The Hell There Is
Thank you, Lord Jesus, for dying on the Cross to save us from Hell
All who faithfully follow Jesus Christ have a glorious future in store: the joy and bliss of eternal life in the kingdom of heaven. But there is also a dreadful destiny for those who “do not know God and who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus” (2 Thess. 1:8).
Yes, there is a hell. Our Lord Jesus Christ warns us of hell.
“Do not fear him who can destroy the body, but fear Him who can destroy both soul and body in hell” (Mt. 10:28).
“Whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire” (Mt. 5:22). “It is better for you to enter life with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into the hell of fire” (Mt. 18:9).
“How are you to escape being sentenced to hell?” (Mt. 23:33).
“Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels” (Mt. 25:41).
“These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life” (Mt. 25:46).
Saint Paul the Apostle describes hell as
“the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His might” (2 Thess. 1:9).
Saint Jude says that the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah serves “as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire” (1:7).
Saint John’s Revelation warns of “the lake of fire and brimstone”(Rev. 19:20) where the beast, the false prophet, the devil, sinners, and all those whose “name was not found written in the book of life” (Rev. 20:15) “will be tormented day and night forever and ever” (Rev. 20:10).
The Desert Fathers meditated on the reality of hell.
Evagrius of Pontus, as recorded in Benedicta Ward’s Sayings of the Desert Fathers, says,
“Remember also what happens in hell and think about the state of the souls down there, their painful silence, their most bitter groanings, their fear, their strife, their waiting. Think of their grief without end and the tears their souls shed eternally… Consider the fate kept for sinners, their shame before the face of God and the angels and archangels and all men, that is to say, the punishments, the eternal fire, worms that rest not, the darkness, gnashing of teeth, fear, and supplications” (Ward, 63).
In his Homily on Matthew 43, Saint John Chrysostom describes hell:
“It is a sea of fire — not a sea of the kind or dimensions we know here, but much larger and fiercer, with waves made of fire, fire of a strange and fearsome kind. There is a great abyss there, in fact, of terrible flames, and one can see fire rushing about on all sides like some wild animal. … There will be no one who can resist, no one who can escape: Christ’s gentle, peaceful face will be nowhere to be seen.”
About preaching on hell, Chrysostom says,
“This is a burdensome message; it does upset the man who hears it. I know because I feel it myself. I am disturbed by it; it makes me quake. The clearer the proofs I find of this message of hell, the more I tremble and melt with fear. But I have to proclaim it so that we may not fall into hell.”
Byzantine liturgical texts often speak of hell. During the Vespers of Meatfare Sunday, we pray,
“I weep and lament when I think of the outer darkness and eternal fire together with Hades, the worm that consumes, and the gnashing of teeth, the unceasing grief that falls upon those who have sinned without measure, and those who have provoked You to anger, O God most good. Alas, among these sinners I am first. But in your great mercy, O Judge, save me.”
The official Catechism of the Catholic Church affirms the fearful reality of hell.
“The teaching of the Church affirms the existence of hell and its eternity. Immediately after death the souls of those who die in a state of mortal sin descend into hell, where they suffer the punishments of hell, ‘eternal fire.’ The chief punishment of hell is eternal separation from God, in whom alone man can possess the life and happiness for which he was created and for which he longs” (CCC 1035).
May the thought of hell:
- instill in us a holy fear of God,
- serve as an urgent incentive to repent of all known sin,
- lead us to the Holy Sacrament of Confession,
- cause us to truly cherish the message of the Cross,
- and grant us enthusiasm for evangelism, world missions, and ceaseless prayer for the salvation of souls.
Thank you, Lord Jesus, for dying on the Cross to save us from hell.
The biblical and Catholic doctrine of hell is a truth that we neglect to our own detriment. Hell is real. The hell there is!
