Into everlasting fire


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Was Adam was condemned to hell after sinning? I thought he was condemned to die, not hell. And Jesus came to bring life and save us from death. So in simple language hell is death and the route to death, i.e. The life we live on the earth out of the beautiful labourfree garden of aden,, here on earth full of suffering, joblessness, corruption, war, malnutrition, disease , violence....
This is hell. need i say more?


Fear is a great motivator. Fox news conducts daily fearcasts because their target audience (conservatives) respond to fear.

This may be why MSNBC has failed to draw a similar sized audience in attempting to copy the Fox model.


"Without Hell, you can’t have Heaven."

Heaven and hell cannot simultaneously exist; what truly good soul can withstand such suffering without desiring to provide some solace?

The screams of the tortured damned are torment to the souls of the righteous.

Michael Strickland in reply to Melissia

Actually, according to some rather big theological wigs, listening to the screams of the tortured damned is one of the features that makes heaven such an enjoyable place to retire to. Stern moralists are almost never held to be remarkable for their magnanimity.

BurkeanPluralist in reply to Melissia

"It is a sin to enjoy the suffering of others, after all."

It is pretty obvious that the Bible never says that anywhere.

You can't just randomly make up your own morality and expect people of other religions to believe it or respect it.


The mind can play tricks. So can clans and political parties. Did the Jews experience hell at the hands of the Nasties? Hell yes. And do the offspring of the Nasties reside in a living hell today. Some do Some don't.

Cosmic energies can be managed but the weakness required to do it has been made repulsive as a human quality. Thanks Conan the boob and the overconfident shock radio hosts. About the time your 4th or 5th prayer gets answered you get overconfident and the silliness returns and again the damning silence. Over-familiarity can be a key to hell. Oh, so I verily believe. Being unable to accept the grace of an answered prayer can be hellishly interesting and unmistakenly heaven sent.

Be careful what you pray for.


Contrary to some, I think this is a useful and topical piece.

That Hell as a concept exists across substantially all cultures kind of demonstrates that every non-extinct society demands the concept - very likely for survival reasons. Why not be Mao or Stalin or Ryan Lanza if there's no price to pay for it?

And on point for a TE piece - Why not be an exec who does what HSBC's did if there's no price to pay for that, in this life or later?

We'll never know if there's any truth to the concept of Hell - until it's too late. But if belief in it makes us act in more socially desirable ways, what's it matter if it's true or false?

MrRFox in reply to Melissia

Please to explain - how can that which produces (only?, on-balance?) 'good' be itself 'evil'?

The government of Singapore is a restrained form of 'tyranny', and thus 'evil' in what I take to be your calculation - but it is widely understood to deliver better governance than a less autocratic government would be likely to deliver. Maybe we have to balance the evils out for a net-figure?

Melissia in reply to MrRFox

So you sit there in your manse, rewarded for a good life for eternity. Fine wine you imbibe; exquisite food you take within. Gentle, soothing music caresses your ears, and the smell of the most wonderful perfume and incense blesses your nose, without overwhelming it. Truly blessed is one that is in heaven.

Then, from outside, you hear a woman scream. The butler says "oh, do not worry! She is a murderess-- punished for her crime through being raped by demons for the rest of eternity. Think of her not; praise the lord!"

And so you ignore the cries for help and screams of pain.

Then, from outside, you hear a man scream. The butler says "oh, do not worry! He is a heathen, and he did not believe, so he is to be burned for eternity. Do not pity him; praise the lord!"


Then, from outside, you hear a woman scream. The butler says "oh, do not worry! For she is an adulteress, and it is her fate to be disemboweled for all eternity! Praise the lord!"


Then, from outside, you hear a man scream. The butler sdays "oh, do not worry! For he is a political dissident, and opposed your lord! It is his fate to have his hands and feet removed, so that he cannot move against the lord. Praise the lord!"


Then, from outside ,you hear a woman scream. At that moment, you see the lord approach. "Did you do your morning prayers?" He asks. Why yes, you did. "Did you eat the prescribed meals, as I asked?" Why yes, you did. "Did you give your evening prayers?" Indeed, you did! "That is good! I love you dearly, and would not want to throw you out there with your wife, who forgot to do her evening prayers. She is being punished for her crime through her tongue being removed." And you beg mercy for your wife, and the lord asks: "Are you questioning my judgement?"

And soon, your cries for help and screams of pain are ignored.

MrRFox in reply to Melissia

Umm, Mel ... I can't speak for you, but me - I'm not talkin' about what is - or isn't - or should be. If Hell exists then God exists, and dispensing justice is His problem, not mine (or yours). He'll handle Hell like it should be handled - better than we could.

Aren't we just talking about what people BELIEVE at least enough to let their action be influenced (for the better) by that belief?

Melissia in reply to MrRFox

The above post is directly transcribe-able to real life tyrannies.

Tell me, were that "lord" a mortal ruler, would you say that that "lord" was righteous? After all, that "lord" rewarded goodness in people, and that "Lord" dispensed harsh, never-ending torment upon people for not being "good".

Torture is evil; if god dispenses with an eternity of torment, that makes god more evil than any human could ever possibly be.

"Buddhist teachers asked their pupils to imagine a cart loaded with 20 kharis of sesame seed, from which once every century one tiny seed was removed; yet when the whole cartload had gone, they would still be in the first Hell, and thousands of further Hells lay beyond it."

good stuff! If only we could apply such eloquence to explaining science and reality...like an apple being as much bigger than an atom as earth is bigger than an apple. Which would make us giants who eat worlds and bake them into pies. The power to captivate and engage an audience is something we can borrow from these ancient story tellers.


The article is a good capsule summary of the topic, but the conclusion is rather hasty. There are probably over a billion religious people who do not believe in eternal torment, and don't need it as a motivation or a contrast with heaven. I'm an annihilationist myself and trust me, ceasing to exist is an enormous difference from eternal paradise, plenty to properly weigh the pluses and minuses.


Mormons believe very few people will end up in hell (like less than 1/100,000 although of course there is no actual estimate) , and to get there you pretty much, almost, have to have been a mormon during life, or else known God intimately and deliberately chosen to reject His love.
The idea is that God is a Father, and doesn't want His children to be miserable, even when they themselves choose to do things that make them miserable. You can only stay in hell as long as you refuse to improve on whatever stupid thing you did to get yourself there in the first place. As soon as you repent, grace makes you free. Everybody, essentially, has unlimited get out of jail free cards. Hell is an area where mormons differ from most western philosophy in that way- it's not viewed as permanent (and the devil of course has no horns).


i expected better from the economist, this is just garbage second rate philosophy, showing more the authors misunderstanding and misuse of the multiple text he used for his arguments. stick to the economy this is an embarrassment not worth taking the time to fully respond. wow idk just wow


This was my response to a post. I believe there are a lot of people that have been hurt by comments made by Christians and therefore they have a bad feeling towards us. Please take the time to read what I have posted. "For to everyone who has, more shall be given, and he will have an abundance; but from the one who does not have, even what he does have shall be taken away. Throw out the worthless slave into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. "Then He will also say to those on His left, 'Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels; (Matthew 25:29, 30, 41 NASB)Notice hell was prepared for Lucifer and the angels that rebelled against God. God doesn't send anyone to hell. Man chooses hell when he rejects the love of God, sent to this earth to pay for our sins so we wouldn't have to. You see God is a just and sin must be atoned for through the shedding of blood. This is the reasson Christ came and took our punishment so we would not have to. When you reject God's provission of salvation through Jesus , you choose the alternative. Hell was created not for man but for the one who rebelled. Man is still in rebellion today and does not want to follow God's word. Remember Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. 1Peter 3:8 Finally, all of you be of one mind, having compassion for one another; love as brothers, be tenderhearted, be courteous;[a] 9 not returning evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary blessing, knowing that you were called to this, that you may inherit a blessing. 10 For

“He who would love life
And see good days,
Let him refrain his tongue from evil,
And his lips from speaking deceit.
11 Let him turn away from evil and do good;
Let him seek peace and pursue it.
12 For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous,
And His ears are open to their prayers;
But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.”[b]
Suffering for Right and Wrong
13 And who is he who will harm you if you become followers of what is good? 14 But even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you are blessed. “And do not be afraid of their threats, nor be troubled.”[c] 15 But sanctify the Lord God[d] in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear; 16 having a good conscience, that when they defame you as evildoers, those who revile your good conduct in Christ may be ashamed. 17 For it is better, if it is the will of God, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil.Christ’s Suffering 18 For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us[e] to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit, 19 by whom also He went and preached to the spirits in prison, 20 who formerly were disobedient, when once the Divine longsuffering waited[f] in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight souls, were saved through water. 21 There is also an antitype which now saves us—baptism (not the removal of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God), through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, 22 who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, angels and authorities and powers having been made subject to Him.
Don't let mans condemnation keep you from understanding there is a God that loved you so much he sent his son to die a brutal death on the cross to pay for your sins. Look at this scripture and see what Jesus said to the woman cought in adultery.He wrote the sins of the people accusing her on the groound, and notice they all walked away after they saw Jesus look at them and write their sins on the ground. Jhn 8:3-12 The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group
Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground.

BurkeanPluralist in reply to Davidpsa

I know you mean well, but you really need to understand that most people don't believe that the Bible is divinely inspired. Quoting the Bible is not going to do anything the change the minds of the world's non-Christian majority. That's not because we have bad feelings toward Christians or anything like that. We just have no reason to believe that your Holy Bible is any thing other than a creation of man.

Evil Overlord in reply to Davidpsa


Exactly why would I listen to your religious harangue? I'm sure some Christians have had their feelings hurt by atheists saying they don't believe in god. Would you therefore listen to my long promotion of atheism? I doubt most Christians would.


Interesting article for me as an atheist, not the history around it but some incisive words("religion thrives on fear as well as hope")and the last part which is really insightful and encouraging. Hell is hopelessness. To be hopeless is to be in hell, to be gratefull is to be in heaven. We live in what we are, that's what I believe. Although the article may heart the feeling of those devout, but can we look at it from a neutral angle?
Thanks for this Christmas gift!
BTW,I suggest you guys to watch the movie "The Man from Earth".


Check out "Surface detail" by Ian M. Banks. Very advanced societies with virtual Hells where minds were downloaded after death...just to maintain social control. Excellent book.


Dear Economist,
Do you have a legend for the "rough guide to Hell" cover illustration? Who is caricature seated in foreground between two seated devils with buttons in front of them. He is directly in front of Satan holding the magazine.

Possible new President of China?


The Catholic Encyclopedia was written in 1917. I have no idea what, if any, authority it speaks on issues of Church doctrine. The Catechism's take on Hell is much more abstract (and more representative Catholic teaching), but of course that wouldn't suit your purpose.

Matthias Honegger

To be very blunt: It seems like the sort of climate change we're headed to is very much alike most of our imaginations of hell. Folks describing the world of more than 4° of warming have consistently used the word hell.


Muslims don't believe in returning to earth at all, but spending an eternity in heaven after completing their punishment in hell - or for the really bad ones, spending an eternity in hell!!



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