Mathetes said: "The burden of proof lies with you to PROVE there isn't."
BobRyan says, "That's not how it works."
BobRyan says: "If someone says "there is no such thing in the Bible as an easter bunny that is in charge of all dead fishes' & someone replies 'No, it is up to you to prove there isn't' -- I would have to post the "entire Bible" in response & then say 'see no such thing as that.' So thankfully - that is not how it works.
The way it works is that someone says "in fact the easter bunny does take charge of all dead fishes according to the Bible" and then I say "nope that is not what the Bible teaches" and then the first person says "yes it does and here is the text that says it". in Christ, Bob
Of course that is HOW it works. If you are going to make a statement that YOU say is not true, then YOU are the one that needs to prove it is not true. That is standard protocol in any debate class taught or the examples of Paul, Apollos, etc, in Scripture.
You make the hypothesis, you show your proof for why you state that the hypothesis is true. Then someone else looks at your hypothesis AND evidences or proofs of burden & points out where the hypothesis is wrong & the proofs or evidences that the hypothesis is true are not accurate.
Paul did the same thing time & time again in the Scriptures, making the hypothesis & then step by step demonstrating that it is true & PROVING from the Scriptures that what he said was true. (Acts 17:11 & context).
Second, your example hypothesis is logically flawed & not even reality. No one would even consider that or even argue against something that is that ridiculous. You might consider something that is actually attached to reality.
Third, you wouldn't need to post the whole Bible to give a Scriptural answer. AGAIN the burden of proof is on YOU to show that is true. I DON'T NEED to try & disprove it & waste my time. One question would work to YOU to prove your illogical hypothesis: 'Where in the Scripture does it mention an easter bunny?" The burden of proof is AGAIN on You, not me. You made the illogical statement, you need to BACK UP your assertion.
THEN I can examine whether your points of proof back up whether your hypothesis is true or not that YOU assert.
When Paul stated his hypothesis that Jesus is THE CHRIST, THE MESSIAH, he didn't just stop there. He had to PROVE that what he said was true. And he did! You haven't. And he defined his terms, you haven't. I did.
Acts 17:3ff As was his custom, Paul went into the synagogue & on three Sabbaths he reasoned with them from the Scriptures. He EXPLAINED the prophecies AND PROVED that the Messiah must suffer & rise from the dead. He said, “This Jesus I’m telling you about is the Messiah.”
Acts 18:28 For he powerfully refuted the Jews in public debate, PROVING by the Scriptures that Jesus is the Christ.
Paul made the hypothesis that Jesus is the Christ. Then he proved it from Scripture. Then the Jews would look at the hypothesis & proofs and go from there.
Also your illogical & mythical hypothesis is actually ridiculous & no one would consider even attempting an argument against it--for the above reasons.
I just touched the surface, showing SOME of the MULTITUDES of Scripture that describe, in many ways, the temporary place called hell & the eternal place called hell--what it is, where it is, who is in it, descriptions that corroborate together to describe the same place. I showed a sample of the Scriptures which uses the plural in describing 'PLACES' IN Sheol/Hades & who are there & why.
As others have said, there are MULTITUDES of Scripture to corroborate that they are talking about the same place, using different terms & descriptions, yet all talk OF the same place, with different areas WITHIN the same place & in different ways.
Jewish 'Halakhah' ('path that one walks') or the instruction & practices that Jews live by & follow. Torah (the law) means instruction. They taught about Abraham's bosom before Christ was incarnated or born of a woman. So if the temporary hell OF MANY DESCRIPTIONS & TITLES in Scripture--is only mentioned in Scripture once BY THAT SPECIFIC TITLE OR DESCRIPTION--it does not make it any less valid--as being a place within the temporary hell, describing where believing saints were, the abode of the dead, after they had physically died.
They used various terms to describe this place within Sheol: Abraham's bosom, where Abraham, Isaac & Jacob were with faithful Jews were gathered together after physical death; the abode of BLISS; Gan Eden (garden of Eden), etc.
The root source for 'Gan' Eden or the garden of Eden appears in the Aramaic version: 'to be fruitful & well-watered.' (Gen 18:2, Psalm 36:9). The etymology depicted describes well the description of the Garden of Eden in Gen 2:8-10, which became a major symbol in the Tenakh, the Hebrew Bible, of a place that was fertile & will irrigated. (Gen 13:10; Isaiah 51:3; Ezek 31:8; Ezek 28:13; Isaiah 35:1-6, etc.)
This is also the connection to the Greek usage to translate 'paradise' in the Septuagint translation of 'Gan' {Eden--Gen 2:8}) & the parallel usage of the Hebrew term 'pardes' ('well watered grove'--Eccl 2:5,6).
Some rabbinic texts even taught TWO gardens of Eden, one an earthly one, another like a heavenly one, in the spiritual realm, which they also called the 'abode of bliss' or paradise.
So Jesus was familiar with these teachings, so it was no accident or some isolated text apart from what Jews taught, even before Christ, to mention Abraham's bosom or being present beside the patriarchs, as the same place as paradise or the abode of bliss or the garden of Eden (Gan Eden).
When Jesus died, He Himself described the place He was going as 'paradise.' Scripture also describes where Jesus' soul went after He physically died as Sheol/Hades. Again Scripture also describes where Jesus' soul was in Scripture as that 'He descended in the lower PARTS of the earth, that there is a place 'under the earth' where departed souls go. Again Jesus describes where He is going after He dies & His resurrection as the illustration or type of what happened to Jonah, a prophecy: as described as the 'belly of Sheol', the depth of Sheol/Hades.
It was also a place FROM WHICH Christ preached to 'the spirits in prison' during the time He was in Sheol/Hades/Paradise/Abraham's Bosom.
Just as Abraham was able to speak to Dives, the certain rich man on the opposite side of the chasm or abyss, so Christ was able to speak from the same area or place within Sheol to those evil angels chained 'in prison' on the other side of the chasm or abyss.
Jesus proclaimed His victory over death & upon His rising He now held the keys of death & Hades & overcame the power of death over those who believe.
At the SAME time that Jesus lifeless body lay in the tomb, His conscious soul was within Sheol/Hades, in the area called Gan Eden or Paradise or Abraham's Bosom, etc. And at the SAME time Jesus had committed his human spirit into the hands of the Father. Soul & spirit departed from the physical body, in different places at the same time--and then all three re-united at Christ's resurrection! Hallelujah! We DO HAVE A SURE & CERTAIN HOPE, like an anchor in the soul, of having the same happen to us in the resurrection!
Luke 8:55 And her spirit returned & she got up immediately & He gave orders for something to be given her to eat.
I Kings 17:17-24 Later, the son of the woman who owned the house became ill & his sickness grew worse & worse, until no breath remained in him. “O man of God,” said the woman to Elijah, “what have you done to me? Have you come to remind me of my iniquity & cause the death of my son?” But Elijah said to her, “Give me your son.”
So he took him from her arms, carried him to the upper room where he was staying & laid him on his own bed. Then he cried out to the LORD, “O LORD my God, have You also brought tragedy on this widow who has opened her home to me by causing her son to die?” Then he stretched himself out over the child three times & cried out to the LORD, “O LORD my God, please let this boy’s soul return to him!”
22And the LORD listened to the voice of Elijah & the child’s soul returned to him & he lived. Then Elijah took the child, brought him down from the upper room into the house & gave him to his mother. “Look, your son is alive,” Elijah declared.
Then the woman said to Elijah, “Now I know that you are a man of God & that the WORD OF THE LORD FROM YOUR MOUTH IS TRUTH.”
There are so many Scriptures throughout the Bible to discuss these things & I have only scratched the surface briefly on this topic.
By the way I would agree with you that there are not 3 areas WITHIN Sheol/Hades that are described but at least 4.
