A bit on the real history of Hell you might find interesting.
As you've astutely pointed out to me, Islam is the offspring of Christianity. Christianity is the offspring of Judaism.
Interestingly enough, the Jews had no concept of Hell. The word doesn't appear in the OT. In fact, the OT contains many verses that suggest there is no afterlife at all. Sometimes the word "Sheol" is mistranslated to "Hell" but the word that appears in the OT as the destination for us in the afterlife actually means "the grave".
The Old Testament Wrote:Job 7:9 As the cloud is consumed and vanishes away, so he that goeth down to the grave shall come up no more.
Psalm 6:5 For in death there is no remembrance of thee: in the grave who shall give thee thanks?
Ecclesiastes 9:5 The dead know not anything, neither have they any more a reward.
Isaiah 38:18 For the grave cannot praise thee, death can not celebrate thee: they that go down into the pit cannot hope for thy truth.
So since the ancient Jews didn't believe in Hell, where did the idea come from?
Outside of Jerusalem there is a valley called "Gehenna". It's the site of what was once a place of worship for a rival god named "Moloch". According to the Jews at least, the worshipers of Moloch performed gruesome sacrifices including throwing children into the fire.
The Old Testament Wrote:2nd Chronicles 28:3 Moreover he burnt incense in the valley of the son of Hinnom, [Gehenna] and burnt his children in the fire, after the abominations of the heathen whom the LORD had cast out before the children of Israel.
The stigma of such a place haunted the valley in the minds of the Israelites for centuries to come. It was considered an accursed place. Eventually, it became a garbage dump where refuse was burned. In addition to burning their garbage, the bodies of executed criminals were also dumped here instead of being given a proper burial, kind of as a final insult.
Gehnna is considered another word for "Hell".
Let's run it down, the valley of Gehenna is:
- A burning pit
- Associated with a rival sadistic god, an enemy of Yahweh
- Where the wicked are dumped when they die
Gee, sound familiar?
Modern Christian leaders are aware that Hell was once a real valley on earth. They don't deny it. They just gloss over it.
From
Pat Robertson's Site:
Quote:Now, what is Hell like? Jesus said it's like Gehenna. Gehenna was the city dump outside of Jerusalem. He said the fire is never quenched and the worm does not die. It was eternal burning, a place of refuse and burning, and He used that to describe Hell.
So when I die, I want to be cremated and my ashes dumped in the valley of Gehenna. That way, people can say I died and went to Hell.
