The aim of this thread is not to discuss whether hell exists or not, but to endeavour to find out just how extensive the concept is within different faiths. As and when the list is exhausted we shall know the results. It will be quite an eye opener I'm sure.
To start: The Catholic faith believes in Hell. For further reading see
www.newadvent.org/cathen/07207a.htm.
http://www.religionfacts.com/big_religion_chart.htm
Aladura - Not emphasized; views vary.
Asatru - Valhalla (heaven) for death in battle; Hel (peaceful place) for most; Hifhel (hell) for the very evil.
Atheism none
Baha'i Faith - Soul separates from the body and begins a journey towards or away from God. Heaven and hell are states of being.
Bön - Reincarnation until gain enlightenment
Buddhism - Reincarnation (understood differently than in Hinduism, with no surviving soul) until gain enlightenment
Cao Dai - Reincarnation. Bad karma can lead to rebirth on a darker planet; good karma to better life on earth. Eventual attainment of nirvana or heaven.
Chinese Religion - Judgment, then reincarnation or temporary hell until gain a Buddhist-type paradise.
Chopra Center - Reincarnation
Christianity (Catholic, Protestant, Orthodox) - Eternal heaven or hell (or temporary purgatory).
Christian Science - Heaven is "not a locality, but a divine state of Mind in which all the manifestations of Mind are harmonious and immortal."
Confucianism - Not addressed
Deism - Not addressed
Druze - Reincarnation. Heaven is a spiritual existence when one has escaped reincarnation. Hell is distance from God in lifetime after lifetime.
Eckankar - Reincarnation. The Soul is eternal by nature and on a spiritual journey. Liberation possible in a single lifetime.
Epicureanism - No afterlife. The soul dissolves when the body dies.
Falun Gong - Not addressed
Gnosticism - Return to the spiritual world.
Greek Religion - Beliefs varied from no afterlife to shadowy existence in the underworld to a paradise-like afterlife (mainly in mystery religions)
Hare Krishna - Reincarnation until unite with the Godhead.
Hinduism - Reincarnation until gain enlightenment.
Islam - Paradise or Hell.
Jainism - Reincarnation until liberation.
Jehovah's Witnesses - Heaven for 144,000 chosen Witnesses, eternity on new earth for other Witnesses. All others annihilated. No hell.
Judaism - Not historically emphasized. Beliefs vary from no afterlife to shadowy existence to the World to Come (similar to heaven).
Mayan Religion - The soul journeys through dark and threatening underworld; but sacrificial victims and women who die in childbirth go to heaven.
Mormonism (LDS) - All return to spirit world for period of instruction before resurrection. Mormons to heaven with God and families; others rewarded but not with God; hell for those who reject God after death.
New Age - Reincarnation based on karma
New Thought - "Life is eternal in the invisible kingdom of God."
Rastafari - Some Rastas will experience "everliving" (physical immortality). Heaven is a return to Eden, which is in Africa.
Scientology - Reincarnation
Seventh-day Adventists - A "peaceful pause" after death until the coming of Christ, then resurrection to judgment and eternity in heaven or hell
Shinto- Death is bad and impure. Some humans become kami after death.
Sikhism - Reincarnation until resolve karma and merge with God.
Stoicism Possible continued existence of the Soul, but not a personal existence.
Taoism - Revert back to state of non-being, which is simply the other side of being.
Unification Church - Eternal life in a spirit world.
Unitarian Universalism - Not specified. Some believe in an afterlife, some do not. Very few believe in hell - "Universalism" indicates the belief that all will be saved.
Wicca - Reincarnation until reach the Summerland
Zoroastrianism - Judgement followed by heaven or hell. Hell is temporary until final purgation and return to Ahura Mazda.
Sheol is divided into at least three compartments: Hades, the Abyss, and Tartarus.
What Bible says that?
Hades is where the souls of unbelievers will reside in torment, until the day when they are raised, judged and cast into the lake of fire..
It would appear that they would have already been judged.
Paradise was/is also a compartment of Sheol, but is now empty.
What Bible says that?
Um...not sure what Bible you're reading.
Jesus preached constantly of conscious torment.
It appears you believe whatever you want to believe, even if it is completely at odds with the scriptures.
The KJV is pretty clear.
Just a few examples.
"And the Lord said unto Moses, Behold, you shall sleep [Heb: shakabto lie down, to rest, to sleep,] with your fathers
" (Deut. 31:16).
"Consider and hear me, O Lord my God: lighten my eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death" (Psalm 13:3).
When Lazarus was dead (John 11:14), Jesus said:
"Our friend Lazarus sleeps: but I go, that I may awake him out of sleep" (John 11:11).
"But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that SLEPT" (I Cor. 15:20).
Katmando