Lost in translation... "Hell" was a garbage dump

[True Earthling]

Most Americans still believe in hell. A 2009 Pew poll put the number at 59%. A 2005 Fox News poll put it at 74%...

Should believers fear Hell — and God?

The Egyptians, Greeks, Romans all had elaborate beliefs about the afterlife. We're no different. Right now, a book is burning through America's churches that has put the issue back front and center for many. The book —Love Wins— by Rob Bell challenges the traditional Christian belief in a place of eternal punishment. Damnation.

Not what Jesus meant
Nearly every reference to "hell" that comes from the lips of Jesus is a mistranslation.

The word translated as hell by the King James Bible is the word "Gehenna," literally "the valley of the sons of Hinnom." This notorious valley on the south side of Jerusalem was once the site of pagan sacrifices, including child sacrifice, and had been cursed by the prophets of Israel. By Jesus' day, it served as the garbage dump. It was a foul, noxious place where dogs roamed and fires burned. Jesus seized upon this vivid imagery in his sermons. He urged people to repent (literally "change your mind"), lest they end up in Gehenna (i.e. the garbage dump).
He could just as easily have told them to repent or they would wind up throwing away their lives.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/forum/2011-08-07-love-wins-afterlife-hell_n.htm

[TreasonousBastard]

1. Nothing new here-- Augustine mentioned this somewhere...

and everyone blames modern views of Hell on Dante.

But, although the OT is vague on the matter and Jews consider "hell" to be simply the absence of the presence of God, there are NT references to damnation that may symbolically use the trash dump at Gehenna but seem to clearly reference some sort of judgment after death.

The key here isn't whether a trash dump was referenced, but whether or not you believe in a soul living in an afterlife. If you don't, then no point in discussing it any further. If you do, then the obvious question is just what happens to that soul after death? Reincarnation, Wandering the cosmos aimlessly? Payback for sins committed in life? Reward for a just life?

There is no rational basis for a belief in a soul or an afterlife, but it's been a common belief across cultures and religions throughout history, bringing the question of just why variations of this belief are universal. Could it be simply an innate desire to defeat death, or could it be from some ancient observation?

My religion says we'll find out when we get there-- it's silly to argue about it now.

[trotsky]

2. Was there weeping and gnashing of teeth at the dump?

A fire that cannot be quenched?

Jesus said quite a few things about hell that certainly don't make sense if he just meant it to be analogous to a garbage dump.

[qb]

3. Another mistranslation: the absurd "camel through the eye of a needle" reference

The author's intent was probably to say "cord" or "rope" rather than "camel".
http://www.biblicalhebrew.com/nt/camelneedle.htm

I also appreciate the added context to the "turn the other cheek" quote. Rather than merely inviting more abuse, this was probably a demand to be treated as an equal (with the palm of the hand) rather than as a slave or servant (with the back of the hand).
http://www.publicchristian.com/?p=39

[Taverner]

4. My question for Christians: Why would a God who loves us send us to hell?

[GreenPartyVoter]

5. Exactly. If it's not ok for me as a parent to stuff my kids

into the oven and light them up, surely we can hold the supreme parent to a higher standard?

[Taverner]

7. There is that too...

And I've always wondered how someone else can "die" for my "sins"

[laconicsax]

9. Human sacrifice and punishment by proxy. n/t

[Taverner]

11. Yeah - that worked out well for the Mayans...

[okasha]

6. Nothing new at all.

Origen was fond of saying that one must believe in hell because the Church teaches it; but the mercy of God is so great that no one is required to believe that anyone will actually go to hell.

[provis99]

8. "Hell" is a reference to Norse pagan gods.

you know, the fake gods that don't exist.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hel_(being)

They had to replace Gehenna with Hell to make it more amenable to the pagans.

[okasha]

10. There weren't a whole lot of pagans in Britain at the time the Bible was translated into English.

n/t

[provis99]

12. that has nothing to do with my point. And you are wrong, anyways.

Paganism in Anglo-Saxon England was widespread until William the Conqueror took England; Christendom mainly affected larger towns and the upper classes. The first translation of the Bible into Anglo-Saxon was by the Venerable Bede in the late 600's, while most of the peasantry was still pagan.

[okasha]

13. Sources, please.

And BTW, Anglo-Saxon isn't English.

[Humanist_Activist]

14. No but English and England are derived and descended from anglo-saxons...

Basic history.

By the way Anglo-Saxon is a alternative name for Old English.

[okasha]

15. BTW, there is no such language as "Old English"

which was and still is carelessly used for the Saxon dialect spoken in Southern Britain from around 500 CE to the Norman Conquest. It was not an "English" language, being virtually indistinguishable from the Saxon spoken on the Continent; if you can read one, you can read the other. Think of the relationship between American and British English, and you'll come close.

Anglo Saxon, while not English, is one of the parents of English, the other two being Norman French and Latin. Genuine early English starts about the late 12th century.

Incidentally, Old Norse Hel, unlike Hell/Gehenna, was not a place of punishment. Even Baldr, not being a warrior, was destined to go there when he was killed.