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An Examination of Conditional Immortality (Part One)

.... Hades (Sheol)This is the Greek form of the Hebrew Sheol found in the Old Testament, usually (and properly) translated as “grave”, or meaning the general place of the dead (similar to the place of the same name in Greek mythology). TartarusThis only appears once in the New Testament in 2 Peter 2:4 and is used in relation to the angels who sinned and were put in chains. Interestingly, it’s another word borrowed from Greek mythology, for the prison where the Titans were sent as punishment. If you are interested in how we got the word “hell” in our English language, and more importantly, into our Bibles, I highly recommend that you read this study:...

Was there death before the Fall?

...oncept of Sheol. Was Sheol was simply a euphemism, or caricature, for the grave and death which developed over time; or did the ancient Hebrews think of a literal life-after-death scenario (as Luke 20:38 would suggest in retrospect)? Either way, from reading through the Old Testament, you begin to see it as "a place of darkness to which all the dead go, both the righteous and the unrighteous, regardless of the moral choices made in life, a place of stillness and darkness cut off from God" (Mercer Dictionary of the Bible, p. 819).  Only in Dan 12:2 do we find any idea of people coming back from the place of the dead: Many of those who sleep in the dust...

Raised in the Heavenlies!

...speak of Sheol (the “grave”/underworld) as not necessarily being asleep, but as having some limited activity (Isa 14:9), despite it being described as a shadowy and sobre place, with no light nor joy (Job 10:20-22; Psalms 88:6). New Testament theologian, N.T. Wright, describes this intermediate stage as being "conscious," but "compared to being bodily alive, it will be like being asleep". So sort of like a ‘dream state’ in that the level of awareness is limited; in God’s presence but not active in our own bodies and will. By the time of Jesus, this doctrine or belief about the afterlife had developed, and Sheol (Hades in Greek) had become more defi...

The Resurrection as a historical event

...rkness of Sheol, it was possibly the first and last time there was ever any light in that gloomy place! Ignatius gives us an early insight into the understanding of this descending and rising out of that “prison” Hades (or Sheol in Hebrew), by linking it to the event in Mat 27:52 – “For Says the Scripture, ‘Many bodies of the saints that slept arose,’ their graves being opened.  He descended, indeed, into Hades alone, but He arose accompanied by a multitude” – Ignatius to the Trallians, ch. IX The nature of the resurrection Firstly, the resurrection is spiritual. Though spiritual isn’t the only type of resurrection taught in the New...

The Deity of Christ in the Gospel of Matthew - Part 1

...s deep as Sheol or as high as heaven” (Isaiah 7:11). Whether or not there was a prior fulfilment Matthew sees the birth of Jesus as the ultimate fulfilment of this prophecy making that connection directly after recording the angel stating unambiguously that he is Jehovah while drawing specific attention to the meaning of the name “God is with us” something he wants his readers to take seriously and not to miss. Second, some may wish to mention that the Lord’s given name was “Jesus” not “Immanuel”. It is perfectly clear that Matthew well knows what the Lord’s given name is, (Matthew 1:21), without even referring to the use of the name “Jesus...