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MaximilianK
Guest
I don’t understand what’s happened with someone who is going to hell, why this destination must be forever and eternal for all of the ages come? Is hard to understand this for me
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Wesrock
Guest
They continue to sin and will no longer repent, so they continue to be punished according to their continued sins.
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Vico
Guest
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OneSheep
Guest
Did the answers given so far answer your question, or is there something about eternal hell that conflicts with what you know or believe about God, or know or believe about people?
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metanoia1
Guest
No worries. We create our own hell each time we allow our anxieties to take control of the mind. We create our heaven each time we enjoy time with loved ones, notice the clouds, the sound of chirping birds etc…in other words each time we are mindful of the here and now.
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stpurl
Guest
Interesting thought but no. What we create some might call ‘heaven on earth’ or ‘hell on earth’ but they would be no more the real heaven or hell than a TV program would be ‘real life’. In fact, even the TV program, like your example, existing only temporally, could not possibly be the true heaven or the true earth.
Even Plato had that right, centuries before Christ. . .
Even Plato had that right, centuries before Christ. . .
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metanoia1
Guest
I would suggest that the real heaven and real hell are the heaven and hell we experience during our lifetime. Some of us experience more heaven and some more hell. As for heaven or hell being real places to get to, I’m not a believer. Beliefs can change over time with more info and an open mind. But for now there isn’t enough info for me to let go of my beliefs from my experience of my life. I don’t know-you don’t know- nobody knows.
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Lion_IRC
Guest
What if…
…[A]ll the churches will know that I am He who searches hearts and minds, and I will repay each of you according to your deeds (See Revelation 2)
…the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds. (See Revelation 20)
Does it help to know that God is fair and merciful?
And that hell, where the gates are locked from the inside, is full of those who would rather be far away from God?
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JimG
Guest
I think it’s because there is no time in hell.
Or in heaven.
Or in heaven.
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awesomecatholic
Guest
In death time stops and you can no longer repent of your sins. People in hell chose to reject God and not love him, so they are eternally separated.
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jack63
Guest
It is hard for me to understand too…
I like Pierre Teilhard de Chardin’s thoughts on hell…
“You have told me, O God, to believe in hell. But you have forbidden me to think…of any man as damned”
I like Pierre Teilhard de Chardin’s thoughts on hell…
“You have told me, O God, to believe in hell. But you have forbidden me to think…of any man as damned”
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mrsdizzyd
Guest
Interesting theory. What is the basis for it?
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sudy
Guest
God gives us free will and he also gives us the grace to know him and an escape from sin, until the point of death, which we can freely reject. If we accept this grace, more grace is given for growth in faith.
It’s like if someone gives a gift, it can be thrown away. This wouldn’t make the gift ‘ungiven’ but the recipient would no longer have it… we see salvation in a similar sort of way, except that God is giving us this gift (grace) again and again until the end of our lives… it’s up to us to accept it with an open heart and to use it for love of God and neighbour.
If we have rejected him until death, this leads to eternal separation. Hell’s primary pain is separation from God, who is love, joy, truth, peace, knowledge, and full life… basically all goodness.
It’s like if someone gives a gift, it can be thrown away. This wouldn’t make the gift ‘ungiven’ but the recipient would no longer have it… we see salvation in a similar sort of way, except that God is giving us this gift (grace) again and again until the end of our lives… it’s up to us to accept it with an open heart and to use it for love of God and neighbour.
If we have rejected him until death, this leads to eternal separation. Hell’s primary pain is separation from God, who is love, joy, truth, peace, knowledge, and full life… basically all goodness.
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Ridgerunner
Guest
I recall reading that Ste Therese of Lisieux believed hell is a free, totally knowing, choice. At the moment of death it all becomes clear. We see our sins in their true horrific nature. We can hardly stand it, it’s so terrible. Then Jesus extends love and forgiveness, but we must choose to return that love, and we either do or we don’t. To accept His love and forgiveness, we must admit to our sinfulness…every last sin, and to our weakness. Some of us become angry with a cold, rational anger, not emotional. “How dare you say this to me” we say to God. We then decide to either worship God, knowing the choice it is, or to hate Him and worship ourselves. Either way, we’re entirely clear on the choice. No confusion. No murkiness of mind. Total clarity. And we never change our minds.
It seems hard to think anyone would choose hell, but she says we do, and we do it knowing full well what it is. And there is a certain symmetry to it. If, despite His teaching, we do not love His creatures or him on this earth, we’re more likely to choose ourselves.
It seems hard to think anyone would choose hell, but she says we do, and we do it knowing full well what it is. And there is a certain symmetry to it. If, despite His teaching, we do not love His creatures or him on this earth, we’re more likely to choose ourselves.
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goout
Guest
This right here.
Hell is a real possibility because beatitude is an awesomely wonderful thing, and it asks for a free and responsible choice.
Anything else is “meh”, and meh is not paradise.
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oliver109
Guest
I don’t think Hell can be chosen freely in most circumstances, take a priest for example who lives a normal priest life, goes to Confession every week and lives clear of mortal sin most of the time, he is invited to a parishioners home and has sex with her and then an airplane crashes on the house and he is killed instantly, would you say he should go to Hell because he does not have time to confess his mortal sin? would you say he should not be offered the chance to repent because he knew what he was doing was wrong? This is what is wrong with our society, that we are too busy having a go at people for sinning and saying that they should suffer forever for their actions. You see it in the attitude many have towards the homeless “he should not have got sacked from his job so it is his fault he is homeless, let him rot”
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stpurl
Guest
If you mean I don’t know because I haven’t experienced it, you’re right.
But I don’t know any ‘experiences’ but my own. . .yet I can ‘know’ the experiences of others if they are told to me, yes?
So if you mean I don’t know because NOBODY has experienced it, you’d be wrong.
Christ did. We have His word. So yes, I actually DO know.
But I don’t know any ‘experiences’ but my own. . .yet I can ‘know’ the experiences of others if they are told to me, yes?
So if you mean I don’t know because NOBODY has experienced it, you’d be wrong.
Christ did. We have His word. So yes, I actually DO know.
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stpurl
Guest
Oh please, you must have seen the answer to that strawman a dozen times, but if you missed it somehow. . .
A person chooses hell when he commits an unrepented mortal sin.
There’s the flaw in your straw. . you assume that the priest ‘does not have time to confess’.
You also assume that all his ‘good actions’ have somehow entitled him to heaven and you attempt to argue that one piddly mortal sin isn’t enough to condemn him.
There’s so much wrong here it’s pitiful.
A: None of us ‘earns’ or is entitled to heaven by good works.
B. Mortal sin is called that because it is deadly wrong.
C. The normal means for confession and forgiveness is through a priest, but it is not the only means.
D. Even objective mortal sin (in this case, fornication/adultery) might not be committed by an individual with the other necessary qualifications (full knowledge and full consent).
E. The priest could be repenting his actions even as he does them (because our brains can work ‘faster’ than our bodies’), i.e., a repentent mortal sin i.e. not choosing hell.
F. IF all the conditions are truly met for mortal sin and IF the priest at the time of death is not repentent, he hasn’t done ‘just one sin’ out of a lifetime of ‘goodness’. That unrepented sin, after he has died, is a sin he keeps on committing, forever. It’s something he freely chooses to commit and so since it is an eternal mortal sin, the only possible ‘treatment’ is eternal hell.
A person chooses hell when he commits an unrepented mortal sin.
There’s the flaw in your straw. . you assume that the priest ‘does not have time to confess’.
You also assume that all his ‘good actions’ have somehow entitled him to heaven and you attempt to argue that one piddly mortal sin isn’t enough to condemn him.
There’s so much wrong here it’s pitiful.
A: None of us ‘earns’ or is entitled to heaven by good works.
B. Mortal sin is called that because it is deadly wrong.
C. The normal means for confession and forgiveness is through a priest, but it is not the only means.
D. Even objective mortal sin (in this case, fornication/adultery) might not be committed by an individual with the other necessary qualifications (full knowledge and full consent).
E. The priest could be repenting his actions even as he does them (because our brains can work ‘faster’ than our bodies’), i.e., a repentent mortal sin i.e. not choosing hell.
F. IF all the conditions are truly met for mortal sin and IF the priest at the time of death is not repentent, he hasn’t done ‘just one sin’ out of a lifetime of ‘goodness’. That unrepented sin, after he has died, is a sin he keeps on committing, forever. It’s something he freely chooses to commit and so since it is an eternal mortal sin, the only possible ‘treatment’ is eternal hell.
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oliver109
Guest
But how can one know if they are truly repentant or not? surely God can only allow someone to condemn themselves if they are absolutely certain of their unrepentance? I can tell you that I am not certain about being repentant or not, I hope I am repentant and I sure do feel repentant but I am not certain that I am. I still think it would be unfair if a plane crashed on my house in the next minute and I ended up in Hell.
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