What did Christians believe in hell throughout history?
After an introduction to the three main views on hell, here we present here the big names of history and what they defended on the subject (Go to the introduction to see the index)
Erasmus Desiderius (around 1466-1536)
Erasme was a pioneer of biblical, patristic and classical scholasticism in the early 16th century; he referred to the core of the Christian faith as the Christian philosophia (Christian philosophy) and felt that this same Christian philosophy had much in common with ethics. In his colloquium The Religious Banquet, Eusébio’s character praises the statements made on the deathbed by the ancient pagans, considering them as signs that they had lived virtuously and were therefore willing to die, unlike many Christians who trusted superstitious ceremonies.
“Sometimes, ” said Eusébio, “I find statements made or written by the elders, okay?Even for heathen [?] So divine, that I can only convince myself that, when they were written, they were inspired by God, that the spirit of Christ extends beyond what we imagine?and that there are many other saints besides the ones we have listed?, referring specifically to the humility of Socrates’ speech shortly before his death, a speech that was recorded in one of Plato’s dialogues, namely Criton Eusébio made the following comment: “I can barely contain myself reading the writings of these men, and I must exclaim: “St Socrates, pray for us!”
Ulrico Zuonglio (1484-1531)
Zuonglio followed Erasmo in the hope that the virtuous heathen would have been saved. He based his inclusive position on the doctrine of predestination. Faith was the inevitable response of the chosen to the proclamation of the gospel, but newborns and those who had never heard of it the gospel could be saved without faith, simply because they were chosen by God. If they grew up, they would live virtuously, and if they heard the gospel, they would believe, but salvation depended only on God’s sovereign choice.
Martin Luther (1483-1546)
Luther understood hell primarily as a separation from God, a separation resulting from the useless human effort to justify himself by his own works. In his early writings, as in the Roman lectures, Luther argued that Purgatory is not really distinguished from hell, and that a person who is truly in God’s grace will accept this undeniable condemnation as a just punishment for his sins. By then, purgatory will have fulfilled its function and the repentant sinner will experience God’s presence. The effort to escape condemnation (understood as a horrible torment after death) or even purgatory (usually understood in Luther’s day as a state of temporal torment, though equally horrible) is spiritually damaging and will result in a condemnation. It is only by embracing God’s mercy and setting aside the self-adjustment efforts that human beings can escape divine judgment. In lectures on the Romans, Luther also defends Erasmo’s position that righteous pagans could be saved.
Luther later completely rejected purgatory and emphasized the importance of actually listening to the proclaimed Word (unlike Erasmo, Zingling, or Denck); however, he continued to insist on condemnation as a departure from God, the result of his own righteousness and not a state of mind. miserable torment.
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