Is it possible that God can relent on the eternal punishment in Hell?

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Estel said:
“Anything is possible with God”, so the answer to the thread topic is yes. However, will it happen? I think so. Saint Thomas Aquinas and Saint Francis De Sales both were quoted as saying the pains of hell could be lessened. In addition, it is written “No one is cast off by the Lord forever”. Also, it is written, in Revelation 21:4, that there will be no more pain. So, I’d say it is possible, and likely. Our concept of eternity just doesn’t make us sure about these things, but we can be free to hope.
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The question is a confusion of terms.

Anything is possible with God, except meaningless contradictions.

What is it that torments the reprobate in hell? God’s love is their torment.

So the question amounts to asking if God will relent on loving lost souls who refuse to love Him in return?

The answer is no.
 
Amandil said:
The question is a confusion of terms.

Anything is possible with God, except meaningless contradictions.

What is it that torments the reprobate in hell? God’s love is their torment.

So the question amounts to asking if God will relent on loving lost souls who refuse to love Him in return?

The answer is no.
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Anything is possible with God, except perhaps the sick thought that God’s love could be tormenting. In the Catechism it says the loss of God is the chief punishment of hell. This is “eternal fire”.
 
Estel said:
Anything is possible with God, except perhaps the sick thought that God’s love could be tormenting. In the Catechism it says the loss of God is the chief punishment of hell. This is “eternal fire”.
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The sun helps you see, right?

I don’t know if you’ve lived in an area with lots of snow that is managed by throwing mountains of salt on the roads.
What happens here is that the windshield gets more and more mucky.

If it is dark you can sort of see through the dirt.
When the sun comes up, the light reflects off it and makes it impossible to see.

Now you can use the washer fluid and wipers to clean it off (repent).
Or you can let it build up because you like the dirt. You will HATE the light.

If you do not repent you will be attached to the sin that burns in the eternal fire of hell.
I do not see hell so much as a punishment as it is the revelation of the true nature of sin - divorcing oneself from God.

The fact that you care to know God tells me you will not suffer that fate. Don’t worry, Love.
 
Aloysium said:
The sun helps you see, right?

I don’t know if you’ve lived in an area with lots of snow that is managed by throwing mountains of salt on the roads.
What happens here is that the windshield gets more and more mucky.

If it is dark you can sort of see through the dirt.
When the sun comes up, the light reflects off it and makes it impossible to see.

Now you can use the washer fluid and wipers to clean it off (repent).
Or you can let it build up because you like the dirt. You will HATE the light.

If you do not repent you will be attached to the sin that burns in the eternal fire of hell.

The fact that you care to know God tells me you will not suffer that fate. Don’t worry, Love.
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I thank you for saying not to worry. It is something I worry about, but I am still full of hope. I am a sinner, but I have hope in God’s mercy!
 
bisco said:
aren’t you contradicting yourself?
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If you mean me, maybe, lol. But I think that our concept of eternity is one that could include the possibility of the end of pain, even the end of hell. Since in the last book of the bible pain and hell are no more. Honestly I don’t know, but my confident hope is that pain will end.
 
Estel said:
Anything is possible with God, except perhaps the sick thought that God’s love could be tormenting.
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Haven’t you ever seen a child having a temper tantrum?
Estelle:
In the Catechism it says the loss of God is the chief punishment of hell. This is “eternal fire”.
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The loss of God does not mean that God shuts us out, but that we shut God out.
 
Why doesn’t God put Hell inside of time? That way Hell doesn’t have to be forever and change of heart is possible.

“Anything is possible with God”
 
Amandil said:
Haven’t you ever seen a child having a temper tantrum?

The loss of God does not mean that God shuts us out, but that we shut God out.
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That’s a good point, but still the parent will (usually) try to do everything to get that child out of their tantrum and happy again. And certainly God as our Father loves us. That’s why I maintain the hope that pain will end. I do agree that those in hell don’t want heaven, because they shut God out.
 
Thorns said:
Why doesn’t God put Hell inside of time? That way Hell doesn’t have to be forever and change of heart is possible.

“Anything is possible with God”
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I agree, “anything is possible with God”! Perhaps hell is inside of time in a way, even though it is “eternal”, maybe “eternity” has an end. Only God knows. But we do know: “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, his mercies never come to an end”.
 
Estel said:
That’s a good point, but still the parent will (usually) try to do everything to get that child out of their tantrum and happy again. And certainly God as our Father loves us. That’s why I maintain the hope that pain will end. I do agree that those in hell don’t want heaven, because they shut God out.
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Eternal means “unbounded by time”. Since “time” is the unit by which we measure change, and since eternity is “timeless”, it follows that there is no change in eternity.

Here’s the problem, God is a parent who won’t accept anything less that everything we have to give. Not that He needs it but rather that we need love as He loves. When we love completely-as Christ loved us on the cross-we become most like Him and at the same time receive back from Him all of our own freedom and individuality.

And the reprobate in hell do not want to give anything that they have. They want to be absolutes in themselves and whatever they love(whether that be the self or some other created thing). They are children who will accept nothing less than that toy that they love more than anything else.

Since God will never change, will never stop demanding that they love Him for their own sakes, and they will never change because they will never love God more than whatever sin they are attached to, then their torment is necessarily eternal/everlasting.

That said, I’m sorry, but there’s simply no use in false hope.
 
Amandil said:
Eternal means “unbounded by time”. Since “time” is the unit by which we measure change, and since eternity is “timeless”, it follows that there is no change in eternity.

Here’s the problem, God is a parent who won’t accept anything less that everything we have to give. Not that He needs it but rather that we need love as He loves. When we love completely-as Christ loved us on the cross-we become most like Him and at the same time receive back from Him all of our own freedom and individuality.

And the reprobate in hell do not want to give anything that they have. They want to be absolutes in themselves and whatever they love(whether that be the self or some other created thing). They are children who will accept nothing less than that toy that they love more than anything else.

Since God will never change, will never stop demanding that they love Him for their own sakes, and they will never change because they will never love God more than whatever sin they are attached to, then their torment is necessarily eternal/everlasting.

That said, I’m sorry, but there’s simply no use in false hope.
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I agree with most of this, yet I still would hold to the hope that God’s mercy will surprise us in terms of doing away with torment, because even those in hell probably would freely choose not to suffer. However, it is all speculation until Jesus clears it up in the future.
 
Amandil said:
You’re assuming that they have any will left in the matter.
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And you are assuming that they do not. That is one of the problems with supposed revelation…it is wide open for interpretation.
 
I’m not sure we can assume what way anyone will have a change of heart toward God if they have turned away from him in this life. We don’t know what will happen to us at death, God may reveal himself to people who do not believe in him, and they may then turn to him. I think most people are seeking God in this life, but we end up going in all the wrong directions, but when God is known to them they most usually accept his love. Doesn’t mean we then become a perfect human being, but we grow in love for ALL his creation and give that back to him. 🙂
 
oldcelt said:
And you are assuming that they do not. That is one of the problems with supposed revelation…it is wide open for interpretation.
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Amandil is not assuming. Their comments are grounded in the constant teaching of the Church.
 
After following this thread for a while, I am sadly surprised at the number of Catholics who think that Hell isn’t what the Church teaches Hell is and want to waste time speculating about the possibility that a person in Hell can have a 2nd chance. This is simply too contradictory to Catholic teaching and doctrine and isn’t a simple doubt about something. It is a deviation that has troubling consequences. If a Catholic doesn’t believe that Hell is an eternity long and that a person will have a 2nd particular judgment and be given a 2nd chance to repent, they are simply negating too many doctrines at once. It is nuts to do so and receive Communion. A simple doubt can be prayed away or studied about, but the innocent will give their assent to the Church’s position even it their hearts aren’t fully in it until their hearts do get filled with the positive understanding of the subject doubted. This is okay and if you ask me, mostly everyone probably grapples with something during their spiritual journey in life. Normal. But to speculate about the fundamental boundaries of Hell and what God has revealed to us about it is dangerously close to dissenting from those things and innocence cannot be maintained when one does so. It is a sin against faith and can be grave.

Glenda
 
i suppose, in the process of conversion, we all go through the “can i hold onto this sin and still be forgiven” phase. and i suppose many catholics are still in the process of conversion. i know i am.
 
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