The lake of fire is a concept that appears in both the ancient Egyptian and Christian religions. In ancient Egypt, it appears as an obstacle on the journey through the underworld which can destroy or refresh the deceased. In Christianity, it is a concept of after-death punishment of the wicked. The phrase is used in five verses of the Book of Revelation. In the biblical context, the concept seems similar to the Jewish Gehenna. The image of the lake of fire was taken up by the early Christian Hippolytus of Rome in about the year 230 and has continued to be used by modern Christians.
The Book of Revelation has five verses that mention a "lake of fire" (Ancient Greek: λίμνη τοῦ πυρός, romanized: limne tou pyros):
And the beast[7] was taken, and with him the false prophet[8] that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone.
— Revelation 19:20, KJV[9]
And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.
— Revelation 20:10, KJV[10]
Then Death and Hades[a] were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.
— Revelation 20:14–15, NKJV[11]
But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.
— Revelation 21:8, ESV[12]
A traditional interpretation is that the "lake of fire" is symbolic of the pain of being separated from God, as punishment for wickedness.[13][14][15][16][17][18] The Greek words translated "torment" or "tormented" in English come from the root βάσανος, basanos with the original meaning of "the testing of gold and silver as a medium of exchange by the proving stone" and a later connotation of a person, especially a slave, "severely tested by torture" to reveal truth. It can also have a connotation of restraint.[19]
Early Christian Universalists, most notably Origen of Alexandria (c. 184 – c. 253), and Gregory of Nyssa (c. 335 – c. 395), understood the lake of fire as a symbolic purifying fire used to eliminate the dross from the gold,[25] or a "refiner's crucible". Origen refers to the "lead of wickedness" that must be refined out of the gold.[26] Origen obtained his Universalist views, known then as apocatastasis[27] from his mentor Clement of Alexandria (c. 150 – c. 215),[28] who was a student of Pantaenus. Origen explained the refining metaphor in response to a philosopher named Celsus who accused Christians of representing God as a merciless tormentor armed with fire.[29]
In the view of Origen:
Our God is a 'consuming fire' in the sense in which we have taken the word; and thus he enters in as a 'refiner's fire' to refine the rational nature, which has been filled with the lead of wickedness, and to free it from the other impure materials which adulterate the natural gold or silver, so to speak, of the soul.
Ancient Egyptian religion
Fiery rivers and lakes in the underworld are mentioned in works such as the Coffin Texts and the Egyptian Book of the Dead. Around their edges sit flaming braziers or baboons. Ra would pass through this lake on his journey through the Duat, renewing his boat.[1][2] Chapter 126 of the Egyptian Book of the Dead is associated with this vignette and the text is addressed to the "four baboons who sit in the prow of the Barque of Re."[3] The lake was one of the dangers encountered on the journey through the Duat and had a dual nature. The baboons who guarded the pool were a force that could refresh and protect the deceased if they knew the correct recitation or destroy them if they did not. In the 21st Dynasty, human figures are depicted within the lakes. These represent enemies of the king or gods and their inclusion within the pools ensures their permanent destruction. In this way, the deceased could avoid meeting a similar fate, and be victorious over the forces of chaos like Ra.[4] Am-heh, whose name means "devourer of millions" or "eater of eternity",[5] is a hunting dog headed god from the underworld who lived in a lake of fire.[6]