Damnation: Difference between revisions

[[File:Fra Angelico - Last Judgement (detail) - WGA00472.jpg|thumb|''Last Judgement (detail)'' by [[Fra Angelico]], circa 1431]]

'''Damnation''' (from Latin ''[[:wikt:damnatio|damnatio]]'') is the [[concept]] of [[Divine judgment|divine punishment]] and torment in an [[afterlife]] for actionssins that were committed, or in some cases, good actions not committeddone on [[Earth]].

In [[Ancient Egyptian religion|Ancient Egyptian religious]] tradition, it was believed that [[citizens]] would recite the 42 negative confessions of [[Maat]] as their heart was weighed against the feather of truth. If the citizen's heart was heavier than athe feather, it was said that theyit would be devoured by [[Ammit]].

[[Abrahamic religions]] such as [[Christianity]] have similar concepts of believershumans facing judgement onafter a last daydeath to determine if they will spend [[eternity]] in [[Gehenna]] orfor their [[heavensin]] foror theireternity in [[sinHeaven]].<ref>{{bibleverse|Mark|3:29}}</ref> A damned human "in damnation" is said to be either in [[Hell]], or living in a state wherein they are divorced from [[Heaven]] and/or in a state of disgrace from God's favor.

Following the religious meaning, the words '''''damn''''' and '''''goddamn''''' are a common form of religious [[profanity]], in modern times often [[Semantic change|semantically weakened]] to the status of mere [[interjection]]s.

[[Classical Latin]] ''{{Lang|la|damnum''}} means "damage, cost, expense; penalty, fine", ultimately from a [[PIE]] root ''*dap-''. The verb ''damnare'' in [[Roman law]] acquired a legal meaning of "to pronounce judgement upon".

In most forms of [[Western Christianity|Western Christian]] belief, damnation to [[Christian views on hell|hell]] is what humanity deserves for its sins. [[Catholic]] and many [[Protestant]] denominations hold that human sin is the product of the [[fall of man]] of Adam and Eve in the [[bookBook of Genesis]]. In some Christian denominations,{{which|date=October 2024}} only the sins that the [[Ten Commandments]] describe cause damnation, but others apply more strict terms. The reasons for being damned have varied widely through the centuries,{{Citation needed|date=August 2023}} with little consistency between different forms of Christianity (i.e., Catholic or Protestant). "Sins" ranging from murder to dancing have been said to lead to damnation.

Christian denominations have differing views on [[soteriology]], but a mainstream view is that believers can only escape damnation by salvation fromthrough [[Jesus]] Christ. One conception is of suffering and denial of entrance to [[Heaven]], often described in the [[bookBook of Revelation]] as burning in a [[Lake of Fire]]. Another conception, derived from the scripture about ''[[Gehenna]]'', is simply that people will be discarded (burned), as being unworthy of preservation by God.

However some view sin in less legalistic sense, but more as a spiritual illness that needs to be cured and purged.<ref>Thus it is the Church's spiritual teaching that God does not punish man by some material fire or physical torment. God simply reveals Himself in the risen Lord Jesus in such a glorious way that no man can fail to behold His glory. It is the presence of God's splendid glory and love that is the scourge of those who reject its radiant power and light.<br /> ... those who find themselves in hell will be chastised by the scourge of love. How cruel and bitter this torment of love will be! For those who understand that they have sinned against love, undergo no greater suffering than those produced by the most fearful tortures. The sorrow which takes hold of the heart, which has sinned against love, is more piercing than any other pain. It is not right to say that the sinners in hell are deprived of the love of God ... But love acts in two ways, as suffering of the reproved, and as joy in the blessed! (St. Isaac of Syria, Mystic Treatises) ''The Orthodox Church of America website'' [http://www.oca.org/OCchapter.asp?SID=2&ID=208] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070704063634/http://www.oca.org/OCchapter.asp?SID=2&ID=208 |date=2007-07-04 }}</ref> It is seen as a state of opposition to the love of God, a state into which all humans are born but against which [[Jesus Christ]] is the [[mediation|Mediator]] and Redeemer. Eastern traditions have established their views on Paradise and Gehenna from theologians like [[Isaac of Nineveh]] and [[Basil of Caesarea]] and the Fathers of the Church. According to Orthodoxy, [[Heaven (in Christianity)|Heaven]] and Hell are relations to or experiences of God's just and loving presence, with often used analogy being how Sun melts wax and hardens the clay, with different reactions to sunlight depending not on sun but the matter that reacts to it. Similarly, Saints enjoy the loving presence of God, while the damned are enraged by it.<ref name="pelagia. org">Man has a malfunctioning or non-functioning noetic faculty in the heart, and it is the task especially of the clergy to apply the cure of unceasing memory of God, otherwise called unceasing prayer or illumination. "Those who have selfless love and are friends of God see God in light—Divine light, while the selfish and impure see God the judge as fire—darkness". [http://www.pelagia.org/htm/b24.en.life_after_death.07.htm] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111227233654/http://www.pelagia.org/htm/b24.en.life_after_death.07.htm |date=27 December 2011 }}</ref><ref>"Those who have selfless love and are friends of God see God in light—divine light, while the selfish and impure see God the judge as fire—darkness". [http://www.pelagia.org/htm/b24.en.life_after_death.07.htm] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111227233654/http://www.pelagia.org/htm/b24.en.life_after_death.07.htm |date=27 December 2011 }}</ref><ref>Proper preparation for vision of God takes place in two stages: purification, and illumination of the noetic faculty. Without this, it is impossible for man's selfish love to be transformed into selfless love. This transformation takes place during the higher level of the stage of illumination called theoria, literally meaning vision{{snd}}in this case vision by means of unceasing and uninterrupted memory of God. Those who remain selfish and self-centered with a hardened heart, closed to God's love, will not see the glory of God in this life. However, they will see God's glory eventually, but as an eternal and consuming fire and outer darkness. From FRANKS, ROMANS, FEUDALISM, AND DOCTRINE/Diagnosis and Therapy Father John S. Romanides Diagnosis and Therapy [http://www.romanity.org/htm/rom.03.en.franks_romans_feudalism_and_doctrine.02.htm]</ref> In the Eastern Orthodox tradition theologians can describe God by presenting [[Apophatic theology|negative]] descriptions of what God is not, and describe Gehenna in similar ways. [[Marcion of Sinope]] was deemed heretical for teaching that the holy menfigures of the Old Testament were damned to hell while sinners would receive salvation.<ref name="Green 2010 p. 68">{{cite book | last=Green | first=B. | title=Christianity in Ancient Rome: The First Three Centuries | publisher=Bloomsbury Academic | series=Christianity in Ancient Rome: The First Three Centuries | year=2010 | isbn=978-0-567-03250-8 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LojX4E6o1EgC&pg=PA68 | access-date=2023-06-21 | page=68}}</ref>

"''Damn"'' is nowadays a mildly profane word for some people in English, although "''God damn"'' (or "''Goddamn"'') may be considered blasphemous by the religiously devout, who regard it as a violation of the commandment against [[taking God's name in vain]]. "''Dang"'' (mainly US) or "''darn"'' are common [[euphemism]]s, specifically [[minced oath]]s, for "''damn"''. The profanity of "''damn"'' and its derivatives (e.g. "''damned"'', "''damnation"'') is effectively limited to cases where the word is not used in its literal meaning, e.g., "The damned dog won't stop barking!" (but the line of [[Arthur Miller]]'s character John Proctor<ref>{{cite book|last1=Miller|first1=Arthur|title=The Crucible (play)|url=https://archive.org/details/crucibleplayinfomill00mill|url-access=registration|date=1953|publisher=New York, Viking Press}}</ref> to his servant, "God damns all liars" uses the word in its literal sense and has not been seen as objectionable). Use of the word or its derivatives in their figurative forms may impact on the ratings of movies and television programmes.