In some cultures, menstruation and childbirth are treated as polluting, not life-giving. One Buddhist text’s interpretation of ‘Blood Pond Hell’ shows how far such beliefs go – and how women respond.
Articles on Hell
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A course explores how ancient apocalypses find their way into movies and TV shows.
The Aztecs deliberated on how to continue their traditions and preserve their group identity following the Spanish invasion.
Spiritualists believed that after shedding the body in death, the spirit would continue on a celestial journey and help those on Earth create a more just world.
The Catholic Church practice of granting indulgences, criticized by Martin Luther in the 16th century, still exists, as part of the doctrine – but in a different form.
Two scholars of fundamentalism and creationism explain what they found when they visited the Ark Encounter, an evangelical theme park in Kentucky,
Ancient Christian and Jewish texts threatened women with hellfire if they stepped out of line – and those terrifying visions still resonate in U.S. society today.
This doctrine is not for the fainthearted.
In the Bible, heaven is where God resides, rather than a place of eternal life. But over time it has become conflated with ideas of paradise and eternal salvation.
“Hell” in the Bible is a highly symbolic idea designed to persuade people to stay faithful to their God, not to set out a precise agenda for the afterlife.
It might appear to many that atheism is a modern idea. However, in parts of Asia, particularly in India, atheism has been part of beliefs for thousands of years.
In their zeal to evangelize the world, at the end of 19th century, young families were sent overseas with little to no training in anything beyond the Bible and no promise of funding.
Ghost stories are often about the departed seeking justice for an earthly wrong. Their sightings are a reminder that ethics and morality transcend our lives.
Hell-themed Halloween attractions play on people’s fears. The early depictions of hell were meant to use fear as a moral guide to help others.
Different cultural groups respond with numerous, often conflicting, answers to questions about life after death. An expert explains the Christian idea of heaven.
Notions of heaven have changed through the ages, from an eternity centred on God to a more secular place where loved ones will reunite.
The meaning of hell might have changed over the centuries, but for devout Christians it remains a core part of their faith.
For medieval cultures, the dying process and death itself was a ‘transition,’ not a rupture.
Top contributors
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Associate Professor of Christian Origins, University of Dayton
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Emeritus Professor in the History of Religious Thought, The University of Queensland
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Professor Emerita of Religious Studies, College of the Holy Cross
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Associate Professor, New Testament, & Inaugural Director of The Wesley Centre for Theology, Ethics, and Public Policy, University of Divinity
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Professor of English, University of Montana
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Associate Professor of English, University of Maryland, Baltimore County
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Affiliated Faculty of Bioethics, Religion, and Society, Department of Religious Studies, DePaul University
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Senior Lecturer of Communication, University of Dayton
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Professor of History, University of Dayton
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Professor of History, Saint Mary's College
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Associate Professor and Department Chair, University of Missouri-Columbia
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Professor of English, University of Dayton
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Professor of Anthropology, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences
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Associate Professor of Religious Studies, University of Tennessee
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Assistant Professor of Spanish World Languages, Literatures & Cultures, Auburn University