Category Archives: Afterlife, The

Surprised by Hell: A Heavenly Time

Alan keeps asking these fascinating questions. If time is a feature of this creation, and souls of the dead live outside this creation, then by definition they do not experience time. So they are eternal. Perhaps they can observe creation … Continue reading

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Surprised by Hell: Eternity

I think this is going to be our last word study. I just want to be sure that “eternal” doesn’t necessarily mean “everlasting,” as it’s so often translated. We need to quickly run through several of the verses speaking in … Continue reading

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Surprised by Hell: Eternal Fire

We continue our word study by looking at some of the many passages that speak of the damned being sent to the lake of fire, eternal fire, or the like. Fire (2 Pet 3:7) By the same word the present … Continue reading

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Surprised by Hell: Mortality and Immortality

As we continue our word studies, we next take on the verses dealing with immortality. Immortality One element of the conditionalist position is that immortality is not an inherent element of human life. Rather, immortality is something God gives to … Continue reading

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Surprised by Hope: Evangelism — In Response to Readers’ Comments, Part 3

Next consider Paul before Felix — (Act 24:24-25) Several days later Felix came with his wife Drusilla, who was a Jewess. He sent for Paul and listened to him as he spoke about faith in Christ Jesus. As Paul discoursed … Continue reading

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Surprised by Hell: Eternal Destruction

Although the Gospels speak of the fate of the lost in terms of Gehenna, the epistles use a very different vocabulary. They speak of “death” and “destruction.” We’ll consider here the references to destruction. And there are lots of references! … Continue reading

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Surprised by Hell: The Physics of the New Heaven and New Earth

This post is not for the faint of heart. We’re going to cover some modern physics, and it will not make sense to many readers. But — believe it or not — I actually have a pretty good grasp of … Continue reading

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Surprised by Hope: Evangelism — In Response to Readers’ Comments, Part 2

In Acts 10, the conversion of Cornelius, Peter begins with, (Acts 10:34-35) Then Peter began to speak: “I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism 35 but accepts men from every nation who fear him … Continue reading

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Surprised by Hope: Evangelism — In Response to Readers’ Comments, Part 1.5

I keep writing these too-long answers to questions, but they’re great questions that force me to dig deeper and try to explain myself better. Alan wrote, I’m particularly sensitive to this topic. I’ve seen dynamic leaders converting large numbers of … Continue reading

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Surprised by Hell: Gehenna

In the New Testament, every reference to “hell” in the English is a reference either to Hades, Tartarus, or Gehenna. Gehenna is used 12 times. It’s well known that Gehenna was the dump outside Jerusalem where trash was burned. And … Continue reading

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