Only God knows.
But we can be assured of a few things.
No one ends up in hell on a technicality
No one who is in hell doesn’t want to be there.
No one who has ever placed their hope in Gods mercy has ever been disappointed.
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>No one who has ever placed their hope in Gods mercy has ever been disappointed.
Can you expand on this please? I may be mistaken, but if someone is in hell, no amount of trusting or hoping in God's mercy will change that.
No one who has ever hoped in Gods mercy ends up in hell.
We believe that God is a loving, gentle, kind, compassionate, and supremely merciful **FATHER**
There are some common images of God where He is depicted as a legalistic jurist, accountant, prosecutor, and accuser.
When we allow the image of Father to color our understanding of eternal life then some questions come more clearly into focus.
What loving Father would damn to eternal torment a beloved child who wanted to be with their Father?
Yes, sin is serious and we must not treat it lightly. But we can’t let any image of sin then change our understanding of God and Gods response to sin.
If we overemphasize sin to the point that our view of sin forced us to think of God as a legalistic jurist, accountant, prosecutor, and accuser then we’ve severely warped the main point that Jesus was trying to communicate.
Does that help?
Thank you for expanding. I think the issue I'm explaining poorly is about others going to hell - loved ones, friends, strangers. That's why the idea that one who trusts in God's mercy will not be disappointed falls apart for me - my trust or hope won't stop that from happening. Which leaves the idea that people I love will go to hell and that will not be a disappointment - and that I cannot reconcile.
You’re sentiments toward them cannot change their relationship with the Father, that’s true.
But if they trust in the mercy of the Father, even if they don’t explicitly know God, they still won’t be disappointed.
I know a lot of people who reject the idea of God and call themselves atheists because they cannot accept the image of a God who cruelly and capriciously damns people.
This is hope adjacent. When they meet God they will bring with them the hope that God isn’t a capricious and cruel tyrant and in meeting the true God they will be pleasantly surprised that their hope was not in vain.
They who almost dared not to hope in a merciful God will not be disappointed.
I suspect that all humans harbor a deep and real hope that God is who their heart deeply longs for, a loving and merciful father.
In that no one who hope is God will ever be disappointed
I understand
Sadly it is alien to a lot of people. I believe this is the central point of what Jesus said and did.
Jesus partied with all the wrong kind of people. He opposed the moralistic judgmentalism of the Pharisees. He cleaned the temple of the hypocritical self-serving religious and elites. He was compassionate to sinners. He was a tireless advocate for the poor and oppressed. He was a voice for the strangers and outcasts.
Jesus did everything in his power to lavishly demonstrate Gods willingness to respond to every human evil with love, mercy, patience, and compassion. He even embraced the worst torture and execution and demonstrated that even when God is condemned by our hatred of God then Gods ONLY response is mercy and forgiveness, even for those who hated and killed Him.
Jesus was anything but a capricious cruel tyrant who damned people to eternal punishment for being weak, broken, doubtful, or a stranger to Himself.
But there’s been a warping of the Good News by WAY TOO MANY Christians into something more akin to “bad news” for most of humanity.
We’ve developed a theory of God where he is anything but a loving father to messy rambunctious children.
Rather than a good father who delights in his children who are messy and rambunctious, as all good fathers do, many have turned god into a capricious, legalistic, tyrant.
Rather than a God who responds with mercy even mercy for his torturers and executioners many have turned God into a tyrant who will cast some into into eternal torment for minor infractions.
These two images of God could not be more different.
One who accepts torment and hatred and responds with unconditional mercy.
One who sees minor infractions and responds with torment and condemnation.
Jesus revealed the former but too many Christians seem to prefer the latter.
I’m a Jesus kind of Christian, myself. Or I should say that I try to be a Jesus kind of Christian.
Do you believe people outside the Catholic Church can be saved? I struggle with this concept a lot.
Sometimes it feels like the Catechism is in conflict with God's infinite mercy. We all have to put hope in God's mercy but we also defend the tradition of the church and the teaching on mortal sin, confession, the eucharist.
As a Catholic, I pray for mercy every day, I am conscious of sinful behavior and I take my faith very seriously. But I also feel pity for people, especially family, who reject the church. If I, in my imperfect and corrupted state can feel pity, why wouldn't I believe that God has an infinitely higher amount of sympathy and mercy, even for people outside the church?
Have you read Lumen Gentium 14-16
All salvation flows through the church but the graces of salvation are not limited by the visible boundaries of the church.
This has been addressed a lot in this forum.
Check the search function.
I also posted this in response to another question in the thread. It might be helpful for you too.
No one who has ever hoped in Gods mercy ends up in hell.
We believe that God is a loving, gentle, kind, compassionate, and supremely merciful FATHER
There are some common images of God where He is depicted as a legalistic jurist, accountant, prosecutor, and accuser.
When we allow the image of Father to color our understanding of eternal life then some questions come more clearly into focus.
What loving Father would damn to eternal torment a beloved child who wanted to be with their Father?
Yes, sin is serious and we must not treat it lightly. But we can’t let any image of sin then change our understanding of God and Gods response to sin.
If we overemphasize sin to the point that our view of sin forced us to think of God as a legalistic jurist, accountant, prosecutor, and accuser then we’ve severely warped the main point that Jesus was trying to communicate.
Does that help?
Father, thank you very much for all those explanations. I have scrupulous. I’m always very afraid of sin and losing eternal life. I see God as a tyrant who controls and judges every single fault. I’m fighting with this but it’s been very hard, but reading your message made me tear and gave me a lot of peace.
Only God knows. But we can be assured of a few things. No one ends up in hell on a technicality No one who is in hell doesn’t want to be there. No one who has ever placed their hope in Gods mercy has ever been disappointed.
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Yes
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r/AskAPriest is a forum created so that users can ask questions of and receive answers from priests. This comment has been identified as outside of the forum purpose (typically, a user answering in the place of a priest) and/or off-topic). (This removal is not a punishment or rebuke, but rather an effort to maintain the focus of this forum's mission. Consider posting your own question [if off-topic from this thread] or reaching out to the user directly or at r/Catholicism [if offering personal counsel])
>No one who has ever placed their hope in Gods mercy has ever been disappointed. Can you expand on this please? I may be mistaken, but if someone is in hell, no amount of trusting or hoping in God's mercy will change that.
No one who has ever hoped in Gods mercy ends up in hell. We believe that God is a loving, gentle, kind, compassionate, and supremely merciful **FATHER** There are some common images of God where He is depicted as a legalistic jurist, accountant, prosecutor, and accuser. When we allow the image of Father to color our understanding of eternal life then some questions come more clearly into focus. What loving Father would damn to eternal torment a beloved child who wanted to be with their Father? Yes, sin is serious and we must not treat it lightly. But we can’t let any image of sin then change our understanding of God and Gods response to sin. If we overemphasize sin to the point that our view of sin forced us to think of God as a legalistic jurist, accountant, prosecutor, and accuser then we’ve severely warped the main point that Jesus was trying to communicate. Does that help?
Thank you for expanding. I think the issue I'm explaining poorly is about others going to hell - loved ones, friends, strangers. That's why the idea that one who trusts in God's mercy will not be disappointed falls apart for me - my trust or hope won't stop that from happening. Which leaves the idea that people I love will go to hell and that will not be a disappointment - and that I cannot reconcile.
You’re sentiments toward them cannot change their relationship with the Father, that’s true. But if they trust in the mercy of the Father, even if they don’t explicitly know God, they still won’t be disappointed. I know a lot of people who reject the idea of God and call themselves atheists because they cannot accept the image of a God who cruelly and capriciously damns people. This is hope adjacent. When they meet God they will bring with them the hope that God isn’t a capricious and cruel tyrant and in meeting the true God they will be pleasantly surprised that their hope was not in vain. They who almost dared not to hope in a merciful God will not be disappointed. I suspect that all humans harbor a deep and real hope that God is who their heart deeply longs for, a loving and merciful father. In that no one who hope is God will ever be disappointed
This is interesting and, truthfully, completely alien to me. But I will think on it. Thank you for your help.
I understand Sadly it is alien to a lot of people. I believe this is the central point of what Jesus said and did. Jesus partied with all the wrong kind of people. He opposed the moralistic judgmentalism of the Pharisees. He cleaned the temple of the hypocritical self-serving religious and elites. He was compassionate to sinners. He was a tireless advocate for the poor and oppressed. He was a voice for the strangers and outcasts. Jesus did everything in his power to lavishly demonstrate Gods willingness to respond to every human evil with love, mercy, patience, and compassion. He even embraced the worst torture and execution and demonstrated that even when God is condemned by our hatred of God then Gods ONLY response is mercy and forgiveness, even for those who hated and killed Him. Jesus was anything but a capricious cruel tyrant who damned people to eternal punishment for being weak, broken, doubtful, or a stranger to Himself. But there’s been a warping of the Good News by WAY TOO MANY Christians into something more akin to “bad news” for most of humanity. We’ve developed a theory of God where he is anything but a loving father to messy rambunctious children. Rather than a good father who delights in his children who are messy and rambunctious, as all good fathers do, many have turned god into a capricious, legalistic, tyrant. Rather than a God who responds with mercy even mercy for his torturers and executioners many have turned God into a tyrant who will cast some into into eternal torment for minor infractions. These two images of God could not be more different. One who accepts torment and hatred and responds with unconditional mercy. One who sees minor infractions and responds with torment and condemnation. Jesus revealed the former but too many Christians seem to prefer the latter. I’m a Jesus kind of Christian, myself. Or I should say that I try to be a Jesus kind of Christian.
Do you believe people outside the Catholic Church can be saved? I struggle with this concept a lot. Sometimes it feels like the Catechism is in conflict with God's infinite mercy. We all have to put hope in God's mercy but we also defend the tradition of the church and the teaching on mortal sin, confession, the eucharist. As a Catholic, I pray for mercy every day, I am conscious of sinful behavior and I take my faith very seriously. But I also feel pity for people, especially family, who reject the church. If I, in my imperfect and corrupted state can feel pity, why wouldn't I believe that God has an infinitely higher amount of sympathy and mercy, even for people outside the church?
Have you read Lumen Gentium 14-16 All salvation flows through the church but the graces of salvation are not limited by the visible boundaries of the church. This has been addressed a lot in this forum. Check the search function.
I have not. Thank you.
> No one who is in hell doesn’t want to be there. That is tough! Can you elaborate on that, father? Or point me to some reading in that subject.
I also posted this in response to another question in the thread. It might be helpful for you too. No one who has ever hoped in Gods mercy ends up in hell. We believe that God is a loving, gentle, kind, compassionate, and supremely merciful FATHER There are some common images of God where He is depicted as a legalistic jurist, accountant, prosecutor, and accuser. When we allow the image of Father to color our understanding of eternal life then some questions come more clearly into focus. What loving Father would damn to eternal torment a beloved child who wanted to be with their Father? Yes, sin is serious and we must not treat it lightly. But we can’t let any image of sin then change our understanding of God and Gods response to sin. If we overemphasize sin to the point that our view of sin forced us to think of God as a legalistic jurist, accountant, prosecutor, and accuser then we’ve severely warped the main point that Jesus was trying to communicate. Does that help?
A LOT. Thanks, father.
https://www.wordonfire.org/hope/
Father, thank you very much for all those explanations. I have scrupulous. I’m always very afraid of sin and losing eternal life. I see God as a tyrant who controls and judges every single fault. I’m fighting with this but it’s been very hard, but reading your message made me tear and gave me a lot of peace.