01-29-2004, 06:06 PM
Hottoq, Jeroen,<br>
The concept of a fiery hell did not exist in Jewish theology until Greek influence on the culture coming with the conquest of Judea by Alexander the Great, but from the very beginning, there were the 'destroyer' dragons attributed to spew fire as recounted in Job. These are the creatures God threatened both Moses and Jonah with, and are also known as Seraphim, meaning fiery and winged serpents. There is probably a conection between these and the Egyptian crocodile headed monster (sometimes depicted as a more conventional dragon) that devoured the souls of the wicked. Jesus' description of hell probably meant the 'dragon' hell, when he referred to the immortal devouring worm (also in Jewish texts meaning a dragon), rather than the improbable tiny worm gnawing the body in the pagan Greek hell that never existed in Jewish thought before the Greek conquest. The Apocalypse of Baruch is believe to date from the early second century, and specifically describes heavenly dragons that devoured the wicked, and that hell was the belly of such dragons where souls were either destroyed completely or survived in torment. Dante's fanciful 'adventure in Hell' story, plus the renewed interest in classical culture in the late Medieval and early Renaissance periods popularized the underground, fiery Greek Hades-type hell of cartoons and fundamentalists and apparently is more acceptable today than the heavenly dragon servants of God described in the Bible - which is curious, for the Bible says Satan was both a dragon and a heavenly Cherubim servant, for the two are the same. Late Roman, Early Medieval religious thought recognized this, though it began to disappear, along with the belief in dragons in general, as time went on. Now we have the cartoon hell reigned over by the man-like devil with goatee and pitchfork.<br>
I suspect this book will be very controversial to those with pre-conceived beliefs in such things.<br>
Dan <p></p><i></i>
The concept of a fiery hell did not exist in Jewish theology until Greek influence on the culture coming with the conquest of Judea by Alexander the Great, but from the very beginning, there were the 'destroyer' dragons attributed to spew fire as recounted in Job. These are the creatures God threatened both Moses and Jonah with, and are also known as Seraphim, meaning fiery and winged serpents. There is probably a conection between these and the Egyptian crocodile headed monster (sometimes depicted as a more conventional dragon) that devoured the souls of the wicked. Jesus' description of hell probably meant the 'dragon' hell, when he referred to the immortal devouring worm (also in Jewish texts meaning a dragon), rather than the improbable tiny worm gnawing the body in the pagan Greek hell that never existed in Jewish thought before the Greek conquest. The Apocalypse of Baruch is believe to date from the early second century, and specifically describes heavenly dragons that devoured the wicked, and that hell was the belly of such dragons where souls were either destroyed completely or survived in torment. Dante's fanciful 'adventure in Hell' story, plus the renewed interest in classical culture in the late Medieval and early Renaissance periods popularized the underground, fiery Greek Hades-type hell of cartoons and fundamentalists and apparently is more acceptable today than the heavenly dragon servants of God described in the Bible - which is curious, for the Bible says Satan was both a dragon and a heavenly Cherubim servant, for the two are the same. Late Roman, Early Medieval religious thought recognized this, though it began to disappear, along with the belief in dragons in general, as time went on. Now we have the cartoon hell reigned over by the man-like devil with goatee and pitchfork.<br>
I suspect this book will be very controversial to those with pre-conceived beliefs in such things.<br>
Dan <p></p><i></i>
