What are the explanations as to why God would make Hell eternal?

[TreeOfLife123]

First what is Hell according to Christians? Punishment? A sentence? I’ve heard some Christians refer to it as a “choice” as if the person chooses to go to Hell.

Whatever it is why would God make Hell eternal? Eternal torture? Why?

Why would we all have so much hope in life and in death none if sentenced to Hell? Why would there ever be no hope?

 

[kentuckyliz]

My personal speculation, not Catholic teaching:

I wonder if everyone ends up somehow in the presence of God, and those who love God are in a paradise of bliss, and those who hate God experience the exact same thing as torture and damnation.

 

[dskysmine]

My personal speculation, not Catholic teaching:

I wonder if everyone ends up somehow in the presence of God, and those who love God are in a paradise of bliss, and those who hate God experience the exact same thing as torture and damnation.

It has been proposed by some theologians something like that, something like we experiencing an immense feeling of guilt as torture and suffering.

I don’t think Hell is “eternal” per se. If God is outside of Time then I think Hell is also outside of Time. There is no change when someone is in Hell, or else Hell would be a place in this Universe. Actually it is pretty hard to consider existence outside of Time… so…
We can’t really give you an answer of what Hell will be like other than point you to what Jesus said about it. Everything else is just interpretation or speculation. Nobody here has gone there and came back (other than some Protestant kids from South Korea that saw Blessed J. Paul. 2 in it - weird stuff I know… they seem to be getting worse) to give you a better explanation.

 

[bitznbitez]

Think of a school playground. All is sweetness and light till a bully shows up. You can’t let the bully ruin the place for all the kids. Some kids just behave badly some times. If they cooperate you can teach them through a combination of love and discipline to be nice and thus they too can enjoy the fun on the playground. Some just flat out refuse to be nice, refuse to be taught to be nice. They must, no matter how much you love them, be excluded from the playground not because you hate them but because you love the rest of the kids to much.

Now picture the place where all those bad guys, be they human spirits, demonic spirits, etc. that refuse to be nice, refuse to allow themselves to be taught to be nice, hangout. By the very definition of who lives there it is a horrible torturous place.

The soul, being eternal, lives forever. It cannot be let into heaven unless it is either perfect or will let God make it perfect through love and discipline. Thus it is confined to the outer darkness, where there is torment. wailing and gnashing of teeth.

Thats how I understand it and explain it to my kids.

 

[Julian0404]

Tree of Life,

" … MY yolk is light and MY burden is easy…" - paraphrase of JESUS teaching us that we need not be afraid of hell, as HIS way is not difficult.

Hell was made for the fallen angels - devils - and it belongs to them, and anyone who “choses” to be with them. In the bible in the book of Wisdom, Chapter 2 verse 24 it reads “But by the envy of the devil, death entered the world, and they who are in his possession experience it.”

Only GOD knows the “why’s” of hell as to its time, but we are taught it is eternal, as is Heaven going to be eternal. And you are correct as regards that hell is a choice. By and through our decisions we live a life which is either bad - filled with voluntary sin, or good not filled with sin, or inbetween - which is where most of us are. However, GOD gave us a great gift in the Sacrament of Confession through which we can “chose” to go to GOD through a priest and be released from the sins which we have committed… . . or. . . . chose not to go to the priest, keep our sins and “chose” to stay away from GOD.

On the day of our judgement, GOD gives us what we have choosen, HIM or the devils. HE will not force us to be in Heaven, if by our choices we have demonstrated that we do not want to be there.

I would invite you to contact the local Catholic Church office and inquire as to participating in an RCIA class, which is instruction in the Catholic faith for adults. You do not have to accept the faith by joining, it just expresses your interest and desire to learn and know more.

 

[Sneaux]

I’m going to just point something out- We ALL deserve Hell, and yes, I do see where it could be a choice. They were taught(depending, actually though…) that if they didn’t live their life as a Christian, they’d go to Hell. They don’t believe or ignore religion, and when they die, yeah they go to Hell, and they could have prevented it.

Why would God send someone who didn’t believe in Him, or didn’t live for Him a place such as wonderful and magnificent as Heaven?

You get what you deserve.

 

[Cascadian]

Human beings are inherently immortal and when an inherently immortal being chooses to reject God, they get what they want and lose Him eternally.

 

[buffalo]

1036 The affirmations of Sacred Scripture and the teachings of the Church on the subject of hell are a call to the responsibility incumbent upon man to make use of his freedom in view of his eternal destiny. They are at the same time an urgent call to conversion: "Enter by the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is easy, that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard, that leads to life, and those who find it are few."618

Since we know neither the day nor the hour, we should follow the advice of the Lord and watch constantly so that, when the single course of our earthly life is completed, we may merit to enter with him into the marriage feast and be numbered among the blessed, and not, like the wicked and slothful servants, be ordered to depart into the eternal fire, into the outer darkness where "men will weep and gnash their teeth."619
1037 God predestines no one to go to hell;620 for this, a willful turning away from God (a mortal sin) is necessary, and persistence in it until the end. In the Eucharistic liturgy and in the daily prayers of her faithful, the Church implores the mercy of God, who does not want “any to perish, but all to come to repentance”:621

Father, accept this offering
from your whole family.
Grant us your peace in this life,
save us from final damnation,
and count us among those you have chosen.622

 

[300WhiteKnights]

watch this, its very informative.
youtube.com/watch?v=gGKokTq9dgw

I found it very helpful personally.

 

[kentuckyliz]

Hell is eternal because God is just and it would be unjust to let the damned come in and ruin Heaven for the saved who put up with their s*** in this life.

 

[edward_george]

The soul is eternal. When we die, the soul lives on. When we live, we must choose between God and the alternative. God did not make hell, so he could not have made it eternal–we receive hell in response to choosing against God and dying outside of his friendship at the end of our lives. God did not make hell eternal, but he made the soul eternal so we could use our free will rightly, choosing him and thus an eternity with him. When we abuse the choice, he does not force us into an outcome we did not desire.

-ACEGC

 

[snarflemike]

First what is Hell according to Christians? Punishment? A sentence? I’ve heard some Christians refer to it as a “choice” as if the person chooses to go to Hell.

Whatever it is why would God make Hell eternal? Eternal torture? Why?

Why would we all have so much hope in life and in death none if sentenced to Hell? Why would there ever be no hope?

Consider a miserable, angry person on this earth. To others observing him, his self-chosen life is a torture, but it is what he chooses. And he does not commit suicide, but clings to his self-chosen life.

Don’t assume that those in hell are there against their will, and don’t assume that they would prefer non-existence to hell.

 

[Gods_Peace]

Well, their hate of God, and them seeing who God truely is (True beauty) they throw themselves into eternal fits of sadness and rage. That is why it is best to glorify and adore Truth so when you see it you do not go Mad. God Bless.

 

[SaintPatrick333]

It has been proposed by some theologians something like that, something like we experiencing an immense feeling of guilt as torture and suffering.

I don’t think Hell is “eternal” per se. If God is outside of Time then I think Hell is also outside of Time. There is no change when someone is in Hell, or else Hell would be a place in this Universe. Actually it is pretty hard to consider existence outside of Time… so…
We can’t really give you an answer of what Hell will be like other than point you to what Jesus said about it. Everything else is just interpretation or speculation. Nobody here has gone there and came back (other than some Protestant kids from South Korea that saw Blessed J. Paul. 2 in it - weird stuff I know… they seem to be getting worse) to give you a better explanation.

JP2 in hell? lol that’s a good one. I think with as holy and devout a Christian that man was he could have convinced the world he was Jesus Christ Himself come back to Earth before I’d believe some protestants who said that he was in hell.

 

[Bill_Martin]

If you want to abandon God, you get what you want.

The gates of Hell are locked from the inside.

 

[Bballer32]

God made hell eternal so that those who chose not to follow him would go through eternity a different rather than the way of those who followed Him.

God sends no one to hell. We send ourselves

 

[fred_conty]

First what is Hell according to Christians? Punishment? A sentence? I’ve heard some Christians refer to it as a “choice” as if the person chooses to go to Hell.

Whatever it is why would God make Hell eternal? Eternal torture? Why?

Why would we all have so much hope in life and in death none if sentenced to Hell? Why would there ever be no hope?

Why is hell eternal?

Because the prerequisite of forgiveness is to be sorry for evil done. Those in hell are there precisely because they were not sorry for their evil. And they will always be there for the same reason, namely, they are not sorry, and will never be sorry.

In order to be sorry, a person must acknowledge his responsibility for his crime. Have you noticed how many people in our jails are anxious to admit their responsibilty for what they did? People in the eternal jail do not see that they did anything wrong but that God was unreasonable. Thus they have no sorrow for what they did which enables them to be forgiven. So they trap themselves there forever in an unrepentant state.

Faith, hope and charity are necessary to gain access to heaven. Once heaven, only charity exists. Charity is called the greatest of the three for it goes on forever. Those in hell have lost charity, the prime virtue that makes heaven what it is, a loving place with God and the people of God. The opposite of charity is selfishness, and we know what that brings. Charity being lost, and repentance not possible, would it be illogical to assume that they have made it impossible for themselves, since they have separated themselves from love and responsibility? “To reign in hell rather than serve in heaven.” Serve in heaven means charity. Reign in hell means unrepentence.

But on a more ontological note, when God creates, he creates all things from beauty and love. Therefore all humans were created out of love and beauty in his likeness. And each day God said, “and it was good.” Then if all things were good, if God destroyed what he said was good, then it is the same thing as God saying later “and it is no good.” God would be saying he made a mistake and tried using a big eraser to correct it.

But God clearly does not make mistakes and will not erase anyone he made. And since his mercy is refused by some, then there is only his justice that is left.

Just a few thoughts.

 

[JDaniel]

First what is Hell according to Christians? Punishment? A sentence? I’ve heard some Christians refer to it as a “choice” as if the person chooses to go to Hell.

Whatever it is why would God make Hell eternal? Eternal torture? Why?

Why would we all have so much hope in life and in death none if sentenced to Hell? Why would there ever be no hope?

TOL:

"Let us suppose for a moment that there was no hell. What would this involve? It would involve that God is indifferent to sin. God is the author and creator of nature. If, then, our nature were such that whatever evil that we did and for however long a time we did it, it could make no difference to our ultimate state; if for all eternity God would love us equally well whether we sinned or whether we did not, it would follow that God’s nature is essentially indifferent to the morality of human actions. Let it not be said that God could punish the sinner for a time only, and so manifest his sanctity and abhorrence of sin. For there is no proportion between a limited space of time, however long, and eternity. No number of years, however extensive, can express a section or division, or part of an existence that never ends. Eternity cannot be divided by time. Hence a punishment which only lasts for a while is by intrinsic necessity no adequate consequence of a deed whereby the creature rejects God.

"If one being can transgress the will of another being to any degree of intensity and during an indefinite length of time without thereby altering the relation between both, there can be no ethical bond between them. No law can exist without sanction. If the creature knows that notwithstanding his refusal to obey God’s law he will be in loving embrace of God eternally, then he must conclude that God is essentially indifferent whether we conform to his law or not. If God himself is fundamentally indifferent, why should the creature care? How can an action be evil, if the Supreme Intelligence and Supreme Good is indifferent whether the action is done?

“But could God have created a world without sin? Indeed he could, but he has not. Why he has not, is not ours to settle now. He has not, that is the truth that stares us in the face. Given then the fact that sin is, given the fact that men are on trial and some fail, it is a denial of divine omnipotence to assert the impossibility of an eternal sanction. It would make God the helpless tool of his own creation. The creature, once having been created, could make sport of his Creator, safe in the knowledge that whatever befell, the end was secure; even God could not change it.” - The Teaching of the Catholic Church, Vol II, Ch. Eternal Punishment, pp 1201 -1202, 1949.

It is extremely important not to take seriously anyone who says otherwise. This is no game to see who comes out on top. This is for real and its consequences are for the duration of our eternal existences. It makes no difference to me what the evil man thinks. Why would I tell my son not to kill the old lady living next door, if I didn’t mean it and had no sanction for it?

God bless,
jd