The Evolution of Hellfire in the Church

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As Christianity became more embedded in system, the further away from Christ, we got the more grotesque the punishments of hell became. But it wasn't really until early medieval times when the church was beginning to face competition from early free thinkers and also later on, of course, from Calvin and Luther. At that point, hell became even more severe and Satan turned from an agent of God and a guardian of the dead into something evil and malevolent who would grasp you if you didn't behave. And if you were a protestor or protestant as it became later, then Hellfire would get you for sure. It's the same syndrome as the witch trials of Europe in the 17th and 18

If you’re bad, we are taught, you go to Hell. Who in the world came up with that idea? Some will answer God, but for the purpose of today’s podcast discussion we’ll put that possibility aside and look into the human origins and history of the idea of Hell. Marq de Villiers is a writer and journalist who has authored a series of non-fiction books, many on science and the environment. In Hell & Damnation, he takes a detour to examine the manifold ways in which societies have imagined the afterlife. The idea of eternal punishment is widespread, but not quite universal; we might learn something about ourselves by asking where it came from. Support Mindscape on Patreon or Paypal. Marq de Villiers was born in South Africa and now lives in Canada. He has worked as a reporter in a number of locations, from Cape Town to London to Moscow to Toronto. His books cover a variety of topics, many on history and ecology. He has been named a Member of the Order of Canada and awarded an honorary degree from Dalhousie University, among other accolades. Web site Amazon page Wikipedia Talk on the state of the world’s water See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.