The Christian hell is a place of final justice for the wicked who have offended God and have died without asking forgiveness. The Bible describes Hell as "everlasting fire prepared for the Devil and his angels" where souls of the damned suffer according to their sins. It has been called a bottomless pit and a lake of fire. Satan, Hell's lord, was once an angel who rebelled against God and started a war in Heaven.
Information about who had been damned varies greatly; most Christian leaders teach that there is no evidence that any souls have been condemned to Hell. Christians believe that the only fate worse than non-existence is damnation in Hell.
Many believe that hell is a place of sensory torture and agony, while others believe it is a state of mental anguish. Some also believe that damnation to hell is a temporary punishment before annihilation.
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St. Augustine was a fourth century doctor of the church. He implied in his book, City of God that Hell is where the damned suffer spiritually and physically and that this torture continues for eternity. His conclusions influenced the teachings of Martin Luther and John Calvin, and are still taught today in Catholic institutions. Although, some believe that St. Augustine made up his vision of Hell. Many people believe St. Augustine's vision, however, since there is no evidence for or against, why have so many people leaned toward this idea? Perhaps it is because, in his day, because St. Augustine was a great thinker, how could someone with less knowledge contradict St. Augustine? The man who did would certainly look like a fool. Therefore, St. Augustine's beliefs fell into the hands of the common man, and eventually became the universal belief through years of oral tradition.
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Many Protestant denominations believe that the tortures of Hell are metaphorical. For example, the fires of hell are not actually fires, but the burning pangs of a guilty conscience. Protestants believe that the notion of a place of physical torment is outdated and incompatible with the idea of a merciful God. Jean-Paul Sartre, although an existentialist, certainly put the notion that Hell is whatever the individual perceives it to be in his 1944 existentialist play, "No Exit." Sartre alluded to the idea that "Hell is other people."
Because technology has led many to believe that there is no place for a traditional Hell, some have embraced the idea of annihilation, an idea which maintains that in the afterlife, evil souls will be eradicated from existence. However, critics of this theory claim that belief in Hell is essential to the importance of Jesus Christ's redemption of humanity. Without a hell, Jesus' sacrifice and death would not have been necessary. Many also claim that the existence of Hell proves free-will. God does not force anyone to spend eternity with him.