The word τάρταρος (tartaros), under its verbal form ταρταρώσας (tartarosas; to thrust down into tartaros), is found only once in all of the Scriptures, at 2 Peter 2:4, “the deity did not spare the angels who sinned, but ταρταρώσας (tartarosas; thrust them into tartaros), keeping them in chains of darkness unto a κρίσιν (krisin; judgment; decision made by tribunal).”¹ As James Orr writes, here tartaros “stands for the place of punishment of the angels.”²

S. D. F. Salmond similarly concludes, “the word is applied to the intermediate scene and condition of penalty in which those offenders are detained, held in chains of darkness, in reserve for the final judgment.”³

In neo-Christianity, the concept of tartaros, a word which primarily means “to incarcerate,” i.e., a place of incarceration in the deepest abyss,⁴ has been purposely blended with the following two concepts:

1. The pagan Greek notion of hades (the underworld of wicked immortal souls of the deceased).

2. A twisted interpretation of the scriptural concept of gehenna fire (the final punishment for the wicked). Continue reading “Tartaros and Demons – Part 1” →