Pope says "hell exists and is eternal"

8kvscdpglqnyr4

http://www.catholic.org/international/international_story.php?id=23533

From the article: wrote:

God's mercy and love are great, but those who reject him should know that hell "exists and is eternal," Pope Benedict XVI said.

I've been hearing quite a bit about story this over the last couple of days and it got me thinking: If you're a catholic and if your friend/husband/wife/father/etc happened to "reject him" (I assume that means to reject God/Jesus/Holy Spirt), then when you die and get to heaven, you will never see them again ... EVER! Doesn't that make heaven sound somewhat like hell? I know if would be for me! I realise God will be there and that should keep you happy for all eternity but won't you still miss your family/friends when weren't Catholic?

quad_red

It's intolerent quackery.

"If he hates sin, it's because he loves each person infinitely,"

But should you not obey the random shackled together moral codes we 'divinely' interpretated (and changed at will) these last two thousand years, you're out.

You have to love mass religion.

po0k

You'll be dead. You won't be missing much of anything.

robindch

The Catechism of the Catholic Church defines hell as "the state of definitive self-exclusion from communion with God and the blessed."

If that means an eternity without creationists, then sign me up!

lostexpectation

Pope says "hell exists and is eternal"

allegorically though yeah?

Asiaprod

This thread will be terminated early unless interest is shown, and replies are made, by catholics, to whom this post was originally directed. If the non-believers wish to continue to debate it, I can move it somewhere more appropriate.

Correct me if I am wrong, I thought hell was not just for Catholics.

r3nu4l

To answer the OP's question, yes it would sound like hell to me. To spend all eternity in Heaven perhaps without the person you most loved in life would seem very strange to me and sounds terrible!

Good job my other half is a believer too

On the other hand, does 'reject him' refer to non-believers or does it refer to people who do not live a Christian way of life? I know plenty of agnostics and athiests who live a life that any Christian would be proud of.

The same goes for people Muslims, Jews and indeed all non-Christian religions. Would 'rejecting h (H?)im' be simply denying He is the one true God or would it be rejecting His teachings? We all sin against God but wasn't the Prodigal Son welcomed upon his return?

CerebralCortex

SyxPak wrote:

You'll be dead. You won't be missing much of anything.

Exactly!

mr_angry

If you take it to mean that the Catholic Church is the one true (and only) way to live your life, then it automatically means that all non-Catholics and general evil-doers should end up in hell. To take a small example, that would likely mean that being born in India and brought up as a Hindu would make you a candidate for damnation. Bit harsh, no?

8kvscdpglqnyr4

Asiaprod wrote:

This thread will be terminated early unless interest is shown, and replies are made, by catholics, to whom this post was originally directed.

Thanks for clearing that up.

I'm trying to understand how Catholics could possibly be happy in Heaven without some of their family/friends who rejected God on Earth.

8kvscdpglqnyr4

r3nu4l wrote:

To answer the OP's question, yes it would sound like hell to me. To spend all eternity in Heaven perhaps without the person you most loved in life would seem very strange to me and sounds terrible!

Good job my other half is a believer too

Lucky for you that your partner is a believer too.

But surely you have some other family or friends who are not a believers?

Sangre

Even believers won't necessarily get into heaven.

po0k

You need to upgrade to Heaven Premium Edition.

GodTV.

r3nu4l

Gracie Squeaking Repairman wrote:

But surely you have some other family or friends who are not a believers?

Yes I do know some people who have no belief and yes it would be pretty lousy to think that I was plucking away on my harp while lying on a cloud while they were 'down below' toiling away in the heat.

Again though I come back to the difference between 'belief' and 'living a 'Christian lifestyle'. 'Believing' but acting the lout all your life will probably get you banned by the Admin of the great big forum in the sky. Living life in a Christian manner should make you pretty safe in my book as we believe that our God is a forgiving God to those who are genuinely remorseful and I'm pretty sure a lot of athiests would be quite remorseful (not to mention sheepish) on the day of judgement if it turned out they were wrong! Then again I'm not God...but if I was there'd be a few changes around here I tall ya!

<_<
>_>

8kvscdpglqnyr4

r3nu4l wrote:

Again though I come back to the difference between 'belief' and 'living a 'Christian lifestyle'.

Fair enough - I see where you're coming from here. But I think that just happens to be your slant on the "hell issue".

I think the Pope makes it clear that anyone who rejects the RC God is going to hell. He does not say any person who lives a "Christian" life is going to heaven. You have to accept God (the Christian God) to get into heaven.

So as an Atheist, I'm definitely not going to hell and I think any of your friends who fail to accept God will not be having a pint with you in the great pub in the sky;)

r3nu4l

Gracie Squeaking Repairman wrote:

Fair enough - I see where you're coming from here. But I think that just happens to be your slant on the "hell issue".

Yep, it's all definitely from my perspective only. I honestly haven't read what the Pope said or seen any expanded theological interpretations so I can't speak for the Pope or God

Gracie Squeaking Repairman wrote:

So as an Atheist, I'm definitely not going to hell and I think any of your friends who fail to accept God will not be having a pint with you in the great pub in the sky;)

Woo hoo, all the more pints for me, so long as I have a good seat, a nice pint, something decent to read and a small fire beside me to keep out the cold, it's all good

lostexpectation

Asiaprod wrote:

This thread will be terminated early unless interest is shown, and replies are made, by catholics, to whom this post was originally directed. If the non-believers wish to continue to debate it, I can move it somewhere more appropriate.

Correct me if I am wrong, I thought hell was not just for Catholics.

theres a contradiction if I ever saw one

anyway what I meant is that the Pope is more concerned about stating how serious he as about not stealing and having loose sex and coveting, like really serious and he's not actually that hung up on actuall hell. Perhaps more a personal hell(negative coinsequnces of sinning) on earth).


if you sin (do things that are generally bad ) you have a good chance if loosing contact with the person in this life.

Juza1973

To answer the OP's question, yes it would sound like hell to me. To spend all eternity in Heaven perhaps without the person you most loved in life would seem very strange to me and sounds terrible!

A person sent to hell is a person who rejected the very idea of love, so he wouldn't accept your love anyway. You would have to accept it as God did when he sent him to hell (which causes it even more angst than it does to us since he loves us totally)

Michael G

Gracie Squeaking Repairman wrote:

I think the Pope makes it clear that anyone who rejects the RC God is going to hell. He does not say any person who lives a "Christian" life is going to heaven. You have to accept God (the Christian God) to get into heaven.

Not really. (I'm assuming you are taking this discussion half-seriously at least, and not just having fun winding up the credulous ones like me.) The Pope (like the last Pope and many other Catholic teachers before him) has said nothing new: just that someone who knows that God exists, but still rejects him in this life, is making a choice that will hold for eternity. In other words if you know now that God exists, but turn away from him, you won't have a second chance later.

The notion that someone could actually know God but still turn away is pretty unlikely. So nice atheists like you are still in with a chance. In the pre-Woodstock/Vatican II days when Catholic doctrine was expressed in grown-up language, this was known as invincible ignorance; to be pitied rather than blamed.