Hell--what's your definition?

I believe in either Milton's "Paradise Lost" or Chaucer's "Canterbury Tales" (I can't remember which) ---Hell is depicted as an icy region that freezes the very soul for all of eternity!!!

However, most modern ideals of Hell are made of flames and a little red man with horns.

Then there is the idea that Hell is personal. You suffer by whatever means that were your worst nightmares in the Earthly realm.

What do you think?

Hell to me would be all clouds and harps and angels ,and endless cries of ,"We told you,but you didn't believe us!";)

Finals, forever...:mad:

I think of hell as a place similar to New Jersey.

Originally posted by TabulaRasa
I think of hell as a place similar to New Jersey.

Actually, I was thinking of the DNC convention. :D

I dont think its possible to define something that dosn't exist. ;)

I guess you never took finals huh? Well, maybe not at my school. I been taking my calc final for the past 4 days...and i still got 1 day left...plus i have no exemptions. Definetly hell exists my poor misguided friend. Stay well away from it. :mad:

Originally posted by Moppie
I dont think its possible to define something that dosn't exist. ;)

agree

clearly we'll defining the commonly believed notion of hell


hell is the place all of the cool angels/people go to hide out from god and ned flanders

When I think of what Hell might be defined as, or perhaps even what Heaven might be defined as, I would have to agree with those that consider Hell to be a personally defined topic, within the parameters of your own worst earthly fears. And so, with this in mind, I am persuaded to say that perhaps Hell is a place of utter darkness and silence, where all your secrets are revealed. Because perhaps when we are faced to reveal the essence of our true being, that can be the greatest horrifying experience of all.

I am compelled to think of Richard Matheson's What Dreams May Come, in addition to the classic of Dorian Gray, when we discuss our ideas on the existence of Heaven and Hell. Hmm...those two books give us a lot to think about.

So if you were Hitler, hell would be living in Israel?

hell is trying to come up with an idea of what hell is. it's like trying to find the end of that damn rainbow. it'll never happen but you'll always try. it's a never ending maze. you don't quite know which way you're going, but you keep going anyway when in the back of your mind, you know that this maze is never ending, and you will never reach the exit. or whatever. i dont' know if i make sense. carry on!

Originally posted by 1989 DX R
So if you were Hitler, hell would be living in Israel?

We'll I don't see how he could possibly survive a day in Israel (my home country* btw ;)). I guess you could say that, but the question seems very unclear. If he were living their, I'm sure he would be killed by someone as soon as he caught their attention. Then he would be going back and back to hell all the time. lol

Exactly. I mean, his kind of hell would probably be like that. Maybe like Sysphus(sp?) or Tantalus and their own personal hells.

Originally posted by wickedG20


We'll I don't see how he could possibly survive a day in Israel (my hometown btw ;)).

Isreal is a town? ;)

My idea of what hell is would be a dark cold empty place, you have no body. So it is amost like endless nothingness. Boy I would rather have the hot depiction of hell.

My idea of hell is the constant burning of flesh, the drinking of puss and boiling water, painful screams, darkness, tears, and punishments that fit the commited crime. I also see layers and/or levels of the same kind of thing. The scariest place any human mind can possibly concieve.

Boy, did this thread ever die!!!!!!!!

I wonder what it's fated Hell will be! ;)

Originally posted by saturntangerine


I wonder what it's fated Hell will be! ;)


To slip into the abyess that is page 2! :devil:


:D

So, so you think you can tell
Heaven from Hell,
Blue skys from pain.
Can you tell a green field
From a cold steel rail?
A smile from a veil?
Do you think you can tell?

And did they get you to trade
Your heros for ghosts?
Hot ashes for trees?
Hot air for a cool breeze?
Cold comfort for change?
And did you exchange
A walk on part in the war
For a lead role in a cage?

How I wish, how I wish you were here.
We're just two lost souls
Swimming in a fish bowl,
Year after year,
Running over the same old ground.
What have we found?
The same old fears.
Wish you were here.

Originally posted by YogsVR4


Isreal is a town? ;)

fixed it, and its spelled Israel not Isreal ;)

Originally posted by wickedG20


fixed it, and its spelled Israel not Isreal ;)

fixed...unreal!!

hell............a kind of groundhog day where you repeatedly relive the worst day of your life with no hope of changing its outcome.

i like groundhog day...groundhogs are tasty :D

hell is a plane of imagination. it is what you wish it to be, from absolutly nothing and non existent to fire and devils its all a projection of your perception of reality.

Originally posted by saturntangerine
What do you think?

Hell? All those bills flooding into my mailbox every week is what I call hell :devil:

Hell? Sometimes I wonder if I am not there already. :mad:

But seriously.....


Originally posted by Moppie
I dont think its possible to define something that dosn't exist. ;)

I agree with moppie's statement.

Originally posted by Moppie
I dont think its possible to define something that dosn't exist. ;)
That's a blatantly false statement. :eek:

We define things that may or may not exist all day long. Even stepping aside the huge realm of fiction and imagination, mathematicians and physicists regularly very accurately define things that don't really exist.

A symantic definition and platonic existence are seperate concepts, one does not require the other.

Personally, I agree that a hell, as it was described to me as a child, does not exist. But we can still talk about what it might be like...
:smoker2:

Originally posted by SickLude
My idea of hell is the constant burning of flesh, the drinking of puss and boiling water, painful screams, darkness, tears, and punishments that fit the commited crime. I also see layers and/or levels of the same kind of thing. The scariest place any human mind can possibly concieve. This is pretty much exactly my perception of Hell. We are talking about a state of unbridled, neverending suffering. People who were on the floors of the WTC where the planes hit that survived the initial impact probably had a pretty good idea of what Hell was all about, for example. Short of this, I feel that most definitions of Hell are just forms of personal anguish, and IMO most any situation of this nature can be made light of.

Many people may be ill mentally, or just too weak to find anything to live for and be happy about, but I don’t think it would be fair for any of them to define their lives as a living Hell. Maybe that’s just easy for “charmed life” little me to say, but that’s what I believe. I know some people with some very unfortunate circumstances in their lives that manage to cope with everything and find the strength and courage to be happy and find content.

Originally posted by fritz_269

That's a blatantly false statement. :eek:


Damn you for coming back from your Holiday before I could point out what I did wrong. :devil: (note the ;) with the orginal post, it was deliberate)

I don't really kin with the Dante's Inferno type of hell with fire and pincers and all sorts of ironic torture. Personally, I like the more existential hell put forth by Jean Paul Satre in the play No Exit - "hell is other people". Try to imagine being in a nicely appointed living room with two other people. These people are not particularly bad or evil, they're a lot like you in fact. But there is no door, and you are stuck in there, with them, for eternity......

It may not sound so bad on the surface, but let it sink in a little bit. Eternity is a long time. There is no need for another entity to cause pain as each person will torture the other two, by the mere fact of thier existance. (And no, since they're already dead you can't kill them. ;) )

Ines: "You are nothing else but your life."
:cool: