A take off on the Greco-Roman Elysium Fields (good) and Tartarus (bad) where Hades was the Lord of the Underworld. And a take-off on the Norse Goddess Hel, Goddess of the Underworld.

Yes, you and metalwing are both correct, even the egyptians had their concept of a hell, being devoured for eternity by a terrible demon if ones soul and conscience weren't "light as a feather" But there has to be something farther back in our history...

I don't necessarily believe in something specific imprinting on our core genetics. I do think the fear of oblivion nothingness is more what most peoples fear is about. That's why there's such a push of ancestor worship, even now, amongst all religions. The vast majority of people don't want to be forgotten.

The first account we have of the devil is found in that purely scientific book called Genesis, and is as follows: "Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made, and he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden? And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden; but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die. For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her, and he did eat.And the Lord God said Behold the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil; and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life: and eat, and live forever. Therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the Garden of Eden to till the ground from which he was taken. So he drove out the man, and he placed at the east of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword, which turned every way to keep the way of the tree of life."

According to this account the promise of the devil was fulfilled to the very letter, Adam and Eve did not die, and they did become as gods, knowing good and evil.

If the account given in Genesis is really true, ought we not, after all, to thank this serpent? He was the first schoolmaster, the first advocate of learning, the first enemy of ignorance, the first to whisper in human ears the sacred word liberty, the creator of ambition, the author of modesty, of inquiry, of doubt, of investigation, of progress and of civilization.



http://www.infidels.org/library/historical/robert_ingersoll/gods.html

yes we should, and as I happen to have his soul focus, you are welcome, one and all. I've returned to finish the lesson.

The devil is a tool of god for tempting and testing man. There a few occasions in the bible of god and the devil working together, the best example of it being the story of Job.
Hell is probably more accurately a being outside of the presence of god and it described in account as a place not residing within the new Jerusalem also called the city of god.

Actually Hell, or rather Hel, was a real place. It was a trash dump outside some city in Isreal. It smelled of rotting bodies and ocassionally caught fire.

. . . but it's use as a description was a corruption of the original concept of an alternate afterlife apart form heaven.

What does "I happen to have his soul focus" mean?

The Bible describes Hell, or Hades from the Greek, as a place of unquenchable fire, dark gloomy dungeons, and a place where the worm does not die.

Don't drink the worm there then...

true.

It means that like everyone else on the planet Earth is an aspect of one of the seven super-souls, (archangels) I am an aspect of Samael, the first Archangel, who was indeed the serpent in Eden. Having his soul focus, means that my being here on Earth is the emanation from Samael, just as everyone that isn't me on Earth, is an emanation from one of the other 8.

Very interesting.....

....so where does one find this information?

okay i am late to this post but for those of you who were wondering about hell. the Old Testament does mention hell. it is written in Hebrew with the term Sheol. When translated into Greek it is the same as Hades. The terms are interchangeable. Also if I remember correctly that the Bible was written in 3 different languages, Hebrew, Greek and Aramaic.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheol

In the original Hebrew, that snake was just a snake.

I found my information from studying the sacred texts of most religions, and some channeled wisdom via Marion Webb-De Sisto.

As many have correctly stated the O-T doesn't specifically mention "hell". But it still had their version called sheol. It was considered amongst the Hebrews to be what we would call hell, if they had been abandoned to the grave or sheol & called to be with Yahweh. A gray shadowy world of nothingness. To a Hebrew to be absent from the presence of Yahweh would have been hell. Just because it's not specifically mentioned doesn't mean they didn't have the concept. Here's a link:

http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?letter=S&artid=614

As far as the N-T, only the mentioning of the subject of money out numbers of times Jesus talks about the concept of hell or "Eternal Punishment". Being the Creator God no one would know better than He about the horrors of being sent there. There are so many misconceptions about the whole death & hell issue. For instance, hell is NOT where Satan dwells. It was created to be his place of eternal punishment & since judgment hasn't been passed on him he's free to roam where he may until he is finally cast into the pit forever, Revelation 20:7. Hell is also not where wayward souls are sent when they die, again because final judgment has not occurred.

If you want to read a chilling account of the passing of someone who didn't live a life according to God's desires, read the parable of the rich man & Lazarus. It also gives insight to what happens to those who are found worthy of God's mercy. This parable was different from other parables told by Jesus because He specifically mentions names & more details than in others. Luke 16:19-31.

If that were so, then why did God make a vow that 1 day an offspring of the Hebrew Nation (Jesus) would rise-up to crush the head of the serpent & that the serpent would strike his heel. Death on the cross at Calvary. His resurrection from the grave was the crushing blow. God doesn't vow vengeance on an ordinary snake.