Despite hundreds, if not thousands, of kabbalistic texts addressing hell, including the short tractates of Gehinnom and Hibut Ha’Kever (the pangs of the grave), many people (including many believers, too) erroneously are of the view that Jews don’t believe in hell. In fact, one could construct a convincing argument that Jewish texts laid the groundwork for much of the apocalyptic narratives that then bred all the medieval manuscript and Renaissance painting depictions of hellfire and eternal damnation.
via Menachem Wecker: With Ramadan and Jewish High Holidays Looming, We Should Talk About Hell.
I jest… anyway, it is an interesting reading, if for nothing else, it points us to a book, available on kindle, for free, about Jewish dialogues on hell, in hell.
Joel L. Watts holds a Masters of Arts from United Theological Seminary with a focus in literary and rhetorical criticism of the New Testament. His interests include exploring the role of mimesis in human civilization, specifically in the study of religion and media, as well as science fiction and the way in which it has allowed mythology to be explored in light of scientific discoveries of the past century. He is the author of Mimetic Criticism of the Gospel of Mark: Introduction and Commentary (Wipf and Stock, 2013) and a co-editor and contributor to From Fear to Faith: Stories of Hitting Spiritual Walls (Energion, 2013).
Website: → Unsettled Christianity
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