Bible Standards January 1881 – September 1881
Bible Standard January 1881
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Bible Standard December 1880
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Bible Standard December 1880
Bible Standard November 1880
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Bible Standard November 1880
Bible Standard October 1880
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Bible Standard September 1880
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Bible Standard September 1880
Hell is Permanent
Travis Allen, director of Internet Ministry for Grace to You, recently posted an article entitled “Is Hell Really Endless?” Allen’s article defends the concept that final punishment by God is a process that will never end. Allen rejects the view he callsAnnihilationism, which is “a denial of the endlessness of hell.”1
Allen asserts that annihilationism “seems to be making a strong resurgence today among evangelicals.” That may be an overstatement, but it is a helpful correction to the assumption many have that the view only exists among the cults and theological liberals. Most of us who are labeled annihilationist2 argue from the same belief in an inerrant, infallible, authoritative scripture as Allen and John MacArthur do. We are solidly in the evangelical camp, and reject the concept of an endless hell on scriptural grounds. We appreciate it when that is admitted. [Read more...]
- All quotes not otherwise referenced are from Allen’s post. [↩]
- This is not a term we often use or appreciate. The term most of us use is conditionalist, because we argue that human immortality is conditional. Since the unsaved will not be made immortal, they cannot exist forever in a burning hell. [↩]
Print This Post Filed Under: Annihilationism, Featured Article, From Death To Life, Publications, Theology, What's New WHY SO IMPORTANT? Republished from gracEmail® by Edward Fudge
A gracEmail subscriber asks: “Are you fixated on hell?” [No.] “Do you derive pleasure from contemplating the subject?” [None.] “Do you consider this a ‘salvation’ issue?” [Absolutely not!] “Is agreement on this topic necessary for fellowship? [No.] “Why devote so much attention to the topic?” [There are at least two very important reasons.]
* * *
First, whoever claims to speak for God is obligated to do so accurately. Scripture is filled with warnings to anyone who abuses this trust or takes it lightly. The subject of final punishment is particularly hazardous because it is inextricably tied to God’s own reputation and character. Undeniably, our natural instincts are unable to discern God’s character and are unfit to judge it. But in this situation, God himself declares his character and challenges us to imitate him. Jesus adds that whoever looks at him sees the Father also. Further, believers are said to possess moral intuition, and they are expected by practice to heighten its sensitivity and usefulness.
We read in John 3:16 that God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so believers will not perish but have eternal life. In that light, it is fair to ask if that same God now intends to toss billions of those same people into something resembling a lake of volcanic lava, then actively intervene to prevent their demise so they will suffer unspeakable pain forever. If God intends nothing of the kind, could one possibly invent a more scandalous lie with which to besmirch his holy, righteous, loving and just character?
Every day devout, God-fearing believers are studying their Bibles afresh and rejecting the traditional theory of conscious unending torment–including some of the most highly-respected scholars (Richard Bauckham, N. T. Wright), commentators (F. F.
Bruce), and preachers (John Stott) in the world.
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For an idea why, Edward Fudge invites you to read the first 32 pages of The Fire That Consumes. To download this valuable excerpt, go to www.EdwardFudge.com/excerptTFTC3.pdf
Book Review of The Tree of Life: A Biblical Study of Immortality & New Creation by Paul Sellman © 2010, Outskirts Press, Inc.
Reviewed by Jefferson Vann
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.
Hell Under Fire CIANZ Annual Conference Address Final Part —Warren Prestidge FDTL Iss 48
A more serious weakness in the approach of contributors to Hell Under Fire is that they approach the Bible with this question is view: What does the Bible – the Old Testament, Jesus, Paul, the Book of Revelation – say about hell? Now, that whole approach is very restrictive. It simply excludes a heap of biblical evidence. What they should be asking is: What does the Bible – the Old Testament and the New – say about the final fate of the lost? Because that is the real issue and because, in fact, the idea of “hell” is only one of many ways in which the Bible talks about this subject. But if you direct attention only to passages which relate recognisably to the idea of “hell”, and particularly to the very small set of such texts which appear, at first glance, to support eternal suffering, you acquire, and create, the impression that this is the normative biblical approach. [Read more...]
Print This Post Filed Under: Annihilationism, Book Review, From Death To Life, Publications, Reviews, Theology, What's New Resurrection Revealed by Beryl Ching Final Part: RESURRECTION IN THE APOCALYPSE FDTL 48
General Resurrection
In proclaiming Himself to John the Apostle in the vision on Patmos, one of the things the Lord said about Himself was, “{I} have the keys of hell and of death” (Rev. 1:18). He was thus informing John, and the churches, of His power to release those who had died, from the bonds of death.
In each of the letters to the seven churches in Revelation chapters two and three, promises are made to overcomers which can only become true through the resurrection of those addressed, as all of them are now dead. In addition, to the church of Smyrna He says, “Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life” (2:10). What is this, but a promise that if they die as martyrs for the faith, there will be a resurrection?
In Revelation 11:18 we find the words, “The time of the dead, that they should be judged (is come)”. The verse goes on to say that God’s servants, prophets, and saints, will be rewarded, and that those who destroy the earth will be destroyed. Obviously this judgement cannot take place unless there is a resurrection first. [Read more...]
Moses on the souls of animals by Jefferson Vann FDTL 48
Long before Plato ever said anything about the human soul, the Old Testament writers presented a consistent biblical anthropology. Augustine was biased toward platonic philosophy, even going so far as to claim that Plato brought him to God.1 But there is no reason for us today to be biased toward Plato’s (or anyone else’s) philosophy. We should first seek to understand what God himself has revealed about humanity before inquiring of any human speculation.
The Hebrew word Moses used that our English bibles sometimes translate soul is nephesh, a word that suggests something that breathes. In fact, the Ugaritic and Akadian cognates also mean “throat.”2 Moses’ use was consistent with an understanding that a soul is a living breathing being. [Read more...]
Print This Post Filed Under: Body/Soul, Conditional Immortality, From Death To Life, Publications, Theology, What's New What is the Soul by Robert F. Gardiner FDTL 48
Republished from the Bible Standard 1880.
What is the soul? This is a question which has been asked in all ages; but the answers which they often gave or got have in many cases failed to convey the correct idea, if not an altogether erroneous one. Before proceeding to answer the question for ourselves, we will glance at one or two answers which have been already made to this question.
Hodge defines the soul as being “unextended and indivisible.” 1 Now it follows that a thing which is without extension, must necessarily be without substance, and hence must be immaterial. The same argument has been adopted by Drew, who defines the soul as being “a single unextended indivisible atom.” 2 The question before us thus resolves itself, do humans have souls? To this we answer humans are souls. Since humans are souls, the soul must be a real existence capable of extension and division, and also composed of, not one atom, but of all the atoms which go to make up the body. [Read more...]
If you died today… by Jefferson Vann FDTL Iss 48
The billboard on the interstate highway asked “If you died today, where would you spend eternity?”
The question was never asked in the Bible. It reflects a theology based on some assumptions that are not held by biblical authors. I would be uncomfortable asking the question to anyone, for fear that they might assume that I hold the theology.
First, asking where would you spend eternity assumes that everybody is going to be alive to spend eternity somewhere. The Bible does not teach that. The Bible teaches that God’s gift of eternal life is available only to those who put their trust in Christ. Eternity is not a given. [Read more...]
Resurrection Hope by David A. Dean In Tamil
Resurrection Hope by David A Dean In Tamil
Please note:
Published online with the permission of Advent Christian General Conference who reserve all rights to the material.
Resurrection, His and ours by David A Dean ( Tamil Version)