- What is hell?
- In mythology
- In the Christian religion
- Representation in Buddhism
- Representation in Taoism
- According to Mormons
- According to Jehovah's Witnesses
- According to Muslims. Hell in Islam Koran about hell
Hell is a place where sinners receive their well-deserved punishment after death, and this punishment involves suffering and torment, and hell itself is described as a terrible, terrible place, and is opposed to the concept of “Paradise”. The concept of “hell” in Russian has a synonym “underworld”.
This term is used by almost all religions and mythologies, including the Abrahamic religions and Zoroastrianism. The concept originated from the ancient word “Hades,” with the help of which the Hebrew word “Sheol” was conveyed in the Septuagint, and after that the word passed into the New Testament with a slightly rethought meaning.
In mythology
In ancient mythology, this concept is compared with such concepts as:
— Hades or the kingdom of the dead. Hades was also the name given to the god of this kingdom, who was the eldest son of Kronos and Rhea, and the brother of Zeus.
— Amentes or Amenti, the underworld, as the ancient Egyptians called it and where, according to their ideas, the soul went after death,
- Tartarus or the abyss that exists under the kingdom of Hades.
In German-Scandinavian mythology, this concept is compared with such concepts as:
— Helheim or the world of the dead, where the giantess Hel rules, it is also called Helgard
- Gjöll or the river that flows past the gate to the underworld.
In the Christian religion
Ideas and understanding of the existence of hell within Christianity itself vary greatly.
Hell in the Christian religion is mentioned in the New Testament, where it is given the definition of a possible afterlife place where sinners are tormented as punishment. According to the description, hell is a place filled with flames. The New Testament also speaks of the gates of hell.
Catholicism has historically divided hell into two concepts - hell and limbo. Limbo is intended for certain categories of people, including unbaptized infants and virtuous ancient saints, but the modern Catholic Church rejects this idea.
The Orthodox Church compares the concept of hell with such concepts as eternal torment, tartarus, and fiery Gehenna. In Orthodoxy, hell is a place where sinners go after the end of the world and remain there forever. This is stated in the words of God: “.. into Gehenna, into unquenchable fire ...”, “... and these will go away into eternal torment, but the righteous into eternal life ...”.
According to the teachings of the Orthodox Church, before the Last Judgment occurs, only the souls of sinners and demons will exist and experience torment in hell, but after the Last Judgment occurs, the material bodies of sinful people will be resurrected and will also experience terrible torment.
From the point of view of Origen in his doctrine of apocatharsis, which Emperor Justinian demanded from the Fifth Ecumenical Council to condemn, Christ will remain on his cross until then, and Golgotha will continue as long as at least one creature remains in Hell.
Nikolai Berdyaev believes that Origen's idea clashes with his own point of view, since, in his opinion, hell and its existence is a temporary concept, not an eternal one, and in its essence it exists as a purgatory, acquiring more pedagogical meaning. He considers Hell to be more of a subjective realm where the soul is plunged into its own darkness as a result of a person's sinful existence, but not a punishment for sins.
From the point of view of representatives of the Seventh-day Adventist Church , sinners who did not repent before death will be resurrected after death in order for them to be convicted. After this, fire will descend from heaven, Satan will appear accompanied by his minions, and all unrepentant sinners will be destroyed forever.
There is also another point of view, which is also shared by Alexey Osipov , according to which it is still a mystery for humanity what the otherworldly fate of a person is, and definitely humanity has not been told about what exists after death.
Introduction
The Second Coming of Christ, the resurrection of bodies, the appearance of people at the Last Judgment and the final decision of their subsequent eternal fate - all this ends in heaven or hell. The righteous will inherit heaven, eternal blissful life, and the sinful will inherit hell. Paradise existed at the beginning of human history. At the end of it there will be not only heaven, but also hell. After all, the Holy Scriptures speak of both heaven and hell.
The teaching of the Holy Scriptures that man, after his creation, was placed in paradise, and subsequently, having lost fellowship with God, was deprived of it, is key. Since the Fall, the desire to regain heavenly life continues to live in man. By His incarnation, Christ gave every person the opportunity to gain communion with the Trinity God and return to heaven. Now a person, especially one who lives in the Church, must strive throughout his entire life and try to keep the commandments of God in order to partake of divine grace, be saved and re-enter heaven.
So, the theme of heaven and hell is one of the most basic themes of Holy Scripture. However, in this case, a deep analysis is required. A serious study of the question of what heaven and hell are in essence is necessary, and how they are understood in Orthodox patristic teaching. This work is also necessary because with its help we will be able not only to correctly interpret Scripture, but also to see what exactly is the true work of the Church, what is its purpose, what is its essence. The theme of heaven and hell can help here in the best possible way. On the contrary, without an accurate understanding of the Orthodox teaching on heaven and hell, the mission of the Church will remain unidentified. Therefore, the significance of this understanding is too great.
Representation in Taoism
Chinese tradition views the idea of hell differently than mainstream tradition. The Taoist understanding of the concept of hell does not provide ethical interpretations, as does Christianity or Buddhism. The Chinese tradition calls hell “huang quan,” which translated into Russian means “yellow springs” or can be translated as “the abode of darkness.”
Chinese tradition says that a person consists of many souls. And some of these souls, after the death of a person, go to Heaven, which is associated in the Chinese tradition with Paradise, and some of these souls end up after death at the yellow springs.
From rough souls after their death, the spirit Gui was formed, which is located at the yellow springs, where it drags out a ghostly shadow-like existence. Yellow springs are compared to a place that looks like ancient Hades - here souls drag out a joyless existence, there is no light and no liveliness. Chinese mythology contains stories of journeys to yellow springs, but travelers put themselves in danger by going there. The Yellow Springs consist of nine worlds, and the lowest world is ruled by Tu-bo, who is a horned deity. Each of the nine worlds has its own yellow source.
Why radicalism is hell on earth
People after the collapse of skyscrapers on September 11, 2001 / Photo newsday.com
The answer to the question why terrorism is not just hell on earth, but even worse, is simple and lies on the surface. Hell is a common religious idea of the afterlife, and radical extremism is real. Let us give just three examples of how terrible the consequences of religious terrorism can be (we ask those faint of heart to refrain from reading).
- Terrorist attacks 9/11. Is it worth mentioning that as a result of the worst terrorist attack in human history, about 3,000 people died, another 6,000 were injured, and 24 people are still considered missing. But we will tell a couple of stories. One with a happy ending happened to design engineer Pascal Buzzelli. At the time of the attack, he was with colleagues on the 64th floor of the south tower of the World Trade Center. At some point, the worker saw frightened people running up the stairs and called his wife. She reported that a plane had crashed into the north tower. Then Buzzelli began to evacuate with his colleagues; they managed to go down to the 22nd floor, when the south tower began to collapse. Pascal curled up in a ball, hoping to survive the disaster. And so it happened - he woke up in the ruins of a building, hanging on the rubble of the seventh floor and with a broken leg. Buzzelli's colleagues were unlucky - they all died. The second story is perhaps the most famous and tragic. “Falling Man” is an iconic photograph taken by photographer Richard Drew. A man jumped from the north tower on the 106th floor after a large fire broke out on that level. Several dozen more people jumped from the same building, but it was this unknown person who was remembered by everyone for his frightening despair, tragedy and inevitability of death. The name of the “Falling Man” is still unknown (we do not publish the photo on purpose so as not to shock readers).
- Boston Marathon bombing. April 15, 2013. The finish line of the International Boston Marathon, several hundred people joyfully greet athletes as they reach the finish line. Young Martin Richard, along with his mother, father and little sister, wave flags and shout welcome speeches. Martin is 8 years old, tomorrow he will go to school, study and play with friends. The boy is happy. He does not yet know that in a few seconds his life will end forever. As a result of two explosions at the marathon, the entire Richard family suffered: Martin's parents received burns, and his younger sister lost her leg. They never returned their son. Another, but happier ending awaited Jeff Bauman at the marathon finish line. He stood at the very edge of the crowd and held a sign for his girlfriend. As she ran up to the finish line, explosions occurred a few meters from Jeff. His legs were blown off, but the young man survived. Moreover, before the tragedy, he even managed to look at one of the terrorists. After giving accurate testimony to the FBI and undergoing rehabilitation, Bauman became a national hero in the United States. The Boston Marathon bombing killed three people and injured more than 280.
- Terrorist attack on Dubrovka. The height of the Second Chechen War. There are fierce battles, soldiers on both sides are dying. But this is somewhere out there, far away, thousands of kilometers north of Moscow. And in the capital of Russia, in the Dubrovka area, there is a Theater Center. And it features the musical “Nord-Ost”. It is the evening of October 22, 2002, and Chechen terrorists break into the theater building. Having taken almost 1,000 people hostage - spectators, actors, staff - the extremists begin to take away cell phones. But spectator Pavel Platonov, who was present in the hall, managed to hide his phone and was the first of the hostages to contact the outside world and report the terrorist attack. Platonov, a former border guard, quickly provided information to a friend about the number of militants and hostages, and he passed it on to the FSB. Throughout the four days of the siege, Platonov transmitted information to the special services via cell phone, and when the terrorists found his phone, he managed to find the cell phone of the other hostages and helped the special forces until the assault. Thanks to his actions, more than 700 people were saved, but Pavel Platonov himself died during the assault. He is survived by his wife and daughter. Platonov was posthumously awarded the Order of Courage. According to various sources, from 130 to 174 people were killed in the terrorist attack on Dubrovka, and more than 700 hostages and special forces members were wounded.
According to Mormons
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has different meanings for this term.
Hell is a spiritual prison, a place that is located in the spiritual after-earth world, and this place is prepared for those who did not repent of their sins before death or did not believe. Hell in this meaning exists as a temporary place or state in which sinners are in order to study the Gospel, to repent, and then accept the sacraments of salvation that are performed for them in the temple. After these souls accept the Gospels, they go to Paradise, where they remain until the Resurrection, after which they will be given the degree of glory that they deserve. If the souls do not repent, but they are not counted among the sons of perdition, then they are left in spiritual prison until the end of the Millennium, and after that they will be released from Hell, punished, and then resurrected to telestial glory.
Hell in Judaism
In Judaism there is no concept of hell as such, but according to the Old Testament, on which the Torah and all Judaism are based, there is a place called Sheol - the abode of all the dead, not only sinners, but also civilians. Sheol is not even hell, but simply the meaning of death and the final resting place of a person, his grave. Judaism also uses the ancient Greek concept of “hades” - also an analogue of the generalized afterlife, where, however, there is no place for torment and suffering, but only oblivion.
According to Jehovah's Witnesses
The views of Jehovah's Witnesses are based on the words given in the Bible: “... in the grave where you go there is no work, no reflection, no knowledge, no wisdom .” In their view, this is a common grave for humanity, a place where the dead are temporarily stored, and it exists only until the resurrection of the dead occurs after the End of the World, that is, as long as the very concept of death exists.
Jehovah's Witnesses believe that death is a sleep, based on the words of Jesus Christ when he said: “Our friend Lazarus fell asleep; but I’m going to wake him up...”
According to Muslims. Hell in Islam
Islam represents hell as a place where dead unbelievers and sinners reside, whom Allah Almighty has not forgiven, relying as sources on the words of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ and on the texts of the Holy Book of the Koran.
In Islamic texts you can find other names for Hell: “ jahim ”, which means “fire”, “ lyaza ” or “burning fire”, “ sa’ir ” or “scorching fire”, “ saqar ” or “underworld”, " hutama " or "crushing", " hawiyah " or "abyss", "abyss".
Prophet Muhammad ﷺ said that both Paradise and Hell have already been created by the Almighty, but only after the Last Judgment (Judgment Day) will people enter them.
The Islamic religion believes that Hell already exists in reality, and hell will always exist . There is no end to its existence, and those who are in it will remain there forever, and its torments and horrors will forever happen to them.
According to the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ: “ When one of you dies, he will be shown his place every morning and every evening... If he is from the inhabitants of Hell, he will see his place in Hell .”
Hell appears to Muslims as an afterlife where fiery torment awaits sinners, but hellish fire is many times more painful than earthly fire, where they will be presented with drinks made from pus and boiling water, where they will have to eat the fruits of the hellish thorny tree of Zakkum. Unbelievers will remain in Hell forever, and Muslim sinners can be freed from the flames of Hell after some time , and only Allah knows after what time, and after that they will also enter Paradise.
Regarding the fate of the sinners and whether they will exist there forever or whether they will have a way to leave Hell, it is mentioned in the hadith of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, narrated by al-Bukhari in his collection of Hadith Sahih, where it is said that the Almighty Lord can deliver some of the inhabitants of the Hell from torment if they have faith in their heart. This hadith implies that the inhabitants of the Hell will be divided into two categories of people:
- - monotheists who committed bad deeds along with the righteous, and the Almighty will send them to Hell so that for some time they exist there and accept punishment for their deeds.
- unbelievers and hypocrites who existed in unbelief and died without accepting the One Lord, and such people will be sent by the Almighty to Hell forever.
Heaven and Hell
Considering the doctrine of heaven and hell, as set out by the holy fathers, is the most important task. The Holy Fathers are the true teachers of the Church, bearers of unclouded Tradition. Therefore, the Holy Scriptures cannot be correctly interpreted apart from their inspired teaching. After all, the Church - the Theanthropic Body of Christ - writes the Holy Scripture itself and interprets it itself.
A common place in the teaching of the holy fathers of the Church is the position that heaven and hell exist only from the point of view of man, but not from the point of view of God. Of course, both heaven and hell really exist, they exist as two different ways of being, but God did not create this difference. From the patristic tradition it is clear that heaven and hell cannot be considered as two different places, but God Himself is heaven for saints and hell for sinners.
This is inextricably linked with the teaching of the holy fathers about enmity and reconciliation between man and God. Holy Scripture does not say that God is reconciled to man, it says that man is reconciled to God through Christ. And the Patristic Tradition specifies that God is never at enmity with man, but man himself becomes the enemy of God if he does not have communication with Him, participation in His life. Thus, even if man becomes the enemy of God, God does not become the enemy of man. After committing a sin, a person imagines God to be angry and hostile.
Let's look at this topic in more detail, outlining the teachings of some Church Fathers.
I believe that we should start with St. Isaac the Syrian, who very clearly shows that there is heaven and hell. Speaking about heaven, he says that heaven is the love of God. Naturally, when we talk about love, we mainly mean the uncreated energy of God. St. Isaac writes: “Paradise is the love of God, in which is the enjoyment of all blessings.”6 But when talking about hell, he says almost the same thing: hell is the scourge of divine love. He writes: “I say that those who are tormented in Gehenna are struck with the scourge of love. And how bitter and cruel is this torment of love!”7
Thus, hell is torment from the influence of God's love. The Monk Isaac says that sorrow from sin against the love of God is “more terrible than any possible punishment”8. Indeed, what a torment it is to deny someone’s love and go against it! What a terrible thing it is to behave inappropriately towards those who truly love us! If what has been said is compared with the love of God, then it will be possible to understand the torment of hell. The Monk Isaac considers it inappropriate to assert “that sinners in Gehenna are deprived of God’s love”9.
Consequently, even in hell people will not be deprived of divine love. God will love all people - both righteous and sinners, but not everyone will feel this love to the same extent and in the same way. In any case, it is inappropriate to say that hell is the absence of God.
From this it is concluded that people have different experiences of God. Each will be given from the Lord Christ “according to his worth,” “according to his valor.” The ranks of teachers and students will be abolished, and the “sharpness of every aspiration” will be revealed in everyone. One and the same God will equally give His grace to everyone, but people will perceive it in accordance with their “capacity.” The love of God will extend to all people, but it will act in two ways: it will torment sinners, and delight the righteous. Expressing the Orthodox Tradition, the Monk Isaac the Syrian writes: “Love, with its power, acts in two ways: it torments sinners, as here it happens to a friend to suffer from a friend, and it brings joy to those who keep their duty”10.
Therefore, the same love of God, the same action will extend to all people, but will be perceived differently.
But how does such a difference arise?
God said to Moses: “I will have mercy on whomever I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whomever I have compassion” (Ex. 33:19). The Apostle Paul, citing this passage from the Old Testament, adds: “Therefore he has mercy on whomever he wants; but he hardens whomever he wants” (Rom. 9:18). These words must be interpreted within the framework of Orthodox Tradition.
How can we understand that God wants to have mercy on one and harden another? Does God have partiality?
According to the interpretation of Blessed Theophylact of Bulgaria, this difference is related to the nature of man, and not to the nature and action of God. Blessed Theophylact says: “Just as the sun softens wax and makes clay hard not on its own, but due to the difference in the substance of wax and clay, so God, the clay heart of Pharaoh, as they say, hardens”11. This means that the grace of God, that is, His love, which sanctifies everyone, will act in accordance with the human condition.
Saint Basil the Great also agrees with these thoughts. Interpreting the psalm verse “the voice of the Lord cutting off the flame of fire” (Ps. 28:7), he recalls the miracle that happened to three youths in a blazing furnace. Then the flame split into two parts and, on the one hand, “burned everyone standing around,” and on the other, “received the Spirit and gave the youths the most pleasant breath and coolness, so that they were in a calm state, as if under a tree’s shadow.” " That is, although this flame burned those who were outside the oven, at the same time it watered the youths as if they were in the shade of a tree. Below he notes that the fire prepared by God for the devil and his angels is “cut off by the voice of the Lord.” Fire has two powers: the power to burn and the power to enlighten; it both burns and enlightens. Therefore, those worthy of fire will feel its scorching power, and those worthy of enlightenment will feel its enlightening power. Saint Basil ends with the wonderful words: “The voice of the Lord, cutting off and dividing the flame of fire, is needed so that the fire of punishment becomes the unenlightening, and the light of repose remains the unburning.”12.
Consequently, the fire of Gehenna will not be bright and will be deprived of its ability to enlighten. And the light of the righteous will not burn, it will be deprived of the property of scorching. This will be the result of different perceptions of God's action. In any case, this implies that a person will receive the uncreated energy of God in accordance with his condition.
This understanding of heaven and hell is characteristic not only of St. Isaac the Syrian and St. Basil the Great, but this is the general teaching of the holy fathers of the Church, who interpret eternal fire and eternal life apophatically. When we talk about apophatics, we do not mean that the holy fathers allegedly reinterpret the teachings of the Church, reasoning too abstractly, philosophically, but that they offer an interpretation that is not associated with the categories of human thought and images of sensory things13. Here there is an obvious difference between the Orthodox Greek fathers and the Franco-Latins, who perceived the reality of the future century as created14.
This important truth, which, as will become clear, is of great importance for the spiritual life of the Church, is developed by St. Gregory the Theologian. He invites his listeners to perceive the teaching about the resurrection of bodies, judgment and reward for the righteous in accordance with the tradition of the Church, that is, in the perspective that the future life “for those who are purified in mind is light,” given “to the extent of purity,” and we call this light the Kingdom Heavenly. But “for the blind in the sovereign” (i.e., the mind) it becomes darkness, which in reality is alienation from God “to the extent of local myopia”15. That is, eternal life is light for those who have purified their minds; it is light for them to the extent of their purity. And eternal life becomes darkness for those who are blind in mind, who have not been enlightened in earthly life and have not achieved deification.
We can understand this difference using the example of sensory objects. The same sun “enlightens the healthy eye and darkens the sick.” Obviously, it is not the sun that is to blame, but the condition of the eye. The same thing will happen at the Second Coming of Christ. One and the same Christ “lies for the fall and the rising: for the fall of the unbelievers, and for the rising of the faithful”16. One and the same Word of God now, in time, and even more so then, in eternity, “both by nature it is terrible for those who are unworthy, and for the sake of love for mankind it is suitable for those who have adorned themselves properly”17. For not everyone is worthy of being in the same rank and position, but one is worthy of one, and another of another, “to the extent, I believe, of his purification.”18 In accordance with the purity of their hearts and their minds, people will each, in their own measure, taste the same uncreated energy of God.
Consequently, according to St. Gregory the Theologian, both heaven and hell are the same God, because everyone tastes His energy in accordance with their mental state. In one of his doxologies, Saint Gregory exclaims: “O Trinity, by whom I have been honored to be a servant and preacher without hypocrisy! O Trinity, Who will one day be known by all, some in radiance, others in torment.”19 So, the same Trinity God is both illumination and torment for people. The words of the saint are direct and unambiguous.
I would also like to mention St. Gregory Palamas, Archbishop of Thessaloniki, who also insisted on this teaching. Turning to the words of John the Baptist, which he said about Christ, “He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire” (Matthew 3:11; Luke 3:16), St. Gregory says that here the Forerunner reveals the truth that people will perceive accordingly either the tormenting or the enlightening quality of grace. Here are his words: “He, says (the Forerunner), will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire, revealing an enlightening and tormenting property, when each person receives what is appropriate for his disposition”20.
Of course, this teaching, expressed by St. Gregory Palamas, must be considered in conjunction with the teaching about the uncreated grace of God. The saint teaches that all creation participates in the uncreated grace of God, but not in the same way and not to the same extent. Thus, the sharing of God's grace by the saints differs from the sharing of it by other rational creatures. He emphasizes: “Everything participates in God, but the saints participate in Him to the greatest extent and in a significantly different way.”21
In addition, from the teaching of the Church we know that the uncreated grace of God receives different names depending on the nature of the action it performs. If it purifies a person, it is called purifying; if it enlightens him, it is called enlightening; if it deifies him, it is called deifying. Also sometimes it is called natural-giving, sometimes life-giving, and sometimes wisdom-giving. Consequently, all creation partakes of the uncreated grace of God, but partakes in different ways. Therefore, we must distinguish for ourselves the deifying grace that the saints partake of from other manifestations of the same divine grace.
Everything that has been said applies, of course, to the action of God’s grace in eternal life. The righteous will partake of the enlightening and deifying energy, while sinners and the unclean will experience the scorching and tormenting action of God.
We find this same teaching in the ascetic works of various saints. For example, let us cite St. John the Sinaite. He says that the same fire is called both “a consuming fire and an illuminating light.” This refers to the holy, heavenly fire of God's grace. The grace of God that people receive in this life “sears some for lack of purification”, others “enlightens to the extent of perfection”22. Of course, the grace of God will not cleanse unrepentant sinners in eternal life - what St. John of Sinai says is happening at the present time. The ascetic experience of the saints confirms that at the beginning of their journey they feel the grace of God as a fire scorching passions, and later, as their hearts are purified, they begin to feel it as light. And modern God-seers confirm that the more a person repents and in the process of his feat receives the experience of hell by grace, the more this uncreated grace can, unexpectedly for the ascetic himself, be transformed into light. The same grace of God, which first purifies man as fire, begins to be contemplated as light when he reaches a great degree of repentance and purification. That is, here we are dealing not with some created realities or subjective human sensations, but with the experience of experiencing the uncreated grace of God.
