Why is everyone obsessed with Hell?

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Economist said:
So very interesting that both of you quote the same verse. For me it means the exact opposite, namely: “a child has no reasoning power, they believe whatever they are told”. When you grow up, you discard the uncritical, unquestioning faith, and use reason - wherever it leads you. Even if it leads you to the total opposite that your accepted on faith. Isn’t that interesting?
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I can see how one gets there if they only read that verse, but if you read it in context, your interpretation makes no sense at all.
 
mrsdizzyd said:
I can see how one gets there if they only read that verse, but if you read it in context, your interpretation makes no sense at all.
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My opinion is different, but it would belong to a different thread.
 
Yes, I’ve noticed it’s quite popular for unbelievers to come onto Catholic threads and claim that Hell or the Crucifixion etc is child abuse when taught to young children. To me that’s disrespectful to the faith, especially given that millions of us grow up with these teachings and feel pretty happy and not abused, but I won’t flag it. Let’s move on.
 
Because we believe Hell is real, we believe it is possible to end up in Hell and we don’t want to end up in Hell for all eternity.

You’re right though that fear is less than love, and someone who has become spiritually pure and is just seeking to do God’s will won’t fear Hell much. But that’s spiritual development, and fear is also legitimate respect of God. As a person spiritually matures concerns like this should take up less and less space in their spiritual life.

Fear of the consequences of hell should never fully go away though.
 
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What kept me going through some really dark times was the fear of Hell. Spent a lot of time in Confession.

I think some fear of Hell is good. Obsessing about it however, is not. I focus on developing the virtues and living a virtuous life.

I think the general obsession over Hell stems from the basic “ I don’t want to go to Hell, so I’ll be good “ mentality, the traditional American hellfire and brimstone morality of the Puritan era and the old school Catholic “ Do this or burn “ mentality.

Sorry if I’m being offensive or speaking in ignorance. I mean well.
 
Yeah, I can definitely relate. I suffered through a suicidal time in my life after my ex wife divorced me. One of the reasons I came into the Church was that I was going through some pretty extensive spiritual warfare and I knew I needed the Church and her Sacraments. That, and praying the Rosary. Spiritual warfare and Our Lady led me home.
 
Yeah, ex-wife walking out suddenly for no reason is exactly the situation my friend is in.

Must be rough. I have never been in the situation nor have it in my family so I don’t fully appreciate the devastation that it must bring on. Glad you were able to grab on to the Rosary “chain that Mary uses to pull people to safety” as a priest described it the other day.
 
I can testify to this as well back when I was severely depressed. The worry of creating an unbridgable gulf between me and those in Heaven carried me sometimes.
 
Thanks, Tis. It was pretty rough. Felt like half of my soul was ripped out of my body and all my ex wife would say to me is” get over it. “ I love what the priest said about the Rosary being Our Lady’s chain. I started praying the Rosary mainly out of respect for her and as meditative training. Of all the things that helped me grow as a Christian; the Rosary has the greatest effect.
 
I mean, on the other hand, why wouldn’t you be obsessed with the worst thing possible that could happen to you and might happen to the majority of people including those you love and yourself? Most people respond more strongly to punishments than to rewards.

It also has ramifications for the nature of God. “The problem of Hell” has it’s own philosophical debates just like the general problem of evil. Meaning, depending on how you answer your fear of Hell, either God is good or God is plainly evil. Which is an other reason to obsess over it.

To the person obsessed with Hell (I sadly know from experience) God appears to be either 1. evil because he damns sinners (as is still taught in some quarters of the church) or 2. so weak and impotent in the face of humanity to not deserve the name savoir.

In summary, is God good?
 
Yep said:
I mean, on the other hand, why wouldn’t you be obsessed with the worst thing possible that could happen to you and might happen to the majority of people including those you love and yourself?
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Because I don’t believe me or my loved ones would end up in Hell unless we went running towards it demanding that we be allowed to throw ourselves into it.
God gives us many, many ways to avoid Hell.
 
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I love, and heartily agree with; what Saint John Paul II has said: “ God doesnt send people to hell. People choose to go to hell.
 
That’s subjectively great for you and those you know, but for those who worry about the nature of God, it’s a cold comfort that others don’t worry. Instead “I don’t obsess about it” sounds a lot like a four pack a day smoker saying they don’t obsess about cancer.

That’s not what you mean, but that’s roughly how it sounds. Again, this is about the subjective state, not the actual “problem of hell” debate.
 
Right, and this is another big divide between two groups of Catholics.
Group 1 thinks God is actively looking to send them to Hell.
Group 2 thinks God doesn’t want to send people to Hell and will try every possible avenue to keep them from going there, even down to giving them one last chance to repent upon death.

I know it’s private revelation, but I’m remembering the Fatima story of how Lucia asked about a girl from the village who died and Our Lady said she will be in Purgatory till the end of the world because she had committed some sexual sin with a man. But she was saved because she had at some point in her life made the Nine First Fridays.
There are lots and lots of devotional helps that one could do sincerely, and many of them require a confession as part of the devotion.
People can take advantage of these with a sincere heart.
Even just regular sincere prayer helps.
 
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So it’s really worry about “the nature of God” that’s in play here?

I don’t worry about the nature of God either. Why would someone worry about that instead of just going to church or Adoration and praying, God, please help me to know you better?
 
Personally, I’ve probably said a prayer similar to that thousands of times. I get the sound of silence back. No consolation. Instead there is the horror of kneeling in Mass and wondering if you are worshiping the correct God, or if God doesn’t like humanity very much. Eventually, I just started to loose hope.

Not exactly a great essay on the nature of God, but that’s my experience.
 
It is a presumption that people are significantly fascinated by the subject of hell.
It is observable that most people significantly ignore the subject of hell.
It is demonstrable that if the subject of hell arises, there are a significant number of negators, why is that?
 
“til the end of time.” was added by Sister Lucia many years later.

When she gave her testimony about the apparition, she never gave a time frame, but only that the girl was in purgatory.

It’s one of the problems I have with Fatima

Lucia’s statements decades later, don’t match what she and the other two children said the Blessed Mother told them in the approved apparitions.

It’s also known that Lucia suffered scrupulosity in her adult life.

Jim
 
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