# The Nature of Hell... **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [March 2, 2001, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-nature-of-hell/56551 "2001-03-02T22:08:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2001, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-nature-of-hell/56551/21 "2001-03-03T01:21:25Z")
> [@](#): > > I’m beginning to think that the whole ‘fire and brimstone’ angle may be allegorical, or symbolic. Course they’ll come and revoke my SBC card if they found out to keep it quiet… okay? We’ll keep it quiet, 'Gator. Though I reserve the right to throw out an anchor and stop you if you go on beyond me towards UUism! 😉 BTW, my own personal Hell, of late, would be having to choose between two worldviews – Billy’s and JAB’s. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![andros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e480ec/32.png) [@andros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andros)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2001, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-nature-of-hell/56551/22 "2001-03-03T01:24:41Z")
I won’t tell. 😉 Roger wilco. I do not see any Biblical justification for the Pit of Fire with pitchforks and all that. I also don’t see how the varying Biblical references to hell can be reconciled _without_ accepting some or all as allegory. But then, I have no theological problems with accepting the whole Bible as allegory. ---
**Author:** ![jmullaney](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/85e7bf/32.png) [@jmullaney](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jmullaney)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2001, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-nature-of-hell/56551/23 "2001-03-03T01:46:39Z")
I was reading Revelations earlier. Revelations 3: > [@](#): > > 3 Remember then what you received and heard; keep that, and repent. If you will not awake, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come upon you. > 4 Yet you have still a few names in Sardis, people who have not soiled their garments; and they shall walk with me in white, for they are worthy. > 5 He who conquers shall be clad thus in white garments, and I will not blot his name out of the book of life; I will confess his name before my Father and before his angels. Revelations 20: > [@](#): > > 7 And when the thousand years are ended, Satan will be loosed from his prison > 8 and will come out to deceive the nations which are at the four corners of the earth, that is, Gog and Magog, to gather them for battle; their number is like the sand of the sea. > 9 And they marched up over the broad earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city; but fire came down from heaven and consumed them, > 10 and the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulphur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night for ever and ever. > 11 Then I saw a great white throne and him who sat upon it; from his presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them. > 12 And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Also another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, by what they had done. > 13 And the sea gave up the dead in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead in them, and all were judged by what they had done. > 14 Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire; > 15 and if any one’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire. How’s that for fire and brimstone? ---
**Author:** ![inor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/f475e1/32.png) [@inor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/inor)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2001, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-nature-of-hell/56551/24 "2001-03-03T01:48:25Z")
I’m really being hit with what **Poly** said up there-that crack guy? I’m a drug addict, clean fro years now, but still with problems. And I’ve had cause to wonder what hell might be. I think you might be right- I don’t know if I absolutely believe in an after life, but I do believe that whatever else, heaven, hell, god and the devil are in our heads. To me, this doesn’t preclude some kind of god external to ourselves. I don’t know what it might be like though, and won’t dwell on that. But what you described, I’ve lived through. It reaches into your whole life, much more than you talked about. Hurting your kids and other loved ones, driving them away, not knowing how to stop, telling yourself (since you can’t stop) that they deserve whatever shittery you just pulled, _and believing your rationalizations in order to not shatter_, jails, institutions, the worst kind of head to live in, hate, fear, confusion, etc. Living with what you’ve done, spawning myriad hundred year children that then haunt you for years. And you’re alone, because you’ve driven everybody else away. And it slowly dawns on you, over a period of time, how much you loved them. And the more awareness you reach, the worse it is. Whoever is left, you can’t really say the things you would like to, because you don’t know how, you can’t get any or inadequate kindness out into the world. And it’s Hell. And then, there are peaceful times. Hopeful times. Rare, but they’re there. And it’s (as much as I have the capacity to enjoy anything- limited, another type of hell) Heaven. Thanks for this thread you guys. Thanks Polycarp. ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2001, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-nature-of-hell/56551/25 "2001-03-03T02:10:14Z")
::: realizes he’ll get flamed for making this post in GD, and decides he doesn’t give a shit ::: {{{Inor}}} ::: hands Inor a jigger of Tullamore Dew (Tommy Janssen’s favorite drink) ::: ---
**Author:** ![inor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/f475e1/32.png) [@inor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/inor)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2001, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-nature-of-hell/56551/26 "2001-03-03T02:23:30Z")
::feeling a lot like Tommy:: Thanks Poly, a bunch. (((((Polycarp))))) ---
**Author:** ![jmullaney](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/85e7bf/32.png) [@jmullaney](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jmullaney)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2001, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-nature-of-hell/56551/27 "2001-03-03T02:32:29Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Polycarp \* > ::: realizes he’ll get flamed … ::: Bad pun! Bad!!! (and I’ll be _damned_ if you didn’t do it on purpose) 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Fenris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fenris/32/498_2.png) [@Fenris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fenris)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2001, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-nature-of-hell/56551/28 "2001-03-03T02:41:03Z")
I always thought that C.S. Lewis’s description of it in The Great Divorce was one of the most powerful I’ve ever read. (Dante’s is more powerful, but Lewis allows for hope of release. And Dante’s Heaven is **dull** , unlike Lewis’s.) Imagine the most unpleasant, boring, dreary, miserable suburbs you’ve ever been in. Imagine _every_ day being cold, dank and overcast. The buses run late, there are no good places to eat, no bookstores, and so on. Fill the city with irritating, pissy, angry, snivelly people. In other words, it’s just like all the bad parts of real life and none of the good parts. The story is of a man in Hell who takes a bus excursion to Heaven. Lewis paints one of the most beautiful descriptions of Heaven I’ve ever read. We get to see the people in the bus confront their sins and decide whether to give them up or not. The story dribbles off towards the end as Lewis writes George MacDonald (his hero) into the story, which promptly becomes somewhat self-indulgent. But for his descriptions of Heaven and Hell, it’s certainly worth reading! Fenris ---
**Author:** ![Navigator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/4af34b/32.png) [@Navigator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Navigator)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2001, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-nature-of-hell/56551/29 "2001-03-03T02:46:53Z")
Jay, which is eternal, the flame or the torment? ((inor)) I haven’t read much of your posts, but it takes a lot of guts to spill your heart like that. ::_thumbs up_:: ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2001, 8:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-nature-of-hell/56551/30 "2001-03-03T08:50:06Z")
A man dies and goes to hell. Satan meets him at the entrance and tells him, “Welcome to hell, you have three choices on how you would like to spend eternity.” He takes him to the first room, which contains millions of people strapped down on various types of torture devices, with masked tormentors, whipping them and causing them excruciating pain. The man becomes fearful of what awaits him. Satan takes him on to room #2, which contains millions of people being forced to lay on scorching hot coals and their skin being perpetually burned off of them. They are screaming louder than the people in room #1. Satan then takes him to the third room were there are a few thousand people walking around waist high in manure, smoking cigarettes and drinking coffee. The man thinks, “hey this can’t be too bad”, and tells Satan he’ll stay here. He wades in and gets a cup of coffee, when all of the sudden a voice comes over a loud speaker that says, “Alright, coffee break’s over, heads down!” 😉 :temporary hijack: over - you can resume your regular discussion. ---
**Author:** ![Satan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Satan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Satan)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2001, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-nature-of-hell/56551/31 "2001-03-03T19:56:26Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Polycarp \* > > **Though I reserve the right to throw out an anchor and stop you if you go on beyond me towards UUism!** Hey! :mad: 😉 ---
**Author:** ![JonScribe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/3be4f8/32.png) [@JonScribe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JonScribe)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2001, 8:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-nature-of-hell/56551/32 "2001-03-05T08:25:06Z")
I gave up trying to guess what the afterlife is going to be like, Heaven, Hell or otherwise. Frankly, I have difficulty wrapping my mind around the concept of the nothingness that “exists” outside the boundaries of the universe, so I’m not even going to try and grasp something like the afterlife. Suffice it to say, I have little say in the matter. I don’t live my life with the sole motivation being what happens to me after I die. From my admittedly limited Sunday School exposure, I do remember one certain piece of scripture, something about those who would save their lives, losing them. My “enterance fee” is already paid. I just have to accept it. What happens after I get there will be a grand surprise. ---
**Author:** ![kabbes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e99b99/32.png) [@kabbes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kabbes)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2001, 10:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-nature-of-hell/56551/33 "2001-03-05T10:11:34Z")
My problem with the “fire and brimstone” version of hell is that surely one must have a physical body to feel physical pain. A soul has no skin to be seared. I’m presuming that there is a standart fundy answer to this one - anyone know what it is? pan ---
**Author:** ![Akatsukami](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ea666f/32.png) [@Akatsukami](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Akatsukami)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2001, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-nature-of-hell/56551/34 "2001-03-05T14:09:44Z")
A certain preacher was giving a spirited sermon on the horrors of Hell, quoting the line, “There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth”. A toothless elder in the congregation whistled, “But, Reverend, what about those of us as have lost our teeth?” The preacher thundered back, “Is anything too hard for the Lord? Rest assured that, where necessary, teeth will be provided!” So, presumably, will the ability to feel the agony provided by flames and molten sulfur be provided. ---
**Author:** ![kabbes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e99b99/32.png) [@kabbes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kabbes)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2001, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-nature-of-hell/56551/35 "2001-03-05T14:22:23Z")
Fair enough **Akatsukami**. However if I were God’s processes manager, I’d suggest that given the power to do that He/She could do without the actual fire and/or sulphur and skip straight to the pain application part of the procedure. Far more efficient. Brimstone optional of course. pan ---
**Author:** ![meara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@meara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/meara)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2001, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-nature-of-hell/56551/36 "2001-03-05T14:47:20Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Akatsukami \* > \*\*So, presumably, will the ability to feel the agony provided by flames and molten sulfur be provided. \*\* Sounds like a loving god to me! 🙂 Seriously, I know that many/most don’t agree with that, but I wonder how some people reconcile a just god with eternal punishment for temporal sin – especially the ones who insist that man is inherently incapable of saving himself. See [http://www.ozemail.com.au/~lkolberg/transcripts/C199E.html](http://www.ozemail.com.au/~lkolberg/transcripts/C199E.html) for an example. It’s an excerpt from Family Radio’s [Open Forum with Harold Camping](http://www.ozemail.com.au/~lkolberg/subindex/topics.html) – a radio program I often listen to for lack of better amusements. ---
**Author:** ![WhiteRaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8dc957/32.png) [@WhiteRaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhiteRaven)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2001, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-nature-of-hell/56551/37 "2001-03-06T03:00:14Z")
Every reference I see to Hell as viewed as fire and brimstone has been in the New Testament. Is this correct or am I missing something? I noticed a pretty big difference in the God of the Old Testament, and the God of the NT. Only stands to reason that the concepts of hell will be different. So which is the right one? ---
**Author:** ![jab1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ee7513/32.png) [@jab1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jab1)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2001, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-nature-of-hell/56551/38 "2001-03-06T03:39:18Z")
Hell is being unable to post on the SDMB… ---
**Author:** ![GilaB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8e7dd6/32.png) [@GilaB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GilaB)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2001, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-nature-of-hell/56551/39 "2001-03-06T06:06:47Z")
Quote: I noticed a pretty big difference in the God of the Old Testament, and the God of the NT. Only stands to reason that the concepts of hell will be different. So which is the right one? Well, since we haven’t gotten any field reports recently, your guess is as good as mine. I think that it would probably depend on who you ask. The Torah doesn’t go into great, loving detail about hell. There have been rabbinical descriptions of it in the Talmud and Medrash, but those aren’t necessarily based directly on text, so they’re more hypotheses than concrete ideas or descriptions. Throughout my studies, both in (Orthodox) school and out, I’ve never been taught much about Hell. The idea that has always been conveyed to me is that it’s bad, you don’t want to go there, etc., but let’s focus on this life and how we’re supposed to behave in the here and now. There is certainly an afterlife, but it’s not an afterlife-focused religion. At least, that’s how I see things. As far as I can tell from what I’ve learned, the Jewish version of Hell for most people seems to be more of a purgatory-type situation, in which one’s soul spends a limited amount of time atoning for one’s earthly sins. While one is there, people in this world can do good deeds in one’s name in order to shorten the duration of one’s visit, since it is assumed that these good deeds would not have otherwise been done without one’s influence. There is also a permanent hell for really really bad people (I think), but this is reserved for exceptionally bad cases. There’s a Heaven, too, with varying levels for different people based on their deeds and on how much they suffered in life. But what any of these places are actually like? I really couldn’t tell you, although I’ve read several opinions. If I hear from anybody, I’ll tell you more details, but I’m not holding my breath. (Honestly, if I do get an email from Hell, I’ll start to worry.) ---
**Author:** ![MEBuckner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mebuckner/32/2896_2.png) [@MEBuckner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MEBuckner)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2001, 7:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-nature-of-hell/56551/40 "2001-03-06T07:45:30Z")
> [@](#): > > My problem with the “fire and brimstone” version of hell is that surely one must have a physical body to feel physical pain. A soul has no skin to be seared. > > I’m presuming that there is a standart fundy answer to this one - anyone know what it is? Don’t forget the resurrection: > [@](#): > > Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice and come out–those who have done good will rise to live, and those who have done evil will rise to be condemned. – John 5:28-29 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-nature-of-hell/56551.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-nature-of-hell/56551.md?page=3)