{"id":425,"date":"2017-08-02T21:05:39","date_gmt":"2017-08-03T04:05:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/myagpeya.com\/blog\/?p=425"},"modified":"2025-12-08T14:27:45","modified_gmt":"2025-12-08T22:27:45","slug":"hell","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/myagpeya.com\/blog\/hell\/","title":{"rendered":"Scriptural and Patristic Quotes on Hell"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">This blog post is put together to refute views on hell which maintain that God\u00a0is all-loving and does not punish at all. The unrighteous are supposedly only tormented by their guilt and remorse over their failure to accept God&#8217;s love while being in His presence eternally. Hell, therefore, is supposedly a relative perception or state of mind.\u00a0In fact, these views closely resemble the modern Christian Science views on hell. Those who uphold these unorthodox views rely on explanations of the fathers that God is passionless. They argue that references to God&#8217;s &#8220;anger&#8221; and &#8220;wrath&#8221; should never be understood literally, but rather, anthropomorphically. These arguments, however, are illogical. If God&#8217;s &#8220;wrath&#8221; and &#8220;anger&#8221; are to be dismissed as anthropomorphic, how do we dismiss scriptural (and patristic) references to God&#8217;s &#8220;punishment&#8221;, &#8220;condemnation&#8221;, &#8220;curse&#8221;, &#8220;judgement&#8221;, &#8220;destruction&#8221;, &#8220;damnation&#8221; etc\u00a0as figurative (or anthropomorphic) since these are not emotions or passions. While some church fathers speak of the fire of hell as the fire of God&#8217;s presence, they clearly speak of hell as punitive and retributive, not the fire of &#8220;His love&#8221;. There is no evidence that the &#8220;scourge of love&#8221; view has any place in Orthodoxy (except in the writings of Isaac the Syrian and others who upheld the heretical doctrine of universal salvation). Isaac, like other universalists, believed the fire of hell was remedial; its purpose was to purify for the final restoration of all beings, including the devils. This is why he called hell the &#8220;scourge of love&#8221;.\u00a0 The &#8220;Scourge of love&#8221;, being a universalist view, therefore has no place in true Orthodox eschatology. While scripture and Church father speak of God&#8217;s remedial punishment intended to lead to a sinner to repentance, these references were regarding life on earth, not the afterlife. References to punishment in the afterlife were clearly eternal and retributive for the sake of justice. Moreover, the all-loving God who does not punish at all was the heretical view upheld by Marcion, condemned by the Orthodox Church in the 2nd Century.\u00a0 Below are scriptural and patristic references:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"#judgment\">Quotes on Judgment<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#scripture\">Scriptural References<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#justice\">God&#8217;s Justice<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#fire\">Nature of the Fire<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#norepent\">No Repentance After Death<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><a id=\"judgment\"><\/a><strong>Quotes on judgment<\/strong><\/h4>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Irenaeus Against Heresies Book 4 CHAPTER 28<\/strong><\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #000000;\"> <strong>Those persons prove themselves senseless<\/strong>\u00a0who exaggerate the\u00a0<strong>mercy<\/strong>\u00a0of Christ, but are silent as to the\u00a0<strong>Judgment<\/strong>, and look only at the more abundant grace of the New Testament; but forgetful of the greater degree of perfection which it demands from us<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Irenaeus \u2013 Against Heresies<br \/>\n<\/strong>The God, therefore, who does <strong>benevolently<\/strong> cause His sun to rise upon all, and sends rain upon the just and unjust, <strong>shall judge those who, enjoying His equally distributed kindness, have led lives not corresponding to the dignity of His bounty<\/strong>\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>St. Antony&#8211;Vita Antoni, Address to Monks<br \/>\n<\/strong>&#8220;so let us daily abide firm in our discipline, knowing that if we are careless for a single day the <strong>Lord will not pardon us<\/strong>, for the sake of the past, <strong>but will be wrath against us for our neglect<\/strong>. As also we have heard in Ezekiel; and as Judas because of one night destroyed his previous labor.&#8221;\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>St. Athanasius &#8211; Festal Letters, Letter VII<\/strong><br \/>\nAnd the kind of fruit those have who thus love <\/span><span style=\"color: #000000;\">pleasures, he immediately describes, adding, \u2018And these things are revealed in the ears of <\/span><span style=\"color: #000000;\">the Lord of Hosts, that this sin shall not be forgiven you until ye die.\u2019 Yea, even while <\/span><span style=\"color: #000000;\">they live they shall be ashamed, because they consider their belly their lord; <strong>and when dead, <\/strong><\/span><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>they shall be tormented, because they have made a boast of such a death.<\/strong> To this effect also <\/span><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Paul bears witness, saying, \u2018Meats for the belly, and the belly for meats; but God shall destroy <\/span><span style=\"color: #000000;\">both it and them.\u2019 And the divine word declared before concerning them; <strong>\u2018The death <\/strong><\/span><strong><span style=\"color: #000000;\">of sinners is evil, and those who hate the righteous commit sin.\u2019 For bitter is the worm, <\/span><span style=\"color: #000000;\">and grievous the darkness, which wicked men inherit.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>St. Basil The Great &#8211; THEOLOGY\u2014QUESTIONS OF THE DAY<\/strong><br \/>\nThis being confessed, we perceive that the words, he shall be beaten with few stripes, and he shall be beaten with many, do not indicate duration<strong> but difference in the nature of punishment.<\/strong> For if God be a just judge, rendering to each not only of the good but also of the wicked, according to his works, one may be worthy of inextinguishable fire, yet this may be of a gentler or fiercer power of burning ; <strong>and one of the worm that dieth not, yet this again causing a milder or a sharper pain according to his deserts<\/strong>; and one may be worthy of hell, yet hell may easily have different punishments; and another of outer darkness, where some may be in weeping alone, and others also in gnashing of teeth, on account of the severity of the pains. <\/span><span style=\"color: #000000;\">And that outer darkness plainly indicates that there is an inner darkness too. <strong>And the expression in Proverbs, the depth of Hades, shows that some are in Hades, but not in the depth of Hades, enduring a lighter punishment.\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>St. John Chrysostom \u2013 Homilies on Colossians<\/strong><\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #000000;\"> For such is ever the devil\u2019s way; he puts forward everything in a wily, and not in a straightforward manner, to put us on our guard. If there is no\u00a0<strong>Judgment<\/strong>, God is not\u00a0<strong>just<\/strong>\u00a0(I speak as a man):\u00a0<strong>if God is not just<\/strong>, then there is no God at all\u2026Seest\u00a0thou the drift of this satanical argument?\u2026Let us then not be persuaded by him.\u00a0<strong>For there is a Judgment, O wretched and miserable man!<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>St. Jerome &#8211; Jurgens, Vol. 2, Commentary on Ephesians, pg. 193<\/strong><\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #000000;\"> \u201cThere are many who say <strong>there are no future punishments for sins nor any torments extrinsically applied<\/strong>, <strong>but that sin itself and the consciousness of guilt serve as punishment<\/strong>, while the worm in the heart does not die, and a fire is kindled in the mind, much like a fever\u2026<strong>These arguments and fraudulent fancies are but inane and empty words<\/strong> having the semblance of a certain eloquence of speech but serving only to delude sinners; and if they give them credence they only add to the burden of eternal punishment which they will carry with them.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>St. Cyril of Alexandria &#8212; Commentary on Gospel of St. John<\/strong><\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #000000;\"> &#8220;He saith, Verily, verily I say unto thee, to-day shalt thou be with me in\u00a0Paradise. They then who by obedience have honoured Him, shall be with Him unhindered, and shall delight them in the good things that pass understanding: but they who refuse not to insult Him with their folly, albeit sons of the\u00a0bridechamber, <strong>shall go away in sorrow to hell, to pay bitter penalties<\/strong>. <strong>For they shall be cast out, as it is written, into the outer darkness.<\/strong> True therefore will be the Lord saying darkly to the Jews, <strong>Where I am YE cannot come.<\/strong>&#8220;<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong style=\"color: #000000;\">Clement of Alexandria \u2013 The Instructor<br \/>\n<\/strong><span style=\"color: #000000;\">For the Divine Being is not angry in the way that some think; but often restrains, and always exhorts humanity, and shows what ought to be done. And this is a good device, to terrify lest we sin. \u201cFor the fear of the Lord drives away sins, and he that is without fear cannot be justified,\u201d says the Scripture. <strong>And God does not infl<span style=\"color: #000000;\">ict <\/span><\/strong><\/span><strong><span style=\"color: #000000;\">punishment from wrath, but for the ends of justice; since it is not expedient that justice<\/span><\/strong><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong><span style=\"color: #000000;\"> sho<\/span>uld be neglected on our account.<\/strong> Each one of us, who sins, with his own free-will chooses <\/span><strong style=\"color: #000000;\">punishment<\/strong><span style=\"color: #000000;\">, and the blame lies with him who chooses. God is without blame. \u201cBut if our unrighteousness commend the righteousness of God, what shall we say? Is God unrighteous, who taketh vengeance? God forbid.\u201d He says, therefore, threatening, <strong>\u201cI will sharpen my sword, and my hand shall lay hold on judgment; and I will render justice to mine enemies, and requite those who hate me.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>St. John Chrysostom \u2013 Homilies on First Corinthians<br \/>\n<\/strong>But, \u201cThey are men,\u201d someone will say, \u201cwho do these things; as for God, He is\u00a0<strong>loving<\/strong>\u00a0unto men.\u201d Now, first of all, not even men do these things in cruelty, but in humanity. And God Himself, as \u201cHe is loving unto men,\u201d\u00a0<u>in the same character doth He\u00a0<strong>punish<\/strong>\u00a0sins<\/u>. (Sirac. xvi. 12.) \u201cFor as His\u00a0<strong>mercy<\/strong>\u00a0<strong>is great<\/strong>, so also is His\u00a0<strong>reproof<\/strong>.\u201d When therefore thou sayest unto me, \u201cGod is loving unto men,\u201d then thou tellest me of\u00a0<u>so much the greater reason for\u00a0<strong>punishing<\/strong><\/u>: namely, our sinning against such a Being\u2026\u00a0<u>For as His\u00a0<strong>mercy<\/strong>\u00a0is great, so also is His\u00a0<strong>punishment<\/strong>.<\/u><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>St. John. Chrysostom \u2013 Homily on the Gospel of St. John<br \/>\n<\/strong>Many of the more careless sort of persons, using the\u00a0<strong>loving-kindness<\/strong>\u00a0of God to increase the magnitude of their sins and the excess of their disregard, speak in this way, \u201cThere is no hell, there is no future punishment, God forgives us all sins.\u201d<strong>\u00a0<\/strong>To stop whose mouths a wise man says,\u00a0<strong>\u201cSay not, His mercy is great<\/strong>, He will be pacified for the multitude of my sins;\u00a0<strong>for mercy and wrath come from Him<\/strong>, and His\u00a0<strong>indignation<\/strong>\u00a0resteth upon sinners\u201d (Ecclus. v. 6 )<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<h4 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><a id=\"scripture\"><\/a><strong>Scriptural References<\/strong><\/h4>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Deut 32: 39-41<\/strong><em><br \/>\n<\/em>\u201cSee now that I myself am he! There is no god besides me. I put to death and I bring to life, I have wounded and I will heal, and no one can deliver out of my hand. I lift my hand to heaven and solemnly swear: As surely as I live forever, when I sharpen my flashing sword and my hand grasps it in judgment, <strong>I will take vengeance on my adversaries<\/strong> and repay those who hate me.<em>\u00a0<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Daniel (12:2)<\/strong><\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #000000;\">And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, Some to everlasting life, <strong>Some to shame\u00a0<i>and<\/i>\u00a0everlasting contempt.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong><em>I<\/em>saiah 66:15 (NKJV)<\/strong><\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #000000;\">For behold, the LORD will come with fire And with His chariots, like a whirlwind, <strong>To render His anger with fury, And His rebuke with flames of fire.<\/strong> For by fire and by His sword The LORD will judge all flesh; And the slain of the LORD shall be many.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Isaiah 30:33 (NKJV) <\/span><\/strong><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #000000;\">For Tophet was established of old, Yes, for the king it is prepared. He has made it deep and large; <strong>Its pile thereof\u00a0 is fire with much wood; The breath of the LORD, like a stream of brimstone, Kindles it.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><span class=\"text Hos-5-6\"><strong>Hosea 5:6<\/strong><br \/>\nThey shall go to seek the\u00a0<span class=\"small-caps divine-name\">Lord<\/span>, 1 <\/span><span class=\"text Hos-5-6\">But they will not find\u00a0<i>Him; <\/i><\/span><strong><span class=\"text Hos-5-6\">He has withdrawn Himself from them<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><span class=\"woj\"><strong>Matthew 5:28-29<\/strong><br \/>\nDo not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will<\/span>\u00a0<span class=\"woj\">hear His voice<\/span>\u00a0<span class=\"woj\">and come forth\u2014<\/span><span class=\"woj\">those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, <strong>and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation.<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><em><strong>Romans 1:18\u201320 (ESV)<\/strong><\/em><\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #000000;\"><em> For the <strong>wrath of God<\/strong> is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><em><strong>Romans 2:4-5 \u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #000000;\"><em>&#8220;Or do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and long-suffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance? \u00a0But in accordance with your hardness and your impenitent heart you are <strong>treasuring up for yourself wrath<\/strong> in the <strong>day of wrath<\/strong> and revelation of the righteous judgment of God&#8221;.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Romans 2: 5-9<\/strong><\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #000000;\">But in accordance with your hardness and your impenitent heart <strong>you are treasuring up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath<\/strong> and revelation of the righteous judgment of God,\u00a0who\u00a0<span class=\"oblique\">\u201cwill render to each one according to his deeds\u201d<\/span>:\u00a0eternal life to those who by patient continuance in doing good seek for glory, honor, and immortality;\u00a0<strong>but to those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness\u2014indignation and wrath<\/strong>,\u00a0tribulation and anguish, on every soul of man who does evil<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Romans 3:5-8<\/span><\/strong><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #000000;\">But if our unrighteousness brings out God\u2019s righteousness more clearly, what shall we say? <strong>That God is unjust in bringing his wrath on us<\/strong>? (I am using a human argument.)\u00a0Certainly not! If that were so, <strong>how could God judge the world<\/strong>?&#8230;Why not say\u2014as some slanderously claim that we say\u2014\u201cLet us do evil that good may result\u201d? <strong>Their condemnation is just<\/strong>!<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Romans 6:23 (ESV)<\/strong><\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #000000;\"> <em>For the <strong>wages of sin is death,<\/strong> but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Romans 12:9<\/strong><br \/>\nBeloved, do not avenge yourselves, but\u00a0<i>rather<\/i>\u00a0<strong>give place to wrath<\/strong>; for it is written, <strong>\u201cVengeance\u00a0<i>is<\/i>\u00a0Mine, I will repay,\u201d says the Lord.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>God will judge the world, and His condemnation is just:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #000000;\">James 2:13<\/span><\/strong><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #000000;\">&#8220;because <strong>judgment without mercy<\/strong> will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful.&#8221;\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Those in Hell are ordered to &#8220;depart&#8221; from God. They are &#8220;cursed&#8221;. It is eternal fire &#8220;prepared&#8221; for the devil. For those who argue that Hell is the presence of God&#8217;s love, is God&#8217;s love &#8220;prepared&#8221;?<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Matthew 25:41 (ESV)<\/strong><\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #000000;\"> <em>\u201cThen he will say to those on his left, \u2018Depart from me, you <strong>cursed<\/strong>, into the eternal fire <strong>prepared<\/strong> for the devil and his angels.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Hell fire is outer darkness. It is not the presence of God&#8217;s love. The sinful are &#8220;thrown&#8221; there. Can anyone be &#8220;thrown&#8221; into God&#8217;s love? Is God&#8217;s love &#8220;outer darkness&#8221;?<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Luke 3:9<\/strong><\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #000000;\"> The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and <strong>thrown into the fire.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Matthew 8:12 (ESV)<\/strong><\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #000000;\"> <em>while the sons of the kingdom will be <strong>thrown into the outer darkness<\/strong>. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.\u201d<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">The unrighteous will \u201cdepart\u201d from the presence of God and &#8220;shut out&#8221;. The will certainly not be in his favor:<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Matthew 25: 10-13<\/strong><\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #000000;\"><span class=\"red\">\u201cBut while they were on their way to buy the oil, the bridegroom arrived. The virgins who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet. <strong>And the door was shut<\/strong>.\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"red\">\u201cLater the others also came. \u2018Lord, Lord,\u2019 they said, \u2018open the door for us!\u2019\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"red\">\u201cBut he replied, \u2018<strong>Truly I tell you, I don\u2019t know you.\u2019<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Matt 7: 23 21<\/strong><\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #000000;\"><em>\u201cNot everyone who says to me, \u2018Lord, Lord,\u2019 will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, \u2018Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?\u2019 \u00a0And then will I declare to them, \u2018I never knew you;<strong> depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.\u2019<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>2 Thessalonians 1:9<\/strong><\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #000000;\"> They will be <strong>punished with everlasting destruction<\/strong> and <strong>shut out from the presence of the Lord<\/strong> and from the glory of his might<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Romans 2: 4-10<\/span><\/strong><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #000000;\">&#8220;Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, forbearance and patience, not realizing that <strong>God\u2019s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance?<\/strong> But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, <strong>you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God\u2019s wrath, when his righteous judgment will be revealed. God \u201cwill repay each person according to what they have done.<\/strong>\u201d To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, he will give eternal life. But<strong> for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger.<\/strong> There will be trouble and distress for every human being who does evil: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile; but glory, honor and peace for everyone who does good&#8221;\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Jude 1:7<\/strong><br \/>\nas Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities around them in a similar manner to these, having given themselves over to sexual immorality and gone after strange flesh, <strong>are set forth as an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The unrighteous will not enter the Kingdom of Heaven:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Rev 21: 27<\/strong> <\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #000000;\"> <em><strong>But nothing unclean will ever enter it<\/strong>, nor anyone who does what is detestable or false, but only those who are written in the Lamb\u2019s book of life.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Rev 21:14-15<\/strong><\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #000000;\"> <em>Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of life and that they may enter the city by the gates. <strong>outside are the dogs and sorcerers and the sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood<\/strong>.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Those in hell are actively cast there by God&#8217;s authority. This not just a passive consequence of their lifestyle<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Luke 12:4\u20135 (ESV)<\/strong><\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #000000;\"> <em>\u201cI tell you, my friends, do not fear those who kill the body, and after that have nothing more that they can do. But I will warn you whom to fear: fear him who, after he has killed, <strong>has authority to cast into hell.<\/strong> Yes, I tell you, fear him!<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Hell is a \u201csentence&#8221; not just a consequence or a state of mind:<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Matthew 23:33 (ESV)<br \/>\n<\/strong><em>You serpents, you brood of vipers, how are you to escape being <strong>sentenced<\/strong> to hell?<\/em><\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">God is love but He is also Just. He will actively punish:<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>2 Thessalonians 1:5\u201310,<\/strong><\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #000000;\"><i>Which is<\/i>\u00a0a manifest token of the <strong>righteous judgment<\/strong> of God, that ye may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which ye also suffer:\u00a0Seeing\u00a0<i>it is<\/i>\u00a0a <strong>righteous thing<\/strong> with God to <strong>recompense tribulation<\/strong> to them that trouble you;\u00a0And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels,\u00a0<strong>In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God<\/strong>, <strong>and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ:\u00a0Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord<\/strong>, and from the glory of his power;\u00a0When he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe (because our testimony among you was believed) in that day.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Those who reject Christ will experience God&#8217;s wrath and anger, not His love:<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Romans 2:8,<\/strong><\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #000000;\"> <em>\u201cBut for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, <strong>there will be wrath and anger.<\/strong>\u201d<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Jesus delivers from wrath to come:<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>1 Thessalonians 1:9\u201310 (ESV)<\/strong><\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #000000;\"> <em>For they themselves report concerning us the kind of reception we had among you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus who <strong>delivers us from the wrath to come.<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Hell is a place of fiery judgment and indignation. It is not God&#8217;s love<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Heb 10:26-31<\/strong><\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #000000;\"> <em>For if we sin willfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, But a certain <strong>fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation<\/strong>, which shall devour the adversaries. He that despised Moses&#8217; law died without mercy under two or three witnesses: <strong>Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God,<\/strong> and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace? For we know him that hath said, <strong>Vengeance belongeth unto me, I will recompense, saith the Lord.<\/strong> And again, <strong>The Lord shall judge his people.<\/strong> It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Hell is a place of punishment<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">&#8220;Then they will go away to eternal <strong>punishment<\/strong>, but the righteous to eternal life.&#8221; (Matt 24:46)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>The punishment will have levels of severity. It is active, not passive punishment:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p class=\"reg\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><span class=\"red\">The master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he is not aware of. <strong>He will<\/strong><strong>cut him to pieces<\/strong> and assign him a place with the unbelievers.<\/span><span class=\"red\">\u201cThe servant who knows the master\u2019s will and does not get ready or does not do what the master wants <strong>will be beaten with many blows<\/strong>.<\/span>\u00a0<span class=\"red\">But the one who does not know and does things <strong>deserving punishment will be <span style=\"color: #000000;\">beaten with few blows<\/span><\/strong><span style=\"color: #000000;\">. (Luke 12:46-48)<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Rev 21:<\/strong><\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #000000;\"><em>\u00a0I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, <strong>God <\/strong><strong>will add to him the plagues described in this book<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>The eternal fire and torment is the <em>&#8220;wrath of God&#8221;\u00a0<\/em>and his <em>&#8220;indignation&#8221;<\/em>, not His love:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Rev 14: 9-11<\/span><\/strong><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #000000;\">Then a third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, \u201cIf anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives\u00a0<i>his<\/i>\u00a0mark on his forehead or on his hand,\u00a0<strong>he himself shall also drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out full strength into the cup of His indignation.<\/strong> He shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb.\u00a0And the smoke of their torment ascends forever and ever; and they have no rest day or night<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Rev 19: 15<\/strong><br \/>\nNow out of His mouth goes a <strong>sharp sword, that with it He should strike the nations.<\/strong> And He Himself will rule them with a rod of iron. <strong>He Himself treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.<\/strong><\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<h4 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><a id=\"justice\"><\/a><strong>God&#8217;s Justice<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Hell is necessary because God is just<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>St. Cyril of Jerusalm &#8211; CATECHESIS XVIII<br \/>\nConsider also the very principle of justice and reflect within yourself.<\/strong> You have a variety of servants, let us say, of whom some are good, some bad. <strong>You esteem the good and you punish the bad. If you happen to be a judge, you praise the good and chastise the bad.<\/strong> <strong>Do you think that while justice is preserved before you, a mortal man, before God, the ever-changeless King of all, there is no just requital? To deny it would be impious.<\/strong> Or consider this. Many murderers have died in their beds, unpunished; where, then, is the justice of God? <strong>Oftentimes a murderer, guilty of fifty murders, is beheaded once; how will he pay the penalty for the forty-nine? If after this world there is no justice and retribution, you charge God with injustice.<\/strong> But do not wonder at the delay of the judgment. Everyone who contends for a prize is crowned or put to shame only after the contest is over; never does the presiding judge crown men while they are still contending; he waits until all the contestants have finished, intending afterwards, having sifted them, to award the prizes and the crowns. So God also, while the strife in this world goes on, assists the just only in part; but afterwards he bestows on them their rewards in all fullness<\/span>.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Tertullian \u2013 The Five Books Against Marcion<\/strong><\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong> Thus far, then, justice is the very fullness of the Deity Himself<\/strong>, manifesting God as both a perfect father and a perfect master: a father in His <strong>mercy<\/strong>, a master in His <strong>discipline<\/strong>; a father in the <strong>mildness<\/strong> of His power, a master in its <strong>severity<\/strong>; a father who must be <strong>loved<\/strong> with dutiful affection, a master who must needs be <strong>feared<\/strong>; be loved, because He prefers mercy to sacrifice; be feared because He dislikes sin; be loved, because He prefers the sinner\u2019s repentance to his death; be feared, because He <strong>dislikes<\/strong> the sinners who do not repent. Accordingly, the divine law enjoins duties in respect of both these attributes: <em>Thou shalt love God<\/em>, and, <em>Thou shalt fear God<\/em>. It proposed one for the obedient man, the other for the transgressor.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>St. John Chrysostom \u2013 Homilies on the Gospel of St. John<br \/>\n<\/strong>Now if there were no Resurrection, how could He be \u201cthe first-born,\u201d when no one of \u201cthe dead\u201d was to follow Him? <strong>If there were no Resurrection, how would the justice of God be preserved,<\/strong> when so many evil men prosper, and so many good men are afflicted and die in their affliction? Where shall each of these obtain his deserts, if so be that there is no Resurrection?&#8230; <strong>Let us not then anger Him, but hear Him when He saith, \u201cFear Him which is able to destroy both body and soul in hell\u201d<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>St. Cyril of Jerusalem &#8211; Catechetical Lectures,\u00a0Lecture XVIII.<\/strong><br \/>\nBut further, attend, I pray, to the very principle of <strong>justice<\/strong>, and come to thine own case.\u00a0 Thou hast different sorts of servants:\u00a0 and some are good and some bad; thou honourest therefore the good, and smitest the bad.\u00a0 And if thou art a judge, to the good thou awardest praise, and to the transgressors, <strong>punishment<\/strong>.\u00a0 Is then justice observed by thee a mortal man; and with God, the ever changeless King of all, <strong>is there no retributive justice<\/strong>?\u00a0 Nay, to deny it is impious.\u00a0 For consider what I say.\u00a0 Many murderers have died in their beds unpunished; where then is the righteousness of God?\u00a0 Yea, ofttimes a murderer guilty of fifty murders is beheaded once; where then shall he suffer punishment for the forty and nine?\u00a0 <strong>Unless there is a judgment and a retribution after this world, thou chargest God with unrighteousness.<\/strong>\u00a0 Marvel not, however, because of the delay of the judgment; no combatant is crowned or disgraced, till the contest is over; and no president of the games ever crowns men while yet striving, but he waits till all the combatants are finished, that then deciding between them he may dispense the prizes and the chaplets.\u00a0 Even thus God also, so long as the strife in this world lasts, succours the just but partially, but afterwards He renders to them their rewards fully.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>St. John Chrysostom Homiles on 1 Thessalonians<br \/>\n<\/strong>Again, a certain one for having gathered sticks on the Sabbath was stoned, and yet this was a small commandment, and less weighty than circumcision. He then who gathered sticks on the Sabbath was stoned; but those who often commit ten thousand things contrary to the Law have gone off unpunished!<strong> If then there be not a hell, where is His justice, where His impartiality, that respects not persons?&#8230;<\/strong>Again, numberless instances one might enumerate. What? Ananias and Sapphira were immediately punished, because they stole part of what they had offered. Has no one then since that time been guilty of this? How was it then that they did not suffer the same punishment? Do we then persuade you that there is a hell, or do you need more examples?<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Pseudo-Clementine Literature: Recognitions of Clement, Book III<br \/>\n<\/strong>In a word, to the Hebrews, whose opinion concerning God was\u00a0that He is only good, our Master said that they should seek also His\u00a0righteousness; that is, that they should know that He is good indeed in this\u00a0present time, that all may live in His goodness, but that He shall be\u00a0righteous at the day of judgment, to bestow eternal rewards upon the\u00a0worthy, from which the unworthy shall be excluded. Then Simon: \u201cHow can one and the same being be both good and\u00a0righteous?\u201d Peter answered: Because without righteousness, goodness\u00a0would be unrighteousness; for it is the part of a good God to bestow His sunshine and rain equally on the just and the unjust; but this would seem to be unjust, if He treated the good and the bad always with equal fortune, and were it not that He does it for the sake of the fruits, which all may equally enjoy who are born in this world. But as the rain given by God equally nourishes the corn and the tares, <strong>but at the time of harvest the\u00a0crops are gathered into the barn, but the chaff or the tares are burnt in the fire<\/strong>, so in the day of judgment, when the righteous shall be introduced into the kingdom of heaven, and<strong> the unrighteous shall be cast out, then also the justice of God shall be shown.<\/strong> For if He remained forever alike to the evil\u00a0and the good, this would not only not be good, but even unrighteous and unjust; that the righteous and the unrighteous should be held by Him in one order of desert.&#8221;&#8230;<\/span><span style=\"color: #0a0a0a; font-style: normal;\">Where, then, is the justice of God, if there be no\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"color: #0a0a0a; font-style: normal;\">immortal soul to suffer punishment in the future for impious deeds, or\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"color: #0a0a0a; font-style: normal;\">enjoy rewards for piety and rectitude?\u201d&#8230;<\/span><span style=\"color: #0a0a0a; font-style: normal;\">\u201cThis very thing which draws you into incredulity,\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"color: #0a0a0a; font-style: normal;\">affords to us a certain conviction that there shall be a judgment. For since\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"color: #0a0a0a; font-style: normal;\">it is certain that God is just, it is a necessary consequence that there is\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"color: #0a0a0a; font-style: normal;\">another world, in which every one receiving according to his deserts, shall\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"color: #0a0a0a; font-style: normal;\">prove the justice of God.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>St. John Chrysostom \u2013 Homilies Concerning the Power of Demons<br \/>\n<\/strong>If there is a God, as indeed there is, it follows that <strong>He is just,<\/strong><strong>for if He is not just neither is He God<\/strong>, and if He is just He recompenses to each according to their desert. But we do not see all here receiving according to their desert. Therefore it is necessary to hope for some other requital awaiting us, in order that by each one receiving according to his desert, <strong>the justice of God may be made manifest.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<h4 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><a id=\"fire\"><\/a><strong>Nature of the Fire<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">God is a consuming fire, but the fire of hell is not the same fire that purifies the believers<strong><br \/>\n<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>St. Gregory Nazianzen &#8211; Orations on Holy Baptism<\/strong><\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #000000;\"> For I know a cleansing fire which Christ came to send upon the earth, and He Himself is analogically called a Fire.\u00a0This Fire takes away whatsoever is material and of evil habit; and this He desires to kindle with all speed, for He longs for speed in doing us good, since He gives us even coals of fire to help us.\u00a0 <strong>I know also a fire which is not cleansing,<\/strong> <strong>but avenging<\/strong>; either that fire of Sodom which He pours down on all sinners, mingled with brimstone and storms, or <strong>that which is prepared for the Devil and his Angels or that which proceeds from the face of the Lord, and shall burn up his enemies round about;<\/strong> and one even more fearful still than these, <strong>the unquenchable fire which is ranged with the worm that dieth not but is eternal for the wicked.<\/strong>\u00a0 <strong>For all these belong to the destroying power; though some may prefer even in this place to take a more merciful view of this fire, worthily of Him That chastises.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>St. Gregory of Nazianzus: -Oration on the Holy Lights, Ch. XXXVI:<\/strong> <\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #000000;\">\u201cI know a cleansing fire which Christ came to hurl upon the earth and He Himself is called fire in words anagogically applied\u2026.I know also a fire that is <strong>not cleansing but avenging<\/strong>, that fire either of Sodom, which mixed with a storm of brimstone, He pours down on all sinners, or that which is <strong>prepared for the devil and his angels, or that which proceeds from the face of the Lord and burns up all His enemies all around.<\/strong> And still there is a fire more fearsome than these, that with which the sleepless worm is associated, and which is never extinguished but belongs eternally to the wicked.\u201d\u2026 <strong>its is better to be punished and cleansed now than to be sent to the torment to come, when it will be time for punishing only, and not for cleansing.\u201d<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Hell is the wrath of God and His vengeance<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Irenaeus Against Heresies Book 4 CHAPTER 28<br \/>\n<\/strong>Inasmuch, then, as in both Testaments there is the same righteousness of God [displayed] <strong>when God takes vengeance,<\/strong> in the one case indeed typically, temporarily, and more moderately; but in the other, really, <strong>enduringly, and more rigidly: for the fire is eternal, and the wrath of God which shall be revealed from heaven<\/strong> from the face of our Lord (as David also says, \u201cBut the face of the Lord is against them that do evil, to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth\u201d), entails a heavier punishment on those who incur it<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>St. John. Chrysostom \u2013 Homily on the Gospel of St. John<br \/>\n<\/strong>Many of the more careless sort of persons, using the lovingkindness of God to increase the magnitude of their sins and the excess of their disregard, speak in this way, \u201c<strong>There is no hell, there is no future punishment, God forgives us all sins.\u201d\u00a0<\/strong>To stop whose mouths a wise man says, <strong>\u201cSay not, His mercy is great<\/strong>, He will be pacified for the multitude of my sins;\u00a0<strong>for mercy and wrath come from Him<\/strong>, and <strong>His indignation resteth upon sinners<\/strong>\u201d (Ecclus. v. 6 ): and again, \u201cAs His mercy is great, so is His correction also.\u201d ( Ecclus. xvi. 12.) \u201cWhere then,\u201d saith one, \u201cis His lovingkindness, if we shall receive for our sins according to our deserts?\u201d That we shall indeed receive \u201caccording to our deserts,\u201d hear both the\u00a0Prophet and Paul declare; one says, \u201cThou shalt render to every man according to his work\u201d( Ps. lxii. 12 , LXX.); the other, \u201cWho will render to every man according to his work.\u201d (Rom. ii. 6.)<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><em><strong>St. Macarius \u2013 The Fifty Spiritual Homilies<\/strong><br \/>\n<\/em><em>For that reason\u00a0the immaterial and divine fire enlightens souls and tests them as pure gold is tested in the furnace. But it burns out any evil, as if it were thorns and stubble. For\u00a0\u201cour God is a consuming fire\u201d (Heb. 12:29),\u00a0<strong>\u201ctaking revenge on those who do not know him in flaming fire and who do not obey His Gospel\u201d<\/strong> (2 Thess. 1:8)<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>St. John Chrystostom &#8211; Homilies on Hebre<span style=\"color: #000000;\">w<\/span><span style=\"color: #000000;\">s,\u00a0<\/span>Homily XX<\/strong><\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #000000;\"> Next he adds testimony, saying, (ver. 31, 30) \u201c<strong>It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the Living God.\u201d \u201cFor\u201d it is written: \u201cVengeance [belongeth] unto Me, I will recompense, saith the Lord.<\/strong> And again, The Lord shall judge His people.\u201d \u201cLet us fall,\u201d it is said, \u201cinto the hands of the Lord, and not into the hands of men.\u201d ( Ecclus. ii. 18.3170) But if ye repent not, ye shall \u201cfall into the hands of\u201d God: that is fearful: it is nothing, to \u201cfall into the hands of men.\u201d When, he means, <strong>we see any man punished here, let us not be terrified at the things present, but shudder at the things to come. \u201cFor according to His mercy, so is His wrath.\u201d<\/strong>\u00a0And, <strong>\u201cHis indignation will rest upon sinners.\u201d<\/strong> ( Ecclus. v. 6.)<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Irenaeus Book 4 CHAPTER 27<br \/>\n<\/strong>And again does the apostle say, \u201c<strong>Let no man deceive you with vain words; for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the sons of mistrust.<\/strong> Be not ye therefore partakers with them.\u201d And as then the condemnation of sinners extended to others who approved of them, and joined in their society; so also is it the case at present, that \u201ca little leaven leavens the whole lump.\u201d And as the wrath of God did then descend upon the unrighteous, here also does the apostle likewise say: <strong>\u201cFor the wrath of God shall be revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of those men who hold back the truth in unrighteousness.\u201d<\/strong> And as, in those times, vengeance came from God upon the Egyptians who were subjecting Israel to unjust punishment, so is it now, the Lord truly declaring, \u201cAnd shall not God avenge His own elect, which cry day and night unto Him? I tell you, that He will avenge them speedily.\u201d So says the apostle, in like manner, in the Epistle to the Thessalonians: \u201cSeeing it is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you; and to you who are troubled rest with us, at the <strong>revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ from heaven with His mighty angels, and in a flame of fire, to take vengeance upon those who know not God<\/strong>, and upon those that obey not the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: who <strong>shall also be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of His power;<\/strong> when He shall come to be glorified in His saints, and to be admired in all them who have believed in Him.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>St. Cyril of Alexandria &#8211; Commentary on Gospel of St. Luke<br \/>\n<\/strong>But against those, who, in the greatness of their wickedness, have scorned His goodness, and rejected\u00a0the Saviour, there is decreed wrath and misery; and, as it were, a <strong>winter of torment and punishment, from the\u00a0blast of which hard will it be to escape.<\/strong> For, as the Psalmist says; &#8220;Fire, and brimstone, and the whirlwind, \u00a0is the portion of their cup.&#8221; And why so? Because they have rejected, as I said, the grace that is by faith; and therefore the guilt of their sins cannot be wiped away, and they <strong>must bear, as they deserve, the punishment due to those who love sin.<\/strong> For so, when speaking of\u00a0the Jews, He said; &#8220;Verily I say unto you, that if you believe not that I am He, you shall die in your sins.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>St. Cyril of Alexandria &#8211; Commentary on Gospel of St. Luke<br \/>\n<\/strong>More openly by means of this which follows did the blessed\u00a0Baptist shew us the aim of what has been said. Let him who loves\u00a0to search consider carefully the force of the thought. He that\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"color: #000000;\">believeth not (he saith) on the Son shall not see life, <strong>but the wrath\u00a0of God abideth on him.<\/strong> But if it were possible to understand that\u00a0the unbeliever should be indeed bereft of the life in the body, he\u00a0would surely have immediately added, \u201cbut death abideth on him.\u201d\u00a0<strong>But since he calls it the wrath of God, it is plain that he is\u00a0contrasting the punishment of the ungodly with the enjoyments of\u00a0the saints,<\/strong> and that he calls that life, which is the true life in glory\u00a0with Christ, and the torments of the ungodly, the wrath of God.\u00a0<strong>That punishment is ofttimes called wrath by the Divine Scriptures<\/strong>,\u00a0I will adduce two witnesses, Paul and John: for the one said to the\u00a0converted among the Gentiles, <strong>And were by nature the children of\u00a0wrath<\/strong>, even as others; and the other to the Scribes and Pharisees,\u00a0O generation of vipers, <strong>who hath warned you to flee from the\u00a0wrath to come?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>St. Cyril of Jerusalem &#8211; Catechetical Lectures<br \/>\n<\/strong>There is a\u00a0sentence in the Gospels to this effect, He who believeth not on the\u00a0Son shall not see life,<strong> but the wrath of God abideth upon him: for\u00a0the Father is wroth, when the Only-begotten Son is set at nought.\u00a0<\/strong>It is a great matter to a king, if even one of his soldiers be but\u00a0dishonoured; and when it is one of his more honourable guards or\u00a0friends, <strong>then his anger becomes yet greater;<\/strong> but if any offer\u00a0outrage to the king\u2019s only-begotten son himself, <strong>who shall sooth\u00a0the father, when wroth concerning his only-begotten son<\/strong><\/span><strong>?<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>According to St. Cyril, the unrighteous will be banished from the presence of God<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>St. Cyril of Alexandria &#8211; Commentary on Gospel of St. John, BOOK IX<\/strong><br \/>\nFor all created things shall come to judgment. And rendering becoming awards, corresponding to the life each one has led, <strong>He will say to them on the left, i.e. to those that have minded the things in the world: Depart from Me ye cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels;<\/strong> howbeit to them on the right, i.e. to the holy and good: Come ye blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world&#8230;So&#8212;-for I will sum up the meaning of the Lord&#8217;s saying&#8212;-<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><strong>the lovers of the evil things in the world shall go down to Hades and be banished from the presence of Christ;<\/strong> <\/span>howbeit there shall be with Him and dwell with Him for ever the lovers of virtue, they who have kept inviolate the earnest of the Spirit, and being with Him of a surety they shall also behold His Divine Beauty without all hindrance. For, he says, the Lord shall be thine eternal Light, and God thy glory. And it is also likely that this is what the Lord means to make manifest, when we hear Him saying: <strong>Yet a little while and the world beholdeth Me no more; but ye behold Me;<\/strong> because I live ye shall live also. Howbeit in no wise will He speak falsely in saying that the time intervening, before His Revelation as it were, is a little while. For to God Who always is, even what is a long time with us counts utterly for nothing; and the Psalmist will testify this when he says: For a thousand years in Thy sight, O Lord, are but as yesterday that is past, and a watch in the night.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">God is loving but also punishes sinners<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>St. John Chrysostom &#8211; Homilies on First Epistles of St. Paul to the Corinthians<\/strong><\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #000000;\"> But, &#8220;They are men,&#8221; some one will say, &#8220;who do these things; as for God, He is loving unto men.&#8221; Now, first of all, not even men do these things in cruelty, but in humanity. And God Himself, as He is <strong>loving<\/strong> unto men,&#8221; in the same character doth He <strong>punish<\/strong> sins. (Sirac. xvi. 12.) &#8220;For as His mercy is great, so also is His reproof.&#8221; When therefore thou sayest unto me,<strong> &#8220;God is loving unto men,&#8221;<\/strong> then thou tellest me of so much the<strong> greater reason for punishing<\/strong>: namely, our sinning against such a Being. Hence also Paul said, (Heb. x. 31.) &#8220;It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.&#8221; Endure I beseech you, the fiery force of the words, for perhaps&#8211;perhaps you will have some consolation from hence! Who among men can punish as God has punished? when He caused a deluge and entire destruction of a race so numerous; and again, when, a little while after, He rained fire from above, and utterly destroyed them all? What punishment from men can be like that? Seest thou not that the punishment even in this world is almost eternal? Four thousand years have passed away, and the punishment of the Sodomites abideth at its height. <strong>For as His mercy is great, so also is His punishment.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Augustine &#8211; Doctrinal Treatises<\/strong><\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #000000;\"> <strong>It is in vain, then, that some, indeed very many, make moan over the eternal punishment, and perpetual,\u00a0unintermitted torments of the lost, and say they do not believe it shall be so<\/strong>; not, indeed, that t<strong>hey directly\u00a0oppose themselves to Holy Scripture,<\/strong> but, at the suggestion of their own feelings, t<strong>hey soften down\u00a0everything that seems hard, and give a milder turn to statements which they think are rather designed to\u00a0terrify than to be received as literally true<\/strong> For &#8220;Hath God&#8221; they say, forgotten to be gracious? hath He in\u00a0anger shut up His tender mercies?&#8221; Now, they read this in one of the holy psalms. But without doubt we\u00a0are to understand it as spoken of those who are elsewhere called &#8220;vessels of mercy,&#8221; because even\u00a0they are freed from misery not on account of any merit of their own, but solely through the pity of God. Or, if\u00a0the men we speak of insist that this passage applies to all mankind, there is no reason why they should\u00a0therefore suppose that there will be an end to the punishment of those of whom it is said, <strong>&#8220;These shall go\u00a0away into everlasting punishment;&#8221;<\/strong> for this shall end in the same manner and at the same time as the\u00a0happiness of those of whom it is said, &#8220;but the righteous unto life eternal.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>St. John Chrysostom &#8211; Commentary on Epistle to the Romans<\/strong><\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #000000;\"> And wilt thou not be persuaded even after this that<strong> there is\u00a0punishment and vengeance<\/strong>? At that rate thou wilt deny that even the devil is punished. For,\u00a0\u201cDepart,\u201d He says, \u201cinto the fire prepared for the devil and his angels.\u201d (Matt. xxv. 41.) Now\u00a0if there be no hell, then neither is he punished. <strong>But if he is punished, it is plain that we shall\u00a0also<\/strong>. For we also have disobeyed, even if it be not in the same way. And how comest thou\u00a0not to be afraid to speak such daring things? For when thou sayest that God is merciful, and\u00a0doth not punish, if He should punish he will be found in thy case to be no longer merciful.\u00a0See then unto what language the devil leadeth you?&#8230;For if the wicked are not to be punished, and there is no recompense\u00a0made to any one, some one else will say, perhaps, that neither are the good crowned.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Augustine &#8211; On the Holy Trinity<\/strong><\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #000000;\"> And it is good for us to cleave to God, since <strong>He will destroy every man who is estranged from Him.<\/strong> Therefore the Holy Spirit, whatever it is, is something common both to the Father and Son. But that communion itself is consubstantial and co-eternal; and if it may fitly be called friendship, let it be so called; but it is more aptly called love. And this is also\u00a0a substance, since God is a substance, and <strong>\u201cGod is love,\u201d<\/strong> as it is written.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong><span style=\"color: #000000;\">St. Shenuti the Archimandrite &#8211; Homily\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #000000;\">Brethren, if we want to escape God&#8217;s <strong>punishment<\/strong> and find mercy in his eyes, let us sit every evening alone by ourselves and search our souls for what we presented to our guardian angel to offer to the Lord.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>St. Cyril of Alexandria &#8211; Commentary on the Gospel of St. Luke, Ver. 73<\/strong><\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #000000;\">But let no one accustom himself to swear from hearing that God\u00a0sware unto Abraham. <strong>For just as anger, when spoken of God, is\u00a0not anger, nor implies passion, but signifies power exercised in\u00a0punishment<\/strong>, or some similar motion; so neither is an oath an act\u00a0of swearing. For God does not swear, but indicates the certainty of\u00a0the event,\u2014that that which He says will necessarily come to pass.\u00a0For God\u2019s oath is His own word, fully persuading those that hear,\u00a0and giving each one the conviction that what He has promised\u00a0and said will certainly come to pass.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Sunday Theotokia<\/strong><\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #000000;\">Blessed\u00a0are\u00a0you\u00a0O\u2019\u00a0Daughter\u00a0of\u00a0Joachim\u00a0Because\u00a0from\u00a0you\u00a0came\u00a0the\u00a0one\u00a0born,\u00a0And\u00a0he\u00a0saved us from\u00a0the\u00a0<strong>punishment\u00a0of\u00a0hell\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Hell is a place of weeping and gnashing of teeth<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>St. Cyril &#8211; Commentary on St. John<\/strong><\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #000000;\"> For even though they now in the body and yet in full enjoyment of the pleasures of the flesh, for their exceeding senselessness seek not their Redeemer, yet when they wretched fall into hell and have their abode in the <strong>place of punishments,<\/strong> when they are in the ill itself, then, then will they seek even against their will. For there (He says) is weeping and gnashing of teeth, each (it is likely) of those there wailing his carelessness in what was good, and well-nigh saying what is in the Book of Proverbs, I have not obeyed the voice of him that instructed me and taught me.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>St. Cyril &#8211; Catechetical Lectures<\/strong><\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #000000;\"> Rather fear ye Him which is able to destroy both body\u00a0and soul in hell: for unless the Father of our Lord Jesus\u00a0Christ had power over both, how should <strong>He subject both to\u00a0punishment<\/strong>? for how shall He be able to take what is\u00a0another&#8217;s, and cast it into hell, except He first bind the strong\u00a0man, and spoil his goods?<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">\u00a0<strong>St. John Chrysostom &#8211; Commentary on First Corinthians<\/strong><\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #000000;\"> \u201cAnd wherefore,\u201d saith one, \u201cdoth God suffer such men to be rich?\u201d Because He is long-suffering: because He would bring us to repentance; because <strong>He hath prepared hell;<\/strong> because\u00a0\u201cHe hath appointed a day in which He is to <strong>judge the world.\u201d<\/strong> (Acts xvii. 31.) <strong>Whereas did\u00a0He use at once to punish them<\/strong> that are rich and not virtuously&#8230;Therefore doth He bear with them, calling all to repentance. But if they will not, but continue\u00a0in the same, they shall hear Paul saying that \u201cafter their hardness and impenitent heart they\u00a0<strong>treasure up unto themselves wrath against the day of wrath<\/strong>, and revelation, and <strong>righteous\u00a0judgment of God:\u00a0<\/strong> (Rom. ii. 5.) <strong>which wrath that we may escape,<\/strong> let us become rich with\u00a0the riches of heaven, and follow after the laudable sort of poverty.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Cyprian, Epistle 55<\/strong><\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #000000;\"> <em>Oh, what and how great will that day be at its coming, beloved brethren, when the Lord shall begin to count up His people, and to recognize the deserving\u2019s of each one by the inspection of His divine knowledge, to send the guilty to Gehenna, and to s<strong>et on fire our persecutors with the perpetual burning of a penal fire,<\/strong> but to pay to us the reward of our faith and devotion!<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>St. John Chrysostom Homiles on Gospel of John<br \/>\n<\/strong>Let us not then anger Him, but hear Him when He saith, <strong>\u201cFear Him which is able to destroy both body and soul in hell\u201d<\/strong> ( Matt. x. 28 ); that by that fear we may become better, and being delivered from that perdition, may be deemed worthy of the Kingdom of Heaven.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Clementine Homily 17, Chap 7<\/strong><\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #000000;\"> Whatsoever therefore any one does to man, be it good or bad, is regarded as being done to Him. Wherefore the judgment which proceeds from Him shall go before, giving to every one according to his merits. <strong>For He avenges His own shape.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Hell is retributive punishment<\/p>\n<p><em><span class=\"collapseomatic \" id=\"id69e65f97a214c\"  tabindex=\"0\" title=\"Additional Quotes&gt;&gt;\"    >Additional Quotes&gt;&gt;<\/span><div id=\"target-id69e65f97a214c\" class=\"collapseomatic_content \"><\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>St. Cyril of Alexandria &#8211;\u00a0GOSPEL ACCORDING TO JOHN<\/strong><\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">When then (He says) ye having betrayed to the cross the Son of man endure your <strong>retributive punishment,<\/strong> and pay\u00a0penalties correspondent to your daring deeds against Me, then shall ye weeping know that I am the All-Powerful, that is God. For if one sparrow enter not the snare of the fowler without the will of God, how shall a whole country, (He saith) and the beloved 21 nation go on to destruction so complete, except God supreme over all had surely permitted that so it should be? Evil therefore and all-dread is the contempt of God which bringeth to the consummation of things to be deprecated. Wherefore Paul too rebuketh some, saying of God, Or despisest thou the riches of His goodness and forbearance and long suffering, not knowing that the goodness of God is leading thee to repentance, but after thy hardness and impenitent heart <strong>treasurest up unto thyself wrath in the Day of wrath<\/strong>?<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>St. Cyril of Alexandria &#8211;\u00a0GOSPEL ACCORDING TO JOHN<br \/>\n<\/strong>But now attend carefully, for I am about to take up again the question proposed at first. God declares Himself to shew His <strong>kindness<\/strong> and His incomparable love of \u00a0men in a <strong>manner suitable to Deity<\/strong>&#8230;The Lord is long-suffering and of <strong>great mercy<\/strong> and true, <strong>forgiving transgressions and iniquities and sins<\/strong>; and He will <strong>by no means clear the guilty<\/strong>, visiting the sins of fathers upon children unto the third and fourth generation. Forgive this people their sin according to <strong>Thy great mercy,<\/strong> as Thou hast been favourable to them from Egypt even until now. It appears therefore that He Who is God over all attributes to Himself <strong>love of men<\/strong> and the greatest forbearance towards evil. It will be fitting in the next place to set forth the cause on account of which the Jews, being deceived, could suppose <strong>our good God to be mindful of injury and exceeding wrathful.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>St. John Chrysostom &#8211; Homilies on Corinthians<\/strong><\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #000000;\">As I said then; that it hath no end, Christ has declared. Paul also saith, in pointing out\u00a0the <strong>eternity of the punishment, that the sinners \u201cshall pay the penalty of destruction, and\u00a0that for ever\u201d<\/strong> (2 Thess. i. 9.) And again, (1 Cor. vi. 9.) <strong>\u201cBe not deceived; neither fornicators.\u00a0nor adulterers, nor effeminate, shall inherit the kingdom of God.\u201d<\/strong> And also unto the Hebrews\u00a0he saith, (Heb. xii. 14.) \u201cFollow peace with all men, and the sanctification without which no\u00a0man shall see the Lord.\u201d And Christ also, to those who said, \u201cIn thy Name we have done\u00a0many wonderful works,\u201d saith, \u201c<strong>Depart from Me, I know you not, ye workers of iniquity\u201d<\/strong>\u00a0(St. Matt. vii. 22.) <strong>And the virgins too who were shut out,<\/strong> entered in no more. And also\u00a0about those who gave Him no food, He saith, (St. Matt. xxv. 46.) \u201c<strong>They shall go away into\u00a0everlasting punishment.\u201d<\/strong>\u00a0[2.] And say not unto me, \u201cwhere is the rule of justice preserved entire, if the punishment\u00a0hath no end?\u201d Rather, when God doeth any thing, obey His decisions and submit not what\u00a0is said to human reasonings. But moreover, how can it be any thing else than just for one\u00a0who hath experienced innumerable blessings from the beginning, and then committed deeds\u00a0worthy of punishment, and neither by threat nor benefit improved at all, to suffer punishment? <strong>For if thou enquire what is absolute justice; it was meet that we should have perished\u00a0immediately from the beginning, according to the definition of strict justice.<\/strong> Rather not\u00a0even then according to the rule of justice only; for the result would have had in it kindness\u00a0too, if we had suffered this also. For when any one insults him that hath done him no wrong,\u00a0according to the rule of justice he suffers punishment: but when it is his benefactor, who,\u00a0bound by no previous favor, bestowed innumerable kindnesses, who alone is the Author of\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"color: #000000;\">his being, who is God, who breathed his soul into him, who gave ten thousand gifts of grace,whose will is to take him up into heaven;\u2014when, I say, such an one, after so great blessings, is met by insult, daily insult, in the conduct of the other party; how can that other be thought\u00a0worthy of pardon? <strong>Dost thou not see how He punished Adam for one single sin?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"emActive emReady\" style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-sentences=\"3\" data-num=\"6\" data-key=\"SJCBtt\"><span data-num=\"1\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>St. John Chrysostom commentary on Romans<\/strong><\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #000000;\"> For now what takes place is for correction; but then for vengeance.<\/span><\/span><span style=\"color: #000000;\">\u00a0And this also St. Paul showed, when he said, \u201cWe are chastened now, that we should not be condemned with the world.\u201d (<a title=\"English Standard Version Bible\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gnpcb.org\/esv\/search\/?go=Go&amp;q=1+Corinthians+11%3A32\">1 Corinthians 11:32<\/a>.)\u2026.\u00a0But then the punishment from God shall be manifest, when the Judge, sitting upon the fearful tribunal, shall command some to be dragged to the furnaces, and some to the outer darkness, and some to other inexorable and intolerable punishments.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-num=\"7\" data-key=\"SPTXTt\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>St. Polycarp &#8211; The Martyrdom of Polycarp, Ch. XI<\/strong><\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #000000;\">\u201cThou threatenest me with fire which burneth for an hour, and after a little is extinguished, but thou art ignorant of the fire of the coming judgment and of eternal punishment reserved for the ungodly.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-num=\"8\" data-key=\"SJMOtc\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>St. Justin Martyr: First Apology 12<\/strong><\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #000000;\">\u201cNo more is it possible for the evildoer, the avaricious, and the treacherous to hide from God than it is for the virtuous. Every man will receive the eternal punishment or reward which his actions deserve. Indeed, if all men recognized this, no one would choose evil even for a short time, knowing that he would incur the eternal sentence of fire. On the contrary, he would take every means to control himself and to adorn himself in virtue, so that he might obtain the good gifts of God and escape the punishments.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-num=\"10\" data-key=\"SCoStt\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>St. Cyril of Jerusalem: Catechetical Lecture 18:10<\/strong><\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #000000;\">\u201cWe shall be raised therefore, all with our bodies eternal, but not all with bodies alike: for if a man is righteous, he will receive a heavenly body, that he may be able worthily to hold converse with angels; but if a man is a sinner, he shall receive an eternal body, fitted to endure the penalties of sins, that he may burn eternally in fire, nor ever be consumed. \u2026Since then the body has been our minister in all things, it shall also share with us in the future the fruits of the past.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-num=\"11\" data-key=\"SGoiib\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>St. Gregory of Nazianzus: -Oration on the Holy Lights, Ch. XXXVI<\/strong><\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #000000;\">\u201cI know a cleansing fire which Christ came to hurl upon the earth and He Himself is called fire in words anagogically applied\u2026.I know also a fire that is not cleansing but avenging, that fire either of Sodom, which mixed with a storm of brimstone, He pours down on all sinners, or that which is prepared for the devil and his angels, or that which proceeds from the face of the Lord and burns up all His enemies all around. And still there is a fire more fearsome than these, that with which the sleepless worm is associated, and which is never extinguished but belongs eternally to the wicked.\u201d\u2026 its is better to be punished and cleansed now than to be sent to the torment to come, when it will be time for punishing only, and not for cleansing.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-num=\"12\" data-key=\"SJiTam\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>St. Basil the Great: Jurgens, pg. 21, On\u00a0<a title=\"English Standard Version Bible\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gnpcb.org\/esv\/search\/?go=Go&amp;q=Psalm+28\">Psalm 28<\/a>, No. 6:<\/strong>\u00a0<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #000000;\">\u201cThe voice of the Lord divides the flame of fire. I believe that the fire prepared in punishment for the devil and his angels is divided by the voice of the Lord. Thus, since there are two capacities in fire, one of burning and the other of illuminating, the fierce and punitive property of the fire may await those who deserve to burn\u2026\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-num=\"14\" data-key=\"SJoBia\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>St. John of Damascus, Exact Exposition, Ibid. Bk. 2:29:<\/strong> <\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #000000;\">\u201cAlso one must bear in mind that God\u2019s original wish was that all should be saved and come to His Kingdom\u00a0<a title=\"English Standard Version Bible\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gnpcb.org\/esv\/search\/?go=Go&amp;q=1+Timothy+2%3A4\">1 Timothy 2:4<\/a>. For it was not for punishment that He formed us but to share in His goodness, inasmuch as He is a good God. But inasmuch as He is a just God, His will is that sinners should suffer punishment.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"emActive emReady\" style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-sentences=\"1\" data-num=\"15\" data-key=\"AfaAfa\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\" data-num=\"1\"><strong>Synodikon of Orthodoxy:<\/strong> \u201cThose who prefer the folly of the so-called wisdom of the profane philosophers and follow their teachers and accept the migrations of human souls or that they are destroyed like the souls of the animals and return to nothingness and on account of this deny the resurrection, judgment, and final retribution of the acts of their lives, anathema.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Tertullian \u2013 The Five Books Against Marcion<br \/>\n<\/strong>Even His severity then is good, because just: when the judge is good, that is just. <strong>Other qualities likewise are good, by means of which the good work of a good severity runs out its course, whether wrath, or jealousy, or sternness.<\/strong> What would be said, if, when you thought the doctor necessary, you were to find fault with his instruments, because they cut, or cauterize, or amputate, or tighten; whereas there could be no doctor of any value without his professional tools?\u2026<strong>Your conduct is equally unreasonable, when you allow indeed that God is a judge, but at the same time destroy those operations and dispositions by which He discharges His judicial functions<\/strong>\u2026 <strong>Whence has found its way to the heretics an argument of this kind: If God is angry, and jealous, and roused, and grieved, He must therefore be corrupted, and must therefore die.<\/strong> Fortunately, however, it is a part of the creed of Christians even to believe that God did die, and yet that He is alive for evermore. <strong>Superlative is their folly, who prejudge divine things from human<\/strong>; so that, because in man\u2019s corrupt condition there are found passions of this description, therefore there must be deemed to exist in God also sensations of the same kind. So also in regard to those others, \u2014 namely, anger and irritation. we are not affected by them in so happy a manner, because God alone is truly happy, by reason of His property of incorruptibility. Angry He will possibly be, but not irritated, nor dangerously tempted; He will be moved, but not subverted. All appliances He must needs use, because of all contingencies; as many sensations as there are causes: anger because of the wicked, and indignation because of the ungrateful, and jealousy because of the proud, and whatsoever else is a hindrance to the evil. So, again, mercy on account of the erring, and patience on account of the impenitent, and pre-eminent resources on account of the meritorious, and whatsoever is necessary to the good. All these affections He is moved by in that peculiar manner of His own, in which it is profoundly fit that He should be affected; and it is owing to Him that man is also similarly affected in a way which is equally his own.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p data-sentences=\"1\" data-num=\"15\" data-key=\"AfaAfa\"><\/div>\n<h4 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><a id=\"norepent\"><\/a><b>No Repentance After Death<\/b><\/h4>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">There is no repentance after death<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><b>St. Cyril of Jerusalem\u00a0&#8211; Catechetical Lectures<\/b><\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #000000;\"><b>And if it is said, The dead shall not praise Thee, O Lord, this shews, that since in this life only is the appointed time for repentance and pardon,<\/b> for which they who enjoy it shall praise the Lord, <strong>it remains not after death for them who have died in sins to give praise as the receivers of a blessing, but to bewail themselves;<\/strong> for praise belongs to them who give thanks, but to them who are under the scourge, lamentation. Therefore the just then offer praise; but they who have died in sins have no further season for confession<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Cyprian Epistle 55<\/strong><\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #000000;\"> <em>T<\/em><\/span><em style=\"color: #000000;\">he pain of punishment will then be\u00a0<strong>without the fruit of penitence; weeping will be useless,<\/strong>\u00a0and prayer ineffectual. Too late they will believe in eternal punishment who would not believe in eternal life.<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong style=\"color: #000000;\">Aphrahat\u00a0&#8211; Demon<\/strong><strong style=\"color: #000000;\">strations, 22<br \/>\n<\/strong><span style=\"color: #000000;\">So they shall sit in oppression and in the shadow of\u00a0death, and shall not remember this world, until the end shall be and they shall rise again for the <\/span><strong style=\"color: #000000;\">judgment<\/strong><span style=\"color: #000000;\">. O you rapacious and extortioners and plunderers of your fellows, remember Death, and \u00a0multiply not your sins; <\/span><strong style=\"color: #000000;\">for in that place sinners repent not;<\/strong><span style=\"color: #000000;\"> and he who has plundered his fellows&#8217; goods shall not possess his own, but shall go to the place where man shall make no use of wealth.\u00a0And he shall come to nought and pass away from his honour, but his sins shall be laid up against the day of judgment.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>St. Cyprian &#8211; Writings of Cyprian<\/strong><\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #000000;\"> Let us cleanse\u00a0our house with spiritual cleanliness, that every secret and\u00a0hidden place\u00a0of our breast, truly enlightened by the light of\u00a0the gospel, may say,\u00a0&#8221;\u00a0Against Thee only have I sinned, and\u00a0done this great evil in Thy sight.&#8221; Because the death of\u00a0sinners is evil, <strong>and in hell there is no repentance.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>St. Cyprian: To Demetrian 24:<\/strong> <\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #000000;\">\u201cAn ever-burning Gehenna and the punishment of being devoured by living flames will consume the condemned; nor will there be any way in which the tormented can ever have respite or be at an end. Souls along with their bodies will be preserved for suffering in unlimited agonies. . . . <strong>The grief at punishment will then be without the fruit of repentance<\/strong>; weeping will be useless, and prayer ineffectual. Too late will they believe in eternal punishment, who would not believe in eternal life.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>St. Ephraim Syrus &#8211; The Nisibene Hymns<\/strong><\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #000000;\"> Be not wroth against me, gracious Jesus, for the words that my pride has spoken\u00a0before Thee!\u00a0 Who is there that when seeing Thy Cross, shall have doubted that Thou art\u00a0man?\u00a0 Who is there that shall have seen Thy Power, and shall not believe that Thou art also\u00a0God?\u00a0 Lo! thus by these two things I have learnt to confess that Thou art man and likewise\u00a0art God!\u00a0 <strong>For as much as the dead in Hell repent not,<\/strong> go up among the living, O Lord, and\u00a0preach repentance.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>St. Ignatius &#8211; Epistle to the Smyrnaeans<\/strong><\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #000000;\"> Moreover, it is in accordance with reason that we should return to\u00a0soberness [of conduct], and, <strong>while yet we have opportunity, exercise\u00a0repentance towards God. For \u201cin Hades there is no one who can confess\u00a0his sins.\u201d<\/strong> For \u201cbehold the man, and his work is before him.\u201d And [the\u00a0Scripture saith], \u201cMy son, honor thou God and the king.\u201d&#8230;For neither will you commit any\u00a0offense against your fathers, if you now show a desire to betake\u00a0yourselves to that which is quite opposed to their error, since it is likely\u00a0enough that <strong>they themselves are now lamenting in Hades, and repenting\u00a0with a too late repentance;<\/strong> and if it were possible for them to show you\u00a0thence what had befallen them after the termination of this life, ye would\u00a0know from what fearful ills they desired to deliver you&#8230;<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>St. John Chrysostom &#8211; Homilies on Philippians<br \/>\n<\/strong>Let us then not make wailings for the dead simply, but for those who have died in sins.\u00a0They deserve wailing; they deserve beating of the breast and tears. <strong>For tell me what hope is\u00a0there, when our sins accompany us Thither, where there is no putting off sins?<\/strong> As long as\u00a0they were here, perchance there was great expectation that they would change, that they\u00a0would become better; <strong>but when they are gone to Hades, where nought can be gained from\u00a0repentance (for it is written, \u201cIn Sheol who shall give thee thanks?\u201d) (Ps. vi. 5.), are they not\u00a0worthy of our lamentation?<\/strong> Let us wail for those who depart hence in such sort; let us wail,\u00a0I hinder you not&#8230;<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>St. John Chrysostom &#8211; Exhortation to Theodore<\/strong><\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #000000;\"> Let us then turn to Him, my beloved friend, and execute the will of God. For He created us and brought us into being, that He might make us partakers of eternal blessings, <strong>that He might offer us the kingdom of Heaven, not that He might cast us into Hell and deliver us to the fire; for this was made not for us, but for the devil: but for us<\/strong> the kingdom has been destined and made ready of old time. And by way of indicating both these truths He saith to those on the right hand, \u201cCome ye blessed of my Father inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:\u201d but to those on the left <strong>\u201cDepart from me, ye cursed, into fire everlasting prepared\u201d (he no longer says \u201cfor you\u201d but) \u201cfor the devil and his angels.<\/strong>\u201d Thus hell has not been made for us but for him and his angels: but the kingdom has been prepared for us before the foundation of the world. Let us not then make ourselves unworthy of entrance into the bride-chamber: for as long as we are in this world, even if we commit countless sins it is possible to wash them all away by manifesting repentance for our offences: <strong>but when once we have departed to the other world, even if we display the\u00a0most earnest repentance it will be of no avail<\/strong>, not even if we gnash our teeth, beat our breasts,\u00a0and utter innumerable calls for succour, no one with the tip of his finger will apply a drop\u00a0to our burning bodies, but we shall only hear those words which the rich man heard in the\u00a0parable \u201cBetween us and you a great gulf has been fixed.\u201d&#8230;For\u00a0<strong>only when we are in Hades should we abandon the hope derived from repentance:<\/strong> for <strong>there\u00a0only is this remedy weak and unprofitable:<\/strong> but while we are here even if it is applied in old\u00a0age itself it exhibits much strength.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>St. Cyril of Alexandria &#8212; Commentary on Gospel of St. Luke,\u00a0SERMON CIII<br \/>\n<\/strong>For certainly after the resurrection from the dead we\u00a0must stand in Christ\u2019s presence; and there a recompense shall of\u00a0necessity be made to the compassionate and merciful: <strong>but a\u00a0condemnation commensurate with their deeds shall be the lot of\u00a0those who were harsh and without mutual love<\/strong>; for it is written,\u00a0\u201c<strong>that there is judgment without mercy for those who have shewed\u00a0no mercy.\u201d<\/strong> And if so, how is it not the proof and perfection of a\u00a0sound mind, that before we descend to the pit of torment we\u00a0should take forethought for our life? For come, and let us discuss\u00a0this among ourselves. Suppose that for some cause or other\u00a0which the law condemned they had dragged us before the judges,\u00a0and so a sentence such as our offences deserved had been\u00a0passed upon us after our conviction; <strong>should we not with pleasure\u00a0offer up our wealth to escape from all torment and punishment?\u00a0<\/strong>And how can there be any doubt of this? For oneself is better than\u00a0possessions, and life than wealth. Now we are guilty of many sins,\u00a0and must give an account to the Judge of whatsoever we have\u00a0done; <strong>and why then do we not deliver ourselves from judgment\u00a0and the everlasting fire while time permits?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Agpeya &#8211;\u00a0Prayer of the Twelfth Hour<\/strong><\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #000000;\"> Behold, I am about to stand before the just judge\u00a0in fear because of my numerous sins, for the life spent\u00a0in pleasures deserves condemnation. Repent therefore, O my soul so long as you dwell on earth, <strong>for the\u00a0dust in the grave offers no praise<\/strong>, <strong>and amongst the\u00a0dead no one remembers, nor those who are in Hades,\u00a0give thanks.<\/strong> Rise up from your laziness and implore\u00a0the Saviour in repentance, saying; Lord have mercy\u00a0upon me and save me.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>St. John Chrysostom &#8211; Homilies 1 Timothy, Chapter\u00a05:11-15<\/strong><br \/>\nLet us therefore <strong>love God with fear.<\/strong> The law indeed is not made for a righteous man;\u00a0but since the greater part are virtuous from constraint rather than from choice, the principle\u00a0of fear is of great advantage to them in eradicating their desires. Let us therefore listen to\u00a0the threatenings of hell fire, that we may be benefited by the wholesome fear of it. For if\u00a0God, intending to cast sinners into it, had not previously threatened them with it, many\u00a0would have plunged into it. For, if with this terror agitating our souls, some sin as readily\u00a0as if there were no such thing in existence, what enormities should we not have committed,\u00a0if it had not been declared and threatened? <strong>So that, as I have ever said, the threatenings of\u00a0hell show the care of God for us no less than the promises of heaven.<\/strong> For the threat\u00a0cooperates with the promise, and drives men into the kingdom by means of terror. Let us\u00a0not think it a matter of cruelty, but of pity and mercy; of God\u2019s concern and love for us. If\u00a0in the days of Jonah the destruction of Nineveh had not been threatened, that destruction\u00a0had not been averted. Nineveh would not have stood but for the threat, \u201cNineveh shall be\u00a0overthrown.\u201d (Jonah iii. 4.) And if hell had not been threatened, we should all have fallen\u00a0into hell. If the fire had not been denounced, no one would have escaped the fire. <strong>God declares\u00a0that He will do that which He desires not to do, that He may do that which He desires to\u00a0do. He willeth not the death of a sinner, and therefore He threatens the sinner with death,\u00a0that He may not have to inflict death.<\/strong> And not only has He spoken the word, but He has\u00a0exhibited the thing itself, that we may escape it. And lest it should be supposed to be a mere\u00a0threat, He has manifested the reality of it by what He has already done on earth. Dost thou\u00a0not see in the flood a symbol of hell, in that rain of all-destroying water an image of the all-devouring fire? \u201cFor as it was in the days of Noah,\u201d He says, \u201cthey were marrying and\u00a0giving in marriage\u201d (Matt. xxiv. 38.), so is it even now. It was then predicted long before\u00a0it took place, and it is now predicted four hundred years or more beforehand: but no<br \/>\none heeds it. It is looked upon as a mere fable, as a matter of derision; no one fears it, no\u00a0one weeps or beats his breast at the thought of it. The stream of fire is boiling up, the flame\u00a0is kindled, and we are laughing, taking our pleasure, and sinning without fear. No one even\u00a0bears in mind That Day. No one considers that present things are passing away, and that\u00a0they are but temporal, though events are every day crying out and uttering a fearful voice.\u00a0The untimely deaths, the changes that take place in our lives, our own infirmities and diseases,\u00a0fail to instruct us.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>St. Basil &#8211;\u00a0Extract concerning Future Punishment<\/strong><br \/>\n&#8220;When the Lord, therefore, in one place declares that these shall go into everlasting punishment, and in a second sends some away into everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels; and in another place names hell fire, and adds, where their worm dieth not and the fire is not quenched,\u2014since these and such like passages are found in many parts of inspired Scripture, it is one of the devices of Satan that the mass of mankind, as if forgetful of these declarations of our Lord, should prescribe an end to punishment, in order to encourage themselves in sin. For if there shall once be an end of punishment, eternal life also shall clearly have an end. And if we cannot endure to think this of life, on what principles shall we assert that eternal punishment will end&#8221;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>St. Cyril of Alexandria &#8212; Commentary on Gospel of St. John<br \/>\n<\/strong>Not only does He say that they shall die in their sins, but declares clearly that, ascending not to the mansions above, <strong>they will remain outside of the good things of the kingdom<\/strong>&#8230;<strong>Double therefore is the punishment to them who believe not,<\/strong> and not in any single thing their loss. For just as they who have fallen into bodily loss of health must needs suffer and endure the trials of the suffering and besides be deprived of the pleasures of health; so and not otherwise do they who <strong>have departed into Hades, and there undergo punishment proportionate to the sins<\/strong>, both <strong>endure the state of punishment and lose the enjoyment of the hope of the saints<\/strong>&#8230;<\/span> <span style=\"color: #000000;\">Most excellently then does our Lord Jesus Christ say not only that they shall die in their sins, but also that they <strong>shall not mount up to the mansions above<\/strong>&#8230;but to those who have chosen to disbelieve Him, rightly and needs does He say, <strong>Whither I go YE cannot come<\/strong>&#8230;What communion hath light with darkness, as Paul saith?&#8230;<strong>Whither I go, YE cannot come.<\/strong> <strong>Being Very God, I am absent from no one,<\/strong> I fill all things, and being with all, I dwell specially in Heaven, gladly having abode with holy spirits&#8230;<\/span><span style=\"color: #000000;\">But it were not possible that ye being men by nature <strong>should take wing to Heaven and have your abode with the Saviour.<\/strong> Therefore have I Myself come to you, I heard the Saints oftentimes crying aloud, Bow Thy Heavens o Lord and come down; I bowed the Heavens therefore and have come down; <strong>for in no other way could ye look to come hither<\/strong>&#8230;<strong>For I shall go, yea shall <\/strong><\/span><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>return again whither YE cannot come<\/strong>; <strong>even though ye should seek the Giver of salvation by an untimely after counsel, ye shall not find Him:<\/strong> what follows ye may see. For ye shall surely die in your sins, and weighed down by your own transgressions, shall go mourning to the prison-house of death, <strong>there to pay the penalty of your lengthened unbelief.<\/strong> <strong>The Saviour then being good and exceeding loving to man, compels the Jews by fears of future punishment even against their will to be saved.\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>St. Cyril of Alexandria &#8211; Commentary on the Gospel of St. John, Book X<\/strong><br \/>\nFor even if it be the fact that <strong>Christ raises the bodies of all men,<\/strong> <strong>for there will be a resurrection of the evil and the good alike,<\/strong> yet not to all without distinction will a new life of glory and felicity be given. <strong>For it is clear that some only rise again to punishment<\/strong>, and will have a life more grievous than any death, while others spending ages of blessedness, will actually live the desirable and holy life in Christ. <strong>For that they who are doomed to receive the sentence of punishment from Christ on the occasion of the judgment,<\/strong> will abide without a taste of the blessed life, <strong>although they shared with the Saints the lot of resurrection,<\/strong> He makes plain by these words: <strong>He that believeth on the Son hath\u00a0eternal life, but he that obeyeth not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God shall abide on Him.<\/strong> For know that although while all the evil and the good alike await the resurrection, He says that those who are fast bound by the charge of disobedience cannot even attain to a glimpse of the life, as He declares that it is not the mere act of resurrection that is life, but that that life rather consists in rest and glory and felicity, spiritual of course and of no other kind.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>St. Cyril of Alexandria &#8211; Commentary on the Gospel of St. John, Book II, Chapter VIII<\/strong><br \/>\nVerily verily I say unto you, the hour is coming and now is, when the dead shall hear the Voice of the Son of God; the hour again that is, when they that hear shall live. By the words then in the beginning, <strong>He means the time of the resurrection,<\/strong> wherein He teaches through the word of the Judge that they that sleep shall rise again to answer for their life in the world, that as I said before, devising the fear thence arising as a bridle, He might persuade them to live full excellently and wisely: by the closing words He shews that the due time of believing is now come, but also says that everlasting life will be the reward of obedience: all but declaring, Ye shall all come to judgement, sirs, <strong>that is at the time of the Resurrection, but if it seem bitter to you to be punished, and to undergo endless penalties at the hand of the offended Judge<\/strong>, suffer not the time of obedience to pass by, but laying hold of it while yet present, haste ye to attain to everlasting life.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>St. Cyril of Alexandria &#8211; Commentary on the Gospel of St. John, Book IV, Chapter II<\/strong><br \/>\nTo these things we say, Yes, all flesh shall live again: for Prophecy foretells that the dead shall be raised. For we consider that t<strong>he Mystery through the resurrection of Christ extendeth over the whole nature of man,<\/strong> and in Him f<strong>irst we believe that our whole nature has been released from corruption.<\/strong> For all shall rise, after the likeness of Him That was raised for our sakes, and hath all in Himself, in that He is Man. And as in the first-formed we fell down into death, so in the First-born again, who was so for our sakes, <strong>all shall rise again from the dead: but they that did good, unto the resurrection of life (as it is written),<\/strong> and they that wrought evil, unto the resurrection of doom. And I will grant, that in no passing degree bitterer than death <strong>is the resurrection unto punishment<\/strong>, and the receiving life again unto disgrace alone. In the stricter sense then wo must understand the Life that is really so, the life in Christ, in holiness and bliss and unfailing delight. For that this is truly life the wise John too knows, saying, He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life, <strong>and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God shall abide on him.<\/strong> For lo, lo, he says that he which is in unbelief shall not see life: although every creature looks to return again to life, and to rise again. It is then manifest, that the Saviour with reason called that the life which is prepared for the Saints, I mean that in glory and in holiness, which that we ought to pursue after by coming to the participation of the Life-giving Flesh, no right-minded person will doubt.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>St. Cyril of Alexandria &#8211; Commentary on the Gospel of St. Luke, SERMON CIII<br \/>\n<\/strong><strong>For certainly after the resurrection from the dead we\u00a0must stand in Christ\u2019s presence<\/strong>; and there a recompense shall of\u00a0necessity be made to the compassionate and merciful: <strong>but a\u00a0condemnation commensurate with their deeds shall be the lot of\u00a0those who were harsh and without mutual love<\/strong>; for it is written,\u00a0\u201c<strong>that there is judgment without mercy for those who have shewed\u00a0no mercy.\u201d<\/strong> And if so, how is it not the proof and perfection of a\u00a0sound mind, that before we <strong>descend to the pit of torment<\/strong> we\u00a0should take forethought for our life? For come, and let us discuss\u00a0this among ourselves. Suppose that for some cause or other\u00a0which the law condemned they had dragged us before the judges,\u00a0and so a sentence such as our offences deserved had been\u00a0passed upon us after our conviction; <strong>should we not with pleasure\u00a0offer up our wealth to escape from all torment and punishment?\u00a0<\/strong>And how can there be any doubt of this? For oneself is better than\u00a0possessions, and life than wealth. Now we are guilty of many sins,\u00a0and must give an account to the Judge of whatsoever we have\u00a0done; <strong>and why then do we not deliver ourselves from judgment\u00a0and the everlasting fire while time permits?<\/strong> And the way in which\u00a0to deliver ourselves is to live in virtue;\u2014to comfort the brethren\u00a0who are grieved with poverty, and open our hand wide to all who\u00a0are in need, and to sympathize with the sick.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>St. Cyril of Alexandria &#8211; Commentary on the Gospel of St. John, Book , Book II, Chapter VIII<br \/>\n<\/strong>He signifies by <strong>these words the time of the resurrection of all<\/strong>,\u00a0when, as the Divine Paul wrote to us, The Lord Himself shall\u00a0descend from heaven with a summons, with the voice of the\u00a0Archangel, with the trump of God, to judge the world in\u00a0righteousness, and render to every man according to his works.\u00a0For He raiseth by a word and God-befitting\u00a0Operation not only the sick from little diseases, <strong>but those also who\u00a0have been already submerged by death and overcome by\u00a0invincible corruption.<\/strong> And hence introducing the greater, He says,\u00a0The hour is coming in which all that are in their graves shall hear\u00a0His Voice. For He who by a Word brought into being things that\u00a0were not, how should He not be able to win back into being that\u00a0which was already created? For thus each will be the effect of the\u00a0same Operation, and the glorious production of one Authority. And\u00a0profitably does He subjoin that they shall come forth of their\u00a0graves, they that were holden of base deeds and <strong>that lived in\u00a0wickedness to undergo endless punishment<\/strong>, the illustrious in\u00a0virtue to receive the reward of their religiousness, eternal life: at\u00a0once (as we said above) introducing Himself as the Dispenser of\u00a0what belongs to each, in these words of His; a<strong>nd persuading\u00a0them, either from fear of suffering dreadful punishments,<\/strong> to forego\u00a0evil and to hasten to elect to live more soberly, or pricked with\u00a0desire after some sort for eternal life, make more zealous and\u00a0eager haste after good.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>St. Ignatius of Antioch (35\u00a0\u2013 108 AD) &#8211; Epistle to the Ephesians, Chapter 11<\/strong><\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #000000;\">The last times are come upon us. Let us therefore be of a reverent spirit,\u00a0and fear the long-suffering of God, lest we despise the riches of His\u00a0goodness and forbearance. <strong>For let us either fear the wrath to come, or let us\u00a0love the present joy in the life that now is<\/strong>; <strong>and let our present and true joy\u00a0be only this, to be found in Christ Jesus,<\/strong> that we may truly live.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Aphrahat &#8211; Demonstration XXII<\/strong><br \/>\nBut all the rest of the world who are called sinners <strong>shall stand in the judgment and be rebuked<\/strong>. Those in whom there is a little <strong>shortcoming will the judge rebuke<\/strong>, and make known to them that they have offended. And He will give them the inheritance of life after the judgment. And understand that our Lord has made known to us in His Gospel, that every man according to his work shall receive his reward&#8230;The sinners whose sins are many shall be condemned by the place of judgment, and shall go into torments. And from that time and onwards, judgment shall rule over them.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Agpeya (Coptic Orthodox Daily Book of Prayers, Sixth Hour, Absolution)<\/strong><br \/>\nLord grant us an unblemished life of peace and\u00a0goodness to please Your Holy and Glorified Name.<br \/>\nAllow us to stand in front of the <strong>fearful judgement\u00a0seat of Your Only Begotten Son<\/strong>, our Lord Jesus\u00a0Christ. Without <strong>falling into condemnation<\/strong>, so we\u00a0may praise You with all Your saints. Eternal Father,\u00a0we glorify You with Your consubstantial Son, and\u00a0the Holy Spirit, giver of life, now and forever. Amen.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">The wicked will be cut off from the Spirit<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>St. Basil the Great &#8211; On the Holy Spirit,\u00a0Chapter 16, P. 40<br \/>\n<\/strong>Moreover by any one who carefully uses his reason it will be found that even at the moment of the expected appearance of the Lord from heaven the Holy Spirit will not, as some suppose, have no functions to discharge: on the contrary, even in the day of His revelation, in which the blessed and only potentate 1 Timothy 6:15 will judge the world in righteousness, Acts 17:31 the Holy Spirit will be present with Him. For who is so ignorant of the good things prepared by God for them that are worthy, as not to know that the crown of the righteous is the grace of the Spirit, bestowed in more abundant and perfect measure in that day, when spiritual glory shall be distributed to each in proportion as he shall have nobly played the man? For among the glories of the saints are many mansions in the Father&#8217;s house, that is differences of dignities: for as star differs from star in glory, so also is the resurrection of the dead. 1 Corinthians 15:41-42 They, then, that were sealed by the Spirit unto the day of redemption, and preserve pure and undiminished the first fruits which they received of the Spirit, are they that shall hear the words well done thou good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Matthew 25:21 <strong>In like manner they which have grieved the Holy Spirit by the wickedness of their ways, or have not wrought for Him that gave to them, shall be deprived of what they have received, their grace being transferred to others; or, according to one of the evangelists, they shall even be wholly cut asunder<\/strong>, Matthew 24:51 \u2014 <strong>the cutting asunder meaning complete separation from the Spirit.<\/strong> The body is not divided, part being delivered to chastisement, and part let off; for when a whole has sinned it were like the old fables, and unworthy of a righteous judge, for only the half to suffer chastisement. Nor is the soul cut in two\u2014that soul the whole of which possesses the sinful affection throughout, and works the\u00a0wickedness in co-operation with the body. <strong>The cutting asunder, as I have observed, is the separation for aye of the soul from the Spirit.<\/strong> For now, although the Spirit does not suffer admixture with the unworthy, He nevertheless does seem in a manner to be present with them that have once been sealed, awaiting the salvation which follows on their conversion; but then He will be wholly cut off from the soul that has defiled His grace. For this reason In Hell there is none that makes confession; in death none that remembers God, because the assistance of the Spirit is no longer present. How then is it possible to conceive that the judgment is accomplished without the Holy Spirit, wherein the word points out that He is Himself the prize Philippians 3:14 of the righteous\u00a0, when instead of the earnest is given that which is perfect, and the first condemnation of sinners, when they are deprived of that which they seem to have?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<div data-offset-key=\"2itto-0-0\" data-editor=\"sdc4\" data-block=\"true\">\n<p class=\"_1mf _1mj\" data-offset-key=\"2itto-0-0\"><span data-offset-key=\"2itto-0-0\">Contrary to a modern doctrinal deviation which purports to be &#8220;Orthodox&#8221; and asserts that God does not punish in hell and also asserts that the wicked experience the fullness of God&#8217;s love and presence in Hell, St. Cyril explains that the wicked will not participate in the Holy Spirit in hell. They will share nothing with the righteous except the resurrection from the dead:<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"_1mf _1mj\" style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-offset-key=\"6q7ph-0-0\">\n<blockquote><p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>St. Cyril of Alexandria &#8211; Commentary on the Gospel of St. John, Book VI<\/strong><br \/>\nFor the restoration to life is common to both saints and sinners, to both Greeks and Jews, as well as ourselves, for: The dead shall arise, and they that are in the tombs shall awake, and they that are in the earth shall rejoice, according to the sure promise of the Saviour. <strong>But the participation of the Holy Spirit is not thus common to all<\/strong>, being the more than life, as it were something beyond that which is common to all; and will be bestowed only upon those who are justified by faith in Christ: and the Divine Paul also will prove this to us, saying: Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall all sleep, hut we-shall not all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For indeed all shall rise from the dead, because this is granted to all nature, through the grace of the Resurrection; and in One, that is, Christ, Who was the first and foremost to break down the dominion of death and attain eternal life, the common lot of humanity was changed and made incorruptible, <strong>even as also in one, that is, the first Adam, it was condemned to death and corruption.<\/strong><strong>But there will be at that time an important difference among those who are raised, and very widely distinct will be their destiny.<\/strong> For those who have gone to their rest with faith in Christ,\u00a0and who have received the earnest of the Spirit in the appointed time of their bodily life, will obtain the most perfect grace, and will be changed to the glory which shall be given from God. But those who have not believed the Son, and have deemed such an excellent reward of no account, <strong>shall be once more condemned by His voice, and, <span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">sharing with the rest in nothing save in the restoration to life<\/span><\/strong><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">,<\/span><strong>shall pay the penalty of such prolonged unbelief. For they shall depart down into Hades to be punished, and shall feel unavailing remorse.<\/strong> For, saith He, there shall be the weeping and gnashing of teeth.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>&#8220;For such is ever the devil&#8217;s way; he puts forward everything in a wily, and not in a straightforward manner, to put us on our guard. If there is no Judgment, God is not just (I speak as a man): i<span class=\"text_exposed_show\">f God is not just, then there is no God at all: if there is no God, all things go on at haphazard, virtue is nought, vice nought. But he says nothing of this openly. Do you see the drift of this satanical argument? How, instead of men, he wishes to make us brutes, or rather, wild beasts, or rather, demons? Let us then not be persuaded by him. For there is a Judgment, O wretched and miserable man! I know whence you come to use such words. You have committed many sins, you have offended, you have no confidence, you think that the nature of things will even follow your arguments. Meanwhile, says he, I will not torment my soul with the expectation of hell, and, if there be a hell, I will persuade it that there is none; meanwhile I will live here in luxury! Why do you add sin to sin? If when you have sinned you believe that there is a hell, you will depart with the penalty of your sins only to pay; but if you add this further impiety, you will also for your impiety, and for this your thought, suffer the uttermost punishment; and what was a cold and shortlived comfort to you, will be a ground for your being punished forever. You have sinned: be it so: why do you encourage others also to sin, by saying that there is no hell?&#8230;For, if we corrupt others, do we get allowance for our sins? Do you see not the devil, how he attempted to bring down Adam? And has there then been allowance for him? Nay, surely it will be the occasion of a greater punishment, that he may be punished not for his own sins only, but also for those of others. Let us not then suppose that to bring down others into the same destruction with ourselves will make the Judgment-seat more lenient to us. Surely this will make it more severe. Why thrust we ourselves on destruction? The whole of this comes of Satan.&#8221; &#8211; St. John Chrysostom, Homily 2 on Colossians<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>St. Irenaeus, Against Heresies\u00a0<span class=\"skimlinks-unlinked\">III.XXV.iii<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<blockquote><p>For tell me, if thou hast a servant, and he, after suffering much evil at the hands of his fellow-servants, takes no account of any one of the rest, but is only anxious not to provoke his master; is he not able by this alone to do away thine anger? But what, if his offenses against thee are no manner of care to him, while on those against his fellow-servants he is full of thought; wilt thou not lay on him the heavier punishment? So also God doeth: when we neglect His wrath, He brings it upon us more heavily; but when we regard it, more gently. Yea, rather, He lays it on us no more at all. He wills that we should exact vengeance of ourselves for our offences, and thenceforth He doth not exact it Himself. For\u00a0<strong>this is why He at all threatens punishment; that by fear He may destroy contempt<\/strong>; and when the threat alone is sufficient to cause fear in us, He doth not suffer us to undergo the actual trial.<\/p>\n<p><strong><span style=\"color: #000000;\">St. Cyril of Alexandria &#8211; Commentary on Zephaniah, Chapter 2<\/span><\/strong><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #000000;\">So \u201cwhile we have time, we work for the good of all.\u201d As long as the Lord, who as God is longsuffering, allows it, let us practice repentance, offer supplication, tearfully utter the appeal, Do not remember sins of my youth and of my ignorance,\u201d attaching ourselves to him through sanctification and sobriety. <strong>This in fact is the way for us to be sheltered on the day of wrath and wash away the stain of our sins before the Lord\u2019s anger comes upon us;<\/strong> he will come, you see, the judge will come in due course from heaven, and render to everyone according to their work.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>St. John Chrysostom &#8211; Homilies on Paul&#8217;s Epistles to the Romans, Homily III<br \/>\n\u201cFor the wrath of God is revealed from heaven.\u201d<\/strong> And indeed even here this often takes place in famines and pestilences and wars: for each individually and all in common are punished. What will be the new thing then? That the chastisement will be greater, and common to all, and not by the same rules. <strong>For now what takes place is for correction; but then for vengeance.<\/strong>\u00a0And this also St. Paul showed, when he said, \u201cWe are chastened now, that we should not be condemned with the world.\u201d (1 Cor. xi. 32.) And now indeed to many such things usually seem to come not of the wrath from above, but of the malice of man. <strong>But then the punishment from God shall be manifest, when the Judge, sitting upon the fearful tribunal, shall command some to be dragged to the furnaces, and some to the outer darkness<\/strong>, <strong>and some to other inexorable and intolerable punishments.\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>St. John Chrysostom &#8211; Homilies on the Statues to the People of Antioch, Homily V<\/strong><br \/>\nTo die basely, O man, is not to come to one\u2019s end by a violent death, but to die in sin! Hear, at least, the prophet moralising on this very matter, and saying,\u201cThe death of sinners is evil.\u201d He does not say that a violent death is evil; but what then? \u201cThe death of sinners is evil.\u201d And justly so; <strong>for after the departure from this life, there is an intolerable punishment; undying vengeance, the envenomed worm; the fire unquenchable, the outer darkness, the chains indissoluble; the gnashing of teeth, the tribulation, and the anguish, and the eternal justice<\/strong>.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>St. Cyril of Alexandria &#8211; Commentary on the Gospel of St. John, Book IX<\/strong><br \/>\nPaul will make clear where he says: For the Lord Himself shall descend from Heaven, with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: then we that are alive, that are left, shall together with them be caught up in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord; and again, to them that have chosen to mortify worldly passions: For ye died, and your life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ, Who is our life, shall be manifested, then shall ye also with Him be manifested in glory. So&#8212;-for I will sum up the meaning of the Lord&#8217;s saying&#8212;<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><strong>-the lovers of the evil things in the world shall go down to Hades and be banished from the presence of Christ; howbeit there shall be with Him and dwell with Him for ever the lovers of virtue, they who have kept inviolate the earnest of the Spirit, and being with Him of a surety they shall also behold His Divine Beauty without all hindrance.<\/strong> <\/span>For, he says, the Lord shall be thine eternal Light, and God thy glory. And it is also likely that this is what the Lord means to make manifest, when we hear Him saying: <strong>Yet a little while and the world beholdeth Me no more; but ye behold Me; because I live ye shall live also.<\/strong> Howbeit in no wise will He speak falsely in saying that the time intervening, before His Revelation as it were, is a little while. For to God Who always is, even what is a long time with us counts utterly for nothing; and the Psalmist will testify this when he says: For a thousand years in Thy sight, O Lord, are but as yesterday that is past, and a watch in the night.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Related Readings:<br \/>\n<\/strong><a href=\"http:\/\/myagpeya.com\/blog\/teddybear\/\">The Teddy Bear Gospel<\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.orthodoxchristianbooks.com\/articles\/837\/-river-fire-revisited\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">River of Fire Revisited<\/a><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"5LS3wIBgbJ\"><p><a href=\"https:\/\/theorthodoxlife.wordpress.com\/2015\/11\/23\/may-we-hope-for-universal-salvation\/\">May We Hope for Universal&nbsp;Salvation?<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-embedded-content\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" style=\"position: absolute; visibility: hidden;\" title=\"&#8220;May We Hope for Universal&nbsp;Salvation?&#8221; &#8212; The Orthodox Life\" src=\"https:\/\/theorthodoxlife.wordpress.com\/2015\/11\/23\/may-we-hope-for-universal-salvation\/embed\/#?secret=ZqrMG6GIRP#?secret=5LS3wIBgbJ\" data-secret=\"5LS3wIBgbJ\" width=\"600\" height=\"338\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>http:\/\/classicalchristianity.com\/category\/heterodoxy\/apokatastasis\/<\/p>\n<p><script>\n\tvar refTagger = {\n\t\tsettings: {\n\t\t\tbibleVersion: \"NKJV\"\t\t\t\n\t\t}\n\t};\n\t(function(d, t) {\n\t\tvar g = d.createElement(t), s = d.getElementsByTagName(t)[0];\n\t\tg.src = \"\/\/api.reftagger.com\/v2\/RefTagger.js\";\n\t\ts.parentNode.insertBefore(g, s);\n\t}(document, \"script\"));\n<\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This blog post is put together to refute views on hell which maintain that God\u00a0is all-loving and does not punish&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1421,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[33,27,16],"tags":[41,20,34,42,13,21,43],"class_list":["post-425","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-hell","category-patristics","category-salvation","tag-afterlife","tag-hell","tag-hell-and-church-fathers","tag-judgement","tag-penal-substitution","tag-scourge-of-love","tag-wrath-of-god"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/myagpeya.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/425","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/myagpeya.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/myagpeya.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/myagpeya.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/myagpeya.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=425"}],"version-history":[{"count":113,"href":"http:\/\/myagpeya.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/425\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3469,"href":"http:\/\/myagpeya.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/425\/revisions\/3469"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/myagpeya.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1421"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/myagpeya.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=425"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/myagpeya.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=425"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/myagpeya.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=425"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}