Every now and then, I come across a book that I wish every Catholic would read. The Hell There Is: An Exploration of an Often-Rejected Doctrine of the Church by Msgr. Charles Pope, a priest of the Archdiocese of Washington, is unquestionably one of them. The relatively short, easy-to-read book masterfully explains the neglected and rejected biblical teaching about hell, addressing a difficult topic in a positive and approachable way.

There have been times in the Church’s history when some Catholics have distorted God’s wrath, as if the Lord is a stern judge who is eager to condemn us. Today we face an opposite error: We tend to distort the kindness of God, as if the Lord is a permissive parent who affirms our every choice, never requiring us to change. These days we assume that just about everyone goes to heaven, as if the only requirement is not being a serial killer.

The truth is that “God is love” (1 John 4:8) and He longs for every one of us to enjoy eternal life with Him (1 Timothy 2:4), but all of us are at risk of the eternal separation from God that we call “hell.” As The Hell There Is details, about 21 of Jesus’ 38 parables are about God’s judgment and the fact that some make it to heaven and some don’t. In fact, Jesus warned that “many” enter through the wide gate that leads to destruction, and “few” travel the narrow road that leads to eternal life (Matthew 7:13-14).

As Msgr. Pope thoroughly explains in his book, hell exists not because God is vengeful, but because He respects our human freedom. From the beginning of humanity, we’ve been given the choice to freely love Him or not. Love is not love if it is not free. Jesus stands at the door of our hearts and knocks (see Revelation 3:20); He does not knock down the door and barge in. The key question of our lives is whether we really want God and his kingdom or not.

We cannot accept God’s kingdom on our own terms, but must embrace it on God’s terms. Many of us reject key aspects of life in God’s kingdom, such as forgiveness, love of our enemies, chastity, and worship of the Lord. If we cannot accept the invitation to Heaven as it really is – not as we’d like it to be – then we will be excluded from the kingdom by our own free choice. As Jesus Himself warned, many people sadly prefer the darkness of sin to the light of God’s truth (John 3:19).

Msgr. Pope, who has spent most of his priestly ministry in predominantly African American parishes, shares a story that illustrates this point well: He once knew a woman in one of his parishes who was quite devout – she often prayed the Rosary and went to daily Mass – but she disliked Black people, complaining that they were ruining the neighborhood. Msgr. Pope warned her about these racist attitudes, but his words seemed to have no effect.

Eventually, Msgr. Pope told her, “You know, you don’t really want to go to Heaven.”

“Of course I do, Father!” she responded. “God and the Blessed Mother are there. I want to go.”

“No. You won’t be happy there at all,” Father countered. “You see, there are Black people in Heaven, and you said you can’t stand to be around them, so I’m afraid you wouldn’t be happy there. But don’t worry – God won’t force you to go to Heaven if you won’t be happy there.”

The woman thankfully got the point and began to change her sinful attitude.

The neglect of the doctrine of hell is a key problem in the Church today: If we think that heaven is all but guaranteed, why would we bother with the difficult work of conversion? If our actions have no eternal consequences, we're much less likely to overcome our sinful habits, to love our enemies, or to follow the teachings of Jesus and the Catholic Church. As Msgr. Pope repeats frequently, “If you don’t know the bad news, the Good News is no news.”

If you’re looking for some summer reading that will make a deep impact on your faith, I highly recommend picking up The Hell There Is: An Exploration of an Often-Rejected Doctrine of the Church by Msgr. Charles Pope. It’s available as an audiobook for those who enjoy listening to books on their daily commute or in hardcover wherever books are sold.