The Kingdom of Hades appears both in the Greek New Testament and in classical Greek poetry. The common conception of Hades that is most general is that Hades was a holding place for souls inside of the earth in an underground kingdom. Hades could be compared to the Hebrew kingdom Sheol that is normally translated as the grave.

Hades was a place named after the ruler of the realm that we learn about that only people with wealth went to after death; moreover, this is because a river separated Hades named Styx from the world of the living as seen in the quote, "This river Styx served as a crossroads where the world of the living met the world of the dead, and the world of the mortal met the world of the immortal. Greek Mythology Gods, mortals, and great heroes and villains made their way across the river Styx. Some crossed the river many times, but for most, it was a one way trip." Overall, what is most important to recognize about this is that people who crossed the river needed to pay a fee for a boat to take them across the river, and this is why in Ancient Greek culture people had been laid dead with a gold coin under their tongue.

The Ancient Greek before Christ would know of Hades as being a place with much wealth. The best description that I have found of this is in regard to the leadership when the following could be said, "Hades possesses the riches of the earth, and is thus referred to as 'the Rich One'… Of all the gods, Hades is the one who is liked the least and even the gods themselves have an aversion of him. People avoided speaking his name lest they attracted his unwanted attention. … when they prayed to him, they would bang their hands on the ground." Hades was a place however that basically most all of the Ancient Greek people hoped to go to after death because only in Hades was their a known afterlife mainly.

The people that made the concept of Hades are those who claimed to be wise otherwise known as the Sophist. The Sophist or (wise man) was a person in whom often would be a poet or an intellectual of some type. Socrates however in the works of Plato claims that man cannot be wise but instead that only god can be wise, and man can know wisdom. Overall, Socrates thus put his hope in wisdom or Sophia as Paideia "that which is service to the soul" or "the process of educating man into his true form, the real and genuine human nature."

We are told that wisdom however is a shelter as money is a shelter but the advantage of knowledge is this that wisdom preserves the life of its possessor. We are even told that Christ Jesus according to Paul is the wisdom and the power of God. Overall, one could thus conclude that if Socrates truly had a relationship with wisdom (Sophia) that he was baring that as a testimony of Jesus Christ; moreover, even the trial and death of Socrates shows that Socrates was placing his trust not in the ‘gods’ but instead was willing to dye for his relationship to Sophia.

What then becomes evident is that Socrates was not offering himself as a living sacrifice to his loved one because of the wisdom of the world but because there is no greater love than to dye for a friend. The trial and death of Socrates then acts as a strong testimony about the division between the two kingdoms – the kingdom of Hates and of Christ. This choice that Socrates then made is the foundation for the holy component in the academy and the university that now all academies and universities are birthed from.

The reason why Hades is thought of as being a place of fire is because in Revelation Hades is thrown into the pool of fire along with death. The wealth of the world then is perishing, and the world then has already been judged. Before the outpouring of the Holy Ghost and before the crucifixion, Jesus even tells us that the prince of the world is following his so that the world may know that he is in the father and the father is in him. Overall, Jesus then descends into Hades as one would descend into the belly of a whale for three days so that he would lay down his life for a friend only to pick it up again.

The next time someone condemns the poor and eagerly upholds ideals of wealth and prosperity all while rejecting things that are self evidently true while building themselves or ‘puffing up’ themselves as wise pray for that person that they may know the logos (inward thought of projected outwardly) of God. Pray for that person and share the gospel of Jesus Christ with them because otherwise they will try to enter Hades by the work of their own hands as an attempt at buying their way to eternal salvation. We however are told that friendship with the world or anything in the world is a hatred for God (theos).