To: Dayuhan who wrote (4898 ) 12/14/2000 12:12:10 AM From: Solon Respond to Thanks Steven!Catholic Encyclopedia . They do not know for sure, but they think it probable that it is within the earth. However, they say it is more important to know how to escape it, than to know precisely where it is. The remainder of the article makes it clear that it is God's punishment for man, and that it is, indeed...eternal and everlasting torture . Don't look to the RC's for any sugar-coating of the Truth!newadvent.org As to its locality all kinds of conjectures have been made; it has been suggested that hell is situated on some far island of the sea, or at the two poles of the earth; Swinden, an Englishman of the eighteenth century, fancied it was in the sun; some assigned it to the moon, others to Mars; others placed it beyond the confines of the universe [Wiest, "Instit. theol.", VI (1789), 869]. The Bible seems to indicate that hell is within the earth, for it describes hell as an abyss to which the wicked descend. We even read of the earth opening and of the wicked sinking down into hell (Num., xvi, 31 sqq.; Ps., liv, 16; Is., v, 14; Ez., xxvi, 20; Phil., ii, 10, etc.). Is this merely a metaphor to illustrate the state of separation from God? Although God is omnipresent, He is said to dwell in heaven, because the light and grandeur of the stars and the firmament are the brightest manifestations of His infinite splendour. But the damned are utterly estranged from God; hence their abode is said to be as remote as possible from his dwelling, far from heaven above and its light, and consequently hidden away in the dark abysses of the earth. However, no cogent reason has been advanced for accepting a metaphorical interpretation in preference to the most natural meaning of the words of Scripture. Hence theologians generally accept the opinion that hell is really within the earth . volcano would certainly suggest an inner world or lake of fire...at least to some .
