Waiting for sinners in hell. Are the devils in Hell doing God's will by torturing sinners? B. The image of hell and the future torment of the sinner in it

Without attaching importance to the exact teachings of the first glance at hellish torments, leaving it in a series of private opinions, the Church all the more cannot accept the latter as translating the rough concepts of the present life into the future renewed life, hiding from our eyes the high image of the loving Christian God. Crude concepts of hellish torments may be appropriate for religions that are a product of the human mind, and for people who think in the spirit of the doctrine of hell, which, according to the Koran, is: “What a terrible dwelling (gehenna)! When sinners are thrown (there), they will hear her roaring, and the fire will burn with power. Hell almost bursts with rage. - "The skin of those who are tormented will be consumed by fire, but we will clothe them with another to make them experience punishment." “We will make him (the sinner) roast on the fire of sakara (hell fire). It burns the human body. He leaves nothing without destroying it, leaves nothing whole, does not allow anything to hide. – “He who is condemned to dwelling in fire, having his body covered with layers of fire from above, will be drunk with boiling pitch, which will rip out his insides; it will be covered with stinking water.” “The wicked will still be fed with the Tzakkum tree. This tree grows from the depths of hell; its peaks are like demonic heads. The outcasts will feed on it and fill their stomachs.” “Moreover, we will see them burdened hand and foot with chains. Their tunics will be of resin, the fire will cover their faces, because God distributes each soul according to its deeds. These literal extracts from the Qur'an leave no doubt that Mohammedanism understands hellish torments in a grossly sensuous sense.

If, however, neither of the two cited views on hellish torment can be accepted as the exact teaching of the Orthodox faith, and the church considered it better to leave the question of hellfire without a definite answer, which, according to Blessed Augustine, is known only to the Spirit of God and to the one to whom deigns to reveal this Spirit, then should we not, in view of the silence of the Church and the remark of her blessed teacher, refuse to understand a subject that is rather difficult to understand? It would be, if the Spirit of God himself did not lift the veil that covers the future from our eyes. Let us look behind this veil, how much it is lifted by the Spirit of God to those who believe in Christ and who listen with reverence to his Divine word, to the teaching of the Church and to the book of nature. What do we read in these broadcasting organs of the Spirit of God?

The Word of God, speaking of the fire of Gehenna, assigns to it strange, apparently, properties. It firstly calls it "unquenchable fire"(; ); secondly, with fire that scorches its unfortunate victims and never burns them (.); thirdly, by fire, in which there will be not a ray of light, which will be impenetrable darkness (etc.). On these wonderful properties of hellfire, as properties that deserve special attention, reflecting on it, many fathers and teachers of the church stopped, for example: Gregory of Nyssa, John Chrysostom, Augustine, Tertullian, Minucius Felix, Lactantius, Basil the Great and others. says: “The fire there will be an unlighted fire, which in darkness contains a burning force, but is devoid of luminosity”, in which, according to Ephraim the Syrian, “there is not a ray of light”, which is not at all like a real one: “this one that captures, burns and will change to another, and the one whom he embraces once will always burn and never stop, which is why he is called inextinguishable, ”says St. Chrysostom. Lactantius writes: “This (hellish) fire will be very different from the fire we use. Our fire is extinguished as soon as there is not enough fuel to support it; but the fire that God will kindle for the execution of the wicked will be a fire that needs no fuel; it will be without smoke, it will be pure and liquid like water, it will not rise up like our fire, which the earthy parts and coarse vapors force to rise towards the sky in uneven and discordant waves. This fire will have power together and burn the wicked and keep them; for, serving his own food, he will be likened to the fabulous vulture that gnaws at Titius without killing him, as the poets narrate. He will burn and torment bodies without destroying them. “Those whose virtue is perfect will not touch this fire in the slightest, because they will have a power in themselves that removes them from it. To this fire God grants the power to torment the criminals, but to spare the blameless.” And it is impossible for a thinking soul not to stop paying attention to the properties of hellfire! In nature, as we know it, we know a quenching fire, a fire that destroys things that are exposed to it, a fire that is usually accompanied by a flame. The difference is obviously huge. How to understand the wonderful properties of hellfire, and what is the concept of it?

We think to see the key to resolving this issue in the words of Jesus Christ himself, borrowed from his parable "About the rich man and Lazarus." In this parable, known to every Christian who is attentive to the word of God, it is said that the rich man, being in hell, in torments, saw Abraham far away from him and Lazarus in his bosom, crying out, he said: “... Father Abraham! have mercy on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am tormented in this flame. But Abraham said: child! remember that you have already received your good in your life, and Lazarus - evil; but now he is comforted here, while you suffer…”(). From these words of the parable, it is first of all clear that the torment of the rich man in the fire of Gehenna consists in the closest internal connection with his earthly life: “Remember that thou hast perceived the good in thy belly”, Abraham tells him; instead of what "now you suffer". - What is this good thing that the rich man perceived in his stomach? During his earthly life, as it is said at the beginning of the parable, the rich feasted brilliantly every day: "every day feasted brilliantly"(). After this kind of earthly life, what kind of torment befell the rich man? His larynx is scorched by an unbearably burning fire; for her, the unfortunate sufferer asks for cooling from Abraham. What he sinned during his earthly life, then he is scorched by hellish fire; the sufferer was a voluptuary, and the organ of voluptuousness, the tongue, suffers from him; the sufferer loved on earth an artificial, exquisite way of satisfying his taste - in hell he sees the only means to cool this sense organ in the most natural object of quenching thirst, in water; He says: "Father Abraham! have mercy on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am tormented in this flame.”. For the fire of hell to scorch the whole body of the sufferer, this is not visible from the parable.

What concept of hellish fire, which has to scorch unrepentant sinners, follows from the parable of Christ the Savior? The tributary sufferer burns in the fire of his earthly passion; the fire receives its nourishment in the artificiality, refinement, abnormality of the use of the sinful organ; the source of cooling for him is seen in the simplest, most natural object, appointed to satisfy the scorched part of the body; in a word - "they are the sufferer they sin, they are tormented by them "(). From this it so naturally follows that every unrepentant sinner will be scorched in hell by the fire of his passion, scorched to the extent that the organs of passion deviated from their natural use to the unnatural, from the simple to the artificial, from the normal to the abnormal, from the legal to the illegal; this abnormality, this illegitimacy will be the source of hellish fire, which could be extinguished only by what constituted a simple, artless, normal, legal way to satisfy sinning organs, but too late. Each one of those who go to Gehenna will cry out like a tributary sufferer: "I suffer in this flame", in the flame of my earthly passionate inclination. This source will also contain a variety of hellfire for various kinds of sinners, about which St. Ephraim the Syrian says: “Otherwise, an adulterer is tormented, otherwise a murderer, otherwise a thief and a drunkard, etc. .

In order for the conclusion we have drawn from the parable of the Savior to gain strength, and the concept of hellfire to be more definite and clear, let us turn to the book of nature for an explanation of the subject that occupies us and read from it what is necessary for us with the help of science. This essential will refer to the most detailed consideration of the structure of our body, insofar as it matters in our moral life. What do we draw from this source?

a) “Throughout our body, wherever there are signs of sensation and movement, a network of nerves spreads, originating in the centers of the nervous system - the brain and spinal cord, located in bone stores.”

b) “Nerve threads in themselves do not possess the power to be excited and act, nor the ability to feel, think and want, but through them and not otherwise, the soul controls all vital functions, they are nothing more than unconscious conductors of excitation that are produced by the soul, or received by it from the outside world. When an impulse of some kind of passion excites the soul of a person, then its excited state is communicated by the nervous system, as if by telegraph wires, to all members of the human body.

c) “The nerve, excited by the soul to a certain activity, from the frequent repetition of the same actions, not only performs these actions more easily, but can receive and often receives a physical inclination for them, makes this inclination feel to the soul, which feels the nervous organism with its features and those physical inclinations that were established in him from the frequent repetition of this or that activity. Thus, at first we need to use a considerable effort of consciousness and will in order to give this or that direction to this or that activity of our nerves, and then we are forced to use the same effort of consciousness and will in order to counteract the inclination of the nerves, which we ourselves are in them. rooted: first we lead our nerves where we want, and then they lead us where, perhaps, we do not want to go at all. “It is true that consciousness and will always remain with us, and no matter how strong the attraction of the nervous organism in any direction, we can always counteract it, but the point is that, while our consciousness and will act almost instantly, in fits and starts. , the nervous organism, with its inclinations and habits, affects us constantly. As soon as our will weakens for a moment, or our consciousness is occupied with another subject, so the nerves begin to push us to the course of action to which they are accustomed, and “we,” in Reed’s expression, “were carried away by habit, like a stream, when we swim, not resisting the flow." Only intense attention to oneself and time can change the mood of the nervous organism.

d) “Experiments show that one and the same nerve can give rise to only one kind of sensation, although in varying degrees. For example, we get noticeably tired of vividly imagining, i.e., expressing in nervous movements, any one picture, so that this picture, despite all the efforts of our will, begins to pale more and more, while at the same time time we can vividly imagine a different picture. But some time will pass, and we can imagine the former with the same vivacity.

e) From this explanation of the ability of a certain kind of nerves to produce only a certain work, a new position is explained: “the nerves get tired of activity, but, having rested, continue their work again.” About this property of the nerves, we note the following: “The correct change from fatigue to rest constitutes the normal activity of the nerves and makes the whole being of a person feel good. But when the nerves are withdrawn from their normal activity, they seem to stop getting tired, continue to work with extraordinary energy, and often torment us with their uninvited activity. Abnormal activity of irritated nerves, repeated often and lasting for a long time, exhausts the strength of the body - this is a well-known fact.

f) If the abnormal activity of the nervous system always has a painful effect, then we cannot but see from experience that such morbidity manifests itself with greater force in abnormal irritation of the nerves by people's illegal, immoral actions. Let us take for example debauchery: to what extent does it bring those who indulge in it? With the continued satisfaction of passion, i.e., when extinguishing a fire with oil, the victims of debauchery do not always notice the danger of their position. However, even in this case it sometimes comes to such an unnatural mood of the nervous organism, in which the victims of passion are furies that go beyond the boundaries of any decency. Who hasn't heard of debauchery - Messalina, Poppea, Lucrezia Borgio and many others? And what if they had taken it into their heads to refrain from their passionate deeds? Oh, then they would have experienced what Mary of Egypt experienced, with all conscientiousness confessing the sinful deeds of her life, shortly before her death. She says: “I spent 17 years in this desert, as if fighting with fierce animals with my thoughts ... When I started to eat food, the thought immediately came about meat and fish, which I got used to in Egypt. I also wanted wine, because I drank a lot of it when I was in the world. Here, having often no simple water and food, I suffered fiercely from thirst and hunger. I also suffered more severe disasters: I was seized by the desire for fornication songs, they seemed to be heard to me, confusing my heart and hearing. At the same time, "A passionate fire flared up inside my heart and scorched me all over, arousing lust." Ithaco passed away for seventy years, suffering innumerable calamities. Of these words of the Monk Mary, it is important for us to recognize her that she was unbearably scorched by the fire of habitual passions, with the cessation of satisfying them. These words of recognition enable us to understand that all the furies of voluptuousness are furies because they burn in the fire of their passion, kindled by themselves and supported by the unceasing satisfaction of passionate demands. Yes, almost anyone who was ever under the influence of a strongly excited carnal passion also experienced inner burning. Let us also listen to the statement of bitter drunkards when they are denied a glass of vodka for a hangover. By their own admission, these unfortunates, they are burned internally by the fire that scorches them. This is the confession of the drunkards of St. Basil the Great expresses it this way: “In the wombs of those who drink wine immeasurably, a flame burns that they are not able to extinguish. “For such people the prophet Isaiah sheds tears, saying: “Woe to those who from early morning look for strong drinks and until late in the evening heat themselves up with wine” ()" .

What is said about some passions, the same happens with all with the onset of the impossibility of satisfying them; that the highest degree of abnormal irritation of the nerves affects so clearly, the same happens in the lower degrees, only to a lesser extent. St. Basil the Great says: “Those who live passionately have their own fire of passions, just as the rich man had within himself a reason that burned him with thirst.” Or: “We prepare ourselves to become fit for burning, and like sparks of fire, we stir up spiritual passions in ourselves to ignite the flame of Gehenna, like a rich man scorched by thirst in the flame.” Or again: “Sweet for you in the present will have a bitter end; this tickling, now taking place in our body from pleasure, will give rise to a poisonous worm that will endlessly torment us in hell, and this irritation of the flesh will be the mother of eternal fire.

g) What can be said about this fire that burns people, bringing their nervous organism into abnormal, passionate irritation: is this fire a metaphorical expression of the painful, tormenting state of the organism under the influence of passion, or is it real fire? We have to put aside any thought of metaphor, say: yes, this is real fire, and not fire, in a figurative sense. Let's explain. We said that tired nerves, after rest, are again capable of activity. What is done with them during the holidays? What is the essence of rest? During it, new materials from the nutritional process enter the nerves, instead of those used up, materials replenishing the loss and, as a result, renewing the strength and strength of the tired organism.

What is this consumable material replenished from the nutritional process? This is electricity, the presence of currents of which in the nerves has been positively proved by Dubois - a monomial and accepted by science as a fact that is no longer subject to doubt. During normal activity of the nerves, during rest, they receive as much new material as is necessary to continue such activity. But if a certain section of the nerves is abnormally irritated, if, therefore, the amount of electricity flowing from the nutritive process cannot correspond to the strength and tension of the excited nerves, then this deficiency is replenished from the available means of the organism in this way: science, on the basis of experience, accepts solidarity between all physical forces, through which one of them can pass into another: movement into heat, heat into movement, both into electricity, electricity into magnetism, etc. They are electricity and other forces required for other functions of the body, as a result of which, as mentioned above, there is an exhaustion of the body during the normal activity of the nerves of one or another department.

Having considered everything that has been said about the nervous organism and knowing that people will be resurrected in the same body in which they now live on earth, in the same body, although it will appear after the resurrection in a renewed form, with the same normality or abnormality of the functions that has been developed in it a soul on earth and which, therefore, will turn out to be akin to it after the resurrection - having considered all this, we believe that the future hellish fire will not be metaphorically understood, but a real, material fire, only a fire that does not scorch the sinner from the outside, but burns him from within, the very one that forms the basis of the vital activity of the nervous organism, electric fire. In case of excessive abnormally irritated activity of the nerves that served this or that sinful inclination, the amount of this fire will appear in them incomparably more than it should for the normal state of the organism, it will appear on the basis of the transition of forces from one into another, due to their solidarity. An increase in the amount of fire in sinfully tuned nerves will cause a person to burn precisely in the fire of his passion, to burn the stronger, the more significant the abnormal irritation of the nerves, the more abundant, therefore, there will be a transition of the forces of the suffering organism, due to their solidarity, into the electricity of abnormally irritated nerves. . This fire will burn a sinner, but will not burn it, because it (fire) is the very basis of the vital activity of the nervous organism, it will burn and will never go out, it will burn, but will not shine, then it will rather fog the consciousness of a person, due to its inexpressibly painful burningness. . In order to burn a person in this fire, neither flaming bonfires, nor servants who kindle bonfires and maintain the strength of the flame by adding new combustible material instead of the spent one, nor boiling cauldrons with tar, nor any other instruments of execution of sinners are needed. With this fire, wherever an unrepentant sinner is placed to live, he will be tormented everywhere, even if he is placed in paradise, according to the beautiful expression of the late Most Reverend Innocent.

At present, the excess amount of fire in the abnormally excited nerves is reduced through various kinds of organic secretions, the result of which is fatigue of the nerves, and not burning them with fire attracted in excess - although even now, as was said above, as if in an indication of future fire, there are cases burning in the fire of passion. The present discharges of an abnormally excited fire, bearing the seal of moral damage, form a morally corrupted atmosphere, corrupting the world and preparing material for the fire, which has to transform and renew the universe. But when the world is transformed and renewed, when, according to the scripture, nothing filthy and impure can enter (), it cannot, otherwise the harmony of nature would be violated again and would not correspond to the blissful state of the righteous, then the discharge of an abnormally excited and excessive there will be no accumulated inner fire of sinners, therefore, there will be no fatigue of the nerves, then the inner fire will remain hopelessly in its inner hearth and will constitute unrelenting, unceasing, eternal torment for the one who gathered it, always equal to itself.

This fire, as the fruit of a disturbed balance of forces, attracted in excess to abnormally tuned nerves, to the detriment of others, will naturally and necessarily produce physical disgrace in the body, which will increase due to the painful upheavals of the internally burning sufferer. We can give an explanation from the phenomena of present life, from the words of St. Basil the Great. This holy father, depicting the state of an angry person at the highest degree of irritation, says: “For those who desire revenge, the blood boils in the heart, as from fire, agitated and noisy; going out, in a different form of an angry one, he will show: the eyes of those who are angry are peculiar and ordinary and are not known; the gaze is fierce and fiery; they sharpen their teeth like pigs in a rage; the face is blue and bloody, the voice is cruel and tense beyond measure, the words are unclear, reckless, not detailed, lower decently and blessedly pronounced. When, incurably, like a flame from a lot of oppression, a person is kindled, then it is prayed to see an even greater disgrace, which cannot be explained in words or deeds. If, however, a person is so severely disfigured by the internally acting fire of passion now that the balance of forces can be restored again, then what will happen with the termination of this possibility? It is natural to conclude that the degree of ugliness will then be revealed to an incomparably greater extent.

An explanation that the hellish fire will remain hopelessly inside the sufferer, and due to its hopelessness - without the possibility of cooling the hellish burning, is prayed to be found in the following church narrative. From this narrative, we see that the sores that torment the sinner in hell are hidden from everything around - which is expressed by the clothes that cover them - and if they become noticeable to the one who received the revelation of the mystery of the afterlife, then only by the special dispensation of God, to admonish those who are neglectful of his salvation. This story is narrated as follows: “Two friends entered the temple of God, and just fell on the touching word of the preacher, strong in truths and sweetness of speech, which proved the saving power of self-denial and all the danger of worldly vanity. One of them was so touched by the power of this word that his heart could not bear the reproaches of a shocked conscience and the warmth of tender feelings: he wept bitterly about his position and, in these burning tears of a penitent soul, made a promise to the Lord - to stop loving everything and become a monk; on the contrary, the other was in a completely different disposition. Instead of being convinced of the justice of the word of God and, with sincerity of repentance, deciding to correct his corrupt heart, he hardened and cruelly mocked the gospel truths. These friends in the church still parted from each other in spirit, and upon leaving it, and in body: one, indeed, gave away all his possessions to the poor brethren and became a monk, while the other lived luxuriously and in the exact fulfillment of the whims of the heart, like a gospel rich man, and " feasted splendidly every day.”

It happened that a monk outlived a layman, and when the latter died, his friend wished to know the position of his afterlife, and in this desire he sincerely and with faith prayed to the Lord God, leaving his holy will to fulfill his childish prayer. God heard him, and a few days later his dead friend appeared to him in a dream. “What, brother, how do you feel, is it good?” asked the monk, delighted with the vision. “Do you want to know this? the dead man answered with a groan. “Woe to me, poor man! The unsleeping worm sharpens me and does not give me rest through the whole eternity "-" What kind of torment is this? the monk continued to ask. “This torment is unbearable, but there is nothing to be done: there is no way to escape the wrath of God. I have now been given freedom for the sake of your prayers and, if you wish, I will show you my torment, but do you absolutely want to see and feel that, or in part? You cannot endure my torment completely, so, try some part and see ... ”At these words, he lifted the hem of his dress to the knee, and horror and an unbearable stench so struck all the feelings of the sleeping man that he woke up at the same moment ... The whole leg , which his friend opened to him, was covered with a terrible worm, and such a fetid stench emanated from his wounds that there is no word or pen to express it ... And this hellish stench so seized the cell and the monk that he could hardly jump out of it, not having even managed to slam the door behind him, which is why the stench did not cease to spread to the entire monastery; all the cells were overflowing with it, and the alarmed monks did not understand what it meant ... For a long time this hellish air did not disappear, and the brethren involuntarily had to leave the monastery and seek shelter elsewhere, and the friend of the deceased could not get rid of once inhaled stench, neither wash nor drown with the aromatic essences of this smell.

Holy Scripture also speaks of the insularity inside the sufferer of hellfire and the impossibility of weakening the burning sensation of hell in the parable of Christ the Savior we have cited, "On the Rich and Lazarus." The unfortunate sufferer is scorched by the fire of his passion, acting within him, and finds no relief to his torment in anything. This impossibility lies in the eternal separation of hell from paradise, or, according to the gospel expression, the abyss is great, which no one can cross ().

A faint semblance of the state of those suffering in hellfire is prayed to be seen on earth in people suffering from a fever. We all know from experience that the correct distribution of heat in the body, combined with the correct and timely release of everything superfluous, produces a pleasant sensation, gives pleasure to the body. But as soon as deviations arise in the body, as soon as its pores, due to some reason, are closed for evaporation, what then happens in a person? The inner fire, which warmed him beneficially, begins to burn painfully; the burning of this fire is also noticeable to those around the patient. In this combustion, however, there is no flame; The darkness of fire is increased by clouding of the mind, in which the sufferer rushes about in all directions, ready to throw himself into fire and into water, if not restrained, not noticing further danger to himself.

This comparison is used by St. John Chrysostom, when discussing hellfire, which he understood, seems to be the same with us. He says: “Hearing about the eternal fire, do not think that the local fire is similar to the local one: this one that captures, burns and changes to another, and the one whom one embraces will always burn and never stop, which is why it is called inextinguishable ... If you are ever in a strong fever, then transfer your mind to this (gehenic) flame. For if fever torments and worries us, then how will we feel when we fall into the fiery river that will flow before the terrible judgment seat!

4. An undying worm.

What is this worm? And to this question, as to the question of the fire of Gehenna, we do not find a direct answer either in Scripture or in the teachings of the church. Rejecting the idea of ​​an exclusively spiritual understanding of this kind of hellish torment, which, according to some theologians, has a symbolic meaning and denotes the torment of conscience when remembering the heinous deeds committed in this life, the God-wise fathers and teachers of the church recognize the literal meaning of the doctrine of the undying worm, although do not explain what kind of worm it is. So, for example, St. Basil the Great in the word “about the future judgment” says: “Imagine a kind of worms that is poisonous and flesh-eating, which always eats and can never be sated, causing unbearable diseases with its remorse.”

Having behind us the authority of the fathers and teachers of the Church, we recognize the gospel teaching about the undying worm not as a symbolic expression of pangs of conscience, but as a literally understood teaching. Wishing to give our conviction the possible solidity, let us turn again to the data obtained by science and providing material for understanding the gospel teaching, offered in the form of positive truth. What does science give us to explain the subject under consideration?

In Catrphages, for example, we read: “A large number of bladder worms live in the intestinal canal; tremalots are found in almost all viscera, blisterworms seem to prefer the very tissues, which is why they are found in the muscles, the center of the brain, etc.

“We see that all these and similar animals feed and further breathe at the expense of the animal in which they live. Any animal that has its own nutrition, its own temperature, its own fluids, represents together with this a set of various conditions, and therefore a special world for helminths. Therefore, these alien-eating creatures must be distributed according to their nature and cannot live without distinction in all animals. Observation confirms these theoretical considerations. Every kind of animal nourishes only its characteristic helminth. In order to count all the alien-eating without exception, it would be necessary to consider all creations and sort out all the animals.

"These strange animals sometimes fill the viscera and tissues in myriads, penetrate into the very cranial part and into the cavity of the eyeball."

In the book “God in Nature, according to Camille Flammarion” we read: life is poured into all nature, the mainland is too small for it; it bursts in all directions, it inhabits the waters and the inorganic realm… Thus, this complex, incomprehensible, diverse life inhabits every kind of creatures and every kind of substance with animals… Do we know how many different kinds of animals and plants there are in our body?”

What is said in these extracts is not the private opinion of the named authors, but the results of experiments in science, which does not cease to more and more comprehend the secrets created by God of nature.

What conclusion can we draw from the data, acquired by science, offered to the attention of readers?

If the human body, in its large and small parts, in tissues and muscles, in bones and fluids, is the totality of the innumerable world of living beings, then it lives the combined life of all these living beings. But just as living, microscopically small beings inhabit every living organism of a higher living being, but microscopic beings of some genera and species live in some higher organisms, others in others, so the human body is an aggregate of genera and species of the microscopic world of beings known only. These living beings inhabit the human body because their nature is in full agreement with the conditions presented by the human body. But a man, guided by his free will, can change, distort and stagnate the correct, normal conditions of his organic life in the changed conditions of life, becoming, in the end, a slave to his unfortunate habit. For example, a correctly developing nature calls a person to chastity, abstinence, honesty, respect for the Rights of other people, a person can distort himself, becoming an uncontrollable lecher, a constant voluptuary and reveler, a desperate rogue and scoundrel, who despises all human rights and dignity. If a person, being guided by his free will, can radically change the conditions of normal human life, eventually becoming a slave to new, albeit abnormal conditions, then it should be concluded that the world of microscopic creatures inhabiting his organism adapts to the changed conditions of life and, having adapted , gets used to them so much that the cessation of these conditions should produce painful irritation in them, accompanied by a painful state of the whole organism. Only the repetition of abnormalities that have become a habit drowns out the mute, but irresistible cry of the microscopic inhabitants of an organism that has deviated from the correct conditions of life - drowns out, so that this cry will subsequently intensify even more. Do I need to go for examples to explain this? He who desires to have such, let him look around him. Further, perhaps, attention to oneself, to the phenomena of one's own life, will suffice: any further petty habit, if its requirements are not satisfied, responds with a more or less significant languor in the body.

Let us now imagine the position of a person who has accustomed the world of microscopic beings of his organism to the changed, abnormal conditions of life - the position in the future afterlife. The world of microscopic beings will remain in it the same as it was on earth, because there is the basis of the organism, but accustomed to changed, abnormal conditions of life, which will not exist in the renewed world, it will speak with force against its master. It will be impossible to muffle this cry of the internal inhabitants of the organism in the way that we muffle it here by the repetition of abnormalities, because the renewed world will not provide material for the repetition of abnormalities, otherwise there would again be a disorder in the world such as exists now, the same misfortunes and disasters, which are crushing humanity today, otherwise the whole work of our salvation would have turned into nothing. It remains to suffer from the abnormality worked out freely, to suffer without the hope of ever seeing an end to suffering, because its end would be tantamount to the cessation of being, to suffer the more, the more the normal conditions of organic life were distorted here on earth - to suffer, having the necessary companion suffering this kind of gnashing of teeth. That gnashing of teeth will necessarily be accompanied by the cry of the microscopic inner world can be understood from the example of those now suffering from worms, in whom gnashing of teeth is most closely associated with the disease.

On this subject, the late His Grace Innokenty offers the following considerations: “Another kind of torment,” he says, “is the torment of unsleeping worms: everyone considers this a metaphor; but, looking closely at nature, it is almost necessary to assert that these worms will really be there. Physiologists have noticed that the base, or the first elements of all bodies, consist of worms (ciliates); since these are the constituent parts of all bodies, they will never be destroyed. Now they are in our body in a normal combination with it and with each other, and therefore do not torment us; with the wicked, who have been subjected to eternal torment, they will form disharmonious groups and will torment them. This is very natural, and the scripture, speaking of this, seems to have used not the likeness, but the thing itself; otherwise it would have been expressed better, would have found a more noble expression.

Oh man! Penetrate with your mind and heart to the thought of your mysterious posthumous fate, to the thought of these hellish torments, which, of course, confuses your spirit when you remember that terrible time of life of unrepentant sinners. And having stooped down, you will, of course, cast aside the unfounded fear of hell - you will cast aside, knowing that hell is not something external for the wicked, but his internal, acquired property, which is one with his very organism, and therefore cannot leave him anywhere. not for a single minute, whether he goes to heaven, or hell, or wherever. The deeds of a person, according to the scripture, follow him (.). Instead of a vain fear of hell, you should try with all your might to arouse fear and hatred for sin and all the deeds sealed with its seal. We must, we say, because, after what we have said, you should thoroughly understand the meaning of the moral requirements of the word of God, such as these: “or do not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God. Do not flatter yourselves: neither harlots, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor defilers, nor malakias, nor sodomites, nor covetous, nor tatia, nor drunkards, nor annoying, nor predators will inherit the kingdom of God.(). Or: “the works of the flesh are known; they are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, envy, anger, strife, disagreements, temptations, heresies, hatred, murders, drunkenness, outrageousness, and the like. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do so will not inherit the kingdom of God.”(). Now you understand, O man, that these divine instructions are not the demands of a self-willed master, but the urgent need of your nature; it contains an irresistible motive for you to turn away from bad deeds and cling to the Lord. A nasty course of action will kindle an unquenchable hellish fire in you, awaken and nurture the unsleeping worm. You will sin with them in this life, given to you to prepare for the future life, and you will suffer with them () (see "Orlovsk. Eparch. Ved." for 1878, No. 10, etc.).

Application

A. Evidence of Eternity of Torment

Even in the books of the Old Testament scriptures, eternal torment is often mentioned. Evil will not be without torment, it is said in the parables of Solomon. According to the prophet Isaiah, the fire of sinners will not be quenched, that is, it will be burning forever. The prophet Daniel speaks of eternal shame for some people and considers eternal life to be the opposite state of others: he foreshadows both after the resurrection of the dead.

For the first time in the New Testament, the Forerunner of Christ preached about eternal torment. This time he presents us with such a picture. When the harvest of grain is over, the wheat will be piled up in the granary and cleaned up threshing floor: then they decide the matter with the tares, or chaff. The chaff is collected in a heap and, like useless material, is burned by fire. Chaff is the unrepentant sinners whom the Judge will burn with unquenchable fire (). The most merciful shepherd Christ himself repeatedly spoke of "hell" (), about "fire hell"(), about the fiery furnace and about the pitch darkness. According to his teaching, the future execution of sinners has absolutely no limit. So, when he inspires us to foresee and overcome dangerous temptations, then in this one speech he repeats many times the words “where is the worm of their sinners does not die and the fire does not go out"(.). Isn't this the insistence of his preaching? He preached most clearly about eternal torment a few days before his suffering, when he prophetically described the last events of the world. Depicting a terrible judgment, he first called hellfire eternal "Get me cursed into eternal fire"(). And then he recognized the burning in this fire as eternal: these go into eternal torment. Go, no doubt, means such an action, which, as it were, is already being performed. But even though the terrible steps towards the hell of sinners are still far from us, perhaps they will follow a thousand years after this, nevertheless, before Jesus Christ a thousand years, like yesterday. As a God-man, he clearly saw the time when sinners from the place of judgment will move to hell. Thus, his speech in the present case is especially positive: there is no condition here. And therefore, no matter who and no matter how they interpret his sayings about eternal fire and eternal torment, the truth remains undoubted that not only evil spirits will burn in that fire, but also some of the people, this is absolutely true. But by all means it must be for some, because God's decision on it has already taken place and will not change, although not one of those to whom this decision applies will suffer in any way by accident, misfortune, by inevitable fate, but he himself will cause of his death. What unfortunate people these are, now we cannot indicate except for a few, for example, the future Antichrist, Nero, the persecutor of Christians, and others.

The apostles of Christ also preached about eternal torment. Eternal destruction for sinners is predicted by strict Peter, and the most patient Paul, and John the Theologian, full of love for his neighbor. Let us quote from their writings at least the words of the last in the Apocalypse: we ascend the smoke of their torment forever and ever. This is what the apostle-theologian says about sinners, and precisely from among the people. It would seem that it was enough to terrify the soul with this one word: forever. But he adds; centuries. What remains to be said against this accuracy? To understand: forever and ever, not in the sense of eternal and infinite time, but in the sense of only a few centuries, as now the word "age" means a hundred years, is also impossible because in the same inspired book of his the apostle still uses the same words. But everywhere he expresses with them the undoubted infinity of time, for example, that God exists forever, that the kingdom of Christ will continue forever.

The holy interpreters of the Scriptures, the fathers and teachers of the church, all accepted the teaching of the word of God about the fate of unrepentant sinners in the next world in no other way than in the sense of their endless torment. One of the ancient church writers, very famous for his learning and works for the benefit of the church, a certain Origen, admitted the idea that after some time the torment of sinners would end. But the holy church recognized his teaching as false and at the whole ecumenical council (fifth) condemned him. He thought and talked a lot about the eternal condemnation of sinners, especially Ephraim the Syrian.

Then the holy martyrs spoke about eternal torment at the places of their execution. This means that they expressed their conviction in it at such hours when it would be terrible to tell a lie, and not only to them, but also to someone else, and when, moreover, the special grace of God was with them, which strengthened their spirit and body in torment, as much and enlightened their minds with the truth. Thus, the holy martyr Polycarp responded to the tormentor’s threat of burning him at the stake with a sermon about eternal fire, in which villains like the tormentor would burn.

Even after these proofs, let others still reject eternal torment. Let both of them, clever and unreasonable, make objections against the present dogma of faith. Let them say with mockery: “Has anyone returned from the other world?” Let them joke about hell and hellish fire, calling everything the belief of some common people and boasting of some kind of fearlessness. But the truth, which has been preached so many times and in such clear words in the word of God and explained by St. fathers, will remain an indisputable truth: it will not lose anything from misinterpretations, various mitigations, from witticisms and jokes. For this very thing, i.e., that some do not believe it and, thus, without any fear of God, they spend this life, and eternal fire will overtake the unbelievers. Others deliberately distance themselves from the thought of hell, so as not to disturb themselves at all. But this means repeating the murmurings of the unclean spirits that spoke to Jesus Christ in a demon-possessed "You came here before the time to torment us"(). This means the sooner reaching eternal unrest, because he only sins less every day, who assumes about each of his days that this may be the last day in his life, that then judgment and eternity will come for him. Still others, although they do not shy away from thinking about the future fate of the sinner, still conceal in their souls regret that God is too just. So was Lot's wife, although she was afraid of the Sodom flame, but she had not yet rejected Sodom with her whole heart, her heart was still striving for Sodom, and - for this very thing she turned into a pillar of salt. No, dear reader, we must here turn our regret only to the fact that by our impenitence we bring upon ourselves the eternal wrath of God.

B. The image of hell and the future torment of the sinner in it

Imagine the widest, steepest abyss, imagine it with such a deep bottom that nothing can be deeper, that it is unthinkable to get out of it. Or imagine a whole lake, only filled not with water, but with fire: from this fiery lake, a flame with a terrible roar soars into the air in clubs. Such will be hell! Such will be the premises for sinners after the current chambers or poor huts, but such, where they also had a noisy fun almost every day, spent their lives in debauchery. God was not feared and man was not put to shame.

God will send eternal fire to this place. Fire here must be taken literally. The interpretation that this will be torment for one's conscience, called fire because of the unbearable pain, is not based on anything and is contrary to the word of God. Hellfire will be thin and not bright, however, the smoke from it will not darken the abyss so much that sinners could not see each other. As for his strength in action, he will be even stronger than the current one. But, burning to the bone, it will not deprive a person of consciousness and feelings, which sinners drowning in his abyss would gladly wish for. When today someone experiences a terrible fever (for example, during a severe fever), then a person in delirium still does not clearly feel his pain. If someone further falls into the fire itself (as during a fire), then the unfortunate one beats, screams and groans only at the beginning, or when the fire is slowly acting on him, and then he no longer remembers anything. The sinner, tormented in the fire of hell, will retain all his feelings, bodily and spiritual. Because of this, his sufferings will be terrible: with each of his feelings, he will suffer, as it were, especially.

So, with his own eyes, he will see other sinners like himself, who have despair in their faces, tears in their eyes.

The ears will incessantly hear their own groans and the gnashing of teeth of others: “What a cry will rise (says St. Cyril of Alexandria), what a cry and sob, led to bitter eternal torment! How they will moan, beat and torment themselves! ".

With his sense of smell, the sinner will feel the stench from the components of hellfire, for example, the bogeyman, or combustible sulfur.

By touch he will feel only the burning power of fire. His body will be embraced on all sides and, so to speak, doused with fire: as if I am suffering in this flame, it is said about the rich. And what else? The fire will penetrate to his very innards. Just as a person drowned in a river is surrounded and oppressed by water from everywhere: water crushes him from the outside, while water fills his insides, so in hell the sinner will be completely permeated with the opposite element, fire. The only difference here will be that one who drowns in water does not feel the pressure of water on him, while the sinner will fully feel the fire scorching him. From the force of fire, all his members will seem to crack, the veins will undergo contraction. The unsleeping worm will also be painful to the touch of the sinner. This again will not only be a remorse of conscience, but a real worm that will constantly prick the sinner. In the midst of a fiery flame, the worm will blacken over a vast space, it will agitate like water during a storm: its outward appearance will also be disgusting: “the area of ​​​​the spectacle is purulent ... the heat is unbearable ... the worm is stinking and fetid,” I will say again in the words of Cyril of Alexandria.

Finally, the sinner's sense of taste will not remain without excruciating pain. With his taste, he will experience disgusting bitterness from hellish fire, and at the same time unbearable thirst, since the fire that scorches him from the outside will also be food for his insides: send Lazarus, "Let him wet the tip of his finger and cool my tongue"(.), tearfully asked the rich man from the underworld of Abraham. Will the sinner feel with his taste and "poison of asps under the lips" his () maybe because he unworthily communed the body and blood of Christ.

That the sinner will keep the feelings of the soul is evident from the words of the Savior "Be more afraid of Him Who is able to destroy both soul and body in Gehenna"(). If not only the body, but also the soul is destroyed in hell, then the soul will remain alive and conscious there; means, will remember, think and feel. Yes, in one and the same eternal time, real life will unite for the sinner with past, present, and future time. In order to approximately imagine what he will feel there with his spiritual faculties, let us suppose his conversation in hell with himself, or let us suppose his future recollections, as if spoken aloud.

Let's first look at the past tense. So, for example, an atheist, remembering his life, will say to himself: "I also intentionally suppressed religious convictions in myself." The truths of faith spoke of themselves to my soul, but I was looking for such books and such people who would convince me otherwise, that is, that there is no God and no future life. Now I see that there is. I did not want to know him voluntarily: now I know him involuntarily. Now, by the very act, I am convinced of the madness of my former reasoning, for example, that “the soul does not mean anything, that a person is only matter, or a composition of flesh and blood, which are forever destroyed with his death.” Also: “How many have I infected with my free-thinking and unbelief! How fearlessly he entered the church, which meanwhile others entered with reverence! How he despised the priests, laughed at every shrine, and thus insanely deprived himself of saving grace! The stubborn schismatic will remember to himself: “How many exhortations I have neglected! I did not want to believe even the most obvious evidence of Orthodox truth! He also rejected confession just before his death, and St. communion, which my relatives offered me to accept, but from which the "mentors" of the schism rejected me. I was called to the church as to Noah's ark: but instead of legitimate priests, I wanted better to listen to the same ignoramuses, or at least worldly people, like myself. And so, now I found myself behind the saving ark, I am drowning in a fiery flood!

The idolater will remember the soulless idols that he worshiped instead of God... The lover of money will also remember his money and property, which he now also considers himself instead of God, which is why he is called an idolater. The voluptuary, who in this life rejoices all the days of light (), looks at this life, as soon as for a period in order to enjoy in every possible way, there he will actually feel the power of the sacred text: the flesh and blood of the kingdom of God cannot inherit. He will ask himself: “Where are these feasts with music? Where are the everyday evenings for unnecessary rest, playing cards, running away from your family? Where are those who stayed with me in such great contentment that they poured themselves with wine? Where is the beauty of women? The stubborn proud man will remember how much of his pride, which he now manifests in various ways and lust for power, and inaccessibility, and irritability, and ambition, and contemptuous treatment of others, will remember how much others have suffered from his satanic pride. At present, he does not want to listen even for a minute when someone thinks to awaken 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 him, so that there is no way to ever tell him truth, bring him out of error. But there he will be bound hand and foot, so willy-nilly he will listen to all the reproofs from his conscience.

The blasphemer will remember how carelessly and boldly he used the name of God in conversations, letters and vain swearing; how he further cursed the name of God, remaining, by the long-suffering of God, not stricken at that very moment; as he called his "angel" a woman's face, for whom he had impure love and with whom he further lived depravedly. The perjurer will remember many of his oaths, which he took without any fear and violated with consciousness, also his vows before God and the assurances of others, of which in the name of God, which he did not even think of fulfilling. The one who blasphemed will remember all the cases when he turned church services, holy icons and clergymen into a joke and laughter.

Those who do not respect Sundays and holidays will remind themselves how, at the time when good Christians hurried to church, they, on the contrary, went to work in the fields or, even worse, gathered in houses of feasting and debauchery, as if on purpose on holidays, they composed singing and faces, otherwise they all gathered in one house (club) for fun; like all the festive time spent only in revelry. These same people will remember how, apart from two or three days of fasting, which was performed only according to custom, they never went to church throughout the whole year, how, having risen in the morning and going to bed in the evening, each time they did not think to pray to the Lord God. The breakers of the fasts will remember the meat and wine with which they satiated their womb, while others (even those who were weaker in their strength) remained on a dry diet or did not think about food at all (for example, on Great Five). The blasphemers of the Holy Spirit, who expressed their blasphemy, for example, by not recognizing the holy relics and miracles that may have happened before their eyes, will be convinced that the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit will not be released in the next century.

Recalcitrant children will remember how, with their harsh words, their resistance and depraved lives, they made their parents mourn and weep for them. But it will be hard for the parents themselves to remember how they clearly tempted their children with a lawless life, how they did not try to raise their children in the fear of God, and in this way they brought them along with them to this place of torment. In the next world, the priest will remember his grace and say: “How many times have I forgiven others for sins, but I have not earned forgiveness for myself! The higher the bliss in Paradise I should have received, the lower now is my fall into the depths of hell. The memories will be heavy for the leaders who did not observe justice in anything, apparently acting on a legal basis, but in fact they did not set any laws for themselves, except for their own opinion and arbitrariness; demanding from others only unquestioning obedience and leaving nothing to the freedom and rights of their neighbor, they themselves did not in the least submit to either the gospel or the rules of St. churches. It will be bitter for them to remember how they envied people worthy, who were under their power and influence, and out of envy did not allow them to breathe freely further, but rewarded and exalted the unworthy and flatterers. Since they were strong, they will be more tortured for their abuses.

How terrible will be the memories of suicides, who were free to destroy their souls, easily and autocratically disposed of their lives, but will not be able to end their torment in hell with a new suicide! With what horror will other murderers remember the failures of the crime, especially those who raised their murderous hands against the parents themselves, or shed the blood of the priest, or tortured their own wives and children, as they once persecuted for Christ, or even took the life of pregnant women and babies! Terrible will be the memories of haters, vexers, cruel rich men, seducers, in general, all those who killed their neighbor slowly, bodily or spiritually-moral death! The consciousness of these people will see all the tears that the innocent have shed because of their cruelties. And they will cry the more, the more tears from themselves shed by others in this life.

Fornicators and adulterers will remember in the next world how they laughed at the chastity of others, how from an early age they defiled themselves with fornication, how they seduced many innocent people; how lawful marriages were terminated by their criminal connections, how widows were seduced; how they had concubines or concubines until old age and, further dying, did not want to stop the shameful relationship; how they came to such sins of carnal passion that it is shameful to say, they will remember that they did not refrain from their passion further on the great bright holidays, on the strictest fasts and fasting days. At the same time, bad words and equally bad songs will come to their memory, music and theatrical performances, from which their soul was pampered and their imagination ignited. The stench of hellish fire will be felt all the more by these people.

The robber and the thief will remember their robberies and thefts, as well as the very things that they acquired and used unrighteously. It will be terrible to remember the incendiaries of their arson, because these villains left homeless both the rich and the poor, the elderly and babies; because of their malice, good Christians lost their temples of God, and perhaps some perished in the fire! The fire of hell will scorch them in a terrible way. The lazy will remember their talents, which are buried in the ground; a fiery flame, like a scourge, will sting them for their laziness.

The slanderer will remember his vain suspicions of others, his gossip, his evil tongue, from which many perished, his false denunciations and testimonies, the very evasion of the defense of a right and innocent person, in general, his everlasting favor only to untruth and lies.

The envious person will remember how he gloated over the failures of his neighbor, how many times he stopped the good undertakings of others due to his envy, while he himself did nothing useful; how one would like to have everything; how he fluffed up his heart (), when he saw the mind, dignity and success of another, and how after that he took revenge on this person, without knowing why; how much by his machinations and envious persecution he took away from others quiet nights, health and years of life. For this very thing, in the next world, he will be greatly consumed by his conscience and, as it were, howl, like a stupefied dog howls.

Here are examples for you of how sinners in the future life will remember their past!

“But really, you will say, and for any one sin a person will be subjected to eternal torment? For example, will annoyers really be tormented forever?

The trouble is that one passion in a person (when it reaches its highest development) is rarely without other passions and sins. Let's say, for example, about the same annoying people. By their name are meant slanderers and scoffers, and also should be understood those who make an obstacle to others in something and generally disturb the good peace of their neighbor. Their hearts are evil: they do not spare their neighbor sometimes even in his illness. There is no fear of God in them, because they often do not respect the sacred place where they annoy others. That's how many these people combine with their main vice of other vices!

I will also note about the future memories of the sinner. Bringing to mind the local impious life, he will see that even sinful pleasures were not always easy for him, but were often combined with vanity, illness, difficulties, and further suffering of his kind.

What will be the consequence of all these memories? What will be left of them for sinners? Repentance is the most painful. Sinners will recognize their guilt, they will not blame anyone else for their death: they will see that the keys to the kingdom of heaven were in their own hands. It will be especially bitter for them to realize that they have long, long ago heard about hell and eternal torment, but did not believe anything or remained careless. However, there will be no deep and humble repentance in them. Their repentance will be similar to the repentance of an inveterate murderer who is caught in the crime itself or committed a crime in front of others: this criminal, let us suppose, does not lock himself in his crime, but does not at all soften his heart and does not ask for forgiveness. The repentance of sinners in the next world will still be like the repentance of desperate Judas the traitor.

Remembering in general their past tense, sinners will also pay attention to those years that they have already spent in hell since the Last Judgment. But it is pleasant to remember the hard time when this time has been lived and calm days have come. And for sinners in the next world, even after a thousand bitter days, not a single comforting one will come. For them, the beginning of hellish torment will mean nothing in comparison with its continuation, on the one hand, because the next days of their life in hell will be similar to the first, and on the other hand, hell will be so painful that it will not be possible to get used to it at all. .

And so, the past tense will be terrible, terribly terrible in all respects for those who will suffer eternal torment! Poor soul of a sinner! How much she will suffer along with the body! This is the very thing, my brothers, and it means to destroy your soul in that life!

C. About the subsequent time in the life of sinners in the next world

If we take the present life as an example, then even the most unfortunate people sometimes find some joy in their future.

Let, for example, another person on earth be appointed to spend a thousand days in penal servitude. If he spends only the first day, then he probably knows that it remains for him to live in hard labor for not a thousand days, but 999, and he says to himself that he "made a step forward." Another was sentenced to 10-15 years of hard labor. Sluggishly, drearily pass his years. But over time, he strengthens his spirit and gives himself up to waiting, starting to count the remaining years of his term one month at a time. Let anyone refer to the works for the rest of his life. And such a person (besides the fact that death will ever save him from a difficult condition) often still feeds himself with the hope of being freed. There are between indefinite exiles and just dreamers. They do not need that their dreams are unrealizable. But they knew in the fate of their comrades cases of unexpected release from work, and now they dream of their own freedom, and they delight themselves with a dream.

But for the eternally condemned sinner, there will be no hope left. There will be no way out of hell for anyone: it will be like a sea without a pier. “The wilds are impassable and the abyss is immeasurable ...; there will be no way out for the prisoner, the prison wall is impenetrable ...; the shackles are unremovable." Let someone say to the atheist who is burning in the fire: “You will be tormented for another thousand years, or let it be announced to the incendiary: “You still have to suffer for another five thousand years.” They would have expected the end of these terms. But only, unfortunately, no one else who promises them anything, they themselves can not indulge in any gratifying dream or unaccountable expectation of a better time. On the contrary, one painful eternity will clearly appear to their consciousness. They will wish to die a hundred times, but they will not wait for death. In today's life, they sometimes speak of a person for whom a long-term illness or other long-term suffering has ceased with death: “His age has suffered; there will be no more, unfortunate, to suffer! But in the future light, the eyes of the sinner, full of tears, will never close; his groans will never cease there, and the grave no longer awaits him. In this respect, he will be like a man who has suffered from insomnia, who, no matter how hard he tries to sleep, is far from sleep and is completely upset about it. Finally, the state of the sinner will not be life, but not death, understood in the sense of the separation of the soul from the body. It will be eternal dying, or, as they say in the apocalypse, the second death.

So, in the past tense, the rejected sinners will find one painful regret, in the present one - one painful suffering, and in the imagination of the future tense - only horrors. That is why they will curse the day of their birth and themselves. Despair, a terrible disease of the soul in this life, will be their never-ending disease. Some will grind their teeth in despair, while others will weep incessantly. There will be no compassion for them anywhere. The devil and other evil spirits, whose will they carried out here and with whom others, such as, for example, magicians, were in the closest communication, will not help them. Evil spirits will themselves be tightly bound, they themselves will be much more despondent and doom to their souls. Evil joy is partly a sweet feeling, just as every sin in this life gives the sinner sweetness, albeit temporary, albeit sometimes for one minute. But in the next life, the sinner will drink not a sweet cup, but only sorrow from his sins.

D. About the degrees of torment

Christ the Savior threatened some Jewish cities and villages with a terrible fate in the next century. These were the cities and villages that at least heard his sermon and saw his extraordinary miracles, but did not believe anything and did not move. He compared these cities with other stubborn sinners who lived before, or if at the same time with them, then outside of Palestine. And so, in comparison with the latter, he clearly expressed the highest degree of punishment for them: “It will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for that city” (.). "It will be more tolerable for Tire and Sidon than for you"(). And at the same time, he pointed to the execution after the last judgment (on the day of judgment! ...). At other times, he directly spoke of his second coming, after which one would be rewards, and the other would be executions. And what did he preach? “The servant who knew the will of his master, and was not ready, and did not do according to his will, there will be many beats; but who did not know, and did worthy of punishment, the bit will be less. And from everyone to whom much has been given, much will be required, and to whom much has been entrusted, more will be exacted from him.(). Although ignorance of the will of God, set forth in revelation, is not excusable for anyone, but whoever has a complete knowledge of this will and meanwhile does not apply his knowledge to the matter, he will deserve a great execution.

The Holy Fathers discuss the difference in torments for sinners: “There are different kinds of torments… And what is said in parables: in the bottom of hell makes it clear that some, although in hell, but not in the bottom of hell, endure the lightest punishment; otherwise the adulterer is tormented, otherwise the fornicator, otherwise the murderer, otherwise the thief and drunkard; there should be no doubt that the very punishments to which sinners will be subjected, according to the difference in crimes, will be different.

In the word of God (except for the teaching about the slave who knew and did not know), as well as in St. fathers, we still find indications of who will suffer more and who will suffer less in the next world. Apostle Paul, offering the doctrine of recompense to people in the day "revelations of the righteous judgment of God"(hence, in the next century), says: "sorrow and oppression upon every soul of a man who does evil, but a Jew before and a Greek"(). The Jew was given a complete understanding of God and the commandments of God, but the Gentile was deprived of this understanding. So he will be punished more severely than the last. Only in relation to both, the name "doing evil" in translation from Greek means "unrepentant villain." St. Chrysostom teaches: “Whoever received more instruction must endure a greater punishment for a crime; the more knowledgeable we are… the harder we will be punished.” Therefore, it was said to the Jewish scribes and Pharisees, who rested on the law, and yet did not want to make a movement with their finger in order to fulfill it, it was said: you will receive condemnation too much. Those who have the greater power to oppose evil in themselves and in others will also be subjected to great torment (sometimes one word or one letter from them could support the truth, inspire innocence, set in motion good enterprises), but who, meanwhile, have always only patronized vice and they themselves oppressed the truth: to him was given ... much, much will be exacted from him.

“How will the torment itself differ?” Their difference (in the sense of greater or lesser ferocity) can be deduced from some gospel sayings. Yes, St. Chrysostom from the torment of the rich man, who asked to send Lazarus to him, addresses each such sinner: “But with what measure you measure, it will be measured to you; you didn’t give a grain, you won’t get a drop.” St. Ephraim the Syrian applies torment to the quality of those sins and passions with which one sinned here: “Whoever concealed deceit in his heart and envy in his mind, a terrible depth will hide him.” According to the teachings of the same father, “Total darkness in a special country ...; grinding teeth a special place; tartare is also a special place.” And the holy martyr Patricius says: "Tartarus is deeper than all other abysses that are under the earth." Against the same tartar prayed St. Cyril of Alexandria: "I am horrified of tartare, where there is not even a little warmth." St. Joseph of Persia said to his judge - tormentor: "The persecutors of Christians will be condemned to eternal weeping and gnashing of teeth."

Souls, believing and reverent before the formidable justice of God! It is true that even the lightest torment in the next world will be a great misfortune. In today's dungeons, others, against their associates, take advantage of the better premises and the more lenient treatment of them by the guards of the dungeon: but isn't even one deprivation of liberty painful for them? So, let us avoid not only excessive crimes that directly bring us closer to hell, but also such sins that we consider as everyday, but by which, however, our soul and body are defiled, and for which, finally, (as, for example, for swearing in malice towards one's neighbor) the gospel also threatens hell.

Sodomy was often regarded by Greek philosophers as higher than sexual relations between a man and a woman. So, in the composition “Feast”, Plato glorifies the Malachi as follows: “These are the best of boys and young men, for they are by nature the most courageous. Some, however, call them shameless, but this is a delusion: they behave this way not because of their shamelessness, but because of their courage, masculinity and courage, out of passion for their own likeness.

Dal's Dictionary TAT m. (to hide), thief, predator, kidnapper, who stole something, who steals a custom prone to this, of little use. stealer. In the old days, a thief meant a swindler, to steal, to cheat, to cheat; and thief, the direct name of a secret kidnapper. Tatba, theft, kidnapping; cheating, theft; violence, robbery, robbery; tatba simple, secret removal of things. Now the law distinguishes: theft-theft, tatba, and theft-fraud, theft, Serve the taty (thief) flour (whip). Tatya is tortured, her ribs are broken! Tatem passed, crept. A thief is not a thief, but to become the same, an overexposure, an assistant. Night (death) as a thief will cover (or fill). Tatya stole a club from tatya. Frankincense to hell, prison to hell. Tatem, the ducklings were stolen from the aunt (soon). Church tatstvo. tatba. Tatbina church. stolen thing, the most loss. Tatsky, tatin old. relating to Tatya, thieves. Conduct in the cities robbery, murderous, tatin affairs to the labial elders. Laid down. Tatebny, tatstveny, to tatba, theft, theft related. Tatebnoe, all stolen.

N.A. Berdyaev “Truth and Revelation Prolegomena to the Criticism of Revelation. «Chapter VIII THE PARADOX OF EVIL. ETHICS OF HELL AND ANTI-HELL. REINCARNATION AND TRANSFORMATION

Great honor does Fr. S. Bulgakov that in the third volume of his system of dogmatic theology he resolutely rebelled against the idea of ​​eternal hell. In this he expresses the tradition of Russian religious and philosophical thought, the Russian idea. Eternal hell means for him the failure of God, the defeat of God by dark forces. I have long expressed the idea that the "eternity" of torment does not mean an infinite duration in time, but only the intensity of the painful experience of a certain moment in time. For about. S. Bulgakov, evil has no depth and, as it were, exhausts and destroys itself. And for him the idea of ​​the eternity of hell is unacceptable to conscience. As well as "Orthodox teaching about salvation" Sergius (Stragorodsky), Patr.

As you can see, readers, we have brought these memories in order of all ten commandments of God. Now, these memories can constitute for the sinner a “confession” before God, which will not be rejected, which grant to all of us, Lord!

The result of the life of every person on earth will be God's Judgment. The most terrible outcome of the Day of Judgment is the road to eternal Hell.

Verily, the gates of heaven will not be opened for those who considered Our signs a lie and exalted themselves above them. They will not enter the (Heavenly) Garden until the camel has passed through the eye of the needle. Thus We (according to merit) repay sinners. Their bed will be of the fire of Gehenna, and a veil will be over them. Thus We recompense obscurantists. (7:40-41)

He whom God leads in the straight path follows the straight path. And for the one whom God leads astray, you will not find patrons instead of Him. On the Day of Resurrection We will gather them prone, blind, dumb and deaf. Gehenna will be their resting place. As soon as it subsides, We add flame to them. (17:97)

Hell is a place of punishment prepared for sinners. God, describing these terrible punishments, gives us a chance to change our minds, repent, accept His laws and live in accordance with them. The torment described will be inflicted in many ways.

The most famous type of punishment is punishment by fire:

punishment by fire

The unfortunate will dwell in the Fire, where they will groan and weep. (11:106)

Say: “Truth is from your Lord. Whoever wants, let him believe, and whoever does not want, let him not believe.” We have prepared Fire for the obscurantists, (fiery) walls will surround them from all sides ... (18:29)

The fire will burn their faces and they will writhe. (23:104)

Oh yeah! They considered (the news) about the Hour to be a lie, and We have prepared fire (Hell) for those who believe the Hour is a lie. When this Fire recognizes them from afar, they will hear its roar and fury. When they are bound together there, they will be thrown into a narrow place. Then they will begin to pray for their imminent death. (25:11-13)

And the refuge of the wicked will be Fire. Whenever they want to get out of there, they will be brought back (into the flame), and it will be said to them: “Taste the torment in the Fire, which you considered a lie!” (33:20)

Indeed, God has cursed those who deny (His signs) and has prepared for them a Flame in which they will abide forever. (And in him) they will not find either a patron or a helper. (33:64-65)

And for those who denied (the signs of God), the fire of Gehenna is prepared. They will not be finished with them there and they will not be killed, and their torment will not be lightened. Thus We punish all those who deny (the signs of God). (35:36)

Such is the recompense of the enemies of God! Fire! In it will be their eternal abode as a recompense for the fact that they rejected Our signs. (41:28)

But no! It is the Hellfire that flays the skin from the head. (70:15-16)

Just burning himself, a person lets out a scream, and even when he is in the flames of a fire, he screams hysterically and calls for help. Such behavior will not change in Hell, but the help for the people there will be special:

boiling water punishment

... If they begin to pray for help, then they will be helped (only) with water, like molten metal, which burns the face. A vile (this) drink and a nasty abode! (18:29)

Here are two contending groups that were arguing about their Lord. For those who denied (the signs of God), garments of Fire will be cut out, and boiling water will be poured on their heads. It will melt their insides and skin. Iron clubs are prepared for them. Every time they want to get out of there and get rid of their sadness, they will be brought back. Taste (still) the torment of the scorching Fire! (22:19-22)

They considered the Scripture and that with which We sent Our messengers to be a lie. But they will know when, with chains around their necks and in chains, they are dragged into boiling water, and then kindled in the Fire. (40:70-72)

…Are they really like those who live forever in the Fire and who are given to drink with boiling water, tearing their intestines? (47:15)

Here is the (fiery) Gehenna, which the sinners considered a lie. They will walk between it and the boiling water. (55:43-44)

... boiled water will be a treat for him, and he will burn in Hell. (56:93-94)

When they are thrown there, they will hear her roar as she boils. (67:7)

Has the story of the Coverer reached you? Some faces in that day will be humiliated, exhausted and weary. They will burn in a hot Flame. They will be given water from a boiling spring, and fed only with poisonous thorns, which do not make them feel better and which do not satisfy their hunger. (88:1-7)

And all these terrible torments will be accompanied by no less terrible wind:

sultry wind

They will find themselves under a sultry wind and in boiling water, in the shadow of black smoke, which brings neither coolness nor goodness. (56:42-44)

In this eternal hopelessness, as a punishment, there will be a huge feeling of hunger, which will lead to even more sophisticated types of torment:

Zakkum tree

Is this treat better or the Zakkum tree? We have made it a temptation for obscurantists. This is the tree that grows from the bottom of Hell. Its fruits are like the heads of devils. They will devour them and fill their bellies with them. Then they (the fruits of Zakkum) will be mixed for them with boiling water. And then they will be sent back to Hell. (37:62-68)

Verily, the tree of Zakkum will be the food of the sinner. Like the sediment of oil, it will boil in the bellies as boiling water boils. Grab him (the sinner) and drag him to the very middle of Hell. Then pour boiling water on his head, causing suffering. (44:43-48)

… by all means eat from the Zakkum tree. You will fill (your) bellies with them and wash them down with boiling water, as sick camels who cannot escape from thirst drink. (56:52-55)

The feeling of incredible hunger will certainly be accompanied by an insatiable thirst, which will also not alleviate the condition of people in Hell:

Punishment with pus:

And Gehenna awaits him ahead, and they will give him purulent water to drink. He will drink it in sips, but he will hardly be able to swallow it. Death will approach him from all sides, but he will not (can) die, for he will face severe torment. (14:16-17)

Gehenna in which they will burn. How bad is this bed! This is boiling water and pus. (38:56-57)

… and there is no food (there) but bloody pus. (69:36)

Tasting neither coolness nor drink, but only boiling water and pus. (78:24-25)

All the quoted verses of the Holy Quran warn of responsibility in case of violation of the laws of God. Punishment can be avoided if we judge and be judged according to Scripture. So maybe you can understand?

Our Lord! Do not turn our hearts aside after You have guided us to the straight path, and grant us mercy from Yourself, for You are the Giver! (3:8)

godless, remembering his life, he will say to himself: “I also deliberately suppressed religious beliefs in myself. The truths of faith spoke of themselves to my soul. But I was looking for such books and such 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 did not want to know Him voluntarily, now I know Him involuntarily. Now, by the very act, I am convinced of the madness of my previous reasoning, for example, that "the soul does not mean anything, as if a person is only matter, or a 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 the priests, laughed at every shrine, and thus insanely deprived himself of saving grace! Persistent dissenter he will remember to himself: “How many admonitions I have neglected! I did not want to believe even the most obvious evidence of Orthodox truth! He also rejected confession before his death, and St. Communion, which my relatives offered me to accept, but from which the "mentors" for the schism rejected me. I was called to the Church, as to Noah's Ark, but instead of legitimate priests, I wanted to better listen to the same ignoramuses, or at least worldly people, like myself. And now I found 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 considers himself instead of God, which is why he is called an idolater.
Voluptuous who, in this life, rejoices all the days, feasts brilliantly, looks at this life, as soon as there is a time for enjoying it in every possible way, there he will actually feel the power of the sacred text: “flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God” (1 Corinthians 15:50) He will ask himself: “Where are these feasts with music? Where are the everyday evenings for unnecessary rest, playing cards, running away from your family? Where are those who stayed with me in such great contentment that they poured themselves with wine? Where is the beauty of women?
Persistent proud man he will remember how much of his pride, which he now displays in various ways: by lust for power, and inaccessibility, and irritability, and ambition, and contemptuous treatment of others, he will remember how much others suffered from his satanic pride. At present, he does not want to listen even for a minute when someone thinks to awaken 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 him, so that there is no way to ever tell him truth, bring him out of error. But there he will be bound hand and foot, there he willy-nilly listen to all the accusations from his conscience.
Blasphemer he will remember how carelessly and boldly he used the name of God in conversations, letters and vain swearing; how he even cursed the name of God, remaining, according to God's longsuffering, not smitten at that very moment; how impiously he thought and spoke about the Ever-Virgin Mary the Theotokos; as he called his "angel" a woman's face, for whom he had impure love and with whom he even lived depravedly.
Oathbreaker many oaths will come to his memory, which he took without any fear and violated with consciousness, also his vows before God and assurances to others of something in the name of God, which he did not even think of fulfilling.
blasphemer he will remember all the cases when he turned church services, holy icons and clergymen into a joke and laughter.
Not respecting Sundays and holidays they will bring to mind how at the 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 ... as if on holidays, as if deliberately, they made up singing and faces, otherwise they all gathered in one house (club) for fun; like all the festive time spent only in revelry. These same people will remember how, except for two or three days of fasting, which was performed only according to custom, they never went to church during the whole year; how, getting up in the morning and going to sleep in the evening, each time they did not think to pray to the Lord God.
Post breakers they will remember the meat and wine with which they satiated their womb, while others (even those who were weaker in their strength) remained on a dry diet or did not think about food at all (for example, on the great heel). Holy Spirit Detractors Those who expressed their blasphemy, for example, by not recognizing the holy relics and miracles that may have been performed before their eyes, will be convinced that the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit will not be released in the next century.
Recalcitrant children they will remember how, with their rude words, their resistance and depraved life, they made their parents mourn and weep for them. But it will be hard parents themselves remember how they clearly tempted their children with a lawless life, how they did not try to raise their children in the fear of God, and thus they brought them along with them to this place of torment.
How terrible the memories will be suicidal who were free to destroy their souls, easily and autocratically disposed of their lives, but will not be able to end 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 they once persecuted for Christ, or even took the life of pregnant women and babies!

Terrible will be the memories of haters, vexers, cruel rich men, seducers, in general, all those who killed their neighbor slowly, bodily or spiritually-moral death! The consciousness of these people will see all the tears that the innocent have shed because of their cruelties. And they will cry all the more, the more tears he themselves shed in this life others.

Fornicators and adulterers they will remember in the next world how they laughed at the chastity of others, how from an early age they defiled themselves with fornication, how they also seduced many innocents; how lawful marriages were terminated by their criminal connections, how widows were seduced; how they had concubines or concubines until old age and even dying did not want to stop the shameful relationship; how they came to such sins of carnal passion that it is a shame to even speak; they will remember that they did not restrain themselves from their passion even on the great bright holidays, on the strictest fasts and fasting days. At the same time, bad words and equally bad songs will come to their memory, music and theatrical performances, from which their souls pampered and their imaginations ignited. The stench of hellfire will be felt all the more by these people.
Robber and thief their robberies and thefts will be remembered, as well as the very things that they acquired and used unrighteously.
lazy they will remember their talents that they buried in the ground: a fiery flame, like a scourge, will sting them for laziness.
slanderer his vain suspicions of others, his gossip, his evil tongue, from which many died, his false denunciations and testimonies, his very evasion from defending a right and innocent person, in general, always favoring only untruth and lies will come to mind.
envious he will remember how he evilly rejoiced at the failures of his neighbor, how many times he stopped the good undertakings of others due to his envy, while he himself, meanwhile, did nothing useful; how one would like to master everything; how his heart broke when he saw the mind, dignity and success of another, and how after that he took revenge on this person, without knowing why; how much by his machinations and envious persecution he took away from others quiet nights, health and years of life. For this, 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"

Faqih Abu Lays (may Allah have mercy on him) narrated with his isnad from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). Indeed, the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said: “Hellfire burned for a thousand years until the fire turned red. After that, it burned for another thousand years until the fire turned white. Then the hellfire burned for another thousand years until the fire turned black. The fire of hell is black as a gloomy night."

Faqih (may Allah be merciful to him) reported from Mujahid (may Allah be pleased with him). A Mujahid (may Allah be pleased with him) said: “Verily, there are pits in hell. In these pits there will be snakes like the necks of camels, as well as black light scorpions like donkeys. The inhabitants of hell will run away from snakes. But the snakes will grab them with their lips and scratch them. And nothing can save them from these snakes. If only their entry into the fires of hell saves them.”

Gabdullah bin Jubair narrated from the Prophet (peace be upon him): Our Prophet (peace be upon him) said: “Verily, in hell there will be snakes like the necks of camels. If the snakes bite one of the inhabitants of hell once, he will feel the pain of the bite for forty years. Verily, in hell there will be scorpions like donkeys. If they bite one of the inhabitants of hell once, he will feel pain from this bite for forty years.

Ibn Masgud (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "Your fire (the fire of this world - approx.) is only one seventieth of the fire of hell."

Mujahid said: “Indeed, this fire of yours will run to the fire of hell.”

Our Prophet (pbuh) said: “The lightest punishment in hell is this: a man puts on sandals made of fire and because of the heat from his sandals his brain boils, as if his ears and teeth are coals of fire, and his eyelashes are fires of flame. The organs of his abdomen will come out between his legs. Verily, those who see him will think that he receives the most severe punishment, but, verily, for him this is the lightest punishment.

Fakih (r.g.) said: “Muhammad bin Fazil with his isnaad narrated to me from Ghamru bin Ghas. Hamru said: “Indeed, the inhabitants of hell will call on Malik (guardian of the fire), but Malik will not come to them for forty years. After that he will come and say:

"You will forever be in hellish torment" ("Zukhruf", 77).

Then they will make dua to Allah:

"God! Take us out of the fire and return us to the earthly world! And if we return again to unbelief and disobedience, then we will be unfaithful, unjust to ourselves.”("The Believers", 107).

Allah will not answer them for a long time. Then Allah will say:

"Be silent, you despicable and humiliated, and do not speak to Me!"

Hamru bin Ghas said: “By Allah, after these words, the inhabitants of hell will not say a word. There will be whistles and screams from hell. Their cries will be like the cry of a donkey. The beginning of this cry will be a whistle, and the end will be a piercing cry.

Kutada said: “O people, is there any salvation for you from this? Can you endure this pain? O people, obedience to Allah is easier for you, obey Allah.”

From the book "Tanbihul gafilin"

Hello,

When stories are told about Christians who have been to hell, I wonder how such people can even be called Christians, since they have been to hell? Surely they were living in sin by the time they "visited hell", and therefore, at least at that time, they could not be attributed to particularly authoritative persons who could be trusted.

Also remember, not all stories of people seeing hell, as well as heaven, are REAL visits to these places of residence of people 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 despise prophecies. Test everything, hold on to the good"(1 Thess. 5:19-21). This means that, on the one hand, one should not immediately humiliate everything incomprehensible that was revealed to a person in the spiritual world, but on the other hand, one cannot be trusting in everything supernatural - one must put everything to the test and hold on to the good.

Can people have false visions or dreams? Of course. And not because they deliberately want to mislead God's people. Anyone can be wrong. It may also be that some revelations may be true and others 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 this is true or not. Faced with such stories at times, 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 Scripture.

When a vision describing some kind of 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 are the devil's stokers, or maybe just the executors of God's punishment? I'm SURE that's not the case! In this area, the Bible gives unequivocal 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 that deceived them was thrown 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 (later Satan wanted to drag him along), 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 are not tormented in eternity.

Hope I answered your question!