Here are some good resources about Hell. Not necessarily about the Jewish understanding of Hell, but of Hell none the less. In particular, Edward Fudge’s, view that Hell is not eternal punishment. Fudge is one of the most godly and humble, not to mention intelligent men I have ever met, so I thought I would share these links with you.

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3817/is_200212/ai_n9153663

This article is a summary of a book that is a dialogue about two prominent views of hell.

http://www.mtio.com/articles/bissar21.htm

This link is a critique of Fudge’s book, A Fire that Consumes.

Finally, you can also find the link to his site on my blogroll.

On a note directly related to this post, I think it is dangerous to narrow Jesus’ identity to solely a first century Jew. Although, He was certainly that, He was and is the Eternal Son of God. I think this means his perspective is not limited to a time and a place, even though this is certainly useful in helping understand much of the biblical text, but He is the Word who shares with us the eternal mysteries of God.

From What The Hell Did He Say?, 2008/05/14 at 9:35 AM

As I said, in my previously brainwashed state, I refused to look at Dante in fear it would undermine my faith (which was tenuous at times). The same went for Greek myth, etc.

Anyway, one of the worst sins is Simony, those who steal from the church.

I wonder what Dante would think about televangelists (as I said above) or those who use sales jobs on congregations for personal gain, playing on sympathies (what rhetoric calls using pathos).

One part I remember was when they came to a level populated by grotesquely fat people, literally as big as walruses, who were laying about in misery. Apparently these were once beautifully slim people who spread the idea that saccharine caused cancer in order to maintain their physical ’superiority’ over those of us who struggle with our weight.

I remember a heated argument about those who commit suicide, with some of my fellow-students at a college belonging to the AG. I wish I would have known Dante at the time.

Also, I wonder if Dante would consider televangelists to be guilty of Simony (robbing the church).

the docrine of inspiration you are claiming

There-in lies the problem. I claim no doctrine. I claim anti-doctrine.

I am reading between the lines

Thats the exact problem I am speaking about. Often when one reads between the lines be it on a blog or in Scripture, they miss what’s contained within the lines… or worse misinterpret what’s in the lines.

For example, for years I feared Greek Mythology and Dante because I thought that reading these texts would shake my faith. I shunned archaeaology because I also feared anything over 10,000 years old would mean Genesis wasn’t true–all the while in my heart never really fully accepting what I heard from preachers.

That’s the pity of it all isn’t it….? It seems both you and I, Logio, see this as a problem. While you see perhaps compromising a bit in your view of Scripture (aka humanizing, rationalizing) to solve it, I see the potential for ancient writings, archeology, mythology to potentially all be in harmony with the Truth.

Writers of the Jewish Scriptures said almost nothing about hell.

Most of what modern Christians believe comes from Dante.

You wrote “It comes down to whether you believe that God, who was capable of creating the intricate balance of the universe, subtle beauty of a snowflake and the vast complexity of the human body, is capable of overseeing the writing, compilation and translation of His Word in the form of a book… or not.”

If you believe God is capable, wouldn’t God ensure that what was written down was historically accurate?

I am not trying to prove anything other than to take the ideas you wrote yourself, filter it through my personal knowledge, and try and decipher what you are saying–in other words, I am reading between the lines.

Chris,

All I am trying to do is make a simple point about the Scripture. In general, protestants believed the OT and NT until about 1850. Writers such as Wellausen began to question traditional beliefs about the accuracy of Scripture. The question boils down to one point–either the Bible is one perfectly fitting piece of the puzzle o history, or it is not. If it is not, then Christians ought to have the honesty to say “No!” Or at least to admit that if a separate history exists apart from Scripture.

The problem I had myself, and have finally had the courage to let go, was the fear of non-biblical sources of information about the ancient and medieval worlds.

For example, for years I feared Greek Mythology and Dante because I thought that reading these texts would shake my faith. I shunned archaeaology because I also feared anything over 10,000 years old would mean Genesis wasn’t true–all the while in my heart never really fully accepting what I heard from preachers.