Sunday, June 10, 2007

Highway To Hell

I don't know if our planet is really being affected by global warming, but it really seems like it is getting hotter and hotter every summer. This year was no exception, and to where I'm living people are really getting impatient of the hot weather, and often you will hear them say something like "Its hotter than hell in here". Well, I know that its just an expression, but it did make me wonder... what is the temperature in hell, anyway? So, as soon as I got to my trusted PC, I get online and find it out.

According to a 1998 study made by two physicists from University of Santiago in Spain, the temperature of Hell is 833°F (445°C). How did they come up with this figure? By referencing to a passage in the New Testament that says "the fearful and unbelieving... shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone." (Revelation 21:8). According to the two physicists, in order for such a lake to exist, the temperature must be below the boiling point of sulfur, which is just under 833°F. If the temperature is higher than that, the brimstone would vaporize into gas.

Surprisingly, heaven was first thought of being even hotter than hell. In an article in the Journal of Applied Optics in 1972, it was concluded that heaven reached temperature of 976°F (524°C). A 1998 study, however, determined the previous study was faulty and that the real temperature of heaven is 448.43°F (231.35°C). Still very hot, but cooler than hell. Physicist Jorge Perez, who was involved with that study, said "It's good that the bad people know that hell is hotter than heaven".

A lot of Americans believe in hell and in the devil. In fact, according to a study in 2000, in an average year, there are 10 to 15 exorcisms being performed in the New York archdiocese. According to traditional Roman Catholic belief, Beelzebub, the leader of the angels who rebelled against God, is incapable of overcoming the Almighty but is capable of possessing individual souls. That is when an exorcist is called in, and the Vatican has had a how-to guide for exorcists since 1614 and recently updated in 1999.

In a Gallup poll conducted in 2004, 81% of Americans believe in heaven, and 70% believe in hell. 4% of those Americans also believed they have a good chance of ending up in hell. Actually, you can visit Hell now... there are 3 places in the world named "Hell" - a town in Michigan, a village in Norway and a tiny community in Grand Cayman Islands.

In 2003, the New Mexico legislature changed the name of US Route 666 to 393. The number 666 is referred to in the Book of Revelation as "the number of the beast". The road, which starts in Gallup, New Mexico and runs into Colorado and Utah, has an extremely high accident rate, which is reason enough to be superstitious and have the name changed.

Lastly, in case you place a call to Kleberg County, Texas, don't be surprised if the one who answer the phone greet you with "Heaven-o". In 1997, a resolution was passed to use "Heaven-o" as the official county greeting instead of the usual "Hello" which contains the word, you guessed it, hell.

Random Odds & Ends
  • The longest name in the Bible is Mahershalalhashbaz (Isaiah 8:1)
  • The word 'God' appears in the bible 3,358 times. The word 'Lord' appears 7,736 times.
  • The Bible is the world's best-selling book, it's also the world's most shoplifted book.
  • Seven suicides are recorded in the Bible.
  • In a 1631 printing of the Bible, an English printer made a mistake of leaving 'not' from the Seventh commandment, causing it to read - 'Thou shalt commit adultery'. This edition was called as the Wicked Bible.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Very interesting! Of course, Dante believed Hell had frozen over....