- Feb 5, 2002
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Book Review and Interview: ‘An Exploration of an Often-Rejected Doctrine of the Church’
Envisioning hell as a dungeon of fire with Satan dancing around seems too bizarre, impossible and ungodly, to many men and women. “After all,” many people think, “why would a loving God create such a source of anguish for the deceased? So maybe hell does not really exist after all; it’s just a social metaphor for bad behavior.”
If you are one of the multitudes who doubts hell really exists, you must read The Hell There Is: An Exploration of an Often-Rejected Doctrine of the Church, written by Msgr. Charles Pope, pastor of Holy Comforter-St. Cyprian Roman Catholic Church in Washington, D.C., and a frequent Register contributor.
Msgr. Pope discussed with the Register the erroneous tendency for modern Catholics and Christians to downgrade the real presence of hell. “I would say we reduce love to mere kindness and at the heart of it; love does not force people to do something unkind. God sending people to hell is not kind. … Anybody who goes there is really evil,” this thinking goes. His comments to the Register follow those on EWTN.
Msgr. Pope details human freedom and how people abuse it so readily. “A loving God is respectful of our freedom,” he said. “He doesn’t want slaves, and he frees men and women to choose the kingdom of heaven. Why do so many abuse, or maybe misconstrue, original sin?” ...
Continued below.
www.ncregister.com
Envisioning hell as a dungeon of fire with Satan dancing around seems too bizarre, impossible and ungodly, to many men and women. “After all,” many people think, “why would a loving God create such a source of anguish for the deceased? So maybe hell does not really exist after all; it’s just a social metaphor for bad behavior.”
If you are one of the multitudes who doubts hell really exists, you must read The Hell There Is: An Exploration of an Often-Rejected Doctrine of the Church, written by Msgr. Charles Pope, pastor of Holy Comforter-St. Cyprian Roman Catholic Church in Washington, D.C., and a frequent Register contributor.
Msgr. Pope discussed with the Register the erroneous tendency for modern Catholics and Christians to downgrade the real presence of hell. “I would say we reduce love to mere kindness and at the heart of it; love does not force people to do something unkind. God sending people to hell is not kind. … Anybody who goes there is really evil,” this thinking goes. His comments to the Register follow those on EWTN.
Msgr. Pope details human freedom and how people abuse it so readily. “A loving God is respectful of our freedom,” he said. “He doesn’t want slaves, and he frees men and women to choose the kingdom of heaven. Why do so many abuse, or maybe misconstrue, original sin?” ...
Continued below.
‘The Hell There Is’: Msgr. Pope Tells It Like It Is
Book Review and Interview: ‘An Exploration of an Often-Rejected Doctrine of the Church’
