What is hell?

@drvanessareneebrooks

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Bible Decoder

Why it worked

The video addresses a common point of confusion and fear regarding the concept of hell, presenting a nuanced historical and linguistic perspective. It positions the 'Bible Decoder' as a solution for those seeking deeper understanding, appealing to a desire for knowledge and deconstruction of inherited beliefs.

Summary

The video discusses the historical development of the doctrine of hell, highlighting how the interpretation of Augustine of Hippo became dominant. It explains that the Hebrew word 'Sheol' and the Greek word 'Tartarus' were often translated as 'hell' in English, leading to confusion. The speaker introduces their company, Brooks Consulting and Training Solutions, and its upcoming product, the 'Bible Decoder,' a research platform designed to help people understand misunderstood biblical terms and doctrines through original language context and scholarship.

Structure

1Introduction to the concept of hell and its historical interpretation.
2Discussion of Augustine's influence on the doctrine of hell.
3Explanation of biblical terms like Sheol, Hades, Gehenna, and Tartarus.

Original caption

EPISODE 4: Why weren’t we taught this? If seminary students learn about Sheol, Hades, Gehenna, and Tartarus… Why do so many Christians grow up believing the Bible teaches one underground place of eternal conscious torment? That’s the question we’re asking in this episode. This isn’t about attacking pastors. It’s about understanding how theology develops, how doctrines are passed down, and why the conversations happening in biblical scholarship don’t always make it into Sunday morning sermons. If a doctrine has shaped your relationship with God, your fears, or the way you’ve read the Bible… You deserve to know where it came from. The investigation continues. 📖 Bible Decoder is coming soon. Join the waitlist and be among the first to explore the Bible through original languages, historical context, and biblical scholarship—without needing a seminary degree. #theology #netflix #hell #deconstructingchristanity

More from @drvanessareneebrooks

On-screen text

What is hell? IF YOU GREW UP TERRIFIED OF BURNING IN HELL FOREVER. How theologians know the truth about hell but won't tell the church Episode 4 THERE'S A NAME YOU SHOULD KNOW. AUGUSTINE OF HIPPO. THE HELL MANY CHRISTIANS FEAR TODAY OWES AS MUCH TO CENTURIES OF THEOLOGICAL INTERPRETATION AS IT DOES TO ANY SINGLE BIBLICAL WORD. NOW, HERE'S SOMETHING THAT MANY OF YOU WERE NEVER TAUGHT IN CHURCH. FOR THE FIRST SEVERAL CENTURIES OF CHRISTIANITY, THERE WASN'T ONE UNIVERSALLY AGREED UPON VIEW OF HELL. MULTIPLE VIEWS EXISTED. AND IT WAS AUGUSTINE'S DEFENSE OF ETERNAL CONSCIOUS TORMENT THAT EVENTUALLY BECAME THE DOMINANT POSITION IN THE WESTERN CHURCH. NOW, AUGUSTINE DIDN'T INVENT THE DOCTRINE OF HELL. CHRISTIANS WERE ALREADY DEBATING JUDGMENT, PUNISHMENT AND THE AFTERLIFE LONG BEFORE AUGUSTINE WAS BORN. BUT HERE'S THE PART THAT MOST PEOPLE NEVER HEAR. AUGUSTINE ARGUED FORCEFULLY THAT THE PUNISHMENT OF THE WICKED WAS ETERNAL CONSCIOUS TORMENT, BURNING IN HELL FOREVER. AND BECAUSE OF HIS ENORMOUS INFLUENCE ON WESTERN CHRISTIANITY, THAT INTERPRETATION BECAME THE DOMINANT VIEW FOR WELL OVER 1,000 YEARS. NOW, I WANT YOU TO THINK ABOUT THAT. FOR CENTURIES, MILLIONS OF CHRISTIANS INHERITED A DOCTRINE THAT HAD BEEN SHAPED NOT ONLY BY BIBLICAL TEXTS, BUT ALSO BY ONE THEOLOGIAN'S INTERPRETATION OF THOSE TEXTS. NOW, BY THIS POINT, SOME OF YOU ARE PROBABLY ASKING THE SAME QUESTION I ASKED SEVERAL YEARS AGO. IF SO MANY THEOLOGIANS KNOW THE THINGS I'M TEACHING. WHY WEREN'T WE TAUGHT THIS IN CHURCH? I THINK IT'S A FAIR QUESTION. AND THE ANSWER, HOWEVER, IS MORE COMPLICATED THAN MOST PEOPLE REALIZE. SO FOR SOME PASTORS, CONVERSATIONS LIKE THIS CHALLENGE THEOLOGICAL TRADITIONS THAT HAVE BEEN TAUGHT FOR CENTURIES. OTHERS BELIEVE A SUNDAY SERMON ISN'T THE PLACE TO UNPACK HEBREW, GREEK TRANSLATION HISTORY AND THE NUANCES OF THE ORIGINAL LANGUAGES. STILL, SOME OTHER PASTORS GENUINELY BELIEVE THOSE CONVERSATIONS WOULD CONFUSE PEOPLE MORE THAN HELP THEM. MANY PASTORS SINCERELY BELIEVE THE TRADITIONAL DOCTRINE OF HELL, A PLACE OF ETERNAL CONSCIOUS TORMENT, EVEN WHILE RECOGNIZING THAT THE ORIGINAL LANGUAGES ARE MORE NUANCED THAN WHAT MANY ENGLISH TRANSLATIONS COMMUNICATE. ON TOP OF THAT, DENOMINATIONS OFTEN HAVE STATEMENTS OF FAITH THAT SHAPE WHAT IS EMPHASIZED FROM THE PULPIT AND WHICH INTERPRETATIONS ARE CONSIDERED ACCEPTABLE. NOW, THAT DOESN'T MEAN ANYONE IS BEING DISHONEST INTENTIONALLY, BUT IT DOES INFLUENCE WHAT MANY CHRISTIANS HEAR AND WHAT MANY CHRISTIANS NEVER HEAR. TAKE THE WORD SHEOL, FOR EXAMPLE. NOW, IN THE HEBREW BIBLE, SHEOL IS THE PRIMARY WORD ASSOCIATED WITH THE REALM OF THE DEAD. IT'S USED FOR BOTH THE RIGHTEOUS AND THE WICKED, AND IT DOESN'T EVER DESCRIBE THE PLACE OF ETERNAL CONSCIOUS TORMENT THAT MANY OF US WERE TAUGHT ABOUT. AND THEN THERE'S TARTARUS, WHICH IS A GREEK WORD THAT APPEARS ONLY ONCE IN THE ENTIRE NEW TESTAMENT. AND THAT'S IN SECOND PETER, CHAPTER 2, VERSE 4. IT ISN'T EVEN DESCRIBING THE FINAL DESTINATION OF HUMAN BEINGS. NOT AT ALL. IT'S ACTUALLY USED IN REFERENCE TO REBELLIOUS ANGELS. YET OVER TIME, SHEOL, HADES, GEHENNA, AND TARTARUS WERE OFTEN TRANSLATED WITH THE SAME ENGLISH WORD: HELL. AND THAT'S ONE OF THE REASONS THIS CONVERSATION BECAME SO CONFUSING IN THE FIRST PLACE. AND THAT'S EXACTLY WHY I STARTED THIS DOCUMENTARY. NOT TO TELL YOU WHAT TO BELIEVE. BUT TO INVITE YOU INTO THE CONVERSATIONS HAPPENING IN BIBLICAL SCHOLARSHIP THAT MOST CHRISTIANS NEVER GET THE OPPORTUNITY TO HEAR. BECAUSE IF A DOCTRINE HAS SHAPED YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD, IF IT SHAPED YOUR FEARS, YOUR DECISIONS, OR EVEN YOUR MENTAL HEALTH, THEN I BELIEVE YOU DESERVE TO KNOW WHERE THAT DOCTRINE CAME FROM. YOU DESERVE TO EXAMINE THE EVIDENCE FOR YOURSELF. BIBLE DECODER Bible Decoder Examine what you were taught--with context. The Bible Decoder™ is a guided research portal for examining inherited Christian beliefs through original-language study, historical context, documented scholarship, and the Reconstruction Lens™--without requiring a seminary education. If you're on a journey of deconstructing and reconstructing your faith you shouldn't have to spend years in seminary or hundreds of hours piecing together what words like hell, repentance, salvation, sin, and kingdom of god actually meant. that's exactly why my company, Brooks Consulting and Training Solutions, is building the Bible Decoder. we're in the final stages of development and testing, putting the finishing touches on a research platform designed to help you explore more than 60 of Christianity's most misunderstood words, doctrines, and concepts through the original Hebrew and Greek historical context, translation comparisons, and trusted scholarship all in plain language. we're almost ready. join the waitlist today AND BE ONE OF THE FIRST TO KNOW WHEN THE BIBLE DECODER OFFICIALLY LAUNCHES. somewhere around this video you'll see a link to join the waitlist.

Transcript

If you grew up terrified of burning in hell forever, of being in hell forever. There's a name you should know. Augustine of Hippo. The hell many Christians fear today owes as much to centuries of theological interpretation as it does to any single biblical word. Now, here's something that many of you were never taught in church. For the first several centuries of Christianity, there wasn't one universally agreed upon view of hell. Multiple views existed. And it was Augustine's defense of eternal conscious torment that eventually became the dominant position in the Western church. Now, Augustine didn't invent the doctrine of hell. Christians were already debating judgment, punishment, and the afterlife long before Augustine was born. But here's the part that most people never hear. Augustine argued forcefully that the punishment of the wicked was eternal conscious torment, burning in hell forever. And because of his enormous influence on Western Christianity, that interpretation became the dominant view for well over 1,000 years. Now, I want you to think about that. For centuries, millions of Christians inherited a doctrine that had been shaped not only by biblical texts, but also by one theologian's interpretation of those texts. Now, by this point, some of you are probably asking the same question I asked several several years ago. If so many theologians know the things I'm teaching, why weren't we taught this in church? I think it's a fair question. And the answer, however, is more complicated than most people realize. So for some pastors, conversations like this challenge theological traditions that have been taught for centuries. Others believe a Sunday sermon isn't the place to unpack Hebrew and Greek translation history and the nuances of the original languages. Still, some other pastors genuinely believe those conversations would confuse people more than help them. Many pastors sincerely believe the traditional doctrine of hell, a place of eternal conscious torment, even while recognizing that the original languages are more nuanced than what many English translations communicate. On top of that, denominations often have statements of faith that shape what is emphasized from the pulpit and which interpretations are considered acceptable. Now, that doesn't mean anyone is being dishonest intentionally. But it does influence what many Christians hear and what many Christians never hear. Take the word Sheol, for example. Now, in the Hebrew Bible, Sheol is the primary word associated with the realm of the dead. It's used for both the righteous and the wicked. And it doesn't ever describe the place of eternal conscious torment that many of us were taught about. And then there's Tartarus, which is a Greek word that appears only once in the entire New Testament. And that's in Second Peter, chapter 2, verse 4. It isn't even describing the final destination of human beings. Not at all. It's actually used in reference to rebellious angels. Yet over time, Sheol, Hades, Gehenna, and Tartarus were often translated with the same English word: hell. And that's one of the reasons this conversation became so confusing in the first place. And that's exactly why I started this documentary. Not to tell you what to believe, but to invite you into the conversations happening in biblical scholarship that most Christians never get the opportunity to hear. Because if a doctrine has shaped your relationship with God, if it shaped your fears, your decisions, or even your mental health, then I believe you deserve to know where that doctrine came from. You deserve to examine the evidence for yourself. If you're on a journey of deconstructing and reconstructing your faith, you shouldn't have to spend years in seminary or hundreds of hours piecing together what words like hell, repentance, salvation, sin, and kingdom of God actually meant. That's exactly why my company, Brooks Consulting and Training Solutions, is building the Bible Decoder. We're in the final stages of development and testing, putting the finishing touches on a research platform designed to help you explore more than 60 of Christianity's most misunderstood words, doctrines, and concepts through the original Hebrew and Greek historical context, translation comparisons, and trusted scholarship all in plain language. We're almost ready. Join the waitlist today and be one of the first to know when the Bible Decoder officially launches. Somewhere around this video, you'll see a link to join the waitlist.