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Comparison of Jesus’ Teaching on Gehenna
vs. Roman Catholicism on Hell

1. As we’ve seen in this study, Jesus taught that Gehenna was escapable, while Roman Catholicism teaches that Hell is inescapable.

2. Jesus taught only one future occurrence of the punishment of Gehenna, while Roman Catholicism teaches Hell is eternal and unending.

3. Jesus taught that the punishment of Gehenna was in only in his generation, while Roman Catholicism teaches it’s for all generations.

4. Jesus taught that the punishment of Gehenna was a physical judgment, while Roman Catholicism teaches Hell is a spiritual judgment.

5. Jesus warned that the punishment of Gehenna was a regional judgment involving people in Judea, while Roman Catholicism teaches Hell is global and universal.

6. Jesus taught that mortal souls, living humans would go to Gehenna, while Roman Catholicism teaches that immortal spirits will go to Hell.

7. Jesus taught that Gehenna would be physical punishment, while Roman Catholicism teaches that spiritual punishing would be carried out on immortal spirits.

8. Jesus taught that the punishment in Gehenna was to avenge martyrs, while Roman Catholicism makes no connection to avenging martyrs in Hell.

9. Jesus taught that Gehenna was to be the end of Old Covenant Israel, while Roman Catholicism teaches nothing about Hell in relation to Old Covenant Israel.

10. Gehenna was known to Moses and the Prophets, the Roman Catholic concept of Hell is unknown to Moses and the Prophets.

11. Gehenna didn’t need translating, Roman Catholicism didn’t translate Gehenna, but substituted Hell for it.

12. There was no eternal conscious torment in Gehenna, like there is in the Roman Catholic concept of Hell.

13. The warnings of punishment in Gehenna originated with Jesus, the doctrine of eternal conscious torment originated in Egypt.

14. The location of Gehenna is well known, the location of Hell in the spiritual realm is unknown.

15. Photographs of Gehenna are readily available, while there are no photographs of Roman Catholicism’s concept of Hell.

16. All of these characteristics of Gehenna are in the Bible, while none of Roman Catholicism’s concept of Hell is in the Bible.

17. The Roman Catholic Encyclopedia admits that the Catholic Church knows full well where Gehenna is, but have no idea where hell is, i.e., that hell is not Gehenna, nor is it a translation for Gehenna.

18. Gehenna and Hell are not the same in any way.

Gavin Newsom is the Governor

Comparison of Jesus’ Teaching on Gehenna vs. Roman Catholicism on Hell

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The Roman Catholic Encyclopedia ... What is the source of that list ? Is it from a website, article or book ? There is not sufficient source information to know its origin.

If one wants to accurately list the teaching of the Catholic Church on Hell, the primary source is the Catechism of the Catholic Church. For example:

IV. Hell

1033 We cannot be united with God unless we freely choose to love him. But we cannot love God if we sin gravely against him, against our neighbor or against ourselves: "He who does not love remains in death. Anyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him."610 Our Lord warns us that we shall be separated from him if we fail to meet the serious needs of the poor and the little ones who are his brethren.611 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."

1034 Jesus often speaks of "Gehenna" of "the unquenchable fire" reserved for those who to the end of their lives refuse to believe and be converted, where both soul and body can be lost.612 Jesus solemnly proclaims that he "will send his angels, and they will gather . . . all evil doers, and throw them into the furnace of fire,"613 and that he will pronounce the condemnation: "Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire!"614

1035 The teaching of the Church affirms the existence of hell and its eternity. Immediately after death the souls of those who die in a state of mortal sin descend into hell, where they suffer the punishments of hell, "eternal fire."615 The chief punishment of hell is eternal separation from God, in whom alone man can possess the life and happiness for which he was created and for which he longs.

1036 The affirmations of Sacred Scripture and the teachings of the Church on the subject of hell are a call to the responsibility incumbent upon man to make use of his freedom in view of his eternal destiny. They are at the same time an urgent call to conversion: "Enter by the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is easy, that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard, that leads to life, and those who find it are few."616

Since we know neither the day nor the hour, we should follow the advice of the Lord and watch constantly so that, when the single course of our earthly life is completed, we may merit to enter with him into the marriage feast and be numbered among the blessed, and not, like the wicked and slothful servants, be ordered to depart into the eternal fire, into the outer darkness where "men will weep and gnash their teeth."617

1037 God predestines no one to go to hell;618 for this, a willful turning away from God (a mortal sin) is necessary, and persistence in it until the end. In the Eucharistic liturgy and in the daily prayers of her faithful, the Church implores the mercy of God, who does not want "any to perish, but all to come to repentance":619

Father, accept this offering
from your whole family.
Grant us your peace in this life,
save us from final damnation,
and count us among those you have chosen.620

Did you lift that material it without attribution (or permission) from the author ? Did you know it was copyrighted by Samuel G. Dawson, a minister for many years among the Churches of Christ(CoC) denomination ?

© 2018 Samuel G. Dawson