Free Republic

I spent a lot of time yesterday sorting out my feelings about Gosnell and his conviction, as well as the way some extreme pro-life people are talking about him. Thanks to a few respected colleagues who took some time with me to discuss in private, I think I’ve worked out the three major feelings I have. I suspect most of my readers will agree with the first two, but have questions about the third: 1 I’m glad limited justice has been served. 2 I’m glad he’s going to prison. 3 Yet, I don’t want Gosnell to go to Hell. I’d...

Featured Term (selected at random):DAMNATION The conscious eternal loss of the vision of God. The state of being damned by reason of one's own deliberate estrangement from God. This is the lot of the demons, and of those who die in mortal sin. It is damnation because it is the result of a just sentence pronounced by God on those who are guilty. It is eternal because it is irrevocable, being pronounced to be unending in its consequences (Matthew 25). The condemned are no longer in a state of probation, and no longer able to expiate or repent (Luke...

"I'm sitting here with a loaded shotgun. I want my family back or I pull the trigger," Al* threatened over the phone. "And don't call the cops. I'll kill them before I let them put me in some institution." What could I say to this troubled parishioner? His wife and son had left him, he had been demoted at work, and he felt the church was unsupportive of him. "Well, God loves you and I love you." "Yah, yah. But if I commit suicide, I'll go to hell! Right?" Al's question brought up the age-old question: Do Christians who commit...

Believing the truth about hell also motivates us to persuade people to be reconciled to God. By God’s grace those of us who are trusting Christ have been rescued from this horrible destiny. How can we love people and refuse to speak plainly to them about the realities of eternal damnation and God’s gracious provision of salvation? Clearer visions of hell will give us greater love for both God and people. “There is one very serious defect to my mind in Christ’s moral character, and that is that He believed in hell.” So wrote the agnostic British philosopher Bertrand Russell...

Italian archaeologists have uncovered Pluto's Gate, the so-called "gate to hell," in southwestern Turkey. In Greco-Roman mythology the cave was considered the portal to the underworld. It was found in the ancient ruins of Hierapolis, now called Pamukkale, and was described by Cicero and the Greek geographer Strabo in their writings. According to Strabo, the opening was filled with deadly vapors. "This space is full of vapor so misty and dense that one can scarcely see the ground. Any animal that passes inside meets instant death," Strabo wrote. "I threw in sparrows and they immediately breathed their last and fell...

Where is Christ after he dies on Friday afternoon and before he rises on Easter Sunday? Both Scripture and Tradition answer this question. Consider the following from a Second Century Sermon and also a mediation from the Catechism of the Catholic Church.An Ancient Sermon: Today a great silence reigns on earth, a great silence and a great stillness. A great silence because the King is asleep. The earth trembled and is still because God has fallen asleep in the flesh and he has raised up all who have slept ever since the world began. . . He has gone...

Let’s get one thing straight. In this battle over same-sex ‘marriage’ it often sounds like those pushing the dismantling of traditional marriage have the upper hand in terms of love. ‘You are opposed to love!’; ‘How does the love between me and my partner affect you in your marriage?’; ‘Why can’t I be allowed to love whomever I choose?’ These are the tough arguments from ‘love’ facing those who are fighting to protect marriage from radical redefinition. In truth, however, love is the principle reason to fight same-sex ‘marriage.’ You see, law is a teacher and enshrining same-sex ‘marriage’ in...

Doing this piece gave me pause. I don't KNOW where Chavez went after his death, and I'm not interested in decisively casting judgement on the matter.That said, he was a BAD guy, he abused the power bestowed upon him, and his life was not a force for good in the world.That has to count for something...

President Hugo Chavez Has Died

SNIPPET: "The forces fighting against Assad's regime in Syria include foreigners who have come to take part in the uprising alongside the Syrian rebels. Among them are members of Jordan's Salafi-jihadi movement, which, according to its senior leaders, has so far dispatched some 250 fighters to Syria.[1] As one means of encouraging Jordanian youths to join its ranks and adopt the ideology of jihad and martyrdom, the Salafi-jihadi movement stages "martyrs' weddings" for fighters killed in Syria, based on the Islamic belief that every martyr is rewarded with 72 black-eyed virgin brides in Paradise. These "weddings" are not a new...

DENTIST FROM COLOMBIA SAW SIN OF ABORTION DURING AFTERLIFE JOURNEY TO NETHERWORLDHow can it be -- that in a great nation, in a nation "under God," there is abortion?How can it be? How can it be that we poison babies, that we scald them, that we puncture them, that we discard them in large alley trash bins?How can it be that every year we slay more than a million in the womb -- this nation that invented the polio vaccine, that devised countless medical technologies to save lives, including those of infants; how can it be rational to also be...

A documentary on abortionist Kermit Gosnell’s well-regarded practice. The video, which includes some images of Gosnell’s many victims, is not for children or the faint of heart.

Every once in a while, someone of note questions or denies the classic Christian belief of a literal hell with eternal, conscious suffering. Then a debate rages and becomes personal between representatives of various perspectives on the issue... Hell is real and terrible. It is eternal. There is no possibility of amnesty or reprieve. Daniel says that some of the dead will be resurrected “to shame and everlasting contempt.” Jesus says, “Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. . . . And these will go away into eternal punishment.” Paul tells...

The last thing any of us want to think about is eternal torment. And yet there we find it....smack dab in the middle of God's Word, and regularly mentioned by the very One who suffered on the cross for our sins. As much as we would like to ignore it completely....or pretend it doesn't exist....we find ourselves compelled to honestly accept everything God has placed in His Word....even when it has such extreme consequences. Nothing could be further from our natural way of thinking than the doctrine of eternal punishment in hell....and the Son of God suffering on a cross....and...

As most of you know, there has been a rather vivid discussion recently in the blogosphere on the subject of hell. As one who has written rather substantially, on the topic of hell, and our need to recover a more biblical notion regarding judgment and hell, I pray that you will tolerate me adding my own voice to the recent discussions.Those who read this blog regularly, will know that I have spoken on the topic of Hell on any number of occasions. For example:The Hell of It ——–Hell Has to Be——Will Many Be Saved? ——–Sinner Please Don’t Let this Harvest...

The face of American Christianity is in transition, and Rob Bell, with his evolving look and artistry, has opened a window on this hybrid horizon. Known to many for his Nooma films, a series of twenty-four twelve-minute sermons and his controversial 2011 book, titled Love Wins: A Book about Heaven, Hell, and the Fate of Every Person Who Ever Lived, his person and work provoke visceral reactions that range from adoration to repulsion, while raising profound questions. In 2011 he was named to the Time 100 list—the 100 most influential people in the world. That same year, Bell left Mars...

Pastor Joseph Lowery, a civil rights movement hero who delivered the benediction at President Obama’s inauguration, reportedly said that he is shocked that any black Americans would stay home with Obama on the ballot and suggested that all or most white people would go to hell. The local outlet paraphrases Lowery’s comments. “Lowery said that when he was a young militant, he used to say all white folks were going to hell,” the Monroe County Reporter (Ga.) says in covering a rally in Forsyth, Georgia. “Then he mellowed and just said most of them were. Now, he said, he is...

I heard a radio host say this morning that "Huckabee is being quoted all over the internet that "If you vote for Obama, you are going to hell." Of course, the liberal host did not check out the quote but merely mimicked the Daily Kos, Slate, Democratic Underground,  and a host of  other lying liberal outlets.I had a chance to call the host and rebuke him - in a Biblical manner, of course. Huckabee did say, simply, ""Your vote will affect the future and be recorded in eternity." This benign, vanilla comment was taken badly by the left as some sort of...

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” John 3:16 [caption id="attachment_5052" align="alignright" width="215" caption=""The Water Torture.— Facsimile of a Woodcut in J. Damhoudère's Praxis Rerum Criminalium: in 4to, Antwerp, 1556.""][/caption] Pouring water over the covered face of an immobilized person is a brutal thing to do. The captive experiences severe pain and an overwhelming sensation of drowning. Some victims have even been known to break their bones as they struggle against the restraints. But waterboarding is nothing compared with what American theologian...

The new documentary Hellbound? has reignited discussion about the perennial topic of hell as well as revealed some very bizarre perspectives. Kevin Miller, the film’s director, who identifies as a Christian, stated in an interview that, regarding the traditional view of hell as a place of fiery torment, “I don’t see anything in the Bible that would lead me to believe that such a place exists.” Instead, according to Miller, when Jesus talked about hell, he was talking about the here and now. Really? Jesus didn’t warn about a place of judgment to come? And Director Miller gets his denial...

Featured Term (selected at random):PAIN OF SENSE The suffering in hell caused by some agent called "fire" in Scripture, external to the person and secondary to the main punishment, which is the loss of God. All items in this dictionary are from Fr. John Hardon's Modern Catholic Dictionary, © Eternal Life. Used with permission.

I have written here before on the reality of Hell, as revealed in Scripture. And though many dismiss Hell as either non-existent or a very remote possibility, no Biblical figure spoke more of Hell than Jesus, who also taught that “many� go there. It is a sober and straight-forward teaching of Scripture that there is a Hell and that many mysteriously choose to live apart from God and the values of God’s Kingdom.Yet, while fully asserting all this, I do wonder why the teaching on Hell is so unambiguously “hellish� and why the focus of the Lord’s teaching is almost...

In...1838...Joseph Smith responded to...questions which he said were daily and hourly asked by all classes of people. To the question "Will every body be damned but Mormons?" he replied, "Yes, and a great portion of them, unless they repent and work righteousness."...I...assumed, along with others, that Joseph's response was rather tongue-in-cheek. Actually, as we shall see, he was very much in earnest and was...a sentiment widely held among the early Saints... But what of the honest and honorable of other churches? A Times and Seasons editorial answered bluntly that it did not matter...Such either/or thinking did belong to some fanatic...

People who end up in hell do not repent, from what the Bible tells us, said respected New Testament scholar Don Arthur (D.A.) Carson on Sunday at The Gospel Coalition National Women's Conference in Orlando. Carson, who is co-founder of The Gospel Coalition along with Pastor Tim Keller of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in Manhattan, said that as far as he can see in the Bible, "there is no hint anywhere that people in hell genuinely repent." Pointing to the well-known parable of the rich man and Lazarus in Luke 16:19-31, Carson, who is research professor of New Testament at Trinity...

Religions are thought to serve as bulwarks against unethical behaviors. However, when it comes to predicting criminal behavior, the specific religious beliefs one holds is the determining factor, says a University of Oregon psychologist. The study, appearing in the Public Library of Science journal PLoS ONE, found that criminal activity is higher in societies where people's religious beliefs contain a strong punitive component than in places where religious beliefs are more benevolent. A country where many more people believe in heaven than in hell, for example, is likely to have a much higher crime rate than one where these beliefs...

The world cannot hate you; but me it hateth, because I testify of it, that the works thereof are evil.(John 7:7)If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.(John 15:18-19)Increasingly over the past couple of years, many of us within evangelical christianity, have either been a participant in, or an observer of the following kind of several step exchange; Step...

The young man in my office was impeccably dressed and articulate. He was an Ivy League MBA, successful in the financial world, and had lived in three countries before age 30. Raised in a family with only the loosest connections to a mainline church, he had little understanding of Christianity. I was therefore gratified to learn of his intense spiritual interest, recently piqued as he attended our church. He said he was ready to embrace the gospel. But there was a final obstacle. "You've said that if we do not believe in Christ," he said, "we are lost and condemned....

And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel’s, the same shall save it. For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my...

And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel’s, the same shall save it. For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my...

And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel’s, the same shall save it. For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my...

And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel’s, the same shall save it. For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my...

After the death of evangelical leader Chuck Colson, Frank Schaeffer wrote a scathing rebuke of Colson's life and implied that he was in hell. "Evangelical Christianity lost one of its most beloved and bigoted homophobic and misogynistic voices with the death of Charles W. 'Chuck' Colson, a Watergate felon who converted to 'evangelicalism' but never lost his taste for dirty political tricks against opponents," Schaeffer wrote. Schaeffer complained about Colson's political activism, which he described as "far right," and seemed particularly offended that Colson would seek to work with Catholics on issues where evangelicals and Catholics find common cause. He...

He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.(John 3:36)The final words this chapter on the new birth, are given to the one Jesus designated as “greatest man born of a woman”, John the Baptist. Jesus had spoken to Nicodemus of the necessity of the new birth, the fact that “born from above” is an Act of God,the Holy Spirit. Jesus also gives the teacher of Israel,(and us) the scriptural warrant for it , for this is the giving of a...

John answered and said, A man can receive nothing, except it be given him from heaven. Ye yourselves bear me witness, that I said, I am not the Christ, but that I am sent before him. He that hath the bride is the bridegroom: but the friend of the bridegroom, which standeth and heareth him, rejoiceth greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice: this my joy therefore is fulfilled. He must increase, but I must decrease.(john 3:27-29)The Gospel of John chapter three is constructed in such a way as to make a specific theological point. There is a continuity of thought,...

Bishop Thomas Tobin's Five Problems with Homosexual “Marriage” It’s a sure sign of spring, as predictable as the Red Sox at spring training, the swallows returning to Capistrano, and the flowing of green beer on St. Patrick’s Day. I’m referring of course to the public re-appearance of the determined proponents of homosexual marriage.It seems that each year at this time the left-leaning columnists, the organized advocates, and the lobbyists at the State House awaken from their hibernation to take-up their perennial campaign to redefine marriage in Rhode Island and impose their personal preferences upon the citizenry of our State.The public...

He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. (John 3:18-20)The new birth that Jesus spoke of in his talk with Nicodemus, is good news. We can start all over again with God. We...

He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. ( John 3:18-20)In John chapter three, Jesus tells us that he didn’t come into the world to “condemn the world”. He didn’t have to, for...

For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. (John 3:17-18)We have been looking at the discussion between Jesus and Israel’s chief Rabbi, Nicodemus, on the subject of entry into the Kingdom of God. The only possibility, according to Jesus, is by the “new birth”, being “born from above”. Man is a sinner indeed and needs...

Atheist Professor’s Near-Death Experience in Hell Left Him Changed by Mark Ellis, FaithIssues, Godreports In some near-death experiences, people report they were drawn toward “the light.” But in this horrifying near-death experience for an atheist art professor, he was drawn into the darkness of hell, which dramatically altered the course of his life. “I was a double atheist,” says Howard Storm, who became a tenured art professor at Northern Kentucky University by age 27. “I was a know-it-all college professor, and universities are some of the most closed-minded places there are,” he notes. On the last day of a three-week...

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.(John 3:16)Jesus said that the reason that God, the Father, sent His only begotten Son, (the monogenes) , is that we “might not perish, but have everlasting life“. As we pointed out earlier, the sheer familiarity of John 3:16 masks often blurs its true power and potency. Children are rightly taught to recite it in Sunday school, much like they are taught the Lord’s Prayer, or the apostles creed, in an almost rote fashion. What does...

GAITHERSBURG, MARYLAND, March 8, 2012, (LifeSiteNews.com) – The lesbian who is attempting to get a Catholic priest removed from his parish for denying her Holy Communion at her mother’s funeral is a Buddhist who describes herself as a “naturally born agitator” committed to a “culture war.” Barbara Johnson created a national feeding frenzy after alerting the media that Fr. Marcel Guarnizo had refused to give her the Eucharist after asking her not to come forward to receive, because she is a sexually active homosexual. On February 26, Fr. Marcel Guarnizo of St. John Neumann Catholic Church in Gaithersburg, Maryland, covered...

Introduction: At the beginning of Holy Week in 1868, haunting dreams began to trouble Don Bosco, and they “went on for several miserable nights.�“These dreams so exhausted me,� he stated, “that in the morning I felt more done in than if I had been working all night. They also alarmed and upset me very much.�The most frightful, but also the most salutary of these dreams occurred on Friday, April 10th. It is the account of this dream, which we have reprinted below. The reader will notice that, in this dream, Don Bosco is accompanied by a man who acted...

While walking down the street one day a Corrupt Senator (that may be redundant) was tragically hit by a car and died. His soul arrives in heaven and is met by St. Peter at the entrance. "Welcome to heaven," says St.. Peter. "Before you settle in, it seems there is a problem. We seldom see a high official around these parts, you see, so we're not sure what to do with you." "No problem, just let me in," says the Senator. "Well, I'd like to, but I have orders from the higher ups. What we'll do is have you spend...

Archbishop Chaput Rome, Italy, Jan 28, 2010 / 11:41 am (CNA).- On Wednesday, the Emmanuel Community's annual symposium in Rome was addressed by Archbishop Charles Chaput of Denver, who spoke on the task of evangelizing the modern culture and what he called religious leaders' embarrassment to discuss the existence of Satan.The American archbishop spoke for half an hour at the Pontifical Lateran University to an audience ranging from college students to people in their 70s. His speech, entitled, “The Prince of this World and the Evangelization of Culture,” was part of a symposium that lasted from Jan. 25-27 and...

There is a Fourteenth century story of a Bailiff–the hated town collector of rents and enforcer of labor services—who, while riding to a village one day to collect rents, met the Devil himself in human form. “Where are you going,” asked the Devil? “To the next village on my master’s business,” replied the Bailiff. Upon introducing himself, the Devil asked the Bailiff if he would take whatever was freely offered him. “Yes,” replied the Bailiff who then asked the same question of the Devil. The Devil replied that, although also in quest of gain, he would NOT be willing to...

LORENZAGO DI CADORE, Italy — For the second time in a week, Pope Benedict XVI has corrected what he says are erroneous interpretations of the Second Vatican Council, reasserting the primacy of the Roman Catholic Church and saying other Christian communities were either defective or not true churches.

The North Korean dictator, Kim Jong-Il, finally died at the age of 69. It is highly debatable whether or not his death will lead to liberation and life for the long-suffering people of North Korea. Kim was brutal towards his own people. To give just one example, he manufactured a famine in the 1990s where it is estimated that more than 2 million people starved to death. While this occurred, Kim was dining on ample amounts of fine food and liquor. He seemed to have little concern for the millions who were indoctrinated to serve their “dear leader.” Between internal...