None of the things you just shared refer to the pagan concept of an afterlife. Read them again in the context of what I wrote. What the Christian scripture says — very clearly — is in line with Pharisaic Judaism. You die, there is a resurrection for judgement, and the unrighteous are destroyed while the righteous are “saved” from death and given another, “perfect” life.
It’s especially telling that you used a translation that literally has the word “hell” in it, which is a deliberate mistranslation. The word in question there is “gehenna” which carries a very specific meaning that does not, in any way, infer an afterlife. In fact, the unrighteous are repeatedly equated with trash, which is disposed of by burning. Destruction is final and eternal. The idea of the afterlife as a literal place was lifted from Hellenism as Rome gradually assimilated Christianity into it’s existing religious frameworks.
Your claims lack links to supporting references.
At least I provide them & link to multiple distinct passages that all seem to converge to the same conclusion.
As for the translation, we’re not about to learn ancient Hebrew, Aramaic, & Greek to refer to the earliest texts.
This is where linking to a more faithful translation would come in if you can do that.
refer to the pagan concept of an afterlife
Not pagan: the Torah refers to Sheol as either (1) a metaphor for grave or (2) a bleak netherworld where all the dead reside (comparable to Hades).
The Tanakh (Daniel 12:2) mentions a general resurrection & afterlife.
This made its way into the Old Testament.
The Pharisaic school, which became Rabbinic Judaism, claimed to keep an explanatory Oral Torah for the written Torah, which they eventually codified as the Talmud.
This started with the 2nd Temple period before & concurrent with early Christianity, thus influencing its scriptures.
The Talmud refers to an afterlife in terms of Sheol, Olam Ha-Ba, Gehinnom:
Olam Ha-Ba: a place of reward for the righteous
Gehinnom: a cursed valley identified in the Torah that also refers to a place of 12-month punishment/purification for the impure before they may proceed to Olam Ha-Ba. (The utterly wicked may not proceed.)
Cultures evolve & acquire ideas from exposure to other cultures.
Their traditions & mythological texts are no exception.
Judaism & early Christianity likely adopted ideas of duality of good & evil, free will, resurrection, an afterlife, divine justice from contacting cultures.[1]
in line with Pharisaic Judaism
The word in question there is “gehenna” which carries a very specific meaning that does not, in any way, infer an afterlife.
They claimed the contrary: see earlier mention of Gehinnom (the Hebrew name for Gehenna).
Persia: the oldest passages of the Zoroastrian Avesta (the Gathas is thought to have existed before 1000 BCE) introduce a cosmic duality between asha (roughly good) & druj (roughly evil), free will, & personal accountability resulting in a duality of rewards in the afterlife: the house of Song or best of existences rewards asha whereas the house of Lie (described as a place of prolonged darkness, foul food, woe) rewards druj.
The Tanakh refers to ancient Egypt & evidently admires Cyrus the Great (of Persia) by designating him a messiah for the return of Jews to Zion and building of the 2nd Temple.
Christianity features the Biblical Magi (the term for Zoroastrian or Persian priests). ↩︎
None of the things you just shared refer to the pagan concept of an afterlife. Read them again in the context of what I wrote. What the Christian scripture says — very clearly — is in line with Pharisaic Judaism. You die, there is a resurrection for judgement, and the unrighteous are destroyed while the righteous are “saved” from death and given another, “perfect” life.
It’s especially telling that you used a translation that literally has the word “hell” in it, which is a deliberate mistranslation. The word in question there is “gehenna” which carries a very specific meaning that does not, in any way, infer an afterlife. In fact, the unrighteous are repeatedly equated with trash, which is disposed of by burning. Destruction is final and eternal. The idea of the afterlife as a literal place was lifted from Hellenism as Rome gradually assimilated Christianity into it’s existing religious frameworks.
Your claims lack links to supporting references. At least I provide them & link to multiple distinct passages that all seem to converge to the same conclusion. As for the translation, we’re not about to learn ancient Hebrew, Aramaic, & Greek to refer to the earliest texts. This is where linking to a more faithful translation would come in if you can do that.
Not pagan: the Torah refers to Sheol as either (1) a metaphor for grave or (2) a bleak netherworld where all the dead reside (comparable to Hades). The Tanakh (Daniel 12:2) mentions a general resurrection & afterlife. This made its way into the Old Testament.
The Pharisaic school, which became Rabbinic Judaism, claimed to keep an explanatory Oral Torah for the written Torah, which they eventually codified as the Talmud. This started with the 2nd Temple period before & concurrent with early Christianity, thus influencing its scriptures. The Talmud refers to an afterlife in terms of Sheol, Olam Ha-Ba, Gehinnom:
Cultures evolve & acquire ideas from exposure to other cultures. Their traditions & mythological texts are no exception. Judaism & early Christianity likely adopted ideas of duality of good & evil, free will, resurrection, an afterlife, divine justice from contacting cultures.[1]
They claimed the contrary: see earlier mention of Gehinnom (the Hebrew name for Gehenna).
In all translations, the famous passage in Matthew about sorting the sheep & goats to different sides specifically mentions eternal punishment for those who don’t get eternal life. Moreover, resurrection is a life after death, ie, an afterlife. None of this is consistent with lack of punishment.
As I wrote before, the Bible is inconsistent, so even the Bible you claim is mistranslated indicates you’re right about the absence of an afterlife & the absence of hell. They both do & don’t exist!
We’re both right. We’re both wrong. Welcome to inconsistency: you can read absolutely anything into the Bible.
Mediterranean & Near East cultures in regular contact were likely exposed to ideas from
The Tanakh refers to ancient Egypt & evidently admires Cyrus the Great (of Persia) by designating him a messiah for the return of Jews to Zion and building of the 2nd Temple. Christianity features the Biblical Magi (the term for Zoroastrian or Persian priests). ↩︎
So the righteous are given another life after death, but it’s not an afterlife? So glad I can just semantics myself some salvation.
To which non-existent god do I pray for people to learn the difference between its and it’s?
Maybe Thoth or Hermes. Odin discovered the Runes, so a case could also be made for him.
If you pray to any of them, be sure your patron deity Momus doesn’t find out.
Touché
😘