So Reuben, what does the Catechism teaching on hell have to do with a non-Catholic’s belief or non-belief? Why would it make a difference one way or another?
And why would this question is directed to me?
Now I see … this was what you were getting to when you spoke about why Catholics were concerned (about the belief of Protestants).
You have to forgive me from being very slow at understanding. I am not that old but it is a possibility that I could contract premature senility.
Well, first of all, you should direct this question to the OP who brought this up in this board. He could have gone to the apologetics, but never mind. I could hazard a guess since I cannot read his mind, but his encounter with Protestants, twice we were told, rebutting his belief on hell. It must be somehow lingering on his mind and perhaps he was bewildered why anyone, a Christian, should not believe in it, a belief, him being a Catholic, was taking for granted. So he wanted some comments and maybe (name removed by moderator)ut on the issue. The fact he put it here on a non-Catholic Religions board, probably he wanted some (name removed by moderator)ut from Protestants too.
So why I am concerned? No, for all I care. What Protestants believe is none of my business as I know they believe differently than me. So it was the wrong tree you were barking at. I did not, in any way, imply about concern.
If ever there is concern for people of different belief, it would be like most Christians do, you can disagree if you don’t, that is, concern for the salvation of their souls. Why would they not believe in the existence of hell? Satan would not want them to believe in it but its existence nevertheless is real and they could go there one day if they are not careful. So it is better to face the enemy squarely and believe, yes, going to hell is a possibility if we are not careful.
But you would never get a Catholic to tell a Protestant, hey, they should believe in hell at the risk of going in there.
But many times, not me though, I have Catholics telling me they were attacked or ambushed rather, by Protestants, usually in-laws or relatives about the wrongness of their belief doctrines. Sometimes they could be very mean in that it was done during a situation where proper discourse would not be possible like during a funeral, wedding or family function. And the snide remark would be something like, “These are idols” or “there is no purgatory” or “we pray only to God”.
The poor Catholics could only listen and maybe later during a course of conversation with their fellow Catholics, related their experience with those Protestants.
So in answering your question, no it does not concern me and it does not make any difference to me whether you believe in hell or not. I am not losing any sleep over it. In fact I did not even think about it that was why I did not catch what you were trying to say earlier on.
