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Hell and Its Torments

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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.

46 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 1990

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About the author

Robert Bellarmine

295 books37 followers
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.

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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
Profile Image for Cassandra.
13 reviews6 followers
December 23, 2015
Increíble edición que detalla cómo un poeta (Dante Alighieri), un científico (Galileo Galilei) y un inquisidor (Roberto Bellarmino) se imaginan, miden y ubican al infierno en la tierra. Aquí encontrarás la explicación del porqué al diablo de dieron forma animal, de dónde sacaron que arderás en el infierno y cómo puedes llegar a él si sabes bien donde buscar.

Incluye el fragmento "Acerca del infierno", sermón de Bellarmino que impartió en 1574 y que formó parte de "Las ultimas cuatro cosas: muerte, juicio, cielo e infierno."
Profile Image for April.
226 reviews27 followers
March 29, 2015
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.
268 reviews
February 16, 2020
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.
Profile Image for Sir Badgerly.
170 reviews
October 7, 2020
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.
2 reviews
December 14, 2023
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!
84 reviews4 followers
January 21, 2017
“The misery with them all was, clearly, that they sought to interfere, for good, in human matters, and had lost the power for ever.”
Profile Image for Edgar Garcia.
15 reviews4 followers
August 18, 2025
I think I’ll be reading this at least once a year for the rest of my life. Sobering.
Profile Image for OSCAR.
523 reviews6 followers
June 10, 2024
Este libro está dividido en dos partes: el prólogo y un sermón sobre el infierno, elaborado por Roberto Bellarmino.

El prólogo, si bien empezó bien, terminó divagando sobre la vida y obra de Roberto Bellarmino y Galileo Galilei. Comenzó aquél con una referencia al abandono en el discurso teológico de la iglesia del tema de la Iglesia, para pasar inmediatamente a estudiar cómo bajo el término "infernos" se subsumieron varios "lugares teológicos": el limbo, el seno de Abraham, el infierno stricto sensu y el Sheol. Evidentemente esta confusión permanece y únicamente dejando de lado la doctrina católica y acercándose a la ortodoxa, o cismática griega, es posible desentrañar el galimatías teológico. Considero que el título del libro y la portada nos vendieron un producto engañoso: aquí no se hablará ni de la obra galileana sobre la medición del infierno ni sobre el infierno de Dante, fueron ambas cuestiones tratadas de modo superficial y supongo que para rellenar páginas y para atraer a los incautos.

El sermón de Roberto Bellarmino es aleccionador, pero resulta ya difícil de leerlo sin ruborizarse. La incredulidad ya permea incluso en los más fieles hijos de la Iglesia. En su homilía, el polémico cardenal señaló con múltiples ejemplos y razones, los motivos que llevan a la gente a no creer en el infierno ni a cambiar su conducta. Subrayó sobre todo que el hecho de que hay condenados al infierno porque la injuria hecha al máximo bien es de tal grado que es imperdonable e insuperable. No es fácil seguir por casi veinte páginas un texto lleno de tantas referencias y circunloquios.

Debo celebrar finalmente tanto la edición, por el material utilizado, como por las imágenes. Es una versión muy bonita.
17 reviews4 followers
June 8, 2018
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.
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