Do you honestly believe in hell?

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I absolutely believe in hell. God is an infinitely loving God, but according to scriptures such as Matthew 24 and 25, hell is a real place that He put together for the devil and his followers, and Jesus specifically states that sinners(not saved by His Blood) will go there also, to be forever “departed from Him”. If our all-righteous God has a Righteously eternally Angry side to Him that matches His eternally Loving side, which will not tolerate sin, but subjects it to eternal punishment, then hell is the perfect place for Him to vent that anger eternally, while He is loving eternally at the same time. If there is no hell, and no consequences except “lights out” or something like that, then there is nothing to fear, and nothing for Jesus to save us from. Oh, yes, I believe in hell, AND the saving sacrifice He made for us so we don’t have to worry about it in the first place. Being under the Sanctifying Grace of His shed Blood is the place to be, then hell has no power over your soul. Classicar.
 
I’d honestly say I agree with you. When some people around me that I loved dearly passed away, I could not find it in my heart to say they are now in hell, because they had different beliefs, or sinned in some way without confessing or repenting. They were beautiful and incredibly caring people and I struggle to believe that our loving God would cast them to the depths of hell. I know this doesn’t fit with what most people are saying in here, but that is my honest opinion.
 
I believe in both Heaven and Hell. Hell is an integral part of God’s justice.
 
Since those who have died won’t have bodies until the resurrection, the people in hell can’t be stabbed by pitchforks or be in physical fire.The fire, I presume, now is an entirely spiritual thing. I don’t know if my saying this helps anything, but the particular image of hell you just seemed to propose couldn’t exist for people with no bodies.

In regards to another poster I never imagine someone is in hell because they had different beliefs or did things that seem great sins. Why should I? I expect too when we are in heaven we will be in for a great surprise when it comes to the people we see there.
religioussoup said:
I am not saying that the church is necessarily wrong. I am just stating that I personally do not believe in a fiery place where people are stabbed with pitchforks, and I was curious if anyone else imagined life after death for those sinners differently.
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He’ll lies in eternity, and human beings in eternity have bodies.

The fire in Hell is physical, but has spiritual propensities, ie, it can act directly upon the human soul, and does not extinguish due to exhaustion.

ICXC NIKA
 
jungle said:
I’d honestly say I agree with you. When some people around me that I loved dearly passed away, I could not find it in my heart to say they are now in hell, because they had different beliefs, or sinned in some way without confessing or repenting. They were beautiful and incredibly caring people and I struggle to believe that our loving God would cast them to the depths of hell. I know this doesn’t fit with what most people are saying in here, but that is my honest opinion.
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You don’t have to believe that the loving caring people who believe differently than you are in hell. Hell isn’t for caring, loving people. It’s for people who don’t love and don’t care for their neighbors (Love your neighbor as yourself.) But that doesn’t mean there aren’t other’s who HATE God who don’t want to be part of Heaven… Lucifer was one…and He was an angel.
🙂
 
religioussoup said:
I believe in heaven, but I don’t believe in hell. That’s just my honest belief about the matter. Of course not everyone can get into heaven, but I think those who don’t just die. They don’t go to hell, they don’t go anywhere. They literally just stop existing.

Wouldn’t a punishment for being a mortal sinner be much worse if you ended up completely dead and alone versus being with other sinners in hell? What do you guys think?
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Belief in Hell is an infallible teaching. Any Catholic who does not believe in Hell commits heresy.
 
jungle said:
I’d honestly say I agree with you. When some people around me that I loved dearly passed away, I could not find it in my heart to say they are now in hell, because they had different beliefs, or sinned in some way without confessing or repenting. They were beautiful and incredibly caring people and I struggle to believe that our loving God would cast them to the depths of hell. I know this doesn’t fit with what most people are saying in here, but that is my honest opinion.
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I feel similarly even with people I hate. Yes I wish they may be dipped in hell fire for a good few minutes LOL, but eternally, NO. That is a little sad to me. I wonder where I will go. I am no Saint, I would not say I am greatest sinner either. I do not know if I want punishment for sins. Some people are inexplicably cruel and have managed to get away with for decades. They do not seem to care either way. If they were sentenced to hell, it would suck, but I would not shed a tear… at least I think I would not.
 
religioussoup said:
I believe in heaven, but I don’t believe in hell. That’s just my honest belief about the matter. Of course not everyone can get into heaven, but I think those who don’t just die. They don’t go to hell, they don’t go anywhere. They literally just stop existing.

Wouldn’t a punishment for being a mortal sinner be much worse if you ended up completely dead and alone versus being with other sinners in hell? What do you guys think?
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Based on your first sentence, I like the way you think. I like that you think God only has a heaven for his people. To answer your original question, I unfortunately believe in hell. It’s a real pain just thinking about it. I think the best answer to the question is: we don’t really know. However, with the amount of times Jesus talks about eternal fire, it seems like something bad awaits those who are damned. Plus the Catholic Church seems to say that there is indeed a hell. Still, I don’t believe in ceaseless punishment. Ceaseless punishment would mean that God’s anger lasts forever, as does pain. The holy scriptures are clear that these two things don’t last forever. However, they may last ages of ages, which is a real bummer for those uncertain of their eternal fate like me. Yes, I think being completely dead is the worst punishment, because then there would be no hope for ever getting out or getting relief or being reunited with family. However, the whole matter is above my head really, it’s in God’s hands.
 
Estel said:
Based on your first sentence, I like the way you think. I like that you think God only has a heaven for his people. To answer your original question, I unfortunately believe in hell. It’s a real pain just thinking about it. I think the best answer to the question is: we don’t really know. However, with the amount of times Jesus talks about eternal fire, it seems like something bad awaits those who are damned. Plus the Catholic Church seems to say that there is indeed a hell. Still, I don’t believe in ceaseless punishment. Ceaseless punishment would mean that God’s anger lasts forever, as does pain. The holy scriptures are clear that these two things don’t last forever. However, they may last ages of ages, which is a real bummer for those uncertain of their eternal fate like me. Yes, I think being completely dead is the worst punishment, because then there would be no hope for ever getting out or getting relief or being reunited with family. However, the whole matter is above my head really, it’s in God’s hands.
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By the way, let me just clarify, I’m totally in the dark when it comes to the subject, but it is something I think about too much.
 
thistle said:
Belief in Hell is an infallible teaching. Any Catholic who does not believe in Hell commits heresy.
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But they don’t care, because if they don’t believe in Hell, they can’t go there for doing anything bad. It’s basically a license to do whatever they want. It’s the heresy to end all heresies.
 
Elizium23 said:
But they don’t care, because if they don’t believe in Hell, they can’t go there for doing anything bad. It’s basically a license to do whatever they want. It’s the heresy to end all heresies.
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I agree with you. I just don’t understand why the OP has brought up a particular sin to discuss referencing atheists when they will go to Hell anyway if they die atheists.
 
I repeat what I said simply in an early post…“You may not believe in hell but Jesus does!”
 
CCC 2125 Since it rejects or denies the existence of God, atheism is a sin against the virtue of religion. The imputability of this offense can be significantly diminished in virtue of the intentions and the circumstances. “Believers can have more than a little to do with the rise of atheism. To the extent that they are careless about their instruction in the faith, or present its teaching falsely, or even fail in their religious, moral, or social life, they must be said to conceal rather than to reveal the true nature of God and of religion.”

CCC 2140 Since it rejects or denies the existence of God, atheism is a sin against the first commandment.

Dying unrepentant with a sin against the first commandment on your soul means going to Hell.
 
I firmly believe there is a Hell, as to what Hell will be like I have no idea, just as much as no one can say what heaven will be lIke. Our Lord had to teach us about these things with imagery and metaphor (e.g. Gehenna and a mansion with many rooms) as they are beyond human experience.

Personally, I would only go as far as saying that Hell is a total separation from God, which the soul will feel and therefore be in torment; who will be sent to such a place is not for us to say as that judgement rests with God alone.

Rather than spending too much time worrying about such descriptions, maybe we could pray for the souls in Purgatory now and for their release.
 
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