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...]

  1. All quotes not otherwise referenced are from Allen’s post. []
  2. 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. []

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

Part 1

continued from Part 2

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...]

Resurrection Revealed by Beryl Ching Final Part: RESURRECTION IN THE APOCALYPSE FDTL 48

continued from Part 15

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...]

  1. B. F. Cocker, Christianity and Greek Philosophy (New York: Carlton & Lanahan, 1870), 10. []
  2. See The Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament, 1935a Nephesh. []

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...]

  1. Charles Hodge, Systematic Theology, Vol. 2. {New York: Scribner, Armstrong & Co., 1873}, 46. []
  2. Samuel Drew, An original essay on the Immateriality &Immortality of the Human Soul, Founded Solely on Physical and Rational Principles {7th Edition} {Baltimore: A Neal, 1810}, 129. []

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...]

Hell Under Fire CIANZ Annual Conference Address Part 2—Warren Prestidge FDTL Iss 47

Part 1

Part 3

Why is Universalism so commonly held today even among mainstream Christians? Or, if they don’t actually advocate Universalism, why do so many Christians today, including so many Christian pastors and teachers, pretty much avoid the whole subject of final judgment all together, even though it’s standard, both in the Bible and in all Christian traditions?

And the main reason, surely – or at least one of the two or three main reasons – is that even Christians today are utterly embarrassed by, and in fact ashamed of, the Traditionalist view of hell! And James Packer himself agrees with this. He says: “the deepest motivation in {Universalists’} minds has always been revolt against mainstream belief in endless punishment in hell for some people” (p171). In the first essay in the book, J. Albert Mohler Jr. traces something of the growing moral disquiet about this doctrine during the 19th Century. 1  He writes: “Of all the articles of accepted Christian orthodoxy that troubled the consciences of Victorian churchmen, none caused more anxiety than the everlasting punishment of the wicked.” [Read more...]

  1. “Modern Theology: the Disappearance of Hell”. []

Resurrection Revealed Part 15- The Resurrection in the Epistles—Part 2 by Beryl Ching FDTL Iss 47

continued from Part 14
General Resurrection (cont.)

A very precious passage which has been a comfort and encouragement to mourning Christians over the centuries, as it was meant to be, is 1 Thess.4:13-18.   In these verses Paul teaches the young Christians in Thessalonica that those who have died since they believed are not lost, and that there will be no difference between them and those who are still alive when Christ returns.   The fact that Paul speaks of the last trump is proof that he is not speaking of a saint’s death, but of that day at the end of time when all will be raised.  “He says that those who have died will not be left behind; those living will not precede the dead.”   In his comment on this passage Ladd adds, “The goal of the Christian existence is not ‘to die and go to heaven’, as it is often expressed, but rather, it is the resurrection of the body at the Second Advent of Christ.”  1 [Read more...]

  1. G.E.Ladd.  Bible Characters and Doctrines.  Scripture Union. Vol. 16, Study 29. []

Dr. Oscar Cullman: Famous European Theologian was a conditionalist by Rev. Christian Bultinck FDTL Iss 47

Dr. Oscar Cullman was a  famous 20th Century New Testament scholar who held a conditionalist view of the nature of man.

Born in 1902 in Strasbourg, Dr. Cullmann was a Lutheran scholar in New Testament and Early Christianity at the University of Strasbourg (1930-1938) and Basel (1938-1972) and at the same time in Paris. He was invited as an observer by Cardinal Beas to the Second Vatican Council (1963-1965). Cullmann has published on New Testament Exegesis, Systematic Theology and Ecumenism. He debated with famous theologians like  Albert Schweitzer, Rudolf Bultmann and Karl Barth. In Christ et le Temps (1947) he defended the position that the New Testament only refers to ‘linear time’ — yesterday, today and tomorrow;  and that any Philosophy that tries to mix other Metaphysical concepts of time cannot be found in the New Testament. This position led him to write an article on “Immortality of the Soul or Resurrection of the Dead?”1 [Read more...]

  1. Unsterblichkeit der Seele und Auferstehung der Toten. Das Zeungnis Neuen Testaments (Theologische Zeitschrift 12, 1956, S.126-156) for a translation in English see : www.religion-oneline.org/showchapter.asp.title=1115&C=1213 []

The Unkillable Soul by Jefferson Vann FDTL Iss 47

Matthew 10:28 is a watershed text. It serves as a rope, and on either side of the rope is a group of well-meaning Christians tugging over the issue of human nature and destiny. On the one side are those who teach innate immortality. These draw support from Matthew 10:28a, where Jesus compares the body, which can be killed by other men, to the soul, which cannot. This side of the debate believes that “in death, the body only dies; but the soul lives on uninterruptedly, and is immortal.”1

On the other side of the rope are conditionalists.  We tend to emphasize Matthew 10:28b, where Jesus speaks of God being able to destroy both soul and body in Gehenna hell. We reason that anything that can be destroyed is not    by nature immortal. We do not believe that “Matt. 10:28 presupposes a sharp division between body and soul in which the ‘soul’ is the more important, immortal part.”2 We see that presupposition as reading into the text of Matthew 10:28a a dualistic view of the nature of humanity which is not reflected in the rest of Scripture, and essentially denies the reality of death.
In a recent article on this text, David Burge summarized a conditionalist approach:

  1. The Bible affirms that death is a real event which affects the whole person.
  2. In hell, the lost will suffer complete destruction; no part of them will survive.
  3. Jesus is teaching that the first death is only temporary. The resurrection will reverse it.
  4. Jesus is teaching about the nature of God here, not the nature of man. Believers should fear God, not human persecutors.3

[Read more...]

  1. George Christian Knapp, Lecture on Christian Theology (New York: G. & C. & H. Carvill, 1833), 588. []
  2. Daniel J. Harrington, The Gospel of Matthew (Collegeville, Minnesota: Liturgical Press, 1991), 153. []
  3. David Burge, “On Matthew 10:28” in From Death To Life, Issue 29, Jan/Mar 2006, p.3 []

Christmas Myths by Jefferson Vann FDTL Iss 47

The world has adopted Christmas as a time of celebration. If Christians are not careful, we might find ourselves swallowing some Christmas myths — affirming some non-Christian ideas about Christmas.
Some of these myths are just the result of being careless about the facts of Christ’s birth – like the myth that the wise men followed the star to the stable at Bethlehem. Actually, by the time the wise men arrived, Mary and Joseph had moved into a house.1  Other myths are just traditions that people have added to Christmas – like the notion of a jolly man in a red suit and his reindeer.
Then there are the hidden myths about the meaning of Christmas. The Christian should be careful not to casually affirm these statements, because they actually teach the opposite of what Christ taught about his first coming.
Myth #1 Because of Christmas, we are all forgiven.
The world does not mind acknowledging the birth of Christ once a year. In fact, the world wants desperately to believe that now that Jesus has come, his Father no longer holds them accountable for their sins. It wants to believe that God has abolished his law. But Jesus said he came not to abolish the law, but to fulfil it.2 He said he came as light, but anyone who rejects that light (his words) will be condemned on the last day.  ((John 12:46-48; 18:37))
Myth #2 Because of Christmas, we can have peace and unity.
Our secular Christmas cards also proclaim that Christmas means peace on earth, but the Bible says that Christmas brings peace to those with whom God is pleased.3 . Jesus taught that his coming did not bring peace, but division.4 Real faith in Christ separates us from non-believers.
Myth #3 Because of Christmas, we can ignore death.
People act as if Christ’s birth is all that really matters. The world wants to celebrate life, and not think about death. During this time of year, Christ is a child in a manger, not the man dying on a cross, and not the man who came forth from the tomb. But Christ said that he came down from heaven (at Christmas) so that those who believe he died for them will be saved, and that he will raise them on the last day!5 He didn’t ignore death. He defeated it.
Have a happy holiday, and remember that the first Christmas gift was the best ever.

  1. Matthew 2:11. []
  2. Matthew 5:17 []
  3. Luke 2:14 []
  4. Matthew 10:34-36; Luke 12:51-53 []
  5. John 6:38-40 []

The Next ‘You’ Rev. Jefferson Vann FDTL Iss 46

Part of this essay was used as the basis for the sermon at David Burge’s funeral:

Jeff Vann speaking on 1 Cor 15:50-58 at the funeral for David Burge, 10 July 2010 from E†B: ExplainingTheBible.com on Vimeo.

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Law enforcement officers in this age of expanding technology have a number of new tools. Among the most intriguing are age advancement photography programs. Using these programs, one can alter a photograph of someone, and produce a photo of what that someone would look like years later. For example, photos of children who were abducted years ago can now be altered so that the public can see what they would look like today. Many lost children have been found due to this important tool.

Christian believers are also interested in what we will look like in the future, especially the post resurrection future. One of our favourite places to look for snapshots of our post-resurrection selves is 1 Corinthians 15.1 Here, the apostle Paul gives the Corinthian believers some insights into God’s plan for their resurrection. Paul does not do this simply to indulge their curiosity. This doctrinal section is intended to bolster the practical applications he seeks in his letter.

[Read more...]

Hell Under Fire CIANZ Annual Conference Address Part 1—Warren Prestidge FDTL Iss 46

Part 2

Part 3

You must admit, it’s a snappy title: Hell Under Fire! Well, I must admit, it’s not mine! It’s the title of a recent book that sets out to defend the Traditional doctrine of hell – eternal conscious suffering – against both Universalism, which we in CIANZ also reject, and Annihilationism, which is what we believe and promote. My excuse for shamelessly stealing this snappy title is that I have studied this book carefully and will devote this address to answering it.

We in CIANZ need to be aware of both the best and the latest in our field and this book, Hell Under Fire, is I should think the most serious attempt in quite some time to defend eternal conscious suffering against all comers. It’s actually a set of ten essays, edited by Christopher W. Morgan and Robert A. Peterson, brought out by Zondervan, Grand Rapids, Michigan in 2004. Carefully planned and presented, it clearly aims to offer a comprehensive case for the “Traditional” view: namely, that not all will be saved and that those whom God condemns will endure unending conscious suffering in hell forever and ever: that hell is, in fact, a place or state of everlasting conscious torment. Whereas for us hell is about literal, final destruction, as I’ve argued in my book, Life, Death and Destiny. For us the Bible teaches, certainly that some will be lost, but not that the lost will suffer for ever: rather, that through God’s judgment they will all finally cease to exist. This is the view commonly known as Conditional Immortality or Annihilationism. [Read more...]

Resurrection Revealed Part 14 by Beryl Ching Part 1 FDTL Iss 46

Resurrection in the Epistles- Part 1

General Resurrection

We find God described in Rom. 4:17 as “God, who quickeneth the dead” or as the N.I.V. translates it, “the God who gives life to the dead”. The New Bible Commentary says, “God’s life-giving power is seen in the miracle of Abraham’s procreation of Isaac (19; cf. Heb. xi. 12, ‘and him as good as dead’), by the deliverance of Isaac upon the sacrificial altar (cf. Heb. xi. 19, ‘God was able to raise him up, even from the dead’), and by the resurrection of Christ (24).” As Paul, later in his epistle, speaks of the resurrection of believers, we can assume that he also had in mind the power of God to raise from the dead all those who have faith in Him.

In Rom. 6:4, 5 both Christ’s resurrection and ours are mentioned, because our resurrection depends on Christ’s. Paul points out that we are one with Christ – if we have died with Him, we will also be resurrected with Him. The theme is continued in v. 8 and 9. We can believe that we shall live with Christ, because He, having been raised from the dead, will not die again – death does not have any further dominion over him.

[Read more...]

A Tribute to David Burge by Warren Prestidge FDTL Iss 46

David Burge has been Editor of From Death to Life for around 6 years, but he has been President of the Conditional Immortality Association of NZ for much longer still, since at least 1997. This in itself tells us a lot about David. He was a genuine leader, a gifted, enterprising, focused and humble person who could be relied upon to make the most of his own gifts and to take others with him. David was not afraid of responsibility, but rose to every opportunity granted him to serve His Lord and Saviour. He was inspirational, a man of courage and vision, who earned the complete confidence of all who knew him. Patient and tenacious, David was a man of wholehearted faith, who carried heavy burdens lightly, and displayed unfailing, cheerful good will towards all.

[Read more...]

Reclaiming the Gospel by Pastor Warren Prestidge FDTL Iss 7

The text of an address given at the Conditional Immortality Conference, June 21 1997

Part One: The Human Condition

“Reclaiming the Gospel”. I hope you groaned a bit when you saw the title of this address. I hope you felt some resistance to it. There are far too many people these days claiming to have rediscovered the “real” Gospel or the “full” Gospel. [Read more...]

A Brief History of Conditional Immortality and Answers to Critics Part 2 By David Green BA BD CA

Part one is here

If God endlessly torments the unsaved this raises many problems:-

1. The tormenting by God is worse then the German holocaust whose victims’ torments had an ending.

2. Many reject Christ because they cannot believe in a God who asks us to be kind, but is himself worse than Hitler.

[Read more...]

From the President’s Desk FDTL Iss 7, 1997

Matthew’s account of the death of Jesus is peculiar in that it alone records the opening of the graves at Christ’s death and the raising of many sleeping saints along with the Lord at his resurrection ( Matthew 27:50-54).

The raising of certain dead ones is given as one of three happenings that follow the death of Jesus on the cross as Calvary. It comes after the tearing of the temple veil and before the Centurion’s awe-inspired confession of Jesus as the “Son of God”. Inasmuch as these events are narrated immediately following Christ’s death, Matthew very likely intends them to be seen as results of his atoning death.

The tearing of the temple curtain which walled off the Holy of Holies, where God’s presence was manifested signifies that by his death Christ made possible for all direct access into the very presence of God-apart from all ritual and regulation of Old Testament priesthood and sacrifices.

The opening of the graves at Christ’s death reminds us that only by Christ dying on the cross in our place was sin, “the sting of death”, defeated (1 Cor 15:56) The rising of the dead at his resurrection signifies that Christ alone by his resurrection became “the first fruits of them that sleep” (1Cor 15:20) in that his resurrection guarantees the eventual resurrection of all.

[Read more...]