That’s true, but neither does your belief in it.Your belief or disbelief has no impact on the actual existence of Hell. Either it exists or it doesn’t.
Everyone has a different perspective. I used to see that side. Now I’d rather live my life without the influence of ancient taboos and scare tactics.Very true, and that was implied in the way I worded my response. That said, I’d much rather be wrong from my position than wrong from yours.
Having established that this is wrong what steps should be taken?This is, simple and straight forward, heresy. Or, I guess it would be better to say that it directly opposes Catholic Doctrine. It’s not heresy until he’s been made aware of that contradiction and continues in it despite.
I believe if there is a God, it would be disappointed in humanity for its self-idolization, need for mind-control, gullibility, and egocentric nature. Of course, if it created them, it shouldn’t be surprised…It’s not a scare tactic if it’s real. The recognition of reality for what it is, while it may be scary, is the only rational way to live your life.
If God is real, and Hell is real, then we should live according to that reality, and trying to pretend otherwise or refusing to teach on it because other people disagree or are uncomfortable about it, is a disservice to everyone.
What you call a scare tactic, I call reality.
As for those “ancient taboos,” they shaped Western civilization created the world we know today. Now that we’ve abandoned them culturally, we’re rapidly descending back into the pre-Christian reality.
I find this statement dishonest and very egocentric.Now that we’ve abandoned them culturally, we’re rapidly descending back into the pre-Christian reality.
St. Pope John Paul II wrote in Crossing the Threshold of Hope (pg. 185) that the Church did not pronounce any specific individuals, although Matt 25:46 says there are some damned:
The Church taught at Fourth Lateran Council in 1215 that souls are in hell, using the present tense, in Canon 1 (excerpt):Can God, who has loved man so much, permit the man who rejects Him to be condemned to eternal torment? And yet, the words of Christ are unequivocal. In Matthew’s Gospel he speaks clearly of those who will go to eternal punishment (cf. Matt. 25:46). Who will these be? The Church has never made any pronouncement…”
And finally, Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God made flesh by the entire Trinity, conceived with the co-operation of the Holy Ghost of Mary ever Virgin, made true man, composed of a rational soul and human flesh, one Person in two natures, pointed out more clearly the way of life. Who according to His divinity is immortal and impassable, according to His humanity was made passable and mortal, suffered on the cross for the salvation of the human race, and being dead descended into hell, rose from the dead, and ascended into heaven. But He descended in soul, arose in flesh, and ascended equally in both; He will come at the end of the world to judge the living and the dead and will render to the reprobate and to the elect according to their works. Who all shall rise with their own bodies which they now have that they may receive according to their merits, whether good or bad, the latter eternal punishment with the devil, the former eternal glory with Christ.