Before we start, we should note that what Hell is like is a topic oft-debated by theologians of countless traditions. Not only do many Christian denominations disagree on the issue of Hell, but so do many individual Christians within those denominations (the same applies to their Jewish and Muslim counterparts). TV Tropes is a wiki devoted to entertainment, not theology - for a more detailed look on this issue, see "Hell
" and "Christian Views on Hell" on The Other Wiki.
) is a Hebrew word meaning "the grave", or the abode of the dead for all humans. Hades (ᾅδης), as those familiar with ancient Greek Gods would know, is yet another name for the The Underworld. Hades is mentioned as a place of torment only once: in Luke 16:19-31, Jesus tells a story about a rich man who died and went there (however, this was a parable, so whether he meant it literally is up for debate). Gehenna (γέεννα) is a Greek word borrowed from Aramaic meaning "Valley of Hinnom", which was a real place southwest of Jerusalemnote where Judean Pagan kings would perform Human Sacrifice by fire, which caused the place to be considered cursed. In his sermons. Jesus frequently used Gehenna as an analogy for the opposite of Heaven (such as describing sinners as going there). Tartarus (ταρταρῶ) is used only once: 2 Peter 2:4, in reference to Fallen Angels (not humans).
The Latin Vulgate (382 C.E./A.D.) translated two of these words (namely Sheol and Hades) as "Inferno", preferring to keep Gehenna and Tartarus the same. Later, the King James Version (1611 C.E./A.D.) translated ALL FOUR words as "Hell". Given the impact of the King James version on the English language, many in the English speaking world treated the four like synonyms. Recent Bible translations have attempted to undo this, but it's too little, too late to reverse the popular notion of "Hell".
The "fire and brimstone" part comes from a set of passages in chapters 14 and 19-21 of the Book of Revelation, in which Satan and the ungodly are cast into a lake of fire and sulfur.
- And another angel, a third, followed them, saying in a loud voice: "If anyone worships the wild beast and its image, and receives a mark on his forehead or upon his hand, he will also drink of the wine of the anger of God that is poured out undiluted into the cup of his wrath, and he shall be tormented with fire and sulfur in the sight of the holy angels and in the sight of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment ascends forever and ever, and day and night they have no rest, those who worship the wild beast and its image, and whoever receives the mark of its name." (Revelation 14:9-11)
And the wild beast was caught, and along with it the false prophet that performed in front of it the signs with which he misled those who received the mark of the wild beast and those who render worship to its image. While still alive, they both were hurled into the fiery lake that burns with sulfur. (Revelation 19:20)
And the Devil who was misleading them was hurled into the lake of fire and sulfur, where both the wild beast and the false prophet already were; and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever. (Revelation 20:10)
And death and Hades were hurled into the lake of fire. This means the second death, the lake of fire. Furthermore, whoever was not found written in the book of life was hurled into the lake of fire. (Revelation 20:14, 15)
"But as for the cowards and those without faith and those who are disgusting in their filth and murderers and fornicators and those practicing spiritism and idolaters and all the liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur. This means the second death." (Revelation 21:8)
Note that the first and third passages DO mention damned humans. However, none of these passages say anything about being underground or demons doing the tormenting. In addition, Revelation is generally viewed to take place in the FUTURE, which some interpret meaning there isn't a "lake of fire" NOW, or at least nobody is in it yet.
As for the third and fourth passages, does the "tormented day and night forever and ever" really refer to eternal torture? While the Devil is a living entity, death itself is obviously not, but a state of being. How can you torture death? The word translated as "torture" is basanizo (βασανίζω); while that translation is probably more common now, in ancient Greek, the primary translation referred to "testing/proving (on a touchstone)" - it was commonly used to mean using pain to interrogate prisoners, hence why it later came to mean torture.
For the curious, brimstone is another word for sulfur and means "burning stone". It burns quite hot with a blue flame and is more or less unquenchable. It produces sulfur dioxide, which is quite noxious. All in all, it's an unpleasant sort of fire, one that historically was used to purify homes of bad air. Thus its purpose in hell is twofold: it cleans as it burns.
- Jahannam (جهنم), comes from the aforementioned Gehenna, the most basic term for "hell".
- Al-Nar (النار), meaning "the fire"
- Jaheem (جحيم), meaning "blazing fire"
- Hutamah (حطمة), meaning "that which breaks to pieces"
- Haawiah (هاوية), meaning "the abyss"
- Sa'eer (سعير), meaning "the blaze"
- Saqar (سقر), apparently meaning "burning"
For a small sample of examples:
- Lo! Those who disbelieve Our revelations, We shall expose them to the Fire. As often as their skins are consumed We shall exchange them for fresh skins that they may taste the torment. (Surah 4:56, "The Women")
But as for those who disbelieve, garments of fire will be cut out for them; boiling fluid will be poured down on their heads, Whereby that which is in their bellies, and their skins too, will be melted; And for them are hooked rods of iron. Whenever, in their anguish, they would go forth from thence they are driven back therein and (it is said unto them): Taste the doom of burning. (Surah 22:19-22, "The Pilgrimage")
Judaism, to an extent, has a concept of a Fire and Brimstone Hell. The Hebrew Bible (called "Tanakh" in Judaism and "Old Testament" in Christianity) makes little mention of the afterlife. As noted in the section on the Biblical Hell, the Hebrew word Sheol just means "the grave". In the Jewish tradition, there is a concept of the afterlife, but the views about the afterlife are rather vague. However, the word Gehenna is often used to signify a firey afterlife in Jewish literature.
The Jewish Talmud often contains references to the concept of Gehenna as a burning place. Here are some examples from the Talmudnote :
- The Gemara explains: Our fire was created at the conclusion of Shabbat, but the fire of Gehenna was created on Shabbat eve. The Gemara proceeds to ask: Was the fire of Gehenna created on Shabbat eve? Wasn’t it taught in a baraita: Seven phenomena were created before the world was created, and they are: Torah, and repentance, and the Garden of Eden, and Gehenna, and the Throne of Glory, and the Temple, and the name of Messiah. (Pesachim 54a)
He said to her: What difference is there? One who performs such an act eats such food as well. She lit the oven and placed the non-kosher food in it to roast. He climbed and sat in the oven. She said to him: What is the meaning of this? He said to her: One who performs this act falls into this, i.e., the fires of Gehenna. (Kiddushin 40a)
There are five matters in our world which are one-sixtieth of their most extreme manifestations. They are: Fire, honey, Shabbat, sleep, and a dream. The Gemara elaborates: Our fire is one-sixtieth of the fire of Gehenna; (Berakhot 57b).
Interestingly, there is a passage that implies torment in Gehenna is temporary (unlike the mainstream Christian and Islamic views of hell):
- A Divine Voice emerged and said to them: Did you emerge from the cave in order to destroy My world? Return to your cave. They again went and sat there for twelve months. They said: The judgment of the wicked in Gehenna lasts for twelve months. Surely their sin was atoned in that time. A Divine Voice emerged and said to them: Emerge from your cave. They emerged. (Shabbat 33b)
There are multiple different views surrounding Hell in Christian thoughtnote , the most notable ones include:
- Eternal Torment - The most common view, that those who are damned will face pain forever. The exact details are actually more complex than one might expect.
- While fiew theologians hold that devils will torment people when they die, many hold that the torments of hell are physical things put there by God. While some criticize this as painting a bad picture of God, defenders of it argue that it's proof that God cares for justice.
- There's a view that hell is a place of shame rather than physical pain, and that Hell is better understood as "separation from God" or exclusion from heaven. The logic follows that if God is the source of everything good, then being cut off from him would mean exclusion from everything good, forever. There's a certain sub-view of this that argues that seperation from God is itself a source of physical pain. The Roman Catholic Church officially teaches that the most painful part of hell is the thought of never entering heaven, but they don't deny that there could be fire and brimstone too.
- The Eastern Orthodox Church holds to the polar opposite view from the one above - that Hell is actually in God's presence, but God's presence is a dangerous place (for unsanctified unbelievers at least). In other words, Hell and Heaven are the same thing experienced by different people.
- Annihilationism - as the name implies, Annihilationism believes that the fate of the damned is Cessation of Existence and being Deader than Dead. To them, the "lake of fire and sulfur" is not literal, but instead figurative or symbolic. The only thing that lasts for eternity is the fire itself, and humans are not inherently immortal. After all, God Himself said to Adam and his sons that sinners will be returned to dust or destroyed, not given the Fruit of Life.
- Universalism - Christian Universalists say that nobody is damned at all, and everyone will eventually enter Heaven. They rely on assorted New Testament passages that refer to Jesus as the savior of all men and take them to their Logical Extreme - if he's the savior of everyone, then it should follow that everyone is saved.
