Rob Bell, the wildly popular pastor from Grand Rapids, Michigan, has made news lately. His new book, Love Wins, presents a “progressive” view of hell.

I don’t want to comment on Bell or his book per se, but rather point out that the biblical setting for “hell” is an actual place. Often, people are not aware that places in the Bible are something other than symbolism or myth.

For example, Armageddon is a real place. Megiddo is an ancient site north of Jerusalem; in the Hebrew it is “Har Megiddo,” or, Hill of Megiddo. Napolean claimed it was the greatest natural battlefield he’d ever seen. Megiddo is the setting for the famous “end of days” battle.

Likewise, Jerusalem’s Valley of Hinnom, on the southern edge of the Old City, is the site of an ancient trash dump (which burned continually) and pagan sacrifice. The whole scene was so horrific, it served as a backdrop for the biblical writers’ accounts of the place of torment for the dead.

Far from some esoteric dream-stuff, the Bible is connected to real people, in real places and real eras.

The Bible is not myth, but rather a relevant book for those seeking truth.