I would be interested in having someone explain the relevance of Hades in light of what popular religion calls Hell these days. Of the six uses in the New Testament, 4 times it is used strictly to mean the grave. One time it is used as an expression, referring to the grave being the opposite of heaven in height (Matt. 11:23). And one time, as we all are familiar with, it is used in recollection of the parable of Dives and Lazarus (Luke 16:23). However, this single verse sure does seem streched to its max. All five other verses in the new testement do not speak of Hades as being a place of torment, nor does Jesus speak of people being alive in Hell at the moment of His preaching, nor do the 65 other uses of this term in the Old Testament (Sheol) appear to give the idea of torment as well, though there are a very small amount that induce metaphor. Some theologians hold to an unscriptural idea that Sheol in the Old Testament was divided into two compartments, one for the wicked and another for the righteous. However, we find no support for this in scripture. Even the verses in Luke 16 give the idea that Jesus was preaching according to the doctrine of the Pharisees, whom He was clearly speaking to - the lovers of money (Luke 16:14). Abraham's Bosom was a term found not in the Old Testament, but in the Talmud, which referred to Heaven, or Paradise. Given the enormous support of scripture that contradicts the literal interpretation of these verses that seem to clearly imply a deeper point made by Jesus and not necessarily a strict reality, I wonder how so many theologians today claim they are justified in believing that Hades is Hell, rather than the clear scriptural indication that Hell is indeed the Lake of Fire, spoken figuratively by Christ as Gehenna, the trash heap South-West of Jerusalem. It would be an extreme irony if Hell turned out to be in accordance with a parable of Jesus - one verse out of 71 passages in the entire bible. Einstein said the man of science was a poor philospoher, but I say with much distaste that it seems the man of theology can be an even worse one. Could somebody please explain how this doctrine holds in popular theology; that is, the belief that Hades is an early version of Hell?
blessings,
John
blessings,
John