Heaven, Hell, Purgatory, Devils and Angels



According to the Bible, one of the angels (Lucifer, later called the Devil or Satan or Beelzebub) argued with God 
and was expelled from Heaven.  He created his own kingdom, called Hell (or Hades) and attracted other evil 
spirits (called demons) to come and live with him.  When human beings die, according to Christian religion, their 
souls go either to Heaven or to Hell according to their deeds.  This is sometimes called the weighing of good and 
bad deeds.  Those with many good deeds go to Heaven; those with many bad deeds go to hell.  According to the Roman 
Catholic religion, some people, who are not bad enough to go to Hell or good enough to go to Hell, are purified after 
death in a place called Purgatory.  This is a kind of "waiting room" where they are punished for their bad deeds as 
a way of purifying them.  Many expressions in English emerge from this story:

(a)  She is a lovely woman.  She is really angelic.
(b)  What a little devil that child is!   [this could be an affectionate expression]
(c) That man is a devil!  [this could just mean that he dates lots of women; or it could be a more serious expression of evil]
(d)  I don't like him; he has really demonic eyes [or he is really demonic].   [This is always a criticism]
(e)  He had a satanic expression on his face.
(f)  Oh, Jane -- you're an angel!
(g)  Oh, go to hell!  [a rude expression, rejecting some comment or action another person has said or done]
(h)  I had a hellish time trying to get my visa renewed.
(i)  Come hell or high water, I will never go there again.
(j)  When I went into that chocolate factory, I was in heaven.
(k)  Heaven help you if you ever make me angry again.
(l)  I really need to purge myself of this problem.
(m)  Thanks for all your good deeds while I was away.
(n)  Oh, she is full of good deeds.
(o)  Now, how are you going to make up for all these bad deeds you have done?






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