Rethinking Hell

Rethinking Hell PDF Author: Christopher M. Date
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
ISBN: 1630871605
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 344

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Book Description
Most evangelical Christians believe that those people who are not saved before they die will be punished in hell forever. But is this what the Bible truly teaches? Do Christians need to rethink their understanding of hell? In the late twentieth century, a growing number of evangelical theologians, biblical scholars, and philosophers began to reject the traditional doctrine of eternal conscious torment in hell in favor of a minority theological perspective called conditional immortality. This view contends that the unsaved are resurrected to face divine judgment, just as Christians have always believed, but due to the fact that immortality is only given to those who are in Christ, the unsaved do not exist forever in hell. Instead, they face the punishment of the "second death"--an end to their conscious existence. This volume brings together excerpts from a variety of well-respected evangelical thinkers, including John Stott, John Wenham, and E. Earl Ellis, as they articulate the biblical, theological, and philosophical arguments for conditionalism. These readings will give thoughtful Christians strong evidence that there are indeed compelling reasons for rethinking hell.

Rethinking Hell

Rethinking Hell PDF Author: Christopher M. Date
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
ISBN: 1630871605
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 344

Get Book Here

Book Description
Most evangelical Christians believe that those people who are not saved before they die will be punished in hell forever. But is this what the Bible truly teaches? Do Christians need to rethink their understanding of hell? In the late twentieth century, a growing number of evangelical theologians, biblical scholars, and philosophers began to reject the traditional doctrine of eternal conscious torment in hell in favor of a minority theological perspective called conditional immortality. This view contends that the unsaved are resurrected to face divine judgment, just as Christians have always believed, but due to the fact that immortality is only given to those who are in Christ, the unsaved do not exist forever in hell. Instead, they face the punishment of the "second death"--an end to their conscious existence. This volume brings together excerpts from a variety of well-respected evangelical thinkers, including John Stott, John Wenham, and E. Earl Ellis, as they articulate the biblical, theological, and philosophical arguments for conditionalism. These readings will give thoughtful Christians strong evidence that there are indeed compelling reasons for rethinking hell.

Rethinking Hell

Rethinking Hell PDF Author: Christopher Date
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
ISBN: 1625645988
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 369

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Book Description
Most evangelical Christians believe that those people who are not saved before they die will be punished in hell forever. But is this what the Bible truly teaches? Do Christians need to rethink their understanding of hell? In the late twentieth century, a growing number of evangelical theologians, biblical scholars, and philosophers began to reject the traditional doctrine of eternal conscious torment in hell in favor of a minority theological perspective called conditional immortality. This view contends that the unsaved are resurrected to face divine judgment, just as Christians have always believed, but due to the fact that immortality is only given to those who are in Christ, the unsaved do not exist forever in hell. Instead, they face the punishment of the "second death"--an end to their conscious existence. This volume brings together excerpts from a variety of well-respected evangelical thinkers, including John Stott, John Wenham, and E. Earle Ellis, as they articulate the biblical, theological, and philosophical arguments for conditionalism. These readings will give thoughtful Christians strong evidence that there are indeed compelling reasons for rethinking hell. Peter S. Grice - Igniting an Evangelical Conversation Glenn A. Peoples - Introduction to Evangelical Conditionalism Edward W. Fudge - The Final End of the Wicked Stephen H. Travis - The Nature of Final Destiny John R. W. Stott - Judgment and Hell Clark H. Pinnock - The Destruction of the Finally Impenitent John W. Wenham - The Case for Conditional Immortality Basil F. C. Atkinson - The Doom of the Lost E. Earle Ellis - New Testament Teaching on Hell Ralph G. Bowles - Does Revelation 14:11 Teach Eternal Torment? Harold E. Guillebaud - The General Trend of Bible Teaching Anthony C. Thiselton - Claims about "Hell" and Wrath Philip E. Hughes - Is the Soul Immortal? Henry Constable - Divine Justice Christopher D. Marshall - Divine and Human Punishment in the New Testament Nigel G. Wright - A Kinder, Gentler Damnation? Richard G. Swinburne - The Future of the Totally Corrupt Kim G. Papaioannou - The Development of Gehenna Between the Old and New Testaments LeRoy E. Froom - Conditionalism in the Early Church Evangelical Alliance - Hell and Evangelical Unity Roger E. Olson - Diverse Christian Beliefs About Life Beyond Death Ben Witherington III - Equally Orthodox Christians

Rethinking Hell

Rethinking Hell PDF Author: Joshua W Anderson
Publisher: Lutterworth Press
ISBN: 0718843231
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 337

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Book Description
Many Christians believe that people who are not saved before they die will be punished in hell forever. But is this what the Bible truly teaches? Do Christians need to rethink their understanding of hell? In the late twentieth century, a growing number of theologians, biblical scholars, and philosophers began to reject the traditional doctrine of eternal conscious torment in hell in favour of a minority theological perspective called conditional immortality. This view contends that the unsaved are resurrected to face divine judgment, just as Christians have always believed. However, due to the fact that immortality is only given to those who are in Christ, the unsaved do not exist forever in hell. Instead, they face the punishment of the 'second death' -an end to their conscious existence. This volume brings together excerpts from a variety of well-respected evangelical thinkers, including John Stott, John Wenham, and E. Earle Ellis, as they articulate the biblical, theological, and philosophical arguments for conditionalism. These readings will give thoughtful Christians strong evidence that there are indeed compelling reasons for rethinking hell.

Razing Hell

Razing Hell PDF Author: Sharon L. Baker
Publisher: Westminster John Knox Press
ISBN: 0664236545
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 240

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Book Description
Seventy percent of Americans believe in hell, as do 92 percent of those who attend church every week. In her candid and inviting style, Baker explores and ultimately refutes many traditional views of hell.

A Catholic Reading Guide to Conditional Immortality

A Catholic Reading Guide to Conditional Immortality PDF Author: Robert Wild
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
ISBN: 1498297285
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 216

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Book Description
Like many other people, the long tradition about hell has been a source of serious confusion and distress for me. Over the past six years or so I was relieved to discover two other alternatives that are also part of the Christian tradition, though less prominent--universalism and the subject of the present book, conditional immortality. Universalism--that everyone would eventually be saved--did not, in the final analysis, seem to really come to grips with the overwhelming scriptural testimony that some kind of radical fateful decision is possible to people. Conditional immortality--that people who absolutely refuse God's plan for them will be taken out of existence--seems to me the best scriptural understanding of what the Lord meant by "losing one's soul"--not everlasting punishment but the withdrawal of existence. This book is an attempt to explain this theological theory. It is not presented as a definite dogma or teaching of the church, but as one of the possible results of a persistent and irrevocable decision against God.

Surprised by Hope

Surprised by Hope PDF Author: N. T. Wright
Publisher: Zondervan
ISBN: 0061551821
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 356

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Book Description
For years Christians have been asking, "If you died tonight, do you know where you would go?" It turns out that many believers have been giving the wrong answer. It is not heaven. Award-winning author N. T. Wright outlines the present confusion about a Christian's future hope and shows how it is deeply intertwined with how we live today. Wright, who is one of today's premier Bible scholars, asserts that Christianity's most distinctive idea is bodily resurrection. He provides a magisterial defense for a literal resurrection of Jesus and shows how this became the cornerstone for the Christian community's hope in the bodily resurrection of all people at the end of the age. Wright then explores our expectation of "new heavens and a new earth," revealing what happens to the dead until then and what will happen with the "second coming" of Jesus. For many, including many Christians, all this will come as a great surprise. Wright convincingly argues that what we believe about life after death directly affects what we believe about life before death. For if God intends to renew the whole creation—and if this has already begun in Jesus's resurrection—the church cannot stop at "saving souls" but must anticipate the eventual renewal by working for God's kingdom in the wider world, bringing healing and hope in the present life. Lively and accessible, this book will surprise and excite all who are interested in the meaning of life, not only after death but before it.

Hell

Hell PDF Author: Edward Fudge
Publisher: ACU Press/Leafwood Publishers
ISBN: 9780891121497
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 189

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Book Description
Today, hell is a front-burner topic, thanks to media attention stirred by megapastors Rob Bell, Francis Chan, and others. But, between the extremes of universal salvation and everlasting torment, a third view known as conditional immortality, claims the most biblical support of all.

Heaven, Hell, and Purgatory

Heaven, Hell, and Purgatory PDF Author: Jerry L. Walls
Publisher: Brazos Press
ISBN: 144122257X
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 247

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Book Description
Will heaven be boring? How can a good and loving God send people to hell? Is there such a place as purgatory? If so, why is it necessary, if we're saved by grace? Questions about the afterlife abound. Given what is at stake, they are the most important questions we will ever consider. Recent years have seen a surge of Christian books written by people claiming to have received a glimpse of the afterlife, and numerous books, films, and TV shows have apocalyptic or postapocalyptic themes. Jerry Walls, a dynamic writer and expert on the afterlife, distills his academic writing on heaven, hell, and purgatory to offer clear biblical, theological, and philosophical grounding for thinking about these issues. He provides an ecumenical account of purgatory that is compatible with Protestant theology and defends the doctrine of eternal hell. Walls shows that the Christian vision of the afterlife illumines the deepest and most important issues of our lives, changing the way we think about happiness, personal identity, morality, and the very meaning of life.

Hell Under Fire

Hell Under Fire PDF Author: Zondervan,
Publisher: Zondervan Academic
ISBN: 0310831288
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 266

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Book Description
Of all the teachings of Christianity, the doctrine of hell is easily the most troubling, so much so that in recent years the church has been quietly tucking it away. Rarely mentioned anymore in the pulpit, it has faded through disuse among evangelicals and been attacked by liberal theologians. Hell is no longer only the target of those outside the church. Today, a disturbing number of professing Christians question it as well. Perhaps more than at any other time in history, hell is under fire. The implications of the historic view of hell make the popular alternatives, annihilationism and universalism, seem extremely appealing. But the bottom line is still God’s Word. What does the Old Testament reveal about hell? What does Paul the apostle have to say, or the book of Revelation? Most important, what does Jesus, the ultimate expression of God’s love, teach us about God’s wrath?Upholding the authority of Scripture, the different authors in Hell Under Fire explore a complex topic from various angles. R. Albert Mohler Jr. provides a historical, theological, and cultural overview of “The Disappearance of Hell.” Christopher Morgan draws on the New Testament to offer three pictures of hell as punishment, destruction, and banishment. J. I. Packer compares universalism with the traditional understanding of hell, Morgan does the same with annihilationism, and Sinclair Ferguson considers how the reality of hell ought to influence preaching. These examples offer some idea of this volume’s scope and thoroughness.Hell may be under fire, but its own flames cannot be quenched by popular opinion. This book helps us gain a biblical perspective on what hell is and why we cannot afford to ignore it. And it offers us a better understanding of the One who longs for all people to escape judgment and obtain eternal life through Jesus Christ.

All You Want to Know About Hell

All You Want to Know About Hell PDF Author: Steve Gregg
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
ISBN: 1401678319
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 336

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Book Description
All You Want to Know About Hell breaks down the three most popular views on hell and tells us what the Bible really says about this terrifying and mystifying place. It is an undeniable fact that the very concept of hell is shrouded in mystery. We know what books and movies tell us hell is like, but we're left with so many questions. Is hell simply a place where sinners are sent to suffer for their sins, or is it more than that? How could a loving God send anyone to hell? Does the Bible give us a clear and consistent picture of hell? What does the existence of hell tell us about God's character? Steve Gregg--author of Revelation: Four Views--will take you on a tour of the three most popular views on hell and walk you through a clear explanation of what Scripture really says. From the "traditional" view of hell as a place of eternal torment to the early Christian view that hell is a place of suffering intended to purge sin and to bring about repentance, no other book gives such in-depth biblical insight into the truths about hell that are hidden in all the hype. All You Want to Know About Hell is an accessible and interesting read for laypeople, pastors, and scholars alike.