Is the fires of hell literal, or symbolic

[freesoulhope]

Im sorry if this thread has been started up some where else but i dont have alot of time to go through all of them.

What i would like to know is, should i see hell as a place of unqenching flames, or simply being removed from the presence of god.

I have this idea that it may be like, having a multichude of strong desires and not being able to fullfill them because we dont have pysical bodys in hell. Or it could be that, we lack in the ability to feel “love”, so we forever suffer with mental pains and torments that we have a taste of in this life. It would make sense that all the depression and suffering and sadness and emptiness that we feel in this life, is a taste of what to expect in hell, since there is no love or joy in hell. Is this close?

 

[Ianjo99]

Although I’m fairly certain the early church fathers believed in a hell composed of both literal fires and seperation from God, I think now the consenus is that seperation from God is the fire Jesus spoke of. Considering very little has been stated on the nature of hell, I think it is licit to believe that hell is not necessarily a sensual fire.

If I am wrong, of course, please correct me.

 

[thistle]

Ianjo99:

Although I’m fairly certain the early church fathers believed in a hell composed of both literal fires and seperation from God, I think now the consenus is that seperation from God is the fire Jesus spoke of. Considering very little has been stated on the nature of hell, I think it is licit to believe that hell is not necessarily a sensual fire.

If I am wrong, of course, please correct me.

I would tend to agree with you. The ultimate punishment is eternal separation from God’s love.

 

[masterjedi747]

I think the only certain answer is that we don’t know for sure. Reasonable arguments can be made for both sides…and don’t forget that it doesn’t have to be strictly one or the other; they are not mutually exclusive. So although I woud tend to agree with the above posts, I still wouldn’t be tremendously surprised if there are ultimately certain elements of both. :twocents:

 

[thistle]

masterjedi747:

I think the only certain answer is that we don’t know for sure. Reasonable arguments can be made for both sides…and don’t forget that it doesn’t have to be strictly one or the other; they are not mutually exclusive. So although I woud tend to agree with the above posts, I still wouldn’t be tremendously surprised if there are ultimately certain elements of both. :twocents:

I will be doing my best never to find out for sure!! lol

 

[PraRFLEsEkHm]

Although it is not necessary to believe personal revelation - I thought there was no reason not to believe This.

I also thought This was thought provoking…although it’s authenticity can be questioned - This is from St. Anthony.

Suffice to say - I believe the first pain is due to separation from God, the rest is the literal fire of hell lit by the wrath of God.

Peace

John

 

[Joe_Kelley]

Note that Hell is the abode of the demon spirits, and the prison of the souls of the damned. Only after the Final Judgement will the souls be joined by their bodies.

Neither spirits nor souls are affected by physical fire. Thus, there must be a spiritual equivalent which torments the spirits and souls.

There well may be a physical fire for the bodies.

 

[seetiger33]

thistle:

I would tend to agree with you. The ultimate punishment is eternal separation from God’s love.

Did you forget the story of the rich man and Abrahams boosum???

This man was in physical torment. O and lake of fire, brimestone come on people. Its real

 

[freesoulhope]

Ianjo99:

Although I’m fairly certain the early church fathers believed in a hell composed of both literal fires and seperation from God, I think now the consenus is that seperation from God is the fire Jesus spoke of. Considering very little has been stated on the nature of hell, I think it is licit to believe that hell is not necessarily a sensual fire.

If I am wrong, of course, please correct me.

If i correct you, it will be at the expense of eternal pain! No thank you!

 

[mtr01]

PraRFLEsEkHm:

Although it is not necessary to believe personal revelation - I thought there was no reason not to believe This.

I also thought This was thought provoking…although it’s authenticity can be questioned - This is from St. Anthony.

Suffice to say - I believe the first pain is due to separation from God, the rest is the literal fire of hell lit by the wrath of God.

Peace

John

As long as we are talking about personal revelation, I think this from St.Teresa of Avila is rather frightening:

"What I felt, it seems to me, cannot even begin to be exaggerated; nor can it be understood. I experienced a fire in the soul that I don’t know how I could describe. The bodily pains were so unbearable that though I had suffered excruciating ones in this life and according to what doctors say, the worst that can be suffered on earth for all my nerves were shrunken when I was paralyzed, plus many other sufferings of many kinds that I endured and even some as I said, caused by the devil, these were all nothing in comparison with the ones I experienced there. I saw furthermore that they would go on without end and without ever ceasing. This, however, was nothing next to the soul’s agonizing: a constriction, a suffocation, an affliction so keenly felt and with such a despairing and tormenting unhappiness that I don’t know how to word it strongly enough. To say the experience is as though the soul were continually being wrested from the body would be insufficient, for it would make you think somebody else is taking away the life, whereas here it is the soul itself that tears itself in pieces. The fact is that I don’t know how to give a sufficiently powerful description of that interior fire and that despair, coming in addition to such extreme torments and pains. I didn’t see who inflicted them on me, but, as it seemed to me, I felt myself burning and crumbling; and I repeat the worst was that interior fire and despair.
tldm.org/News6/hell3.htm

 

[Ianjo99]

seetiger33:

Did you forget the story of the rich man and Abrahams boosum???

This man was in physical torment. O and lake of fire, brimestone come on people. Its real

It is possible that Jesus used images of fire and brimstone to compare hell to. Also, since no one really knows for sure, it kind of remains a moot point.

 

[buffalo]

Saint Faustina’s Vision of Hell

The First Torture that constitutes hell is:
The loss of God.
The Second is:
Perpetual remorse of conscience.
The Third is
That one’s condition will never change.
The Fourth is:
The fire that will penetrate the soul without destroying it. A terrible suffering since it is a purely spiritual fire, lit by God’s anger.
The Fifth Torture is:
Continual darkness and a terrible suffocating smell, and despite the darkness, the devils and the souls of the damned see each other and all the evil, both of others and their own.
The Sixth Torture is:
The constant company of Satan.
The Seventh Torture is:
Horrible despair, hatred of God, vile words, curses and blasphemies. These are the Tortures suffered by all the damned together, but that is not the end of the sufferings.

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