The True pain of Hell

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HabemusFrancis

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Everyone keeps talking about how terrible Hell is and how there is an abundance of fire and physical pain.

Yet what I feel is the worst pain, the one which is hardly ever discussed is the absence of love and the abundance of hate that is there.

People like to joke and say “all my friends will be in Hell” or “all the fun people are in Hell.” The sobering truth is that you will have no friends in Hell, and if your friends/family see you in Hell they will know and hate everything about you and you will hate them for all eternity.

We have all been to Hell in some small ways over the course of our lives. Any time we have thrown God out of our lives and lived without hope or love we have gone to Hell in some small way.

This scene from “Mommie Dearest” I think is the perfect example of how two damned souls will relate to eachother. youtube.com/watch?v=HagGCzypwLQ

Both mother and (adopted) daughter are people without love or God in their lives. They are at the pinnacle of despair and hatred. In this scene they have both hit rock bottom and have no prospects. They have no joy or hope and can only hate and see the evil in eachother and lash out futilely in anyway they can

If my theory of Hell is true (and I believe it is) then what torture or punishment could satan and the demons inflict that would be worse than hatred? Worse than seeing your friends and family and hating their guts and being stuck with them for all eternity?
 
I would tell you but I’m afraid it would frighten some too much.
 
You are right that this will be one of the great sufferings in Hell; there is no love, even for those we loved in this life.

I wouldn’t say it is the “worst” of sufferings in Hell, though.
 
Hatred towards each other can’t be the worst punishment of hell because that would mean that the graces God gives to us are not as potent as the punishment we can afflict towards each other, and that isn’t at all true. The chief & greatest punishment of hell is the pain of loss of God, because He is (ultimately) our only source of happiness. Any other sources of happiness exist as an extension from God and are rooted in God and entirely dependent on God. Even the gratifications found in sin are nothing more than misuses of things that are meant to be good.
 
Its curious people always think satan and the demons will be in charge or running hell, going around inflicting pain and torture on human souls. I do not believe that at all, in fact hell was created SPECIFICALLY for them, as a place for their torment (not ours), also keep in mind, When Satan/ demons were kicked out of heaven, God sent them to earth, with us, not to hell right away (that is very important imo), so if anyone is in hell right now, satan/ demons are definitely not there with them.

Regarding what hell is like to people…well, I tend to think if someone lives their earthly life without God in it and does not know God, why would their afterlife be any different, they would still not know God and probably prefer a place where he is not present. in fact, heaven to this kind of person, may be hell for them, since it is something they are not comfortable with.

Also, regarding physical pain/ torture in hell, I do not see how this is possible, right now anyway, when we die we are spirits, there is no body to inflict pain upon, the dead will not receive their ‘glorified bodies’ until after the second coming, maybe after this point, pain and torture will be possible, but not until then.
 
mikekle said:
Its curious people always think satan and the demons will be in charge or running hell, going around inflicting pain and torture on human souls. I do not believe that at all, in fact hell was created SPECIFICALLY for them, as a place for their torment (not ours), also keep in mind, When Satan/ demons were kicked out of heaven, God sent them to earth, with us, not to hell right away (that is very important imo), so if anyone is in hell right now, satan/ demons are definitely not there with them.

Regarding what hell is like to people…well, I tend to think if someone lives their earthly life without God in it and does not know God, why would their afterlife be any different, they would still not know God and probably prefer a place where he is not present. in fact, heaven to this kind of person, may be hell for them, since it is something they are not comfortable with.

Also, regarding physical pain/ torture in hell, I do not see how this is possible, right now anyway, when we die we are spirits, there is no body to inflict pain upon, the dead will not receive their ‘glorified bodies’ until after the second coming, maybe after this point, pain and torture will be possible, but not until then.
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With all due respect, this is far from being accurate. Scripture and the saints paint a far different picture than your beliefs. The gnashing of teeth, lake of fire, and wailing are just a few of the descriptions available. Several Saints have vastly different accounts than what you speculate. Our Lady too disagrees with you.
 
mikekle said:
Its curious people always think satan and the demons will be in charge or running hell, going around inflicting pain and torture on human souls. I do not believe that at all, in fact hell was created SPECIFICALLY for them, as a place for their torment (not ours), also keep in mind, When Satan/ demons were kicked out of heaven, God sent them to earth, with us, not to hell right away (that is very important imo), so if anyone is in hell right now, satan/ demons are definitely not there with them.
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As esieffe stated, this statement is far off from the Catholic understanding of Hell. Where do you source your understanding?

The demons are certainly there with the human souls in Hell, and they constitute part of the torment for the souls in Hell.

This is not to say they are “in charge”; Satan doesn’t “own” Hell in the way that God “owns” Heaven. Rather, simply by virtue of the fact that Satan in the highest angel in Hell, above all other creatures there, and he has absolute malice for all of God’s created creatures, he, by both his actions and his very presence, can cause great torment to the souls around him, including the other demons.
 
Just thinking about this stuff has ramifications.

As Dr. Scott Hahn once quipped (I am paraphrasing):
“Meditating on the concept of Hell scares the” . . . H. E. . . . double toothpicks . . . "out of us”
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(Only Dr. Hahn didn’t say, “H-E-double-toothpicks”).

The Roman Catechism says essentially the same thing as Dr. Hahn . . .
ROMAN CATECHISM These are thoughts which the pastor should very often bring to the attention of his people; for the truth which is contained in this Article will, if accepted with faithful dispositions, be most powerful in bridling the evil inclinations of the heart and in withdrawing men from sin. Hence we read in Ecclesiasticus: In all thy works remember thy last end, and thou shalt never sin.’ And indeed there is scarcely anyone so given over to vice as not to be recalled to virtue by the thought that he must one day render an account before an all-just Judge, not only of all his words and actions, but even of his most secret thoughts, and must suffer punishment according to his deserts.
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Thinking about hell once in awhile (not being preoccupied with the thought of hell but meditating upon it once in awhile), is a useful tool for “bridling the evil inclinations of the heart and in withdrawing men from sin”.

God bless.

Cathoholic
 
I believe it was at Fatima where the children saw a glimpse of hell. I imagine if I saw even a vision of the real hell for one second, I would literally die of fright.
 
ewahawaii said:
I believe it was at Fatima where the children saw a glimpse of hell. I imagine if I saw even a vision of the real hell for one second, I would literally die of fright.
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But for the grace of God, you probably would…
 
Forgive me mikekle, for being so abrupt. I was pressed for time when I saw your post, and I was a bit alarmed when I saw it, for your sake and that of others who might misunderstand. People often think fear is a bad thing. Fear of hell can indeed get out of hand by the scrupulous, but I think, given what is at stake, fear of hell is productive. It is horrible and permanent. Something to be avoided at any cost.

The worst part of hell though is the separation from God and his graces. To never be loved again by anyone around you including God. The good news is that God will always forgive us and works much harder than we do to help us avoid it, but in the end, we have to accept these graces, and it is best not to wait till our deathbed to seek it, when we may be in some agony or out of our minds.

I hope that you re-examine this and maybe talk it over with your priest.
pax

esieffe
 
esieffe said:
Forgive me mikekle, for being so abrupt. I was pressed for time when I saw your post, and I was a bit alarmed when I saw it, for your sake and that of others who might misunderstand. People often think fear is a bad thing. Fear of hell can indeed get out of hand by the scrupulous, but I think, given what is at stake, fear of hell is productive. It is horrible and permanent. Something to be avoided at any cost.

The worst part of hell though is the separation from God and his graces. To never be loved again by anyone around you including God. The good news is that God will always forgive us and works much harder than we do to help us avoid it, but in the end, we have to accept these graces, and it is best not to wait till our deathbed to seek it, when we may be in some agony or out of our minds.

I hope that you re-examine this and maybe talk it over with your priest.
pax

esieffe
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Dear Esieffe,

This is an excellent post. Thank you. 🙂
 
dshix said:
As esieffe stated, this statement is far off from the Catholic understanding of Hell. Where do you source your understanding?

The demons are certainly there with the human souls in Hell, and they constitute part of the torment for the souls in Hell.

.
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The bible says satan and the demons were cast down to earth after being kicked out of heaven, “Woe to the inhabitants of the earth, the lion walks among you”, from my understanding, they will only be sent to hell in the end. even then, it says Satan must be released upon the world again for a short time, if he must be released, that means he cannot be in two places at once.

Besides that, I believe there is another verse which speaks of the ‘divide’ between hell, and the earthly world, if they were in hell they could not be among us at the same time.
 
mikekle said:
The bible says satan and the demons were cast down to earth after being kicked out of heaven, “Woe to the inhabitants of the earth, the lion walks among you”, from my understanding, they will only be sent to hell in the end. even then, it says Satan must be released upon the world again for a short time, if he must be released, that means he cannot be in two places at once.
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Demons are not material beings. They cannot be in ANY place, strictly speaking.

However, they can, in a sense, have a presence in a material place and exert their influence on it; this is what possession is. And they can do this in many places simultaneously, so in that sense, they CAN be in multiple places at the same time.

I asked where you “source” your understanding; perhaps I should have been more clear.

What Church teaching do you use to source your understanding? Scripture is good, but easily misinterpreted, as you have just done. Please cite a Doctor of the Church or some encyclical to prove your belief that there are no demons in Hell.
 
True the loss of God is the worst pain of Hell.

But the idea of being around friends and family you knew in life and just hating them does sound like the worst ever.
 
We don’t understand the lose of God as being the chief punishment of hell, because while on Earth, we only experience God “through a glass darkly”. The damned will be able to witness the Heavenly glory, without entering it themselves, and this will cause an agony that none of us understand. We only understand the pain of sense, which is the 2nd torment of hell.
 
‘The strongest desire of a damned soul in hell is to die. (Men shall seek death and shall not find it. And they shall desire to die: and death shall fly from them Apoc. 9,6). For knowing it can never appease God’s anger, it desires death as the only means of escape. But it will desire this in vain; the damned person will live as long as God will live! Just as God forever preserves the saints in Heaven to delight them with new pleasures, so He will allow forever the damned to live in hell, to always torment them with new sufferings.’
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St. Anthony Mary Claret
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‘The wretched damned will curse their sins over and over again, yet they will remain for ever impenitent. They will roar with pitiful moans, they will shed tears enough to flood the earth. A time will come when they could say, I have suffered in these flames a thousand million years for every single mortal sin. In spite of this, they will not calm God’s anger nor move Him to pity.’
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St. Anthony Mary Claret
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mikekle said:
Its curious people always think satan and the demons will be in charge or running hell, going around inflicting pain and torture on human souls. I do not believe that at all, in fact hell was created SPECIFICALLY for them, as a place for their torment (not ours), also keep in mind, When Satan/ demons were kicked out of heaven, God sent them to earth, with us, not to hell right away (that is very important imo), so if anyone is in hell right now, satan/ demons are definitely not there with them.

Regarding what hell is like to people…well, I tend to think if someone lives their earthly life without God in it and does not know God, why would their afterlife be any different, they would still not know God and probably prefer a place where he is not present. in fact, heaven to this kind of person, may be hell for them, since it is something they are not comfortable with.

Also, regarding physical pain/ torture in hell, I do not see how this is possible, right now anyway, when we die we are spirits, there is no body to inflict pain upon, the dead will not receive their ‘glorified bodies’ until after the second coming, maybe after this point, pain and torture will be possible, but not until then.
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Re:Hell

Don’t think that people aren’t in torment as a spirit . Our souls have memory intellect and will. THEN, whenever the 2nd coming occurs, and bodies are reunited with their souls, imagine the torment then in hell? Either way, eternity is still eternity.

Keep in mind, there is no clock in the after life. A million years from now is still now. A trillion years from now is still now. 100 trillion years from now is still now. There is no yesterday today or tomorrow. It is the eternal now.

Those in hell know they are there forever. There is no getting out. Never a let up on their agony of knowing their condition will never end. THAT is incomprehensible

Fr Jose, from Kerala India, told the following story
ewtn.com/v/experts/showmessage.asp?number=604990
 
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