View of the saved on the damned

[helgasdogs]

Suppose a good father goes to heaven while his cherished daughter goes to hell. In heaven, one is supposed to be happy, but how happy can the father really be knowing that his daughter is in hell? Does he just shrug his shoulders, “So solly cholly” and waltz on in to join the heavenly choirs, or is he uselessly sad for eternity, or what?

This always struck me as a major sticking point in Christian theology (especially in light of, for instance, Jehovah’s Witnesses’ tracts with drawings depicting how wonderful it will be when everyone is resurrected and reunited with their family…only to have half of the people executed by God ten minutes later!).

What says Catholicism on this? Do we “mute” the screams of the damned? Crack jokes about them? Or does God cause us to forget they ever existed?

 

[sara888]

Suppose a good father goes to heaven while his cherished daughter goes to hell. In heaven, one is supposed to be happy, but how happy can the father really be knowing that his daughter is in hell? Does he just shrug his shoulders, “So solly cholly” and waltz on in to join the heavenly choirs, or is he uselessly sad for eternity, or what?

This always struck me as a major sticking point in Christian theology (especially in light of, for instance, Jehovah’s Witnesses’ tracts with drawings depicting how wonderful it will be when everyone is resurrected and reunited with their family…only to have half of the people executed by God ten minutes later!).

What says Catholicism on this? Do we “mute” the screams of the damned? Crack jokes about them? Or does God cause us to forget they ever existed?

**We dont see or feel any sadness or sorrow in heaven, only in Purgatory are we Catholics aware of pain of our own souls and we hear the prayers of the souls on earth so we may intercede for them.

Jan**

 

[helgasdogs]

**We dont see or feel any sadness or sorrow in heaven, only in Purgatory are we Catholics aware of pain of our own souls and we hear the prayers of the souls on earth so we may intercede for them.

Jan**

So, in other words the father’s knowledge of his daughter’s damnation becomes for him like watching Chainsaw Massacre 12 on television for the hundredth time - completely uninteresting, causing him to turn off the tv.

 

[jemfinch]

What says Catholicism on this? Do we “mute” the screams of the damned?

At some point, C.S. Lewis says in The Great Divorce, hell must be silenced; it cannot be given veto power over heaven.

Or does God cause us to forget they ever existed?

That’s the opinion I’ve seen most often, and it’s consistent with Catholic theology.

Jeremy

 

[sara888]

So, in other words the father’s knowledge of his daughter’s damnation becomes for him like watching Chainsaw Massacre 12 on television for the hundredth time - completely uninteresting, causing him to turn off the tv.

I guess you did not read my statement, We do NOT see our siblings, relatives, etc, damed to Hell or in Hell… Only Saints are blessed to see these things as God has granted them special graces for such reasons we do not understand.

If we are lucky enough to make it to Heaven we feel or see no such sorrow or Pain.

In Purgatory we dont see any people in Hell, we only see the state of our own souls, and the prayers needed for the people who call on us on earth.

Purgatory and Hell are two different states.

Jan

 

[rightandreason]

This is an interesting question. I don’t think this is formally answered anywhere in official doctrine. I think a general thought on this is that those in heaven will be primarily focused on the visible presence of almighty God. We will in some ways be one with Him in mind and Spirit, and we will yet somehow not lose our own personality. However all who will be in heaven become part of God’s eternal family. Those who have rejected to be with God and His family seem to not be of any focus anyomre since they have separated themselves from God by their own will. My best guess is that since they openly rejected God, they also in the end, end up rejecting everyone else in God’s family as well, which sadly includes past family members and friends. The loss ends up being theirs, those who reject God and His family, and not those who are in heaven. Those in heaven would not suffer the loss. That is my two cents on the subject.

 

[helgasdogs]

…My best guess is that since they openly rejected God, they also in the end, end up rejecting everyone else in God’s family as well, which sadly includes past family members and friends. The loss ends up being theirs, those who reject God and His family, and not those who are in heaven. Those in heaven would not suffer the loss…

Wow, no sense in forming any special attachments to family members and friends, then, if they’re that disposable in the end.

 

[mommyof4]

This subject bothers me a lot, too. I just can’t imagine heaven being heaven without my parents, husband, and my children. Not to mention my extended family and friends, also.

 

[helgasdogs]

This subject bothers me a lot, too. I just can’t imagine heaven being heaven without my parents, husband, and my children. Not to mention my extended family and friends, also.

Ah, you’ll get over it. After all, if they’re in hell, they must have deserved it and therefore are unworthy of your allegiance.

 

[Scottgun]

Wow, no sense in forming any special attachments to family members and friends, then, if they’re that disposable in the end.

Except we have Christ’s command to love everyone.

 

[ALLFORHIM]

This subject bothers me a lot, too. I just can’t imagine heaven being heaven without my parents, husband, and my children. Not to mention my extended family and friends, also.

Hi,

God puts those people in our lives so we can be a Godly influence on them and hopefully they will accept Jesus and be in heaven with us.

 

[LilyM]

At the final judgement of souls the sins of all are made known to all. If I end up in Hell, or a relative of mine does, it will be our own doing, because we have knowingly offended God so grievously that we truly deserve to be there. And everyone in heaven will know exactly what we’ve done to earn it.

God is all-merciful as well as just remember. He takes our human fallibility and level of knowledge into account, and gives us ample opportunity to come to him, do his will and repent if we stuff up.

No, friends and relatives are not disposable. But certainly we should love and honour our Creator who has given us everything we have, including his own life to open the possibility of heaven to us in the first place, more than His creatures, great as they may be.

 

[helgasdogs]

At the final judgement of souls the sins of all are made known to all. If I end up in Hell, or a relative of mine does, it will be our own doing, because we have knowingly offended God so grievously that we truly deserve to be there. And everyone in heaven will know exactly what we’ve done to earn it.

God is all-merciful as well as just remember. He takes our human fallibility and level of knowledge into account, and gives us ample opportunity to come to him, do his will and repent if we stuff up.

No, friends and relatives are not disposable. But certainly we should love and honour our Creator who has given us everything we have, including his own life to open the possibility of heaven to us in the first place, more than His creatures, great as they may be.

Like I said, if at Judgment Day your relatives fall down the trap door to hell, they deserved it, so it’s no big deal.

(Personally, if the threat of hell is the cost of potentially getting to heaven, I’d rather have been born an elephant or a fig tree or something.)

((Though Murphy’s Law being what it is, there’s probably an Elephant Hell or a Fig Tree Hell that we don’t know about…))

 

[Magicsilence]

Suppose a good father goes to heaven while his cherished daughter goes to hell. In heaven, one is supposed to be happy, but how happy can the father really be knowing that his daughter is in hell? Does he just shrug his shoulders, “So solly cholly” and waltz on in to join the heavenly choirs, or is he uselessly sad for eternity, or what?

This always struck me as a major sticking point in Christian theology (especially in light of, for instance, Jehovah’s Witnesses’ tracts with drawings depicting how wonderful it will be when everyone is resurrected and reunited with their family…only to have half of the people executed by God ten minutes later!).

What says Catholicism on this? Do we “mute” the screams of the damned? Crack jokes about them? Or does God cause us to forget they ever existed?

When we understand why they are in hell, it wont bother those in heaven because God is perfectly just.