Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power;
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George Leo Haydock
AD 1849
Being confounded with the face of the Lord, whom they have rejected, and with the glory of his power and greatness, which will appear in irresistible splendour and majesty.
But where, I ask, will be the location of hell? Somewhere, I think, far removed from this world. For as the prisons and the mines are at a great distance from royal residences, so will hell be located far from this world. We aren’t interested in finding its location but in escaping it. And just because God doesn’t punish everyone here, don’t doubt things to come. For God is merciful and patient. That is why he issues warnings and doesn’t immediately cast us into hell. For “I don’t desire,” he says, “the death of a sinner.” These words have no meaning, however, if sinners never die. And I know, indeed, that there is nothing less pleasant to you than these words. But to me nothing is more pleasant…. Let us, then, continually discuss these things. For to remember hell prevents our falling into hell. Do you not hear St. Paul saying, “Who shall suffer everlasting punishment from the face of the Lord”? Homilies on Romans
There are many men, who form good hopes not by abstaining from their sins, but by thinking that hell is not so terrible as it is said to be, but milder than what is threatened, and temporary, not eternal; and about this they philosophize much. But I could show from many reasons, and conclude from the very expressions concerning hell, that it is not only not milder, but much more terrible than is threatened. But I do not now intend to discourse concerning these things. For the fear even from bare words is sufficient, though we do not fully unfold their meaning. But that it is not temporary, hear Paul now saying, concerning those who know not God, and who do not believe in the Gospel, that they shall suffer punishment, even eternal destruction. How then is that temporary which is everlasting? From the face of the Lord, he says. What is this? He here wishes to say how easily it might be. For since they were then much puffed up, there is no need, he says, of much trouble; it is enough that...
He says of destruction because there death will be without death, destruction without weakening, and fire without light. apart from the face of the Lord and apart from the glory of his virtue The sentence goes out condemning the impious, when the same Lord says, "Go you cursed ones, into the eternal fire (Mt. 25:41)."
