Bible Question: i want to have a serious study of the bible and know God's word,do you have any reference book to guide me?literally, i'm a beginner so please help.thanks |
Bible Answer: WHAT IS "HELL"? SHOCKING as it may seem, you may go to "hell"! Many of your loved ones are RIGHT NOW in "hell"! But don't be alarmed! You probably never heard the TRUTH about what "hell" really is -- and where all of YOUR ideas on the subject came from in the first place. You probably just accepted, WITHOUT QUESTION, this world's idea of a horrifying, nightmarish place of never-ending torture for lost sinners. It's time we QUIT "swallowing" the IDEAS and THEORIES of confused humanity, and begin STUDYING the truth for ourselves in GOD'S Word! The Common Idea of Hell FIRST, let's notice the generally accepted common belief in our Western world about hell. Here's the terse and brief summation of this popular belief, from the "Encyclopedia Americana": "... As generally understood, hell is the abode of evil spirits; the infernal regions ... whither lost and condemned souls go after death to suffer indescribable TORMENTS and ETERNAL punishment .... Some have thought of it as the place created by the Deity, where He punishes, with inconceivable severity, and through all eternity, the souls of those who through unbelief or through the worship of false gods have angered Him. It is the place of DIVINE REVENGE, untempered, NEVER ENDING. This has been the idea most generally held by Christians, Catholics, and Protestants alike. It is also the idea embodied in the Mohammedan's conception." From the Pagans Now where, and how, did this popular belief about hell ORIGINATE? The "Encyclopedia Americana" states: "The main features of hell as conceived by Hindu, Persian, Egyptian, Grecian, and Christian theologians ARE ESSENTIALLY THE SAME." The Western religious leaders through the Middle Ages borrowed the doctrine of eternal torture FROM THE PAGAN PHILOSOPHERS. Certain of these writers of the Middle Ages had such tremendous influence on the Christian-professing world, that their writings and teachings came to be generally accepted and believed, until it became the doctrine of the Christian-professing world. Among these influential writers were Augustine (345-430 A.D.), and Dante Alighieri (1265-1321 A.D.). Dante wrote a tremendously popular book titled, "The Divine Comedy", in three parts -- HELL, Purgatory, and Paradise. There is another book titled "Dante and His Inferno", which sums up the history of the Christian-professing doctrine of HELL. This factual history says that "of all poets of modern times, Dante Alighieri was, perhaps, the greatest educator. He possibly had a greater influence on the course of civilization than any other man since his day ... he wrote, in incomprehensible verse, an imaginative and lurid account of a dismal hell -- a long poem containing certain phrases which caught the attention of the world, such as, 'ALL HOPE ABANDON ... YE, WHO ENTER HERE!' This had a tremendous impression and influence on the popular Christian thought and teaching. His 'Inferno' was based on Virgil and Plato." DANTE is reported to have been so fascinated and enraptured by the ideas and philosophies of PLATO and VIRGIL, who were pagan philosophers, that he believed they were divinely inspired. Here is an article on Virgil, from the "Americana": "Virgil, pagan Roman poet, 70-19 B.C., belonged to the national school of pagan Roman thought, influenced by the Greek writers. Christians of the Middle Ages, including Dante, believed he had received some measure of divine inspiration." PLATO was a pagan Greek philosopher, born in Athens, 427 B.C., a student of Socrates. He wrote the famous book, "Phaedo", on the immortality of the soul, and THIS book is the real origin of the modern belief in the immortality of the soul. [To be continued...] |