It's true that tartarus and hades are not the hells we envision. These two are places literally within the bowels of the earth. Hades being a sort of upper level. A dull place devoid of joy or mirth. There is a mention of a sort of separation into two hades, believe the subject of the narrative was abraham. Tartarus is of course "the lowest hades". To give this whole thing a visual feel; hades is a flattened globe beneath our world, at the bottom of which is a "an abyss", a shaft without end leading down to tartarus. You know the reason that the tartarus verse seems so lonely? It was decided that the Book of Enoch was non-canonical. Which is unfortunate, because it's an interesting narrative itself (and is of course found in aramaic fragments on the dead sea scrolls). It's a sort of celestial supermax under the gp. "The Hole", if you will. You cannot remove tartarus from any mention of hades because they are inseparable concepts. One is a part of the other.
Gehenna would be the place we envision when we think of hell. In fact, hell itself is from an entirely different mythology that did not contain a hades, or a tartarus within the same. It did have a gehenna, and that was an easily absorbed mythology. Gehenna is "the lake of fire". It's interesting to point out that this is possibly derived from an actual place. This is the place of punishment, the final stop for unrepentant sinners. Gehenna is fairly well represented in the new testament, as is hades (and by extension tartarus).
All of this was subsumed under the title hell for a long while. It had alot to do with the native cultures that christianity encountered as it crawled across the map. The first beliefs to be incorporated are the ones with analogs in the native population. As the first doctrines absorbed they form a core piece of it. This is of course our understanding from cultural anthropology and studies of comparative religion. European christianity has traditionally been very heavy on the hell bit, and there were reasons for that. As such, this is the hell the believer inherits.
However, one could take the concepts of hades and tartarus as seperate from gehenna. There's no problem at all with separating them like this. It was intended. The trouble is that it does nothing to remove the idea of torture, torment, or punishment from either concepts. You're either burning in gehenna, or shambling about hades whilst ash rains on your head awaiting resurrection or judgement (being thrown in gehenna). All the while the shaft leading to tartarus is there beneath you where demons are held in torment and lie in wait to pour out onto the earth.
Sounds downright pleasant.
Gehenna would be the place we envision when we think of hell. In fact, hell itself is from an entirely different mythology that did not contain a hades, or a tartarus within the same. It did have a gehenna, and that was an easily absorbed mythology. Gehenna is "the lake of fire". It's interesting to point out that this is possibly derived from an actual place. This is the place of punishment, the final stop for unrepentant sinners. Gehenna is fairly well represented in the new testament, as is hades (and by extension tartarus).
All of this was subsumed under the title hell for a long while. It had alot to do with the native cultures that christianity encountered as it crawled across the map. The first beliefs to be incorporated are the ones with analogs in the native population. As the first doctrines absorbed they form a core piece of it. This is of course our understanding from cultural anthropology and studies of comparative religion. European christianity has traditionally been very heavy on the hell bit, and there were reasons for that. As such, this is the hell the believer inherits.
However, one could take the concepts of hades and tartarus as seperate from gehenna. There's no problem at all with separating them like this. It was intended. The trouble is that it does nothing to remove the idea of torture, torment, or punishment from either concepts. You're either burning in gehenna, or shambling about hades whilst ash rains on your head awaiting resurrection or judgement (being thrown in gehenna). All the while the shaft leading to tartarus is there beneath you where demons are held in torment and lie in wait to pour out onto the earth.
Sounds downright pleasant.
I am the Infantry. I am my country’s strength in war, her deterrent in peace. I am the heart of the fight… wherever, whenever. I carry America’s faith and honor against her enemies. I am the Queen of Battle. I am what my country expects me to be, the best trained Soldier in the world. In the race for victory, I am swift, determined, and courageous, armed with a fierce will to win. Never will I fail my country’s trust. Always I fight on…through the foe, to the objective, to triumph overall. If necessary, I will fight to my death. By my steadfast courage, I have won more than 200 years of freedom. I yield not to weakness, to hunger, to cowardice, to fatigue, to superior odds, For I am mentally tough, physically strong, and morally straight. I forsake not, my country, my mission, my comrades, my sacred duty. I am relentless. I am always there, now and forever. I AM THE INFANTRY! FOLLOW ME!
