Do you believe in the existence of hell?

I do, and I have heard of a few that say they experienced hell, not so sure I buy into that, but Jesus taught about it, they say He taught (warned) about hell more than heaven. He also taught a parable in luke 16 that described it (what it is like) .

Matthew 23:33

Serpents, brood of vipers! How can you escape the condemnation of hell?

Matthew 10:28

And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.

I do not believe in a literal Hell. The idea that you go to Hell because you were a nonbeliever (not a Christian) or even just because you did something bad seems utterly ridiculous to me as I don’t think that a loving God determines a person’s eternal fate that way.

I believe that all human life as well as the afterlife exists along a continuum between a figurative heaven and hell, heaven representing a higher place, a happy place, and hell representing a sorrowful place, a mind state of extreme anguish. However, here is the caveat: Where a person is on that continuum is not determined by what religion he/she belongs to as an atheist can be nearer to the heaven state on the continuum than a religious person. Thus there is no ‘ticket’ to heaven you can buy with mere belief or even good deeds and there is no final placement in hell, just because one did not believe in God or even did some bad deeds. Ultimately, God will decide where is most appropriate for any given individual to go upon arrival!

In the final analysis, heaven can be seen partly as a state of nearness to God; hell is a state of remoteness from God. Each state follows as a natural consequence of individual efforts, or the lack thereof, to develop spiritually. The key to spiritual progress is to follow the path outlined by the Manifestations of God. Beyond this, the exact nature of the afterlife remains a mystery. "The nature of the soul after death can never be described."

No. The Old Testament 'hell' is simply the grave, and the Jews do not believe in eternal torment. Jesus was the first person to mention eternal torment in the New Testament (Matt 25:41-46), so it IS in the christian Bible. The problem is that hell is never mentioned in the Book of Acts, and is very rarely implied until you get to the book of Revelation.

If it really existed and was such a place to worry about, why didn't the disciples and Paul preach about hell? Especially in Acts when they were preaching to everyone on the streets.

On top of that, if it were real, why didn't God warn the human race way back in Genesis? So Jesus' mention of hell is an inconsistency and contradiction with the rest of the bible.

EDIT: You mentioned Mary Kathryn Baxter's hell revelation. She also had a vision of heaven in which tithing was promoted. Tithing is not for christians, it was for jews only. Her vision of heaven and hell was from her own head and a product of her own indoctrination.

Of Course! I am a Non-Denominational Judeo-Christian.

When people die they do not go to Heaven or Hell right away this was made popular by the Apocryphal Gospel of Nicodemus. When a person dies they go to Hades/Sheol in the Abyss (Underworld; Romans 10:7). The saved go to the top compartment called Paradise (Luke 23:43), the unsaved go to the bottom part the Infernal Torment (Luke 16:23,24; some translate Hades here Hell however this is incorrect as Gehenna in Greek is Hell).They are not sleeping (cf.Luke 16:23,24; also 1 Peter 3:19; 4:6).

At the end of the age, the unsaved will be resurrected with their old disease filled bodies, they and the Infernal torment part of Hades/Sheol will be thrown into Hell (Revelation 20:13-15). The saved with their glorified immortal bodies they got 1000 years before during Jesus coming will get one of three abodes or mansions depending on their closeness to God 1).Heaven, 2).Paradise (Eternally), 3).The New Jerusalem, this is why Jesus said "But others fell on good ground and it was giving fruit, the one a hundredfold, the other sixty fold, the other thirtyfold. The one having ears to hear let him hear" Matthew 13:8,9

This is confirmed by Ireneaus Bishop of Lyons a student of Polycarp who himself was a student of John the Apostle and chosen by him to be Bishop of Smyrna and other Church Fathers (cf.Ireneaus:Against Heresies 5.36 and Hippolytus: Against Plato on the Cause of the Universe). Also Purgatory is a made up concept.

"I shall reprove you in this world, and I will arrange Gehenna (Hell) before you in the world to come" Psalms 50:21 (Targums)

"And they shall go forth and look on the bodies of the sinful men who have rebelled against my Memra (Word/Reason); for their souls will not die and their fire shall not be quenched, and the wicked shall be judged in Gehenna until the righteous will say concerning them, We have seen enough" Isaiah 66:24 (Targums)

"And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall arise, some to everlasting life, and some to reproach and everlasting shame" Daniel 12:2

The Traditional Concept of HELL ...is a Myth

The traditional concept of 'Hell' has sinners tortured with fire for eternity. They are assumed to feel searing pain, yet their flesh is not consumed.

Surprisingly, fire is NOT mentioned in 78% of the verses where the word Hell appears in the King James Version (KJV) bible. In the few remaining verses where fire and sinners are associated, it is clearly NOT torture, but ANNIHILATION, which results.

The traditional concept of Hell does NOT come from the inspired Hebrew or Greek manuscripts. It is a pagan myth adopted as Christian doctrine in the third century by church fathers. Yet, then as now, innocent people are taught the traditional concept of Hell by trusted authority figures. That trust deters questions, so for hundreds of years the myth has perpetuated. The KJV and other translations have also perpetuated the myth by less than the most accurate translation of the word Hell. But this is changing as seen in Table A.

This article is a compilation of out-of-print publications from Ambassador College and other sources which are identified herein. Bold fonts, all capital letters, etc., are author's emphasis.

Anomalies in the words translated as Hell

The word Hell occurs in a total of fifty-three verses in the KJV; Thirty-one times in the Old Testament, and twenty-two times in the New. This article will show that:

FOUR separate words from Hebrew and Greek were translated into the ONE English word Hell. In English Hell refers to a conceal place, a hole in the ground as for storing potatoes, etc., covered with soil during winter.

TWO words, one Hebrew and one Greek, mean the SAME THING. Fire is NOT associated with FORTY-TWO occurrences of these words.

One Greek word for Hell occurs just once. Fire is NOT associated with the occurrence, neither are HUMANS.

One Greek word is used ELEVEN times; FIRE is associated with EVERY occurrence.

Anyone can find the definition of the four Hebrew and Greek words translated, and the context in which they are used by using your public library!

Yes, we are living in Hell now.

Yes, I believe in God.

And Hell is not mentioned in the Bible.

The Lake of Fire mentioned in Revelations is not Hell, nor is the pit of Apollyon considered to be Hell.

Nor is Sheol...

The idea of an underground Hell comes from subterranean communities that exist and who keep captive any visitors (oh yeah, they do exist and have for several thousand years. The premise of the movie in the link below is based on this)

Which Hell?

We Have the Greek and Roman version as well as others such as the biblical version which ironically is not the one most Christians believe in as they tend to believe in the 9 layers which is the version of Dante's Inferno a fictional book then again so is the bible.

i beleive there are different destinations of hell,

i have answered several questions of these types and defined that hell is not a single destination but many.

the lake of fire itself will not exist as the final judgment until after all judgments and all people are resurrected.

i think that the final judgment doesnt happen until after all knees bow unto the LORD and only the sons of perdition refuse to bow.

It is interesting that a much higher percentage of people believe in the existence of heaven than believe in the existence of hell. According to the Bible, though, hell is just as real as heaven. The Bible clearly and explicitly teaches that hell is a real place to which the wicked/unbelieving are sent after death. We have all sinned against God (Romans 3:23). The just punishment for that sin is death (Romans 6:23). Since all of our sin is ultimately against God (Psalm 51:4), and since God is an infinite and eternal Being, the punishment for sin, death, must also be infinite and eternal. Hell is this infinite and eternal death which we have earned because of our sin.

The punishment of the wicked dead in hell is described throughout Scripture as “eternal fire” (Matthew 25:41), “unquenchable fire” (Matthew 3:12), “shame and everlasting contempt” (Daniel 12:2), a place where “the fire is not quenched” (Mark 9:44-49), a place of “torment” and “fire” (Luke 16:23-24), “everlasting destruction” (2 Thessalonians 1:9), a place where “the smoke of torment rises forever and ever” (Revelation 14:10-11), and a “lake of burning sulfur” where the wicked are “tormented day and night forever and ever” (Revelation 20:10).

The punishment of the wicked in hell is as never ending as the bliss of the righteous in heaven. Jesus Himself indicates that punishment in hell is just as everlasting as life in heaven (Matthew 25:46). The wicked are forever subject to the fury and the wrath of God. Those in hell will acknowledge the perfect justice of God (Psalm 76:10). Those who are in hell will know that their punishment is just and that they alone are to blame (Deuteronomy 32:3-5). Yes, hell is real. Yes, hell is a place of torment and punishment that lasts forever and ever, with no end. Praise God that, through Jesus, we can escape this eternal fate (John 3:16, 18, 36).

Yes, but hell was not intended for man, but for Satan and his devil's as Jesus Himself said:

Mat 25:41 "Then He will also say to those on the left hand, 'Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels:

But many people will go there (believers and unbelievers), because of their unbelieve and disobedience--many believers are disobedience. It is not God that send them there; it is their unbelieve and disodedience.