HELL

“The safest road to Hell is the gradual one — the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts.”
C.S. Lewis, The Screwtape Letters

“Thus Satan leads poor creatures down into the depths of sin by winding stairs, that let them not see the bottom whither they are going. He first presents an object that occasions some thoughts; these set on fire the affections, and they fume up into the brain, and cloud the understanding, which being thus disabled, Satan now dares a little more declare himself, and boldly solicit the creature to that it even now have defied.”
Durnall, William, The Christian in Complete Armour

Is there anybody there (in Hell)?

Many people do not believe in Hell. Or they believe that Hell must be empty because God is so merciful. They seem to forget that God is JUST! And justice demands that some will be punished. How can anyone who has denied God throughout their lives (and even at the moment of death) expect to be anywhere else? One thing we can be sure of is that God will ALWAYS accept our free will and the decisions we make. If one denies God, and by extension, his teachings, how can God rightfully counter that will and put them in His presence, for that is what heaven is. Hell, on the other hand, is the total absence of God. C.S. Lewis said, “Never fear.  There are only two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God, ‘Thy will be done,’ and those to whom God says, in the end, ‘thy will be done.’ All that are in Hell choose it. Without that self-choice there could be no Hell.” The Great Divorce

Recently Pope Francis declared that he hoped that hell was empty and that the act of contrition statement about fear of God’s just punishments is too harsh. The good news in this is that, evidently, Francis at least believes that hell exists. There are many who don’t, some of them call themselves Christians. Not believing in hell goes against the teachings of Jesus, who repeatedly spoke about the home of Satan and his demons. Similarly, Jesus also warned us that hell is not empty and the path to it is easy and many find it (Mt 7:13-14).

Unfortunately, such statements, especially by someone as high up in the Church as the pope, only serves to reinforce people’s belief that God, in all his mercy, would not condemn anyone to hell. Of course, God doesn’t condemn anyone to hell, those who are there got there by their own choice and their rejection of God.

"Justice must discriminate between the repentant and the unrepentant, between those who accept the gift of mercy and those who do not, between those who freely choose heaven and those who do not. Not to do so would be like giving the Nobel Peace Prize to Stalin. God cannot tell such lies." (Peter Kreeft & Roger Tacelli, Handbook of Christian Apologetics: Hundreds of Answers to Crucial Questions)

God has assured us that he will not tamper with our free will. He allows us to choose and that what we choose will be given to us (Sir 15:17, Ps 81:11-12). St. Paul also reminded us of this in the first chapter of Romans: “And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a base mind and to improper conduct.”

Denying hell or implying that it might be empty not only contradicts Jesus, but it also borders on scandal. “Scandal is an attitude or behavior which leads another to do evil. The person who gives scandal becomes his neighbor’s tempter.” (CCC 2284) “Scandal takes on a particular gravity by reason of the authority of those who cause it ...” (CCC 2285) Promoting the idea that people will not be held to justice for their transgressions borders on condoning sin. Additionally, both the Bible and Church teaching tell us that we have a duty to admonish the sinner. Admonishing the sinner is one of the spiritual works of mercy we are called to perform. (1 Jn 5:16, Ezekiel 3:17-21)

Can anyone look at the events in the world: terrorism, wars, abortion, transgenderism, assaults on the family, etc., and deny that evil exists? Then why would people think that God, who is all good and the paragon of justice, would allow sin to persist without administering that justice. It could be that, since we don’t see the fire coming down from the sky, as in Sodom and Gomorrah, that we think God will overlook the evil in the world. Or perhaps, since his justice is not administered immediately, we think he won’t make us answer. We forget that God works in his own time. God’s time is not our time. As St. Peter and the Psalms tell us, one day with God is like thousands of years in our time. (2 Peter 3:8, Ps 90:4)

Ezekiel tells us “But as for those whose heart goes after their detestable things and their abominations, I will repay their deeds upon their own heads, says the Lord God.” (Ezek 11:21) Jesus also assures us that the time will come when justice will be administered. “You also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.” (Lk 12:40) Jesus also warned that the unrighteous will be separated out and cast into hell. “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net which was thrown into the sea and gathered fish of every kind; ... men sat down and sorted the good into vessels but threw away the bad. ... So it will be at the close of the age. The angels will come out and separate the evil from the righteous, and throw them into the furnace of fire ...” (Mt 13:47-50, see also, Judgment of the Nations, Mt 25:31-46)

Thus, while the Bible tells us that God’s mercy is boundless, it also tells us that hell exists and people are barreling down that road. To ignore this is foolhardy. St. Paul tells us that those who do not honor God or give thanks to him are fools. “Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and ... Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity ... because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature [themselves] rather than the Creator ...” (Romans 1:22-25).

Besides scripture and the Catechism, we have the visions of many saints as well as Marian apparitions whereby the realities of hell and the tortured souls therein have been graphically demonstrated. Just reading the report of Mary’s appearance at Fatima tells us that hell is real. The predictions and other evidence from Fatima should be sufficient to understand that hell is not a figment of someone’s imagination.

The 2011 movie, The Rite, has a scene in its trailer where the experienced exorcist, Fr. Lucas, played by Anthony Hopkins, tells the apprentice (Michael), “Choosing not to believe in the devil won’t protect you from him.” Similarly, not believing in hell won’t keep you out. As Jesus tells us, “Not every one who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.” (Mt 7:21)

"Satan’s primary lie that deceives humanity, keeps it in spiritual infancy and causes more suffering than anything else, is the lie that selfishness is fun and unselfishness is not. The origin of sin and suffering is faith in Satan's lie (which began in Genesis 3) that life and joy come from disobedience to God, from "my will be done." At the far end of that lie lies hell.” Peter Kreeft & Roger Tacelli, Handbook of Christian Apologetics: Hundreds of Answers to Crucial Questions