|
Hell
/ Eternal Damnation
Also See:
Hell / Eternal
Damnation (Topic Page)
|
"Enter
through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the road broad
that leads to destruction, and those who enter through it are
many. How narrow the gate and constricted the road that leads to
life. And those who find it are few." (Our Lord Jesus Christ,
Mt. 7:13-14)
"Beware
of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but
underneath are ravenous wolves. By their fruits you will know
them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from
thistles? Just so, every good tree bears good fruit, and a rotten
tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a
rotten tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good
fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire. So by their
fruits you will know them." (Our Lord Jesus Christ, Mt. 7:15-20)
"Not
everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of
heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven.
Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy
in your name? Did we not drive out demons in your name? Did we not
do mighty deeds in your name?' Then I will declare to them
solemnly, 'I never knew you. Depart from me, you evildoers.'"
(Our Lord Jesus Christ, Mt. 7:21-23)
"Then,
dismissing the crowds, [Jesus] went into the house. His disciples
approached him and said, 'Explain to us the parable of the
weeds in the field.' He said in reply, 'He who sows good
seed is the Son of Man, the field is the world, the good seed the
children of the kingdom. The weeds are the children of the evil
one, and the enemy who sows them is the devil. The harvest is the
end of the age, and the harvesters are angels. Just as weeds are
collected and burned (up) with fire, so will it be at the end of
the age. The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will
collect out of his kingdom all who cause others to sin and all
evildoers. They will throw them into the fiery furnace, where
there will be wailing and grinding of teeth. Then the righteous
will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Whoever
has ears ought to hear.'" (Mt. 13:36-43)
"Thus
it will be at the end of the age. The angels will go out and
separate the wicked from the righteous and throw them into the
fiery furnace, where there will be wailing and grinding of
teeth." (Our Lord Jesus Christ, Mt. 13:49-50)
"...The
servants went out into the streets and gathered all they found,
bad and good alike, and the hall was filled with guests. But when
the king came in to meet the guests he saw a man there not dressed
in a wedding garment. He said to him, 'My friend, how is it that
you came in here without a wedding garment?' But he was reduced to
silence. Then the king said to his attendants, 'Bind his hands and
feet, and cast him into the darkness outside, where there will be
wailing and grinding of teeth.' Many are invited, but few are
chosen." (Our Lord Jesus Christ, Mt. 22:10-14)
"When
the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he
will sit upon his glorious throne, and all the nations will be
assembled before him. And he will separate them one from another,
as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will place
the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. Then the king
will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my
Father. Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation
of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty
and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me, naked and
you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you
visited me.' Then the righteous will answer him and say, 'Lord,
when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you
drink? When did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked
and clothe you? When did we see you ill or in prison, and visit
you?' And the king will say to them in reply, 'Amen, I say to you,
whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did
for me.' Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me,
you accursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his
angels. For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty
and you gave me no drink, a stranger and you gave me no welcome,
naked and you gave me no clothing, ill and in prison, and you did
not care for me.' Then they will answer and say, 'Lord, when did
we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or ill or in
prison, and not minister to your needs?' He will answer them,
'Amen, I say to you, what you did not do for one of these least
ones, you did not do for me.' And these will go off to eternal
punishment, but the righteous to eternal life." (Our Lord
Jesus Christ, Mt. 25:31-46)
"Whoever
causes one of these little ones who believe (in me) to sin, it
would be better for him if a great millstone were put around his
neck and he were thrown into the sea. If your hand causes you to
sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter into life maimed
than with two hands to go into Gehenna, into the unquenchable
fire. And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better
for you to enter into life crippled than with two feet to be
thrown into Gehenna. And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it
out. Better for you to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye
than with two eyes to be thrown into Gehenna, where 'their worm
does not die, and the fire is not quenched.'" (Our Lord Jesus
Christ, Mk. 9:42-48) [Reminder:
Interpretation and application of Scripture should not be contrary
to the perennial, official teaching of the Roman Catholic Church.
Do not take Scripture passages out of context. Do not inflict harm
on yourself or others, break laws, take unsuitable/incautious or
inappropriate/drastic actions, or take figurative items
literally.]
"Why
do you call me, 'Lord, Lord,' but not do what I command? I will
show you what someone is like who comes to me, listens to my
words, and acts on them. That one is like a person building a
house, who dug deeply and laid the foundation on rock; when the
flood came, the river burst against that house but could not shake
it because it had been well built. But the one who listens and
does not act is like a person who built a house on the ground
without a foundation. When the river burst against it, it
collapsed at once and was completely destroyed." (Our Lord
Jesus Christ, Lk. 6:46-49)
"There
was a rich man who dressed in purple garments and fine linen and
dined sumptuously each day. And lying at his door was a poor man
named Lazarus, covered with sores, who would gladly have eaten his
fill of the scraps that fell from the rich man's table. Dogs even
used to come and lick his sores. When the poor man died, he was
carried away by angels to the bosom of Abraham. The rich man also
died and was buried, and from the netherworld, where he was in
torment, he raised his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at
his side. And he cried out, 'Father Abraham, have pity on me. Send
Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue,
for I am suffering torment in these flames.' Abraham replied, 'My
child, remember that you received what was good during your
lifetime while Lazarus likewise received what was bad; but now he
is comforted here, whereas you are tormented. Moreover, between us
and you a great chasm is established to prevent anyone from
crossing who might wish to go from our side to yours or from your
side to ours.' He said, 'Then I beg you, father, send him to my
father's house, for I have five brothers, so that he may warn
them, lest they too come to this place of torment.' But Abraham
replied, 'They have Moses and the prophets. Let them listen to
them.' He said, 'Oh no, father Abraham, but if someone from the
dead goes to them, they will repent.' Then Abraham said, 'If they
will not listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be
persuaded if someone should rise from the dead.'" (Our Lord
Jesus Christ, Lk.
16:19-31)
"When
the thousand years are completed, Satan will be released from his
prison. He will go out to deceive the nations at the four corners
of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them for battle; their
number is like the sand of the sea. They invaded the breadth of
the earth and surrounded the camp of the holy ones and the beloved
city. But fire came down from heaven and consumed them. The Devil
who had led them astray was thrown into the pool of fire and
sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet were. There they
will be tormented day and night forever and ever." (Rv.
20:7-10)
"Next
I saw a large white throne and the one who was sitting on it. The
earth and the sky fled from his presence and there was no place
for them. I saw the dead, the great and the lowly, standing before
the throne, and scrolls were opened. Then another scroll was
opened, the book of life. The dead were judged according to their
deeds, by what was written in the scrolls. The sea gave up its
dead; then Death and Hades gave up their dead. All the dead were
judged according to their deeds. Then Death and Hades were thrown
into the pool of fire. (This pool of fire is the second death.)
Anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was
thrown into the pool of fire." (Rv. 20:11-15)
"The
one who sat on the throne said, 'Behold, I make all things
new.' Then he said, 'Write these words down, for they
are trustworthy and true.' He said to me, 'They are
accomplished. I (am) the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and
the end. To the thirsty I will give a gift from the spring of
life-giving water. The victor will inherit these gifts, and I
shall be his God, and he will be my son. But as for cowards, the
unfaithful, the depraved, murderers, the unchaste, sorcerers,
idol-worshipers, and deceivers of every sort, their lot is in the
burning pool of fire and sulfur, which is the second death.'"
(Rv. 21:5-8)
"The
only true failure is eternal damnation."
"Once
lost, we are lost forever." (Muller)
"The
belief in hell makes saints."
"Mortal
sin is the currency of damnation."
"[I]n
hell there is no redemption" (Responsory)
"One purchases
damnation by sinning mortally."
"They
who perish, perish by their own negligence." (St. Ambrose,
Doctor of the Church)
"Too
late they will believe in eternal punishment who would not believe
in eternal life." (St. Cyprian)
"There
is a great difference between fire that can be quenched and fire
that is unquenchable." (St. Gregory of Nyssa)
"We
can say that blasphemy is truly the language of hell." (St.
John Vianney)
"Live
in fear of the day of judgement and have a great horror of
hell." [St. Benedict (Rule)]
"A
man buys hell here with so much pain, that he might have heaven
with less than half the amount." (St. Thomas More)
"If Hell could repent, you would obtain its pardon."
(Catechism of the Cure de Ars)
"It is not God who condemns us to Hell; it is we ourselves
who do it by our sins." (Catechism of the Cure de Ars)
"There
is but one eternity; if the soul be once lost, it is lost
forever." (St. Alphonsus Liguori, Doctor of the Church)
"The bodies of the damned will also rise to share in the
eternal punishment of their souls." (Baltimore Catechism)
"This place is called gehenna, the bottomless pit, and is
hell strictly so-called." (Catechism of the Council of Trent)
"When I see people driving carts on Sunday, I think I see
them carrying their souls to Hell." (Catechism of the Cure de
Ars)
"If
Hell were not eternal, it would not be so frightful a
chastisement." (St. Alphonsus Liguori, Doctor of the Church)
"[T]he
pain of fire is equal to the guilt" (St. Thomas Aquinas,
Doctor of the Church and "greatest theologian in the history
of the Church")
"For
mortal sin alone is the pain of hell due" (St. Thomas
Aquinas, Doctor of the Church and "greatest theologian in the
history of the Church")
"God
threatens Hell, not to send us there, but to deliver us from that
place of torments." (St. Alphonsus Liguori, Doctor of the
Church)
"There
is no middle place: you must be forever happy in Heaven, or
overwhelmed with despair in Hell." (St. Alphonsus Liguori,
Doctor of the Church)
"Moreover,
if anyone without repentance dies in mortal sin, without a doubt
he is tortured forever by the flames of eternal hell."
(Council of Lyons / Pope
Innocent IV, 1254 A.D.)
"The
souls of those who die in mortal sin or with original sin only,
however, immediately descend to hell, yet to be punished with
different punishments." (Council of Lyons II, 1274 A.D.)
"[M]en
are punished in hell for no other than mortal sin." (St.
Thomas Aquinas, Doctor of the Church and "greatest theologian
in the history of the Church")
"[E]ternity
of punishment does not correspond to the quantity of the sin"
(St. Thomas Aquinas, Doctor of the Church and "greatest
theologian in the history of the Church")
"[T]he
unhappiness of the damned surpasses all unhappiness of this
world." (St. Thomas Aquinas, Doctor of the Church and
"greatest theologian in the history of the Church")
"[S]ince
guilt will remain in the soul for ever, its punishment also will
be everlasting." (St. Thomas Aquinas, Doctor of the Church
and "greatest theologian in the history of the Church")
"There
is no sin or wrong that gives a man such a foretaste of hell in
this life as anger and impatience." (St. Catherine of Siena,
Doctor of the Church)
"The misery of the damned consists in being for ever
deprived of the vision of God and punished with eternal torments
in hell." (Catechism of Pope St. Pius X)
"The Angels banished for ever from Paradise and condemned
to hell are called demons, and their chief is called Lucifer or
Satan." (Catechism of Pope St. Pius X)
"The demons tempt us because of the envy they bear us,
which makes them desire our eternal damnation; and because of
their hatred of God." (Catechism of Pope St. Pius X)
"Our Lord Himself speaks of it, when He relates there is a
Hell, but we live as if there were not; we sell our souls for a
few pieces of money." (Catechism of the Cure de Ars)
Q:
"Who are they who go to Hell?" A: "They who do not
die in the grace of God, that is, [those] who die in mortal sin."
(Catechism of St. John Neumann)
"Those are punished in hell who die in mortal sin; they
are deprived of the vision of God and suffer dreadful torments,
especially that of fire, for all eternity." (Baltimore
Catechism)
"When, moreover, we reflect that this torment is to be
eternal, we can see at once that the punishment of the damned
includes every kind of suffering." (Catechism of the Council
of Trent)
"All
the damned are in hell because they have stopped praying!... They
would not be there had they not stopped praying." (St.
Alphonsus, Doctor of the
Church?)
"How
great will be the pain and misery of the damned, seeing that they
might have been saved so easily, provided they had prayed to God
for their salvation!" (Muller)
"But
it remains unquestionably true that just as there is no end of joy
for the good, so too there will be no end of torment for the
wicked." (Pope St. Gregory I the Great, Doctor of the Church,
6th century A.D.)
"God's
initial will is every man's salvation, but his justice may finally
require some man's damnation." (St. Thomas Aquinas, Doctor of
the Church and "greatest theologian in the history of the
Church")
"[E]nvy
reigns supreme in the damned. Therefore they grieve for the
happiness of the blessed, and desire their damnation." (St.
Thomas Aquinas, Doctor of the Church and "greatest theologian
in the history of the Church")
"...all
of whom will rise with their bodies... that they may receive
according to their works, whether their works have been good or
evil, the latter everlasting punishment with the devil..."
(Lateran Council IV, 1215 A.D.)
"[T]hose
who are in hell can receive the reward of their goods, in so far
as their past goods avail for the mitigation of their
punishment." (St. Thomas Aquinas, Doctor of the Church and
"greatest theologian in the history of the Church")
"[A]ll
whosoever die in mortal sin, neither faith nor works of mercy will
free them from eternal punishment, not even after any length of
time" (St. Thomas Aquinas, Doctor of the Church and
"greatest theologian in the history of the Church")
"What
can there be that is worse than hell? Yet nothing is more
profitable than the fear of it! For the fear of hell gains for us
the crown of the kingdom" (St. John Chrysostom, Doctor of the
Church)
"Although
the sinner does not believe in Hell, he shall nevertheless go
there if he has the misfortune to die in mortal sin - even though
he neither believes in Hell or even thinks about it." (St.
Anthony Mary Claret)
"In
reality, the eternal salvation of man is only in God. Man's
rejection of God, if it becomes definitive, leads logically to
God's rejection of man (cf. Mt 7:23; 10:33), to damnation."
(Pope John Paul II)
"Some
foolish worldlings say: If I go to Hell I shall not be alone
there. Miserable fools! Do you not see that the greater number of
your companions, the more insufferable shall be your
torments?" (St. Alphonsus Liguori, Doctor of the Church)
"It
(The Roman Church) teaches...that the souls... of those who die in
mortal sin, or with only original sin descend immediately into
hell; however, to be punished with different penalties and in
different places." (Pope John XXII, 1321 A.D.)
"Therefore
every tree that brings not forth good fruit shall be cut down and
cast into the fire, because he who here neglects to bring forth
the fruit of good works finds a fire in hell prepared for
him." (St. Gregory of Nazianzus, Doctor of the Church)
"Hell
and eternal torments are the consequences of the creature's
contempt of his creator. God is a jealous God; if we drive Him
from the dwelling of our souls, the deep abyss must be our
everlasting abode." (Liturgical Year)
"The bodies of the damned, though incorruptible, will not
be impassible; they will be capable of experiencing heat and cold
and of suffering various afflictions." (Catechism of the
Council of Trent)
"The bodies of the damned shall be destitute of all the
endowments of the glorified bodies of the blessed, and shall bear
upon them the appalling mark of eternal reprobation."
(Catechism of Pope St. Pius X)
"No, there will be a vast difference between the bodies of
the elect and the bodies of the damned; because only the bodies of
the elect shall have, like the risen Christ, the endowments of
glorified bodies." (Catechism of Pope St. Pius X)
"That the saints may enjoy
their beatitude and the grace of God more abundantly they are
permitted to see the punishment of the damned in hell." (St. Thomas Aquinas, Doctor
of the Church and "greatest theologian in the history of the
Church")
"If one said to those poor lost souls that have been so
long in Hell, 'We are going to place a priest at the gate of Hell:
all those who wish to confess have only to go out, ' do you think,
my children, that a single one would remain?" (Catechism of
the Cure de Ars)
"Those who are damned do not belong to the Communion of
Saints in the other life; and in this life those who belong
neither to the body nor to the soul of the Church, that is, those
who are in mortal sin, and who are outside the true Church."
(Catechism of Pope St. Pius X)
"Hell
will never lack sufficient room to admit the bodies of the damned:
since hell is accounted one of the three things that 'never are
satisfied' (Proverbs 30:15,16)." (St. Thomas Aquinas, Doctor
of the Church and "greatest theologian in the history of the
Church")
"The bliss of heaven in the case of the blessed, and the
miseries of hell in the case of the damned, will be the same in
substance and in eternal duration; but in measure, or degree, they
will be greater or less according to the extent of each one's
merits or demerits." (Catechism of Pope St. Pius X)
"In the world, people hide Heaven and Hell: Heaven,
because if we knew its beauty, we should wish to go there at all
costs - we should, indeed, leave the world alone; Hell, because if
we knew the torments that are endured there, we should do all we
could to avoid going there." (Catechism of the Cure de Ars)
"In
this life, men who are in sin retain the possibility of obtaining
everlasting happiness: not so those who are lost in hell, who, in
this respect, are in the same case as the demons." (St.
Thomas Aquinas, Doctor of the Church and "greatest theologian
in the history of the Church")
"[T]he
bodies of the damned will be tormented not only from without, but
also from within, according as the body is affected at the
instance of the soul's passion towards good or evil." (St.
Thomas Aquinas, Doctor of the Church and "greatest theologian
in the history of the Church")
"If
the Devil and his angels, although they are incorporeal, are to be
tortured by a corporeal fire, what wonder if souls, even before
they are reunited with their bodies, can feel corporeal
torments?" (Pope St. Gregory I the Great, Doctor of the
Church, 6th century A.D.)
"We
declare that a great number of those who are condemned to eternal
punishment suffer that everlasting calamity because of ignorance
of those mysteries of faith which must be known and believed in
order to be numbered among the elect." (Pope Benedict XIV)
"The
degree of intensity in the punishment corresponds to the degree of
gravity in the sin; wherefore mortal sins unequal in gravity will
receive a punishment unequal in intensity but equal in
duration." (St. Thomas Aquinas, Doctor of the Church and
"greatest theologian in the history of the Church")
"[T]he
damnation of the wicked is for the correction of those who are now
in the Church; for punishments are intended for correction, not
only when they are being inflicted, but also when they are
decreed." (St. Thomas Aquinas, Doctor of the Church and
"greatest theologian in the history of the Church")
"Can.
9. If anyone says or holds that the punishment of the demons and
of impious men is temporary, and that it will have an end at some
time, that is to say, there will be a complete restoration of the
demons or of impious men, let him be anathema." (Pope
Vigilius, Canons Against Origen, 543 A.D.)
"When
the Devil tempts you, remember Hell - the thought of Hell will
preserve you from that land of misery. I say, remember Hell, and
have recourse to Jesus Christ and to most holy Mary, and they will
deliver you from sin, which is the gate of Hell." (St.
Alphonsus Liguori, Doctor of the Church)
"In
quite another way does the mercy of others err through their
humane sympathies, who think that the sufferings of those men who
are condemned by this sentence will be temporal, but that the
happiness of those who are set free sooner or later will be
eternal." (St. Augustine, Doctor of the Church)
"[I]t
is written (Wisdom 11:17): 'By what things a man sinneth by the
same also he is tormented.' Now men sin by the sensible things of
this world. Therefore it is just that they should be punished by
those same things." (St. Thomas Aquinas, Doctor of the Church
and "greatest theologian in the history of the Church")
"In
the present life men are deterred from blasphemy through fear of
punishment which they think they can escape: whereas, in hell, the
damned have no hope of escape, so that, in despair, they are borne
towards whatever their wicked will suggests to them." (St.
Thomas Aquinas, Doctor of the Church and "greatest theologian
in the history of the Church")
"In
that He says that the bundles of tares are to be cast into the
fire (Mt. 13:30), and the wheat gathered into barns, it is clear
that heretics also and hypocrites are to be consumed in the fires
of hell, while the saints who are here represented by the wheat
are received into the barns, that is into heavenly mansions."
(St. Jerome, Doctor of the Church)
"Is there one fire in hell, or, according
to the diversity of sinners, are there as many kinds of fire
prepared in that place? The fire of hell is one, but it does not
torment all sinners in the same way. Everyone there, according to
the quantity of his sin, has the measure of his pain." (Pope
St. Gregory I the Great, Doctor of the Church)
"The
unquenchable fire is the punishment of eternal damnation, either
because it never totally destroys or consumes those it has once
seized on, but torments them eternally, or to distinguish it from
purgatorial fire which is kindled for a time and again
extinguished." [Remigius (as quoted by St. Thomas Aquinas, Doctor of the Church)]
"[T]hat
fire does not alter bodies as to their matter, but acts on them
for their punishment by a kind of spiritual action, it is for this
reason that it is stated not to be material, not as regards its
substance, but as to its punitive effect on bodies and, still
more, on souls." (St. Thomas Aquinas, Doctor of the Church
and "greatest theologian in the history of the Church")
"So
great is the thirst of the damned, that if one of them were
offered all the water on this Earth, he would exclaim: All this
water is not sufficient to extinguish the burning thirst which I
endure. But alas! The unhappy damned shall never have a single
drop of water to refresh their tongues." (St. Alphonsus
Liguori, Doctor of the Church)
"A good confession: (1) Remits the sins we have committed
and gives us the grace of God; (2) Restores us peace and quiet of
conscience; (3) Reopens the gates of Heaven and changes the
eternal punishment of hell into a temporal punishment; (4)
Preserves us from falling again, and renders us capable of
partaking of the treasury of Indulgences." (Catechism of Pope
St. Pius X)
"But
they say, How can they be called Saints, if they shall not pray
for their enemies whom they see in hell burning? They do not
indeed pray for their enemies, so long as there is any possibility
of converting their hearts to a profitable penitence, but how
shall they pray for them when any change from their wickedness is
no longer possible?" (St. Gregory of Nazianzus, Doctor of the
Church)
"The reason why everlasting punishment appears hard and
unjust to human ideas is because in this infirmity of our mortal
state we have no adequate grasp of what exceeding high and pure
wisdom which would enable us to form an idea of the enormity of
man's first transgression. The higher man's enjoyment of God, the
greater his impiety in forsaking God: destroying in himself a good
gift that might have lasted for ever." (St. Augustine, Doctor
of the Church, 5th century
A.D.)
"The
wicked are all condemned to eternal punishment, and are punished
for their own wickedness. Yet they will burn to some purpose,
namely that the just may all both see in God the joys they
receive, and perceive in them the torments they have escaped: for
which reason they will acknowledge themselves for ever the debtors
of Divine grace the more that they will see how the evils which
they overcame by its assistance are punished eternally."
(Pope St. Gregory the Great, Doctor of the Church)
"It
is written (Matthew 25:41): 'Depart from Me, you cursed, into
everlasting fire, which is prepared for the devil and his angels.'
Therefore they will be punished eternally. Further, just as the
good angels were made happy through turning to God, so the bad
angels were made unhappy through turning away from God. Therefore
if the unhappiness of the wicked angels comes at length to an end,
the happiness of the good will also come to an end, which is
inadmissible." (St. Thomas Aquinas, Doctor of the Church and
"greatest theologian in the history of the Church")
"Moreover,
we declare that according to the common arrangement of God, the
souls of those who depart in actual mortal sin immediately after
their death descend to hell where they are tortured by infernal
punishments, and that nevertheless on the day of judgment all men
with their bodies will make themselves ready to render an account
of their own deeds before the tribunal of Christ, 'so that
everyone may receive the proper things of the body according as he
has done whether it be good or evil' [2 Cor. 5:10]." (Pope
Benedict XII, 1336 A.D.)
"God,
for His own part, has mercy on all. Since, however, His mercy is
ruled by the order of His wisdom, the result is that it does not
reach to certain people who render themselves unworthy of that
mercy, as do the demons and the damned who are obstinate in
wickedness. And yet we may say that even in them His mercy finds a
place, in so far as they are punished less than they deserve
condignly, but not that they are entirely delivered from
punishment." (St. Thomas Aquinas, Doctor of the Church and
"greatest theologian in the history of the Church")
"Even
as in the blessed in heaven there will be most perfect charity, so
in the damned there will be the most perfect hate. Wherefore as
the saints will rejoice in all goods, so will the damned grieve
for all goods. Consequently the sight of the happiness of the
saints will give them very great pain; hence it is written (Isaiah
26:11): 'Let the envious people see and be confounded, and let
fire devour Thy enemies.' Therefore they will wish all the good
were damned." (St. Thomas Aquinas, Doctor of the Church and
"greatest theologian in the history of the Church")
"The
damned will pass from the most intense heat to the most intense
cold without this giving them any respite: because they will
suffer from external agencies, not by the transmutation of their
body from its original natural disposition, and the contrary
passion affording a respite by restoring an equable or moderate
temperature, as happens now, but by a spiritual action, in the
same way as sensible objects act on the senses being perceived by
impressing the organ with their forms according to their spiritual
and not their material being." (St. Thomas Aquinas, Doctor of
the Church and "greatest theologian in the history of the
Church")
"That
fire will be the instrument of Divine justice inflicting
punishment. Now an instrument acts not only by its own power and
in its own way, but also by the power of the principal agent, and
as directed thereby. Wherefore although fire is not able, of its
own power, to torture certain persons more or less, according to
the measure of sin, it is able to do so nevertheless in so far as
its action is regulated by the ordering of Divine justice: even so
the fire of the furnace is regulated by the forethought of the
smith, according as the effect of his art requires." (St.
Thomas Aquinas, Doctor of the Church and "greatest theologian
in the history of the Church")
"[A]ccording
to the Philosopher (Ethica Nicomachea v, 5), punishment is meted
according to the dignity of the person sinned against, so that a
person who strikes one in authority receives a greater punishment
than one who strikes anyone else. Now whoever sins mortally sins
against God, Whose commandments he breaks, and Whose honor he
gives another, by placing his end in some one other than God. But
God's majesty is infinite. Therefore whoever sins mortally
deserves infinite punishment; and consequently it seems just that
for a mortal sin a man should be punished for ever." (St.
Thomas Aquinas, Doctor of the Church and "greatest theologian
in the history of the Church")
"[W]hatever
we may say of the fire that torments the separated souls, we must
admit that the fire which will torment the bodies of the damned
after the resurrection is corporeal, since one cannot fittingly
apply a punishment to a body unless that punishment itself be
bodily. Wherefore Gregory (Dialogorum iv) proves the fire of hell
to be corporeal from the very fact that the wicked will be cast
thither after the resurrection. Again Augustine, as quoted in the
text of Sententiarum iv,44, clearly admits (De Civitate Dei
xxi,10) that the fire by which the bodies are tormented is
corporeal." (St. Thomas Aquinas, Doctor of the Church and
"greatest theologian in the history of the Church")
"They
say that He held out empty terrors to deter them from sin. We
answer, if He threatened falsely to check unrighteousness, then He
promised falsely to promote good conduct. Thus while they go out
of the way to prove God merciful, they are not afraid to charge
Him with fraud. But, they urge, finite sin ought not to be visited
with infinite punishment; we answer, that this argument would be
just, if the righteous Judge considered men's actions, and not
their hearts. Therefore it belongs to the righteousness of an
impartial Judge, that those whose heart would never be without sin
in this life, should never be without punishment." (St.
Gregory of Nazianzus, Doctor of the Church)
"How
can eternal punishment be taken to mean a fire of long duration,
and eternal life be believed to be without end, when it the very
same place and in one and the same sentence Christ spoke of both
together: 'Those shall go into eternal punishment, but the
righteous into life eternal'? If both are eternal, certainly it
must be understood either that both are of long duration but with
an end, or both are perpetual and without end. For they are
related as being equal: on the one hand, eternal punishment, and on the other, eternal life. But to say in this one and the same
sense, eternal life will be without end and eternal punishment
will have an end, is quite absurd." (St. Augustine, Doctor of
the Church)
"But,
they assert, nobody can be at once capable of suffering pain, and
incapable of death. It must be that one live in pain, but it need
not be that pain kill him; for not even these mortal bodies die
from every pain; but the reason that some pain causes their death
is, that the connection between the soul and our present body is
such that it gives way to extreme pain. But then the soul shall be
united to such a body, and in such a way, that no pain shall be
able to overcome the connection. There will not then be no death,
but an everlasting death, the soul being unable to live, as being
without God, and equally unable to rid itself of the pains of body
by dying." (St. Augustine, Doctor of the Church)
"But
they say, no just man takes pleasure in cruelties, and the guilty
servant was scourged to correct his fault. But when the wicked are
given over to hell fire, to what purpose shall they burn there for
ever? We reply, that Almighty God, seeing He is good, does not
delight in the torments of the wretched; but forasmuch as He is
righteous, He ceases not from taking vengeance on the wicked; yet
do the wicked burn not without some purpose, namely, that the
righteous may acknowledge how they are debtors for eternity to
Divine grace, when they see the wicked suffering for eternity
misery, which themselves have escaped only by the assistance of
that Divine grace." (St. Gregory of Nazianzus, Doctor of the
Church)
"Some
say that the boy of whom Gregory tells this story was not lost
[Gregory says (Dialogorum iv), a boy of five years of age was
carried off by the devil on account of the sin of blasphemy], and
that he did not sin mortally; and that this vision was for the
purpose of making the father sorrowful, for he had sinned in the
boy through failing to correct him. But this is contrary to the
express intention of Gregory, who says (Dialogorum iv) that 'the
boy's father having neglected the soul of his little son, fostered
no little sinner for the flames of hell.' Consequently it must be
said that for a mortal sin it is sufficient to give consent to
something present" (St. Thomas Aquinas, Doctor of the Church
and "greatest theologian in the history of the Church")
"As
Augustine (De Civitate Dei xxi,24) and Gregory (Moralium xxxiv)
say, the saints in this life pray for their enemies, that they may
be converted to God, while it is yet possible for them to be
converted. For if we knew that they were foreknown to death, we
should no more pray for them than for the demons. And since for
those who depart this life without grace there will be no further
time for conversion, no prayer will be offered for them, neither
by the Church militant, nor by the Church triumphant. For that
which we have to pray for them is, as the Apostle says (2 Timothy
2:25,26), that 'God may give them repentance to know the truth,
and they may recover themselves from the snares of the
devil.'" (St. Thomas Aquinas, Doctor of the Church and
"greatest theologian in the history of the Church")
"Since
punishment is measured in two ways, namely according to the degree
of its severity, and according to its length of time, the measure
of punishment corresponds to the measure of fault, as regards the
degree of severity, so that the more grievously a person sins the
more grievously is he punished: 'As much as she hath glorified
herself and lived in delicacies, so much torment and sorrow give
ye to her' (Apocalypse 18:7). The duration of the punishment does
not, however, correspond with the duration of the fault, as
Augustine says (De Civitate Dei xxi,11), for adultery which is
committed in a short space of time is not punished with a
momentary penalty even according to human laws." (St. Thomas Aquinas, Doctor of the Church and
"greatest theologian in the history of the Church")
"But
if one will examine somewhat closely, here are two punishments, to
be cut down, and to be burned; and he that is burned is also
altogether cut out of the kingdom; which is the harder punishment.
Many indeed fear no more than hell; but I say that the fall of
that glory is a far more bitter punishment, than the pains of hell
itself. For what evil great or small would not a father undergo,
that he might see and enjoy a most dear son? Let us then think the
same of that glory; for there is no son so dear to his father as
is the rest of the good, to be deceased and to be with Christ. The
pain of hell is indeed intolerable, yet are ten thousand hells
nothing to falling from that blessed glory, and being held in hate
by Christ." (St. John Chrysostom, Doctor of the Church)
"The
damned, before the judgment day, will see the blessed in glory, in
such a way as to know, not what that glory is like, but only that
they are in a state of glory that surpasses all thought. This will
trouble them, both because they will, through envy, grieve for
their happiness, and because they have forfeited that glory. Hence
it is written (Wisdom 5:2) concerning the wicked: 'Seeing it' they
'shall be troubled with terrible fear.' After the judgment day,
however, they will be altogether deprived of seeing the blessed:
nor will this lessen their punishment, but will increase it;
because they will bear in remembrance the glory of the blessed
which they saw at or before the judgment: and this will torment
them. Moreover they will be tormented by finding themselves deemed
unworthy even to see the glory which the saints merit to
have." (St. Thomas Aquinas, Doctor of the Church and
"greatest theologian in the history of the Church")
"As
in the New Testament man's faith in God has been increased by the
addition of the Son of God, whereby man becomes a partaker of God,
so also is there an increase in diligence in our lives, since we
are commanded to abstain not only from evil deeds, but even from
the thoughts themselves and from wicked talk and empty language
and scurrilous words. So also is the penalty increased of those
who do not believe the Word of God and despise His coming and
whose attention is directed to the past; for it is not merely
temporal, but eternal. For to whomsoever the Lord shall say,
'Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the everlasting fire,' they
will be damned forever; and to whomsoever He shall say, 'Come,
blessed of My father, receive the inheritance of the kingdom which
as been prepared from you in eternity,' they shall receive the
kingdom forever." (St. Irenaeus, c. 180-199 A.D.)
"In
one place the Lord declares that 'these shall go to eternal
punishment,' and in another place He sends some 'to the eternal
fire prepared for the devil and his angels'; and speaks elsewhere
of the fire of gehenna, specifying that it is a place 'where their
worm dies not, and the fire is not extinguished'... Although these
and the like declarations are to be found in numerous places of
divinely inspired Scripture, it is one of the artifices of the
devil, that many man...ascribe an end to punishment, so that they
can sin the more boldly. If, however, there were going to be an
end of eternal punishment, there would likewise be an end to
eternal life. If we cannot conceive of an end to that life, who
are we to suppose that there will be an end to eternal punishment?
The qualification of 'eternal' is ascribed equally to both of
them." (St. Basil the Great, Doctor of the Church)
"My
children, we are afraid of death; I can well believe it. It is sin
that makes us afraid of death; it is sin that renders death
frightful, formidable; it is sin that terrifies the wicked at the
hour of the fearful passage. Alas! O God! there is reason enough
to be terrified, to think that one is accursed - accursed of God!
It makes one tremble. Accursed of God! and why? for what do men
expose themselves to be accursed of God? For a blasphemy, for a
bad thought, for a bottle of wine, for two minutes of pleasure!
For two minutes of pleasure to lose God, one's soul, Heaven
forever! We shall see going up to Heaven, in body and soul, that
father, that mother, that sister, that neighbor, who were here
with us, with whom we have lived, but whom we have not imitated;
while we shall go down body and soul to burn in Hell. The devils
will rush to overwhelm us. All the devils whose advice we followed
will come to torment us." (Catechism of the Cure de Ars)
"'But,'
some may say, 'a fault that has a termination ought not be
punished unendingly. Almighty God is undoubtedly just; and if what
was committed was not an eternal sin, it ought not be punished by
eternal torment.' We hasten to answer that they would be correct,
if the severe and just Judge were coming to weight men's deeds and
not their hearts. For the sinning of the wicked does have a
termination, because their lives have a termination. They would
have wished to live without end so that they might be able to
continue in their iniquities without end. For they seek more to
sin than to live. And they desire to live here always, because if
they could continue to live they would never have to stop sinning.
It pertains, therefore, to the justice of the strict judge that
those who were of such a mind in this life, that they willed never
to be without sin, shall never be without torment; and no end of
punishment is given the wicked man, because, so long as it was
possible, he did not want there to be any end to his crime."
(Pope St. Gregory I the Great, Doctor of the Church, 6th century
A.D.)
"But
the duration of punishment regards the disposition of the sinner:
for sometimes a person who commits an offense in a city is
rendered by his very offense worthy of being cut off entirely from
the fellowship of the citizens, either by perpetual exile or even
by death: whereas sometimes he is not rendered worthy of being cut
off entirely from the fellowship of the citizens; wherefore in
order that he may become a fitting member of the State, his
punishment is prolonged or curtailed, according as is expedient
for his amendment, so that he may live in the city in a becoming
and peaceful manner. So too, according to Divine justice, sin
renders a person worthy to be altogether cut off from the
fellowship of God's city, and this is the effect of every sin
committed against charity, which is the bond uniting this same
city together. Consequently, for mortal sin which is contrary to
charity a person is expelled for ever from the fellowship of the
saints and condemned to everlasting punishment, because as
Augustine says (De Civitate Dei xxi,11), 'as men are cut off from
this perishable city by the penalty of the first death, so are
they excluded from that imperishable city by the punishment of the
second death.'" (St. Thomas Aquinas, Doctor of the Church and
"greatest theologian in the history of the Church")
"And
the justice of no law is concerned to provide that the duration of
each man's punishment should be the same with the sin which drew
that punishment upon him. There never was any man, who held that
the torment of him, who committed a murder or adultery, should be
compressed within the same space of time as the commission of the
act. And when for any enormous crime a man is punished with death,
does the law estimate his punishment by the delay that takes place
in putting him to death, and not rather by this, that they remove
him forever from the society of the living? And fines, disgrace,
exile, slavery, when they are inflicted without any hopes of
mercy, do they not seem like eternal punishments in proportion to
the length of this life? They are only therefore not eternal,
because the life which suffers them is not itself eternal. But
they say, flow then is that true which Christ says, With what
measure you mete, it shall be measured to you again, if temporal
sin is punished with eternal pain? They do not observe that this
is said with a view, not to the equality of the period of time,
but of the retribution of evil, i.e. that he that has done evil
should suffer evil. Man was made worthy of everlasting evil,
because he destroyed in himself that good which might have been eternal." (St. Augustine, Doctor of the Church)
"Even
as in the saints on account of the perfection of their glory,
there will be nothing but what is a matter of joy so there will be
nothing in the damned but what is a matter and cause of sorrow;
nor will anything that can pertain to sorrow be lacking, so that
their unhappiness is consummate. Now the consideration of certain
things known brings us joy, in some respect, either on the part of
the things known, because we love them, or on the part of the
knowledge, because it is fitting and perfect. There may also be a
reason for sorrow both on the part of the things known, because
they are of a grievous nature, and on the part of the knowledge,
if we consider its imperfection; for instance a person may
consider his defective knowledge about a certain thing, which he
would desire to know perfectly. Accordingly, in the damned there
will be actual consideration of the things they knew heretofore as
matters of sorrow, but not as a cause of pleasure. For they will
consider both the evil they have done, and for which they were
damned, and the delightful goods they have lost, and on both
counts they will suffer torments. Likewise they will be tormented
with the thought that the knowledge they had of speculative
matters was imperfect, and that they missed its highest degree of
perfection which they might have acquired." (St. Thomas
Aquinas, Doctor of the Church and "greatest theologian in the
history of the Church")
"The
disposition of hell will be such as to be adapted to the utmost
unhappiness of the damned. Wherefore accordingly both light and
darkness are there, in so far as they are most conducive to the
unhappiness of the damned. Now seeing is in itself pleasant for,
as stated in De Metaphysica i, 'the sense of sight is most
esteemed, because thereby many things are known.' Yet it happens
accidentally that seeing is painful, when we see things that are
hurtful to us, or displeasing to our will. Consequently in hell
the place must be so disposed for seeing as regards light and
darkness, that nothing be seen clearly, and that only such things
be dimly seen as are able to bring anguish to the heart.
Wherefore, simply speaking, the place is dark. Yet by Divine
disposition, there is a certain amount of light, as much as
suffices for seeing those things which are capable of tormenting
the soul. The natural situation of the place is enough for this,
since in the centre of the earth, where hell is said to be, fire
cannot be otherwise than thick and cloudy, and reeky as it were.
Some hold that this darkness is caused by the massing together of
the bodies of the damned, which will so fill the place of hell
with their numbers, that no air will remain, so that there will be
no translucid body that can be the subject of light and darkness,
except the eyes of the damned, which will be darkened
utterly." (St. Thomas Aquinas, Doctor of the Church and
"greatest theologian in the history of the Church")
"According
to Augustine (De Civitate Dei xxi, 20,21), there have been some
who predicted a delivery from eternal punishment not for all men,
but only for Christians, although they stated the matter in
different ways. For some said that whoever received the sacraments
of faith would be immune from eternal punishment. But this is
contrary to the truth, since some receive the sacraments of faith,
and yet have not faith, without which 'it is impossible to please
God' (Hebrews 11:6). Wherefore others said that those alone will
be exempt from eternal punishment who have received the sacraments
of faith, and professed the Catholic faith. But against this it
would seem to be that at one time some people profess the Catholic
faith, and afterwards abandon it, and these are deserving not of a
lesser but of a greater punishment, since according to 2 Peter
2:21, 'it had been better for them not to have known the way of
justice than, after they have known it, to turn back.' Moreover it
is clear that heresiarchs who renounce the Catholic faith and
invent new heresies sin more grievously than those who have
conformed to some heresy from the first. And therefore some have
maintained that those alone are exempt from eternal punishment,
who persevere to the end in the Catholic faith, however guilty
they may have been of other crimes. But this is clearly contrary
to Holy Writ, for it is written (James 2:20): 'Faith without works
is dead,' and (Matthew 7:21) 'Not every one that saith to Me,
Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven: but he that
doth the will of My Father Who is in heaven': and in many other
passages Holy Scripture threatens sinners with eternal punishment.
Consequently those who persevere in the faith unto the end will
not all be exempt from eternal punishment, unless in the end they
prove to be free from other crimes." (St. Thomas Aquinas,
Doctor of the Church and "greatest theologian in the history
of the Church")
"We
find also other reasons given by the saints why some are justly
condemned to everlasting punishment for a temporal sin. One is
because they sinned against an eternal good by despising eternal
life. This is mentioned by Augustine (De Civitate Dei xii,12): 'He
is become worthy of eternal evil, who destroyed in himself a good
which could be eternal.' Another reason is because man sinned in
his own eternity (FS,Q87,A3,r 1); wherefore Gregory says (Dialogorum
iv), it belongs to the great justice of the judge that those
should never cease to be punished, who in this life never ceased
to desire sin. And if it be objected that some who sin mortally
propose to amend their life at some time, and that these
accordingly are seemingly not deserving of eternal punishment, it
must be replied according to some that Gregory speaks of the will
that is made manifest by the deed. For he who falls into mortal
sin of his own will puts himself in a state whence he cannot be
rescued, except God help him: wherefore from the very fact that he
is willing to sin, he is willing to remain in sin for ever. For
man is 'a wind that goeth,' namely to sin, 'and returneth not by
his own power' (Psalm 78:39). Thus if a man were to throw himself
into a pit whence he could not get out without help, one might say
that he wished to remain there for ever, whatever else he may have
thought himself. Another and a better answer is that from the very
fact that he commits a mortal sin, he places his end in a
creature; and since the whole of life is directed to its end, it
follows that for this very reason he directs the whole of his life
to that sin, and is willing to remain in sin for ever, if he could
do so with impunity. This is what Gregory says on Job 41:23, 'He
shall esteem the deep as growing old' (Moralium xxxiv): 'The
wicked only put an end to sinning because their life came to an
end: they would indeed have wished to live for ever, that they
might continue in sin for ever for they desire rather to sin than
to live.' Still another reason may be given why the punishment of
mortal sin is eternal: because thereby one offends God Who is
infinite. Wherefore since punishment cannot be infinite in
intensity, because the creature is incapable of an infinite
quality, it must needs be infinite at least in duration. And again
there is a fourth reason for the same: because guilt remains for
ever, since it cannot be remitted without grace, and men cannot
receive grace after death; nor should punishment cease so long as
guilt remains." (St. Thomas Aquinas, Doctor of the Church and
"greatest theologian in the history of the Church")
Also
See: All
Are Tried / Those Who Are Lost Could Have Been Saved | The
State of a Soul at Death Determines Its Eternity | A
Single Unrepented Mortal Sin Is Sufficient to Condemn a Soul to
Hell for All Eternity (Sacraments Section Reflections) | There
is No Confession After Death (Sacraments Section Reflections)
| Now
is the Time for Repentance | Judgment
| Fear
of God | Sin
| Mortal
Sin |
Original
Sin | Salvation
| Few
Are Saved | Repentance
| Penance
/ Confession (Sacraments Section Reflections)
| Penance /
Confession (Sacraments Section) | Evil
/ Satan / Devil | Tough
Love in the New Testament | Do
All 'Good People' Go To Heaven? / No Salvation Outside the Church
| Hell
(Topical Scripture)
Note:
Categories are subjective and may overlap. For more items related
to this topic, please review all applicable categories. For more
'Reflections' and for Scripture topics, see links below.
Top |
Reflections: A-Z | Categ.
| Scripture: A-Z |
Categ.
| Help |
