Topical Encyclopedia
Definition and Overview:Damnation refers to the state of eternal punishment and separation from God, often associated with hell, reserved for those who reject God's salvation. It is a central theme in Christian eschatology, emphasizing the consequences of sin and the justice of God. The concept underscores the gravity of moral choices and the ultimate accountability before God.
Biblical References:1.
Eternal Punishment: Damnation is frequently depicted as eternal punishment. In
Matthew 25:46, Jesus speaks of the final judgment, stating, "And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life." This verse highlights the dichotomy between the fate of the unrighteous and the reward of the righteous.
2.
Separation from God: Damnation involves a profound separation from God, as seen in
2 Thessalonians 1:9: "They will suffer the penalty of eternal destruction, separated from the presence of the Lord and the glory of His might." This separation is a key aspect of the torment associated with damnation.
3.
The Lake of Fire:Revelation 20:15 describes the ultimate fate of those not found in the Book of Life: "And if anyone was found whose name was not written in the Book of Life, he was thrown into the lake of fire." The lake of fire symbolizes the final and irrevocable state of damnation.
4.
The Role of Sin: Sin is the primary cause leading to damnation.
Romans 6:23 states, "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." This verse contrasts the consequences of sin with the hope offered through Jesus Christ.
5.
Judgment: The Bible emphasizes that all will face judgment, determining their eternal destiny.
Hebrews 9:27 declares, "And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment." This judgment will reveal the righteousness or unrighteousness of each individual.
Theological Implications:1.
Justice of God: Damnation underscores the justice of God, who is righteous and holy. It affirms that God will not leave sin unpunished, as seen in
Nahum 1:3: "The LORD is slow to anger and great in power; the LORD will by no means leave the guilty unpunished."
2.
Human Responsibility: The concept of damnation highlights human responsibility in accepting or rejecting God's offer of salvation.
John 3:18 states, "Whoever believes in Him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe has already been condemned, because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son."
3.
The Necessity of Salvation: The reality of damnation underscores the necessity of salvation through Jesus Christ.
Acts 4:12 affirms, "Salvation exists in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved."
Historical and Doctrinal Context:Throughout church history, the doctrine of damnation has been a point of significant theological reflection and debate. The early church fathers, such as Augustine, emphasized the eternal nature of damnation as a just consequence for sin. The Reformers, including Martin Luther and John Calvin, reinforced the idea of predestination and the sovereignty of God in determining the elect and the reprobate.
In contemporary theology, discussions around damnation often involve the nature of hell, the justice of eternal punishment, and the scope of salvation. While some modern theologians propose alternative views such as annihilationism or universal reconciliation, traditional Christian doctrine maintains the reality of eternal damnation for those who reject God's grace.
Practical Application:The doctrine of damnation serves as a sobering reminder of the seriousness of sin and the urgency of evangelism. It calls believers to live lives of holiness and to share the gospel message, warning others of the consequences of rejecting Christ. The reality of damnation also encourages Christians to rely on God's grace and to seek His mercy continually.
Easton's Bible Dictionary
In
Romans 13:2, means "condemnation," which comes on those who withstand God's ordinance of magistracy. This sentence of condemnation comes not from the magistrate, but from God, whose authority is thus resisted.
In1 Corinthians 11:29 (R.V., "judgment") this word means condemnation, in the sense of exposure to severe temporal judgements from God, as the following verse explains.
InRomans 14:23 the word "damned" means "condemned" by one's own conscience, as well as by the Word of God. The apostle shows here that many things which are lawful are not expedient; and that in using our Christian liberty the question should not simply be, Is this course I follow lawful? but also, Can I follow it without doing injury to the spiritual interests of a brother in Christ? He that "doubteth", i.e., is not clear in his conscience as to "meats", will violate his conscience "if he eat," and in eating is condemned; and thus one ought not so to use his liberty as to lead one who is "weak" to bring upon himself this condemnation.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary
1. (
n.) The state of being damned; condemnation; openly expressed disapprobation.
2. (n.) Condemnation to everlasting punishment in the future state, or the punishment itself.
3. (n.) A sin deserving of everlasting punishment.
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
DAMN; DAMNATION; DAMNABLEdam, dam-na'-shun, dam'-na-bl: These words have undergone a change of meaning since the King James Version was made. They are derived from Latin damnare = "to inflict a loss," "to condemn," and that was their original meaning in English Now they denote exclusively the idea of everlasting punishment in hell. It is often difficult to determine which meaning was intended by the translators in the King James Version. They have been excluded altogether from the Revised Version (British and American). The words for which they stand in the King James Version are:
(1) apoleia, "destruction," translated "damnable" and "damnation" only in2 Peter 2:1-3 (the Revised Version (British and American) "destructive," "destruction"). False prophets taught doctrines calculated to destroy others, and themselves incurred the sentence of destruction such as overtook the fallen angels, the world in the Deluge, and the cities of the Plain. Apoleia occurs otherwise 16 times in the New Testament, and is always translated in the King James Version and the Revised Version (British and American) by either "perdition" or "destruction": twice of waste of treasure (Matthew 26:8 =Mark 14:4); twice of the beast that comes out of the abyss and goes into perdition (Revelation 17:8, 11). In all other cases, it refers to men, and defines the destiny that befalls them as the result of sin: Judas is the "son of perdition" (John 17:12). Peter consigns Simon Magus and his money to perdition (Acts 8:20). Some men are "vessels of wrath fitted unto destruction" (Romans 9:22), and others, their "end is perdition" (Philippians 3:19). It is the antithesis of salvation (Hebrews 10:39Philippians 1:28). Of the two ways of life, one leads to destruction (Matthew 7:13). Whether it is utter, final and irretrievable destruction is not stated.
(2) krino, translated "damned" only in the King James Version of2 Thessalonians 2:12 (the Revised Version (British and American) "judged") means "to judge" in the widest sense, "to form an opinion" (Luke 7:43), and forensically "to test and try" an accused person. It can only acquire the sense of "judging guilty" or "condemning" from the context.
(3) katakrino, translated "damned" only in the King James Version ofMark 16:16Romans 14:23 ("condemned" in the Revised Version (British and American)), means properly "to give judgment against" or "to condemn" and is so translated 17 times in the King James Version and always in the Revised Version (British and American).
(4) krisis, translated "damnation" in the King James Version ofMatthew 23:33Mark 3:29John 5:29 (the Revised Version (British and American) "judgment," but inMark 3:29, "sin" for hamartema), means (a) judgment in general like krino, and is so used about 17 times, besides 14 times in the phrase "day of judgment"; (b) "condemnation," like katakrino, about 14 times.
(5) krima, translated in the King James Version "damnation" 7 times (Matthew 23:14 =Mark 12:40 =Luke 20:47Romans 3:8;Romans 13:21 Corinthians 11:291 Timothy 5:12), "condemnation" 6 times, "judgment" 13 times, "law" and "avenged" once each; in the Revised Version (British and American) "condemnation" 9 t (Matthew 23:14 only inserted in margin), "judgment" 17 times, and once in margin, "lawsuit" and "sentence" once each. "Judgment" may be neutral, an impartial act of the judge weighing the evidence (so inMatthew 7:2Acts 24:25Romans 11:33Hebrews 6:21 Peter 4:17;Revelation 20:4) and "lawsuit" (1 Corinthians 6:7); or it may be inferred from the context that judgment is unto condemnation (so inRomans 2:2, 3;Romans 5:16Galatians 5:102 Peter 2:3;Revelation 17:1;Revelation 18:20, and the Revised Version (British and American)Romans 13:21 Corinthians 11:29). In places where krima and krisis are rightly translated "condemnation," and where "judgment" regarded as an accomplished fact involves a sentence of guilt, they together with katakrino define the relation of a person to the supreme authority, as that of a criminal, found and held guilty, and liable to punishment. So the Roman empire regarded Jesus Christ, and the thief on the cross (Luke 23:40;Luke 24:20).
But generally these words refer to man as a sinner against God, judged guilty by Him, and liable to the just penalty of sin. They imply nothing further as to the nature of the penalty or the state of man undergoing it, nor as to its duration. Nor does the word "eternal" (aion, aionios, often wrongly translated "everlasting" in the King James Version) when added to them, determine the question of duration. Condemnation is an act in the moral universe, which cannot be determined under categories of time.
These terms define the action of God in relation to man's conduct, as that of the Supreme Judge, but they express only one aspect of that relation which is only fully conceived, when coordinated with the more fundamental idea of God's Fatherhood. SeeESCHATOLOGY;JUDGMENT.
LITERATURE. Salmond, Christian Doctrine of Immortality; Charles, Eschatology.
T. Rees
Greek
2917. krima -- a judgment... This is everlasting
damnation (torment) for the unredeemed (the usual implication
of 2319 ) -- or the eternal that come from the Lord's judgment in favor of
...2920. krisis -- a decision, judgment
... condemnation,damnation, judgment. Decision (subjectively or objectively,
for or against); by extension, a tribunal; by implication...
476. antidikos -- an opponent, adversary
... acts as such an adversary, bringing the "(law)suit" of darkness against believers
for their eternaldamnation (cf. 1 Pet 5:8). this is (Jn 19:30)!...
684. apoleia -- destruction, loss
... perdition (1), perish (1), waste (1), wasted (1).damnation, destruction,
perish, waste. From a presumed derivative of apollumi; ruin...
Library
On Predestination to Salvation, and onDamnation Considered in the...
... FIFTH PART ON PREDESTINATION TO SALVATION, AND ONDAMNATION CONSIDERED IN
THE HIGHEST DEGREE. The first in order of the divine decrees...
Of theDamnation of the Devil and his Adherents; and a Sketch of...
... Chapter 14."Of theDamnation of the Devil and His Adherents; And a Sketch of the
Bodily Resurrection of All the Dead, and of the Final Retributive Judgment....
The Resurrection toDamnation.
... Book I. Chapter 20."The Resurrection toDamnation. 19. Now he whose soul
does not die to this world and begin here to be conformed...
If Anyone who is Excommunicated Shall Receive Communion Before his...
... Canon XXIX. (Greek xxxii.) If anyone who is excommunicated shall receive communion
before his cause is heard he bringsdamnation on himself....
Second Proposition of Arminius
... The general use is when non-election, or preterition anddamnation, is comprehended
in the word, in which way Calvin and Beza frequently understood it, yet so...
Whether the Damned Demerit?
... iv. But they demerited by the evil will that they had here. Therefore if they
demerit not there, theirdamnation is to their advantage....
A Second Kind of Predestination.
... 7. Predamnation is antecedent to all things, yet it does by no means exist
without a fore-knowledge of the causes ofdamnation....
Of Certain Special Favours Exercised by the Divine Providence in...
... delights of God's right hand: [74] so that this sacred mother as being altogether
reserved for her son, was by him redeemed not only fromdamnation but also...
Whether There is Hope in the Damned
... Similarly, the eternity ofdamnation is part of the punishment of the damned, and
it would not have the true nature of punishment unless it were repugnant to...
Articles xiii and xiv Original Sin Will Condemn no Man.
... committed actual transgressions." Of this class are all infants without distinction;
unless some one will invent a state between salvation anddamnation, by a...
Thesaurus
Damnation (11 Occurrences)... punishment itself. 3. (n.) A sin deserving of everlasting punishment. Int. Standard
Bible Encyclopedia. DAMN;
DAMNATION; DAMNABLE. dam, dam
...Damnable (1 Occurrence)
... Noah Webster's Dictionary 1. (a.) Liable todamnation; deserving, or for which one
deserves, to be damned; of a damning nature.... DAMN;DAMNATION; DAMNABLE....
Damn
... hooting, etc. 4. (vi) To invokedamnation; to curse. Int. Standard
Bible Encyclopedia. DAMN;DAMNATION; DAMNABLE. dam, dam...
Judging (141 Occurrences)
... the prayer of Psalm 143:2, "Enter not into judgment"; also, John 6:29, "the
resurrection of judgment" (the King James Version "damnation"); 1 Corinthians 11:...
Pretence (5 Occurrences)
... for ye devour widows' houses, and for a pretence make long prayer: therefore
ye shall receive the greaterdamnation. (KJV WEY DBY)....
Judgment (430 Occurrences)
... the prayer of Psalm 143:2, "Enter not into judgment"; also, John 6:29, "the
resurrection of judgment" (the King James Version "damnation"); 1 Corinthians 11:...
Unworthily (2 Occurrences)
... (KJV DBY WBS YLT). 1 Corinthians 11:29 For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily,
eateth and drinkethdamnation to himself, not discerning the Lord's body....
Lingereth (2 Occurrences)
... through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you: whose
judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and theirdamnation slumbereth not...
Greater (219 Occurrences)
... for ye devour widows' houses, and for a pretence make long prayer: therefore
ye shall receive the greaterdamnation. (KJV WEY BBE WBS)....
Resources
Why is the idea of eternal damnation so repulsive to many people? | GotQuestions.orgWhat is the Day of the Dead? | GotQuestions.orgWho is the son of perdition? | GotQuestions.orgDamnation: Dictionary and Thesaurus | Clyx.comBible Concordance •
Bible Dictionary •
Bible Encyclopedia •
Topical Bible •
Bible Thesuarus
