raving to destroy himself will terribly torment him, seeing he cannot obtain what he desires.
2. The place of the prison is eternal, and cannot be destroyed; for "the earth" (in the midst of which hell is) " standeth for ever." [1] The fire likewise shall be eternal; for the eternal " breath of the Lord" (as the prophet Isaiah says) shall serve " as a torrent of brimstone kindling it;" [2] and so that it shall have need of no other fuel. Or if brimstone serve for fuel, it shall likewise be eternal, for the same " breath of" Almighty God shall preserve it. And fire, which has the virtue to burn and to consume, has there, by God's omnipotency, its virtue divided, [3] for there it burns and consumes not, and so that which for ever burns for ever continues.
3. The "worm" that there " gnaws" shall be eternal, and (as Christ our Saviour said) " dieth not" [4] For the corruption of which it is engendered, which is sin, never ends; and the lively apprehension of it and of the pain never ceases; and so that cruel gnawing which it makes in the conscience shall never have an end.
4. The decree of Almighty God is eternal and immutable; for He is resolved never to revoke the definitive sentence which He has given, nor to deliver out of hell him who once enters therein! " Quia in inferno nulla est redemptio;" [5] For in hell there is no redemption of captives, nor ransoming of prisoners, nor any price for them, forasmuch as the blood of Jesus Christ passes not thither. And if when it was fresh, and was shed upon Mount Calvary, it drew out of hell none of the damned, much less shall it now deliver any forth from thence.
5. Finally, all the pains shall be eternal, because the sins shall likewise be so. Forasmuch as in hell there is no pardon
