@Eddie
let’s get to the point… I’ll begin with a brief description of where Christendom gets its idea of Hell.
The Hebrew word for Hell is Sheol (the pit). The Greek word for Hell is Hades (the hole). Hell is the pit or the hole (mankind’s common grave where we all end up at death). Gehenna, as the bible depicts, was initially where the idolatrous and apostate Israelites and the followers of various Canaanite gods, including Baal and Moloch, sacrificed their children by fire. Later Christian commentaries state that in Roman times fires were kept burning there and the Valley of Hinnom (the physical location of Gehenna) became the rubbish dump of the city, where the dead bodies of criminals, and the carcasses of animals were thrown. The book of Revelation describes the place where “the beast and the false prophet” were both “cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone” and “whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire” (Revelation 19:20, 20:15)—location and/or significance yet to be fully determined. Perhaps this has something to do with the ring of fire?—an area in Pacific Ocean basin where a large number of earthquakes and volcanic eruptions occur.
Another point to make is what people witness in the near death experience. People who come out of this experience say they met God, Jesus, angels, or relatives and friends they knew. Although, these visions are what we experience every night as dreams. I would presume that a wickedly evil person would have a terribly horrifying near death experience. This would be a good candidate for where people get this idea of an afterlife in heaven or hell. However, this is but just a last conscious dream vision that people get before the lights go off.
In the second part to your response to Patrick’s comment you wrote;
“Your brother would not have been taught as a child simply that he was going to hell; he would have been taught that one goes to hell only if one dies in mortal sin – and that there are remedies for the state of mortal sin.”
First, every person who dies goes to hell (Sheol - the pit, Hades - the hole)—not only those who die in mortal sin. The biblical story states that Jesus was in hell for three days, “For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.” (Mathew 12:40)
Second, it is true that there are remedies for sin:
“Venial sin; a transgression against the law of God that does not deprive the soul of divine grace either because it is a minor offense or because it was committed without full understanding of its seriousness or without full consent of the will.” (Dictionary.com)
However, wouldn’t mortal sin be a different story altogether? If mortal sin implies sin deserving death how can it be remedied?
“Mortal sin; a willfully committed, serious transgression against the law of God, depriving the soul of divine grace.” (Dictionary.com) Mortal sin; a sin regarded as involving total loss of grace. (Collins English Dictionary)
I was born and baptized in the Catholic Tradition and was taught the sacrament of penance and the effects of extreme unction;
“Penance; a sacrament, as in the Roman Catholic Church, consisting in a confession of sin, made with sorrow and with the intention of amendment, followed by the forgiveness of the sin.” (Dictionary.com)
Although, it wasn’t too clear (in those pre-teen years) what mortal sin was, I was definitely sure that it involved the predatory nature of violence and murder—by grace I was steered clear.
You wrote;
“in addition to sin, there is forgiveness; and God wishes all to be saved, not punished,” and that, “Dante is not all Inferno; the Divina Commedia ends with Paradiso. You need to remind him of Paradiso (and of the aid afforded by Purgatorio).”
The problem that many have with this is that many people (including myself) have suffered tremendous difficulties in the “Purgatorio” and in the “Inferno,” while others who knew these truths at an early age (which I only recently learned) were able to navigate and direct their lives steering clear of all the detrimental effects that life throws at you while making all the right decisions to live a wonderful life. Well… the God that I know would have an even playing field, then again… we know who the god of this world is:
“Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire: for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her. And the kings of the earth, who have committed fornication and lived deliciously with her, shall bewail her, and lament for her, when they shall see the smoke of her burning, Standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas that great city Babylon, that mighty city! for in one hour is thy judgment come.” (Revelation 18:8-10)
Even though many see the “situational dilemma” as a “the ends justify the means, or the benefits outweigh the harms” issue, there will be an end to the madness that reigns upon the earth.
