Why does God send us to Hell if we don't sufficiently worship Him?

[Balaco]

I guess I’ve always just swept this question by, assuming there’s no other answer than “it’s God’s nature” or because we’d end up living “immorally”.

But is there another answer as to why God doesn’t just make living what the Christian faith perceives as “morally” optional (without the consequence of Hell)?

 

[Bill_Martin]

Why does heat send us into the cold if we walk away from it? Why doesn’t it just make being warm optional?

Why does light send us into the darkness if we walk away from it?

Living morally *is *optional; that’s what free will is for. We get exactly what we choose, and if we don’t choose God, then we end up in Hell, separated from Him of our own accord.

 

[mikekle]

Why does heat send us into the cold if we walk away from it? Why doesn’t it just make being warm optional?

Why does light send us into the darkness if we walk away from it?

Living morally *is *optional; that’s what free will is for. We get exactly what we choose, and if we don’t choose God, then we end up in Hell, separated from Him of our own accord.

If its our choice, why cant we choose the ‘luke warm’ option then? Just because someone does not choose to worship and have a relationship with their creator, does not necessarily mean they are evil immoral people. I know more than a few good people who are just not religious for one reason or another, but some of them are the nicest, kindest people you will ever meet, its hard to imagine being punished in eternal hell for such a life.

 

[ChrissMari]

He doesn’t.

CCC1033 We cannot be united with God unless we freely choose to love him. But we cannot love God if we sin gravely against him, against our neighbor or against ourselves: “He who does not love remains in death. Anyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.” Our Lord warns us that we shall be separated from him if we fail to meet the serious needs of the poor and the little ones who are his brethren. To die in mortal sin without repenting and accepting God’s merciful love means remaining separated from him for ever by our own free choice. This state of definitive self-exclusion from communion with God and the blessed is called “hell.”

You are sent to hell if you do not repent for your sins not if you don’t worship God. That’s a massive difference.

CCC1037 God predestines no one to go to hell; 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”:

If you’re simply “a good person” it’s difficult to commit most of the mortal sins. Then if you are a faithfully practicing Catholic you can add on a bunch more. Anything else, if you are truly repentant for your sins because you have mad God upset then you will not be sent to hell. Which, again if you’re a faithfully practicing Catholic is easy to do.

It’s not a command to be worshiped. It’s an invitation to love and share in His love.

 

[po18guy]

He does not “send” anyone to hell. Hell is freely chosen and is a good place inasmuch as it represents Divine justice. If there was no hell, eternity would be unjust.

 

[eamonnroma]

The question was’ Why does God send us to Hell if we don’t sufficiently worship Him?.

Not sufficiently worshipping does not mean going to Hell. How do we define ‘not sufficiently’ - there are many people who have not had the opportunity to know God, yet are perfectly moral and good people. Why would God send them to Hell?

 

[Allegra]

If its our choice, why cant we choose the ‘luke warm’ option then? Just because someone does not choose to worship and have a relationship with their creator, does not necessarily mean they are evil immoral people. I know more than a few good people who are just not religious for one reason or another, but some of them are the nicest, kindest people you will ever meet, its hard to imagine being punished in eternal hell for such a life.

I don’t know about “evil” and “immoral”, but if a person fully understood that they were created by God in His own image, that everything and everyone they held dear in the world was a gift from their Creator, and that He wanted a relationship with them and their response was, “Eh. Not for me. I want to focus on being nice and kind. But just not to God,” I would find that person to be seriously lacking in gratitude. Personally, I think that such a high level of hypothetical indifference clearly represents immorality. My only conclusion in that case could be that such an individual is either a complete narcissist, or simply doesn’t fully believe. In either case, that would probably effect their culpability. God wants everyone to be saved, and He’s the one who made us and knows us, so I trust His judgement to be fair. I, on the other hand, DO believe and AM aware, so my culpability would be pretty much 100% if I took that line of thinking.

 

[fhansen]

I guess I’ve always just swept this question by, assuming there’s no other answer than “it’s God’s nature” or because we’d end up living “immorally”.

But is there another answer as to why God doesn’t just make living what the Christian faith perceives as “morally” optional (without the consequence of Hell)?

We’re already halfway to hell to the extent that we don’t worship Him. As we come to know God, love, and therefore worship, begin to blossom. And joy and happiness follow suit. God is heaven as Pope Emeritus Benedict once wrote. The absence of God is hell. The more we freely draw near to Him, the closer we are to heaven.

 

[Vico]

I guess I’ve always just swept this question by, assuming there’s no other answer than “it’s God’s nature” or because we’d end up living “immorally”.

But is there another answer as to why God doesn’t just make living what the Christian faith perceives as “morally” optional (without the consequence of Hell)?

We were created in the image and likeness of God, and God is love. So to be truly Christlike images we will love. Catechism states:

1861 Mortal sin is a radical possibility of human freedom, as is love itself. It results in the loss of charity and the privation of sanctifying grace, that is, of the state of grace. If it is not redeemed by repentance and God’s forgiveness, it causes exclusion from Christ’s kingdom and the eternal death of hell, for our freedom has the power to make choices for ever, with no turning back. However, although we can judge that an act is in itself a grave offense, we must entrust judgment of persons to the justice and mercy of God.

 

[meltzerboy]

I guess I’ve always just swept this question by, assuming there’s no other answer than “it’s God’s nature” or because we’d end up living “immorally”.

But is there another answer as to why God doesn’t just make living what the Christian faith perceives as “morally” optional (without the consequence of Hell)?

I’m not sure this is what Catholicism teaches, that is, we go to hell if we don’t sufficiently worship G-d. I thought it depends on many other things as well, primarily how we behave toward others. In Judaism, the latter is paramount although not believing in G-d is not really a plus. Still, an atheist who does good in the world is more likely to be “saved” than a believer who does evil or is indifferent to the plight of others.

 

[adamhovey1988]

He does not “send” anyone to hell. Hell is freely chosen and is a good place inasmuch as it represents Divine justice. If there was no hell, eternity would be unjust.

I am so glad you answered that because I am not sure I understood the question you can’t ask a question based on an assumption that isn’t true to begin with that’s like the anti Catholics asking why we worship the Pope. Well, we don’t. What you say is true, Hell is a choice you have to choose to disobey God. Those Souls that are there are souls that chose to be there this sounds horrible to Modern ears but it’s true. I have seen great evils in my day probably not like what my parents and my grandparents have seen, but I have seen great evils, and if there is no Hell then God would be unjust. People tend to forget that God gives us a lifetime to turn back to him. I have met people that sincerely believe they have family members in Hell. One woman that even believes her late husband is in Hell because of the way he was living but she wasn’t there at his last moments she doesn’t know whether or not he asked for forgiveness or any of that. I don’t think that you should go to heaven if you’re not sorry for the offenses you’ve committed if there’s no repentance why should there be forgiveness?

 

[Rosebud77]

We send ourselves to alienation from God which is hell, by our lives and actions when we disobey Him. Not about worship but obedience to His clear laws,

Our choice, our responsibility,

Awesome Lord, trusting us…

 

[Rosebud77]

We send ourselves to alienation from God which is hell, by our lives and actions when we disobey Him. Not about worship but obedience to His clear laws,

Our choice, our responsibility,

Awesome Lord, trusting us…

 

[Garyjohn2]

God doesn’t send us to hell. Hell is just a consequence of our actions.

If a child doesn’t listen to their parents and neglects to eat their veggies – they can get a nutritional deficiency and get sick. Did the parents make the child sick, or send them to illness? No, it is a simple and natural consequence of the child’s choices.

Hell is the absence of God. Every day, in everything we do, we choose to take a step closer to God, or take a step away from Him. Our lifetime is an accumulation of these steps and gradually turns us into a holy person, or a wretched one – or something in between. If someone takes steps away from God consistently in their life, to the point they have turned their back on Him, they have done that themselves.

I’ve heard it said by a priest, that when we are before the judgement seat – before the raw and perfect power of God…the inescapable and overwhelming love that radiates from His presence, all of our pretenses and defenses are laid bare. We will see ourselves for who we are, the choices we’ve made, with perfect truth. In that moment, we will either be pure enough to withstand the ultimate presence and fall down and worship immediately – OR we will be so ashamed and repulsed by our wickedness before the Most Holy that we cast ourselves away from Him, eternally, to avoid the pain of his presence…So unbearable is his brightness and so painful is His burning love.

It may or may not work that way, but it makes sense to me.

 

[Katherine438]

As far as I know we choose hell over heaven … let us pray that we all choose heaven.

 

[mikekle]

I don’t know about “evil” and “immoral”, but if a person fully understood that they were created by God in His own image, that everything and everyone they held dear in the world was a gift from their Creator, and that He wanted a relationship with them and their response was, “Eh. Not for me. I want to focus on being nice and kind. But just not to God,” I would find that person to be seriously lacking in gratitude. Personally, I think that such a high level of hypothetical indifference clearly represents immorality. My only conclusion in that case could be that such an individual is either a complete narcissist, or simply doesn’t fully believe. In either case, that would probably effect their culpability. God wants everyone to be saved, and He’s the one who made us and knows us, so I trust His judgement to be fair. I, on the other hand, DO believe and AM aware, so my culpability would be pretty much 100% if I took that line of thinking.

So if a person chooses to live their earthly lives without God in it, and therefore chooses hell…hell would not really be a punishment for them, it would basically be an extension of their earthly lives, an existence without God, something they are already used to.

 

[spiderweb]

The question was’ Why does God send us to Hell if we don’t sufficiently worship Him?.

Not sufficiently worshipping does not mean going to Hell. How do we define ‘not sufficiently’ - there are many people who have not had the opportunity to know God, yet are perfectly moral and good people. Why would God send them to Hell?

God judges us justly according to our knowledge. If I know I should worship God, but I don’t I will be judged very differently than someone who wants to worship God, but they do not know who God is but still makes an effort to serve God.

The first does not give to God his due even though he knows he should. The second strives to give God his due even if he does it poorly.

As others have said, God does not send us to hell, we choose it for ourselves in this lifetime. Either I want a relationship with God and thus worship him to the best of my ability, or I do not worship him, which means there is no relationship there.

 

[LittleFlower378]

I guess I’ve always just swept this question by, assuming there’s no other answer than “it’s God’s nature” or because we’d end up living “immorally”.

But is there another answer as to why God doesn’t just make living what the Christian faith perceives as “morally” optional (without the consequence of Hell)?

Its a matter of Justice why we should worship God in all things. HE CREATED US and the world. We owe Him everything…our praise, our worship,our body, our minds, thanksgiving, fleeing sin…

What would you do if your own human child was nasty to you and others, and never paid attention to you or didnt give you the respect of a parent. It’s a bad analogy because God is so much more than that, but its something to ponder.

 

[cornbread_r2]

Its a matter of Justice why we should worship God in all things. HE CREATED US and the world. We owe Him everything…our praise, our worship,our body, our minds, thanksgiving, fleeing sin…

What would you do if your own human child was nasty to you and others, and never paid attention to you or didnt give you the respect of a parent. It’s a bad analogy because God is so much more than that, but its something to ponder.

What I wouldn’t do is cut off any chance of rehabilitation and sustain the child’s existence just so he could be physically tormented for eternity.

 

[Allegra]

So if a person chooses to live their earthly lives without God in it, and therefore chooses hell…hell would not really be a punishment for them, it would basically be an extension of their earthly lives, an existence without God, something they are already used to.

No. I don’t think so. Because everything we have in this life that brings us joy comes from God, whether we know it or not. Our loved ones won’t be in hell. The beauty of nature won’t be either. Everything that comforts us in this life won’t be in hell. Including chocolate ice cream. It would be a pretty sorrowful existence.