Francis Chan and Preston Sprinkle have joined forces to produce a contemporary book on hell that speaks to the hearts of today’s evangelicals, but engages our minds as well.  Although admitting a reluctance to take up the subject, their approach flows from people who are serious about it, and who want to faithfully represent what the Bible says about it.  They did not want to “get so lost in deciphering” and “forget to tremble” (87).

The title is a bit misleading – since the authors have no intention of actually erasing hell – or letting their readers forget it.  Instead, the title speaks to the almost universal reluctance that modern humanity has of even thinking about the possibility of divine punishment.  Most of us “would love to erase hell from the pages of Scripture” (13), but the references to final punishment are there, nonetheless.

Some have tried to erase hell by suggesting that it is merely a temporary phenomenon – that eventually all nonbelievers will be restored and God’s love will finally win the day.  The problem is, nothing in Scripture “suggests that there’s hope on the other side of the lake (of fire)” (33).

The book prescribes a solution to our problems with hell – that we wise up to the fact that God is sovereign, and he is going to punish the lost so we might as well accept it.  He is the potter, we are the clay.  If he chooses not to save everyone, his love still wins, because his love is intrinsic.   It is not defined by what we might expect it to do.  The book defends God and hell, and encourages its readers to accept both as reality.

With one exception, that reality is exactly the teachings of popular Christianity that Rob bell reacted so strongly against.¹  Chan and Sprinkler defend what the modern universalist might call the traditional view of hell – as a place where God will torment unbelievers perpetually for all eternity.  The only exception is that for Chan and Sprinkler, hell takes place after the final judgment, not immediately after death.  They rightly conclude that the intermediate state is “where the wicked await their judgment” (156).  What they do not admit is that it (sheol/hades) is also where the righteous await resurrection, and that for both it is a state of unconsciousness the Bible calls sleep.

No, Chan and Sprinkler will not erase hell.  They are uncomfortable with the thought of people suffering for eternity, but conclude that they should not “erase God’s revealed plan of punishment  because it doesn’t sit well with” them (135).

The book avoids any discussion of the essential nature of humanity, but proceeds from the same presuppositions regarding that question that Rob Bell did – that human souls are indestructible.  This is seen in the explanation of Matthew 25:46, where Jesus speaks of the two destinies.  The book argues that “Because the life in this age will never end, given the parallel, it also seems that the punishment in this age will never end” (85).  If the authors had not already concluded that both destinies involve life, they could perhaps see that Jesus is not giving a description of two parallel destinies, but contrasting two permanent destinies, where only one involves life. The punishment is not life, but death, and it is just as permanent (Gk. aionios) as the believer’s life.²

Since they hold this presupposition of innate immortality, although the authors quote numerous texts of Scripture where hell is described as destruction (26-29, 80, 101-102, 109-111, 130), they conclude that this cannot be taken literally in any of them.  They also conclude that the fire of hell is not a literal fire (154), and that the second death will not be a literal death (106-107).  Neither of those conclusions can be established by exegesis of the texts themselves.  They are all based on the presupposition of the innate immortality of the soul – a doctrine borrowed from paganism and infused into Christian thought by syncretism.

For those convinced that humans already have eternal life, Erasing Hell might achieve its purpose: to encourage them to accept the traditional notion of hell as God’s best  — even if it is repugnant to them.  Chan admits that he does not feel that God is doing right by tormenting people for eternity, but adds “Maybe someday I will stand in complete agreement with (God), but for now I attribute the discrepancy to an underdeveloped sense of justice on my part” (141).

For me, the problem is not with God’s justice.  If God created human beings immortal, his justice demands that they spend eternity suffering for their rejection of him.  But that is just it.  The Bible insists that humanity lost its chance at immortality in the garden of Eden.  Since then, the only hope for anyone to live forever is found in Christ.  Hell is designed for those outside of Christ.  They have nothing immortal that would burn forever if thrown into a lake of fire.  The fires of Hell will do what God says they will do.  They will destroy those thrown into them, body and soul.³

This is both God’s justice and his love, because his new creation will be purged of all sin and evil.  There will be no hell existing perpetually beside the kingdom.  Christ will destroy all of God’s enemies.⁴  That is the biblical hell.  It ends God’s judgment and makes room for the eternal kingdom of life and love.  That event is absolutely essential to God’s plan in history.  No one should want to erase it.

1. Rob Bell, LOVE WINS: A Book About Heaven, Hell, and the Fate of Every Person Who Ever Lived. (Robert H. Bell, Jr. Trust, 2011).
2. For more on the meaning of aionios, see my article “Solving the Problem of Hell.” http://www.afterlife.co.nz/2011/theology/annihilationism/solving-the-problem-of-hell-by-jefferson-vann/
3. Matthew 10:28. For more on this fate, see Edward Fudge, The Fire that Consumes, third edition. (Eugene Oregon: Cascade Books, 2011).
4. 1 Corinthians 15:24-26.

Humanity is on the verge of witnessing earth’s final dawn – the dawn of the age to come.  In this present age, Christ dealt with our sin problem by becoming our sacrifice of atonement.  In the new age, after Christ returns, he will destroy death by raising his own from their graves, and destroy all his enemies by consuming them with the fires of hell.  All of this is immanent – it could happen at any moment.  All of this is necessary – because God’s plan for a restored Edenic Paradise cannot happen without it.

In Taber’s explanation of these things, you will find exegetical overviews of significant eschatological books of the Bible (like Daniel and Revelation) and extensive treatments of relevant doctrines (like the resurrection, the timing of the second coming, and conditional immortality).²

His treatments are thorough, biblically sound, and up-to-date.  He avoids following the party-line of popular end-times teachings, but points out that their popularity is due to the relevance that eschatology has for everyone.

Taber is not an extremist.  He encourages balanced, biblical thinking on these important issues.  He discourages the kind of date-setting fanaticism that has brought shame to the Church historically, and recently.  He presents a powerful case that Christ could come in this generation, but stops short of saying that he definitely will.  His evidence is compelling to anyone, but especially to those of us who long for our coming king.

Taber goes beyond simply proving that Christ is coming again.  He gives his readers an appetite for the event.  His descriptions of “main street” and “paradise park” (chapter 7) paint emotionally charged portraits of why Christ must come back. He captures the angst of this age with his descriptions of the pain, anxiety, trouble and sorrow that this world is now facing.  He offers glimpses of a new age where the old limitations and sorrows are erased – the old bondages destroyed.  He speaks as a man, and as a man of God who has seen much suffering, but who still believes that “God will not leave man forever in a world that falls short of his glory and purpose” (247).

Tabor neither expects nor demands complete agreement with everything he has presented.  He encourages investigation.  I took exception with Taber’s treatment of Rev. 20, and of some of his exegesis of Matthew 24. But these minor differences of exegesis did not deter me from my enjoyment of the work, or my benefit from it. Taber’s work is a well-written reminder that the second coming of Christ is the believer’s blessed hope.  Come, Lord Jesus.

1. Clinton E. Taber, Earth’s Final Dawn (Xulon Press, 2011) hereafter referred to by page number or chapter.
2.  Conditionalists will find particular interest in chapter 2, where Taber shows that  Christ was sent to fight the battle of the ages in his own grave (63).  Taber points out that “Death is the antithesis of life. Contrary to popular opinion, it is not the same as life.  Death prevents man (even a believer) from experiencing the glories of God’s Kingdom Paradise.  Without resurrection, there isn’t any future for man” (64).  In chapter 5, Taber argues against the notion of innate immortality and for the notion of humanity’s complete dependence upon God.  He investigates three views of what happens at death (reincarnation, relocation and resurrection) and concludes that “our problem with death stems from the fact that we were created for something better” (157). In chapter 6, Taber explains why the adjective eternal describes both destinies: “Eternal death is death forever. Eternal life is life forever” (193).

Pastor Paul Sellman has produced a significant study in biblical theology for the modern context. Much like John Stott and Edward Fudge, Sellman came to his study of the issues of life, death and destiny convinced that people go to their rewards at death. His study of the scriptures has revealed a different outlook. He now sees that death is not the answer to humanity’s problem, it is part of that problem. The solution to humanity’s problem is Jesus Christ, whose return will mean the end of evil, and an eternal new beginning for the saved.
The genius of Sellman’s approach to this controversial subject is his way of simplifying these very complex issues. He asks his readers to put aside their preconceived notions and to imagine all history as being represented by two ages: this age, and the age to come.
This age is the age of mortality because humanity rebelled against God in Eden, thus lost the opportunity to take of the tree of life and live forever. The age to come is an age of restoration where God renews heaven and earth with life eternal as it was meant to be. The crucial event which will put an end to this age of mortality and usher in the age of eternal life is what the Bible calls the Day of the Lord.
Sellman shows from scripture that this Day of the Lord is an event taught in both Testaments. It is the Day of Jesus Christ and the Day of his return, and Resurrection Day, and Judgment Day. It is the essential event in all history, since it divides the two ages. It corrects the problems of this age, and explains the destiny of those who will by God’s grace make it into the next.
Sellman attacks some of the theological traditions within popular Christianity that tend to obscure this way of looking at things. Chief among these traditions is the concept borrowed from Greek philosophy that all human souls are already immortal. Sellman argues that this is “an unbiblical presupposition” (152) which has led Christians who read the Bible to “see something that isn’t there” (172). He calls this view “the great heresy of all existence” (195). Immortality was lost in Eden, and will not be gained back “until the rebellion that lost it is ended” (197).
To Sellman, “good theology is based upon what is clearly taught, and then filled in by the less certain elements” (91). What is clearly taught in scripture is humanity’s need for eternal life in this age; God’s plan to fill that need in the age to come; and the Day of the Lord which will make God’s plan reality.
So, until that great event of the Day of the Lord arrives, those who die wait unconscious in their graves for resurrection – either to eternal life or to the second death. That is why the Bible calls Christians who have died asleep in Christ.
It is impossible for a reviewer to like everything about a book — so there are a few changes that might improve this work in its next edition. Here is a short list of suggestions:
The frequent use of the first person is a style matter, but it seems to detract from the scholarly nature of the study.
Quotes from the Bible are everywhere in this work, but the font, italics, and justification combined in quotations tend to make some of the text run together.
Sellman steers away from a number of technical and complicated issues and avoids getting carried away in discussing particularly problematic texts. This is a good thing, but might be seen by opponents of his position as “chickening out.” A few well-placed reference notes to popular works (like that of Stott and Edwards) which do get into those texts might help.
The Tree of Life is not yet available in electronic book format. If it were, this review would have been written sooner!

The Tree of Life is a skilful and contemporary approach to questions that God’s people have been asking since the time of the patriarchs. It is the kind of book that pastors can pass on to new church members, who are just getting to know about the issues of life, death, and destiny. It helps to explain the way things are, and whet our appetites for the way things will be.

Jonathan Burke sets a high standard for himself in his recent book, Sleeping in the Dust. Burke is a Christadelphian. He writes from the standpoint of a conditionalist, and argues that the view that human beings are born naturally immortal has always had its dissenters among the ranks of Bible believing Christians. He also fairly expresses the various forms of conditionalist thinking in the past and present. His work can serve as a valuable resource for believers in conditional immortality. His historical references and quotes show that the debate about the intermediate state and final punishment is not a new thing. He also shows the relevance of this historical debate by identifying how modern writers and writings are contributing to the issue.

Readers not familiar with the academic structure of Sleeping in the Dust may find it a bit hard to read. He writes in a comprehensive no stones unturned manner that can be overwhelming. Nevertheless, the effort in reading such a work is well expended. The book provides valuable input for those who are interested in biblical answers to questions about death and destiny. Thank you, Jonathan Burke.