Can a Catholic believe there is no hell/eternal damnation?

Question

Wouldn't it make more sense that their is not a time limit on God's mercy. For example if someone is a horrible person for their entire life but repents at the last minute, they will be forgiven. But what if they never get the chance to repent (such as a sudden death, or in their sleep). They get cast into hell, maybe for certain amount of time (if there is time) but what if they somehow repent after this? And if there is no time or ability to repent, what is the purpose of hell other than a scare tactic or revenge? (which is pointless).

i've been afraid to ask these questions in church, so please help me.

Answer 1

Not really. Heaven and hell are part of the basic doctrine.

But remember going to hell is a decision. Every time you voluntarily decide to completely break off all relationship with God (commit mortal sin) you are asking God to send you to hell.

In more formal terms, 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

With love in Christ.

Answer 2

There is no time limit on God's mercy but there is a time limit on our existence here on earth. What happens once our spirits leave our bodies is totally up to God. I do believe that no matter how bad a person lived their lives that if they truly repent of their sins and accept Jesus as Lord and Savior they will be saved from eternal damnation. Every second we breath air we have an opportunity to accept the Gospel of Jesus Christ as the truth but if we let our time expire without ever believing or accepting Him then there is no turning back from the fate that awaits. Remember tomorrow is NOT promised to anyone. Repentance NEEDS a living mouth to confess it and a heart to believe it. Think of it, what happens to the mouth and heart once a person dies? Is a mouth able to speak? Is a heart able to believe? That is why it is so important to believe while we breathe!! Hell is eternal; there is no time limit or time at all. As far as if a spirit gets to repent of sins once it is apart from the body, that is not mentioned in the bible to my knowledge and totally at God's discretion. The purpose of hell is not a scare tactic. Actually it was created for Satan and all of the angles of heaven that followed him when he rebelled against God. But when man sinned he lost his right to heaven and relationship with God The Father because God is 100% Holy and no sin is allowed in His presence. It took Jesus to pay the price needed to reconcile mans relationship to God and give mankind the opportunity to know God and go to heaven. I'm sorry that you've been afraid to ask this question in church. I will never understand why a hostile response follows an earnest inquiry in the Body of Christ (Christians) but I hope my response helps some.

Answer 3

There is no time limit on God's mercy, as He is timeless. God does not actually "send" anyone to hell. People choose hell by separating themselves from Him in our temporary lives on earth. Those who choose to separate themselves from God while on Earth, risk eternal separation from Him in the afterlife.

We do not know what happens to people who have rejected God and the died a sudden death. It is likely they are in hell - because they failed to embrace God's limitless mercy in their time on earth.

NONE of us are going to live forever. Your sudden-death scenario is a perfect example why we should not procrastinate when it comes to accepting God as our Lord and Savior.

And let's be brutally honest - there is a hell, and it is an eternal abode. Once there, souls are completely cut off from God's presence. That is what makes hell, hell. Therefore, how could it possibly be temporary?

I'll bet most if not all hell-bound souls repent immediately. The Bible speaks of "weeping and nashing of teeth", pertaining to souls in hell. Only then, when they get to hell, so they realize the gravity of the mistake they have made.

Again, hell is not "revenge", nor is it a "scare tactic". Individual people choose hell by rejecting God in this life. The lesson here is very simply, reject God in this life, God will honor such a decision going into the next life.

We have our whole earthly lives to repent for sins and embrace God. And because we do not know when our lives will end, the wise person will embrace God early. Many of Jesus's parables speak of being ready, because we do not know the hour of our death.

What's the point of hell? What would be the point if there was no down-side to the afterlife? If everyone could life mean and nasty lives, ebracing very vice - and still go to Heaven...What's the point indeed?

The thought of hell is scary, but it is not a scare tactic. A Christian with a properly developed conscience does not need hell to "scare them into place". All they need is God.

Answer 4

it is not a scare tactic, the catholic church teaches that there is a hell, if you believe in heaven and the precepts of attaining salvation then you would need to believe in hell, if not then there would be no need to live a holy righteous live and stray from sin as often as possible or at all times. why try find salvation when you can mess up,be evil and after so long god will forgive you after repenting, god wants to know who loves him, with blind faith, evil people would ofcourse repent if they knew the whole god concept was legitimate and therefore why would we need church,baptism,good works etc.......... the scenarios you pointed out can only be judged and answered by god, but i hope you see why the church teaches there is a hell. however hell may pass and it might not, we will all find out in the end, but teaching on hell either way is acceptable.

Answer 5

I know a bishop of the Antioch line and he said that official church doctrine is that there IS NO Hell. The official doctrine is that when we die, we go before God and we either accept God or we don't. Even if we've sinned and never repented in life, we still get a final chance at this time. If we accept God, we enter His Kingdom. If not, our soul is dissapated. The Bible never once references Hell and Satan only appears a few times. The Bible never once says that Satan is any sort of archenemy of God. (That concept comes from writers like Milton and Dante.) Satan in the Bible is portrayed more as a mischief maker at worst: a sort of mischievous spirit who made a wager with God about Job and who tried to tempt Jesus. That's it. There IS a reference to a lake of fire, but that's merely a metaphor for the dissipation of the soul. The soul of a person who refuses, even after death, to accept God merely ceases to be.

In fact, this bishop told me, if the Gospels are read in the original Greek (or there may have been an earlier Aramaic version - there's some debate about this, but even if they're read in Aramaic), Jesus never once uses the word "sin". He simply talked about not hitting the mark.

According to this bishop, Christianity is a religion about Peace and Love as opposed to sin and damnation.[1]

In my opinion, if you're afraid to ask these questions openly in your church, there's something wrong with your church. A good priest, in my opinion, aught to be able to listen to you calmly and give you a straight answer. If the priest thinks you're wrong, so be it, but I don't think a true Christian who has taken orders has any place berating a communicant who just has a simple question about the religion. After all, the Christ said, "judge not lest you yourself be judged."[2] That's one of the corner stones of Christian doctrine. If your priest won't follow that, he definitely has problems in my opinion. Of course, priests too are fallible.

Answer 6

The Catholic Church definitively teaches that hell is an eternal state of existence, and that once a soul is admitted there, it is there forever, with no possibility of parole.

If you adamantly choose to believe otherwise, than you cease to be a true Catholic.

If you openly profess your erroneous belief to others, than you are a material heretic.

Feel free to ask your priest for guidance on this matter. Also consult the appropriate section of the Catholc catechism for more information.

http://www.scborromeo.org/ccc/p123a12.htm#1035

Answer 7

I actually believe the same thing that you do. I have many Catholic beliefs, although I grew up Baptist and am now Episcopal.

I think it is just a way of scaring us. I also believe that God allows alot of our punishment to happen while we're alive, such as the parable about the two people who were in debt to someone.

Answer 8

Yes. According to my reading of the latest RCC catechism, (I'm not Roman Catholic) - they say that it is impossible to know if even Hitler is condemned to hell....leaving that up to God.

There is a dogmatic belief in the doctrine of Purgatory. Perhaps some people's stay there is just really, really long...and there is only eternal punishment for the Devil and his apostate angels.

Just a thought, but bring these ideas up in private with your Father Confessor. Should be interesting.

Answer 9

i'm a professional-lifer, interior the experience that I evaluate abortion a shame, and that i might want to confident want to make certain birth control less costly and accessible without parental consent... although the pill and different hormone drugs may have some real health consequences, so i might want to wish to make certain them prescribed by technique of an certainly healthcare professional, so that they are loose, accessible and *secure*. thankfully that is real in maximum places, by ability of non-income womens health centers and planned parenthood clinics. some professional-lifers do no longer keep in mind that concept can ensue with some sorts of the pill, and that that is in common words implantation it truly is prevented. i might want to imagine that a strictly professional-existence individual would not take maximum problem-free variations of the pill for this reason, and can want to by no ability use an IUD. many non secular professional-lifers are anti-birth control for unmarried human beings because it reduces the wages of sin, and thereby encourages sin. some non-professional-existence all and diverse is adverse to distribution of *any* prescription drug to their newborn without their participation or consent, and sense that toddlers will bypass to their mothers and fathers in the experience that they *ought to*... i imagine those mothers and fathers are a touch unrealistic in modeling the likely reaction of alternative mothers and fathers on their own.

Answer 10

Anyone can believe anything and everything is posible by some manner and method and way.