Send CathInfo's owner Matthew a gift from his Amazon wish list:
https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/25M2B8RERL1UO

Author Topic: Is Catholicism the only religion with Hell?  (Read 2253 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Is Catholicism the only religion with Hell?
« on: July 23, 2017, 10:07:02 AM »

I really cannot come to terms with why God created eternal Hell. Would it not have been enough to have heaven for those who obeyed God and a certain amount of punishment for those who died with unforgiven sins, those who rejected him and then oblivion after a just time, gone forever?

An eternity of fire in Hell seems out of character for a God of Love. We live a limited time on Earth but there is an eternity based on that limited time.

This Sunday morning we had again another reading that would scare the daylight out of Catholics who read it or heard it. The endless warnings of Hell if you do this, do that or the other seems to be the basis for our Catholic faith. Fear of God rather than love of God seems to be the core of traditional Catholicisim. How can one love God under threat of Hell? I just do not understand.

How can one base their Catholicism on love for God and his mother Mary when one is terrified at the thought of eternal fire if you are prone to sin as all human beings are?

Vatican II I think tried to change the faith from one of fear to one of a loving Jesus and Mary. This didn't work as it ended up hiding sin and luring billions into a false sense of love and infinite mercy.

That said, I must accept this situation, even if I do not understand it.

Re: Is Catholicism the only religion with Hell?
« Reply #1 on: July 23, 2017, 10:47:19 AM »
Try not to over think this
1. God made the soul to be eternal, therefore the reward or punishment must be eternal.
2. This is not "out of character" for God when you consider how many graces He gives to help you get to Heaven
3. Many misunderstand the "fear of God".  It means fear of offending God.
4. Lastly the fear of hell translates to fear of the punishment when it should be fear of offending; but that works too if that's what it takes to deter us.  You've heard the expression "scare the hell out of them"  it works.

We should be glad we are informed of the consequences of our actions that way we can exercise our free will to our best benefit.

Never forget free will.


Offline Stubborn

  • Supporter
Re: Is Catholicism the only religion with Hell?
« Reply #2 on: July 23, 2017, 11:08:09 AM »
Snip from a sermon on hell from Fr. Wathen:
...Intrinsic in the idea of hell is it's everlastingness. One cannot conceive of a punishment sufficient for those who have defied God all their lives, till their deaths, and who have simply refused to accept God in His sovereignty and refused to do His will. It is altogether contrary, repugnant to reason that there would not be a punishment. This punishment has to last forever simply because these individuals, if hell did not last forever, would have beaten God. They would have defied Him and gotten away with it.  

So of course, those who go to hell, don't go for temporary chastisement, they go there because they hate God and they will never do other. That is why hell lasts always, just as the devils do not hate God less because they have been there who knows how many eons. If anything, we would say that the devils hate God more after all that they have suffered because their suffering does not determine whether they will serve Him or despise Him, their own wills determine this.

Our Lord spoke of hell 15 times in the Scriptures and the things that He said make it clear to us that hell is a state and a place of everlasting burning. He mentioned hell more often, more times then He mentioned the doctrine of the Blessed Eucharist. Among the things He said - "Depart from me ye cursed ones, into everlasting fire which was prepared for the devil and his angels."...

"...where the worm dieth not, neither is the fire quenched". And therein does Christ tell us of the two terrible torments of hell. "The worm that dieth not" refers to the pain of loss and the "fire that is not quenched" refers to the pain of sense. Because people are inclined to give too much intention to the pain of sense, we want you to consider the pain of loss, which is the essential punishment of hell.

The pain of loss is simply the everlasting recognition that one is in hell because one chose to be there. On earth he made his alibis and he pointed fingers at others and he imagined that he is going to blame his parents or blame society or blame hard luck, but in hell, no one blames anyone but himself because in hell, everyone knows why he is there, because he knows that he has rejected God -  and in turn, God has, despite His love, rejected him. And the pain of loss is that terrible torment of the recognition of what one might have done but did not. That one might be enjoying the beatitude of heaven, but will never.....

Re: Is Catholicism the only religion with Hell?
« Reply #3 on: July 23, 2017, 12:11:26 PM »
The punishment of a crime is proportionate to the heinousness of the offense. That is justice. 

A crime against an infinitely Good Being is infinitely heinous, and requiring of eternal punishment. 

Re: Is Catholicism the only religion with Hell?
« Reply #4 on: July 24, 2017, 06:06:27 PM »
who told you God made Hell?

I think the devil did that. And people loved the devil so they went to be with him after death. Makes sense to me