Chapter VII · (continued 2)

The Pagans believed that, in their hell, the wicked were tortured in their bodies and in their souls, although their bodies were in the grave; so the Church of Rome believed, and still believes that, in the hell of the Christians, the wicked are tortured in their bodies and in their souls, although their bodies are in the grave.

The Pagans believed that, in their hell, hideous furies were armed with whips and other instruments of torture; so the Church of Rome believed, and still believes, that, in the hell of the Christians, the devils are hideous and armed with whips, tridents, harpoons, and other instruments of torture. We invite the reader to go to Catholic stores of images, and to see the representation of devils with tails, horns, and armed with instruments of torture.

The Pagans believed that, in their hell, the wicked were whipped and tortured in various cruel manners by the furies, though their bodies were in the grave; so the Church of Rome believed, and still believes, that, in the hell of the Christians, the wicked are whipped and tortured in various cruel manners by the devils, though their bodies are in the grave. The Pagans believed that, in their hell, the wicked dragged heavy chains; so the Church of Rome believed, and still believes, that, in the hell of the Christians, the wicked drag heavy chains. The Pagans believed that, in their hell, there were two principal abodes, the one expiatory, in which the common wicked were detained and tortured, until they had expiated their faults, and been purified enough to be admitted in the Elysium; and the other, the vastest, the darkest, and the deepest cavern, where great criminals were burnt and excruciated endlessly, and without any hope of cessation or relief in their torments; so the Church of Rome believed, and still believes, that in the hell of the Christians, there are two principal abodes, the one, Purgatory, where the common wicked, namely, those guilty of venial sins, are tortured and burnt in a material fire, until they have expiated their faults, and been purified enough to be permitted to crave St. Peter to open to them the gate of Paradise, and the other the vastest, the darkest, and the deepest profundity, where the heretics, the schismatics, those who eat meat on Friday, do not pay the tithe to the priests, or who disobey kindred laws of the Church, are plunged, bodies and souls, (though their bodies are in the grave,) into a devouring fire, and where they are excruciated endlessly, without any hope of cessation or relief in their torments.

The Pagans believed that, in the expiatory abode of their hell, there were many different degrees of tortures; so the Church of Rome believed, and still believes, that, in the Purgatory of the hell of the Christians, there are many different degrees of tortures. The Pagans believed that supplications could relieve and free from their tortures, the common wicked detained in the expiatory abode of their hell; so the Church of Rome believed, and still believes, that, in the Purgatory of the hell of the Christians, the common wicked, namely, those guilty of venial sins, can be relieved in their torments, and be freed from them by supplications; hence the incalculable sums of money paid to the priests, to say masses for the deliverance of those wicked; hence the countless splendid churches, the vast number of monasteries, convents, nunneries, abbeys, and other costly edifices, founded in behalf of those wicked.

The Pagans believed that there were an innumerable quantity of different degrees of tortures in the second principal abode of their hell; so the Church of Rome believed, and still believes, that, in the second principal abode of the hell of the Christians, there is an innumerable quantity of different degrees of tortures. The Pagans believed that, in their hell, the wicked condemned to endless misery, would, mingle with their yells of anguish, torment, and despair, vociferations, maledictions, and curses, against the gods, and against themselves; so the Church of Rome believed, and still believes, that, in the hell of the Christians, the wicked, condemned to endless misery, will mingle with their yells of anguish, torment, and despair, vociferations, maledictions, and curses against God, and against themselves; that they will exclaim, Montes cadite super nos!—Mountains fall upon us! The Pagans believed that, in their hell, the wicked condemned to endless misery will vainly endeavor to kill and annihilate themselves; so the Church of Rome believed, and still believes, that the wicked condemned to endless misery, will vainly attempt to put an end to their miserable existence.

Therefore there is a most striking similarity, or rather identity, between the hell of the Pagans, and the hell of the Church of Rome.

Therefore, since as proved above,

1st, The Church of Rome was the first Church which introduced the dogma of endless hell in the body of Christians;

2d, Since, as proved above, the Church of Rome did not originate the dogma of endless hell from the New Testament;

3d, Since, as proved above, the Church of Rome did not borrow from the Jews, or from their Holy Writs, the dogma of endless hell;

4th, Since, as proved above, the Church of Rome, at the imitation of the Pagans, established, towards the beginning of the third century, mysteries, many of the ceremonies, rites and doctrines thereof were alike to those ceremonies, rites and doctrines, of the mysteries of the Pagans;

5th, Since, as proved above, there is a most striking similarity, or rather identity, between the hell of the Pagans, and the hell of the Church of Rome,

We legitimately draw this important conclusion:

Therefore the Church of Rome borrowed from the Pagans the dogma of endless hell.

When the Protestants, now self-called Orthodox Churches, left the Church of Rome, in the sixteenth century, they cut off many of the appendices and concomitant particularities of the dogma of endless hell; but they preserved, and even in our days profess to believe, the main features of this dogma, namely, that in hell there is sulphur, brimstone, and fire; that in hell there are devils; that in hell there are many degrees of torments; that in hell the wicked are constantly burning in fire without consuming, and are constantly tortured by the devils without any relief; that hell shall exist forever and evermore, as long as endless eternity shall endure; and that the torments of the wicked in hell shall no more end than hell itself.

That the Protestants, now self-called Orthodox Christian Churches, borrowed from the Church of Rome, in the sixteenth century, the dogma of endless hell; and that they preserved the above belief in regard to endless hell, is proved by the unanimous testimony of modern historians and of chroniclers. That they, now-a-days, profess the above belief in regard to endless hell, is a fact which we can daily, and particularly every Sunday, in all cities, towns, and villages of this country, and of all Protestant countries, verify with our own eyes in their writings, and with our own ears in their temples.

Now we draw our general conclusions:

1st, Therefore the Church of Rome borrowed from the Pagans the dogma of endless hell.

2d, Therefore the now self-called Orthodox Protestant, or Christian Churches, borrowed from the Church of Rome the dogma of endless hell.

Conclusion of the chapter:

Therefore the Partialist doctrine of endless hell is of Pagan origin.