THE DEVELOPMENT OF HELL FROM JEWISH TO CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY: a Biblical Guide to Hell and Its Existence

According to the view that is relatively common in wider Christian culture, heaven and hell basically deserve compensation for kind of earthly life we lead. Good people go as a worthy reward virtuous life, bad just punishment an immoral life; way, scale justice sometimes considered balanced. But almost all theologians regard such view, however commonly it may be popular too simplistic unsampled; biblical perspective, they see it, much more subtle than that. It important acknowledge polemical apologetic setting its development. Judaism underwent modifications protect Jewish faith chastise apostates face invading Hellenism. For early Christ-movement, continued growth was necessary defend itself against both internal defection first-century Greco-Roman paganism. The church fathers believed using dread damnation uphold moral standards ideologically motivated. As result, evolution afterlife viewed social construct, effects which contemporary day have had permanent, harmful influence on many individuals.