2826. There was a conversation in heaven about hell, and about the various punishments and purgings there, and there was one who thought for certain that infernal punishments are to endure to eternity, and there can never be an end to them, still less redemption from hell by the Lord. He was shown, however, that there can be no punishment except for a purpose in the other life, and it is still less conceivable that there is any punishment without a purpose, namely, that one may be tempered through punishment and torments so as to be able to take part in some good society. In the Lord there is nothing but the purpose tending toward goodness. The Divine Itself and the Divine Wisdom is the purpose of good, or toward well-being. So it must be counter to the Divine Wisdom, or against the Divine, that souls should be tormented to eternity without the purpose of their well-being. This is expressed by a rule well known in the world,