Why does the Old Testament teach that there is no hell, while the New Testament teaches that there is?

Question

Protestants who do not share a concept of "hades" with the Eastern Orthodox, have traditionally translated "sheol" (and "hades") as "hell."

Unlike hell however, Sheol is not associated with Satan.

Answer 1

Beats me...and I am not going there so I do not really care either. Hell is being separated from God for eternity...some people it seems, have already chosen to go there.

The Skeptical Christian
Grace and Peace
Peg

Answer 2

This is a fundamental difference between Judaism and Christianity. In Judaism, there is no such thing as eternal punishment, there is no such thing as original sin. We start off pure and sin free- and we can only start sinning once we have the capacity to understand and control our actions appropriately - that is at the age of Bar mitzvah (for a boy-13) or Bat mitzvah (for a girl- 12).

The references to "Sheol" and "Gehenna" which are commonly misinterpreted as being Hell are allegorical references. The burning is the burning shame that the soul feels when it is confronted with the way it sinned while in this world when brought before the heavenly court. It is never eternal (but it can feel that way to the soul- think of the way time feels stretched out when being confronted by a parent/teacher/boss over your misdeeds). At most, it lasts for a year. From the Judaic point of view- God is a loving father, and like a parent sometimes has to punish a child, so God has to sometimes punish us- and as with a loving parent, the punishment is to improve us and enable us to be better people when it is completed- therefore it has to end or no lesson can be learned.

Answer 3

Hebrew Scriptures (OT as you referred it)
In Jeremiah 7:30-31, it says that God was displeased when the people were burning their children as sacrifices, that this practice did not come up to his heart.

Jonah also said that 'in the belly of hell' he called out to God to save him. Jonah thought that he would die in the big fish's belly and that would have been his grave.

Greek Scriptures (NT)
Jesus never spoke of a literal hell...the Abraham and Lazarus story where taken by some as an actual happening but this clearly has symbolical meaning. Abraham's bosom cannot exist as a place... the bible also speaks of Jesus being in the bosom position of the Father...meaning a favorable position.

When Jesus spoke of Gehenna, he meant destruction, where there is no return. When something is thrown into the fire what happens to it? It burns, turns to ashes and then no more, it simply ceases to exist and so it is with those Jesus said being thrown to Gehenna (symbolical), it will cease to exist. As death and hades are thrown to Gehenna, they are not literal stuff, it only means they will not be seen anymore, no more death, no more grave.

The bible in both the OT and NT speaks of hell which actually means grave/burial ground.

Hell= Sheol (Hebrew), Hades (Greek), Hölle(German) =grave/pit

Jesus was himself was 3 days in hell before resurrection...he was 3 days in his grave...

Answer 4

The OT does not teach there is no hell. The OT does not make as many references to hell as the NT. David prophesied in Christ " thou will not leave my soul in hell neither shall your Holy One suffer corruption" In Moses day there was a faction that was against the leadership that God established in Moses and Aaron. They withstood Gods leadership and the earth opened and took them alive down into the "pit." Korah and all the people that were with him along with his livestock. You can read about this in Nu. ch 16. Jesus taught about hell in the parables and eventually hell and death will be consumed in the lake of fire at the final judgment. See Rev 20:16 (This is the second death) Strive to enter the 1st resurrection!

Answer 5

Does Hell Exist - What does the Old Testament say?
Does Hell exist? A proper biblical worldview includes a belief in a real, eternal, and physical hell. What do you believe?

It is very interesting to discover that there are more Bible verses about Hell than there are about Heaven. Here are a few verses in the Old Testament about Hell. Daniel 12:2 proclaims, "Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt." Hell is described here as everlasting. Isaiah 66:24 declares, "And they will go out and look upon the dead bodies of those who rebelled against me; their worm will not die, nor will their fire be quenched, and they will be loathsome to all mankind." In this Scripture, hell is described as a place where the fire is not quenched. Deuteronomy 32:22 portrays hell as a place where God pours out His wrath, "For a fire is kindled in My anger, and shall burn to the lowest hell; It shall consume the earth with her increase, and set on fire the foundations of the mountains." Psalms 55:15 illustrates hell as a realm of the wicked, "Let death seize them; Let them go down alive into hell, for wickedness is in their dwellings and among them."

Does Hell Exist - What does the New Testament say?
Does Hell Exist? If the clear teaching of the Old Testament is not enough, the New Testament has much to say as well. 2 Thessalonians 1:9 tells us, "These shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power." Revelation 14:10-11, speaking of the antichrist, teaches us, "He shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment ascends forever and ever; and they have no rest day or night, who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name." Hell is a lake of burning fire, as described in Revelation 20:14-15, "Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire."

Does Hell Exist - What did Jesus say?
Some who argue that hell does not exist do so on the basis of their belief that Jesus taught love, peace, and forgiveness - and that He did not teach about an eternal place of fiery punishment for non-believers. However, the exact opposite is true. Jesus taught more about hell than anyone else in the Word of God. Jesus described hell as an unquenchable fire (Matthew 3:12), a place of eternal fire, (Matthew 25:41) eternal punishment (Matthew 25:46), and as a place of torment, fire, and agony (Luke 16:23-24). Jesus taught specifically about hell many times in His ministry (Matthew 5:22, 29-30; 10:28; 18:9; 23:15,33; Mark 9:43-47; Luke 12:6; 16:23).

Answer 6

Because the concept of hell didn't develop until later. Heaven and hell were developed to answer peoples questions concerning justice and injustice in the world.

If evil people prosper and get away with it while most people are poor and oppressed, how is this fair? That's the question people began to ask later in history. A final judgment with rewards and punishments was an answer to satisfy people's question about injustice and why God doesn't prevent it.

For more, read Karen Armstrong's "The Axial Age".

Answer 7

HELL IN KJV
One Hebrew word “sheol” is rendered hell. Definition; hades or the world of the dead (as if a subterranian retreat), grave, hell, pit. Three Greek words are rendered hell; geenna, hades, and tartaroo. Definition of geenna; a valley of Jerusalem, used (figuratively) as a name for the place (or state) of everlasting punishment: - hell. Definition of hades; properly unseen, that is, “Hades” or the place (state) of departed souls: - grave, hell. Definition of tartaroo; (the deepest abyss of Hades); to incarcerate in eternal torment: - cast down to hell. Tartaroo is used only one place II Pet.2:4.
Christ teaching the Pharisees in Luke 16:19-31 shows us a separation from God is truly what hell is. The “water” is symbolic for God’s Spirit and love. The word “tormented” means distressed in the Greek, not torture. The “fire” is symbolic for the shame and desire not to be separated from God.
So all who die the first death of the flesh return to God Ecc.12:6-7, but on which side of the gulf do they end up?
Hell is not eternal but is done away with in Rev.20:14-15, called both the second death and lake of fire. This second death is non-existence, for death and hell and those not written in the book of life. This second death or lake of fire is like fat drippings that fall into the fire. Just a poof of smoke into non-existence.
Psa.37:20 But the wicked shall perish, and the enemies of the LORD shall be as the fat of lambs: they shall consume; into smoke shall they consume away.
In my mind what’s worse yet is no memory of you, no tears will be shed for you like you never existed.
Rev.21:4 And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.
So hell is a separation from God and is not eternal torture or burning. Eventually hell will be done away with or passed away and also some souls. Like fat drippings in the fire, a poof of smoke into non-existence, the second death.

Answer 8

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).

In ancient Babylonian and Assyrian beliefs the “nether world . . . is pictured as a place full of horrors, and is presided over by gods and demons of great strength and fierceness.” (The Religion of Babylonia and Assyria, Boston, 1898, Morris Jastrow, Jr., p. 581) Early evidence of the fiery aspect of Christendom’s hell is found in the religion of ancient Egypt. (The Book of the Dead, New Hyde Park, N.Y., 1960, with introduction by E. A. Wallis Budge, pp. 144, 149, 151, 153, 161) Buddhism, which dates back to the 6th century B.C.E., in time came to feature both hot and cold hells. (The Encyclopedia Americana, 1977, Vol. 14, p. 68) Depictions of hell portrayed in Catholic churches in Italy have been traced to Etruscan roots.—La civiltà etrusca (Milan, 1979), Werner Keller, p. 389.

But the real roots of this God-dishonoring doctrine go much deeper. The fiendish concepts associated with a hell of torment slander God and originate with the chief slanderer of God (the Devil, which name means “Slanderer”), the one whom Jesus Christ called “the father of the lie.”—John 8:44.

Why is there confusion as to what the Bible says about hell?

“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 appreciably clear up this confusion and misconception.”—The Encyclopedia Americana (1942), Vol. XIV, p. 81.

Translators have allowed their personal beliefs to color their work instead of being consistent in their rendering of the original-language words. For example: (1) The King James Version rendered she’ohl′ as “hell,” “the grave,” and “the pit”; hai′des is therein rendered both “hell” and “grave”; ge′en·na is also translated “hell.” (2) Today’s English Version transliterates hai′des as “Hades” and also renders it as “hell” and “the world of the dead.” But besides rendering “hell” from hai′des it uses that same translation for ge′en·na. (3) The Jerusalem Bible transliterates hai′des six times, but in other passages it translates it as “hell” and as “the underworld.” It also translates ge′en·na as “hell,” as it does hai′des in two instances. Thus the exact meanings of the original-language words have been obscured.

Answer 9

cause they never got together at the time, to sort out which lie came first, and the new "book" owners, need a little power, to entice the audience, and hell sounds like a perfect boogie man story

Answer 10

Chronicles, Kings and the Book of Jeremiah all talk about hell (Gehenna).