As a child, I have been told many stories about how doing bad things would ensure that I be roasted in hell, after my death, while doing good deeds would ensure that my soul is liberated and I would enjoy the bliss of heaven. It was always like, "you will go down to hell" or "you would go up to heaven" as the case maybe.
I have always thought that our forefathers, who did not have the technological assistance that we have today, were much wiser and had a better understanding of our environment. Even those that were not visible to the eyes. This knowledge has come from deduction, and not induction. Our knowledge today is through scientific analysis (which is an inductive process) while theirs was more Analytical and inductive. It was based on putting two and two together. It is also why, while our current scientists and rationalists scoff at Astrology, which is deductive by nature, I have personally experienced Astrological predictions coming true so many times, that it is impossible to discount it as pure chance.
Coming back to the concept of heaven and hell, were our forefathers thinking in terms of the core of the earth, which is molten in state with a temparature above 5500 degree celsius where everything will be burned to cinders? See how similar it is to the concept of hell, which is blistering hot, uninhabitable and burns everything beyond salvage!!!! We also talk in terms of all the pressures of our sins weighing down on us. It has to be. The pressure at the core is phenominal - 330 to 360 gigapascals ( 3300000 to 3600000 atm)!!!. It is also down from the surface of the earth, i.e. around 5000 kms. Thus the term going down to hell or roasted in hell is quite apt.
Contrast this with the concept of heaven. When we talk about heaven up there, we always talk in terms of soul being liberated, a state of bliss, a sensation of floating not being weighed down by anything. A sense of lightness and unattachment. Is not outer space like this. There is no gravity. The earth looks wonderful from up there. The weightlessness and a sense of being liberated?? It is also cool, in contrast to the core of earth which is blistering hot.The wisdom of our forefathers and how they passed on complex natural phenomena through story telling is amazing.
