Do Many Go To Hell?
by John Young
The currently prevalent view among Catholics seems to be that if hell is
not quite empty, it is very sparsely populated. In examining the question we
need to be careful to base our conclusions on objective grounds, not on
subjective motives. Yet this is difficult, for the thought of eternal suffering
is so appalling that we tend to feel it is too dreadful to be really happening
to anyone.
A person can discount the danger of damnation because he doesn't want to
feel worried or uncomfortable at the thought of going to hell. He knows that an
uneasiness would enter his spiritual life if he really faced up to the peril of
losing his soul and suffering for ever and ever. This applies particularly to
someone who falls into serious sin. Even after being forgiven in confession, he
may fear a further lapse. The desire to feel undisturbed may be a powerful
psychological factor in his belief that scarcely anyone goes to hell.
Another motive for discounting hell can arise from knowing that a loved
one died while apparently in a state of mortal sin. A parent worried about the
fate of a son or daughter killed instantly in an accident after having given
away the practice of the Faith will crave the consolation of believing the
child is saved. Or if it is clear that a spouse or child or close friend is
leading a life in defiance of God's laws, and seems to be doing it culpably,
one would be agonised at the thought that the person may be headed straight for
eternal misery. In such cases there is a strong psychological urge to tell
oneself that God is too merciful to allow people to go to hell.
A third motive for discounting the danger of eternal loss is due to the
current outlook of our society. With its materialism, its hedonism, its
limited, earthly perspective, the society in which we are immersed is incapable
of understanding even temporal punishment for sin. Eternal punishment is so far
beyond its ken that it is stunned at the notion. But society has an influence
on all of us. In this matter unless we are on our guard, it will so color our
thinking that the doctrine of hell will seem unreal, even preposterous. Our
faith may cause us to accept the doctrine, while the cultural pressure prompts
us to decide that no one, or scarcely anyone, is ever lost.
These various influences can motivate us very strongly, but it is
important to see that they are motives, not reasonable grounds for the
conclusion. To the extent that a person is influenced by them he is biased. The
fact that I may feel more secure if I dismiss the possibility of spending
eternity in hell is no reason whatever for dismissing it, however strong the motivation
may be. Likewise with the other motives: concern for those we love and the
coloring of our outlook by a materialistic society. If we love the truth we
should be willing to look at the question objectively.
Looking At The
Evidence
Turning to Scripture, we find the doctrine of eternal damnation to be
one of the most persistent themes in the New Testament, especially in the
teaching of Christ himself. The Old Testament has little about life after
death, but even there grim warnings are given of retribution for sin. The book
of Daniel predicts: "Many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth
shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting
contempt."1
Our Lord declares: " . . . whoever blasphemes against the Holy
Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin."2
He tells us that on the Last Day many will remind him they had done mighty
works in his name, but he will say to them: "I never knew you; depart from
me, you evildoers."3 He warns his disciples: " . . . fear
him who can destroy both body and soul in hell."4 He declares
that it is better " . . . to enter life maimed than with two hands to go
to hell, to the unquenchable fire."5 He adds that in hell
". . . their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched."6
The parable of the net holding good and bad fish ends with the statement that
the angels will separate the evil from the good "and throw them into the
furnace of fire; there men will weep and gnash their teeth."7
The same fate for the wicked is given in the parable of the tares and the
wheat.8
In Christ's graphic description of the Last Judgment he tells us the
sentence he will pronounce on the wicked: "Depart from me, you cursed,
into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels."9
The everlasting choices are a principal theme of St. John's Gospel.
"Unless a man be born again he cannot see the Kingdom of God."10
Those who follow Christ "shall not perish forever."11
The Apostles repeated the teaching about hell. St. John does so very
graphically in the Apocalypse, as when he says: " . . . the devil who had
deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast
and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night for ever
and ever."12 St. Paul teaches that those who do not obey the
Gospel will be condemned by Jesus when he comes again. "They shall suffer
the punishment of eternal destruction and exclusion from the presence of the
Lord."13 St. Jude speaks of people "for whom the nether
gloom of darkness has been reserved forever."14
To reject hell is to reject one of Scripture's clearest doctrines. It is
also a rejection of the infallible teaching of the Church. As the Fourth
Lateran Council expressed it, all will rise at the end of time and receive
"according as their works were good or bad, either perpetual punishment
with the devil or eternal glory with Christ."15 This teaching
is guaranteed not only by the extraordinary magisterium but also by the
ordinary universal magisterium, for it has been constantly proclaimed. But
attempts are made to destroy its force.
Father Richard McBrien, in his notorious book Catholicism, says:
"Neither Jesus, nor the Church after him, ever stated that persons
actually go to hell or are there now. He — as does the Church — restricts
himself to the possibility."16
Some Angels
Definitively In Hell
That statement manifests a tragic blindness which is only too common
nowadays. Scripture and the Church warn us insistently and urgently of the
danger of eternal damnation. Jesus returns to it time after time, emphasizing
it with grim imagery. Yet Father McBrien and others can talk as if it were
vague possibility. They have read the words, but have ignored the force of the
words. The passionate warnings of our loving Redeemer are treated in a way the
Church and her saints and doctors and ordinary faithful have never treated
them: as though, for practical purposes, hardly relevant.
It is conveniently forgotten, too, that Scripture, Tradition and the
Magisterium teach definitively that some of the angels sinned and will be in
hell forever. It's more than a possibility for them!
Alleged private revelations must be viewed with caution, but some are
undoubtedly authentic, as the apparitions of Our Lady at Fatima. A combination
of factors remove all reasonable doubt, including the balance and holiness of
the three children, the stupendous miracle of the sun, the Church's strong
approval. The children were given a horrifying vision of hell. Lucia dos Santos
describes the great sea of fire shown them by Our Lady. "Plunged in this
fire were demons and souls in human form, like transparent burning embers, all
blackened or burnished bronze, floating about in the conflagration, now raised
up in the air by the flames that issued from within themselves together with
great clouds of smoke, now falling back on every side like sparks in a huge
fire, without weight or equilibrium, and amid shrieks and groans of pain and
despair, which horrified us and made us tremble with fear."17
Rejection of hell is heresy. Nor is it possible that hell is inhabited
only by the fallen angels, with no human souls there. Were that so, Scripture,
Tradition and the Magisterium would be speaking hypothetically, without
intending to say that anyone actually is lost. Now a person who puts forward
that interpretation is making words mean what he wants them to mean, remaining
blind to their obvious meaning and rejecting the sense in which they have
always been understood. Such a person is defying the sensus fidelium.
What of the claim that we have never been told any particular individual
is in hell? Even that is going too far, for Christ's words about Judas may mean
he is in hell. He is called "the son of perdition"18 and
Jesus says: "It would have been better for that man if he had not been
born."19 Perhaps there is no implication that he is lost; on
the other hand that may well be the implication.
The Narrow Gate
Does Scripture indicate there are many souls in hell? People who answer
negatively often ignore texts, which suggest otherwise. Our Lord tells us:
"The gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those
who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard, that
leads to life, and those who find it are few."20
When the possibility that many are lost is put forward, the retort is
sometimes made that when Jesus was asked whether only a few are saved, he
refused to answer; and the people who make this retort often give the
impression that Jesus' omission to answer indicated disagreement with the idea that
only a few are saved. They seem to forget what he said. His response was:
"Strive to enter by the narrow door; for many, I tell you, will seek to
enter and will not be able."21 He went on to speak of his
judgment on those who would be thrust out of the kingdom of God. Certainly he
does not say only a few will be saved; but he doesn't deny it either.
It would be rash to interpret the reference to "the few" as
telling us definitely that not many are saved. Jesus may be stating that few
follow the right way of life. But his words, together with the force and
frequency of his warnings about hell, surely suggest that many are lost rather
than few.
Let us approach the question from another angle. Suppose I overheard a
conversation about myself, with somebody saying: "One thing we can be
certain of is that John Young will never commit a mortal sin." Having
overcome my astonishment at this strange statement, I would probably take it as
a hopelessly misguided compliment. Then suppose the speaker continued: "No
one can sin mortally who hasn't got the necessary knowledge and freedom of
will. But John Young hasn't." Instead of a compliment the speaker's view
turns out to be an insult. He regards me as, in a sense, subhuman; as lacking
the knowledge and will power necessary to be responsible for my actions.
In fact I have got those capacities, and am therefore quite capable of
sinning mortally. Am I to see other people as so far inferior to me that they
can't do so? I think I have enough experience of human nature to be able to say
confidently that most people are responsible for their actions and capable of
grave sin.
Take the question of contraception. Most Catholics who go to Mass know
the Church condemns contraception as a grave sin. If such a Catholic
nevertheless uses contraceptives are we to suppose he lacks the freedom of will
requisite for mortal sin? Or are we to say he lacks clear knowledge that what
he is doing is gravely wrong? If we answer yes, we are expressing a poor
opinion of his understanding and/or freedom of will. Of course we can't judge
individuals and should not try to. But when one considers that a large
percentage of married couples regarded as good Catholics practice
contraception, the only way of avoiding the conclusion that they are in a state
of mortal sin is to say they lack the required knowledge or will power. Surely
this cannot be asserted with any confidence.
God does not leave people without help. He enlightens the mind and
strengthens the will. As the Pope says in Veritatis Splendor: "Keeping
God's law in particular situations can be difficult, extremely difficult, but
it is never impossible. This is the constant teaching of the Church's
tradition, and was expressed by the Council of Trent . . ."22
His quote from Trent includes the well known statement: "God does not
command the impossible, but in commanding he admonishes you to do what you can
and to pray for what you cannot, and he gives his aid to enable you."23
Viewing the situation more generally, there are numerous people acting
in gravely immoral ways who appear to have the knowledge and will power,
especially when the help of God's grace is taken into account, to be
responsible for their conduct. In other words, it seems many people are in a
state of mortal sin. This conclusion will be resisted by those who deny that
individual acts are mortal sins, confining mortal sin to the exercise of a
fundamental option, which rejects God. But that view is against Catholic
teaching, as Pope John Paul II has made clear. In Veritatis Splendor, quoting
what he had said previously in Reconciliatio et Paenitentia, he says:
"For mortal sin exists also when a person knowingly and willingly, for
whatever reason, chooses something gravely disordered. In fact, such a choice
already includes contempt for the divine law, a rejection of God's love for
humanity and the whole of creation: the person turns away from God and loses
charity."24
What of a deathbed conversion? Surely God may move people in a state of
mortal sin to repentance when they are dying. True, he may, but there is no
sound reason for assuming that a person who has deliberately rejected God by
remaining in a state of mortal sin will be converted just before dying. Indeed,
such persons sometimes resist all pleas to have a priest before they die; they
seem to have lost all desire to repent.
Facing Reality
The opinion that few or none go to hell can be due to a failure to
appreciate God's greatness. Our understanding of him falls infinitely short of
the reality. He does not merely have existence, truth, goodness, beauty;
he is these, in one infinite, eternal act which is his very essence. He
is so far above us that even in heaven, when we see him face to face, we will
not fully understand him, for he can never be totally grasped by any created or
creatable intellect — not even by the human intellect of the Son. That is the
being we offend when we sin. To commit a mortal sin is to deliberately oppose
Subsistent Goodness in a grave matter. There is something infinite about mortal
sin; not in the sense that it would be an infinite act (our acts are only
finite), but in the sense that it insults an infinite being. The greatness of
the offense must be seen in relation to the greatness of the one offended. Once
we grasp this, it becomes less difficult to see that even one mortal sin
deserves hell.
But if our God is too small, tending to be a glorified human father
rather than what God really is, hell may seem an impossibility. What loving
human father would allow his child to suffer eternally? Or what offense against
a human father, or against any finite being, could deserve a fate so horrific?
An associated hindrance to seeing how hell could ever be just is the
failure to realize that a lost soul puts himself there, in the sense that what
he becomes by his own free will leaves no option for him except hell. It is the
natural consequence of his choice, the only state he is fit for. And even in
hell, theologians teach, God's mercy may ensure that the damned suffer less
than they deserve.25
If faith makes some one accept hell, but it is alien to presuppositions
he holds, or his outlook is distorted by motives such as those mentioned at the
beginning of this article, he may compromise by deciding that scarcely anyone
is lost. The danger to human beings becomes little more than academic, and the
reality of fallen angels is felt as an embarrassment one should not think
about. But the position is different if we put aside all bias, so far as we
can, and do our best to view things in the light of God's greatness, our own
dignity as intelligent, free beings, and the enormity of mortal sin.
Is it reasonable, then, to conclude that a great many people go to hell?
Is this a well-founded conclusion, based on the undeniable prevalence of
objective mortal sins and a consideration of human intelligence and freedom,
together with the truth that God offers the grace to avoid sin? I think we
should say it is not unlikely that many are lost. We should definitely not hold
the opinion that few are lost.
The objection may be given that it is better not to weigh the question
at all; that no good can be achieved by doing so. I disagree. We should strive
to reach the truth, even though we can't settle the question definitively. To
ignore it, or to assume the danger is slight, is to diminish an important
motive for avoiding sin: the danger of damnation. The realization that many may
be on the way to eternal misery will also stimulate us to help convert sinners
by example, words, prayer and penance. This is strikingly evident in the short life
of Jacinta Marto, who showed such an heroic spirit of penance. One of the
reasons Lucia gave for it was that Jacinta "had looked upon hell, and had
seen the ruin of souls who fall therein."26
The need to teach the doctrine of hell, and for priests to preach about
it, is also clearer if we understand that many people may well be lost. In
teaching about hell we will be following Christ's example, for he returned
constantly to this theme. We will also be imitating Our Lady at Fatima, who
showed those little children the vision of hell, and who gave us the prayer to
say at the end of each decade of the rosary, in which we ask to be saved from
hell.
On the other hand, we must avoid generating a morbid fear of hell or an
obsession with it. It is not a fate that can overwhelm us against our will; any
who go there have chosen evil deliberately. The doctrine should be seen in the
light of God's greatness and our dignity as free beings. He is so great that
hell is a just punishment for rebelling against him; our dignity as responsible
beings is so great that we can deserve that fate.
Notes
1. Dan. 12:2.
2. Mark 3:29.
3. Matt 7:23.
4. Ibid., 10:28.
5. Mark 9:43.
6. Ibid., 9:48.
7. Matt 13:50.
8. Ibid., 13:42.
9. Ibid., 25:41.
10. John 3:3.
11. Ibid., 10:28.
12. Apoc. 20:10.
13. II Thess 1:9.
14. Jude v. 13.
15. DS 813.
16. Catholicism, Minneapolis, 1980, Winston Press, p. 1152;
italics original.
17. Fatima in Lucia's Own Words, Fatima, Portugal, 1976,
Postulation Centre, p. 108.
18. John 17:12.
19. Matt. 26:24.
20. Ibid., 7:13, 14.
21. Luke 13:24.
22. Veritatis Splendor, n. 102.
23. DS 1536.
24. Veritatis Splendor, n. 70.
25. See St. Thomas, Summa Theol., Supp., 99, 2, ad 1.
26. Fatima in Lucia's Own Words, p. 109.
Mr. John Young, B.Th., is associated with The Cardinal Newman Catechist
Centre in Merrylands, N.S.W., Australia. He has taught philosophy in three
seminaries, and is the author of an introduction to philosophy, Reasoning
Things Out, published in the United States by Stella Maris Books, Fort
Worth, Texas. Mr. Young writes on philosophical and religious topics for
Australian publications. His last article in HPR appeared in the October
1993 issue.
© Catholic Polls, Inc. 1995.
This item 4275 digitally provided courtesy of CatholicCulture.org
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