State of Protest

Human beings seem to have a natural desire to want to be rewarded for their good deeds and punished for the bad (well, to see others punished, anyways).  The comforting concept of an end to all suffering after we die, of an infinite paradise, is simply not enough.  People want justice.  They want to know that all the rapists and murderers, the drunken fathers, the bullies that picked on them in school, the neighbors who have wild parties while they abstain, and of course the heathen unbelievers (especially them) are all going to have to someday pay.  Let’s take a look at some of the different ways in which people believe their fellow humans will eventually suffer.

Judaism

Although Judaism does not have a specific doctrine regarding an afterlife, the Tanakh makes many references to Gehenna, or Sheol, which is believed to be a sort of purgatory for the dead, and there is a mystical tradition of describing it.  The word Gehenna was derived from the Valley of Hinnom outside of Jerusalem, which was where the ancient Israelites sacrificed children, and later it was used as a dump for burning garbage and had a terrible stench.  This fiery place became a metaphor for the entrance to Hell.¹  Gehenna is not considered to be a physical place, but rather a feeling of intense shame and awareness of one’s sins.  Some believe that the soul is purified in Gehenna, which allows the soul to ascend to Olam Ha-Ba, which can be compared to the Christian Heaven.²  Very few Jews believe that existence in Gehenna can be permanent, with most believing the longest stay possible is eleven months.  The Kabbalah describes Gehenna as a “waiting room.”

Christianity

The Christian concept of Hell stems from the apocalyptic sections of the New Testament.  Revelation 20: 11-15 describes a “great white throne” before which all the dead must stand to be judged on their actions in life.  Those who do not make the cut are thrown into a lake of fire to burn eternally.  Many portrayals of Hell depict demons who torture the damned.  Matthew 13: 42 states there will be “weeping and gnashing of teeth.”  Many Christians believe Hell is located in the Earth’s core, since Ephesians 4: 9 mentions the “lower parts of the earth.”  Some actually believe that the screams of the tormented can be heard in erupting volcanoes.³  Satan is considered to be the ruler of Hell in most denominations, although some believe Saint Peter is Hell’s keeper.  Few denominations can come to a consensus on which sins make a person worthy of Hell’s fiery torture, but it is almost universally believed that anyone who is not a Christian will meet that fate.

Islam

The Islamic concept of Hell is called Jahannam, and it is very similar to that of Christianity in that it is generally portrayed as hot and fiery.  However, Hell’s fate is not considered to be infinite but rather a basis for spiritual rectification, and the devil (shaitan) is not its ruler, just a tortured soul like the rest.⁴  Also, there are considered to be many levels of Hell depending on the degree of a person’s transgressions in life.  The lowest pit of Hell is called Hawiyah, and it is reserved for those who exhibit hypocrisy, which is considered to be the worst of all sins.  According to the Qur’an, anyone who claims to believe in Allah but denounces Him in his or her heart will end up in Hawiyah.  There is also one pit of Hell, called Zamhareer, which is not fiery but freezing.  The tree of Zaqqum is believed to bear thorny, bitter fruit, which the souls of the damned are compelled to eat, furthering their torment.⁵

Buddhism

Several different versions of Hell, or Naraka, are believed to exist in the major Buddhist schools of thought.  A person with enough negative karma can be reborn into one of these Narakas.  Existence in these realms is temporary, although beings are thought to be held there for vast stretches of time.  One of the most common schemes for describing the various torments is that of the Eight Cold Narakas and the Eight Hot Narakas.  The cold Narakas depict such tortures as being naked and alone in perpetual blizzards, shivering uncontrollably, forming blisters which burst open, and having the skin or even the entire body crack open, leaving one raw and bloody.  The hot Narakas include suffering such as being attacked with iron claws or fiery weapons, being sliced into pieces, being crushed into a bloody jelly by molten metal, being impaled on a fiery spear, and being roasted in a blazing oven.  Buddhists also believe that Hell can be a state of consciousness in which one suffers because of one’s actions.⁶

Hinduism

Hindu literature also speaks of Naraka (Neraka in Hinduism), although not in quite as gory detail as the Buddhist literature.  It is believed that at the time of death, souls who have sinned may be captured by the servants of Yama, the Lord of Justice.  Yama will deem the appropriate punishment for the sinner which, as in Buddhism, is temporary.  When the punishment is complete, Hindus believe the soul will be reborn on Earth in a human or animal body.  Some Hindus do not accept the existence of the Nerakas, or consider their descriptions to be metaphorical.⁷

1. http://www.pantheon.org/articles/g/gehenna.html [↩]
2. http://www.jewfaq.org/olamhaba.htm [↩]
3. Haraldur Sigurdsson, Melting the Earth, The History of Ideas on Volcanic Eruptions, p. 73 [↩]
4. William C. Chittick, Imaginal Worlds: Ibn al-Arab and the Problem of Religious Diversity, 1994 [↩]
5. Qur’an 44.43-46 [↩]
6. http://www.sikhsangat.com/index.php?showtopic=32187 [↩]
7. http://vedabase.net/en1 [↩]