The Fear of Hell

Examines Hell and the Eucharist, the images and representations of salvation and perdition. The author draws on the preachers of the Counter-Reformation to show how the idea of Hell evolved. He counterpoises this with a description of the mystical virtues with which the Host was invested.

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This book considers two of the most potent Christian concepts - Hell and the Eucharist. In the first part of the book, the author argues that fear of Hell was a common preoccupation in the 16th and 17th centuries. Drawing on the sermons of the preachers of the Counter-Reformation, he shows how the image of Hell developed into a grotesque parody of divine judgement which was only arrested by the onset of the Enlightenment. The second part considers the Eucharist, or Host, the embodiment of corporeal salvation. The author describes how it was related to the human body, and the kinds of mystical properties with which it was invested.