WI the early Church rejects doctrine of eternal Hell

Eurofed

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Let's suppose that the early Church rejects the doctrine of eternal Hell, say because Origen and his later followers defeat their adversaries, and embraces the one that eventually demons and the damned shall be redeemed. Much like Buddhists and modern Universalists, early Christians come to believe that Hell is temporary and all sinners will be eventually redeemed (optionally, the additonal doctrine may evolve that the majority of sinners shall be redeemed, but especially wicked souls shall be annihilated instead, much like modern Annihilationists).
 

Eurofed

Banned
This might come about if the Apocalypse of Peter was accepted as canonical.

<Checking source> Indeed, you are right. And the AoP was acceped by some authors as canonical, so it is a plausible PoD. So, what would be the cultural effects on Christianity ?
 
Let's suppose that the early Church rejects the doctrine of eternal Hell, say because Origen and his later followers defeat their adversaries, and embraces the one that eventually demons and the damned shall be redeemed. Much like Buddhists and modern Universalists, early Christians come to believe that Hell is temporary and all sinners will be eventually redeemed (optionally, the additonal doctrine may evolve that the majority of sinners shall be redeemed, but especially wicked souls shall be annihilated instead, much like modern Annihilationists).

If buddhist ideas seeped more into occident, there may be influences and some syncretism....
 
This was an interesting post and I missed it the first time. Anyhow, leaving aside annihilation for the time....

Where's the incentive to "right action/thought" as it were?

Buddhism's method is life = suffering and that eventually you can achieve enlightenment which is not heaven. Failure to do so result in continuing the earthly cycle of suffering through reincarnation. From wiki's explanation of the Apocalypse of Peter, it seems that sinners will still suffer physical and emotional torment. They would be redeemed at some point (end of the world?) by the prayers of those in heaven (and presumably those in heaven would pray because they are in holy communion with God and wouldn't want revenge etc.).

So it seems the motivation would be to shorten the period of suffering instead of skipping it.

Such a situation might create a more strict accounting of works that is, a good work would balance a specific bad work. A kind of systematic accounting scale. Another may be an even stronger veneration of saint figures because their prayers would presumably carry more weight. So you might have holy men and women being especially venerated even in their lifetimes or even patronized if possible, like sponsorship. A more heavily works-based regime might reduce the incentive to monasticism in exchange for going out and helping in the world (kind of like the Buddha remaining on earth to help others). That might have interesting implications for preservation of knowledge in the even of some analogous Dark Age period.
 
Forgive my ignorance, but is this not purgatory?
A place were the soul can be cleansed before entering Heaven.

It is a widely held believe in most non-Protestant Christian faiths.
 
Purgatory is where Christians go to be purged of their sins before entering heaven, so it doesn't really apply to non-believers.
 
Where would the practice of selling indulgancies be? This was to speed the time in purgotary, and was a major reason for Protestant reformation.

If belief was stronger in the ability to enter heaven after a period in hell then there may not have been a reformation?
 
Where would the practice of selling indulgancies be? This was to speed the time in purgotary, and was a major reason for Protestant reformation.

If belief was stronger in the ability to enter heaven after a period in hell then there may not have been a reformation?

The issue of Church corruption and doctrinal disputes would find something else. Indulgences are just an easy target.
 
Popular Christian perception of hell without Dante's Divine Comedy would be interesting.

Isn't the Jewish hell basically just an empty void? Or is it even given a discription in the Torah?
 
Popular Christian perception of hell without Dante's Divine Comedy would be interesting.

Isn't the Jewish hell basically just an empty void? Or is it even given a discription in the Torah?

The Cheol, early hebraic vision of hell, was indeed eerily like Hades of greco-romans.... a void, grim, dark, not evil or anythig, just... gloomy.
 
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