainers of Lawlessness

by Ray C. Stedman
http://www.raystedman.org/adventure/0254.html

Answer 2

Saying there is no hell I believe belongs to those that do not believe in God, atheism maybe? I too have heard many descriptions of hell. Which one is correct? I have no idea. I went to a conference called Morning Star, and there was a guy there who had written books and what not. Anyway, you know how some people have written books about their "dying-going to heaven-coming back to earth" stories? Well there was a guy who for whatever reason went to hell for like, an hour and said it felt like an eternity. There was a womans head in a hanging net type thing that never stopped saying "the doctor said I would be just fine, I took my medication, he said I would be fine..." And the air smelled so foul of sulfur you could taste it, and it burned your nose and throat beyond comprehension...that's all I remember. Alls I can think, is that it's PRETTY BAD!

Answer 3

It is simply, 'the grave.'
Ecclesiastes 9: 5, 10 states that the "dead are conscious of nothing at all..." If they are conscious of nothing, they obviously feel no pain, so punishment by a hellfire would be useless.
Why the confusion? The Encyclopedia Americana says this, "much confusion and misunderstanding has been caused through the early translators of the Bible persistently rendering the Hebrew Sheol, and the Greek Hades, and Gehenna by the word hell. The simple transliteration of these words by the translators of the revised editions of the Bible has not sufficed to clear up this confusion and misconception."

Answer 4

Please forgive me for "cutting and pasting", but it was the easiest way to tell you this.
Gan Eden and Gehinnom
The place of spiritual reward for the righteous is often referred to in Hebrew as Gan Eden (GAHN ehy-DEHN) (the Garden of Eden). This is not the same place where Adam and Eve were; it is a place of spiritual perfection. Specific descriptions of it vary widely from one source to another. One source says that the peace that one feels when one experiences Shabbat properly is merely one-sixtieth of the pleasure of the afterlife. Other sources compare the bliss of the afterlife to the joy of sex or the warmth of a sunny day. Ultimately, though, the living can no more understand the nature of this place than the blind can understand color.

Only the very righteous go directly to Gan Eden. The average person descends to a place of punishment and/or purification, generally referred to as Gehinnom (guh-hee-NOHM) (in Yiddish, Gehenna), but sometimes as She'ol or by other names. According to one mystical view, every sin we commit creates an angel of destruction (a demon), and after we die we are punished by the very demons that we created. Some views see Gehinnom as one of severe punishment, a bit like the Christian Hell of fire and brimstone. Other sources merely see it as a time when we can see the actions of our lives objectively, see the harm that we have done and the opportunities we missed, and experience remorse for our actions. The period of time in Gehinnom does not exceed 12 months, and then ascends to take his place on Olam Ha-Ba.

Only the utterly wicked do not ascend at the end of this period; their souls are punished for the entire 12 months. Sources differ on what happens at the end of those 12 months: some say that the wicked soul is utterly destroyed and ceases to exist while others say that the soul continues to exist in a state of consciousness of remorse.

This 12-month limit is repeated in many places in the Talmud, and it is connected to the mourning cycles and the recitation of Kaddish.

Answer 5

The most important that you need to know about Hell is that it is a place where you will be eternally separated from God. Knowing whether or not it's fire and brimstone is really a moot point, don't you think. Being separated from God would be the greatest torture (that's if you believe in God of course).

Answer 6

There is no Hell (or devil) in Paganism!!!
Cant help with the others but Hell does sound like something early Christian leaders would have invented into scaring people!

Answer 7

From the Catholic Encyclopedia, lots of history on "hell" - http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/07207a.htm

Theologically today, what I hear many Catholics saying is that hell is the absense of God and that it is a state of being that people put themselves into by their thoughts, words, and actions.

Answer 8

Hell is a lake of fire.Eternal damnation forever apart from God.
Hell is also called the bottomless pit in the bible.