Hell as we believe it today isn’t entirely based on what scripture really says. A lot of our thoughts and perceptions on hell come from Dante’s inferno and other works of biblical fanfiction. In the Bible, there’s a few words that didn’t have direct translations, so they were translated to “hell”. Sheol is particularly interesting, it’s one of the words to describe “hell” and its simply described as a mass grave or place for the dead and not a fiery pit of eternal torture. Ancient Jews did not believe in life after death, nor did they believe the soul could exist outside of the body. This changed about 200 years before Jesus was born, with ideas like the dead being raised by god.

Jesus himself in Matthew 5:22, 29-30, states that all sinners will be cast into hell. However, this is not a good translation, the actual word Jesus used instead of hell was “Gehenna”, which was a literal place which existed on earth, it was a valley outside of Jerusalem. To the ancient world the only real punishment after death was the denial of a decent burial, and Jesus meant that unbelievers corpses would be cast into this forsaken land where historically there were occult rituals taking place.

As for why so many Christians talk about hell and eternal torture comes down to maintaining power structures. Think about this, if someone held a gun to your head and told you to praise them or you would die, you would praise them. With no threat of punishment people are less likely to follow blindly. Evangelical Christian’s are especially notorious for this, and their prevalence is also partly attributed to the government.

Right after Kennedy died the government realized how charismatic Evangelical leaders were, and saw an opportunity to secure a huge dedicated voter base. There’s obviously more reasons why hell is so pushed but it’s origins aren’t rooted in scripture, not like that.

This is kind of long but a very interesting look at religion;

THE NARCISSIST FAKES BEING “SO GODLY” AND BEATS YOU TO DEATH WITH THEIR RELIGIOUSNESS…

Did your narcissistic ex sit in the pew and quote scripture, talk about God all the time, and have people believing they were a “Godly person”? It’s all an illusion, and you know that by now, because narcissists are all about creating illusions.

The illusion goes something this….God is good. Scripture is good, and true. Therefore, the narcissist, who claims to be Godly and quotes scripture, is also good and truthful….and also right, and if you disagree, well, then, you aren’t opposing the narcissist, you are opposing God….

…..The narcissist quotes scripture or religious teachings to create the illusion that they are spiritual, are holy, righteous, and better than other people, including you, who are not as special and lack the “spiritual gifts” the narcissist has. The implication is that the narcissist has a special relationship with God.

….To the narcissist, religion is yet another way to deceive and to abuse, and get away with it. It provides a perfect cover. Even the religious leadership may support the narcissist. And, instead of providing you will a sense of peace, it contributes to your confusion….why should you be feeling insecure, have a sense that something is wrong, and why you don’t feel close and trusting with the narcissist if he’s so religious? That’s “cognitive dissonance“, and it’s very uncomfortable.

A relationship with “religious” narcissist will suck the life right out of your religious practice, because the narcissist confuses you, abuses you, controls and dominates you using religion. It’s a particularly evil and destructive practice that attacks the deepest and best part of you.

The narcissist may adopt a “holier than thou” attitude toward others and refuse to associate with those who don’t agree with the narcissist….in other words, the narcissist can be rigid and rejecting, in the name of God.

….In short, the “religion” of the Narcissist is a near perfect catch all…it exempts them from fault, it give a punch to the narcissist’s being right all the time, it eliminates any differing views because their views are God’s views, it justifies abuse by saying they are saving your soul…..

Religion empowers and justifies the narcissist….they are always good, and always right, and that’s just perfect for a narcissist, but it’s bad news for you.

Unfortunately, the children are often totally turned off to anything religious, and can become actively hostile, since religion was used to abuse them.

There is also a self deprecating narcissist….they like to portray themselves as perfectly humble, if you see the contradiction. In fact, the narcissist’s entire approach to religion is contradictory.

Narcissists twist the idea of love to mean abuse, and use religion as the ultimate abuse…spiritual abuse, and does it by standing everything good on it’s head, making evil seem good, and good seem evil. They do evil in the name of God. And nothing can justify that, and nothing can be worse.