Hell is the complete and utter rejection of love. Some say that is impossible but imagine a person who is completely selfish. That person does only what is self-serving, not self-giving. Hell is saying, “I want whatever I want for me and me alone. I don’t care about anyone else!” This is not the way of love.
God gave us life so that we may love. God is love and God invites us to share in his love. That love is shown by the selfless gift of ourselves to others for their benefit. When we reject love through mortal sin, we are rejecting God and others. “Mortal sin is sin whose object is grave matter and which is also committed with full knowledge and deliberate consent.” (CCC, para. 1857)
If we die in a state of mortal sin, then we have chosen of our own free will to reject God, and we will be eternally separated from God. That separation is the chief punishment of hell.
Read more about hell in the Catechism, paragraphs 1033-1037.
Know your faith. Live your faith. Teach your faith.
The Catechism states: “The inspired books teach the truth. ‘Since therefore all that the inspired authors or sacred writers affirm should be regarded as affirmed by the Holy Spirit, we must acknowledge that the books of Scripture firmly, faithfully, and without error teach that truth which God, for the sake of our salvation, wished to see confided to the Sacred Scriptures.” (para. 107) It also sates: “In Sacred Scripture, God speaks to man in a human way. To interpret Scripture correctly, the reader must be attentive to what the human authors truly wanted to affirm, and to what God wanted to reveal to us by their words.” (para. 109)
When dealing with contradictions it is important to look at what is being written and why. What appear to be contradictions may be different versions from different points of views with different emphases for different audiences. The introductions to the books and the footnotes in a Catholic Bible can help sort out what is intended by the human authors and the divine author. Read more about Sacred Scripture in the Catechism in paragraphs 101-141.
Know your faith. Live your faith. Teach your faith.
