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This blog is dedicated to "Bible Notes", so I will appeal to the Holy Scriptures as the primary source for this post on the subject of "hell", particularly to the words of Jesus on the subject since He spoke of hell more than anyone else. Though it is perfectly fine to include other aspects of Holy Tradition to establish a doctrine, ie. liturgical texts, writings of the Church Fathers and Teachers, Lives of the Saints, I think on this subject it is especially important to appeal to Holy Scripture, especially the 12 times Jesus teaches about hell. But I will say that my research has discovered that even among some modern Orthodox scholars there seems to be a lack of reliance on the Holy Scriptures as the primary source of "Truth" and "doctrine". Remember that the Orthodox have an understanding within "the world of doing theology" where theologians and Christians are allowed "theological opinions". But these opinions are permissable as long as they do not stray outside the boundaries of the Orthodox Faith. There is room for opinions but if the Church is clear on a matter of doctrine than beware, lest you stray beyond the gray areas of opinion and into the black of heresy.
This long introduction is necessary because of the controversy heaped upon this subject by atheistic scoffers, and those within the Christian Church-world who have developed an aversion to the idea of hell, eternal punishment, and eternal fire. Post-modern people and post-Christian western civilization is uncomfortable with absolutes, moral absolutes, religious absolutes. "No one knows anything for sure", they say. I will have to be the contrarian here and proclaim that there is "Truth"(John 8:32). Jesus is the Truth and the true Way to God(John 14:6). His Holy Spirit inspired Words are Truth(John 14:17). His Holy Orthodox Church is the pillar and ground of the Truth(1 Tim. 3:15). And what Jesus Himself teaches about "hell" and eternal punishment is the Truth on the subject, forever settled in heaven. An infamous teacher of the the 3rd century, Origen, dared to proceed beyond the limits of Holy Scripture, fell into heretical ideas, teaching that hell was not eternal and that ultimately everyone and everything would be reconciled to God. His followers spread this heresy which created a problem in the church large enough that it had to be dealt with at the Fifth Ecumenical Council in Constantinople(553 A.D.) where Origen's teachings on various topics were condemned as heresy and Origen himself was deemed a heretic. 1000 years later, at the Council of Florence(1439 A.D.), the Roman Catholic teachings on purgatory were refuted by the Orthodox Church in the person of St Mark of Ephesus who demonstrated that the notion of purgatory and all the falsehoods that accompany it are to be rejected by the True Church.
HELL - A PLACE PREPARED BY GOD
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WHAT IS HELL?
Hell is a place as well as a condition, a state of being. Upon being judged unworthy of being welcome into heaven, the sinner will be consigned to a place of torment known by Jesus as Hell/Gehenna, the "Lake of Fire", "Everlasting Torment",
UNDERSTANDING THE GREEK WORDS FOR HELL IN THE NEW TESTAMENT
There are three Greek words translated as "hell" in the KJV of the New Testament.The first Greek word is "tartarus" and is translated "hell" in 2 Peter 2:4 and is understood to be a compartment in the nether world where fallen angels are bound awaiting the final judgment. The second Greek word is "hades" and is translated as "hell" in Mt. 11:23; Mt. 16:18; Lk. 10:15; Lk. 16:23; Acts 2:27, 31; Revelation 1:18; 6:8; 20:13, 14. Hades is understood to be the "place of the departed/the dead" in the heart of the earth where Old Testament saints and sinners (Lk. 16:19-31) awaited the coming of the Messiah and Savior of the world, Jesus Christ, either in Paradise/Abraham's Bosom or far across a great chasm in flaming torment. Upon the Passion of Christ, His Crucifixion and death upon the Cross, Christ descended into "hades" where He destroyed him who had the power of death that is the devil (Heb. 2:14). Then Christ preached to the spirits in prison there (1 Pet. 3:18-20; 2:6-8). Jesus, being God, could not remain in "hades", nor could His body see corruption in the grave. He was raised from the dead, leading all the captive saints who were being held in "captivity" and they were lead by him from there. Some of the saints who arose with Him appeared to many in Jerusalem after His resurrection (Mt. 27:55; Eph. 4:9,10; Acts 2:27,31; Acts 13:31) The third Greek word translated "hell" in the New Testament is "gehenna" (Mt. 5:22,29,30; Mt. 10:28; Mt. 18:9; Mt.23:15,33; Mk. 9:43,45,47; Lk. 12:5; Jms. 3:6) which is the eternal "lake of fire" which Jesus warned of, and into which "death and hades" will be cast into on the great day of judgment(Rev. 20:14). "Gehenna is the Hebrew ge - hinnom - the valley of the son of Hennom. It was located southeast of Jerusalem. During the time of idolatry there was an idol of the god Maloch in the form of a bull, and when fires were burning beneath it, children or even adults were thrown into the fire as human sacrifices. This is why the valley was called the valley of mourning. King Josiah (7th century B.C.) declared that place unclean and ordered all the unclean things to be thrown there - the refuse of the city, the carcasses of animals, the corpses of people who had been condemned to death and unburied dead. The destruction of all these was done by fire, whose purpose was also to disinfect the area. During the day clouds of smoke, rising from there, covered the surrounding area, while at night the huge flames could be seen from a considerable distance. Because of this the place was called - gehenna of fire - and it became a symbol of hell, since people would say: "The hell of sinners must be something like this!". This is why the Lord used this image, which was familiar to his contemporaries in order to describe the weight of the punishment and the severity of eternal hell."(The Mystery of Death by Nikolaos P. Vassiliadis, p. 518)
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