Hell
How can a loving God allow hell?
Main teaching: De fide
The big question
Of all Christian teachings, hell is perhaps the hardest. How can a God who is love allow anyone to suffer for ever? Isn’t eternal punishment out of all proportion to anything a person could do in a short life? And does the Church say that many, or few, will be lost?
What the Church teaches
Hell exists, and its punishment is eternal (Lateran IV, DH 801; Benedict XII, Benedictus Deus, DH 1002; CCC 1033–1035).
The souls of those who die in mortal sin go immediately to hell, where they suffer punishments that are unequal, according to their guilt (Florence; DH 1306; CCC 1035).
The chief punishment of hell is eternal separation from God, in whom alone we can have the life and happiness for which we were created (CCC 1035).
God predestines no one to go to hell. It comes only from a willful turning away from God, a mortal sin, persisted in to the end (CCC 1037).
How sure is this? De fide that hell exists and is eternal. See CCC 1033–1037.
Where it comes from
Scripture. Jesus speaks of hell more than anyone else in the New Testament. Of the final judgement he says: “Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels” (Matthew 25:41), and “they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life” (Matthew 25:46). He warns that the gate to destruction is wide and the way to life narrow (Matthew 7:13–14).
At the same time, God “is forbearing toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance” (2 Peter 3:9). When someone asked Jesus, “Lord, will those who are saved be few?”, he did not give a number. He said, “Strive to enter by the narrow door” (Luke 13:23–24).
The early Church. Origen (died about 253) speculated that in the end all creatures, even the devil, would be restored to God. The Church rejected this as a teaching in the sixth century (Synod of Constantinople, 543; DH 411). St Augustine argued against those who held that hell would one day end, pointing out that Christ uses the same word “eternal” for punishment and for life (Matthew 25:46).
How theologians explain it
Self-exclusion. The Catechism describes hell as “the state of definitive self-exclusion from communion with God and the blessed” (CCC 1033). God does not drag anyone there against their will. To refuse God’s love freely and to the end is to choose to be without him, and God respects that choice. Some writers put it this way: the doors of hell are locked from the inside.
Why it is eternal. At death, a person’s fundamental choice becomes final, as Lesson 11.1 explained. Someone who dies having definitively rejected God does not afterwards want him. Hell is eternal not because God refuses to forgive a repentant sinner, but because the damned do not repent. Their will is fixed against him, as the fallen angels’ is (Lesson 4.2).
What hell is like. Theologians distinguish two kinds of suffering:
| Pain of loss | Pain of sense | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | Being without God, for whom we were made | Positive suffering, which tradition calls “fire” |
| How serious | The chief and worst punishment | Real, but secondary |
| Defined? | Its reality is taught (CCC 1035) | The Church has not defined what the “fire” is |
The punishments are unequal, according to each person’s guilt.
Justice and mercy. Aquinas teaches that even in the punishment of the damned God’s mercy is present, because they are punished less than they deserve (Summa I, q. 21, a. 4, ad 1). And the seriousness of hell is the measure of how seriously God takes human freedom: he made us able to love him, which means able to refuse him.
How many? The Church has never declared that any particular person is in hell, not even Judas. It prays in its liturgy that all may be saved. Jesus’ answer to the question “will those who are saved be few?” was not a number but a command: strive. Some saints and Doctors held that many are lost; some theologians today express a hope that few or none are. The Church teaches that hell is a real possibility for each of us, and asks us to take it seriously for ourselves and to pray for everyone (CCC 1036–1037).
Philosophy bridge
The philosophy course’s Ethics branch teaches that every free will is ordered to a final end, and that we freely choose what we take as our final end. God is the only end that can satisfy us. Hell is what follows when a person freely makes something else their final end and holds to that choice at death.
What the Church does not claim
- Not that God sends people to hell arbitrarily. No one is there except by their own free and final choice.
- Not that anyone in particular is in hell. The Church has never declared it of any named person.
- Not that everyone will certainly be saved. Hell is a real possibility, and its eternity is defined.
- Not that the medieval images are literal. Devils with pitchforks belong to art and poetry, not doctrine.
Check your understanding
- What has the Church defined about hell?
Show answer
That hell exists and that its punishment is eternal; that those who die in mortal sin go there immediately; and that its punishments are unequal according to guilt.
- How does the Catechism describe hell, and why does that matter?
Show answer
As “the state of definitive self-exclusion from communion with God”. It matters because it shows hell comes from a person’s own free and final refusal, not from God arbitrarily sending people there.
- Why is hell eternal, if God always forgives the repentant?
Show answer
Because at death a person’s choice becomes final. The damned do not repent; their will is fixed against God. God has not stopped being merciful; they have refused his mercy for good.
- What is the difference between the pain of loss and the pain of sense?
Show answer
The pain of loss is being without God, which is the chief punishment of hell. The pain of sense is positive suffering, which tradition calls fire; the Church has not defined its exact nature.
- How did Jesus answer the question “Lord, will those who are saved be few?”
Show answer
He did not give a number. He said, “Strive to enter by the narrow door” (Luke 13:24), turning the question into a call to each person.