The Invention of Hell

[TrueFreedom]

I came across a concise article on the invention of hell and thought that it would make a nice introduction to a thread for historic teachings about a place of suffering after death. "This article seeks to chart in particular the provenance of ideas regarding Hell, particularly how it came to be the everlasting inferno that many people in the West still envisage to be the eventual fate of the wicked." https://infidels.org/kiosk/article/the-invention-of-hell-939.html

[TrueFreedom]

Another brief, quality intro to the invention of hell in audio/video: 

 

[TABA]

Thanks for sharing these, TF.  The evidence that Hell is a concept that evolved through the millennia cannot be pointed out too often around here. Everyone who deconverts from Christianity has to deal with the issue at some point.  Some of us - like myself - weren’t inclined to believe in Hell even when we were believers.  But others start down the deconversion road but then are haunted by fear of Hell in the event that they’re wrong.  One of the most valuable things we can do in this community is to ease and eventually dismiss those fears.  

[Tsathoggua9]

Fascinating! Thanks for sharing.

[MOHO]

"Religions and beliefs change over time."

 

This is because they are the absolute, inerrant, word of God who, despite being perfect, changes his position over time because he did not get his position correct he first time. Or the second time, or...

 

Poppycock. (I was unaware that flowers had...  )

 

Anyway I experienced this first hand growing up LDS. We were told that blacks could not hold the priesthood because they farged up, royally, in the "pre-existence". Eventually they discontinued this racist practice as the world is an ever changing place and holding steadfast to these beliefs would do nothing to foster conversion from the black community. They explained the change, however, as enough blacks having been born and deceased that the glut of evil soles had now been purged. Yes all blacks, from now on, were OK!.

 

Lest anyone get the wrong impression - I am not stating the Mormonism is wrong because it allows blacks in the priesthood but, rather, because it changed it's interpretation of scripture, and it's bylaws, due to human events - not God's supposed word.

[MOHO]

but, yeah, getting back to Hell.

 

Obviously, the definition of Hell, and even it's very existence, mutated over time not due to further revelations from God, but because it became useful to keep the sheeple in the fold and further manipulate them.