Hell and Its Torments

by Robert Bellarmine

A sermon on Hell as part of "The Four Last Things." Novel and vigorous; inspires a person to do whatever is necessary not to go there. Brief and powerful.

Genres: Theology, Catholic, Religion

46 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 1990

About the author

Saint Robert Bellarmine, SJ was an Italian bishop, cardinal, theologian, and an influental figure of the Counter-Reformation. He was canonized a saint in 1930 by Pope Pius XI and named a Doctor of the Church in 1931. He is also known as Roberto Bellarmino.

Reviews

[April · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting homily from a great saint on one of the 4 last things. Definitely will make you think. Hell is for eternity - whatever 'it' is, it's not worth going there! Don't do it! Life is short. Mindless momentary pleasures are not worth an eternity in hell.

[ShepherdsDelight · Rating 5 out of 5]

91/100 (= 5.4/6) ≈ 5 Stars

[Gary · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read of Robert Bellarmine in Needham's four volume church history books. While he has some beliefs I do not share (Mary as Wueen if Heaven and purgatory), his take on Hell is mostly Biblical with some added orise from Godly men. This little sermon is designed to scare the Hell out if his listeners. I pray it does that.

[Sir Badgerly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Needs to be more concise and hard hitting for the effect of multiple use for meditation/contemplation. For a one-time read its okay. But just okay, in my opinion. St. Bellarmine's commentary on the Psalms is a much better piece of work by him.

[Lachlan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Indescribably sobering little book! This isn’t just sadistic soft core porn; rather, it describes—with great images—soteriology, the role we play in it, and how we ought to think of Hell. It won’t take more than an hour to read, so please do!

[KarenO · Rating 3 out of 5]

“The misery with them all was, clearly, that they sought to interfere, for good, in human matters, and had lost the power for ever.”

[Edgar Garcia · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think I’ll be reading this at least once a year for the rest of my life. Sobering.

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

We will speak of eternity in poetry and love letters, even unbelievers will, because this is the nature of the soul; eternal. And without recognizing how it came to be; an eternal creature amid a temporal world, by rejecting outright its Creator, it risks eternal death. St. Bellarmine explains the eternal destiny of such a soul.