Three main positions concerning hell can be distinguished. First, the Augustinian view of hell as place of eternal punishment, which stamped the Western tradition, with the variation of a purgatory (Roman-Catholic) or without it (Protestant). Second, in the Eastern tradition, universalist tendencies rendered hell a transitional phase after which all shall be saved. Third, annihilationism states that while believers live eternally, the damned are destroyed forever. Diverse interpretations of Biblical Scripture lead to a proliferation of all three options. Meanwhile, modern humanism has put the Augustinian option under pressure.
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Bibliographical Entries
Alfeyev, Hilarion, Christ the Conqueror of Hell. The Descent into Hades from an Orthodox Perspective, New York 2009.
Augustine of Hippo, De Civitate Dei. Libri XI–XXII (CChr.SL 48), Turnhout 1955.
Bernstein, Alan E. The Formation of Hell: Death and Retribution in the Ancient and Christian Worlds. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1996.
Bremmer, Jan. N./Czachesz, István (Hrsg.), The Apocalypse of Peter, Leuven 2003.
Brown, David, Art. Hell, in: St Andrews Encyclopaedia of Theology, edited by Brendan N. Wolfe et al., 15.06.2023 (https://www.saet.ac.uk/Christianity/Hell), abgerufen am 05.03.2025.
Campbell, Douglas A., Pauline Dogmatics. The Triumph of God’s Love, Grand Rapids 2020.
Ehrman, Bart D., Heaven and Hell. A History of the Afterlife, London 2020.
Gardiner, Eileen (Hrsg.), Vision of Heaven and Hell Before Dante, New York 1989.
Fudge, Edward William, The Fire That Consumes. A Biblical and Historical Study of the Doctrine of Final Punishment, Cambridge 32012.
Lewis, C. S., The Great Divorce, London 1945.
Origen of Alexandria, On First Principles. A Reader’s Edition. Translated by John Behr, Oxford 2019.
Pitstick, Alyssa Lyra, Light in Darkness. Hans Urs von Balthasar and the Catholic Doctrine of Christ’s Descent into Hell, Grand Rapids 2007.
Sarot, Marcel/Wieringen, Archibald van (Hrsg.), The Apostles’ Creed „He Descended Into Hell“ (Studies in Theology and Religion 24), Leiden 2018.
Sattler, Dorothea/Grund-Wittenberg, Alexandra (Hrsg.), Hölle (Jahrbuch für Biblische Theologie 36), Göttingen 2023.
Walls, Jerry L., Hell. The Logic of Damnation, Notre Dame 1992.
Cite as
Huijgen, Arnold: „Hell“, Version 1.0, in: Onlinelexikon Systematische Theologie,