IF you deconverted in midlife, can you help?

[OakTree500]

Yes, the Jewish version is simply a pit where the dead were thrown. It wasn't until a later time, and not mentioned in the Tanakh, that a concept of something like Hell was developed. In Judaism, it is a place of purification, and it doesn't last more than a year. I can handle that Hell. 

Unfortunately, the Hell that keeps coming up in my fears is the Christian one. When I lost most meaning in Judaism, my mind reverted to old religious trauma of teachings of hellfire and brimstone. A lake of fire and one singular furnace doesn't ease my mind at all. If you were about to be thrown in a lake of fire, would you care that it was just a lake and not an ocean? And the whole eternity thing is just horrific to imagine.

Education here seems to be the best things. From my understanding, in the Christian faith, despite HELL being a big staple of the whole "afterlife" crap they teach you.....it's not actually mentioned in the bible at all, well in some translations of the bible. The supposed most accurate translation of the bible mentions it 14 times, which are all in the new testament. When you compare that against how many times it mentions other things (like heaven for example; mentioned 644 times) you'd think there would be a bigger focus on such a supposed large part of your proposed afterlife, should you be bad enough to warrant that.

More info below on translation issues:

There Are 4 Distinct Words Translated As “Hell”
Most of the confusion around Hell starts with translation error. There are four separate Hebrew and Greek words which are translated into the single English word “Hell”, despite having drastically different meanings.

1. Sheol (Hebrew)
   
   
2. Hades (Greek)
   
   
3. Tartarus (Greek)
   
   
4. Gehenna (Greek)
   
   
   

The English language is often very limited when trying to express certain concepts. A perfect Biblical example of this is the multiple Greek words translated to the single English word “Love”. Agape is a special version of love that speaks about God’s love toward humanity. Phileo speaks about brotherly love and Eros refers to sexual love or desire.

And just like “love”, the English word “hell” is unilaterally translated from the Greek and Hebrew words Sheol, Hades, Gehenna, and Tartarus, each of which have different meanings.

1. Sheol (H7585)
שׁאל    שׁאול
she’ôl  she’ôl
sheh-ole’, sheh-ole’
From H7592; hades or the world of the dead (as if a subterranian retreat), including its accessories and inmates: – grave, hell, pit.

2. Hades (G86)
ᾅδης
hadēs
hah’-dace
From G1 (as a negative particle) and G1492; properly unseen, that is, “Hades” or the place (state) of departed souls: – grave, hell.

3. Gehenna (G1067)
γέεννα
geenna
gheh’-en-nah
Of Hebrew origin ([H1516] and [H2011]); valley of (the son of) Hinnom; gehenna (or Ge-Hinnom), a valley of Jerusalem

4. Tartarus (G5020)
ταρταρόω
tartaroō
tar-tar-o’-o
From Τάρταρος Tartaros̄ (the deepest abyss of Hades); to incarcerate in eternal torment: – cast down to hell.

Below, I’ve listed the full 13 times “Hell” is used in the NASB translation of the Bible. Sheol and Hades are always correctly translated as “the grave” in the NASB and other more accurate translations, which is why you don’t see any references below. I’ve included those words in our discussion simply because they will come up incorrectly as “Hell” in the KJV.

You’ll notice that NONE of the above 4 words actually translate to Hell. The closest is Hades, which is derived from Greek mythology and is never actually translated to “Hell” in academically accepted translations. Sheol and Hades are both always translated as “death” or “the grave” in the NASB and other more accurate translations. And as we are about to see, neither Tartarus nor Gehenna can be correctly translated as “Hell” either.

In other words, “Hell” is NOT actually in the Bible.
But a claim like this warrants a worthy defense, and that’s why we are going to look at EVERY single time the word “Hell” is used in the Bible.
Using the NASB, we see 13 references:

• Matthew 5:22 – Gehenna
  
  
• Matthew 5:29 – Gehenna
  
  
• Matthew 5:30 – Gehenna
  
  
• Matthew 10:28 – Gehenna
  
  
• Matthew 18:9 – Gehenna
  
  
• Matthew 23:15 – Gehenna
  
  
• Matthew 23:33 – Gehenna
  
  
• Mark 9:43 – Gehenna
  
  
• Mark 9:45 – Gehenna
  
  
• Mark 9:47 – Gehenna
  
  
• Luke 12:5 – Gehenna
  
  
• James 3:6 – Gehenna
  
  
• 2 Peter 2:4 – Tartarus
  
  
  

You will notice then that the full conversation of “Hell” comes down to 12 Gehenna mentions and 1 mention of Tartarus.

Tartarus is not a normal Greek word. Like Hades, it’s the name of a place/person in Greek mythology, appearing in writing 700 years before Christ as part of the Greek poet Hesiod’s Theogony. It denotes a dark place below even Hades, and accordingly, is the only one of our 4 words to have “eternal” torment inherently linked to it.

Even if you want to use Greek mythology to defend your views of God, 2 Peter 2:4 isn’t talking about people. It’s talking about where God sent fallen angels.
So if you’re keeping track, this leaves us with only ONE single word on which to base our Biblical analysis of the word “Hell”.

Gehenna.

[Info above from: http://www.brazenchurch.com/hell-in-the-bible/]

So the short answer is, depsite "Hell" being a large focus of what you've been told all these years, most of it is totally made up, whilst the other parts do infact directly relate to the physical place of Gehenna. 

I know that might not be enough for you, and in time you will come around to the idea of hell just being a ludicrous as all the rest of religion to be honest. My rational would be, "do you go to hell for being a good person, but just for not believing in god?" if that answer to that is yes, then fuck god and I'll go to hell with a smile on my face.