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I'm having an on-line discussion with a friend, and I must admit that I'm stumped.
I was arguing that Hell is far below us in the underworld, or alternatively some supernatural place completely remote from our world. My (also Baptist Christian friend is arguing that Hell is a place on earth.
This is what he claims:
Gehenna in the Old Testament was a rubbish tip outside Jerusalem. In ancient Isarel Gehenna and the Valley of the Son of Hinnom is the same place and referred to interchangeably.
Here's the OT references:
Joshua 15:8, 18:16 (describes tribal boundaries).
2 Chronicles 28:3.
The Book of Isaiah: 30:33 ""burning place""
The Book of Isaiah: 66:24 "where their worm does not die" (is cited by Jesus in reference to Gehenna in Mark 9:44, 9:46, and 9:48)
In the reign of Josiah a call came from Jeremiah to destroy the shrines in Topheth and to end the practice Jeremiah 7:31-32, 32:35.
It is recorded that King Josiah destroyed the shrine of Molech on Topheth, to prevent anyone sacrificing children there in 2 Kings 23:10. Despite Josiah's ending of the practice, Jeremiah also included a prophecy that Jerusalem itself would be made like Gehenna and Topheth (19:2-6, 19:11-14).
A final purely geographical reference is found in Neh. 11:30 to the exiles returning from Babylon camping from Beersheba to Hinnom.
Here's NT verses:
Matthew 5:22 whoever calls someone "you fool" will be liable to Gehenna.
Matthew 5:29 better to lose one of your members than that your whole body go into Gehenna.
Matthew 5:30 better to lose one of your members than that your whole body go into Gehenna.
Matthew 10:28 rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in Gehenna.
Matthew 18:9 better to enter life with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into Gehenna.
Matthew 23:15 Pharisees make a convert twice as much a child of Gehenna as themselves.
Matthew 23:33 to Pharisees: you brood of vipers, how are you to escape being sentenced to Gehenna?
Mark 9:43 better to enter life with one hand than with two hands to go to Gehenna.
Mark 9:45 better to enter life lame than with two feet to be thrown into Gehenna.
Mark 9:47 better to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into Gehenna
Luke 12:5 Fear him who, after he has killed, has authority to cast into Gehenna
James 3:6 the tongue is set on fire by Gehenna.
Please help a fellow Christian. Where is hell? I think it's weird that sinners are sent to a rubbish dump outside a modern city. Doesn't sound right to me.
I was arguing that Hell is far below us in the underworld, or alternatively some supernatural place completely remote from our world. My (also Baptist Christian friend is arguing that Hell is a place on earth.
This is what he claims:
Gehenna in the Old Testament was a rubbish tip outside Jerusalem. In ancient Isarel Gehenna and the Valley of the Son of Hinnom is the same place and referred to interchangeably.
Here's the OT references:
Joshua 15:8, 18:16 (describes tribal boundaries).
2 Chronicles 28:3.
The Book of Isaiah: 30:33 ""burning place""
The Book of Isaiah: 66:24 "where their worm does not die" (is cited by Jesus in reference to Gehenna in Mark 9:44, 9:46, and 9:48)
In the reign of Josiah a call came from Jeremiah to destroy the shrines in Topheth and to end the practice Jeremiah 7:31-32, 32:35.
It is recorded that King Josiah destroyed the shrine of Molech on Topheth, to prevent anyone sacrificing children there in 2 Kings 23:10. Despite Josiah's ending of the practice, Jeremiah also included a prophecy that Jerusalem itself would be made like Gehenna and Topheth (19:2-6, 19:11-14).
A final purely geographical reference is found in Neh. 11:30 to the exiles returning from Babylon camping from Beersheba to Hinnom.
Here's NT verses:
Matthew 5:22 whoever calls someone "you fool" will be liable to Gehenna.
Matthew 5:29 better to lose one of your members than that your whole body go into Gehenna.
Matthew 5:30 better to lose one of your members than that your whole body go into Gehenna.
Matthew 10:28 rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in Gehenna.
Matthew 18:9 better to enter life with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into Gehenna.
Matthew 23:15 Pharisees make a convert twice as much a child of Gehenna as themselves.
Matthew 23:33 to Pharisees: you brood of vipers, how are you to escape being sentenced to Gehenna?
Mark 9:43 better to enter life with one hand than with two hands to go to Gehenna.
Mark 9:45 better to enter life lame than with two feet to be thrown into Gehenna.
Mark 9:47 better to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into Gehenna
Luke 12:5 Fear him who, after he has killed, has authority to cast into Gehenna
James 3:6 the tongue is set on fire by Gehenna.
Please help a fellow Christian. Where is hell? I think it's weird that sinners are sent to a rubbish dump outside a modern city. Doesn't sound right to me.
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