Religion:
Sean re "Christ's Failure"

You mention the countless souls condemned to Hell before Christ's arrival on earth and those born after him who go to Hell because they never had the opportunity to hear his message. Fortunately, the Catholics ran into this idea and developed a solution: Purgatory.

The souls of "righteous pagans" -- people who for whatever reason never had a chance to know Christ's teachings but otherwise were good people who would have lived according to those teachings if given the opportunity -- go to Purgatory, a peaceful place within Hell (separated from the sinners and torments) where they wait for an event called the Harrowing of Hell, when Christ will break down the gates to Hell, free the righteous pagans, and give Satan a sound beating (Catholics believe this occurred between the Crucifixion and the Resurrection). Considering that the God of the New Testament is a much more loving God, it would make sense that any other righteous pagans since that time would also go to Purgatory and eventually be released (possibly at Armageddon). Purgatory is also home to Christians who aren't quite good enough to immediately get into Heaven; they spend a little time "working off their sins" before they can join Christ in Heaven.

They also explained a similar problem in a similar way: infants who die before baptism are still presumed innocent of sin (other than Original Sin) and do not belong in Hell; they go to Limbo, a place of happiness and waiting (not quite as nice as Heaven) where presumably at some point they are welcomed into Heaven by Christ.

So it's not like God is losing the war ... those countless dead from the first 4000 years of the world are more like POWs, and Christ is the ultimate commando who's going to spring them from their POW camp.

—Sean Reynolds
March 2005

It's only the fire-and-brimstone Christians whose beliefs imply that Satan has largely won the struggle for humanity's souls. Catholics aren't, as a rule, fire-and-brimstone Christians. I'm talking more about the evangelicals who say that those who aren't born again don't benefit from Christ's sacrifice and go to Hell.

—JoT
June 2005

top