
 > I would rather spend an eternity in Hell than be beside God in
 > Heaven knowing that even one man would spend his "eternal life"
 > being scorched for his wrongdoings....

Stephen, I suspect that when you and I use the word "Hell," we have
different concepts in mind. When you encounter references to Heaven
in terms of crowns and harps and golden streets, I trust that you do
not suppose (or suspect Christians of supposing) that the golden
streets are to be taken literally, still less that they are what the
concept of Heaven is all about. Why then should you suppose that
about the "fires" of Hell?
     Have you read the novel ATLAS SHRUGGED? Do you remember the
last description of James Taggart, sitting on the floor beside the
Ferris Persuader? This comes close to a description of what is meant
by Hell in my circles. If the image of fire is often used in this
connection, there are two reasons that occur to me.
     The first reason is that it conveys the idea of Hell as
something that any rational being would earnestly wish to avoid (as
any rational being would wish to avoid the fate of James Taggart --
but the latter image is meaningful only to those who have read ATLAS
SHRUGGED, a smaller audience than those who have played with
matches).
     The second reason is the history of the Hebrew word "Gehenna,"
one of the words translated "Hell" in the New Testament. It refers
to the valley of Hinnon, outside Jerusalem. In early days, it was a
place where the Canaanites offered human sacrifices (burned alive)
to Molech. Later, it was made a garbage or refuse dump, where fires
burned continually, consuming the trash of the city of Jerusalem.
"To be cast into Gehenna" or "to burn in Gehenna" thus became a
metaphor for "to be rejected or discarded as worthless."

Lest you think that identifying Hell with the fate of James Taggart
is my own private fancy, I commend to you the book THE GREAT
DIVORCE, by C S Lewis. It discusses Heaven (no harps) and Hell (no
flames). It is shorter than ATLAS SHRUGGED, and available at most
bookstores and libraries.