The Evangelical Universalist Forum

Catholic saints - hell - warning vs fact?

Hello everyone! Its been a while since Ive been on the board. Ive been reading a great deal from the Catholic Saints (Im RC)…One thing that strikes me is this dual seemingly conflicting message in much of what I read…the saints are shown images of Hell (and in some cases its populated)…and then, in the next breath, these same saints are praying for mercy on everyone, on the whole world, in cases demanding of God that he save the world…Catherine of Siena speaks of standing at the doors of Hell to stop anyone from going in…Julian of Norwich (not a declared saint but greatly respected in RC circles) never stops asking God about how it can be that “all will be well” when some are lost - she wont give up on it…and the best she gets to an answer is “trust me” and “with me all things are possible”…

In Balthasaars book, he seems to argue (if I understand it right) that the words about Hell in the NT and the saints’ visions, might be warnings, but not predictive…to phrase it myself might be “Look what COULD happen if my endless mercy doesn’t intervene”…Certainly in the case of Catherine of Siena and of Saint Faustina (apostle of divine mercy) God seems to tell them to keep praying very hard for all sinners…implying their prayers can be used to save people? Also I feel like in Fuastina theres some implication that God comes to everyone in their dying breath, giving another chance to accept His Mercy.

Thanks for any thoughts on this - and blessings!

Zaidagal

Laughing at myself just realized I asked something similar last year - but still interested in peoples thoughts! I know some on the board don’t give a lot of credence to the saints/mystics - but Ive grown very find of them, and the spiritual learning I gain from them - so, for those who take their works seriously, let me know if you have any comments re the above!

Blessings!

Z

Visions can be both literal and symbolic. Which is why they are hard to understand. Take, for example 4 the one on the Zombie Apocalypse. Which I share when talking about, the most probable - end-times, tribulation model. More than one unrelated person, has seen zombies - in the end-times. But are they literal or symbolic - of a deeper meaning?

Same goes for hell. Whether they are seeing Hades or Hell…are the images real or symbolic (ADA metaphorical)? Visions can have many meanings. And either God needs to give people wisdom - to understand them. Or guide folks to those, with spiritual knowledge and insight - to help them understand the visions.

Of course, this also assumes there’s NOT a medical or scientific explanation - for particular visions and visionaries.