Hell—the
Devil’s Playground?
The Devil from L'Inferno by
Dante', Italian silent
film 1911
The grotesque image above, of the
Devil devouring a human soul (an interesting "special effect"
for such an early motion picture), is quite likely a direct
adaptation of a scene from a 14th century Italian fresco by the
artist Taddeo di
Bartolo:
Hopefully, the
film did not attempt to graphically replicate the
bottom half of the painting. It was common at the time to depict
human souls as being ingested, passing through the body of the
Devil undigested, and finally being expelled from an opening
between his legs--itself appearing to be the mouth of a leering
face! They were then grasped in his claw-like hands and brought
back up to be devoured over and over endlessly.
This was
evidently a version itself of a quite stylized depiction of this
scene from Dante's writings, as seen in a
photo of a page from a 15th century illustrated manuscript
of the Inferno in the Oxford University Boedlian Library
online collection. (Reproduction on other web pages not
permitted--see the original at the link.) In Dante's
version, the souls being devoured are those of Brutus and
Cassius (who plotted the death of Julius Caesar), and Judas.
Dante's version
of the Devil is not the ominously gleeful Lord of the Underworld
character that developed in the popular mind over the coming
centuries. He is instead a giant, frozen in ice up to his waist,
and depicted by Dante as weeping and continually lamenting his
fate.
But by the
early 20th century, he had developed the maniacal laugh that
chilled the riders in an amazing attraction on the Midway at the
St. Louis World's Fair in 1904. "The Hereafter" was much like an
early version of a cross between the Haunted Mansion and the
Pirates of the Caribbean rides at Disneyland and Walt Disney
World's Magic Kingdom:
The
HEREAFTER was an amusement concession in which the patron
was presented with real figures, mannequins, and graphic
illustrations of what life awaited them after death. The
visitor first entered a gallery of mirrors, intended to
alarm and confuse. Moans and groans of The Undead greeted
them at every step along a 40 foot corridor. They then
stumbled into a main auditorium, containing the Café of the
Dead. A chandelier made of skull, arm, and shin bones hung
from the center of the ceiling. Patrons sat at tables made
of coffins as a volunteer from the audience was made to sit
at a specially prepared table to partake of a meal. After a
waiter dutifully served a platter of food, the volunteer
found that he could not pick up either the food or beer that
had been served. His hand magically went right through
everything. Just as the white clad waiter picked up the beer
bottle to smash it upon the volunteer’s head, the waiter and
all the food disappeared. It had been a creative illusion
via back-lighted projection.
Amidst a
great rattling of chains and moans, patrons then entered an
elevator and descended into the lower regions of Hades.
There they entered a boat that drifted over the River of
Death, a water channel filled with red stalactites and
stalagmites. As they neared Satan, guides recited from Dante
and all of the punishments of Hades were depicted. Skeletons
dropped from the ceiling at opportune times, sending shrieks
from the ladies and nervous laughter from the lips of the
most sturdy of men. In one scene, an actor depicted a robber
who had made off with a fortune in life but whose torture in
death was having no place to spend any of it in Hades. In
another scene, a man who had been sticking his nose in
everyone’s business during his time on Earth, hung with his
nose in a vise, calling out his misdeeds. A tramp was forced
to continuously take hot steam baths in a different scene.
As they turned upon the Throne of Satan, a skeleton added
another fright by jumping out at some unlucky soul in the
crowd. Satan himself was viewed, surrounded by sulfurous
smoke, amid hideous cries of the souls of the damned.
As Satan
laughed and shouted threats to their backs, patrons in the
boat continued through the channel, down a gentle water
chute, gliding into a beautiful grove filled with flowers
and trees. They floated serenely past Daphne’s Grove and on
to Paradise. Here, patrons saw the birth of the Star of
Bethlehem growing in increasing brilliancy until it focused
upon silhouetted angels, floating into the clouds.
(Inside the World's Fair of 1904, Vol. 2, Elana V. Fox,
2003, pp 47-48)
As the decades of the
twentieth century went by, it became more and more common to
portray Hell as a playground for the Devil and his demons. Far
from being a place of confinement for them, it was a place where
they enjoyed their "jobs" ... tormenting the souls of humans.
Nowhere was this more evident than in the little illustrated
religious "tracts" written and illustrated by Jack Chick:
The Long Trip, Jack Chick,
Chick Tracts, 1994
Back from the Dead, Jack
Chick, Chick Tracts, 1982
Intended to
"scare the hell out" of readers, many of these comic book-style
pamphlets (published from 1970 to the present, and distributed
by the multiple millions yearly) introduced brief
stories of the life of humans who refused to accept Jesus as
savior until it was too late, and then showed their ultimate
fate in an ever-burning Hell suffering at the hands of the Devil
and his playmates.
In a 1993 book
titled A Divine Revelation of Hell, author Mary Baxter
claimed to have been taken by Jesus on numerous trips to Hell,
and to have seen similar scenes of frolicking demons. The
following is from a website that summarized Baxter's alleged
travels:
As they
[Jesus and Baxter] walked closer to the noise, they could see twelve small
dark figures marching around a coffin. These dark figures were
demons holding spears and they were talking and laughing. There
was a small opening in the coffin and that’s where the demons
inserted their spears.
Similar descriptions can be
found in many books and website articles of the past several
decades. What they all have in common is a view of "details" of
Hell that are not found in the Bible at all, but which very
closely reflect
the type of scenes in Medieval paintings of Hell, and passages
from earlier sensationalistic writings such as those of Dante.
Here is an excerpt from a modern version (1992), posted on the
web as part of the description of the author's alleged vision of
Hell. The purpose of this posting was to encourage people to
turn to Jesus as savior and avoid this type of fate.
I saw a naked man covered in
flaming worms that cannot Die! He turned to me and heaved a
deep sigh as flames surrounded him and he sung this song in
an emotionless voice! A voice that held NO emotion only the
pain and torment he was in! Flaming WORMS that looked like
Snakes! were crawling in and OUT of EVERY OPENING OF HIS
BODY! His EYES, EARS, NOSE, FRONT, REAR, I repeat EVERY
OPENING! without getting graphically gross here! The screams
yet echo in my mind as I am writing this down! The rich man
in the bible who went to HELL told God if he would just send
a man back from HELL to warn others his brothers of the
torment in Hell they would not want to come there, they
would live differently! But God said even if he sent someone
back from HELL, few would listen and take the warning
seriously! Few would believe! In this end time how many has
the LORD allowed to see Heaven and Hell to be brought back
to life to tell of the Horror!
Dr. Eby is one of them. Dr. Maurice Rawlings is another! And
now Rev. Sherrie Elijah who praise GOD I didn't have to die
but in a vision so real! its like I know the man and grieve
for that man! I met in this vision is warning you now, those
who mock and laugh at YAHUSHUA hear the lyrics of this song
and although I can't give it all to you, know this if you
MOCK and LAUGH again this was your LAST CHANCE! For your
heart is hardened and God said this song was the LAST
CHANCER'S Last Chance! If this does NOT scare you NOTHING
will until you Taste HELL for yourself and then its too
late!
-------
Here are a few lyrics from the song:
Flaming worms crawl in, flaming worms crawl out in the belly
button and out the mouth! In the front and out the rear ! In
the eyes and out the ears! We scream for mercy yet NO one
cares or hears! Red hot pain in my blood rivers of feces,
lava, vomit and blood it looks like a flood! Flames
everywhere yet they cast NO light! All I have is every kind
of pain, terror , torture and fright! I am a Citizen in
HELL!
This is the first level of HELL the other levels there are
NO words to tell! Hell is so hot it boils the flesh off my
skin how do I describe the HELLISH pain I'm in! I'm so
thirsty yet I 'ver not even urine or tears to drink! And OH
my GOD how this HELL stinks! AHHHH, I am a Citizen in HELL!
There's NO water of any kind not even sweat to cool my brow,
I know from Hell I will never be set free and demons curse
and mock me! I scream to God to help me! yet he does NOT
hear! instead the voice of Satan laughs and Jeers! HaAa!
There's NO GOD and there's NO mercy here! I have torture,
terror, and Damnation and every kind of FEAR! But there's NO
GOD HERE! Hahaha! (www.amightywind.com/hell/citizenhell.htm)
Does the Bible
provide confirmation that the vision described above (and the
many similar tales from throughout the centuries right up to the present) was
truly from God, and reflects a biblical view of the nature of
Hell?
NO.
-
There is
absolutely no description anywhere in the Bible of demonic
beings of grotesque shapes tormenting human souls.
-
There is no
description of worms, flaming or otherwise, crawling out of the
body openings of conscious human souls.
-
There is no description
of the Devil "welcoming" sinners to Hell and gloating over his
power over them there.
-
Nor are there any passages even vaguely
related to any similar type of scenario.
The reader is
encouraged to explore the articles on this website for an
examination of the relationship of the actual words of the Bible
to such lurid scenarios.
For more
information on the notion of Hell being the Devil's Playground,
and more alleged "first person" descriptions of Hell, see
the article
Harmless Hell?
This site contains a collection
of articles, on the topic of Hell and the Afterlife, that may
each be used independently for research purposes. But it also is
designed as a systematic, sequential overview of the whole
topic, which can be read like a book.
For those who would like to take
advantage of this perspective of the content, the articles are
arranged in the
Reading Guide as they would appear as chapters in a book, along
with a few reference chapters at the end such as would appear in
a book Appendix.
Use the
links below to go to the next article, previous article, or
first article
in the Reading Guide sequence.
←
→
Previous
Next
←←
Back to Beginning
PLEASE
NOTE:
No single short article can comprehensively cover
any aspect of the topic of Hell. If you have
questions or concerns regarding the material in this
article, be sure to first read through the site
FAQ before writing to the
author. It may already specifically address the very
points you are wondering about.
Unless otherwise
noted, all biblical references in this and other articles on the
Is It True What They Say About Hell? website are from the
New International Version (NIV).
All of the articles on this
Is it true what they say about Hell? website were written by Pam Dewey, with
the support and sponsorship of Common Ground Christian
Ministries. For more of Pam's inspirational and educational
writings, visit her Oasis
website.
All website content
© 2007, Pam
Dewey and Common Ground Christian Ministries
All rights reserved. Material may
be copied for personal use of the site visitor. For permission
to copy for any other purposes, please contact the author at
oasis7@gmail.com
