The Path to Hell

[sodak]

If it slipped out, then the person uttering it didn’t have sufficient reflection, and hence, it’s not mortal. But that doesn’t mean it’s not serious.

 

[ricmat]

1. I simply think that this theory is the best (scientefic) explanation scientists have come up with so far,
2. and I am sure that it will undergo many modifications in the future.

1. “come up with so far” - my point exactly.
2. “many modifications in the future” - again, my point exactly.

Pre-Big Bang, there was something called “the steady state model” of the universe, as one example. And prior to that, well…you can go back to Aristotle, the Egyptians, and beyond for all sorts of scientific explanations that were “true” at the time. And in the current search for a model of the universe that doesn’t require God, the “multi-verse” theory is now in vogue.

This isn’t really the thread to discuss this stuff in detail - there have been a lot of discussions already - try searching for Big Bang and you’ll probably resurrect a number of threads.

 

[Contarini]

It seems like a Catholic theme that a lot less people get into heaven than we think.

Since “hopeful universalism” has been taught by some Catholic theologians who have not been censured or condemned by the Vatican (one of whom, Hans Urs von Balthasar, appears to be one of the current Pope’s favorite theologians), it seems to me that you are wrong

I don’t mean to question God’s judgement or the teachings of the church, but it is hard for me to understand how eternal suffering is a just punishment for some mortal sins. (most sexual sins, drunkeness)

But isn’t it Catholic teaching that to commit a mortal sin you have to have full knowledge and intention? The Catechism explicitly states that in the case of sexual sins in particular (and drunkenness would be another good example) there may be factors of addiction, etc., that lessen a person’s responsibility. As I understand it, the point with regard to sexual sin (“no sin against the Sixth Commandment is venial”) is that sex always constitutes grave matter. Because sex is so sacred and so intimate to our identity as humans, the misuse of sex is always a serious business. However, the other side of it is that because sex is so tied up with instinct and passion, and because it can be so addictive (as, of course, can alcohol), these “sins of passion” are relatively less likely to be deliberate and relatively easier to repent of than the more “cold-hearted” sins.

Unless you are a lifetime murderer, or a generally evil-willed person, it doesn’t seem like you would deserve the eternal punishments of hell.

It’s a question of whether you have turned away from God’s love, not whether you have done something obviously condemnable by society. You can be a perfectly respectable person and be in a state of mortal sin. Hell is being shut up in the prison of self. One way to hell is to choose one’s own selfish pleasures over justice and charity. But by and large I think it’s safe to say that people whose main problem is drink or sex and are otherwise persons of good will are more likely to go to Purgatory than to hell, because whatever mortal sins they commit they are likely to repent of them quite quickly, and God is slow to anger and rich in mercy.

Edwin