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Description of  Hell and Its Rivals: Death and Retribution among Christians, Jews, and Muslims in the Early Middle Ages

The idea of punishment after deathwhereby the souls of the wicked are consigned to Hell (Gehenna, Gehinnom, or Jahannam)emerged out of beliefs found across the Mediterranean, from ancient Egypt to Zoroastrian Persia, and became fundamental to the Abrahamic religions. Once Hell achieved doctrinal expression in the New Testament, the Talmud, and the Qur'an, thinkers began to question Hells eternity, and to consider possible alternativeshells rivals. Some imagined outright escape, others periodic but temporary relief within the torments. One option, including Purgatory and, in the Eastern Orthodox tradition, the Middle State, was to consider the punishments to be temporary and purifying. Despite these moral and theological hesitations, the idea of Hell has remained a historical and theological force until the present.In Read more