What do we know about hell?

[lsburk]

Mijoy2, I don’t pretend to have any answers much less all of them. I do know this. All have sinned. God asks for our repentance which we can express in the sacrament of reconciliation. We have been redeemed through Christ. If you keep your eyes fixed on Him, you will not be abandoned.

Scott

 

[davidv]

Mijoy2:

davidv, The difference is monumental. The reason for disbelief is clear. Cancer kills. Death is (from a secular viewpoint) and end, terminal. Hell is everlasting. Davidv, it so very different, non-comparable. The hell we speak of here has no end, no way out.

There is simply no way of comparing the two. A few days months years of agony, to ETERNAL agony. Apples and oranges. Totally out of context. Too put this in perspective, run up a flight of stairs, realizing that when you become tired you can stop. The thin k of not being able to stop for ever. You must keep going for all eternity with no possiblity of parole. Then take it to the next level. You are on fire, not tilll you die, FOREVER! Am I the only one who can perceive this concept. it is eternal. Not a punsihment a horrific uncomprehendable notion.

The statement (from others not from you davidv) that we chose it, is frankly ridiculous. It’s a million fold more ridiculous then “choosing” to slowly cut off your (insert body part here) with a dull knife. over and over again for all eternity. Please please, respond with logic (those who choose to respond) NOBODY deserves it, and NOBODY chooses it!!! NOBODY!!!

The idea we chose it is a cop-out of an answer. I’m sure you can do better.

I’ll give it try. First let me assure you that I completely trust in the mercy of God. So, no matter how serious our sins we can repent and be granted mercy.

Your are right, the difference is monumental. But I believe that the thinking process that leads you there is the same.

The insidious thing about sin is that we don’t leap directly into damnation. It starts with the small things. If we get by with a small thing, like a minor lie or a petty theft, and got some satisfaction, or thrill, or some other gratification, we can get more bold in committing a more serious sins. We also get more cunning and persistent at covering them up, and I think even hiding them from ourselves. All of these choices are made in pursuit of self satisfaction - which ultimately separates us completely from God. God asks us to give up ourselves totally to His will so that will be united with Him forever. Sin takes us in the opposite direction, in that we think we can live life (be happy) another, easier way. Satan also deceives us into thinking sin is an easier way to happiness.

 

[Fergal]

POPE EXPLAINS HELL IS REJECTION OF GOD

“God is an infinitely good and merciful Father,” the Holy Father explained, “But, unfortunately, man, who is called to respond freely, can choose to reject God’s love and forgiveness absolutely, and remove himself forever from joyful communion with Him.”
“This is precisely the tragic situation described by Christian doctrine when referring to damnation or Hell. It is not a punishment from God inflicted from outside, but the result of positions taken by man already in this life,” he clarified. "The same dimension of unhappiness that this dark condition entails can be understood to a degree in some of our terrible experiences, which turn life, as the saying goes, into a ‘Hell.’ "
"In the theological sense, Hell is something else: it is the final consequence of the very sin that turns back on the one who committed it. It is the situation in which the one who rejects the Father’s mercy, even at the last moment of life, finally places himself. Redemption remains as an offer of salvation, which man should freely embrace. This is the reason why each one will be judged ‘according to his works,’ " continued the Holy Father.
“Moreover, the pictures of Hell given to us in Sacred Scripture must be correctly interpreted. They express the total frustration and emptiness of a life without God. More than a place, Hell is the state of the one who freely and finally removes himself from God, the source of life and joy,” added the Pope
“Condemnation must not be attributed to God’s initiative, because in his merciful love he cannot but will the salvation of the beings he has created. In reality, it is the creature who closes himself to his love,” John Paul II explained. “Condemnation consists, precisely, in the final removal of oneself from God, freely chosen by man and confirmed by death, which seals the choice forever. God’s sentence ratifies this state.”
The Holy Father said that “the Christian faith teaches that the very risk of a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ characterizes the creature’s liberty, and some have already said ‘no.’ They are those spiritual creatures who rebelled against God’s love and are called demons. For us human beings, this experience of theirs is like a warning: it is a constant reminder to avoid the tragedy that is the outcome of sin, and to model our existence on Jesus, whose life unfolded as a yes to God. Condemnation remains a real possibility but, without special divine revelation, we have not been given the knowledge if there are human beings who are definitely affected and who they are.”
John Paul II ended the catechesis saying: "Improper use of Biblical pictures must not create psychosis or anxiety; rather, it represents a necessary and saving admonition to liberty, within the announcement that the Resurrected Jesus has defeated Satan, giving us the Spirit of God, and allowing us to say, ‘Abba, Father.’ This point of view, which is full of hope, is dominant in the Christian message. It is effectively reflected in the Church’s liturgical tradition, as can be seen in the words of the Roman Canon, for example: ‘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.’ After greeting his fellow countrymen in Polish, John Paul II called for prayer so that no one would go to Hell.

Hope that helps.
Fergal
Naas
Ireland

 

[Joanna]

I know that without God life on earth is hell. I’d hate to contemplate an eternity of separation. Without the Creator, who in this life rains down mercy on the just and the unjust, one exists without truth, without beauty, without light. No love, no forgiveness, no mercy …ad infinitum. Eternal loss, eternal loneliness, never a sunrise, never a sunset…not even the comfort of tears.

 

[Mijoy2]

Fergal:

POPE EXPLAINS HELL IS REJECTION OF GOD

After greeting his fellow countrymen in Polish, John Paul II called for prayer so that no one would go to Hell.

Hope that helps.
Fergal
Naas
Ireland

I like it. Brings with it a whole slew of other questions but I guess there will always exist a certain component of mystery.

One might ask then, if nobody goes to hell (which I will in fact be praying for) then where is the relative fairness to those who are good. But I would answer with the parable of the men in the fields (where those who worked for one hour got the same wage as those who worked all day). Fairness is up to God. And I for one, would be more then happy to trade what we perceive as “fairness” for everlasting life for all. Thanks

 

[space_ghost]

We know enough about hell from scripture and tradition to know that we don’t want to go there, or do that, and we certainly don’t want the t-shirt…

 

[Pug]

Mijoy2:

Who would choose to have thier skin burned off thier bones over and over again for eternity?

This is why i feel I do not get any truly logical feedback from this topic. Who, would CHOSE this? the answer is nobody.

I can’t imagine anyone, when asked if they would like their skin burned off that they would say yes. I doubt people are choosing to go to hell with a choice like that. I saw a movie once, which unfortunately I cannot recommend as family appropriate to say the least, called “the Rapture”, with I think Mimi Rogers in it. In the end, the lead character goes to hell because she cannot abide by God’s way of doing things. She found God’s idea of how to do things repellent. The movie made her decision believable for me. If a person will not accept God the way he is, then they cannot spend eternity in heaven. It’s like, “This town ain’t big enough for the two of us.” If you simply refuse to be in heaven, you have in essence landed yourself in hell.

The movie made hell terrifyingly real, not because it was portrayed as an awful place, but because I understood the lead character.

 

[Mijoy2]

Pug:

I can’t imagine anyone, when asked if they would like their skin burned off that they would say yes. I doubt people are choosing to go to hell with a choice like that. I saw a movie once, which unfortunately I cannot recommend as family appropriate to say the least, called “the Rapture”, with I think Mimi Rogers in it. In the end, the lead character goes to hell because she cannot abide by God’s way of doing things. She found God’s idea of how to do things repellent. The movie made her decision believable for me. If a person will not accept God the way he is, then they cannot spend eternity in heaven. It’s like, “This town ain’t big enough for the two of us.” If you simply refuse to be in heaven, you have in essence landed yourself in hell.

The movie made hell terrifyingly real, not because it was portrayed as an awful place, but because I understood the lead character.

I heard of the movie but never saw it. Probably because as Catholics we don’t buy into the rapture. However based on your post, I think I’ll look for it. Wonder if it’s at blockbusters?

 

[Pug]

Mijoy2:

I heard of the movie but never saw it. Probably because as Catholics we don’t buy into the rapture. However based on your post, I think I’ll look for it. Wonder if it’s at blockbusters?

Yeah, I don’t buy into the rapture, so I was seeing it out of curiosity. In the early part of the movie, before the woman’s life changes, it has graphic R rated stuff, to warn you. I rented it at a video store that later became a blockbuster, so it might not be typical blockbuster fare.

 

[Carl]

According to George McDonald, the writer C.S. Lewis admired the most:

The one principle of hell is – “I am my own!”

And so if I could conjure up an image of Hell, it would be to be closed up alone in a closet for all eternity, God having given us what we demanded.

 

[Joanna]

Carl:

According to George McDonald, the writer C.S. Lewis admired the most:

The one principle of hell is – “I am my own!”

And so if I could conjure up an image of Hell, it would be to be closed up alone in a closet for all eternity, God having given us what we demanded.

Make that a cave, a very dark cave!

The term hell is cognate to “hole” (cavern) and “hollow”. It is connected to the verb “to Hide” from the Anglo-Saxon helan or behelian.

For more on hell without actually going there try:

newadvent.org/cathen/07207a.htm