But the Question is: Do Most Christians Go to Hell?

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The_Catholic said:
Hmmm, this is something I don’t believe, “flesh burning off and regrowing only to burn off again forever.” Perhaps I’m wrong. And if this IS how it is then so be it, God is always right and just. But as I can see it this sounds like torture a serial killer would do. I am NOT calling my Lord a serial killer, oh heaven forbid no, I just can’t agree with some of the Church Father’s beliefs and teachings on hell, that it’s a place like that. I think it’s eternal seperation, lonliness away from God. Oh boy, even that though sounds just as bad as physical torment. I don’t know what to think. I just want to cry 😦
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Saint Augustine, in the City of God, discusses how this is a reasonable possiblity. Augustine, is a person we as Catholics like to quote as an authority.

Are we cherry picking our doctrine?
 
Mijoy2 said:
Saint Augustine, in the City of God, discusses how this is a reasonable possiblity. Augustine, is a person we as Catholics like to quote as an authority.

Are we cherry picking our doctrine?
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I know, I’ve read St. Augustine’s writtings. And no I’m not cherry picking anything. Whatever is Truth is Truth, so be it, God’s way is just and perfect. But I still DO NOT believe that those in hell are going to be burned alive over and over and over forever. That doesn’t make any sense. St. Augustine’s writtings also are NOT infalliable. While I respect him greatly, he was a beautiful writter, yet at times even a little vauge, as I can see it. But unless my God tells me that His just punishment is flesh burning forever, I do not and will not believe it.

God bless you.
 
The_Catholic said:
Oh boy, time to get scolded. 🙂
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Not by me. Actually I agree with you (or hope the same way). My rendition of Hell (personal opinion) is that it is of relative horror. In other words, it’s relative to the joy of Heaven. It’s void of love.
 
If hell is something that people actually choose with full awareness, then hell must be (at least to them) pleasurable.
 
I also just want to add, that I truly believe that if one is seeking Truth, anotherwords God, they will find Him. Whether they are Catholic OR NOT. If they desire to be with Him, they will find Him. He will not cast them away. They will WANT to live by His commands. They will WELCOME it. But those who end up in hell will be those who will NEVER want anything to do with Him. Or who do not want to obey every single command He has. Those kind of souls will NOT desire God anyhow, or wish to live in His kingdom, obeying His rules. So hell is where they go, there’s no one else. And they (cringes) will suffer their own sins.

I have a friend who says he will only believe in God if he sees a vision, and even then he still WILL not follow God, because if God exists then He is evil and selfish. This is a scary position to be in. t makes me want to weep for him 😦
 
Mijoy2 said:
Yeah, A fellow “Christian” fearing his beloved may burn for all eternity is a pretty funny concept. 😃

Now for my next act…
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Hi Mijoy, I agree with you on this. I’ve wept for those who do not know the Lord, or who have turned their backs on them. It’s sad, really really sad. But as long as they’re alive, there’s still hope.

God bless you.
 
distracted said:
According to several saints/doctors of the Church, even most Christians do not make it to Heaven or even to Purgatory. And the site, www.SpiritLessons.com refutes entirely the Once Saved Always Saved doctrine (Mary Baxter’s story, etc…). So please, everyone, do not fool yourself that “God is mercifiul and will let virtually everyone into Heaven”. Yes, He is merciful, but only toward those who love Him with all their hearts and hate sin about as much as He does…

There is only one reason people don’t go to Heaven: that old-fashioned-virtually-unmentioned-seemingly obsolete-word:

Sin.

It is sin and its awful effects - not God - that shuts the door of Heaven on our souls…

We need not only to be f****orgiven, but to be purified once we are forgiven…
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Most of this is all wrong.

It’s highly opiniated, mainly stemming from your opinion.

Church fathers have had contributions, but not all it is all doctrine and likely to be opinions, every word out of their mouth wasn’t infallible.

Doing things like this is a sin in itself, to pass some kind of universal judgement, and then theorize why :rolleyes:

Go repent.
 
The_Catholic said:
I know, I’ve read St. Augustine’s writtings. And no I’m not cherry picking anything. Whatever is Truth is Truth, so be it, God’s way is just and perfect. But I still DO NOT believe that those in hell are going to be burned alive over and over and over forever. That doesn’t make any sense. St. Augustine’s writtings also are NOT infalliable. While I respect him greatly, he was a beautiful writter, yet at times even a little vauge, as I can see it. But unless my God tells me that His just punishment is flesh burning forever, I do not and will not believe it.

God bless you.
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Hell is eternal, and the Bible supports this.

Just because you refuse to believe it, doesn’t mean it’s not eternal. As for flesh burning forever, guess you have some kind of media oriented image on hell :rolleyes:
 
blessedstar said:
Why are you constantly thinking about this topic? It’s not spiritually healthy and whetehr you want my personal opinion or not I’m going to give it to you:

Spend your time on positive spiritual reading that will edify, educate and develop you and your faith…

You have no business speculating who’s going to end up where and you certainly cannot know how many go here, there or wherever.

I can’t even imagine anyone going to hell, the prospect is so awful I wouldn’t desire it for anyone, let alone specualte about which kind of character might go there. I don’t desire hell for the worst murderer, the worst thief, the worst mugger, the worst rapist, the worst assassin, the worst terrorist, the worst, mother, the worst father, the worst paedophile, the worst drug addict, the worst athiest, the worst paedophile, the worst liar, etc etc etc I don’t care what you have done in life, even at your last breathe your soul may come to the Hands of God and receive His Mercy because God is greater than any man and God Himself does not judge, but calls all to Him even until the last second.

**
Stop judging unless you desire to be judged!**

Now I am about as sick as I can be of thinking about this dismal topic.

In the Living Prayer of my life
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Thank you Blessedstar for your words—such fatalisitic thinking is very damaging spiritually. I know some people would disagree and say that we need to think about this topic, as if it would make us “better Christians”—but I prefer to consider His mercy, and how I can give that to others. We wouldn’t have to worry on this topic if we just practiced the virtue of GIVING mercy in our lives. We should wish that all come to merciful Heart of Jesus, and think often on this, as a prayer and a joy beyond all joy. I believe that if we just prayed enough like that, more souls would be saved, for Jesus DID say “I desire mercy”.
 
Hi Lisa

Everytime I am forced to think of hell (because my mind does not naturally turn to thinking of hell but has been created to think of God, His heaven and the upward calling) I am filled with the most awful recoil that it offends my spirit.

Hell is not the natural state for souls, it is unnatural, it is not what we are created for, no soul is created for hell. We are created for God and the state that God desires for souls is Heaven.

If for some reason, like these infernal threads, I am forced to think of hell which does not inspire in me any good, then all my soul can do is raise praise and thanksgiving that our Good and Merciful Jesus died upon the Cross to bind hell forever and open the gates of Heaven to souls.

It is no small thing that God entered into human history and Incarnate walked the earth to sancitfy it and restore men back to Himself by the Way of His Cross and Resurrection. This is no small matter at all. Why then should we fear hell anymore? Even if our flesh should be taken from our bones and all manner of evil done to us, why then should we fear hell anymore? Generation after generation hoped to see what the Apostles saw. Simeon thanked God most happy to die because he had seen his salvation as promised:

Now you may let your servant go in peace, Master, as you said you would. For my eyes have seen the salvation you prepared for all people: a light to enlighten the nations and to give glory to your people, Israel.

How long those generations waited in hope of the Messiah! How great their joy as Jesus’ identity gradually unfolded! And we who know who He is and know the voice of our Good Shepherd, we do not share that same joy? We do not leap like deer, nor see but instead are blind, nor hear but instead are deaf? We who have every grace and blessing, we do not trust in His great works of Salvation and the Eternal Victory won on the Cross and are blind to the great Mercy and Love of God even though at any time we choose we can look at the Cross and see Love totally immoilated and stripped bare so that we may be full of all of His qualities and by His grace increasingly become like Him.

What a great insult it is then to the Divine Generosity and Goodness to say that most of His creation will fall into the pit, does God’s grace not extend even into the edge of the pit? Did God Himself not go down into the pit and bring those souls who had believed in and awaited Him to Himself?

Sometimes the greatest mountain to move is the ‘self’ and even if a soul should have even a little faith Jesus said that you can say to this mountain move here or go there and it will move. The most hardened heart solid and stubborn as a grounded mountain can be moved and moved at the last second from here to there.

So I have every reason to hope in Jesus and trust in Him that not one of His children will fall into the pit eternally though during their life they may often stumble down into the pit because no soul will go to hell unless they themselves should will it.

God does not condemn anyone and especially not the hapless; by that I mean a soul that has no knowledge they have sinned does not fall into the pit by ignorance because a man cannot be condemned because He does not know his sin, this is why Jesus told the Pharisees ‘Because you say you see, your sin remains’, this is just how merciful God is. The Pharisees sin remained only because they refused to repent, they indeed knew their sin; they condemned themselves. Hopefully at the last minute they moved…they repented, let’s hope that for the poor Pharisees.

I cannot speak for other men, nor speak about their soul as though it is some small matter, it is no small matter, otherwise God would not have gone to the great lengths of His Incarnation, Death and Resurrection if the matter was small. I take seriously Jesus’ charge to be merciful and not to judge one another. I have absolutely no business judging who will go where at the end of their lives, if I do that I am my brother and sister’s accuser and am doing the work of satan who accuses the bretheren day and night to God. However I am my brother’s keeper; this does not involve accusing him, but rather doing all good and kind acts in all mercy to help to guide him on the good road as I would hope my brother would do that for me always praying for one another.

continued
 
Continuation

Fixing the mind on hell is not a good habit to form, where does fixing the mind on hell lead us? ‘Even your thoughts must be pure’ It will lead us to think of evil, it will lead us to think we are not good enough for heaven, it will lead us to be tempted, it will lead us to dwell more and more on evil and struggling to lift the mind to God will lead us to think more and more of how much we are nothing. This is not untrue, we are nothing, created from dust, a wretched creature, weak and hapless. However we are stupid sheep with a Good Shepherd. Here’s the key thing we are missing, we are stupid sheep who are with a Good Shepherd and He will Shepherd His flock and He will tend it and guide it and keep it safe and when the wolf approaches He doesn’t run off and leave the flock to the wolf because surely then all would fall into the pit, but the Good Shepherd stands between the wolf and HIs flock and the wolf dare not approach as th Good Shepherd leads His flock in and out of pasture and finally through the gate and into the fold eternally. It is no mistake Jesus used sheep to tell us about ourselves, sheep are plain stupid, I have watched them, they don’t know what is good for them, but the shepherd does and he does all things and none of the sheep are lost.

In the certitude of my faith I say to you all God will not lose Glory, His Glory is perfect and should His Glory be insulted by us who say we love Him by claims that He is not Glorious enough to shepherd His sheep into the fold. No I am saying to you all His Glorious Majesty will not be insulted, His Victorious work will not be insulted, no hell shall not be greater than heaven, not in number, not in any way.

Fix the mind on all good things, dwell on these things, dwell on virtue always keeping the heart turned to Jesus.

Be as merciful as you can be, be forgiving of yourself and of others always persevering on the upward calling which is to persevere in prayer. But be joyful, I hope you all can foster in your hearts the joy that God desires for us in Him because He is our jopy and has done great works so that we may possess it as His Easter People.🙂

Though I must bear with my brother and sister, I do find it difficult to bear with gloom and doom miserable saints:D God help me!😃

In the Living Prayer of my life
 
I marvel at how the Holy Spirit moves through you blessedstar—your words are a strong defense of the Power of God’s Mercy—I can’t see any other way around what you have said.
God Bless you Blessedstar. Thank you for taking time to help us see His mercy and how it is stronger than all of hell.
 
Mark_Robert said:
However, the true meaning of being a christian is one who believes in God, trusts Christ for the forgiveness of sins and eternal salvation and genuinely tries to follow the teachings of Christ (in the case of Roman Catholics, the teaching authority of Mother Church). … denying self and following Christ, they are certainly part of the elect on the narrow path that leads to life.
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Thank you. 🙂 The only problem is, maybe certain terms need be further defined, such as “trusts Christ”. Obviously, only God knows how much a person trusts His Son… I feel that we should all be like Sister Faustina (St.) who “immersed” herself in Christ (and God the Father). Sometimes we must do this in order to even fully see the true condition of our fallen souls…
 
The_Catholic said:
Hmmm, this is something I don’t believe, “flesh burning off and regrowing only to burn off again forever.” Perhaps I’m wrong. And if this IS how it is then so be it, God is always right and just. But as I can see it this sounds like torture a serial killer would do. I am NOT calling my Lord a serial killer, oh heaven forbid no, I just can’t agree with some of the Church Father’s beliefs and teachings on hell, that it’s a place like that. I think it’s eternal seperation, lonliness away from God. Oh boy, even that though sounds just as bad as physical torment. I don’t know what to think. I just want to cry 😦
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I totally understand how you feel. But the thing is, God does not do this to people. People choose Hell… We Christians need to pray more for those who choose (or even SEEM to choose) Hell than anyone else… They are the most to be pitied of all humanity…
Also, i believe the fires of Hell are, well, the wrath of a perfectly Holy God… and regrets… but that’s just my own human thinking. I have never been in Hell… but i have been in Hell on Earth and… well, i have to say, i got to that Hell of my own “choosing”… I went away from the Church i was raised in… I was young and ignorant then and God has forgiven me and is cleansing me of all that stain of sin i acquired… but i know that it was my own sin that messed up my life so much. I can’t blame it on anyone but myself… which is my point concerning Hell… God had mercy on me because i repented… Let us pray that everyone we know repents… Prayer is the answer…
 
Mijoy2 said:
Saint Augustine, in the City of God, discusses how this is a reasonable possiblity. Augustine, is a person we as Catholics like to quote as an authority.

Are we cherry picking our doctrine?
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Hmmm… i don’t understand the term cherry picking. Is that the same as “Cafeteria Christianity”???

Sounds like it…
God bless…🙂
 
distracted said:
I totally understand how you feel. But the thing is, God does not do this to people. People choose Hell… We Christians need to pray more for those who choose (or even SEEM to choose) Hell than anyone else… They are the most to be pitied of all humanity…
Also, i believe the fires of Hell are, well, the wrath of a perfectly Holy God… and regrets… but that’s just my own human thinking. I have never been in Hell… but i have been in Hell on Earth and… well, i have to say, i got to that Hell of my own “choosing”… I went away from the Church i was raised in… I was young and ignorant then and God has forgiven me and is cleansing me of all that stain of sin i acquired… but i know that it was my own sin that messed up my life so much. I can’t blame it on anyone but myself… which is my point concerning Hell… God had mercy on me because i repented… Let us pray that everyone we know repents… Prayer is the answer…
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You pray for everyone and concentrate on becoming Christ-like in your own spiritual journey and leave each man to the Goodness and Mercy of God and if you don’t mind me suggesting that for your own benefit, leave this topic alone.

I think you have a wonderful zeal for Jesus and He must love you very much, so pray for me and I’ll do the same for you.🙂

In the Living Prayer of my life
 
The_Catholic said:
But unless my God tells me that His just punishment is flesh burning forever, I do not and will not believe it.
.
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I guess in the end, we all believe what seems reasonable to us. I think it is OK not to have a set belief on something, especially things concerning unknowns like Heaven and Hell. Maybe to argue too much about all the details of waht Hell is like is, well, unproductive, since we just don’t know for sure. We would do better to act on waht we DO know. We know to love one another… and yet there doesn’t seem to be much love in the world… even in the Christian world…

or maybe especially in the Christian world… 😦
 
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