I think the Essenes, Jews who existed both before and around the time of Christ, seemed to think that there was some kind of eternal torment for "sinners". They weren't using it as a parable in the sense that the eternal torment itself was "mythical".
As one writer notes:
Essenes writes:
Regardless of their vows of poverty on earth, the Essenes shared grandiose visions of their rewards of wealth and power after the destruction of this world. The and the early Christians thought, as most Christians are expected to think today, this world is only a testing place to determine whether the immortal soul deserves the eternal reward or punishment of heaven or hell. The world or earth itself was not worth preserving or caring for because they believed in the end God would destroy this world and build a more perfect one. When being resurrected in this perfect world they believed they world live in glorified and perfect bodies. This seems to be a hope of attaining in an eternal future the things which one cannot attain in the present.
Consequently, I don't think Christ or the gospel writers, both contempoaries of the Essenes, were using this idea of eternal torment in this "mythical" sense either.
Edit: I found this an interesting and revealing article worth examining:
The Dead Sea Scrolls and the New Testament by Mark M. Mattison
This message has been edited by Mr. Ex Nihilo, 11-01-2005 03:42 AM
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