BIBLICAL BRIEFS 51
It is remarkable that in the entire Old Testament of an respectable translation like the Amplified Bible, the word “hell” NEVER occurs. The sober Biblical Encyclopaedia, then also, states explicitly: “The Old Testament has a word to indicate the place where the dead tarry, but not a word indicating the place of torment of the ungodly.” (p. 201). Why then assume that there is a “place of torment”, one could immediately ask if it does not even slightly occur during the 4000 years before the coming of Jesus? The word in Hebrew for the “realm of the dead,” sheol, is randomly translated as “hell” by some Bible translations. In the 12 articles of the Apostolic Statement of Faith, it has been consequently confessed for many years that Jesus “descended into hell” after He died. In one of the statements of faith of the Reformed churches, namely the Heidelberg Catechism, in question 44 the phrase “descended to hell” is explained. According to this statement, it is meant that Jesus suffered “unspeakable anguish, pain, and horror, right through his life and especially on the cross and that He delivers us from hellish anguish and torment”. Inevitably, He suffered beforehand and exceptionally on the cross, but not at all after His death! This type of ambiguity creates a false illusion regarding the realm of the death, because it is associated with “torment”, and therefore subtle undertones of hell appear without being noticed. The theologian, prof. Jan van der Wat, says that churches also feel uncomfortable about the words, since it communicates something that is not really the truth. Later he states that ‘hell’ in the New Testament does not automatically mean the place where you will burn for your sin, it simply means the “place where the dead are”. And consequently, although it differs from his church’s doctrine, he says that he personally prefers to use the phrase “descend to hell”, “from a biblical perspective,” as “descended to the dead”. This is, in the nature of things, the truth – “descending to hell” strictly means, merely “descended into the realm of the death”. The whole argument above should indicate to readers that there is throughout an (un)subtle attempt from the church to implicate the concept of hell as a place of torment, even though the Bible does not teach it at all. It is alarming how deeply tradition regarding the concept of hell is settled, that we even try to force the Bible down into our mythologising.
Dr. Tom Gouws
