What awaits sinners? Torment of sinners in hell
Hello,
When stories are told about Christians who have been to hell, I wonder to what extent such people can even be called Christians, since they have been to hell? Surely they were living in sin at the time of their “visit to hell,” and therefore, at least at that time, they could not be classified as particularly authoritative persons who could be trusted.
Also remember, not all stories where people saw hell, as well as heaven, are REAL visits to these places where people will stay in eternity. It is quite possible, sometimes it could just be a dream or a vision. Thus, “seeing hell or heaven” is not an actual visit to them, but only the perception of a given image. How true this image is is a question worth paying attention to.
How to figure it out?
Scripture says: “Do not quench the spirit. Do not disparage prophecies. Try everything, hold on to what is good.”(1 Thess. 5:19-21). This means that, on the one hand, one should not immediately disparage everything incomprehensible that was revealed to man in the spiritual world, but on the other hand, one should not be trusting of everything supernatural - one must put everything to the test and hold on to the good.
Can people have false visions or dreams? Certainly. And not because they deliberately want to mislead God's people. Anyone can make mistakes. It may be that some revelations may be true and others may be false.
Our task is to figure out, using Scripture, how true or false a given prophecy, vision or dream is.
If a person tells any details about the spiritual world that do not contradict the Bible, but are not confirmed by it, then we cannot fully know whether it is true or not. Sometimes when faced with such stories, I say to myself: “Well, this is a person’s personal spiritual experience. He has the right to think and believe so, since nothing contradicts the Bible. But I have no obligation to accept this as the final truth, since the basis for my faith is only the Holy Scriptures."
When a vision describing some spiritual reality (in this case, hell) contradicts Scripture, then it should not be perceived. This is a false vision.
Is it possible to say from Scripture that demons in eternity represent the devil’s stokers, or maybe simply the executors of God’s punishment? I'm SURE that's not the case! In this area, the Bible gives clear answers:
The Gospel of Matthew says about " eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels"(Matthew 25:41). The book of Revelation also says: “The devil who deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.”(Rev.20:10).
We clearly see that eternal suffering was originally created not for man (Satan later wanted to drag him along with him), but for the devil. If the enemy of human souls is tormented “day and night forever and ever,” is it really possible to imagine that his henchmen, demons, will escape this fate? Of course not.
So, in this case, we have the opportunity to gain some understanding of this issue in the light of Scripture, and as you noted, it does not support the thesis that demons do not suffer in eternity.
I hope I answered your question!
To roughly imagine what a sinner will feel in hell, let’s say he talks to himself in hell.
Godless, remembering his life, he will say to himself: “I also deliberately suppressed religious beliefs in myself. The truths of faith spoke about themselves to my soul. But I was looking for books and people who would convince me otherwise, i.e. that there is no God and no future life. Now I see that there is a God. I didn’t want to know Him voluntarily, but now I know Him involuntarily. Now by my own deeds I am convinced of the insanity of my previous reasoning, for example, that “the soul means nothing, that man is only matter, or the composition of flesh and blood, which are forever destroyed with his death.” How many others have I infected with my free-thinking and unbelief! How fearlessly he entered the church, which, meanwhile, others entered with reverence! How he despised priests, laughed at every sacred thing, and thus insanely deprived himself of saving grace!” Persistent dissenter will remember to himself: “how many admonitions I have neglected! I didn’t want to believe even the most obvious evidence of Orthodox truth! Even before his death he rejected confession and St. Communion, which my loved ones invited me to accept, but which my “mentors” in the schism rejected me from. I was called to the Church, as to Noah’s Ark, but instead of the legitimate priests, I wanted to listen better to the same ignoramuses, or at least worldly people, like myself. And now I find myself behind the saving ark, drowning in a fiery flood!” The idolater will remember the soulless idols that he worshiped instead of God...
Will remember and money lover about his money and property, which he now also places in his place instead of God, which is why he is called an idolater.
Voluptuary who in this life has fun all his days, feasts brilliantly, looks at this life as only for a period in order to enjoy every possible way, there he will actually feel the power of the sacred text: “flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God” (1 Cor. 15: 50) He will ask himself: “Where are these feasts with music? Where are the everyday evenings for unnecessary relaxation, playing cards, running away from your family? Where are those who visited me in such great contentment that they drenched themselves in wine? Where is feminine beauty?
Persistent proud will remember how much from his pride, which he now shows in various ways: through lust for power, inaccessibility, irritability, ambition, and contemptuous treatment of others, he will remember how much others have suffered from his satanic pride. Nowadays, he doesn’t even want to listen for a minute when someone thinks of awakening his conscience, begins to tell him the truth directly or only in modest terms: he runs away from truthful speech and closes the door behind himself, so that there is no possibility of ever conveying it to him. the truth, to lead him out of error. But there he will be tied hand and foot, there he will inevitably listen to all the accusations from his conscience
Blasphemer will remember how he carelessly and impudently used the name of God in conversations, writing and vain worship; how he even cursed the name of God, remaining, through the long-suffering of God, not struck at that very moment; how wickedly he thought and spoke about the ever-virgin Mary the Mother of God; as he called his “angel” a woman’s face, for whom he had unclean love and with whom he even lived depravedly.
To the Oathbreaker His memory will come to mind of many oaths, which he took without any fear and consciously violated, also his vows before God and the assurances of others of something in the name of God, which he did not even think of fulfilling.
Blasphemer will remember all the cases when he turned church services, holy icons and clergy into jokes and laughter.
Those who did not honor Sundays and holidays will bring to mind how at a time when good Christians hurried to church, they, on the contrary, went to field work, or - even worse - gathered in houses of feasting and debauchery... how on holidays, as if deliberately, they made up singing and cheering, or else everyone would gather in one house (club) for fun; Like all the holidays, we spent only in revelry. These same people will remember how, except for two or three days of fasting, which they performed only according to custom, they never went to church during the whole year; how, getting up in the morning and going to bed in the evening, each time they didn’t even think about praying to the Lord God.
Post violators they will remember the meat and wine with which they satiated their bellies, while others (even those weaker in their strength) remained on dry eating or did not think about food at all (for example, on Great Friday). Blasphemers of the Holy Spirit Those who expressed their blasphemy, for example, by not recognizing holy relics and miracles that may have been performed before their eyes, will be convinced that blasphemy against the Holy Spirit will not be tolerated in the next century.
Unruly children they will remember how, with their rude words, their resistance and depraved lives, they forced their parents to grieve and cry for them. But it will be hard to the parents themselves remember how they clearly seduced their children into a lawless life, how they did not try to raise their children in the fear of God, and thus brought them along with them to this place of torment.
How terrible the memories will be suicides who were free to destroy their souls, easily and autocratically disposed of their lives, but will not be able to stop their torment in hell with a new suicide! With what horror will they remember their crimes and others the killers, especially those who raised their murderous hands against the parents themselves, or shed the blood of a priest, or tortured their own wives and children, as persecutors once did for Christ, or even took the lives of pregnant women and babies!
Terrible will be the memories of haters, molesters, cruel rich people, seducers, in general, all those who killed their neighbor slowly, physically or mentally and morally! The consciousness of these people will bring to light all the tears that the innocent shed as a result of their cruelties. And they will cry the more intensely, the more tears they themselves have been shed by others in this life.
Fornicators and adulterers They will remember in the next world how they laughed at the chastity of others, how from an early age they desecrated themselves with fornication, and how they also seduced many innocents; how they dissolved legitimate marriages with their criminal connections, how they seduced widows; how they had concubines or concubines until old age and even when dying they did not want to end the shameful relationship; how they reached such sins of carnal passion that it’s shameful to even talk about it; They will remember that they did not restrain themselves from their passion even on great bright holidays, on the strictest fasts and fasting days. At the same time, they will be reminded of bad words and their equally bad songs, music and theatrical performances, from which their souls were pampered and their imaginations were inflamed. These people will feel the stench of hellfire all the more.
Robber and thief their robberies and thefts will be remembered, as well as the things themselves that they acquired and used unjustly.
Lazy they will remember their talents, which they buried in the ground: a fiery flame, like some kind of scourge, will sting them for laziness.
To the slanderer One will remember his vain suspicions of others, his gossip, his evil tongue, from which many died, his false denunciations and testimonies, his very evasiveness from defending a right and innocent person, in general, his constant favor only towards untruth and lies.
Envious he will remember how he angrily rejoiced at the failures of his neighbor, how many times he stopped the good undertakings of others out of envy, while he himself, meanwhile, did nothing useful; how one would like to master everything; how my heart broke when I saw the intelligence, merits and successes of another, and how after that I took revenge on this person, without knowing why; how much with his intrigues and envious persecution he took away from others good nights, health and years of life. For this reason, in the next world he will be greatly consumed by his conscience and howl, as it were, like a stupefied dog howls.
Here are examples of how sinners in the future life will remember their past!!!
Fomin. "Afterlife"
Belief in the existence of Heaven and Hell is an integral part of iman.
Every Muslim should believe that in the next world he has two paths - Jannat or Jahannam. In Paradise a person will be expected, and in Hell - punishment and torment.
Punishments of Hell in Islam
1. The lightest punishment
Sinners will face many different types of punishment, which will become real torture for them. Indicative in this regard is the torment that is considered the easiest in Jahannam. One of the hadiths says: “The lightest punishment of hell will be when the feet of a sinner are placed on coals, and their heat begins to boil his brain” (Bukhari). Hence, one should think about what other punishments the inhabitants of Hell will expect if this torment is considered the easiest.
Even the name of the one who will take the easiest degree of Jahannam is known. He will be the uncle of the Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w.) and the father of one of the closest Sahaba - Abu Talib. The fact is that the Messenger of Allah (s.a.w.) was brought up in his uncle’s house from an early age. In addition, Abu Talib was next to Muhammad (s.g.w.) in the most difficult time - the first years of prophecy. Despite the fact that the uncle of the Prophet (s.g.w.) remained a polytheist, he did not turn away from his nephew and patronized him in every possible way. But nevertheless, he remained a pagan until the end of his days, although his nephew persuaded him to pronounce. It is precisely because of his refusal to believe in the One Lord that Abu Talib will end up in Hell, but for his services to the Prophet (s.g.w.) he will be awarded its easiest degree.
2. Punishment by fire
The second punishment for the inhabitants of Hell will be a hot fire that will consume sinners. The torment of such people will be very severe, since the flame of Jahannam is 70 times hotter than earthly fire (Bukhari). But at the same time, they will burn in it and will not die, but will only be subjected to torture until they atone for their sins.
Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w.) said: “In Jahannam there will be those whom the fire will consume up to the ankles, waist or neck” (Muslim).
At the same time, the first to be thrown into the Hellfire will be the hypocrites who in earthly life performed namaz, paid zakat, read the Holy Quran, but did this not for the pleasure of Allah, but for the sake of praise from people, for the sake of ostentatious piety. It is the hypocrites who will find themselves at the worst stage of Jahannam and the most severe torment awaits them.
In addition, three more categories of people will end up in the Hellfire: “the arrogant, the mushrik (those who worshiped anyone other than Allah) and the creators of images” (Bukhari).
3. Chains and shackles
Some of the inhabitants of Gehenna will be chained and shackled. The Holy Quran says about this:
“We have prepared for the disbelievers chains, shackles and fire” (76:4)
4. Stabbing yourself
Special punishment awaits suicides in Hell. The torment of this category of people will be identical to the method of their suicide. The Messenger of Allah (saw) said: “Whoever commits suicide by suffocation will strangle himself in Gehenna, and whoever pierces himself will stab himself in Hell” (Bukhari).
5. Drinking someone else's sweat
Those people who abused alcoholic beverages in earthly life, according to the hadith cited by Muslim, will drink the sweat and secretions of other inhabitants of Gehenna in Hell.
6. Boiling water
The sixth punishment in Jahannam will be a shower under boiling water. The hadith says that the inhabitants of Hell will suffer from boiling water being poured on them, which will corrode their internal organs, and then will come out through their legs, and this circle will be repeated endlessly (Tirmidhi).
7. Crying blood
Also, sinners in Gehenna will weep from their humiliated situation, as stated in the hadith: “The inhabitants of Jahannam will weep so that ships can sail on their tears, and they will weep with their blood” (Hakim, Albani).
8. Food of sinners
In Gehenna, people will eat special foods that will be extremely disgusting to them. One of these dishes will be the Zakkum tree. The Holy Quran says about this plant:
“Zakkum will become the food of the sinner. Like dregs of oil (or molten copper), it will boil in the bellies..." (44:43-45)
Also, sinners will be fed with hellish thorns, which will not give a feeling of fullness, but will only cause torment.
The drink for them will be purulent liquid, as stated in:
“They will give him purulent water to drink. He will drink it in sips, but will barely be able to swallow it..." (14:16-17)
Another drink will be boiling water, which will be so hot that the sinners’ internal organs will rupture.
9. Skinning
The endless flaying of the skin from their bodies will be a severe torment for sinners. The fact is that when all the skin is torn off, a new one will appear in its place, and this will continue indefinitely. In the Holy Qur'an Allah says:
“This is the fire of Hell, tearing the skin from the head...” (70:15-16)
10. Hell snakes
In addition to sinners, animals will also live in Gehenna, which will cause additional torment to the souls of people. Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w.) told the Sahaba: “Truly, there live great snakes in Hell, the pain from whose bite a person will feel for 70 years” (Ahmad, Tabarani).
What sins lead a person to Hell
1) Disbelief (kufr). The most serious sin in Islam is considered unbelief - lack of faith in Allah. Its severity is evidenced by the fact that this is the only sin that the Almighty does not forgive His creatures. In addition, people who find themselves in Gehenna due to unbelief will remain in Hell forever, while others will be able to atone for their guilt. This is confirmed by the verse:
“Sinners will forever be tormented in Gehenna” (43:74)
2) Hypocrisy (nifaq). In this case, we are talking about those people who perform religious practice and, it would seem, should end up in Paradise. But munafiks (hypocrites) perform prayers and give alms not for the pleasure of Allah, but for the sake of positive public opinion. That is, such people strive for praise from others. The Holy Scripture says about the stay of the munafiks in Gehenna:
“The hypocrites will be at the lowest level of Fire” (4:145)
3) Suicide and murder. It is known that the life of every person belongs only to Allah, which means that only He has the right to grant or deprive His slaves of life. If someone commits suicide, it means that he is opposing the will of the Lord of the worlds and is trying to get ahead of Him. At the same time, in Hell, a suicide will torment himself in the way in which he took his own life. If, for example, he threw himself from the roof of a building, then in Gehenna he will constantly be thrown off a cliff and experience torment from this, since it is impossible to die in Jahannam.
The situation is similar with murderers. Committing intentional murder also leads a person to Gehenna.
4) Adultery (zina). One of the most common sins these days is having sex with someone you are not married to. Also, special forms of zina include homosexuality, bestiality, and as prohibited forms of intimacy. The Prophet (s.g.w.) warned: “The faces of those who committed zina will burn” (Bukhari). This hadith confirms that adultery leads to Gehenna.
5) Usury (riba). Many people these days are forced to resort to loans because they do not have enough funds to buy certain things. However, few people think about the harmfulness of this sin, which leads, first of all, to inflation. One of the hadiths says: “The one who lives on money obtained by usury, as well as the one who takes money from usurers... will be cursed on the Day of Judgment” (Nasai, Ibn Hibban).
6) Lies and gossip. Such seemingly easy vices as lies and gossip lead a person to go to Hell. Unfortunately, many people resort to them for their own selfish purposes. Basically, lies are used to elevate oneself and belittle others, which often gives rise to other sinful acts.
One day, one companion of the Prophet (s.g.w.) named Muaz (r.a.) turned to him with a question: “Are we going to be responsible for what we say in earthly life?” To which God's Messenger (s.g.v.) replied: “Will people end up in Gehenna except for their tongues?” (Tirmidhi, Ibn Majah).
But there is an exception to this rule - since it is carried out with good intentions, and therefore is not considered sinful.
7) Witchcraft. The reason a person ends up in Hell can also be witchcraft, which people often resort to to induce damage or a love spell. Muslims should beware of this sin, as God's Prophet (s.a.w.) said: “The Koduns fall into polytheism” (Nasai).
8) Consumption of the forbidden. In this case, we mean eating foods that... Ingestion of forbidden food not only harms the health of the body, but can also lead a person to Gehenna. The Holy Scripture says:
“Eat of the lawful good things We have provided for you...” (2:172)
Hell (underworld, fiery Gehenna, etc.), according to people, is a haven for the souls of sinners and those who led an unrighteous lifestyle during life. There are some differences in the descriptions of hell depending on religion and denominations, mainly they relate to the time of stay of souls in the underworld, the location of the entrance to this terrible place and other points.
However, most religions imagine hell as a burning pit in which sinful souls are tormented in a fire much hotter than on earth, and the terrible inhabitants of hell control and intensify the suffering of their victims. Read more about the differences in ideas about hell in different religions in our article.
Mythological ideas about what happens in hell
Hell in the mythology of the ancient Greeks
Hades
The ancient Greeks did not have the opinion as such that there was a separate place where sinful souls reside after death. There was an underworld ruled by the evil god Hades. Despite the reverential fear that the ancient Elinas felt before him, they considered him a hospitable god, because not a single person, with the exception of god-like heroes like Hercules, could avoid meeting him.
Rivers of Tartara
This underground world, the haven of the dead, was called Tartarus. Judging by the myths that have come down to us, Tartarus was distinguished from the surface by an impenetrable, eerie darkness, since the sun never penetrated into its depths. In all other respects, Tartarus is very similar to the earth: there is both land and rivers. There were only five of the latter: Amelet, Cocytus, Oceanus, Styx and Leta.
Immediately after death, the soul arriving in Tartarus was supposed to drink from the Lethe River and receive oblivion - forget its earthly life (hence the expression “sank into oblivion” - forgotten). After this, the confused and doubting souls waited for the ferryman, who transported them to the other side of the River Styx to the kingdom of Hades.
Charon
Charon is a mythical old man who drove a boat and brought incorporeal people for a fee spirits to the judgment of Hades and other gods. According to the funeral customs of that time, a coin (obol), intended as payment to Charon, was placed under the tongue of the deceased. It transports only those whose remains are buried in the grave, and never transports souls back to the world of the living.
Aida's verdict
On the other side of the River Styx, the soul came to the Judgment, and a decision was made on its further distribution, depending on how it lived its earthly life. For example, the king of Corinth, Sisyphus, was sentenced to eternal labor: he had to roll a heavy stone up a mountain, which always fell down, barely approaching the top.
The reasons for such hard and fruitless work vary greatly: according to some myths, Sisyphus robbed travelers on their way through Corinth; according to others, he tried to cheat death or kidnapped the gods; in a word, the king was punished for deception and cunning. Thus, everyone who got to Tartarus received what they deserved.
These were the ideas of the ancient Greeks about what happens to the soul in hell.
Dante's Literary Hell
The most famous literary representation of fiery hell from a later period is Hell from Dante Alighieri's The Divine Comedy.
9 laps
In this story, the author was allowed to descend into hell, accompanied by his deceased lover Beatrice and the ancient Greek poet Virgil. Hell looks like a giant funnel consisting of 9 turns, in each of which sinners are tormented, depending on the severity of their guilt.
People like Judas, Brutus and others were sent to the lower circle, those who in earthly life had denigrated themselves by betraying those who trusted them. Lucifer himself ate them, causing unprecedented torment and resuming the cruel ritual of reprisal every day.
What do they do with sinners in Muslim hell?
In Islam, hell is called "Jahannam", which means "fire of great power." This should remind Muslims of what awaits them if they do not adhere to the basic principles of the Koran. Angels, the main one of whom is called Malik, preside over the torture of infidels and those who were sinners on earth, did not read prayer and violated the rituals prescribed by religion.
According to these ideas, after the Judgment, Allah resurrects a person in a body, greater than during life, in order to increase the torment he experiences in the fire. The sinner is chained so that he cannot move his arms and legs, while half a meter of chain enters through the mouth and exits from the back. In this form, the Angels lead their victim to the fire, and she feels like a kebab on a spit.
In this case, the resurrected people appear to the person, having gone to heaven, enjoying food, drink and other benefits. The punished person asks for at least part of what they have. But the righteous refuse him, saying: “We received what Allah promised us after death, but did you receive it?” And the sinner has no choice but to answer: “Yes.”
The time a person will suffer in Jahannam depends on the severity of his sins. And only infidels (“kafirs”) and hypocrites will be eternally consigned to fire and will never receive forgiveness.
What happens in Buddhist Hell
Hell among Buddhists is called “Naraka” and consists of 16 circles: 8 cold (where sinners suffer from cold) and 8 hot (where torture is carried out by fire). The method of punishment and the time for which a person is placed in this circle are determined in advance.
For example, the first cold circle “Arbuda-naraka” (hell of blisters) - here people are deprived of clothes and shoes, and from the cold and piercing wind their skin is covered with huge blisters. The time spent in this hell is equal to the time it would take to empty a barrel of sesame seeds, if you take one grain every 100 years.
But the lower cold circle “Mahapadma-naraka” (great lotus hell) is so cold that the skin and internal organs of a person crack from the frost, and a sinner will stay here for 8 * 10 10 years.
In the most terrible “hot” circle, called “endless hell,” there are people who were given power and recognition at birth, but they did not encourage people to do good and benefactors, but preached greed and cruelty. Here sinners will suffer in terrible flames forever, until the end of time.
Most worldviews have their own ideas about the location of Hell; read about this in detail in the article.
It should be noted: whatever the ideas about what happens in hell, all these punishments imply punishment for people leading an illegal lifestyle on earth, and in order to avoid them, it is enough to observe the most important commandments and canons of virtue.
There are more or less serious sins. Are the punishments for them in hell also different? Of course, the punishments are different. But know that the weakest torment in hell is equal in strength to the strongest torment on earth. The weakest joy in heaven is similar to the strongest earthly joy. Depending on how a person spends his life, he sinks to the bottom of hell according to the strength of the sins he has committed. Take, for example, Khrushchev, the “miracle worker.” He closed about 10,000 churches, many monasteries; What do you think - he doesn’t suffer there? He will face eternal terrible torment there - if he does not repent before death.
How many other such rulers were there? They raised their hands against God, against the House of God, against the monasteries. How many people were tortured on their orders! People did not suffer in vain, they are martyrs before God, but these rulers will receive a good punishment. Take Nero: he set fire to a Christian city in the 1st century, there was a huge fire, and he stood on the balcony and enjoyed it. He opened the most severe persecution against all Christians. Diocletian, Julian, Nero - there were many of them; Of course, they all got a place in hell because of their deeds. It was not God who punished them, they punished themselves.
The man was baptized as an adult. Continuing his sinful life, he became an apostate from Christ. What awaits the soul of such a person? Wouldn't it have been better for him not to be baptized at all than not to justify the mercy of God?
The Monk Macarius the Great was walking through the desert one day and came across a human skull. He was a special person before God, had the grace of the Holy Spirit, and much was revealed to him from God. He, being in special grace, hit the skull with his staff and asked:
Tell me, who are you and where are you?
“I am an idol priest,” he answered. - I'm in hell.
“Do you find any joy,” asked the Reverend.
There is joy when Christians in the Orthodox Church commemorate their dead on Saturdays and Sundays. There is light then in the upper layers of hell, and part of it penetrates to us. Then we see each other. This brings us great joy.
The monk also asked:
And below you - the idol priests - is there anyone?
Orthodox Christians who were baptized, but did not go to Church, did not wear crosses, did not repent of their sins, did not confess, lived unmarried, did not receive communion and died without repentance. They are even lower than those pagans who did not know the True God.
What awaits those people who blaspheme God, who once destroyed churches, removed crosses and bells from churches, burned icons and holy books?
There were times when all this was done en masse. Some feared God, but there were “brave” ones who did it all. But often they fell from a temple or from a bell tower and were killed. In fact, such people often do not live to see their death. There was such a case in the Caucasus Mountains. One monk from the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra - Hierodeacon Isaac - suffered 92 years from bandits. Monks lived in the mountains and there was a church. He himself was blind. The brothers went to Sukhumi for worship on a big holiday. He was left alone. Three Muslim Abkhazians came and said:
Give me everything valuable you have. “They started asking him for gold and money.
He says:
I am a hermit. I don't have any of this. Seek what you find - yours.
We will kill you. Killing a monk is like killing a fly!
They took a towel, tied it around his neck, took him to a cliff and threw him into the abyss. He fell to his death.
Now one old archimandrite lives in the Pochaev Lavra. His cell was then built just below Fr. Isaacia. He heard everything they said and saw everything that the robbers did, but he could not help - the mountains got in the way. Then he went down into the abyss - Isaac was already dead.
So the fate of these killers is interesting. They all died within a year: one was driving a car and crashed - he fell into an abyss, another was crushed by a tractor, the third was killed.
If the Lord does not punish in this life those people who go against Him, against the servants of God, then they will face severe punishment on the day of the Last Judgment. Everyone should know that they will get what they deserve. The Lord loves everyone. The Lord is waiting for everyone. He is waiting for a person to repent. But when there is no longer a feeling of repentance in a person, when the one who is strangling has completely become coarse, then there is a sudden death. Demons take this soul and drag it straight to hell. Sometimes such people commit suicide.
What do those who have been to the next world say about hell? What is he like?
Television rarely shows anything soulful or edifying. But then somehow an interesting program was broadcast on the Moskovia channel. One woman, Valentina Romanova, told how she was in the afterlife. She was an unbeliever, was in a car accident, died and saw her soul separated from her body. In the program, she described in detail what happened to her after her death.
At first she did not realize that she had died. She saw everything, heard everything, understood everything and even wanted to tell the doctors that she was alive. She screamed: “I’m alive!” But no one heard her voice. She grabbed the doctors by the hands, but nothing worked for her. I saw a piece of paper and a pen on the table and decided to write a note, but I couldn’t pick up the pen.
And at that time she was pulled into a tunnel, a funnel. She came out of the tunnel and saw a dark man next to her. At first she was very glad that she was not alone, turned to him and said: “Man, tell me, where am I?”
He was tall and stood on her left side. When he turned, she looked into his eyes and realized that no good could be expected from this man. She was overcome with fear and ran. When she met a luminous young man who protected her from a terrible man, she calmed down.
And then the places that we call hellish were revealed to her. The cliff is a terrible height, very deep, and below there are many people - both men and women. They were of different nationalities, different skin colors. An unbearable stench emanated from this pit. And there was a voice to her that said that here were those who during their lifetime committed the terrible sins of Sodom, unnatural, prodigal.
Elsewhere she saw a lot of women and thought:
These are child killers, those who had abortions and did not repent.
Then Valentina realized that she would have to answer for what she had done in her life. Here she first heard the word "vices". I didn’t know what this word was before. Only gradually did I understand why hellish torment is terrible, what sin is, what vice is.
Then I saw a volcanic eruption. A huge fiery river flowed, and human heads floated in it. They plunged into the lava and then emerged. And the same voice explained that in this fiery lava there are the souls of psychics, those who practiced fortune telling, witchcraft, and love spells. Valentina got scared and thought: “What if they leave me here too?” She had no such sin, but she understood that she could have stayed in any of these places forever, since she was an unrepentant sinner.
And then I saw a staircase that led to heaven. A lot of people were climbing up these stairs. She also began to rise. A woman walked ahead of her. She was exhausted and began to feel exhausted. And Valentina realized that if she didn’t help her, she would fall down. Apparently, she is a merciful person and began to help this woman. So they found themselves in a bright space. She couldn't describe him. She spoke only about the amazing fragrance and joy. When Valentina experienced spiritual joy, she returned to her body. She found herself in a hospital bed, standing in front of her was the man who knocked her down. His last name is Ivanov. He told her:
Don't die anymore! I will compensate for all losses on your car (she was very worried because the car was broken), just don’t die!
She was in the other world for three and a half hours. Medicine calls this clinical death, but allows a person to be in this state for no more than six minutes. After this period, irreversible changes in the brain and tissues begin. And even if a person is later revived, he turns out to be mentally disabled. The Lord once again showed the miracle of resurrecting the dead. He brought a person back to life and gave him new knowledge about the spiritual world.
I also knew such a case - with Claudia Ustyuzhanina. This was in the sixties. When I was returning from the army, I stopped by Barnaul. One woman came up to me in the temple. She saw that I was praying and said:
There is a miracle in our city. The woman lay in the morgue for several days and came back to life. Would you like to see her?
And so I went. I saw a huge house, a high fence there. Everyone had such fences. The shutters in the house are closed. We knocked and a woman came out. They said we came from church, and she accepted. There was another boy at home, about six years old, Andrei, now he is a priest. I don't know if he remembers me, but I remember him well.
I spent the night with them. Claudia showed certificates of her death. She even showed the scars on her body. It is known that She had stage 4 cancer and died during surgery. She told a lot of interesting things.
And then I entered the seminary. I knew that Claudia was being persecuted; the newspapers would not leave her alone. Her house was constantly under control: nearby, two or three houses away, there was a two-story police building. I spoke with some fathers at the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, and they called her. She sold her house in Barnaul and bought a house in Strunino. The son has grown up and now serves in the city of Alexandrov.
When I was in the Pochaev Lavra, I heard that she had passed into the other world.
Where is hell?
There are two opinions. Saints Basil the Great and Athanasius the Great imagine that hell is inside the earth, because in the Holy Scriptures the Lord, through the mouth of the prophet Ezekiel, says: “I will bring you down /.../ and place you in the depths of the earth” (Ezek. 26:20). The same opinion is confirmed by the canon of Matins on Great Saturday: “Thou hast descended into the lower earth,” “thou hast descended into the nether regions of the earth.”
But other teachers of the Church, for example, St. John Chrysostom, believe that hell is outside the world: “Just as royal dungeons and mines are far away, so Gehenna will be somewhere outside this universe. But why are you asking where and in what place it will be? she? What do you care about that? You need to know that she exists, and not where and in what place she is hiding." And our Christian task is to avoid hell: loving God and neighbors, humbling and repenting, and pass on to that world.
There are many mysterious things on earth. When Archdeacon Stephen was stoned, a temple was built for him in this place, at the gate to Jerusalem. In our time, archaeologists came there from Belarus and Ukraine, opened the entrance under the temple that leads under the city, brought in equipment and suddenly saw black birds in huge underground caves, with wingspans of more than two meters. The birds rushed at the archaeologists and drove them
such fear that they left the equipment, drove an excavator and blocked the entrance with stones and sand, refusing further research...
How many people go to the Kingdom of God, and how many go to hell?
One priest was asked this question. He smiled:
You know, dear! When I climb up to ring the bell tower before the Divine Liturgy, I see: people from nearby villages are walking along the paths to the church. A grandmother with a stick, a grandfather mincing with his granddaughter, young people walking... By the end of the service, the entire temple is filled. This is how people go to the abodes of Paradise - one at a time. And to hell... The service is over. I go back to the bell tower and see: people are all coming out of the church gates together. They can’t get through right away, but they’re still hurrying them from behind: “Why are you standing there! Get out quickly!”
The Holy Scripture says: “Enter at the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and many go in through it” (Matthew 7:13). It is very difficult for a sinful person to renounce his vices and passions, but nothing unclean will enter the Kingdom of God. Only souls purified in repentance enter there.
The Lord gave all the days of our life to prepare for eternity - we will all have to go there someday. Those who have the opportunity should constantly go to church - both in the morning and in the evening. Death will come, and we will not be ashamed to appear before the inhabitants of heaven, before God. The good deeds of an Orthodox Christian will intercede for him.
About faith and salvation. Archimandrite Ambrose (Yurasov)
- Drying organic liquids Wine spirit and its relatives
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- Questions for subject and object Basic geometric shapes