Christian religions come up with the most dark and macabre descriptions for what Hell is supposed to be like. They can give a very detailed description of what it looks like. Their paintings of hell show alot of grizzly situations. I just notice that most of the paintings of heaven that I have seen of Christians is just white clouds, angels w/ harps and bright lights. I find it funny that they can get so creative about hell but yet there is really no creative elements to their portrayal of heaven.

Wouldn't it be cool if Hell was real! "Going down, party time, all my friends are gonna be there too...." Well we all know the rest.

I prefer how Paul Gustave Doré depicts Hell personally.

Yep. I guess this shows where general Christian fascination truly lies.

It seems like Heaven would be a pretty boring place. I have even come across FAQ websites devoted to (attempting to) convince people that doing nothing but worshipping God for eternity will be so much fun, honest

Besides, Hell would have all the best people

Well, methinks this is only obvious.

Like Jean-Paul Sartre once said: "l'enfer, c'est les autres" or in English: "Hell is other people".

Each and everyone of us experiences the one or other (or in some cases: lots of) irk about many of the people we meet in daily life. They just don't seem to fit, they act stupidly, they are just bothersome.

So yes, 'Hell' actually is 'other people', and since we are all humans, this particular feeling should be more or less the same for any of us. And thus, it is easy to create some visual image of all the things we dislike or despise (giving some creativity); which imho explains all those depictions of hell you see in traditional art.

Picturing "Paradise" is obviously much more difficult. Especially in Christian mythology it is supposed to be the ultimate wonderland. And as such, it is a thing that is is not easily to put into vision. Especially since people are all different. One persons wonderland may look pretty boring (or even abhorring) to the one standing next to him. So, in the end, the artist trying to depict some 'heavenly scenery' can only use a very selected types of depiction, should he wish that it still fits the 'general' taste.

Maa... just my thoughts about this particular subject late at night... ^^



ja ne,

-andy

Christians often use fear to motivate their followers hence the grizzly depictions. Maybe they could use some of that imagination for something actually constructive. In fact the holy shit bible does not even give a detailed description. These pictures are nothing but pure imagination.

Sometimes, I like to think of Hell as a locked theatre, where Jerry Falwell is being forced to watch Andrew Lloyd Webber's "Joseph and the Technicolour Dreamcoat" for all eternity.

"Godspell" is waiting for Pat Robertson.

I like the way South Park depicts heaven.

"Sorry, the correct answer was Mormon"

Kenny dies... and goes on to the afterlife.

My painting of "heaven" would depict a plethora of carnal indulgences. Something tells me most Christians won't go for that. "One person's heaven is another person's hell" ... but I bet our paintings would be far more interesting.

The Christian heaven would be a boring shithole, full of morons. It would truly be MY definition of "hell."

This is where "The Law Of The Forbidden" takes place.

Human beings are all attracted to things that are not supposed to be. No matter how grotesque. From the Christian perspective, heaven is supposed to be a "good" place to be. To them, there's nothing bizarre or strange about heaven and it leaves little room for creativity.

I"ve seen the South Park episodes.

My favorite vision of hell is portrayed in the Hellraiser movies.

In any event, At least their portayals of hell are very entertaning to view. That is the only thing I can say about Christianity.

Another humorous depiction can be found in the book, Only Begotten Daughter by James Morrow.

I'm a fan of paintings depicting Hell myself.

Check out The History Of Hell by Alice K. Turner and Devils by Gilles Neret. Both books are highly entertaining.

Well, of course he'd say that. Everyone he knew was French.

(rimshot)

-Chess