THE PLAIN TRUTH ABOUT THE UNDERWORLD!!
ALL THE CONFUSION ABOUT THE UNDERWORLD AND THE AFTERLIFE CAME ABOUT BECAUSE THE LATIN VULGATE VERSION CHANGED HADES TO INFERNO!! |
The Douay-Rheims Version is the authorized English translation of the Latin Vulgate:
Because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell (Latin: inferno); nor wilt thou give thy holy one to see corruption (Acts 2:27, Douay-Rheims Version).
The Latin Vulgate translators loved to give Latin names to Hebrew and Greek names and places: Joshua became Jesus, MIriam became Maria, and Golgotha became Calvary. The only time they deviated from that practice was when they refused to translate MAMZER as BASTARD (Deuteronomy. 23:2).
A false word, like a false weight, is an abomination to JEHOVAH (Proverbs of Solomon 11:1).
In the Old Covenant, all the dead went to a place called Sheol in Hebrew. Sheol was located in the underworld and was divided into 3 compartments:
HEBREW SHEOL BEFORE THE RESURRECTION OF THE MESSIAH |
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PARADISE OR ABRAHAM'S BOSOM |
TORMENTS |
THE BOTTOMLESS PIT OR ABYSS |
Most people had to die before going to Sheol, but there was an incident where some people who rebelled against Moses went down alive into Sheol:
And Moses said "By this ye shall know that JEHOVAH has sent me to do all these works, for I have not done them of my own will. If these men die naturally like all men, or if they are visited by the common fate of all men, then JEHOVAH has not sent me. But if JEHOVAH creates a new thing, and the earth opens up its mouth and swallow them up with all that belongs to them, and they go down alive into Sheol, then you will understand that these men have rejected JEHOVAH. Now it came to pass, as he finished speaking all these worlds, that the ground split apart under them, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up, with their households and all the men with Korah, with all their goods. So they and all those with them went down alive into Sheol; the earth closed over them, and they perished from among the congregation. Then all Israel who were around about them fled at their cry, for they said "lest the earth swallow us up also" (Numbers 16:29-34).
All the righteous dead from the time of Adam and Eva went to Paradise or Abraham's Bosom. Even the patriarch Abraham, who was called the Friend of JEHOVAH, was down there.
Under the Mosaic system, millions of animals were offered in sacrifice in the great Temple in Jerusalem. The sacrifices only covered sins but could not blot them out completely. Saint Paul—a Hebrew of the Hebrews—said:
For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins (Hebrews 10:4).
These animal sacrifices could never get anyone out of Sheol, but were just a type of the coming Messiah, whose blood would be shed to get them out of the underworld.
The Hebrew SHEOL was equivalent to the Greek HADES!
Around 250 years before Christ, the Hebrew Scriptures were translated into KOINE Greek. That translation was called the Septuagint or LXX for the 70 Hebrew scholars that took part in the translation.
No genuine copy of the Septuagint exists today except in the Secret Archives of the Vatican!
When the translators encountered words or concepts that were unknown in Greek, like Sabbath and baptism, they imported those words into the Greek translation. The Hebrew Sheol was very similar to the Greek concept of the underworld, so they kept that word in the Greek translation.
GREEK HADES BEFORE THE RESURRECTION OF THE MESSIAH |
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PARADISE OR ABRAHAM'S BOSOM |
TORMENTS |
THE BOTTOMESS PIT OR ABYSS |
Saints Mark and Luke recorded a terrifying encounter that the Messiah had with a man possessed by 6,000 demons. Those demons begged him not to send them into the abyss:
Then they came to the other side of the sea, to the country of the Gadarenes. And when he had come out of the boat, immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit, who had his dwelling among the tombs, and no one could bind him, not even with chains, because he had often been bound with shackles and chains. And the chains had been pulled apart and the shackles broken to pieces, neither could anyone restrain him. And always, night and day, he was in the mountains and in the bombs, crying out and cutting himself with stones. When he saw Joshua from far off, he ran and worshipped him, and cried out with a loud voice and said "What have I to do with you, Joshua, son of the Most High Elohim, I implore you by Elohim that you do not torment me, "for he said unto him, "come out of the man, you unclean spirit." Then he asked him, "What is your name?" And he answered saying, "my name is Legion, for we are many." And they begged him earnestly not to send them into the abyss. Now a large herd of swine was feeding near the mountain. So all the demons begged him saying, "send us into the swine, that we may enter them" (There were about two thousand), and the herd ran violently down the steep place and were drowned in the sea (Saint Mark 5:1-13, Saint Luke 8:26-33).
A Roman legion consisted of 6,000 men, and the 2,000 swine symbolized the number of years before the Messiah would return and send all the demons to Gehenna or the Lake of Fire and Brimstone.
Joshua—the expert on the afterlife—told the story of 2 men that died and their 2 different destinations:
There was a certain rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen, and feasted sumptuously every day. And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, full of sores, who was laid at his gate, desiring to be fed with the crumbs that fell from the rich man's table. Moreover, the dogs came and licked his sores. And it came to pass that Lazarus died and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom. The rich man also died and was buried. And being in TORMENTS in HADES, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off and Lazarus in his bosom. Then he cried and said "Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame." But Abraham said, "Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus evil thing, but now he is comforted and you are tormented. And besides all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed, so that those who want to pass here to you cannot, nor can those from there pass to us (Saint Luke 16:19-26).
Here is that verse again from the Douay-Rheims Version:
And it came to pass that the beggar died and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom. And the rich man also died: and he was buried in hell (Saint Luke 16:22, Douay-Rheims Version).
The rich man suddenly became concerned about his brothers salvation so that they would not join him in TORMENTS:
And he said, "then I beg you, father Abraham, send someone to my father's house, for I have five brothers, that he may warn them lest they come to his place of torment. But Abraham said, "they have Moses and the prophets, let them hear them." But he said, No, father Abraham, but if someone went to them from the dead, they will repent (Gk metanoeo). But he said, "if they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead (Saint Luke 16:27-31).
The Latin Vulgate changed REPENT to DO PENANCE:
But he said: No, father Abraham: but if one went to them from the dead, they will do penance (Saint Luke 16:30, Douay-Rheims Version).
That is where the idea of Purgatory or doing PENANCE for the souls in the underworld originated.
The Messiah died and rose again to empty Abraham's Bosom!!
The Messiah came to this earth to empty or defeat HADES, and to keep his people from ever having to go there again. However, his death did not apply to those in TORMENTS.
Before He rose from the dead, the Messiah actually spent 3 days and 3 nights in the Paradise section of Hades:
And Joshua said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be with me in PARADISE (Saint Luke 23:43).
Even the Latin Vulgate did not change Paradise to Hell:
And Jesus said to him: Amen I say to you: This day you will be with me in paradise (Latin: paradiso) (Luke 23:43, Douay-Rheims Version).
Joshua did not go to HELL after his death as claimed by the Latin Apostles' Creed, because only the wicked go to hell on the Last Day.
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Golgotha on the Mount of Olives was the
Shortly after his Resurrection, Joshua appeared to the Apostle Paul on the Damascus Road, and his life was never the same.
Saint Paul had one message to preach to the entire Roman Empire: the Resurrection of Christ and the coming Day of Judgment:
And the times of this ignorance Elohim winked at; but now commandeth all men everywhere to repent (Gk metanoeo). Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead (Acts 17:30-31).
Again the Vulgate changed REPENT to DO PENANCE:
And God indeed having winked at the times of this ignorance, now declareth unto men that all should every where do penance (Acts 17:30, Douay-Rheims Version).
When Joshua arose triumphant from the dead, He received the KEYS of death and Hades from his Father:
I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Selah; and have the keys of HADES and of death. (Apocalypse 1:18).
Joshua unlocked the gates of HADES with his KEYS and took all the occupants of Abraham's Bosom to Heaven:
Wherefore he said, when he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men (Ephesians 4:8).
Abraham's Bosom or Paradise is now EMPTY and closed permanently. That was a fulfillment of theprediction that Joshua made to Saint Peter in Matthew 16:18.
GREEK HADES AFTER THE RESURRECTION OF THE MESSIAH |
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TORMENTS
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THE BOTTOMLESS PIT OR ABYSS |
The former residents of Abraham's Bosom, and the dead in Christ, are now sitting on thrones and reigning with Christ in Heaven:
And round about the throne were twenty four seats: and upon the seats I saw twenty foure elders sitting, clothed in white raiment; and they had on their heads crowns of gold (Apocalypse 4:4).
These elders represent the Old and New Covenant saints who are now reigning with Christ.
Nobody is in HELL right now!!
Nobody is in the place called HELL (Latin: inferno) right now. HELL was created when Satan and his angels rebelled against the Almighty:
For Tophet is ordained of old; yea, for the king (Satan) it is prepared; he hath made it deep and large: the pile thereof is fire and much wood; the breath of JEHOVAH, like a stream of brimstone, kindles it (Isaiah 30:33).
The Hebrew word TOPHET is translated by the Greek word GEHENNA:
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 Gehenna (Matthew 10:28, Greek Orthodox Version).
The unbelievers will be sentenced to HELL or GEHENNA on the LAST DAY:
Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, "depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels" (Matthew 25:41).
At the end of time, HADES will be emptied into HELL or the Lake of Fire:
And the sea gave up the dead who were in it; and death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and HADES were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire (Apocalypse 20:13-15).
If HADES is HELL, that means that HELL was cast into HELL. A ludicrous statement indeed as appears in the Latin Vulgate Version:
And hell and death were cast into the pool of fire. This is the second death (Apocalypse 20:14, Douay-Rheims Version).
HELL will exist somewhere in the universe for all eternity:
The Latin Church purgatory and Limbo is all a MYTH....A little knowledge of Hebrew and Greek is all that is necessary to understand what the Holy Bible teaches about the afterlife and the underworld.
Unbelievers go to Hades upon their death, and then must await the general resurrection on the Last Day, before being sentenced to HELL or the Lake of Fire!
Vital links
Reference
The Douay Rheims Version translated from the Latin Vulgate. Tan Books and Publishers, Rockford, Illinois, 1971. (First published in 1899). Imprimatur James Cardinal Gibbons of Baltimore.
Copyright © 2021 by Patrick Scrivener