A lot of people seem to believe that there is no hell, or that there is no people in it even if there is a hell. Even St. Therese said that she believes there is no one in hell and I believe even Pope Francis said something similar. Why is this the case? Where does this come from ? Is this wishful thinking, hoping that it is the case, but knowing in reality it is neither empty nor non existent ? My culture is not catholic or christian in any way so I do not know
I am not familiar with St. Therese saying that she does not believe anyone is in hell. If you have a citation, I would be interested in seeing it.
However, I do know the remark from Pope Francis to which you refer. As I recall, he said that he likes to think of hell as being empty. Whatever he meant by that (i.e. whether he meant that he believes hell is empty or that he would like to think that hell is empty), I do not know.
One thing I will mention is that not every personal opinion of every saint or pope is necessarily true.
I think these days there are a lot of people who like to think that there are zero are almost zero human souls in hell. In a sense we should all like to think there is no one in hell (in the sense that we should love all people and desire than no live a life that is offensive to God and end up suffering in hell). However, I do not think that the majority view of Catholics (or other Christians) over the last 2000 years supports the view that there are no souls in hell.
I do not have a sufficient explanation for why this view is more common now than it was in the past. I can only speculate, but I am not sure how helpful that would be.
I believe it is from Ste. Thérèse de Lisieux, Docteur de l’Église, apprends-nous à espérer
Please write a book. I would want to read every single book you publish.
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It comes from an idea that if God is all loving, He would not allow people to go to Hell, but this is a misunderstanding of what God is allowing. God does not send us to Hell. He allows us to choose Hell.
This idea of all will be saved is a modern idea popularized (among some Catholics who should know better) by a theologian named Hans Urs von Balthasar, who posed the question, “Dare we hope that all will be saved?”
I believe so. Jesus told us there is a Hell. And He told us that many will be there.
When it comes to who will be or will not be in Heaven, I love what Venerable Fulton J. Sheen said. He said that there will be three surprises when we get to Heaven. 1. Who is not there that we thought would be there. 2. Who is there that we thought would not be there. 3. That we ourselves are there (humility).
Some Protestants have a sort of entitlement mentality. They believe, because of their once-saved-always-saved theology, that they will go to Heaven. But, historical Christianity (Catholics and Orthodox) do not believe that all you have to do is believe that Jesus saved you and then you will be saved. This is not Biblical. There are examples in Scripture where exceptions have been made, and this is either at the start of one’s faith journey or at the end of their earthly journey. The middle, from when we first believed to the time of our last breath matters too.
We do not earn our way to Heaven apart from Christ’s merits on the Cross. We are saved by grace, through faith, working itself out in love. We have been saved (justification), we are being saved (sanctification), and we will be saved (glorification). All of this is a gift, not of our own merits, but in Christ’s merits working in us. God does not simply deem us to be holy, but He is truly making us holy, if we cooperate with His grace. We do not think of salvation as something just in the past, but in the past, present, and the future tense.
It is okay to “dare to hope that all will be saved,” unless it leads you to believe that there is no Hell or that that everyone is going to Heaven. Anyone who believes that is no longer believing in what Jesus taught.
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