In some versions of Christian theology, Hell is the place or state into which, by God's definitive judgment, unrepentant sinners pass in the general judgment, or, as some Christians believe, immediately after death as a result of a person's choice to be separated from God (particular judgment).Cross, F. L., Livingstone, E. (editors), The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church (Oxford University Press. 2005), article "Hell" Its character is inferred from teaching in the biblical texts, some of which, interpreted literally, have given rise to the popular idea of Hell. Some theologians see Hell as the consequence of rejecting union with God.
Different Hebrew and Greek words are translated as "Hell" in most English-language Christian Bibles. These words include: "Sheol" () in the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament), and "Hades" in the New Testament. Some modern versions, such as the New International Version, translate Sheol as "grave" and transliterate "Hades". Some denominations, like the Jehovah's Witnesses, believe that these refer to a state of complete unconsciousness. It is generally agreed that both Sheol and Hades typically refer to the grave, the temporary abode of the dead, the underworld.New Bible Dictionary third edition, IVP 1996. Articles on "Hell", "Sheol". "Gehenna", in the New Testament, in which it is described as a place where both soul and body can be destroyed (Matthew 10:28) in "unquenchable fire" (Mark 9:43). The word is often translated as "Hell", but it is sometimes transliterated as Gehenna.. Gehenna, referenced in Joshua 18:16, Jeremiah 7:31, Jeremiah 19:2, and Jeremiah 19:6 in the Hebrew Bible, Rosh Hashanah 17a:3 and Shabbat 33b:7 in the Talmud, and Shemot Rabbah 2:2 and Bereshit Rabbah 48:8 in the Midrash, was a physical location situated outside the city walls of Jerusalem. The Greek verb (tartarō, derived from Tartarus), which occurs once in the New Testament (in 2 Peter 2:4), is almost always translated by a phrase such as "thrown down to hell". A few translations render it as "Tartarus"; of this term, the Holman Christian Standard Bible states: "Tartarus is a Greek name for a subterranean place of divine punishment lower than Hades."
Jewish background
Initially in ancient Jewish belief, the dead were consigned to Sheol, a place to which all were sent indiscriminately. Sheol was thought of as a place situated below the ground—a place of darkness, silence, and forgetfulness. By the third or second century BC, the idea had evolved to encompass separate divisions in Sheol for the righteous and wicked, as in the Book of Enoch.New Bible Dictionary 3rd edition, IVP Leicester 1996. "Sheol".
By the Savoraic or early Geonic parts of the Rabbinic period (500–640 AD), Gehinnom was viewed as the place of ultimate punishment, as Rabbi Yehudah is recorded teaching in Kiddushin 82a:8: "[Even] the best of physicians is to Gehenna, and [even] the fittest of butchers is a partner of Amalek." It is also noted as such in the earlier apocryphal Assumption of Moses and 2 Esdras.New Bible Dictionary 3rd edition, IVP Leicester 1996, "Hell".
New Testament Three different New Testament words appear in most English translations as "Hell": Greek NT NT occurrences KJV NKJV NASB NIV ESV CEV NLT ᾅδης (Hades) 9; ; ; , ; ; ; . Some late Greek manuscripts, which are followed by KJV and NKJV, have ᾅδης in Hell (9/10)The King James Version translates "ᾅδης" 9 times as "Hell" and once as "grave" (in ) Hades (10/10) Hades (9/9) Hades (7/9 or 4/9)The 2010 New International Version translates "ᾅδης" seven times as "Hades", and two times as "realm of the dead"; the 1984 NIV translates it four times as "Hades", twice as "depths", twice as "grave", and once as "hell". Hades (8/9)The English Standard Version translates "ᾅδης" 8 times as "Hades" and once as "Hell". death's kingdom (3/9)The Contemporary English Version translates "ᾅδης" twice as "Hell", once as "death", twice as "grave", once as "world of the dead", three times as "death's kingdom". grave (6/9)The New Living Translation renders "ᾅδης" once as "place of the dead", twice as "the dead" and six times as "the grave". γέεννα (Gehenna) 12Matthew 5:22, 5:29; 5:30;; ; , ; , , ; ; . Hell Hell Hell Hell Hell Hell Hell ταρταρῶ (Tartarō̂, verb) 1 Hell Hell Hell Hell Hell Hell Hell
The most common New Testament term translated as "Hell" is (gehenna), a direct loan of Hebrew גהנום/גהנם (ge-hinnom). Apart from one use in , this term is found exclusively in the synoptic gospels.New Bible Dictionary 3rd ed., IVP, Leicester 1996. Article "Hell", pages 463-464 Gehenna is most frequently described as a place of punishment (e.g., Matthew 5:22, ; ).New Dictionary of Biblical Theology; IVP Leicester 2000, "Hell"
The New Testament also uses the Greek word hades, usually to refer to the abode of the dead (e.g., ; ). Only one passage describes hades as a place of torment, the parable of Lazarus and Dives (). Jesus here depicts a wicked man suffering fiery torment in hades, which is contrasted with the bosom of Abraham, and explains that it is impossible to cross over from one to the other. Some scholars believe that this parable reflects the intertestamental Jewish view of hades (or sheol) as containing separate divisions for the wicked and righteous.
Parables of Jesus concerning the hereafter In the eschatological discourse of , Jesus says that, when the Son of Man comes in his glory, he will separate people from one another as a shepherd separates sheep from goats, and will consign to everlasting fire those who failed to aid "the least of his brothers". This separation is stark, with no explicit provision made for fine gradations of merit or guilt:"hell." Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online Academic Edition. Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 2013. Web. 4 March 2013.
Similar concepts Lake of Fire
The Book of Revelation mentions a lake of fire and brimstone in which unrighteous people are thrown.
Abyss
According to the Book of Revelation, the abyss is the place in which the Seven-Headed Dragon is imprisoned during the Millennium.
Eastern Orthodox views
Some Eastern Orthodox Christians believe that Heaven and Hell are relations to or experiences of God's just and loving presence.God himself is both heaven and hell, reward and punishment. All men have been created to see God unceasingly in his uncreated glory. Whether God will be for each man heaven or hell, reward or punishment, depends on man's response to God's love and on man's transformation from the state of selfish and self-centered love, to Godlike love which does not seek its own ends. "Empirical Theology Versus Speculative Theology" by John S. Romanides part 2 Thus it is the Church's spiritual teaching that God does not punish man by some material fire or physical torment. God simply reveals Himself in the risen Lord Jesus in such a glorious way that no man can fail to behold His glory. It is the presence of God's splendid glory and love that is the scourge of those who reject its radiant power and light. ... those who find themselves in hell will be chastised by the scourge of love. How cruel and bitter this torment of love will be! For those who understand that they have sinned against love, undergo no greater suffering than those produced by the most fearful tortures. The sorrow which takes hold of the heart, which has sinned against love, is more piercing than any other pain. It is not right to say that the sinners in hell are deprived of the love of God ... But love acts in two ways, as suffering of the reproved, and as joy in the blessed! (St. Isaac of Syria, Mystic Treatises) The Orthodox Church of America website There is no created place of divine absence, nor is hell an ontological separation from God.For those who love the Lord, his Presence will be infinite joy, paradise and eternal life. For those who hate the Lord, the same Presence will be infinite torture, hell and eternal death. The reality for both the saved and the damned will be exactly the same when Christ "comes in glory, and all angels with Him, " so that "God may be all in all." (I Corinthians 15-28) Those who have God as their "all" within this life will finally have divine fulfillment and life. For those whose "all" is themselves and this world, the "all" of God will be their torture, their punishment and their death. And theirs will be "weeping and gnashing of teeth." (Matthew 8:21, et al.)
The Son of Man will send His angels and they will gather out of His kingdom all causes of sin and all evil doers, and throw them into the furnace of fire; there men will weep and gnash their teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the Kingdom of their Father. (Matthew 13:41-43)
According to the saints, the "fire" that will consume sinners at the coming of the Kingdom of God is the same "fire" that will shine with splendor in the saints. It is the "fire" of God's love; the "fire" of God himself who is love. "For our God is a consuming fire" (Hebrews 12:29) who "dwells in unapproachable light." (I Timothy 6:16) For those who love God and who love all creation in him, the "consuming fire" of God will be radiant bliss and unspeakable delight. For those who do not love God, and who do not love at all, this same "consuming fire" will be the cause of their "weeping" and their "gnashing of teeth."