What the Heck Does the Bible Say About Hell? Quiz

Answer: Sheol

"Sheol" is the Hebrew word. It comes from the Hebrew Bible or Tanach (what Christians call the Old Testament).

While the King James translates "Sheol" as "hell", newer versions keep the Hebrew word or translate it as "the grave". In some verses, even the KJV says "the grave". This is because depending upon the context, Sheol really does sound like Hell. In other contexts, it merely refers to the realm of the dead.

"Let death seize upon them, and let them go down quick into hell: for wickedness is in their dwellings, and among them" (Psalm 55:15, KJV).

"May death come deceitfully upon them; May they go down alive to Sheol, For evil is in their dwelling, in their midst" (Psalm 55:15, NASB).

"What man is he that liveth, and shall not see death? shall he deliver his soul from the hand of the grave? Selah" (Psalm 89:48, KJV).

"What man can live and not see death? Can he save his soul from the power of Sheol? Selah" (Psalm 89:48, NASB).

It is therefore important for the reader to study and know whether the author meant the bad part of the underworld, where the wicked go, or whether the author meant death or the grave in general.

The other words are all Greek and appear in the New Testament. By the way, the Hebrew word for "Heaven" is "Shamayim" and the Greek word is "Ouranos".

Answer: Abraham's bosom

"22 And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried;

23 And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.

24 And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.

25 But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented" (Luke 16, King James translation).

Although the Old Testament doesn't explicitly refer to "Abraham's bosom", the Jewish Talmud does, and the Gospel story reflects the Jewish and Christian belief that Sheol is divided between a part for the righteous and a part for the wicked.

From a Christian perspective, the Old Covenant believers (Jacob, Moses, David, etc.) were in Abraham's bosom until Jesus brought them to Heaven after His death on the cross. Abraham's bosom wasn't just for ethnic Jews, but also for those who converted to Judaism and believed in the God of Israel, such as Ruth and Rahab. In the New Testament, the rich man and Lazarus were both Jewish, but the rich man thought that he could get a free pass to Abraham's bosom just because he was related to Abraham, despite the facts that he was selfish and cruel. Jesus' point in the parable was that simply being of Jewish ethnicity or ancestry isn't enough; one must have a true relationship with God. Jesus also argued that if the Pharisees and Sadducees of His time truly believed in Abraham and Moses, they would also have believed in Him, and argued that nobody is saved by keeping the Law of Moses either.

The New Testament uses the Greek word "Hades" to describe "Sheol", especially the part where the wicked go.

Answer: False

Despite what various art and media portray, the Bible does NOT say that Satan is the ruler of Hell, or even that he even lives in Hell yet.

First, the Bible says that Satan currently lives in/on Earth and that he is actually the god of this world (2 Corinthians 4:4, 1 Peter 5:8, John 14:30, Revelation 12:9, etc.) Satan won't be thrown into Hell until after the second coming of Jesus (Revelation 20:10).

Secondly, there is no suggestion that Satan will torture people in Hell. Instead, he will be tormented himself; perhaps more than human beings will, since he is the most to blame for sin in the world.

"9 Then another angel, a third one, followed them, saying with a loud voice, "If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, 10 he also will drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is mixed in full strength in the cup of His anger; and he will be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb" (Revelation 14:9-10, New American Standard).

Satan doesn't have the power to be the King of anything--God is the King, even over Hell. The Bible only says that Satan is the ruler of this world because most people worship Satan. He also does torment people on Earth, through sin, sickness, accidents, etc.

The idea that Satan currently lives in Hell and rules there comes from Dante's "The Divine Comedy" (14th century) and also from conflating the devil with the Greek god Hades, the god of the underworld.

Answer: Jesus told the thief that He would be in Paradise

Jesus told the repentant thief that he would be with Him in Paradise. Some believe that "Paradise" refers to Abraham's bosom, while others believe that it is Heaven, but it doesn't refer to the bad part of Sheol, and it certainly doesn't refer to the final punishment for the wicked that the book of Revelation mentions.

The idea that Jesus went to "Hell" comes from conflating "Hell" with "the grave". Because Jesus died as a man (the Word made flesh), He did go to Sheol or the relam of the dead or the grave. Many theologians believe that Jesus descended to Abraham's bosom and brought the Old Testament believers to Heaven.

Peter suggests that Jesus preached to spirits in prison, which has led some to conclude that He was preaching to demons after His death on the cross. Even so, Jesus Himself would NOT have been tormented in Hell, and "the prison" likely refers to Tartarus or the Abyss; NOT Hades or Gehenna.

Answer: Gehenna

"Gehenna", derived from the "Valley of Hinnom", is synonymous with the Lake of fire. According to traditional Christianity, the saved and the unsaved alike will be resurrected and given new bodies. The souls in "Hades" will be resurrected and judged for their sins. Whoever isn't in the Lamb's Book of Life will be placed inside "Gehenna".

Hades is essentially a jail, while Gehenna is the prison after the court-date.

Most of the time when Jesus talks about "Hell" in the Gospels, He speaks of "Gehenna". However, occasionally, "Hades" is the subject.

"And I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it" (Matthew 16:18, NASB).

Everlasting torment is the most common and traditional interpretation, but annihilationists argue that the unsaved will only suffer for a while before being utterly destroyed in the fire.

Answer: True

The Valley of Hinnom was a slaughterhouse where pagans and idolatrous Jews sacrificed their children by fire to the god Molech. It also served as a dumpster; all of the city's trash and sewer were placed there and burned.

Jesus wasn't the first person to compare a place of torment in the afterlife to the valley. Even the Rabbis believed in "Gehinnom" (the Hebrew word that the Greek "Gehenna" was derived from), an afterlife punishment inspired by the valley. The difference is that Jews typically saw Gehinnom as lasting about a year, while Jesus seemed to teach that the fire would last much longer. In addition, the Jewish "Hell" could be compared to the Catholic concept of purgatory, as they believed that the wicked would suffer a short time and then be cleansed of their sins.

David alluded to the Valley of Hinnom in Psalm 23.
It still exists in Jerusalem today, but it is no longer a dumpster. It's for tourists and archaeologists!

Answer: Tartarus

Peter uses the Greek word "Tartarus" to describe an abyss or pit where God put fallen angels for judgment. Rather than being a jail or prison for all demonic spirits (Revelation indicates that some fallen angels are on Earth with Satan) this seems to be for the most vile, such as those who mated with women during the time of Noah (Genesis 6). The offspring of angels and women were the giants and their violence led to God destroying the world with the flood.

Tartarus is most likely the same Abyss where God will place Satan for a thousand years during His kingdom in Jerusalem (Revelation 20:3). It is distinct from Sheol/Hades and Gehenna/Lake of fire.

Answer: Daniel

Although the Old Testament speaks of "Sheol" a lot, which includes a place of torment that the New Testament refers to as "Hades", that is the temporary Hell. Daniel 12:2 is one of the clearest references to the final punishment for the unsaved, which is Gehenna or the Lake of fire.

It's important to note that Judaism doesn't believe in the same concept of Hell as Christianity does. There are overlaps, but some Jews believe that the wicked generally only suffer in Hell for a year, while everlasting torment is reserved for the worst of sinners; not the average Joes. Some Jews and certain Christians believe in annihilationism, and even universal salvation, but these views are the minority views within Christianity.

Answer: Fire

"And the smoke of their torment ascends forever and ever; they have no rest day and night, those who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name" (Revelation 14:11, NASB).

Interestingly, the Bible says that death and Hades are going to the Lake of fire (Revelation 20:15). As I've heard some pastors say, "Hell is going to Hell!

Answer: Everybody goes to Heaven after a brief time in Hell

The Bible, which includes the New Testament, doesn't support the idea that everybody goes to Heaven.

Revelation states that Hades will be placed inside the Lake of fire, so they are obviously distinct.

Revelation also says that God is going to create a New Heaven and a New Earth. The New Jerusalem descends from Heaven to Earth, and this seems to be where the resurrected believers will live. Certainly, saved Gentiles will live on the New Earth even if not directly in the New Jerusalem. This New Earth will be like the Garden of Eden; God's Kingdom is about Heaven coming to Earth; not Heaven alone. I should probably clarify that there is a difference between Jesus' millennial kingdom in Jerusalem and the everlasting kingdom in the New Jerusalem (Revelation 20-22).

There actually is a distinction between eternal and everlasting. For something to be eternal, it must have no beginning and no end. The Bible says that God is eternal, but He created humans and creatures, so we have a beginning. The Bible talks about everlasting life and everlasting torment. Something everlasting has no end, but it has a beginning. There is NO way that anybody could spend eternity in Heaven or Hell, simply because we aren't God. Even if somebody dies and spends millions of years in the afterlife, he or she still lived on Earth for a while. The idea that souls live eternally in Heaven and Hell also ignores the Biblical teaching that souls remain temporarily in Heaven and Hades, while they await the resurrection and the final destinations for the saved and the unsaved. In other words, while "You will spend eternity in Heaven or Hell" sounds Biblical at first, it actually isn't the whole story, and it needs clarification.