Dear Father,
I saw a billboard that says “Hell is real!” I was told that we Catholics don’t have to believe in purgatory anymore, so I was wondering if we don’t have to believe in hell. I thought only Protestants believe in hell. I’m confused because my priest gave a sermon where he talked about hell and purgatory. Should I just ignore these things as scare tactics?
-Giselle
Dear Giselle,
We should all fear hell. It’s a terrible reality. It’s not just a scare tactic. Our Lord had no qualms about preaching on eternal punishment, most notably in his parable about the sheep and goats in Matthew 25:31-46. We know that He will judge us according to our works (Romans 2:5-8). We are made by God and reborn in Christ for good works (Ephesians 2:8-10), but some will pay the penalty of eternal ruin (2 Thessalonians 1:6-9).
(By the way, purgatory exists. The Church has never stopped believing in and teaching about purgatory. See my other columns on this matter.)
Fear of hell is not the best motive for avoiding going there, but it may be a possible help for avoiding doing evil or failing to do good.
God tells us about hell in Sacred Scriptures not to scare us but to warn us about our choices in life. God and the Church are simply stating the facts about the outcome of the way we live our lives. These are warnings, not unlike the signs at the Grand Canyon warning hikers about falling in the big hole. The motive is not to frighten people but to save them from death. Strangely, there are still people who insist on ignoring the signs and they suffer the effects.
So it is with God. His one desire is that we share in His life and that we enjoy eternal happiness with Him in heaven. His warnings about hell are instructive about His plan for our happiness. That said, He also has given us freedom to choose against His plan. God knows better than we do that frightening people into being good typically doesn’t work. Therefore, He entices us with His innumerable benefits and blessings.
The greatest saints of the Catholic Church spent most of their time preaching and teaching about how good God is and how happy we are when we love Him. The saints did not waste time trying to scare people into behaving themselves; they warned, rather, about the unhappiness that sin causes in our lives and the lives of others. Of course, the saints did not skirt the issue of hell, but it was never their main message.
Another thing about scare tactics is that they cause servile fear. This kind of fear makes us want to run away from the threatening person or thing that who brings about this fear. Servile fear turns us into slaves, as the Catechism of the Catholic Church points out (#1828). God wants us to know that we are His most beloved children. It does not please Him if we are slavish, even in our good works.
That last point is important. Some people try to “be good” in a groveling kind of way. In these cases, good works, sacrifices, and prayer aren’t done with joy and offered as gifts. Instead, a burdensome scrupulosity sets in. This is not the life of the freedom of the children of God.
Contrary to servile fear is healthy, or holy, fear. Some call it filial fear. This fear is a gift of the Holy Spirit and is the opposite of being scared of hell. Filial fear is a loving fear, related to the duties and affections of a son or daughter toward parents. Children naturally want to please their parents. As children age, they show their gratitude and love for their parents by doing more for them, giving greater signs of love and care.
St. Paul tells us that we are to work out our salvation (attaining heaven) with fear and trembling (Philippians 2:12-13). He means that we are to avoid sin as we make our way through life toward the hereafter. We strive to please God and not men. We mustn’t take salvation for granted and become puffed up, thinking that we have achieved perfection. While in this life, each of us can fall, and sometimes quite badly.
In sum, there are healthy and unhealthy fears of hell. To develop a healthy fear of hell is to show greater love and respect for God and everything that pertains to Him. We do this by observing His Commandments, by uniting ourselves with Christ in the sacrifice of the Mass, by frequent use of the sacrament of penance, by daily prayer and reading the Scriptures.
While hell is, indeed, real, worrying about it is not the best way to avoid hell. The best, and only, way to avoid going to hell is to be set on the path to heaven by constantly seeking divine mercy. Divine mercy is abundantly, and only, available from Jesus Christ. He continually showers it on us through the sacraments and sacramentals of His Church.
To heaven (not hell) with you!