Hell is a Christian Hoax 20
SOME RELIGIOUS AND SECULAR DEFINITIONS OF HELL
Probably most readers of Bill's book on hell believe without question that there really is such a place as hell and that the many "bible verses" (as opposed to original Scripture) supposedly support such an eternal hellhole of unspeakable terrorism. However, nothing could be further from the truth. So before we begin our journey through the pages of Bill's book, let's first fix a general definition in our minds of just what we are talking about when we speak of the Christian "hell."
The Holy Scriptures know nothing concerning a place where most of humanity will be tortured in fire for all eternity. The doctrine is pagan to the core. Look at this revealing scholarship on the origin of the English word and hell doctrine:
The modern English word Hell is derived from Old English hel, helle (about 725 AD to refer to a nether world of the dead) reaching into the Anglo-Saxon pagan period, and ultimately from Proto-Germanic *halja, meaning "one who covers up or hides something". The word has cognates in related Germanic languages such as Old Frisian helle, hille, Old Saxon hellja, Middle Dutch helle (modern Dutch hel), Old High German helle (Modern German Holle), Norwegian and Swedish helvete (hel + Old Norse vitti, "punishment"), and Gothic halja. Subsequently, the word was used to transfer a pagan concept to Christian theology and its vocabulary..." (Barnhart, Robert K. (1995) The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, page 348. Harper Collins ISBN 0062700847, underline & italic is author's).
Wow: "...reaching into the Anglo-Saxon PAGAN PERIOD...the word was used to transfer A PAGAN CONCEPT to Christian theology and its vocabulary" (All CAPS are mine). The word, concept, and doctrine of "hell" as a place of eternal torment is pagan to the core.
Thomas Thayer supports Professor Stuart, Greppo's Essay, and Spineto, that: "The Amenti of the Egyptians originated the classic fables of Hades and Tartarus." (Doctrine of Eternal Punishment, Chap. 3, P. 7).
Christian concept of hell
Merriam Webster Dictionary: hell
"The abode of condemned souls and devils... the place of eternal punishment for the wicked after death, presided over by Satan... a state of separation from God... a place of evil, misery, discord, or destruction... torment, anguish."
Is there such a place in the Bible that consists of the above concepts? NO.
Webster's Twentieth Century Dictionary Unabridged: hell
"1. In the Bible, the place where the spirits of the dead are: identified with Sheol and Hades. 2. In Christianity, the place where fallen angels, devils, etc. live and to which sinners and unbelievers go after death for torment and eternal punishment."
Is there such a place in the Bible that consists of the above concepts? NO.
Merrian Webster's Collegiate Dictionary: "hell (Old English helan to conceal)
1. a neither world in which the dead continue to exist. The neither realm of the Devil and the demons in which the damned suffer everlasting punishment."
Is there such a place in the Bible that consists of the above concepts? NO
Encyclopedia Britannica: "hell The Old English hel belongs to a family of Germanic words meaning "to cover" or "to conceal." Hel is also the name, in Old Norse, of the Scandinavian queen of the underworld. Many English translations of the Bible use hell as an English equivalent of the Hebrew terms She?ol (or Sheol) and Gehinnom, or Gehenna (Hebrew: Hinnom, Ge-hinnom or Gehenna). The term Hell is also used for the Greek Hades and Tartarus, which have markedly different connotations. As this confusion of terms suggests, the idea of hell has a complex history, reflecting changing attitudes toward death and judgment, sin and salvation, and crime and punishment."
Is there such a place in the Bible that consists of: "marked different connotations?" "confusion of terms?" or "changing attitudes?" Surely NOT.
Personally, I don't put much stock into such confusing, changing, contradicting terms and beliefs, and I don't think you should either. But unfortunately, the Christian Church accepts most of these "different connotations," "confusion of terms," and "changing attitudes," as though there is something truthful about this pagan doctrine.
(From iQ.com): "According to Luke 16:19-28 nobody can pass from Hell to Heaven or vice versa...the souls that are in Hell can see those that are in Heaven and vice versa, but nothing is said of the sight of God; those that are in Hell can see the happiness reigning in Heaven, and those in Heaven do not feel compassion for the others in Hell."
A short sidebar: Notice that last statement-"...those in Heaven do not feel compassion for the others in Hell. "So we as Christians, are to spend our entire life learning of the love and mercy of God so that we in return can forgive and show that same love and mercy on all mankind (be he sinner or saint). In Psalm 86:15 we are taught:
"But thou, O Lord, art a God full of compassion, and gracious, longsuffering, and plenteous in mercy and truth,"
Peter obviously agrees with this Psalm
"Finally, be ye all of one mind, having compassion one of another, love as brethren, be pitiful, be courteous: Not rendering evil for evil, or railing for railing: but contrariwise blessing; knowing that ye are thereunto called, that ye should inherit a blessing. (I Pet. 3:8-9).
"For if ye forgive men their trespasses your heavenly Father will also forgive you: But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses" (Matt. 6:14-15).
One more:
"Ye have heard that it hath been said, You shall love thy neighbor, and hate your enemy. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you" (Matt. 5:43-44).
Now then, these Scriptures being absolutely inspired and true, at what point in our godly walk following all of God's commandments do we throw away all of these powerful admonitions from Jesus Christ? Do we follow these grand admonitions of forgiveness, compassion and love all the days of our lives only to die and inherit the Kingdom of God where we promptly forget everything we ever learned that enabled us to avoid this fabled hell in the first place?
Saved Christians will then supposedly discard all their spiritual teachings, turn 180 degrees in the opposite direction, and show NO love, NO mercy, NO concern, NO empathy, and NO compassion whatsoever on these the majority of the human race. Must he then learn to be like such an alien god who has zero love, mercy or compassion on these helpless victims?
Or worse, do we think God is a lying hypocrite telling us how to love and forgive and have compassion on sinners, while He subjects them (most of which are someone's "GRANDMOTHER") to an eternity of hatred and indescribable misery? This whole pagan doctrine is total Satanic insanity on the grandest scale!
Worldview of hell
Britannica Concise Encyclopedia: hell
"Abode of evildoers after death, or the state of existence of souls damned to punishment after death. Most ancient religions included the concept of a place that divided the good from the evil or the living from the dead (e.g., the gloomy subterranean realm of Hades in Greek religion, or the cold and dark underworld of Nilfheim or Hel in Norse mythology). The view that hell is the final dwelling place of the damned after a last judgment is held by Zoroastrianism, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam."
Nothing like getting one's religion from Jesus rejecting Judaism, or the Ahura Mazda worshippers of Zoroaster, or maybe the fanciful doctrines of Islam. Notice how closely the Muslim hell mirrors the Christian hell:
THE KORAN - "Garments of fire have been prepared for the unbelievers. Scalding water shall be poured upon their heads, melting their skins ( Bill said, ( 'My flesh should disintegrate from off my body at any moment' - 23 Minutes in Hell, p. 29) , and that which is in their bellies. They shall be lashed with rods of iron. Whenever, in their anguish, they try to escape from Hell, back they shall be dragged, and will be told: 'Taste the torment of the Conflagration. (Koran 22:19-22:23).
BILL WIESE - "There were these big creatures lined all around the edge of this Pit, and as the people crawled up trying to get out, they would be shoved back into the fire and not allowed out. I thought, "Oh, this place is so horrible, so horrible and horrendous" (23 Minutes, Internet Script, p. 13).