Can the lost souls in hell pray for us?

[Bob_Crowley]

I’m too lazy to look up all the references to Hell or dire punishment as uttered by Christ Himself, so I cheated, and copied someone else’s blog.

Blog link refers -

gretachristina.typepad.com/greta_christinas_weblog/2007/08/eternal-fire-wh.html

And now for the glad tidings from the Prince of Peace …

MATTHEW

Matthew 5:22: “But I say to you that every one who is angry with the brother shall be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother shall be liable to the council; and whoever says ‘You fool!’ shall be liable to the hell of fire.” (Sermon on the Mount, said to the crowds)

Matthew 5:30: “And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away; it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go to hell.” (ditto above)

Matthew 10:28: “And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.” (said to disciples)

Matthew 11:21-22, Jesus: “Woe to you, Chorazin! woe to you, Bethsaida! for if the mighty works done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. But I tell you, it shall be more tolerable on the day of judgment for Tyre and Sidon than for you.” (said to crowds in cities, for not repenting when they saw his miracles)

Matthew 11:23: “And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? You shall be brought down to Hades. For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. But I tell you that it shall be more tolerable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom than for you.” (ditto above)

Matthew 12:31-32: “Therefore I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. And whoever says a word against the Son of man will be forgiven; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come.” (this is the Blasphemy Challenge thing, said to Pharisees when they said Jesus cast out demons because he was a demon himself, not by the Holy Spirit)

Matthew 12:33-34: “I tell you, on the day of judgment men will render account for every careless word they utter; for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.” (ditto)

Matthew 13:30: “Let both (wheat and weeds) grow together until the harvest; and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, Gather the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.” (said to crowds – explained later in 13:40-42)

Matthew 13:40-42: “Just as the weeds are gathered and burned with fire, so will it be at the close of the age. The Son of man will send his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin and evildoers, and throw them into the furnace of fire; there men will weep and gnash their teeth.” (said to disciples, in explanation of previously quoted parable which was said to crowds)

Matthew 13:49-50: “So it will be at the close of the age. The angels will come out and separate the evil from the righteous, and throw them into the furnace of fire; there men will weep and gnash their teeth.” (said to disciples in explanation of a different parable)

Matthew 18:8-9: “And if your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away; it is better for you to enter life maimed or lame than with two hands or two feet to be thrown into the eternal fire. And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and throw it away; it is better for you to enter life with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into the hell of fire…”

Matthew 25:41: “Then he will say to those at his left hand, 'Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.” (ditto – this is the parable of the sheep and the goats)

Matthew 25:46: “And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.” (ditto above)

There were several more quotes in Matthew, but Christ didn’t come to be scourged and crucified because there was nothing to be concerned about. He came precisely because there was something to be concerned.

There were also other quotes from Mark, Luke, and John, all from the Son of God himself.

Hell exists all right.

John 15:6: “If a man does not abide in me, he is cast forth as a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire and burned.” (said to disciples)

 

[HabemusFrancis]

Do people in Hell… enjoy it at any level?

They seem to be surrounded by people who are much like themselves, those who don’t like God, and who enjoy the same vices.

I have some people joke about how “Hell is just one big party with sex,drugs and booze” or that “all the fun people go to hell.”

I don’t believe the above, but wonder if Hell is really as miserable for its occupants as we believe it is. It might be to those who want to be in heaven… but is it?

 

[mikekle]

Do people in Hell… enjoy it at any level?

They seem to be surrounded by people who are much like themselves, those who don’t like God, and who enjoy the same vices.

I have some people joke about how “Hell is just one big party with sex,drugs and booze” or that “all the fun people go to hell.”

I don’t believe the above, but wonder if Hell is really as miserable for its occupants as we believe it is. It might be to those who want to be in heaven… but is it?

Well, if they lived their entire earthly life without God in it and were perfectly content living like that, why would an afterlife without God be any different for them?

 

[arte]

I dont know about that…so you are saying EVERYONE who ends up in hell, HATES everyone they knew on earth while alive, friends, family, etc? Ive known plenty of non-religious people who died without ever going to confession or a single mass, yet I know for a fact some have a great deal of love for many people in their lives…dont understand how the act of a body dying would change any of that, after all, their soul is still the same.

I completely agree. Excellent post.

 

[GEddie]

Do people in Hell… enjoy it at any level?

They seem to be surrounded by people who are much like themselves, those who don’t like God, and who enjoy the same vices.

I have some people joke about how “Hell is just one big party with sex,drugs and booze” or that “all the fun people go to hell.”

I don’t believe the above, but wonder if Hell is really as miserable for its occupants as we believe it is. It might be to those who want to be in heaven… but is it?

And if, because of being dead, everything they preferred to a relationship with God is now forever out of reach for them, where is the “fun”?

ICXC NIKA

 

[GEddie]

I dont know about that…so you are saying EVERYONE who ends up in hell, HATES everyone they knew on earth while alive, friends, family, etc? Ive known plenty of non-religious people who died without ever going to confession or a single mass, yet I know for a fact some have a great deal of love for many people in their lives…dont understand how the act of a body dying would change any of that, after all, their soul is still the same.

Imagine suffering intensely and completely alone, while surrounded by others who neither care nor want to.

Imagine having distress comparable to “phantom limbs” but the whole “body”, and continuing to have the cravings you had alive, but no way to fulfill them.

Whatever affection you had for others would be overcome by your suffering.

IMNAAHO

ICXC NIKA

 

[arte]

Imagine suffering intensely and completely alone, while surrounded by others who neither care nor want to.

Imagine having distress comparable to “phantom limbs” but the whole “body”, and continuing to have the cravings you had alive, but no way to fulfill them.

Whatever affection you had for others would be overcome by your suffering.

IMNAAHO

ICXC NIKA

Imagine a God so cruel that he would allow this to happen. This is not God. The only God that would allow this to happen is the God that all too frequently appears in the OT. God is pure love and would never allow such a terrible state to happen.

 

[AKDee]

I know the souls in purgatory can pray for us, as well as the saints in heaven, but what about the souls in hell? Can they pray for us? Or are they suffering an eternal fire with nothing to do but burn?

I think maybe they could- the parable of the rich man and Lazarus, where the rich man asks Abraham to warn his family seems to be a form of prayer and I don’t know why Jesus would use a parable that couldn’t actually happen. The question would be more- would they? People choose hell over God, God doesn’t choose hell for them. So if they choose hell for themselves, would they be inclined to pray for someone else that they wouldn’t end up there? I think if someone had that much charity in them, that God in His mercy might well place them in purgatory anyway.

 

[Arizona_Fat_Gir]

Hell, no.

 

[JRS_88]

From myself and reading later about Christian Universalism. ”

There’s your problem right there.

I can’t believe this thread has gone on this long.

 

[arte]

I’m too lazy to look up all the references to Hell or dire punishment as uttered by Christ Himself, so I cheated, and copied someone else’s blog.

Blog link refers -

gretachristina.typepad.com/greta_christinas_weblog/2007/08/eternal-fire-wh.html

And now for the glad tidings from the Prince of Peace …

MATTHEW

Does all this sound like the Prince of Peace? It is definitely nothing to do with “the glad tidings” as you state in your post or “the good news”. If Jesus is the Son of the God in the OT then this would fit the bill. The God of the OT comes across all too often as an evil megalomaniac. Even Moses doesn’t follow the 10 Commandments as in the Murder, rape and pillage of the Midianites. There are other similar events which have the supposed backing of God. Hell goes against everything Jesus taught about love peace and importantly forgiveness. I see no mention of forgiveness in the afterlife in the above quotes. You either do it while you are alive or it’s a lake of fire for eternity.

 

[arte]

I’m too lazy to look up all the references to Hell or dire punishment as uttered by Christ Himself, so I cheated, and copied someone else’s blog.

Blog link refers -

gretachristina.typepad.com/greta_christinas_weblog/2007/08/eternal-fire-wh.html

And now for the glad tidings from the Prince of Peace …

MATTHEW

Does all this sound like the Prince of Peace? It is definitely nothing to do with “the glad tidings” or “the good news”. If Jesus is the Son of the God in the OT then this would fit the bill. The God of the OT comes across all too often as an evil megalomaniac. Even Moses doesn’t follow the 10 Commandments as in the Murder, rape and pillage of the Midianites. There are other similar events which have the supposed backing of God. Hell goes against everything Jesus taught about love peace and importantly forgiveness. I see no mention of forgiveness in the afterlife in the above quotes. You either do it while you are alive or it’s a lake of fire for eternity. That is not Christianity.

My 2 sons are atheists and my wife and daughter are agnostic. I am rapidly approaching the stage where I am seriously contemplating leaving Christianity and becoming agnostic. I regularly pray for my family’s conversion to Jesus from a prayer in the back of the Mass and Psalm booklet but if the above is really true, I do not think any of them would buy into it. I still maintain that there have been translation errors from the original NT scriptures which were written in Greek and then translated into the Latin Vulgate. I will continue to research this area and reply to CAF when ready.

I’ll be honest, I cherry pick from the Bible. I only accept the good bits and reject anything that does not represent an all loving God and a Prince of Peace.

There were several more quotes in Matthew, but Christ didn’t come to be scourged and crucified because there was nothing to be concerned about. He came precisely because there was something to be concerned.

There were also other quotes from Mark, Luke, and John, all from the Son of God himself.
Hell exists all right.

Jesus was not a human sacrifice to God. If He was then our religion is based on paganism because pagans believed in human sacrifice. Burnt offering (animal sacrifices) in the OT are also paganism. There was and still is a lot to be concerned about. Jesus is the Prince of Peace and that was why He was killed. He rattled the religious leaders of the time. If nations were to practice what Jesus taught about love of our fellow man and forgiveness, this World would be a much better place for everyone.

Hell does not exist.

 

[HabemusFrancis]

I am not certain…

I could see why they would do so. They would be sad about being there and might not want their friends to be there. Maybe they can.

Check out this lady. I believe she went straight to Hell and came back:

youtube.com/watch?v=A6oHi48lzHs