Hell is not a Bible teaching

The Old English Word Hell My definition of hell was a necessary courtesy due to the meaning of the word having changed since it appeared, especially in older translations like the King James Version. The Old English word hell in 1611 comes from a root word which means to cover or conceal. Words from the same root word have a similar meaning. Shell, for example, is a covering. Hull is the covered part of a ship or the covering of a nut. Whole is an uncovering, heal is the covering of a wound, hill is the covering of earth or stone of the flat ground. Hall is the covered part of a building for storage or the gathering of people. To hell potatoes meant to store them underground, as in a cellar, a book heller was the worker who put the cover on a book and to hell a house meant to cover a portion of it with tile. The Hebrew Word Sheol And Greek Hades The Hebrew word sheohl (transliteration Sheol) doesn't mean pit, though it can be translated as pit, death, or grave. The Catholic Douay Version translates Sheol as hell 64 times and once as death. The King James Version translates Sheol 31 times as hell, 31 times as grave and 3 times as pit. The English Revised Version (1885) transliterated Sheol in many cases but most of the occurrences were translated as grave, or pit. Hell being used 14 times. The American Standard Version (1901) transliterated Sheol in all 65 occurrences and Hades in all ten of its occurrences. "Sheol was located somewhere 'under' the earth . . . . The state of the dead was one of neither pain nor pleasure. Neither reward for the righteous nor punishment for the wicked was associated with Sheol. The good and bad alike, tyrants and saints, kings and orphans, Israelites and gentiles - all slept together without awareness of one another." - Encyclopaedia Britannica (1971, Volume 11, page 276) your use of Numbers 16:33, where the ground opens up and covers the people doesn't support an eternal torment, only a covering, much like a grave. When Jonah was in the belly of the great fish he said he was in Sheol (KJV Hell, Jonah 2:1, 2) which he thought would be his grave, not a pit under the earth. The Greek word Haides (Transliteration Hades) corresponds to the Hebrew Sheol as is indicated by the apostle Peter's reference to Psalms 16:10 at Acts 2:27-31 where Jesus had fulfilled David's prophecy that Jesus would not be left in hell. Peter quoted Psalms and used the Greek Hades in place of Sheol. Gehenna The Christian Greek Gehenna is a literal place - a valley that lies South and South-West of ancient Jerusalem. It is the modern day Wadi er-Rababi (Ge Ben Hinnom), a deep, narrow valley. Today it is a peaceful and pleasant valley, unlike the surrounding dry and rocky terrain, and most certainly unlike the pagan / apostate Christian hell. In the days of unfaithful Kings Manasseh and Ahaz idolatrous worship of the pagan god Baal was conducted in the place which was then known as Geh Hinnom, (the valley of Hinnom) including human sacrifices to fire. It is ironic that the pagan custom of burning in fire, as in hell, would have so clearly infiltrated the Christian teachings, considering that this practice was a detestable thing to Jehovah God, and his prophets spoke of a time when this place would be turned into a defiled and desolate place. (2 Chronicles 28:1-3; 33:1-6 / Jeremiah 7:31-32; 32:35). The prophecy was fulfilled in the days of faithful King Josiah, who had the place, especially the area known as Topeth polluted into a refuse heap. (2 Kings 23:10) So it was that in the days of Jesus and the early Christian congregations, that the valley was known as a literal place where the carcasses of criminals and animals were thrown, having no hope for resurrection. The refuse there was kept burning with sulfur, which is abundant in the area. When Jesus used Gehenna as a figurative or symbolic reference to the spiritually dead the people in the area knew what he was talking about. Image Of Gehenna http://www.pathwaymachine.com... The link you provided seems to present the Valley of Hinnom as a place of literal punishment, but says very little of it as eternal or it's later use. The scripture they use, Jeremiah 7:31, points out that God didn't approve of the sacrifices of children to fire for Baal. If he didn't approve of it then he had nothing to do with it, especially as eternal torment. The Lake Of Fire Since death is thrown into the Lake of Fire, and death can't literally be thrown anywhere this implies the Lake of Fire is symbolic. Since the Bible itself reveals what it symbolizes it isn't necessary to speculate what it is. The second death. Also, since Hell itself is also thrown into the lake they can't both be hell. (Revelation 20:14) The Core Of The Earth Is Hell Your claim that the core of the Earth is Hell doesn't establish the Bible's supporting a hell as a literal everlasting torment. The Scripture you use to support hell as the core of Earth, Amos 9:2, only demonstrates that God is in Sheol (Hell KJV). The verse doesn't indicate a digging to the core, only to the grave as the Hebrew word, you yourself stated is a pit, or as I contend, a grave. The author of the article you linked to regarding the sound clip of tortured souls in hell himself says: "That is why I will also not confirm to you that the story is true or not because I have not met any of these scientists." The 'Scientists" investigating the clip itself are paranormal investigators. Even they concluded they could be fake.