Why Do Some Religions Not Believe In Hell?

Question

When the Bible clearly has scriptures about Hell.

Example:
Matthew 10:28 And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.

Luke.16:23 And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.

? · Accepted Answer

No one wants to believe there is a hell, but that doesn't make it go away...

Elijah · Answer

The problem is that there is a common misconception of what the Bible 'Hell' really is.

It is generally thought that "hell" is a fiery place of punishment for sins. 

But, the word "hell" in the same verses in other translations read "the grave," "the world of the dead," etc.

Collier’s Encyclopedia (1986, Vol. 12, p. 28) says this concerning “Hell”: 

“First it stands for the Hebrew Sheol of the Old Testament and the Greek Hades of the Septuagint and New Testament. Sheol in Old Testament times referred SIMPLY TO THE ABODE OF THE DEAD.”

The Bible describes that when someone dies, that person will simply cease to exist:

"The living are conscious that they will die; but as for the dead, they are conscious of nothing at all." (Eccl. 9:5)

But the Bible *also* talks about a promised hope in the future for those who have died: 

"The hour is coming in which all those in the memorial tombs will hear [Jesus'] voice and come out." (John 5:28, 29)

Acts 24:15 says that "there is going to be a resurrection of both the righteous and the unrighteous."

You may appreciate the following related articles:

What Really Is Hell?
http://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/2002521

Luke 16:19-31 - A Parable That Does NOT Teach a Literal Torment in Hell 
http://searchforbibletruths.blogspot.com/2011/08/luke-1619-31-parable-that-does-not.html

What is Meant By Jesus’ Words at Matthew 10:28?
http://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/1200001160#s=8:245-8:1120

Paradise · Answer

WHATEVER image the word “hell” brings to your mind, hell is generally thought of as a place of punishment for sin. Concerning sin and its effect, the Bible says: “Through one man sin entered into the world and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men because they had all sinned.” (Romans 5:12) The Scriptures also state: “The wages sin pays is death.” (Romans 6:23) 

THOSE who teach that hell is a place of torment promote a gross misrepresentation of Jehovah God and his qualities. Granted, the Bible does say that God will destroy the wicked. (2 Thessalonians 1:6-9) But righteous anger is not God’s dominant quality.

God is not malicious or vindictive. He even asks: “Have I any pleasure at all that the wicked should die?” (Ezekiel 18:23, King James Version) If God takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked, how could he for all eternity delight in watching these ones being tormented?
God’s preeminent quality is love. (1 John 4:8) Indeed, “the LORD is good to all; he has compassion on all he has made.” (Psalm 145:9, The Holy Bible—New International Version) In return, God wants us to develop heartfelt love for him.—Matthew 22:35-38.

2 Peter 3:9 states Jehovah* is not slow respecting his promise, as some people consider slowness, but he is patient with YOU because he does not desire any to be destroyed but desires all to attain to repentance.

Dear Dogma · Answer

As great as the Chasm was that separated Lazarus from his bothers...

so too is the chasm of the denial of the existence of an eternal torment for the damned from traditional Christian theology.

Tree-Geek · Answer

Don't know if serious or really good troll...


They don't believe in hell  because you make the false assumption that EVERY religion believes in the Bible as it's scripture.


I got newwwws for you.

? · Answer

Why is there confusion as to what the Bible says about hell?
“Much confusion and misunderstanding has been caused through the early translators of the Bible persistently rendering the Hebrew Sheol and the Greek Hades and Gehenna by the word hell. The simple transliteration of these words by the translators of the revised editions of the Bible has not sufficed to appreciably clear up this confusion and misconception.”—The Encyclopedia Americana (1942), Vol. XIV, p. 81.
Translators have allowed their personal beliefs to color their work instead of being consistent in their rendering of the original-language words. For example: (1) The King James Version rendered she’ohl′ as “hell,” “the grave,” and “the pit”; hai′des is therein rendered both “hell” and “grave”; ge′enÂ·na is also translated “hell.” (2)Â Today’s English Version transliterates hai′des as “Hades” and also renders it as “hell” and “the world of the dead.” But besides rendering “hell” from hai′des it uses that same translation for ge′enÂ·na. (3)Â The Jerusalem Bible transliterates hai′des six times, but in other passages it translates it as “hell” and as “the underworld.” It also translates ge′enÂ·na as “hell,” as it does hai′des in two instances. Thus the exact meanings of the original-language words have been obscured.

Is eternal torment of the wicked compatible with God’s personality?
Jer. 7:31: “They [apostate Judeans] have built the high places of Topheth, which is in the valley of the son of Hinnom, in order to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire, a thing that I had not commanded and that had not come up into my heart.” (If it never came into God’s heart, surely he does not have and use such a thing on a larger scale.)
Illustration: What would you think of a parent who held his child’s hand over a fire to punish the child for wrongdoing? “God is love.” (1Â John 4:8) Would he do what no right-minded human parent would do? Certainly not!

By what Jesus said about the rich man and Lazarus, did Jesus teach torment of the wicked after death?
Is the account, at Luke 16:19-31, literal or merely an illustration of something else? The Jerusalem Bible, in a footnote, acknowledges that it is a “parable in story form without reference to any historical personage.” If taken literally, it would mean that those enjoying divine favor could all fit at the bosom of one man, Abraham; that the water on one’s fingertip would not be evaporated by the fire of Hades; that a mere drop of water would bring relief to one suffering there. Does that sound reasonable to you? If it were literal, it would conflict with other parts of the Bible. If the Bible were thus contradictory, would a lover of truth use it as a basis for his faith? But the Bible does not contradict itself.
What does the parable mean? The “rich man” represented the Pharisees. (See verse 14.) The beggar Lazarus represented the common Jewish people who were despised by the Pharisees but who repented and became followers of Jesus. (See Luke 18:11; John 7:49; Matthew 21:31,Â 32.) Their deaths were also symbolic, representing a change in circumstances. Thus, the formerly despised ones came into a position of divine favor, and the formerly seemingly favored ones were rejected by God, while being tormented by the judgment messages delivered by the ones whom they had despised.—Acts 5:33; 7:54.

What is the origin of the teaching of hellfire?
In ancient Babylonian and Assyrian beliefs the “nether world .Â .Â . is pictured as a place full of horrors, andÂ isÂ presidedÂ over by gods and demons of great strength andÂ fierceness.”Â (The Religion of Babylonia and Assyria, Boston, 1898, Morris Jastrow, Jr., p. 581) Early evidence of the fieryÂ aspectÂ ofÂ Christendom’s hell is found inÂ theÂ religion ofÂ ancient Egypt. (The Book of the Dead, New Hyde Park,Â N.Y., 1960, with introduction by E. A.Â Wallis Budge, pp. 144, 149,Â 151,Â 153,Â 161) Buddhism, which dates back to the 6th centuryÂ B.C.E., in time came to feature both hot and cold hells. (The Encyclopedia Americana, 1977, Vol.Â 14, p.Â 68) Depictions of hell portrayed in Catholic churches inÂ Italy have been traced to Etruscan roots.—La civiltÃ  etruscaÂ (Milan, 1979), Werner Keller, p. 389.
But the real roots of this God-dishonoring doctrine go much deeper. The fiendish concepts associated with a hell of torment slander God and originate with the chief slanderer of God (the Devil, which name means “Slanderer”), the one whom Jesus Christ called “the father of the lie.”—John 8:44.

Why Do Some Religions Not Believe In Hell?

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