Jesus didn’t teach anything on hell. He taught about Gehenna, the proper name of a valley on the S and E of Jerusalem. That proper noun didn’t need translating anymore than Jerusalem or Bethlehem did, and the Roman Catholic church didn’t translate it. In the 16th century, they substituted the word hell for Gehenna. Hell came from a word meaning “cover,” from which our word helmet comes. Farmers used a “hell” to cover their produce so it wouldn’t freeze. The word had no connotation of eternal conscious torment in the spiritual realm.
Comparison of Jesus’ Teaching on Gehenna
vs. Roman Catholicism on Hell
1. Jesus taught that Gehenna was escapable, while Roman Catholicism teaches that Hell is inescapable.
2. Jesus taught only one occurrence of the punishment of Gehenna, while Roman Catholicism teaches Hell is eternal and unending.
3. Jesus taught that the punishment of Gehenna was in only in his generation, while Roman Catholicism teaches it’s for all generations.
4. Jesus taught that the punishment of Gehenna was a physical judgment, while Roman Catholicism teaches Hell is a spiritual judgment.
5. Jesus warned that the punishment of Gehenna was a regional judgment involving people in Judea, while Roman Catholicism teaches Hell is global and universal.
6. Jesus taught that mortal souls, living humans would go to Gehenna, while Roman Catholicism teaches that immortal spirits will go to Hell.
7. Jesus taught that Gehenna would be physical punishment, while Roman Catholicism teaches that spiritual punishing would be carried out on immortal spirits.
8. Jesus taught that the punishment in Gehenna was to avenge martyrs, while Roman Catholicism makes no connection to avenging martyrs in Hell.
9. Jesus taught that Gehenna was to be the end of Old Covenant Israel, while Roman Catholicism teaches nothing about Hell in relation to Old Covenant Israel.
10. Gehenna was known to Moses and the Prophets, the Roman Catholic concept of Hell is unknown to Moses and the Prophets.
11. Gehenna didn’t need translating, Roman Catholicism didn’t translate Gehenna, but substituted Hell for it.
12. There was no eternal conscious torment in Gehenna, like there is in the Roman Catholic concept of Hell.
13. The warnings of punishment in Gehenna originated with Jesus, eternal conscious torment originated in Egypt.
14. The location of Gehenna is well known, the location of Hell in the spiritual realm is unknown.
15. Photographs of Gehenna are readily available, while there are no photographs of Roman Catholicism’s concept of Hell.
16. All of these characteristics of Gehenna are in the Bible, while none of Roman Catholicism’s concept of Hell is in the Bible.
17. Gehenna and Hell are not the same in any way.
Oh?
What chapter and verse; if you please.
Off COURSE it is.
As long as you never, ever go there!
Somehow; this rich man didn't get the message...
Luke 16:19-31
19 “There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day. 20 At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores 21 and longing to eat what fell from the rich man’s table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores.
22 “The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried. 23 In Hades, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. 24 So he called to him, ‘Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.’
25 “But Abraham replied, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony. 26 And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been set in place, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.’
27 “He answered, ‘Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my family, 28 for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.’
29 “Abraham replied, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them.’
30 “‘No, father Abraham,’ he said, ‘but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’
31 “He said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.’”
*8Jesus didn’t teach anything on hell.**
This is a mistaken idea.
The word, hell, (or another word that means hell) is in the Bible more than the word, heaven, is.
Check it out:
hell, netherworld, underworld, Sheol, Gehenna, Hades, place of darkness, etc.