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A message to the New Creation….
The concept of “hell” as taught in most Western traditions is not found in the Bible. It is the result of linguistic flattening, mistranslation, and centuries of theological manipulation. The English word “hell” does not originate from Scripture at all. It is a later invention brought into English through Christianity, fusing together several distinct Hebrew and Greek words into one umbrella term. This deliberate collapsing of nuance created a single terrifying image that could be used to control people through fear.
In the Hebrew Scriptures, the word most commonly translated as “hell” is Sheol, which simply refers to the grave or the realm of the dead. It was seen as the destination of all who died, both the righteous and the wicked. Jacob, grieving the loss of Joseph, said, “Surely I will go down to Sheol in mourning for my son” (Genesis 37:35 NASB). Job pleaded, “Oh that You would hide me in Sheol, that You would conceal me until Your wrath returns” (Job 14:13 NASB). Psalm 16:10 says, “For You will not abandon my soul to Sheol; You will not allow Your Holy One to undergo decay” (NASB). These verses show that Sheol was not depicted as a fiery place of torment, but as a neutral, shadowy realm of death. When the Hebrew scriptures were translated into Greek, the word Sheol became Hades, maintaining the same general meaning—the temporary realm of the dead.
Later, in the New Testament, several distinct terms were all mistranslated into one English word: hell. Hades remained the general realm of the dead, but Yehoshua also used the term Gehenna, which referred not to a spiritual realm but to a literal valley outside Jerusalem known for fire and destruction. In Matthew 5:22 Yehoshua warned that “whoever says, ‘You fool!’ shall be guilty enough to go into the fiery Gehenna” (NASB). In Matthew 10:28 He said, “Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in Gehenna” (NASB). Gehenna was not an eternal torture chamber but a vivid image of total judgment and annihilation. Finally, there is Tartarus, mentioned only once: “For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell [Tartarus] and committed them to pits of darkness, held for judgment…” (2 Peter 2:4 NASB). Tartarus is a spiritual prison for rebellious angels, not for humans.
The traditional image of eternal torment owes more to medieval myth, Dante’s Inferno, and church tradition than it does to the Hebrew or Greek scriptures. Revelation speaks of a lake of fire, which is the second death: “Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire” (Revelation 20:14 NASB). If death and Hades themselves are destroyed, how can we claim that “hell” is eternal? The term “second death” is used deliberately. If something dies, it no longer exists. The breath of life that animates the body came from God, and Ecclesiastes 12:7 says, “then the dust will return to the earth as it was, and the spirit will return to God who gave it” (NASB). This means the soul—the conscious self that chooses separation from God—is utterly destroyed and returned to the source. There is no biblical basis for eternal conscious suffering after the second death. Yehoshua Himself confirmed this when He said, “Fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in Gehenna” (Matthew 10:28 NASB).
However, Scripture is also clear that there is a real place of torment prior to the final judgment. The story of the rich man and Lazarus makes this unmistakable: “Now the poor man died and was carried away by the angels to Abraham’s bosom; and the rich man also died and was buried. And in Hades he raised his eyes, being in torment, and saw Abraham far away and Lazarus in his arms. And he cried out and said, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus so that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool off my tongue, for I am in agony in this flame’” (Luke 16:22–24 NASB). This is the other side of Hades/Sheol, a place of real, conscious torment for the wicked who have died. But this torment is temporary. Revelation 20:13–14 NASB says, “And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them; and they were judged, each one of them according to their deeds. Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire.” The place of torment in Hades will be emptied, judged, and then destroyed along with death itself.
The man-made doctrine of “hell” as eternal conscious torment was institutionalized by the Greco-Roman Catholic Church. It was never a biblical teaching; it was crafted as a weapon of fear. By flattening Sheol, Hades, Gehenna, and Tartarus into one terrifying concept, the Roman Church created a doctrine that could keep people compliant. This umbrella term became the centerpiece of a fear-based religious system that controlled the masses for centuries, turning God into a cosmic torturer and Christianity into a machine of fear and guilt.
This system of control thrived on mistranslation and ignorance. The English word “hell” was introduced by translators influenced by Roman Catholic doctrine. Once embedded in Scripture, it was preached from pulpits as though it had always been God’s Word, terrifying generations into conformity. But the fruit of this teaching reveals its source. It is rooted in the idol of Christianity, a religion birthed when Rome institutionalized faith in Messiah and replaced a living relationship with God with man-made ritual, hierarchy, and fear. Eternal torment became the ultimate threat, a psychological prison that ensured people stayed tethered to the institution rather than to God Himself.
This is why dismantling this lie is so critical. The false doctrine of “hell” distorts God’s character, undermines the true gospel, and enslaves people in fear. It is the ultimate tool of indoctrination. When you believe God is capable of torturing His creation forever, you are easy to manipulate. But when the truth is restored—that the second death is annihilation, that God does not perpetually torment anyone—the entire system of fear collapses. The Roman Catholic Church’s empire was built on this lie, and modern Christianity has inherited it wholesale. This is not the gospel; it is control masquerading as salvation.
When Yehoshua died, He told the thief on the cross, “Truly I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise” (Luke 23:43 NASB). This shows that Paradise, or Abraham’s bosom, was a real and conscious place within Sheol where the righteous dead were comforted. The rich man and Lazarus account confirms this, showing that Hades had two compartments: one of torment and one of rest. Yehoshua descended into the lower parts of the earth after death, proclaiming victory to the spirits in prison: “For Christ also suffered for sins once for all time, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit; in which He also went and made proclamation to the spirits in prison” (1 Peter 3:18–19 NASB).
However, when Yehoshua rose again, He did not immediately ascend to heaven. He appeared to many over a period of forty days. “To these He also presented Himself alive after His suffering, by many convincing proofs, appearing to them over a period of forty days and speaking of things regarding the kingdom of God” (Acts 1:3 NASB). During this time, He specifically told Mary Magdalene, “Stop clinging to Me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father” (John 20:17 NASB).
Many have assumed that when Paul writes, “When He ascended on high, He led captive the captives, and He gave gifts to people” (Ephesians 4:8 NASB), it refers to Yehoshua taking the souls in Paradise and bringing them into heaven. But the text is actually echoing a military victory procession from Psalm 68:18: “You have ascended on high, You have led captive Your captives; You have received gifts among people, even among the rebellious as well, that the Lord God may dwell there” (NASB). The captives here may not be souls at all, but captivity itself—sin, death, and the powers that once enslaved humanity. Paul’s other writings confirm this interpretation: “When He had disarmed the rulers and authorities, He made a public display of them, having triumphed over them through Him” (Colossians 2:15 NASB).
This also explains the gifts. After the ascension, Yehoshua poured out the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, just as He promised in John 16:7 NASB: “But I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I am leaving; for if I do not leave, the Helper will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you.” The gifts Paul refers to in Ephesians 4:11–12 NASB are Spirit-empowered people: “And He gave some as apostles, some as prophets, some as evangelists, some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the building up of the body of Christ.” These gifts were given after His ascension, not at the resurrection.
This interpretation helps resolve the timeline. Yehoshua descended to Sheol, proclaimed victory, rose again, remained on Earth for forty days, and then ascended. Only after the ascension did He send the Spirit at Pentecost, and only then were gifts poured out on His followers. This suggests that the phrase “He led captivity captive” is not about emptying Paradise, but about establishing spiritual authority and victory. Still, the question remains: where are the dead now? Paul wrote, “we are of good courage and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord” (2 Corinthians 5:8 NASB), but he did not say the two were automatically simultaneous. He also said, “But I am hard-pressed from both directions, having the desire to depart and be with Christ, for that is very much better” (Philippians 1:23 NASB). These verses imply that those who die in Messiah are with Him, but they stop short of directly saying they bypass a waiting place.
Revelation 6:9–11 NASB describes “the souls of those who had been killed because of the word of God” crying out from under the altar, being told to rest “a little while longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brothers and sisters who were to be killed even as they had been, was completed also.” This language suggests a waiting of some kind, though whether it is literal or symbolic of sacrifice is unclear. What is clear is that the dead in Messiah will rise first at the rapture: “For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who remain, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord” (1 Thessalonians 4:16–17 NASB). This resurrection is of the body, but the soul’s exact location in the meantime is a mystery Scripture only partially unveils.
In truth, the Bible often chooses poetry over precision, and metaphor over direct explanation. It could have said, “He went into Paradise and took the souls to heaven,” but instead it leaves us with images, echoes, and patterns. What we do know is that Yehoshua conquered death, disarmed the powers that held us captive, gave gifts to equip His body, and promised that those who believe in Him will rise again. There is a real place of torment for the wicked in Hades now, as the rich man experienced, but it is temporary and will be emptied. There is no eternal torment after judgment; there is either life in Messiah or the second death—utter destruction and a return to the source. The idea of a never-ending torture chamber called “hell” was birthed by the Greco-Roman Catholic institution as a tool of fear-based control, carried forward by modern Christianity, and used to enslave people through guilt and terror. It is one of the greatest idols of Christianity and one of the clearest markers that the religion is not of God.
This is why this teaching must be dismantled. The mission now is to liberate the indoctrinated, to break the chains of fear that this false doctrine has wrapped around the hearts of millions, and to return people to the clarity and hope that Scripture actually teaches. Yehoshua came to set the captives free—not to hand them over to an eternal torture chamber, but to destroy sin, death, and fear forever.
