Paul says the Greeks seek after wisdom. Hades is the land of the dead in Greek mythology and is like purgatory. It says, Tartarus is the same distance below Hades as the Earth is from under the sky. Tartarus is hell, where sinners are sent to be punished. I wonder if this is like the shape of the earth under the crust, the mantle, and then the outer and inner core full of molten lava is hell. So then it's like a whole construction that is being destroyed, the whole planet. The Sun is also technically a lake of fire. I don't know but sometimes Greek and other mythologies help understand God's word better as a lot of it appears to be coming from mythologies that were known at the time. Only through Christ can you get free of this fate.
Hello
@Laeomis,
I would prefer to stick to Scripture, and allow Scripture to interpret Scripture. For it's usage reveals how the Holy Spirit intends it to be understood.
Hades, Sheol, Gehenna and Tartaroo, all pertain to the place of the dead, whether the grave, or the fires of destruction at the end of the age, for the word Hell which was chosen by the translators as a suitable translation of these four words, was a middle English word, meaning essentially, 'to hide away'. Which is what is done with a dead body. It is either hidden away from sight in order to go through the process of corruption away from men's sight, or destroyed in the fires of end time judgement.
The traditional view of hell as a place of eternal conscious punishment was a corruption of this word, by Greek mythology and other influences. It is not the testimony of Scripture, which a study of the various Scriptural translations and usages of these four words, and their contexts would make clear.
Man does not have an immortal soul, for the soul is the body animated by the spirit of life. At death the body goes back to the earth from whence it came and the spirit (or breath of life) goes back to God Who gave it. Only the power of the resurrection can quicken the dead to life again, and only then can life begin for the redeemed. The unbelieving 'dead' will be raised to judgement, to die again with no hope of resurrection.
Thank you
In Christ Jesus
Chris
