Does God Grieve Over the Souls in Hell?

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In Heaven (where God obviously is) there is no pain or suffering, yet i can’t help thinking/feeling that God grieves… somehow… over his lost children…

Yet this doesn’t make sense…

What are your thoughts about this?
 
distracted said:
In Heaven (where God obviously is) there is no pain or suffering, yet i can’t help thinking/feeling that God grieves… somehow… over his lost children…

Yet this doesn’t make sense…

What are your thoughts about this?
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God does not stop loving those in Hell, but He does not grieve over their decision to separate themselves from Him forever. In God is all joy and peace and glory, thus there can be nothing in Himself which allows for eternal sadness - either in Himself or in those who participate in His glory.

I think this from C. S. Lewis’s The Great Divorce says it well:
“What some people say on earth is that the final loss of one soul gives the lie to all the joy of those who are saved.”
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“Ye see it does not.” [Says MacDonald]
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“I feel in a way that it ought to.”
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That sounds’ very merciful, but see what lurks behind it."
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“What?”
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“The demand of the loveless and the self-imprisoned that they should be allowed to blackmail the universe: that till they consent to be happy (on their own terms) no one else shall taste joy: that theirs should be the final power; that Hall should be able to veto Heaven. . .Watch that sophistry or ye’ll make a Dog in tha Manger the tyrant of the universe.”
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People in hell chose to be there by deliberately turning away from God. I don’t think God grieves over their choice.
 
I don’t think we can see this the way that God sees it. He has perfect knowledge of all that happened and the choices that individuals made. He knew about the choices each soul would make before he created them, and yet he still made them. In some mysterious way, God is able to make their lives have purpose, even when it appears to us that they are going against his purpose. They still played an important role in the salvation of all the souls who did go to heaven. So, my thought is that God does not grieve because he knows the fullness and perfection of his plan for our salvation.
 
lizaanne said:
Why do you think there would be a difference, and what would the relevance be?

~Liza
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That was just my point…no difference. Don’t we Catholics believe that Jesus grieves? Then, yes, God grieves as well, right?

That’s what I think.

As for God that Father, we are his children. Wouldn’t you grieve if your child was in prison for the rest of his life and you were never going to be able to see him again? Yes, your child made a choice to do something that got him in prison, however, doesn’t mean that you would not miss him and still love his soul…any way…that’s what I think…
 
Perhaps this one falls into that category of 'We’ll never know ‘til we get to heaven. Then, we’ll understand everything.’ Truly, His ways are not our ways, nor His thoughts our thoughts. All we can do is know that He loves us so much more than we can possibly imagine!

God bless,
Dan
 
I wonder if He feels similarly about the fallen angels.
 
If we acknowledge the fact that we grieve if we knew our family members to be in hell.
Similarly, there are many, who have to hand over their family member/s to the police for crimes, but have still loved them nevertheless.

Then how much more would God grieve over his family that went to hell ?
 
Harmony1988 said:
If we acknowledge the fact that we grieve if we knew our family members to be in hell.
Similarly, there are many, who have to hand over their family member/s to the police for crimes, but have still loved them nevertheless.

Then how much more would God grieve over his family that went to hell ?
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For starters, I’m not disagreeing with you, but it does raise another question.

If we are perfectly to Christ when we are in heaven, I suspect that our thoughts will be completely in accord with God. However, if I spend all eternity having to thinking about family members or friends who didn’t make it (went to hell), wouldn’t that diminish of some (or a lot) of my joy while in heaven?

If that’s true, heaven is not as happy as it could be, unless we are incapable or ignorant of this realization. This of course raises other questions. Thoughts?
 
Harmony1988 said:
If we acknowledge the fact that we grieve if we knew our family members to be in hell.
Similarly, there are many, who have to hand over their family member/s to the police for crimes, but have still loved them nevertheless.

Then how much more would God grieve over his family that went to hell ?
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For starters, I’m not disagreeing with you, but it does raise another question.

If we are perfectly to Christ when we are in heaven, I suspect that our thoughts will be completely in accord with God. However, if I spend all eternity having to thinking about family members or friends who didn’t make it (went to hell), wouldn’t that diminish some (or a lot) of my joy while in heaven?

If that’s true, heaven is not as happy as it could be, unless we are incapable of appreciating or just ignorant of this realization. This of course raises other questions. Thoughts?
 
Harmony1988 said:
If we acknowledge the fact that we grieve if we knew our family members to be in hell.
Similarly, there are many, who have to hand over their family member/s to the police for crimes, but have still loved them nevertheless.

Then how much more would God grieve over his family that went to hell ?
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We are not the measure for what or how God views things. Scripture tells us clearly that there is no grieving in Heaven:
Revelation Ch. 21: 1 And I saw a new heaven and a new earth. For the first heaven and the first earth was gone, and the sea is now no more. 2 And I John saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a great voice from the throne, saying: Behold the tabernacle of God with men, and he will dwell with them. And they shall be his people; and God himself with them shall be their God. 4 And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes: and death shall be no more, nor mourning, nor crying, nor sorrow shall be any more, for the former things are passed away. (Douai-Rheims)
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Further, St. Thomas Aquinas writes in his Summa Theologica:
. . .Mercy is especially to be attributed to God, as seen in its effect, but not as an affection of passion. In proof of which it must be considered that a person is said to be merciful [misericors], as being, so to speak, sorrowful at heart [miserum cor]; being affected with sorrow at the misery of another as though it were his own. Hence it follows that he endeavors to dispel the misery of this other, as if it were his; and this is the effect of mercy. To sorrow, therefore, over the misery of others belongs not to God; but it does most properly belong to Him to dispel that misery, whatever be the defect we call by that name. . . . Summa Theologica, Question 21, article 3.
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i remember reading once that god has his hand out to those in hell, but owing to their pride and stubborness and the the way they lived their life, they refuse to to take it.
 
grieving over eternally damned souls would be pointless wouldn’t it? i believe that God grieves when people deny Jesus while they are alive here on earth, (GENESIS says that God grieved when Adam first sinned) but God’s JUSTICE and Righteousness is why there is a hell, so Him grieving over something that won’t be changed would be pointless. and our God can’t do somehting that is pointless, He isn’t an imperfect human like us. He is perfect. and awesome!!
 
distracted said:
In Heaven (where God obviously is) there is no pain or suffering, yet i can’t help thinking/feeling that God grieves… somehow… over his lost children…

Yet this doesn’t make sense…

What are your thoughts about this?
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I believe this too
 
FCEGM said:
God does not stop loving those in Hell, but He does not grieve over their decision to separate themselves from Him forever. In God is all joy and peace and glory, thus there can be nothing in Himself which allows for eternal sadness - either in Himself or in those who participate in His glory.

I think this from C. S. Lewis’s The Great Divorce says it well:
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i was in a hurry when i posted that thread so didn’t get a chance to word things the way i should have… but this makes sense… and now that i think abo8ut it, the evil ones make our lives miserable in this world, why should they be allowed to do so in the next?? Even if we love them, we can’t stand to be around them… and so some day we won’t have to be…

and of course, one has to trust God… that he has all this mysterious stuff covered… 🙂
 
dulcissima said:
I He knew about the choices each soul would make before he created them, and yet he still made them. .
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this is not accurate.

God does not know anyone’s choices before he makes them… He chooses to give us total free will which means we can choose absolutely anything we want, wehterh good or evil…

my life is testiment to this, if nothing else. i (all of us) have choices every day on every little (or so called little) issue… and those issues that pertain to our relationsjhip with God are the ones that ultimately matter… the ones that send us to Hell or heaven

we have to learn things and unlearn other things – many many things-- before we can be allowed into Heaven… and we don’t do this in an instant… .it is an on-going thing… that’s one reason i hate when someone acts like salvation is a one time event… the Are you saved? group… \
 
pray4peace said:
People in hell chose to be there by deliberately turning away from God. I don’t think God grieves over their choice.
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God is perfect so He doesn’t need to grieve… so you are right… but still, the person messed up his relationship with his Father… so there is a serious loss… Something that could have been will never be…

i think what it is is that God WOULD grieve if he thoubht about it… but umm… why should He? it would do no good…

we humans could learn a few things from God…
 
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