A BRIEF HISTORY OF HELL 2b: Models in Science and Religion

Models of Hell  Many cultures and religions believe in Hell. What they believe varies, but the common theme uniting all models of Hell is that it is not a desirable place or state to be in!  This presentation explores the various ways that Hell has been understood in the language and thought world of Christianity. It will become clear that more than one model of Hell has been used.

Models aid understanding  It is perhaps inevitable that in pre-literate cultures concepts such as hell were explored using stories and images. Indeed it is necessary in to try to find ways to imagine the unseen in religion, just as it is in science in those situations where no direct apprehension of the object of study is possible.  Such models have difficulties however. They can easily dominate our vision and blind us to other models which may be better. A problem with all models is that they can too easily become the object that they are meant to represent. Think of the way we imagine an atom because of the model we have been taught in school.

What images spring to mind when you think of Hell? Which sources influence your thinking? Art? Preachers? Milton? Dante? Jesus?

The image on this slide is part of the fresco covering the entire outer western wall of the Voronet monastery in Romania. It was painted in 1547 and depicts the Last Judgement. St. Peter leads the righteous into heaven while the sinners, chained by the devils, are dragged into Hell.

This is part of the (in)famous triptych, an altarpiece entitled The Garden of Earthly Delights (1504) by Hieronymus Bosch. The torments of hell, a dark, icy, yet fiery nightmarish vision awaits those whose sinful pleasures lead inexorably to their eternal separation from God.

Gehenna - 1  If you were tracking down the most widely used term for hell in the New Testament this would be it. The other common one is Hades, the Greek word for the Hebrew idea of Sheol, the place of the dead.  Much of the teaching of Jesus was in parables and he made frequent use of simile and metaphor. Typically his teaching about the Kingdom of God was in the form of comparisons: “The Kingdom of God is like ….” Gehenna as a model for hell is an interesting choice. Models generally result from extending a comparison making it fruitful, suggesting new ways of thinking about an idea.

Gehenna - 2  So why would Jesus use Gehenna as his preferred term for Hell?  Its origin is in the valley of Gehinnom (in Hebrew) which lay to the south of Jerusalem. It was a place where in the time of the Book of Kings children were sacrificed. According to Jeremiah it would be the place of God’s judgement. Jewish apocalyptic literature assumed it would become the hell of fire at the end of time.  In Jesus teaching the emphasis seems to be on Gehenna as a place of judgement for body and soul with eternal consequences.

Gehenna - 3  Does this mean that people will be tormented for ever in Gehenna, in what seems to be an excessively disproportionate punishment for a finite lifetime of sinning!?  This seems to have been the commonest interpretation of Gehenna in history. But is it the correct way to understand the model? What was Jesus getting at?  Recently many scholars have pointed out that the traditional understanding of Gehenna as a model of eternal punishment is mistaken. Their reasoning is as follows:

Gehenna - 4  Consider these typical texts about Gehenna:  “Fear Him who can destroy both body and soul in hell” (Matthew 10:28)  “If your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out; it is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into hell, where the worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.” (Mark 9:47,48) In the time of Jesus the valley of Gehenna was used as a rubbish tip where material was burned continually and where organic matter was biodegraded by worms and the like. Along with the background of its use as a place of child sacrifice and as an image of hell after judgement it was a powerful model to use.

Gehenna - 5  But what does the model intend to teach about the fate of those who are judged and found wanting by God? We have to interpret the model.  Consider these two alternative views of the soul:  [1] Once created by God your soul is immortal. This is a typically Greek philosophical view. This would mean that the action of the fire and the worms would be an eternally enduring reality. Presumably you would be conscious of your never ending punishment. Tortured for eternity.  [2] The soul has conditional immortality. God can choose for you to live on for ever or to be destroyed. The image of Gehenna is best understood as one of final destruction. Rubbish on the tip returns to dust. Jesus is speaking of the final fate of the enemies of God as one of destruction, of annihilation.

Gehenna - 6  All models have positive, negative and neutral features. They are like the reality they try to depict in some ways but not in others.  Perhaps by latching on to the (wrong?) understanding of souls as being necessarily eternal, interpreters of Jesus’ model have misunderstood him. A consequence has been to sharpen the problem of how God can justly punish people for eternity in response to finite sinning.  Other theologians have suggested that to understand the model, you need to see it as a temporary punishment and purging to prepare everyone for heaven. Is this what Mark 9:49 is about? “Everyone will be salted with fire.”

Gehenna - 7 One model: Gehenna. Three interpretations depending on what you believe about other matters such as the nature of the soul. Models and theories form a complex nexus of beliefs and it is almost impossible in theology and in science for one idea to be understood in isolation from the rest of the content of the discipline. Gehenna Fire & Worms ETERNAL CONSCIOUSLY ENDURED PUNISHMENT ANNIHILATION TEMPORARY PURGING PRIOR TO HEAVEN FOR ALL

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