nature of hell

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petras52

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In recent years, Chuch teaching regarding hell seems to have evolved as it being a separation from God and not a literal fire and brimstone place. Yet in Marian apparitions in the last century, ones that the Church deemed worthy of belief, Mary clearly showed witnesses that it really was a literal place. How then does this “square” with more recent Church teaching?
 
petras52 said:
In recent years, Chuch teaching regarding hell seems to have evolved as it being a separation from God and not a literal fire and brimstone place. Yet in Marian apparitions in the last century, ones that the Church deemed worthy of belief, Mary clearly showed witnesses that it really was a literal place. How then does this “square” with more recent Church teaching?
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They don’t have to “square.” The apparitions never said that Hell is not separation from GOD, and the Church does not teach that it is not physical. (Presumably, she has backed off from its physicality because this is a pain in the neck to the professional philosophers the Church has so many of:shrug:)

They go together. We are not spirits, we are human beings. We have a body, and so Hell must involve bodies in some way.

All good things that satisfy our bodies – food, rest, breath, physical contact – come from GOD. To be denied HIM will mean to lose all HE provides. The anguish will be not just “spiritual” but physical. In Psalm 16, it is said that with HIM is “pleasure forevermore.” Conversely, away from HIM will be a nonending distress that is physical.

God Bless and ICXC NIKA.
 
Excellent post, Eddie. 🙂

It’s easier to explain hell as a separation but that does not explain what happens DURING the separation.
 
Thank you Cat:)

Great SIG btw. Our Lady and CHI-RHO side by side, awesome!!!

ICXC NIKA!
 
Mary showed witnesses physical images to convey the reality of Hell but that does not mean it is a place. How else can you explain a spiritual state effectively? Abstract terms certainly cannot impress people as deeply as vivid scenes. That is why Jesus used parables like that of Lazarus and the rich man…
 
tonyrey said:
Mary showed witnesses physical images to convey the reality of Hell but that does not mean it is a place. How else can you explain a spiritual state effectively? Abstract terms certainly ca.nnot impress people as deeply as vivid scenes. That is why Jesus used parables like that of Lazarus and the rich man…
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Lazarus was not a parable, and the BVM never called her visions of Hell figurative.

There is no need to “spiritualize” everything, as we are not spirits and were never designed to be.

ICXC NIKA
 
Do you guys believe any of those stories about people who have died, went to hell and came back?

I read something that said that science is able to explain why a person who is dying would feel that, or something along those lines, id have to look it up.

Anyways, do you think its true or not?
 
BlueShadow123 said:
Do you guys believe any of those stories about people who have died, went to hell and came back?

I read something that said that science is able to explain why a person who is dying would feel that, or something along those lines, id have to look it up.

Anyways, do you think its true or not?
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I believe it can be true, but does not have to be. The human head is a mystery, and even more so when breathless at the edge of death. These experiences can never be proven to be more than one last dream before death.

Instances where the victim experiences Hell, instead of the welcoming light beyond a tunnel, would suggest that the experience was true. If the dying head was just giving its owner one last dream, it would not dream of Hell!

Even more interesting is the work of Dr. Rawlings, an ER doctor, who has brought a number of persons back from near death. He claims that many people do experience Hell,
however, their minds erase the experience as their bodies recover.

GOD Bless and ICXC NIKA.
 
GEddie said:
I believe it can be true, but does not have to be. The human head is a mystery, and even more so when breathless at the edge of death. These experiences can never be proven to be more than one last dream before death.

Instances where the victim experiences Hell, instead of the welcoming light beyond a tunnel, would suggest that the experience was true. If the dying head was just giving its owner one last dream, it would not dream of Hell!

Even more interesting is the work of Dr. Rawlings, an ER doctor, who has brought a number of persons back from near death. He claims that many people do experience Hell,
however, their minds erase the experience as their bodies recover.

GOD Bless and ICXC NIKA.
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I believe howard storms story.
 
The Church teaches *de fide *that the the primary suffering of Hell is a poena damni, i.e. a pain of loss. It is also a *de fide *teaching that there is a poena sensus, i.e. a pain of the senses (even in the separated soul).

In the Middle Ages it was more common to emphasize the* poena sensus *because it was thought that man could more easily understand this punishment. However, in modern times, the *poena damni *is more emphasized because it is indeed the primary punishment, and Church feels that in today’s age, we can more easily understand this punishment. The Church has never changed her teaching in this matter, only changed the emphasis she places in her instruction.
 
tonyrey said:
It is impossible to “spiritualize” everything! The problem is one of materialising everything - especially in present-day society.
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I mean of course that everything is thought of in material terms…
 
tonyrey said:
Entirely?
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Enough so to where it is meaningless to speak of a human being otherwise.

Yes, there is a “psyche.” But it holds and expereinces no life without its “psychikon soma.”

ICXC NIKA
 
GEddie said:
Enough so to where it is meaningless to speak of a human being otherwise.

Yes, there is a “psyche.” But it holds and expereinces no life without its “psychikon soma.”
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Is it meaningless to speak of a human being without reference to physical activity?
 
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