'STAND FAST IN THE FAITH'

New Zealand Tablet, 13 June 1912, Page 3

'STAND FAST IN THE FAITH'

(A- Weekly Instruction specially written for the N.Z. Tablet by 'Ghimel.') LIFE AFTER DEATH (III) Hell. The name Hell is used in Catholic theology ' to designate the place or state of men and angels, who because of sin, are excluded for ever from the Beatific Vision.' In this sense it is applied by the Council of Florence to the state of those who, dying with original sin on their souls, are deprived of the supreme happiness of seeing God, but who, being free from any personal sin, are not subject to punishment of any other kind. But in a narrower sense (and this is the sense adopted here) Hell is the state or place of the damned, the place where the fallen angels and those sinners who die with personal mortal sin on their souls are punished eternally with varying degrees of punishment corresponding to degrees of guilt. In these articles, we will treat successively of the teaching of Our Lord and His Apostles, the defined doctrine of the Church, the conclusions and speculations of Catholic theologians on the existence, the nature, and the duration of Hell and finally, we will deal with the rival solutions and the objections. But first two things are worthy of note: (1) No other doctrine 'of our faith has been attacked so passionately, or has given rise in the hearts of believers to such anguish. This may be due to some extent to the fact that imagination is often allowed to usurp the place of reason, and the moving descriptions of preachers are at times taken to be the defined doctrine of the Church. Without wishing in any way to minimise a doctrine so clearly taught by Our Lord, we may say that, in such a delicate matter, it is necessary to walk warily, to define every term exactly to find out precisely how far Catholic doctrine goes,' and where the speculations of theologians begin. Such a method will enable us to meet difficulties, even though it will not give us a full explanation of what after all is a mystery. (2) We must bear in mind that Hell is only one article of our faith, and only a partial aspect of God's attributes. God is Infinite Mercy as well as Infinite Justice; He has given grace to the lost as well as to the saved; He is the Creator of Purgatory and '-Heaven as well as of Hell. For the rest, 'it is as certain that Hell involves neither cruelty nor injustice as that there is a Hell. If Hell, as I conceive it, is cruel or unjust, it is as certain as faith that I misconceive it.' The Teaching of Our Lord.— Christ completely reveals the substance of what the Church was afterwards solemnly to define concerning Hell— punishment of every mortal sin after death, the eternity of the punishment and its inequalities, the element of fire, and loss of God. His doctrine is found in His direct exhortations and in His parabolic teaching. # (1) Exhortations. —Christ commences His public ministry by announcing that the Kingdom of God, so long desired, had at last come; men must obey its laws and make themselves worthy members of it by a true reformation of heart. It is the parting of the ways, a question of eternal salvation, for in rejecting Christ and His Spirit, men may commit the sin 'which shall never have forgiveness,' they being 'guilty of an everlasting sin' (St. Mark, iii. 29). And this everlasting sin shall have an everlasting punishment, the Gehenna (Hell) of fire. This may be seen from fact that in the Sermon on the Mount, where He promulgates His Kingdom and explains its laws, Our Lord recommend* fraternal charity and ordains chastity at all costs under pain of this punishment: ' But I say to you, that whosoever is angry with his brother, shall be in danger of the judgment. ' . . And whosoever shall say, thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire " St. Matthew, v. M). And if thy right eye scandalise thee, pluck it out and cast it from thee. For it is expedient for thee t that one of thy members should perish, rather than thy whole body be cast into hell' (v. 29). Henceforth, two ways are open to men: 'Not every one that saith to Me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of

heaven; but he that doth the will of My Father Who is in heaven, he shall enter into the kingdom of heaven. Many will say to Me in that day : Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Thy name, and cast out devils in Thy name, and done many miracles in Thy name ? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you; depart from' Me, you that work iniquity' (St. Matt, vii., 2123). Later on, at ( Capharnaum, when the faith of the Roman centurion excited His admiration, He prophesies the call of the pagans to the happiness of heaven and the rejection of many of the natural children of the kingdom. And I say to you that many shall come from the East and the West, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven; but the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into the exterior darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth (Matt, viii., 11-12). Here (as is common in the Old Testament) the joys of the table are used as a figure of the joys of heaven. ' The festive hall was brightly illumined among the ancients, so that those cast out into the exterior darkness could not partake of the festal joys. Again, since the light is the •symbol of glory and happiness, the exclusion from the light symbolises the privation of all happiness. The "pain.of sense" is expressed by "weeping and gnashing of teeth" ; the former shows the pain, the latter the despair' (Maas; Com. on St. Matt., p. 96). Once more, the Twelve are warned on the occasion of their first mission, to fear not them that kill the body, and are not able to kill the soul ; but rather fear • him that can destroy both soul and body into hell ' (St. Matt, x., 28). Lastly, and perhaps most .explicitly, in His solemn caution against scandalising one of these little ones, Christ gives expression to His teaching on this point: 'And if thy hand scandalise thee, cut it off; it is better for thee to enter life (eternal), maimed, than having two hands to go into hell, into unquenchable fire, where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not extinguished. And if thy foot scandalise thee, cut it off; it is better for thee to enter lame into life everlasting, than having two feet, to be cast into the hell of unquenchable fire, where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not extinguished. And if thy eye scandalise thee, pluck it out; it is better for thee with one eye to enter into the Kingdom of God, than having two eyes to be cast into the hell of fire, where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not extinguished. For every one shall be salted with fire, and every victim shall be salted with salt' (St. Mark ix., 42-48).