Plenty of people live their earthly lives completely separated from God though and appear to be content with it, so in theory, hell, may not be the punishment its made out to be…if someone is truthfully content without God in their earthly lives, why would their afterlife be any different? Actually they may be more ‘comfortable’ in hell than heaven, since heaven would be something they are unfamiliar with…just a thought.
However upon death you meet God, and you truly understand love and what it means to be with God. So while most may claim to be happy without God in their lives on earth, there will be no denying it in the afterlife, whether it be heaven or hell…
Everyone is in search of happiness, regardless of where they’re looking.
I’m not sure. If they believe, as you say, they have found happiness, then they have found the kind of happiness that satisfies them, don’t you think? This is not exactly a void. I tend to think that only those who ponder these questions, and have the leisure time to do so, are conflicted and experience a discontentment with the pleasures of earthly life. Many people most likely are too busy either enjoying life or struggling through it, or both, to think much about the afterlife.
I don’t believe that they’re satisfied for they keep trying to find something in obtainjng more wealth, power and material things.
Forgot who said it, but a Jewish Rabbi told a Catholic Priest, “we Jews created guilt, but you Catholics made an art out of it.”
There have been many visions of hell by mystics in Church history, or even a few messages from the damned (which they were compelled to give, since the damned only desire those on earth to be damned with them) and all of them are dreadful. Theologians aim to explain God and are not apt towards long narratives. Mystics - approved by the Church as worthy of belief - are more valuable in so far as descriptive events are concerned.
So even as fallible as we are, as long as we do our best to “keep the faith” as it were, there is a reasonable chance that we will avoid Hell.
I believe this to be true.
If God is love as defined by St Paul in the above verse, how can God be a tyrannical God who is keeping a list of things to send us to eternal damnation, when we seek to love him ?
See, I’ve always viewed God as an authority figure. Imagine a overly micro-managing boss constantly looking over your shoulder waiting for you to screw up so he can come down on you. Just as a person in a work environment can’t do their job effectively because they are constantly worried about getting in trouble over the slightest little thing, It’s difficult for me to see God in a positive light out of fear of doing something that will incur His wrath.
I get that, but I think the most accurate analogy to our relationship to God, is the relationship between a parent and the child they love. It’s sometimes difficult to think in those terms because of the turbulence of life, the uncertainty of the hereafter, and not to mention the challenges the problem of evil creates for belief. But the idea of a wrathful, retributive God doesn’t evoke feelings of love, which is what He desires from us.
Yes, but not all parents are created equal. Some are very strict on discipline and disguise it as “tough love” while other parents are more lenient.
I get that too, but God is what you would want for a perfect parent. Good parents only discipline to teach there children how to be loving. Some parents are bad, but that is not the type of parent God is. He can’t be bad. Lenient parents are not “good parents”, they are just weak parents.
How so?
You have to really try to commit a mortal sin. You can’t do it by accident. And you have to know what you are doing, know it is a grave sin, and not be coerced in any way. And there is the whole thing about it can’t be from habitual behaviors…Add it all together and it is kinda hard to do. You can sin, just not all grave matter is mortal sin.
Without going into detail, I’m guilty more often than you might think.
Read the Diary of St. Faustina.
I’m not sure I completely agree. Using this logic, virtually any sinful act could be attributed to “psychological issues” and make the person less accountable.
Several years ago I developed a severe toothache beginning on a Friday evening. I could not get a hold of my dentist and the pain was constant without any relief. I remember that after a number of hours of this pain, I would almost have given anything for a 10 second break from the suffering. It was unrelenting and would not stop. I kept thinking, "if only it would just quit for a few seconds…“thump, thump, thump, thump, thump” … without any relief. That must be one of the worse aspects about hell. This would make anyone extremely angry and hate themselves and others, from which would come utter frustration and dispair.
Any sinful act ? No.