HELP i need a christian, a jew, a muslum, and an atheist! its about HELL?

Question

So, let me preface by saying i am a seeker of Truth and i do not discount any source from my search.
i have read maybe a third of the OT, about 3/4th of the NT (including revelation and first 4 gospels) and considerably less of the Quran, but i have yet to find the actual word "Hell" in any of it. my question:
to each respective judeochristian faith, do you believe in hell and can you site a scripture passage with direct reference to it?
Notes:
-ive read the parts of revelation which talk about the lake of fire and such, but havent seen it actually say "Hell".
-Someone told me that jews do not believe in hell and that was christian invention, is this true?
-is the muslum concept of hell considerably different than the christian one?

btw, i invited the atheists here cause they were going to come anyway ;) nothing more reliable than the atheists sense of self righteousness!

Please also put what version of whichever scripture you are siting from

.... nothin but love for the atheists.... gotta love the eternal questioners

Answer 1

What we believe in is euphemistically called "The World to Come". Not much is taught on it (at least not in open sources.) It is not a world as we know itg, nor are there beautiful gardens and winged angels playing harps with golden halos around their heads. At the same time- their is no fire and brimstone or eternal damnation and burning in the fires of hell...

The world to come is a spiritual realm- souls try to cluster around the pure essence of God, to close to the holy for the sake of being near it- because souls yearn to be as close to God as possible. but it is not as simple as that either. The world to come is not a simplistic realm of one level- in the Talmud, Masechta Chagigah, it is said that the outer courtyards to God's abode has seven levels - each of ascending holiness, each soul wanting to be as high as possible. It briefly states that beyond these levels you have the inner courtyard and abode itself- but stops there with the statement "Beyond here we do not enquire". Maybe it elaborates further in the Kaballah- I have no idea on that.

Hell is completely absent from Judaism. There is no devil in Judaism as it is not possible for an angel to rebel (only humans have free will- angels can only perform specific tasks). What is generally misinterpreted as hell is the concept of Sheol or Gehinnom. This refers to the burning the soul feels at the heavenly trial after death.


Essentially, we are brought to the heavenly court (God) and judged. Satan (literally the accusser) is the prosecutor and wants to introduce all oput sins into the equation. God is merciful, and drops some of the sins before the trial begins (Rambam, Hilchos Tteshuvah). After that, the soul basically watches two movies- one is- what your life was- the other, what your life could have been. The soul feels shame at the lost opportunities, at what it could have been vs what it is. It is this shame that feels like an eternity of burning. The burning is not a literal one- it is the burning of shame that it feels at realising how it has transgressed, when it could have been so much more! Think of how, for us with physical bodies, the shame of being shouted at by a parent/teacher/ boss can feel like burning- how much worse for a soul which is a pure being and has no physical imperfections or mental imperfections to give it excuses! But though it states that this "burning" feels like an eternity- it truth, it never lasts for more than 12 months. God is much too loving to give out eternal punishments, just as a loving parent would never punish a child for forever.

Answer 2

In Islam, Hell is for that person(whatever gender he may belong to) who denies the existence of One God and His teachings....

The Quran has got no versions,its only one...some references about hell in quran are:
(Quran 3:106)
(Quran 10:27)
(Quran 7:41)
(Quran 29:55)
(Quran 9:49)
(Quran 104:4-7)
(Quran 76:4)
(Quran 73:12-13)
(Quran 34:33)
(Quran 40:71)
(Quran 69:30-32)
(Quran 21:98-99)
(Quran 10:54)
(Quran 25:13-14)
(Quran 67:10-11)
the descriptions of Hell in the Islamic scripture are clear and graphic, as are the descriptions of the people who deserve their fate therein. Such is the clarity that any person who believes in Judgment Day and the eternal destinies of the Hereafter must be motivated to at least try not to be of the people thrown inside. The best, and really only, way of avoiding this fate is to seriously search into the true religion God has mandated for humanity. A person should never follow a religion merely because it was that which he was “born into”, nor should they take religion to be a new age fashion. Rather, they should look into the truth about this world and the life to come, and be sure that they have prepared for that judgment from which there is no return, by living a life and system of belief revealed and unchanged from the One High Above.

Answer 3

Jews do believe in a place of punishment after death, called Gehinnom, but it's very different than the Christian concept of hell. Unfortunately for your question, information on the world-to-come is mostly found in the Oral Torah, which wasn't written down until Roman times. But trust me, it's been a part of Jewish tradition since the time we got the Written Torah.

Describing anything about the afterlife is a bit tricky, of course. Here on earth, physical sensations are more real than emotional sensations- hence the need for metaphors like "burning in Hell". In the world-to-come, reality is made up of emotions and spiritual concepts, and physicality is irrelevant. So when I say that Gehinnom is literally a state of mind, I'm not belittling what goes on there.

That having been said, Gehinnom is where the newly arrived soul A) realizes everything it ever did wrong, and B) seriously regrets it. I mean the overwhelming, oh-my-God-what-have-I-done type of regret.

Fortunately, it's not permanent. Gehinnom lasts a maximum of twelve months (unless we're talking about a really, really evil person). That's why the Kaddish prayer is said for a year after someone dies- it helps them get out of Gehinnom faster.

Answer 4

There is a clear and esoteric meaning of hell. I write this hesitatingly, as some may take it wrong and quit fearing the Almighty.

Hell in my understanding is that condition of the soul where one has intense regrets about a great lost opportunity. In other words, if you buy a lottery ticket, which is a winner, but you do not realize it. You write down the number, but lose the ticket and then later find out that the lost ticket would have won you a million dollars. That intense regret is perhaps the beginning of the explanation of hell. It is a concept.

When a person who loves to go to a concert, has the opportunity to get front seats, but does not wake up in time to get the ticket, that feeling is hell.

In my personal understanding (which is not based on any direct religious edicts... ) after we die, we will have the privilege to be in the GRAND ORBIT around the Peace and Effulgence of the Lord Most High perpetually. Which would be the most pleasurable, enlightening and peaceful feeling imaginable. Those who would enter the orbit around the Almighty's Peace would remain in that condition for ever. Some will be in the closer orbits, and be larger in size, thus would enjoy more of the Energy of Peace, while perhaps others will be far off and tiny, but they will still be in a state of trance ... around the Peace of the Almighty.

Those who would fail to make it into the orbit, would realize that they lost that great and perpetual experience for ever for a short time on Earth. This deep feeling of regret is hell. The sages have tried to quantify or make it physical something that is going to be an undescribble mental agony, worse than any physical suffering.

I hope this makes sense to you. I am a Muslim, by the way and what I wrote will not be found in any Islamic book for sure. If I wrote in error, may the Lord forgive me. I mean well.

Answer 5

Hell is a punishment for the evil ppl and the disbelievers , God described it so many times in the Quran and also the same number was the hell mentioned was the heaven as well , and it is one of the miracles , God doesn't want us to get punished but he S.W.T. created us and showed us the right path and the wrong path and gave us a free will to choose and based on this everyone will be judged for hislher deeds and beliefs in the judgement day ,
"Why should Allâh punish you if you have thanked (Him) and have believed in Him. And Allâh is Ever All­Appreciative (of good), All­Knowing. "Quran 4:147

besides , scribed the heaven in a way that make any one would want to go it and get so entheusithist to do good deeds to get that great great reward, and also described hell in a way that make anyone would fear it so that we get away from the bad deeds that would lead to it ,
it is all leads to us whether good or bad depending on what u chooses and we all human so we all overall try to act good and be true in our faith and HAVE great hope in God's mercy , he is all merciful and generious.!

Muslims are quite clear that Heaven and Hell have existed even before the creation of the world. They are both permanent places.

A translation of what we read in the Qur'an tells us this:

*{"Surely, We [Allah] have prepared for the evildoers a fire, whose pavilion encompasses them. If they call for help, they will be helped with water like molten copper that will scald their faces. How dreadful a drink and how evil a resting place.}* (Al-Kahf 18: 29)

In another part of the Qur'an, we read:

*{Certainly, Allah has cursed the unbelievers and prepared for them a blazing fire to dwell therein forever, they shall find neither protector nor helper. On the day when their faces are turned about in the fire, they shall say, "Would that we had obeyed Allah and obeyed the Messenger!"}* (Al-Ahzab 33: 64-66)

There are other descriptions of Hell that are graphically horrific. Muslims believe that some people will be sent to Hell for all eternity, because we are told so in either the Qur'an or in the sayings of the Prophet (peace be upon him). They will never leave. Some of these people are actually mentioned by name.

According to authorities in Hadith like Al-Bukhari and Muslim, such people include Abu Lahab, `Amr ibn Luhai Al-Khuza`i, and others. Those who aren't identified by name are identified by description: every unbeliever, polytheist, or hypocrite (those who pretend they are Muslims but are not.)

Answer 6

If you are genuinely a seeker of truth, you will perhaps wish to look at the writings of Baha'u'llah. I'm a Baha'i. Baha'u'llah's revelation and the Baha'i Faith historically bears the same relationship with Muhammad and the Quran as Christ and Christianity does with Moses and Judaism. Maybe you will be interested also in Baha'u'llah's explanation of hell and heaven. Basically, he says heaven is nearness to God and hell is the opposite. Just as when we are in the womb of the mother, we develop capacities and attributes, limbs and members for which we only find full expression when we leave the world of the womb and are born into this world. Similarly, in this world, we develop spiritual qualities and attributes which, although finding expression in this world, find full expression in the world to come. If we fail to use this life to develop those qualities and attributes which are the only powers we will take to the next world, we will be the functioning equivalent in that world as a stone is in this world. We will have no powers or perceptions to take full advantage of what it means to be spiritual beings released from physical bondage and limitations. This is very brief and incomplete, but I hope it offers you an inspiring and refreshing point of view. For further research and investigation, I have provided a URL for an online Baha'i library, but you'll have to narrow down your serches to the topics that interest you.

Answer 7

The word Hell is in the Quran several times.

Page 31 2;205
When they are told:"Have fear of God," vanity carries them off to sin. Sufficient for them shall be Hell, an evil resting place.
Page 31 aslo pages 59, 60, 208, 236, 333, 347, 410 and 415.
Maybe you should have read past the first few pages????

Answer 8

Here are a few bible verses for you:


Matthew 18:9
And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you. It is better for you to enter into life with one eye, rather than having two eyes, to be cast into hell fire

Isaiah 14:9
“ Hell from beneath is excited about you, To meet you at your coming; It stirs up the dead for you, All the chief ones of the earth; It has raised up from their thrones All the kings of the nations.


Proverbs 15:24
The way of life winds upward for the wise, That he may turn away from hell below.

Psalm 9:17
[ Meditation. Selah ] The wicked shall be turned into hell,And all the nations that forget God.


All of those except Matthew are from the Old Testament, so that would show that hell isn't a Christian invention.

Answer 9

Psalm 9:17
55:15
Proverbs 27:20
Matthew 5:22
18:9
23:33
Luke 12:5
those are on Hell specifically.
Hades is mentioned in:
Matthew 11:23
16:18
Luke 16:23
Acts 2:27
Revelation 1:18
20:14
Some descriptions of Hell are in:
Matthew 8:12
Revelations 20:10

Answer 10

No, atheists are self-righteous, but many of us know the bible quite well as well as having a decent historical background for it.

The concept of hell has evolved over the centuries along with the concept of Satan, essentially if you talked to Moses about them, he'd scratch his beard and wonder what you were talking about. First century Christians would be confused as well but might recognize hell as the same as the lake of fire. Our current concept of hell is derived from Dante's Inferno.