Did your view on Hell Change?

[po18guy]

As to your question, nope. My understanding of it has perhaps deepened a bit - thus, its horror is more fearful.

But I have no obsession with hell. I focus on the Beatific Vision.

 

[ANewBeginning]

There is no place where God is not, even in Hell.

We all go to the same place.

The Uncreated Light of God for the Righteous will be a joy beyond words or measure. Heaven.

For the Damned that same Uncreated Light will burn like fire. Hell.

 

[Gorgias]

Oh yeah, which doctrine of the Catholic Church is going to make up for the loss of our infinite worth and eternal value which is our birthright?

“The dignity of the human person is rooted in his creation in the image and likeness of God; it is fulfilled in his vocation to divine beatitude” (Catechism, #1700).

How’s that for you?

p.s., there is no “loss of infinite worth and eternal value” in the teachings of the Church. Maybe in some Reformation teachings (their phrase “snow-covered dung heap” in reference to humanity comes to mind)… but the Church never taught that.

Nothing wrong with being Catholic of course but it is not our ultimate identity. Our ultimate identity is the soul. God made us in His image: infinite and eternal.

In other words, then: our identity proceeds from God… which is what I’ve been telling you all along.

 

[JohnDom]

Yes that is true as long as we know the image and likeness of God is infinite and eternal. But the Church never says anything about this. And just because we’re worthy of dignity does not mean people actually feel their self worth. There’s a difference. It doesn’t do much good to say the words but not be able to actually feel our infinite and eternal value. And how can we feel our self worth without the soul? The soul is self worth in itself.

 

[Gorgias]

Yes that is true as long as we know the image and likeness of God is infinite and eternal. But the Church never says anything about this.

It doesn’t? Are you sure?
Catechism of the Catholic Church:

It is in Christ, “the image of the invisible God,” that man has been created “in the image and likeness” of the Creator. It is in Christ, Redeemer and Savior, that the divine image… has been restored to its original beauty and ennobled by the grace of God.

The divine image is present in every man. It shines forth in the communion of persons, in the likeness of the unity of the divine persons among themselves.

Endowed with “a spiritual and immortal” soul, the human person is … destined for eternal beatitude.

Catechism of the Catholic Church:

Man occupies a unique place in creation: (I) he is “in the image of God”; (II) in his own nature he unites the spiritual and material worlds.

Of all visible creatures only man is “able to know and love his creator”… and he alone is called to share, by knowledge and love, in God’s own life. It was for this end that he was created, and this is the fundamental reason for his dignity.

… Being in the image of God the human individual possesses the dignity of a person, who is not just something, but someone. He is capable of self-knowledge, of self-possession and of freely giving himself and entering into communion with other persons. And he is called by grace to a covenant with his Creator.

… In Sacred Scripture the term “soul” often refers to human life or the entire human person. But “soul” also refers to the innermost aspect of man, that which is of greatest value in him, that by which he is most especially in God’s image: “soul” signifies the spiritual principle in man.

The human body shares in the dignity of “the image of God”: it is a human body precisely because it is animated by a spiritual soul, and it is the whole human person that is intended to become, in the body of Christ, a temple of the Spirit

I think I’d say that the Church says a lot about it!

 

[JohnDom]

I suppose it depends on how one interprets it. Regardless, I was a Catholic for 35 years and never once did any homily touch on the importance of the soul as infinite and eternal, the soul being salvation in itself nor the soul as the source of self-worth. It’s as if these topics are not important enough to be discussed. The Catholic Church has in fact excluded the soul from the Trinity when in fact it is the most important piece. It is the cornerstone the builders rejected. It’s not a coincidence that it is born pure of a virgin, miraculous, rejected and buried, yet still lives. The soul is infinite and eternal because it is one with God. This is the Good News of the Gospel message but it has been lost through the centuries due to misunderstanding and misinterpretation. The treatment of the soul as apart from God and creation as well is a huge mistake. We are unconsciously agreeing to a God that is less than infinite. Most people don’t consider this to be a problem yet we wonder what’s wrong with the world. Remember the devil devalues. It diminishes God to something less. This is the sneakiness of the enemy. We don’t even realize what we are doing. We don’t question it and the enemy can go about doing it’s business. It’s been having a field day with us for centuries.

 

[Melchior_1]

“For every action, there is an opposite reaction”.

If there is a Heaven where there is eternal life with God, it makes sense there must be another place for those who choose not to spend an eternity with the Lord.

 

[Gorgias]

I suppose it depends on how one interprets it. Regardless, I was a Catholic for 35 years and never once did any homily touch on

So, at best, you could claim that you never heard a homily… and not that the Church doesn’t teach it. That’s a huge difference.

Add in the fact that catechesis for those of our generation has been pretty horrendous, and that – in the “Vatican II” timeframe – there have been some really, really lame things done in the name of pastoral sensibility… well, add all these up and the result is that we have to honestly admit that what we’ve experienced isn’t exactly what the Church envisions or anticipates teaching.

The Catholic Church has in fact excluded the soul from the Trinity when in fact it is the most important piece.

Umm… with all due respect, you seem to be going off the rails, here. The “soul” (of humans, right?) is not part of the Trinity…

It is the cornerstone the builders rejected.

The soul is not “the cornerstone that the builders rejected” (that would be Jesus!).

It’s not a coincidence that it is born pure of a virgin, miraculous, rejected and buried, yet still lives. The soul is infinite and eternal because it is one with God.

OK… now I’m really confused. You’re using the term “the soul” as if it’s synonymous with “Jesus”. Is this what you are intending?

This is the Good News of the Gospel message but it has been lost through the centuries due to misunderstanding and misinterpretation.

Erm… the “good news” is that Jesus saves.