Question about Heaven and Hell

[duffyk4]

If what some say is true that more souls will end up in Hell than in Heaven, won’t that ultimately mean that Satan prevailed over God, even if ends up in eternal damnation himself? Is this faulty thinking?

 

[Joe_5859]

Welcome to CAF, Duffy!

First, I would question if what some say really is true.

Second, I think this line of thinking unwittingly presupposes a dualistic notion of God and the devil. It’s not as though God and the devil are equal entities gripped in a game of tug-of-war, and whoever gets the most people to their side “wins.” It’s not a numbers game.

With the actions of Adam and Eve, a rift was created between God and man. The whole human race was doomed. That anyone makes it to heaven means that God won the war.

 

[MarcoPolo]

Remember also, it is the Church that God says will never be prevailed by the gates of hell. That’s where you want to be!! We also do not necessarily know the %'s of people in heaven or hell. There is a passage that suggests the gate is “narrow” which does indicate a minority of people entering heaven. Or it could mean the gate is narrow in that you have to be quite purged to fit through. You also have the parallel of 1/3 of the angels fallen vs. 2/3 saved. We do not have precise ratios for man, nor is it defined that 1/3 and 2/3 are exact ratios for angels or analogical language.

 

[Scoobyshme]

Well, for what it’s worth (it’s private revelation, and therefore, we’re not required to believe), I think it was the children at one of Mary’s approved apparitions that said that Mary told them that “most souls go to Purgatory, many go to hell, and very, very few go straight to heaven.” So, you can make up your own percentages, if you must, based on that testimony. (example: 60-39-1 or 75-24.9, .1)

 

[Serafina17]

I hope no one minds that I’m kinda ‘stealing’ this thread to ask my own question, but it is so closely related to duffyk4’s question that I didn’t want to start a whole new thread.

Is God’s Will always done? If God’s Will isn’t always done, wouldn’t it imply that He is not omnipotent?
Isn’t it always God’s Will that people repent and go to Heaven?
And yet there are people in Hell.

Do I have a faulty premise? What am I not seeing…?

 

[Spencerian]

I hope no one minds that I’m kinda ‘stealing’ this thread to ask my own question, but it is so closely related to duffyk4’s question that I didn’t want to start a whole new thread.

Is God’s Will always done? If God’s Will isn’t always done, wouldn’t it imply that He is not omnipotent?
Isn’t it always God’s Will that people repent and go to Heaven?
And yet there are people in Hell.

Do I have a faulty premise? What am I not seeing…?

Hi.

Of course, God is omnipotent. He *can *do anything.

But He is infinitely wiser than us to know that being *able *to do something doesn’t equate to mean that He should. (Major lesson from the dinosaur-revival movie Jurassic Park, for those playing at home… )

That means that, while His desire is all of us to be one with Him, God leaves it to us to choose him freely.

Remember the rich man who asked Christ what he had to do to go to receive salvation? (Mark 10:17) The man said he followed all commandments but, when Christ told him to sell his fortunes and follow him, the man chose to leave, albeit dejected.

God doesn’t impose His will on others.

 

[MarcoPolo]

I hope no one minds that I’m kinda ‘stealing’ this thread to ask my own question, but it is so closely related to duffyk4’s question that I didn’t want to start a whole new thread.

Is God’s Will always done? If God’s Will isn’t always done, wouldn’t it imply that He is not omnipotent?
Isn’t it always God’s Will that people repent and go to Heaven?
And yet there are people in Hell.

Do I have a faulty premise? What am I not seeing…?

Indeed, it is God’s will that all souls be saved even according to Scripture (1 Tim 2:3-4). But as Spencerian said, it is His will that we choose freely. Thus sin and hell are “permitted” to occur because being able to reject God means we are able to genuinely love Him by choosing freely.

 

[rwoehmke]

There is a passage that suggests the gate is “narrow” which does indicate a minority of people entering heaven. Or it could mean the gate is narrow in that you have to be quite purged to fit through.

My opinion has been that the “Narrow Gate” is Jesus himself because no one, even non-Catholics, are saved except through Jesus and his Church.