Posted on 05/25/2017 8:27:02 AM PDT by Salvation
Monsignor Pope Ping!
Thanks, Salvation!
Jesus told us about Hell. More important, He told us about Heaven and how He made it possible for us to live there with Him forever. Praise the Lord.
No “heresy” of our day is more widespread or pernicious than the denial of hell, its existence, and its sad frequency. I use quotes around the word only because I, as a simple priest, do not have the power to declare formal heresy. However, “heresy” in a broader, more descriptive sense simply means picking and choosing among revealed truth. Confronted with truths that are in some tension (such as God’s justice vs. His mercy or human freedom vs. God’s sovereignty) the “heretic” chooses one and throws out the other in order to resolve the tension. Orthodoxy says “both” but “heresy” picks one and discards the other.
Fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. The essence of fear is 1) your life is on the balance, and 2) you are not in control of the situation. In the presence of God you can only claim mercy in the name of Jesus. YOU BRING NOTHING TO THE TABLE.
ONLY when one begins to understand Holy and Just can one understand mercy and love.
God must be just, he does not have to be merciful.
I also like the warning against presumption in the article.
It shows a complete lack of faith on the part of the Catholic in the promises of Christ.
24“Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life. John 5:24 NASB
Maybe both are true.
The Greek word used in the bible for “believe” also covers the following:
Faith in
Trust in
Confidence in
So the Protestants have taken what was a rather encompassing word and said, well if you “believe” there Jesus you are saved. Ponder this the demons believe in Jesus, they know what he is, are they saved? Not bloody likely. The simple English definition is not sufficient to convey the full meaning and implication of the Greek word, in which the gospels were originally written.
http://www.biblehub.com/greek/4100.htm
Hint: Also recall Christ says you must approach him as a child would. What does that mean? Something to ponder.
Which description is part of the problem, since while Hell and the Lake of Fire is separation from God, it is not simply the absence of God but the proactive wrath of God. For the Lord did not say,
"And if thy foot offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter halt into life, than having two feet to be cast into eternal separation from God in hell," but "into the fire that never shall be quenched: Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched." (Mark 9:45-46)
In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power; (2 Thessalonians 1:8-9)
No “heresy” of our day is more widespread or pernicious than the denial of hell, its existence, and its sad frequency.
But true to form, he excludes Rome from being guilty of the denial of the its existence of Hell as described in Scripture and its frequency therein.
At the General Audience of Wednesday, 28 July 1999, the Holy Father reflected on hell as the definitive rejection of God. In his catechesis, the Pope said that care should be taken to interpret correctly the images of hell in Sacred Scripture, and explained that "hell is 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 ".
By using images, the New Testament presents the place destined for evildoers as a fiery furnace, where people will "weep and gnash their teeth" (Mt 13:42; cf. 25:30, 41), or like Gehenna with its "unquenchable fire" (Mk 9:43). All this is narrated in the parable of the rich man...
[Which is not a parable, in which real names are never used, and which employs known physical realities which correspond to spiritual realities, but her real names are used and it is a stretch to make the rich man in Hell correspond to some mere spiritual reality that is not that of the afterlife and Hell.
[And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame. But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented. (Luke 16:23-25) ]
The images of hell that Sacred Scripture presents to us must be correctly interpreted. They show the complete frustration and emptiness of life without God. 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. This is how the Catechism of the Catholic Church summarizes the truths of faith on this subject: "To die in mortal sin without repenting and accepting God's merciful love means remaining separated from him for ever by our own free choice. This state of definitive self-exclusion from communion with God and the blessed is called 'hell'" (n. 1033). https://www.ewtn.com/library/PAPALDOC/JP2HEAVN.HTM, emp. mine
[Once again, the Biblical description is of a location, and not self-exclusion from communion with God from God and absence of anything good, but of a place of varying degrees of proactive torment.
As for frequency,
At Pope Benedict XVI’s question and answer session with priests from his diocese last Thursday, one cleric told the Pope he was concerned that the catechism of the Italian bishops’ conference never mentions hell or purgatory, and speaks of heaven only once. “With these essential parts of the creed missing,” the priest asked, “doesn’t it seem to you that the redemption of Christ falls apart?”
In reply, the Pope called heaven, hell, and purgatory “fundamental themes that unfortunately appear rarely in our preaching,” journalist and church expert Sandro Magister reports.
Pope Benedict speculated that the condemned might not be numerous, describing how thoroughly they would have to have destroyed themselves:
“Perhaps there are not so many who have destroyed themselves so completely, who are irreparable forever, who no longer have any element upon which the love of God can rest, who no longer have the slightest capacity to love within themselves. This would be hell.” ("What the Pope really said about Hell," Feb 11, 2008; http://www.catholicnewsagency.com)/news/what_the_pope_really_said_about_hell, emp. mine
In contrast, it is "few there be" that enter into life via the narrow road, while those in Hell may have love and compassion as the rich man in Hell evidenced by pleading for Lazarus to warn his 5 brethren "lest they also come into this place of torment."
Texts on Hell and Judgment
While the priest may somewhat sound like a fundamentalist on Hell, he is out of his league, and misses one of the foremost test in Hell-fire:
And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power; (2 Thessalonians 1:7-9)
And (which goes with Mt. 25:41,46),
And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever. (Revelation 20:10)
And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. (Revelation 20:13-15)
And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb: And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name. (Revelation 14:9-11)
The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear. (Matthew 13:41-43)
The context, and I know that's a new concept for many Catholics on these threads, will determine how the word is to be understood.
4100 pisteúō (from 4102 /pístis, "faith," derived from 3982 /peíthō, "persuade, be persuaded") – believe (affirm, have confidence); used of persuading oneself (= human believing) and with the sacred significance of being persuaded by the Lord (= faith-believing). Only the context indicates whether 4100 /pisteúō ("believe") is self-serving (without sacred meaning), or the believing that leads to/proceeds from God's inbirthing of faith.
http://biblehub.com/greek/4100.htm
If you check Thayer’s concordance you will also see the meaning:
“have confidence in”
Actually I think in this case the protestants need to ponder it as well. Too many think if you believe Jesus “was”, existed and is the Son of G-D such is all that is needed. Some original meaning is lost in such an approach.
I say this as a protestant, methinks all denominations fall short in one manner or another.
We ALL deserve hell. We are sinful to our core, no matter how much we dont want to be. God is holy and righteous snd can not be in the presence of sin. None of us are worth of eternity with Him. But he gave us a way. He put all our sin on his Son Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. All we have to is confess Jesus is our Lord and Savior and believe in our heart God raised him from the dead, and then when we confess our sins and repent, God will cleanse us of our sin by the blood shed by His Son. Then we can inherit the kingdom of God.
God gives us a simple choice. If you reject his Son, God will reject you anf the cost will be eternal separation from God in the lake of fire. If you recieve his Son and repent of your sins, you are then a child of God by way of His Son, Jesus Christ.
The meaning is understood in context.
They are not saved because of that, not because of the issue of believing or not believing.
Here are some verses from Scripture that talk about believing and being saved, some the very words of Jesus Himself.
John 1:10-13 He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.
John 3:14-18 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.
John 5:24 Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.
John 6:37-39 All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out. For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day.
John 6:40 For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”
Romans 10:9-13 because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
Acts 16:27-31 When the jailer woke and saw that the prison doors were open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped. But Paul cried with a loud voice, “Do not harm yourself, for we are all here.” And the jailer called for lights and rushed in, and trembling with fear he fell down before Paul and Silas. Then he brought them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” And they said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.”
“have confidence in”
Actually I think in this case the protestants need to ponder it as well. Too many think if you believe Jesus “was”, existed and is the Son of G-D such is all that is needed. Some original meaning is lost in such an approach.
Which answers your comment above about demons believing.
And while we Christians see belief as more than intellectual assent and more along the lines of having confidence in, Catholics routinely condemn us for *the sin of presumption* for having that very confidence in the nature, character, and promises of God that we are having confidence in.
You can believe that all of it is true, and many do.
But not many throw themselves on the mercy of the court, so to speak.
Not many indeed. I would guess that maybe 5% or less, of the world's population will go to Heaven, so 95% or more, will go to Hell. That ought to motivate people to find out the truth, but I doubt it will. Most people will gleefully continue down the wide road that leads to destruction. We keep preaching.
Is it possible to make Msgr Pope’s articles “caucus?”
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.