Hell on Earth
On September
11, 2001, official records indicate that nineteen hijackers of
Arabic origin caused the fiery deaths of 2,967 people in four separate
airplane crash incidents in the U.S.
In the
coming days, weeks, months, and now years, stories have
circulated indicating that these men may have carried out their
actions in part because of a religious conviction that they held
regarding what their reward would be for sacrificing their lives
in martyrdom for their cause. The conviction some or all may
have held was that, immediately after their physical death, they
would be ushered into the Islamic version of Heaven, a paradise
where they would enjoy unimaginable pleasures—including having
72 beautiful young virgins at their disposal at all times.
In response
to this information, some Americans took a grim pleasure in
passing around “jokes” about what happened when these hijackers
woke up and found themselves not in a lush paradise, but being
lashed by tongues of fire, and with no virgins in sight.
The obvious
implication of these jokes is that these fanatics would not be
in Heaven, but in an ever-burning Hell, where they would spend
eternity enduring torment, rather than enjoying the pleasures for
which they had hoped.
However, a
question seldom addressed by any Americans, in the media or even
in private discussions, is—
What happened after death to
those other 2,967 people
who died in the tragic series of
events of that day?
The average
person not only seldom discusses what happens to people who die
in spectacular tragedies on the news—he quite probably seldom
even
thinks about what happens to them … and to all the other
people who die every day. In fact, one of the few times he may
think deeply at all about the subject of what happens after
death, more than just in passing, is when he personally attends
a funeral. And even then, unless the minister preaching the
funeral waxes eloquent about Heaven and Hell, he may let the
thought briefly flit across his conscious mind, and then quickly push
it away.
But if you
forced this average person to explain just what he understands
about “life after death,” what might he say?
Surveys
indicate that a large proportion of the American population—and
not just those who profess affiliation with any particular
church group—actually believe that the physical world that we
live in isn’t “all there is” to reality. Although they may
disagree on details, most claim to believe in a “Supreme Being”;
huge numbers believe in angels; many believe in Jesus; large
numbers believe in some sort of place of reward for good people
after death which they call Heaven; a significant, though
relatively smaller, number believe in a place of punishment for
evil people which they call Hell; large numbers believe in the
Devil, and believe that he has helpers called demons.
But surveys
also indicate that only a very tiny percentage of the American
population has actually ever read much—or any—of the Bible. So
where did they get the details of what they think about the
supernatural world and the “Afterlife”?
How Do You
Know What You Know?
BIOLOGY‑“The
science that deals with the origin, history, physical
characteristics, life
processes, habits, etc. of plants and animals...” (Webster's New
World Dictionary)
Because most
people took a course in biology at some time during their high
school years, you might think that most of your personal
knowledge about biological concepts came from that course. But a
little consideration should quickly dispel that notion. How much
do you really remember about the insides of that frog you
dissected? Could you really still label all the parts of
a flowering plant with their technical names?
No, much of
what we think we know about most topics in the field of biology
is a hodge‑podge of personal experiences, old‑wives' tales,
half‑remembered Reader's Digest articles, garbled
diagrams we saw a few years ago in the Sunday newspaper
supplement, snippets of a Discovery Channel special—mixed in
with a smidgen of the facts from that biology class of so long
ago. The average American has a very rudimentary knowledge about
most real biological facts.
THEOLOGY‑
“The study of God and the relations between God and the
universe; study of
religious doctrines and matters of divinity.”
(Webster's
New World Dictionary)
Most people
who label themselves as Christians have a whole system of
theology built up in their mind, even if they have never
really attended any church regularly. It is not “systematic
theology” such as would be taught in a seminary, but it covers a
lot of territory. Each such person has a belief about how you
“get right” with God, what happens if you do, and what happens
if you don't. These are not just “simple” beliefs, but may
include elaborate details.
In
particular, most such people have their own notion about what
Heaven is like and what Hell is like. Where did they get these
notions? If they claim to believe in the validity of the Bible,
you may assume that they got their beliefs about the nature of,
and details about, Heaven and Hell from their study of what the
Bible says about these topics. However, if you have ever looked
into what percentage of people who call themselves Christian
have ever read the Bible cover‑to‑cover, you would have to
conclude that can’t be where most people got their
beliefs! A small percentage of Christians read the Bible
regularly at all, let alone research for themselves specific
theological topics.
It’s
possible that some people have developed their primary
perceptions about Heaven and Hell from early memories of
listening to a preacher describe them in sermons in the church
in which they grew up. There are indeed some churches in which
these subjects are a topic of frequent sermons. But those
churches have been in a minority in American society in the past
fifty years. A large percentage of church pastors in most major
denominations base most of their sermons on uplifting topics
designed to inspire rather than to terrify. And they may seldom,
if ever, even talk about Hell, let alone describe it in detail.
Thus it is
not unreasonable to speculate that the personal theology
regarding the “afterlife” that most people, including those with
no particular religious affiliation, have comes from the same
kind of sources as their knowledge of biology. Our society is
full of images related to religious topics totally outside
the setting of the churches. You began absorbing those images
long before you ever had theological questions.
Surprisingly, many of those images even show up in children's
cartoons, and they have a much more powerful influence than most
people realize.
“Pop”
Theology
Where did
you first get your idea of what “demons” (or “devils”)
and “angels” are like? Whether you grew up in the 1930s-1950s
and spent Saturday afternoons watching cartoons at the movie
theater, or have grown up much more recently in the world of
video rental stores—where you can rent whole collections of
classic cartoon videos from that by-gone era—you may well have
been introduced to demons and angels by Walt Disney!
Millions of
Americans, from pre-teens to senior citizens, likely remember
what happened when Donald Duck was tempted to do something he
knew wasn't right. They can still picture the red‑suited,
horned, cynical “devil” duck whispering in his ear, “Go ahead!”
And whispering in the opposite ear was the white‑robed, haloed,
sweet‑voiced “angel” duck saying, “Be good!” This scenario has
been a continuing “vision” of how demons and angels look and
work for many generations.
In fact, the
image of those vying spiritual beings is now so pervasive that
you can find them described in various ways on many thousands of
websites. A computer game player on one Internet site describes
a feature of one of his favorite games: “You quickly learned to
listen to the angel on your shoulder rather than the ugly little
red devil because he had your best interests as a gamer at
heart.” One young woman on a Web blog shared a description of
a character she had invented as a creative writing exercise:
“The angel on her shoulder told her to carry on, true to
herself, and leave the anger behind. The devil on her shoulder
told her that everything she faced proved being a good person
didn't matter, that she should do just what she felt like in the
moment. Some days the devil got the best of her and she became
easily irritable, snapping at anyone that dared cross her. She
felt betrayed by life and society and she wanted to make them
pay. But in the end, the angel always won and no one ever paid.”
If you do an
Internet Search on Google for pictures on the topic, the search
results will include both photos of that Donald Duck scenario
from the 1930s, and many examples of contemporary cartoon
artwork of the 21st century, with little devils and
angels sitting on opposite shoulders of all sorts of characters
and whispering in their ears. You can even order your own devil
to sit on your shoulder:
“Red latex
devil sits on your shoulder with it's tail down your back and
appears to be whispering in your ear.”
Or how about
getting the devil and angel even closer to your ears?
“An Angel
... and Devil on My Shoulder. One for
each of your impulses ... and ears.”
Do most
adults who are familiar with this “devil/angel on the shoulder”
scenario accept these as accurate descriptions of the actions of
angels and demons? Of course not. But at the same time, the
imagery is so deep in the subconscious of many that it is very
likely that it is at least subliminally incorporated into any
attempt they make at coming to their own “informal theology.”
You also
likely have been presented through cartoon images with the idea
that good people (or good cartoon ducks!) who die instantly
become angels, sprout wings, and fly off to Heaven to get their
white robe, halo, and harp, and spend the rest of eternity
floating around on clouds.
Many
generations of children have been brought up on the story of the
Littlest Angel, a 1946 classic children’s book still in
print in many editions, which describes a 4 year old boy who
dies and goes to heaven and becomes an angel.
Being a
former rough and tumble little human boy, he has a hard time
adapting to the responsibilities of being dignified as angels
are supposed to be. As the story develops, he is allowed a
request for something to make him feel more at home in heaven.
Evidently, an angel is dispatched to his old home on Earth to
retrieve a box of little treasures he enjoyed in his human
childhood. He ends up offering his beloved box to the Christ
Child in Bethlehem, and his humble, self-sacrificing gift is so
appreciated that God transforms it into the Star of Bethlehem.
While it makes a charming and touching little story, it is quite
likely that many people never grew beyond this false impression
of the actual origin of angels and the truth about what happens
to humans when they die.
At the same
time, you may well have also been indoctrinated by cartoons with the idea
that bad people (or bad cartoon ducks) who die are marched off
to Hell. This Hell is pictured as a playground for demons, where
they revel in finding unlimited ways to torment the humans given
over to them for punishment. And in the midst of it all is the
Devil himself, with his red face and body, horns, and tail,
holding a pitchfork-like trident, and sitting on his regal
throne in Hell, presiding over and relishing the ghastly scenes
before him.
Did the
cartoonists portraying these sorts of images get their
inspiration directly from the Bible? If you have studied your
Bible even a little bit, you know that none of that kind of
detail about the appearance of the Devil or what Hell is like is
there. It also is a product of what might be appropriately
designated as popular theology--"Pop Theology."
As children,
most modern Americans were affected by these fictional images.
But what about now, when they are older and more intellectually
mature? Now they can go to Art Museums or look at coffee table
art books, where they can see famous paintings from the Middle
Ages that are much more graphic in depictions of Hell!
The images are more sophisticated, and much more horrific. But
where did they originate? Again, there are no such
descriptions in the Bible.
How about
you? What do you believe now about what happens after
death? What do you believe about Heaven, Hell, angels, the
Devil, and demons? Where did you get what you believe? Did you
get it from carefully studying the Bible, from listening to
preachers in churches, from Pop Theology, or perhaps from a
combination of all three?
And that
brings us back to those 2,967 people
who died in the 9/11
tragedy.
What do you think happened to them after their deaths?
Avoiding the
Unthinkable
The notion
of the Afterlife is something that even many “practicing
Christians” seldom if ever think about. Even in situations such
as the 9/11 tragedy, they tend to focus on the enormity of the
physical tragedy and avoid thinking about the spiritual
ramifications of the situation. Perhaps this is because they
subconsciously realize that focusing on the topic may lead them
to some very uncomfortable, painful, and perhaps even terrifying
thoughts.
For, you
see, most churches teach that in the instant after death, the
soul of every person must be immediately sent permanently
to one of two destinations, Heaven or Hell. All true
Christians go to Heaven. There they will have unlimited joy
in the presence of God, and will be eternally happy. All other
people go to Hell. There they will be totally cut off from God,
as well as from all of their loved ones who ended up in Heaven.
They will be consciously and constantly in pain and suffering
and mental anguish permanently, with no relief throughout the
eons of time.
So what
would the average minister in such a church really believe
happened to those people who died a horrible death in the fiery
infernos of the plane crashes? He would be convinced that instantly
some, the ones who were true Christians … probably a minority,
according to many churches … went to Heaven to be with God. And
the rest? They immediately found themselves in another fiery
inferno, in torment in
Hell—in the company of the very men who sent them there by their
nefarious actions in the physical world!
So,
according to this teaching, what makes someone a true Christian,
and guarantees they will go to Heaven instead of Hell?
Measuring Up
to Heaven
Each church
teaches its own definition for what qualifies someone as a true
Christian. Some churches have a very simple definition. If
someone sincerely says he is sorry for his sins, and states
publicly that he accepts Jesus as his personal Savior, then
people in these churches are convinced he is a true Christian
and will go immediately to Heaven when he dies.
Some
churches add just one more step, and insist the person must also
get baptized in water. If he does, he will get to go to Heaven.
But it is
much
more difficult in many churches to qualify for a place in Heaven. The person may be
required to study the teachings of the particular church group
in great detail, and come to agree with—and scrupulously live
by—the group’s interpretation of what the Bible has to say on a
wide variety of topics. In some churches, this even extends to
such minor details as what clothing styles one must wear, how
long a man’s or woman’s hair should be, what entertainment is
acceptable, what one may eat, whether one is totally obedient to
the leadership of the church, and much more.
Such
churches teach that the souls of all who have not met the
qualifications taught by the church go immediately to Hell. And
they will be tortured there forever. It is
important to note that someone does not have to be a
viciously evil person, such as a serial rapist or murderer, to
be sent off to Hell according to this set of beliefs. And just because someone was a gentle,
selfless humanitarian, that doesn’t guarantee him a position in
Heaven. From the point of view of many churches, everyone is
subject to this instantaneous decision of destination based on
their knowledge of a certain set of beliefs of one
particular religious group, and how they reacted to that
knowledge.
And here is
something that surprises many people when they first discover
it: According to the teachings of most churches, there is no
“special dispensation” of any kind made for those who never even
heard of the Bible or Jesus, let alone those who never heard of
the group itself. If such a person dies, they are believed to go
immediately to Hell.
Nor is there
any such dispensation for the sincere person who wants to know
about God, but is so confused in life, by all the conflicting
claims made about religion, that he never seems to be able to
sort through them all and make a decision what to believe. He
sees so many different, competing televangelists on TV who
assure him that by getting on board their own idiosyncratic
system of belief he will be assured of God’s favor. And so many
competing religious zealots come to his door offering to teach
him about their interpretation of the Bible. He realizes that
they can’t all be right, but finds he is totally unable to
decide which one really is. Thus he too will be on his
way straight to Hell when he dies.
What does
this mean when applied to the situation on 9/11?
For those
honest enough to face the teachings of their own denomination,
in many cases it means that they are required to believe that
perhaps a very large proportion of those 2,967 “innocent people”
who died that day immediately went to the same place as the
fanatics who caused their deaths! And those people will be
suffering the same fate as those hijackers—physical and mental
agony for all eternity.
Beyond Pop
Theology
How
widespread is this type of belief? Here are a few brief quotes
from doctrinal statements of a variety of religious groups. This
is no longer just Pop Theology, but the official, formal
theology of institutionalized religion.
It is
impossible to describe the glory and splendor of heaven and the
terror and torment of hell. Whether taken literally or
figuratively, the meaning is the same: Hell is a place where one
will experience total separation from God; heaven enjoys the
total presence of God. Knowing that this is the horrible end
awaiting the wicked, the Assemblies of God is strongly motivated
to win the lost before it is too late. (Assemblies
of God)
To die in
mortal sin without repenting and accepting God's merciful love
means remaining separated from him for ever by our own free
choice. This state of definitive self- exclusion from communion
with God and the blessed is called "hell." (Catechism
of the Catholic Church)
The
statement of Christ in Matthew 25, and elsewhere, are taken at
face value. It is believed that after death each man must come
before God in judgment and that he will be judged according to
the deeds done while he lived (Hebrews 9:27). After judgment is
pronounced he will spend eternity either in heaven or hell. (Churches
of Christ)
We believe
that glorious and everlasting life is assured to all who
savingly believe in, and obediently follow, Jesus Christ our
Lord; and that the finally impenitent shall suffer eternally in
hell. (Church
of the Nazarene)
We believe
in the bodily resurrection of the dead; of the believer to
everlasting blessedness and joy with the Lord; of the unbeliever
to judgment and everlasting conscious punishment. (Evangelical
Free Church of America)
The moral
progress of the soul, either for better or for worse, ends at
the very moment of the separation of the body and soul; at that
very moment the definite destiny of the soul in the everlasting
life is decided. ... The Orthodox Church believes that at this
moment the soul of the dead person begins to enjoy ... the life
in Paradise or to undergo the life in Hell. There is no way of
repentance, no way of escape, no reincarnation and no help from
the outside world. (Greek
Orthodox Archdiocese of America)
The Southern
Baptist Convention may be more blunt in their public statements
about this topic than most:
http://www.religioustolerance.org/hell_eva2.htm
“Concerning
Hell:
The SBC 1925
statement referred to Hell only indirectly: "Those who
continue in impenitence and unbelief are in his sight wicked and
are under condemnation. This...will be made manifest at the
judgment when final and everlasting awards are made to all men."
Their 1963
statement referred to Hell directly: "...Jesus Christ will
return...to the earth; ...Christ will judge all men in
righteousness. The unrighteous will be consigned to Hell, the
place of everlasting punishment."
The
committee's year 2000 recommendations propose that the 1963
wording be retained. Hell will remain a place of eternal torture
without any relief.
The
Southern Baptist Convention Home Mission Board conducted a
study in 1993 which estimated how many Americans have had a
born-again experience. They concluded that 30% of adult
Americans have been "saved" and thus are going to Heaven; the
70% remainder are destined for Hell. The percentage of
Canadians who are going to Heaven are presumably much lower,
because of the relatively small numbers of Fundamentalist and
Evangelical Protestants in that country -- probably about 8%.
This final
statement, when applied to the 9/11 situation, would indicate
the possibility, according to Southern Baptist estimates, that
2,077 people who died in that tragedy were then thrown
immediately into a much worse tragedy—a never ending one, in an
ever-burning hell.
Bringing
Hell Home
Does the
average member of a congregation affiliated with the Southern
Baptist Convention group really believe this? Does the
average member of the Assemblies of God, the Evangelical Free
Church, the Roman Catholic Church, the Church of the Nazarene,
and many other such groups really believe that many if not most
of the people who died that day are actually now being tortured
in Hell in the company of the hijackers who caused their deaths?
And of
course this is only one example of recent news stories of the
deaths of large numbers of “innocent people.” What about the
275,000 or so who died in the wake of the gigantic Indian Ocean
tsunami of 2004? Most of those deaths were in nations with huge
numbers of people who have never heard any version of the
Christian Gospel. Does the average member of those churches
above, and others like them, really believe all those
people suffered and died in the waters of the Tsunami, only to
be instantly cast into a maelstrom far worse … endless waves of
flames in Hell?
And to bring
this question of Hell much “closer to home”: Do all of these
people really believe that every one of the 6.5+ billion
people on Earth today who die without understanding how to
become a Christian are going to an ever-burning Hell the moment
they die?
If they do,
then it may be relevant to ask:
Exactly how
much of their time, energy, money, and efforts
are they
sacrificing to reach as many people as they can
with a clear
message of how they can avoid this terrifying fate?
In a modern American religious
landscape dotted with megachurches that may sport a Starbucks
Cafe' and a health spa down the hallway from their splendiferous
sanctuary, this doesn't seem to be an unreasonable question.
If you have
been troubled or perplexed
by the teaching that a mass murderer
of “innocent people” can doom his victims
to an ever-burning
hell, right along with himself,
just by taking their lives
before they have had
an opportunity to “know Jesus,”
you are encouraged to explore
the articles on this website for
a
closer look at
this teaching
in the light of the words of the Bible.
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.
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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
