AYBD Question

Rick Hypes said:

Anyhow, I was wondering how well AYBD covers topics with both the normally accepted view and alternative views.

AYBD is strictly a Bible Dictionary. It has very little interest in questions of systematic theology. So there's no entries on dispensationalism or post-millenialism, etc., or even on the Trinity. It's entry on Hell (actually there's two entries, one on Hades, the other on Gehenna) deal stricly with how those two places were viewed in Biblical time. There is no discussion on how they are (or should be) viewed today. Nor is there any discussion on which ancient view was correct (for example, on the entry on resurrection, it will note that the Saducees didn't believe in resurrection - it notes the argument, but it doesn't say whether the Saducees were right, or wrong.)

If you want more insight into the strengths of AYBD, this this thread should help: http://community.logos.com/forums/t/22656.aspx

I've found the Zondervan Encyclopedia very helpful. I'm sure you'd find it valueable. Here's it's article on hell:

hell. This English word (from a Germanic root meaning “concealed place” or “underworld”) is used by the KJV in the OT to render Hebrew šĕʾôl H8619 (Deut. 32:22 et al.; see SHEOL); in the NT it renders Greek hadēs G87 (Matt. 11:23 et al.; see HADES) and geenna G1147 (Matt. 5:2 et al.; see GEHENNA). The NIV and other modern versions use it almost exclusively as a translation of geenna, which refers to the Valley of HINNOM (Wadi er-Rababi, just SW of JERUSALEM), the location of the notorious sacrificial offering by fire of children to the god MOLECH (2 Chr. 28:3; 33:6; cf. 2 Ki. 23:10; Jer. 7:32; 19:6). The apocalyptic book of 1 Enoch states that there would be an abyss filled with fire S of Jerusalem into which ungodly Israelites would be thrown. Later the idea was extended so that this place was conceived to be the scene of fiery punishment for all of the ungodly. Still later, when the place of punishment was conceived of as under the earth, the idea of fiery torment was maintained. (The English term occurs also as part of a phrase used to render tartaroō G5434, “to send to hell,” 2 Pet. 2:4. In Gk. mythology, Tartarus was the name of a deep abyss below Hades where the Titans were imprisoned, but in time the term became roughly equivalent to Hades.)

I. Intertestamental views. The teaching that there is a place where the ungodly are punished forever is scarcely mentioned in the OT. In the intertestamental period, however, this idea became prominent, although its acceptance by the rabbis was far from unanimous. According to the Apocryphal book of 2 Esdras (also known as 4 Ezra; see ESDRAS, SECOND), Ezra asks if the lost soul will be tortured immediately at death or not until the renewal of the creation, to which God answers: “as the spirit leaves the body … if it is one of those who have shown scorn and have not kept the way of the Most High … such spirit shall … wander about in torment, ever grieving and sad … they will consider the torment laid up for themselves in the last days” (2 Esd. 7:7–84.).

The pseudepigraphical book of 1 Enoch gives detailed descriptions of Gehenna as a place of punishment. The PHARISEES accepted this view: according to JOSEPHUS (War 2.8.14), they believed that “the souls of bad men are subject to eternal punishment.” Elsewhere he describes the position of the Pharisees by saying that the wicked “are to be detained in an everlasting prison.” In the time just prior to the NT period, the rabbinical school of Shammai divided all men into three groups: the righteous, the wicked who are “immediately written and sealed to Gehenna,” and a third group of people who “go down to Gehinnom and moan and come up again.” The school of HILLEL thought that the ungodly were punished in Gehenna for a year and then annihilated, although certain especially wicked men “go down to Gehinnom and are punished there to ages of ages.”

II. Teachings of Jesus. It should be noted that in the NT, geenna is used only in the synoptics (except for an occurrence in Jas. 3:6), and only by JESUS CHRIST. In other words, the knowledge of hell comes almost exclusively from the teachings of Christ, who spoke emphatically on the subject on a number of occasions.

1. Jesus states that “anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell” (Matt. 5:22). In the context Jesus is saying that whereas the OT simply condemned murder, he has a higher demand, and the result is that expressions of anger toward one’s brother can lead to the most severe punishment.
2. According to Jesus, the punishment of hell is so severe that it would be better for a person to lose an eye or a hand rather than that these members of the body should be instruments of sins that would lead to hell. Twice he speaks about the whole body being thrown into hell (Matt. 5:29–30).
3. Without using the word Gehenna itself, Jesus is obviously speaking of the punishment of  hell when he says that the tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down and “thrown into the fire” (Matt. 7:19).
4. Part of the punishment pronounced upon the ungodly is that they will be cast out from the presence of Christ (Matt. 7:23). It is noteworthy that all of the above references come from the SERMON ON THE MOUNT.
5. The ultimate punishment resulting from apostasy will include being consigned “outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matt. 8:12).
6. Jesus states that God has the power to “destroy both soul and body in hell” (Matt. 10:28).
7. In the parable of the tares, as well as in the parable of the nets, Jesus says that at the end of the age, sinners will be cast into “into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matt. 13:42, 50).
8. The ultimate punishment inflicted upon sinners is described by Jesus as being much worse than death itself, for it would be better to be drowned than to be punished for causing a child to be led astray (Matt. 18:6). Jesus then adds that it would be better to lose a limb that was the source of sinful behavior than to “be thrown into eternal fire” or “the fire of hell” (vv. 8–9). The parallel speaks of going “into hell, where fire never goes out” (Mk. 9:43), and hell is further described as the place “where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched” (9:48, citing Isa. 66:24).
9. In the parable of the wedding feast, the punishment is again described as that of being “outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matt. 22:13).
10. Jesus condemns the Pharisees for making their converts “twice as much a child of hell as you are” (Matt. 23:15). A little later he warns that they will not be able to “escape being condemned to hell” (v. 33).
11. In the parable of the talents, Jesus again alludes to outer darkness and to the weeping and gnashing of teeth (Matt. 25:30), while in the parable of the sheep and the goats, Jesus says to those whom he condemns, “Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels” (25:41). Later in the same parable, Jesus describes their fate as “eternal punishment” (v. 46).

In several passages, Jesus implies that there will be degrees of punishment in hell. He speaks of hypocrites as those who will “receive the greater condemnation” (Mk. 12:40 NRSV); some “will be beaten with many blows,” whereas others who have a lesser knowledge of the master’s will, “with few blows” (Lk. 12:47–48). The certain conclusion from all of these passages is that Jesus taught the doctrine of hell clearly and emphatically. All but those who interpret Scripture with extreme literalism agree that this is figurative language used to describe hell, but the figures stand for the most terrible reality.

III. Writings of the apostles. As already note, the word hell (Gehenna) occurs only once outside the synoptics (Jas. 3:6), but the idea of severe punishment in the world to come is taught in several passages. For example:

1. PAUL speaks of the impending judgment of God, which will result in eternal life for those who do good, but “wrath and anger” for those who do wickedness. For the evildoer, “there will be trouble and distress” (Rom. 2:7–9).
2. A person’s appearance before the JUDGMENT SEAT of Christ will result in receiving “good or evil” depending on the actions during this life (2 Cor. 5:10). Paul sees the danger of this terrible fate as an impelling force in his ministry (v. 11).
3. At the return of Christ, those dwelling in complacency will experience sudden destruction, “and they will not escape” (1 Thess. 5:3).
4. At the SECOND COMING, Jesus will be “revealed from heaven in blazing fire with his powerful angels. He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the majesty of his power” (2 Thess. 1:7–9).
5. The author of Hebrews speaks of “eternal judgment” as a fundamental of the faith (Heb. 6:2), and of the threat of punishment as “a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God” (10:27). He refers to it as “much worse punishment” (v. 29 NRSV) than the death that was administered to those who broke the law of Moses.
6. JAMES speaks of the tongue as “set on fire by hell” (Jas. 3:6).
7. In his second epistle, Peter writes about the angels who sinned and says that God “sent them to hell [Tartarus],” a place described as “gloomy dungeons” (2 Pet. 2:4). Later in the passage, God is described as knowing how “to hold the unrighteous for the day of judgment, while continuing their punishment” (v. 9). The ungodly are like brute beasts that will be “caught and destroyed” (v. 12). “Blackest darkness is reserved for them” (v. 17).
8. In a similar passage in Jude, it is revealed that the fallen angels have been kept by God “in darkness, bound with everlasting chains for judgment on the great Day” (Jude 6). The inhabitants of SODOM and GOMORRAH “serve as an example of those who suffer the punishment of eternal fire” (v. 7).
9. In the book of Revelation, an angel says of those who worship the beast that “the smoke of their torment rises forever and ever” (Rev. 14:11). The place of the wicked “will be in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death” (21:8).

These scriptural references demonstrate that the apostles followed Christ in teaching that life issues in two possible destinies, eternal blessedness or the torment of hell. The NT writers are very reserved in their descriptions of hell, especially in comparison to the contemporary extrabiblical literature, but they are clear in teaching a judgment issuing in eternal punishment. (See PUNISHMENT, ETERNAL for a discussion of the claims that the Bible teaches annihilation or universalism.)

IV. The early church. In the period immediately after NT days, the doctrine of hell was clearly taught. Many of the martyrs of that period, considering hell to be the fate of those who denied the faith, were given courage to face martyrdom by the conviction that this was the easier of the two alternatives.
In the 2nd cent., the church fathers give evidence in their writings of their convictions on the subject. For example, IGNATIUS (died A.D. 110) says, “one so defiled will go into unquenchable fire” (Eph. 16.2). The Epistle of Barnabas (c. 130) mentions “the way of eternal death with punishment” (20.1). The Shepherd of Hermas (c. 140) speaks of “those which fell into the fire and were burned are those who have departed for ever from the living God” (Vis. 3.7.2).

JUSTIN MARTYR (c. 110–165) states, “we are fully convinced that each will suffer punishment by eternal fire, according to the demerit of his actions” (1 Apol. 17.4). IRENAEUS (c. 135–200) uses the term “eternal fire” repeatedly. TERTULLIAN (c. 160–220) mentions “the greatness of the punishment which continueth, not for a long time, but forever.” He is the first of the church fathers who expresses joy at the spectacle of the lost in hell, an attitude not found in the Bible, but one that became common in the Middle Ages. The early Christian theologians gave unanimous testimony in favor of the belief in hell. It was not until ORIGEN (c. 185–254), who held a number of other unbiblical views as well, that a major church teacher denied this doctrine.

In conclusion, the doctrine of hell is a thoroughly biblical doctrine. Therefore it is not surprising that in the history of theology a denial of this doctrine has often accompanied weak views of biblical inspiration. The reaction against this doctrine has, however, been partly the fault of some of its adherents who have proclaimed it in crudely literalistic terms. Thoroughgoing conservatives such as Calvin, Hodge, Strong, and Schilder have recognized the symbolic nature of the biblical terms “worm,” “fire,” etc. Another cause of reaction against the doctrine has been the exultant glee or other unloving attitudes held by some who have proclaimed it, but this is not a part of the biblical doctrine.

The Bible does not give the physical location of hell or anything about its furnishings, but it assures readers that those whose sins are not atoned for by Jesus Christ will receive perfect justice from God, that they will receive exactly what they deserve for all eternity, which will be a most miserable fate. This ought to be one of the impelling motives making evangelism the urgent business of all Christians.

(See further S. Bartlett, Life and Death Eternal [1866]; W. Shedd, Dogmatic Theology [1888], 2:667–754; K. Schilder, Wat is de hel? [1920]; W. R. Inge et al., What Is Hell? [1930]; J. S. Bonnell, Heaven and Hell [1956]; H. Buis, The Doctrine of Eternal Punishment [1957]; H. Blamires, Knowing the Truth about Heaven and Hell: Our Choices and Where They Lead Us [1988]; N. M. de S. Cameron, ed., Universalism and the Doctrine of Hell [1992]; W. V. Crockett et al., Four Views on Hell [1992]; W. Grudem, Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine [1994], ch. 56.)

Rick Hypes said:

Anyhow, I was wondering how well AYBD covers topics with both the normally accepted view and alternative views. An example that I can think of quickly is Hell: Eternal Punishment vs. Annihilation. Also things such as Preterism vs. Historicism vs. Futurism vs. Idealism.

Can anyone either post a screen shot of the term "Hell" or maybe just tell me if it covers alternative views such as this one? This is a determining factor whether I go with the AYBD today or wait another two weeks and buy the Zondervan product.

From your question I gather that your interests are not very similar to mine, but I would note that the AYBD is one of the best resources to be found in the area of bible dictionaries.  You cannot really go wrong by getting it.