Why is fire associated with Hell when it does so much great for humankind?

Question

Why is fire and heat always associated with Hell? I think fire is the most important and beneficial discovery ever. We use it to cook, get power, in medicine, and without it, we wouldnt be where we are today. I certainly don't think its a bad thing, so why do we think of fire when we think of Hell? It could just as well have been a blistering cold place, which is more viable since more people die from the cold than from the heat.

Answer 1

Because Hell in that sense of the word is a false teaching...

Hell: definition:The word “hell” is found in many Bible translations. In the same verses other translations read “the grave,” “the world of the dead,” and so forth. Other Bibles simply transliterate the original-language words that are sometimes rendered “hell”; that is, they express them with the letters of our alphabet but leave the words untranslated. What are those words? The Hebrew she’ohl′ and its Greek equivalent hai′des, which refer, not to an individual burial place, but to the common grave of dead mankind; also the Greek ge′en·na, which is used as a symbol of eternal destruction. However, both in Christendom and in many non-Christian religions it is taught that hell is a place inhabited by demons and where the wicked, after death, are punished (and some believe that this is with torment).

Answer 2

Geologists show that at the center of Earth is a ball of Fire. I find this very curious that mankind has always associated hell as being below our feet and in a fire atmosphere. Coincidence? I think NOT.

Certainly, one of the fundamental functions of religion (all religions) is burying the dead. Animals don't burry the dead, but rather leave the caucuses for scavengers. One of the miraculous junctures was when humans started burying their dead. This juncture separates mankind from animals. So, religion is forming and our dead are buried in the cold Earth. Cold Earth --- yes, the “Crust” is colder than the “Core”. So then how would evolved primates associate “Fire” to the Earth’s “Crust layer”?

I would hypothesis that there is a spiritual being in each of us. Some spiritual beings (directed by God) revealed to the living surviving family members that the “Core” of the Earth is hot iron. Since energy never dies, that the buried body is then part of the Earth; and understand the center of the Earth is hot molten iron.

Some cultures have the opposite beliefs that “Hell” is a frozen. In this case (still hypothesizing), science and religions also match up. Anther religious theory is that the spirit will escape and leave Earth. In doing so, the spirit may soar into outer space, which is a very cold environment. Again, there has to be a spiritual connection with the living to reveal the after life.

In both scenario’s I am assuming a Supreme Being who reveals to knowledge, as we are ready for it (Jesus has a path to lead us to happiness). Certainly, mankind 6,000 years ago would have difficulties imagining traveling to the center of the Earth, and Space Travel (not to mention articulating this) … but I’m fascinated how close their descriptions of the "unknown" are being enlightened by modern technologies and mirroring many religious beliefs.

Answer 3

Well, you are definitely thinking of the mainstream and most notable vision of Hell. Only in recent times does it seem people have even attempted to think of Hell in other terms, such as the "blistering cold place" you mentioned. Quite frankly, I believe that fire is associated with Hell because it causes a finality from which you cannot recover. Let's say someone takes a sheet of paper and they set it on fire. As it burns, it is completely consumed and turned into ash. There is no way to reverse the results of adding the fire to it; no way to return its original form. Supposedly, when someone is in Hell, it is because they were so bad that there is no redemption for them. Being sent to Hell means there is no hope for them, no way to reverse them into the original good person they were. It's the final end of them.

Answer 4

We associate "Fire" with "Hell" because we think that people who do negative things go there as a punishment. A punishment is supposed to hurt and fire, most assuredly, hurts.

When people die from cold, they fall asleep and pass away quietly without really feeling the cold. Fire is slow and painful which Hell is supposed to be.

Answer 5

Hell was a Nordic term and it was represented by cold. Hades is the Mediterranean name and it is represented by fire and brimstone(sulfur). In both cases it was considered a horrible, fearful death. A very bad place to be, but an artifact of their particular environment.

Answer 6

I feel that you offend God when you think He/She would allow a person to suffer in the concept of an eternal fire called hell. I do not believe that an all merciful and all loving God would do or allow such a state to exist.

Answer 7

Basically because it hurts. Fire is one of the most painful things to touch and therefore fire is associated with suffering.

Answer 8

Go stick your hand into a large flame and hold it there for a while and then come back here and, if you can still type, tell us how wonderful fire is.
It burns like hell.

Answer 9

Fire looks good from a far but who wants to be in it?

Answer 10

--If your talking about the Bibles' hell it could be said that it is a cool place in that it is the common grave of mankind?

--If you want religious(church) interpretation for the most part they believe in hell-fire?

--If you want to know what the original words' she'ol (Hebr.) ha'des (Grk.)--both mean --common grave, pit?

--You can check many translations that use those words referenced above (including hell)interchangably--thus find out they all represent the very same thing---NEVER hellfire.

--Fire has indeed been used as an emphasis of "everlasting death", "second death","lake of fire"--NEVER , the obscene everlasting punishment---by Christ in every instance, no variance what-so-ever!

(2 Thessalonians 1:6-8) “6 This takes into account that it is righteous on God’s part to repay tribulation to those who make tribulation for YOU, 7 but, to YOU who suffer tribulation, relief along with us at the revelation of the Lord Jesus from heaven with his powerful angels 8 in a flaming fire, as he brings vengeance upon those who do not know God and those who do not obey the good news about our Lord Jesus.”
“. . .These very ones will undergo the judicial punishment of everlasting destruction from before the Lord and from the glory of his strength,”

--If you see from the text above, the worst of persecution upon Christians is punished by "everlasting destruction"--of course that does not seem to be enough for our resident "hellfire lovers".


--(Revelation 20:13-14) “13 And the sea gave up those dead in it, and death and Ha´des gave up those dead in them, and they were judged individually according to their deeds. 14 And death and Ha´des were hurled into the lake of fire. This means the second death, the lake of fire.”

--How could death & Ha'des be thrown into the "lake of fire" if in fact it was literal, DEATH is not a an object, or person?
--Is it not a situation that is promised to be eradicated, as the context shows?

--The Biblical information is availabe if you wish to know the truth or are you just trying to stimulate thinking.

Interesting post!