[phatus maximus]

"The problem is not only that our sense of sin has declined, but also that the world wars and totalitarianisms of the 20th century created a hell on earth as bad as anything we can imagine in the afterlife," Professor Bagliani said.

In 1999, pope John Paul II said heaven was "neither an abstraction nor a physical place in the clouds, but that fullness of communion with God, which is the goal of human life".

Hell, by contrast, was "the ultimate consequence of sin itself. Rather than a place, hell indicates the state of those who freely and definitively separate themselves from God, the source of all life and joy".

In October, the Pope indicated that limbo, supposed since medieval times to be a "halfway house" between heaven and hell, was "only a theological hypothesis" and not a "definitive truth of the faith".

[phatus maximus]

While at first blush this article seems rather well, "duh" I'm sure we all can think of the countless people we know who really think that everyone just gets to go to heaven because they're alive. Hell is not spoken of anymore in the sense that it should be...Christ speaks of hell constantly as a warning, but in today's world it's an after thought...anyway, found it to be an interesting article for all the various Christian posters here at FR whether your Catholic, Lutheran or another "breed"...blessings to all in Christ.

[ChuteTheMall]

Heaven and hell are very real places, no matter what some previous Pope claimed. Choose wisely.

[Salvation]

Posted here:

Pope says hell and damnation are real and eternal

[labette]

"Rather than a place, hell indicates the state of those who freely and definitively separate themselves from God, the source of all life and joy".

Interesting....

In Jesus' parable of Lazarus and the rich man with no name, He seems to be describing a real enough place.