Why does God punish people for sins they don't consciously decide to commit?

[mikekle]

Why would hell be punishment for atheists or anyone else that lived their life without God in it? Hell is just existing in a state without God, so it would just be an extension of their earthly lives.

I these people lived their lives perfectly content without God, without praying, or attending mass, etc. then I would imagine Hell would be their choice, not a punishment.

 

[DMC12]

Why would hell be punishment for atheists or anyone else that lived their life without God in it? Hell is just existing in a state without God, so it would just be an extension of their earthly lives.

I these people lived their lives perfectly content without God, without praying, or attending mass, etc. then I would imagine Hell would be their choice, not a punishment.

They do have God in their lives, even tough they dont see it. Hell is really going without God.

now about the food stealing:

2408 The seventh commandment forbids theft, that is, usurping another’s property against the reasonable will of the owner. There is no theft if consent can be presumed or if refusal is contrary to reason and the universal destination of goods. This is the case in obvious and urgent necessity when the only way to provide for immediate, essential needs (food, shelter, clothing . . .) is to put at one’s disposal and use the property of others.191

 

[mikekle]

They do have God in their lives, even tough they dont see it. Hell is really going without God.

well, then true free will does not exist, if people DO have God involved in their lives, even if they dont know it.

 

[Della]

well, then true free will does not exist, if people DO have God involved in their lives, even if they dont know it.

I think what DMC12 means, if I may speak for him/her, is that God does not give up on anyone while they are alive on earth, even if they claim they don’t believe in him. Besides, I believe that many who claim they are atheists are really closet Christians who are simply angry with God over something in their lives, as was C. S. Lewis by his own admission. We cannot give up on anyone’s salvation since we have no idea what is really going on in their lives. Only God can know why anyone denies the existence of God. That’s not something we can necessarily know. Still, it is up to each individual to decide if they want God to be an active part of their lives.

 

[O_S_C]

Sin doesn’t alter God’s attitude to us; it alters our attitude to him, so that we change him from the God who is simply love and nothing else, into this punitive ogre, this Satan. Sin matters enormously to us if we are sinners; it doesn’t matter at all to God. In a fairly literal sense he doesn’t give a damn about our sin. It is we who give the damns. We damn ourselves because we would rather justify ourselves, than be taken out of ourselves by the infinite love of God.

Herbert McCabe O.P.

 

[Contarini]

But you implied that God would call everyone “home” so are you saying that Hell will not be populated?

That seems to fly in the face of Jesus own words regarding hell. Why would he speak so often of something that was not going to be anyone’s fate?

Because warning people about the consequences of persisting their sins is (on this hypothesis) one of the means by which our merciful Lord ensures that it will be no one’s fate.

I do not think it’s orthodox to say confidently that all will be saved. But I do think it’s possible.

Edwin

 

[Hoosier_Daddy]

Because warning people about the consequences of persisting their sins is (on this hypothesis) one of the means by which our merciful Lord ensures that it will be no one’s fate.

I do not think it’s orthodox to say confidently that all will be saved. But I do think it’s possible.

Edwin

Some saints would agree with you.

I have never been able to see it that way. Between the many times Jesus mentions not only hell, but many people going there, and the idea that no one takes the Wide path? No, I cannot believe that. And the many inspired works of theology and art that depict it. And the evil I have studied and witnessed. I certainly think Hell is populated. And if I did not think that my vocation as a husband and father would be futile. My job is to get myself, my spouse and my kids to heaven. Navigating that narrow road is difficult. Even with Holy companions, and graces from God and the sacraments. I shudder to think if I did not have those things.

I think going to hell is a real danger, and one that billions of people have faced historically. I hope no one would go to hell. But, the Church, the scriptures, and my own mind tell me that is a false hope.

One final thought.

Catholics do not have to believe private revelations. BUT in the ones that have happened that depict hell, Not one has hell has unpopulated. Not one.
But the ones who have seen hell, like St Faustina, would not wish it on their worst enemy. So while we might disagree about who is in hell (if anyone) we should be fearful of the reality of hell, and the possibility of anyone going there. This should cause us to preach, harder, evangelize, more and speak clearer and more often about this. I doubt very much Jesus would have used precious ink in the Bible to warn about hell so much that no one would go. It would seem strange that we fumble his teachings so often personally and publically and we sin so much as a people even in the 2000 years that we have had a savior known to us to think that in this ONE issue we succeeded and His words were meaningless.

 

[manualman]

I have not said that there is no hell, what I have said is that if one were to wake up in hell, so to speak, they will come to the realization that they not only built the hell that they are in but that they put themself in their custom built hell.

When Jesus took everyone’s sins upon Himself, Jesus went to everyone’s hell and in so doing “won” the “keys” and will use these keys in due time, God’s Time, for those that make any detours.

Do you think that there was only the “physical” going on at the cross?

That IS saying there is no hell. The “hell” you are describing approximates what catholics define as purgatory.

I am not so sure there is no hell. Such an idea smells to me like complacency.