What if there is no Hell?

[kfarose2585]

I was talking with a friend today, and he made an interesting point about Hell. People who dwell in darkness all their lives (such as in a dark cave) become so accustomed to the absence of light that, when exposed to sunlight, they go blind. My friend said that this is what he believes happens to people who live a faithless life. They are so used to the darkness of their lives that, when they die and go to Heaven, they are blinded by the awesome light that is God and thus believe they are in Hell.

My friend’s argument is that Hell is something that God allows us to create for ourselves out of His gift of free will to us. In other words, Hell is not an actual place, but is a state of mind that we have the right to embrace or reject. I thought that this was a very interesting way of looking at things. He is the one who led me to the Catholic Church, so I trust what he says on such matters, but in this case he is quick to acknowledge that his belief isn’t exactly orthodox. But it makes sense to me. Does it make sense to anyone else? Or do you guys believe that it is not in line enough with Catholic doctrine on Hell?

 

[RobedWithLight]

kfarose2585:

I was talking with a friend today, and he made an interesting point about Hell. People who dwell in darkness all their lives (such as in a dark cave) become so accustomed to the absence of light that, when exposed to sunlight, they go blind. My friend said that this is what he believes happens to people who live a faithless life. They are so used to the darkness of their lives that, when they die and go to Heaven, they are blinded by the awesome light that is God and thus believe they are in Hell.

My friend’s argument is that Hell is something that God allows us to create for ourselves out of His gift of free will to us. In other words, Hell is not an actual place, but is a state of mind that we have the right to embrace or reject. I thought that this was a very interesting way of looking at things. He is the one who led me to the Catholic Church, so I trust what he says on such matters, but in this case he is quick to acknowledge that his belief isn’t exactly orthodox. But it makes sense to me. Does it make sense to anyone else? Or do you guys believe that it is not in line enough with Catholic doctrine on Hell?

Hell is real and not merely a state of mind. In Luke 16:24, Jesus seems to be describing Hell as a place, not just a state of mind.

***Luke 16:24 - And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame. ***

*The Catholic Encyclopedia *itself admits that hell is a place, which is the opinion of most theologians. Where it is situated on the other hand, is still an object of speculation.

Fr. William Saunders quoted Blessed Faustina’s vision of Hell as follows:**

"Today I was led by an Angel to the chasms of hell. It is a place of great torture; how awesomely large and extensive it is! The kinds of tortures I saw The first torture that constitutes hell is the loss of God; the second is perpetual remorse of conscience; the third is that one’s condition will never change; the fourth is the fire that will penetrate the soul without destroying it—a terrible suffering, as it is a purely spiritual fire, lit by God’s anger; the fifth torture is continual darkness and a terrible suffocating smell, and despite the darkness, the devils and souls of the damned see each other and all the evil both of others and their own; the sixth torture is the constant company of Satan; the seventh torture is horrible despair, hatred of God, vile words, curses and blasphemies. "These are the tortures suffered by all the damned together, but that is not the end of the sufferings. There are special tortures of the senses. Each soul undergoes terrible and indescribable sufferings related to the manner in which it has sinned. There are caverns and pits of torture where one form of agony differs from another. I would have died at the very sight of these tortures if the omnipotence of God had not supported me. “Let the sinner know that he will be tortured throughout all eternity, in those senses which he made use of to sin. I am writing this at the command of God, so that no soul may find an excuse by saying there is not hell, or that nobody has ever been there and so no one can say what it is like.”

Peace

Gerry
**

 

[jeffreedy789]

i would say that A) to say that hell, or heaven, or purgatory, etc. is a PLACE is a difficult thing to do. it’s not in this universe. where it IS is difficult or impossible to explain, or even to understand.

B) just as ‘the kingdom of God is within you’ (as Jesus said), so hell is a thing that we create within ourselves. that is not to say it isn’t an actual destination, where those who reject God’s salvation will find themselves. but it IS, i think, to agree with cs lewis, who said that when the blessed find themselves in paradise, they will look back on their lives and say they’ve always been in heaven. and when the damned look back on their lives, they will say that they’ve always been in hell.

and both will speak truly.

(he means, of course, that redemption and damnation work retroactively, redeeming or damning your entire life, past, present, and eternal. so our lives on earth become ‘little heavens’ or ‘little hells’ as God works in our lives, redeeming us or allowing us to damn ourselves.)

 

[Fidelis]

Hmmm…Didn’t John Lennon ask this very same musical question?

 

[webdezyn]

proof that there is a hell …
look around you … Hell starts here
so does heaven…

some people here are in hell already
some are in heaven already !

**quotes from BISHOP Sheen **

 

[Teresa9]

I think it is perfectly possible to taste heaven and hell in this life, but it is not the heaven we long for which is complete and utter unity and receipt of the Beatific Vision. I think a person can touch hell on this earth, not by their own actions, but by the actions of others towards them and therefore this hell is not one of their own making. I also think people can live in a hell state on earth which is of their own making but not necessarily what they desire and finally I think people make their own hell on earth and are quite content to do so. Therefore we see those two REAL places as if through a mirror. We see a glimpse of the reality of heaven and hell here on earth. Complete Hell is the total withdrawal of God and His sustaining love for us, this doesn’t happen on earth to any one person because God is always with us in our earthly life, as repentance is always possible if God grants the grace to do so and we exercise our free will to turn to Him and therefore Hell in it’s entire and utter desperation is never fully experienced until after a person dies, as is Heaven never fully realised until we die. In this life we see hear feel the presence of God and His saving grace and sustinance in this life, but we are not privy to His infinite wisdom or His infinite sustinace until after we die, this is the WHOLE SUSTINANCE that is granted by God when we die, Heaven is only truly realised after death. The first life is the preparation of the second and the first life is nourished , but in the second life the first is rewarded, if we had Heaven and Hell in it’s entirity here and now, there would be no reward or punishment after death, we merely glimpse the wonder of heaven and the horror of Hell in this first life.

It is true that we do make our own Heaven and Hell, in that by our lives our love of God/no love of God, good acts/bad acts, good intentions/bad intentions. God never stops giving to us, it is us who stop giving to God and bring about our own eternity in this way. I think if we firmly love God we will be judged with infinte love and mercy.

Hell is a real spiritual place and Heaven is a real spiritual place, where all spirits spend their eternal rest. In revelations John speaks of ‘immediately being in the spirit’ his senses were as alert as they are in human life. Therefore the reality of spiritual second life is as real as real can be.

God Bless you and much love and peace to you xxx