On Hell and Forgiveness

[Catholic_Lady]

Dante’s Inferno poetically presents the answer. Those in Hell love sinning more than they love God and thus cannot turn toward the Good and Truth that could otherwise be theirs. You would be begging to enter Heaven but asking to take your sin in with you. It is like the proverbial monkey trap. The monkey won’t drop the fruit bait and as such, he cannot pull his fist out of the narrow hole in the coconut.

So, people in hell are actively choosing eternal agony and suffering over god?  That doesn’t make any sense.  Are they sinning in hell whilst suffering?  What sins would someone who has already died and gone to hell not be willing to give up in the name of ending that suffering?

LFC, like I said, no one knows exactly how it is like. So I hope people can keep in mind that what I am about to say is my opinion only. I could very well be completely wrong, and I'm not presenting this as any sort of Church doctrine. These are my thoughts only:

I believe Heaven and Hell are more comparable to states of being, not physical places.

The blissfiulness of Heaven doesnt come from being in a tropical paradise with lots of good people, pleasures, and fun things to do, etc. It comes from being completely fulfilled due to accepting, and thus experiencing, love and goodness to its absolute fullest. So you are blissful because you are in a state where you have rejected all evil. There is no selfishness, no pride, no envy, no greed within you. You have fully rejected those things, and fully embraced love and goodness. In doing so, you are liberated and left feeling completely fulfilled. Think of it as the blissful euphoric feeling of being in love.

Hell, on the other hand, is the opposite. The person isn't being burned and tortured in a dark cave with little demons running around with pitch forks. Rather, your misery comes from your own decision to reject goodness and love. Maybe out of pride. Maybe out of lack of remorse for the wrongs you have done. Maybe out of bitterness of some sort. Maybe you have a sense of entitlement - thinking that you deserve to experience eternal happiness even while being selfish... rather than being humble and remorseful. Basically, you are caught in your own negative sentiments and your own darkness. It is miserable, because when you are not in this life anymore, the only thing you take with you to the next is your soul. So you don't have distractions. If your soul is in a dark state, that is the only thing you will have and the only thing you will feel, and it is awful. That is what I believe Hell is like.

A couple years ago, I actually wrote a thread about this where I went pretty I depth, and provided a link that also explains my opinions on it. You can read it here if you are curious: https://atheistforums.org/thread-35781.html

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LFC, I cant say I know for sure how it all works, neither is it my judgement to make. But I do hope very much that God takes those who upon dying realize their mistakes (whatever they were) and feel a genuine sense of remorse.

Thanks for your honest answer as always, CL. ❤️  Let me ask you, what if you knew that he didn’t?  Would you still regard him as perfectly moral and worthy of worship?

I really don't know. I haven't been on the other side to see how all this works out, but I imagine God knows people's hearts much better than I do.