Fire and brimstone
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Fire and brimstone is a pejorative term used to describe a motif in Christian preaching which uses vivid descriptions of judgement, and the damnation to Hell of sinners forever to encourage repentance out of fear of divine wrath and punishment.
The Puritan preacher Thomas Vincent (an eyewitness of the Great Fire of London) authored a book called "Fire and Brimstone in Hell", first published in 1670. In it he quotes from Psalm 11:6 "Upon the wicked he shall rain snares, fire and brimstone, and an horrible tempest, this shall be the portion of their cup."
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[edit] Biblical references
Several Biblical passages use the image of burning brimstone (the ancient name for sulphur), or , to represent divine wrath. The King James translation often renders such imagery with the phrase "fire and brimstone". In Genesis 19, God destroys Sodom and Gomorrah via a rain of fire and brimstone, and in Deuteronomy 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 against Assyria (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, wherein the 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.
[edit] History
During the Great Awakening of the 1730s and 1740s, preachers such as Jonathan Edwards and George Whitefield were referred to as "fire and brimstone preachers". Edwards' "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" remains among the best-known sermons from this period; when Edwards first preached it, many in his audience burst out weeping; some reports indicate that other attendees cried out in anguish or even fainted.
Today, among the more conservative Protestant branches of Christianity; many Baptist, Pentecostal, and Church of Christ preaching is still sometimes referred to as "fire and brimstone" in style. Some denominations, such as the Society of Friends (or Quakers) have few, if any, members who support such notions; in more recent times, the term "fire and brimstone" is used more often to stereotype radical preachers, though few preachers--even the radical ones--would label themselves that way.
