45. Hell
13. Existence of Hell
We cannot be united to God unless we freely choose to love him. We cannot love God if we sin grievously against him, our neighbor, or our own selves. “He who does not love remains in death. Any one who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him” (1 Jn 3:14–15). To die in mortal sin, without repentance and without seeking refuge in the compassionate love of God, implies remaining separated from God forever because of our free choice. Hell is, thus, this state of definitive self-exclusion from communion with God and the blessed in heaven.1
The existence of hell is a truth of faith that is clearly and repeatedly found in Sacred Scripture. To describe this reality, Sacred Scripture uses a symbolic language, which will be progressively explained. In the Old Testament, the condition of the dead had not yet been fully disclosed by revelation. Moreover, it was thought that the dead were amassed in Sheol, which is described as a land of darkness (cf. Ez 28:8; 31:14; Jb 10:21ff; 38:17; Ps 30:10; 88:7, 13), a pit from which one cannot escape (cf. Jb 7:9), a place in which it is impossible to praise God (cf. Is 38:18; Ps 6:6), and other names (cf. Nm 16:30; Ps 48:18; Is 14:15;).
The New Testament sheds new light on the condition of the dead, proclaiming above all that Christ, by his Resurrection, conquered death and extended his liberating power to the kingdom of the dead. Redemption, nevertheless, remains an offer of salvation, which it is up to people to freely accept. This is why they will all be judged “by what they had done” (Rv 20:13). By using images, the New Testament presents the place that is destined for evildoers as a fiery furnace, where people will “weep and gnash their teeth” (Mt 13:42; cf. 25:30), or like Gehenna with its “unquenchable fire” (Mk 9:43).
Jesus also says that he will proclaim the sentence: “Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire” (Mt 25:41). All this is narrated in the parable of the rich man, which explains that hell is a place of eternal suffering, with no possibility of return nor of the alleviation of pain (cf. Lk 16:19–31). The Apocalypse also figuratively portrays in a “lake of fire” (Rv 20:14) those who exclude themselves from the book of life, thus meeting with a “second death” (Rv 20:15). Whoever continues to be closed to the Gospel is therefore preparing for “eternal destruction and exclusion from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might” (2 Thes 1:9).
The images of hell that Sacred Scripture presents to us must be correctly interpreted. They show the complete frustration and emptiness of life without God. Rather than a place, hell indicates the state of those who freely and definitively separate themselves from God, the source of all life and joy.
The existence of hell is also a common teaching of the Fathers of the Church. St. Ignatius of Antioch talks of the “inextinguishable fire,”2 St. Polycarp speaks of the “eternal punishment,”3 and we also have the testimonies of St. Irenaeus,4 St. Ambrose,5 and St. Augustine.6
As we shall see later on, the Magisterium of the Church has repeatedly taught the existence of hell for those who die in mortal sin and the eternal duration of its punishment.
However, there is also a constant tendency to explain away hell, perhaps because it is such a terrible reality. These teachings contradict the doctrine of the Church and ultimately deny the existence of hell as a reality. Basically, these errors can be reduced to three:
i) Conditionalism affirms that only the souls that die in justice and sanctity will survive after death, because those that die in sin will be annihilated (the existence of hell is denied) or else sent to a “temporal hell” (the nature of hell is denied). Gnostics and all those who deny the subsistence of the soul after death belong to this line of thought, as well as those who admit a final resurrection only for the just (there may be a short resurrection for the condemned, but they will immediately die again after receiving their sentence in the last judgment). This is the position of Jehovah’s Witnesses and some Adventists.
ii) Universalism affirms that all will be saved sooner or later. This is the thought of some Origenists who describe hell as some sort of “prolonged purgatory.” Also in this group are the Albigensians, who say that purification is to be carried out through a series of successive reincarnations, as well as the Anabaptists, some nineteenth century Protestants who were especially influenced by Schleiermacher, and, in the present century, the Lutheran Karl Barth.
iii) Aterminism is Origen’s own doctrine: After the present stage of history will have reached its end with the final judgment, another age shall begin—everything will start all over again, following an endless cycle.
With respect to conditionalism, it is enough to recall what was said about death in the introduction and in the first chapter of this treatise, along with the teachings of the Magisterium there quoted. Aterminism was condemned by the Synod of Constantinople in a.d. 543, which was later ratified by Pope Vigilius I.7 Both tendencies contradict the professions of faith, like the Quicumque Symbol and Damasus’s Formula of Faith.8
The solemn Magisterium of the Church teaches that the souls of those who leave this world in mortal sin go to hell, to suffer forever in the inextinguishable fire.9
Contrary to the position of the Universalists, neither revelation—Sacred Scripture and Tradition—nor the Magisterium of the Church teach that hell exists simply for “pedagogical” purposes, like a bogeyman for mischievous children. Both teach that hell is an existing reality. Certainly, we do not know how many are condemned, but Scripture’s insistence on the reality of hell and the fact that we continuously risk eternal damnation help us understand that hell is an actual reality. The Church has never said (and will never say) who or how many are in hell. But she is in a position to declare as dogma the reality of hell and stress its importance for man’s eternal destiny.
Theology explains the existence of hell in the light of God’s sanctity and justice. Hell’s existence is known only through faith, but this does not mean that the need of a reward or punishment for our actions in this life defies reason. Actually, since this requital is not carried out on earth, it seems logical to expect it after death. Taking into account the nature of sin, its consequences (breaking our friendship with God, the resulting enmity with him, subjection to the devil) and the magnitude of the offense in the light of God’s infinite dignity,10 it is easy to understand the existence of a punishment that is in proportion to the offense that was committed. These arguments show the fittingness of hell. That is as far as theology can go, since hell is a supernatural mystery that is known only through revelation.
14. The Nature of Hell
God is the infinitely good and merciful Father. But man, called to respond to him freely, can unfortunately choose to reject his love and forgiveness once and for all, thus separating himself for ever from joyful communion with God. This is precisely the content of the Christian doctrine on eternal damnation or hell. Hell is not a punishment that is imposed externally by God but a development of premises that are already set by people in this life. It is the state of those who definitively reject the Father’s mercy, even at the last moment of their life. “Eternal damnation,” therefore, is not attributed to God’s initiative, because, in his merciful love, he can desire only the salvation of the beings that he created. In reality, it is the creature who closes himself to his love. Damnation consists precisely in definitive separation from God, freely chosen by the human person and confirmed with death, which seals his choice forever. God’s judgment ratifies this state.
The nature of hell is described in revelation and in the above-quoted declarations of the Magisterium. The words of our Lord in the Gospel of St. Matthew, “Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire” (Mt 25:41), give us a glimpse of hell, which is closely related to the mystery of sin.
By mortal sin, we exclude God from our life. It brings about a breach between man and God, and is essentially an act of disobedience to God.11 In the same manner, hell is the total and definitive separation of the creature from its Creator, of the son from his Father, of man from his God and Lord. This is the meaning of the words “Depart from me, you cursed,” which the Church identifies with the pain of loss.
Moreover, mortal sin is also an act in which one exchanges “the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man” (Rom 1:23), worshipping and serving “the creature rather than the Creator” (Rom 1:25). This corresponds in hell to the pain of sense, referred to in the Gospel as fire.
The Magisterium affirms that this state of suffering will last forever. This is explicitly taught in the above words of Christ, when he speaks of the eternal fire.
15. The Pains of Hell
Hell, therefore, involves a twofold punishment: the pain of loss and the pain of sense.
The pain of loss is the eternal privation of the vision or union with God, in which precisely lies our supreme bliss and happiness. It is doubtless the greatest and most terrible of all pains, both from the objective and the subjective point of view.
God does not predestine anyone to go to hell. In order for anyone to go to hell, there must be a voluntary aversion to God (a mortal sin), and a persistence in sin until the end on one’s life.
Man has been created by God and elevated to the supernatural order, being thus ordained to an end beyond his nature. Created by—and ordained to—the love of God, man longs for union with God as his Creator and end, even without knowing or admitting it. The privation of God is then the most terrible situation in which man as a creature can find himself, since it means existing without any reason or purpose: an absolute lack of meaning and, therefore, a state of absolute unhappiness.
Aside from that, man has been redeemed by Christ and, being a mere creature, has been made a child of God. The separation that goes with the pain of loss implies losing the love of God, which is the supreme vocation of the Christian. As we have seen, sin is basically aversio a Deo, a rupture of the friendship and communion with God due to man’s fault. Through mortal sin, man ceases to be a child of God and becomes an enemy of his Creator and Redeemer. The punishment of this aspect of sin is the pain of loss, which consists in the eternal privation of the beatific vision. Man is placed in a paradoxical situation with no escape: He is a creature, but he does not recognize his Creator. This is a permanent state of conflict with no hope of solution. He knows he is called to love the Supreme Good, but he finds himself forever incapable of accomplishing his vocation and consummating his happiness. Hell brings to completion the breaking away from the love of God, to which man is called as a creature and, above all, as a child of God.
The pain of loss corresponds to what is most terrible in mortal sin: the formal opposition to God himself. It is the punishment for being at enmity with one’s Creator and cnd. St. Thomas assuredly affirms that “mortal sins deserve … the privation of seeing God, to which no other punishment is comparable.”12
The pain of loss brings with it the suffering that is caused by the obstinacy of the will in its hostility to God, without any hope of rectification. This implies an inner conflict in the subject who experiences it.
The punishment of the damned will be increased, firstly, by their separation from God and from all good. This is the pain of loss, which corresponds to the aversion, and is a greater punishment than that of sense.…
Secondly, the damned shall suffer from remorse of conscience.…
Nevertheless, their repentance and groaning will be of no avail, because it rises not from hatred of evil, but from fear and the enormity of their punishments.…
Fourthly, there is the despair of their salvation. If some hope of delivery from their punishment would be given them, their punishment would be somewhat lessened; but since all hope is withdrawn from them, their sufferings are most intense.13
Moreover, the pain of loss deprives of all the rewards that accompany the beatific vision, like the glorious body, brightness, and impassibility.
The pain of loss is the proper and essential punishment of hell, since it corresponds to the formal breach of the friendship with God in mortal sin.
Aside from the pain of loss, there is the pain of sense. It torments the souls of the condemned from the moment of death, and will torment their bodies as well after the final resurrection. This punishment corresponds to the other aspect of mortal sin: a disorderly attachment to creatures (conversio ad creaturas).
Sacred Scripture, Tradition, and the Magisterium point out that, aside from the privation of God (pain of loss), the damned suffer punishments usually called “fire.” The majority of the Fathers and Doctors, as well as almost all of the theologians, understand this fire to be a real fire. We cannot disregard the importance that is given to this punishment by revelation, the Magisterium, and theology. St. Thomas, for example, emphasizes the “great pain of sense. It is the fire of hell, which tortures the soul and the body; and this, as the Saints tell us, is the sharpest of all punishments. They shall be ever dying, and yet never die; hence it is called eternal death, for as dying is the bitterest of pains, such will be the lot of those in hell.”14
Aside from hellfire, the pain of sense includes several other torments:
· The very condition (or state) that hell is, where only horror, calamity, and misery are to be found
· The company of reprobates and devils, among whom only hatred reigns
· The torment of the internal and external senses
· The eternal remorse of conscience due to the corruption of sin, along with the despair, hatred, and anger that it will produce in the soul
And yet the pain of sense is a lesser punishment than the pain of loss, which involves a greater evil: the eternal privation of the friendship of God. In spite of this state of enmity with God and all its bitter consequences, the damned will not repent.
16. Properties of the Pains of Hell: Eternity and Inequality
The main property of the pains of hell is eternity. This eternity is not the divine attribute, but a duration that cannot and will not end. We can just say that the pains of hell will last forever.
The eternity of the punishments in hell is expressly revealed in Sacred Scripture. It has been solemnly defined in the above-mentioned documents of the Magisterium.
Since mortal sin goes against love itself, which is God, it is understandable that the infinite gravity of the offense demands a proportionate punishment. And since the punishment cannot have an infinite intensity, it should logically be infinite in duration, that is, eternal.
The punishments of hell are also of unequal intensity, depending on the importance and number of the mortal sins committed in life. Subjectively, the pain of loss will be unequal: some will feel it more than others, depending on the gravity and number of their sins. Objectively, however, the definitive and complete separation from God will be the same for all.
Thus, the inequality of the punishments—at least objectively considered—applies mainly to the pain of sense. In this case, the sufferings will be objectively different, in proportion always to the gravity and number of sins. Consequently, some will suffer more than others.
The affirmations of Sacred Scripture and the teaching of the Church on hell are a call for man to use his freedom with a sense of responsibility. At the same time, these affirmations are an urgent appeal to conversion.15 However, the thought of hell—and even less the improper use of biblical images—must not create anxiety or despair, but is a necessary and healthy reminder of freedom within the proclamation that the risen Jesus has conquered Satan, giving us the Spirit of God, who makes us cry “Abba! Father!” (Rom 8:15; Gal 4:6).
Footnotes:
1. Cf. CCC, 1033–1037.
2. St. Ignatius of Antioch, Epistle to the Ephesians, 16.1–2.
3. St. Polycarp, Martyrdom of St Polycarp, 10.
4. Cf. St. Irenaeus, Adversus Hæreses, 4.39.
5. Cf. St. Ambrose, Com. in Luc. 7.20.
6. Cf. St. Augustine, De Civitate Dei, 21.17, 22; Enchiridion, 24.111, 113.
7. Cf. DS 409, 411.
8. Cf. DS 76, 72.
9. Cf. DS 780, 801, 858, 1002, 1306; LG, 48.
10. Cf. GS, 13.
11. Cf. John Paul II, Ap. Ex. Reconciliatio et Poenitentia, 14.
12. ST, I-II, q. 88, a.4.
13. The Catechetical Instructions of St Thomas Aquinas, pp. 76–77.
14. Ibid.
15. Cf. CCC, 1036.
We cannot be united to God unless we freely choose to love him. We cannot love God if we sin grievously against him, our neighbor, or our own selves. “He who does not love remains in death. Any one who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him” (1 Jn 3:14–15). To die in mortal sin, without repentance and without seeking refuge in the compassionate love of God, implies remaining separated from God forever because of our free choice. Hell is, thus, this state of definitive self-exclusion from communion with God and the blessed in heaven.1
The existence of hell is a truth of faith that is clearly and repeatedly found in Sacred Scripture. To describe this reality, Sacred Scripture uses a symbolic language, which will be progressively explained. In the Old Testament, the condition of the dead had not yet been fully disclosed by revelation. Moreover, it was thought that the dead were amassed in Sheol, which is described as a land of darkness (cf. Ez 28:8; 31:14; Jb 10:21ff; 38:17; Ps 30:10; 88:7, 13), a pit from which one cannot escape (cf. Jb 7:9), a place in which it is impossible to praise God (cf. Is 38:18; Ps 6:6), and other names (cf. Nm 16:30; Ps 48:18; Is 14:15;).
The New Testament sheds new light on the condition of the dead, proclaiming above all that Christ, by his Resurrection, conquered death and extended his liberating power to the kingdom of the dead. Redemption, nevertheless, remains an offer of salvation, which it is up to people to freely accept. This is why they will all be judged “by what they had done” (Rv 20:13). By using images, the New Testament presents the place that is destined for evildoers as a fiery furnace, where people will “weep and gnash their teeth” (Mt 13:42; cf. 25:30), or like Gehenna with its “unquenchable fire” (Mk 9:43).
Jesus also says that he will proclaim the sentence: “Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire” (Mt 25:41). All this is narrated in the parable of the rich man, which explains that hell is a place of eternal suffering, with no possibility of return nor of the alleviation of pain (cf. Lk 16:19–31). The Apocalypse also figuratively portrays in a “lake of fire” (Rv 20:14) those who exclude themselves from the book of life, thus meeting with a “second death” (Rv 20:15). Whoever continues to be closed to the Gospel is therefore preparing for “eternal destruction and exclusion from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might” (2 Thes 1:9).
The images of hell that Sacred Scripture presents to us must be correctly interpreted. They show the complete frustration and emptiness of life without God. Rather than a place, hell indicates the state of those who freely and definitively separate themselves from God, the source of all life and joy.
The existence of hell is also a common teaching of the Fathers of the Church. St. Ignatius of Antioch talks of the “inextinguishable fire,”2 St. Polycarp speaks of the “eternal punishment,”3 and we also have the testimonies of St. Irenaeus,4 St. Ambrose,5 and St. Augustine.6
As we shall see later on, the Magisterium of the Church has repeatedly taught the existence of hell for those who die in mortal sin and the eternal duration of its punishment.
However, there is also a constant tendency to explain away hell, perhaps because it is such a terrible reality. These teachings contradict the doctrine of the Church and ultimately deny the existence of hell as a reality. Basically, these errors can be reduced to three:
i) Conditionalism affirms that only the souls that die in justice and sanctity will survive after death, because those that die in sin will be annihilated (the existence of hell is denied) or else sent to a “temporal hell” (the nature of hell is denied). Gnostics and all those who deny the subsistence of the soul after death belong to this line of thought, as well as those who admit a final resurrection only for the just (there may be a short resurrection for the condemned, but they will immediately die again after receiving their sentence in the last judgment). This is the position of Jehovah’s Witnesses and some Adventists.
ii) Universalism affirms that all will be saved sooner or later. This is the thought of some Origenists who describe hell as some sort of “prolonged purgatory.” Also in this group are the Albigensians, who say that purification is to be carried out through a series of successive reincarnations, as well as the Anabaptists, some nineteenth century Protestants who were especially influenced by Schleiermacher, and, in the present century, the Lutheran Karl Barth.
iii) Aterminism is Origen’s own doctrine: After the present stage of history will have reached its end with the final judgment, another age shall begin—everything will start all over again, following an endless cycle.
With respect to conditionalism, it is enough to recall what was said about death in the introduction and in the first chapter of this treatise, along with the teachings of the Magisterium there quoted. Aterminism was condemned by the Synod of Constantinople in a.d. 543, which was later ratified by Pope Vigilius I.7 Both tendencies contradict the professions of faith, like the Quicumque Symbol and Damasus’s Formula of Faith.8
The solemn Magisterium of the Church teaches that the souls of those who leave this world in mortal sin go to hell, to suffer forever in the inextinguishable fire.9
Contrary to the position of the Universalists, neither revelation—Sacred Scripture and Tradition—nor the Magisterium of the Church teach that hell exists simply for “pedagogical” purposes, like a bogeyman for mischievous children. Both teach that hell is an existing reality. Certainly, we do not know how many are condemned, but Scripture’s insistence on the reality of hell and the fact that we continuously risk eternal damnation help us understand that hell is an actual reality. The Church has never said (and will never say) who or how many are in hell. But she is in a position to declare as dogma the reality of hell and stress its importance for man’s eternal destiny.
Theology explains the existence of hell in the light of God’s sanctity and justice. Hell’s existence is known only through faith, but this does not mean that the need of a reward or punishment for our actions in this life defies reason. Actually, since this requital is not carried out on earth, it seems logical to expect it after death. Taking into account the nature of sin, its consequences (breaking our friendship with God, the resulting enmity with him, subjection to the devil) and the magnitude of the offense in the light of God’s infinite dignity,10 it is easy to understand the existence of a punishment that is in proportion to the offense that was committed. These arguments show the fittingness of hell. That is as far as theology can go, since hell is a supernatural mystery that is known only through revelation.
14. The Nature of Hell
God is the infinitely good and merciful Father. But man, called to respond to him freely, can unfortunately choose to reject his love and forgiveness once and for all, thus separating himself for ever from joyful communion with God. This is precisely the content of the Christian doctrine on eternal damnation or hell. Hell is not a punishment that is imposed externally by God but a development of premises that are already set by people in this life. It is the state of those who definitively reject the Father’s mercy, even at the last moment of their life. “Eternal damnation,” therefore, is not attributed to God’s initiative, because, in his merciful love, he can desire only the salvation of the beings that he created. In reality, it is the creature who closes himself to his love. Damnation consists precisely in definitive separation from God, freely chosen by the human person and confirmed with death, which seals his choice forever. God’s judgment ratifies this state.
The nature of hell is described in revelation and in the above-quoted declarations of the Magisterium. The words of our Lord in the Gospel of St. Matthew, “Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire” (Mt 25:41), give us a glimpse of hell, which is closely related to the mystery of sin.
By mortal sin, we exclude God from our life. It brings about a breach between man and God, and is essentially an act of disobedience to God.11 In the same manner, hell is the total and definitive separation of the creature from its Creator, of the son from his Father, of man from his God and Lord. This is the meaning of the words “Depart from me, you cursed,” which the Church identifies with the pain of loss.
Moreover, mortal sin is also an act in which one exchanges “the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man” (Rom 1:23), worshipping and serving “the creature rather than the Creator” (Rom 1:25). This corresponds in hell to the pain of sense, referred to in the Gospel as fire.
The Magisterium affirms that this state of suffering will last forever. This is explicitly taught in the above words of Christ, when he speaks of the eternal fire.
15. The Pains of Hell
Hell, therefore, involves a twofold punishment: the pain of loss and the pain of sense.
The pain of loss is the eternal privation of the vision or union with God, in which precisely lies our supreme bliss and happiness. It is doubtless the greatest and most terrible of all pains, both from the objective and the subjective point of view.
God does not predestine anyone to go to hell. In order for anyone to go to hell, there must be a voluntary aversion to God (a mortal sin), and a persistence in sin until the end on one’s life.
Man has been created by God and elevated to the supernatural order, being thus ordained to an end beyond his nature. Created by—and ordained to—the love of God, man longs for union with God as his Creator and end, even without knowing or admitting it. The privation of God is then the most terrible situation in which man as a creature can find himself, since it means existing without any reason or purpose: an absolute lack of meaning and, therefore, a state of absolute unhappiness.
Aside from that, man has been redeemed by Christ and, being a mere creature, has been made a child of God. The separation that goes with the pain of loss implies losing the love of God, which is the supreme vocation of the Christian. As we have seen, sin is basically aversio a Deo, a rupture of the friendship and communion with God due to man’s fault. Through mortal sin, man ceases to be a child of God and becomes an enemy of his Creator and Redeemer. The punishment of this aspect of sin is the pain of loss, which consists in the eternal privation of the beatific vision. Man is placed in a paradoxical situation with no escape: He is a creature, but he does not recognize his Creator. This is a permanent state of conflict with no hope of solution. He knows he is called to love the Supreme Good, but he finds himself forever incapable of accomplishing his vocation and consummating his happiness. Hell brings to completion the breaking away from the love of God, to which man is called as a creature and, above all, as a child of God.
The pain of loss corresponds to what is most terrible in mortal sin: the formal opposition to God himself. It is the punishment for being at enmity with one’s Creator and cnd. St. Thomas assuredly affirms that “mortal sins deserve … the privation of seeing God, to which no other punishment is comparable.”12
The pain of loss brings with it the suffering that is caused by the obstinacy of the will in its hostility to God, without any hope of rectification. This implies an inner conflict in the subject who experiences it.
The punishment of the damned will be increased, firstly, by their separation from God and from all good. This is the pain of loss, which corresponds to the aversion, and is a greater punishment than that of sense.…
Secondly, the damned shall suffer from remorse of conscience.…
Nevertheless, their repentance and groaning will be of no avail, because it rises not from hatred of evil, but from fear and the enormity of their punishments.…
Fourthly, there is the despair of their salvation. If some hope of delivery from their punishment would be given them, their punishment would be somewhat lessened; but since all hope is withdrawn from them, their sufferings are most intense.13
Moreover, the pain of loss deprives of all the rewards that accompany the beatific vision, like the glorious body, brightness, and impassibility.
The pain of loss is the proper and essential punishment of hell, since it corresponds to the formal breach of the friendship with God in mortal sin.
Aside from the pain of loss, there is the pain of sense. It torments the souls of the condemned from the moment of death, and will torment their bodies as well after the final resurrection. This punishment corresponds to the other aspect of mortal sin: a disorderly attachment to creatures (conversio ad creaturas).
Sacred Scripture, Tradition, and the Magisterium point out that, aside from the privation of God (pain of loss), the damned suffer punishments usually called “fire.” The majority of the Fathers and Doctors, as well as almost all of the theologians, understand this fire to be a real fire. We cannot disregard the importance that is given to this punishment by revelation, the Magisterium, and theology. St. Thomas, for example, emphasizes the “great pain of sense. It is the fire of hell, which tortures the soul and the body; and this, as the Saints tell us, is the sharpest of all punishments. They shall be ever dying, and yet never die; hence it is called eternal death, for as dying is the bitterest of pains, such will be the lot of those in hell.”14
Aside from hellfire, the pain of sense includes several other torments:
· The very condition (or state) that hell is, where only horror, calamity, and misery are to be found
· The company of reprobates and devils, among whom only hatred reigns
· The torment of the internal and external senses
· The eternal remorse of conscience due to the corruption of sin, along with the despair, hatred, and anger that it will produce in the soul
And yet the pain of sense is a lesser punishment than the pain of loss, which involves a greater evil: the eternal privation of the friendship of God. In spite of this state of enmity with God and all its bitter consequences, the damned will not repent.
16. Properties of the Pains of Hell: Eternity and Inequality
The main property of the pains of hell is eternity. This eternity is not the divine attribute, but a duration that cannot and will not end. We can just say that the pains of hell will last forever.
The eternity of the punishments in hell is expressly revealed in Sacred Scripture. It has been solemnly defined in the above-mentioned documents of the Magisterium.
Since mortal sin goes against love itself, which is God, it is understandable that the infinite gravity of the offense demands a proportionate punishment. And since the punishment cannot have an infinite intensity, it should logically be infinite in duration, that is, eternal.
The punishments of hell are also of unequal intensity, depending on the importance and number of the mortal sins committed in life. Subjectively, the pain of loss will be unequal: some will feel it more than others, depending on the gravity and number of their sins. Objectively, however, the definitive and complete separation from God will be the same for all.
Thus, the inequality of the punishments—at least objectively considered—applies mainly to the pain of sense. In this case, the sufferings will be objectively different, in proportion always to the gravity and number of sins. Consequently, some will suffer more than others.
The affirmations of Sacred Scripture and the teaching of the Church on hell are a call for man to use his freedom with a sense of responsibility. At the same time, these affirmations are an urgent appeal to conversion.15 However, the thought of hell—and even less the improper use of biblical images—must not create anxiety or despair, but is a necessary and healthy reminder of freedom within the proclamation that the risen Jesus has conquered Satan, giving us the Spirit of God, who makes us cry “Abba! Father!” (Rom 8:15; Gal 4:6).
Footnotes:
1. Cf. CCC, 1033–1037.
2. St. Ignatius of Antioch, Epistle to the Ephesians, 16.1–2.
3. St. Polycarp, Martyrdom of St Polycarp, 10.
4. Cf. St. Irenaeus, Adversus Hæreses, 4.39.
5. Cf. St. Ambrose, Com. in Luc. 7.20.
6. Cf. St. Augustine, De Civitate Dei, 21.17, 22; Enchiridion, 24.111, 113.
7. Cf. DS 409, 411.
8. Cf. DS 76, 72.
9. Cf. DS 780, 801, 858, 1002, 1306; LG, 48.
10. Cf. GS, 13.
11. Cf. John Paul II, Ap. Ex. Reconciliatio et Poenitentia, 14.
12. ST, I-II, q. 88, a.4.
13. The Catechetical Instructions of St Thomas Aquinas, pp. 76–77.
14. Ibid.
15. Cf. CCC, 1036.