Do you think Hell is a literal place?

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Is Hell a literal place, or does it mean an eternal separation from God? I keep thinking Hell is a literal place where people are literally burning up for eternity. What is the Catholic teaching on this? :confused:
 
As PJPII once said, it is both a state of mind (e.g. one may say “I’m in hell right now!” because of the things that person experiences or a person’s soul is said to be “burning in hell” even if still living because of living a life of sin) and a literal place.
 
From the Catechism of the Catholic Church, on Hell: vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P2O.HTM

IV. Hell

**1033 **We cannot be united with God unless we freely choose to love him. But we cannot love God if we sin gravely against him, against our neighbor or against ourselves: "He who does not love remains in death. Anyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him."610 Our Lord warns us that we shall be separated from him if we fail to meet the serious needs of the poor and the little ones who are his brethren.611 To die in mortal sin without repenting and accepting God’s merciful love means remaining separated from him for ever by our own free choice. This state of definitive self-exclusion from communion with God and the blessed is called “hell.”

1034 Jesus often speaks of “Gehenna” of “the unquenchable fire” reserved for those who to the end of their lives refuse to believe and be converted, where both soul and body can be lost.612 Jesus solemnly proclaims that he "will send his angels, and they will gather . . . all evil doers, and throw them into the furnace of fire,"613 and that he will pronounce the condemnation: "Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire!"614

1035 The teaching of the Church affirms the existence of hell and its eternity. Immediately after death the souls of those who die in a state of mortal sin descend into hell, where they suffer the punishments of hell, "eternal fire."615 The chief punishment of hell is eternal separation from God, in whom alone man can possess the life and happiness for which he was created and for which he longs.

1036 The affirmations of Sacred Scripture and the teachings of the Church on the subject of hell are a call to the responsibility incumbent upon man to make use of his freedom in view of his eternal destiny. They are at the same time an urgent call to conversion: "Enter by the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is easy, that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard, that leads to life, and those who find it are few."616

Since we know neither the day nor the hour, we should follow the advice of the Lord and watch constantly so that, when the single course of our earthly life is completed, we may merit to enter with him into the marriage feast and be numbered among the blessed, and not, like the wicked and slothful servants, be ordered to depart into the eternal fire, into the outer darkness where "men will weep and gnash their teeth."617
**
1037** God predestines no one to go to hell;618 for this, a willful turning away from God (a mortal sin) is necessary, and persistence in it until the end. In the Eucharistic liturgy and in the daily prayers of her faithful, the Church implores the mercy of God, who does not want “any to perish, but all to come to repentance.”

From St. Faustina’s writings re: her vision of Hell: divinemercysunday.com/vision.htm
 
As Jesus tells us:

bible.cc/matthew/10-28.htm

And as we are told in Luke:

bible.cc/luke/16-23.htm

bible.cc/luke/16-24.htm

bible.cc/luke/16-25.htm

bible.cc/luke/16-26.htm

Hell is a literal place. From Pope Benedict:
Code: 
"Hell is a place where sinners really do burn in an everlasting fire, and not just a religious symbol designed to galvanise the faithful, the Pope has said.

"Addressing a parish gathering in a northern suburb of Rome, Benedict XVI said that in the modern world many people, including some believers, had forgotten that if they failed to “admit blame and promise to sin no more”, they risked “eternal damnation — the Inferno”.

"Hell “really exists and is eternal, even if nobody talks about it much any more”, he said."
Peace,
Ed
 
Without denying the validity of the very good responses above, I have to say that this is a tricky question to answer…by that I mean, we are talking about something outside of time and space, so is it a “literal place” in the normal sense of that phrase? 🤷 I dunno…

For now the best thing we have is what is given in Scripture and in the Catechism…And that should be enough for us to try very hard to avoid it at all costs…Whatever it is…😃

Peace
James
 
Does anybody remember the old Saturday Night Live sketch, where Gilda Radner and someone else (Chevy Chase?) are arguing about a spray can, saying “It’s a floor wax!” and the other says “No! It’s a desert topping!”
“It’s a floor wax!”
“It’s a dessert topping!”
And then Dan Akroyd walks in and says “Hey! It’s a floor wax *and *a dessert topping!” :rotfl: I always loved that joke.

Anyway, Hell is a place *and *a state. What kind of place? Who knows. In CS Lewis’ “The Great Divorce” Hell was just a teeny-tiny crack in the ground in the lawn of Heaven. But if you’re inside the crack, it seems to go on and on and on. Very trippy.

I’ve always loved Marlow’s Doctor Faustus, where Dr. Faust asks Mephistophilis “How do you come to be out of Hell?” and Mephistophilis replies
"Why, this is hell, nor am I out of it.
Think’st thou that I, who saw the face of God
And tasted the eternal joys of heaven,
Am not tormented with ten thousand hells
In being deprived of everlasting bliss?”

Even though this isn’t an *official *source, I’ve always liked how this implies that even if one escaped the “place” of Hell, that the true hell still lives on inside the soul.

Another great CS Lewis quote is that “Hell is locked from the inside.”
 
JRKH said:
Without denying the validity of the very good responses above, I have to say that this is a tricky question to answer…by that I mean, we are talking about something outside of time and space, so is it a “literal place” in the normal sense of that phrase? 🤷 I dunno…

For now the best thing we have is what is given in Scripture and in the Catechism…And that should be enough for us to try very hard to avoid it at all costs…Whatever it is…😃
Peace
James
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Totally agree. I seem to remember in the late 90’s. there was a sermon/homily/talk by Blessed John Paul II where he mentioned that the fire of Hell was not literal. Either way, Hell is a tragedy beyond words and must be avoided.
 
It’s understandable why the Church emphasizes the notion of a self-imposed separative state of being rather than a physical place. With the former, all of the blame is on us, i.e. we choose to be there, etc.; with the latter, God must be an active participant in our eternal torture by sustaining the existence of not only the physical place, but also the fire.
 
There is a prevalent (though not catechismically “official”) notion in Orthodoxy that heaven and hell exist in the same temporal space. What distinguishes them? The person’s attitude. Just as someone who hates country music will be in agony if they have to sit in a country music festival (and someone who loves country will be thoroughly enjoying it), the same could be true of Hell: If one person hated God and religion while on earth, then standing in His presence for all eternity is going to be absolutely terrible. But if they loved God, came to Church often, prayed and grew close to God, then they’re going to be in Heaven.

This idea appears to be supported by the Scripture in many cases. Ephesians says that God “fills all in all” (1:23), as do the prayers of the Church (“O Heavenly King, O Comforter, The Spirit of Truth, who art everywhere present and fills all things…”)

The Bishop of my diocese actually said once, “If you guys hate coming to Church, then heaven is going to be terrible for you.”
 
Taurks said:
There is a prevalent (though not catechismically “official”) notion in Orthodoxy that heaven and hell exist in the same temporal space. What distinguishes them? The person’s attitude. Just as someone who hates country music will be in agony if they have to sit in a country music festival (and someone who loves country will be thoroughly enjoying it), the same could be true of Hell: If one person hated God and religion while on earth, then standing in His presence for all eternity is going to be absolutely terrible. But if they loved God, came to Church often, prayed and grew close to God, then they’re going to be in Heaven.

This idea appears to be supported by the Scripture in many cases. Ephesians says that God “fills all in all” (1:23), as do the prayers of the Church (“O Heavenly King, O Comforter, The Spirit of Truth, who art everywhere present and fills all things…”). Furthermore, St. Paul says the same communion cup can be either a drink of condemnation or one of salvation.

The Bishop of my diocese actually said once, “If you guys hate coming to Church, then heaven is going to be terrible for you.”
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DoxieMama said:
Is Hell a literal place, or does it mean an eternal separation from God? I keep thinking Hell is a literal place where people are literally burning up for eternity. What is the Catholic teaching on this? :confused:
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Does it really matter?
Hell is eternal separation from God whether it is a state or place or both.
 
thistle said:
Does it really matter?
Hell is eternal separation from God whether it is a state or place or both.
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So true, hell is hell whatever it is. It will be really bad.

Jesus was asked whose wife a woman would be in heaven since she had 7 brothers marry her. And he said,
“For when they rise from the dead, they will neither marry nor be given in marriage, but are as angels in heaven.” Mk 12;25-26

But the angels don’t have bodies. That would mean heaven is not a place since it takes a body to be in a place. So hell would not be a place either.

Just a thought.
 
Robertanthony said:
po18guy, perhaps I overlooked something, but I failed to see in the article you linked where it says that Hell will go from a state to a place. Sorry if this sounds like I want to be spoon-fed.
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It does not. For now, it is clearly a state. The catechism does not specify, but Christ clearly made reference to the body being cast into eternal fire in Matthew 18:8-9 and Mark 9:44-46. In the last judgment, all will be resurrected. This implies that some will receive a glorified body and some will receive a body in which the decay never ceases and the fire perpetually burns them, but without consuming them (“the worm never dies and the fire is never quenched”). This also reflects on the burning bush that was never consumed (Exodus 3:2-3).
 
fred_conty said:
So true, hell is hell whatever it is. It will be really bad.

Jesus was asked whose wife a woman would be in heaven since she had 7 brothers marry her. And he said,
“For when they rise from the dead, they will neither marry nor be given in marriage, but are as angels in heaven.” Mk 12;25-26

But the angels don’t have bodies. That would mean heaven is not a place since it takes a body to be in a place. So hell would not be a place either.

Just a thought.
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Yet, just as Jesus ascended in bodily form, the condemned likely descend in bodily form.
 
DoxieMama said:
Is Hell a literal place, or does it mean an eternal separation from God? I keep thinking Hell is a literal place where people are literally burning up for eternity. What is the Catholic teaching on this? :confused:
Click to expand...
Yes Hell is a literal place. It is a Spiritual Dimension of existence, like Heaven is a Spiritual Dimension of existence. Hell is a place of extreme violence, pain and suffering, where Satan and his Legions dwell. When you enter Hell, you enter Satan’s Kingdom and he can do whatever he wants with you. The pain of Hell will be equally OPPOSITE to that of Heaven. The Bible says “no eye has seen, nor ear has heard” the wonderful things that GOD has in store for those who Love Him. This is true of Hell also. No “eye has seen, nor ear has heard” the horrifying things that await those who enter into Hell. Their pain and suffering will be beyond anything that any human being can even possibly imagine.
 
Cherubaby said:
Yes Hell is a literal place. It is a Spiritual Dimension of existence, like Heaven is a Spiritual Dimension of existence. Hell is a place of extreme violence, pain and suffering, where Satan and his Legions dwell. When you enter Hell, you enter Satan’s Kingdom and he can do whatever he wants with you. The pain of Hell will be equally OPPOSITE to that of Heaven. The Bible says “no eye has seen, nor ear has heard” the wonderful things that GOD has in store for those who Love Him. This is true of Hell also. No “eye has seen, nor ear has heard” the horrifying things that await those who enter into Hell. Their pain and suffering will be beyond anything that any human being can even possibly imagine.
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But can you have “place” outside of time?

A inquisitive thought.
 
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