Does God Send People to Hell?
The short answer is, God does not send anyone to hell. This answer, at first glance, would make us smile and say, “See?” but then we would probably go, “Huh…” because we know deep down that God is not really a benevolent old grandfather or a permissive derelict parent.
Why? Because I believed, even as a child, as much as I wanted to believe this, I knew that God was all loving. But God was also a just God. However, God the Father loves his children so much that he has bestowed upon his children the gift of free will. If you don’t want a dictator on earth, why would you want one in heaven? To put it simply, God the Father could have created us in our final destiny. But God saw it good that we, his children, participate in achieving that final destiny, which is “Sonship,” and that by his grace, we could become co-causes of our own salvation by working in Christ. In doing so, the dignity of the human person elevated.
That is the one of the functions of grace. It has three effects on our nature: it heals, it perfects, and in the end it elevates and makes it super-nature…supernatural. The bad news is, we still suffer the effect of a fallen nature (“Original Sin”). And through the gift of freedom, we are still capable of making poor choices, so this is where cooperating with God’s grace or resisting grace plays a role in our participation in achieving our final destiny. However, the good news is, there’s seven reasons to shout for joy. Because God the father has given his children seven gifts, the Sacraments, to help his children harmonize with the gift of free will and make the right choices, and in cooperating with his grace and ultimately his will.
So does God send anyone to hell? No! We choose to go to hell or to heaven by embracing the will of the father or rejecting it. The Church’s advice is, if you neglect the Sacraments and reject God…Hell. Partake in the Sacraments and partake in the divine nature…Heaven. So come along with me and all our brothers and sisters in Christ, and choose life eternal, through the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity in the Most Holy Eucharist…the living bread that will sustain us in our journey to life ever lasting.
God bless!
Pat Bline