If Satan and Lucifer are princes of hell, why are they also synonyms for the devil? What is the hierarchy in hell?
That Satan (A.K.A. Lucifer) is the prince of hell is a false teaching spread by people who have no idea what the Bible is, and have certainly never studied it.Satan was created Lucifer, a once brilliant, powerful being of the Heavenly order of Cherubims (more superior than normal angels). It is indicated that he was a prominent decorator in Eden, the paradise garden of God, with precious stones.Now because of pride and a lust to rise above God, he rebelled and influenced a 1/3 of the heavenly angels to rebel against God. This is when he was cast out of Heaven together with his angels. This uprising act turned him into Satan the Devil, and his angels into demons. Presently, they are in the world influencing people to commit all kinds of evil you can imagine.Now God created hell as punishment for Satan and his hordes because of all the evil they have caused His people. They are NOT IN HELL. Hell is where they are destined to go. Now listen carefully. Hell isn’t some cool nightclub where dudes party and hang out. Satan has made people believe in this crap so much that some atheist openly say they prefer hell to Heaven.Hell is a dark, murky, stinking place of horrific torture that will go on and on indefinitely. Satan and his demons (PLUS all the humans who voluntarily joined their camp) will be tormented there day and night according to the Bible. So because these guys know they are condemned already, their goal is one: make sure they take with them as many of God’s people as they can. So the question is, will you let these blood-thirsty creatures drag you there?
What is the punishment for opportunists in Dante's Inferno?
The punishment for opportunists in Dante’e Inferno:The sinners must chase a banner (for no particular reason), whilst being goaded and chased by hornets and wasps.The blood/matter that drips from their wounds is consumed by maggots and worms.
In Canto XVIII of Dante's Inferno, why does Dante "gloss over" the flatterers?
You might recall that in Inferno III Dante encounters a group of people who do not belong in Hell, nor in Heaven, because they didn’t commit to either good or evil values when they lived. In verse 51 of that canto, Virgil tells Dante that they shouldn’t talk about those people, because they don’t deserve the fame that would follow.Call him arrogant, but Dante was very aware of the fact that he was writing a classic, a book that would become a cultural referent for ages to come. Thus he knew that the people that he named on it would live on in the memory of future readers. He was very careful when it came to dispensing that honor, and in his view there were those who simply did not deserve it. In the case of the morally mediocre characters of canto III, he considered that if you live a life that is not explicitly and passionately committed to an ideal, you simply deserve to be forgotten. The fact that the names of these people are omitted from the Commedia is intended to be a part of their punishment.The case of the flatterers is similar. A flatterer is someone who devalues language by using strategic falsities in order to gain an advantage. Dante, being a poet, is extremely respectful of language and aware of its power. Naming the flatterers would imply “flattering” them in a sense, since they would derive honor from that. So he does the opposite, namely punish them by leaving their names unsaid, unsung, and thus forgotten.
Was Hell invented by the church to control people?
Hell, as preached at the pulpit, was the invention of the Italian poet Dante Alighieri in his 14th-century epic poem Divine Comedy. His is the vision of circles of torment located within the Earth.Prior to Dante’s fevered vision are various precursors which were pretty neutral in flavour. The New Testament authors used the Greek term Hades for the Hebrew Sheol, a place where there is no activity.In the 4th century AD, Augustine promoted the idea that the souls of those who die either rest peacefully, in the case of Christians, or are afflicted, in the case of the damned, but he did not add any detail to that affliction. Another precursor to it can be found in Plato’s Republic, in the tale of Er who meets streams of dead people trekking in and out of Hades for reincarnation (circa 380 BCE). Dante himself referenced Virgil's depiction of the underworld from the Aeneid. But the realm of Hades was a place for all the dead (not just sinners) who wandered its halls as wraiths.Dante’s version of hell obviously drew some inspiration from Matthew 13:39 The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels. 40 As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world. 41 The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; 42 And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. 43 Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.but this parable relates to Judgement Day.Dante’s vision of hell was seconded by the church (not invented by the church) to instil fear and incentivise righteousness in congregations.
Why does the christian god only give two options for an afterlife?
Because it is the NATURE of certain things to have only TWO "conditions," and this is one of them. Examples of other things that have only TWO conditions: Electricity: It is either ON or it is OFF. Pregnancy: A woman is either PREGNANT or NOT. Thus it is with God. You are either IN His Presence (referred to as being in heaven) or you are "outside" the Presence of God (referred to as being in hell). There IS proof of God's existence... it is ALL of Creation that He has created. The creation IS the proof of the Creator. You have rejected this proof. You deny that this is the proof, when it is all around you. This is your choice. Maybe someday, you will change your mind and heart, but for now, your choice is to reject the TRUTH of God's existence. Just because you don't LIKE the idea of an afterlife does NOT mean that the afterlife does NOT exist. The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom. MARANATHA! Come, Lord Jesus, COME!
What does the following quote mean? “The darkest places in hell are reserved for those who maintain their neutrality in times of moral crisis.”
darkest places in hell- symbolize for the people who have done the most gruesome crime.Each one of us has some morals/standards which guide us in case when we have to make some choices. For example- for an honest person, his morals would not allow him to cheat his principles and to compromise on his duty.Life often makes us face some dilemmas when we have very narrow situations. We can avoid burden on ourselves by being silent(compromising on our morals). For example- suppose there has been a crime in front of you, you are one of the possible prime witness. You have two choices- If you say your statement boldly, the criminal is bound for the punishment. And if you remain neutral by saying that I didn't see anything as I was hurrying through that place, you could save you off this predicament. Now suppose the wrongdoer threatens you to rob off your life, if you speak truth. What do you do? DO you maintain the neutral stand or follow your morals? Certainly now you face a moral crisis.If you remain neutral in the court, you are actually helping the criminal and it would be pretty rational to call you a criminal too(with equal negative credits) since you helped the crime to go unchecked while you could have stopped it. In fact it would not be wrong to say that, you are the prime reason why crimes happened thereafter.That's why people compromising by being neutral must be seen sinful than the sinner (hence awarded the darkest places in hell).