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?

In reading biblical prophecies about the end times—particularly in books like Daniel, Matthew 24, and Revelation—it's clear that major events such as the final judgment, the defeat of Satan, and the creation of a new heaven and new earth are prophesied. But does the Bible actually predict the end of time itself, or is it more accurate to say it describes the end of evil and the restoration of righteousness? Do any Christian traditions interpret these eschatological passages as pointing to a timeless eternity after judgment, or is time understood to continue in a renewed creation? Relevant passages might include Revelation 21–22, 1 Corinthians 15:24–28, and others.

Christian doctrine—particularly in Protestant traditions—teaches that salvation is by grace alone through faith (e.g., Ephesians 2:8-9). However, Revelation 20:12 states that the dead are "judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books." How do Christians reconcile salvation by grace with a final judgment based on works? If our works don’t contribute to our salvation, what is their role in the judgment described in Revelation and similar passages?

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?

It is evident that the Last Judgment is the **last** one in the sense that it comes at the end of times, after which no other judgment will occur. However, the adjective "last" indicates that there have been previous judgment(s), of which the judgment of the End of Times will be the last one. Which are these other judgments? Do they refer to God judging the human race or the people of Israel? (e.g. The Deluge) I notice though that the Catholic Church speaks of the [General Judgment](http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/08552a.htm) , which does not necessarily imply another one (although there is also the [particular judgment](http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/08550a.htm)) . PS: I think this issue transcends the Catholic Church, but I am content with an answer coming from such tradition.

Adam made the first covenant with God. When this covenant was broken he and Eve were thrown out of the Garden of Eden as punishment for breaking this covenant and they then had to fend for themselves with their newly acquired knowledge of the world. Jesus was sacrificed in order for man to redeem himself of his actions and sins which broke a prior covenant with God. A New covenant was made between God and man as result of jesus death and mans redemption. My question is what happens to the souls of men between these covenants as each covenant with God is on new terms? God changes his terms with new covenants and because he does what happens to the souls he had previously judged on these prior terms?

How will God judge those who never heard the gospel, this is because Jesus said knowledge of the gospel will be used as testimony to all nations. >This good news of the kingdom [the gospel] will be preached throughout the whole world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end [of the age] will come. (Mathew 24:14)

My question is based on an event that will happen immediately the Son of Man returns. The trumpet goes off and Jesus is revealed from the Spirit World to the whole creation.The dead in Christ are raised first and then those who are alive are quickly transformed and are caught to the air to meet Jesus alongside those who have been raised. Why would these believers still go to judgment after being received by Christ himself in the air? After all judgment is for those who are raised second? *1 Thesalonians 4:16-17* >For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. So they are received by the Lord of judgment himself, I believe in the **resurrection of life(first)** and the **resurrection of judgment(second)**, all human beings take part in one of those and not both. So why do some Christians hold the doctrine that Christians will be judged like the wicked. Jesus said believers have passed from death to life and hence avoiding judgment. *John 5:24* >Verily, verily I say unto you, he that heareth My Word and believeth in Him that sent Me, hath everlasting life and shall not come into condemnation, but is passed from death unto life.

One of the most intriguing events in the Genesis accounts of creation is the way Adam tries to pass the blame for the fall to God, was Adam really trying to make God feel responsible for the fall by saying that if God had not created for him the woman, then there wouldn't be a fall in the first place? > And the man answered, “The woman whom You gave me, she gave me fruit from the tree, and I ate it.” - *Genesis 3:12 (Berean Standard Bible)* Was Adam blaming Eve or trying to make God feel responsible by insinuating that if God had not given him the woman, he would have remained sinless?

This is a two part question. 1. In Full Preterism we localize all meaning of the "cosmos", "world", & "heaven and earth" to mean nothing more than "covenant". Apocalyptic language used in the Olivet discourse and revelation are not about the end of the world, but actually the end of the Jewish age. Therefore we are in perfection now. There are no plans to redeem the world, only to redeem a localized group of people. Judgment is the same, There is only judgment for a small localized group (Jews in 70ad). This hermeneutic is largely based on Jeremiah 4:22-26 where the world is described as lifeless, void, without form, and there being no sun, as the author describes the destruction of the first temple. This language clearly mirrors that of the creation story. So, to consistently apply the hermeneutic we must acknowledge that Genesis 1 is not about creation, but rather, the story of God stumbling upon a world, and creating covenant with Adam. Further, we need to localize the judgment of the flood. Judgments (as we know from 70ad) are not actually over the whole world, but only a small, select group of people. 2. In understanding revelation 19-21 there is a vital piece of text that states Satan will join the beast and false prophet (Revelation 20:10 And the devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown). So this has a large implication over the 1000 years. The 1000 years is likely not literal, but during the 1000 years Satan is bound, until the brief time that he is loosed. Then he finally he joins the beast and the false prophet after the 1000 years. This creates a struggle, because Satan cannot join the beast and the false prophet, until the end of the 1000 years, where he was bound, and then loosed for a short time.

I’ve been grappling with a major theological question: Is it fair and just for people who died without ever hearing the gospel to be raised, judged, and condemned to hell, especially since some might have believed if they had the chance to hear it? Paul says in Romans 10:17, "So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God," which suggests that faith is impossible without first hearing the gospel. This raises a significant issue about what happens to those who never had that opportunity. I’d like a general overview of how different Christian viewpoints address this dilemma. This seems to leave us with two possibilities: either these individuals will be raised back to life and given an opportunity to accept Jesus, or they will be judged based on an inherent, objective knowledge of good and evil that’s built into everyone’s consciousness from Adam and Eve. However, Hebrews 9:27 appears to challenge the first option, stating, "And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment," implying that all people—whether they heard the gospel or not—face judgment after a single life, with no second chance. Consider the people of Nineveh as an example. They didn’t have the same knowledge of God as the Jews did—with the ark of the covenant, the Ten Commandments, the tabernacle, and so on—yet this didn’t exempt them from judgment based on their actions. That’s why God sent Jonah to warn them. It seems God ensured the Ninevites heard Jonah’s message before executing judgment, even forcing Jonah to go by sending the whale to swallow him. Does this imply that those who never heard the gospel will instead be judged based on the innate knowledge of good and evil inherited from Adam and Eve, since they never heard about Jesus? This also highlights that a sense of right and wrong seems to be intuitively present in everyone, passed down from our first parents through birth. I am asking for an overview of various denominations on this topic.

How are Christian leaders supposed to deal with verses that talk of God's increased judgement on church leaders? Such as: > James 3:1 "We who teach will be judged more strictly" > Hebrews 13:17 "Your leaders... must give an account" How can people step into church leadership and willingly put such a 'sword of Damocles' over themselves? In fact, I see most people in churches do exactly the opposite. When asked to take a responsibility or a leadership role, they run away fast. And who can blame them if God has promised to smite them if they lead, but then inevitably make mistakes? Put another way, what bible verses can encourage those who are afraid of the consequences of the above two verses, yet still feel called to some form of leadership?

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?

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?

I have no idea about the exact population of the world that was judged during the time of Noah since they were a couple of generations from Adam but according to archaeological and anthropological perspectives, they were approximately thirty million people. > From an archaeological and anthropological perspective, human populations during this time were still relatively small. Around 3000 BCE, the global population is estimated to have been roughly 20–30 million people, based on studies of early agricultural societies in Mesopotamia, Egypt, the Indus Valley, and China. If you get the ratio of the saved i.e. Noah's family to the ratio of the men who were doomed to die in the flood, then it is going to be something like: # 8:30000000 ~ 1:3750000 which meant that for every one righteous person saved: three million, seven hundred and fifty thousand wicked people received condemnation. Will that ratio stand on judgment day since the preacher **Ecclesiastes** speaking under the influence of the Holy Spirit said these golden words regarding the connection between history and the future. *Ecclesiastes 1:9* >What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun. Which means that ratio is most likely to be retained even on judgment day because nothing is new under the sun?

A hand was writing on the wall and it was judging a ruler, it said that he has been weighed on the scales and found wanting. God weighed the good deeds against the bad deeds of a ruler here before passing judgment to him. Will this technique be used on judgment day or will it apply to people who lived during the era of the old covenant? **Daniel 5:27** >you have been weighed on the scales [of righteousness] and found deficient This is because even Paul said people must appear before a seat of judgment: >For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due to him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.(2 Corinthians 5:10) Will all bad deeds be accounted for together with the good deeds, put on a balance which decides your fate? This is because there were millions of people who lived in the Old Testament era and the name of Jesus had not yet been given. Since all must appear before a seat of judgment and its not their fault to be be born in that era, then a scale that measures their righteousness against their wickedness must be used?

The background of this question is in the conversation Abraham and God has over the inhabitants of Sodom. God is focusing on whether anyone within the city of Sodom is **good or righteous**, God doesn't care if they know him. You have most probably seen lots of people who are non-believers engage in humanitarian works of charity that supercede those of regular Christians. If God is to use the same criteria he used with the inhabitants of Sodom, can we be assured that these non-believers will be deemed good and worthy of heaven? Jesus said when you did it to them you did it to me, so aren't these non-believers doing good to Jesus, who will send them to life?

Fire as understood by physical humans consumes and destroys the fuel that it ignites and then goes out. The unredeemed soul is what many religions teach will be tormented eternally in fire of hell. Given the concept of fire in physical world it seems that the fire that does not consume must be taken as not literal by our physical ability to comprehend but must mean something else and the scary pictures of Dantes inferno are artist conceptions based on physical understanding. I would like an **overview** of various hellfire beliefs as to what kind of fire torments the spirits that are said to be tormented in hell.

How does Eastern Orthodox view the lake of fire and “eternal judgment“ (Hebrews 6:2)?

Given a person X who leads a "moral life" based on the law laid out in the Bible. Given that X does not believe in the existence of God or any other God. If the Christian Faith happens to be the truth, can X be saved (meaning being accepted into heaven)? Can X be saved if X follows all laws, except for those who are calling for a direct relationship with God? Can X be saved if X follows his or her conscience, but because of lacking knowledge of the law is still sinning? What are the different positions on these questions of each denomination?