|
About Jesus - Steve Sweetman The
Problem With Hell
Many
western-world Christians understand hell to be the place of eternal fire,
damnation, and judgment. In
Biblical terms, hell is not that place, and here is why.
The
King James Old Testament has translated the Hebrew word "sheol"
as "hell," "grave," and "pit."
Newer versions of the Old Testament have translated
"sheol" as "grave," which better fits the ancient
Hebrew concept of Sheol as being the resting place of the dead that is
buried deep within the earth. The
Greek Old Testament (Septuagint) translated the Hebrew word
"sheol" into Greek as "hades."
It did so because Greek culture, like Hebrew culture, understood
Hades to be the dwelling place of the dead.
For this reason, the Greek New Testament, from which our
English New Testament is translated, translated the Greek word "hades"
as Hades. The New Testament,
thus, equates Sheol and Hades as being the same place, the place of the
dead. Most
modern English versions of the New Testament have translated the Greek
word "hades" as "Hades."
The King James New Testament, however, did not.
It unfortunately translated the Greek word "hades" as
"hell." This, at
least in part, has created our present-day problem with the word hell.
Hades, or hell (KJV), is not the place of eternal fire, damnation,
and judgment, as many think it to be.
Hades, or hell (KJV) is Sheol, the dwelling place of the dead. With
this in mind, Ephesians 4:9 and 10 say this:
"What
does he [Jesus] ascended mean except that he also descended to the lower,
earthly regions? He who
descended is the very one who ascended higher than all the heavens, in
order to fill the whole universe." It
is commonly understood from the above verses that after Jesus died, and
before He rose from the dead, He descended into Hades (Sheol or hell) and
released the righteous souls so they could enter paradise.
Jesus did not descend into the place of eternal fire, damnation,
and judgment. Mathew 27:51
through 53 may refer to this incident.
The text reads: "At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn
in two from top to bottom. The
earth shook, the rocks split and the tombs broke open. The
bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. They
came out of the tombs after Jesus’ resurrection and went into the holy
city and appeared to many people." After
the release of the righteous dead, Hades became the holding place for the
unrighteous dead. If hell is
Hades, what then, is the place of eternal fire, damnation, and judgment?
That place is the "Then
death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The
lake of fire is the second death. Revelation
20:14 in the KJV says this: "And
death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second
death." The
Greek word "hades" (now the place of the unrighteous dead) is
translated as Hades in the NIV and hell in the KJV in Revelation 20:14.
If hell is the place of eternal fire, damnation, and judgment as
many think, then the KJV makes no sense, because hell cannot be cast into
hell. Hell cannot be cast into
itself. Hell is not the place
of fire, damnation, and judgment. Hell
should be understood as Hades, and it is Hades that will be cast into the
|