<P> In Orthodox doctrine there is no place without God . In eternity there is no hiding from God . In Catholic theology, God is present everywhere not only by his power but in himself . Hell is a state of self - selected separation from God . </P> <P> Eastern theology considers the desire to sin to be the result of a spiritual sickness (caused by Adam and Eve's pride), which needs to be cured . One such theologian gives his interpretation of Western theology as follows: "According to the holy Fathers of the Church, there is not an uncreated Paradise and a created Hell, as the Franco--Latin tradition teaches". The eastern Church believes that hell or eternal damnation and heaven exist and are the same place, which is being with God, and that the very same divine love (God's uncreated energies) which is a source of bliss and consolation for the righteous (because they love God, His love is heaven for them) is also a source of torment (or a "Lake of Fire") for sinners (because they don't love God, they will feel His love this way). The Western Church speaks of heaven and hell as states of existence rather than as places, while in Eastern Orthodoxy there is no hell per se, there is damnation or punishment in eternity for the rejection of God's grace . </P>

What issues divided the western and eastern christian churches