Appendix.38

Revised  2023
Main Index 

This work is  independent of any existing religions denomination, church, organisation or group.
A voice from a wilderness, correcting wrong Bible understandings, removing false religious traditions, smoothing the way.

God's Kingdom plan is logical, pragmatic and perfect

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1.
Almost all religions in the world, including the Christian denominations, teach and believe the concept of man having a Soul that does not die at death but moves on in another form.  This doctrine of the immortality of the soul raises the questions:  Where do souls come from?  Where do souls go after death?  What happens to the souls of the wicked?  When second century Christians adopted the doctrine of the immortal soul, it also led to developing the teaching of hellfire.  The Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1994 edition, page 270 says:
“The teaching of the Church affirms the existence of hell and its eternity. Immediately after death the souls of those who die in a state of mortal sin descend into hell, where they suffer the punishments of hell, ‘eternal fire.’  The chief punishment of hell is eternal separation from God.”

2.
A study of the Bible on immortal soul is covered in   IMMORTAL SOUL.  It  lays out the evidence found in the Bible on the soul.  The following information deals with the subject of 'Hell' from the Christian view using mainly the bible as its authority.
Wikipedia, states the Old Testament Hebrew word "Sheol",  and the New Testament Greek word "Hades",  are both translated as "Hell" in most English-language Bibles.   "Many modern versions, such as the New International Version, translate Sheol as "grave" and simply transliterate "Hades".  It is generally agreed that both Sheol and Hades do not typically refer to the place of eternal punishment, but to the grave".

The condition of mankind while in the grave, carries the Bible description of  'soul sleep',  while waiting on a resurrection, see  IMMORTAL SOUL .  Jesus refers to Lazarus when he dies as going to sleep. Jesus "added: “Lazarus our friend has fallen asleep, but I am travelling there to awaken him.” The disciples then said to him: “Lord, if he is sleeping, he will get well.”  Jesus, however, had spoken about his death. But they imagined he was speaking about taking rest in sleep. Then Jesus said to them plainly: “Lazarus has died", John 11:11-14

"Gehenna" is translated as either "Hell" or "Hell fire" in many English versions.  Gehenna was a physical location outside the city walls where they burned garbage and where lepers and outcasts were sent (to eke out a living), hence the weeping and gnashing of teeth.  It was not intended to be a literal description of hell or the afterlife.
Gehenna, in the Bible, refers to the condition of absolute death or destruction with no prospect of any resurrection.

3.
The Old Testament describes the dead as going to sheol, translated into English as “hell,” “pit” or “grave.”  Ecclesiastes 9:5-6,10 describes sheol as a place of unconsciousness:  “For the living know that they will die; but the dead know nothing, and they have no more reward, for the memory of them is forgotten.   Also their love, their hatred, and their envy have now perished … for there is no work or thought or knowledge or wisdom in Sheol,   to which you are going”.   King David laments that death extinguishes a relationship with God.  “For in death there is no remembrance of You; in the grave who will give You thanks?” (Psalms 6:5).

4.
Hell, in the Biblical sense, is simply the common grave of mankind, where all activity has ceased.  Death being the consequential result in inherited and acquired sin, Adamic and personal.  Once a person has suffered death he has paid the penalty for these sins and is acquitted of them.  "For the one who has died has been acquitted from his sin" Romans 6:7.  No extra ongoing punishment of Hell fire!

THE APOSTLES TAUGHT "SOUL SLEEP".

5.
Like the Hebrew nephesh, the Greek equivalent psuche refers to humans and  animals as “souls”.  Jesus at Matthew 10:28 declared that God can destroy man’s psuche, or “soul”.  The apostle Paul describes death as “sleep” :   "For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring to Him those who sleep in Jesus" 1 Thessalonians 4:14.    "Who died for us, that whether we be wake or sleep, we should live together with Him" 1 Thessalonians 5:10.   "Jesus who died for us, so that we can live together with him, whether we are ·alive [awake ] or ·dead [asleep ] when he comes" 1 Thessalonians 5:10 EXB.

6.
They 'sleep' in death, in which there is no recognition of time, until they receive their resurrection back to life.  Jesus confirmed that all mankind, including the bad who have died and so acquitted of their inherited and personal sin, would receive a second chance resurrection.  "I have the same hope in God as these men themselves have, that there will be a resurrection of both the righteous and the wicked" Acts 24:15 (NIV).  Whether dead in 'soul sleep', unconscious for a year or 100 years or 1,000 years, at resurrection, they return to consciousness with no recollection of the time that has passed, time ceases to exist in the unconscious state.  Soul sleep, a period from death until the day of resurrection, is timeless and the same for all no matter how long they have been dead, when they awake in a resurrection it will be like waking from a nights sleep.


ORIGIN OF IMMORTAL SOUL AND HELL FIRE TEACHING.
7.
To teach Hell fire religions must first teach Immortal soul. How did this immortal soul teaching begin?  After providing the first human couple a pristine environment, God placed on them a reasonable test,  which required them to make a choice. Either accept Him as their ruler and standard setter or reject Him in favour of  determining their own independent standards. A bench mark test was employed   "God also gave this command to the man: “From every tree of the garden you may eat to satisfaction.  But as for the tree of the knowledge of good and bad, you must not eat from it, for in the day you eat from it you will certainly die.” Genesis 2:16-17.

8.
This choice drew a certain spirit son of God who contradicted what Yhwh had said,  “Did God really say that you must not eat from every tree of the garden?” the woman said: “We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden. But God has said about the fruit of the tree that is in the middle of the garden: ‘You must not eat from it, no, you must not touch it; otherwise you will die.’”  At this the serpent said to the woman: “You certainly will not die. For God knows that in the very day you eat from it, your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and bad.” Genesis 3:1-5. 

9.
This slanderer directly contradicted what God had said, in fact calling God a liar.  It was the original lie “You certainly will not die, you will become like God" that created the erroneous universal belief that after death humans have immortal souls and do not really die, but become spirit creatures like gods. And from this, the doctrine of Hell fire! ref  ORIGINAL SIN. By teaching the immortality of the human soul, the Churches are, in reality, teaching the same lie as Satan, in complete contradiction to the truth of a loving God. And certainly in direct opposition to Bible teachings.

PURGATORY
10.
From this false immortality of the human soul teaching the church developed a lucrative purgatory system, that when people died they first went to a half way holding situation to be purged of their sins.  A period of purification after death for souls not fully prepared for heaven to be cleansed of remaining sins before entering the presence of God.

11.
The Church created from this a money making system where individuals could buy for themselves or dead relatives indulgence letters, to help them more quickly through.  A kind of get out of jail free card, or at least an amount paid to buy prayers of priests to be made on behalf of the purchaser or dead one to help bring them out of purgatory and on to heaven. Indulgences were calculated to the amount persons could afford. This extorted money formed a treasury of money extracted from members of Christendom throughout the world.  Ample to build many magnificent Cathedrals and enrich the church.

HISTORY OF INDULGENCES
12.
The first known use of indulgences was in 1095 when Pope Urban II remitted all penance of persons who participated in the crusades and who confessed their sins.  Later, the indulgences were offered to those who couldn't go on the Crusades but offered cash contributions to the effort instead.  In the early 1200s, the Church claimed it had a "treasury" of indulgences that it could dispense to promote the Church and its mission.  In 1343, Pope Clement VI declared, "The merits of Christ are a treasure of indulgences.  Leo X, the pope in 1517, needed funds to complete the building of St. Peter's Basilica in Rome he allowed franchisees to retain half raised by selling indulgences in return for the other half for Leo's construction project.  Albert of Brandenburg, advertised his indulgences (issued by the pope) came with a complete remission of sins, allowing escape from all of the pains of purgatory and could be used to free an already dead loved one from the pains of purgatory that he or she might presently be experiencing.  The going rate for an indulgence depended on one's station, and ranged from 25 gold florins for Kings, queens and archbishops down to three florins for merchants and just one quarter florin for the poorest of believers. It added up!