Eternal Hell

[Wigglesworth]

Does your church teach, or do you believe in, an eternal Hell? What I mean by eternal Hell is a place or state where people go forever with no way to get out at any time.

[erinipassi]

Hi Wigglesworth,

I’m not sure what you mean by eternal hell. But if you mean do we believe in purgatory, the answer is we don’t believe in purgatory. The moment a soul dies and if the soul has been faithful to God, the soul goes to Paradise. If a person has not been faithful to God, it goes to Hades. Hades is hell and once you are in it, you can never go to paradise. The evidence in the bible are many and Jesus talks about it in Luke 16: 19-31 in the parable of Lazarus and the Rich man:

“So it was that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels to Abraham's bosom. The rich man also died and was buried. And being in torments in Hades, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. Then he cried and said, "Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.' But Abraham said, "Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things; but now he is comforted and you are tormented. And besides all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed, so that those who want to pass from here to you cannot, nor can those from there pass to us.' (Luke 16: 22-26 New King James Version)

Also in Revelations, “The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works. Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.” Revelations (20: 13-14)

As to the evidence of Paradise, you see Jesus speaking to the thief on the cross about it:

“Then he said to Jesus, "Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom." And Jesus said to him, "Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise." (Luke 23: 42-43)

St. Paul also talks about Paradise:

“And I know such a man--whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows-- how he was caught up into Paradise and heard inexpressible words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter.” (2 Corinthians 12: 3-4)

To read more about the Coptic Orthodox View on Hades or Hell, here are good websites to visit:
http://www.suscopts.org/messages/lectures/eschlecture6.pdf (http://www.suscopts.org/messages/lectures/eschlecture6.pdf)
http://www.suscopts.org/messages/lectures/eschlecture7.pdf (http://www.suscopts.org/messages/lectures/eschlecture7.pdf)

If you would like to know everything about the Coptic Orthodox Theology and teachings, this is a good website:
http://www.suscopts.org/literature/orthodoxfaith.html (http://www.suscopts.org/literature/orthodoxfaith.html)


Please feel free to ask any questions you like.

love and blessings
erini :)

[Yeznik]

Does your church teach, or do you believe in, an eternal Hell? What I mean by eternal Hell is a place or state where people go forever with no way to get out at any time.


(this is for all you C.S. Lewis fans)

Of course there is a such a thing called Hell, it is the job of the demons to distract man from such ideas of Hell and Heaven and have him focus on whats "real" in the world, and how he feels about them.

Sincerly,

Your affectionate Uncle Screwtape

[Xpycoctomos]

IN case this is only EO thought, I will just drop this suggestion and you guys can sort it out so it is sure to follow OO thought. There is indeed a Heaven and a Hell. And Hades is actually even different yet (although many confuse Hell and Hades) and is actually a Jewish idea. I BELIEVE the Apostles Creed (more popular in the Catholic Church, but still honored by, at least, the EO) is actually to say that Christ decended into "Hades" even though a lot of CHurches translate it as "Hell", which, I have been told, is wrong. Fill in the blanks... I am certainly no expert, and much less doI know if OO and EO thought totally match up on this.

John

I'll try and find sources in the meantime.

[Wigglesworth]

The primary issue of my question is whether one's state in Hell is eternal, the emphasis being on the eternal. I ask, because some churches teach that souls go to Hell for correction rather than punishment, and therefore have the opportunity to enter Heaven after spending some time in Hell.

[CopticGirl]

Hell is eternal, one doesnot go from Heaven to Hell or vice versa.

God Bless,
Elizabeth