A Fundamentalist View of Hell

[oneflewoutofthecuckcoosnest]

(04-10-2012 12:36 AM)lucrezaborgia Wrote:  Where did hell really come from in Christianity if it wasn't a concept in ancient Judaism?

I am relying on memory here so you might want to check this out more closely (Anchor Bible Dictionary would be a great resource if you can get your hands on it). The doctrine developed during second temple Judaism probably due to contact with Persian and Greek ideas and as a result of theodicy questions. Since the righteous weren't always blessed in this life and the wicked always punished, ultimate justice must happen in an afterlife. The doctrine existed in Judaism in the first century (though not all Jews held it) and the church took it from there.

Again, it's been some time since I studied this.