Hell

The idea of hell as a place of everlasting suffering where the wicked are punished for their faults is said to derive from ancient mythology, many cultures picturing the dead as inhabiting an underground realm. This underground realm became equated, in Christian terms, with descriptions of the end of the world in apocalyptic teachings. These literal portrayals, more-or-less universally accepted in the middle ages, have been dismissed by liberal reaction as simply a means to frighten people into moral behaviour. The argument is that an eternal state of evil conflicts with God's purpose for the world. This view, again, is challenged by Jungian philosophy, which demonstrates the shadow behind every virtue and that human beings are demonically bent upon destruction. Other commentators indicate that there can be no spiritual conflict (which evidently exists) without the existence of an antagonist. Perdition and hell are seen in this case as being very present realities.