Christian hell is a place of final justice for the wicked who have offended God and have died without seeking forgiveness. The Bible describes the realm as "everlasting fire prepared for the DEVIL and his angels" where souls of the damned suffer according to their sins. It is called "lake of fire" and a "bottomless pit." SATAN, a former angel who rebelled against God and started a war in heaven, is hell's overlord.
There is no generally accepted information
regarding the location or SIZE OF HELL, nor is there a consensus about who
has been damned. In fact, most Christian leaders teach that there is
no evidence that any souls have been condemned to this eternal abyss.
(Some scholars believe that the Bible implies that Judas is in hell.
Jesus is quoted as saying, "It would be better for him [Judas] if he had
never been born." They theorize that the only fate worse than
nonexistence is damnation to hell).
Theologians and philosophers through the
ages have attempted to offer details about the nature of the underworld;
however, little doctrine has been universally accepted. As we head
into the twenty-first century, the specifics of Christian hell remain
unresolved. Many hold the view that the underworld is a place of
sensory torture and agony; others believe that it is merely a state of
mental anguish. Still another group believes that damnation to hell is
a temporary punishment before ANNIHILATION. These various
interpretations of the underworld are illuminated in numerous literary works
by Christian authors, including Dante's DIVINE COMEDY: THE INFERNO, Milton's
PARADISE LOST, and a host of MYSTERY PLAYS and MORALITY PLAYS. Visions
of the land of the damned are also depicted in paintings, sculptures, and
mosaics found in Christian CHURCH ART AND ARCHITECTURE.
St. AUGUSTINE, a fourth-century doctor of
the church, wrote several academic texts regarding hell. In CITY OF
GOD, he asserts that in the underworld, the damned suffer both
physically and spiritually and that this torment continues for all eternity.
He cites the Bible and traditional beliefs as the basis for his deductions,
such as the passage in the Gospel of St. Matthew that those who ignored
Christ's words "shall go away into everlasting punishment."
Augustine's theories were sanctioned by Christian authorities at the Synod
of Constantinople in 543 and heavily influenced the teachings of both Martin
Luther and John Calvin. And his conclusions about the underworld are
still taught in Catholic institutions.
Yet many Christians believe that the pains
of hell are metaphorical. The fires of the underworld, for example,
are not the actual flames but the burning pangs of a guilty conscience.
The "everlasting torment" is the unending separation from God.
Evangelist Billy Graham professed this belief in his Sermons from Madison
Square Garden in 1969. He stated that "the fire Jesus talked about is
an eternal search for God that is never quenched," not a true inferno.
This view is shared by many Protestant denominations, which find the notion
of a place of physical torment to be somewhat outdated and incompatible with
the notion of a merciful God.
Modern concepts of horrors in the
afterlife have also been weakened by the atrocities witnessed by recent
generations. It is difficult to imagine greater terrors than the Nazi
concentration camps, nuclear devastation, and the wholesale slaughter of
political dissidents in China, Cambodia, and Eastern Europe. And the
advances of technology have led many to believe that there is no place for
traditional hell in the mind of today's educated and enlightened thinker.
For this reason, some have embraced annihilation theory, which maintains
that in the afterlife evil souls will be eradicated from existence.
Critics of annihilation theory claim that
belief in an underworld for unrepentant sinners, whether actual or
metaphorical, remains essential to the importance of Jesus Christ's
redemption of humanity. Without a hell, his sacrifice and death would
not have been necessary. Many further claim that existence of hell
also serves as proof of free will. God does not force anyone to love
him nor to spend eternity with him in heaven if that individual would rather
choose evil, selfishness, and ultimately damnation.
Today, most denominations emphasize God's
mercy and encourage their faithful to strive for heaven rather than to try
to cheat hell. They also stress that damnation is a choice made by
those who reject the Almighty and not a punishment imposed on evildoers by
an angry or vengeful deity. So while debate continues over the
specifics of the unpleasant afterlife, most Christians retain that hell is
real and that everyone is vulnerable.
BUDDHIST HELL
Buddhism, like many Eastern religions, teaches that souls are reincarnated
into other life-forms after death and therefore suffer no eternal damnation.
The Buddhist tradition does, however, include many temporary hells where bad
KARMA is burned away. The belief is that the spirit itself is not
evil; it must simply atone for wicked acts performed during its time on
earth. A soul's ultimate goal is to reach Nirvana, a state of
collective universal bliss.
On this cosmic pursuit, a soul may spend
time in one of the many Buddhist hells. These include places of
extreme heat, swamps of pitch, torture chambers, and cold regions of icy
suffering. Details about the specifics vary from region to region,
with as many as 136 hells described in some traditions. The most
gruesome realm of Buddhist hell is AVICI, the lowest circle where the worst
of the damned are punished.
Chinese Buddhists believe in an intricate
system of hells, each overseen by a distinct YAMA (king) who is both judge
and punisher of the dead. The underworld is run much like the mortal
world: It is a huge bureaucracy where the dead are sentenced in a courtlike
atmosphere. One painting shows the court of Yama where souls await
trial. Some make offerings of food and riches to the judge (possibly
as a bribe) while others are beaten by monstrous green and red DEMONS.
In the foreground are the damned, their battered and bloodied bodies
confined in a flaming pool infested by huge serpents.
EMMA-O is the underworld ruler of Japanese
Buddhist tradition. He is also a judge and tormentor, usually shown
wearing the robes of a Chinese magistrate. Two decapitated heads aid
him in his decisions, since no sin can be hidden from their piercing eyes.
Tortures in the realm of Emma-O include being roasted on a spit, sliced with
spears, or beaten with an enormous hammer. Some Japanese texts include
mention of JIGOKU, an underworld complex of eight cold and either hot hells.
Tibetan Buddhists believe in a much more
extensive collection of infernal horrors, outlined in the BARDO THODOL
(Tibetan Book of the Dead). There is no ultimate judge in Tibetan
belief; a soul damns itself by its evil. Punishment in the afterlife
consists of having to face one's own moral ugliness.
A rare example of VISION LITERATURE from
Burmese Buddhist tradition describes how the wicked will be treated in the
underworld. According to the text, one unrepentant sinner is buried to
his neck in human feces while huge worms gnaw at his flesh. Other
evildoers are forced to climb a tree covered with razor-sharp thorns.
As they attempt this, their feet are mutilated into bloody ribbons, but they
must continue climbing.
The damned can take comfort in the
knowledge that their situation is not permanent. Buddhist doctrine
teaches that souls go through numerous incarnations on their journey through
eternity, with brief detours to hell when necessary. And even the few,
rare souls deemed irrevocably evil are not made to suffer unending torture.
These dark spirits eventually face ANNIHILATION and are eradicated from
existence.
HINDU HELL
Because Hinduism is based on the idea of perpetual reincarnation, Hindu hell
is merely a stopping point where souls burn off evil before proceeding to
the next life. The number of hells varies greatly, with some accounts
listing as many as 136 separate underworld realms, each corresponding to a
different sin. In these chambers of punishment, the spirit rids itself
of bad KARMA (the sum of its evil acts). Tortures in the lower hells,
the worst places of agony, include being burned alive, boiling in oil, and
being eaten by ravenous birds.
JAPANESE BUDDHIST
Japanese Buddhist mythology describes Jigoku, a place of the dead located
far below the earth. In the Jigoku are eight "hot hells" and eight
"cold hells" where souls are punished according to their sins.
Damnation to Jigoku is not permanent; intercession, sacrifice, and prayers
from living friends and relatives can redeem a soul sent to Jigoku, or at
least reduce its punishment.
Jigoku is ruled by EMMA-O, a harsh judge
of the dead. He is aided in his adjudication by two severed heads,
Miru-me and Kagu-hana. Miru-me has the power to see a soul's most
hidden sins, and Kagu-hana can detect even the faintest stench of small
offenses. In Jigoku there is also an enchanted mirror that each
departed spirit must stand before. Reflected in the mirror are all the
sins committed during the soul's lifetime. After reviewing all this
evidence, Emma-O sentences the spirit to the appropriate hell for divine
punishment.
Ps : "Jigoku" refer to "Hell" in Japanese Buddhist religion.
Chinese Underworld for Wicked Souls
Ancient Chinese myths describe the bleak underworld of Ti Yu, a subterranean
prison for the dead. It is dark, cold, and barren. After death,
souls are judged by supernatural magistrates, and the wicked are made to pay
for the sins of their lives in this musty abyss. The dreadful abode of
Ti Yu is located at the feet of T'ai Shan kun wang, the master of death,
fate and destiny. Like the Christian SATAN, T'ai Shan tortures the
souls in Ti Yu's seventh hell, a brutal land of agony.
Specific details of the legend are
unclear, since the texts referring to Ti Yu have come through so many
copies, translators, and interpretations. But scholars believe this
underworld to be similar in many ways to the Greek HADES.
Ps : "Ti Yu" refer to "Hell" in Ancient Chinese religion.
0 comments: