Fire and brimstone (also called hellfire and damnation, typically by Christians) appeals to listeners emotions with frightening stories of demons, hellfire, and damnation. Fire and brimstone appeals appear to be primarily a Christian thing (at least in the United States), though they are charactaristic of other religions such as Judaism and Islam; indeed, the Christian roots trace to Jewish writings.
We note, brimstone is an Old English word for sulfur.
In the Book of Genesis 19:24, God rains fire and brimstone on Sodom and Gomorrah. Fire and brimstone come up elsewhere in the Christian Bible, for instance, Psalms 11:6, Ezekiel 38:22, the Luke 17:29, and the Book of Revelation, 20:10. Also, Deuteronomy 29:23 and Isaiah 34:9 speak of punishment where the land is covered with fire and brimstone.
Isaiah 34:9 and 34:10 follow (King James Bible):
In the Christian faith at least, fire and brimstone preaching has declined in popularity in recent years, as Christianity often tries to present more positive images. Fire and brimstone is now charactaristic of the more conservative branches of Christianity; the fundamentalist cartoonist Jack Chick of Chick Publications keeps the tradition alive, and the Baptists can still spin off good fire and brimstone sermons, as can some Pentacostal preachers.
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