Is Heaven hotter than Hell?
The temperatures of Heaven and of Hell are not given specifically in the Bible. That may be because the various temperature scales ~ Fahrenheit, Celsius, Rankin and Kelvin, were not created by the 1st century CE. However, there is sufficient data available to calculate the temperature of Heaven. The maximum temperature of Hell can also be determined.
Heaven's temperature:
Isaiah 30:26 states: "Moreover, the light of the Moon shall be as the light of the Sun and the light of the Sun shall be sevenfold, as the light of seven days."
One individual interpreted this passage as meaning that the
radiation received by Heaven from the sun is 7 times 7 or 49
times as much as the earth does today. 1 Added to that is the
contribution of the moon which would equal the present amount
that the earth receives from the sun. Thus Heaven would receive
(49 + 1) or 50 times the radiation as the earth does today.
The Stefan-Boltzmann law for radiation links the temperature of
an object with the amount of radiation received. It would predict
that the temperature of heaven would be 498 degrees Celsius
hotter than the earth is currently. Thus heaven would be about
525 °C or 977 °F.
However, this temperature would only be the "steady-state"
temperature. Presumably Heaven was created shortly after Earth so
that it would be ready for its first inhabitants: Abel, Adam and
Eve.
Revelation 21:17 says that the walls of New Jerusalem are 144
cubits thick. This is about 66 meters or 216 feet. Such a thick
wall would be an effective insulator. Heaven would thus have
taken many months to reach its equilibrium temperature. But it
presumably has reached about 525 °C today.
Hell's Temperature: Revelation 21:8 states
"But the fearful, and unbelieving ... shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone."
Brimstone is sulphur. In order for sulphur to be molten, its
temperature must be at or below 444.6 °C or 832 °F.
Thus heaven is at least 80 °C or 145 °F hotter than
Hell.
Assuming that the glorified bodies that the inhabitants have in
Heaven are as sensitive to heat as our present earthly bodies,
then they would suffer greatly; Heaven would become worse than
Hell. Since that cannot happen, due to theological
considerations, Heaven must have some very effective methods of
air conditioning to handle the excess incoming radiation.
Reference:
"Applied Optics" Vol. 11, (1972), Page A14. Quoted by Adrian
Gilbert in http://www.sandelman.ottawa.on.ca/People/
The temperature of Hell; it it endothermic or exothermic?
This story has been circulating around the Internet for years and concerns an imaginative answer to a mid-term chemistry exam at a U.S. university. I don't know if this is an urban legend or whether actually happened.
"Exothermic" means that the system gives off heat; "endothermic" means that it adsorbs heat.
Most of the students' answers made reference to Boyle's law. This is a fundamental law in chemistry that describes how the temperature of a gas varies with its pressure. When a gas expands, it cools off. This can be observed when you open the valve on a compressed air pipe; the air released will cool down the the surroundings. When a gas is compressed, it heats up. This is why, when you pump up a tire with a hand pump, the gas is compressed and heats up the pump barrel.
Air conditioners work by first compressing a gas, causing it to heat up. Then the gas is allowed to cool. Finally, it is permitted to expand, thus cooling its surroundings.
University of Washington exam question:
The answer:
The student who received an "A" started his calculations by considering whether the total mass of Hell was increasing or decreasing with time. For this, he had to first calculate whether there was a net increase in the number of souls in Hell with time, or a reduction.
First, we postulate that if souls exist, then they must have some mass. If they do, then a mole of souls can also have a mass. So, at what rate are souls moving into hell and at what rate are souls leaving?
From basic theological assumptions, no souls ever leave Hell. Hell is conceived of as a place of punishment where its inmates are tortured for all eternity. On the other hand, souls are continually entering Hell. The student observed that many religions teach that anyone who is not a member will go to Hell. Historically, Christians have taught that all non-Christians will go to Hell. And many non-Christians have believed that all Christians will go there as well. One might therefore assume that all souls will end up in Hell. Thus with souls continually entering Hell and no souls exiting, the total mass of Hell is increasing.
There are two possibilities:
If the volume of Hell is expanding at a slower rate than souls are entering, then the temperature and pressure in Hell will "clearly increase until all Hell breaks loose."
On the other hand, if hell is expanding faster than this rate, then the temperature and pressure will "drop until Hell freezes over."
The student recalled a postulate given to him by a certain coed during his freshman year. She said that "it will be a cold night in Hell before I sleep with you." He noted that he had still not been able to engage in sexual relationships with her. He concluded that Hell is in no danger of freezing over. Thus Option 2 is invalid, the temperature of Hell is increasing, and thus Hell is exothermic.
Interestingly enough, the student's opening gambit, "We
postulate that if souls exist, then they must have some mass,"
stands in opposition to the position taken centuries ago by the
Roman Catholic Church.
The Holy See had given its official approval to a particular
line of scientific thought - the vacuum -specificially to allow
for immaterial forms such as weightless souls and armies of
angels in what would otherwise be a filled universe.
Without vacuums, places where measurable matter does not exist,
both Heaven and Hell and all their denizens would have no place
in the cosmic order of things. The time-honoured Aristotelian
assertion "Nature abhors a vacuum" had to be, and was, elbowed
out of the way because the vacuum was a theological
necessity.
More about the origins of the story from Snopes.