SECTION 5: THE PAGAN ORIGINS OF ETERNAL TORMENT — HOW HELL ENTERED THE CHURCH
“The doctrines of men have made the Word of God of none effect.” — Mark 7:13
If eternal conscious torment is not what the original languages teach...
And if Jesus never taught it using the actual Greek and Hebrew meanings…
Then where did the idea of hellfire and unending punishment come from?
Let’s uncover the trail — step by step.
1. HELLFIRE DIDN’T BEGIN WITH JESUS — IT BEGAN IN PAGAN RELIGIONS
Centuries before Christ, cultures like the Egyptians, Babylonians, Greeks, and Romans all had versions of the afterlife involving fiery torture, dark pits, and tormented souls.
Babylonians had Irkalla, a shadowy underworld.
Greeks believed in Tartarus, a realm of punishment beneath Hades.
Romans adopted Tartarus and merged it with their own gods.
Zoroastrianism taught dualism — two equal gods (good vs. evil), and a hell where wicked souls burned forever.
These were not biblical concepts. They were pagan afterlife myths designed to control behavior through fear.
2. EARLY CHRISTIANITY TAUGHT A VICTORIOUS SAVIOR — NOT AN ETERNAL TORTURER
In the first few centuries after Christ:
Church fathers like Clement of Alexandria, Origen, and Gregory of Nyssa believed in the ultimate reconciliation of all souls.
They taught that hell was corrective — a refining fire, not a place of endless conscious torment.
“The consuming fire is not eternal punishment but a purifying flame.”
— Origen (3rd Century)
This view was called Apokatastasis — the restoration of all things (see Acts 3:21).
3. HELL ENTERED THE CHURCH THROUGH ROME — AND RELIGIOUS CONTROL
When Emperor Constantine legalized Christianity in the 4th century, things changed.
The Church married the State — and control became key.
What better way to control people than by threatening them with eternal fire?
Augustine (5th century) became a key architect of eternal hell doctrine.
He twisted the meaning of Greek words like aionios (age-during) into “eternal.”
He taught that God predestined some to heaven and others to eternal hell — a fatalistic, fear-based gospel.
The Church used this doctrine to:
Force mass conversions
Control morality
Justify inquisitions and executions
It had nothing to do with Jesus’ actual words.
4. THE KING JAMES BIBLE ENFORCED THE TRANSLATION ERROR
When the King James Bible was translated in 1611, the translators were under the rule of King James — head of the Church of England.
Political loyalty and theological conformity were required.
They mistranslated four Greek and Hebrew words into one word: “hell”.
These included: Sheol, Hades, Gehenna, and Tartarus — each with very different meanings.
Instead of honest translations, they inserted the fiery eternal hell narrative — and it stuck.
Religious institutions loved it, because it kept people in fear.
5. JESUS NEVER TAUGHT PAGAN HELL — HE TAUGHT CORRECTION, RESTORATION, AND KINGDOM
Jesus never once described:
A burning pit of eternal torment
A devil torturing souls
A place where God abandons the lost forever
Instead, Jesus taught:
Gehenna — a metaphor for judgment and purification
Age-lasting correction (kolasis aionios)
The kingdom of God, not the fires of eternal doom
CONCLUSION: HELLFIRE IS NOT GOSPEL — IT’S ROMAN RELIGION
The doctrine of eternal torment is not a revelation — it’s a perversion.
It twists the nature of God.
It contradicts the work of the cross.
It insults the blood of Jesus.
It comes from pagan myth, religious control, and mistranslation.
The early Church knew the truth.
Jesus is the Savior of the world — not the torturer of the masses.