Catholics, What is the Vatican's Current stand on The Hell Fire Teaching?
It is Said That Michelangelo depicted such a fearsome hell in his painting in the Vatican’s Sistine Chapel. It was said to have scared the wits out of Pope Paul III, who had commissioned it. Both Calvin and Luther ( Protestant Denominations) accepted the Catholic idea of hell. Today, the doctrine of hellfire is still upheld. “The chief characteristic of hell,†states the New Catholic Encyclopedia, “is its fire that is unquenchable . . . and everlasting . . . Whatever may be implied by the terms ‘unquenchable fire’ and ‘everlasting fire,’ they should not be explained away as meaningless.†Adds Billy Graham, famous American Protestant evangelist: “The teaching of a literal hell is found in the creeds of all the leading churches. . . . God considered hell real enough that He sent his only Son to the world to save men from hell.†A recent trend, though, has been to play down the teaching that the fire and torment of hell are literal and to explain them as indicating the possibility of one’s being lost and eternally apart from God—a mental anguish. However, a Vatican letter published in 1979 with the approval of Pope John Paul II, restated the belief that unrepentant sinners will go to a burning hell and warned against spreading doubts about it. Effects on the Living The very thought of a burning hell has caused untold mental torment. John Bunyan, author of Pilgrim’s Progress, wrote that when he was a child of just nine or ten he was scared “with fearful dreams, and did . . . tremble at the thoughts of the fearful torments of hell fire.†Many others have suffered in the same way. A Durban, South Africa, man recalls: “When I was a boy, I had terrible nightmares about hell and used to cry at night. My loving parents tried to comfort me but could not.†For centuries the dogma of hellfire has been drummed into the impressionable minds of youngsters and thundered from pulpits. What effect has this concept had on people’s hearts? Has it caused them to be kinder, more loving and compassionate in their dealings with others? Who's Your Daddy.......Yes , Sheol ( Hell is the Grave of man) That is what the Bible really teaches...The dead are conscious of nothing Eccl.9:5,10 Catholic 199_returns Presents: Matt. 3:12; Luke 3:17 - John the Baptist said the Lord will burn the chaff with unquenchable fire. This unquenchable fire is the state of eternal separation from God, which the Church has called "hell" for 2,000 years. Some Protestant communities no longer acknowledge the reality of hell.
Religion & Spirituality - 5 Answers
Random Answers, Critics, Comments, Opinions :
1 :
I think that the original text meant God sent his son to save man from eternal death. The Jews had no concept of life after death (still don't) and the message was appealing. Hell is a translation of Sheol which just meant a hole in the ground.St. Augustine started the hell-fire thing. I recently got a Catholic Bible and the church approved commentary in the preface seems to say that it is all allegorical and you are not required to take it literally.
2 :
http://www.scripturecatholic.com/hell.html http://divinemercysunday.com/vision.htm http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article1572646.ece
3 :
Catholicism teaches today(& perhaps always did teach)that the true torture of Hell is the Eternal Banishment from the Presence Of Our Heavenly Father.
4 :
No one really knows what hell is like. It has been described by people who have not been there as everything from flames to a frozen lake (Dante). Hell is the state of complete and final self-exclusion from communion with God and the blessed, reserved for those who refuse by their own free choice to believe and be converted from sin, even to the end of their lives I like to think of it this way. The only way a person will go to hell is if they want to. God in His (or Her) unlimited love has given us free will to choose. Our most important choice is to freely decide to accept or reject God's constant offer of spending eternity with Him in heaven. God will respect the choice to reject Him. For more information, see the Catechism of the Catholic Church, sections 1033-1037: http://www.usccb.org/catechism/text/pt1sect2chpt3art12.shtml#1033 "You can check out any time you like but you can never leave." -- Hotel California by Don Felder, Don Henley, and Glenn Lewis Frey With love in Christ.
5 :
As I understood, it never did changed. Hell is hell. We better get a good understanding and walk the Jesus way. Luke 16: 22 And it came to pass that the beggar died and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom. And the rich man also died: and he was buried in hell. [ Abraham's bosom... The place of rest, where the souls of the saints resided, till Christ had opened heaven by his death. ] 23 And lifting up his eyes when he was in torments, he saw Abraham afar off and Lazarus in his bosom: 24 And he cried and said: Father Abraham, have mercy on me and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water to cool my tongue: for I am tormented in this flame. 25 And Abraham said to him: Son, remember that thou didst receive good things in thy lifetime, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted and thou art tormented. 26 And besides all this, between us and you, there is fixed a great chaos: so that they who would pass from hence to you cannot, nor from thence come hither. That's what the bible say. So, not only there is fire in hell, there is also a great chaos, where we could not pass from one to the other.
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