You aren't listening Ann.
However I will add that it 'was' a view in the early church as the very words (hades and sheol) used meant just that not to mention we see it in the Ante-Nicene fathers writing such as Tertullian and others.
Hell (refer to hades/sheol) is the abode of the dead, gehennah is the place of torment and fire. Hell known in the Greek as Hades and the Hebrew as Sheol, is in general only a holding place until the Judgment. It is a place that, prior to Christ's resurrection, held both groups in different places and each place specific to their spiritual disposition. It is much the same as jail. People are placed there until their trial/judgment and from there they are either released or incarcerated. However with God the place in which those people were/are placed corrisponds to their spiritual disposition - ie. the garden a place in which man partakes of God's favor, or a place of fire in which man partakes of God wrath.
Here we see early 1st century belief of the Jews and early church Christian writers (from wiki - I'm at work and it what I have at present, here):
Here are the citiations for the two earlier church fathers mentioned:
^ Hippolytus of Rome, Against Plato, on the Cause of the Universe, §1. As to the state of the righteous, he writes, "And there the righteous from the beginning dwell, not ruled by necessity, but enjoying always the contemplation of the blessings which are in their view, and delighting themselves with the expectation of others ever new, and deeming those ever better than these. And that place brings no toils to them. There, there is neither fierce heat, nor cold, nor thorn; but the face of the fathers and the righteous is seen to be always smiling, as they wait for the rest and eternal revival in heaven which succeed this location. And we call it by the name Abraham's bosom." Ibid.
^ Augustine of Hippo, City of God, Book XII (his statement is found therein)
To name a few.
This also from the Jewish Encyclopedia:
Notice with the Rich man in Luke 16, to whom did he cry out for mercy? God? No. Father Abraham. Abraham was never depicted as God in 'any' Jewish historical writings. However the rich man did appeal to Abraham through which the covenant was promised and thus he called to 'Father' Abraham. IOW- there must be some mistake, let Lazarus cool my tongue and we can talk. But again, who answers the Rich Man? God? No, but Abraham. Some try to state that Abrahams bosom means heaven, however it does not. It only references the fact that where Abraham was there were God's people, nothing more.
Now, here is another point;
Where else do we find Jesus in any other parable or other teaching calling God the Father - Abraham. You wont'.
Another point of interest is that Abraham says to the rich man - son. To whom does God call his sons? The elect alone correct?
Thus my point earlier is made more clear here as Abraham is 'acknowledging' that the rich man is one of his decendents (a Jew) but that does not help the rich man one iota.
Why do we not find the rich man calling out to God as both we and he knows God is the one who sent him there?
Because he knows he belongs there, as is evident when Abraham answers him, and he was hoping that Abraham would mediate his position based upon his blood status.
Therefore even if this were a parable (which I don't believe it is and it does not follow those rules) this is not speaking of two people speaking back and forth from heaven and firery hell, unless heaven is only within shouting distance of hell itself. Even the term 'far off' (apo makrothan) refers something that is not near him or away at a distance. The term chasm simply means a large space that one can not of their come across due to both distance and depth. IOW - it couldn't be jumped or climbed but it was not so far away that specific people could not be identified and spoken to.
For the believer, after Christ's resurrection, we are judged immediately. However unbelievers are not judged yet, but that judgment will take place at the Great White Throne Judgment after the 2nd coming of Christ Jesus.
No one has stated on here that Jesus went into torments but into hell spoken and identified as hades/sheol, and in accordace with the scripture Jesus did 'decend' and being in 'sheol' (the place of the dead and not the grave only) prophesy was fulfilled that God did not leave Him there. This portion alone is sufficient proof that Jesus decended because of just what sheol means, and that it was part of the prophesies Jesus was to fulfill. And again, sheol does not mean only the grave but refers to both the grave and the aboad of the dead simultaneously and the historical Jewish view of both was to 'decend' until judgment in which it would then 'ascend' to be before God.
This something that can not honestly be side tracked. Historically the Judistic view, as well as modern scholars understanding of the word, state the term shoel speaks simultaneously of both the grave and the spiritual abode of both the saved and unsaved, with emphasis toward the spiritual aspect. It can not, ever, be interpreted as only the grave. No credable Hebrew scholar can think of would say such. There were/are Hebrew words that already were being used in scripture to mean grave, tomb, etc. It is for this reason hades in the Greek is the apt counter part.
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