RE: HELL
September 6, 2015 at 2:35 am
(This post was last modified: September 6, 2015 at 2:36 am by Whateverist.)
(August 31, 2015 at 7:16 pm)Catholic_Lady Wrote: Hi yall. Let me start off by saying I don't think it's healthy to focus too much on this subject, regardless of whether you believe in it or not.
However, what prompted me to write this post was all the talk and questions I see in regards to the belief in Hell. I've explained my views a little bit, by saying that 1. I don't believe Hell is a physical place, 2. I don't believe God "throws" people into Hell, and 3. I believe Hell is the state of being by an individual who has rejected goodness and love, thus rejecting God Himself (since I believe God is those things).
Another belief I have that has been speculated by a few theologians but is not mentioned in the article, is that upon dying, every person gets a final chance to "meet" with God, if you will. And from there they make a conscious and informed decision to either reject or accept Him. (And by accepting or rejecting Him, they are accepting or rejecting love and goodness. So the state of rejection is Hell, the state of acceptance is Heaven.)
I figured it might be useful to me to lay it all out here so everyone understands where I stand, and so I can refer people back to this post when I get questions or comments regarding Hell.
Here is a snippet from the article:
Quote:By their account, hell is best understood as the condition of total alienation from all that is good, hopeful and loving in the world. What's more, this condition is chosen by the damned themselves, the ultimate exercise of free will, not a punishment engineered by God.
Hell ''is not a 'place' but a 'state,' a person's 'state of being,' in which a person suffers from the deprivation of God,'' declared La Civilta Cattolica, an influential Jesuit magazine based in Rome and closely tied to the Vatican, in a long editorial in July.
The magazine also stated that it is not God who inflicts pain ''through angels or demons as is illustrated in many paintings or is read in the 'Divine Comedy,' '' but the sinner who triggers his own punishment by deliberately rejecting God's grace, thereby entering a great state of pain.
For those interested in reading more: http://www.nytimes.com/1999/09/18/arts/h...gewanted=1
(The silly part is that the title calls this view a "makeover" but the article goes on to say this view is nothing new in the Church lol)
You know I have no problem with this connotation for hell, and there is a sense in which we choose it ourselves. But I don't think everyone has an equally easy choice to make, do you? Those born to addicted mothers in poverty and brought up in a life of crime and violence will probably have a tougher choice to make than you or I.