Christianity
Q&A for committed Christians, experts in Christianity and those interested in learning more
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Can souls in hell be forgiven out of God's Divine mercy on Final Judgement?
Do souls in hell have any hope for the forgiveness of their sins? According to Catholic teachings, once a person died, there are 3 places where a soul can be placed: hell, purgatory and heaven. At the time of death, if a soul will be judged and damned to hell, is it possible to be in friendship or b...
Do souls in hell have any hope for the forgiveness of their sins? According to Catholic teachings, once a person died, there are 3 places where a soul can be placed: hell, purgatory and heaven.
At the time of death, if a soul will be judged and damned to hell, is it possible to be in friendship or be reconciled with God again?
What about the Final Judgement where there could be repentance and prayers for these souls in hell?
Kaylee A
(732 rep)
Jul 3, 2025, 10:20 PM
• Last activity: Jul 30, 2025, 07:11 PM
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What is the Biblical basis for annihilationism or the conditionalist doctrine of hell?
By conditionalist doctrine, I mean the belief that hell is the destruction of those souls that go there, rather than the everlasting torment or eventual purification of said souls.
By conditionalist doctrine, I mean the belief that hell is the destruction of those souls that go there, rather than the everlasting torment or eventual purification of said souls.
Resting in Shade
(1326 rep)
Feb 13, 2014, 04:37 PM
• Last activity: Jun 17, 2025, 12:41 PM
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What is the earliest prophecy in the Bible that unambiguously condemns the devil or Satan to hell without a possibility of forgiveness?
The first mention in the Bible of the devil or Satan being judged is in Genesis 3, on the occasion of the fall of Adam and Eve, with the serpent generally accepted as either being Satan or being controlled by him. This Genesis 3 judgment may be eternal condemnation and imprisonment in hell or lesser...
The first mention in the Bible of the devil or Satan being judged is in Genesis 3, on the occasion of the fall of Adam and Eve, with the serpent generally accepted as either being Satan or being controlled by him. This Genesis 3 judgment may be eternal condemnation and imprisonment in hell or lesser punishment. What is the earliest prophecy (chronologically, according to traditional dating) in the Bible that states unequivocally that Satan will be cast into hell for eternity with no chance of repentance and forgiveness?
I ask this so as to get closer to the answer to a larger question: was deceiving Adam and Eve or a prior rebellion in heaven the occasion of Satan's prison sentence without possibility of parole, or is it something that Satan did or will do later in history?
Paul Chernoch
(14940 rep)
Jan 16, 2025, 04:30 PM
• Last activity: Jun 8, 2025, 02:57 PM
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What is the Seventh-Day Adventist view of hell?
While listening to a video of "Ready to Harvest" (a great neutral viewpoint denomination YouTube channel), he said something very briefly that made it sound like Seventh-Day Adventists don't believe in hell, which I wasn't aware of, I was only aware of their view of soul sleep. So for clarification,...
While listening to a video of "Ready to Harvest" (a great neutral viewpoint denomination YouTube channel), he said something very briefly that made it sound like Seventh-Day Adventists don't believe in hell, which I wasn't aware of, I was only aware of their view of soul sleep.
So for clarification, what is the SDA view of hell?
Luke Hill
(5538 rep)
Feb 9, 2022, 12:51 AM
• Last activity: May 30, 2025, 09:11 PM
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In Christian theology, is Lot a type of the believer, and is the destruction of Sodom symbolic of hell or divine judgment?"
In Genesis 19, Lot is rescued from Sodom before its destruction by fire and brimstone. In 2 Peter 2:7–8, Lot is described as a righteous man living among the wicked. Given this, I’m wondering how Christian theology interprets Lot’s story in light of salvation and judgment themes. - Is Lot considered...
In Genesis 19, Lot is rescued from Sodom before its destruction by fire and brimstone. In 2 Peter 2:7–8, Lot is described as a righteous man living among the wicked. Given this, I’m wondering how Christian theology interprets Lot’s story in light of salvation and judgment themes.
- Is Lot considered a "type" or symbol of the Christian believer, who is saved from judgment?
- Is the fire and brimstone that destroyed Sodom seen as a foreshadowing or symbolic representation of hell?
- Does this event function in any way like substitutionary judgment, or is it purely a direct act of divine justice?
- How is Lot’s wife understood theologically—as a warning to believers who long for or look back to the sinful life they’ve left behind (cf. Luke 17:32)?
I’m looking for insight into how theologians or biblical scholars interpret the parallels between this Old Testament narrative and New Testament themes of salvation and final judgment
So Few Against So Many
(4829 rep)
May 27, 2025, 03:56 AM
• Last activity: May 27, 2025, 04:15 AM
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Where did St. John Chrysostom write: "The road to hell is paved with the bones of priests and monks…"?
[I've seen][1] the following quote attributed to [St. John Chrysostom][2]: >The road to hell is paved with the bones of priests and monks, and the skulls of bishops are the lampposts that light the path. Where did he say this? [1]: https://www.cathinfo.com/catholic-living-in-the-modern-world/marriag...
I've seen the following quote attributed to St. John Chrysostom :
>The road to hell is paved with the bones of priests and monks, and the skulls of bishops are the lampposts that light the path.
Where did he say this?
Geremia
(42439 rep)
May 24, 2025, 02:16 AM
• Last activity: May 26, 2025, 03:53 PM
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What is the biblical basis for the eternal existence of the lost in hell?
I've heard particular denominations claim that although hell is definitely a real place and hell itself will burn forever, people who are condemned to hell don't actually exist forever in hell but instead are eventually destroyed, wiped out of existence. They claim that the soul being naturally immo...
I've heard particular denominations claim that although hell is definitely a real place and hell itself will burn forever, people who are condemned to hell don't actually exist forever in hell but instead are eventually destroyed, wiped out of existence. They claim that the soul being naturally immortal is a pagan idea, and that only those given eternal life will live forever.
As far as I know most mainline denominations affirm that if you are not saved then you will indeed exist forever in Hell.
My question is, what is the biblical basis to support the doctrine that people who are condemned to hell will actually continue to exist in hell for eternity (as opposed to being annihilated)? Alternatively, what is the biblical support for the soul itself being naturally immortal?
2tim424
(3498 rep)
Aug 29, 2011, 06:19 AM
• Last activity: Mar 28, 2025, 06:54 PM
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How do believers in hell respond to the argument "How can a finite crime (any crime we can do in this life) deserve an infinite punishment?"?
Many branches of Christianity believe that people who have done something wrong in this life will, in the afterlife, suffer an infinite punishment that is called hell. Hell is usually depicted as some kind of fire that burns souls, but souls being immortal, it lasts for eternity. Now, people who don...
Many branches of Christianity believe that people who have done something wrong in this life will, in the afterlife, suffer an infinite punishment that is called hell. Hell is usually depicted as some kind of fire that burns souls, but souls being immortal, it lasts for eternity.
Now, people who don't believe in hell often use the argument "*What finite crime deserves an infinite punishment? Even Hitler didn't cause an infinite amount of suffering, so it is unjust to punish him with an infinite amount of suffering.*". How do people who believe in hell respond to that argument?
FlatAssembler
(412 rep)
Apr 21, 2024, 07:36 AM
• Last activity: Feb 15, 2025, 09:55 PM
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Is there no Heaven, Hell, or Satan in the Old Testament?
In the book *Sapiens* by Yuval Noah Harari, the author claims that Heaven and Hell are concepts not mentioned in the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. From *Sapiens*: > Belief in heaven (the realm of the good god) and hell (the realm of the evil god) was also dualist in origin. There is no trace...
In the book *Sapiens* by Yuval Noah Harari, the author claims that Heaven and Hell are concepts not mentioned in the Old Testament of the Christian Bible.
From *Sapiens*:
> Belief in heaven (the realm of the good god) and hell (the realm of the evil god) was also dualist in origin. There is no trace of this belief in the Old Testament, which also never claims that the souls of people continue to live after the death of the body.
## References
Harari, Y.N. (2014). *Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind*. (p. 248)
Nico Damascus
(149 rep)
Feb 16, 2020, 12:51 AM
• Last activity: Jan 18, 2025, 09:04 PM
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If being cast into the Lake of Fire does not result in destruction, then what of Death?
For those that maintain that the soul is not destroyed in the lake of fire, but instead results in eternal suffering, how then do you interpret death being cast into the flames? Revelation 20:14 (NASB) > Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fi...
For those that maintain that the soul is not destroyed in the lake of fire, but instead results in eternal suffering, how then do you interpret death being cast into the flames?
Revelation 20:14 (NASB)
> Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire.
Is "Death" merely tormented or is it truly destroyed? What would it even mean for death to suffer?
Ryan Pierce Williams
(1885 rep)
Jan 17, 2025, 01:23 PM
• Last activity: Jan 18, 2025, 08:09 PM
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Why would non-Christians go to hell?
If being a non-Christian is a sin, and if Jesus died for all of our sins, why should non-Christians go to hell?
If being a non-Christian is a sin, and if Jesus died for all of our sins, why should non-Christians go to hell?
Mahmudul Hasan Jabir
(89 rep)
Nov 6, 2023, 02:16 PM
• Last activity: Dec 24, 2024, 09:20 AM
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What is the biblical basis for the idea that "hell is locked from the inside"?
Notable apologist and writer C. S. Lewis once wrote that "the doors of hell are locked on the inside". This indicates that people place themselves in hell, not that God places them there. What is the biblical basis for this claim?
Notable apologist and writer C. S. Lewis once wrote that "the doors of hell are locked on the inside". This indicates that people place themselves in hell, not that God places them there. What is the biblical basis for this claim?
Luke Hill
(5538 rep)
Feb 17, 2022, 04:19 PM
• Last activity: Dec 22, 2024, 04:18 PM
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Is God being just by sending Christian murderers to Heaven?
Let's say that a Christian serial killer has murdered many people who happened to not be Christians. Would God be just by sending the Christian serial killer to Heaven, while sending his victims to Hell? I am looking for answers from the perspective of Christians who believe that Hell exists (non-un...
Let's say that a Christian serial killer has murdered many people who happened to not be Christians. Would God be just by sending the Christian serial killer to Heaven, while sending his victims to Hell?
I am looking for answers from the perspective of Christians who believe that Hell exists (non-universalists).
user86074
Dec 7, 2024, 12:39 AM
• Last activity: Dec 22, 2024, 03:29 PM
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Why is God's Judgment only Heaven or Hell?
I know very little of the Christian Faith or of any other faith for that matter, but this question struck me as relevant maybe not just to Christianity but also to all faiths as a whole. Penal systems on the Earth are there to create order in society and breaking the laws under a particular system h...
I know very little of the Christian Faith or of any other faith for that matter, but this question struck me as relevant maybe not just to Christianity but also to all faiths as a whole.
Penal systems on the Earth are there to create order in society and breaking the laws under a particular system have "degrees of penalty" such as a bank robber would be given 10 years in prison whereas an adolescent who stole from a gumball machine outside the local store would only be given a slap on the wrist and told not to do it again.
In both these cases the crime was theft but they are not judged equally.
So why is God's judgment of man so extreme: either man gets eternal bliss or eternal pain?
Why does even the *slightest* transgression of God's law is punished the same as a *greater* transgression?
user63817
Feb 2, 2024, 02:52 AM
• Last activity: Dec 22, 2024, 01:23 PM
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Why is Hell considered a permanent situation?
Jesus taught that we undergo a judicial process before being sent to Hell during our earthly lifetimes. > Mt 5:22 But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the c...
Jesus taught that we undergo a judicial process before being sent to Hell during our earthly lifetimes.
> Mt 5:22 But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire.
Then He said we would remain there until we set things right.
> Mt 5:26 Verily I say unto thee, Thou shalt by no means come out thence, till thou hast paid the uttermost farthing.
brmicke
(142 rep)
Aug 28, 2023, 03:26 PM
• Last activity: Dec 22, 2024, 08:04 AM
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Can unbelievers change their attitude towards God in Hell?
A popular (Eastern Orthodox) view of afterlife proclaims that God's presence is akin to torture for an unbeliever (Hell) and akin to bliss for a believer (Heaven). It claims that Heaven and Hell are different responses to presence of God, rather than 2 different places. This brings me to my question...
A popular (Eastern Orthodox) view of afterlife proclaims that God's presence is akin to torture for an unbeliever (Hell) and akin to bliss for a believer (Heaven). It claims that Heaven and Hell are different responses to presence of God, rather than 2 different places.
This brings me to my question.
From the Eastern Orthodox perspective can unbelievers change their attitude towards God in the afterlife, and thus turn their Hell into Heaven?
user86074
Nov 28, 2024, 06:26 PM
• Last activity: Dec 22, 2024, 07:05 AM
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If condemned men suffer forever in hell then why did Jesus say God destroys the body and soul in hell?
Saint John spoke under the influence of the Holy Spirit and wrote the following words that have echoed through the millenia. *John 3:16* >For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life Those words mean that God...
Saint John spoke under the influence of the Holy Spirit and wrote the following words that have echoed through the millenia.
*John 3:16*
>For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life
Those words mean that God has given the human race two options:-
1. Accept Jesus and **live forever**
2. Reject Jesus and **perish**
My focus is on the word _perish_, it means _destruction_, which suggests the meaning that unbelievers and sinners will ultimately be destroyed in hell.
Jesus supported this belief with this statement.
*Mathew 10:28*
>Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.
That implies that the flesh and the inner man or the soul will both be destroyed in the lake of fire and that there is no eternal suffering for condemned men save for the devil and his angels, for God is just. The measurement for punishing eternal beings is not equal to the measurement for punishing mortal beings, why is it then that some men suffer forever when scripture is clearly opposed to that belief?
So Few Against So Many
(4829 rep)
Nov 30, 2024, 04:08 PM
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What is the Calvinist/Reformed solution to the Problem of Hell?
How could a loving and just God condemn people to eternal conscious torment, a punishment that seems disproportionate to any finite sins committed in a limited human lifetime? If God desires all to be saved, why would He create souls knowing they would end up suffering forever, and why make salvatio...
How could a loving and just God condemn people to eternal conscious torment, a punishment that seems disproportionate to any finite sins committed in a limited human lifetime? If God desires all to be saved, why would He create souls knowing they would end up suffering forever, and why make salvation dependent on beliefs that many people never have a fair chance to accept? How can eternal damnation be reconciled with perfect divine justice when humans have such limited knowledge, varied cultural contexts, and finite lifespans to make the right choices? What kind of loving parent would allow their children to suffer eternally when they have the power to save them, and how could any finite sins warrant infinite punishment?
user86074
Nov 23, 2024, 10:08 PM
• Last activity: Nov 30, 2024, 03:16 PM
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What will a typical day in eternal life look like?
I'm old atheist and I'm going to die soon. I never enjoyed life, not then, not now, and I'm happy to die and disappear. A missionary told me that if I accept Jesus, I will have eternal life, but was unable to explain me what that exactly entails. I read the New Testament and found it lacking in deta...
I'm old atheist and I'm going to die soon. I never enjoyed life, not then, not now, and I'm happy to die and disappear.
A missionary told me that if I accept Jesus, I will have eternal life, but was unable to explain me what that exactly entails.
I read the New Testament and found it lacking in details. Will I reborn in this same old planet? What about climate change? Must I work? What activities/hobbies will I pursue?
Please, only Bible quotations.
**Answers**
I didn't accept any answer; all lacks any level of detail. It all comes down to this:
*It will be fantastic; trust me.
I don't how, I don't where,
but trust me, I will be amazing anyway.*
user58718
Nov 23, 2024, 02:44 PM
• Last activity: Nov 26, 2024, 01:06 PM
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Protestants, does Jesus in Luke 13:28 say that people in hell will be tormented by being able to look into heaven and see what they're missing out on?
For reference, here's Luke 13:28, ESV: > In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God but you yourselves cast out. [All remaining references][1] to the place of weeping and gnashing of teeth leads to th...
For reference, here's Luke 13:28, ESV:
> In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God but you yourselves cast out.
All remaining references to the place of weeping and gnashing of teeth leads to the idea that "that place" is hell. References are as follows:
>Matthew 8:12
>
>But the subjects of the kingdom will be thrown outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
>Matthew 13:42
>
>They will throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
>Matthew 13:50
>
>and throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
>Matthew 22:13
>
>“Then the king told the attendants, ‘Tie him hand and foot, and throw him outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
>Matthew 24:51
>
>He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
>Matthew 25:30
>
>And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
another-prodigal
(357 rep)
May 15, 2024, 05:17 PM
• Last activity: Nov 6, 2024, 11:16 AM
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