Hell in Christianity

Jesus here depicts a wicked man suffering fiery torment in hades, which is contrasted with the bosom of Abraham, and explains that it is impossible to cross over from one to the other.

Some scholars believe that this parable reflects the intertestamental Jewish view of hades (or sheol) as containing separate divisions for the wicked and righteous.

This separation is stark, with no explicit provision made for fine gradations of merit or guilt:[20] Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.

"[30] Several Eastern Orthodox theologians do describe hell as separation from God, in the sense of being out of fellowship or loving communion.

"[34] Another writer declared: "The circumstances that rise before us, the problems we encounter, the relationships we form, the choices we make, all ultimately concern our eternal union with or separation from God.

"[35] The Eastern Orthodox Church rejects what is presented as the Roman Catholic doctrine of purgatory as a place where believers suffer as their "venial sins" are purged before gaining admittance to heaven.

"[48] Pope John Paul II stated on 28 July 1999, that, in speaking of Hell as a place, the Bible uses "a symbolic language", which "must be correctly interpreted […].

[58] In a homily given on 25 March 2007, Pope Benedict XVI stated: "Jesus came to tell us that he wants us all in heaven and that hell, of which so little is said in our time, exists and is eternal for those who close their hearts to his love.

Ludwig Ott's work "The Fundamentals of Catholic Dogma" said: "Hell is a place or state of eternal punishment inhabited by those rejected by God".

"[64] Evangelicals Norman L. Geisler and Ralph E. MacKenzie interpret official Roman Catholic teaching as: "Hell is a place or state of eternal punishment inhabited by those rejected by God.

The chief punishment of hell is eternal separation from God, in whom alone man can possess the life and happiness for which he was created and for which he longs.

[70] Another interpretation is that the Catechism by no means denies other forms of suffering, but stresses that the pain of loss is central to the Catholic understanding of hell.

"[75] An article on the same subject by Sweeney that was published on the Huffington Post's religion page was liked by more than 19,000 people, including Anne Rice.

During various Marian apparitions, such as those at Fatima or at Kibeho, the visionaries claimed that the Virgin Mary during the course of the visions showed them a view of Hell where sinners were suffering.

[78][79] Columba of Iona is alleged to have on several occasions even been able to name particular individuals who he said were going to end life in hellfire for their sins and accurately predicted the way they would die before the event had even happened.

[84] In historic Protestant traditions, hell is the place created by God for the punishment of the devil and fallen angels (cf.

[87] The historic Protestant view of hell is expressed in the Westminster Confession (1646), a Reformed confession of faith: The Book of Discipline of the Evangelical Methodist Church Conference similarly teaches:[88] While the saint goes from the judgment to enjoy eternal bliss, the impenitent sinner is turned away into everlasting condemnation, punishment and misery.

[90][91][88][92] Some recent writers such as Anglican layman C. S. Lewis[93] and J.P. Moreland[94] have cast hell in terms of "eternal separation" from God.

to the conclusion that punishment in hell, though eternal and irrevocable, will be proportional to the deeds of each soul (e.g., Matthew 10:15, Luke 12:46–48).

[19] Prominent evangelical theologians who have adopted conditionalist beliefs include John Wenham, Edward Fudge, Clark Pinnock, Greg Boyd.

" (Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures) Some today holding mostly Protestant views (such as George MacDonald, Karl Barth, William Barclay, Keith DeRose, Robin Parry, and Thomas Talbott) believe that after serving their sentence in Gehenna, all souls are reconciled to God and admitted to heaven, or ways are found at the time of death of drawing all souls to repentance so that no "hellish" suffering is experienced.

[100] Thomas Talbott, a prominent Trinitarian Universalist, illustrates this viewpoint by delineating three propositions which are biblically based, but which he asserts to be mutually exclusive: Traditional theology clarifies omnipotence or omni-benevolence to resolve the contradiction.

[102] Many gnostic Christians, such as the Cathars, interpreted hell as a metaphor for this flawed, material world in which human souls have become entrapped.

They believe the Bible presents "hell", as translated from "Sheol" and "Hades", to be the common grave for both the good and the bad.

They reject the idea of a place of literal eternal pain or torment as being inconsistent with God's love and justice.

Modern-day revelation clarifies that while there, Christ began the work of salvation for the dead by commissioning spirits of the righteous to teach the gospel to those who didn't have the opportunity to receive it while on earth.

[108] Latter-day Saints also believe that righteous people will rise in a "first resurrection" and live with Christ on earth after his return.

[109] Near the end of his life, in a discourse called the King Follett Sermon, Joseph Smith taught that, "After a man has sinned against the Holy Ghost, there is no repentance for him.

[115] However, according to the Latter-day Saint understanding, since most humans lack such an extent of religious enlightenment, they cannot commit the Eternal sin,[116] and the vast majority of residents of outer darkness will be the "devil and his angels...the third part of the hosts of heaven" who in the premortal existence followed Lucifer and never received a mortal body.

[120] The Unity Church of Charles Fillmore considers the concept of everlasting physical Hell to be false doctrine and contradictory to that reported by John the Evangelist.