- Holy Week -

JESUS ​​CAME DOWN INTO HELL. THERE REALLY HELL AND PARADISE ?

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"This descent of the soul of Jesus should not be imagined as a geographical journey, locale, from one continent to another. It is a journey of the soul […] This word of the Lord of the descent into Hell mainly means to say that the past is achieved by Jesus, that the effectiveness of the Redemption does not begin in the year zero or thirty, but it also goes to the past, embraces the past, all men of all times " [S.S. Benedict XVI, Questions about Jesus, program In His Image, 22 April 2011]

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MAURIZIO GASPARA - Hell many do not believe, others argue that it can not be eternal and others that it is empty. The same is true of the Angel fell and sin. For many it is the Catholic Church and still many inventions live as if God did not exist, and Heaven and Hell would be just illusions. To try to explain how can a good God allow such as the Christian revolt of the angels, the spread of evil, the existence of Hell and Paradise, father Giovanni Cavalcoli, of the Dominican Order, he wrote and published the book: Hell exists. The truth denied [cf. WHO]. Father Giovanni Cavalcoli is Metaphysical teacher at the Studio of Bologna Dominican Philosophical and Systematic Theology at the Theological Faculty of Emilia-Romagna. Official of the Secretariat of State 1982 al 1990, Academic is the Papal 1992. Author of numerous books and essays, It carries out an intense work of formation.

ZENIT, 29 March 2010

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For the secular world and even some believers Hell does not exist. This would be an invention. What is your opinion on it?

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The secular world has lost faith in the Hereafter, Whether it's heaven or hell it. And a certain measure of secularism unfortunately has crept even among some believers, which, What they say is an afterlife, This is only the Paradise. This is the so-called mentality feel-good, so it is not surprising that, according to these trends, Hell is an invention. In reality, as I have shown in my book, Hell is not an invention, but it is a truth of faith taught by our Lord Jesus Christ, the New Testament, by Sacred Tradition and some councils. So it's a matter of divine revelation, that the Church has the task of guarding and teaching.

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Based on what topics it claims that Hell exists?

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The doctrine of hell is a theological doctrine. Now, the arguments of theology are not empirical, but they are the Words of Jesus Christ, which you can only be accepted on the basis of faith in Jesus Christ and in the Church that we mean the Words of Christ.

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Are there really heaven and hell?

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From this point of view, the topics are many. I will here mention only one [cf. pag. 33 my book about hell], which I think is particularly effective, because it is found in the Second Vatican Council [The light, n. 48] and in the Catechism of the Catholic Church [n. 1034]. This is the step Matteo [cf. 25, 31-46] where Jesus Christ is not merely announces the mere possibility of damnation, but simply it provides for the fact of the existence of the damned.

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Where and when was born Hell?

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To answer this question, we must consider what exactly is Hell. It, regarding men, It consists of irrevocable rejection of the mercy offered to us by the Father through Jesus Christ, Son of God. In this sense, we can say that the infernal damnation came into existence with the coming of Christ. Instead, if we consider the sin of the beginning of creation, angels, Hell exists for them since that time [cf. Mt 25,41; 2 PT 2,4].

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Where was born Hell?

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As for the sinners angels, as they were before in heaven, We can say he was born in heaven, from which were precipitated [AP 12,8]. As for men, Hell is born into this world when Jesus was rejected.

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There afterlife or is present on Earth?

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According to one theory of Christianity secularist-gooder, if one can speak of "Inferno", This only exists on this earth, in the sense that the punishment for the wicked there's only down here, and then there is the paradise for all. There is also another argument, totally pagan, according to which Hell would be that condition of suffering which also affects the innocent oppressed by overbearing. While in this second case the word "hell" is used in an improper way, in the first case there is some truth, as the state of mortal sin is already in a sense Hell. But this argument overlooks the fact that the irrevocable fullness of hellish condition for humans is only after death. However, every man, You may repent before death, It can regain the status of the grace of Christ, whereby, if it continues in this state until death, can avoid Hell.

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What Scripture says about?

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The most authoritative voice is that of Our Lord Jesus Christ. In it we find an echo in the other books of the New Testament, and in particular in the Revelation, in which we have a great vision of the ultimate triumph of Christ over all the powers of evil, which it will be put in a position of no more harm to the elect.

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The Hell's admirable description of the Divine Comedy is credible?

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Certainly in its substance it is credible, Why, as you know, Dante was not only a Catholic, He had acquired a remarkable theological culture of Thomistic mold attending the Dominican convent of Santa Maria Novella in Florence. While, Dante, the great poet who was, It has allowed the so-called poetic license, for which he created environments, events and characters that clearly beyond those we are taught by the Christian Revelation, although at the same time, all in all, not oppose. A curious thing that we might note in this regard and that it is not a matter of Christian faith, is the condition of so-called "cowardous», who lived "without fame and without praise"And therefore they are placed by Dante in the Inferno, but in a place by itself.

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Admitting the existence of Hell presupposes fear the Devil. How the fallen angel and Hell lie in the divine plan?

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The Christian must have a certain fear of the Devil, as well as we can have a reasonable fear to take a disease or falling into some sin. Hence the duty of the Christian to guard against moral dangers that can come from evil temptations, avoiding excessive safety attitudes. Said this, however, the Christian basically not afraid of the Devil, because the Christian who lives in Christ enjoys the same power of Christ, who conquered Satan. On the contrary, from this point of view, We can say it is the devil who is afraid of the Christian. As it says St. Caterina da Siena, we are defeated by the Devil if we want, loving or committing sin. The Devil and Hell lie in the divine plan as it is a deterrent that helps us to avoid sin. In second place, as far as the devil, also it is seen as an instrument of divine Providence for two purposes: to strengthen us in virtue and to call paternally when we commit evil. The devil in itself would just our bad, only that Divine Providence uses it according to his very wise designs for our good.

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Why does God allow the angel to rebel?

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Because it has a great respect for the free will of the creature. Now, precisely, the Rebel Angel is a creature endowed with free. Then, at this point, we can say that God, in order to comply with this free will, She agrees to be rejected by that creature that really could only find in him his full happiness. This analogy holds true also for the human story. Also it can say that God allowed the Angel disobedience, because from eternity he had planned the Incarnation of the Word, thanks to which humanity, saved by Christ, He would in Christ defeated Satan and reached a condition of life - that of the children of God - higher than we would have been if the angel had not sinned.

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What is the relationship between evil and Hell?

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We can say that Hell is a victory over the moral evil, or on sin, although it remains the evil of punishment, that is, the suffering of the damned. Here, however, it is a just penalty, whereby, From this point of view we can say that it is good that there is this evil, so we see that, dal punto di vista scatological, everything is resolved in well. It should also be pointed out very clearly that it would be blasphemous to blame God for this evil, which instead he is responsible only for the angelic creature, or human, while on the other hand the existence of evil it just manifests divine justice, which, moreover, it is always mitigated by mercy.

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What should people do to escape Hell and gaining Heaven?

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Practically it comes to putting in place all the precepts of the Christian life, starting with hatred for sin, by the knowledge of its consequences, to move to the duty to obey with all our strength to the commands of the Lord, to live in grace, the continued practice of conversion and Christian life, in unlimited confidence in divine mercy, frequenting the sacraments in communion with the Church, in devotion to the saints and especially to the Blessed Virgin Mary, cultivating a strong desire of Heaven and holiness and courageously fighting daily against the wiles of the tempter, under the protection of St. Michele Arcangelo. In exceptional cases of aggression on the part of the devil, there exists the practice of exorcism. These recommendations apply of course for Catholics, But as all men are called to salvation and therefore they are called to avoid Hell and gaining Heaven, their duty is to follow their correct conscience, to the extent that they know the needs of the property and cultivating, with the help of grace, an at least implicit faith in God as the rewarder of the good and the wicked Judge.

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[ © Innovative Media, Inc. Services by Agency ZENIT ]

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