Hell in the Early Church
That damnable doctrine, ET, ECT, or whatever you may call it, hasn't always been a part of the Christian experience. I know to some that may sound incredible. However, if you have been studying the subject for a while, you will have encountered this fact. Up until about the 5th century, the concept of hell was foreign (literally) to the Christian's way of thinking. It wasn' t until the universal church (Catholic) chose to use Latin as it's "official" language that hell began to creep into the belief system . In large part, we can thank Augustine for doing that. A great blog, "The Beautiful Heresy" has several good articles on this subject should it be of interest to you. Follow the accompanying link and use the search tool on the blog to find more.
posted by Don @ 2:00 PM
3 comments
3 Comments:
"Up until about the 5th century, the concept of hell was foreign (literally) to the Christian's way of thinking. It wasn' t until the universal church (Catholic) chose to use Latin as it's "official" language that hell began to creep into the belief system.".....and it's been hell every since.
But we know that there is no bad news in the good news.
Leave it up to the universal "church" to to screw up universal reconciliation. Mixing religion with the gospel is always a mistake.
Why did your changed view of hell make a difference in your life?
KB- Can't honestly say I have believed in Hell recently. I can remember being frightened as a kid about it. But, as an adult, I'm not sure I ever believed a loving God would send His creation to eternal punishment. It just didn't make sense. My view of God's corrective, refining punishment for people, helped to establish my loving view of God, and certainly improved my relationship with Him. As is usual, my view and my ideas had to change in order for me to move closer to Him. To know that He loves me in spite of myself, and in spite of how I incorrectly perceive Him, is amazing to me. It is perhaps the hardest thing for me to rest in and on....
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