Editing Fire and brimstone (section)

{{Short description|Expression referring to God's wrath}}
{{other uses|Fire and Brimstone (disambiguation)}}
{{Use British English|date=March 2020}}
{{more citations needed|date=November 2011}}
[[File:Flight of Lot.png|thumb|300px|[[Lot (biblical person)|Lot]] and his family flee from [[Sodom and Gomorrah|Sodom]], one of [[Gustave Doré's illustrations for La Grande Bible de Tours|Gustave Doré's illustrations for ''La Grande Bible de Tours'']].]]
[[File:Soufriere Hills Volcano (5809856412).jpg|thumb|Steam and gas rising from a [[volcano]], which the phrase "fire and brimstone" is intended to evoke.]]

'''Fire and brimstone''' ({{Langx|hbo|גָּפְרִית וָאֵשׁ}} ''gofrīt wāʾēš''; {{langx|grc|πῦρ καὶ θεῖον}}) is an [[idiomatic expression]] referring to [[divine retribution|God's wrath]] found in both the Old and New Testaments. In the Bible, it often appears in reference to the fate of the unfaithful. Brimstone, an archaic term for [[sulfur]],<ref>{{Wiktionary-inline|brimstone}}</ref> evokes the acrid odor of [[sulfur dioxide]], which is stated to be given off by [[lightning]] strikes.<ref>Gerald Kutney, ''Sulfur: History, Technology, Applications & Industry''. ChemTec Publishing, 2007. pp. 5</ref> The association of sulfur with divine retribution is common in the Bible.

The English translation "fire and brimstone" is found in the 1611 Christian [[King James Version]] of the Old Testament and also in the [[Jewish English Bible translations#Old JPS (1917)|1917 translation of the Jewish Publication Society]]. The [[Jewish English Bible translations#Isaac Leeser translation|1857 Leeser translation of the Tanakh]] inconsistently uses both "sulfur" and "brimstone" to translate גָּפְרִ֣ית וָאֵ֑שׁ. The translation used by the [[Jewish English Bible translations#New JPS (1985)|1985 New JPS]] is "sulfurous fire" while the 1978 Christian [[New International Version]] translation uses "burning sulfur."

Used as an adjective, fire-and-brimstone often refers to a style of Christian [[sermon|preaching]] that uses vivid descriptions of judgment and eternal [[damnation]] to encourage [[repentance]] especially popular during historical periods of [[Great Awakening]].<ref name="Oxford"/>