1. Descriptive Answer:
Is there a hell and why? This a question that has crossed every individuals mind at least once in their life. This philosophical question is important because it provides us with an answer as to what happens in the afterlife.
In today’s world the idea of hell is sometimes hard to fathom. The horrific and disturbing images that have been portrayed through out movies, religious artwork, television, and stories have drastically influenced our perceptions of hell. It is even sometimes looked upon as a joke and taken too lightly. It also provides people with a sense of fear and motivation to live their lives righteously in order to avoid this fate. In the bible, hell is described as a very real place that it used as punishment for those who keep Christ out of their lives. In, Exploring the Philosophy of Religion, hell is described as a place alienated from all things good, hopeful, and loving in the world. In simpler words, hell, the opposite of heaven.
Hell must exist because heaven exists and heaven must exist because hell exists. There is always a yin to a yang. The balance of good and evil is necessary in the world. The concept of hell makes people appreciate the life they have been given by God and it is an incentive to lead a good life. Being able to live a damned life is the ultimate exercise of our free will. In turn, one must suffer the repercussions.
As we think of the concepts of heaven and hell, and what it takes to reach either of these
The traditional view of Heaven and Hell is meant to provide a system of justice. After one’s death, he or she will be judged based on the kind
Reply to: how can a loving God send people to hell? Appreciate that hell is necessary since God's righteous character demands that sin be disciplined. Understand that all people in fact merit hell. However, God's immense love obligated Him to present heaven to all who trust in Him.
Heaven and Hell are ambiguous topics discussed and debated throughout all of human existence. Particularly, if there is a heaven or hell, and if so, what do they entail? Where are they? What do they look like? The 1990 film, Flatliners, explores one possible option for what happens to human essence after death. The film explores where this essence, whatever it may be, may go. It also explores what this place will look like for each of the different characters, as well as hints at the idea that deeds on earth may affect a person’s place, status, or experiences in the afterlife. Some of the ideas in the film related to some of the ideas brought about in the Bible, as well as some of the ideas and beliefs of the Essences that are discussed in the book Heaven: a history by Colleen McDannell and Bernhard Lang. The hint of redemption from sins in the movie is related to the Bible, but the individual experiences were similar to the beliefs of the Essenes for an individualized hope in the afterlife. Both the Bible and the Essenes expressed a setting for the afterlife that is portrayed in the film.
One misconception about the afterlife is that God will send or horribly cast people into hell, but that is not the case. God actually does not send people to hell, but instead, gives them the option during their lifetime. It might seem hard to believe, but Pastor Willie George says, “hell is filled with people who want to be there” (George). This statement is
Hell is said to be the worst place to ever exist, and it is greatly feared about on earth and in the minds of people. “Hell is gaping for them, the flames gather and flash about them, and would fain lay hold on them and swallow them up,” this illustrates personification in giving the flames of hell the live ability to hold and swallow us. It portrays how we will be consumed by our own sins if we do not act on them to better ourselves. If we let our sins pile up they will weigh us down and we will eventually be brought down to hell to pay for our wrong doings.
Being constantly stung by wasps and forced to chase a white flag would be mentally and physically exhausting and seems to be a torture straight out of hell... yet they aren 't even technically in hell. On the other hand, in Limbo one merely walks around and talks to other luckless souls, which does not seem to be a punishment constant with what other sinners face in hell. Dante correctly assigned the right punishments to each group of sinners, but he misplaced both groups. Limbo should be outside of Hell because they did not have the knowledge of either Heaven or Hell. The Ante Inferno should be the first level of Hell, reserved for those who knew about Heaven and Hell, choose neither side, and now must face the fact that by their indecision, are bound to suffer in Hell.
This dark, decayed, disgusting and risky place makes the character confused and makes him feel inside hell. He feels despair and does not understand the cruelness of his captors (even though he had heard some stories, being there was worse).
Robert Herrick, an English poet, once said, “Hell is no other but a soundlesse pit, where no one beame of comfort peeps in it.” Picture any type of Hell with relief, happiness, or even the smallest crack of a smile. There is no place. In fact, one can only think of the complete opposite, whether it is a Hell filled with neglect, pain, disgust, or a never-ending life of horror. This is the place created by Dante Alighieri; The Inferno is exactly the type of Hell where no person would want to be. Even those who acted upon the lightest of sins suffered greatly. While each realm contained a different sinner, the punishment that each were forced to face was cruel, repulsive, and sometimes rather disgusting. Through grieving tears without an
The Great Divorce by C.S. Lewis describes what Heaven and hell is like. It is fair to say that often people question what Heaven and hell will really be like. C.S. Lewis’s book describes many common thoughts and also some thoughts that do not line up quite as well. The narrator of The Great Divorce is dreaming of these two places and is taken through a series of events that allows him to see Heaven and Hell.
The thought of a holy place where loyal and devout followers of Christ can finally be with their Lord is the main goal for Christianity. This location, known as “Heaven,” is said to be the home of angels and the King of Kings. Other terms for this include The Pearly Gates, Kingdom Come, Paradise, and the Promised Lands. Basically, Heaven is the ideal place for people of Christian faith to end up. However, Edwards strongly notes that it is most likely not going to be the final destination for most people, believers and nonbelievers alike. One can not talk about Heaven without also mentioning the concept of “Hell.” Hell is, in a basic sense, where the sinners go. To sin is to perform an action, either physical or mental, that disobeys God and his rules (referencing to the 10 Commandments). Edwards goes on to explain how, “Your wickedness makes you as it were heavy as lead, and to tend downwards with great weight and pressure towards Hell; and if God should let you go, you would immediately sink and swiftly descend and plunge into the bottomless gulf....(page 88)” This is the first form of persuasion that we see within this text--the art of coaxing everyone into believing no one will make it to Heaven because everyone is a
The concept of hell can be viewed as three distinct underworld concepts in the Old and New
The similarities and differences between Heaven and Hell give meaning to Hell physical and emotional presence. As the audience analyzes the physical descriptions of Hell given in
Hell. The four lettered word that trembles in the throats of men and children alike; The images of suffering, flame pits and blood, the smell of burning flesh, the shrieking of those who have fallen from grace. For centuries man has sought out ways to cleanse his soul, to repent for his sins and possibly secure his passage into paradise, all evoked by the fear of eternal damnation and pain. The early 20th century philosopher and existentialist writer Jean-Paul Sartre saw life as an endless realm of suffering and a complete void of nothingness. His pessimistic ideals of life followed through to his beliefs on death, as death for him was a final nothingness. If death was a final nothingness, Sartre's view of hell was really a final
The idea of making up a "Hell", or inferno, is not an experience in which I, even in my wildest thoughts, had started to imagine. Call me an optimist, but the idea of imagining Hell never appealed to me. However, as I read through the Bible, I have come across many images of hell and will now attempt to create a partial picture.
In both the old times and modern time of Christianity, one of the main controversial topics has surrounded one single word. Hell. Some people hear it and thing noting of it. Others shutter at the name. But everyone has questions about it, whether hell is real or a fable, eternal or temporary, physical or spiritual. Being in the Baptist community since birth, I have believed in a hell since I can remember because “to believe in God and not in hell is ultimately to disbelieve in the reality of human choices.” (Ross Douthat). My definition of hell comes straight from the Bible. That there will be “weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Mathew 13:42) and that God will say, “Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil