Fire and Brimstone and Sulfur

[stellar_renegade]

I don’t know about you, but I personally love this part of the redemptive phase, because the universalistic argument takes the seemingly worst part and transforms it into the best.

The sulfur is used for purification, along with the fire. To emphasize this point, Isaiah had a similar experience:

“Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty.”

Then one of the seraphs flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. With it he touched my mouth and said, “See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.”

Then I heard the voice of the Lord…
Isaiah 6:5-8A

Who ever knew that God would use burning to redeem? Well it kinda makes sense, doesn’t it?

Now the really interesting part is that somehow this burning is still connected to the cross, since the cross is the gateway of the love of God to us and thus of our salvation…

[JasonPratt]

You can add maggots (i.e. “worms”) to that list!

All are ancient last-ditch treatments for extreme infection. They work, too.

(Even better, mustard-plasters–which feature a high degree of sulfur–were routinely known in the Greco-Roman world of the time as “Chrestes” for their golden color; from which “Chrestes” became a nickname for the doctors who applied them. It wasn’t long before Christians began drawing appropriate puns between Christos and Chrestes, although if I recall correctly Justin Martyr is the first surviving author to really run with that.)

[stellar_renegade]

Wow, nice.

I love early Christian puns. They were well-done and so meaningful, such as Icthus.

[JasonPratt]

Doubtless they could thank their Jewish upbringing for that…