Is the phrase, "Heaven is the presence of God, but Hell is the absence of God" an orthodox viewpoint?
score:2
Revelations 14:9-10 Then another angel, a third one, followed them, saying with a loud voice,
"If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand he also will drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is mixed in full strength in the cup of His anger;
and he will be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb.
Assuming this is the Lake of Fire or Hell, then the damned are not just away from Jesus and His benefits, but in His presence, and He is actively involved in administering their eternal torment.
So I don't think that is an orthodox statement.
Upvote:2
Depends on what you mean by "orthodox", I guess.
According to the Eastern Orthodox, the answer would be "no".
Origen, and all rationalists who are like him, was not able to understand that the acceptance or the rejection of God's grace depends entirely on the rational creatures; that God, like the sun, never stops shining on good or wicked alike; that rational creatures are, however, entirely free to accept or reject this grace and love; and that God in His genuine love does not force His creatures to accept Him, but respects absolutely their free decision. He does not withdraw His grace and love, but the attitude of the logical creatures toward this unceasing grace and love is the difference between paradise and hell. Those who love God are happy with Him, those who hate Him are extremely miserable by being obliged to live in His presence, and there is no place where one can escape the loving omnipresence of God.
Upvote:2
It is an orthodox view inasmuch as it's not heterodox. (The question asked whether it's "orthodox," not "Orthodox")
The Catholic Catechism defines hell as "the state of definitive self-exclusion from communion with God and the blessed." CCC 1033
The real Hell is knowing that not only is God absent, but that he is absent because one's own actions have excluded him. He's not absent because he wants to be. "To die in mortal sin without repenting and accepting God's merciful love means remaining separated from him for ever by our own free choice." [ibid]
Heaven is entirely the opposite, being in the presence of God crying "Holy, Holy, Holy" and falling on one's face worshipping him for eternity because that's the best thing ever and something you never want to stop doing. [Isa 6:1-3, Rev 7:9-12, Rev 11:16-17]
CCC defines "heaven" as having a number of meanings: the firmament of the sky; God's own place; the place of angels and spiritual creatures who surround God; eschatological glory. CCC 326
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