Hell, according to many religions, is a place or state inhabited by demons, in which wicked people are punished after death. Hell is also a symbol of the most powerful opposition to goodness and justice.
In Old Testament times, the Israelites believed that all the dead, both good and evil, went to a dark, unhappy place called Sheol. By the time of Christ, some Jews thought that after death the wicked were separated from the righteous and then cast into a foul, burning valley called Gehenna.
Hell is no longer prominent in the teachings of Judaism, but Gehenna became synonymous with hell in Christianity and Islam. According to traditional Christian belief, hell is a place of unending anguish and pain caused by the loss of happiness and separation from God. However, some Christian theologians have questioned whether a just and loving God would have created such a place. According to these scholars, hell is not a place but a symbol of the anguish caused by the loss of God or goodness. Islam, the religion of the Muslims, regards hell as a vast, fiery crater that the souls of the dead cross on a narrow bridge. The wicked fall off the bridge into everlasting torment.
In Hinduism and Buddhism, a soul may descend into one of many hells as a result of wicked karma (thoughts, words, and deeds). The stay in hell is not eternal. It lasts only until the effects of the evil karma have been removed.
