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Three reasons lead us to speak at length concerning
hell. First, there is today an unwillingness to
preach on this subject, and therefore people often
forget revealed truth that is very salutary. They do
not give attention to the truth that the fear of hell
is the beginning of wisdom and the beginning of
conversion. They forget that, in this sense, hell has
saved many souls.
Secondly, there are in the world many superficial
objections to this teaching, objections that seem to
some believers more true than the traditional
answers. Why? Because they have never entered deeply
into these answers. It is easy to fasten on some
superficial objection, and it is difficult to see
clearly a reply involving the depths of soul-life or
the immeasurable height of God's justice. To
understand these answers we need more maturity and
penetration.
An illustration. A priest one day asked one of his
friends, a lawyer, to aid in a dialogue conference,
by offering objections against the teaching of the
Church on hell. The lawyer presented the common
objections in a brilliant fashion under a popular
point of view which captured the imagination. Since
the priest was not sufficiently prepared, the
objections seemed to be stronger than the answers,
and the answers themselves seemed to be merely
verbal. They did not capture the imagination, nor did
they lead sufficiently to the notions of mortal sin
without repentance, of obstinacy, of the state of
termination, so different from the state of the way.
Neither did they lead sufficiently to the notion of
God's infinite justice. Hence we must insist on all
these points, since the dogma about hell helps us to
appreciate by contrast the value of salvation.
Similarly we do not know the value of justice unless
we examine what is meant by a great injustice, actual
or threatened. Our Lord illumined St. Theresa on the
beauty of heaven, but only after He had shown her the
place which she would have had in hell had she
continued on the road whereon she had already made
some steps.
Hell signifies properly the state of the damned
souls, of demons first, then of men who die in the
state of mortal sin and are consequently condemned to
suffer eternally. Secondly, it signifies also the
place where condemned souls are detained.
The existence of hell was denied in the third century
by Arnobius who, following the Gnostics, held that
those who are reprobated are also annihilated. This
error was renewed by the Socinians of the sixteenth
century. In ancient times, further, the Origenists,
especially in the fourth century, denied the eternity
of punishment in hell, because they held that all the
reprobate, angels and men, would finally be
converted. This error was taken up again by liberal
spirits, particularly among the Protestants. The
rationalists say the eternity of suffering is in
contradiction to the wisdom of God, to His mercy, and
to His justice. They imagine that suffering must be
proportioned to the time necessary for committing the
fault, and not to the gravity of the perpetual state
wherein the soul finds itself after it has left the
world with grievous and unrepented sin.
The Athanasian Creed and many councils affirm as a
dogma of faith the existence of heaven, the eternity
of punishment, both of loss and of pain, and likewise
the inequality of suffering proportioned to the
gravity of the faults committed and left unrepented.
Let us first see what Holy Scripture itself teaches
on this point. Its teaching prepares us to understand
better the doctrine of purgatory, where there is
certitude of salvation, and further the doctrine of
eternal beatitude. Darkness and evil show in their
own manner the value of eternal light, of the
sanctity that cannot be lost.
The Latin word infernum (hell) comes from infernus
and signifies dark places beneath the earth. In the
Old Testament the corresponding term, sheol,
signifies the place of the dead in general, good or
bad. [183] We are not surprised at this, since before
the ascension of Jesus Christ no soul could enter
heaven. In this same sense we speak of the descent of
Jesus into hell. But in the New Testament the hell of
the damned is often called Gehenna, [184] which
signifies the Valley of Hinnom, a ravine to the south
of Jerusalem where people were accustomed to dump
refuse, and even corpses. Fires burned there almost
continually, to consume trash. Hence the word, after
Isaias, came to express the real hell: hell which
lasts forever, a worm which will not die, a fire
which cannot be quenched.
Hell in the Old Testament
In a learned article on hell, M. Richard, [185] has
made a deep study of those texts of the Old Testament
which prove the existence of hell in the strict
sense. Before the time of the prophets, he notes, the
condition of the wicked after death remained very
obscure although ultramundane sanctions are often
affirmed. For example, by Ecclesiastes: [186] "Fear
God and keep His commandments, for this is all man."
"For all these God will bring thee into judgment."
[187]
To the great prophets God began to show clear
perspectives of the future life. We have already
cited some of these texts when speaking of the Last
Judgment. Isaias [188] lays open a great prophetic
vision of the world beyond. It is the restoration of
Israel for all eternity, with new heavens and a new
earth. "All flesh shall come to adore before My face,
saith the Lord, and they shall go out and see the
carcasses of the men that have transgressed against
Me. Their worm shall not die and their fire shall not
be quenched, and they shall be a loathsome sight to
all flesh." All commentators see in this text an
affirmation of the last judgment, and under a
symbolic form that of eternal hell. This last text is
cited in St. Mark [189] by Jesus Himself, and in St.
Luke [190] by St. John the Baptist.
Daniel says more clearly: "Many of those that sleep
in the dust of the earth shall awake, some unto life
everlasting, and others unto reproach, to see it
always." [191] Thus the Old Testament, for the first
time, declares the resurrection of sinners to meet a
judgment of condemnation.
The Book of Wisdom, after describing the sufferings
reserved to the wicked after death, continues: "The
just shall live for evermore." [192] It adds: "For to
him that is little mercy is granted, but the mighty
shall be mightily tormented." [193] It says of the
wicked one: "He returneth to the same out of which he
was taken, when his life which was lent him shall be
called for again." [194]
Ecclesiasticus speaks in the same sense: "Humble thy
spirit very much, for the vengeance on the flesh of
the ungodly is fire and worms." [195] In the Second
Book of Machabees [196] we read that the seven
brothers, martyrs, were sustained in their sufferings
by the thought of eternal life. They say to their
judge: "The King of the world will raise us up . . .
in the resurrection of eternal life; . . . but thou
by the judgment of God shalt receive just punishment
for thy pride."
All these texts of the Old Testament speak of hell in
the proper sense. Many of them affirm the inequality
of punishments proportioned to the gravity of the
faults committed and unrepented.
Hell in the New Testament
The Precursor said to those who were guilty: "Ye
brood of vipers, who hath showed you to flee from the
wrath to come? Bring forth therefore fruit worthy of
penance." [197] Again: "There shall come one mightier
than I, . . . whose fan is in His hand, and He will
purge His floor and will gather the wheat into His
barn, but the chaff He will burn with unquenchable
fire." [198]
Jesus announces simultaneously the eternal salvation
for the good and Gehenna for the wicked. He begins by
exhorting to penance. The scribes say of Him: "By the
prince of devils He casteth out devils." His reply
is: "All sins shall be forgiven unto the sons of men,
and the blasphemies wherewith they shall blaspheme.
But he that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost
shall never have forgiveness, but shall be guilty of
an everlasting sin." [199] Jesus [200] commands
fraternal charity, and the avoidance of luxury and
lust lest the body be cast into eternal fire. At
Capharnaum, after admiring the faith of the
centurion, Jesus 19 announces the conversion of the
Gentiles, whereas certain Jews remain unbelieving and
obstinate: "They shall be cast out into the exterior
darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of
teeth." [201]
Jesus warns the apostles against the fear of
martyrdom, saying: "Fear ye not them that kill the
body and are not able to kill the soul; but rather
fear Him that can destroy both soul and body in
hell." [202] All this doctrine is summed up by St.
Mark: "If thy hand scandalize thee, cut it off; it is
better for thee to enter into life maimed, than
having two hands to go into hell, into unquenchable
fire, where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not
extinguished." [203] The doctrine is taught also in
the parables, that of the cockle, that of the royal
marriage, that of the wise and foolish virgins, that
of the talents.
The same doctrine we find in the maledictions [204]
addressed to the hypocritical Pharisees: "Woe to you,
scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, . . . blind
guides, . . . you are like to whitened sepulchers,
which . . . are full of . . . all filthiness; . . .
you serpents, generation of vipers, how will you flee
from the judgment of hell?" [205] Jesus speaks still
more clearly in the discourse on the end of the world
and the last judgment: "Then shall the King say to
them that shall be on His right hand: Come ye blessed
of My Father, . . . for I was hungry, and you gave Me
to eat.... Then He shall say to them also that shall
be on His left hand: Depart from Me, you cursed, into
everlasting fire, which was prepared for the devil
and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave Me not
to eat: I was thirsty . . . I was a stranger . . .
naked
... sick and in prison, and you did not visit Me....
And these shall go into everlasting punishment, but
the just into life everlasting." [206] Such is the
last sentence, without appeal, and without end. The
word "eternal" in regard to fire is used in its
proper sense, because it is opposed to eternal life.
The parallelism in the two instances shows that
"eternal" is used in the proper sense of the word.
[207]
The Gospel of St. John speaks repeatedly of the
opposition between eternal life and eternal loss. "He
that believeth not the Son shall not see life." [208]
To the obstinate Pharisees Jesus says: "You shall die
in your sin. Whither I go, you cannot come." [209]
"Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin. Now
the servant abideth not in the house forever, but the
son abideth forever." [210] "If anyone abideth not in
Me, he shall be cast forth as a branch and shall
wither; and they shall gather him up and cast him
into the fire, and he burneth." [211]
The epistles of St. Paul, [212] too, announce to the
just souls eternal life and to the obstinate in evil
eternal death. "Those who do the works of the flesh
shall not enter the kingdom of God." These are those
who perish. [213] There are two irreconcilable
cities, that of Christ and that of Belial. [214]
These are those who are condemned forever. [215] We
read in the Epistle to the Hebrews: "It is a fearful
thing to fall into the hands of the living God."
[216] St. Peter [217] announces to the false prophets
that they are going to eternal loss. The Epistle of
St. Jude [218] speaks of eternal chains. The Epistle
of St. James [219] threatens judgment without mercy
on him who does not do mercy. Wicked men, without
heart for the poor, amass treasures of anger for the
last day. [220]
Lastly, the Apocalypse [221] contrasts the victory of
Christ in the heavenly Jerusalem with the damnation
of all those who will be thrown into the abyss of
fire and sulphur. [222] This eternal damnation is
called second death. It is the privation of divine
life, of the vision of God, in a place of eternal
punishment, where those will be tormented by fire who
wear the sign of the beast, and hence are excluded
from the book of life. [223]
This is the doctrine already announced by the great
prophets and in particular by Isaias. [224] From the
time of these prophets to the Apocalypse the
revelation about eternal hellfire never ceased to
become more precise, just as the doctrine of eternal
life became
more precise. Among these punishments we find those
of loss, of fire, of inequality in pain, of eternal
duration. Mortal sin unrepented has left the soul in
a habitual state of rebellion against an infinite
good.
We must be brief on the testimony of tradition.
Before the third century, before the controversy with
the Origenists, the Fathers teach the existence and
the eternity of the pains of hell. [225] The martyrs
often say they do not fear temporal fire, but only
the eternal fire.
From the third century to the fifth most of the
Fathers combat the error of the Origenists on the
non-eternity of the pains of hell. Among them we may
cite particularly St. Methodius, St. Cyril of
Jerusalem, St. Epiphanius, St. Basil, St. Chrysostom,
St. Ephrem, St. Cyprian, St. Jerome, and especially
St. Augustine. [226] In the mind of all these Fathers
the affirmation of the final conversion of demons and
of reprobated man is contrary to revelation. In their
minds a converted demon is an impossibility. The same
holds good of a condemned soul. In the fifth century
the controversy ended with the condemnation of this
error of Origen at the synod of Constantinople, [227]
confirmed by Pope Vigilius. The Fathers often cite
the words of Isaias, recalled by Jesus: "Their worm
dieth not, and the fire is not extinguished." The
Origenist controversy served to make precise the
meaning of these words of the Gospel. [228] St.
Augustine [229] in particular shows that the word
"eternal" is not to be taken here in a wide sense,
because of its opposition to "eternal life" where the
word "eternal" is used in the proper sense of the
word.
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| 183. |
Gen. 37:35; Num. 16:30. |
| 184. |
Matt. 5:22, 29; 23:15, 33; also Mark and Luke. |
| 185. |
Dict. theol. cath., s.v. "L'Enfer." |
| 186 |
Eccles. 12:13 and 14. |
| 187 |
Eccl. 11:9. |
| 188 |
Isa. 66:15-24. |
| 189 |
Mark 9:43. |
| 190 |
Luke 3:17. |
| 191 |
Dan. 12:1-2. |
| 192 |
Wisd. 5:16. |
| 193 |
Ibid., 6:6. |
| 194 |
Ibid., 15:8. |
| 195 |
Ecclus. 7:17. |
| 196 |
II Mach. 7:9-36. |
| 197 |
Matt. 3:7. |
| 198 |
Luke 3:7-17. |
| 199 |
Mark 3:29; Matt. 12:32; John 8:20-24, 35. |
| 200 |
Matt. 5:22, 29, 30. |
| 201 |
The phrase occurs six times in St. Matthew. We
find
it also in St. Luke 13:28. |
| 202 |
Matt., 10:28. |
| 203 |
Mark 9:42-48; Matt. 18:8, 9. |
| 204 |
Matt. 23:15. |
| 205 |
Ibid., 23:13-33. |
| 206 |
Ibid., 25:33-46. |
| 207 |
De civ. Dei, Bk. XXI, chap. 23. |
| 208 |
John 3:36. |
| 209 |
Ibid., 8:24. |
| 210 |
Ibid., 8:34. |
| 211 |
Ibid., 15:6. |
| 212 |
Gal. 5:19-21; Eph. 5:5; I Cor. 6:9, 10. |
| 213 |
II Cor. 2:15, 16; 4:3; 13:5. |
| 214 |
II Cor. 6:14-18. |
| 215 |
I Tim. 5:6, 11-15; II Tim. 2:12-20. |
| 216 |
Heb. 10:31. |
| 217 |
II Pet. 2:1-4; 12, 14; 3:7. |
| 218 |
Jude 6:13. |
| 219 |
Jas. 2:13. |
| 220 |
Ibid., 4:4-8; 5:3. |
| 221 |
Apoc. 21:8. |
| 222 |
Ibid., 21:27; 22:15. |
| 223 |
Ibid., 13:18; 14:10, 11; 20:6, 4. |
| 224 |
Isa. 66:15-24. |
| 225 |
Enchir. patrist., Index theologicus, no. 594. |
| 226 |
Ibid., cf. Dict. theol. cath., "L'Enfer." |
| 227 |
Denz., no. 211. |
| 228 |
Matt. 25:41-46. |
| 229. |
De civ. Dei, Bk. XXI, chap. 23. |
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