HELL

 

INTRODUCTION

What happens when we die? The 2019 Pew Research poll shows that 72% of Americans believe in literal heaven while 58% believe in a literal hell. Most of the people who hold these beliefs are Christians. It is general that for most of us, the term “Hell” reminds us of a raging fire beneath the heavens, maybe earth, which is the abode of evildoers where they are tortured and tormented on account of the punishment for their sins.

Whenever we hear the word “Hell” there will be an image that is composed of chaos, irregularity, wailing, pain surrounded by torments, etc. This image - which most of us are reminded of through this word - is a constructed image of the teachings, stories, myths, and traditions we live and are brought up. On the other hand, theologians view hell as the logical consequence of rejecting God’s relationship.

The contradiction to such views is that scripture nowhere portrays God as an eternal torturer. Which father wants to fry his child in oil? How many mothers are ready to push their children into a burning blaze? If humans are that perfect, then how far will the perfection of God be? I am not saying that there is no hell, but I want us to think here “Where is Hell?”

BIBLICAL TERMINOLOGY

In many Bible translations, the Old Testament term ‘Sheol’ is translated as "Hell" 31 times, translated as "the grave" 31 times and also translated as "the pit" three times. In Septuagint, the Greek term ‘Hades’ is used in place of ‘Sheol’. About 1200 CE, the word ‘Hades’ was translated as Purgatorium (Purgatory) in Latin.

The several mentions of Sheol lie in the poetic literature of the Hebrew Bible. Job mentions Sheol in several of his laments, calling it his "home" as he lies in anguish, and yearning for death to take him there to put an end to his suffering. Sheol is also mentioned in several Psalms, as the grave of humanity.

WHERE IS HELL?

Sheol, Hades, and Purgatory are the places where there is darkness, destruction, chaos, pain, ruin, corruption, unspoken silence, separation from God, separation from good and no life ahead. This all together constitutes Evil. Where it is Evil, there is Hell. Then, what is Evil?

The biased social and economic structure is evil. The success mongering education system is evil. 1% of the population holding 73% of the wealth is evil. The unnoticed poverty is evil. Child Abuse, power abuse, exploitation, oppression, ignorance, racism, and casteism are all evil. Forcing a common man to live with this evil is Hell. Hell is nowhere, it is here. Near You and Me.

According to 2020 statistics, India ranks 2nd in Global food production and ranks 101 on Global Hunger Index. Nearly 68% of children under 5 years of age are dying in our country due to malnutrition. India ranks 148 out of 170 countries in the 'Women, Peace and Security Index 2021'. If this is not Hell, then what is it?

MAKING HELL: Richman and the Lazarus (Luke 16: 19 -31)

Hell is here in this world. We humans with our consumeristic & self-centred attitude are making this world more difficult for the creation to survive. In Luke chapter 16, Jesus speaks about the Richman and the Lazarus. The rich man didn’t care about Lazarus. That is the mistake he has done. Didn’t bother and didn’t hear the cry of pain. The silence of the rich man made the survival of Lazarus a ‘Hell’. We are creating more Lazarus by silencing the care and love to those who need it the most. There are many intellectual rich men among us who are blind, deaf and dumb to the situation of others.

Unspoken Heaven of the Rich Man

The rich man has the best ever food which he can only afford. The sumptuous feasting made him lazy and harvested the consumeristic attitude within him to be more intense. Without a grab to survive, the rich man can afford all this symbolises the exploitative agenda happening around him. Apart from food, there was the purple & fine linen dressing that only the high priest and king in Palestine could afford.

The rich man found pleasure in everything by making himself merry through excess consumption and exploitation. Even today most Christians believe that excess wealth is a blessing. Excess sugar in the body is a disease, Excess salt in food shall be thrown into the garbage, Excess fragrance leads to suffocation, Excess weight in the body is obesity. So, Excess is not a blessing. Excessiveness is a disease. The rich man was suffering from this disease. Proverbs 3:27 says, “Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due when it is in your power to do it”. We should be reminded of one thing; God will bless us in abundance, but not in excess. Excess consumption is exploitation. If something is in excess, then someone is experiencing Hell.

The Harsh Hell of Lazarus

Lazarus with sores on his body is waiting for the leftovers, which are thrown away by the rich man. Here, Lazarus symbolises the leftovers in society, who are Made to be leftovers and made to survive with the leftovers. According to the 2021 Food waste Index report, 50kg of food is wasted by one person per year, which can feed twice the population of India. There are people and roadside dwellers who are dependent only on such leftover food.

In his recent tweet, a famous film director had said that “Untouchables are the one who depends on others for his living (Parasite)……. and Elites are the one who eats after the people under him have eaten.” It is the general mindset of the rich men to view Lazarus as the parasite of this society and project themselves in light of sacrifice. There is no pity, mercy, or courtesy towards Lazarus. They are indeed gifted with hatred, contempt, poverty and low access to the general welfare. In Gospel, we see that Jesus ate with his disciples and identified himself with the leftovers of society. Jesus indeed came here to bring the kingdom for the leftovers. Jesus did not categorize the people, rather He categorised the system which categorised people. It is heaven and hell. And heaven is for the one who is experiencing Hell in this world.

CONCLUSION

God loves us and so he created us in his image. There are no categories in God’s image. We are all his image, that’s it. We all wanted to be the pet child of God, but we are hesitant to accept another child who is also in God’s image. Suffering is nature. We all suffer. Suffering should be a part of life, but a whole life should not be suffering. Being blind to others’ pain is rude. Merry on others’ suffering is inhumane. Justifying others’ situations of distress is cunning. Turn towards the one who is suffering. Let us hear the pain. Let us identify ourselves with them as Christ did. Because they are in Hell. And, one among us created that Hell for them. Let the light dawn on the shadow of death and on the one who experiences it.

Article by Isaac Samuel