Welcome to Breakpoint, a daily look at an ever-changing culture with the lens of unchanging truth.

For the Coulson Center, I'm Timothy Padgett.

It's safe to say that many people, including Christians, get their views of hell more from literature and folklore than from Scripture.

Even if we haven't read the 14th century classic Dante's Inferno, We know the imagery of his deep layer of Satan,

his disturbing demons, and the grotesque punishments for those residents. Pop culture's devil is a mix

of John Milton's anti-hero in Paradise Lost, Hades from Disney's Hercules, and the main

character in Charlie Daniel's epic fiddle song. In fact, our word for hell isn't even in the Bible.

That came from an old Germanic word used to describe the underworld. In fact, our word for hell isn't even in the Bible. That came from an old

Germanic word used to describe the underworld. In the Old Testament, the prophets and

psalmist spoke of Shi'ol, a word that's actually hard to define. Sometimes, shiol is what we think

of hell, a place of punishment. But other times, it's a broader reference, anything from

the realm of the dead, to a concept of being cast from the presence of God.

Simply put, while the ancient Israelites believed in an afterlife, it wasn't a big priority for them, meaning there was little need to get into detail.

The New Testament brings more clarity, but only a bit.

Some of the most vivid language comes unsurprisingly from the book of Revelation.

Revelation 14 speaks of fire and sulfur, and that those who worship the beast will find that the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever, and that they have no rest day or night.

Revelation 20 talks of a bottomless pit and a lake of fire, into which the devil, the unsaved dead, and finally death itself are cast.

But the person most likely to talk about hell in the Bible might surprise people today,

Jesus himself.

In fact, Jesus talked about hell quite a bit, and what he said about it was stark.

He said in Matthew 522, whoever insults his brother will be liable to the counsel,

and whoever says, you fool, will be liable to the fire of hell.

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