Why is Hell Eternal?

[LilyM]

God does take away our free will when we die. We no longer can choose whether or not we want to dive into Hell once we a) just learn that it is real or b) see the sufferings to back up what we have already learned. In this life, yes, we may be given glimpses of Hell, but it not the same as seeing it firsthand. If only God would give everyone perfect knowledge of the afterlife, I highly doubt anyone would commit any sin at all.

By your logic someone who’s never been inside a prison shouldn’t be sent there, even if they commit the most heinous and coldblooded crime you could imagine. Even if they commit a horrendous rape, murder or what have you.

Now angels have a wonderful amount of knowledge of the afterlife - they see God face to face and were created to work intimately with Him as His messengers, so they could hardly not. Even with every advantage that you’ve suggested, then, Satan and his angels still chose to rebel against God. They chose Hell - even after living in heaven and in God’s loving presence (so knowing full well what they were leaving).

What makes you think human beings would be any less likely than Satan or the fallen angels to rebel - even AFTER having seen God face to face in the afterlife? Even after having lived in His presence itself?

 

[PJM]

=Ally of Christ-Justice is supposed to be necessary to help people, and correct their faults and crimes, but in Hell, God will never let people make amends and repent. Hell just sounds like senseless, meaningless, everlasting torture. Maybe sinners aren’t worthy of Heaven, but punishing them forever isn’t going to help them. I wish God would eventually let them in some middle ground between Heaven and Hell to alleiviate their pain.

Sure He does, that is precisely what this life is for That is precisely why God gives us THEE CHURCH and The Seven Sacramants, and that is precisely why gives each of us a mind, intellect and freewill!

***Let me ask you a question. If I were yo give you ONE MILLION DOLLARS on the single condition that you spend it wisely or I’ll take it back. Would you take the money? What if in addition I supplied a slew of higly trained money mangers to assit you? Would you take the money?

Now think of this money as GRACE, and the money experts as the Pope and the Catholic Magistrium. Hmmm.

God who is all good perfectly, as components of His Divine unchangable Goodness, must and has to be fair and just.

This means that God has to provide at least the minimum amount of grace that every soul past, present and furture needs to get to heaven. But Like the offer I tendered you don’t have to say yes, and they too can and DO say NO! to God. It’s there choice not God’s! It is we ourself who send ourself to hell and heaven. God simply affirms and pronounces decessions we have made for ourselves, applying or not applying correctly our conditional gifts from God of minds, intellects and freewills.

In a very real sense we take the issue of heven or HELL out of God’s hands. That is how much Faith He has in us and How much He loves us. He’s not going to force us to go anywhere we choose NOT TO GO! Now will He override tthe decession we ourselves made. ***

Here on earth, we don’t have a full understanding of how God will punish us for certain offenses. Some people don’t understand why some sins, such as sexual sins are even a sin at all, so they commit them.

That friend is why Jesus gives us HIS CHURCH, HIS BIBLE AND HIS SEVEN SACRAMENTS and all the GRACE necessary to get to heaven. It’s NOT God’s fault if we chose ro say “No thanks God” I’ d rather "get lucky Don’t be so quick to blame God who is and has to be ALL GOOD PERFECTLY!

. Hell just sounds like senseless, meaningless, everlasting torture.

It is neither. I gave you a Million dollars on the single condition that you use it wisely; I even provided EXPERTS to guide and assist you. READ Mt.25: 14-30 and maybe you’ll gain a better understanding. It all has to do with God being Good, which obligates Him to be just and fair. He is, He must be, we can and we can chose to do as we will. So should God have to “pay” for our mistakes having given us everything we need to get to heaven? NOPE

Love and prayers friend, keep learning

 

[Joe_Kelley]

What about those who don’t think God is real?

Saint Paul thought they had no excuse [Romans 1:18-32]

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and wickedness of men who by their wickedness suppress the truth. 19 For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. 20* Ever since the creation of the world his invisible nature, namely, his eternal power and deity, has been clearly perceived in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse; 21* for although they knew God they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking and their senseless minds were darkened. 22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools, 23* and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man or birds or animals or reptiles. 24 Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, 25 because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed for ever! Amen. 26 For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. Their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural, 27 and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in their own persons the due penalty for their error. 28 And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a base mind and to improper conduct. 29 They were filled with all manner of wickedness, evil, covetousness, malice. Full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malignity, they are gossips, 30 slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, 31 foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. 32 Though they know God’s decree that those who do such things deserve to die, they not only do them but approve those who practice them.

 

[Ally_of_Christ]

Although I am still scared that Hell exists, I will do as you have instructed me. I will pray the Chaplet of Divine Mercy for sinners, do my best to lead a good life, and encourage others to lead good lives. I will try not to question God any further, and will confess that I have questioned God. Thanks for your help.

 

[Ally_of_Christ]

Let’s also keep in mind that according to the church fathers …

• "The most common sentiment which is held is that, among Christians, there are more damned souls than predestined souls."
• "Many attain to faith, but few to the heavenly kingdom."
• “There are few who are saved.”
• “Few are saved in comparison to those who are damned.”
• "Out of 100,000 people whose lives have always been bad, you will find barely ONE who is worthy of indulgence."
• "the number of priests who fall into hell each day is so great that it seemed impossible that there be any left on earth"
• "Many priests are not saved; on the contrary, the number of those who are damned is greater."
• "Out of thirty-three thousand people who died. Two went up to heaven without delay, three went to purgatory, and all the others fell into Hell."
• “If you consider the sacrament of penance, there are so many distorted confessions, so many studied excuses, so many deceitful repentances, so many false promises, so many ineffective resolutions, so many invalid absolutions!”
• "Most Catholic adults confess badly at death, therefore most of them are damned."

… [Source (The Few Number Who Are Saved) (this topic was also discussed [here (http://forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?t=183214)).​

What is the meaning of this post?

 

[StillWondering]

Well, maybe instead of God throwing people into a firey hole and tourturing them unmercilessly or giving them extreme happiness, maybe He could give evryone something like Earth? Just give everyone Eternal life here on Earth after the end of the world? The just could begin this new life with the best lifestyles, riches, comfort, and power, while the unjust begin life unhealthy homeless, but all are immortal? It makes much more sense to me. Everyone gets exactly what they deserve in that situation. The unjust could eventually regain some happiness, but will always be below the unjust, and the just will always be happy and healthy. Maybe God could give the just who deserve Him assistance in their lives, but leave the unjust to fend for themselves? This really seems like my idea of justice.

Since God is the one currently keeping the world you see around you in existence. Any world without God would is probably one we cannot imagine. I was told Hell is such a world. If this earth that exist after the Final Judgment is without God, then it is probably just another version of Hell.

Instead of focusing on Hell, I know I was very scared for a period of my life, focus on Heaven. If you care about those around you, make them into saints. That is the best intention. Success on earth or praise or fame are nothing compared to being in Heaven. Thus be love for them so that they can see what love is like. If they have love, then it will be much easier to have humility. This will make it so they do not let their pride and arrogance overshadow them and be unable to repent. Also humility to know God breeds charity. Their charity will strength the love and humility they have. Their charity will also help spread love and humility to others. This is how, as one individual you can be a source of love for others, be like Christ to others, and help others, as well as yourself through his act of love, to be come saints.

 

[Jacafamala]

Sheol Hebrew, Old Testament. Appearing 65 times.

Hades Greek, New Testament. Appearing 9 times.

Gehenna Greek.

Hinnom Hebrew, Appearing 11 times.

All of these words are translated into the word Hell. The context of every single word used as hell in the bible, is in context to being dead. To being in the grave; in a pit.

Hell is eternal, because once you die, you die. It is appointed to men to die only once. the wages of sin is death. We are all born of original sin, meaning we are all born with a dead human spirit. If a person dies before being reborn of the Holy Spirt, If a person dies before recieveing a new human spirit, then once there physical body dies, there soul, which is already dead, is now extinguished forever. Thus, Hell[death] is eternal. Hell is described as being under Gods wrath, Gods wrath is described as an eternal fire. A eternal fire consumes and destroys. Thus, when you die under Gods wrath, you are destroyed and never to be in existence again, it is eternal. You are seperated from God eternally. You are dead

Hell equalls dead

Hell is not a pit with fire and brimstone and satan.

Rev tell us at the end even death and hell, will be thrown into the lake of fire, and that is the second death. The second death means a total complete erasure from all mind and existence. meaning even hell isn’t eternal, at least for what our human minds can comprehend.

because if hell and death are thrown into the lake of fire, and if that is the second death, then how can something that has died, and died a second time, be eternal.

No, hell is only eternal in the right context. Death, is eternal. Once you die, you can never come back. Thus, hell, which is death, is eternal, you will never walk with the LORD , however the mercy is, that we will also have no idea of the severity of the punishment, because we are destroyed. That is the mercy of God. This is in the same context as the amount of stripes a person can endure for punishment. it is 39+1 This proves God has mercy as well as limits. A limit signifies an end. And end is not eternal, it is finite.

These are the teachings of Harold Camping, are they not? His teachings fly in the face of 2000 years of Tradition. If I’m to pick between 2000 years of Tradition, or Harold Camping the heretic, I’ll choose 2000 years of Tradition any day.

No one wants to go to hell, but if one becomes too attached to sin they’ll choose it over God. The reason hell is eternal is because at the time of death, grace stops. It’s not that God couldn’t forgive the damned, it’s simply that they can no longer repent because they have no grace.

 

[Steadfast_love]

Why do the damned “lock the gates of hell from the inside?”

:bible1: John 3:19-21
And this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For every one who does evil hates the light, and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. But he who does what is true comes to the light, that it may be clearly seen that his deeds have been wrought in God.

 

[Sir_Knight]

Justice is supposed to be necessary to help people, and correct their faults and crimes, but in Hell, God will never let people make amends and repent. Hell just sounds like senseless, meaningless, everlasting torture. Maybe sinners aren’t worthy of Heaven, but punishing them forever isn’t going to help them. I wish God would eventually let them in some middle ground between Heaven and Hell to alleiviate their pain. Even Saint John Bosco didn’t understand, when given a vision of Hell, why his boys would go there for sins which they considered insignificnt. Maybe the sinners could never have Heaven, but I don’t understand why God would never let them out of their punishment. In visions from saints which I have read about, many souls in Hell wished to repent of their sins, but it was useless. They were trapped there forever and they did NOT want suffering.

Punishment in purgatory will eventually end, because the sinners repented of their sins before they died. If a person repents of their sins when they are given eternal life, God no longer wishes to give forgivness, but instead unceasingly tortures them. The punishment seems senseless to me because it is not meant to make a person repent of their sins. It is just… suffering and torment… nothing more… I hope I get to Heaven, and I hope those around me escape hell too, but it almost seems as if heaven is impossible to attain. I’m not despairing, but I don’t understand how eternal punishment can be called just, and I’m scared.

Here on earth, we don’t have a full understanding of how God will punish us for certain offenses. Some people don’t understand why some sins, such as sexual sins are even a sin at all, so they commit them. They die, and although they might have lived faithfully to all commandments but the sixth, which was only violated because of lack of understanding, they are sent to a supernatual place of suffering and torment, never to be let out. If only God had given them complete understanding of how their actions would affect them when they were sent to their final destination, they most likely would commit no sin at all, but since they weren’t given complete and total warning, they commit only sins which seem perfectly harmless, and are tortured for eternity. They were only warned through words of others, not directly warned by He who would administer the punishment.

I think what you are overlooking is that our time on earth is our trail period. During this trail period we will either grow closer to God or drift further alway. As was already said, one does not end up in hell by accident and neither does God want us to go to hell because the bible tells us that He desires all of to be saved. If He wanted us to go to hell, then He wouldn’t have bothered to send His only Son to SUFFER and die for our sins because we were already condemmed to hell but despite His desire for all to be saved, He gave us a free will and will not force Himself on us.

At the time of death, our decision is locked in. This is a two edge sword. Those who have died in His friendship and favor, will never have to worry about sinning again. Conversely, those that died in a state of sin will forever remain in that sin because the time for repentance has past. Sort of like plea bargining in a court room. If you plea bargin before the jury reaches a verdict, you’ll get a lesser sentence than after a guilty verdict is entered.

If we are found to be in God’s friendship & favor, we will be rewarded for all eternity with blessings beyond our wildest expectations. If, on the other hand, we have drifted away from God, then God will not force us to be with Him. And since our actions have offended an INFINITE God, justice requires that our punishment also be INFINITE. Since it can not be infinite in intensity, because the creature is incapable of an infinite quality, it must needs be infinite in duration.

 

[Sir_Knight]

Sir Knight;5545930:

Let’s also keep in mind that according to the church fathers …

• "The most common sentiment which is held is that, among Christians, there are more damned souls than predestined souls."

• "Many attain to faith, but few to the heavenly kingdom."
• “There are few who are saved.”
• “Few are saved in comparison to those who are damned.”
• "Out of 100,000 people whose lives have always been bad, you will find barely ONE who is worthy of indulgence."
• "the number of priests who fall into hell each day is so great that it seemed impossible that there be any left on earth"
• "Many priests are not saved; on the contrary, the number of those who are damned is greater."
• "Out of thirty-three thousand people who died. Two went up to heaven without delay, three went to purgatory, and all the others fell into Hell."
• “If you consider the sacrament of penance, there are so many distorted confessions, so many studied excuses, so many deceitful repentances, so many false promises, so many ineffective resolutions, so many invalid absolutions!”
• "Most Catholic adults confess badly at death, therefore most of them are damned."

… [Source (The Few Number Who Are Saved) (this topic was also discussed [here (http://forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?t=183214)).​

What is the meaning of this post?

I thought that the message was pretty clear – few of us will actually make it to heaven. Even Our Lord preached this in Matthew 7:13-14 … Enter ye in at the narrow gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way that leadeth to destruction, and MANY there are who go in thereat. How narrow is the gate, and strait is the way that leadeth to life: and FEW there are that find it!

 

[Ally_of_Christ]

So you are saying that most of us will in fact go to Hell? I’ll pray to God, but I feel like there is no hope for those I know who have lost the faith or are atheist.

 

[Sir_Knight]

What did Our Lord answer the curious man in the Gospel who asked Him, “Lord, is it only a few to be saved?” Did He keep silence? Did He answer haltingly? Did He conceal His thought for fear of frightening the crowd? No. Questioned by only one, He addresses all of those present. He said to them:* “You ask Me if there are only few who are saved?” Here is My answer: “Strive to enter by the narrow gate; for MANY, I tell you, will seek to enter and will NOT be able.”* Who is speaking here? It is the Son of God, Eternal Truth, who on another occasion says even more clearly, “MANY are called, but FEW are chosen.” He does not say that all are called and that out of all men, few are chosen, but that many are called; which means that out of all men, many are called to the True Faith, but out of them few are saved. These are the words of Our Lord Jesus Christ. Are they clear? They are true.

 

[Ally_of_Christ]

So, is there any point in praying for anyone if the priests numbers are correct? They are probably an exaggeration aren’t they?

 

[cheeto1]

“MANY are called, but FEW are chosen.” He does not say that all are called and that out of all men, few are chosen, but that many are called; which means that out of all men, many are called to the True Faith, but out of them few are saved. These are the words of Our Lord Jesus Christ. Are they clear? They are true.

2Peter 3:9 – …He wants none to perish but all to come to repentance.

We are a strange people who must live in fear and hope at once!

 

[Sir_Knight]

So, is there any point in praying for anyone if the priests numbers are correct?

*"He who prays is certainly saved. He who prays not is certainly damned. All the blessed (except infants) have been saved by prayer. All the damned have been lost through not praying; if they had prayed, they would not have been lost. – St. Alphonsus Liguori.

They are probably an exaggeration aren’t they?

They come from the writings of the saints which the Church has approved as being “worthy of belief”. Does not mean that we are required to believe it; just that it is considered worthy of belief.

 

[Sir_Knight]

2Peter 3:9 – …He wants none to perish but all to come to repentance.

That is God’s DESIRE but respecting our free will, God will not force Himself on us. Recall my earlier quote from Matthew 7:13-14 … Enter ye in at the narrow gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way that leadeth to destruction, and MANY there are who go in thereat. How narrow is the gate, and strait is the way that leadeth to life: and FEW there are that find it!

 

[PJM]

=Ally of Christ;5549372]Although I am still scared that Hell exists, I will do as you have instructed me. I will pray the Chaplet of Divine Mercy for sinners, do my best to lead a good life, and encourage others to lead good lives. I will try not to question God any further, and will confess that I have questioned God. Thanks for your help.

God loves us so much that He gave us His Son

His Son loves us so much that He gives The seven Sacraments

The Holy Spirit loves us so much that He gives us The Catholic Church

Accept the Gifts of the Father through His Son, customized for us by the Holy Spirit

In all things love, and don’t forget about hell, but also don’t worry about it.

Love and prayers

 

[cheeto1]

"it is not the will of your heavenly Father that one of these little ones be lost.”
(MT 18:14)

I hear you sir knight, but this calls for comfort. Ally is not a seeker of the wide road…