Hell in Catholic theology: Difference between revisions
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#REDIRECT [[Hell in Christianity#Roman Catholicism]] |
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Roman Catholic teaching asserts that "the 'heaven' or 'happiness' in which we will find ourselves is neither an abstraction nor a physical place in the clouds, but a living, personal relationship with the Holy Trinity. It is our meeting with the Father which takes place in the risen Christ through the communion of the Holy Spirit";<ref>[http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/audiences/1999/documents/hf_jp-ii_aud_21071999_en.html Pope John Paul II, Audience Talk, 21 July 1999;] cf.[http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/homilies/2010/documents/hf_ben-xvi_hom_20100815_assunzione_en.html Homily by Pope Benedict XVI on 16 August 2010.]</ref> and hell is not a place but a person's condition, "the state of those who freely and definitively separate themselves from God, the source of all life and joy":<ref>[http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/audiences/1999/documents/hf_jp-ii_aud_28071999_en.html Pope John Paul II, Audience Talk, 28 July 1999]</ref> "(the) state of definitive self-exclusion from communion with God and the blessed is called 'hell'."<ref>[http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P2O.HTM Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1033]</ref> The Roman Catholic Church thus explicitly denies that heaven is "up in the sky" and hell is "in the earth ... is a place created". If the Eastern Orthodox Church also denies that heaven is "up in the sky" and hell "in the earth ... a place created", this is a matter on which there is no theological difference between the two.{{Citation needed|date=September 2010}} |
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About a century before these authoritative statements of the Popes were made, Joseph Hontheim argued in the article he wrote for the 1910 [[Catholic Encyclopedia]] that hell is a place, but stated that "the Church has decided nothing on this subject".<ref>Hell[http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/07207a.htm Joseph Hontheim, "Hell" in ''The Catholic Encyclopedia'', Vol. 7. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1910. Retrieved 3 September 2010]</ref> |
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In agreement with those who hold that hell is separation from God, the Roman Catholic Church declares that, while Scripture uses the image of place in relation to eternal damnation, what is really involved is a state of self-exclusion from God.<ref>"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)" ([http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/audiences/1999/documents/hf_jp-ii_aud_28071999_en.html Pope John Paul II]).</ref> The Roman Catholic Church too teaches that God does not cut anyone off from himself, and that the non-physical separation from God of those in hell is only a self-exclusion on their own part.<ref>"Hell indicates the state of those who freely and definitively separate themselves from God, the source of all life and joy" ([http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/audiences/1999/documents/hf_jp-ii_aud_28071999_en.html Pope John Paul II, 28 July 1999]</ref><ref>"Vatican officials said that the Pope — who is also the Bishop of Rome — had been speaking in 'straightforward' language 'like a parish priest'. He had wanted to reinforce the new Catholic catechism, which holds that Hell is a 'state of eternal separation from God', to be understood 'symbolically rather than physically'" ([http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article1572646.ece The Times]).</ref> God's love is for all human beings, including sinners.In the West Hell is described as self-exclusion from communion with that universal love,<ref>"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'" ([http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P2O.HTM Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1033]).</ref> as cutting oneself off from love. In Western belief, therefore, hell is not "a place"; and whatever torments are suffered, "they are not imposed by a vindictive judge"<ref name=Marthaler>[http://books.google.com/books?id=TY3-aZIo9HEC&pg=PA211&dq=marthaler+augustine+compounded&hl=en&ei=kJxyTIbiPMvGswbDjdm5Bg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CCgQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=falseBerard L. Marthaler, ''The Creed'' (Twenty-Third Publications 2007 ISBN 978-0-89622-537-4), p. 211]</ref><ref>[http://books.google.com/books?id=aqwXZMeuJkoC&pg=PA176&dq=%22vindictive+judge%22+hell+Catholic&hl=en&ei=3pdyTO2kL4WCswaQ6tS5Bg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CC4Q6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=%22vindictive%20judge%22%20hell%20Catholic&f=falseZachary J. Hayes, in ''Four Views on Hell'' Zondervan 1996 ISBN 0-310-21268-5), p. 176]</ref> Saint [[Augustine of Hippo]] said that the suffering of hell is compounded because God continues to love the sinner who is not able to return the love.<ref name=Marthaler/> |
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==References== |
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{{reflist}} |
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{{Catholicism}} |
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Latest revision as of 18:06, 10 October 2021
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