Joseph Hontheim

Ancient and Modern Ideas of Hell Joseph Hontheim

The idea of a place for the punishment after death of wicked men is found in most, though not all, of the religions of the present time and of antiquity. According to some beliefs, the punishment is to last forever; according to others, the torments are to continue only for a time, and are to result in purifying the imprisoned souls and fitting them for heaven. The Roman Catholic religion has both a purgatory, or place of temporary torment, and a hell, which is everlasting. No idea of penalty was connected with the classic hades - it was simply an under-world where dwelt all those who had the misfortune to be dead, irrespective of their conduct in life. The word comes from a Greek adjective meaning unseen. The English word hell had also originally the same meaning. It is derived from the Teutonic base hal, whence also the Anglo-Saxon helan, to hide, "so that the original sense is the hidden or unseen place"....