Disclaimer:
I’m neither a theologian nor a scholar. In this this series I am merely sharing how, I, as a regular person, came to the understanding of what I am about to share. These posts are not exhaustive essays, but nutshells.
It is not written from a haughty and insecure "I'm right - you're wrong" position, something that is so prevalent in the fundamentalist religious circles. My hope is that, this will encourage someone to look beyond the obvious, to dig in, instead of blindly agreeing with the unquestioned answers.
This series is not about me pushing my thoughts down your throat; again, something that fundamentalism is infamous for. Truths are discovered by the seeker; not swallowed.
You may not agree with this series right now (which is absolutely fine), but know that, just because we have heard something for so long, does not necessarily make it the ultimate truth. There was a time when we scripturally believed that the sun rotated around the flat earth. We now look back and laugh at our idiocy of having believed that ignorance, and yet, sometimes we assume that we now know it all. But, do we?
Based on the scriptures we know, it may be tempting to discard anything that we haven't heard before, while reading this series. I used to be a pro at that. I had all the scriptural points to prove why I was “right” regarding a particular belief. Little did I know then, that I was merely echoing one of the many interpretations out there, and that, the picture is much bigger than what I initially thought it was.
I’m neither a theologian nor a scholar. In this this series I am merely sharing how, I, as a regular person, came to the understanding of what I am about to share. These posts are not exhaustive essays, but nutshells.
It is not written from a haughty and insecure "I'm right - you're wrong" position, something that is so prevalent in the fundamentalist religious circles. My hope is that, this will encourage someone to look beyond the obvious, to dig in, instead of blindly agreeing with the unquestioned answers.
This series is not about me pushing my thoughts down your throat; again, something that fundamentalism is infamous for. Truths are discovered by the seeker; not swallowed.
You may not agree with this series right now (which is absolutely fine), but know that, just because we have heard something for so long, does not necessarily make it the ultimate truth. There was a time when we scripturally believed that the sun rotated around the flat earth. We now look back and laugh at our idiocy of having believed that ignorance, and yet, sometimes we assume that we now know it all. But, do we?
Based on the scriptures we know, it may be tempting to discard anything that we haven't heard before, while reading this series. I used to be a pro at that. I had all the scriptural points to prove why I was “right” regarding a particular belief. Little did I know then, that I was merely echoing one of the many interpretations out there, and that, the picture is much bigger than what I initially thought it was.
On to Part II of this series.
::
So,
after I found out that the word 'Hell' is a mistranslation (read my previous post), I wanted to know about the works like lake of fire, brimstone and
forever and ever (Rev 20:10; 21:8).
Here are the bullet points on what I have
discovered:
i. Most of us, when we read the Book of
Revelation, we see the contents of it as symbolic (red dragon with seven
crowned heads and ten horns, a woman sitting on seven mountains, locusts with
human faces, etc.), and are quick to draw interpretations about what they all
actually mean. But when it comes to the part where it is written the 'lake of
fire’, we suddenly believe it is real!
ii. The term fire, in that verse, comes from the Greek word 'Pur', from which
words like pure and purify come from.
iii. Brimstone comes from the Greek word 'Theion', which means, "divine
incense, because burning brimstone was regarded as having power to purify, and
to ward off disease." Note that the word theion shares the same root word
as 'God' (Theos).
iv. The Greek word for torment is 'Basanizo', which means "to test
(metals) by the touchstone, which is a black siliceous stone used to test the
purity of gold or silver by the color of the streak produced on it by rubbing
it with either metal."
Fire is a purifying agent. I don't know why I ever thought of this as a real
fire, when the Bible is filled with the references of symbolic fire. Quick
example: Acts 2:3 - we don't see anyone being burned, harmed or tortured during
the baptism of the Holy Spirit.
Therefore, it cannot be a stretch to consider the possibility that the people
who has done evil may go through a purification process by fire and the testing
with brimstone, which does not last
forever and ever, contrary to what we believe.
v. This brings us to the next point about "forever and ever" and/or
"eternal". This is another colossal mistranslation.
In Hebrew, the root word the translators translated for words like eternal or
forever and ever is 'Olam', which means "to conceal" or "behind
the horizon". It has no relation to the concept of "eternity",
as it is popularly taught.
This word has been frequently mistranslated throughout the OT as ‘everlasting’
and ‘eternal’, even though most literal translations and the Hebrew Interlinear
Bible render Olam as "age". It is concerning to a particular age, not 'forever and ever'.
In Greek, the word that is frequently translated to eternal, forever or
everlasting in the NT is 'Aion'. Aion is a noun that actually translates as eon
or age, which again, is just a period of time and not everlasting, as it has
been taught for hundreds of years.
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