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It has been variously interpreted to mean: (1) the baptism of the Holy Spirit, (2) the fires of purgatory, and (3) the everlasting fires of hell. Modern theologians take the view that the baptism of fire and that of the Holy Ghost are the same, and that it may be rendered "baptized with the Holy Ghost through the outward symbol of fire," or "as with the cloven tongues of fire," referring to the Pentecostal baptism.
