Can anyone explain the mythology that has crept into Christianity?

Question

I am talking about the idea of Hell being a place for eternal torture. Also the mythology that when one dies an essence or spirit separates from the body and goes somewhere. I am truly interested to know where these come from. I am looking for facts here. No silly or idiotic answers please.

I know what the Bible says. There are many things which people believe but it's not supported by scriptures. Can you give me references for these scriptures? I am a believer of Christ's Way.

I see that there are some Bible scholars here and some even have the nerve to believe independently from the common church teachings. I like seeing people who are willing to believe new information regarding Bible truths, instead of just believing what the old traditions demand.

I did look at the POCM site...there is one major thing that Greg missed on the site. Christianity is the only religion in which God died to save us. There is another thing he missed...the Devil has counterfeit for everything God designed. Whyo wouldn't all those false gods and religions try to set up a counterfeit before the real thing came along. Satan was in heaven once...he must have figured out some of the things that would happen...he knew prophecy, so why wouldn't he try to fool people, and introduce mythology into the world to turn people for when the authentic arrived?

Answer 1

Constantine I, the great Roman emperor noticed that even though the Christians were being killed, there would be more that would spring up in their place. It seemed God was with the Christians and they were victorious. "Hmm", says the Emperor, "My empire shall become Christian and then their God will be with me and I will win all the wars." He marches his armies through the water and claims they are now baptized. Since they already worshiped the sungod why not just change it to the Son of God. Sunday keeping, easy one there since the venerable day of the sun was already being kept by his pagan empire and Jesus was raised from the dead on Sunday, The Pagan empire loved their idols. Oh well, just replace them with Christian ones and they can pray to them. Keeping the prayer beads will help the order of things. The pagans have very definite ideas about life after death. They want to believe what Adam and Eve were told by the serpent, "Ye shall not surely die". And that is after God told them they would die. The Bible speaks in many places of death and the resurrection. It speaks of death as a time of sleep and that we shall not return home any more or praise the Lord any more...that is until Resurrection morning stated in Thessalonians. The world was first cleaned by a flood and people were placed in an ark. The second time it will be cleaned by fire and Jesus will come and take us to His Kingdom while the earth is cleansed for the last and final time where death and sin will be destroyed along with those that did not choose Christ. You see He loves us enough that He would never force us into His Kingdom if we would not be happy with the lifestyle there. Then we will return to earth after the cleansing and it shall be like it should have stayed in the garden of Eden. We can walk in the grass and not get stickers. The Bible says "eye hath not seen nor ear heard the things the Lord has prepared for those that love Him." Just imagine, the most beautiful home, music, gardens here on earth are nothing in comparison to what Jesus is preparing for those that love Him. The Bible says when Jesus returns He will bring His reward with Him for those that have done well and those that have not. So you see there is a specific time when we shall be raised all together for the biggest party and family reunion ever at the last day of earth's history. Will those that made the choice to not go be burned for the rest of eternety. Of course not. Everlasting means until it is gone. Sodom and Ghomorra is not still burning but it was burned up. God is a God of love and He gives people ample time to choose a life of good or evil. The evil will just be burned up and will be no more as the Bible says that sin and death will be no more. Will Lucifer burn forever and ever? No, because Jesus tells him that He will bring him to ashes under his feet. It is all so simple really...it is man that messes things up and makes it hard. He is on His way...Let's be ready. Mmm

Answer 2

The Jews tried very hard to keep their religion uncontaminated by foreign ideas. But foreign influences did creep in. There would have been no book of Daniel if the Babylonian exile hadn't happened. The bizarre religious and political artworks the captives saw there inspired Daniel's apocalyptic imagery. If the Hebrew Bible hadn't been translated into Greek during the Third Century BCE, there would have likely been much less comparison of theological concepts.

There were problems in the Jewish faith of the time, particularly the "Deuteronomic" notion that God rewards the faithful and punishes the wicked in this life. Life just didn't corroborate this viewpoint. The Greek notion of a "soul", that could operate independently of the body, allowed for an afterlife that was more than just lying in the common grave of mankind. God could still settle accounts.

The 2nd book of Maccabees speaks of a "resurrection" that inspired Jewish martyrs to defy their captors at the point of death. Even though the Maccabees were renowned for ending Greek occupation, they didn't eject their alien philosophical ideas. By Jesus' day, life after death was a strong belief among the Pharisees and the ordinary people (but not the Sadducees).

Neo-Platonic thought was a strong component of early Christian theology, only gradually giving away to Aristotelianism. It was in the air, since everyone in the known world spoke Greek, and couldn't really be avoided.

And heaven and hell were natural developments, since the soul needed to go somewhere. Tartarus and the Elysian fields were translated into a Christian context to give the world a system of ultimate justice.

Answer 3

As for Hell... that is supported by the "Lake of fire" passages. A pit of eternal torment. Name it whatever you want.

There's a lot of mythology that has crept into the practices of assorted Christian denominations... But the concept of Hell is not one of the better examples.


The concept of there being an afterlife and there being a spiritual element to a person which will continue after death, separate from the body is a founding basis for belief also...

If there is no separate spirit, there is no afterlife.

If there is no afterlife there is no heaven

If there is no heaven there is no hell.

If there is an afterlife but no hell (a possibility not excluded above) then there might or might not be a God (but the probability is that there is a God if there is an afterlife...)

If there is a God and there is a heaven and there is a hell.. you better pray you don't go to hell, because there's no fire escape.

Answer 4

It's usually associated with translation. How a person or religion translates the bible writings. There are also historical stories of places in Israel where bodies and other things were burned, like a local dump. Some say it comes from this place.

You already believe it's mythology so no one is going to convince you otherwise. I don't believe in hell either.

The issue of the seperation of the spirit seperating from the body again comes from translation. Two people will tell you the same text reads two different ways. I could go deeper, but why? You believe what you believe.

If you really want to challenge yourself ask how a Christmas tree made out to be the holiest holiday. People will give up God before they give up Christmas or even Halloween. It's just to damn much fun.

Answer 5

Mythogology is thoughts revamped the years with the help of a definite team of folk to describe how issues are created (the wind, sunshine, rain, etc) and to show morals (do no longer lie, do no longer scouse borrow). whether you have faith in Christianity or no longer, you could desire to understand that the Bible is a determination of comments (wheteher real or fictional) that designate how issues have been created (women from the rib of guy, languages, etc) and show morals. In the two mythology and the Bible, countless the thoughts look quite a techniques-fetched. The creation of guy in Greek mythology, Prometheus formed guy out of airborne dirt and mud, and Athena breathed existence into his clay determine, on the same time as interior the Bible, woman replaced into created from the rib of a guy. the two look quite a techniques-fetched from the certainty that we see at present. for this reason some human beings declare it is not something extra advantageous than mythology.

Answer 6

Hell has never been a part of mythology, but rather doctrine. There is much in scripture, starting with the Old Testament, on into the New Testament. The Old Testament refers to Sheol in books like Ps 9:17, Ps 55:15, Ezek 31:16-17, Is 5:14. New Testament even directly refers to hell in Km 9:43-48

There are many more passages (if you want to know more, then contact me).

Answer 7

Fact is this. Religions and Ideologies Branch. Let's compare.
First we have America, then the two parties, Republican-Democrats and the Whigs, The Federalists, and Anti-Federalists, Republican and Democrats split, then Liberals and Conservatives, Fascists, Communists HOLY CRAP... We started with just Whigs and the RDs right? Religion is the same. The Ideology passes down generation to generation, someone gets a new idea and branches off, someone else get a new Idea and branches off from that and so on. The Concept of Heaven and Hell was well thought of way before many religions.

Answer 8

--There are connections with ancient Babylon and Egypt that the religions of Christendom had started to encorporate about 300 years after Christ-//Starting with the pseudo christianity of Constantine!

-*** sh chap. 3 pp. 41-42 Common Threads in Mythology ***

WHY consider myths? Are they not just fictions from the distant past? While it is true that many are based on fiction, others are based on fact. Take for example the myths and legends found worldwide that are based on the fact of the world Deluge, or Flood, that the Bible relates.

2 A reason for considering myths is that they are the foundation for beliefs and rites still found in religions today. For example, belief in an immortal soul can be traced from ancient Assyro-Babylonian myths through Egyptian, Greek, and Roman mythology to Christendom, where it has become an underlying tenet in her theology. Myths are evidence that ancient man was searching for gods, as well as for a meaning in life. In this chapter we will briefly cover some of the common themes that arise in the myths of the world’s major cultures. As we review these mythologies, we will note how creation, the Flood, false gods and demigods, the immortal soul, and sun worship crop up regularly as common threads in the patchwork of mythology. But why should this be the case?

3 Very often there is a kernel of historical fact, a person, or an event that has later been exaggerated or distorted to form the myth. One of these historical facts is the Bible’s record of creation.

*** w89 10/1 p. 4 The Origin of Hell ***

The Origin of Hell

“HELL,” explains the New Catholic Encyclopedia, is the word “used to signify the place of the damned.” A Protestant encyclopedia defines hell as “the place of future punishment for the wicked.” But belief in such a place of punishment after death is not limited to the main churches of Christendom. It originated many centuries before Christendom came into existence.

*** w89 10/1 p. 5 The Origin of Hell ***

The Jews and the Hebrew Scriptures

What about the Jews before Jesus’ day? Concerning them, we read in the Encyclopædia Britannica (1970): “From the 5th century B.C. onward, the Jews were in close contact with the Persians and the Greeks, both of whom had well-developed ideas of the hereafter. . . . By the time of Christ, the Jews had acquired a belief that wicked souls would be punished after death in Gehenna.” However, the Encyclopædia Judaica states: “No suggestion of this later notion of Gehenna is to be found in Scripture.”

This latter statement is correct. There is no suggestion in the Hebrew Scriptures of a postmortem punishment for a soul in a fiery hell. This frightening doctrine goes back to the post-Flood religions of Babylonia, not to the Bible. Christendom’s doctrine of punishment in hell originated with the early Babylonians. The Catholic idea of remedial suffering in purgatory goes back to the early Egyptian and Oriental religions. Limbo was copied from Greek mythology. Prayers and offerings for the dead were practiced by the Etruscans.

Answer 9

Hi.

Here are a few reasons:

(Mark 7:6-8) . . .This people honor me with [their] lips, but their hearts are far removed from me. 7 It is in vain that they keep worshiping me, because they teach as doctrines commands of men.’ 8 Letting go the commandment of God, YOU hold fast the tradition of men.”

(2 Corinthians 11:13-15) . . .For such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into apostles of Christ. 14 And no wonder, for Satan himself keeps transforming himself into an angel of light. 15 It is therefore nothing great if his ministers also keep transforming themselves into ministers of righteousness. But their end shall be according to their works.

So people follow traditions rather than following what the Bible really teaches....
Then there is the false teachers.... they profess to be christian, but really they teach what is not acceptable to God.

Discuss??

Mike.

Answer 10

Jesus personally described the fate of a person suffering eternal torment in hell in the parable of the Rich man and Lazarus. The idea of a person's soul/spiritual self separating from the physical body is found in the same parable.

As He was hanging on the cross, Jesus told one of the thieves hanging with him that "today, you shall be with me in paradise." Now, obviously these men all died and were buried physically. Jesus ressurected physically 3 days later. The thieves' bodies remained in the ground. Since "paradise" cannot be in any way confused with a dark hole in the ground, the believing man's experience of paradise is obviously not physical. It is spiritual. Since his body is turning to dust in the ground, it would follow that his spirit is elsewhere, experiencing paradise.

Ecclesiastes also mentions the separation of the spirit/soul from the physical body at death, even comparing the different fates of humans and animals at death.

That will do for starters.