Why Do Some People Go to Hell?


Dear Catholic Exchange:

If Jesus loves us infinitely, if nothing we do makes Him love us any less or any more and if He is infinitely merciful, then how can any person, even an unremorseful murderer, go to hell? I know Faith without works is dead, and I know Jesus gave us the 10 Commandments, but I am confused. I would like some information in this area.

Thank you very much,

Susan

Dear Susan

Peace in Christ! The existence of hell is not so much a matter of God’s mercy and forgiveness, but of the free will He has given us. In giving us a free will, God gave us the freedom to choose to separate ourselves from Him. In a 1999 General Audience, Pope John Paul II described hell as “the state of those who freely and definitively separate themselves from God.” For a further discussion on the issue, please see our FAITH FACTS, Hell: The Self-Exclusion from God and Preserving to the End: The Biblical Reality of Mortal Sin.

I hope this answers your question. If you have further questions on this or would like more information about Catholics United for the Faith, please contact us at 1-800-MY-FAITH (693-2484). Please keep us in your prayers as we endeavor to “support, defend, and advance the efforts of the teaching Church.”

United in the Faith,

Amy Barragree

Information Specialist

Catholics United for the Faith

827 North Fourth Street

Steubenville, OH 43952

800-MY-FAITH (800-693-2484)



Jesus Died on the Cross, so Why the Need for a Judgment Day?

Dear CE:

If because of Christ’s death on the cross we are able to go to Heaven after we die, then why is there a “Judgment Day” for all souls? In other words, if souls who have died have already gone to Heaven and Hell and have thereby received their judgment, then why the need for a judgment day for all souls?

Thanks,

Catherine

Dear Catherine,

Peace in Christ! What you are speaking of is the difference between the “particular” and the “final” judgment. At each person’s death, their eternal destiny is sealed—“it is appointed for men to die once, and after that comes judgment” (Heb. 9:27). Why then would there be another judgment at the end of time?

This final judgment is often spoken of in the New Testament, typically in conjunction with the final resurrection on the Last Day. Whereas in the particular judgment one’s destiny is sealed according to whether he accepted or refused God’s grace, the final judgment lays bare before all “the furthest consequences the good each person has done or failed to do during his earthly life” (Catechism, no. 1039). In addition, the final judgment is also called the general judgment, the judgment in which all persons and nations are judged before all (cf. Mt. 25:31-46).

Perhaps a simple way to describe the particular and final judgment is that in the former you get your reward—heaven or hell—at the moment of death; in the latter, all the details come out and, in addition, you get your body back, transformed and glorified in the final resurrection just preceding final judgment.

I hope this answers your question. If you have further questions on this or would like more information about Catholics United for the Faith, please contact us at 1-800-MY-FAITH (693-2484). Please keep us in your prayers as we endeavor to “support, defend, and advance the efforts of the teaching Church.”

United in the Faith,

David E. Utsler

Information Specialist

Catholics United for the Faith

827 North Fourth Street

Steubenville, OH 43952

800-MY-FAITH (800-693-2484)



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