Oh yes, there absolutely is a Hell
Somehow I missed it. The “it” I’m referring to is a quote attributed to Pope Francis that, in essence, denied the existence of Hell. The article I came across was at least five years old, and the Vatican vehemently denied the statement, saying that a lengthy article published in La Republica, was “the fruit of his (the reporter’s) reconstruction” and not “a faithful transcription of the Holy Father’s words.” When I first heard the story and found its source, I was interested because the concept of Hell has always intrigued me.
Growing up in the Christian faith as a child, Hell was real; it was a place where the damned spent eternity. Now Presbyterians were never big on fire and brimstone, but still, Hell was out there and I for one, had no interest in straying very far from the “path of righteousness.” At least before the age of 10.
As I got a little older and began a more in-depth study of the Bible and theology, I began to question many of the constructs that I had previously just accepted as “gospel” (pun intended.) The concept of heaven and hell just didn’t make a lot of sense to me, and I found myself in doubt about an afterlife, especially a place of eternal damnation.
Becoming a father further solidified my belief that there is no such place as hell, because I believed (and still believe) that there is nothing either of my children could ever do that would separate them from my love, and if “God” is love and we are his children, then his “perfect” love would make God incapable of allowing any sort of hell to exist. Additionally, I believed that if there was indeed a place called “heaven,” it certainly wasn’t a gated community for the “saved.”
And then I became a social worker and that all changed. In my first several years of practice, I was exposed to child abuse and neglect, child sexual assault, the death of a child due to parental neglect, the effects that drug and alcohol addiction had upon families, and as I looked into the, all to frequent vacant stares of truly lost souls, I became painfully aware of hell.
Nearly forty years ago now, I worked with a young woman who had been a victim of sexual abuse. She was intelligent and articulate and broken. Her world had been shattered and she had no trust in anyone. She found that heroin was her only source of comfort. She used and kept using, despite losing her children. She kept using despite her family rejecting her. She kept using until she almost died.
Visiting her in the hospital she said to me, “I don’t know if there’s a God, but I know that there’s a hell because that’s where I’ve spent almost my entire life.” In her statement, I found a profound truth — there is a hell. It may not be an eternal place. It may in fact be qualitative rather than quantitative, but I have known many people throughout the tenure of my career who have lived hell, right here on earth.
That young woman hadn’t asked to be sexually used and abused by her caregivers. She hadn’t asked to grow up believing that the only value she had to others was in her capacity for giving them sexual gratification. She hadn’t asked for someone to introduce her to drugs. She said, “The devil in my hell wasn’t some fire-breathing monster with horns. It was my father — he was my devil, and I’ve lived in the hell he created for me.”
I can embrace the concept of hell on earth because I’ve witnessed it in the lives of others. But hell on earth also gives a message of hope, because as long as we are drawing breath, there is the hope of redemption; there is the opportunity to cast off the shackles of hell and lean into a better life.
In the case of this woman, she was able to get into an intensive treatment program where she received support and guidance. She learned that her victimization wasn’t her fault. She took classes and got a college degree. One day at a time. Her mantra was “Just do the next right thing” and over time, she healed, and although the scars of trauma were still with her, they became fading echoes rather than the drumbeat of her daily life.
I don’t think much about the afterlife. Heaven, Hell…no one really knows the answer to those eternal questions. Different faiths have different beliefs, and I would never disparage anyone’s beliefs one way or the other.
But here’s the thing. We are alive at this moment and surrounded by many forms of hell. Addiction, pornography, domestic violence…all hell in various forms. It occurs to me that each of us can choose to engage in the “behavior of our better angels” and when we do, we may actually break others out of the hell in which they are living.