The Christian Vision

The Christian hell is a place of final justice for the wicked who have offended God and have died without asking forgiveness. The Bible describes Hell as "everlasting fire prepared for the Devil and his angels" where souls of the damned suffer according to their sins. It has been called a bottomless pit and a lake of fire. Satan, Hell's lord, was once an angel who rebelled against God and started a war in Heaven.

Information about who had been damned varies greatly; most Christian leaders teach that there is no evidence that any souls have been condemned to Hell. Christians believe that the only fate worse than non-existence is damnation in Hell.

Many believe that hell is a place of sensory torture and agony, while others believe it is a state of mental anguish. Some also believe that damnation to hell is a temporary punishment before annihilation.

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St. Augustine was a fourth century doctor of the church. He implied in his book, City of God that Hell is where the damned suffer spiritually and physically and that this torture continues for eternity. His conclusions influenced the teachings of Martin Luther and John Calvin, and are still taught today in Catholic institutions. Although, some believe that St. Augustine made up his vision of Hell. Many people believe St. Augustine's vision, however, since there is no evidence for or against, why have so many people leaned toward this idea? Perhaps it is because, in his day, because St. Augustine was a great thinker, how could someone with less knowledge contradict St. Augustine? The man who did would certainly look like a fool. Therefore, St. Augustine's beliefs fell into the hands of the common man, and eventually became the universal belief through years of oral tradition.