Facts about Hell
Interestingly, Cocytus, the bottom circle of Hell, which held traitors, in Dante's The Divine Comedy, is depicted as an ice-covered lake.
Christian theologians portray Hell as the abode of the fallen angel Lucifer (also known as Satan and the Devil).
Virgil himself is not condemned to Hell in Dante's poem but is rather, as a virtuous pagan, confined to Limbo just at the edge of Hell.
Hell itself is described as a domain of boundless torment and the absolute, ultimate worst-case-scenario, per se.
Her husband thus can rescue her from hell by opening her mind to the fact that she is loved above all.
An alternative view that hell is eternal, but not necessarily so, has been proposed by a number of Christian writers.
The word "Hell" used away from its religious context was long considered to be profanity, particularly in North America.
Various interpretations of the torment of hell exist, ranging from fiery pits of wailing sinners to lonely isolation from God's presence.
Modern literary understandings of hell often depict it abstractly, as a state of loss rather than as fiery torture that is literally under the ground.
Western Christians, who do not share a concept of "hades" with the Eastern Orthodox, have traditionally translated "Sheol" (and "hades") as "hell."
The concept of hell is prevalent in many religions although its exact description varies from one religion to another.
The widespread notion of hell as purgatory is helpful in reconciling the justice of God with his ultimate mercy upon his children.
One modern symbolic interpretation of Hell was portrayed in the 1998 Hollywood film, What Dreams May Come, based on the eponymous novel by Richard Matheson.
Other depictions follow the Buddhist tradition, seeing Hell as a purgatory where the spirits suffer in recompense for their earthly crimes.
Many of the great epics of European literature include episodes that occur in Hell.
Dante Alighieri's The Divine Comedy is a classic inspiration for modern images of hell.
On the other hand, atheists, nominal Christians whose belief is only conceptual, and hypocrites who profess faith but act in the contrary manner, are among those who dwell in hell.
Lewis's The Great Divorce (1945) borrows its title from William Blake's Marriage of Heaven and Hell (1793) and its inspiration from the Divine Comedy as the narrator is likewise guided through Hell and Heaven.
According to Hindu lore, the god Yama, the god of death, is also said to be the king of hell.
Hell is split into many levels depending on the actions taken in life, where punishment is allotted according to the amount of evil perpetrated.
When the Hebrew Bible was translated into Greek (see Septuagint), the word that was used to designate the gloomy afterlife was not "hell" but "hades."
Several Christian denominations reject the traditional concept of hell altogether.
The Islamic view of hell is called Jahannam (in Arabic: ????), which is contrasted to jannah, the garden-like Paradise enjoyed by righteous believers.
Like all the different realms within cyclic existence, an existence in hell is temporary for its inhabitants.
The Garuda Purana gives a detailed account of hell, its features, and the different punishment for most crimes (analogous to a modern-day penal code).
Many moderns describe hell as an existential or psychological state (or condition) of the soul.
The Jewish equivalent of hell is Gehenna, which is described as a fiery place of torment.
The Qur'an calls Iblis "one of the angels"; from this standpoint, angels are capable of sin.
Hell is portrayed here as an endless, desolate twilight city upon which night is imperceptibly sinking.
The judgment leading to hell is self-made, as the newly-departed spirit finds his or her own level with others of similar nature.
Another source for the idea of Hell is the Greek and Roman Tartarus, a place in which conquered gods, men, and other spirits were punished.
The realms of hell are populated by people whose character is primarily self-centered.
The realms of hell are populated by people whose character is primarily self-centered.
Hell is the subject of many folk stories and in many cases people in hell are able to die again.
Modern Christian understandings of hell depict it as the condition of being separated from God's love.
The predominant Christian view is of an eternal hell, from which escape is impossible.
Hell in the afterlife is but an intensification of the pangs of hell on earth, intensified because the material props of a self-centered life have been removed.
The Chinese depiction of hell does not necessarily involve a vast duration of suffering for those who enter Hell, nor does it mean that person is bad.
Unitarian-Universalists see the traditional belief in hell as incompatible with a God of love—inasmuch as God is sent to send sinners there to suffer eternally.
Instead the Bahб'н writings describe hell as a "spiritual condition" where remoteness from God is defined as hell; conversely heaven is seen as a state of closeness to God.
The Bahб'н Faith agrees with modern Christian views in regarding the traditional descriptions of hell as a specific place to be symbolic language.
In any case, it is indicated that punishment in Hell is not meant to last eternally, but instead serves as a basis for spiritual rectification.
The development during earthly life of a character of altruism or of selfishness is the dividing line that determines whether one will go to heaven or hell.
Most Christians see hell as the eternal punishment for unrepentant sinners, as well as for the Devil and his demons.