It is better, wouldn’t you agree, simply for us to proclaim Christ to the best of our abilities and leave such judgment up to God.

Well today, I have just read a Catholic declaring that a Reform Protestant, TurretinFan, is going to Hell.

John Francis wrote:

“Incidentally, there is nothing wrong in itself with the proper authority burning heretics. [Proper Authority = Roman Catholic Church] It just isn’t prudent to do so today for a number of reasons. So fear not you’re physically safe now, but when you die, you [TurretinFan] will surely burn for all eternity.”

From: Here.

You wrote: I do not believe that any human, is capable of saying who is, or who isn’t, going to “Hell”, if there is a hell. I’m agnostic about hell’s existence, but I’m inclined to think that it’s our creation, rather than God’s.”

You say you’re agnostic about Hell’s existence. But look at what the Roman Catholic Catechism teaches:

“The teaching of the Church affirms the existence of hell and its eternity.”

“I’m inclined to think that it’s our creation, rather than God’s.”

So you’re inclined to think that Hell is the Roman Catholic Church’s creation rather than God’s?

Bret Lythgoe, you’re a bad liberal Catholic engaging in private interpretation. Tsk, tsk.

If there is a Hell? If there is a Hell? As a baptized and catechized Roman Catholic, you are required to fully support and believe whatever the Magisterium teaches in the Catechism. To do otherwise is to be an unfaithful and bad liberal Catholic engaging in private interpretation or private judgment. If the Magisterium says “x”, then you must also say “x”, and not say “if x”.

So then let’s see what the Roman Catholic Church’s Catechism teaches about Hell:

“The teaching of the Church affirms the existence of hell and its eternity. Immediately after death the souls of those who die in a state of mortal sin descend into hell, where they suffer the punishments of hell, “eternal fire.” (Par. 1035)

So Bret Lythgoe, the “teaching of the Church affirms the existence of hell and its eternity.” You are a bad liberal Catholic for engaging in private judgment, disputing the Magisterium’s Divine Teaching when you write “if there is a Hell.”

Shame on you.

you make a good point, that as a Calvinist, TUAD could hope that God elected all for heaven!

Actually, read Hans Urs Von Balthasar, a well respected (by pope John Paul the second, and Pope Benedict), theologian, who argued, in a book, available from Ignatius press (a wonderful bookseller, by the way) that it’s reasonable to hope that Hell is empty. It’s called “Dare we not hope that all men are saved”? I dare you to read it, TUAD.

Only if TUAD is supralapsarian. Infralapsarians don’t consider it the same decision or even part of the same logical decree in the logical order of God’s reasoning. Most Calvinists are infralapsarians, so I certainly wouldn’t assume that’s TUAD’s view just from the fact that TUAD is a Calvinist.

Roman Catholic Bret Lythgoe writes: “It’s my view, that we should hope, that, if there is a Hell, it remains forever unpopulated.”

If there is a Hell?? Why would you say “if there is a Hell”?

As a Roman Catholic, you are engaging in private interpretation when you say “if there is a Hell”. You’re not a faithful Roman Catholic when you do that.

You’re a liberal Roman Catholic.

I want you to be encouraged. TUAD is a Calvinist, so he believes that prior to anyone ever existing-yea, eternity past-God decided that He would create you. In that decision was also the decision of whether or not you would be elected to Heaven or elected to Hell. So, you might be one of the elect. If you aren’t, then it doesn’t matter which translation you read, where you go church, what you believe, or even if you’ve repented. You’re going to Heaven or Hell and neither is your choice. You may want Heaven, but that is not evidence of being elected. You may want Hell, but that may be because you don’t know you’re one of the elect yet. It’s hard to say. Yu may go to Heaven and never meet TUAD because he himself wasn’t one of the elect. He just happened to have the right beliefs about election.

So, be of good cheer. Your fate has been sealed. There’s nothing you can do. Enjoy the ride.

Do you feel singled out, Bret?

Silly me, though. i thought you were wanting souls to be saved? where’s that “magical”translation of yours, that’s going to keep me out of hell?

You have shown yourself, and I don’t use these terms lightly, to be a an anticatholic bigot.

A combination of infantile, immature emotionalism and Catholicism. Yuck.