Installment 16 - HELL Part D
The "Christian Hell" is a Christian HOAX
The Holy Scriptures know nothing of a Christian hell of eternal torment.
The Christian hell is a Christian hoax.
The Jewish hell is a Jewish hoax.
The Islamic hell is a Islamic hoax.
The Greek hell is a Greek hoax.
The Hindu hell is a Hindu hoax.
The Babylonian hell is a Babylonian hoax.
The Egyptian hell is an Egyptian hoax.
And every other hell of every other culture and religion on earth is a man-made HOAX!
For thousands of years the religious and civil leaders of virtually every major nation and culture on earth have used the fear and terror of a future "hell" to keep their citizens (always considered dumb sheep by the elite clerics and governors) obedient to the whims of their authority. This practice continues unabated to this day, and the majority of the human race has ignorantly bought it.
Only three verses in the New Testament speak of "hell fire." In all three of these verses hell is translated from the Greek Gehenna.
In this Part D, we will go through every verse containing the word "hell" that is translated from the Greek/Hebrew, GayHinnom/GeHenna.
Later we will go through all the verses in the New Testament translated "hell" from the Greek word hades.
We will also discuss in detail such words and phrases as:
"fire, furnace of fire,
salted with fire,
unquenchable fire,
hell fire,
Gehenna fire,
everlasting fire,
fire on the earth,
coals of fire,
tormented in flames,
lake of fire,
baptized by fire,
SAVED by fire,
worms that die not,
gnashing of teeth,
outer darkness,
tormented for ever and ever,
unpardonable sin,
broad is the way,
depart from me I never knew you,
the damnation of hell,
eternal damnation,
the resurrection of damnation,
he that believes not shall be damned,
everlasting punishment,
everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels"
and
more.
This is a huge subject that will require additional parts beyond Part D.
Although there are many differences in all the hells of different religions and cultures, there is the one central theme of it being an unpleasant place of punishment for the earthly sins of the wicked. In many concepts of hell it is eternal and consists of inhumane torture such as burning one's flesh with literal fire. In this paper our attention will be directed toward the hell of the Christian religion which is predicated on the pagan Greek hell which is borrowed from the pagan Egyptian hell called amenti. According to Christian theology, the hell to which all non-believers go is hades, the hell of the pagan Greek religion.
Ever wonder why the wicked including backsliding Christians are supposedly going to the pagan Greek hell, as opposed to their own Hebrew hell? Well, it's because the Hebrews never had a hell of their own. They borrowed it from the Egyptians even though God specifically forbad them to do such things:
"...and that you enquire NOT after their gods..." (Deut. 12:30).
"Thus says the Lord, Learn NOT the way of the heathen..." (Jer. 10:2).
Now I get persecuted all the time by men of the cloth about being a stupid roofer with zero hermeneutical and exegetical skills. However, let me say this in my own defense. I know what the word "not" means in the above two verses, but apparently those very skilled in hermeneutical and exegetical skills have not a clue as to what the word "not" means in those two verses. If they did, they would NOT be teaching the whole world these evil hell doctrines of the heathens.
"When the Lord thy God shall cut off the nations... take heed to thyself that you be NOT snared by following them, after that they be destroyed from before you; and that you enquire NOT after their gods saying: How did these nations serve their gods? Even so will I do likewise" (Deut. 12:29-30).
"After the doings of the land of Egypt, wherein you dwelled, shall you NOT do and after the doings of the land of Canaan, where I bring you, shall you NOT do: NEITHER shall you walk in their ordinances" (Lev. 18:3).
Notice the words, "enquire not after their gods: How did these nations serve their gods." The Egyptian doctrines surrounding the hereafter are based solely on their gods and how they served those gods. Christendom has incorporated the religion of these Egyptian gods into the Christian faith. Such accepted beliefs as, man's soul is immortal; there is judgment immediately upon death; the dead are not dead at all, but still living; there is an immediate heaven (depicted by both Egyptians and Greeks, as fields of leisure and happiness); and there is an immediate sentencing for the wicked, to a destiny that can never be changed or improved. These Egyptian fables are the fundamental principles upon which the Christian doctrine of judgment and the hereafter are based.
THE CHRISTIAN HELL IS "THE WAY OF THE HEATHEN"
THAT GOD FORBAD ISRAEL TO LEARN
Clearly, the Greeks did not invent the idea of a hell of pain, misery, and punishment at death - the Egyptians did. The Greek hell of hades was plagiarized from the Egyptian hell of amenti. And so when you read the English word "hell" in a King James Bible where it was translated from the Greek word for hell, hades, you are really reading about the Egyptian hell of amenti seeing that the Greeks plagiarized their hell from Egypt. Both hells are the same in many ways, plus we have the admission of historians that the Greeks borrowed (plagiarized) the Egyptian hell of amenti and fashioned it to suit their religion and government."
"The Amenti of the Egyptians originated the classic fables of Hades and Tartarus [the 'hell' of the Greeks]." (From: Doctrine of Eternal Punishment, Chapt. 3, P. 7).
THE COURT OF OSIRIS IN THE EGYPTIAN UNDERWORLD
Called: "The Island of Fire"
The deceased enters from the left guided by Anubis. His heart is placed on the scales and the result is recorded by Thoth. Then Horus takes him in front of the judge Osiris for the final verdict. Behind the throne stand Isis and Nephtys.
"Before coming into the courtroom the dead person had to pass a labyrinth of gates and doors and answer questions correctly to pass through. The lion-god Aker let him through the last gate and he was facing the fourteen members of the jury in the Tribunal Hall. There he was allowed to speak about his behavior on Earth. (Shown in the upper left in the picture above). Then god Anubis took him into the courtroom presenting him the scale where his heart would be put in balance with the feather of the goddess Máat, patroness of truth and harmony. The procedure was recorded by Thoth - the god of writing and wisdom. Sometimes Thoth's animal (a baboon) was sitting on top of the scale ready to adjust the result using a sliding weight.
If the heart of the deceased wasn't too heavy with sins from his life on Earth, he went through and could continue his voyage to the afterlife and was granted a plot of land in the "Field of the Reeds". This was the paradise for the ancient Egyptians - to grow crops for eternity in a land that was the very image of the Nile Valley they just had left. If he failed the test on the other hand - his heart was immediately devoured by the beast Ammut sitting under the scale. In that case the dead faced the most horrible future imaginable for the Egyptians - he was denied an eternal life in the land in the West and his soul would be restless forever."
The above is a highly simplified explanation of the Egyptian Underworld. It was considerably more complex and complicated and convoluted and contradictory.
I have read whole books on the amazing complexity of the Egyptian underworld.
Suffice it to say that the Egyptians and the Greeks knew a hundred times more about their hell and judgment procedures than Christians know about theirs. The fundamentals of the Egyptian hereafter are identical to that of Christendom. Only the fanciful gods attending to the judgment of the dead differ from that of Christendom, however, the main concepts of what man is and what happens to him at death are virtually the same.
We see that the DEAD are STILL LIVING (Anything is possible in fables).
The dead Egyptians had IMMORTAL SOULS.
At the time of death, JUDGMENT took place immediately.
Good people were ushered into a place of HAPPINESS at death.
Bad people were: (a) Sentenced to ROAM AIMLESSLY, (b) were completely ANNIHILATED by being eaten by Ammut, or (c) they could be TORTURED as in fire.
Not one of these five aspects of the Egyptian Underworld has Scriptural backing, yet virtually every one of them has a place in Christian doctrine. Some will surely say: "Who would ever believe such absurd pagan nonsense?" Who? Millions and hundreds of millions and billions of Christians, that's who. Here are more proofs from history that the Christian hell was invented by the pagan Egyptians:
Saint Augustine from his writing, City of God:
"This seems to have been done on no other account, but as it was the business of princes, out of their wisdom and civil prudence, to DECEIVE THE PEOPLE in their religion; princes, under the name of religion, persuaded the people to believe those things true, which they themselves KNEW TO BE IDLE FABLES; by this means, for their own ease in government, tying them the more closely to civil society." (All CAPS emphasis is mine).
Do theologians believe that Saint Augustine lied? Or do they think he was miss-informed? Do they think he made this statement with absolutely nothing to back it up? For if Augustine's statement is true, then there is no Christian hell, for it is based on known deception on the part of the "princes" who conned the citizens into believing and fearing this monstrous lie. What do you think the two billion Christians will think and do when they find out that their leaders knew all along that the doctrine of Christian judgment is based on heathen lies straight out of Egypt?
*The Jews borrowed from the Pagans the doctrine of transmigration [reincarnation], with all its accompaniments of future retribution, and ENDLESS PUNISHMENT. And they abundantly justify the statement of Enfield, that 'the purity of the divine doctrine was corrupted among the Jews in Egypt, who, under the disguise of allegory, admitted doctrines NEVER DREAMED OF BY THEIR LAWGIVER [God through Moses] and prophets; and adopted a mystical interpretation of the law, which converted its plain meaning into a thousand IDLE FANCIES" (Doctrine of Eternal Punishment by Dr. Thomas B. Thayer. CAPS are mine).
*"Egypt has been called the 'Mother of Superstitions,' and her whole religious history shows the propriety of the appellation [her doctrines are provable superstitions]. Greeks and Romans, Lawgivers and Philosophers, acknowledge their indebtedness to her in this respect, and freely credit her with THE ORIGINAL INVENTION OF THE FABLES AND TERRORS OF THE INVISIBLE WORLD....", (Thayer, Chapt. 3, p. 4).
"It is plain enough, from their united testimony [that of the Greek writers, Herodotus, Diodorus Siculus, Plutarch, and others] , that the whole matter of judgment after death, the rewards of a good life, and the punishments of a bad life, with all the formal solemnities of trial and condemnation, ORIGINATED AND WAS PERFECTED AMONG THE EGYPTIANS, according to the peculiar character of the mythology. From them IT WAS BORROWED BY THE GREEKS, who made such change and additions as fitted the system to the genius and circumstances of that people." (Thayer, Chapt. 3, p. 4).
*"Since the multitude is ever fickle, full of lawless desires, irrational passions and violence, there is no other way to keep them in order but by the fear and terror of the invisible world; on which account out ancestors seem to me to have acted judiciously, when they CONTRIVED TO BRING INTO THE POPULAR BELIEF THESE NOTIONS OF THE GODS, AND OF THE INTERNAL REGIONS." (Polybius, B. vi 56).
*"The multitude are restrained from vice by the punishments the gods are said to inflict upon offenders, and by those terrors and threatenings which certain dreadful words and monstrous forms imprint upon their minds...For it is impossible to govern the crowd of women, and the common rabble, by philosophical reasoning, and lead them to piety, holiness and virtue – but this must be done by SUPERSTITION, OR THE FEAR of the gods, by means of fables and wonders; for the thunder, the aegis, the trident, the torches (of the Furies), the dragons, etc., are ALL FABLES as is also ALL ANCIENT THEOLOGY. These things the legislators used as scarecrows to terrify the childish multitudes." (Strabo, Geography, B. I).
*"For as we sometimes cure the body with unwholesome remedies, when such as are most wholesome produce no effect, so we restrain those minds with FALSE RELATIONS, which will not be persuaded by the truth. There is necessity, therefore, of instilling the dread of those foreign torments....[the word 'foreign' usually implied Egyptian]" (Timaeus Locrus, the Pythagorean).
Dr. Thayer gives us quotes (Ch. 3, p. 6) from following ancient philosophers:
Seneca--Roman stoic philosopher who lived at time of Christ: "Those things which make the internal regions terrible, the darkness, the prison, the river of flaming fire, the judgment seat, etc., are ALL A FABLE with which the poets amuse themselves and by them agitate us with vain terrors."
Sextus Empiricus call the teachings, "poetic fables of hell."
Cicero - Roman statesman, orator, and philosopher call them, "silly absurdities and fables."
And these same "silly absurdities and fables" continue to be written as we speak:
I came back to this paragraph to include an excerpt regarding hell, that I took from a book that someone sent me in an email just today:
REVELATIONS OF HEAVEN AND HELL BY SEVEN YOUTHS
"Together as a group, these seven youths were taken by Jesus Christ and shown Heaven and Hell. Hear their account of the Glories of Heaven and misery of Hell."
"When the Lord took my hand...I asked the Lord, "Lord, where is the angel? Why is he not here anymore?" The Lord said, "He cannot go where we are about to go."
I saw several tunnels; and we went through the one my sister Sandra spoke about. The tunnel where people were hanging off of hooks by their heads [this is one of Christendom's favorite tortures, similar to those used by Uday and Qusay Hussein], with shackles on their wrists. Millions of people were hanging on it. They had worms all over their bodies. The Lord told me, "Hell and Sheol are always hungry."
We left there and soon arrived at a place we called, "The Valley of the cauldrons". These cauldrons were full of a boiling mud...the first person that I saw was a woman. Her body floated and sank with the boiling mud...the Lord asked, "Woman what is your name?" [The Jesus of Christendom supposedly knows all the ten billion trillion stars by name, but he doesn't know his own daughter's name? - Alzheimer's I guess]. She answered, "My name is Rubella."
Her hair was full of boiling mud and flesh hung from her bones, which were charred black from the fire. Worms entered through the holes of her eyes, came out from her mouth, entered again through her nose and exited her ears. When the worms could not enter, they simply made a hole to enter the other parts of the body, which caused indescribable pain [I would think so].
She shouted, "Lord, please! Take me out of this place. Have mercy on me! I can not continue like this any longer! Make it stop Lord! I can not stand it any more! Please have mercy on me!" The Lord asked her why she was there [Jesus is the Judge of the whole world, and he doesn't even know why he sentenced her to this boiling hellhole of mud? I'm sure it was all transcribed by a court reporter some place, but we can't expect their lord to remember everything]. She said she was there because of vanity... in her hand was a normal looking bottle... it appeared to be a very expensive perfume. Rubella had to take the bottle, which was full of acid, and spray it all over her body [OUCH!]. This caused, all the flesh that was sprayed to melt, causing her great pain [I'm not surprised].
She shouted to the Lord, "Lord please, have mercy on me! I can not be here any longer! Just a single second Lord." She was there because her beauty, perfumes, and vanity were first place in her life. With sadness, the Lord looked at her and said, "Rubella, it is too late for you [it's too late to have mercy on one's own daughter? I wonder how my daughter would feel if I had such an attitude toward her? Imagine one day I tell my own daughter that 'it is too late for Daddy to love you, I will only hate you from now into eternity'], worms shall be your bed, and worms shall cover you." When the Lord said that, a blanket of fire totally covered her [What Christian love. Isn't he just great?]. While her body was being consumed inside that cauldron, she suffered horrible pain [can you even begin to imagine how great it will be when all Christians in heaven will be able to take these same tours into these same cauldrons? How great will it be when they can actually see their own children or maybe their own grandmother and grandfather bobbing up and down in this boiling slime pit of hell's mud? Maybe the Christian hell will become like a giant Christian Theme Park of eternal entertainment and amusement].
We then got far away from there [I wonder why so far?] and arrived at a place with giant doors. As we approached them, they opened for us [I'm not surprised, as we've had electric eye doors forever here on earth]. On the other side we saw a giant [I wonder why everything is so BIG in hell?] cavern. As I looked up I saw different colored lights moving like a cloud of smoke [well, dah...its a disco from Hell, what did you expect?]. Suddenly, we heard music; salsa, ballenato [the word is 'Vallenato.' Music from Columbia? - one of my favorites. Not!], rock, and different kinds of popular music [I have actually heard that pop music is really doing quite well in hell] that people hear on the radio [maybe MTV too. Surely they have a special evil place in Hell just for 'rap' singers, don't you reckon?]. The Lord made a movement with His hand [could we see that again in slow motion?] , and we saw millions and millions of people hung up with chains in their hands. They were jumping wildly over the fire [I'm not sure how one could be both 'hung up' and 'jumping over the fire' at the same time - of course we're talking 'Hell' here, and I suppose anything is possible].
The Lord looked at us and said: "Look, these are the wages for the dancers." They had to jump wildly up and down to the beat of the music [what if they are like Steve Martin and can't keep a beat? Or... Imagine what they would do to you if you DID NOT do as you were told?] If salsa was playing, they had to jump to that beat, if any other kind of music was playing, they had to jump to that beat [This has got to be one of the more popular caverns in Hell, for sure. Probably a Saturday night hang-out after a Black Sabbath concert]. They could never stop jumping. But worse than that, their shoes had 6 inch spikes on the bottom. Whenever they jumped it would pierce their feet [now that has got to hurt], and they never had a moment's rest. When someone would try to stop, demons would come at once and stab them with spears, cursed them, and saying, "Praise him! This is your kingdom now, Praise Satan! Praise him! You can't stop, praise him! Praise him! You have to praise him! You have to jump! You have to dance! You can not stop one single second."
It was terrible that many of the people were Christians who knew the Lord, but they were in night clubs when they died [Ain't that just the luck of the draw? Soooo many Christians, dying in night clubs all the time. One is always hearing on the morning news about Christians dying night clubs]."
What a silly crock. Even the Egyptian hell of Amenti is not this bizarre and silly. Yet people believe such nonsense, and the proof is in the number of such fanciful books on the market today.
Maybe your pastor doesn't know that the Christian teaching of an eternal hell of torture for non-believers after death, came from pagan Egypt through pagan Greece; but I guarantee you that his professor at seminary knew it. That is why I call this Christian doctrine of hell a "Christian Hoax" and have no qualms whatsoever in calling it such. It was fraud upon the Egyptian citizens; it was fraud against the Greek citizens; it was fraud against the Roman citizens and Roman Catholic Church; and it is fraud against the whole world of Christendom.
Maybe modern Egyptians no longer hold to the gods of Horus, Isis, and Osiris, but the fundamental doctrines of these gods are still the main doctrines of the Muslims who dominate Egyptian culture and religion of the 21st century. The afterlife doctrines of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam all find their roots in ancient Egyptian religion. It is impossible for Christianity to hold a clear title to their doctrines of the afterlife.
When I recently bought a home here in Mobile, Alabama, a Title Company did a "Title Search" on that home and traced it to its very beginning construction to verify that there were no unresolved prior claims or liens on the property by anyone through whom the property passed. When we do a Doctrinal Search on the doctrine "hell," it leads us from the English hell, to the Roman hell, to the Greek hell, to the Egyptian hell. They all claimed ownership of this evil doctrine at some point in history, but one cannot buy or own a religious doctrine. Hence Egypt and Egypt alone holds rightful claim and ownership to the doctrine of hell. Any other claim on this doctrine is not worth the paper it is written on. The doctrine of "hell" had its origin in Egypt, not Scripture.
We clearly saw in Part C of this series that Moses and all of his writings as well as the rest of the Old Testament Hebrew Scriptures knew nothing of an eternal hell of torture upon death of the wicked. Neither did they have a teaching of an instant heaven upon the death of the righteous. These are both pagan in origin.
JUST ANOTHER CHRISTIAN BOOGEYMAN
This morning I clicked on TBN for a couple of minutes, and there was a well-known minister on stage with the usual gang behind him. He introduced his sermon on "Why I accepted Jesus as my Saviour." He then said that the number one reason he accepted Jesus was because: "I didn't want to go to hell." To which those behind him laughed uproariously. Jan and Paul Croach clapped their hands together and bent over at the waist with spontaneous laughter. Excuse me, but did I miss something? This is "humorous?" Not wanting to go to the Christian hell of eternal torture in fire is outrageously FUNNY? I personally think it is sick - very sick. I believe that in their heart and in their mind and in their soul and in their spirit they are all very, very spiritually SICK!
Disobedient children have been threatened in the past by their parents with the bizarre and beastly boogeyman, while disobedient adults have been, and still are threatened by their clerics with the hideous horrors of hell. Both scenarios employ the same principle: the main difference being that children soon learn that the boogeyman is a parental hoax to keep them in line, whereas few adults ever mature enough to where they plainly see that hell is likewise little more than the clerics' version of the boogeyman hoax for adults.
CONSIDER ANDREA YATES AND HER FIVE CHILDREN
IN THE LIGHT OF THE CHRISTIAN HEAVEN AND HELL DOCTRINE
Recently we learned in the news that Andrea Yates, who drowned her five children in a bathtub, was found not guilty by reason of insanity. It was reported that one of the reasons Andrea killed her five children was to keep them from going to hell. I wish to use this case not to emphasize the evil or insanity of Andrea, but rather to show the evil and insanity of the Christian hell doctrine.
Assuming that Mrs. Yates did kill her children to keep them from hell (all theologians agree that God does not send children to hell), then what she did was a good thing ultimately. That is, her actions (even though considered evil) actually and practically saved all five of her children from a possible eternity of hell in a literal fire of pain and misery. Her five children are thus guaranteed a safe passage as well as an eternity of bliss in a supposed Christian heaven. This is a very good thing, is it not - all five children guaranteed eternal salvation?
In a sermon entitled "The Seven Wonders of Hell," Pastor John Hagee said the following: "Jesus said your chances of living in Hell for ever are very good."
Therefore we are left with this:
On the one hand: Let your children grow up to the age when theologians deem them accountable for their actions, and according to John Hagee's "very good chance" theory, most of them will go to hell. But, assuming that you the parent, are a righteous Christian, then YOU WILL GO TO HEAVEN, but one or more of your children WILL GO TO HELL.
But on the other hand: Kill your children before the age that theologians deem accountable for their actions, and all of them will be saved and go to heaven. But, since you the parent assured the salvation of all of them, YOU WILL GO TO HELL! Your children go to heaven and you go to hell.
Isn't this a wonderful doctrine?! Does anyone actually, ever think about all of the implications and ramifications of this most evil of all Christian doctrines? Few.
IF THERE IS A CHRISTIAN HELL,
IT IS
FILLED WITH GRANDMOTHERS AND PREGNANT WOMEN
Rest assured that my caption is theologically accurate according to Christian doctrine. Now I knew my mother's mother only, as all my other grandparents died before I was old enough to know them. But a lot of people know their grandparents, and most love them more and more as they grow older. People seem to mellow in their twilight years. They are softer, kinder, and wiser, and certainly affectionately love their own grandchildren.. Few people are so vile as to hate their own grandfather and grandmother. But although you probably love your grandparents dearly, as do most people of the world, apparently not so the god of Christendom. Based on Christian theology, their god hates grandfathers and grandmothers. And how could I ever think or say such a thing? I just told you: it is based on their own theology. To torture grandmothers and grandfathers by the hundreds of millions for all eternity certainly requires a hatred far beyond the comprehension of most mere mortal, that's for sure.
Here are the facts [in 2008]:
Life expectancy is way up: In the US, 77; in China 71; and in India 64.
In most cultures and countries, an average marriage age is between 18-23 for girls and 19-25 for boys
It is estimated that 50 to 60,000,000 people die annually worldwide.
Estimates of what percentage of people will go to hell: I found 90% to 99%. Besides expert Christian Theologian John Hagee has publically stated on international television, "Jesus said your chances of living in Hell for ever are very good."
So what do these statistics have to do with grandmothers in hell? Everything.
More than half of the women in the world marry and have children. If they marry around age 22 they might have their first child and be a mother at age 23. That child could then marry at age 22 and be a parent at age 23, making the first mother a grandmother at age 46. Should she live to be 70 she could easily be a great grand mother. Conclusion: most people who die, die when they are either a grandparent or great grandparent. If 60,000,000 people died last year and will die next year, etc., at least half of them will be grandparents. That's 30,000,000 minus 10% for "saved Christians" and we are left with 27,000,000 people who are going to be tortured in hell for all eternity, and virtually all of whom would be grandfathers and grandmothers!
One more statistic while we're at it: "Each year, nearly 600,000 women die worldwide from pregnancy-related causes.
That's, 600,000 deaths of pregnant women, minus 10% for "saved pregnant Christians" leaves us with 540,000 pregnant women (with a baby in their belly) who went to hell last year and 540,000 more this year, and the next, and the next, to burn in some Christian hellhole of literal fire for all eternity! Excuse me, but just how deranged and demented must someone be to believe such pagan junk, and to teach it with sophomoric enthusiasm? Well thank God that these evil doctrines are not found in the Holy Scriptures, but only in the deranged minds of those religiously sick people who teach and wallow in such utter filth and spiritual pornography. If your pastor is not informed about these undeniable facts of his Christian hell, perhaps someone should inform him?
Dante shown holding a copy of The Divine Comedy, next to the entrance to Hell, the seven terraces of Mount Purgatory and the city of Florence, with the spheres of Heaven above, in Michelino's fresco.
Virtually every aspect of the heaven/hell doctrine of Christendom and Islam came from the imaginations and minds of strange men. Dante Alighieri was not a prophet of God, but rather a 13th century Italian poet. Yet his poem has had a profound effect on the thinking of the Church regarding the underworld of the hereafter from a purely poetic, mythical, paganistic view.
How much better to believe the Scriptures which soundly teach that there is no eternal hell of torture, and all will be saved - either in the resurrection to life, or in the resurrection to judgment (I Tim. 2:4; 4:10; Isa. 26:9, etc.). And no, I did not say that they would be saved "just as they are," as Christians by the score insinuate that my writings teach. I have never suggested such unscriptural nonsense. No one will every be "saved" without first being spiritually converted.
A DEFINITION OF THE CHRISTIAN HELL
From The American Heritage Collegiate Dictionary:
"hell n."Often Hell. The abode of condemned souls and devils... the place of eternal punishment for the wicked after death, presided over by Satan... a state of separation from God... a place of evil, misery, discord, or destruction... torment, anguish."
And just where did this and other dictionaries get there definitions for a Christian hell?" From the Bible, wouldn't you think? Guess again: the definition for a Christian hell came from Christian theologians, not from Scripture.
HOW OFTEN DID JESUS SPEAK OF AN ETERNAL HELL OF TORTURE?
We are told that Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour spoke often of such a hell as defined above? How often is often? Theologians say Jesus spoke twice as often on "hell" as He did "heaven." Several times each year I get numerous e-mails from those who inform me that "Jesus spoke twice as often about hell as He did heaven." John Hagee has made this unscriptural assertion. And why do they say such a thing? Because they heard someone else say it and it sounded pleasing to them so they repeated it, and now it has been repeated so many tens of thousands of times around the world that it is virtually Christian dogma.
How often did Jesus speak of a place containing the above 8 elements of hell? They are all necessary, or it isn't the Christian hell. Satan must be there. Souls of the damned must be there. Punishment, anguish, and torment must be there. Separation from God must be there. All these things must be there and they must be there "for ever and ever," for "everlasting," and for all "eternity," or it isn't a Christian hell at all. Now then, how often did Jesus speak of such a place, abode, or condition? Theologians suggest "twice as often as often as He spoke of heaven." As Jesus spoke of heaven some 120 times, we will multiply that by "twice as much" = 240 times that He must have spoken of hell. Let's see if Jesus really spoke of "hell" 240 times in the New Testament or whether Christian theologians are not rather lying through their teeth with this bogus statistic.
In the next few Parts of this series we will see whether Jesus spoke of the eight elements of the Christian hell at all (even once), let alone 240 times.
Below are the eight elements of the Christian hell as defined in many English Dictionaries:
"an abode" - "a dwelling place, a home"
"of condemned souls" - the sentient, consciousness of man.
"[of condemned] devils" - "demons," evil spirits.
"a place of eternal punishment" - never-ending torture.
"after death" - after death but before judgment (Kennedy says "hell is fair").
"presided over by Satan" - the highest authority in this abode.
"a state of separation from God" - "a mental or emotional condition or mode."
"a place of evil, misery, discord, destruction...torment, anguish."
Remember that in Part A and B of this series, we looked for these same essential elements of the Christian hell in 65 Old Testament verses using the word sheol, but we didn't find one verse in the Old Testament which upholds this pagan hell.
THE WORD "HELL" IS FOUND ONLY TWENTY-THREE TIMES
IN THE ENTIRE KING JAMES NEW TESTAMENT
In the King James Version we find the word "hell" twenty-three times, not 240. Nor did Jesus speak about hell without actually using the word. Twelve times hell is translated from the Greek word Gehenna which stands for the Hebrew word "GeHinnom." Ten times "hell" is translated from the Greek word hades, which means "unseen" and connotes the state of the dead. It also represents the Greek god Hades and the hell of the Greek pagan religion. One time "hell" is translated from the Greek word tartarus, which means "abyss," and is supposedly the lowest part of the Greek hades.. And one time hades is translated "grave." In this Part D we are going to discuss the Greek word Gehenna which is erroneously translated hell in the New Testament, but correctly as "the valley of Hinnom" in the Old Testament.
Does Gehenna fit the description of the Christian hell? Absolutely not! Any 3rd year seminary student knows that Gehenna, spelled GeHinnom or GayHinnom according to Hebrew, is a real historical and geographical location just southwest off of Jerusalem's walls below the Essene Gate and the Dung Gate (see any Biblical map of Jerusalem proper).
Hinnom is found eleven times in the Old Testament Hebrew Scriptures, but never once is it translated "hell." The Old Testament writers had no "hell" doctrine in their religion as the pagan nations had. It would have been absurd to call the valley of Hinnom, "hell" after some pagan doctrine.
Here are all occurrences of "Gay-Hinnom/GeHinnom" in the Old Testament:
Neh. 11:30 - "...And they dwelt from Beersheba unto the valley of Hinnom [Heb: 'gay Hinnom' - gay in Hebrew means valley']." Hence, 'gay Hinnom" is clearly a Geographical location, not a "state or abode of the dead."
Josh. 15:8 - "And the border went up by the valley of the son of Hinnom [Heb: 'gay ben Hinnom' - valley of the son of Hinnom'] unto the south side of the Jebusite; the same is Jerusalem." Again, a geographical location.
Josh. 18:16 - "And the border came down to the end of the mountain that lies before the valley of the son of Hinnom..."
II Kings 23:10 - "And he defiled Topheth which is in the valley of the children [son] of Hinnom, that no man might make his son or his daughter to pass through the fire of Molech
II Chron. 28:3 - "Moreover he [wicked King Ahaz] burnt incense in the valley of the son of Hinnom, and burnt his children in the fire..."
II Chron. 33:6 - "And he [wicked King Manasseh] caused his children to pass through the fire in the valley of the son of Hinnom..." Manasseh did not "cause his children to pass through the fire in HELL."
Jer. 7:31 - "And they have built the high places of Tophet, which is in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire..."
Jer. 7:32 - "Therefore, behold, the days come says the Lord, that it shall no more be called Tophet, nor the valley of the son of Hinnom, but the valley of slaughter..."
Jer. 19:6 - "And go forth unto the valley of the son of Hinnom ...."
Jer. 19:6 - "Therefore, behold, the days come, says the Lord, that this place shall no more be called Tophet, nor the valley of the son of Hinnom, but the valley of slaughter."
Jer. 32:35 - "And they built the high places of Baal, which are in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to cause their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire unto Molech..." They did not "...build the high places of Baal in HELL."
The "GeHinnom" of the Old Testament is not hell, and is not translated hell, so why should the Gehenna of the New Testament which also is not hell, be translated hell? Today if you go to Gehenna in Jerusalem, you will find that part of it is a park with green lawns and trees. No one is living in "evil, misery, discord, destruction...torment, and anguish" in this city park today. To be sure there is a message in Jesus' teaching on Gehenna, but it has absolutely nothing to do with an eternal hell of demons and torment.
Did we find our above definition of the Christian hell in any of these verses on "the valley of the son Hinnom?" Are "Satan and his demons" represented in any of these eleven verses as residing over the souls of the wicked dead, punishing them for all eternity? No? Then why do theologians think that they can deceive God's very elect by translating Gay-Hinnom/GeHenna in the New Testament as "hell?"
Old City of Jerusalem and Hinnom Valley
A modern view of Hinnom from the opposite direction
[Photo courtesy
of FreeStockPhotos.com]
The valley of Hinnom (shown in picture above) is narrow ravine on the south end of Jerusalem. Anciently, it was in this valley that idolatrous Israelites worshipped the pagan gods Molech and Baal through the abominable sacrificial practice of burning their own children alive (known as "passing through the fire". See 2 Kings 16:3, 23:10; 2 Chr. 28:3, Jeremiah 7:31).
What do we find in ancient Gay-Hinnom? And who is it that is being "burned" in these pagan ceremonies in the valley of the son of Hinnom? The wicked kings of Judah? NO! The wicked citizens of Jerusalem and Judea? NO! The wicked idolaters of Canaan? NO! The souls of the dead? NO. Let's read it again:
"And they built the high places of Baal, which are in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to cause their SONS AND THEIR DAUGHTERS to pass through the fire unto Molech..." (Jer. 32:35).
You have now seen with your own eyes that eleven times out of all eleven times, the words gay Hinnom in the Hebrew Scriptures are translated "valley of Hinnom" and not once are they translated "hell." Neither is this valley even once represented as "an abode where Satan and evil demons reside over the dead souls of the wicked to be tortured eternally." It was rather a place where Israel burned some of their "sons and daughters."
It is therefore a gross injustice of scholarship to translate the Hebrew words "gay Hinnom" or "GeHinnom" (as it is transcribed into the Greek as "Gehenna") into the English word "hell." It is beyond absurd to do so. Furthermore, there is no word for hell in the ancient Hebrew Scriptures! I have conclusively proven in Part C of this series that the concept of "hell" is conspicuously absent from the Hebrew Scriptures. That is because "hell" originated in Egypt long before there ever was a nation of Israel.
"After the doings [deeds, practices] of the land of Egypt, wherein ye dwelled, shall ye NOT DO..." (Lev. 18:3).
Do theologians "hear and fear" this awesome declaration and warning from God? No they don't. I clearly showed in Part C, that many of Christianity's foundational doctrines are based on the unscriptural and demonic teachings of Egypt.
"But, RAY! Why would God allow His Own Word to be so twisted and perverted by translators and theologians so that it represents what can only be called "A LIE" in the deceived minds of billions of Christians worldwide?" Yes, why indeed?
Did God not warn against, "...If any man shall ADD UNTO these things...And if any man shall TAKE AWAY from the words of this book...." in vain? Did God warn against something that He Himself knew for a fact could not and would not ever happen? Most would answer, "Yes." No He wouldn't. God inspired these warnings because there would be and now have been those who absolutely have both, "added to, and taken away from" the words of Revelation, and other books of the Bible. But not all Bible Translations are guilty of this crime. Just enough of the most popular translations so as to deceive all but the very Elect down through the centuries.
Not only have words been added to and taken away from some Versions of the Holy Scriptures, but even in Paul's day, he warned of not just adding or taking away some words, but adding whole epistles that were bogus.
"That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand?' (II Thes. 2:2).
And are we to foolishly believe that such crimes against God's Word were done against God's foreknowledge or against His plan and purpose. I speak as a fool. God didn't just "allow" such things, HE HIMSELF BROUGHT THEM ABOUT! But why? Why would God Himself cause to come about the thing that He warned against? Excuse me, but are all of you totally new-comers to the Word of God? God has ALWAYS brought about the very things that He warned against, and it started with warning Adam not to take of the forbidden fruit, which God later (by caused circumstances) caused Adam to choose [voluntarily, yes, but based on the circumstances presented to him] to disobey God.
Am I saying that God Himself deceives people? No, I never came up with any such teaching - I READ IT IN THE BIBLE:
"And there came forth a spirit [a lying spirit], and stood before the Lord, and said, I will persuade him. And the Lord said unto him, Wherewith? And he said, I will go forth, and I will be a LYING spirit in the mouth of all his prophets. And He [the Lord] said, You shall persuade him, and prevail also, go forth, and DO SO. Now therefore, behold, the Lord [Who? 'the LORD'] has put a lying spirit in the mouth of all these your prophets, and the Lord has spoken evil concerning you" (I Kings 22:22-23).
"Then there came out a spirit, and stood before the Lord, and said, I will entice him. And the Lord said unto him, Wherewith? And he said, I will go out, and by a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets. And the Lord said, You shall entice him, and you shall also prevail: go out, and DO EVEN SO. Now therefore, behold, the Lord has put a lying spirit in the mouth of all His prophets, and the Lord has spoken evil against you" (II Chron. 18:21-22).
But I though that "God cannot lie" (Titus 1:2)? He can't, but He does send those who DO LIE.
But I thought that "God tempts no man" (James 1:13)? He doesn't, but He sends those who DO TEMPT. (Matt. 4:1, I Cor. 7:5, I Thes. 3:5, Heb. 4:15).
Surely God does not desire for even one person to be deceived? Surely He DOES:
"and for this cause GOD shall send them strong DELUSION [Gk: 'fraudulence, straying, deceit, delusion, error'] that they should BELIEVE A LIE" (II Thes. 2:11).
Read that again a few times, as most of you either didn't get that verse, or you just flat out don't believe it should be a part of Scripture.
And before the ink is dry on this Installment I will be accused of teaching that God purposefully causes people to be deceived. Imagine that? Many will say, "I don't want to hear any more of this kind of teaching." No, what they mean is, "I don't want to hear anymore of the Word of God, for they despise the Word of God:
"you despise this word" (Isa. 30:12)
"he has despised the word of the Lord" (Num. 15:31)
"they have cast away the law of the Lord of hosts, and despised the word of the Holy One of Israel" (Isa. 5:24)
"Whoso despises the word shall be destroyed..." (Prov. 13:13).
But why would anyone despise the word of God? Because they are deceived of Satan and are unrighteous:
"And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe A LIE" (II Thes. 2:10-11).
When it comes to these 'hard sayings' of the Scriptures, most Christians start having problems with these "inerrant" words of their King James Bibles. No, they don't want to believe these plain and properly translated Scriptures, but they are most eager to believe the erroneous and fallacious translation of aionios into an "everlasting" and "eternal" hell of torture.
HOW ISRAEL LEARNED ABOUT THE HELLS OF THE PAGANS
[1] Clearly Israel knew of the teachings, doctrines, and practices of the pagan Egyptians after living there for four centuries, otherwise, there would have been no reason at all for God to instruct them to not be doing those things which they saw and heard in Egypt. (Where do you suppose they came up with the idea of making a golden calf to worship at Mt. Sinai?) [2] They learned the teachings regarding hell from the pagans (Canaanites) when they possessed the land. They not only learned pagan religion, but actually practiced the rituals of the pagans in such places as Tophet in the Valley of Hinnom. [3] They learned these pagan doctrines pertaining to an eternal hell from their Assyrian and the Babylonian captors during their long years of captivity. But they didn't learn anything about an eternal hell of suffering from either the Old or New Testament Scriptures. And not from Moses, or the Prophets, or from Jesus, or from the Apostles.
SHOULD EVERY PLACE OF SLAUGHTER BE CALLED "HELL?"
Back in the seventeen hundreds, my great, great, great, great, great Grandfather, Abraham Schmidt, purchased a thousand plus acres from William Penn's Son, in a small valley in the Pocono Mountains of Monroe County, Pennsylvania. The Delaware Indians named this valley Meniolagomeka, but today it bears the official name of Smith Valley. Most descendants of Abraham Schmidt (including mine) have chosen to Anglicize their name Schmidt into Smith. In 1901 the Moravians erected a granite monument on the land originally purchased by Abraham Schmidt, to commemorate the old Moravian Indian Mission Station located at that spot. Sadly, years before my grandfather came to this valley, a band of Indians from Lehighton came into now Smith Valley and massacred the missionaries living at the station that came to disciple and serve these Indians.
Now to my point in all this: The valley of Hinnom had a history of bloodshed and brutality. Likewise, Smith Valley, Pennsylvania leaves us with a history of bloodshed and slaughter. Throughout the notorious history of Israel, the valley of Hinnom in the Old Testament is always rendered, "the valley of Hinnom." Never is it translated "hell." Likewise, Smith Valley to this day is called "Smith Valley," as history and the valley road signs plainly testify. What sense could there be in calling Smith Valley, Pennsylvania, "Hell, Pennsylvania?" Then what sense is there in calling the Valley of Hinnom, "hell" in the eleven times it is mentioned in the New Testament Greek? It is ridiculous and absurd. It is scholarship at its worst. This has nothing to do with valid translating, but is rather fraud and deception.
The Bible I use for teaching is a Nelson 4505BG, center reference, red letter, King James Bible. And wherever the word "hell" is translated from the Greek word "gehenna," there is a superior number next to the word "hell" which then tells me in the margin that the word is not "hell" in the original, but rather "gehenna," which is the Greek rendering of the Hebrew word "Ge-Hinnom," and is thus not properly rendered by the English word "hell." "Hell" is an unwarranted and bogus translation of the Greek, Gehenna.
Just because there was innocent blood shed in the valley of Hinnom and in Smith Valley, and in most every other valley and city on earth, does not justify re-naming all of those tens of thousands of places, "Hell."
Even if one contends on the grounds that this Valley of Hinnom was such a terrible place of human sacrifice and burning of children, and that it was a type of human "hell," it still does not justify translating it such. Las Vegas may indeed be "a city of sin" or colloquially, "Sin City." This indeed may be a demonstrable fact, but I guarantee you will not find "Sin City" on a map of Nevada. Then why do we find "hell fire" in the New Testament when there is no reason on earth to do so? Am I going to fast for anyone?
Since "Gehenna" is properly translated as "valley of Hinnom," there is therefore, no such phrase as "hell fire" in the Greek Scriptures. There is only the phrase "Gehenna fire," found three times, which we will discuss fully.
ALL OCCURRENCES OF THE WORD "HELL"
IN THE NEW TESTAMENT TRANSLATED FROM THE GREEK "GEHENNA"
James is the only N.T. writer besides our Lord who used (one time) the word Gehenna. Gehenna is rendered "hell" twelve times in the N.T., three of which have reference to fire.
Gehenna:
"body... be cast into hell [Gk: Gehenna - 'valley of Hinnom']" (Mat. 5:29).
"body... be cast into hell [Gk: Gehenna - 'valley of Hinnom']" (Mat. 5:30).
"soul and body in hell [Gk: Gehenna - 'valley of Hinnom']" (Matt. 10:28).
"twofold more child of hell [Gk: Gehenna - 'valley of Hinnom']" (Matt. 23:15).
"the damnation of hell [Gk: Gehenna - 'valley of Hinnom']" (Matt. 23:33).
"two hands to go into hell [Gk: Gehenna - 'valley of Hinnom']" (Mark 9:43).
"two feet to be cast into hell [Gk: Gehenna - 'valley of Hinnom']" (Mark 9:45).
"two eyes to be cast into hell [Gk: Gehenna - 'valley of Hinnom']" (Mark 9:47).
"Has power to cast into hell [Gk: Gehenna - 'valley of Hinnom']" (Luke 12:5).
Gehenna fire:
"shall be in danger of hell [Gk: Gehenna - 'valley of Hinnom'] fire" (Matt. 5:22)
"eyes to be cast into hell [Gk: Gehenna - 'valley of Hinnom'] fire" (Matt. 18:9)
"tongue...set on fire of hell [Gk: Gehenna - 'valley of Hinnom'] fire" (Jas. 3:6)
And so we have record of Jesus speaking of either Gehenna or Gehenna fire eleven times, but on only four different occasions in His entire ministry:
Sermon on the mount: Matt. 5:29, 30, 22 and Mark 9:43, 45, 47 are all the same one occasion.
Warning the apostles of Whom to fear: Matt. 10:28 and Luke 12:5 are both the same one occasion.
Upbraiding the Pharisees: Matt. 23:15 and verse 33 are both the same occasion.
Warning against offending a little one: Matt. 18:9
And James mentions "Gehenna" one time (James 3:6), but not in connection with any kind of punishment or judgment. And there is no such thing as "hades [hell] fire." The parable of Lazarus and the Rich man makes reference to "flame" however.
Tis true, Jesus did speak of Gehenna fire (but never "hell" fire), and reintroduces the Old Testament valley of Hinnom into His New Testament teaching, but His use of this Old Testament symbol of evil, idol worship, and slaughter has nothing to do with the definition of a Christian hell. Whatever Jesus meant when He spoke of GaHinnom/Gehenna fire, it certainly was not what the pagans of the past or the Christians of the last five centuries mean by the doctrine of "hell." We will discuss exactly how Jesus used the notorious valley of Hinnom in His parabolic teachings on Judgment.
Jesus taught Israel to "LEARN NOT the way of the heathens," and therefore did not break His Own commandments and teach His disciples and New Testament Church the heathen doctrine of hell. Neither had Moses taught Israel anything concerning the pagan Egyptian doctrine of their hell called Amenti.
Next Part: TOPHET AND MOLECH IN HINNOM
Part 16-D2: http://bible-truths.com/lake16-D2.htm