Free Republic
Browse · Search
Religion
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Are There Souls in Hell Right Now?
Catholic.com ^ | April 11, 2014 | Tim Staples

Posted on 04/21/2014 11:30:24 AM PDT by GonzoII

It has become fashionable in some Catholic quarters these days to question where there are now or will ever be any souls populating hell. Hell, it is taught, is a "real possibility," but whether there are any souls actually there, or whether there will ever be any souls there, is unknown to us.

It is, of course, true that hell is a "real possibility" for each of us. And that is a sobering thought. But it is also true that souls are actually in hell now, and will be for all eternity. This is a teaching of our Catholic Faith.



TOPICS: Catholic; Theology
KEYWORDS: afterlife; catholic; damnation; fireandbrimstone; gehenna; hell; hellfire; timstaples
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-4041-44 next last

1 posted on 04/21/2014 11:30:24 AM PDT by GonzoII
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: GonzoII
I think there's a lot of misunderstanding about what hell is, and that answers the questions about are there any people in there now? How about for eternity?

If you think of hell as the place where the unsaved people go after their death, that is the punishment side of Sheol, then yes there are lots of people there. They are being punished with real flames, waiting for the resurrection when they will have to face the White Throne Judgment.

If you think of hell as the place of eternal punishment, that is the Lake of Fire, nobody will be there until after the White Throne Judgment (except for the Anti Christ and the False Prophet who are thrown there at the end of Armageddon), but everybody will be tormented there for eternity.

To me, the bottom line is that there are people who are suffering in Sheol now, and there will be people suffering in the Lake of Fire later on and for eternity. It should spur us to try to reach these people before it is too late, rather than argue whether Sheol, the Lake of Fire, or both, are hell

2 posted on 04/21/2014 11:47:53 AM PDT by Former Fetus (Saved by grace through faith)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: GonzoII

The dead know not anything. I read that somewhere.


3 posted on 04/21/2014 11:48:08 AM PDT by BipolarBob
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: GonzoII

Will Many Be Saved?: What Vatican II Actually Teaches and Its Implications for the New Evangelization

Book Description
Publication Date: September 7, 2012
The question of whether and how people who have not had the chance to hear the gospel can be saved goes back to the beginnings of Christian reflection. It has also become a much-debated topic in current theology. In Will Many Be Saved? Ralph Martin focuses primarily on the history of debate and the development of responses to this question within the Roman Catholic Church, but much of Martin’s discussion is also relevant to the wider debate happening in many churches around the world.

In particular, Martin analyzes the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, the document from the Second Vatican Council that directly relates to this question. Contrary to popular opinion, Martin argues that according to this text, the conditions under which people who have not heard the gospel can be saved are very often, in fact, not fulfilled, with strong implications for evangelization.


4 posted on 04/21/2014 11:50:59 AM PDT by BlatherNaut
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: BipolarBob

The dead know not anything. I read that somewhere....I see it in Congress every day.


5 posted on 04/21/2014 11:54:36 AM PDT by Safetgiver ( Islam makes barbarism look genteel.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: BipolarBob

Sort of like 0bama and congress and senate.


6 posted on 04/21/2014 12:27:17 PM PDT by SkyDancer (I Believe In The Law Until It Intereferes With Justice. And Pay Your Liberty Tax Citizen.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: GonzoII

Look around.


7 posted on 04/21/2014 12:33:44 PM PDT by meatloaf (Impeach Obama. That's my New Year's resolution.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: GonzoII

God knows, I only have to know that it is a possibility and I don’t want to go there.


8 posted on 04/21/2014 12:37:23 PM PDT by tiki
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: GonzoII

“some Catholic quarters”, should correctly read “Some so-called Catholic quarters.”


9 posted on 04/21/2014 12:38:57 PM PDT by Gumdrop (Q)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: GonzoII

No. That happens at the Great White Throne judgement. See the closing chapters of Revelation.


10 posted on 04/21/2014 12:47:44 PM PDT by TruthInThoughtWordAndDeed (Yahuah Yahusha)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: GonzoII
to question where there are now or will ever be any souls populating hell. Hell, it is taught, is a "real possibility," but whether there are any souls actually there, or whether there will ever be any souls there, is unknown to us.

The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God.

Ps. 9:17

but the fearful and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremonters, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.

Rev. 21:8

Lazarus

Luke 16

11 posted on 04/21/2014 1:40:38 PM PDT by mjp ((pro-{God, reality, reason, egoism, individualism, natural rights, limited government, capitalism}))
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: BlatherNaut

“Many are called, few are chosen.”


12 posted on 04/21/2014 2:12:10 PM PDT by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: GonzoII

**Are There Souls in Hell Right Now?**

At the moment of our death, we undergo what Catholics call the particular judgment.

Then souls are sent to three places: Heaven, Purgatory or Hell.

At the General Judgment everyone else will know about it when the sheep are divided from the goats.

I’ll be happy with Purgatory, for I know after I am purified I can enter heaven.


13 posted on 04/21/2014 2:15:28 PM PDT by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: GonzoII
Tim Staples: It has become fashionable in some Catholic quarters these days to question where there are now or will ever be any souls populating hell. Hell, it is taught, is a "real possibility," but whether there are any souls actually there, or whether there will ever be any souls there, is unknown to us.

PFL

14 posted on 04/21/2014 2:34:57 PM PDT by Alex Murphy ("the defacto Leader of the FR Calvinist Protestant Brigades")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: GonzoII

Hades is temporary, the lake of fire is permanent. The suffering in either one is probably the same.


15 posted on 04/21/2014 2:36:47 PM PDT by Mark17 (Chicago Blackhawks: Stanley Cup champions 2010, 2013. Vietnam Vet 70-71 Msgt US Air Force, retired)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: GonzoII

I’d take Jesus word on the subject....


16 posted on 04/21/2014 2:43:44 PM PDT by Popman ("Resistance to Tyrants is Obedience to God" - Thomas Jefferson)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Salvation

FYI- There are ways to shorten or eliminate purgatory for yourself and others, including among them:

Wearing the Scapular and the Five First Saturdays of Reparation to Our Lady -—

http://themostholyrosary.com/appendix2.htm

The 30 days of St. Gregory the Great -—

http://www.ncregister.com/daily-news/how-to-help-the-holy-souls-in-purgatory/ The Pious Union of St. Joseph is the least expensive place I’ve found to say these Masses — 30 Masses for $200. A priest or a monastery, etc., has to receive some type of official approval to say these Masses.

http://www.piousunionofstjoseph.org/mass/mass-stipend/gregorian-masses/

The Twelve Years Prayers of St. Bridget of Sweden. (Very easy to say. Don’t be intimidated by the ‘12 Years’. It includes other benefits as well, but the individual who says them is promised to avoid Purgatory completely.) -—
http://www.jesusmariasite.org/Salvation/pdf/12PrayersStBrigit.pdf

The Prayer for souls by St. Gertrude the Great:

http://olrl.org/pray/stgertrude.shtml


17 posted on 04/21/2014 2:57:05 PM PDT by stisidore (MM, let's see here)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 13 | View Replies]

To: stisidore

Thanks I do some of those already, but others I had not heard of.


18 posted on 04/21/2014 3:21:30 PM PDT by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 17 | View Replies]

To: GonzoII

Yes, and they’re still voting Democrat.


19 posted on 04/21/2014 3:30:44 PM PDT by Jeff Chandler (Obamacare: You can't make an omelette without breaking a few eggs.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Salvation
I know after I am purified I can enter heaven

I know I have been purified by the blood of Jesus, I have been imputed His righteousness, and there isn't anything else needed.

20 posted on 04/21/2014 3:44:49 PM PDT by Former Fetus (Saved by grace through faith)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 13 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-4041-44 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
Religion
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson