[LouisLazaris]

On a related note, let's clear up a few things...

Myth: The "soul" is something separate from the body.

Fact: The soul being a separate entity from the physical body did not come from Judaism or Christianity. In Genesis 2:7, the first man "became" a soul (Hebrew "Nephesh"[1]), he was not "given" a soul. The Old Testament teaches that the "soul" is the whole person. The Bible uses the word "soul" in reference to both humans and animals (Genesis chapter 1 and Revelation both do this). The Old Testament also teaches that the soul can die. See Ezekiel 18:4, 20.

Myth: Hell is a fiery place of torment to punish those who reject God.

Fact: There is no word "hell" in the original writings of the Bible. This was a later development. The idea that God punishes people for all eternity, essentially making him worse than Hitler, is not found in the Bible. In multiple places the Old Testament says that God does not condone burning your children in fire. See Jeremiah 7:31; 2 Kings 17:17; 2 Chronicles 28:3; Deuteronomy 12:29-31 for a few examples. When the New Testament speaks about "eternal fire", these are symbols or illustrations to demonstrate eternal destruction of the evil ones, not literal torment. Also, the place that Jesus said people would go for this "eternal fire" was called "Gehenna"[2] (not Hell) which in those days was just a garbage dump outside of Jerusalem.

Myth: The Devil's name is Lucifer.

Fact: The word "Lucifer"[3] comes from the Latin translation of Isaiah 14:12. It's simply a word that means "shining one", a word that was used to describe the King of Babylon at that time, not the Devil. The King's fall is similar to that of the Devil, but the Devil in the Bible is never referred to as "Lucifer".

[1] https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/h5315/kjv/wlc/0-1/

[2] https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/g1067/kjv/tr/0-1/

[3] https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/h1966/kjv/wlc/0-1/

[DangitBobby]

> Also, the place that Jesus said people would go for this "eternal fire" was called "Gehenna"[2] (not Hell) which in those days was just a garbage dump outside of Jerusalem.

You are taking the use of Gehanna literally. How do we know that Gehanna is not being used metaphorically as a representation to provoke an emotional visualization of real conditions in an actual Hell?

How do you interpret

> Mar 9:48 - Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.

Other than that "the worm" the cause of death, decay, and suffering, never ending, and thus the suffering never ending?

A while back I looked into what the Bible really seems to say about Hell in the hopes that something so evil could not have been written there, but I think ultimately any interpretation that leads to the belief that the Bible doesn't describe a Hell as it's commonly understood is just wishful thinking.

[ImpressiveWebs]

Sorry for the late rely. HN doesn’t make it easy to see comment replies.

You’re misunderstanding what I said and you’ve got it backwards. Jesus was speaking metaphorically when he said “Gehenna”, not literally. The eternal fire was not literal and Gehenna was not literal. It’s a symbol for eternal destruction.

The reason he mentioned the worm is because the Jews at that time understood that the worm would eat dead bodies in the literal Gehenna. Jesus was pointing out that their future death would be eternal with no hope of a resurrection if they continued down a certain spiritual path.

Also, please look up the verses I cited previously. The symbolic understanding of Gehenna is in agreement with those other verses where God clearly does not condone burning people, let alone burning them eternally.

Also, there is no place in the Bible that says that the “soul” will reside in hell forever, separate from the body. The whole person gets thrown in Gehenna, which is pointed out in the context of the verse you cited (see verses 43 to 47).