Points which are matters of dispute and seen to be obscurely expressed m various places of the Holy Scriptures are elucidated by clear statements in other places. Since therefore our Lord says at one time, 'These shall go into eternal torment ', and at another dismisses some to 'the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels', and at another mentions 'the gehenna of fire', uttering further the words, 'Where their worm dieth not, and their fire is not quenched', and again said before through the prophet about certain men, 'Their worm shall not die, and their fire shall not be quenched'; while these and similar expressions, are often used in the divine Scriptures, this also was brought about by the machination of the devil, in order that men, forgetting these and similar decrees of our Lord, might presume to sin without restraint, persuading themselves that there is an end to judgment. For, if it is possible for there to be an end to eternal judgment, there will assuredly also be an end to eternal life. But, if we do not consent to think this with regard to life, what plausibility is there in our assigning an end to eternal judgment? For the addition of the word 'eternal' is made equally in both cases. 'These shall go into eternal judgment, and the righteous into eternal life'. These things therefore being thus admitted, we must know that the words 'He shall be beaten with many stripes' and 'shall be beaten with few' are not an end, but signify a difference of torment. For, if God is an upright judge, not only to the good but also to the evil , and requites each according to his deeds, it is possible for one to be in the fire that is not quenched , burning either less or more than the other, and another in the worm that dies not, both one that hurts little and one that hurts much , each as he deserves, and another in gehenna that has a variety of torments, and another in outer darkness, and that there is a place where a man is found amidst weeping only, and there is a place where he is amidst gnashing of teeth also from the severity of the pains . But the outer darkness signifies that there is in truth an inner darkness also. And the words used in the Proverbs 'at the bottom of Sheol ' signify that there are persons in Sheol and not at the bottom of it, because their torment is smaller . And this is depicted now also in bodily afflictions. For there is aman who is in a fever together with other pains, and another who is in a fever only, and the latter is not like the former, and another has no fever, but is troubled by pain in some limb , and one again either less or more than another. But this expression 'much' or 'little' is employed by our Lord in accordance with customary usage, as are also many other similar phrases. For we know that this form of speech is frequently adopted even with regard to those who are suffering from one disease . For example, in the case of a man who has a fever only, or has pain in the eye only we say in astonishment ' How much he has suffered! ' or ' What anguish he has endured!' Accordingly the expression 'shall be beaten with many' and 'with few', I say again, stands not in the extent of the time and the shortness, but in the difference of the torment» . These things this great ruler and shepherd of rational souls Basil taught and stated with great completeness. And Gregory, who became bishop of Nazianzus, himself in the homily of defence thinks that the future torment is endless, teaching thus: «But for us, the salvation of whose blessed and immortal soul is in danger, which will be undyingly tormented or glorified by reason of wickedness or of virtue, how great do you think should the contest be?» And John in the 66th homily of the commentary on the Gospel of Matthew states things consonant with these as follows: «For all these reasons accordingly let us first pay the taxes; for it is indeed very easy, and the reward is greater, and there is great abundance of profit, and worse is the torture if we do not understand, and a torture that has no end»4. And the same again in the 79th exposition when speaking of the Passion referred to the kingdom, and to the endless torment. And in the 82nd about the man who approaches the communion of the holy mysteries in a careless mood and without caution he gives teaching in the following words: «He who approaches after he has sinned is worse than a demoniac; for the: latter because they have a demon do not receive punishment, but the former, because they approach unworthily, are delivered to undying torment » . And at the end of the commentary on the epistle to the Ephesians he expressed himself thus: «For a man to be burnt and not consumed, and to be perpetually gnawed by a worm is indestructible destruction, as happened to the blessed Job, who was in process of destruction and did not perish for a considerable time, but was constantly suffering and wasting away, while he scraped off putrid matter from his body for a long time. Something similar will happen to the soul at that time, when the worms surround and gnaw it, not for two years nor for ten nor for a hundred nor for myriads , but for years without end; for 'their worm', he says, 'shall not die'» . The wise Cyril also in the 1st book of the commentary on the Gospel of John said: "We ought not to be ungrateful to God but on the contrary to thank him because by means of the Resurrection from the dead he has appointed for us torment that does not pass away ».