www.byzcath.org Forums Faith & Christian Life Faith & Theology Another Odd Question

I find myself not believing in hell as the Roman Church and Protestantism expresses it. I am reading a book THE MOUNTAIN OF SILENCE and in it find an expression of life after death which I find to be much more in line with the truth of God as love.

It is also the understanding of many of the Early Fathers of the Church. It is best described in this paper:

RIVER OF FIRE [orthodoxpress.org]

My question is this: As a Byzantine Catholic, am I required, in order to be called "catholic" to believe in the Western concept of hell as expressed by the Roman Church?

Of course, this also leads to another very interesting question regarding the Church and the infallibility of its teachings, doesn't it?

I would appreciate discussion on this point.

Brother Ed

Is there a dogmatized western teaching regarding Hell? I thought this was a point of mystery for even them. I've heard many different understandings of Hell from westerners including that it is eternal punishment (hellfire and brimstone kind), and that it is one's decision to eternally remove oneself from the love of God which is the punishment or even that it is the very love of God which one "who dies in mortal sin" finds to be the punishment after death.

I would personally say that as a Byzantine Catholic, your obligation and loyalty is to your Byzantine church and its patrimony. That it shares the faith sufficiently enough to intercommune with another church does not mean you are required to believe as the other church believes, but that the unity of belief between the two churches must be maintained and strengthened for continued unity to exist. Of course, the Byzantine church depending on the Latin church for its hierarchal and theological ratification makes that a difficult chore.

The Sacred Scriptures shed little light on the nature of Hell. Our Lord spoke only sparingly of it. The Fathers a bit more, yes? There is a mystery there. For myself, I think "what could possibly be worse than having true knowledge of God himself and being forever, permanently separated from the Uncreated Light and the Glory of His Presence?" Could any torment possibly be worse?

Mike --

While I like your reply, I would respond by saying this:

Where is that place in the universe that God is not?

The link I gave you is very instructive reading to the Orthodox point of view (according to monks at St. Gregory Palamas and other sources). Simply put, God restores all to Himself. To those who love God, this will be ever comforting. To those who hate Him and wished nothing to do with Him in this life, it will be ever tormenting.

The same sun that comforts healthy eyes causes great pain to eyes that are diseased.

Brother Ed

Some of what you write sounds a bit like universalist salvation and that scares me. Remember, among the too few blessed words of Our Lord recorded in the Holy Gospels were these:
"Enter by the narrow gate, since the road that leads to perdition is wide and spacious, and many take it; but it is a narrow gate and a hard road that leads to life, and only a few find it." St. Matthew Chapter 7.

Few will be saved. Look around you at this world and see these words manifest.

"Where is that place in the Universe where God is not?" you quote. Does that mean that the Holy One can't choose to not be in some place?

Just some food for thought.

Mike

This is a good question. As Catholics we should know the Catechism of the Catholic Church but yet there are differences in our eastern tradition that are not addressed in the CCC. Our Light for Life series is good but so wishy washy. This is why we need to wait for the Ukrainian Catholic Church to finally put out the Eastern Catechism for the exact delineations of eastern Catholic belief.

Brother Ed,
I am wondering why you are relying on Dr. Kalomiros' speech, considering his lack of understanding of the Western position on God?

Philothea