Hell
“The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn’t exist” by Baudelaire in Le Joueur généreux, 1864 A.D..
Hell is a real place. Satan has deceived man by suggesting that an all loving God could not possibly construct a place of eternal torment. Even some Christians disregard the theology of hell. Why? Fear? Naivety? The Bible tells us of a place destined for the devil and fallen angels is susceptible for man too (Matthew 25:41).
Hell is a horrible and agonizing anguish of the body and soul (Matthew 5:30, 10:28). Hell isn’t some new concept to Christianity, nor is it an invented doctrine. One of the great patriarchs of the Old Testament gave witness of an eternal place of damnation. Isaiah 33:11, 14 tells us, “Your breath is a fire that consumes you. The sinners in Zion are terrified; trembling grips the godless: ‘Who of us can dwell with the consuming fire? Who of us can dwell with everlasting burning’?” This is the place we know as hell. This is the place the Christ confirms when He speaks of eternal punishment (Matthew 25:46). It is described in the gospel of Luke as an unquenchable fire (3:16-17).
St. Paul also addresses hell in 2 Thessalonian 1:6-9, which says, paraphrasing for brevity, that many will pay the penalty of eternal ruin. Hell is known as a place of utter anguish, not only spiritual but emotional and physical. It is a place of gnashing of teeth, as cited seven times in the New Testament. This is to express physical pain, but more so the emotion and spiritual pain of separation from God.
- Image by chris.lawrence via Flickr
St. Augustine, one of the Four Fathers of the early Church, once said that the life people lead continues postmortem. Just because we aren’t in a temporal shell, a fleshly body, doesn’t mean we are not of the same character that we were prior to death. We carry over who we are and God sees that if we indulge in ourselves or evil rather than good, that we have chosen a place most suiting to our character. God does not condemn us to hell. It is a choice foolishly made by indifference to God.
Hell is an awful place, remorseless, malevolent, unloving. Hell is without God. Pray for our brethren and sisters, whether they be committed to God or still wandering, trying to find that Narrow Path leading Home with Christ.
“I had the greatest sorrow for the many souls that condemned themselves to Hell. I saw souls falling into hell like snowflakes.” St. Teresa of Avila, 1500c..
Your’s,
Drew Castel
