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Was hell a later invention to scare believers?
June 24, 2015 at 5:47 pm
(This post was last modified: June 24, 2015 at 5:49 pm by Coreni.)
I have an inch that it is. Because i have actually re-read the letters in authentic order and ignoring forgeries. (And just a hint. The letters are older than the gospels, they start popping up later. Much of it talks more of Jesus as a sky deity than an actual being)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forged#Boo..._by_Ehrman
https://en.wikipedia.org/?title=New_Testament
Atleast by scholars who considers them authentic writings of paul. And even reading the unknown stuff of 1 John, 2 John and 3 John letters who is unknown to who wrote them. But what i just got was "Not in the book of life". Actually hades was the word used as the afterlife for the people who dont follow this religion. Although there have been some debates whether gehenna in the gospels are symbolic for a torture place or just a garbage place outside of jerusalem. (But those are afterall not by eyewitnesses. So yeah)
The only thing i could consider being more direct is "Book of Revelation". Although this was not added til later, because some thought it was a fake. It was not til ca 400 AD that it was added as a last canon in the new testament.
Either way, wanna know what you guys think?
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RE: Was hell a later invention to scare believers?
June 24, 2015 at 5:51 pm
Don't know when hell was added. If added later it may be that the other afterlife was not enough incentive.
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RE: Was hell a later invention to scare believers?
June 24, 2015 at 5:53 pm
I rather doubt that the "authentic" letters of paul were written by anyone named "paul." The best one could say about them was that they started out as a collection of letters written by one person and were then subjected to extensive editing.
Whether or not this means that they are still "authentic" is a discussion for another day.
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RE: Was hell a later invention to scare believers?
June 24, 2015 at 6:04 pm
Jews didn't have the idea of hell. In fact some people say that's one reason Jesus is worse than Yahweh. At least when Yahweh kills you, he's done with you, but christianity introduced this idea of eternal torment.
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RE: Was hell a later invention to scare believers?
June 24, 2015 at 10:12 pm
Yeah, all the cuddly, feel-good stuff about Jesus goes out the window with that eternal damnation thing.
I think the contemporary vision of what Hell is like comes more from Dante's Inferno than anything else.
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RE: Was hell a later invention to scare believers?
June 24, 2015 at 11:10 pm
Some or most of it, I think. Especially ideas like Satan being in charge of hell. Like an evil Hades or something. I'm pretty sure Satan and his demons torturing people isn't canon. They would be tortured prisoners as much as anyone else.
One interesting note is that sometimes Jesus mentions Gehenna. Which is just a valley you could visit where they keep fires burning and throw the dead into. Meaning it's just a place of fire where they dispose of corpses, and there won't be any eternal torturing of souls.
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RE: Was hell a later invention to scare believers?
June 24, 2015 at 11:39 pm
Still, it's fun to imagine Pat Robertson in hell getting molten gold enemas . . .
Listen to that fraud SCREAM !!!
Praise Jeebus !!!!!!!!
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RE: Was hell a later invention to scare believers?
June 25, 2015 at 12:13 am
(This post was last modified: June 25, 2015 at 12:13 am by robvalue.)
As far as I have been able to gather, hell is a concept brought into Christianity by the NT. That means Jesus brought us about the most evil concept imaginable. I know some people have very toned down ideas of what hell is, but an awful lot of people believe it is to do with eternal torture. For those people, what could Jesus have done that was more evil than to create/unleash hell? I'd love to hear of a suggestion from anybody as to a more evil act Jesus could have done.
Let's face it, hell's primary function is scaring people into compliance and discouraging questions. This isn't much of a threat if there isn't at least some form of considerable suffering involved.
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RE: Was hell a later invention to scare believers?
June 25, 2015 at 12:23 am
(This post was last modified: June 25, 2015 at 12:26 am by The Grand Nudger.)
(June 25, 2015 at 12:13 am)robvalue Wrote: what could Jesus have done that was more evil than to create/unleash hell? I'd love to hear of a suggestion from anybody as to a more evil act Jesus could have done.
Well, I suppose he -could have- created a situation in which both the gates of hell and the key to avoiding it involved the status of one's accepting an offer payed for by the blood another. It's difficult to imagine what would have been more disgusting than hell...but that -might- have taken the cake....had he been so inclined.... 
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RE: Was hell a later invention to scare believers?
June 25, 2015 at 12:28 am
Wow, Jesus just loves rubbing salt into the wound huh 
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