Must one understand in a metaphorical and purely spiritual sense the other punishment of which the Gospel speaks and which it calls "the fire that never dies"?
No; one must understand these words of material fire; for they signify the pain of sense (XCVII. 5).
But how can material fire act upon spirits or upon souls separated from the body?
By a special ordering of His justice, God communicates to this material fire the preternatural power of serving as an instrument of His justice (LXX. 3).
Will all the damned be tormented by the fire of hell in the same way?
No, for since it is used as an instrument of the divine justice, its action will be proportioned to the nature, number, and gravity of the sins committed by each one (XCVII. 5, Obj. 3).
Next - The Catechism of the Summa - Tertia Pars - XLVII. OF THE JUDGMENT WHEREBY A SOUL IS SENT TO PURGATORY, HEAVEN, OR HELL (A)
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