Valley of Hinnom – Undressing Orthodoxy

45 Billion Bodies are Somewhere

Appendix D THE POST-MORTEM TIMELINE Considering the “unhappily” rendered sheol and hades and the co-opting of the Valley of Hinnom (Gehenna) to serve as hell, as well as the parable-mistaken-for-real-life story of the Rich Man and Lazarus, we must conclude that hell has no scriptural basis on which to exist and therefore has no claimContinue reading “45 Billion Bodies are Somewhere”

Summing it all Up

Appendix C MAGICIAN’S SMOKE OR PERSUASIVE ARGUMENT Our examination of hell in the Bible revealed plenty of evidence that the existence of such a place is not supported by the scriptures. The argument is so convincing, as a matter of fact, that its going to be difficult to understand how it is that anyone couldContinue reading “Summing it all Up”

May We Steal Your Hell?

THE ROAD TO A PLAGERIZED PERDITION Once again, the post-apostolic church was confronted with intellectual challenges to the young Christian faith. These challenges came in two forms: heresies and the intellectual reaction of paganism. The body of work written by the early church fathers and used to meet the intellectual challenge of the Hellenistic pagansContinue reading “May We Steal Your Hell?”

The Rich Man and Lazarus

PURPLE, FINE LINEN AND FIVE BROTHERS There seems to be a triad of translation/interpretation mishaps regarding the subject of hell in the Bible. First is the “unhappy” rendering (W.E. Vine) of sheol and hades as “hell” in the Old and New Testaments, respectively. Then there is the interpretation of Gehenna (the Valley of Hinnom) asContinue reading “The Rich Man and Lazarus”

Gehenna

THE SONS OF A GARBAGE DUMP Twelve times, the Greek word Gehenna appears in the New Testament manuscript. Twelve times it is rendered either “hell” or “hell fire”, at times, making an interpretive reading problematic. We addressed six of them in the last chapter and found that the context of the passages in question couldContinue reading “Gehenna”

Better to Be a One-Eyed Christian

31°46′6.262″N 35°13′49.58″E In Chapter 5, Hell on Earth, we looked at the idolatrous history of the Valley of Hinnom, the putrid, smoldering refuse dump below the wall of the city of Jerusalem that may have burned for nearly 1,000 years. This heap of everything rancid on the floor of the valley was called ge HinnomContinue reading “Better to Be a One-Eyed Christian”

Hell on Earth

THE ONE PLACE IN THE WORLD WORTHY OF THAT NAME Thinking of what might qualify as being hell on earth, one might think of the Colosseum at Rome, the most blood drenched piece of ground in the world. Maybe being incarcerated in a Russian Gulag comes to mind. Some Vietnam veterans might remember a prisonerContinue reading “Hell on Earth”