company of the devils and of all the damned (Matt. XXV. 41); and 4. The most intolerable torments and pangs, without any hope of relief or end; for their fire shall not be extinguished, and their worm shall not die (Mark ix. 45; Apoc. xx. 9, 10).
'And the rich man also died, and he was buried in hell. And lifting up his eyes when he was in torments, he saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom; and he cried, and said: Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, to cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame,' etc. (Luke xvi. 22-24).
9. Whence do we know that the pains of the damned are eternal?
1. From the clear testimony of Christ and the Apostles1; and 2. From the express doctrine of the infallible Church, which has solemnly condemned the erroneous opinion of those heretics who taught that the pains of the devils and of the damned would in time have an end.
{{fine|1'Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire: . . . and they shall go into everlasting punishment' (Matt. xxv. 41 and 46). 'It is better for thee to enter lame into life everlasting, than, having two feet, to be cast into the hell of unquenchable fire, where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not extinguished' (Mark ix. 44, 45). 'And the smoke of their torments shall ascend up for ever and ever' (Apoc. xiv. 11, and elsewhere) .
10. Why are the pains of the condemned souls eternal?
1. Because the offence against the infinite Majesty of God demands of His justice a punishment without end; 2. Because all who die in sin remain eternally obdurate in sin;1 3. Because God, in virtue of His holiness, hates evil no less than He loves what is good, and therefore punishes vice eternally, as He eternally rewards virtue; and 4. Because only the everlasting pains of hell are a sufficient means to deter man, even in secret, from evil.2
1 Sin remains as a propensity to sin, though it can no more be committed in deed (Innocent III.). 2 God showed also mercy
