11/07/2011

In the first of a new series, Ernie Rea and guests discuss the Christian understanding of Hell. Hell appears in several mythologies and religions as a place of suffering and punishment after death, but it is Christianity which has lent it its most vivid imagery. The Christian understanding of hell grew out of the Jewish concept of Sheol, a shadowy abode of the dead. Jesus used graphic images to describe hell which were further elaborated by the early church wrestling under persecution with the question of how a Just God could permit such suffering. That the Evil will be eternally punished was one answer to this dilemma, although there has always been a minority strain within Christianity arguing that eternal hell is incompatible with the workings of a loving God. Joining Ernie to discuss hell are the Catholic writer and commentator, Peter Stanford, lecturer in patristic theology at Exeter University, Morwenna Ludlow, and lecturer at Oakhill theological college Daniel Strange.