Comment on How modern is it to have "sympathetic" portrayals of Hell?
socsa@piefed.social 1 week agoI would even argue that there is even a distinction to be drawn from the old world ideas of good and evil, and the modern ideas which have almost become "good vs nuance." No ancient religion goes as far as modern Christianity in terms of condemning people for mere non belief. This has led to a rise in literary themes around the idea that such moral absolutism is itself a form of evil, and that to the extent that it suggests that demons are merely the stewards of nuance, that they must be more sympathetic than God.
Flax_vert@feddit.uk 1 week ago
The Epistle to the Romans and other Pauline epistles do seem to show that non-believers do generally go to hell.
socsa@piefed.social 1 week ago
Right but the classic Catholic interpretation of damnation is that there is a huge layer of purgatory between "hell" and "eternal torture" for those who are not wicked. It is only fairly recently that we've had this "straight to pitchforks and fire" concept of hell.
Flax_vert@feddit.uk 1 week ago
No, it’s the opposite. Purgatory is a new thing. It’s not mentioned in the Bible at all and only really came up in the last 1000 years. Not even the Eastern Orthodox believe in purgatory.