Hell Has to Be

Archdiocese of Washington ^ | 11-19-17 | Msgr. Charles Pope

[Salvation]

Hell Has to Be

Msgr. Charles Pope • November 19, 2017 •

This is the eleventh in a series of articles on the Four Last Things: death, judgment, Heaven, and Hell.

Today we come to the final of the Four Last Things: Hell. I have written extensively on this topic over the years, largely in response to the widespread dismissal of the revealed doctrine of Hell. In contradiction to Scripture, many presume that Hell is an unlikely destination for most. Never mind that Jesus taught just the opposite (e.g., Matt 7:13-14). In my own small way, I have tried to keep people more rooted in the sobriety of the Gospel than in the wishful thinking of the modern age. No one warned of Hell more than did Jesus. Arguably, 21 of the 38 parables amount to warnings about Hell and the need to be ready for judgment day. (I have written more on that here: Jesus Who Loves You Warned Frequently of Hell.)

In this post, however, I would like to consider why Hell has to be. Frequently, those who doubt Jesus’ biblical teaching ask this: If God is love, then why is there Hell and why is it eternal?

In short, there is Hell because of God’s respect for our freedom. God has made us free and our freedom is absolutely necessary if we are to love. Suppose that a young man wanted a young lady to love him. Suppose again that he found a magic potion with which to lace her drink. After drinking it, Presto, she “loves” him! Is it real love? No it’s the effect of chemicals. Love must be freely given. The yes of love is only meaningful if we are free to say no. God invites us to love him. There must be a Hell because there has to be a real alternative to Heaven. God will not force us to love Him or to come to Heaven with Him.

But wait a minute; doesn’t everyone want to go to Heaven? Yes, but it is often a “heaven” as they define it, not the real Heaven. Many people understand Heaven egocentrically: It’s a place where they will be happy on their own terms, where what pleases them will be available in abundance. The real Heaven is the Kingdom of God in all its fullness. So while everyone wants to go to a “heaven” as they define it, not everyone wants to live in the Kingdom of God in all its fullness. Consider the following examples:

1. The Kingdom of God is about mercy and forgiveness. Not everyone wants to show mercy or forgive. Some prefer revenge. Others favor severe justice. Some prefer to cling to their anger and nurse resentments or bigotry. Further, not everyone wants to receive mercy and forgiveness. Some cannot possibly fathom why anyone would need to forgive them since they are right! Recall the second son in the Parable of the Prodigal Son. Instead of entering the feast at the pleading of his father, he refuses to enter because that wretched brother of his is in there. He will not forgive or love his brother as the father does. In so doing, he excludes himself from the feast. Despite his father’s pleading, he will not enter through forgiveness and mercy. The feast is not a feast at all for him. Similarly, Heaven will not be “heaven” for those who refuse the grace to forgive and love their enemies and those who have harmed them.
2. The Kingdom of God is about chastity. God is very clear with us that His Kingdom values chastity. For the unmarried, this means no genital sexual contact. For the married, this means complete fidelity to each other. Further, things such as pornography, lewd conduct, and immodesty are excluded from the Kingdom. Many people today do not prefer chastity. They would rather be unchaste and immodest. Many celebrate fornication and homosexual acts as a kind of liberation from “repressive” norms. Many people like to consume pornography and do not want to limit their sexual conduct. It is one thing to fail in some of these matters through weakness, but it is quite another to insist that there is nothing wrong with such behavior.
3. The Kingdom of God is about Liturgy. All of the descriptions of Heaven emphasize liturgy. There are hymns being sung. There is the praise of God. There is standing, sitting, and prostrating at certain times. There are candles, incense, and long robes. There is a scroll or book that is opened, read, and appreciated. There is the Lamb on a throne-like altar. It’s all very much like the Mass—but many are not interested in things like the They stay away because the say it’s “boring.” Perhaps they don’t like the hymns and all the praise. Perhaps the scroll (the Lectionary) and its contents do not interest them or agree with their moral preferences. Having God at the center rather than themselves is unappealing.

The point is this: If Heaven isn’t just of our own design; if Heaven—the real Kingdom of God—is about these things, then doesn’t it seem clear that there actually are many who don’t want to go to Heaven? You see, everyone wants to go to a “heaven” of their own design, but not everyone wants to live in the real Kingdom of Heaven. God will not force any one to live in Heaven if he doesn’t want to live there. He will not force anyone to love Him or what He loves or whom He loves. We are free to choose His Kingdom or not.

Perhaps a brief story will illustrate my point:

I once knew a woman in one of my parishes who in many ways was very devout. She went to daily Mass and prayed the rosary on most days. There was one thing about her, however, that was very troubling: she couldn’t stand African-Americans.

She would often comment to me, “I can’t stand Black people! They’re moving into this neighborhood and ruining everything! I wish they’d go away.” I remember scolding her a number of times for this sort of talk, but it seemed to have seeming effect.

One day I decided to try to make it more clear: “You know you don’t really want to go to Heaven,” I challenged.

“Of course I do, Father,” she replied. “God and the Blessed Mother are there; I want to go.”

“No, you won’t be happy there,” I responded.

“Why?” she asked, “What are you talking about, Father?”

“Well you see there are Black people in Heaven and you’ve said that you can’t stand to be around them, so I’m afraid you wouldn’t be happy there. God won’t force you to live in Heaven if you won’t be happy there. That’s why I think that you don’t really want to go to Heaven.”

I think she got the message because I noticed that her attitude started to improve.

That’s just it, isn’t it? God will not force us to live in the Kingdom if we really don’t want it or like what that Kingdom is. We can’t just invent our own “heaven.” Heaven is a real place. It has contours and realities of its own that we can’t just brush aside. Either we accept Heaven as it is or we ipso facto choose to live apart from it and God. So, Hell has to be. It is not a pleasant place, but I suppose the saddest thing about the souls in Hell is that they wouldn’t be happy in Heaven anyway. It’s a tragic plight, not to be happy anywhere.

Understand this, too: God has not utterly rejected even the souls in Hell. Somehow, He still provides for their basic needs. They continue to exist and thus God continues to sustain them with whatever is required for that existence. He does not annihilate them or snuff them out.

God respects their wish to live apart from the Kingdom and its values. He loves them but respects their choice.

Why is Hell eternal? Here I think we encounter a mystery about ourselves. God seems to be teaching us that there comes a day when our decisions are fixed forever. In this world we always have the possibility of changing our mind so the idea of a permanent decision seems strange to us. Those of us who are older can testify that as we age we get more and more set in our ways; it’s harder and harder to change. Perhaps this is a little foretaste of a time when our decisions will be forever fixed and we will never change. The Fathers of the Church used an image of pottery to teach on this. Think of wet clay on a potter’s wheel. As long as the clay is moist and still on the wheel it can be shaped and reshaped, but once it is put in the kiln, in the fire, its shape is fixed forever. So it is with us that when we appear before God, who is a Holy Fire, our fundamental shape will be forever fixed, our decisions will be final. This is mysterious to us and we only sense it vaguely, but because Heaven and Hell are eternal, it seems that this forever-fixed state is in our future.

This is the best I can do on a difficult topic: Hell has to be. It’s about God’s respect for us. It’s about our freedom and summons to love. It’s about the real Heaven. It’s about what we really want in the end. We know what God wants: to save us. The real judgment in question is what we want.

[Elsie]

Another good story.

Ah; true; but is it factual or fiction??

Luke has recorded that JESUS said ' “There was a rich man...'

HE said 'was', as though it had actually happened in the past.

[Elsie]

Elsie, Lk. 16 doesn’t have Gehenna in it, but Hades, and they’re not the same.

 

Gehenna - Wikipedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valley_of_Hinnom

Gehenna, (/ɡɪˈhɛnə/; גיא בן הינום‎ Ancient Greek: γέεννα), from the Hebrew Gehinnom (Rabbinical: גהנום‎/גהנם‎), is a small valley in Jerusalem and the Jewish and Christian analogue of hell.

• Etymology ·
• Geography ·
• The concept of Gehinnom

 

 

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Christian views on Hades - Wikipedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_views_on_Hades

Christian views on Hades Lazarus and the Rich Man (illumination from the Codex Aureus of Echternach). Hades, according to various Christian denominations, is "the ...

• In the Bible ·
• The word "Hades" in ... ·
• Church teachings

 

[Elsie]

23   2532 [e] 23   kai 23   καὶ 23   And 23

1722 [e] en ἐν in

3588 [e] tō τῷ  -

86 [e] hadē ᾅδῃ* Hades

1869 [e] eparas ἐπάρας having lifted up

3588 [e] tous τοὺς the

3788 [e] ophthalmous ὀφθαλμοὺς eyes

846 [e] autou αὐτοῦ  , of him

[Elsie]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_views_on_Hades#The_word_.22Hades.22_in_Christian_usage_in_English ... contains all kinds of 'teaching' moments about the region between life and finally judgement.

I think the BIBLE is clear when it uses SLEEP.

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Psalm 13:3
Look on me and answer, Lord my God. Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in death,

 

Psalm 90:5
Yet you sweep people away in the sleep of death— they are like the new grass of the morning:

 

Daniel 12:2
Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt.
 
 
John 11:12-13
His disciples replied, “Lord, if he sleeps, he will get better.”
Jesus had been speaking of his death, but his disciples thought he meant natural sleep.

 

1 Corinthians 15:51-52
Listen, I tell you a mystery:

We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed—in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet.

For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.

 

Ephesians 5:14
This is why it is said: “Wake up, sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.”

 

1 Thessalonians 4:13
Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope.

 

 

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And; if you are sleeping; then you will wake up:

 

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Daniel 12:2
Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt.

[Salvation]

Hell Has to Be

The Mystery of Life and Death
On the Fear of Death
And Death Is Gain: A Reflection on the Proper Christian Sense of Death
Pondering Judgment, One of the Four Last Things
Parables by Jesus on the Day of Judgment and on Our Need to be Ready

Preparing for Judgment
How to Influence the Way the Lord Will Judge Us
Do You Desire Heaven? Really?
What Is Eternal Life?
What Do We Mean by the Communion of Saints?

[Salvation]

Does not the last line speak in future tense?

**31 “He said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.’” **

[Elsie]

Of course.

Just like the first speaks of past tense.

[GBA]

I use that phrase ‘burned away’ metaphorically. If sin is like a stain on ones’ soul, then how can or what can one do to remove the stains and purify their soul? What does He do or use to purify us? Does purification of the soul, assuming there is such a process, end with the death of the body?

I don’t know. I really don’t. I’m still working through the reading assignments.

Trying to understand supernatural things and concepts using my limited natural world tools and understanding is hard for me. I admit that my limited writing skills don’t help much, either.

That post was me thinking out loud about the spiritual world and metaphysical things I’ve been reading about using what little I know about physical world math and science.

The principle of polarity suggests that for there to be a Heaven, there must also be a hell, which also suggests there could or would be an in between, a boundary/ border area that’s neither.

The ‘in-between’ could be what this life is, but I’ve also read a little about Purgatory.

I also wonder what happens to those with good hearts, but were “luke warm” in life, perhaps having been misguided or whatever. They’re neither good enough for Heaven, nor evil/bad enough for the depths of hell, or so I wonder.

Otoh, I’ve read that there are some souls who after death refuse Jesus’ offer of Heaven, preferring Satan in death just as they did in life.

I’ve also read that Jesus also rescues souls from hell in the afterlife, just as He rescues us from our personal hells in this life.

Anywho...hell is pretty scary to me and these, like all of my posts here regardless of the subject, are just me thinking/babbling out loud, but hopefully with a curious and more sensitive heart, with ears less dull, and eyes less dim.

Thanks for the help!

[metmom]

I think sin is way beyond a simple stain on the soul.

It has corrupted us and creation to our core. It is part of our very nature and it kills and while the blood/death of Jesus allows God to judicially pardon us and then relate to us, or treat us, as if we had never sinned, we are not free from the sin until we die.

Those forgiven have been given a new spiritual nature that is sin free and both natures now indwell the body we inhabit, When we die, the old nature is gone and the new sinless nature remains, fir to be in God’s presence immediately. However, for those not forgiven by God, they carry their sin forever.

And while we live here, they are at war within us. (Romans 7)

All creation groans longing to be released from its bondage to sin.

I am out of town for the weekend and do not have access to all my files or I would post the verses. It’s in Romans 8.

[metmom]

We graduations of sin and think that some is worse than others, but to God, disobedience is disobedience.

James deals with that in chapter 2. Scripture says that the soul that sins will die and in the case of Adam and Eve, all they did was eat a piece of fruit.

So in God’s eyes, that one sin was enough to condemn them to put them under the penalty of death. So if it’s one sin or many, a person is still condemend.

That’s the beauty of Christ’s atonement. It takes care of all our sin and forgives it completely. No matter what it is.

[Elsie]

That’s the beauty of Christ’s atonement. It takes care of all our sin and forgives it completely. No matter what it is.

This is WAY too simple!

It HAS to been more complicated: with rules and regulations and rituals being involved!!

[GBA]

I’ve read that since His bodily death on the cross, Jesus is everywhere, all around us all the time, in spirit.

I’ve read that, just as He wishes us to rest in His Sacred Heart, He wishes to rest in our hearts, and that at any time and in any situation or circumstance, He is “softly knocking on our door”, that we may let him in.

I’ve read that since His death on the cross, for Him to hug, He now uses our arms to hug, and that in our opening the door to Him and in our dying to our selves, we can become the instruments of His Peace.

When we open the door to Him and let Him use us as an instrument of His Peace, it is as though we become the lens through which His Love and His Light shines.

In this, I tend to think that our sins, our attachments to this world and our egos are the impurities that filter or block His Light and limit or even prevent us from being the instruments of His Peace, from being the arms He uses to hug and love our neighbors that we were made to be.

To this end, whether in good times, bad times or quiet times of rest, He has many tools with which He will purify our hearts and help us to become clear lenses through which He may shine, IF we open all of the doors to all areas of our hearts to Him. He is the ultimate teacher who even uses the tricks of Satan to purify our hearts.

This is true for everyone, whether believer or not. He’s always there in spirit for everyone in this life to answer the door and do His Will, to be His Arms to hug or do whatever the moment requires.

So, with regard to hell, I do wonder what happens to both the good-hearted who followed the dictates of their hearts, yet died without an understanding of Jesus that Christians have, just as I also wonder what happens to Christian believers who know the Word, yet fail to follow it or live the beliefs they claim for themselves.

My heart and I are glad judging souls isn’t my job and my heart breaks for the One who has to do it.

It’s kinda funny how, even though I don’t know what it is, to me hell is a scary place/concept/destiny, and just as real as real can be.