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uncertain, for they wish to continue to exist, that
they might always hate God.

Punishment of Hell Is Eternal

These punishments of the reprobate, which we have been considering, will endure forever. This
doctrine of the eternity of the punishments of Hell was first denied by Origen, and later by the
Socinians and a large number of Protestants. Origen, however, was condemned by the Second
Ecumenical Council of Constantinople, and in general, by all the Fathers of the Church.

This Punishment Is Not Unjust

Nor can the eternity of the punishments of the damned ever be qualified as unjust. For anyone who
offends God by a mortal sin merits an infinite punishment for an offense which is infinite.
Hence, however severe or long the punishment may be, it can never be proportionate to the offense
which has been committed. For the majesty of God is infinite; hence, whoever sins mortally merits
an infinite punishment. It therefore appears just that mortal sin be punished by an eternal
punishment.

How Punishment Is Measured

It is useless to object that it does not seem just to inflict an eternal punishment for a sin which
endures but a moment. For St. Augustine remarks