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A detail from Hieronymous Bosch's depiction of Hell (16th century). In Christian theology, Hell is the place or state into which, by God's definitive judgment, unrepentant sinners pass in the general judgment, or, as some Christians believe, immediately after death (particular judgment).
The problem of Hell is an ethical problem in the Abrahamic religions of Christianity and Islam, in which the existence of Hell or Jahannam for the punishment of souls in the afterlife is regarded as inconsistent with the notion of a just, moral, and omnipotent, omnibenevolent, omniscient supreme being.
Hell of the Damned, also known as "Gehenna" (Hebrew: גֵּיהִנּוֹם), is hell strictly speaking, which the Catholic Church defines as the "state of definitive self-exclusion from communion with God and the blessed". [4] Purgatory is where just souls are cleansed from any defilement before entering Heaven.
Alyssa Lyra Pitstick, Light in Darkness: Hans Urs von Balthasar and the Catholic Doctrine of Christ's Descent into Hell (Grand Rapids (MI), Eerdmanns, 2007). Gavin D'Costa, "Part IV: Christ’s Descent into Hell", in Idem, Christianity and World Religions: Disputed Questions in the Theology of Religions (Oxford, Wiley-Blackwell, 2009),
Christ leads Adam by the hand, c.1504 The Last Judgment, Hell, c.1431, by Fra Angelico. The Christian doctrine of hell derives from passages in the New Testament. The English word hell does not appear in the Greek New Testament; instead one of three words is used: the Greek words Tartarus or Hades, or the Hebrew word Gehinnom.
Christian writers from Tertullian to Luther have held to traditional notions of Hell. However, the annihilationist position is not without some historical precedent. Early forms of annihilationism or conditional immortality are claimed to be found in the writings of Ignatius of Antioch [10] [20] (d. 108/140), Justin Martyr [21] [22] (d. 165), and Irenaeus [10] [23] (d. 202), among others.
Christianity is undecided whether the devil fell immediately into hell or if he is given respite until the Day of Judgment. [230] Several Christian authors, among them Dante Alighieri and John Milton , have depicted the devil as resident in Hell.
According to Christian tradition, Christ descended to hell after his death in order to free the souls there; this event is known as the Harrowing of Hell. This story is narrated in the Gospel of Nicodemus and may be the meaning behind 1 Peter 3:18–22. [52] [n 2]