Hell, Gehenna,

Go to Hell?

Who's Going to Hell?

The Valley of Gehenna as it looks today.

Valley of Gehenna (One Hell?)

Going to hell has been quite a fear for thousands of years and it has been a major reason that people have unflinchingly followed their religions teachings.

What is hell and where does the word come from.  According to many academic sources, there are several words that were in original Biblical texts written separately, but were all translated in the King James version as hell.  The words are hades, tartaros and gehenna and all of them have different meanings. 

To complicate maters more, there is also the Hebrew word sheol which like hades, means grave or pit, which can also be mixed up in this debate, because it is used in the Old Testament in place of the word hades.

First of all "hell" is an old English word that originally meant a hole in the ground.  At the time the King James version of the Bible was translated, people in England reportedly spoke of putting their potatoes in hell for the winter to keep them from rotting, it meant a hole in the ground and also may have meant a grave.

Starting with the word hades, which is used 11 times in the New Testament, we see a pattern of possible mis-translation.  Hades, is a Greek word  which like sheol is more accurately translated as a pit or hole in the ground where the dead are placed.  Neither the word hades or the word sheol refers to a place of fire or of eternal punishment, but both are translated as hell in the King James version, which to Bible readers means the place of eternal damnation.

The word "tartaros" is translated as the word "hell" in II Peter 2:4.  "For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell (tartaroo in the original texts), and delivered them into chains of darkness to be reserved unto judgement..."  The Greeks used this word to describe the place where Zeus confined the rebellious Titans and the Bible refers to it in II Peter 2:4 as where the angels that followed Satan were cast, but it does not refer to it as a place where humans are cast.  In SRSR's opinion, tartaroos (translated as hell in King James Verson) is probably meant as the place where Satan and his legions are said to be cast, not humans who have missed the mark.

A third word that has been translated as hell is "gehenna", coming from the Hebrew words      Gai Hinnom, meaning "valley of Hinnom." This valley of Hinnom is a real place located south by southwest of Jerusalem.   Today Gai Hinnom is reported to be a fairly nice place, with at least some grass and flowers growing there.  In Biblical times however it was a place where pagan rites, possibly even infant sacrifices may have occured.

It was thus considered an unclean place by the Israelites and was used as a dump for the bodies of criminals, animals, garbage and sewage.  Fires are said to have burned there continuously because of the supply of "fuel" and to reduce the foul odor.  It is natural that became known as a place of evil and ruination.

SRSR believes that serious study shows that when the Bible talks about destruction in hell (gehenna) it means complete and final destruction, but not necessarily eternal or constant torture.  The Bible, SRSR believes, does speak of eternal life, but not eternal punishment, instead it speaks of final and permanent destruction of the souls and bodies of the "wicked."

In Matthew 10:28 Jesus says, "fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell."  Originally the word gehenna was used here and the word hell was used starting with the King James version.   Similarly gehenna is translated as hell in Mathew 23:33, "Ye serpents...how can ye escape the damnation of hell?", here he is talking about the Pharasees.

In Malachi 4:1-3, this prophet speaking of the Day of the Lord, says,"For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble; and the day that cometh shall burn them up saith the Lord of hosts, that it will leave them neither root nor branch..."  SRSR see's this as more evidence that the Bible may originally have meant that the "damned" will be permanently terminated, not eternally tortured and this is perhaps more in tune with a loving and just God. Source:

'Hell' as an invention of the church

  

"So where did the teaching of "Hellfire and damnation" come from?

As the Nicene Church was establishing its official doctrines and replacing biblical Judaism with Catholicism ("Universalism"), it is a well known and easily established fact that they incorporated the teachings of many different religious systems. These early "church fathers" were attempting to establish a new and global political and religious authority in order to control every aspect of human life. Whatever their motives, the Vatican created dogma of eternal torture as a powerful stick to wield against its opponents.

To this end the Catholic Bishops incorporated the Roman Pagan teaching of Hades: A subterranean place of eternal fiery torment and damnation. Never mind that the dogma has no biblical basis, the Magisterium of the Church declared it so. The threat of eternal damnation made their subjects docile and the collection plates rang with tithes, offerings and indulgences as deceived people sought to purchase their salvation.

The imagery of the Nicene Hell is largely taken from the underworld abode of the god Hades and his part time lover Persephone.

Present day Nicene Christians vary on why people go to Hell. Some teach that the "lost" are condemned to Hell because they fail to make the one decision necessary to achieve salvation: they refuse to accept the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus as taught by the Church. Others teach that if ones good deeds do not outweigh the negatives one goes there. Calvinists believe people have no choice in the matter at all. They say that the God of love and justice created most human being as fodder for Hell and only a few will be allowed to enter "Heaven." Catholicism is more clear: people go to Hell because they fail to accept Catholic Communion and authority. All Nicene Christians are quick to point out that Hell is not something God "does to us," it is something we do to ourselves.

This is known as blaming the victim! There is nothing just nor loving about this doctrine nor about a god that who create billions of beings solely to torture them throughout eternity. This is NOT the God of the Bible!"
source:

The Facts

• There is no biblical basis for this teaching.
• God can do anything and He could easily make another option for those who do not accept His gift of salvation.
• No Believers from the Abrahamic traditions living in the first century C.E. conceived of such a post-life torture.
• Many Pagans did believe in such horrors and they were viewed as savages because it.
• Not a single person in the Gospel accounts ever challenge Jesus as to the origins of this non-Jewish teaching he allegedly taught.
• The doctrine directly challenges the Torah claims that God is Loving and Just 
• Many "Bible believing Christians" believe many unbiblical heresies. The near universality of the belief does not make it biblical

For more information see Hell, Gilgul Neshamot and Ibbur Neshamot: http://www.allfaith.com/ 

What Happens When We Die?

'Hell' as an invention of the church

'Hell' as an invention of the church

 

"So where did the teaching of "Hellfire and damnation" come from?

As the Nicene Church was establishing its official doctrines and replacing biblical Judaism with Catholicism ("Universalism"), it is a well known and easily established fact that they incorporated the teachings of many different religious systems. These early "church fathers" were attempting to establish a new and global political and religious authority in order to control every aspect of human life. Whatever their motives, the Vatican created dogma of eternal torture as a powerful stick to wield against its opponents.

To this end the Catholic Bishops incorporated the Roman Pagan teaching of Hades: A subterranean place of eternal fiery torment and damnation. Never mind that the dogma has no biblical basis, the Magisterium of the Church declared it so. The threat of eternal damnation made their subjects docile and the collection plates rang with tithes, offerings and indulgences as deceived people sought to purchase their salvation.

The imagery of the Nicene Hell is largely taken from the underworld abode of the god Hades and his part time lover Persephone.

Present day Nicene Christians vary on why people go to Hell. Some teach that the "lost" are condemned to Hell because they fail to make the one decision necessary to achieve salvation: they refuse to accept the death, burial and resurrection of Y'shua as taught by the Church. Others teach that if ones good deeds do not outweigh the negatives one goes there. Calvinists believe people have no choice in the matter at all. They say that the God of love and justice created most human being as fodder for Hell and only a few will be allowed to enter "Heaven." Catholicism is more clear: people go to Hell because they fail to accept Catholic Communion and authority. All Nicene Christians are quick to point out that Hell is not something God "does to us," it is something we do to ourselves.

This is known as blaming the victim! There is nothing just nor loving about this doctrine nor about a god that who create billions of beings solely to torture them throughout eternity. This is NOT the God of the Bible!"
source:

The Facts

• There is no biblical basis for this teaching.
• God can do anything and He could easily make another option for those who do not accept His gift of salvation.
• No Believers from the Abrahamic traditions living in the first century C.E. conceived of such a post-life torture.
• Many Pagans did believe in such horrors and they were viewed as savages because it.
• Not a single person in the Gospel accounts ever challenge Jesus as to the origins of this non-Jewish teaching he allegedly taught.
• The doctrine directly challenges the Torah claims that God is Loving and Just (compare Romans 2:24).
• Many "Bible believing Christians" believe many unbiblical heresies. The near universality of the belief does not make it biblical

For more information see Rabbi Yochanan Levine's article; Hell, Gilgul Neshamot and Ibbur Neshamot: http://jewtoo.org/hell.html

What Happens When We Die?
See also: Olam Ha-Ba: The Afterlife
"The righteous of all nations have a share in the Olam Ha-Ba."
http://www.jewfaq.org/olamhaba.htm

Judaism says man is a sinner because he sins.

Christianity says man sins because he is a sinner. 

Ego-free spirituality

Ego-free spirituality...

THE EGO AND THE SOUL

 by Rabbi Aaron Parry and Dr. Tamar Frankiel.

“You cannot teach a man anything, you can
only help him to find it within himself.” 
Galileo

Jewish tradition teaches that we were created as sparks of God, “in the image of God,” body and soul. God put his image on earth, in the form of human beings. One way to identify with the concept of the “image of God” is through a simple metaphor. Visualize a movie projector and a screen. When turned on, the light projects brightly onto the screen. Consider that God is the projector, or the “source” of the light, the soul is the light illuminating the screen, and the screen itself is the face of man. Thus we have a glimpse at the way the a godly soul is bestowed in man. With that soul came a mission.

“Be creators, like me!” He said. “I’m putting you in charge of the lower world. Your mission is to help finish the creation and bring it to perfection.”
Note that human beings were supposed to help finish the creation. We are supposed to be creators, but not by ourselves. God wants us to be partners with Him in creation. That’s why He made sure we would always have a connection to Him, through the soul.

We said, “Great! Sounds like a wonderful project!” But then we walked away, very excited. “Hey, we’re creators! We’re on our own!” Before you knew it, we forgot whose mission we were on. We forgot the whole point of the project: to create a world filled with divine light.

To use a term from modern psychology, we would say that the “ego” took charge.

God created us with an ego, because we had to be able to think independently. “Ego” as we’re using the term means our basic human personality, including all the physical and psychological parts and functions that make it work. For each one of us to be able to fulfill the purpose in creation, we had to be able to use our own hearts and minds to understand the world and perfect it. Otherwise, we would have simply been robots doing what God thought of already. Ego is the structure of human personality wherein we can identify the exercise of free will.

But that very structure of the psyche that enables us to be independent also enables us to block infusions from God. God may send us messages about how best to handle this business of perfecting the world. He is probably sending us angels, and dreams, and intuitions all the time, but we have the capacity to shut them out. It’s as if there is a “soul channel” that’s broadcasting continuously, but we can flick a switch and turn onto a different one whenever we want. As Rabbi Nachman of Breslov said, “We are surrounded by stars, planets, worlds of light, but we can shut it all out with one small hand.”

The ability to turn off the soul channel is called free will. There’s also a tendency to want to turn off the soul, to shut out God. This tendency or inclination is called by many names in Judaism. The most common is the yetzer hara (“evil inclination”). This is also part of human nature.

A famous story that helps us understand the struggle between what the world’s religious traditions have called “good” and “evil”:

Once a rabbi pleaded with God to show him heaven and hell. God agreed, and transported the rabbi to a door that bore no name. He trembled as he saw it open before him, into a room where all was prepared for a feast. There was a table, and at its center a great dish of steaming food. The smell and the aroma inflamed the appetite.

Diners sat around the table with great spoons in their hands, yet they were shrieking with hunger in that terrible place. They tried to feed themselves, and gave up, cursing God. For the spoons God had provided were so long that they could not reach their faces and get the food to their tongues. So they starved because of these spoons, while the dish of plenty lay amongst them. The rabbi knew their shriekings were the cries of hell, and as knowledge came, the door closed before him.

He shut his eyes in prayer, and begged God to take him away from that terrible place. When he opened them again, he despaired, for the same door stood before him, the door that bore no name. Again it opened, and it gave onto the same room. Nothing had changed, and he was about to cry in horror. There was the table, and at its center the steaming bowl, and around it the same people, and in their hands the same spoons.

Yet the shrieking had gone, and the cries and the curses had changed to blessings. And nothing had changed, yet everything. For with the same long spoons they reached to each other’s faces, and fed each other’s mouths. And they gave thanks to God.

And, as the rabbi heard the blessings, the door closed. He bent down, and he too blessed God, who had shown him the nature of heaven and hell, and the chasm-a hairsbreadth wide-that divides them.

The ego has free choice. The ego doesn’t have to shut out the soul, but it has a strong tendency to want to. There’s a built-in conflict. The soul is within and around us, God’s ambassador in our very being. The soul wants to enlighten and enliven our every act, but we want to turn off the switch. Because we can be independent, we think we should be independent. It’s like what we often say today about the experts who split the atom and made the first nuclear bomb: they found out they could do it, so they decided they should do it. But was it a careful moral decision? Was it the arrogance of knowledge? Was it simply, perhaps, the ordinary confusion of the mind that just goes ahead under its own steam?

We have great ideas. We want to decide how the world should come out. We think we know how things should go. We are convinced that we know.

This is what Adam and Eve got when they ate from the Tree of Knowledge in the Garden of Eden. They got “knowledge.” They could have had life–that is, the kind of Life that is soul-full and filled with divine delight, but they chose knowledge because they were deceived into thinking that complete knowledge would make them Godlike. As a result, knowledge and intellect became our primary means of connecting to the world and, because intellect tends to separate and classify, division was emphasized. Multiple manifestations emerged where there was only unity before, and from then on people had individual ego-consciousness.

It is good that we can solve problems and enjoy life through our own creations. We can create amazing technologies. We can create great art, to make people cry, laugh, think deeply.

We can cure disease and remove pain. But when we find that our creations have gone awry like a Frankenstein, when they cause anguish to ourselves or others, we are in big trouble. As you continue to examine the material on this website, consider ways in which you can balance your quest for knowledge with a concomitant pursuit of “ego-free” spirituality.

Source:

Has Christianity Created a 4th god?

Christianity has created a 4th god.?

The Devil is Real...or so they say.

S'tan

Judaism rejects the concept of a "Devil", an 'fallen' angel with free will who is in 'rebellion' against and is ruler of Hell. The term "Lucifer' is a corrupt and purposely mis-leading translation from the Book of Isaiah in the Tanach. The original and correct Hebrew term means 'Morning Star" and is the title of the King of Babylon, not some super natural demon. Judaism rejects the concept of "Original Sin" that requires a hell to punish people in and Judaism rejects the idea that the "Devil" rules in "Hell".

We do have S'tan, an angel with NO free will and who is totally obedience to God, like all other angels. S'tan's job is to act as the DA Fred Thompson on 'Law &Order', bringing charges, accusations against the bad acts of people. But all the mythology that has evolved in Christianity about the "Devil" is completely absent in Judaism. In effect, Christianity has created a 4th god. Judaism forbids the worship of any god but HaShem.

Demons are supernatural, malevolent beings with the power to cause hurt to humans. Belief in demons , though not very pronounced in Jewish life and thought, is still prevalent, in a semi-comical way, at the level of folklore. Even some of the learned feel compelled to accept, perhaps not too seriously, belief in demons because this belief is implied in the Talmud in many places.

The Babylonian Talmud , in particular, produced against a Zoroastrian background in which the belief was strongly rooted, contains stories of visitations by demons and spells to ward them off.There is even a report of a rabbi conversing with a demon prince.

It is completely unhistorical to maintain, as did Krochmal , that all these references were inserted into the Talmud by ignorant copyists or by those influenced by folk-beliefs said to have been repudiated by the rabbis themselves.

See The Lucifer Myth  http://natzrim.blogspot.com/2012/07/lucifer-myth-haylel.html 

Medieval Rationalists

Some of the medieval thinkers accepted the belief in demons. Others rejected the belief as contrary to the doctrine of divine providence. Why should God have surrendered His control of the universe, on some occasions, into the power of such creatures?

Abraham Ibn Ezra  rejects entirely the notion that demons really exist. Maimonides either ignores the talmudic references to demons or gives these a rationalistic explanation; as, for example, when he understands the mishnaic reference to an 'evil spirit' against which a light can be put out even on the Sabbath , to mean a spirit of melancholy.

Menahem Meiri generally follows a similar demythologizing tendency when he understands the talmudic reference to warding off the demons by reciting the Shema before retiring as meaning that evil thoughts invade the mind at bedtime and these can successfully be dispelled through the recitation of the Shema . Meiri also understands the talmudic reference to Joseph the demon, who was able to traverse great distances through the air, to mean that there was a skilled acrobat who could vault over great distances and who was known as 'Joseph the devil' in the sense that he was a devil-may-care character.

From the Kabbalah

The Kabbalah has a vast demonology of its own. The demonic powers constitute an unholy parody of the sacred realms against which they are in constant battle.In a very revealing illustration, the Zohar compares the "Other Side," the domain of the evil powers, to a vicious dog held by its owner on a long lead. The dog, though it appears to enjoy independent power, is pulled back whenever it is in danger of getting out of control.

Under the influence of the Kabbalah, especially, belief in the existence of demons became widespread. Although there is no official Jewish rite of exorcism, there are numerous tales of saintly men exorcising demons from houses and persons.

Belief in demons is thus generally present but very peripheral in the Jewish scheme. No representative thinker, for instance, ever thought of dubbing Ibn Ezra a heretic because he refused to believe in demons. Needless to say, sophisticated Jewish thinkers who did believe in the existence of demons did not think of these as little devils with forked tails breathing fire but as spiritual forces which God has unleashed in the world for purposes of His own, or as harmful psychological processes which take place in the human mind.

Rabbi Dr. Louis Jacobs (1920-2006) was a Masorti rabbi, the first leader of Masorti Judaism (also known as Conservative Judaism) in the United Kingdom.

Si vos vultus amo a anas, et ambulabunt ut anatinus loqui sicut anatinus...erit vobis

'If you look like a duck, walk like a duck and you talk like a duck . . . you must be a duck.'

What's up with the 'Roots Movement' (Hebrew Christian) teachers looking like Christains, walking like Christians and talking like Christians?

I watched a recent YouTube video from a Hebrew Roots Movement Teacher if I didn't know better I'd thought I was in Church. “Satan this...Hellfire that.”? Helloooo!!!

Many today are looking for the Jewish/Hebrew roots of their faith, yet giving all power and glory to a created celestreal being such as HaSatan (Satan) or using the unbiblical doctrine of Hell to put fear into people? 

See "Who is Lucifer?" http://natzrim.blogspot.com/2012/08/who-is-lucifer.html

Many Christians have no idea what the original tenets of their faith is really based on. May teachers and pastors who have awoken to the Jewishness of Christianity take time to look deeper at what they are saying.

The Constantine Creed

“I renounce all customs, rites, legalisms, unleavened breads and sacrifices of lambs of the Hebrews, and all the other feasts of the Hebrews, sacrifices, prayers, aspirations, purifications, sanctifications, and propitiations, and fasts and new moons, and Sabbaths, and superstitions, and hymns and chants, and observances and synagogues. absolutely everything Jewish, every Law, rite and custom and if afterwards I shall wish to deny and return to Jewish superstition, or shall be found eating with Jews, or feasting with them, or secretly conversing and condemning the Christian religion instead of openly confuting them and condemning their vain faith, then let the trembling of Cain and the leprosy of Gehazi cleave to me, as well as the legal punishments to which I acknowledge myself liable. And may I be an anathema in the world to come, and may my soul be set down with Satan and the devils.”

(Stefano Assemani, Acta Sanctorium Martyrum Orientalium at Occidentalium, Vol. 1, Rome 1748, page 105)

Furthermore, any follower of the “Jewish Messiah” (Yeshua HaMashiach) who wished to join this “holy community” was compelled to adopt a different set of rules and customs. Subsequently special creeds were drafted, to which the Christian would have to swear such as:

“I accept all customs, rites, legalism, and feasts of the Romans, sacrifices. Prayers, purifications with water, sanctifications by Pontificus Maxmus (high priests of Rome), propitiations, and feasts, and the New Sabbath “So! dei” (day of the Sun, ), all new chants and observances, and all the foods and drinks of the Romans. In other words, I absolutely accept everything Roman, every new law, rite and custom, of Rome, and the New Roman Religion.”

Additionally, in approximately 365 AD, the Council of Laodicea wrote, in one of their canons:

Christians must not judaize by resting on the Sabbath, but must work on that day. Rather, honoring the Lord’s Day. But if any shall be found to be Judaizers, let them be anathema (against) from Christ”.

Note: Protestants are included as they still observe the holidays and sabbath of Rome, as in “are you going to church this coming Lord’s day”.

Concerning Antiochus Epiphanes…

He set up an image of Zeus in the Temple which was the Abomination of Desolation spoken of in Daniel 11. For 3 years, he continued to desecrate the Temple.

These were the new laws that Antiochus set up:

Thou shall profane the Sabbath

Thou shall change the set times (festivals) and lawshttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif

Thou shall set up idols

Thou shall eat unclean animals

Thou shall not circumcise

Thou shall forget Torah

3 years and 2 months later, the Temple was taken back and rededicated. This is known as the Feast of Dedication, or Festival of Lights, or Hanukkah.

What’s really is ironic…..these laws were created by an antichrist Antiochus, and are the same things Constantine would later repeat and this is what people want to live by today. Totally going against God’s Word. People today are living under laws created by Antiochus and Constantine; an antichrist. Source:

Watch this short video explaining the Jewish understanding of Isaiah 53.

ISAIAH 53… IN 53 SECONDS

Chosen People Ministries has focused on Isaiah 53 because it believes this passage is one of its most powerful proof-texts. When read out-of-context and mistranslated, Isaiah 53 gives the impression of a prophecy describing the suffering and death of the messiah, specifically Jesus dying for our sins.

This Christian interpretation is absolutely incorrect for several good reasons. Isaiah commonly uses familiar metaphors and often speaks of the people of Israel as a single individual referred to as the Servant of God. Moreover in nine previous  passages, Isaiah identifies the Servant to be  Israel, as we see in Isaiah 41:8  “Israel is my Servant…” and Isaiah 43:10 “You are My witnesses says the Lord, and My Servant whom I have chosen…”

Chapters 52-53 describe the reaction of the nations of the world when they witness the future and ultimate redemption of the Jewish people.

Initially, the nations viewed the Jewish people scornfully and considered them to be rejected by God and deserving of suffering and His divine punishment. Isaiah states that in the future, the nations will be shocked and dumbfounded when they witness God’s unexpected and glorious redemption of the Jewish people.

The nations will then contrast their new realization of Israel’s grandeur with their previous beliefs. Ultimately, they will conclude that the Jews were not rejected by God, but in fact, they suffered from the unjustified and disproportionate persecution inflicted upon them by the nations of the world.

To validate their biased misinterpretation, missionaries intentionally avoid mention of a critical fact. In Isaiah 53:5, they deliberately mistranslate the word “from” as“for”, andthereby claim that the Servant will suffer for the sins of the Jewish people. In fact, the verse says that the nations of the world will actually admit that Israel – the Servant of God – “was wounded from our transgressions, bruised from our iniquities.” In the original Hebrew, the letter “מ – mem” which serves as the prefix to the words “transgressions” and “iniquities” means “from”, not “for.”Therefore, this verse cannot be read as supporting the Christian view that the Servant, namely Jesus, suffers for the sins of the world.

In fact, many Christian commentaries including the New English Bible: Oxford Study Edition, The New Interpreters Study Bible and The Harper Collins Study Bible agree with the Jewish interpretation of Isaiah 53. For example, the Oxford Study Edition states, “Israel, the servant of God, has suffered as a humiliated individual.”

SOURCE: http://www.jewsforjudaism.org/isaiah53/isaiah-53-in-53-seconds/