- Fire and brimstone
Fire and brimstone is a term used, sometimes pejoratively, to describe a motif in Christian preaching which uses vivid descriptions of judgment, and the
damnation toHell of sinners forever to encourage repentance out of fear of divinewrath andpunishment .The
Puritan preacherThomas Vincent (an eyewitness of theGreat Fire of London ) authored a book called "Fire and Brimstone in Hell", first published in 1670. In it he quotes fromPsalm 11:6 "Upon the wicked he shall rain snares, fire and brimstone, and a horrible tempest, this shall be the portion of their cup."Biblical references
Several Biblical passages use the image of burning brimstone (the ancient name for
sulfur ) to represent divinewrath . The King James translation often renders such imagery with the phrase "fire and brimstone". In Genesis 19,God destroysSodom and Gomorrah via a rain of fire and brimstone, and inDeuteronomy 29, the Israelites are threatened with the same punishment should they abandon their covenant with God. Elsewhere, divine judgments involving fire and sulphur are prophesied againstAssyria (Isaiah 30),Edom (Isaiah 34),Gog (Ezekiel 38), and all the wicked (Psalm 11).Fire and brimstone frequently appear as agents of divine wrath throughout the
Book of Revelation , culminating in chapters 19–21, whereinthe devil and the ungodly are cast into a lake of fire and brimstone as an eternal punishment::And the beast was taken, and with him the
false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone. (Revelation 19:20, KJV):And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever. (Revelation 20:10, KJV)
:But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death. (Revelation 21:8, KJV)
There is disagreement over the interpretation. A common view is that they are supposed to show how sinfulness and rejection of God's love can result in serious problems. Others suggest that they represent an active inflicting of punishment by God. It is also suggested that they do not refer to anything; rather the image is intended to simply produce fear and so compel belief.Fact|date=July 2008
History
Preachers such as Jonathan Edwards and
George Whitefield were referred to as "fire and brimstone preachers" during the Great Awakening of the 1730s and 1740s. Edwards' "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God " remains among the best-known sermons from this period. Reports of one occasion when Edwards preached it said that many of the audience burst out weeping, and others cried out in anguish or even fainted. One member of his congregation, Joseph Hawley, slit his throat after listening to it. [cite book|last=Garraty|first=John A.|title=The American Nation|publisher=Longman|location=New York|year=1998|pages=pp. 77]Today, preaching in more conservative branches of Christianity, such as many
Baptist ,Nazarene , Pentecostal,Restoration Movement andChurch of Christ churches, may be described as "fire and brimstone" in style. Fact|date=July 2008 In contrast, such styles would be out of place inquietist traditions, such as theSociety of Friends (or Quakers). The term "fire and brimstone" is more often used in current language to stereotype fervent preachers (though such few preachers would label themselves that way).Fact|date=July 2008ee also
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Afterlife References
External links
* [http://www.ccel.org/ccel/edwards/sermons/files/sinners.html Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God ] - "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" by Jonathan Edwards
* [http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mbrimstone.html "The Straight Dope" on Fire and Brimstone]
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