АД (ГЕЕННА)

No one is released from hell, and those prisoners there burn forever in fire and endure such torment that it is impossible to describe. If no word can express the fierce suffering that the people who are burned here endure, then the suffering of those tortured there is even more indescribable. Here, at least, all suffering ends in a few minutes, but there the scorched sinner burns forever, but is not consumed (6). This is why the devil convinces some to think that there is no Gehenna in order to cast them into Gehenna. On the contrary, God threatens Gehenna and has prepared it so that we, knowing about it, will live so as not to fall into Gehenna. If the devil, now that there is Gehenna, assures you that it does not exist, then if there were no Gehenna, what need would there be to testify about it to the demons, who are trying most of all so that we do not suspect anything of the kind, so that, not fearing it, we become more careless and fall with them into the fire of Gehenna? But why, you ask, did they testify about Gehenna then? Because they could not resist the necessity that forced them to do so. Taking all this into account, may those who think in such a way stop deceiving themselves and others with their speeches! The prophet says: “Our God comes, and not in silence: before Him is a consuming fire, and around Him is a strong storm” (Ps. 49:3). “Fire goes before Him and burns His enemies around” (Ps. 96:3). And who are the enemies of God if not fornicators, adulterers, homosexuals, lusters, idolaters, covetous people, drunkards, oathbreakers, murmurers, angry, vindictive, proud, arrogant, disobedient to parents, unmerciful? On the Last Day of General Resurrection, the Judge will command them all: “Depart from Me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels” (Matthew 25:41) (9). You ask, where and in what place will Gehenna be? But what do you care about that? You need to know that it exists, and not where and in what place it is hiding. Some, applying to Gehenna what is told about some war in ancient times, empty talk that it is located in the Valley of Jehoshaphat. Indeed, there was such a case that God, punishing his opponents with his righteous judgment, completely destroyed them - precisely in the Valley of Jehoshaphat - so that the inhabitants of Jerusalem had enough of the weapons destroyed for fuel for seven years (see Joel. 3:2; Ezek. 39:9). And this is where they now want to place Gehenna. But Scripture doesn't say that. Do you still want to know: in what place will Gehenna be? In my opinion, somewhere beyond this whole world. Just as royal dungeons and mines are in distant places, so Gehenna will be somewhere outside this universe. But we will not inquire about where it is, but how to avoid it (9). This is precisely why God created Gehenna and threatens us with it, so that out of fear of it we would try to be better and not fall into it. Therefore, whoever forbids talking about Gehenna achieves nothing other than quietly preparing for himself, deceiving himself, death in Gehenna. Do not tie the hands that strive in virtue, do not increase negligence in people who are immersed in sleep. If we could assure people that there is no Gehenna, would they ever give up vice? And where will the truth be? I’m not talking about sinners and righteous people, but exclusively about sinners. Why is one punished here, while the other is not punished, for the same, or even the gravest sin? If there is no Gehenna, nothing can be said to such a complaint. Therefore, I ask you all to leave such a ridiculous, downright satanic thought - and thereby stop the mouths of those who object to it. In the smallest deeds, both bad and good, there will be a strict test. And for an immodest look we will be punished, and we will give an account for idle speech, and for laughter, and for slander, and for evil thoughts, and for drunkenness; and equally in good deeds - for a cup of ice water, for a kind word, for one breath we will receive a reward. It is said: “And on the foreheads of people who mourn, who groan over all abominations... make a sign” (Ezek. 9:4). How dare you say that God, who tests our lives with such severity, threatened in vain and in vain with Gehenna? I ask you, I beg you, do not ruin yourself and those who trust you with such vain hopes (9). You might be interested in: