Beyond Hell

Kevin Swartz

5.0 (3)
Christianity
Daily

Beyond Hell examines all literary, historical, and contextual matters related to the doctrine of hell. Each episode explores Scripture, ancient sources, and theology to come to a more holistic conclusion concerning hell. beyondhell.substack.com

1d ago

Gehenna and Matthew 23

Did Jesus Really Teach Hell? The Seven Woes to the Pharisees When Jesus talks about Gehenna in Matthew 23, what is he actually saying? Is he warning the Pharisees about eternal torment in hell, or is there something else going on that we’ve missed? In this episode, we take a closer look at Jesus’ harsh words against the religious leaders and explore how his message connects to the Old Testament prophet Jeremiah and the Valley of Hinnom. Why does Jesus call the Pharisees “whitewashed tombs”? Why does he accuse them of leading others astray? And what does all of this have to do with Gehenna? As we dig into these passages, we’ll see why understanding the world Jesus lived in can completely change how we read his words. Maybe Jesus wasn’t talking about some far-off place of eternal punishment at all. Maybe he was using a place his audience already knew to make a powerful point about corrupt religious leaders and the destruction they bring upon others. We’ll also look at a question that rarely gets asked: Did Jesus even use the word “Gehenna” the way we find it in our English Bibles? If you’ve ever wondered whether Jesus really taught what we think of today as hell, this episode invites you to take another look at the text, reconsider some familiar assumptions, and discover what Jesus might actually have meant. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit beyondhell.substack.com
Oct 5

Gehenna and the Fear Sayings

Who Should We Fear? What did Jesus mean when he told his disciples, “Do not fear those who kill the body…but fear the one who can destroy both soul and body in Gehenna”? In this episode, we take a closer look at the “fear sayings” in Matthew 10:28 and Luke 12:4–5. These passages are often understood as straightforward descriptions of hell and eternal conscious punishment. But when we examine the language, the context, and the Old Testament background, a different picture begins to emerge. Jesus is speaking to disciples who are facing the very real possibility of persecution, suffering, and death. His point is not simply to explain what happens after death. Instead, he contrasts the limited authority of human beings with the ultimate authority of God. That leads us back to the meaning of Gehenna. Why does Jesus use this particular image? What would a first-century Jewish audience have heard when they heard the word “Gehenna”? And why does Luke’s version specifically describe God having authority to cast someone into Gehenna after they have been killed? In this episode, we explore: * Matthew 10:28 and Luke 12:4–5 * The meaning of the Greek word apollymi (“destroy”) * The Valley of Hinnom and Jeremiah’s “Valley of Slaughter” * The connection between fearing God and covenant faithfulness * Isaiah’s language of destruction “from soul to body” * The significance of 2 Maccabees 7 and the martyrdom of the seven brothers * Why Gehenna functions as a culturally loaded symbol rather than a technical description of the afterlife * What Jesus’ warning would have meant to a first-century Jewish audience Ultimately, these passages are about authority, faithfulness, judgment, and fear. Human beings may have the power to kill the body, but they do not have the final word. As we continue working through the biblical material on Gehenna, the question becomes increasingly important: Are we reading Jesus’ words through the imagery and assumptions of his own world? Or are we reading them through later ideas about hell that developed afterward? This episode is part of the ongoing Gehenna series. We’re almost to the end of the series, and the final episode will turn toward some of the more philosophical questions surrounding hell. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit beyondhell.substack.com
Sep 9

Gehenna and the “other” dismemberment sayings

Gehenna isn't just about hands, feet, and eyes. It can also be about the tongue too.In Part II of our series on the "dismemberment sayings," we go beyond the famous Mark 9 and Matthew 18 passages and into three texts that are usually treated separately: Matthew 5:22 ("liable to the Gehenna of fire"), Matthew 5:29-30 (the right eye and right hand), and James 3:6 (the tongue "set on fire by Gehenna").Recalling Paul's body-metaphor language in Romans 12 and 1 Corinthians 12, the Old Testament's "cut off from the people" formula, and the symbolism of the right hand in Jewish culture, I make the case that all three passages are doing the same thing the earlier ones did, where they warn a covenant community about the corrupting "member" that threatens to bring the whole "body" down. Gehenna here isn't a threat about the afterlife. It's a warning about what happens when the people of God become spiritually diseased from within. Thanks for reading! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit beyondhell.substack.com
Aug 30

Gehenna and Cutting Off Your Hand

"If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off." This is one of the most uncomfortable teachings of Jesus, which almost everyone assumes means to fight your private and personal sin, or you'll go to hell.But is that what Jesus is really trying to communicate? In this episode, we dig into the "dismemberment logia" in Mark 9 and Matthew 18 and ask a simple question, "What if the hand, foot, and eye aren't about your personal sins, but about people within the community?" Drawing on Paul's body metaphor in 1 Corinthians 12, and other ancient sources, I make the case for a "limb-as-person" metaphor and show how it suddenly makes these "disorganized" chapters click into place.We also connect this back to the Valley of Hinnom and Gehenna tradition from Jeremiah, and why this warning was always aimed at God's own covenant community, not outsiders. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit beyondhell.substack.com
Aug 27

Gehenna

So apparently I have been doing this wrong the whole time. I have been separating the audio only out and uploading that to substack to distribute to Apple Podcasts and Spotify. However, I should have been uploading the video (which is on YouTube) and then Substack will take the audio to distribute. Anyway, here is the video for anyone interested. But it is the second part to my last podcast episode where we look at the actual word Gehenna—where it came from, what it means, and what the first-century audience thought when they heard it. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit beyondhell.substack.com
Aug 19

Does Gehenna Mean “Hell?”

Does Gehenna really mean “hell”?In this episode of Beyond Hell, we take a deep dive into the Greek word Gehenna and ask how Greek-speaking Jewish readers would have understood the Valley of Hinnom before the time of Jesus.When the Hebrew Bible was translated into Greek in the Septuagint (LXX), the translators did not always simply transliterate “Valley of Hinnom.” In Jeremiah 19, the Greek translator uses polyandrion*—a term associated with a mass grave or common burial place—and uses *diaptosis for Topheth, a word associated with collapse, ruin, and decay.Those translation choices make a difference.They suggest that the Valley of Hinnom had already become more than a geographical location. It functioned as a powerful symbol of divine judgment, mass death, corpse exposure, disgrace, and covenant failure.In this episode, we explore:• The Hebrew and Greek names for the Valley of Hinnom• How the Septuagint translates the valley• Why Jeremiah 19 calls it a polyandrion (“mass grave”)• The unusual Greek translation of Topheth• Archaeological evidence from the Valley of Hinnom• The connection between Jeremiah and Ezekiel• What these translations tell us about Gehenna before the New Testament• Why this background matters for understanding Jesus’ warnings about GehennaRather than beginning with the assumption that Gehenna means “hell,” this episode asks a different question: *What did the word and the place already mean within Jewish Scripture and cultural memory before Jesus ever used it?**Beyond Hell* examines the biblical texts behind Christian ideas about hell, judgment, Gehenna, eternal punishment, and the afterlife by placing them back within their historical, literary, and cultural contexts.#Gehenna #Hell #BibleStudy This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit beyondhell.substack.com
Aug 4

The Evolution of Gehenna

This episode looks at how the Gehenna tradition evolved during the Second Temple period by looking at texts such as Isaiah 66:24, Daniel 12:2, Judith 16:17, and 1 Enoch 27. This episode will demonstrate that there is one consistent theme through all these Jewish texts consisting of the Gehenna tradition, yet “hell” is nowhere among them. Instead, the Gehenna tradition encompasses the place of punishment for covenant unfaithfulness, per Deuteronomy 28:26. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit beyondhell.substack.com
Jul 28

The Origins of Gehenna: Part 1

For almost two centuries, many have assumed the Gehenna is the name for hell—not similar to it, not a metaphor for it—but functionally equivalent. However, when we look at the earliest evidence that began back in Jeremiah, the picture is much more complex that what many assume. In this episode, I begin my “Gehenna” series looking at its origins and what it’s original referent comes from. Much of the supposed “evidence” that many see in previous Gehenna studies may not, in fact, be evidence at all. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit beyondhell.substack.com
Jul 28

Interpreting Hell

Episode 2 of my podcast dives into the topic of how we understand (or misunderstand) the biblical terms and expressions for “hell.” The goal of both this podcast and episode is to have honest conversations, explore ideas, and hopefully provide something to give people to think about and/or apply to your life. For example, why do most assume that Gehenna, the outer darkness, and the lake of fire are all equivalent? What about the context of each individual passage makes some people think they are all referring to the same concept and the same reality? This episode explores that question. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit beyondhell.substack.com
Jul 27

Beyond Hell

Welcome to the first episode of the Beyond Hell podcast. For years I’ve studied what the Bible actually teaches about hell, Gehenna, Hades, Sheol, and the afterlife. Along the way I’ve found that many of the assumptions we bring to these topics deserve a fresh look in light of Scripture and historical context. This series isn’t about arguing for tradition or rejecting it for its own sake. My goal is to examine the biblical evidence carefully, explain the historical background, and encourage thoughtful discussion. In this introductory episode, I explain why I started Beyond Hell and what you can expect from the episodes ahead. I am excited for this journey and hope that you can all follow along. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit beyondhell.substack.com

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Beyond Hell examines all literary, historical, and contextual matters related to the doctrine of hell. Each episode explores Scripture, ancient sources, and theology to come to a more holistic conclusion concerning hell. beyondhell.substack.com

Creator

Kevin Swartz
Years Active

2026
Episodes

10
Rating

Clean
Copyright

© Kevin
Show Website

Beyond Hell