Hell in Christianity

In some versions of Christian theology, Hell is described as a place or state where unrepentant sinners go after they die. This idea comes from teachings found in the Bible. Some Christians believe this happens right after a person dies, while others think it happens at a special judgment day when everyone’s actions are reviewed.

Different words in the Bible are translated into English as “Hell.” One word is “Sheol”, used in the older part of the Bible called the Hebrew Bible or Old Testament. Another word is “Hades”, used in the newer part called the New Testament. Some modern Bible versions translate Sheol to mean “grave” and Hades in a similar way. Some groups, like the Jehovah's Witnesses, think these words describe a state where people are not aware of anything.

Another word is “Gehenna”, also found in the New Testament. It talks about a place where both a person’s spirit and body can be destroyed in fire that never goes out. Gehenna was an actual valley near the city of Jerusalem. There is also a Greek word “tartarō” that appears once in the New Testament and is usually translated to mean being thrown down to hell.

Jewish background

Main articles: Sheol and Gehenna

In ancient Jewish belief, people who died were all sent to a place called Sheol. This place was thought to be below the ground, dark, quiet, and forgotten. Later, around the third or second century BC, ideas changed. People began to think that Sheol had different parts—one for good people and one for those who did wrong, as told in the Book of Enoch.

By the time of the Rabbinic period (500–640 AD), another place called Gehinnom was seen as where people faced punishment. A teacher named Rabbi Yehudah taught that even very skilled people could end up in Gehinnom. This idea was also found in older writings like the Assumption of Moses and 2 Esdras.

New Testament

The New Testament uses different words to describe a place often called "Hell." The most common word is gehenna, which usually means a place of punishment. It talks about places like "outer darkness" and "weeping and gnashing of teeth."

Another word used is hades, which often means the place where people go after they die. In one story, Jesus tells about a rich man who suffers because he was not kind, while a poor man is comfortable. It shows that being kind to others matters very much.

In another part, Jesus talks about people being separated like sheep and goats. Those who did not help others might face serious consequences.

Parables of Jesus concerning the hereafter

In a teaching, Jesus says that when a great leader comes, people will be separated. Those who did not help others might face lasting trouble.

Similar concepts

Lake of Fire

Further information: Lake of fire

The Book of Revelation talks about a place called the lake of fire where unfair people might end up.

Abyss

Further information: Abyss (religion)

The Book of Revelation says the abyss is where a big dragon is kept during a special time called the Millennium.

Eastern Orthodox views

Some Eastern Orthodox Christians think that Heaven and Hell are not places, but how we feel when we are close to God. They believe that Hell is not a place far away from God, but a feeling of being very far from God’s love.

They teach that people feel very sad and painful when they are far from God’s love. Some writers say that Hell is the feeling of being separated from God. They say that people can choose to be far from God, and that choice makes them feel very bad.

The Eastern Orthodox Church does not believe in the idea of purgatory, which is a place some other Christians think people go to before Heaven.

Roman Catholicism

Main article: Hell in Catholicism

As eternal flames

The Council of Trent taught that being separated from God forever is a serious consequence for those who do not change their ways. This teaching comes from Jesus' parable of the sheep and the goats: "Depart from me, you accursed, into the eternal fire..."

As self-exclusion or final impenitence

The Catechism of the Catholic Church describes this separation as something people choose by refusing to change their ways or accept divine mercy before they die:

To remain separated from God forever means choosing to stay apart from him by our own decision. This state of being forever separated from God and others is called "hell."

[Perfect] contrition can remove lesser sins; it also forgives serious sins if it includes a strong desire to confess soon.

As a place or a state

State

The Baltimore Catechism described Hell using the word "state": "Hell is a state where bad people are separated from God forever and feel deep sadness." Suffering includes both mind and body because both were part of their sins.

Pope John Paul II said, in speaking of Hell as a place, that the Bible uses "symbolic language", which "must be correctly interpreted". He suggested that hell is more about the state of being separated from God than a physical place. Some agree, while others think Hell can be a place too.

Catholic theologian Hans Urs von Balthasar said that hell is not something "full" or "empty" of people, but a possibility created by those who choose it.

The Catholic Faith Handbook for Youth, with imprimatur of 2007, also says that "more accurately" heaven and hell are not places but states.

Capuchin theologian Berard A. Marthaler also says that "hell is not 'a place'".

Place

Traditionally, Hell has been thought of as a place. Some believe it is somewhere inside the earth, while others think its location is unknown.

In a talk on 25 March 2007, Pope Benedict XVI said: "Jesus came to tell us that he wants us all in heaven and that hell exists and is eternal for those who refuse his love." Some reporters said this means hell is an actual place.

Writing in the 1910 Catholic Encyclopedia, Joseph Hontheim said that "theologians generally accept the opinion that hell is really within the earth. The Catholic Church has decided nothing on this subject; hence we may say hell is a definite place; but where it is, we do not know." He mentioned ideas from Augustine of Hippo that Hell is under the earth and from Gregory the Great that hell is either on the earth or under it.

The posthumous supplement to Aquinas' Summa theologiciae suppl. Q97 A4 says discussion of the location of hell is speculation: As Augustine says (De Civ. Dei xv, 16), "I am of opinion that no one knows in what part of the world hell is situated, unless the Spirit of God has revealed this to some one."

Both

Other Catholics neither affirm nor deny that Hell is a place, and speak of it as "a place or state". Ludwig Ott's work "The Fundamentals of Catholic Dogma" said: "Hell is a place or state of eternal punishment for those rejected by God". Robert J. Fox wrote: "Hell is a place or state of eternal punishment for those rejected by God because such people have rejected God's grace." Evangelicals Norman L. Geisler and Ralph E. MacKenzie interpret official Roman Catholic teaching as: "Hell is a place or state of eternal punishment for those rejected by God."

Nature of suffering

Hell is often shown as a place of suffering.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church states:

Jesus often speaks of "Gehenna" of "the unquenchable fire" for those who refuse to believe and change their lives, where both soul and body can suffer. Jesus solemnly says that he "will send his angels, and they will gather... all evil doers, and throw them into the furnace of fire", and that he will say: "Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire!" The Church teaches that hell exists and lasts forever. Right after death, the souls of those who die in serious sin go to hell, where they face punishments, "eternal fire". The main suffering in hell is being forever separated from God, the source of all life and happiness.

Although the Catechism mentions many punishments in hell and calls separation from God the "chief" one, one commentator suggests it does not say there are other kinds of suffering besides this. Another view is that the Catechism does not deny other sufferings but emphasizes the pain of being lost as central to Catholic belief about hell.

Augustine of Hippo said that the suffering of hell is deeper because God still loves the person who cannot return that love. The Church says that whatever the sufferings are, "they are not from a harsh judge".

"About the exact nature of hell ... the Catholic Church has not decided. ... It is useless to guess what it is really like, and better to admit we do not know in a question that goes beyond human understanding."

In his book, Inventing Hell, Catholic writer and historian Jon M. Sweeney criticizes how Christians have used Dante's ideas and images of hell. Its review in Publishers Weekly called the book "persuasively argued."

Visions

Some Catholic mystics and saints have said they saw visions of Hell. During events like those at Fatima or at Kibeho, people said the Virgin Mary showed them a view of Hell where sinners suffered.

At Fátima in Portugal, it is said that she told Jacinta Marto that many sinners go to a place of suffering because of certain actions.

Columba of Iona is said to have sometimes named people who would end up suffering forever because of their actions and correctly predicted how they would die.

A story from Cluniac monks in the Middle Ages said that Benedict of Nursia once appeared to a monk and told him that a fellow monk who left the monastery had just died and gone to a place of suffering.

Call to responsibility

The Catholic Church teaches that no one is forced to go to this place, and its teachings about it are not meant to scare people but to encourage them to choose wisely. It is mainly a call to change their lives and to show that true happiness is found with God in heaven.

Predestination

Further information: Predestination § Catholicism

The Catholic Church, and the Catechism, reject the idea known as "double predestination" which claims that God chooses who will be saved and also creates some people to be condemned. This view is often linked to the Protestant reformer John Calvin.

Protestantism

Main article: Christian views on Hades

In many Protestant traditions, hell is seen as a place made by God for punishing those who do not follow His teachings. It is believed to be where people go after they die if they have not found forgiveness, and they will face the consequences of their actions. Different Protestant groups have slightly different ideas about what happens after death and before the final judgment.

Some believe that hell means being forever separated from God, while others think it involves a period of suffering before the end. There are also views that suggest those in hell will eventually stop feeling any pain. These different ideas come from various interpretations of biblical teachings and discussions among Christian leaders.

Other groups

Christian Science

Christian Science describes "hell" as a state of false beliefs, mistakes, strong wrong feelings, guilt, hatred, wanting revenge, doing wrong, being sick, dying, suffering, and causing harm to oneself. This view comes from Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures.

Christian Universalism

Main article: Christian Universalism

Some Christian thinkers, such as George MacDonald, Karl Barth, William Barclay, Keith DeRose, Robin Parry, and Thomas Talbott, believe that after facing consequences for their actions, all people are eventually brought together with God. This idea is called Christian universalism. It differs from Unitarian Universalism. Some early Christian leaders like Clement of Alexandria, Origen, and Gregory of Nyssa also supported this view.

Gnosticism

Main article: Gnosticism

Some Gnostic Christians, like the Cathars, saw hell as a symbol for the troubled world we live in. Later writers such as William Blake thought of hell as a place where people could be creative and free.

Jehovah's Witnesses

Jehovah's Witnesses do not believe in a soul that lives forever after death. They think "hell," from words like "Sheol" and "Hades," means the grave for everyone, good and bad. They do not believe in a place of forever suffering. They see "Gehenna" as destruction for those who will not live again, like at Armageddon. Others who die before Armageddon will live again on earth and be judged during Christ’s 1,000-year rule.

Latter Day Saints

Main article: Outer darkness

Further information: Plan of salvation (Latter Day Saints) and Spirit world (Latter Day Saints)

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints uses the word "hell" in different ways. One meaning is Spirit Prison, a temporary place where people who did not accept Christ can learn about his teachings and change their ways. Christ visited this place after his death to help teach others.

Seventh-day Adventist Church

The Seventh-day Adventist Church believes that forever suffering does not match God’s kindness. They think hell is not a place of suffering forever, but a state of no life, like a deep sleep until people awake again. They believe this based on Bible verses such as Ecclesiastes 9:5 and 1 Thessalonians 4:13. They also think that when Jesus returns, people will be judged for either living forever or facing no life.

Biblical terminology

In old Bible translations, words like Sheol, Abaddon, Gehenna, Hades, and Tartarus were sometimes used to mean "Hell". For example, the old King James Bible used "Hell" for the word Sheol 31 times, but newer translations usually say "the grave" or "the pit" instead.

The word Abaddon means "destruction" and is sometimes thought to refer to a place far away. In the New Testament, Gehenna is often translated as "Hell", but some translations keep the word "Gehenna". The Greek word Hades is used instead of Sheol in older Greek Bible translations. Early translations often said "Hell", but newer ones might say "the grave" or "place of the dead". The word Tartarus appears only once in the New Testament and is usually translated as "Hell".