CAN YOU DIG INTO HELL?

2024 copyright by Curtis A. Hervey, ExecCert in public policy, M.R.E., US Army Retired

Key words:? #kolasuperdeepborehole #ksb #hell #JesusChrist #cross #crust #mantle #projectmohole #cold war #marianatrench #welltohell #sheol #gehenna #tartarus #underworld #lowesthell #abyss #bottomlesspit #ganeden #patadise #afterlife #legion #lakeoffire #lava

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BACKGROUND

During a recent visit from our eldest son Ryan, he alluded to the Kola Superdeep Borehole sounds that went viral on social media which were alleged to have been screams from hell.? Ryan inquired if it was truly possible to dig into hell and could the “screams from hell” be real.? I responded that not only is Hell universally said to be a real location that humans can travel to according to the cultures of the world, but the Holy Bible also teaches that hell is a real physical location, and that Jesus went there after dying on the Cross (Matthew 12:40, 1 Peter 3:18-20). However, this author wanted to further investigate this matter with Amos 9:2 (“Though they dig into hell, thence shall mine hand take them; though they climb up to heaven, thence will I bring them down”) as the scriptural premise.

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THE KOLA SUPERDEEP BOREHOLE (KSB)

The Kola Superdeep Borehole (KSB) SG-3 descends 12,262 meters into the earth’s crust and is the deepest vertical hole in the world (Wrigley, 2023; Zhamaletdinov, 2020). The KSB SG-3 is located on the Kola Peninsula in the Russian Arctic beneath “an innocuous iron disc about the size of a dinner plate” (Ibid.) and was “drilled in the pursuit of excavating scientific knowledges for a better understanding of the Earth’s crust” (Ibid.). Although the KSB led to some significant scientific findings for an international delegation of researchers, it was abandoned after the Soviet Union collapsed and fell into disrepair (Ibid.). All that remains to mark the location of the KSB is an innocuous iron disc the size of a dinner plate, about 9 inches in diameter (Ibid.). The KSB SG-3 is the deepest of a series of boreholes (McFadden, 2024).

It took approximately 20 years for the Soviets to drill 40,000 ft down through the Earth’s crust and into the mantle in another Cold War race to outpace the rival US Project Mohole (Donald M. Taylor, 1966).? Drilling on the KSB began May 24, 1970, and was abandoned in 1992 “after drilling encountered temperatures of 356 degrees Fahrenheit, °F (180 degrees Celsius, °C), exceeding the expected 212 degrees Fahrenheit (100 degrees Celsius).” (McFadden, 2024).?Deeper than the Mariana Trench with a depth that exceeds the height of Mt. Everest, the KSB was finally surpassed in 2008 by the Al Shaheen Oil Well in Qatar at 40,318 ft. (Ibid.).

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KSB “WELL TO HELL” SOUNDS OF TORMENT

Of course, there is no way to objectively prove the account of “screams of torment” emerging from the KSB and recorded by a lowered microphone. A 1998 Snopes article claims to have debunked the “Well to Hell” as an urban myth (The Well to Hell, 1998). The problem is that it does not matter if the “Well to Hell” account is true or not.? Hell exists regardless of a recording of screams emitting from the KSB SG-3 and cannot be so easily dismissed. Offering such a flimsy account as proof of God and Hell is a classic strawman argument.? Therefore, nonbelievers feel they can debunk both God and Hell by discrediting the “Well to Hell” rumor but this is not how it works and is called a non sequitur fallacy.

At any rate, the legend surrounding the KSB was dramatized in the 2021 science fiction film “The Superdeep” (Shudder Original) starring Artyom Tsukanov, Milena Radulovi? and Nikita Dyuvbanov (KinoCheck.com, 2021).

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HELL IN GLOBAL COSMOLOGIES

Britannica defines Hell as “in many religious traditions, the abode, usually beneath the earth, of the unredeemed dead or the spirits of the damned” (Zaleski, 2014). Therefore, the concept of Hell is not limited to Judeo-Christianity and is not exclusively taught in the Holy Bible (What Religions Believe in Hell, n.d.).

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HELL IN THE HOLY BIBLE

According to Britannica, “Many English translations of the Bible use hell as an English equivalent of the Hebrew terms She?ōl (or Sheol) and Gehinnom, or Gehenna (Hebrew: gê-hinnōm). The term Hell is also used for the Greek Hades and Tartarus, which have markedly different connotations. As this confusion of terms suggests, the idea of hell has a complex history, reflecting changing attitudes toward death and judgment, sin and salvation, and crime and punishment.” (Zaleski, 2014).

However, there is no confusion over the concept of Hell in the Holy Bible because it is a realm with varying echelons and tiers of punishment as the phrase “lowest hell” suggests (Deuteronomy 32:22 and Psalms 86:13) with the lowest part identified as Abyss or bottomless pit of Revelation 9:1-5; 20:3 (also referred to as Tartarus, the prison of the Titans by the Greeks, see G5020 in 2 Peter 2:4), which explains why the “Legion” demon horde feared the Pit in Luke 8:31 and Gan-Eden (Paradise) or “Abraham’s Bosom” as the highest level which is alluded to in Luke 16:19-31 which is not a parable (How the Garden of Eden Plays into Jewish Views of the Afterlife, 2018; Gan Eden (Spiritual Heaven) - Jewish Knowledge Base, 2024).

Biblically, Hell is treated as a literal, physical place of TEMPORARY (not eternal) torment much like the jail of the afterlife whereas the Lake of Fire is eternal torment and separation from God much like a supernatural prison. Those who end up in hell upon death cannot escape their rendezvous with the Lake of Fire which is called the SECOND DEATH in Revelation 20:7-15.? Purgatory is not a biblical teaching (se Hebrews 9:27, etc.).

If Hell was not depicted as a real, literal physical location beneath the earth, at its core or heart (Matthew 12:40), the Holy Bible would not teach that Jesus traveled there after dying to preach to the spirits held in prison (1 Peter 3:19-20). Furthermore, the Holy Bible teaches that the inmates of hell beneath the living in the underworld are excited to receive new arrivals (Isaiah 14:9).

So, then, the physical location of Hell according to biblical teaching is beneath the crust and mantle where lava flows and flowing lava resembles a lake of fire.

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CONCLUSION: CAN YOU DIG INTO HELL?

If the KSB SG-3 borehole punched through the earth’s crust and resulted in recordings of tormented souls, it would be simply an artificial portal to hell and the Holy Bible explains that there are many gates or portals to hell (Matthew 16:18). However, the “Well to Hell” (News & Brunvand, 1991) is not a biblical teaching and its veracity is irrelevant because the Holy Bible teaches that Hell is a real place with a fixed physical location beneath the earth’s surface. Furthermore, it appears that it would be theoretically possible to dig or bore into Hell according to the following passage:

“Though they dig into hell, thence shall mine hand take them; though they climb up to heaven, thence will I bring them down” (Amos 9:2)

Of course, it could be argued that the phrase “they dig into hell” could be nonliteral.? Therefore, we must examine 1-2 verses above and/or below this passage to get the proper context (Amos 9:1-4):

·???????? 9 I saw the?Lord?standing upon the altar: and he said, Smite the lintel of the door, that the posts may shake: and cut them in the head, all of them; and I will slay the last of them with the sword: he that fleeth of them shall not flee away, and he that escapeth of them shall not be delivered.

·???????? 2?Though they dig into hell, thence shall mine hand take them; though they climb up to heaven, thence will I bring them down:

·???????? 3?And though they hide themselves in the top of Carmel, I will search and take them out thence; and though they be hid from my sight in the bottom of the sea, thence will I command the serpent, and he shall bite them:

·???????? 4?And though they go into captivity before their enemies, thence will I command the sword, and it shall slay them: and I will set mine eyes upon them for evil, and not for good.

So, in context, the Most High is referring to those earmarked for judgment seeking to avoid divine wrath (see Isaiah 2:19; 14:13-16, Jeremiah 49:16; 51:53, Psalms 139:7-10, Obadiah 1:4):

1) “climbing to heaven” (verse 2)-this could be approached through artificial means such as with the tower of Babel or by climbing Mt. Nabi Yunis (3,380 ft.) or Mt. Everest (29,029 ft).

2) “hiding atop Mt. Carmel” (verse 3)-Mt. Carmel is 1,791 ft above sea level (the smallest is Mt. Wychepoof in Australia is only 486 ft).

3) “hiding in the bottom of the sea” (verse 3)-Some seas such as the Sea of Azov, the world's shallowest sea with a maximum depth of 46 feet (14 meters), are not that deep.

Since none of these above feats are impossible, “digging into hell” however impractical (there are caverns that lead deep into the earth’s crust and one must consider the Woodingdean Water Well in Brighton, England with a depth of 1,285 ft that was hand-dug from 1858-1862), must not be impossible either and in accordance with the rules of literary parallelism, Amos 9:2 must be interpreted literally.

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WORKS CITED

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Donald M. Taylor. (1966). Project Mohole: ABSTRACT.?AAPG Bulletin,?50. https://doi.org/10.1306/5d25b5ed-16c1-11d7-8645000102c1865d

Gan Eden (Spiritual Heaven) - Jewish Knowledge Base. (2024). @Chabad. https://www.chabad.org/search/keyword_cdo/kid/11611/jewish/Gan-Eden-Spiritual-Heaven.htm

How the Garden of Eden Plays Into Jewish Views of the Afterlife. (n.d.). Learn Religions. https://www.learnreligions.com/what-is-gan-eden-2076759

McFadden, C. (2024).?7 facts about the Kola Superdeep Borehole. Interesting Engineering. https://interestingengineering.com/lists/facts-the-superdeep-kola-borehole

News, D., & Brunvand, J. H. (1991, May 15).?STORY OF THE WELL TO HELL DIGS UP CHUCKLES - NOT SCREAMS OF THE DAMNED. Deseret News. https://www.deseret.com/1991/5/15/18920868/story-of-the-well-to-hell-digs-up-chuckles-not-screams-of-the-damned/

KinoCheck.com. (2021, June 14).?THE SUPERDEEP Trailer (2021). YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aO6gYI_LXBo

The Well to Hell. (1998). Snopes.com. https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/the-well-to-hell/

What Religions Believe In Hell. (n.d.). Www.patheos.com. https://www.patheos.com/answers/what-religions-believe-in-hell

Wrigley, C. (2023). Going deep: Excavation, collaboration and imagination at the Kola Superdeep Borehole.?Environment and Planning D: Society and Space,?41(3), 549–567. https://doi.org/10.1177/02637758231185134

Zaleski, C. (2014). Hell | religion. In?Encyclop?dia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/topic/hell

Zhamaletdinov, A. A. (2020). Fiftieth Anniversary of the Kola SG-3 Superdeep Borehole.?Izvestiya, Atmospheric and Oceanic Physics,?56(11), 1401–1422. https://doi.org/10.1134/s0001433820110110

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