I figure I will officially enroll in the argument. This reply is not so much directed to you as it is everyone. I just needed a starting point to engage.
One example of this issue are the verses Exodus 20:5 and Ezekiel 18:20
I certainly agree that these two verses are contradictory and that it is a rather convenient argument to state one is talking about spiritual death while the other refers to physical death.
It is debatable whether or not the writers of the bible borrowed from the Greeks version of Hades, as the reverse also may be true, that the Greeks borrowed from the Israelites.
Extra-biblical references from
Flavius Josephus make allusions that he is instructing Greeks [Gentiles] on what hell is like and who is thrown in to the pit. However, most scholars seem to believe that it is either misattributed or a fabrication by early Christians. I happen to think it is a forgery based on the wording which is quite different from some of Josephus' earlier works.
I don’t feel that either verse is referring to a spiritual death or a future ethereal punishment. I don’t feel that the prophets or the Torah writers referred to spiritual death. Punishment and death were real time and physical.
The evolution of "hell" is much like the evolution of "Satan." There were sparse mentioning of Sheol and Satan, but Sheol seems not to be synonymous with the NT's concept of "Gahenna" (hell).
In fact, there is evidence that there is a split between Judaisms two largest sects (Pharisees & Sadducees) concerning things like heaven, hell, angels, etc.
"Facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passions, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence." --John Adams
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