Changelog S15
Changes to Patterns of Judgment in the Old Testament
2 recorded changes to part S15, newest first. Each entry names the problem and the decision taken.
- Correction
Withdrew the claim that Gehenna was a burning rubbish dump in the first century.
- Issue raised
- The source states that in Jesus’ day Gehenna was a place where trash and dead bodies were burned. There is no support for a perpetually burning refuse dump in primary sources from the period; the tradition appears to be a much later inference.
- Decision taken
- The claim is not repeated. The well-attested associations are kept: the Valley of Hinnom, child sacrifice under Ahaz and Manasseh, Jeremiah renaming it the Valley of Slaughter, unburied corpses, and prophetic judgment imagery. The uncertainty is stated on the page.
- Substantive revision
Removed the inference that Satan wants people to believe in eternal conscious torment.
- Issue raised
- The source observes that the only sustained physical torment in the Old Testament is inflicted on Job by Satan, and infers that this is why Satan would want people to believe God punishes by torment. The inference is speculative and it attributes the beliefs of other Christians to deception.
- Decision taken
- Removed from the public site entirely. It is recorded in the migration ledger as a personal reflection retained in the private source record only.