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   INTRODUCTION

In Christian theology, Hell is the place or state into which by God’s definitive judgment unrepentant sinners pass either immediately after death (particular judgment) or in the general judgment.^[1]Cross, F. L., Livingstone, E. [editors], The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church [Oxford University Press. 2005], article “Hell” Its character is inferred from teaching in the biblical texts, some of which, interpreted literally, have given rise to the popular idea of hell.^[2]Cross, F. L., Livingstone, E. [editors], The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church [Oxford University Press. 2005], article “Hell”

Theologians today generally see hell as the logical consequence of using free will to reject union with God and, because God will not force conformity, not incompatible with God’s justice and mercy.^[3]Cross, F. L., Livingstone, E. [editors], The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church [Oxford University Press. 2005], article “Hell” Calvinists, on the other hand, believe hell is a consequence of God’s justice for man’s sin, but reject the libertarian notion of free will.

Different Hebrew and Greek words are translated as “hell” in most English-language Bibles.

They include:

• “Sheol” in the Hebrew Bible, and “Hades” in the New Testament. Many modern versions, such as the New International Version, translate Sheol as “grave” and simply transliterate “Hades”. It is generally agreed that both sheol and hades do not typically refer to the place of eternal punishment, but to the grave, the temporary abode of the dead, the underworld.^[4]New Bible Dictionary third edition, IVP 1996. Articles on “Hell”, “Sheol”.

• “Gehenna” in the New Testament, where it is described as a place where both soul and body could be destroyed (Matthew 10:28) in “unquenchable fire” (Mark 9:43). The word is translated as either “hell” or “hell fire” in many English versions.^[5]noted [RSV mg. “Gehenna”: in Mk. 9:47]

• The Greek verb “ταρταρῶ (tartarō)“, which occurs once in the New Testament (in 2  Peter 2:4), is almost always translated by a phrase such as “thrown down to hell”. A few translations render it as “Tartarus”; of this term, the Holman Christian Standard Bible states: “Tartarus is a Greek name for a subterranean place of divine punishment lower than Hades.”[2  Peter 2:4]

   ORTHODOX CONCEPTIONS OF HELL

   Basic Orthodox teachings on hell

See also: Bosom of Abraham

   Eastern Orthodox views

See also: Apocatastasis

The Eastern Orthodox Church teaches that heaven and hell are relations to or experiences of God’s just and loving presence.^[6]God himself is both heaven and hell, reward and punishment. All men have been created to see God unceasingly in His uncreated glory. Whether God will be for each man heaven or hell, reward or … Continue reading ^[7]Thus it is the Church’s spiritual teaching that God does not punish man by some material fire or physical torment. God simply reveals Himself in the risen Lord Jesus in such a glorious way that no … Continue reading There is no created place of divine absence, nor is hell an ontological separation from God.^[8]For those who love the Lord, His Presence will be infinite joy, paradise and eternal life. For those who hate the Lord, the same Presence will be infinite torture, hell and eternal death. The reality … Continue reading One expression of the Eastern teaching is that hell and heaven are dimensions of God’s intensifying presence, as this presence is experienced either as torment or as paradise depending on the spiritual state of a person dwelling with God.^[9]God himself is both heaven and hell, reward and punishment. All men have been created to see God unceasingly in His uncreated glory. Whether God will be for each man heaven or hell, reward or … Continue reading ^[10]“Paradise and Hell exist not in the form of a threat and a punishment on the part of God but in the form of an illness and a cure. Those who are cured and those who are purified experience the … Continue reading

For one who hates God and by extension hates himself as God’s image-bearer, to be encompassed by the divine presence could only result in unspeakable anguish.^[11]Man has a malfunctioning or non-functioning noetic faculty in the heart, and it is the task especially of the clergy to apply the cure of unceasing memory of God, otherwise called unceasing prayer or … Continue reading ^[12]“Those who have selfless love and are friends of God see God in light—divine light, while the selfish and impure see God the judge as fire—darkness”. ref: book “life after … Continue reading ^[13]Proper preparation for vision of God takes place in two stages: purification, and illumination of the noetic faculty. Without this, it is impossible for man’s selfish love to be transformed into … Continue readingAristotle Papanikolaou^[14]New Bible Dictionary 3rd edition, IVP Leicester 1996. “Sheol”. and Elizabeth H. Prodromou^[15]New Bible Dictionary 3rd edition, IVP Leicester 1996, “Hell”. wrote in their book Thinking Through Faith: New Perspectives from Orthodox Christian Scholars that for the Orthodox: “Those theological symbols, heaven and hell, are not crudely understood as spatial destinations but rather refer to the experience of God’s presence according to two different modes.”^[16]Regarding specific conditions of after-life existence and eschatology, Orthodox thinkers are generally reticent; yet two basic shared teachings can be singled out. First, they widely hold that … Continue reading

Several Orthodox theologians do describe hell as separation from God, in the sense of being out of fellowship or loving communion. Archimandrite Sophrony (Sakharov) spoke of “the hell of separation from God”.^[17]Sophrony, The Monk of Mount Athos: Staretz Silouan, 1866-1938 [St Vladimir’s Seminary] Press 2001 ISBN 0-913836-15-X), p. 32 Paul Evdokimov stated: “Hell is nothing else but separation of man from God, his autonomy excluding him from the place where God is present.”^[18]the World, of the Church: A Paul Evdokimov Reader [St Vladimir’s Seminary Press] 2001 ISBN 0-88141-215-5), p. 32 According to Theodore Stylianopoulos, “Hell is a spiritual state of separation from God and inability to experience the love of God, while being conscious of the ultimate deprivation of it as punishment.”^[19]Father Theodore Stylianopoulos; Monthly Bulletin 2010-08-01 PDF

Michel Quenot stated: “Hell is none other than the state of separation from God, a condition into which humanity was plunged for having preferred the creature to the Creator. It is the human creature, therefore, and not God, who engenders hell. Created free for the sake of love, man possesses the incredible power to reject this love, to say ‘no’ to God. By refusing communion with God, he becomes a predator, condemning himself to a spiritual death (hell) more dreadful than the physical death that derives from it.”^[20]Michel Quenot, The Resurrection and the Icon (St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press 1997 ISBN 0-88141-149-3), p. 85 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.”^[21]Life Transfigured: A Journal of Orthodox Nuns, Vol. 24, No. 2, Summer 1991, pp. 8–9, produced by The Orthodox Monastery of the Transfiguration, Ellwood City, Pa.

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.^[22]Orthodox Christianity also rejects such teachings as the Immaculate Conception, purgatory, and other uniquely Roman Catholic doctrines. [see 4. “What the Bible says about Death, Afterlife, and the … Continue reading

Contrary to Western Christianity, both Roman and Protestant varieties, the Christians of the East emphasize the mystery of God in His pre-eternal transcendence and maintain a tradition of apophatic theology, while the technical, cataphatic theology of scholasticism tends to be downplayed or viewed as subordinate. Thus, there is no single “official” teaching of the Church apart from apostolic doctrine received and, when necessary, defined by Ecumenical Councils. The Orthodox positions on hell are derived from the sayings of the saints and the consensus views of the Church Fathers. They are not in agreement on all points, and no council universally recognized by the Eastern Orthodox Churches has formulated doctrine on hell, so there is no official doctrine to which all the faithful are bound. Beliefs concerning the nature and duration of hell are considered theologoumena, or theological opinions, rather than dogmas of the Church.

   Images of hell

According to Theodore Stylianopoulos, “many Orthodox saints and writers assume the general view of hell as a place of punishment, even by means of material instruments such as fire, whether of the soul after death or both soul and body after the resurrection”.^[23]St George Greek Orthodox Church Saint John Chrysostom pictured hell as associated with “unquenchable” fire and “various kinds of torments and torrents of punishment”.^[24]Epistle I to Theodore of Mopsuestia

Eastern Orthodox icons of the Last Judgment, most notably in the Slavic traditions, often depict tormented, lost sinners in hell. Pages 66–69 of John-Paul Himka’s Last Judgment Iconography in the Carpathians provides an illustrated description of some such 15th-century Carpathian icons based on a northern Rus’ prototype (p. 193). The depiction in these particular icons, a depiction that may have developed from 12th-century Greek and South Slavic depictions differentiating sinners and their punishments (p. 68), is referred to by Himka as “the new hell”, “because various sinners are being punished in a squarish area with torments that did not appear in the standard Byzantine iconography” (p. 42).

Icons based on The Ladder of Divine Ascent, by Saint John Climacus, show monks ascending a thirty-rung ladder to heaven represented by Christ, or succumbing to the arrows of demons and falling from the ladder into hell, sometimes represented by an open-jawed dragon.^[25]Robin Cormack, Icons [British Museum Press] 2007 ISBN 0-674-02619-5), p. 20

   ROMAN CATHOLICISM

   Nature of hell

The Catechism of the Catholic Church which, when published in 1992, Pope John Paul II declared to be “a sure norm for teaching the faith”,^[26]“Fidei depositum”. Libreria Editrice Vaticana. 11 October 1992. Retrieved 2011-01-14. defines hell as eternal fiery punishment for refusing to love God:

We cannot be united with God unless we freely choose to love him. But we cannot love God if we sin gravely against him, against our neighbor or against ourselves: “He who does not love remains in death. Anyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.” Our Lord warns us that we shall be separated from him if we fail to meet the serious needs of the poor and the little ones who are his brethren. To die in mortal sin without repenting and accepting God’s merciful love means remaining separated from him for ever by our own free choice. This state of definitive self-exclusion from communion with God and the blessed is called “hell.” Jesus often speaks of “Gehenna” of “the unquenchable fire” reserved for those who to the end of their lives refuse to believe and be converted, where both soul and body can be lost. Jesus solemnly proclaims that he “will send his angels, and they will gather… all evil doers, and throw them into the furnace of fire,” and that he will pronounce the condemnation: “Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire!” The teaching of the Church affirms the existence of hell and its eternity. Immediately after death the souls of those who die in a state of mortal sin descend into hell, which is described (in quotes) as “eternal fire.”^[27]Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1033

   Hell as a place or a state

Writing in the 1910 Catholic Encyclopedia, Joseph Hontheim said that “theologians generally accept the opinion that hell is really within the earth. The Church has decided nothing on this subject; hence we may say hell is a definite place; but where it is, we do not know.” He cited the view of Saint Augustine of Hippo that hell is under the earth and that of Saint Gregory the Great that hell is either on the earth or under it.^[28]Joseph Hontheim, “Hell” in The Catholic Encyclopedia, Vol. 7. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1910. Retrieved 3 September 2010 On the other hand, Catholic theologian Hans Urs von Balthasar (1905–1988) said that “we must see that hell is not an object that is ‘full’ or ’empty’ of human individuals, but a possibility that is not ‘created’ by God but in any case by the free individuals who choose it”.^[29]Jack Mulder [2010]. Kierkegaard and the Catholic Tradition. Indiana University Press. p. 145. ISBN 978-0-253-22236-7. The Catholic Faith Handbook for Youth, with imprimatur of 2007, also says that “more accurately” heaven and hell are not places but states.^[30]Brian Singer-Towns, Janet Claussen, Clare Vanbrandwijk, Catholic Faith Handbook for Youth [Saint Mary’s Press] 2008 ISBN 978-0-88489-987-7 Capuchin theologian Berard A. Marthaler also says that “hell is not ‘a place'”.^[31]Berard A. Marthaler, The Creed [Twenty-Third Publications] 2007 ISBN 978-0-89622-537-4, p. 211

Many have in the past considered hell to be a place.^[32]“Hell was a place of eternal suffering for sinners”, Lizann Flatt,Religion in the Renaissance [Crabtree 2009] ISBN 978-0-7787-4597-6, p. 8 Some have rejected metaphorical interpretations of the biblical descriptions of hell,^[33]“No cogent reason has been advanced for accepting a metaphorical interpretation in preference to the most natural meaning of the words of Scripture” [Hontheim in Catholic Encyclopedia 1910]. and have attributed to hell a location within the earth,^[34]“Theologians generally accept the opinion that hell is really within the earth” [Hontheim 1910] while others who uphold the opinion that hell is a definite place, say instead that its location is unknown.^[35]“It is certain from Scripture and tradition that the torments of hell are inflicted in a definite place. But it is uncertain where the place is” Addis & Arnold [eds], “A Catholic Dictionary … Continue reading

Other Catholics neither affirm nor deny that hell is a place, and speak of it as “a place or state”. 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”.^[36]Ott, “The Fundamentals of Catholic Dogma”, p. 479 [1955]. Robert J. Fox wrote: “Hell is a place or state of eternal punishment inhabited by those rejected by God because such souls have rejected God’s saving grace.”^[37]Fox, “The Catholic Faith”, p. 262 [1983]. 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.”^[38]Geisler & MacKenzie, “Roman Catholics and Evangelicals: agreements and differences”, p. 143 [1995].

The Catechism published by Pope Pius X in 1908 defined hell by using the word “state” alone: “Hell is a state to which the wicked are condemned, and in which they are deprived of the sight of God for all eternity, and are in dreadful torments.”^[39]LESSON THIRTY-SEVENTH: On the Last Judgment and the Resurrection, Hell, Purgatory, and Heaven, [Question 1379]

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 … Rather than a place, hell indicates the state of those who freely and definitively separate themselves from God, the source of all life and joy.”^[40]Pope John Paul II, Audience Talk, 28 July 1999 Some have interpreted these words as a denial that hell can be considered to be a place, or at least as providing an alternative picture of hell.^[41]“Hell is traditionally considered a literal place of eternal torture, but the Pope has also described hell as the condition of pain that results from alienation from God, a thing of one’s own … Continue reading Others have explicitly disagreed with the interpretation of what the Pope said as an actual denial that hell can be considered a place and have said that the Pope was only directing attention away from what is secondary to the real essence of hell.^[42]“In the common sense of the word ‘place’, if you were to say ‘Hell is not a place’, you would be denying that hell exists. Unfortunately, some thought that the Pope, in the statement quoted … Continue reading

In a homily that he gave 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.”^[43]Text on the Holy See website ^[44]CiNews of 28 March 2007 Journalist Richard Owen’s interpretation of this remark as declaring that hell is an actual place was reported in many media.^[45]The Times, 27 March 2007, reported “Hell is a place where sinners really do burn in an everlasting fire, and not just a religious symbol designed to galvanise the faithful, the Pope has said” … Continue reading But in the Catechism of the Catholic Church(1035), over whose production Benedict presided when he was prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, we read: “The chief punishment of hell is eternal separation from God”.^[46]Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1033

   Nature of suffering in hell

It is agreed that hell is a place of suffering.^[47]“The Green Catechism [1939–62] said: Hell is a place of torments. God made hell to punish the devils or bad angels, and all who die in mortal sin. No one can come out of Hell, for out of Hell … Continue reading ^[48]“Hell is the place and state of eternal punishment for the fallen angels and human beings who die deliberately estranged from the love of God” [work by Fr. Kenneth Baker published by Ignatius … Continue reading ^[49]“What do we mean by “hell”? Hell is the place and state of eternal punishment for the fallen angels and human beings who die deliberately estranged from the love of God. The existence of hell, … Continue reading

The Catechism of the Catholic Church states:

Jesus often speaks of “Gehenna” of “the unquenchable fire” reserved for those who to the end of their lives refuse to believe and be converted, where both soul and body can be lost. Jesus solemnly proclaims that he “will send his angels, and they will gather. . . all evil doers, and throw them into the furnace of fire”, and that he will pronounce the condemnation: “Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire!”

The teaching of the Church affirms the existence of hell and its eternity. Immediately after death the souls of those who die in a state of mortal sin descend into hell, where they suffer the punishments of hell, “eternal fire”. 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.^[50]Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1035

Although the Catechism explicitly speaks of the punishments of hell in the plural, calling them “eternal fire”, and speaks of eternal separation from God as the “chief” of those punishments, one commentator claims that it is non-committal on the existence of forms of punishment other than that of separation of God: after all, God, being above all a merciful and loving entity, takes no pleasure in the death of the living, and does not will or predestine anyone to go there (the Catholic stance is that God does not will suffering, and that the only entities known to be in hell beyond a doubt are Satan and his evil angels, and that the only suffering in hell is not fire or torture, but the freely-chosen, irrevocable and un-escapable eternal separation from God and his freely given love, and the righteous, who are in heaven; thus the Church and the Popes have placed emphasis on the potential irreversibility of a mortally sinful life that goes un-absolved before one’s death, and the dogma and reality of the place or state of hell).^[51]“The recent Catechism is ambiguous, neither denying nor confirming the existence of physical torments” – Charles Steven Seymour, “A Theodicy of Hell’, p. 82 [2000]. 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.^[52]“Hell is the natural consequence of a life lived apart from God. The terrible suffering of hell consists in the realization that, over the course of a lifetime, one has come, not to love, but to … Continue reading

Saint Augustine of Hippo said that the suffering of hell is compounded because God continues to love the sinner who is not able to return the love.^[53]Berard L. Marthaler, The Creed [Twenty-Third Publications 2007] ISBN 978-0-89622-537-4, p. 211 According to the Church, whatever is the nature of the sufferings, “they are not imposed by a vindictive judge”^[54]Berard L. Marthaler, The Creed [Twenty-Third Publications 2007] ISBN 978-0-89622-537-4, p. 211 ^[55]Zachary J. Hayes, in Four Views on Hell [Zondervan 1996] ISBN 0-310-21268-5, p. 176

“Concerning the detailed specific nature of hell … the Catholic Church has defined nothing. … It is useless to speculate about its true nature, and more sensible to confess our ignorance in a question that evidently exceeds human understanding.”^[56]John Anthony O’Brien, The Faith of Millions: The Credentials of the Catholic Religion, pp. 19–20

In his book, Inventing Hell, Catholic writer and historian Jon M. Sweeney is critical of the ways that Christians have appropriated Dante’s vision and images of hell. In its review, Publishers Weekly called the book “persuasively argued.”^[57]http://www.publishersweekly.com/978-1-4555-8224-2 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.^[58]https://www.facebook.com/annericefanpage/posts/10152502099210452

   Visions concerning Hell

A number of Catholic mystics and saints have claimed to have received visions of hell or other revelations concerning hell. 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.

In the bible, John of Patmos in the book of revelations writes about seeing a lake of fire where the ‘beast’ and all those marked with his number were placed.

Columba of Iona is alleged to have on several occasions to have 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.^[59]Adomnan of Iona, Life of St Columba. Penguin Books, 1995

A story recorded by Cluniac monks in the Middle Ages claimed that St Benedict appeared to a monk on one occasion and told the monk that there had just been (at that point in time) a monk who had fled the monastic life to go back into the world, and the ex-monk then died and he went to hell.^[60]Lucy Margaret Smith. The Early History of the Monastery of Cluny. Oxford University Press, 1920

   PROTESTANTISM

Main article: Christian views on Hades

The varying Protestant views of “hell”, both in relation to Hades (i.e., the abode of the dead) and Gehenna (i.e., the destination of the wicked), are largely a function of the varying Protestant views on the intermediate state between death and resurrection; and different views on the immortality of the soul or the alternative, the conditional immortality. For example, John Calvin, who believed in conscious existence after death,^[61]Calvin Psychopannychia had a very different concept of hell (Hades and Gehenna) to Martin Luther who held that death was sleep. ^[62]Luther Exposition of Salomon’s Booke etc.

In most Protestant traditions, hell is the place created by God for the punishment of the devil and fallen angels (cf. Matthew 25:41), and those whose names are not written in the book of life (cf. Revelation 20:15). It is the final destiny of every person who does not receive salvation, where they will be punished for their sins. People will be consigned to hell after the last judgment.^[63]Bruce Milne [1998]. Know the Truth, 2nd ed. IVP. p. 335.

   Eternal torment view

One historic Protestant view of hell is expressed in the Westminster Confession (1646):

“but the wicked, who know not God, and obey not the gospel of Jesus Christ, shall be cast into eternal torments, and punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power.” (Chapter XXXIII, Of the Last Judgment)

According to the Alliance Commission on Unity & Truth among Evangelicals (ACUTE) the majority of Protestants have held that hell will be a place of unending conscious torment, both physical and spiritual,^[64]Evangelical Alliance Commission on Unity and Truth among Evangelicals [2000]. The Nature of Hell. Acute, Paternoster [London]. although some recent writers such as Anglo-Catholic C. S. Lewis^[65]C. S. Lewis, The Great Divorce, 1946 and J.P. Moreland^[66]Lee Strobel, The Case for Faith, 2000 have cast hell in terms of “eternal separation” from God. Certain biblical texts have led some theologians 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).^[67]Millard Erickson [2001]. Introducing Christian Doctrine, 2nd ed. Baker Academic.

Another area of debate is the fate of the unevangelized (i.e.,those who have never had an opportunity to hear the Christian gospel), those who die in infancy, and the mentally disabled. According to ACUTE some Protestants agree with Augustine that people in these categories will be damned to hell for original sin, while others believe that God will make an exception in these cases.^[68]Evangelical Alliance Commission on Unity and Truth among Evangelicals [2000]. The Nature of Hell. Acute, Paternoster [London].

View of conditional immortality and annihilationism

A minority of Protestants believe in the doctrine of conditional immortality,^[69]“The Nature of Hell. Conclusions and Recommendations“. Evangelical Alliance. 2000. which teaches that those sent to hell will not experience eternal conscious punishment, but instead will be extinguished or annihilated after a period of “limited conscious punishment”.^[70]New Dictionary of Biblical Theology; IVP Leicester 2000, “Hell” ^[71]The Problem of Hell

Prominent evangelical theologians who have adopted conditionalist beliefs include John Wenham, Edward Fudge, Clark Pinnock and John Stott (although the last has described himself as an “agnostic” on the issue of annihilationism).^[72]Evangelical Alliance Commission on Unity and Truth among Evangelicals [2000]. The Nature of Hell. Acute, Paternoster [London]. Conditionalists typically reject the traditional concept of the immortality of the soul.

The Seventh-day Adventist Church, Jehovah’s Witnesses and Christadelphians teach the annihilationist viewpoint.

   TEACHINGS OF OTHER GROUPS

   Christian Universalism

Main article: Christian Universalism

Though a theological minority in historical and contemporary Christianity, some holding mostly Protestant views (such as George MacDonald, Karl Barth, Hans Urs von Balthasar, William Barclay, Keith DeRose 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. This view is often called Christian universalism—its conservative branch is more specifically called ‘Biblical or Trinitarian universalism‘—and is not to be confused with Unitarian Universalism. See universal reconciliation, apocatastasis and the Problem of Hell.

Christian Universalism teaches that an eternal hell does not exist and is a later creation of the church with no biblical support. Reasoning by Christian Universalists includes that an eternal hell is against the nature, character and attributes of a loving God, human nature, sin’s nature of destruction rather than perpetual misery, the nature of holiness and happiness and the nature and object of punishment.^[73]Guild, E.E. ‘Arguments in Favour of Universalism’. [http://www.tentmaker.org/books/InFavorCh20.html] [http://godfire.net/eby/saviour_of_the_world.html] [http://www.godfire.net/Hellidx.html]

   Christian Science

Christian Science defines “hell” as follows: “Mortal belief; error; lust; remorse; hatred; revenge; sin; sickness; death; suffering and self-destruction; self-imposed agony; effects of sin; that which ‘worketh abomination or maketh a lie. ‘” (Science and Health with Key to the Scripture by Mary Baker Eddy, 588: 1-4.)

   Jehovah’s Witnesses

Jehovah’s Witnesses do not believe in an immortal soul that survives after physical death. 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. They define “Gehenna” as eternal destruction or the “second death“, reserved for those with no opportunity of a resurrection such as those destroyed at Armageddon.^[74]“What Really Is Hell?”. The Watchtower: 5–7. July 15, 2002. Jehovah’s Witnesses believe that others who have died before Armageddon will be resurrected bodily on earth and then judged during the 1,000-year rule of Christ.^[75]“What Is Judgment Day?”. Awake!: 10–11. January 2010.

   Latter-day Saints

Further information: Outer darkness and Plan of salvation (Latter Day Saints)

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) teaches that the word “hell” is used scripturally in at least two senses.^[76]““Hell“, True to the Faith: A Gospel Reference [Salt Lake City, Utah: LDS Church, 2004] p. 81. The first is a place commonly called Spirit Prison which is a state of punishment for those who reject Christ and his Atonement. This is understood to be a temporary state in which the spirits of deceased persons will be taught the gospel and have an opportunity to repent and accept ordinances of salvation.^[77]Doctrine and Covenants section 138. Mormons teach that it was for this purpose that Christ visited the Spirit World after his crucifixion (1 Peter 3:19–20, 1 Peter 4:5–6). 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.^[78]Doctrine and Covenants section 138.

Latter-day Saints believe that righteous people will rise in a “first resurrection” and live with Christ on earth after His return.^[79]“Chapter 46: The Last Judgment“, Gospel Principles [Salt Lake City, Utah: LDS Church, 2011]. After the 1000 years known as the Millennium, the individuals in spirit prison who chose not to accept the gospel and repent^[80]http://www.lds.org/scriptures/gs/hell will also be resurrected and receive an immortal physical body, which is referred to as the “second resurrection”.^[81]Doctrine and Covenants 88:100–01. At these appointed times of resurrection, “death and hell” will deliver up the dead that are in them to be judged according to their works (Revelations 20:13), at which point all but the sons of perdition will receive a degree of glory, which Paul compared to the glory of the sun, moon, and stars (1 Corinthians 15:41). The LDS Church explains biblical descriptions of hell being “eternal” or “endless” punishment as being descriptive of their infliction by God rather than an unending temporal period. Latter-day Saint scripture quotes God as telling church founder Joseph Smith: “I am endless, and the punishment which is given from my hand is endless punishment, for Endless is my name. Wherefore—Eternal punishment is God’s punishment. Endless punishment is God’s punishment.”^[82]Doctrine and Covenants 19:10–12.

Latter-day Saints also believe in a more permanent concept of hell, commonly referred to as outer darkness. It is said that very few people who have lived on the earth will be consigned to this hell, but Latter-day Saint scripture suggests that at least Cain will be present.^[83]Moses 5:22–26. Other mortals who during their lifetime become sons of perdition, those who commit the unpardonable sin, will be consigned to outer darkness.^[84]“Chapter 46: The Last Judgment“, Gospel Principles [Salt Lake City, Utah: LDS Church, 2011]. It is taught that the unpardonable sin is committed by those who “den[y] the Son after the Father has revealed him”.^[85]LDS Church, Guide to the Scriptures: Hell; see also Doctrine and Covenants 76:43–46. However, 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 pre-existence followed Lucifer and never received a mortal body.^[86]Doctrine and Covenants 29:36–39. The residents of outer darkness are the only children of God that will not receive one of three kingdoms of glory at the Last Judgment.

It is unclear whether those in outer darkness will ultimately be redeemed. Of outer darkness and the sons of perdition, Latter-day Saint scripture states that “the end thereof, neither the place thereof, nor their torment, no man knows; Neither was it revealed, neither is, neither will be revealed unto man, except to them who are made partakers thereof”.^[87]Doctrine and Covenants 76:45–46. The scripture asserts that those who are consigned to this state will be aware of its duration and limitations.

   Swedenborgianism

See Swedenborgianism

   Unity Church

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.^[88]“The word Hell is not translated with clearness sufficient to represent the various meanings of the word in the original language. There are three words from which “Hell” is derived: Sheol, … Continue reading

source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_views_on_hell