The old, ancient Christians (Ethiopian, Armenian, Coptic) who are closest to what Christianity actually is...an an Eastern religion. Look at their concept of hell. It is the cure for today's spiritual sickness:No physical place of torment: Oriental Orthodox Christians do not believe in a literal, physical Hell as a place of eternal torment. Instead, they understand Hell as a state of separation from God, a condition of spiritual death or darkness.Experience of God’s presence: Heaven and Hell are not spatial destinations but rather dimensions of God’s presence, experienced differently depending on one’s spiritual state. Those who reject God’s love and grace may experience God’s presence as torment or anguish, while those who love and seek God may experience it as paradise or delight.Human choice and responsibility: Oriental Orthodox theology emphasizes human freedom and responsibility. Humans choose whether to respond to God’s love and grace, and this choice determines their eternal state. Those who reject God’s love and live for themselves may not want God’s presence, even if it’s offered to them.No eternal punishment: There is no concept of eternal punishment or torture in Oriental Orthodox theology. Instead, the focus is on the consequences of human choices and the eternal state that results from them.God’s love and mercy: Oriental Orthodox theology emphasizes God’s love and mercy, and the possibility of repentance and salvation for all people. Even those who have rejected God’s love may, in the end, come to desire God’s presence and be reconciled to Him.Some quotes from Oriental Orthodox sources to illustrate these points:“If the doors of hell are locked, then they are locked from within.” (Metropolitan Kallistos Ware)“The fault is in the eyes of the person’s heart, and not in God. And that truly is hell.” (Unspecified Orthodox source)
>>17280039Kallistos Ware was an Eastern Orthodox Bishop he was not Oriental Orthodox.These are also all things Eastern Orthodox believe. It's not unique to Oriental Orthodoxy
>>17280077EO don't believe in physical hell?Catholics believe in purgatory, which is a temporary hell.
>>17280100Eastern Orthodox believe after the resurrection of the dead that everyone will be exposed to the full Divine Energies of God and that will be hellfire to those who don't love God. Seraphim, the highest rank of Angel and closest to God outside the Saints is translated as fiery ones referring to God's Divine Energies being like a consuming fire at that level of closeness to God, and humans are meant to be even higher than that among creation.Orthodox believe in hades becoming a hell of your own making as well with your life decisions dictating if your soul ascends towards salvation or descends towards the demons (which have less exposure to the Divine Energies than even rocks, the lowest of the low barely even exist) so the torments are different that after the resurrection. Hades is temporary though since the resurrection is eternal
>>17280114That is Eastern Orthodox. I am talking about oriental Orthodox. they aren't the same thing
>>17280118The post was asking>EO (Eastern Orthodox) don't belive in physical hell?Which the response was for.Also, again, Kallistos Ware was Eastern Orthodox, he was a bishop in Eastern Orthodoxy, so OP is confused in the first place.
