RND
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- Jul 20, 2006
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To me it seems obvious that God spoke often and quite clearly on the state of the dead and hell.Before Jesus time it seems that God had not yet clearly revealed much about hell.
Daniel is describing the resurrection on the last day. The beliefs of the Jews in Jesus' day were derived from there acceptance of Greek/Babylonian/Egyptian mythology.Even so, evidence shows that at least some Jews believed in an eternal afterlife which was good for some, bad for others. For example, Daniel records, "Many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt" (Dan. 12:2).
Or simply the grave.The Hebrew word Sheol and the Greek word Hades were often used by the Jews to refer in general to "the abode of the dead." These words are sometimes loosely translated into English as "hell" (e.g., in the King James Version of the Bible), however, in these instances, the word may refer to either the abode of the damned or the abode of the just, or it may broadly refer to both. Similarly, the Greek words Phulake and Paradaiso may be translated as "hell."
I think it would be vital that before coming to such a belief the rich symbolism of the parable should be at least understood.From this parable it seems that all who died prior to Jesus Resurrection went to "hell" (Hades); however, the just went to a particular part of hell referred to as "Abrahams bosom" where they would be comforted until the gates of heaven were opened while the damned went to a place of torment. A great chasm separated these two parts of hell and no one in either part was in heaven.
Hell = grave.The Catechism explains,A good example of this general rendering of the word "hell" is found in the Apostles Creed which states that, after Jesus crucifixion and death, "he descended into hell." How are we to understand this?Scripture calls the abode of the dead, to which the dead Christ went down, "hell" Sheol in Hebrew or Hades in Greekbecause those who are there are deprived of the vision of God. Such is the case for all the dead, whether evil or righteous, while they await the Redeemer: which does not mean that their lot is identical. (CCC 633)
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