Hell

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Hell

In Christian tradition the idea of hell concerns a place of eternal punishment for the wicked or the unredeemed. In some English translations of the Bible the Hebrew word Sheol is translated "hell," meaning the abode of the departed. In that case it refers to the place of the dead rather than a fiery realm of eternal damnation. In the New Testament, the Greek word gehenna is translated with the word "hell," referring to the place where the unredeemed receive punishment. In general, hell involves a complete separation from God for all eternity. Hell is also considered the abode of Satan, the Evil One. It is the ultimate end of the wicked, and the expression of God's wrath against sin and evil. Many early writings on hell, canonical and noncanonical, are found in apocalyptic literature. Daniel 12:1–3 is the earliest book to describe the rewards of the blessed and the punishment of the wicked. In Jewish literature, 2 Esdras provides extensive detail of the fates of the saved and the damned. In postapostolic Christian literature the Apocalypse of Peter provides frightening depictions of the terrors of the afterlife. The Book of Revelation offers an elaborate description of the end time, complete with a place of punishment seen as a lake of fire where torment is continuous in burning sulfur (14:9–11). Over time, hell became an elaborate doctrine in many Christian communions, made particularly poignant by Dante in his Inferno and John Milton in Paradise Lost. In its most basic sense in Christian tradition, hell is one of two destinations of human beings after death. Its inhabitants are cut off from God, love, and goodness, and, depending on the emphasis of specific Christian groups, forced to endure terrible forms of punishment.

In America, hell was a source of some debate from the Puritan period to the present. Some preachers, such as Jonathan Edwards (1703–1758), stressed the doctrine of a literal hell, full of fire and brimstone, as the destination of all who were not "in Christ." His most famous sermon, known as "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God," provides one of the great rhetorical descriptions of hell in sermonic literature. Edwards's contemporary Charles Chauncy (1705–1787), pastor of First Church, Boston, rejected the idea of hell in favor of universal redemption and the benevolence of the deity. These divisions continued into the twentieth century. Revivalism and evangelicalism tended to assert doctrines of a literal hell, though with varying emphases. Dwight L. Moody (1837–1899) attested to the reality of hell, but acknowledged that he gave more attention to the doctrine of eternal salvation than to damnation. Evangelist Billy Sunday (1862–1935), on the other hand, declared the dangers of a hell that could be escaped only through faith in Christ.

Contemporary American Christianity reflects similar approaches. Throughout the twentieth century, much classic liberalism rejected the idea of eternal punishment in favor of a theology of hope, worked for in this world, and the promise of eternal salvation for all (universalism). Conservative evangelicals generally affirmed a doctrine of eternal punishment, then varied as to their emphasis on the literal nature of a hell. They suggested that all persons who have not had "a personal experience with Jesus Christ" were bound for hell as a result of God's justice against sin. To challenge such an idea was to question the very essence of orthodox Christianity. Southern Baptist fundamentalists, for example, led a movement to promote biblical inerrancy (the belief that the Bible is inerrant in every issue it addresses), which involved a declaration of belief in "a literal, fiery hell." In other words, not only was hell a real place, but the doctrine of hell was a test of Christian orthodoxy. During the 1960s, a group of conservatives produced a film known as The Burning Hell, which visually depicted the agonies of the damned. It was widely circulated among Baptist and Pentecostal congregations as a tool for evangelism. Films on hell were simply a visual presentation of rhetorical descriptions that had long been characteristic of American revivalism. During the 1980s and 1990s some conservative churches emphasized the doctrine through dramatizations enacted in "Hell Houses," set up around the Halloween season and aimed at reaching young people with the dangers of eternal damnation, to bring them to Christian conversion. They included tableaus featuring demons, devils, and the damned in various scenes of hellish conditions. Other evangelicals minimized threats of hell in favor of greater emphasis on the rewards of heaven. Premillennialist doctrine (the belief that Christ will return before the thousand-year reign of God) suggests that at the Final Judgment the devil, his angels, and the unredeemed will be cast into the "lake of fire." The immediacy of that return is reason enough for evangelistic efforts to convert the "lost."

Some accepted the idea of divine judgment after death leading to the annihilation of the wicked—that is, unbelievers simply cease to be, while believers live eternally in the gracious presence of God. This belief in "soul annihilationism" is particularly prominent among Seventh-Day Adventists. Jehovah's Witnesses challenge the idea of a literal hell as inconsistent with the benevolent "fatherliness" of God. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormons) promotes a belief that persons can escape hell by repenting after death, and by "proxy baptism" received on their behalf by living Mormons. Human events such as the Holocaust or the atomic bomb blasts at Hiroshima and Nagasaki led some to conclude that hell has an earthly dimension, evident in these and other actions that brought suffering to millions. Increasing globalism, pluralism, and interaction with other world religions raised serious questions about the nature of eternal punishment for those who were outside a particular religion or faith.

Hell

Hell

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