Author Description

Whether we believe that Hell exists or not, nobody wants to go there and face everlasting pain and unspeakable horrors. Rather surprisingly, Hell was not a concept that originated in the Bible, but it was 'created by humans for humans.. as a powerful mechanism for believing in God'. Taking an anthropological approach Terje Oestigaard searches for answers to the questions of when, how and why Hell was created, why people believed in it and why the idea has been so enduring. Tracing its first appearance as a concept, he examines how the idea of Hell has transformed and adapted to changes in social, cultural and religious circumstances and explores the spiritual and psychological fear that the word instils in us today. The identification of Hell as a specific place and the pain and torture that went on there are widely represented in both art and literature and this, and the theological dilemma of sorting out how Hell fitted into Christian doctrine and could be avoided by its followers, are also discussed.