Regret in Hell?

[USMC_Convert]

As the Church teaches those in hell hate God and have chosen to be there, that brings me to the conclusion that there is no real regret for the choices that someone made which landed them in hell.

If there is no regret, can hell accurately be described as a punishment?

I would think that in order to truly be punished for my sins I would have to be upset that I committed them, otherwise wouldn’t the sinner in hell be happy sitting in their own evil ways?

Yes I understand hell is a punishment, but my question boils down to, how can it truly be a punishment if there is no regret for the sins you committed?

 

[anon90438963]

It occurs to me that it is similar to a drug addict despising his addiction, despising what he’s become, yet continuing to use because he also loves the drug. Obviously, this is just an analogy, but it is the best I can think of a “living hell.”
No one in Dante’s hell has regret. They just keep reenacting their sins, despite their torments.

 

[Catholic1954]

St. Faustina writes that the second torture of hell is perpetual remorse of conscience; sounds like regret to me. I think once the damned arrive in hell, they realize that they could have made the decision not to go there, but it is now forever too late.

 

[CatholicAMMO]

I would think the hatred of God would come from a sole love of self. If it’s like anything we experience here on earth, people in hell are probably busy blaming God for the condition their in and therefore can experience regret. The regret probably wouldn’t be for what they’ve done but rather what they’re experiencing.

 

[Memaw]

As the Church teaches those in hell hate God and have chosen to be there, that brings me to the conclusion that there is no real regret for the choices that someone made which landed them in hell.

If there is no regret, can hell accurately be described as a punishment?

I would think that in order to truly be punished for my sins I would have to be upset that I committed them, otherwise wouldn’t the sinner in hell be happy sitting in their own evil ways?

Yes I understand hell is a punishment, but my question boils down to, how can it truly be a punishment if there is no regret for the sins you committed?

I for one, do NOT want to find out. It will be HELL no matter what!!! God Bless, Memaw

 

[M-Dent]

As the Church teaches those in hell hate God and have chosen to be there, that brings me to the conclusion that there is no real regret for the choices that someone made which landed them in hell.

If there is no regret, can hell accurately be described as a punishment?

I would think that in order to truly be punished for my sins I would have to be upset that I committed them, otherwise wouldn’t the sinner in hell be happy sitting in their own evil ways?

Yes I understand hell is a punishment, but my question boils down to, how can it truly be a punishment if there is no regret for the sins you committed?

The “gnashing of teeth” (Matt 13:42) can indicate pain, rage and anger (Acts 7:54). This could indicate momentary mixes of regret with fury at complete loss of power (imprisonment). But overall a type of spiritual corruption. I wouldn’t look at this as punishment as much as an essential separation (from the incorrupt).

 

[joeybaggz]

Yes I understand hell is a punishment, but my question boils down to, how can it truly be a punishment if there is no regret for the sins you committed?

Your question brings up a thought I have had. I wonder if all souls go to heaven when they die. They experience the beauty, truth, and wonder of God’s Kingdom. And then they are divided, sheep and goats as Christ said, and the wicked are sent to eternal separation.

I wonder if the “fire” of hell is the allegorical torture of the soul’s realization of what it has thrown away by the life lived on earth. I’ve said it before that I don’t like the terms reward and punishment, but rather the concept of merit. A perfectly just God gives the soul what it merited by its life on earth. The desolation and self loathing felt by the condemned is the passionate “fire” of self-realization. That one deserves their fate.

As a side note, I heard a wonderful statement recently in a “Discovering Christ” series. The speaker said that "we say to God, Thy Will be Done. God will say to us at judgment, “Thy will be done.” Interesting.

Shalom’

 

[poche]

Most of those who are in Hell are those who did not believe in its existence - St. Alphonsus Ligouri

 

[TK421]

The damned experience regret but not contrition, otherwise they would not be damned.

They are sorry that they are accountable for themselves. They do not love God - and by association anything that is good - and will never love God. Their obstinacy is eternal, which is why hell is eternal.

They don’t want to be in hell anymore than anybody else. If they wanted to be in hell, then it wouldn’t be hell.

Great as the pains of hell are, a damned soul is in less torment in the distal kingdom of hell than they would be in the direct presence of God. Satan’s kingdom is in every way the opposite of Jesus’: endless fighting instead of endless fellowship; endless blasphemy and insults instead of endless praise; endless regret instead of endless thanksgiving; endless hatred instead of endless love.

Regret in of itself has no value. Everything that is a virtue produces virtuous actions. Contrition moves a person to amend themselves. When a soul on Earth is contrite, there is celebration in the heavenly court.