Course Objectives

• The Bible speaks of nine possible different versions of hell. Most people think there is just one.   You will learn about all nine and why and how the doctrine has gotten so messed up over time.
  1. You will learn about Jewish and ancient burial practices, and the values associated with death, and what was important to them and how it affected the emergence of a doctrine of hell.
     The concept of hell was not a consistently defined or static idea in Jewish theological thought. It was very fluid.
  2. You will learn about to what Jesus was referring when he spoke of “Ge-hinnom” and what it meant to Him and His hearers.
  3. You will learn about the historical development of the doctrine in pagan thought, in Jewish history, up to and past the Christian era.
  4. You will learn about the conflict between different streams of thought about hell in the early church. There was never a consensus on the topic of hell.
  5. You will learn about the three different types of “God’s justice” of which the Bible speaks (yes, there are three), and how they relate to, and affect, the doctrine of hell.
  6. You will learn about Augustine’s vast influence upon all of western Christianity (mostly negative, in my opinion) including on today’s popular concept of hell, the lake of fire, etc.

   . . .  and much more in 6 hours of instruction.