heaven and hell
the conviction that everyone is accountable for their thoughts, deeds and words throughout their lives, with the consequence that this will be reflected in experience which goes beyond death, and which is both personal and communal. Thus, from Matthew 25 there is the ultimate checkout of how each person has responded to God in the lives around them. The Christian hope is rooted in the risen life of Jesus after his crucifixion. It is believed by some to be corroborated by extensive reports of people describing near death experiences. The language available to speak of what is involved remains largely speculative, although the medieval imagery from Dante’s Divine Comedy or the paintings on church murals and from the likes of Hieronymous Bosch are graphic in their representations of both torture and bliss. Hell remains a powerful affirmation of just how dangerously real is evil and the contributory failure to do good. They require all the available energies of suffering love for them to be finally defeated.
See also:
evil