Q: If God is so forgiving, why is there a hell?A: Yes, God is very forgiving. And merciful, and loving, and caring. So much so, in fact, that He didn't want to make us do anything we didn't want to do, so He gave us free will. He wants so badly for us to go to heaven and be with Him for all eternity, but we have to choose as much and ask for His forgiveness. But because not everyone chooses the path He's made for them, He was forced to make an alternative, hell.
If you look in the Catechism, it spells it out pretty clearly; "1033 We cannot be united with God unless we freely choose to love him. But we cannot love God if we sin gravely against him, against our neighbor or against ourselves: 'He who does not love remains in death. Anyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.'(1 John 3:14-15) Our Lord warns us that we shall be separated from him if we fail to meet the serious needs of the poor and the little ones who are his brethren. To die in mortal sin without repenting and accepting God's merciful love means remaining separated from him for ever by our own free choice. This state of definitive self-exclusion from communion with God and the blessed is called 'hell'."
Martha
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