Hell, what is it?

[stovebolts]

Sorry Stove, I just do not buy the idea that Jesus used mythological ideas.

Mythology - a body of myths, as that of a particular people or that relating to a particular person.

Myths - a traditional story, especially one concerning the early history of a people or explaining some natural or social phenomenon, and typically involving supernatural beings or events.

There is no way the Son of God is going to use traditional stories of false gods to convey a truth about the only True God and His plan for mankind. Here is the thing - there is no need for it. He would not need to speak of this mythological place to convey a message to His disciples - who were 100% Jewish. Isaiah 66:24 was well known to them, and so they would have understood this place just fine apart from Greek Mythology.

I assure you, Mythology will be thrown in the lake of fire. Or, at least we can say it will not be in the city of God.

Rev 21:27
But nothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who does what is detestable or false, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s book of life.

I am not denying the idea of Greek Mythology because it does not jive with my idea of hell. I honestly do not have a real specific idea of hell. I just know what its for, and who will be there. Other than that - I could care less.

What I will absolutely deny, 100%, is that Greek Mythology is truth. Its not. And since its not, I will not study it or consume it in any way. There is a difference between using something someone believes in, that's false, as a stepping stone to show them the truth - its an entirely different thing to use something false to represent a truth. The two cannot be combined.

Was it true that the Greeks honored an unknown God?

Before you go digging your heels in, you need to understand what I am not saying.

I am NOT saying Greek mythology is true.

What I am saying, is that Greek mythology holds truth.

I hope you can discern between the two. For example, the Greeks honored an unknown God. Paul grabs onto that truth and explains who that unknown God is.

Paul does not say the unknown God is false, or is a myth etc. Instead, he takes the truth they already know and expands it.

I believe Jesus did the same.

If you take a hard line and refuse to accept this, then you have to continue to bury your head in the sand and ignore the fact that Jesus spoke the truths contained in Greek mythology concerning Hades.

Again, I am not saying Greek mythology is truth, but I am saying that Greek mythology contains truth and I believe Jesus is capitalizing on these truths.

Understand?

 

[stovebolts]

I'm a little confused were you making the account of Adam and Eve into a myth?

No, it Was an exaggerated argument to show how our own wild ideas get in the way of the original intent of scripture.

Bad exegesis always produces bad redaction. This often results in weak doctrines.

Imagine for a moment the doctrines that could come out of that tripe if they actually believed it.

 

[stovebolts]

How would the Bible itself be translated into other languages & cultures without first learning about the local Mythology of the culture involved?

Greek Mythology ??
Hebrew Mythology ??
English Mythology aka like Witch, etc

The word Hell is actually an old Norse word and comes directly out of Norse mythology.

Funny, because the images of Hell that are propagated resemble that of Norse mythology than the Greek mythology of Hades, and it looks nothing like the Hebrew idea of Gehenna.

 

[Nathan]

Was it true that the Greeks honored an unknown God?

Before you go digging your heels in, you need to understand what I am not saying.

I am NOT saying Greek mythology is true.

What I am saying, is that Greek mythology holds truth.

I hope you can discern between the two. For example, the Greeks honored an unknown God. Paul grabs onto that truth and explains who that unknown God is.

Paul does not say the unknown God is false, or is a myth etc. Instead, he takes the truth they already know and expands it.

I believe Jesus did the same.

If you take a hard line and refuse to accept this, then you have to continue to bury your head in the sand and ignore the fact that Jesus spoke the truths contained in Greek mythology concerning Hades.

Again, I am not saying Greek mythology is truth, but I am saying that Greek mythology contains truth and I believe Jesus is capitalizing on these truths.

Understand?

I know exactly what you speak of, and knew you would bring it up. It is actually one of the passages I remember most in Acts - for various reasons.

Act 17:16
Now while Paul was waiting for them at Athens, his spirit was provoked within him as he saw that the city was full of idols.

To say the least, Paul was very 'angry'(provoked) about what he was seeing in Athens. However, being the teacher he was, he was the epitome of what he told Timothy;

2Ti 2:24-26
And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will.

So, when Paul knew he needed to tell them "something new"(acts 17:21), he was patient about their evil, and taught them the truth of God - so that they might be brought to repentance(which would be a changing of their mind/ideas), which then would lead to the actual truth.

Act 17:22-28-31
So Paul, standing in the midst of the Areopagus, said: “Men of Athens, I perceive that in every way you are very religious. For as I passed along and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription, ‘To the unknown god.’ What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you. The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything. And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us,
for
“‘In him we live and move and have our being’; as even some of your own poets have said,
“‘For we are indeed his offspring.’

Being then God’s offspring, we ought not to think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of man. The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.”

In one fell swoop, Paul obliterated all they thought about the "greek gods". He metaphorically took a hammer and smashed every one of them and the idea's they represented. He showed them what was false, and told them what was true.

One thing we MUST know is that anything which is false CANNOT contain truth, and anything that is true CANNOT contain anything that is false. Truth is absolute. It stands alone. When you add just one tiny bit of falsehood into truth, it contaminates the whole pot. Think leaven and dough. Greek Mythology does NOT contain truth, it is contaminated, therefore it is false. The word of God is truth - why? - because there is NO falseness in it.

Paul NEVER said what they called the "unknown god" was actually the True Living God. No, rather, in reaching them with something "new"(as the previous statement implies - acts 17:21), he told them the absolute truth about God - which obliterated every god they had set up, including the one that said "to the unknown god".

 

[stovebolts]

I think you missed the simplicity of what I was saying.
They held a truth. That truth was simply this. They believed in an unknown God.
The statues were not Gods, but rather they represented the Gods.
Paul took that truth and ran with it. He outlined how this unknown God was different than the Gods they were familiar with.

Tell me, why does Jesus use the word Hades? Do you think he knew about the mythological Hades?

 

[Papa Zoom]

The word Hell is actually an old Norse word and comes directly out of Norse mythology.

Funny, because the images of Hell that are propagated resemble that of Norse mythology than the Greek mythology of Hades, and it looks nothing like the Hebrew idea of Gehenna.

Here's a little data on that.

"
hell (n.)
also Hell, Old English hel, helle, "nether world, abode of the dead, infernal regions, place of torment for the wicked after death," from Proto-Germanic *haljo "the underworld" (source also of Old Frisian helle, Old Saxon hellia, Dutch hel, Old Norse hel, German Hölle, Gothic halja "hell"). Literally "concealed place" (compare Old Norse hellir "cave, cavern"), from PIE root *kel- (1) "to cover, conceal, save."

The English word may be in part from Old Norse mythological Hel (from Proto-Germanic *halija "one who covers up or hides something"), in Norse mythology the name of Loki's daughter who rules over the evil dead in Niflheim, the lowest of all worlds (nifl "mist"). A pagan concept and word fitted to a Christian idiom. In Middle English, also of the Limbus Patrum, place where the Patriarchs, Prophets, etc. awaited the Atonement. Used in the KJV for Old Testament Hebrew Sheol and New Testament Greek Hades, Gehenna. Used figuratively for "state of misery, any bad experience" since at least late 14c. As an expression of disgust, etc., first recorded 1670s. "

http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=hell

 

[Papa Zoom]

I think you missed the simplicity of what I was saying.
They held a truth. That truth was simply this. They believed in an unknown God.
The statues were not Gods, but rather they represented the Gods.
Paul took that truth and ran with it. He outlined how this unknown God was different than the Gods they were familiar with.

Tell me, why does Jesus use the word Hades? Do you think he knew about the mythological Hades?

Here's Hades: "
Hades
"god of the dead in Greek mythology;" also the name of his realm, the abode of the dead spirits, 1590s, from Greek Hades, Haides, in Homer the name of the god of the underworld, son of Kronos and Rhea, brother of Zeus and Poseidon. His name is of unknown origin. Perhaps literally "the invisible" [Watkins], from privative prefix a- + idein "to see" (from PIE root *weid- "to see"). The name of the god was extended in later Greek writing to his kingdom, also "the grave, death." Related: Hadal (adj.), 1964; Hadean."

Also of interest: http://www.biblestudytools.com/dictionary/hades/

 

[stovebolts]

Nathan
In 2 Peter 2:4 , the Greek word Tartarus is translated with the Norse word Hell.

Peter could have used the Hebrew term for what we now call Hell but he decided to use the Greek word instead. Personally, I find this interesting. Here is why.

Tartarus is associated with Hades. According to Greek mythology, Tartarus was within the deepest bowles of Hades. Furthermore, it was where the evil doers were sent. You could say that Tartarus was the prison for the underworld.

You see, in Greek mythology, everyone went to Hades when they died. In Jewish theology, everyone went to Gehenna when they died. Aka Purgatory.

So I find it interesting that Peter says the Angels who sinned were sent to Tartarus.

If we say that Hades and Tartarus are merely mythological places, then this passage, in its purest sense would read that the Angels who sinned were sent to a mythological place. Hence, they were sent to no real place.

I don't think that's the idea Peter is trying to convey at all, and I don't think you do either.

 

[stovebolts]

Thank you Papa Zoom

If you ever get a chance to read any of the epics, they are entertaining and give us insight to those who believed the tales.

 

[for_his_glory]

We have always been taught hell is a place where non-believers in God go to for eternity, but according to scripture this is not what hell is. Hell is described as the world of the dead, a place where the departed go that have died as being lowered in a grave/pit. There they are kept until the return of Christ to either stand in Gods Great White Throne judgment for those who are not found written in the Lambs Book of Life, Rev 20:11-15, or those who have died in Christ that will stand in his judgment to give an account for the things done here on earth, 2 Corinthians 5:10.

Hell is not the lake of fire as God gives us a description of the lake of fire as in fire and brimstone which can be used literal as in Sodom and Gomorrah burned to ashes and as a metaphor for torment, suffering, punishment or as Matthew 8:12 describes it as outer darkness. The New Testament description is a bottomless pit (abyss) (Revelation 20:3), a lake (Revelation 20:14), darkness (Matthew 25:30), death (Revelation 2:11), destruction (2 Thessalonians 1:9), everlasting torment (Revelation 20:10), a place of wailing and gnashing of teeth (Matthew 25:30), and a place of gradated punishment (Matthew 11:20-24; Luke 12:47-48; Revelation 20:12-13), everlasting fire Matthew 25:41, everlasting punishment, Matthew 25:46, lake of fire burning with brimstone.


Strong's Exhausted Concordance: Hell

Hebrew # 7585 Sheol, Hades, or the world of the dead, grave, hell, pit

Greek # 86 place of departed souls, grave, hell

Greek # 1067 Gehenna, the Valley of the sons of Hinnom South of Jerusalem, figuratively and literal of place of punishment.

Greek # 5020. Tartaroo tar-tar-o'-o from Tartaros (the deepest abyss of Hades); to incarcerate in eternal torment:--cast down to hell.

 

[Papa Zoom]

One thing we MUST know is that anything which is false CANNOT contain truth

This is absolutely not the case. We tell stories all the time that contain truth. Jesus told stories all the time. Was every story true in the sense that it happened? Or was Jesus conveying a truth in a story?

Stories are a powerful tool. The story of the boy who cried wolf didn't happen. But it conveys a truth about truth telling and lying. I've used that story many times to illustrate to my students how trust is lost.

Pastors use stories that are either true (they happened) or false (they didn't happen and are made up) but they contain some truth.

A dog crosses a bridge. In his mouth is a large bone. He looks down in the water, sees his reflection, and believes the "other dog" has a larger bone than he. He drops his bone and tries to grab the "other dog's" bone. In the end, he loses both. http://fablesofaesop.com/the-dog-and-the-shadow.html

It's a made up story. But it illustrates a truth about greed and coveting.

Is it TRUE that "It is very foolish to be greedy." Yes. That is a Truth.
Is the story false? Yes, it's made up.

So Nathan, your claim, "One thing we MUST know is that anything which is false CANNOT contain truth" - is totally false and without merit.

 

[stovebolts]

We have always been taught hell is a place where non-believers in God go to for eternity, but according to scripture this is not what hell is. Hell is described as the world of the dead, a place where the departed go that have died as being lowered in a grave/pit. There they are kept until the return of Christ to either stand in Gods Great White Throne judgment for those who are not found written in the Lambs Book of Life, Rev 20:11-15, or those who have died in Christ that will stand in his judgment to give an account for the things done here on earth, 2 Corinthians 5:10.

Hell is not the lake of fire as God gives us a description of the lake of fire as in fire and brimstone which can be used literal as in Sodom and Gomorrah burned to ashes and as a metaphor for torment, suffering, punishment or as Matthew 8:12 describes it as outer darkness. The New Testament description is a bottomless pit (abyss) (Revelation 20:3), a lake (Revelation 20:14), darkness (Matthew 25:30), death (Revelation 2:11), destruction (2 Thessalonians 1:9), everlasting torment (Revelation 20:10), a place of wailing and gnashing of teeth (Matthew 25:30), and a place of gradated punishment (Matthew 11:20-24; Luke 12:47-48; Revelation 20:12-13), everlasting fire Matthew 25:41, everlasting punishment, Matthew 25:46, lake of fire burning with brimstone.


Strong's Exhausted Concordance: Hell

Hebrew # 7585 Sheol, Hades, or the world of the dead, grave, hell, pit

Greek # 86 place of departed souls, grave, hell

Greek # 1067 Gehenna, the Valley of the sons of Hinnom South of Jerusalem, figuratively and literal of place of punishment.

Greek # 5020. Tartaroo tar-tar-o'-o from Tartaros (the deepest abyss of Hades); to incarcerate in eternal torment:--cast down to hell.

That is a great start for addressing the afterlife. However, the idea also covers this age as well.

The roots of Gehenna start in Deuteronomy 17:14-20

Contrast this with Solomon in 1 Kings chapters 9 through 11. Revelation reflects these ideas and places, although the names of the places have changed.

To supplement Megiddo from chapter 9, please see 2 kings 23:29 and 2 chronicles 35:20

I believe the above is foundational to a healthy theology on "Hell".

 

[for_his_glory]

Hades is the English of the Greek word ᾅδης, just as Gehenna is the English for the Greek word γέεννα and Tartaros is the English word for the Greek word ταρταρόω

The English word hell, back in 1611, meant about the same as Hades, that being covered or unseen as in grave/pit. We do not see those in the grave as they are unseen to the eye as they are covered with dirt, or some placed in a tomb. The word hell is derived from the Saxon helan, to cover, and signifying merely the covered, or invisible place. The habitation of those who have gone from the visible terrestrial region to the world of spirits.

Jude 1:7 clearly states an example of eternal fire. This is the same Greek word that is used for everlasting fire and everlasting punishment as used in Matthew 18:8 and Matthew 25:41,46 (Notice: The place, as no real name is given, where the unsaved go is everlasting punishment, and not everlasting punishing. The punishment is eternal in its results, not in its duration. Unquenchable fire is a fire that cannot be quenched or put out until everything in its path is burned up.

Gehenna - Valley of Hinnom, Old Testament as Gai Ben-Hinnom, Tophet, in the Talmud as Gehinnam

The oldest historical reference to the valley is found in Joshua 15:8, 18:16 which describe tribal boundaries. The next chronological reference to the valley is at the time of King Ahaz of Judah who sacrificed his sons there according to 2 Chron. 28:3. Isaiah does not mention Gehenna by name, but the burning place, Isaiah 30:33 in which the Assyrian army are to be destroyed, may be read Topheth, and the final verse of Isaiah which concerns the corpses of the same or a similar battle, Isaiah 66:24 , where their worm does not die. Also read Jeremiah 19:6-8 as a reference to the dead bodies that are thrown over the wall of Jerusalem into Gehenna/Tophet.

Matthew 5:29, 30; Mark 9:43-48 Jesus uses the prophetic symbolic of Gehenna as calling it hell or fires of hell meaning the grave/pit where many were burned to death there as the worm did not die there, meaning that there were always new maggots going through their life-cycles, feeding on the dead corpse. Also note Isaiah 66:24.

 

[chessman]

H, E, double hockey sticks?

 

[Nathan]

This is absolutely not the case. We tell stories all the time that contain truth. Jesus told stories all the time. Was every story true in the sense that it happened? Or was Jesus conveying a truth in a story?

Stories are a powerful tool. The story of the boy who cried wolf didn't happen. But it conveys a truth about truth telling and lying. I've used that story many times to illustrate to my students how trust is lost.

Pastors use stories that are either true (they happened) or false (they didn't happen and are made up) but they contain some truth.

A dog crosses a bridge. In his mouth is a large bone. He looks down in the water, sees his reflection, and believes the "other dog" has a larger bone than he. He drops his bone and tries to grab the "other dog's" bone. In the end, he loses both. http://fablesofaesop.com/the-dog-and-the-shadow.html

It's a made up story. But it illustrates a truth about greed and coveting.

Is it TRUE that "It is very foolish to be greedy." Yes. That is a Truth.
Is the story false? Yes, it's made up.

So Nathan, your claim, "One thing we MUST know is that anything which is false CANNOT contain truth" - is totally false and without merit.

I think you are jumping to conclusions. You seem to be interjecting your idea of what truth is. Truth is an absolute. It does not mean it has to have happened, or be 'real' in the sense of human reality - like put our fingers on or touch. Truth is anything that is not false or have anything that is false in it.

Stories can absolutely be true. Greek Mythology is more than just stories for people who believe in it though. To the Greeks, like we see in Acts 17, they were real 'gods'. They worshiped them, they built idols to them, the whole nine yards.

Just because a story is 'made up' does not mean it is false. Now, if you were telling a story of an actual event, and you were saying it was the actual event but then changing the details of it - then it would be false. Think of it this way, temptation is not sin - but it can lead to sin. Stories are not true or false, unless what they are stating are true or false.

The Greek idea of Hades, based on Greek Mythology, is false. It is false because the idea's it conveys are false. Here is a quote from Wikipedia about it - "Greek mythology is the body of myths and teachings that belong to the ancient Greeks, concerning their gods and heroes, the nature of the world, and the origins and significance of their own cult and ritual practices. It was a part of the religion in ancient Greece."

Would you consider stories that any other religion tells true? No. They are not just stories, they are stories to convey a message about the religious practices of ancient Greece.

The statement I made is absolutely, 100%, truth. It cannot be false as you claim. That which is true CANNOT contain anything false, and that which is false CANNOT contain anything true. God is Truth - He has no false in Him. The Scriptures are truth - they have no false in them. Satan is false - he has not truth in him.

Isa 5:20
Woe to those who call evil good
and good evil,
who put darkness for light
and light for darkness,
who put bitter for sweet
and sweet for bitter!

Jas 3:11-12
Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and salt water?
Can a fig tree, my brothers, bear olives, or a grapevine produce figs? Neither can a salt pond yield fresh water.

Truth and Falsehood are opposites and cannot be combined. They are diametrically opposed. I have used this analogy before, but if you have a glass of pure water and you put just a drop of poison in it, the whole thing becomes poisoned. Now, if you separate the poison from it, and purify the water again, then it can be pure - but as long as it contains that poison - even just a drop - it is not pure water. Same is with truth.

 

[stovebolts]

I think you are jumping to conclusions. You seem to be interjecting your idea of what truth is. Truth is an absolute. It does not mean it has to have happened, or be 'real' in the sense of human reality - like put our fingers on or touch. Truth is anything that is not false or have anything that is false in it.

Stories can absolutely be true. Greek Mythology is more than just stories for people who believe in it though. To the Greeks, like we see in Acts 17, they were real 'gods'. They worshiped them, they built idols to them, the whole nine yards.

Just because a story is 'made up' does not mean it is false. Now, if you were telling a story of an actual event, and you were saying it was the actual event but then changing the details of it - then it would be false. Think of it this way, temptation is not sin - but it can lead to sin. Stories are not true or false, unless what they are stating are true or false.

The Greek idea of Hades, based on Greek Mythology, is false. It is false because the idea's it conveys are false. Here is a quote from Wikipedia about it - "Greek mythology is the body of myths and teachings that belong to the ancient Greeks, concerning their gods and heroes, the nature of the world, and the origins and significance of their own cult and ritual practices. It was a part of the religion in ancient Greece."

Would you consider stories that any other religion tells true? No. They are not just stories, they are stories to convey a message about the religious practices of ancient Greece.

The statement I made is absolutely, 100%, truth. It cannot be false as you claim. That which is true CANNOT contain anything false, and that which is false CANNOT contain anything true. God is Truth - He has no false in Him. The Scriptures are truth - they have no false in them. Satan is false - he has not truth in him.

Isa 5:20
Woe to those who call evil good
and good evil,
who put darkness for light
and light for darkness,
who put bitter for sweet
and sweet for bitter!

Jas 3:11-12
Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and salt water?
Can a fig tree, my brothers, bear olives, or a grapevine produce figs? Neither can a salt pond yield fresh water.

Truth and Falsehood are opposites and cannot be combined. They are diametrically opposed. I have used this analogy before, but if you have a glass of pure water and you put just a drop of poison in it, the whole thing becomes poisoned. Now, if you separate the poison from it, and purify the water again, then it can be pure - but as long as it contains that poison - even just a drop - it is not pure water. Same is with truth.

How about that.... Hell isn't real! It's been a myth all along.

I'm sure there will be a lot of people pretty happy about that one!

 

[Nathan]

How about that.... Hell isn't real! It's been a myth all along.

I'm sure there will be a lot of people pretty happy about that one!

Some people actually believe that. Crazy, I know. I trust you were not insinuating that I believe its not real?

I on the other hand, know that it is real. Why? Because Christ spoke of it. Jesus never spoke a lie. And His truths about hell were more than just stories.

Mat 23:33
You serpents, you brood of vipers, how are you to escape being sentenced to hell?

Like I said before, I do not know the details of hell, but I know its real and a place I won't be - and a place that no one comes back from.

 

[stovebolts]

Some people actually believe that. Crazy, I know. I trust you were not insinuating that I believe its not real?

I on the other hand, know that it is real. Why? Because Christ spoke of it. Jesus never spoke a lie. And His truths about hell were more than just stories.

Mat 23:33
You serpents, you brood of vipers, how are you to escape being sentenced to hell?

Like I said before, I do not know the details of hell, but I know its real and a place I won't be - and a place that no one comes back from.

Because Hades comes from mythology, some believe it transcends to it's translation.

In the above passage, the original word is Gehenna.
If you like to study it's origins from within the biblical texts, I have given a foundational outline starting in Deut 17 in an earlier post.

You may find that version of Hell differs from the Norse mythology that has been taught through translations.

As far as the things you are sure of, how can you believe those things without a biblical understanding of said things?

 

[Papa Zoom]

I think you are jumping to conclusions. You seem to be interjecting your idea of what truth is. Truth is an absolute. It does not mean it has to have happened, or be 'real' in the sense of human reality - like put our fingers on or touch. Truth is anything that is not false or have anything that is false in it.

Stories can absolutely be true. Greek Mythology is more than just stories for people who believe in it though. To the Greeks, like we see in Acts 17, they were real 'gods'. They worshiped them, they built idols to them, the whole nine yards.

Just because a story is 'made up' does not mean it is false. Now, if you were telling a story of an actual event, and you were saying it was the actual event but then changing the details of it - then it would be false. Think of it this way, temptation is not sin - but it can lead to sin. Stories are not true or false, unless what they are stating are true or false.

The Greek idea of Hades, based on Greek Mythology, is false. It is false because the idea's it conveys are false. Here is a quote from Wikipedia about it - "Greek mythology is the body of myths and teachings that belong to the ancient Greeks, concerning their gods and heroes, the nature of the world, and the origins and significance of their own cult and ritual practices. It was a part of the religion in ancient Greece."

Would you consider stories that any other religion tells true? No. They are not just stories, they are stories to convey a message about the religious practices of ancient Greece.

The statement I made is absolutely, 100%, truth. It cannot be false as you claim. That which is true CANNOT contain anything false, and that which is false CANNOT contain anything true. God is Truth - He has no false in Him. The Scriptures are truth - they have no false in them. Satan is false - he has not truth in him.

Isa 5:20
Woe to those who call evil good
and good evil,
who put darkness for light
and light for darkness,
who put bitter for sweet
and sweet for bitter!

Jas 3:11-12
Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and salt water?
Can a fig tree, my brothers, bear olives, or a grapevine produce figs? Neither can a salt pond yield fresh water.

Truth and Falsehood are opposites and cannot be combined. They are diametrically opposed. I have used this analogy before, but if you have a glass of pure water and you put just a drop of poison in it, the whole thing becomes poisoned. Now, if you separate the poison from it, and purify the water again, then it can be pure - but as long as it contains that poison - even just a drop - it is not pure water. Same is with truth.

You talk in circles.

 

[OzSpen]

Sorry Stove, I just do not buy the idea that Jesus used mythological ideas.

Mythology - a body of myths, as that of a particular people or that relating to a particular person.

Myths - a traditional story, especially one concerning the early history of a people or explaining some natural or social phenomenon, and typically involving supernatural beings or events.

There is no way the Son of God is going to use traditional stories of false gods to convey a truth about the only True God and His plan for mankind. Here is the thing - there is no need for it. He would not need to speak of this mythological place to convey a message to His disciples - who were 100% Jewish. Isaiah 66:24 was well known to them, and so they would have understood this place just fine apart from Greek Mythology.

I assure you, Mythology will be thrown in the lake of fire. Or, at least we can say it will not be in the city of God.

Rev 21:27
But nothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who does what is detestable or false, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s book of life.

I am not denying the idea of Greek Mythology because it does not jive with my idea of hell. I honestly do not have a real specific idea of hell. I just know what its for, and who will be there. Other than that - I could care less.

What I will absolutely deny, 100%, is that Greek Mythology is truth. Its not. And since its not, I will not study it or consume it in any way. There is a difference between using something someone believes in, that's false, as a stepping stone to show them the truth - its an entirely different thing to use something false to represent a truth. The two cannot be combined.