My purpose in these posts is to bring a variety of Christian witnesses and writers in reflecting on life, encounters, and various situations, in a desire to enhance our understanding of what it means to be a missionary disciple of Jesus Christ at the service of the common good and directly or indirectly give glory to God and extend the Lord's work of salvation to all of humanity. G.S.
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The Last Judgement, 1865-1866, wood engraving by Gustave Dore
Let's be honest here... you have either heard this or you have thought it, at one time or another, right? "Why bother praying, or going to Church, or paying any attention to God at all? Everyone's going to heaven anyway, right?" True confession: I have leaned strongly in that direction at one time or another, and more than once; especially in adolescence.
These days, I'm having to face it: for decades I found myself surrounded by this very way of thinking. It became clear that we had, as a society, gone through a gate of some kind, or passed a boundary; when I noticed at funerals how just about everyone was thinking their beloved departed was now in a better place, now in heaven with their parents, siblings, and grandparents, and friends, and, yes, with God. These assumptions are actually presumptions: in effect, such beliefs pass judgement on God and often appear in poetic form on bookmark memory cards printed by funeral directors on the back of a photo of the dearly departed.
Then, on vacation, a few bricks hit my glass wall. First, last year, when I came across the book "Hell A Final Word: The Surprising Truths I Found in the Bible" by Edward William Fudge (2012). Among other questions, he searched the Bible and Protestant
Bible commentators to find a consensus on whether after death and judgement unrepentant sinners are annihilated and "destroyed forever", or whether they are punished and "tormented forever". The author had a view, but he honestly admitted that opinions on the issue are apparently divided among interpretations of the Sacred Scriptures in the Reformed perspective.
Bible commentators to find a consensus on whether after death and judgement unrepentant sinners are annihilated and "destroyed forever", or whether they are punished and "tormented forever". The author had a view, but he honestly admitted that opinions on the issue are apparently divided among interpretations of the Sacred Scriptures in the Reformed perspective.
This summer, another book came to my attention, "The Hell There Is: An Exploration of an Often-Rejected Doctrine of the Church" written by Msgr. Charles Pope, published in 2025. Here, this author addresses the world outlook called "universalism", whereby people believe that God is too good to send anyone to hell; such that they believe hell is empty except perhaps for Hitler and a few other megalomanicacal mass murderers.
Pope successfully and eloquently explains that this view denies Jesus' clear and repeated warnings about hell and eternal damnation, and the ways in which people who either rebel blatantly against God, or else, are so attached to favourite sins that they in effect turn away from God. Believing such things about God is in effect creating a god different than our Creator; as He has made Himself known through the Sacred Scriptures. Such views are in effect idolatry.
He further explains that God only created hell when Lucifer and his rebel angels turned away from God. They being "pure spirits" and not enfleshed as we are, but rather immortal beings; their choice to turn away from God was immediately final and irrevocable. Since they wanted nothing to do with God and his plan for creation and humanity, and because God still loved them as his creatures; God created a "space" for them where - for all eternity - their wish would be honoured and they could be "far away from God". This is hell.
We human beings, Pope further explains, are enfleshed. While we are an immortal soul, we are also mortal in the flesh. This means that our choices in time are not yet final or irrevocable; we continue to have both the freedom and opportunity to repent. Still, it is risky to wait, because with time and practice, our sinful ways become more entrenched and repentance becomes more difficult; even unlikely.
In principle, we can choose daily to turn away from anything that would turn us away from God and his heaven and put us in the direction of hell. It is at the death of our mortal body, once our soul loses this "tool" or "arena" for repentance, that our "dying wish" or choice either for God or for our favourite sins will be finalized and become irrevocable. It is like a clay pot taken from the potter's wheel and put in the kiln; where it is baked at high temperature and can no longer be corrected or changed. Unlike Earth, though, in hell there is no hint of enjoyment, however imperfect it was here.
Should we be repentant but still attached to sins, or bad habits, or addictions, and struggle with letting them go; if our clear desire is to obey and love God, in his mercy, God will provide us the opportunity to be "purged" or purified of all that cannot be admitted into God's Presence in heaven. That opportunity is called "Purgatory". We will suffer by not yet being able to be with God, but it will be with the hope of being with Him once we have been purged of our mortal attachments.
On the other hand, those who remain selfish, self-obsessed, incapable and unwilling to care for or love others or make room for God's will... Jesus made it clear in a number of parables that these will have such horror of God that they will voluntarily go to join Satan and his demons in hell... as far away from God as they can get. Hell, then, is final and without any hope.
Now, after all these years, I finally understand why so many people no longer go to worship God in church on Sunday, no longer pray, no longer care about spiritual things, and have no use or patience with others who are different or have nothing to offer them. Since they don't believe the reality of hell, and are oblivious to their risk of ending up in that hell misery with demons for eternity; they don't see their need to be saved. They don't see their need for God's mercy and forgiveness; nor their need to change and repent. They neither want to change nor to be told what to do. God will grant their final wish.
God, our loving Father, is willing and ready, even eager to extend his mercy to them and forgive them, restore his friendship with them. The tragedy is that they don't care, don't want, don't ask. God will leave them here, perhaps undistinguishable, among human society as weeds remained among the wheat in Jesus' parable until the harvest. Then, God's angels will come and root them out and cast them into the eternal lake of fire with the devil and his demons for all eternity. They didn't want God on Earth; God will not impose Himself on them in eternity, but because He still loves them, He will honour their final wish and choice.
Please feel free to pass this on to family, friends, neighbours, co-workers, fellow students... to all and to anyone... so that the Holy Spirit might use these words to wake up those who are asleep on the assembly line leading to a perilous drop into the abyss of hell.
Lord, have mercy on us and on all of humanity.
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My purpose in these posts is to bring a variety of Christian witnesses and writers in reflecting on life, encounters, and various situations, in a desire to enhance our understanding of what it means to be a missionary disciple of Jesus Christ at the service of the common good and directly or indirectly give glory to God and extend the Lord's work of salvation to all of humanity. G.S.
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© 2004-2026 All rights reserved Fr. Gilles Surprenant, Associate Priest of Madonna House Apostolate & Poustinik, Montreal QC
© 2004-2026 Tous droits réservés Abbé Gilles Surprenant, Prêtre Associé de Madonna House Apostolate & Poustinik, Montréal QC
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