I put this here because I get conflicting answers to this and I’m very curious as to the real answer (real according to the beliefs of the religion - I don’t want to get into an atheism discussion here.)
So, as most Christians are taught, if you are good, you go to heaven, bad you go to hell. Simple enough in concept.
But what about jews? I’ve heard various answers, from a flat out NO, to a flat out YES, to a flat out IT DEPENDS. So, can someone explain to me what happens to a Jewish person when they die from the spiratulal point of view? Just give me the path of the spirit, soul, or whatever.
I’d also like to ask the same questions about Islam. We’ve all heard of the 72 virgins waiting in heaven for the martyrs, but do they actually have a heaven for regular folk who just live good lives, and a hell, for those that deserve it?
Again, these should be defined by the tenets of each particular religion, and not personal opinion. Thank you.
Can you explain this a bit more? Is it like jail, where you spend some length of time for an infraction, and then once your time is up, you move to heaven?
I’m surprised to hear that. I was always under the impress that it was eternal damnation as well. Is it only eternal damnation until the hour or is the idea that if you prove yourself enough you get to go to paradise.
I’d always understood the differences as being both Christians and Muslims believed in hell, Muslim believed that you had to do more bad than good to be sent there whereas according to traditional Christian belief, one mortal sin was enough to send you to hell.
You should have listened to whoever told you that “it depends.”
One problem with this topic is that there is not a definitive answer. There are a number of different traditions within Judaism that follow different beliefs and the afterlife is not something that any of those traditions have emphasized to the point where anyone has felt the need to make a declaration that their view is correct. (And there is no controlling authority who could rule on the correctness of that belief, anyway.)
One tradition in ancient Judaism was the belief in Sheol–a place that was pretty much identical to the Greek abode of Hades where all the dead resided, together.
Later traditions broke out Sheol into places for the unjust and different places for the just. This tradition was expanded in the apocryphal literature of the two centuries before the Common Era with some people taking the concept of Gehenna and replacing Sheol with Gehenna’s images of torment. At the same time, other Apocryphal literature began exploring the ideas of separate places for those who were to be rewarded for a just life and those who would be punished for an evil life. Christianity arose during the period when those ideas were being explored and included those concepts into their beliefs regarding the afterlife.
A third set of beliefs held that death resulted in extinction and that there was no afterlife.
There are some scriptural references that can be used to support all three sets of beliefs and no Jewish scholar of whom I am aware ever felt that it was of sufficient importance to set forth any of them as the “Truth.” Thus, different traditions exist side-by-side in Judaism and there is no single belief on this topic that can be considered True of Judaism.
Tomndebb alludes to an important point: for most Jews the afterlife is just not that big a focus, as compared to Christianity (I can’t speak to Islam). The main focus of this life is doing good here and now, tikkun olam, or repairing the world. The afterlife just doesn’t factor much into what the priorities are in Judaism.
All broad brush disclaimers apply, especially in Judaism!
It’s hell, but for a limited time, eventually you will make it to heaven. The second part is true. Basically, nothing you can do will damn you to hell, or anything you do which will guarantee heaven, it is overall.
Dunno if Wikipedia is a good source or not (hey, it’s a lot better than it was a few years ago), but here is their article on Jahannum, which is described as the “Islamic equivalent to Hell.”
One is reminded of the lovely bit of vituperation in Kipling’s “Kim,” where one man suggests that another man “Go to Jehannum and there abide with your reputationless aunt.” Now that’s first-class cussin’!
In Judaism, there certainly is a concept of suffering after death for sins committed in life, although the notion of “Hell” as a place with fire and brimstone and demons is only meant as a child’s-level illustration, not an accurate depiction. The basic idea, on a more mature level, is that the suffering is what the sinful soul must endure in order for it to acclimate to its new surroundings, and that on some level, this suffering is the embarrassment the soul feel over having misspent its Earthly life. The burning (hence the “fire” connection) sensation that we feel when embarrassed is the physical expression of this, but when separated from the body, the sensation is much more intense for the soul. The need for the soul to experience things through its physical senses during mortal life is a muting of the actual emotional experience that the soul, freed of the bonds of physicality, would feel.
You will, alas, get no firm answer to this question in Judaism as a whole. (Religious) Jewish opinions range widely over the existence of an afterlife at all, let alone how it is organized. But IvoryTowerDenizen is correct - it isn’t the focus.
Certainly, Orthodox Jews believe in an afterlife. But perhaps the most characteristic response is the Conservative Jewish position - maybe one exists and maybe one doesn’t!
Sahih International
But whoever kills a believer intentionally - his recompense is Hell, wherein he will abide eternally, and Allah has become angry with him and has cursed him and has prepared for him a great punishment.
Muhsin Khan
And whoever kills a believer intentionally, his recompense is Hell to abide therein, and the Wrath and the Curse of Allah are upon him, and a great punishment is prepared for him.
Pickthall
Whoso slayeth a believer of set purpose, his reward is hell for ever. Allah is wroth against him and He hath cursed him and prepared for him an awful doom.
Yusuf Ali
If a man kills a believer intentionally, his recompense is Hell, to abide therein (For ever): And the wrath and the curse of Allah are upon him, and a dreadful penalty is prepared for him.
Shakir
And whoever kills a believer intentionally, his punishment is hell; he shall abide in it, and Allah will send His wrath on him and curse him and prepare for him a painful chastisement.
Dr. Ghali
And he who kills a believer premeditatedly, then his recompense is Hell, eternally (abiding) therein, and Allah will be angry with him, and will curse him, and has prepared for him a tremendous torment.
I do wonder what the Arabic is for “eternal/forever”. I know the Hebrew “ha’olam” and Greek “aionion” which have been translated thusly in many Bibles actually indicate “an Aion” or “time indefinite”, and not necessarily endlessness.
Sorry to nitpick, but I think it’s an important nitpick. The whole point of Christianity is that we are all bad from the getgo. The way I learned to escape hell was:
admit you’re bad
recognize Jesus as Saviour so he can take the hit for you
try sincerely to be good
Depending on exactly what church you attend, there are going to be all sorts of sub-clauses and exceptions to the whole deal.
And there always seems to be a hint, hint that leaving something on the collection plate couldn’t hurt.
Well, thanks for the nitpik. I guess isee your point, however, I think Christina for the most part have been told the same or a similar story. The happy heaven with you playing a harp on a cloud, or the miserable, hot Hell, where you go to sweat off your evil for eternity.
But from what I’ve gleaned from this thread, judas have no hell. So how are they motivated at all to do the right thing in life? You know, behave morally?
