(March 8, 2019 at 6:00 pm)Der/die AtheistIn Wrote:(March 8, 2019 at 5:56 pm)fredd bear Wrote: Interesting post.
There is a kind of sense in that belief.
Christianity comes from Judaism, which has a belief in demons**, and fallen angels. The Jewish notion of hell is like a less severe form of purgatory. The maximum time a person can remain there is 2 years..
The concept of an eternal hell is purely a Christian invention, which evolved over centuries.
Below a clip from my favourite Christian, emeritus Arch Bishop, John Shelby Spong, an embarrassment to the Anglican church.
" Religion is---- in the guilt producing control business"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SF6I5VSZVqc
**I can think of 2 demons off hand; Lilith, who was the real first woman according to Jewish apocrypha (she wouldn't obey Adam, who complained to god, he scrunched her and made Eve) then there is Asheroth, who was the wife of YHWH. She went when what would become Judaisms became monotheist, at a time well after the putative Exodus.
What if the person never followed or had much contact to Judaism?
This topic is of academic interest only to me; because I don't believe in gods or an afterlife, I have little interest in arguing a point.
Not interested in hypotheticals. I'm simply saying the Christian concept of an eternal hell, believed in 'Christian' cultures', is a Church invention as far as I'm aware.
There have been different notions of 'hell' in other cultures, for millennia. Christian eternal hell is very specific. I looked up"hell' in Wikipedia and found a pretty good general explanation. Also searched for "the origins of hell" and came across a lot of Christian apologist arguments.
This a a huge topic in terms of available information. I've provided a very basic idea, with limited information. I've also given a couple of sources for more information. If you're interested, do some research and make up your own mind.
