1. What is hell?
Hell is the place in the next world where the souls of the damned are condemned to suffer forever with the devils.
“And fear ye not them that kill the body, and are not able to kill the soul; but rather fear Him that can destroy both soul and body in hell” (Matthew 10:28).
“If anyone abide not in Me, he shall be cast forth as a branch and shall wither, and they shall gather him up and cast him into the fire, and be burneth” (John 15:6).
2. How do I know that there is a hell?
I know there is a hell because the Bible and Tradition often speak of the everlasting punishments of hell.
“The Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with the angels of His power in a flame of fire, giving vengeance to them who know not God, and who obey not the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ (2nd Thessalonians 1:7,9).
“And the unprofitable servant cast ye out into the exterior DARKNESS. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth … Then the King shall say to them that shall be on His left hand: Depart from Me, you cursed into EVERLASTING FIRE, which was prepared for the devil and his angels …
And these shall go into EVERLASTING PUNISHMENT” (Matthew 25:30, 41, 46).
“And He opened the bottomless pit, and the smoke of the pit arose, as the smoke of a great furnace (Apocalypse 9:2).
3. Does not common sense tell me that there must be a hell?
Yes, common sense tells me that there must be a place of punishment in the next world since so many evil people receive no full punishment in this world.
“Son, remember that thou didst receive good things in thy lifetime, and likewise Lazarus evil things, but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented” (Luke 26:25).
4. Who will go to hell?
Only those who die with mortal sin on their souls will go to hell.
The fearful and unbelieving and the abominable, and murderers and whoremongers and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, they shall have their portion in the second death” (Apocalypse 21:8,9). “Whosoever was not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the pool of fire” (Apocalypse 20:15).
5. What are the pains of hell?
The pains of hell are: separation from God, torture by fire, regret, and the companionship of the devils.
“Raging waves of the sea, foaming out their own confusion; wandering stars, to whom the storm of darkness is reserved forever” (Jude 1:13).
6. What is the pain of separation from God?
To be separated from God, the Source of all Love and Happiness, will be the greatest pain in hell. Even here on this earth, the greatest pain I can suffer is to be separated for a long time from someone I love very much.
“Depart from Me, you cursed, into everlasting fire” (Matthew 25:41).
”Between us and you, there is fixed a great chaos, so that they who would pass from hence to you, cannot, nor from thence, come hither” (Luke 16:25).
7. Is there real fire in hell?
Yes, there is real fire in hell, because Jesus often spoke of “the unquenchable fire” of hell and says that the damned souls will be “salted with fire” (Mark 9:43, 45), which is “everlasting fire” (Matthew 25:41).
And the rich man also died, and he was buried in hell. And he cried and said: Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, to cool my tongue, for I am tormented with this flame” (Luke 16:22, 24).
“The Son of man shall send His angels, and they shall gather out of His Kingdom all scandals and them that work iniquity, and shall cast them into THE FURNACE OF FIRE: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matthew 13:41, 42).
“And there came down fire from God out of heaven and devoured them; and the devil who seduced them was cast into the POOL OF FIRE AND BRIMSTONE, where both the beast and the false prophet shall be tormented day and night forever . . . And whosoever was not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the pool of fire” (Apocalypse 20:9, 10, 15).
8. How does the fire in hell differ from the fire here on earth?
The fire in hell differs from the fire we know on this earth in that the fire in hell burns without consuming, and that it can torture not only the body but the soul as well.
“He shall be punished for all that he did, and yet shall not be consumed” (Job 20:18).
“And their fire shall not be quenched” (Isaias 46:24).
9. What is the pain of regret?
The pain of regret means that I will be tortured forever with the thought that I had so many chances to save my soul and be happy with God and that I lost heaven because I died with a mortal sin on my soul.
“If thy hand scandalize thee, cut it off; it is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than having two hands to go into hell into unquenchable fire: WHERE THE WORM DIETH NOT, and the fire is not extinguished” (Mark 9:42, 43).
10. What is the pain of the companionship of the devils?
I shall have the devils and the damned souls for companions, who will always hate me and mock me for being such a fool, for everyone in hell hates one another.
“I go and return no more to a land that is dark, and covered with the mist of death: a land of misery and darkness, where the shadow of death, and no order, but everlasting horror dwelleth” (Job 10:21, 22).
11. Does anyone ever get out of hell?
No one ever gets out of hell, for it is a place of everlasting punishment.
These shall go into EVERLASTING PUNISHMENT” (Matthew 25:46).
“And the smoke of their torments shall ascend UP FOR EVER AND EVER: neither have they rest day or night (Apocalypse 14:11).
12. Are the pains of hell the same for all?
All the souls in hell will have the same type of punishment, but the degree of suffering will differ according to the number and kind of sins committed.
” According to the multitude of his devices, so also shall he suffer? (Job 20:18).
“By what things a man sinneth, by the same also is he tormented” (Wisdom 11:17).