Zone1 Do you believe this account of Hell from a 20th century Catholic nun?

[BackAgain]

You have a hard eye. From my own personal experiences I cared about everything I created in my life. I'm geussing you did too. If so I am wondering why you think God would be any different.

God didn’t do creation in one instant. It’s an ongoing process. We see evidence of new stars still being born. Therefore, it seems very logical to assume that God has more than just human life )on one tiny blue planet on on arm of one galaxy amongst billions of galaxies with trillions of stars and the probability of life all over the immeasurable universe) on His mind.

You might want to start preparing yourself for what the full measure of the Holy Spirit will feel like because I suspect the people who are overwhelmed by the presence of pure goodness are the ones that won't be able to tolerate it and ask it to be removed. At which point they will get their wish and realize their mistake was in not living life in such a way that prepared them for pure goodness.

With the exception of some very bad people, my hunch is that most people are inclined toward Divine “goodness.”

I’m not at all sure that there is such a thing as the Holy Spirit. That’s a religious belief. It’s a matter of faith. But if there is One, I would hope to be able to meet and share in an afterlife that includes such wonder, awe and love.

 

[Likkmee]

Diary 741

scariest thing you'll ever read, esp if you haven't repented of your sins yet

Ahhh. She aint had none. A couple bong hits, a bump or 5 and a threesome, in a 1968 dodge van, and she'll be singin" Gotta get back to the ga-ahahhhh-den and looking for Woodstock on her iPhone 666

 

[Meriweather]

I don’t. I frankly assume that He (most often) doesn’t give us any thought whatsoever; similar to how we contemplate the little organisms floating in a lake when we go swimming there.

My experience is that His caring for the small things that make up our lives, that it mostly goes unnoticed by us. God cares. And He cares a lot. Even, or perhaps especially, for leven the tiny things that make up our lives.

 

[Meriweather]

Does Catholic thought teach God created "hell"? Or does it teach that "hell" is a consequence of separation from God that was not chosen by God but by the soul that wanted to be separated from God?

Catholic teaching is that "hell" is separation from God chosen by each soul who does not wish to spend eternity with God.

Visions from other saints suggests that it is Satan that creates a kind of "Dante's Inferno", but while the Catholic Church notes these visions, it has never been Catholic teaching that Satan designs and runs hell.

 

[BackAgain]

St. Faustina, like any of us, is a product of her own time. She writes of hell in terms she and the people around her can understand. The first thing that comes across is what hell might be like for people who are good and loving.

I have an analogy (on a much smaller scale) of what it might be like for some to feel God's attitude toward evil. I am a substitute teacher. Every so often (especially at the middle school level) there are budding young men who actively seek seeing me irritated. At this immature age, it gives them a kick. Don't ask me why.

Who do you think understands what best pleasures evil than an evil being? For all we know, a present day saint might say, Evil people who choose hell see it as the best rides in a theme park. Good people see it as the site where they collect, dump, and burn trash.

I am not suggesting this is a better description of hell and its inhabitants, but how do you feel about God's opposition to evil? Do you believe compassion towards evil is the solution?

I believe that after our mortal life is over, one of two things happen. Either (1) an absolute void like a dreamless sleep in a coma. Something like all of us were in before we were even conceived, I’m guessing. OR, (2) the unshackling of our limited Earthly minds coming with a sudden rush of information and comprehension.

But I could be wrong.

 

[Meriweather]

I also believe that none of us know or can know why God chose to create everything, unless He elects to share that reason and purpose with us. And there’s a problem there. If He did share it with someone (let’s say He sent His Son to do that for us), a person can choose to believe it. But another person might find it impossible to accept just on faith, alone.

Much of Jesus' teachings were about living the Kingdom of God while we are here on earth.

 

[Meriweather]

I believe that after our mortal life is over, one of two things happen. Either (1) an absolute void like a dreamless sleep in a coma. Something like all of us were in before we were even conceived, I’m guessing. OR, (2) the unshackling of our limited Earthly minds coming with a sudden rush of information and comprehension.

But I could be wrong.

I tend towards your second description where we will receive (or remember) that sudden rush of information and comprehension. We will be able to choose where we want to spend eternity. If we choose with God, it seems a given that there will be a purification process for some if not most.

 

[ding]

I also believe that none of us know or can know why God chose to create everything, unless He elects to share that reason and purpose with us.

We can certainly make educated guesses, right? We can use our own experiences as creators as a proxy. So I think if one were conscientious about it and gave it some serious thought that he could come up with a pretty good list of reasons. I know I can and did. To me the very nature of the physical laws of nature point to reason and purpose.

 

[BackAgain]

Much of Jesus' teachings were about living the Kingdom of God while we are here on earth.

I don’t dispute that. Most of what He taught strikes me as absolutely brilliant.

 

[BackAgain]

I tend towards your second description where we will receive (or remember) that sudden rush of information and comprehension. We will be able to choose where we want to spend eternity. If we choose with God, it seems a given that there will be a purification process for some if not most.

I doubt purification will be required. But again: what do I know?

 

[BackAgain]

We can certainly make educated guesses, right? We can use our own experiences as creators as a proxy. So I think if one were conscientious about it and gave it some serious thought that he could come up with a pretty good list of reasons. I know I can and did. To me the very nature of the physical laws of nature point to reason and purpose.

the very nature of the physical laws of nature point to reason and purpose.

That is in line with my own thinking. In fact, it is why I made the decision to believe in God.

 

[ding]

And there’s a problem there. If He did share it with someone (let’s say He sent His Son to do that for us), a person can choose to believe it. But another person might find it impossible to accept just on faith, alone.

Is it a problem though? My understanding is that everyone was redeemed. Not some, but everyone. So even a person who had no knowledge of Jesus Christ would still be redeemed. So to me the only question is did he live his life in such a way as to prepare him for receiving the full weight of the Holy Spirit.

 

[Meriweather]

I doubt purification will be required. But again: what do I know?

I got a taste of what it is like to be loved by God. I would dearly love to be able to love like that. I can see where that might require purification, a process I would enthusiastically enter into in order to be able to love like God.

 

[ding]

That is in line with my own thinking. In fact, it is why I made the decision to believe in God.

If that is the case then it's not a far leap to recognizing how we are being pruned by God. And if God is pruning us, then God cares about us.

 

[ding]

I got a taste of what it is like to be loved by God.

I did too. I couldn't handle it. My only hope is that mercy is taken on me and I am given the weight I can bear.

 

[Meriweather]

I did too. I couldn't handle it.

Probably why we were only given a taste...

 

[ding]

it has never been Catholic teaching that Satan designs and runs hell.

Or that God created it.

 

[ding]

Probably why we were only given a taste...

I'm pretty sure I was given more than a small taste. I was being taught a lesson.

 

[Meriweather]

Or that God created it.

I totally agree with that.

 

[Meriweather]

I'm pretty sure I was given more than a small taste. I was being taught a lesson.

With love! That is who God Is.