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SpeakersCorner · 10-03-2022, 02:58 PM

Reading Ecclessiastes 12 flipped on a switch in my brain many years ago concerning Hell. I had long known the KJV use of the word "Hell" was indiscriminate and misleading. "Hades" and "Hell" aren't the same thing. The word "Hell," for that matter, was based on Norse mythology named after the queen of the underworld, Hel. I began to suspect a lot of the teaching of this overly-simplistic binary outcome was wrong.

So when reading that chapter in Ecc., the one which describes in metaphorical language the aging and death of a human and even the decomposition of the body in the earth, I applied my trusty old tripartite man filter to it. I could see the Body described clearly. Dust to dust. And I could see the Spirit addressed interestingly: it goes "back to God who gave it." But what of the Soul? "Vanity of vanities." [KJV] "Meaningless! Meaningless!" [NIV] Now recall in Eden it was the moment when the Spirit of God's breath entered the body of Adam that "man became a living soul." So Ecclesiastes 12 describes the reverse Genesis 2. It's the story of a meaningless human life: you were given a body, a spirit to animate it, with a living soul the result AND YOU WASTED IT!

Suddenly I began noticing many passages that were similar. John 3:16, though I knew by heart from age 6, jumped out at me: "... shall not perish but have everlasting life." Perishing vs. Everylasting life. No mention of Hell, torment. Instead, Meaninglessness vs. Meaningfulness.

So I cobbled together my own theology which is roughly annhilationist. This was so much more in line with how I view God: a God of love, not retribution. But I'm reading Job right now and, to be honest, God doesn't give a lot of credit to Job's wisdom which is much better than mine. "Where were you when ...?" So let me conclude with ...

I could be wrong.

10-03-2022, 02:58 PM	#24
SpeakersCorner Member Join Date: Jul 2008 Posts: 273	Re: No Place Like Hell Reading Ecclessiastes 12 flipped on a switch in my brain many years ago concerning Hell. I had long known the KJV use of the word "Hell" was indiscriminate and misleading. "Hades" and "Hell" aren't the same thing. The word "Hell," for that matter, was based on Norse mythology named after the queen of the underworld, Hel. I began to suspect a lot of the teaching of this overly-simplistic binary outcome was wrong. So when reading that chapter in Ecc., the one which describes in metaphorical language the aging and death of a human and even the decomposition of the body in the earth, I applied my trusty old tripartite man filter to it. I could see the Body described clearly. Dust to dust. And I could see the Spirit addressed interestingly: it goes "back to God who gave it." But what of the Soul? "Vanity of vanities." [KJV] "Meaningless! Meaningless!" [NIV] Now recall in Eden it was the moment when the Spirit of God's breath entered the body of Adam that "man became a living soul." So Ecclesiastes 12 describes the reverse Genesis 2. It's the story of a meaningless human life: you were given a body, a spirit to animate it, with a living soul the result AND YOU WASTED IT! Suddenly I began noticing many passages that were similar. John 3:16, though I knew by heart from age 6, jumped out at me: "... shall not perish but have everlasting life." Perishing vs. Everylasting life. No mention of Hell, torment. Instead, Meaninglessness vs. Meaningfulness. So I cobbled together my own theology which is roughly annhilationist. This was so much more in line with how I view God: a God of love, not retribution. But I'm reading Job right now and, to be honest, God doesn't give a lot of credit to Job's wisdom which is much better than mine. "Where were you when ...?" So let me conclude with ... I could be wrong.