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Q. What does the Bible say about Hell and Purgatory?

(Submitted by: Anthony)

A. The Bible does not mention "Purgatory". That realm is a construct of the Catholic Church and is not Biblical in origin.

The Hebrew word sheol is translated as "hell" in the Old Testament. It's meaning is "the common grave of mankind" and has nothing to do with the current definition of "hell", i.e., a place of "fire and brimstone" where the evil are punished throughout eternity. That definition of "hell" comes mostly from the writings of the poet Dante and his book, Inferno.

Three Greek words are translated as "hell": tartaroo, used only once in the New Testament, in 2Peter 2:4, meaning "the deepest part of hades" (see next definition); hades, which is the exact equivalent of the Hebrew sheol with the same meaning; and gehenna, which refers to the Valley of Hinnom which was located right outside the gates of Jerusalem. See Matthew 5:22, for instance. It was into this ravine that the inhabitants of Jerusalem threw their trash which they burned occasionally using "brimstone" (sulfur) to ignite and totally burn the trash. I understand from secular writings at that time that certain criminals' bodies were also tossed there after execution.