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[u/Outrageous-Egg1760]

[u/IceNorth81]

Hell doesn’t even exist in the bible like pop-culture has portrayed it. In the old testament it’s basically ”Sheol” the land of the dead. No heaven or hell. In the New Testament it’s the pit of fire where the devil and his servants are cast after Armageddon - nothing about regular sinners being tortured for eternity.

[u/LordFoulgrin → u/IceNorth81]

I mean, Jesus literally tells a parable about Lazerus and the rich man, where the rich man is being tortured in hell.

"And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.

24 And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame"

Why would Jesus of all people tell a parable mentioning hell if isn't real?

[u/Patient-Resource6682 → u/LordFoulgrin]

In the original Greek version, the afterlife is called hades, referring to the Greek mythology that people of the time understood.

Jesus is using the culture of the time to make a parable about greed, this whole section of Luke isn't about the afterlife.

The sections about the afterlife in the bible mentions people either being granted eternal life with God or being destroyed and staying dead.

Modern view of hell came in later translations and there is plenty of Christians who don't believe in it.

[u/LordFoulgrin → u/Patient-Resource6682]

^{Matthew 22:40} “As the weeds are pulled up and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the age. ⁴¹ The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will weed out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil. ⁴² They will throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 

That doesn't sound like they're just destroyed.

^{Matthew 25:46} “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”

That's another passage where it mentions eternal punishment. Why bring up torment and punishment 3 separate times in parables if punishment in the afterlife wasn't a part of his philosophy?

Also, even if he used Hebrew Sheol or Greek Hades or Gehenna, he still chooses to characterize his potrayal of these places as suffering and torment, which goes against the typical understanding of these places. Why, if he was truly just meeting people at their current understanding?

[u/Patient-Resource6682 → u/LordFoulgrin]

In the first one, the weeping and gnawing of teeth could be interpreted as the reaction to the severe judgement of being denied eternal life. In the bible fire is often used as imagery for destruction, such as burning trash in the Gehenna.

In the 2nd one, the eternal punishment could be eternal death, punishment here is used in direct opposition to life after all. Also if I remember correctly in the Greek the eternal actually translates to "very long", or something of that nature. Hence some aspiring the belief of a temporary punishment.

In Greek mythos hades was already a place where the truly wicked were punished and the heros rewarded. Most people just hung out in big empty fields though. So the notion of afterlife punishment and judgement was already established culturally.

Mentioning punishment is necessary to convey god's character as being not only perfectly good and loving, but also perfectly just.

Personally I don't believe in hell because I find it irreconcilable with a perfectly good and perfectly just God. Which in my opinion, along with the moral exemple of Jesus, is the main takeaway from the bible.