CCS SysTheo

Eschatology – A Brief Excursus on Hades

Terms• Sheol

– Hebrew word– Interchangeable with Greek Hades (See LXX)– General meaning is “grave” or “pit”– Ancient Middle Eastern pagan views considered it the “abode of the

dead”• Hades

– Greek word– Interchangeable with Hebrew Sheol (See LXX)– General meaning is “grave” or “pit”– The Ancient Greek culture saw Hades as being inhabited by the

“shades” of people• Yet, both have the more nuanced view, especially in the NT, of

Judgment

Tombs for the Afterlife

The Shades of the Underworld

The Layers• Sheol/Hades– The Ancient view of the abode of the dead

• Gehenna– The place of punishment in everlasting torment

of Fire• Tartarus– From Tartarow, meaning to throw into Hell, but

became a transilterated “Tartarus” to designate the place of Hell and judgment

The Issue• Some have taken Sheol/Hades to be a place of

temporary judgment and holding until the final judgment

• Some think this place to be located in the literal bowels of the earth

• Both sides of this particular spectrum agree that the wicked dead are not in Hell, but waiting in Hades until Death and Hades are thrown in the Lake of Fire (Rev. 20:14)

• NOTE: I do not think this spectrum of belief best interprets these phrases, nor these texts

Thesis Points• Sheol and Hades most normally mean “grave” or

“pit” and should be read that way, unless context requires that the more euphemistic “(place/time of) judgment” be used

• It was a blending of mythology that brought about the view that Hades is a holding place for the dead to be thrown into Hell later

• Death is THE punishment/result/enemy because of sin. The Grave is a tremendous theme in Scripture because it is the image of death, which is the image of rebellion against God – which is the collapse of why humans exist

The Data• Sheol appears in OT about 65 times• Hades appositional, as paired in 5 of 10 uses in

NT (Death and Hades)• KJV has prominence in translation variations– 31 times – grave– 31 times – Hell– 3 times - pit

• It is sufficient to read only “grave” in all, even though it could be acceptable to see “place of judgment” or “Hell” in some

The “Holding Place” view• Sheol is the Hebrew, Old Testament word for the abode of

the dead. Hades is the Greek New Testament equivalent of that term

• Sheol/Hades before the resurrection of Christ had two compartments:– One for the righteous, sometimes called “Paradise” or

“Abraham’s Bosom” that was emptied of its residents at the resurrection and ascension of Christ

– One for the wicked, sometimes called “Hell”, “Outer Darkness”, “Gehenna”, “Tartaros”, and ultimately, “The Lake of Fire”

– In no instance do any of these terms , except for “The Lake of Fire” denote the eternal state

– This is now the locale of the disembodied wicked awaiting the final resurrection and judgment in The Lake of Fire

So-called Textual Support of “Holding Place” view

• Luke 16:19-31 and the Rich man and Lazarus– Context is riches and the narrative should not be forced into

implications• Acts 2:27 & 31 and Jesus descending to Hell

– This is the grave, why would one “see/undergo corruption” in Hell?

• Romans 10:6-7 and where one goes to get righteousness– This is linguistic device much like Psalm 139

• Ephesians 4:8-9 and Christ ascending and descending– This is just to say that God the Son actually died and was buried

• 1 Peter 3 and Jesus preaching to the spirits in prison– This is connected to Noah preaching “in the Spirit of Christ”

At the End of the Day (hehe)

• Sheol/Hades is most purely just the Grave – the sign of death

• Death is a BIG deal (Gen. 2:17 and 1 Cor. 15:50-58)• The “Holding Place” view is at best novel imagination

or expansion of implicatory doctrines; at worst is a syncretizing of ancient pagan beliefs

• Death does place us before God’s judgment• Death is the Judgment• Death is the enemy• Death is the final victory

To be clear . . .

• Hell is a real place (Luke 12:5)• Hell is everlasting punishment (Mark 9:48)• The dead are judged (Heb. 9:27)• There is this life and the next . . .

. . . no in between

Death is bad enough

CCS SysTheo

Eschatology – A Brief Excursus on Hades