Brief Thoughts on Hell, Part 1- Gehenna

I decided that I wanted to write a bit on the subject of Hell. I know that the word brings many eschatological ramifications to many people’s mind, although to some it brings very little. Moreover, some Theologians would perhaps argue that Hell exists, but not in a sense that if you do not have the correct Theology you will go there in an eternal damnation. Of course, I am not here to argue. I just want to present some thoughts on it. I do know that in the Gospels, Jesus mentions Hell several times. One of the places where he mentioned Hell is in Luke 12:5, when he said:

“But I will warn you whom to fear: fear him who, after he has killed, has authority to cast into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him (ESV Bible)!”

However, when Jesus was speaking about Hell, he did not use the word Hell. Gehenna is the word that Jesus used for what we call Hell today. But, what was Gehenna? Gehenna could be briefly defined as follows:

"In the Bible, the Valley of Hinnom, outside Jerusalem. At one time it was apparently the site of human sacrifices and was therefore considered unclean, becoming the place where the city's refuse was dumped and burned. In Jewish thought it came to represent a place where sinners are punished and in the New Testament it is a name for hell (...The Macmillan Encyclopedia...)."

Well, I am trying to be brief, so this is perhaps a good introduction on the subject. I am not going to get into Dante's Inferno, at this time, and all of the levels of Hell mentioned in his work, but perhaps later on I will discuss some ideas found in the work. I did read a book recently titled: Four Views on Hell, and I quite enjoyed it. Well, I hope you enjoyed this brief introduction.

References:

ESV Bible

Gehenna. (2003). In The Macmillan Encyclopedia. Retrieved from http://www.liberty.edu:2048/login?url=http://www.credoreference.com/entry/move/gehenna