Their is some reluctance. to deal with some of these issues in many theological circles. One reason for this was put forward by Erasmus in the early sixteenth century. Commenting on the enthusiasm with which certain Paris theologians. wrote about Hell, Erasmus remarked that they had evidently been there themselves. (If you have been a Christian for a long time, have been complacent, and been struggling to sit in the pew, and are becoming bored, with the same old message, expand your knowledge, open your "Bible",get a concordance, get to know "Christ", again.
Interest in "Hell' Reached a climax in the middle ages. , with artists of the period taking , one assumes, a certain delight in portraying the righteous watching sinners being tormented by burning and other means of torture. The most graphic portrayal of the medieval view of hell is that of Dante, in the first of the three of his Divine comedy. Dante portrays hell as nine circles at the center of earth, within which Satan dwells. On the gate, Dante notices the inscription " abandon all hope, all you who enters here!"
The first circle of hell is populated by those who have died without being baptize, and virtuous pagans. ( This circle corresponds to the idea of 'Limbo"). Dante declares that it is this circle which was visited by Christ during his "Descent into hell" between the time of the crucifixion and the resurrection. There is no torment of any kind of circle. As Dante advances further into hell, he discovers those who are guilty of increasingly serious sins. The second circle is populated by the lustful, the third by the gluttonous , the fourth by the miserly, and the fifth by the wrathful. These circles, taken, together, constitute "upper hell." At no point does Dante refer to fire in this part of hell.
Dante draws upon Greco-Roman mythology in suggesting that the the River Styx "divides "upper hell" from lower "hell." Now we encounter fire for the first time. The sixth circle. is populated by heretics, the seventh by the violent, the eighth by fraudsters ( including several popes), and the ninth by traitors.
This static medieval view of hell was unquestionably of major influence at the time, and continues to be of importance into the modern period. It may be found clearly stated in " Jonathan Edwards " famous sermon " sinners in the hands of a angry god, " preached on 8 July 1741:
It would be dreadful to suffer this fierceness and wrath of Almighty God for one moment; but you must suffer it for all eternity. There will be no end to this exquisite horrible misery... You will know that you must wear out long ages, millions of ages, in wrestling and conflicting with this almighty merciless vengeance.
However, the very idea of hell has been subjected to increasing criticisms of which should be noted.
Its existence is seen as a contradiction of the Christian assertion of the final victory of God over evil. This criticism is especially associated with patristic writer Origen, whose doctrine of universal restoration ultimately rests upon an affirmation of the final and total triumph of God over evil. In the modern period, the philosopher Leibniz identified this consideration as a major difficultly with this doctrine of hell:
It seems strange that, even in the great future of eternity, evil must triumph over good, under the supreme authority of the one who is the sovereign good. After all, there will be many who are called, and few who are chosen or saved.
The notion of vindictive justice seemed un-Christian to many writers, especially in the light of many New Testament passages speaking of the compassion of God. A number of writers, especially during the nineteenth century, found it difficult to reconcile the idea of a loving God with the notion of the continuing vindictive or retributive punishment of sinners. the main difficultly was that there seemed to be no point to the suffering of the condemned. Their were many answers given to these objections, there has been a perception loss of interest in the idea of hell;(listen pastors, priests, in both popular and academic Christian circles. evangelistic preaching now seems to concentrate upon the positive affirmation of the love of God, rather than on the negative implications of the rejection of that love. One response to this within evangelical circles has been the development of a doctrine of conditional immortality , to which now we may turn.
"PURGATORY"
One of the major differences between Protestant and Roman Catholic understandings of the "last things" ( In Christian theology called-"eschatology," dealing with "end things,", especially the ideas of resurrection, hell, and eternal life, and the question of purgatory. Purgatory is perhaps best understood as an intermediate stage., in which those who have died in a state of grace are given an opportunity to purge themselves of the guilt of their sins before finally entering heaven. the idea does not have explicit scriptural warrant, although a passage in 2 Maccabees 12: 39-45(regarded as apocryphal, and hence as lacking in authority, by Protestant writers) speaks of Judas Maccabeus
making " Propitiation for those who died, in order that they might be released from their sin.
The idea was developed during the patristic period. Clement of Alexandria and Origen both taught that those who died without time to perform works of penance would be "purified through fire" in the next life. The practice for praying for the dead- which became widespread in the eastern church in the first four centuries- exercised a major impact upon theological development, and provides an excellent case study of the manner in which liturgy influences theology. What was the point of praying for the dead, it was asked., if those prayers could not alter the state in which they existed?
Similar views are found in Augustine, who taught the need for purification from the sins of the present life, before entering the joys of the next.
While the practice of praying for the dead appears to have become well established by the fourth century, the explicit formulation of a notion of "Purgatory" seems to date from two centuries later, in the writings of Gregory the Great. In his exposition of Matthew 12:31, dating from 593 or 594, Gregory picks up the idea of sins which can be forgiven "in the age to come." He interprets this in terms of a future age in which sins that have not be forgiven on earth may be forgiven subsequently. "Note" especially the reference to the "purifying fire." which became incorporated into most medieval accounts of purgatory, and from which the term "Purgatory" derives.
As for certain lesser faults, we must believe that, before the final judgment, there is a purifying fire, for he who is the truth declares that who ever utters blasphemy against the Holy Spirit will not be pardoned either in this age, or in the age to come which is to come (Matt. 12:31). From this statement, it is to be understood,
HEAVEN.
The Christian conception of heaven is essentially that of the eschatological (end times) realization of the presence and power of God., and the final elimination of sin. The most helpful way of considering it is to regard it as a consummation of the Christian doctrine of salvation, in which the presence of God in individuals and the community of faith has been achieved and shaped for salvation by Jesus Christ, by the believers attempt to imitate Christ, as an example of an ideal relationship and now the believer attempts to mimic this relationship, following in the best monastic tradition of the medieval writer " Thomas a Kempis' famous 'Imitation of Christ." We are to bring one's life into line set by Christ. The N.T. parables of Heaven are strongly communal in nature; for example, heaven is portrayed as a banquet, a wedding feast, or as a city-the new Jerusalem. Individualist interpretations of heaven or eternal life are also excluded on account of the Christian understanding of God as Trinity. Eternal life is thus not of the projection of an individual, but is rather to be seen as a sharing redeemed community of a loving God.
The term "heaven" is used frequently in the Pauline writings of the N.T. Although it is natural to think of Heaven as a future reality and a spiritual realm which coexists with the material world of space and time. Thus "Heaven" is referred to both as the future home of the believer (2 Corinthians 5: 1-2; Philippians 3:20) and as the present dwelling place of Jesus Christ, from which he will come in final judgment (Romans 10:6; 1 Thessalonians 1: 10; 4:16). One of Paul's most significant statements concerning heaven focuses on the notion of believers being "citizens of heaven" (Philippians 3:20), and in some way sharing the life of those in heaven now.
The early Christian discussion of heaven tended to focus on a related idea- the millennium, or restored earthly lasting kingdom for a period. This idea, which is based partly on a passage in the book of (Revelation 20:2-5), the idea of a worldly millennium is , for Irenaeus, confirmed by a number of considerations, especially Christ's promise at the last supper. to drink wine again with his disciples. How can this happen, he asks, if they are disembodied spirits? The reference to the future drinking of wine is a sure indication that there will be a kingdom of God established on earth before final judgment. Perhaps the clearest statement of the idea can be found in the writings of Tertullian"
For we also hold that a kingdom has been promise to us on earth, but before heaven: but in another state than this, as being after the resurrection. This will last for a thousand years, in a city of God. This vision of God in the full splendor of the divine majesty has been a constant theme of much Christian theology, especially during the middle ages. Dante's Divine Comedy, concludes with a glimpse of God, The anticipation of the wonder and glory of this vision was seen as a powerful incentive to keep going in the Christian life.
Christian theology can never fully capture that vision of God. But it can at least challenge us to think more deeply about God, and wet our appetites for what is yet to come-a fitting end on these themes;
Hell! Purgatory! Heaven!
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