How infinite is His mercy?

[In_Hoc_Signo312]

When the militant atheist (or anti-theist as he put it) Christopher Hitchens died six years ago, one thing I thought about was an interview he gave with Anderson Cooper shortly after his cancer diagnosis where he talked about the three things he’d heard three different groups of people pray for about him.

The first, and the most uncharitable, group was that he would suffer tremendously before dying because he was an atheist.

The second one was that he would make a full recovery.

The third and final group said they prayed that, regardless of whether he lived or died, he would come to believe in a God regardless.

As I thought about this further, I came up with a fourth option, that if he didn’t recover and ultimately died unbelieving (which I assume is what happened, since he advised people to dismiss any rumors of a deathbed conversion), that God would elect to allow him entry into Heaven anyway.

It has been said that God doesn’t really send anybody to Hell. People who end up there separate themselves from God. Then you have Scripture verses that say things to the effect of “Depart from Me, for I never knew you” on multiple occasions. Do these statements contradict each other? Can God, in fact, bestow mercy on a person in such a state?

 

[paduard]

His Mercy is indeed infinite. That in itself says it all.
paduard

 

[Layp3rs0n]

When the militant atheist (or anti-theist as he put it) Christopher Hitchens died six years ago, one thing I thought about was an interview he gave with Anderson Cooper shortly after his cancer diagnosis where he talked about the three things he’d heard three different groups of people pray for about him.

The first, and the most uncharitable, group was that he would suffer tremendously before dying because he was an atheist.

The second one was that he would make a full recovery.

The third and final group said they prayed that, regardless of whether he lived or died, he would come to believe in a God regardless.

As I thought about this further, I came up with a fourth option, that if he didn’t recover and ultimately died unbelieving (which I assume is what happened, since he advised people to dismiss any rumors of a deathbed conversion), that God would elect to allow him entry into Heaven anyway.

It has been said that God doesn’t really send anybody to Hell. People who end up there separate themselves from God. Then you have Scripture verses that say things to the effect of “Depart from Me, for I never knew you” on multiple occasions. Do these statements contradict each other? Can God, in fact, bestow mercy on a person in such a state?

There is no confliction whatsoever. People really do make their own eternal decision when they die. What is Judgement is merely God ratifying and accepting your decision. Do the damned REALLY want to go to hell? Probably not, but they are also unable to go to heaven on their own terms. Hell is the only alternative. And it’s not so much they want to be in heaven either. They want to not be around God. What the damned want is sin and pride.

 

[Techno2000]

When the militant atheist (or anti-theist as he put it) Christopher Hitchens died six years ago, one thing I thought about was an interview he gave with Anderson Cooper shortly after his cancer diagnosis where he talked about the three things he’d heard three different groups of people pray for about him.

The first, and the most uncharitable, group was that he would suffer tremendously before dying because he was an atheist.

The second one was that he would make a full recovery.

The third and final group said they prayed that, regardless of whether he lived or died, he would come to believe in a God regardless.

As I thought about this further, I came up with a fourth option, that if he didn’t recover and ultimately died unbelieving (which I assume is what happened, since he advised people to dismiss any rumors of a deathbed conversion), that God would elect to allow him entry into Heaven anyway.

It has been said that God doesn’t really send anybody to Hell. People who end up there separate themselves from God. Then you have Scripture verses that say things to the effect of “Depart from Me, for I never knew you” on multiple occasions. Do these statements contradict each other? Can God, in fact, bestow mercy on a person in such a state?

St. Faustina had also one daily prayer that she never missed which was, “O Jesus inspire people to pray for the dying”. St. Faustina said that by prayer, “God’s mercy can touch the sinner even at the last moment, in a wondrous and mysterious way. Outwardly, it seems as if everything is lost, but it is not so. The soul, illumined by a ray of God’s powerful final grace, can turn to God even in the last moment, with such a power of love that in an instant, it receives from God, forgiveness of all sin and punishment, while outwardly it shows no sign either of repentance or of contrition, because souls [at that stage] no longer react to external things”. (Diary 1698)

An Unpublished Manuscript on Purgatory

Excerpt :

I can tell you about the different degrees of Purgatory because I have passed through them. In the great Purgatory there are several stages. In the lowest and most painful, like a temporary hell, are the sinners who have committed terrible crimes during life and whose death surprised them in that state. It was almost a miracle that they were saved, and often by the prayers of holy parents or other pious persons. Sometimes they did not even have time to confess their sins and the world thought them lost, but God, whose mercy is infinite, gave them at the moment of death the contrition necessary for their salvation on account of one or more good actions which they performed during life. For such souls, Purgatory is terrible. It is a real hell with this difference, that in hell they curse God, whereas we bless Him and thank Him for having saved us.

catholicculture.org/culture/library/view.cfm?recnum=6253

 

[Crusaderbear]

Think of the mmost infinite thing you can…His mercy is bigger!

 

[USMC_Convert]

Mother Angelica tells us that if all your sins are a drop of water then Gods Divine Mercy is the Ocean.

 

[TK421]

Do these statements contradict each other? Can God, in fact, bestow mercy on a person in such a state?

Yes, they are logically incompatible. If a person has used their will with full knowledge to reject God, then God bestowing mercy on that person is contradictory since this is not logically possible, and in addition to scripture, was repeated by Jesus in St Faustina’s diary.

Mercy is something that needs to be actively received by the person otherwise it is rendered impotent. It would be like if the father gave all of his love to the prodigal son and the son walked away and never came back in the story, and then saying that there was a reunion between them. There is no reunion that will take place and such a statement of course wouldn’t make sense. A person in this scenario would immediately descend into hell and remain there forever.

 

[ericc]

To the extent of his Justice.

 

[fhansen]

When the militant atheist (or anti-theist as he put it) Christopher Hitchens died six years ago, one thing I thought about was an interview he gave with Anderson Cooper shortly after his cancer diagnosis where he talked about the three things he’d heard three different groups of people pray for about him.

The first, and the most uncharitable, group was that he would suffer tremendously before dying because he was an atheist.

The second one was that he would make a full recovery.

The third and final group said they prayed that, regardless of whether he lived or died, he would come to believe in a God regardless.

As I thought about this further, I came up with a fourth option, that if he didn’t recover and ultimately died unbelieving (which I assume is what happened, since he advised people to dismiss any rumors of a deathbed conversion), that God would elect to allow him entry into Heaven anyway.

It has been said that God doesn’t really send anybody to Hell. People who end up there separate themselves from God. Then you have Scripture verses that say things to the effect of “Depart from Me, for I never knew you” on multiple occasions. Do these statements contradict each other? Can God, in fact, bestow mercy on a person in such a state?

Scripture tells us that God judges by the heart, not by appearances as man does. We simply don’t know what He knows. But we do know that His love and forgiveness know no bounds; only we place obstacles to it- and reject it.

 

[thistle]

When the militant atheist (or anti-theist as he put it) Christopher Hitchens died six years ago, one thing I thought about was an interview he gave with Anderson Cooper shortly after his cancer diagnosis where he talked about the three things he’d heard three different groups of people pray for about him.

The first, and the most uncharitable, group was that he would suffer tremendously before dying because he was an atheist.

The second one was that he would make a full recovery.

The third and final group said they prayed that, regardless of whether he lived or died, he would come to believe in a God regardless.

As I thought about this further, I came up with a fourth option, that if he didn’t recover and ultimately died unbelieving (which I assume is what happened, since he advised people to dismiss any rumors of a deathbed conversion), that God would elect to allow him entry into Heaven anyway.

It has been said that God doesn’t really send anybody to Hell. People who end up there separate themselves from God. Then you have Scripture verses that say things to the effect of “Depart from Me, for I never knew you” on multiple occasions. Do these statements contradict each other? Can God, in fact, bestow mercy on a person in such a state?

Anyone who consciously and deliberately rejects God/denies God exists and does not repent before death will go to Hell when they die.