Last night I watched the Sopranos, the episode when Christopher, in hospital after being shot and considered clinically dead for about a minute, reports that he had a visited his father in hell where he was told he was going.
Many people were discomfited by the Pope's speech the other day in which he said God's love is great, but hell 'exists and is eternal.'
Have there been near-death experiences of hell? Time to check out near-death.com which I found less reliable than the Wikipedia entry on near-death experiences.
Not all near-death experiences are those of a brilliant white light and indescribable love; some experience what they could only call hell.
Two of the most famous are Dr. George Rodonaia and Howard Storm.
If you think that hell has gotten a bad name, you might want to read Fr. James Schall on The Brighter Side of Hell who concludes that Hell exists so that we might be free.
"The road to Hell," it is said, "is paved with good intentions." It is also paved with many insights into the very nature of our being that guide us to the truth of things and the importance of our existence.