“How important was the doctrine of hell to the martyrs?”
During the time period of Roman persecution of the Christians, countless sacrificed their lives for the greater good of Christianity. They believed in Christ being the messiah so much, that they ended up dying. But this begs the question, how important was the doctrine of hell. The answer simply is very. They knew hell was real, and they knew that if hell was real, then heaven would be real. They also knew that the people that persecuted them would be sent to hell, and all they had to do was continue to be a good christian. Heaven is a kind and wonderful place. Where all those who have behaved on earth can live in comfort and love. The people who lost their lives knew this. Hell is quite the opposite. There people who have sinned will be punished, as they have strayed away from god and his sanctions.
As stated above, the martyrs took comfort in that fact that when they died they would be sent to heaven. They knew that for following in God’s teachings, that they would be okay. They also had a deep understanding of hell. They found comfort in the fact that even though they were killed for their faith, they would be rewarded in heaven, and their killer would be punished in hell. In one example, a man is threatened to be burned at the stake and killed. He says he would rather do this than burn in hell. He knows that if he converts out of Christianity,be will burn for ever. However, if they are burned and killed, it only last moments, then they are in the kingdom of heaven for ever. So in this way. Without hell, they would have converted, but because they knew of their punishment, they stayed strong until the end.
There are countless tales like this. People who sacrifice their lives because of their knowledge of Hell. In a lot of ways, there would be no heaven if it it weren’t for hell. Truly the doctrine of hell(as weird as it sounds) Saved lives and saved those were were going to convert. To think, god and Jesus gave up their lives for our sins and evils, and that way we can enjoy and flourish in the great kingdom of heaven.
Truly, the doctrine of Hell helped the martyrs. It gave them something to believe in. They knew that if they converted to the evil of the Roman empire, they would burn in hell. This in a weird way gave them hope. It gave them the idea that if they did not switch sides, and kept fighting for their religion and for god, then in the end they would end up in heaven. Without the doctrine of Hell, people would have swapped sides. If they did not fear the consequences of punishment, then they would have not cared. Of course, there were Christians that converted, but the people that stayed strong believed in heaven, and feared Hell.
JBSchool 