When a society or an individual rejects God, as does ours, at least in practice, the ability to think logically and rationally about the really important questions of human life (namely Where did I come from?, Why am I here?, Where am I going?, How do I get there?) is notably diminished.  These questions are either ignored or answered erroneously. (Remember, an idea or fact is not true because YOU think it is, or even sincerely believe it is; it is  true only if the idea or fact conforms to reality.)

God is the source and standard of Truth , and we must measure what we consider to be true against the divine standard of Truth.  If we are not in conformity with it, it is we who are in error, not God.

If this erroneous thinking is not corrected, or if divine Truth is rejected or ignored, the new standard of truth becomes one based on the faulty thinking of the  movers and shakers of the society and divine Truth is lost which, of course, does not affect God at all, but leaves those who subscribe to  errors as victims of their own choices.  At the same time, divine Truth  (found in Sacred Scripture and the Tradition of the early Church) still has an impact due to the Natural Moral Law imprinted on the human soul.  Some of these doctrines (truths) being ignored or rejected are not to the liking of those whose “truth” is dictated by the culture.  One of these is the doctrine of Hell.  Scripture says it is real, painful, frustrating, and has no means of escape or release … ever.

Since many people do not want to deal with the doctrine of Hell, they either simply deny that it exists (without any convincing arguments) or they amend the doctrine to claim God is “so good” that He could never make hell eternal … even though He said it was eternal. Everyone, they say, gets out sometime and goes to Heaven (the false doctrine of universal salvation).  Consoling, but false!

Because God is truth and cannot deceive (if He could, He would not be God because He would have this deficiency and would not be perfect, as God must be) we know that Hell does exist whether anyone believes it or not.  It is an objective fact based on Scripture. “ I don’t believe in Scripture, so there.”  So what!  It’s still true!

What is this place called Hell?  What is it like?

We really don’t know precisely.  No one has ever returned to tell us about it.  Perhaps the reason is that such a report might frighten us into morality, and that would lead to questions about a person’s sincerity and true motivation.

Hell is described by Christ as a place of never-ending torment and punishment for those whose life has been marked by rejection of God, at least in practice and who die in a state of unrepented serious sin.  “Come on!  I don’t believe that.”  So what!  It’s still true!

According to Scripture, Hell has an element of serious pain by fire, a fire that burns but does not consume because those in Hell are immortal.  They cannot die again, so the fire rages non-stop, without any end in sight.

Those condemned to Hell feel also an acute sense of loss, concerning their forfeited salvation which can never be rectified.  They realize (probably at the point after death) that they made a colossal mistake by their own free will by refusing to follow God’s plan for their lives.  They will spend all eternity regretting their own stupidity and realizing that what they gained in life by rejecting God was not worth it compared to the consequences of their actions.  They realize that to avoid Hell would have been easy … obey God rather than the warped culture and its false prophets.  All the material things they thought were so important and necessary in life such a power, popularity, sex, drugs, etc., are long gone, and they know they had been a fools who are forever reminded of their bad judgments and choices throughout life.

Hell is the consequence of a choice.  Every human is given the ability to chose God or Satan, just as the fallen angels were.  God has never condemned anyone to Hell; He merely ratified our choice.  Even the false idols we were so fond of in life did not cause us to sin; it was our choice to follow the wrong road.  I suspect that when those in Hell review their lives, they will have to admit that they are there because, in effect, they preferred to be there by  their bad choices and poor judgments.

Hell is real, and many people in our irreligious culture are heading there because of their own adoration of the culture.  “I believe God is just too good to have created such a place.”  Really?  Dream on!   The fact that someone does not believe in Hell means nothing.  (If I don’t accept a truth, that’s too bad for me, not the the truth.)

Hell is not a predestination for anyone; it can be avoided.  How?  By rejecting what the moral law rejects, by  developing a true relationship with God instead of with the transient lures of a corrupt society, by obedience to the divine Will.  We were designed to have a relationship with God; it is a part of our human nature set by the Creator.  The habitual sinner violates his own nature which is God-oriented.  Follow the truth of God, because after we die, there is no chance for repentance.  Let’s not be one of those who the second after death looks around and says: “Well, I’ll be damned.”