[geeks] christianity and judaism

[Ido Dubrawsky]

On Wed, Nov 10, 2004 at 09:42:25AM -0600, geeks-request at sunhelp.org wrote:
> Date: Wed, 10 Nov 2004 16:00:01 +0200 (IST)
> From: "Geoffrey S. Mendelson" <gsm at mendelson.com>
> Subject: [geeks] christianity and judaism
> To: The Geeks List <geeks at sunhelp.org>
> Message-ID: <200411101400.iAAE012f014860 at cable.mendelson.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII
> 
> Michael Horton wrote:
> 
> > the thought of a heaven or hell to be gained only after death is foreign
> > to both biblical judaism and biblical christianity.
> 
> In Judaism, that is not true. One accumulates "good guy" points for your
> thoughts and deeds while you are alive. When you die you go to an afterlife
> which may better be descibed as different levels of heaven than a wonderful
> heaven and a burning hell that are the Christian choices.
> 
  Actually, there is no direct term for Hell in Hebrew (and in the context of 
Judaism).  Alot of people have a misunderstanding that Judaism has a concept of
Hell that is in-line with Christianity.  About the closest we get is the term
Gehinom.  The idea historically comes from the term Gay Ben Hinom, which means 
"the valley of the son of Hinom". This valley was located south of Jerusalem on 
one of the borders between the territories of Judah and Benjamin and was 
apparently the site of a cult who worshiped the Molech (a Canaanite god) and
sacrificed children to this god by burning them alive.  The Torah never uses
the term Gehinom as a place of torture and suffering in an equivalent to Hell.
  Gehinom is actually considered a purification process and is part of the 
afterlife concept in Judaism (the afterlife is more appropriately termed "Olam 
Ha-Ba'ah" or "World to Come"). When a person dies, his soul gets a chance to 
"think objectively" about his lifetime spent on earth. Depending on how the 
person spent his life, this can be a painful process in which the soul mourns 
its bad deeds, lost opportunities and wasted potential.  Ultimately, the 
gehinom process is temporary, and eventually enables the person to enjoy the 
benefits of all the good things he did during his lifetime. 
>
> That may not indicate pleasure. Jews have a contract with G-D and are expected
> to follow all 613 commandments. Non Jews are excpected to follow only the 
> first 10. 
> 
Actually, non-Jews are expected to follow the Noahide laws.  Given that the
first 10 commandments are part of the covenant of Sinai non-Jews are not bound
by those.
>
> Geoff.
>
Very good explanation Geoff...I tip my hat off to you.

Ido
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Ido Dubrawsky, CISSP           		E-mail:          ido at dubrawsky.org
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