Theology | Afterlife | Conditional Immortality, Soul Sleep and Annihilationism

Solving the Problem of Hell By Jefferson Vann

July 23, 2011 By admin 3 Comments

Our ancestors’ rebellion in Eden has changed humanity from what God originally intended. Because of that rebellion, humanity has inherited a sinful inclination that devastates all our attempts at being good and doing good things. We are tainted with evil, depraved to the core. Legally, we stand condemned before God, so that even our obedience is never enough to justify us. We all sin in so many ways and so many times throughout our lives that destruction in Gehenna hell is almost the only solution for a just God to apply to the problem of us.

Hell

Every life so corrupted by the initial rebellion of Adam – so separated from God by its inherently selfish sinful inclination – deserves the punishment that God warns us of in the Bible. Unfortunately, there has been so much unbiblical tradition added to what the scripture says about that punishment that the term “hell” has ceased to be a helpful word to describe it. A better term – the one Jesus used – is Gehenna. Unlike the hell of tradition, this hell does not begin at death, but begins on judgment day at the end of the age. Also, unlike the hell of tradition, this hell is not a place for the torment of disembodied spirits, but is the place for the punishment and destruction of the whole person – body and spirit.

Originally designating a valley near Jerusalem where garbage was burned, Gehenna for Jesus is a place where every sin – no matter how small it might seem – counts. It is an event and a place for the punishment of every act of violence. It is also a place for the punishment of every careless thought and word of violence. Jesus said “everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment … and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire.”¹ The reality of hell should make us careful about how we express our emotions.

Gehenna will also punish all those who have followed false teachers, and willfully passed on their deceptions. This idea makes modern humanity a little less comfortable, because it implies that humans are held accountable for the lies they are told as well as the lies they tell. But Jesus clearly taught that the religious leaders of his day were going to Gehenna, and taking with them all of their converts. He called the scribes and Pharisees hypocrites, because they “travel across sea and land to make a single proselyte, and when he becomes a proselyte, (they) make him twice as much a child of hell as (them) selves.”² The reality of Gehenna should make us all wary of accepting any “new” doctrine. [Read more...]

Matt. 5:22. [↩]
Matt. 23:15. [↩]

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Annihilationism and Apologetics by Matt Flannagan ( Part 2 Discussion Time)

July 18, 2011 By admin 2 Comments

Video recording of the 2011 Conference Talk Part 2 – Discussion Time

Speaker: Matt Flannagan
Topic: Annihilation and Apologetics
Dr Matthew Flannagan is a theologian with proficiency in contemporary philosophy. He holds a PhD in Theology from the University of Otago, a Masters (with First Class Honours) and a Bachelors in Philoso-phy from the University of Waikato; he also holds a postgraduate diploma in secondary teaching from Bethlehem Tertiary Institute. He is currently assisting with preaching at Takanini Church. He is able to communicate at a variety of levels and his presentation at the Confer-ence will be suitable for lay people. Part 1 The main conference address is here.

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Annihilationism and Apologetics by Matt Flannagan

July 16, 2011 By admin 2 Comments

Video recording of the 2011 Conference Talk.

Speaker: Matt Flannagan
Topic: Annihilation and Apologetics
Dr Matthew Flannagan is a theologian with proficiency in contemporary philosophy. He holds a PhD in Theology from the University of Otago, a Masters (with First Class Honours) and a Bachelors in Philoso-phy from the University of Waikato; he also holds a post-graduate diploma in secondary teaching from Bethlehem Tertiary Institute. He is currently assisting with preaching at Takanini Church. He is able to communicate at a variety of levels and his presentation at the Confer-ence will be suitable for lay people. Part 2 The discussion time is here

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HELL CONVERSATION CONTINUES

July 16, 2011 By admin Leave a Comment

From gracEmail, the following blogs might be of interest to those following the hell debate.

http://purposenews.com/news/?p=5449

http://anglicansablaze.blogspot.com/2011/06/interview-scholar-edward-fudge-on.html

http://desposyni.blogspot.com/2011/06/edward-fudge-interview-christian-post.html

http://www.christianportal.com/2011/06/23/interview-scholar-edward-fudge-on-alternative-third-view-of-hell/

http://www.christianconversationsnow.com/2011/03/23/rob-bell-%E2%80%93-love-wins-6-edward-fudge/

http://claudemariottini.org/2011/06/26/the-biblical-doctrine-of-hell-another-view/

http://doctor.claudemariottini.com/2011/06/biblical-doctrine-of-hell.html

http://ekklesiahellweek.wordpress.com/2011/03/18/the-final-end-of-the-wicked-by-edward-fudge/

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Around the Web in July

July 9, 2011 By admin Leave a Comment

theway21stcentury.wordpress.com/2011/06/13/hell-and-rob-bell/

The middle view, often called ‘conditional immortality’, seems to me to make most sense of the Biblical evidence. In particular, it recognises that Jesus spoke of ‘destruction’ (which implies an end), and that ‘eternal’ means ‘in the age to come’, not ‘unending’. It is more realistic than universalism and more compassionate than the traditional view.

http://www.beretta-online.com/wordpress/2011/tom-wright-wrong-about-soul-sleep/

Wrights work, not least in his book Surprised by Hope has really done a marvellous job of urging Christians to stop thinking of our hope in terms of heavenly bliss after we die, and to get back to the biblical message of the resurrection of the dead. This in itself, whether Wright intends it or not, will nudge people in the direction of being more open to the doctrine of soul sleep.

Please leave other links of interest in the comments~ed.

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More on the Hell and Heaven debate sparked by Rob Bell’s book

July 9, 2011 By admin 1 Comment

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Watch the full episode. See more Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly.

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Hell is Permanent

July 5, 2011 By admin 1 Comment

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. [↩]

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Hell: A Place of Silence, A State of Extinction

June 13, 2011 By admin 1 Comment

It was first published on his website: www.faithfirstmedia.com
Please email matt at faithfirstmedia.com if you have any questions about the article.

for printing or reading in a new window (pdf ) : Hell – A Place of Silence and Extinction Revision

or read it at scribd :

www.scribd.com/fullscreen/57722552?access_key=key-1z41zapzf1uq2zo00tr

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Around the Web May 2011

May 30, 2011 By admin 3 Comments

The topic of Hell is still hot on the blogsphere, ignited by Love Wins by Rob Bell;-) If you haven’t read it already, check out our review of the book: Bell’s Base Cards

Eternal Suffering or Eternal destruction

Whatever its appeal, the annihilationist position contains substantive problems. One is the biblical assertions that the wicked will suffer an “eternal” fate. Annihilationists argue that the word eternal refers to the permanence of the results of judgment and not to the duration of the act of punishment.

I am going to publish this excellent article : Hell Is-Permanent by Jefferson Vann in the next magazine. It address just the argument above. Well worth reading!

http://occupy-till-i-come.webs.com/ Scroll down the page to see the new content

More discussion on Love Wins

I, myself, studied this issue a few years back and also came to the conclusion that the conditional immortality view has more on its side than the other 2 popular views (eternal torment and universal reconciliation). As an aside, I prefer the term ‘conditional immortality’ over ‘annihiliationism’ specifically b/c I don’t agree with the Greek notion that souls are naturally immortal. Annihilationism, to me, sounds like God is putting an end to a life that would have otherwise lived forever. I think, rather, that death is simply the natural result of sin-filled life. We only have eternal life in the Son.

cited from http://thebestofbelief.wordpress.com/2011/04/18/the-fury-of-rob-bell%E2%80%99s-hell-in-%E2%80%98love-wins%E2%80%99/

http://learntheology.com/hell_forever.html A discussion on Hell. It’s conclusion

The idea of the wicked being obliterated rather than suffering endlessly will continue to appeal to sensitive Christians. Yet emotion cannot be the primary consideration in settling theological issues. In this case the biblical and theological data weigh strongly on the side of eternal conscious punishment of the wicked.

We would disagree! For example the author states

However, how there can be smoke without something being burned? If these bodies are burned up, consumed, destroyed, how can there still be smoke? What would produce smoke, unless something was burning? For that matter, why would the lake of fire continue to exist, with nothing left to burn?

The image of rising smoke is another common Old Testament symbol of destruction used, for example, to describe the total destruction of Edom, (Isa. 34:10).

Isaiah 34:10 “It will burn day and night, and smoke will rise from it forever. The land will lie waste age after age, and no one will ever travel through it again.”

from A Short Note on Revelation 14:9-11

Evangelical Annihilationism in Reveiw by J I Packer republished from Reformation & Revival magazine, Volume 6, Number 2 - Spring 1997.

http://conditionalist.blogspot.com/2011/05/biblical-doctrine-of-conditional.html

http://hipandthigh.blogspot.com/2011/05/soul-man.html the comments on this post might be of interest.

http://ekklesiahellweek.wordpress.com/2011/03/17/john-w-wenham-quote-on-conditional-immortality/

Any other links of interest please leave them in the comments

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Sleeping In the Dust By Jonathan Burke

April 19, 2011 By admin Leave a Comment

A Review by Jefferson Vann

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.

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Around the web April 2011

April 18, 2011 By admin 3 Comments

Many links this time; Rob bells’ book Love Wins have heated up the hell debate!

Please note that not all links express the views of this website but are given for your interest. Any other links of interest please leave them in the comments for our interest.

http://ekklesiahellweek.wordpress.com/

I just found the above site, well worth a read

“This blog is not intended to endorse or promote any particular theological position on the subject of Hell. We would like for you to engage in prayerfully considering the topic as you engage scripture, logic, and your fellow brothers and sisters over this topic. This blog is intended to serve as a landing place for whoever is interested in further engaging the conversation we started on the nature of Hell in Christian Theology. We hope it will provide some resources for you to further investigate what you believe and why you believe it.”

so you will find a variety of view on the site. Here is the link to the pro-annihilationist view articles:

http://ekklesiahellweek.wordpress.com/category/annihilationist-view-of-hell/pro-annihilationist-view-of-hell/

“Feel my faith” is having a look at the topic of hell : http://www.feelmyfaith.com/2011/04/four-views-of-hell.html

http://what-the-hell-is-hell.com/ What the hell is Hell? comes to Christian Universalism conclusions and rejects annihilationism and links to this article http://www.tentmaker.org/books/EternalDeath.html

but we have lots of common ground in rejecting the traditional view of hell and the site is well worth a read. Here is a quote

After spending several years in many different denominations of Christianity, spending thousands of hours comparing and studying various translations of the Bible, looking into the Greek and Hebrew behind our English translations, studying the writings of the early Church Fathers, and seeking God in prayer with all that is in me, I am one hundred percent convinced there is NO such thing as a Hell of everlasting tortures as taught in most denominations of Christianity.

http://eikondenver.wordpress.com/2011/04/08/understanding-the-rob-bell-debate/ more on the Rob Bell debate

a quick summary http://www.joeandheidiwhite.com/2011/04/four-views-on-hell-part-44-conditional.html . I’m excited that bloggers are looking at the 4 views.

http://hellreexamined.wordpress.com/ an online book on the topic of hell

http://hellreexamined.wordpress.com/2011/04/02/too-hot-to-handle/ I had no idea that ” the preaching of Jonathan Edwards resulted in suicides by certain persons who were so terrified by this deliberate misuse of the Christian sacred texts.” He linked to Edward’s Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God: http://youtu.be/9fgHLtrDu7w

http://3-ringbinder.blogspot.com/2011/04/implications-of-conditional-immortality.html here is the article the author refers to

:http://3-ringbinder.weebly.com/uploads/1/9/1/0/1910989/the_bible_teaches_annihilationism.pdf

http://www.apologetics.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=160968#Post160968

http://wheatamongtares.blogspot.com/2011/03/afterlife.html

Why Anihilationism is not universalism http://www.patheos.com/community/bibleandculture/2011/03/18/mt-10-28-why-anihilationism-is-not-universalism/

Is anihilationism then any sort of form of universalism? No, it is not. Let us return to the battle field imagery. My father fought in WWII for George Patton’s army and he saw many destroyed villages at the end of the war in Germany and Czechoslovakia, destroyed by Allied bombers. When he walked into a village and found a few survivors, a few who had been saved through and despite the malestrom, while the vast majority had been destroyed, he could never have said—- “well they all ended up being saved”. Of course not. The last persons standing were saved, and none of the last persons standing were destroyed, but this is hardly any form of universalism at all.

Links to some audio files : “Views of Hell” from Steve Gregg

who is becoming increasingly uncomfortable with the traditional view of hell

My most recent theological shift seems to be concerning the nature and purpose of “hell.” As long ago as the late eighties, I became aware that two of my most-admired evangelical leaders, John R.W. Stott and Clark Pinnock, had taken the surprising position that hell is a place of annihilation, not eternal torment. I could not immediately accept this (being fundamentally conservative by temperament), but it lodged in my mind. Somewhere along the way, I also heard that certain evangelical Christians, like Hannah Whitall Smith and George MacDonald, were Christian Universalists. This bothered me, somewhat, but I had become much more open-minded to letting others reach their own conclusions, by now, and was not as greatly alarmed as I would have been a decade earlier.

It still seemed to me, however, that the safest position to take is the traditional view of a hell of eternal torment (might as well prepare people for the worst possibility!). I found it fairly easy to remain dispassionate on the subject while presenting all three options to callers on my radio program, but I still felt that the evidence for the three views was about equally distributed, allowing me to retain my default position (the traditional view) in good conscience. In the last few years, however, I have become less and less impressed with the nature of the biblical evidence for the traditional view, and more concerned about its implications with reference to the character of God. Today, I have been thoroughly moved from my former confidence in the view of endless torment. I am currently in the process of deciding between the two options—both of which seem to be superior, in terms of biblical evidence, to the traditional view, though neither provides a thorough refutation of the other.

Some would, no doubt, conclude (on the basis of all of these confessed changes in my theology) that I am theologically unstable, “tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine.” Actually, since the mid-seventies, there has been no “to and fro-ness” about it. I have not gone back-and-forth in my beliefs. Rather, each change I have made has been precipitated by the previous ones, and has been a necessary advance prodded-on by those that lie behind. Personally, of course, I regard the sum of these shifts as “progress.” I do not expect all who read this to agree with me in this assessment.

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victory through resurrection

April 17, 2011 By admin Leave a Comment

Devotional Thoughts from 1 Corinthians 15.

Republished from marmsky.wordpress.com with permission

It is clear from what Paul says in this chapter that some in the Corinthian churches were trying to downplay the doctrine of the resurrection. Paul encourages the Corinthians to continue to preach it, because the victory that the believer has is the resurrection. If you take away the resurrection, Christianity is an empty religion with no real hope, and believers are “of all people most to be pitied” (19). The reason is that all human beings are born mortal. We have a death sentence hanging over us because of Adam’s rebellion. We imitate Adam by being creatures who return to the dust. But the resurrection gives us an opportunity to imitate Christ, the man from heaven (48). This will happen at the last trumpet, when Christ returns (52-53). The resurrection is our victory.

LORD, give us the courage and the wisdom to keep preaching the resurrection.

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from temporary to permanent

April 16, 2011 By admin Leave a Comment

Devotional Thoughts from 2 Corinthians 4:1-5:10.

Republished from marmsky.wordpress.com with permission

The context of Paul’s earthly tent passage is Paul’s jars of clay passage. He is defending his speaking ministry by saying that he speaks by faith, “knowing that he who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and bring us with you into his presence” (4:14). His faith is not in a conscious intermediate state, but in the resurrection from the dead. He does not want to be found naked (the intermediate state) but to be clothed with immortal life at the resurrection (5:4). Since he has this hope, he is able to face tribulation and death confidently, knowing that anything he faces in this life is but a “light momentary affliction” (4:17). His hope is in a permanent “building from God” (5:1).

LORD, we put our faith in you, and confidently expect you to bring us out of this temporary state and into a permanent one.

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Hell Under Fire CIANZ Annual Conference Address Final Part —Warren Prestidge FDTL Iss 48

April 1, 2011 By admin 2 Comments

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...]

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

April 1, 2011 By admin Leave a Comment

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...]

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Moses on the souls of animals by Jefferson Vann FDTL 48

April 1, 2011 By admin Leave a Comment

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...]

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

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What is the Soul by Robert F. Gardiner FDTL 48

April 1, 2011 By admin Leave a Comment

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...]

Charles Hodge, Systematic Theology, Vol. 2. {New York: Scribner, Armstrong & Co., 1873}, 46. [↩]
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. [↩]

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Bell’s Base Cards

March 26, 2011 By admin 6 Comments

Rob Bell does a masterful job of shaking the foundations of the modern theology of human destiny in his new book entitled Love Wins.¹ He exposes the fact that much of what people say about salvation and human destiny is not based on the Bible, therefore does not hold up to the scrutiny of direct questioning. He dares to ask direct questions – many of them.

His tactic is similar to that of knocking down base cards in someone’s house of cards. A house of cards can be an enormous thing, but it is only as strong as the first few cards one lays out. Those base cards serve as the foundation. If they are stable, one can build fortresses out of flimsy cards upon them. But topple those base cards and the entire thing falls apart. Bell’s identified some flimsy base cards in modern theology: the idea that only professing believers will go to heaven and its corollary that all others will suffer in hell forever.

He attacked those familiar base cards by appealing to scripture after scripture to show that the Bible addresses very different issues. He wanted to show that the whole of modern theology about human destiny was built upon assumptions that do not come from the Bible. He accomplished that mission. Each chapter in the book identifies a presupposition, and then proceeds to topple it by going to the text of scripture and comparing the presupposition to what scripture actually says. In short, Bell does theology and he does it well.

Nevertheless, Bell’s book is destined to be much maligned. He has taken on subjects which are practically taboo for evangelical Christians. “Heaven when you die” and “conscious eternal suffering for the lost” are concepts that are too holy for most good church people to investigate. Expect Bell to be branded a hopeless Universalist. Expect retaliation. Expect The DaVinci Code all over again.

…And rightfully so. Any good theologian worth his or her salt makes a difference. Bell has swung a pendulum, and one should expect the thing to swing back in the other direction. Paul told the Corinthians that “there must be factions among you in order that those who are genuine among you may be recognized.”² Bad theology can mobilize good theology.

With that in mind, let me tell you where I think Bell has it wrong. He spends numerous pages showing that the gospel message is not about going to heaven when you die – then he puts the saved in heaven when they die. He can do no other, because for Bell (and most of his opponents) the human soul has to live eternally somewhere. Bell sweeps away all of the scriptural evidence that he has amassed against the concept that heaven is a destination. In the end, he says what he has been arguing against.

He agrees with his opponents that all human beings are immortal, except that, unlike them, he argues that their immortality gives human beings hope for restoration to God even after their bodies die. He argues from scripture that God is love and therefore never gives up on his own. So, as long as there is life, there is hope. He argues for the concept of future probation on the basis of two premises: God never stops loving, and human beings never stop living.

Herein is the problem: none of Bell’s opponents want to deny either of those premises. They believe that God is both loving and just. They want to agree with what the Bible says about his love, but not forget that it gives equal time to his wrath. When they talk about Judgment Day, they envision that it will be just that – a day in which God will judge humanity, and determine the eternal fate of everyone. They cannot envision a Judgment Day that extends to however many years and centuries needed to purge humanity of all sin and rescue all. Hence, they must believe that death seals the fate of all.

The all important doctrine that Bell and most of his opponents agree upon is the concept of innate immortality: that all humans are born immortal. That doctrine will lead Bell’s opponents to insist on eternal conscious suffering in hell for the lost. It leads Bell to insist that a loving God would never condemn people to such a fate for a limited life of sin; therefore he must give opportunity for restoration.

Allow me then – in Rob Bell fashion – to suggest that it is that presupposition that keeps both Bell and his opponents from seeing what the Bible says about the destiny of the lost. The Bible says that only God is immortal.³ Immortality is a promise from God that Christ will give to the saved – it is not an innate characteristic of every human.⁴ For anybody to live anywhere forever, they must have eternal life. Eternal life is promised to the saved only.⁵

What, then, is the destiny of the lost? The God of justice who gave us his truth in his word has decreed that the lost will be destroyed.⁶ Since the wages of sin is death, they will die.⁷ They will be appropriately punished according to the decree of a God who is both loving and just, and then they will be no more.⁸ They have been granted one life to live. That one life is a gift of grace from God. Nobody deserves to live forever. God is under no obligation to give unbelievers an eternal life, either to suffer, or to repent. He is sovereign, and if he has decided that the wages of sin is death, no theologian has the right to convert the sentence.

Bell wrote a book about a victory. He envisions an eternity in which all sin is forgiven, all wrongs are righted, and love wins. He is absolutely right. Love will win because God will win. God will win because he is God, not because he is love. His love and justice work together to produce a heaven and earth without evil. Our participation in that victory is not a given. Some will not make it. That is what it ultimately means to be lost. In the end, God wins. Reader, where do you stand before God? Don’t take his patience for granted.

Rob Bell, LOVE WINS: A Book About Heaven, Hell, and the Fate of Every Person Who Ever Lived. (Robert H. Bell, Jr. Trust, 2011). [↩]
1 Corinthians 11:19. [↩]
Romans 1:23; 1 Timothy 1:17; 6:16. [↩]
Romans 2:7; 1 Corinthians 15:53-54; 1 Timothy 1:10. [↩]
Matthew 25:46; John 3:15-16, 36; 4:14; 6:27, 40, 47, 54, 68, 10:28; 12:25; Acts 13:46, 48; Romans 2:7; 5:21; 6:22; 1 Timothy 6:12; 1 John 5:11; Jude 1:21. [↩]
Matt. 10:28; 22:7; Luke 17: 27, 29; 20:16; 1 Cor. 3:17; 6:13; 15:24, 26; Heb. 10:39; 2 Peter 2:12; Rev. 11:18. [↩]
Matt. 21:41; John 5:24; 8:51; Romans 6:16, 23; 1 Cor. 15:26, 54; James 5:20; 1 John 3:14; Rev. 21:8. [↩]
Psalm 104:35; Ezekiel 26:21; 27:36; 28:19. [↩]

Print This Post Filed Under: Book Review, Conditional Immortality, Featured Article, Reviews, What's New Tagged With: Book Review, Love Wins, Rob Bell

BELL’S HELL OR HELL’S BELLS?

March 10, 2011 By admin Leave a Comment

Republished from GracEmail

The evangelical blogosphere is in atrial fibrillation over what Rob Bell might believe about hell (and say in his forthcoming new book). Theological lynch mobs are already forming, orthodoxy-police are observing, cooler heads are urging fairness, and many of the citizenry are scurrying for cover.

Bell is the controversial pastor of the 10,000-member Mars Hill Bible Church in Grand Rapids, Michigan, author of Velvet Elvis, Jesus Wants to Save Christians, Sex God, and other books, as well as the popular “Nooma” series of 24 teaching videos. Bell and his publisher baited the zealots by provocative press releases–and got just the reaction they probably sought.

This ungodly furor presents an ideal time for everyone to examine the CENTRIST (and biblical, we insist!) view of hell — right there between the unbiblical extremes of unending conscious torment on the one hand, and universalism on the other hand. For resources of all sorts on “the view in the middle,” the view that “sounds more like God,” the view that reads “the wages of sin is death” and doesn’t have to explain it away, click here .

Will you help me promote Bible study on this subject? Here are some things you can do:

1. Forward this email to everyone on your list who might be interested.

2. Post this link to your Facebook — www.EdwardFudge.com/written/fire.html

3. Respond to every blog on the subject, giving them the web address above as the place to learn about the view between the two extremes.

The revised and enlarged 3rd edition of The Fire That Consumes is due before mid-June, introduced with Foreword by Dr. Richard Bauckham of Cambridge, England, one of the world’s most highly-regarded biblical scholars. Professor Bauckham warmly commends The Fire That Consumes for dealing “so fully and thoroughly with all the relevant texts.” Besides updating the scholarship, this new edition maintains lively conversation with seventeen traditionalist authors who have published books since 1982.

The new edition will be released by Cascade Books, a division of Wipf and Stock reserved for books that “combine academic rigor with broad appeal and readability.” The Fire That Consumes is scheduled for release in time for the June 2011 Christian Scholars Conference at Pepperdine University, and is also in line for release by Kindle.

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You also link to forward links to the resources on our website www.afterlife.co.nz or like our facebook page~ editor

Print This Post Filed Under: Annihilationism, Theology, What's New

Around the web March – Hell is Really Hot!

March 6, 2011 By admin Leave a Comment

The subject of hell has hit the headlines this week because of the coming release of
Love Wins: A Book About Heaven, Hell, and the Fate of Every Person Who Ever Lived by Rob Bell
Here is his promotional video:

[ youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ivwfqBNICf4]

In Christianity Today www.christianitytoday.com/ct/article_print.html?id=91120

New York Times www.nytimes.com/2011/03/05/us/05bell.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=Rob%20Bell&st=cse . I quote:

“Much of the book is a sometimes obscure discussion of the meaning of heaven and hell that tears away at the standard ideas. In his version, heaven is something that begins here on earth, in a life of goodness, and hell seems more a condition than an eternal fate — “the very real consequences we experience when we reject all the good and true and beautiful life that God has for us.”

While sliding close to what critics consider the heresy of “universalism” — that all humans will eventually be saved — he never uses the term”

I’m not sure if Rob is going to come down on the side of annihiliationism or universalism or any particular “side”. I’ll have to read the book. Someone who has wrote: www.gregboyd.org/blog/rob-bell-is-not-a-universalist-and-i-actually-read-love-wins/

“..given Rob’s poetic/artistic/non-dogmatic style, Love Wins cannot be easily filed into pre-established theological categories (viz. “universalism” vs “eternal conscious suffering” vs. “annihilationism,” etc.). I am certain some readers — especially those who position themselves as the final arbiters and guardians of evangelical truth — will try to do this (obviously, they already have!). And, having read Rob’s book, I can almost guarantee you that they will find isolated quotes to justify their labels. As I interpret Rob’s work, however, it would be misguided and unfair to apply any of these labels to him..”

I think it is great that the topic is being brought into the open and people are discussing hell again. It’s time really thought about what they believe on this topic, whether it fits with what the Bible says and whether it fits with the God they know.

Rob Bell will be speaking live http://lovewins.eventbrite.com/ Monday, March 14, 2011 from 7:00 PM – 8:00 PM (ET) You can also participate live online. Use your Facebook account to join this provocative conversation by going to www.livestream.com/lovewins and login using Facebook Connect. {If I have my calculations correct that is 1pm Sunday March 13th?-ed}

Thank you to Edward Fudge for letting us know about the flurry of activity in the blogosphere and the media. Please see many resources on subject at his website

http://www.EdwardFudge.com/written/fire.html

as well as our own:

http://www.afterlife.co.nz/?s=annihilation

Print This Post Filed Under: Annihilationism, Conditional Immortality Discussion around the web, Theology, What's New