Other religions, which do not conceive of the afterlife as a place of punishment or reward, merely describe an abode of the dead, thegrave, a neutral place that is located under the surface of Earth (for example, seeKur,Hades, andSheol). Such places are sometimes equated with the English wordhell, though a more correct translation would be "underworld" or "world of the dead". The ancientMesopotamian,Greek,Roman, andFinnic religions include entrances to the underworld from the land of the living.
Related early Germanic terms and concepts include Proto-Germanic *xalja-rūnō(n), a feminine compound noun, and *xalja-wītjan, a neutral compound noun. This form is reconstructed from the Latinized Gothic plural noun *haliurunnae (attested byJordanes; according to philologistVladimir Orel, meaning 'witches'), Old Englishhelle-rúne ('sorceress,necromancer', according to Orel), and Old High Germanhelli-rūna 'magic'. The compound is composed of two elements: *xaljō (*haljō) and *rūnō, the Proto-Germanic precursor to Modern Englishrune.[4] The second element in the Gothichaliurunnae may however instead be an agent noun from the verbrinnan ("to run, go"), which would make its literal meaning "one who travels to the netherworld".[5][6]
Proto–Germanic *xalja-wītjan (or *halja-wītjan) is reconstructed from Old Norsehel-víti 'hell', Old Englishhelle-wíte 'hell-torment, hell', Old Saxonhelli-wīti 'hell', and the Middle High German feminine nounhelle-wīze. The compound is a compound of *xaljō (discussed above) and *wītjan (reconstructed from forms such as Old Englishwitt 'right mind, wits', Old Saxongewit 'understanding', and Gothicun-witi 'foolishness, understanding').[7]
Preserved colonial wall paintings of 1802 depicting Hell,[8][9][10] by Tadeo Escalante, inside the Church of San Juan Bautista inHuaro, Peru
Punishment in hell typically corresponds tosins committed during life. Sometimes these distinctions are specific, withdamned souls suffering for each sin committed, such as in Plato'sMyth of Er or Dante'sThe Divine Comedy, but sometimes they are general, with condemned sinners relegated to one or more chamber of hell or to a level of suffering.[citation needed]
In many religious cultures, including Christianity and Islam, hell is often depicted as fiery, painful, and harsh, inflicting suffering on the guilty.[11] Despite these common depictions of hell as a place of fire, some other traditions portray hell as cold. Buddhist – and particularly Tibetan Buddhist – descriptions of hell feature an equal number of hot and cold hells. Among Christian descriptionsDante'sInferno portrays the innermost (9th) circle of hell as a frozen lake of blood and guilt.[12]But cold also played a part in earlier Christian depictions of hell or purgatory, beginning with theApocalypse of Paul, originally from the early third century;[13] the "Vision of Dryhthelm" by the VenerableBede from the seventh century;[14] "St Patrick's Purgatory", "The Vision of Tundale" or "Visio Tnugdali", and the "Vision of theMonk of Eynsham", all from the twelfth century;[15] and the "Vision of Thurkill" from the early thirteenth century.[16]
Examples in different religions
Ancient Egypt
In thisBook of the Dead scene, a person's heart is weighed on the scale ofMaat against thefeather of truth, by the canine-headedAnubis. Theibis-headedThoth,scribe of thegods, records the result. If his heart is lighter than the feather, the person is allowed to pass into theafterlife. If not, he is eaten by the crocodile-headedAmmit.[17]
With the rise of the cult ofOsiris during theMiddle Kingdom, the "democratization of religion" offered to even his humblest followers the prospect of eternal life, with moral fitness becoming the dominant factor in determining a person's suitability.
At death a person faced judgment by a tribunal of forty-two divine judges. If they had led a life in conformance with the precepts of the goddessMaat, who represented truth and right living, the person was welcomed into the heavenlyreed fields. If found guilty the person was thrown toAmmit, the "devourer of the dead" and would be condemned to thelake of fire.[18]
The person taken by the devourer is subject first to terrifying punishment and then annihilated. These depictions of punishment may have influenced medieval perceptions of the inferno in hell via earlyChristian andCoptic texts.[19]
Purification for those considered justified appears in the descriptions of "Flame Island", where humans experience the triumph over evil and rebirth. For the damned complete destruction into a state of non-being awaits but there is no suggestion of eternal torture; the weighing of the heart inEgyptian mythology can lead to annihilation.[20][21]
The Tale of Khaemwese describes thetorment of a rich man, who lacked charity, when he dies and compares it to the blessed state of a poor man who has also died.[22] Divine pardon at judgment always remained a central concern for the ancient Egyptians.[23]
Modern understanding of Egyptian notions of hell relies on six ancient texts:[24]
The Book of Two Ways (Book of the Ways of Rosetau)
The Book of Amduat (Book of the Hidden Room,Book of That Which Is in the Underworld)
TheSumerian afterlife was a dark, dreary cavern located deep below the ground,[25] where inhabitants were believed to continue "a shadowy version of life on earth".[25] This bleak domain was known asKur,[26]: 114 and was believed to be ruled by the goddessEreshkigal.[25][27]: 184 All souls went to the same afterlife,[25] and a person's actions during life had no effect on how the person would be treated in the world to come.[25]
The souls in Kur were believed to eat nothing but drydust[26]: 58 and family members of the deceased would ritually pourlibations into the dead person's grave through a clay pipe, thereby allowing the dead to drink.[26]: 58 Nonetheless, funerary evidence indicates that some people believed that the goddessInanna, Ereshkigal's younger sister, had the power to award her devotees with special favors in the afterlife.[25][28] During theThird Dynasty of Ur, it was believed that a person's treatment in the afterlife depended on how he or she was buried;[26]: 58 those that had been given sumptuous burials would be treated well,[26]: 58 but those who had been given poor burials would fare poorly.[26]: 58
The entrance to Kur was believed to be located in theZagros mountains in the far east.[26]: 114 It had seven gates, through which a soul needed to pass.[25] The godNeti was the gatekeeper.[27]: 184 [26]: 86 Ereshkigal'ssukkal, or messenger, was the godNamtar.[26]: 134 [27]: 184 Galla were a class of demons that were believed to reside in the underworld;[26]: 85 their primary purpose appears to have been to drag unfortunate mortals back to Kur.[26]: 85 They are frequently referenced in magical texts,[26]: 85–86 and some texts describe them as being seven in number.[26]: 85–86 Several extant poems describe thegalla dragging the godDumuzid into the underworld.[26]: 86 The later Mesopotamians knew this underworld by itsEast Semitic name:Irkalla. During theAkkadian Period, Ereshkigal's role as the ruler of the underworld was assigned toNergal, the god of death.[25][27]: 184 The Akkadians attempted to harmonize this dual rulership of the underworld by making Nergal Ereshkigal's husband.[25]
In classicGreek mythology, below heaven, Earth, andPontus isTartarus, orTartaros (Ancient Greek:Τάρταρος). It is either a deep, gloomy place, a pit or abyss used as a dungeon of torment and suffering that resides within Hades (the entireunderworld) with Tartarus being the hellish component. In theGorgias,Plato (c. 400 BC) wrote that souls of the deceased were judged after theypaid for crossing the river of the dead and those who received punishment were sent to Tartarus.[29][non-primary source needed] As a place of punishment, it can be considered a hell. The classicHades, on the other hand, is more similar to Old Testament Sheol. The Romans lateradopted these views.
East Africa
The hell ofSwahili mythology is calledkuzimu, and belief in it developed in the 7th and 8th century under the influence of Muslim merchants at theEast African coast.[30] It is imagined as a very cold place.[30]
West Africa
Serer religion rejects the general notion ofheaven and hell.[31] In Serer religion, acceptance by the ancestors who have long departed is as close to any heaven as one can get. Rejection and becoming a wandering soul is a sort of hell for onepassing over. The souls of the dead must make their way toJaaniw (the sacred dwelling place of the soul). Only those who have lived their lives on earth in accordance withSerer doctrines will be able to make this necessary journey and thus be accepted by the ancestors. Those who cannot make the journey become lost and wandering souls, but they do not burn in "hell fire".[31][32]
InYoruba mythology, wicked people (guilty of e.g. theft, witchcraft, murder, or cruelty[33]) are confined toOrun Apaadi (heaven of potsherds), while the good people continue to live in the ancestral realm,Orun Baba Eni (heaven of our fathers).[34]
Polynesia
TheBagobo of thePhilippines have the otherworld "Gimokodan", where the Red Region is reserved who those who died in battle, while ordinary people go to the White Region.[35]
East Asia
According to a few sources, hell is below ground, and described as an uninviting wet[36] or fiery place reserved for sinful people in theAinu religion, as stated by missionaryJohn Batchelor.[37] However, belief in hell does not appear inoral tradition of the Ainu.[38] Instead, there is belief within the Ainu religion that the soul of the deceased (ramat) would become akamuy after death.[38] There is also belief that the soul of someone who has been wicked during lifetime, committedsuicide, got murdered or died in great agony would become aghost (tukap) who would haunt the living,[38] to come to fulfillment from which it was excluded during life.[39]
Judaism does not have a specific doctrine about the afterlife, but it does have a mystical/Orthodox tradition of describingGehinnom. Gehinnom is originally a grave and in later times a sort of Purgatory where one is judged based on one's life's deeds, or rather, where one becomes fully aware of one's own shortcomings and negative actions during one's life. TheKabbalah explains it as a "waiting room" (commonly translated as an "entry way") for all souls (not just the wicked). The overwhelming majority of rabbinic thought maintains that people are not in Gehinnom forever; the longest that one can be there is said to be 12 months, however, there has been the occasional noted exception. Some consider it a spiritual forge where the soul is purified for its eventual ascent toOlam Habah (heb. עולם הבא;lit. "The world to come", often viewed as analogous to heaven). This is also mentioned in the Kabbalah, where the soul is described as breaking, like the flame of a candle lighting another: the part of the soul that ascends being pure and the "unfinished" piece being reborn.
According to Jewish teachings, hell is not entirely physical; rather, it can be compared to a very intense feeling of shame. People are ashamed of their misdeeds and this constitutes suffering which makes up for the bad deeds. When one has so deviated from the will ofGod, one is said to be in Gehinnom. This is not meant to refer to some point in the future, but to the very present moment. The gates ofteshuva (return) are said to be always open, and so one can align his will with that of God at any moment. Being out of alignment with God's will is itself a punishment according to theTorah.
Many scholars of Jewish mysticism, particularly of theKabbalah, describe seven "compartments" or "habitations" of hell, just as they describe seven divisions of heaven. These divisions go by many different names, and the most frequently mentioned are as follows:[40]
Besides those mentioned above, there also exist additional terms that have been often used to either refer to hell in general or to some region of the underworld:
Azazel (Hebrew: עֲזָאזֵל, compd. ofez עֵז: "goat" +azal אָזַל: "to go away" – "goat of departure", "scapegoat"; "entire removal", "damnation")
Dudael (Hebrew: דּוּדָאֵל – lit. "cauldron of God")
Maimonides declares inhis 13 principles of faith that the hells of the rabbinic literature were pedagogically motivated inventions to encourage respect of theTorah commandments by mankind, which had been regarded as immature.[50] Instead of being sent to hell, the souls of the wicked would actually get annihilated.[51]
The Christian doctrine of hell derives from passages in theNew Testament. The English wordhell does not appear in the Greek New Testament; instead one of three words is used: the Greek wordsTartarus orHades, or the Hebrew wordGehinnom.
In theSeptuagint and New Testament, the authors used the Greek term Hades for the Hebrew Sheol, but often with Jewish rather than Greek concepts in mind. In the Jewish concept of Sheol, such as expressed in Ecclesiastes,[52] Sheol or Hades is a place where there is no activity. However, sinceAugustine, some[which?] Christians have believed that the souls of those who die either rest peacefully, in the case of Christians, or are afflicted, in the case of the damned, after death until theresurrection.[53]
While these three terms are translated in the KJV as "hell", they have three very different meanings.
Hades has similarities to the Old Testament term,Sheol as "the place of the dead" or "grave". Thus, it is used in reference to both the righteous and the wicked, since both wind up there eventually.[67]
Gehenna refers to the "Valley of Hinnom", which was a garbage dump outside of Jerusalem. It was a place that contained a dump where people burned their garbage. Bodies of those deemed to have died in sin without hope of salvation (such as people who committed suicide) were thrown there to be destroyed.[68] Gehenna is used in the New Testament as a metaphor for the final place of punishment for the wicked after the resurrection.[69]
Tartaróō (the verb "throw toTartarus", used of the fall of the Titans in ascholium onIliad 14.296) occurs only once in the New Testament in II Peter 2:4, where it is parallel to the use of the noun form in1 Enoch as the place of incarceration of the fallen angels. It mentions nothing about human souls being sent there in the afterlife.
According to the Roman Catholic Church, theCouncil of Trent taught, in the 5th canon of its 14th session, that damnation is eternal: "...the loss of eternal blessedness, and the eternal damnation which he has incurred..."[70]
TheCatholic Church defines hell as "a state of definitive self-exclusion from communion with God and the blessed". One finds oneself in hell as the result of dying inmortal sin without repenting and accepting God's merciful love, becoming eternally separated from him by one's own free choice[71] immediately after death.[72] In the Roman Catholic Church, many other Christian churches, such as theMethodists,Baptists andEpiscopalians, and someGreek Orthodox churches,[73] hell is taught as the final destiny of those who have not been found worthy after thegeneral resurrection andlast judgment,[74][75][76] where they will permanently separated from God.[77] The nature of this judgment is inconsistent with manyProtestant churches teaching the saving comes from accepting Jesus Christ as their savior, while the Greek Orthodox and Catholic Churches teach that the judgment hinges on both faith and works. However, manyLiberal Christians throughoutMainline Protestant churches believe inuniversal reconciliation (see below), even though it contradicts the traditional doctrines that are usually held by the evangelicals within their denominations.[78] Regarding the belief in hell, the interpretation ofExtra Ecclesiam nulla salus is also relevant.[79]
Some modern Christian theologians subscribe to the doctrines ofconditional immortality. Conditional immortality is the belief that the soul dies with the body and does not live again until the resurrection. As with other Jewish writings of theSecond Temple period, the New Testament text distinguishes two words, both translated "hell" in older English Bibles:Hades, "the grave", andGehenna where God "can destroy both body and soul".[80] Some Christians read this to mean that neither Hades nor Gehenna are eternal but refer to the ultimate destruction of the wicked in the lake of fire after resurrection. However, because of the Greek words used in translating from the Hebrew text, the Hebrew ideas have become confused with Greek myths and ideas. In the Hebrew text when people died they went toSheol, the grave[81] and the wicked ultimately went to Gehenna and were consumed by fire. The Hebrew words for "the grave" or "death" or "eventual destruction of the wicked", were translated using Greek words and later texts became a mix of mistranslation, pagan influence, and Greek myth.[82]
Christian mortalism is the doctrine that all men and women, including Christians, must die, and do not continue and are not conscious after death. Therefore,annihilationism includes the doctrine that "the wicked" are also destroyed rather thantormentedforever in hell. Christian mortalism and annihilationism are directly related to the doctrine of conditional immortality, the idea that a humansoul is not immortal unless it is given eternal life at thesecond coming of Christ andresurrection of the dead.
Biblical scholars looking at the issue through the Hebrew text have denied the teaching of innate immortality.[83][84] Rejection of theimmortality of the soul, and advocacy of Christian mortalism, was a feature of Protestantism since the early days of theReformation withMartin Luther himself rejecting the traditional idea, though his mortalism did not carry into orthodoxLutheranism. One of the most notable English opponents of the immortality of the soul wasThomas Hobbes who describes the idea as a Greek "contagion" in Christian doctrine.[85] Modern proponents of conditional immortality include some in theAnglican church such asN. T. Wright[86] and as denominations theSeventh-day Adventists,Bible Students,Jehovah's Witnesses,Christadelphians,Living Church of God,Church of God International, and some otherProtestantChristians. The Catholic Catechism states "The souls of sinners descend into hell, where they suffer 'eternal fire'". However,Cardinal Vincent Nichols, the most senior Catholic in England and Wales, said "there's nowhere in Catholic teaching that actually says any one person is in hell".[87] The 1993Catechism of the Catholic Church states: "This state of definitive self-exclusion from communion with God and the blessed is called 'hell'"[88] and "they suffer the punishments of hell, 'eternal fire'".[89] The chief punishment of hell is eternal separation from God" (CCC 1035). During an Audience in 1999,Pope John Paul II commented: "images of hell that Sacred Scripture presents to us must be correctly interpreted. They show the complete frustration and emptiness of life without God. Rather than a place, hell indicates the state of those who freely and definitively separate themselves from God, the source of all life and joy."[90]
Adventists teach that the resurrection of the righteous will take place shortly after the second coming ofJesus, as described in Revelation 20:4–6 that follows Revelation 19:11–16, whereas the resurrection of the wicked will occur after themillennium, as described in Revelation 20:5 and 20:12–13 that follow Revelation 20:4 and 6–7, though Revelation 20:12–13 and 15 actually describe amixture of saved and condemned people being raised from the dead and judged. Adventists reject the traditional doctrine of hell as a state of everlasting conscious torment, believing instead that the wicked will be permanently destroyed after the millennium by thelake of fire, which is called 'thesecond death' in Revelation 20:14.
Those Adventist doctrines about death and hell reflect an underlying belief in: (a) conditional immortality (or conditionalism), as opposed to theimmortality of thesoul; and (b) themonistic nature ofhuman beings, in which the soul is not separable from the body, as opposed tobipartite ortripartite conceptions, in which the soul is separable.
Jehovah's Witnesses hold that the soul ceases to exist when the person dies[93] and therefore that hell (Sheol or Hades) is a state of non-existence.[93] In their theology, Gehenna differs from Sheol or Hades in that it holds no hope of a resurrection.[93] Tartarus is held to be the metaphorical state of debasement of the fallen angels between the time of their moral fall (Genesis chapter 6) until their post-millennial destruction along with Satan (Revelation chapter 20).[94]
According toEmanuel Swedenborg'sSecond ComingChristian revelation, hell exists because evil people want it.[99] They, not God, introduced evil to the human race.[100] InSwedenborgianism, every soul joins the like-minded group after death in which it feels the most comfortable. Hell is therefore believed to be a place of happiness for the souls which delight in evilness.[101][better source needed]
Members ofthe Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) teach that hell is a state between death and resurrection, in which those spirits who did not repent while on earth must suffer for their own sins (Doctrine and Covenants 19:15–17[102]). After that, only theSons of perdition, who committed theEternal sin, would be cast intoOuter darkness. However, according to Mormon faith, committing the Eternal sin requires so much knowledge that most persons cannot do this.[103]Satan andCain are counted as examples of Sons of perdition.[citation needed]
Muhammad, along withBuraq andGabriel, visitJahannam. Persian miniature, 15th century.The Tree ofZaqqum that grows in Jahannam (Hell), whose dwellers are compelled to eat the bitter fruit for eternity.
In Islam,Jahannam (inArabic: جهنم) (related to the Hebrew wordgehinnom) is the counterpart to heaven and likewise divided into seven layers, both co-existing with the temporal world,[104] filled with blazing fire, boiling water, and a variety of other torments for those who have been condemned to it in the hereafter. In the Quran, God declares that the fire of Jahannam is prepared for both mankind andjinn.[105][106] After the Day of Judgment, it is to be occupied by those who do not believe in God, those who have disobeyedhis laws, or rejected hismessengers.[107] "Enemies of Islam" are sent to hell immediately upon their deaths.[108]Muslim modernists downplay the vivid descriptions of hell common during Classical period, on one hand reaffirming that the afterlife must not be denied, but simultaneously asserting its exact nature remains unknown. Other modern Muslims continue the line ofSufism as an interiorized hell, combining the eschatological thoughts ofIbn Arabi andRumi with Western philosophy.[104] Although disputed by some scholars, most scholars consider jahannam to be eternal.[109][104] There is belief that the fire which represents the own bad deeds can already be seen during thePunishment of the Grave, and that the spiritual pain caused by this can lead to purification of the soul.[110] Not all Muslims and scholars agree whether hell is an eternal destination or whether some or all of the condemned will eventually be forgiven and allowed to enter paradise.[108][111][112][113][excessive citations]
Over hell, a narrow bridge calledAs-Sirāt is spanned. OnJudgment Day one must pass over it to reach paradise, but those destined for hell will find too narrow and fall into their new abode.[114]Iblis, the temporary ruler of hell,[115] is thought of residing in the bottom of hell, from where he commands his hosts of infernal demons.[116][117] But contrary to Christian traditions, Iblis and his infernal hosts do not wage war against God,[111] his enmity applies against humanity only. Further, his dominion in hell is also his punishment. Executioners of punishment are the 19zabaniyya, who have been created from the fires of hell.[118] Muhammad said that the fire of Jahannam is 70 times hotter than ordinary fire, and is much more painful than ordinary fire.[119]
Seven stages of punishment
The seven gates ofjahannam, mentioned in the Quran, inspiredMuslim exegetes (tafsir) to develop a system of seven stages of hell, analogue to the seven doors of paradise. The stages of hell get their names by seven different terms used for hell throughout the Quran. Each is assigned for a different type of sinners. The concept later accepted by Sunni authorities list the levels of hell as follows, although some stages may vary:[120][121]
The highest level (jahannam) is traditionally thought of as a type ofpurgatory reserved for Muslims. Polytheism (shirk) is regarded as a particularly grievous sin; therefore entering Paradise is forbidden to a polytheist(mushrik) because his place is hell;[122] and the second lowest level (jahim) only after the bottomless pit for the hypocrites (hawiyah), who claimed aloud to believe inGod and his messenger but in theirhearts did not.[123]
Muhammad requests Malik to show him Hell during his heavenly journey. Miniature fromThe David Collection.
Although the earliest reports aboutMuhammad'sjourney through the heavens, do not locate hell in the heavens,[125] only brief references about visiting hell during the journey appears. But extensive accounts about Muhammad's night journey, in the non-canonical but popular Miraj-Literature, tell about encountering the angels of hell.Malik, the keeper to the gates of hell, namely appears inIbn Abbas'Isra and Mi'raj.[104] The doors to hell are either in the third[125] or fifth heaven,[126][104] or (although only implicitly) in a heaven closeGod's throne,[125] or directly after entering heaven,[127] whereupon Muhammad requests a glaze at hell.Ibn Hisham gives extensive details about Muhammad visiting hell and its inhabitants punished wherein, but can only endure watching the punishments of the first layer of hell.[128] Muhammad meeting Malik, the Dajjal and hell, was used as a proof for Muhammad's Night Journey.[129]
Beneath the earth
Medieval sources often identified hell with the seven earths mentioned inQuran 65:12, inhabited bydevils,harsh angels, scorpions and serpents, who torment the sinners. They described thorny shrubs, seas filled with blood and fire and darkness only illuminated by the flames of hell.[104] One popular concept arrange the earths as follows:[130][131]
Adim orRamaka (رمکا) - the surface, on which humans, animals andjinn live on.
Basit orKhawfa (خوفا)
Thaqil or 'Arafa (عرفه) - antechamber
Batih orHadna (حدنه) - a valley with stream of boiling sulphur.
Hayn orDama (دمَا)
Sijjin, (سجىن dungeon or prison) orMasika (sometimes, Sijjin is at the bottom) -Quran 83:7
Nar as-Samum,Zamhareer orAs-Saqar /Athara,[132] orHanina (حنينا) - venomous wind of fire and a cold wind of ice.
Baháʼí Faith
In theBaháʼí Faith, the conventional descriptions of hell and heaven are considered to be symbolic representations of spiritual conditions. TheBaháʼí writings describe closeness to God to be heaven, and conversely, remoteness from God as hell.[133] The Baháʼí writings state that the soul is immortal and after death it will continue to progress until it finally attainsGod's presence.[134]
In "Devaduta Sutta", the 130th discourse of theMajjhima Nikaya, Buddha teaches about hell in vivid detail. Buddhism teaches that there are five or six realms ofrebirth, which can then be further subdivided into degrees of agony or pleasure.[citation needed]) Of these realms, the hell realms, orNaraka, is the lowest realm of rebirth. Of the hell realms, the worst isAvīci (Sanskrit andPali for "without waves"). The Buddha's disciple,Devadatta, who tried to kill the Buddha on three occasions, as well as create a schism in the monastic order, is said to have been reborn in the Avici hell.
Like all realms of rebirth in Buddhism, rebirth in the hell realms is not permanent, though suffering can persist for eons before being reborn again.[citation needed] In theLotus Sutra, the Buddha teaches that eventually even Devadatta will become aPratyekabuddha himself, emphasizing the temporary nature of the hell realms. Thus, Buddhism teaches to escape the endless migration of rebirths (both positive and negative) through the attainment ofNirvana.
TheBodhisattvaKsitigarbha, according to theKsitigarbha Sutra, made a great vow as a young girl to not reach Nirvana until all beings were liberated from the hell realms or other unwholesome rebirths. In popular literature, Ksitigarbha travels to the hell realms to teach and relieve beings of their suffering.
Yama's Court and Hell. The Blue figure isYamaraja (The Hindu god of death) with his consortYami andChitragupta 17th-century painting from Government Museum,Chennai.
EarlyVedic religion does not have a concept of hell. TheRigveda mentions three realms,bhūr (theearth),svar (thesky) andbhuvas orantarikṣa (the middle area, i.e. air oratmosphere). In later Hindu literature, especially the law books and thePuranas, more realms are mentioned, including a realm similar to hell, calledNaraka.Yama as the first born human (together with his twin sisterYamī), by virtue of precedence, becomes ruler of men and a judge on their departure.
In the law-books (theSmritis and theDharmashashtras),Naraka is a place of punishment for misdeeds. It is a lower spiritual plane (callednaraka-loka) where the spirit is judged and the partial fruits ofkarma affect the next life. In theMahabharata, there is a mention of thePandavas and theKauravas both going toheaven. At firstYudhishthira goes to heaven, where he seesDuryodhana enjoying the realm;Indra tells him that Duryodhana is in heaven as he had adequately performed hisKshatriya duties. Then he shows Yudhishthira hell, where it appears his brothers are. Later it is revealed that this was a test for Yudhishthira and that his brothers and the Kauravas are all in heaven, and live happily in the divine abode of thedevas. Various hells are also described in variousPuranas and other scriptures. TheGaruda Purana gives a detailed account of each hell and its features; it lists the amount of punishment for most crimes, much like a modern-day penal code.
It is believed that people who commit misdeeds go to hell and have to go through punishments in accordance with the misdeeds they committed. The godYama, who is also the god of death, presides over hell. Detailed accounts of all the misdeeds committed by an individual are kept byChitragupta, who is the record keeper in Yama's court. Chitragupta reads out the misdeeds committed and Yama orders appropriate punishments to be given to individuals. These punishments include dipping in boiling oil, burning in fire, torture using various weapons, etc. in various hells. Individuals who finish their quota of the punishments are reborn in accordance with their balance ofkarma. All created beings are imperfect and thus have at least one misdeed to their record; but if one has generally led a meritorious life, one ascends toSvarga, a temporary realm of enjoyment similar to Paradise, after a brief period of expiation in hell and before the next reincarnation, according to the law ofkarma.[citation needed] With the exception of Hindu philosopherMadhva, time in hell is not regarded as eternaldamnation within Hinduism.[135]
17th-century cloth painting depicting seven levels of Jain Hell and various tortures suffered in them. Left panel depicts the demi-god and his animal vehicle presiding over each Hell.
InJain cosmology,Naraka (translated as hell) is the name given to realm of existence having great suffering. However, a Naraka differs from the hells ofAbrahamic religions as souls are not sent to Naraka as the result of a divine judgment and punishment. Furthermore, length of a being's stay in a Naraka is not eternal, though it is usually very long and measured in billions of years. A soul is born into a Naraka as a direct result of his or her previouskarma (actions of body, speech and mind), and resides there for a finite length of time until his karma has achieved its full result. After his karma is used up, he may be reborn in one of the higher worlds as the result of an earlier karma that had not yet ripened.
The hells are situated in the seven grounds at the lower part of the universe. The seven grounds are:
Ratna prabha
Sharkara prabha
Valuka prabha
Panka prabha
Dhuma prabha
Tamaha prabha
Mahatamaha prabha
The hellish beings are a type of souls which are residing in these various hells. They are born in hells by sudden manifestation.[136] The hellish beings possessvaikriya body (protean body which can transform itself and take various forms). They have a fixed life span (ranging from ten thousand to billions of years) in the respective hells where they reside. According to Jain scripture,Tattvarthasutra, following are the causes for birth in hell:[137]
Killing or causing pain with intense passion
Excessive attachment to things and worldly pleasure with constantly indulging in cruel and violent acts
According toMeivazhi, the purpose of all religions is to guide people to heaven.[139] However, those who do not approach God and are not blessed by Him are believed to be condemned to hell.[140]
Sikhism
In Sikh thought, heaven and hell are not places for living hereafter, they are part of spiritual topography of man and do not exist otherwise. They refer to good and evil stages of life respectively and can be lived now and here during our earthly existence.[141] For example,Guru Arjan explains that people who are entangled in emotional attachment and doubt are living in hell on this Earth i.e. their life is hellish.
So many are being drowned in emotional attachment and doubt; they dwell in the most horrible hell.
AncientTaoism had no concept of hell, as morality was seen to be a man-made distinction and there was no concept of an immaterial soul. In its home countryChina, where Taoism adopted tenets of other religions, popular belief endows Taoist hell with many deities and spirits who punish sin in a variety of horrible ways.
Buddhist hells became "so much a part of [many Daoist sects] that duringfuneral services[,] the priests hang up scrolls depicting" similar scenes.[143] Typically, Daoist hells are "said to be ten in number" and "are sometimes said to be situated under a high mountain inSichuan".[143] "Each is ruled by a king serving as judge, surrounded by ministers and attendants who carry out his decisions."[143] Punishment is usually "inflicted with the use of torture instruments", although there are some non-physical and more metaphysical punishments.[143] However, this type of Daoist hell is usually not final and a soul will make a journey of refining by going through at least several hells and their punishments until it is reincarnated into another body in the human world.[143]
A Chinese glazed earthenware sculpture of "Hell's torturer", 16th century,Ming Dynasty
Diyu is the realm of the dead inChinese mythology. It is very loosely based upon theBuddhist concept ofNaraka combined with traditional Chinese afterlife beliefs and a variety of popular expansions and re-interpretations of these two traditions. Ruled byYanluo Wang, the King of hell, Diyu is a maze of underground levels and chambers where souls are taken to atone for their earthly sins.
Incorporating ideas fromTaoism andBuddhism as well as traditional Chinese folk religion, Diyu is a kind of purgatory place which serves not only to punish but also to renew spirits ready for their next incarnation. There are many deities associated with the place, whose names and purposes are the subject of much conflicting information.
The exact number of levels in Chinese hell – and their associated deities – differs according to the Buddhist or Taoist perception. Some speak of three to four 'Courts', other as many as ten.[143] The ten judges are also known as the 10 Kings ofYama. Each Court deals with a different aspect of atonement. For example, murder is punished in one Court, adultery in another. According to some Chinese legends, there are eighteen levels in hell. Punishment also varies according to belief, but most legends speak of highly imaginative chambers where wrong-doers are sawn in half, beheaded, thrown into pits of filth or forced to climb trees adorned with sharp blades.
However, most legends agree that once a soul (usually referred to as a 'ghost') has atoned for their deeds and repented, he or she is given the Drink of Forgetfulness byMeng Po and sent back into the world to be reborn, possibly as an animal or a poor or sick person, for further punishment.
Zoroastrianism has historically suggested several possible fates for the wicked, including annihilation, purgation in molten metal, and eternal punishment, all of which have standing in Zoroaster's writings.Zoroastrian eschatology includes the belief that wicked souls will remain inDuzakh until, following the arrival of three saviors at thousand-year intervals,Ahura Mazda reconciles the world, destroying evil and resurrecting tormented souls to perfection.[144]
The sacredGathas mention a "House of the Lie″ for those "that are of an evil dominion, of evil deeds, evil words, evil Self, and evil thought, Liars".[145] However, the best-known Zoroastrian text to describe hell in detail is theBook of Arda Viraf.[146] It depicts particular punishments for particular sins—for instance, being trampled by cattle as punishment for neglecting the needs of work animals.[147] Other descriptions can be found in theBook of Scriptures (Hadhokht Nask), Religious Judgments (Dadestan-i Denig) and theSpirit of Wisdom (Menog-i Khrad).[148]
TheMandaeans believe in purification of souls inside ofLeviathan,[149] whom they also callUr.[150] Within detention houses, so calledMatartas,[151] the detained souls would receive so much punishment that they would wish to die aSecond death, which would, however, not (yet) befall their spirit.[152] At theend of days, the souls of the Mandaeans which could be purified, would be liberated out of Ur's mouth.[153] After this, Ur would get destroyed along with the souls remaining inside him,[154] so they die the second death.[155]
Wicca
TheGardnerian Wicca andAlexandrian Wicca sects ofWicca include "wiccan laws" thatGerald Gardner wrote, which state that wiccan souls are privileged with reincarnation, but that the souls of wiccans who break the wiccan laws, "even under torture", would be cursed by the goddess, never be reborn on earth, and "remain where they belong, in the Hell of the Christians".[156][157] Other recognized wiccan sects do not include Gerald Gardner's "wiccan laws". The influential wiccan authorRaymond Buckland wrote that the wiccan laws are unimportant. Solitary wiccans, not involved in organized sects, do not include the wiccan laws in their doctrine.[citation needed]
In literature
In hisDivina commedia (Divine Comedy), set in the year 1300,Dante Alighieri employed the concept of takingVirgil as his guide through Inferno (and then, in the second canticle, up the mountain ofPurgatorio). Virgil himself is not condemned to hell proper in Dante's poem but is rather, as a virtuous pagan, confined toLimbo just at the edge of hell. The geography of hell is very elaborately laid out in this work, with nine concentric rings leading deeper into Earth, and deeper into the various punishments of hell, until, at the center of the world, Dante findsSatan himself trapped in the frozen lake ofCocytus. A small tunnel leads past Satan and out to the other side of the world, at the base of the Mount of Purgatory.
John Milton'sParadise Lost (1667) opens with thefallen angels, including their leaderSatan, waking up in hell after having been defeated in the war in heaven and the action returns there at several points throughout the poem. Milton portrays hell as the abode of the demons, and the passive prison from which they plot their revenge upon heaven through the corruption of the human race. 19th-century French poetArthur Rimbaud alluded to the concept as well in the title and themes of one of his major works,A Season in Hell (1873). Rimbaud's poetry portrays his own suffering in a poetic form as well as other themes.Many of the great epics of European literature include episodes that occur in hell. In the Roman poetVirgil's Latin epic, theAeneid, Aeneas descends intoDis (the underworld) to visit his father's spirit. The underworld is only vaguely described, with one unexplored path leading to the punishments of Tartarus, while the other leads throughErebus and theElysian Fields.
The idea of hell was highly influential to writers such asJean-Paul Sartre who authored the 1944 playNo Exit about the idea that "Hell is other people". Although not a religious man, Sartre was fascinated by his interpretation of a hellish state of suffering.C.S. Lewis'sThe Great Divorce (1945) borrows its title fromWilliam Blake'sMarriage of Heaven and Hell (1793) and its inspiration from theDivine Comedy as the narrator is likewise guided through hell and heaven. Hell is portrayed here as an endless, desolate twilight city upon which night is imperceptibly sinking. The night is actually theApocalypse, and it heralds the arrival of the demons after their judgment. Before the night comes, anyone can escape hell if they leave behind their former selves and accept Heaven's offer, and a journey to heaven reveals that hell is infinitely small; it is nothing more or less than what happens to a soul that turns away from God and into itself.
The Well to Hell hoax – Urban legend involving a borehole in Siberia that purportedly led to hellPages displaying short descriptions of redirect targets
^abcdefghijklmnBlack, Jeremy; Green, Anthony (1992).Gods, Demons and Symbols of Ancient Mesopotamia: An Illustrated Dictionary. The British Museum Press.ISBN978-0-7141-1705-8.
^Barrett, Caitlín (2007). "Was Dust Their Food and Clay Their Bread? Grave Goods, the Mesopotamian Afterlife, and the Liminal Role of Inana/Ishtar".Journal of Ancient Near Eastern Religions.7 (1):7–65.doi:10.1163/156921207781375123.ISSN1569-2116.S2CID55116377.
^abcTakako Yamada:The Worldview of the Ainu. Nature and Cosmos Reading from Language, p. 25–37, p. 123.
^Norbert Richard Adami:Religion und Schaminismus der Ainu auf Sachalin (Karafuto), Bonn 1989, p. 45.
^(edit.) Boustan, Ra'anan S. Reed, Annette Yoshiko.Heavenly Realms and Earthly Realities in Late Antique Religions. Cambridge University Press, 2004.
^Palmer, Abram Smythe.Studies on Biblical Studies, No. I. "Babylonian Influence on the Bible and Popular Beliefs: "Tĕhôm and Tiâmat", "Hades and Satan" – A Comparative Study of Genesis I. 2" London, 1897; pg. 53.
^Wright, Charles Henry Hamilton.The Fatherhood of God: And Its Relation to the Person and Work of Christ, and the Operations of the Holy Spirit. Edinburgh, Scotland. 1867. T. and T. Clark; pg. 88.
^Rev. Edward Bouverie Pusey.What is of Faith as to Everlasting Punishment: In Reply to Dr. Farrar's Challenge in His ʻEternal Hope,' 1879. James Parker & Co., 1881; pg. 102, spelled "zoa rothachath".
^Mew, James.Traditional Aspects of Hell: (Ancient and Modern). S. Sonnenschein & Company Lim., 1903.
^Rev. A. Lowy.Proceedings of the Society of Biblical Archaeology, Volume 10, "Old Jewish Legends of Biblical Topics: Legendary Description of Hell". 1888. pg. 339
^Charles, Robert Henry.The Ascension of Isaiah. London. A. & C. Black, 1900. pg. 70.; synonymous with Abaddon, Sheol and Gehinnom in the sense of being the final abode of the damned.
^Sola, David Aaron.Signification of the Proper Names, Etc., Occurring in the Book of Enoch: From the Hebrew and Chaldee Languages London, 1852.
^Rev. X.Y.Z.Merry England, Volume 22, "The Story of a Conversion" 1894. pg. 151
^Hoekema, Anthony A (1994).The Bible and the Future. Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans. p. 92.
^"Lexicon :: H7585 – shĕ'owl".Blue Letter Bible. BLB Institute.Archived from the original on 5 November 2015. Retrieved26 February 2017.1Mos 37:35, 42:38, 44:29, 44:31
^"Lexicon :: Strong's G86 – hadēs".Blue Letter Bible. BLB Institute.Archived from the original on 30 January 2017. Retrieved28 January 2017.Mat.11:23 16:18 Luk.10:15. Ap.2:27,31. 1Kor 15:55.Upp.1:18 6:8 20:13,14
^"Lexicon :: Strong's G1067 – geenna".Blue Letter Bible. BLB Institute.Archived from the original on 30 January 2017. Retrieved28 January 2017.Mat.5:22,29,30, 10:28, 18:09, 23:15,33. Mar. 9:43,45,47, Luk.12:05, Jak.3:6
^Heinrich Döring:Der universale Anspruch der Kirche und die nichtchristlichen Religionen, in: Münchener Theologische Zeitschrift 41 (1990), p. 78 et sqq.
^"4.9 Hell". The Christadelphians. Retrieved6 August 2015.
^Hirsch, Emil G."SHEOL". JewishEncyclopedia.com.Archived from the original on 18 September 2015. Retrieved10 August 2015.
^Knight (1999),A brief history of Seventh-Day Adventists, p. 42,Many biblical scholars down throughout history, looking at the issue through Hebrew rather than Greek eyes, have denied the teaching of innate immortality.
^Pool (1998),Against returning to Egypt: Exposing and Resisting Credalism in the Southern Baptist Convention, p. 133,'Various concepts of conditional immortality or annihilationism have appeared earlier in Baptist history as well. Several examples illustrate this claim. General as well as particular Baptists developed versions of annihilationism or conditional immortality.'
^Stephen A. StateThomas Hobbes and the Debate Over Natural Law and Religion 2013 "The natural immortality of the soul is in fact a pagan presumption: "For men being generally possessed before the time of our Saviour, by contagion of the Daemonology of the Greeks, of an opinion, that the Souls of men were substances distinct from their Bodies, and therefore that when the Body was dead"
^N. T. WrightFor All the Saints?: Remembering the Christian Departed 2004 "many readers will get the impression that I believe that every human being comes already equipped with an immortal soul. I don't believe that. Immortality is a gift of God in Christ, not an innate human capacity (see 1 Timothy 6.16)."
^"Fundamental BeliefsArchived 10 March 2006 at theWayback Machine" (1980) webpage from the official church website. See "25. Second Coming of Christ", "26. Death and Resurrection", "27. Millennium and the End of Sin", and "28. New Earth". The earlier 1872 and 1931 statements also support conditionalism
^"A Description of Hellfire (part 1 of 5): An Introduction".Religion of Islam.Archived from the original on 23 December 2014. Retrieved23 December 2014.No one will come out of Hell except sinful believers who believed in the Oneness of God in this life and believed in the specific prophet sent to them (before the coming of Muhammad).
^Muslim Scholarly Discussions on Salvation and the Fate of 'Others', Mohammad Hassan Khalil, p.223"The Fitnah of Wealth", Abû Ammâr Yasir al-Qadhî
^Gordon NewbyA Concise Encyclopedia of Islam Oneworld Publications 2013ISBN978-1-780-74477-3
^Robert Lebling Legends of the Fire Spirits: Jinn and Genies from Arabia to Zanzibar I.B.Tauris 2010ISBN978-0-857-73063-3 page 30
^ANTON M. HEINENISLAMIC COSMOLOGY A STUDY OF AS-SUYUTI'S al-Hay'a as-samya fi l-hay'a as-sunmya with critical edition, translation, and commentary ANTON M. HEINEN BEIRUT 1982 p. 143
^"Surat Al-Alaq Verse 18".quran.com.96:18 {سَنَدْعُ ٱلزَّبَانِيَةَ} {١٨ } We will call the angels of Hell. CITATION NOTE: (ٱلزَّبَانِيَةَ, transliterated to Az-Zabaniya, refers to the keeper angels of Jahannam/Hell.)
^"Sahih Muslim 2843a".sunnah.com.The fire which sons of Adam burn is only one-seventieth part of the Fire of Hell. His Companions said: By Allah, even ordinary fire would have been enough (to burn people). Thereupon he said: It is sixty-nine parts in excess of (the heat of) fire in this world each of them being equivalent to their heat.
^Roads to Paradise: Eschatology and Concepts of the Hereafter in Islam (2 Vols.): Volume 1: Foundations and Formation of a Tradition. Reflections on the Hereafter in the Quran and Islamic Religious Thought / Volume 2: Continuity and Change. The Plurality of Eschatological Representations in the Islamicate World. (2017). Niederlande: Brill. p. 174
^A F Klein Religion Of Islam Routledge 2013 ISBN 978-1-136-09954-0 page 92
^Colby, F. S. (2008). Narrating Muhammad's Night Journey: Tracing the Development of the Ibn 'Abbas Ascension Discourse. US: State University of New York Press. p. 137
^Colby, F. S. (2008). Narrating Muhammad's Night Journey: Tracing the Development of the Ibn 'Abbas Ascension Discourse. US: State University of New York Press. p. 138
^Lange, C. (2016). Paradise and Hell in Islamic Traditions. Vereinigtes Königreich: Cambridge University Press.
^Vuckovic, Brooke Olson (2004).Heavenly Journeys, Earthly Concerns: The Legacy of the Mi'raj in the Formation of Islam. Routledge.ISBN978-1-135-88524-3.[page needed]
^Miguel Asin Palacios Islam and the Divine Comedy Routledge 2013 ISBN 978-1-134-53650-4 page 88-89
^Patrick Hughes, Thomas Patrick HughesDictionary of Islam Asian Educational Services 1995ISBN978-81-206-0672-2 p. 102
^Tottoli, Roberto; توتولي, روبرتو (2008). "The Qur'an, Qur'anic Exegesis and Muslim Traditions: The Case of zamharīr (Q. 76:13) Among Hell's Punishments / القرآن والتفاسير والروايات الاسلامية: سورة الانسان آية رقم 13: الزمهرير من ألوان العقوبة في جهنم".Journal of Qur'anic Studies.10 (1):142–152.doi:10.3366/E1465359109000291.JSTOR25728276.
^Masumian, Farnaz (1995).Life After Death: A study of the afterlife in world religions. Oxford: Oneworld Publications.ISBN978-1-85168-074-0.
^Hans Jonas: The Gnostic Religion, 3. ed., Boston 2001, p. 117.
^Ginza. Der Schatz oder das große Buch der Mandäer, ed. and transl. byMark Lidzbarski, Quellen der Religionsgeschichte vol. 13, Göttingen 1925, p. 183.
^Ginza, ed. and transl. by Lidzbarski, p. 185–186.
^Kurt Rudolph: Theogonie. Kosmonogie und Anthropogonie in den mandäischen Schriften. Eine literarkritische und traditionsgeschichtliche Untersuchung, Göttingen 1965, p. 241.
Challoner, Richard (1801)."Day 13: On hell." .Think Well On't or, Reflections on the great truths of the Christian religion for every day of the month. T. Haydock.
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