Religious Interpretations of Hell

Palak Bansal
English 2(B)
Roll: 535

Go to Hell, a common curse used in our everyday lives. But questions like --Why go to hell? -- What
the hell is hell? -- Where is hell? -- What goes on? -- Who's in charge? -- Who the hell is that? -- What
do we make of it?—still remain issues of heated debate.

The word “hell” derives from an old English verb “helan” which translates loosely as “to bury or
conceal.” In many mythological, folklore and religious traditions, hell is a place of torment
and punishment in an afterlife. For centuries, religions and believers have wrestled with the question
of whether hell should be considered as a “real” place with an actual presence somewhere in the
physical world, as a real place that exists somehow outside the physical universe, or as a kind of
spiritual metaphor. Different religions have their own view of hell and after life.

Jews, for instance have an ambiguous version of hell. The Hebrew Bible makes little mention of it
except as a place where the spirits of the dead reside (Sheol). There is, however, the term Gehinnom,
which refers to a valley in which children were reportedly sacrificed to the god Molech. Eventually,
this valley became a refuse dump that was constantly burning, which provided a powerful metaphor
for a place to send sinners. In later Judaism, hell is a place of punishment for unbelievers, but
according to the rabbinical texts, they will probably stay there for no more than a year.

According to the Zoroastrianism beliefs, on the judgement day all the souls will walk ‘the Bridge of
Separation’ after death. For the righteous it broadens and leads to a beautiful maiden, but for the less
than righteous, it turns on its side and becomes like a razor. The ancient god Mithra is there with a
scale to balance the good and evil deeds done during one’s lifetime, and if evil deeds prevail, then the
soul is tormented by an old hag before it falls off the bridge into hell. However, similar to Jewish hell
everyone eventually leaves Zoroastrian hell. They are purified and join the righteous in the reign of
the god Ahura Mazda.

Greek concept of hell seems more terrifying than the others because Hades represents the place of
eternal punishment for the evil doers, where sinners are put on horrifying display. Such example
include Tityos bound while a vulture eats his liver, Tantalus thirsty and hungry but unable to eat the
fruit just above his head or drink the water at his feet, and Sisyphus forced to push a rock up a hill
only to have it roll back again for eternity.

Christian hell seems at one level to be a combination of the Jewish idea of Gehinnom, where there is
eternal burning, and Hades, where there is eternal punishment. In fact, the Greek word for hell in the
New Testament is often Hades, and Jesus used the word Gehenna (a version of Gehinnom) to indicate
the place for sinners where the fire is not quenched and the worm does not die. While the duration of
punishment in hell is eternal, there are degrees of punishment proportional to the degrees of guilt of
each individual. Only God is able to determine what those degrees are, and he will assign the
consequences with perfect justice according to the responsibility of each one. The Book of Revelation
indicates that those whose names are not found written in the Book of Life are thrown into the lake of
fire. In fact, Death and Hades themselves are thrown into the lake of fire in the end.

According to Islamic beliefs on the ultimate day, the world will meet its catastrophic end and all the
people will be judged by Allah whether they will be sent to paradise (Jannah) or hell (Jahannam)
which is quite similar to Zoroastrianian idea of the bridge of separation. Jahannam as described in the
Quran almost seems to be a ‘personified’ image of hell. Jahannam is a place below heaven with
blazing fire occupied by those who disbelieves or disobeys God (Tawhid). Jahannam inhales and has
“breath” and also has a voice. Sinners, disbelieving jinn and stones are the food for Jahannam’s fire.
According to one of the verses in the Quran, God asks Jahannam on Judgment Day if it is full and
Jahannam answers: "Are there any more (to come)? Unlike the hell often depicted in Christian
culture, Jahannam is not a space ruled by the devil but simply a place created by God to punish
sinners.

The Eastern religions have a very different notion of the afterlife. Hindu hell for example, is a
continuation of life on earth called samsara. Samsara is the endless cycle of death and rebirth that is
the result of our ignorance of the ultimate reality of the universe. The word means “to wander across,”
as in lifetimes, and samsara is the result of karma or actions taken in this life. The beings are judged
by Yama, the God of death and are sent to svarga(heaven) or naraka(hell) according to their actions.
However, this stay is temporary as the being is reborn as lower or higher beings as per their merit.
Thus, the sinners are punished with a hell like existence on earth as lesser creatures like-rats, insects
or worms in their next birth.

One might conclude that for all our good intentions to enter paradise, we can't seem to get enough
vivid details of its counterpart, hell. The idea of hell has been interpreted and reinterpreted over years
by various religions, scholars and believers. There has been a boggling variety of councils convened.
Decrees issued, churches split, and wars waged over this very question of existence of hell, and the
debate continues to this day.