N
Neithan
Guest
I sped read a little book today called Five Great Catholic Ideas by a one Fr. Edward Wm. Clark, a priest of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. Interesting book more or less, but one bit in particular caught my attention. In a section on Immortality, after briefly explaining the ongoing theological debate in Church Tradition on whether our first parents possessed the ‘supernatural life’ from the beginning and lost it, or were prevented from attaining it, he writes the following:
Correct me if I’m a heretic, but it makes much more sense to me that God would annihilate the unbaptised* after the General Judgement, and that they would suffer in hell, or limbo, only until that time. Firstly, why would God resurrect and condemn to a “second death” if this is actually eternal life of torment (not to mention how cruel and unjust this seems for His perfect love)? Shouldn’t immortality be reserved for the blessed? Secondly, how is it possible that an unbaptised person, who has never had a share in the divine life, who has never possessed supernatural grace; how is it possible for them to live forever? Why would God want them to, anyway?
Does actual sin for the unbaptized carry with it the eternal offenses that it does for the baptized? The unbaptized never share in the supernatural (due to original sin), and their personal sins do not break eternal promises, so why would they warrant an eternal, supernatural penalty? On second thought, will the unbaptized be resurrected at all or annihilated at their ‘first death’?
Is Fr. Clark confused, or is it true that the Church has no definitive teaching on all unbaptized people? Including adults? It does seem to make sense. Why would God give eternal life to an unbaptized soul who has never accepted the promises resulting therefrom? Fr. Clark even mentions annihilation; is this possible in light of the dogma of the General Resurrection? Or will they be annihilated in the “second death” which the book of Revelation mentions?All of this, of course, remains speculation for philosophers and theologians, very much like the question of the final destiny of the unbaptized person–confined to hell, stranded in limbo, transformed at death, instantaneously enlightened, simply annihilated, or any number of other conceivable possibilities …] Immortality and eternal life are certainties only in light of the supernatural state, assured for us in baptism.
Correct me if I’m a heretic, but it makes much more sense to me that God would annihilate the unbaptised* after the General Judgement, and that they would suffer in hell, or limbo, only until that time. Firstly, why would God resurrect and condemn to a “second death” if this is actually eternal life of torment (not to mention how cruel and unjust this seems for His perfect love)? Shouldn’t immortality be reserved for the blessed? Secondly, how is it possible that an unbaptised person, who has never had a share in the divine life, who has never possessed supernatural grace; how is it possible for them to live forever? Why would God want them to, anyway?
Does actual sin for the unbaptized carry with it the eternal offenses that it does for the baptized? The unbaptized never share in the supernatural (due to original sin), and their personal sins do not break eternal promises, so why would they warrant an eternal, supernatural penalty? On second thought, will the unbaptized be resurrected at all or annihilated at their ‘first death’?
- Of course none of the above applies to unbaptized Jews who hold to the old covenant of circumcision.