20s, bisexual trans man. Baptised Anglican but fell out of faith for a few years due to queerphobia. Finding a new path to faith broadly in the Methodist tradition, but with Catholic and other denominations' influence too. he/him
Christians love to claim that Hell is real, and not some recent invention, despite the fact that the most well known passage from the Bible does in fact show that neither Jesus himself, nor did the slaves who transcribed the book of John, believe in Hell.
This is oddly something I haven't seen even the most well known scholars write about. Even in Ehrman's Heaven and Hell, which is a book about how Jesus didn't believe in Hell (or Heaven), and how it was a recent invention - Dr. Ehrman doesn't even touch on John 3:16
So, Judaism back in Jesus' time, along with the early Christians, they didn't have Hell as we know of it today. Skipping over Sheol as that was for everyone regardless of whether they were evil or not - In their theology, if one died and weren't "right" with YHWH/God (God here refers to the Christian's deity), they would go to Gehenna.
Gehenna, is referred to as the "Lake of Fire" in the Apocalypse of John (Or Revelation as some call it). Here's a passage of it from Revelation 20:11-15
and a few other select verses that refer to the same concept, from the other Gospels
Now there's a few things I'd like to draw attention to:
The concept of an "eternal fire"
The complete and eternal destruction of both body and soul
The comparison to destruction of "root" and "branch" (types of wood)
Early Christians and certain Jewish people in that era (as Gehenna has evolved in what exactly it constitutes from then to now, and even between Jewish people of that era, who had a wide variety of views on things, but for simplicity sake, we're gonna focus on Apocalypticism Judaism (200 BCE - 100 CE), which Jesus was a part of) believed that Gehenna was like a literal fire. As in, if you throw wood into a fire, it's destroyed, permanently. You can't reform it, you can't bring it back. It's gone. It ceases to exist, literally. (Yes, it turns to ash and the matter is still there, but I digress, the wood is destroyed)
That's literally what Jesus and others who wrote the Bible thought of Gehenna. When you're tossed into the fire, you're destroyed permanently. You cease to exist. Maybe a few seconds of suffering, but after that? You're gone. Both body, and soul, are destroyed.
So, with that understanding of the theology of the time, let's take a look at John 3:16:
So, you have two options here:
Believe in Jesus, and have eternal life, and don't perish
Don't believe, and perish, without eternal life
Now, under modern Christian theology, you don't believe? You go to Hell and burn eternally.
But... this verse, it says that you only have eternal life, if you believe. It never says a good eternal life, or an eternal life without hell. It just says you only have eternal life if you believe in Jesus. That makes zero sense in modern understandings.
That's because under the author's understanding back then, as you now know, you don't burn eternally. You die and cease to exist if you don't believe in Jesus.
The Greek word used here for "perish" is ἀπόλλυμι (apoollumi), which refers to destroying an inanimate object, to kill, or destroy permanently and completely
Other examples of this word being used in the Greek manuscripts:
The king was furious! He sent his troops and destroyed those murderers and burned their city to the ground. Matt 22:7
saying, “What with us, do you have to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are — the Holy One of God!” Mark 1:24
And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the new wine will burst the skins and it will be spilled, and the skins will be destroyed Luke 5:37
Then Jesus said to them, “I ask you whether it is lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to destroy it?” Luke 6:9
There is literally only way to interpret John 3:16, that the only other option if you don't believe, is complete and utter destruction, and not eternal suffering, from an immortal soul.
I'm currently writing a book on the Apocalypse of John actually, and explaining every single verse and what it ACTUALLY meant to Christians of the time, complete with academic citations. Doing research into what the Christian texts actually mean is a huge interest of mine and is a way for me to heal from trauma I had growing up.
It's incredibly interesting how much the religion evolved. Hell, the BIGGEST thing in Christian theology was only made "canon" because pastors and priests made it the fuck up to reconcile textual issues, and Christians of the time noticed that any evidence for it was lacking from the Latin translations, and got so angry at the publishers that they added text in to make it canon.
That concept? The trinity. This one verse is the ONLY verse in the NT that explicitly states that the trinity is a thing, and it was only added later on in later translations.
evangelicals being like "god made men to do This and be like This and women to do That and be like That that's just how it is" and it's just a picture of a white man and woman following traditional gender norms makes me so insane like you boring fascist fucks. god made 2 million species of beetles. god made whales, ducks, humans, and 1500 other species capable of same sex behavior. god made fish and amphibians that change sexes. god made more than 30 different intersex variations in human beings. god, in his infinite curiosity. wake up!!! fuck!!
"god wants women to have perfect no-makeup makeup looks and stay at home not talking back and upholding capitalism" god??? that guy who made lizards that shoot blood out of their eyes?? that guy who made salmon do whatever the fuck that is?? are you fucking crazy???
when I'm in queerphobic Christian spaces, it hurts, deeply, but it's survivable. These people aren't 'my' people or 'my' community; we share a name and that is all. I am fully confident in my God's love of both myself and my queerness. But in queer & LGBT spaces? I feel like an undercover villain infiltrating a safe space. That I'm hurting others with my presence, because if I have Our Lady's medallion on, I might trigger someone and ruin their safe space. I feel far more unwanted and far more ashamed in a PFLAG meeting than I do a homophobe's church pew-- not because the queerphobic Christian is less dangerous or more accepting (they are deadly and hateful!) but because I'm not hurting anyone in this space. In queer spaces, I cannot shake the feeling that my existence is a pestilence
I made these charts to provide an easy reference guide for comparing the four Gospels! Feel free to share around wherever.
I think tumblr's crunching up these images so visit here for crisper versions (plus they're table format instead of png format).
Alt text version is under the readmore, necessarily formatted slightly differently but with all the same info.
TEXT ONLY / NON CHART VERSION:
Images show two charts, each credited to Avery Arden with a note that the material largely derives from the abridged version of Raymond E. Brown's An Introduction to the New Testament.
Chart 1: Comparing the Gospels, Part 1 – historical context
Mark
When:
Late 60s/early 70s
Who:
Jewish
Multi-lingual — peppers Aramaic into the Greek
Where:
Rome or Syria (clearly unfamiliar with Palestinian geography)
To whom:
Mainly to Gentiles new to Christianity who were experiencing persecution
Priorities:
Encourage audience and show them how their suffering fit into Jesus’ vision of the Kingdom of God
Matthew:
When:
Late 70s/80s
Who:
Jewish
Also multi-lingual, with Aramaic phrases;
Greek more polished than Mark’s
Where:
Probably in or near Antioch (in Syria); possibly Galilee
To Whom:
Mainly to well-educated Jews who were debating internally about how Jewish tradition fit into following Jesus
Priorities:
Promote Messiah Jesus who fulfills audience’s Jewish scriptures
inform church life and structure
Luke
When:
mid-to-late-80s
Who:
Gentile (possibly Jewish convert)
Educated Greek “historian” familiar with Septuagint;
no use of Aramaic; expert use of Greek
Where:
Probably Greece; possibly Syria; also unfamiliar with Palestine
To whom:
Mainly to wealthy Gentiles influenced by Paul’s mission; living in an urban setting
Priorities:
Promote Isaiah-like Jesus; challenge audience to live out faith more actively (e.g., by redistributing wealth)
John
When:
90s / as late as 110
Who:
Jewish
Student(s) of “the Beloved Disciple” (the “Johannine school”)
Where:
Traditionally Ephesus; possibly Syria
To whom:
To a mixed crowd of Jews & Gentiles, at a time when tensions between Jews who did & didn’t follow Jesus had reached an all-time high
Priorities:
Promote Jesus’s divinity; strengthen unity in a group increasingly defining itself as separate from Jewish ones
Chart 2: Comparing the Gospels, Part 2 — Thematic Content
Mark
Emphasizes Jesus as:
Jesus as miracle-worker / healer; human being
Unafraid to depict human limitations & emotions in Jesus
Other defining attributes / content:
Focuses on Jesus’s actions, e.g., his miracles; as well as on his suffering and death
Originally ended with the empty tomb & fear; no resurrection relief
The disciples often fail to understand Jesus; Jesus is frequently secretive about his identity
Matthew
Emphasizes Jesus as:
A Moses figure, Messiah, Son of God; teacher
Removes descriptions that make Jesus seem limited, naïve
Other defining attributes / content:
Beatitudes (ch. 5); judgment of the “sheep and goats” (ch. 25);
Instructions for intracommunal relationships; forgiveness; “Great Commission” (ch. 28)
Polishes Mark’s depiction of the disciples to present them more favorably (esp. Peter as the “rock” of the church)
Luke
Emphasizes Jesus as:
Self-aware Son of God; prophet of the poor
Removes descriptions that make Jesus seem emotional, harsh, or weak
Other defining attributes / content:
Beatitudes (ch. 6) — with added “woes”; frequent warnings about risks of wealth
Also depicts disciples more favorably
Favorable depictions of tax collectors as sinners on the way to redemption;
negative views of Pharisees as rejectors of Jesus, juxtaposed with stories of Gentiles who express faith
John
Emphasizes Jesus as:
Divine, the Word / “I Am” made flesh; lamb of God
Often misunderstood by disciples & crowds due to his use of figurative language
Other defining attributes / content:
Poetic format, full of symbolism; similarities to Gnostic texts that arose in the same era
Lots of “testimony” and “signs”
Despite Jesus & his disciples being Jewish, John depicts “the Jews” as being against Jesus; his Jesus says things like “It is written in your law…”
Right now, at this very second. There are people all over the world praying to God for you. Praying for God to comfort you, to strengthen you, to guide you. Praying for your wellbeing. I know it can be hard, but try not to give in to despair and feelings of loneliness. Holy men and women around the world are rooting for you. The Saints are rooting for you. God is rooting for you. And they all love you so very dearly.
it took me accepting myself as trans for me to fully accept God, and it took me seeking a relationship with God to accept that i was trans. it was a cycle of realising that God's love really is unconditional and not "unconditional if you do it this way".
God seeks a relationship with all of us, no matter who we are. there isn't some checklist to earn His love, He just gives it freely. the whole point of following Jesus is just learning how to return that love to Him, yourself, and others. therefore, my faith is an exercise in humanity.
happy pride month to religious queer people, who feel like they’re contradictions, or told that they’re contradictions, but stay true to these important parts of themselves anyway. happy pride to the queer religious people who have to explain their identities, and who have to defend their faith or their queerness in either circle.
i love you, i am one of you, thank you for being in this community with me.
god made me transgender on purpose. it is not my cross to bear. it is not my battle to fight against. it is simply an aspect of who i am, which is made beautifully in his image and reflects the infinite and incredible facets of him.
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