Saints LightWhy Does the Church Still Teach Hell?
Hell is real because freedom is real: it is the state of those who finally and freely refuse God's love, and God, who wants everyone saved, respects that choice.
What this lesson teaches
- Jesus taught about hell, and its existence and eternity are dogma.
- Hell is a state of definitive self-exclusion from God, chosen by refusing him to the end.
- God predestines no one to hell and wills all to be saved.
- The Church has never declared that any particular person is in hell.
Catechism paragraphs this lesson cites
- CCC 1033
- CCC 1034-1035
- CCC 1036-1037
- CCC 1058
CCC means the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Saints Light teaches it in its own words and never quotes it. Look up any paragraph in a printed copy or at vatican.va. See every lesson by paragraph in the Catechism index.
Scripture read in this lesson: Matthew 25:41; 2 Peter 3:9.
A sample question from this lesson
How does the Church describe hell?
- A place God sends people to at random
- A temporary punishment that ends after a time
- A state of definitive self-exclusion from communion with God, freely chosen
- A symbol with no real meaning
Show the answer
A state of definitive self-exclusion from communion with God, freely chosen. CCC 1033 describes hell as definitive self-exclusion from God, the result of freely refusing him to the end.
The lesson in the app has three questions, each with an explanation.
Words to know
- Self-exclusion
- The Church's way of describing hell: a person's own final, free refusal of communion with God.
- Mortal sin
- A grave sin committed with full knowledge and deliberate consent, which destroys charity in the soul unless repented.
More terms in the Catholic glossary. More passages in the Scripture index.
Read the full lesson in the app
"Why Does the Church Still Teach Hell?" is lesson 5 of Death, Judgment, Heaven and Hell. In Saints Light you get the whole teaching, the Scripture quoted in full, all three questions and a step to live it this week.
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- The End of the Story: Death, Judgment and Heaven (Start Here, free)
- and life everlasting. Amen. (The Creed, free)