Gehenna

QUESTION: Gehenna is not hell, is it? It was a valley where outcasts, thieves and infected people were thrown when they died. The Bible refers to "Gehenna" as the place of death and pain. The word "hell", as you so often use, where eternal pain and fire awaits is actually "Gehenna." If you have read a bible written before 1400, you will notice a very important thing: "HELL" is missing. Instead it says "Gehenna." There is no fire breathing eternal pain demon hell!! In fact YOU are commiting a sin here. Telling people, or lying to people about hell, when you should know about "Gehenna." There is no hell. Only the valley of "Gehenna." A graveyard.

The article fails to include a discussion of the "lake of fire", mentioned in Revelation

It also fails to mention the fiery human sacrifices to the idol Moloch, which took place in that very same valley following the reign of Solomon. I would think those images would have been in the collective public mind far more than those of a town dump.

It also fails to mention Christ's parable regarding the Rich Man and Lazarus. "In hell he lifted up his eyes"...some older versions may have Gehenna. But what of it...Gehenna and Hell were often used interchangeably. Yes it was a valley of refuse where the outcast lived...but it also denoted a spiritual dimension that is also very real! Again...know the context of usage...don't strain at gnats and swallow camels!

Yes it was a valley of refuse where the outcast lived...but it also denoted a spiritual dimension that is also very real! Again...know the context of usage...don't strain at gnats and swallow camels!

My point was that, by Christ's day, Gehenna already had developed a multi-generational reputation involving idol worship, fires, and human misery. It's (then) current incarnation as the town dump was just the current version. All of these fed into (as you correctly pointed out) Christ's intended wordplay, where He used the image(s) of the Valley of Hinnom to picture where the unrighteous dead go.

My greater point was that those who teach the "no Hell/soul sleep" doctrine are guilty of myopia (or worse), if they use the NT Hinnom verses to prove their doctrines, insisting Hinnom was only a refuse dump in the Israelites' eyes. Bottom line, the nature of where the righteous (or unrighteous) end up after death ought to have little impact on the Christian's day-to-day obedience of Christ's commands.

Those who worship him as Savior and Lord, and obey him in their daily lives, will find their rest in the Lord regardless of whether it's in this world or the next. As I see it, the "no Hell" doctrine is only a comfort to those who already fear Hell (and perhaps deservedly so) to begin with.

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