[The following is an excerpt from a book I'd been planning to write for years. It started as a book on comparative religions -- an effort to bring comity amongst the various religions as the world. But, then I became an atheist and a Humanist. Going forward, should I finish it, the book I may attempt to establish a new religion to either replace or be practice in conjunction with the other world religions. Should I make such a bold attempt, the religion would be based on the principles of human harmony and "we-ism" over "me-ism". The "God" -- should any require one -- would be abstract, not corporeal. It would simply be....LOVE.]
·The Dead are NOT
in Heaven
This is probably a good
place to set the record straight about what the Bible narrative says about
where our dead loved ones reside – the grave. As pointed out earlier, the book
of Revelations clearly says that there will be a judgment day in which the dead
will be resurrected and judged. Until then, according to the Bible they are
just dead – not in heaven as our clergy mislead us to believe when comforting
us in funeral services:
“…but
the dead know not any thing, neither have they any more a reward; for
the memory of them is forgotten.” (Eccl 9:5)
Perhaps in anticipation
of judgment day the book of Isaiah, in a song of trust in the Lord’s protection
speaks of the earth giving up its dead, echoing the words of Revelations:
“Thy
dead men shall live, together with my dead body shall they arise.
Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust: for thy dew is as the dew of herbs and the
earth shall cast out the dead.” (Is 26:19)
I imagine this to be the
reason that Jesus is quoted to have said to one of his disciples desiring to
bury his father:
“…Follow
me; and let the dead bury their dead.” (Matt 8:22)
“…Let
the dead bury their dead: but go thou and preach the kingdom of God.”
(Luke 9:60)
These words aren’t harsh
in the context of the true Bible story – that the dead are no more. Thus, any
hope of seeing them again is in the resurrection of all the dead. This point is
also emphasized by the words:
“…God
is not
the God of the dead, but of the living.” (Matt 22:32)
“He is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living…” (Mark
12:27)
“For he is not a God of the dead, but of the living: for all live unto
him.” (Luke 20:38)
There are only two
references wherein one could possibly draw an inference that the dead who are
worthy go directly to heaven. One is the account of Jesus telling the two
thieves crucified with him that on that day they would be in paradise with him.
The other is a parable Jesus gives about a rich man and Lazarus (not the guy he
raised from the dead, but another):
“And
it came to pass, that the beggar [Lazarus]
died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham’s bosom: the rich man also
died, and was buried; and in hell he lifted up his eyes, being in torments, and
seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. And he cried and said, Father
Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his
finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame. But
Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good
things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art
tormented.” (Luke 16:22-25)
But it must be remembered
that this is a parable – just like the prodigal son, the ten talents, the wheat
and the tares, the mustard seed, etc. Who has a conversation while being burned
alive? Who would ask for mere drops of water on their tongue to ease their
torments? To the extent that it represents life after death, it’s a glimpse
into judgment day. It’s a story to drive home a point of view that no good deed
goes unrewarded and no bad one goes unpunished – be it in this life or
afterwards. So stop going into debt, wasting money you don’t have on lavish
funerals. Have your wakes to celebrate the lives of your loved ones and let the
county bury your dead if you can’t afford to – without shame.
I also never believed
that the creator – if there is one – ever wanted mankind to kill nonbelievers,
the literal religious texts notwithstanding. Even as a believer in the divinity
of the Bible, Qur’an, and other sacred texts, my concept of a loving God
precluded me from believing the bad things that were said about him. As stated
earlier, I didn’t believe hell was a reality; and I didn’t believe that God
wanted “soldiers” to literally kill nonbelievers. It just seemed absurd to me
that the creator of the universe [or multiverse] needed or wanted relatively
puny human beings to kill for him/her/it. Therefore my subsequent belief that
the texts are based on myths, and not divine, didn’t free me from the wrathful
God with the anger management problem. I already was. So why adhere to any part
of them if one believes them to be myth-based, you ask? The reason is simple.
Virtually all myths have elements of both fact and fabrication and understanding
the atmosphere that gives rise to a particular myth allows one to separate the
two.
·Hell, Gehenna,
Sheol, Hades, Tartarus, and the Grave
The word “hell” appears
thirty-one (31) times in the Old Testament and twenty-three (23) times in the
New Testament of the King James Version (KJV) of the Bible. [A Strong’s
concordance is invaluable for determining how many times a word is used in the
Bible. For those desiring to study the Bible, I highly recommend purchasing
one.] In the Jehovah’s Witness’ Bible – the New World Translation (NWT) – all
thirty-one instances of “hell” in the KJV of the Old Testament are replaced
with Sheol instead. Of the twenty-three New Testament occurrences in the KJV of
the word “hell”, the NWT replaces it: 12 times with Gehenna; 10 times with
Hades; and once with Tartarus. This is NOT
a CHANGE,
but a reverting back to the original Hebrew and Greek words
that appear in those Hebrew and Greek texts from which we get our English
translations.
Gehenna is the English
equivalent of the Greek word Geenna,
the Hebrew word gehinnom, and the
Aramaic word Gehanna that all mean “valley
of Hinnom”. The Hebrew form of the word appears thirteen (13) times in
eleven (11) verses in the original Hebrew Masoretic texts (MT) of the Old
Testament (appearing twice in 2 different verses). The KJV of the Old Testament
translates this word literally as 1) valley of Hinnom; 2) valley of the son of
Hinnom; and 3) valley of the children of Hinnom in these 11 verses.
Gehenna (valley of
Hinnom) was alleged to be the site where apostate Israelites and followers of
various gods sacrificed their children by fire, and later a burning garbage
dump. The NWT appendix asserts that:
The
valley of Hinnom became the dumping place and incinerator for the filth of
Jerusalem. Bodies of dead animals were thrown in to be consumed in the fires to
which sulphur, or brimstone, was added to assist the burning. Also bodies of
executed criminals, who were considered undeserving of a memorial tomb, were
thrown in. If such dead bodies landed in the fire they were consumed, but if
their carcasses landed upon a ledge of the deep ravine their putrefying flesh
became infested with worms, or maggots, which did not die until they had
consumed the fleshy parts, leaving only the skeletons.
No
living animals or human creatures were pitched into Gehenna to be burned alive
or tormented. Hence, the place could never symbolize an invisible region where
human souls are tormented eternally in literal fire or attacked forever by
undying worms. Because the dead criminals cast there were denied a decent
memorial tomb, the symbol of the hope of a resurrection (emphasis added),
Gehenna was used by Jesus and his disciples to symbolize everlasting destruction, annihilation from God’s universe, or “second
death”, an eternal punishment.
I have only found one
online dictionary that corroborates the Jehovah’s Witness assertion that
Gehenna was a “dumping place and incinerator for the filth of Jerusalem” –
Collins English Dictionary (British).
For instance, the entry for Gehenna at dictionary.com has:
Gehenna: 1) the
valley of Hinnom, near Jerusalem, where propitiatory sacrifices were made to
Moloch. II Kings 23:10. 2) hell (
def. 1 ) . 3) any place of extreme
torment or suffering.
For Merriam-Webster you
will find:
Gehenna: 1) a
place or state of misery 2) hell
But, Collins English
Dictionary has:
Gehenna: 1) (Old
Testament) the valley below Jerusalem, where children were sacrificed and where
idolatry was practised (II Kings 23:10; Jeremiah 19:6) and where later offal and refuse were
slowly burned (emphasis added) 2)
(New Testament, Judaism) a place where the wicked are punished after death 3) a place or state of pain and torment
If you don’t know what
offal is [I didn’t; pronounced the same as awful] it is defined at dictionary.com
as:
Offal: 1) the
parts of a butchered animal that are considered inedible by human beings;
carrion. 2) the parts of a butchered
animal removed in dressing; viscera. 3)
refuse; rubbish; garbage.
Additionally, I have a
1982 Webster's New World Dictionary: 2nd College Edition from my college days,
published before the merger of Webster’s with Merriam, which also corroborates
the refuse burning in Gehenna:
Gehenna: 1) the
valley of Hinnom, near Jerusalem, where refuse was burned in Biblical times
(emphasis added) 2) Douay New Testament hell –n.
any place of torment
So why is any of this
important, you ask? The importance lies in 11 of the 16 Biblical accounts of
Jesus’ KJV mention of hell – including all of his references about “burning
in hell” – and the one time that James speaks of burning in hell. When you know
that the actual references were to Gehenna you get a different understanding:
“But
I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall
be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca,
shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be
in danger of hell [Gehenna, English equivalent of
Greek text] fire.” (Matt 5:22)
“And
if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: for it is
profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy
whole body should be cast into hell [Gehenna, English
equivalent of Greek text]. And if thy right hand offend thee, cut it
off, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy
members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell [Gehenna, English equivalent of Greek text].” (Matt
5:29-30)
“And
fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but
rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell [Gehenna, English equivalent of Greek text].” (Matt
10:28)
“And
if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: it is better for
thee to enter into life with one eye, rather than having two eyes to be cast
into hell [Gehenna, English equivalent of Greek text]
fire.” (Matt 18:9)
“Woe
unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to
make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of
hell [Gehenna, English equivalent of Greek text]
than yourselves.” (Matt 23:15)
“Ye
serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell [Gehenna, English equivalent of Greek text]?” (Matt
23:33)
“And
if thy hand offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter into life
maimed, than having two hands to go into hell [Gehenna,
English equivalent of Greek text], into the fire that never shall be
quenched:” (Mark 9:43)
“And
if thy foot offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter halt into
life, than having two feet to be cast into hell [Gehenna,
English equivalent of Greek text], into the fire that never shall be
quenched: Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. And if
thine eye offend thee, pluck it out: it is better for thee to enter into the
kingdom of God with one eye, than having two eyes to be cast into hell [Gehenna, English equivalent of Greek text] fire:”
(Mark 9:45-47)
“But
I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear: Fear him, which after he hath killed
hath power to cast into hell [Gehenna, English
equivalent of Greek text]; yea, I say unto you, Fear him.” (Luke
25:5)
“And
the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members,
that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and
it is set on fire of hell [Gehenna, English equivalent
of Greek text].” (James 3:6)
Clearly all of the
references of: 1) burning; 2) destruction of the body and soul; 3) the worm
(maggot) not dying (until it eats all the human flesh); and 4) the fire that
never quenches are about Gehenna – the valley of Hinnom. The fire never went
out. It was kept burning because it was a garbage heap. Bodies landing off to
the side of the fire were eaten by maggots. Presumably, people thought that the
dead soul would still be tormented by the maggots. The body and
soul were said to be destroyed because of the belief that only the dead who
were encapsulated in a grave had any hope of a resurrection. This is Jesus and
James using the analogy of Gehenna, knowing the people’s fear of their dead
bodies not being entombed in graves.
This is why many people
still shun the idea of cremation to this very day. No grave means no
resurrection – eternal annihilation from God’s universe, not eternal torment. The
NWT’s depiction notwithstanding, it means that there would be no “second death” for these people because
they wouldn’t even be resurrected. However, one might conclude that not being
resurrected is better than the absolute cruelty of being brought back to life,
just so that you can die again in a “lake of fire”.
My Webster’s dictionary
[mentioned earlier] gives the following definition for Sheol:
Sheol: Bible a
place in the depths of the earth conceived of as the dwelling of the dead.
It gives the following
definition of Hades:
Hades: 1) Gr. Myth. a) the home of the dead,
beneath the earth b) the ruler of the underworld 2) Bible the state or
resting place of the dead: name used in some modern translations of the New
Testament –n. [often h- ] [Colloq.] hell : a euphemism.
Sheol, is the English
equivalent of the Hebrew word [variously, she’ol, sheowl, or sha’al], that
actually appears in the original Hebrew Masoretic texts (MT) of the Old
Testament 65 times according to The Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew and English
Lexicon. There is a difference of opinion among scholars as to whether or not
Sheol should have been translated as “grave” or “hell”. My bet is that
virtually all scholars that prefer the translation to be “hell” are of the
Judeo-Christian faith.
Hades is the English
equivalent of the Greek word Haides which appears in the Greek texts of the New
Testament 10 times. The KJV renders all such occurrences of Hades as hell and
it renders Sheol as hell 31 times, grave 31 times, and pit 3 times according to
the lexicon mentioned above as reported by Biblestudytools.com. (http://www.Biblestudytools.com/lexicons/hebrew/kjv/sheowl.html) (See also http://www.theopedia.com/Sheol)
The NWT appendix says
that “[Sheol] is in the earth and is always associated with the dead, and
plainly means the common grave of mankind, gravedom, or the earthly (not sea)
region of the dead.” (emphasis added)
“And
the sea
gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell [Hades, English equivalent of Greek text] delivered
up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man
according to their works. (Rev 20:13)
In
Acts 2:25-27 Peter quotes Psalms 16:8-11, and clearly shows that Hades is the
equivalent of Sheol and is applied to the common grave of mankind:
“For
David speaketh concerning him, I foresaw the LORD always before my face, for he is on my right hand,
that I should not be moved: Therefore did my heart rejoice, and my tongue was
glad; moreover also my flesh shall rest in hope: Because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell
[Hades, English equivalent of Greek text],
neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption. Thou hast made known
to me the ways of life; thou shalt make me full of joy with thy countenance.”
(Acts 2:25-28)
“I
have set the LORD always before me: because he is at my right hand, I
shall not be moved. Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoiceth: my
flesh also shall rest in hope. For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell
[Sheol, English equivalent of Masoretic text];
neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption. Thou wilt shew me
the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy…” (Ps 16:8-11)
The interpretation of
Sheol and Hades to mean the common grave of mankind – and not a “hell” wherein
evil, wicked nonbelievers burn eternally – is much more compatible with the
Bible narrative’s depiction of a Judgment
Day wherein the dead are to be resurrected and judged. The dead are said to
come from the three places/realms the author knew dead people to be: 1) the
sea; 2) Hades, a place under the ground; and 3) death, whatever realm that is.
Conceivably the realm of “death” refers to all dead who aren’t either under the
ground or in the sea. This would most likely be the dead who are lying around
and have yet to be buried.
Tartarus is the English
equivalent of the Greek word Tartaroo
which is used only once in the Greek version of the New Testament – the Second
Epistle of Peter – although the KJV uses the word hell instead:
“For
if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell [Tartarus, English equivalent of Greek text], and
delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment;” (2 Pet
2:4)
Tartarus
is the name of a deep, gloomy place, a pit, or an abyss used as a dungeon of
torment and suffering that is said to reside beneath the underworld. It was
regarded by the ancient Greeks as the abode of the wicked dead, where they
suffer punishment for their evil deeds. In Greek
mythology, Tartarus is a place in the underworld — even lower than Hades.
It is the place where enemies of the gods are sent. (See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tartarus)
Obviously, influenced as
they were by Greek culture, it’s understandable that writers of the New
Testament would incorporate aspects of Greek mythology into their new myth.
Uranus, the Greek sky god before Zeus, threw some of his own children in
Tartarus because he feared they might overthrow him. Cronus, one of his
children whom he didn’t put there, castrated Uranus and took over. Later Cronus’
son Zeus along with his siblings dethroned Cronus and sent him to Tartarus. So
if the Greek gods sent their enemies to Tartarus, why wouldn’t the new God
Jehovah send recalcitrant angels – his “wayward children” there, too?
So after this lengthy
foray into Biblical depictions of the afterlife it should be clear to all that
– even according to the Bible – your deceased loved ones are neither in heaven
nor are they being tormented in hell. They’re just dead. It should also be very
clear that – even if we are to be resurrected, as the Bible narrative suggests
– there is no reason to believe that anyone will be tormented in a place called
hell for eternity.
Now, if you happen to
hear retired Episcopal Bishop John Shelby Spong tell you that the entire
concept of hell was made up by the church to control people’s minds you may not
be so dismissive of him. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SF6I5VSZVqc) The fact is that the notion of eternal life after a
future, nonspecific resurrection was far too remote and implausible to convince
people to forego the pleasures of the world which the church leaders believed
mankind should avoid. Since the promised reward wasn’t enough then – and may
not even be enough now – the concept of the alternative eternal existence was
fabricated.
And even more insidious
was the utilization of the parable of the rich man and Lazarus to convince
people that their reward or punishment started immediately upon death –
contrary to what the Bible narrative actually says. This further strengthened
their hold on the minds of mankind because it implies a continuation of life –
either in a good place or a bad – thus removing the remoteness of a
resurrection.
Bishop Spong is one of a number of clerics who still believes in a creator-God but who reject the realm of hell. Bishop Carlton Pearson – whom I truly recognize as a kindred spirit – sometime around 2005 announced that he no longer believed in hell. His subsequent MSNBC interview, “To Hell and Back” – a one hour special that aired in September 2007 – had originally aired as a Dateline segment in July 2007. There he spoke to the nation about his disbelief in a place after death called hell wherein the evil among us are tormented. The extended interview has been posted extensively on the internet. One such place is: (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GlYtlsduMUM&feature=bf_prev&list=PL3D2E313ACE641927)