It is plain as can be that Hell is either a place or a condition of punishment. Let us address the condition.
Suppose for the moment that Catholic Lady is correct, ie, everyone has the opportunity to either accept or reject God, thus accepting or rejecting goodness and love.
Suppose a person comes before God and is offered the choice. This person, however, is an utter moral reprobate. He spits on infants. He pulls the wings off of flies. He tells the most outrageous lies and spreads the most scurrilous rumours for the sole purpose of causing pain. He thinks love is for dimwits and sops and that goodness is a state that only the slackminded could aspire to.
Clearly, this person is going to reject God and will thereafter exist in the condition called 'Hell'. But he isn't being punished. By rejecting God, he is precisely where he wishes to be. One might go so far as to say that he was always in Hell, since he lived his life rejecting God, but enjoyed doing it (if he didn't enjoy it, he would have changed).
Good people may be treated similarly. They approve of goodness and love, and so are highly likely to accept God.
So...how is the whole Heaven/Hell system one of rewards or punishments. If you accept God, you get to go on as before. If you reject God, you get to go on as before. It's a mug's game.
Boru
Suppose for the moment that Catholic Lady is correct, ie, everyone has the opportunity to either accept or reject God, thus accepting or rejecting goodness and love.
Suppose a person comes before God and is offered the choice. This person, however, is an utter moral reprobate. He spits on infants. He pulls the wings off of flies. He tells the most outrageous lies and spreads the most scurrilous rumours for the sole purpose of causing pain. He thinks love is for dimwits and sops and that goodness is a state that only the slackminded could aspire to.
Clearly, this person is going to reject God and will thereafter exist in the condition called 'Hell'. But he isn't being punished. By rejecting God, he is precisely where he wishes to be. One might go so far as to say that he was always in Hell, since he lived his life rejecting God, but enjoyed doing it (if he didn't enjoy it, he would have changed).
Good people may be treated similarly. They approve of goodness and love, and so are highly likely to accept God.
So...how is the whole Heaven/Hell system one of rewards or punishments. If you accept God, you get to go on as before. If you reject God, you get to go on as before. It's a mug's game.
Boru
‘I can’t be having with this.’ - Esmeralda Weatherwax
