Surprised by Hell: Substitionary Atonement

Posted on August 22, 2008 by Jay F Guin

[I’m filling in some gaps in my own research by reading through Fudge’s The Fire that Consumes. I’m posting multiple posts today, as I want to get finished and move to the next topic.]

One of the fundamental doctrines of Christianity is substitutionary atonement, that is, that Jesus paid the price for our sins on the cross.

Key passages are —

(Isa 53:4-6) Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted. 5 But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. 6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all. Continue reading →

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Best Church Web Sites

Posted on August 21, 2008 by Jay F Guin

Church Relevance has prepared a list of their 90 favorite church websites. You can find samples here. The complete list is here.

If you are looking for a little inspiration, this is a great place to start.

[And, yes, I just posted this to have an excuse to post that shark-night picture. 🙂 ]

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Surprised by Hell: J. I. Packer Rebuts, Part 2

Posted on August 21, 2008 by Jay F Guin

Annihilationists respond with special pleading. Sometimes they urge that such references to continued distress as have been quoted refer only to the temporary experience of the lost before they are extinguished, but this is to beg the question by speculative eisegesis and to give up the original claim that the New Testament imagery of eternal loss naturally implies extinction.

It’s not special pleading or speculative to say that destruction will be agonizing. Many verses say precisely that. It’s noteworthy that the verses that speak of perpetual punishment are reserved for heavenly beings — Satan and his angels — and metaphorical creatures in apocalyptic literature — the beast and the false prophet. They just never refer to people. Continue reading →

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Surprised by Hell: Eternal Punishment

Posted on August 21, 2008 by Jay F Guin

The favorite proof text of the everlasting-torment position is Matt 25:46 —

(Mat 25:46) “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”

As I’ve previously noted, “eternal” translates aionios, the adjective form of aion, meaning age and being the root of the English eon or aeon.

The question thus becomes whether aionios necessarily means “everlasting,” and it certainly can. But it can also mean “with everlasting effect.” Continue reading →

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Surprised by Hell: J. I. Packer Rebuts, Part 1

Posted on August 20, 2008 by Jay F Guin

James I. Packer, a prominent evangelical scholar, challenges annihilationism on several grounds in his thoughtful article “Evangelical Annihilationism”.

I insert relevant verses in full text here and there to make it easier for the reader to follow the discussion. He writes,

Jude 6 and Matthew 8:12; 22:13; 25:30 show that darkness signifies a state of deprivation and distress, but not of destruction in the sense of ceasing to exist. Only those who exist can weep and gnash their teeth, as those banished into the darkness are said to do. Continue reading →

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The Gospel Advocate Creed: “Size Is Not the Issue”

Posted on August 19, 2008 by Jay F Guin

ga.jpgThe August 2008 issue of the Gospel Advocate hit my mailbox yesterday, and it demonstrates plainly why the Churches of Christ are in numerical decline. The publisher, Neil W. Anderson, in a page 3 editorial, declares, “Size is not the issue.”

Well, if we were growing, we’d unquestionably be celebrating that fact. I remember the 1960’s, when we thought we were the nation’s fastest growing denomination, and we crowed about that later-disproven “fact.” Now that we’re  in decline, we’ve apparently decided that growing isn’t all that important. Continue reading →

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Surprised by Hell: The Devil and His Angels

Posted on August 19, 2008 by Jay F Guin

This is just a note to comment on the fact that, although lost humans will die in the Lake of Fire, the devil and his angels will suffer perpetual, unending torment.

(Mat 25:41) “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.”

(Rev 20:10) And the devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown. They will be tormented day and night for ever and ever. Continue reading →

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Surprised by Hell: The Consuming Fire

Posted on August 18, 2008 by Jay F Guin

Up to this point, I remain astonished at how consistent the scriptures are on the fate of the saved and lost.

But there is an inconsistency. Revelation describes those outside of Jesus as dying in the Lake of Fire, this being the Second Death (Rev 20:14-15; 21:8 ).

However, Peter describes the lost as being destroyed in the fire that destroys heaven and earth —

(2 Pet 3:7) By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.

Hmm … Continue reading →

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Surprised by Hell: Who Will Be Resurrected?

Posted on August 17, 2008 by Jay F Guin

In Surprised by Hope, N. T. Wright argues extensively that “resurrection” refers exclusively to a bodily resurrection. First Century Greeks, for example, believed in the immortality of the soul (our disembodied selves) but had no concept of a resurrection.

I’ve earlier noted that the New Testament teaches that we are not, by nature, immortal. Rather, immortality is gift from God for those in Christ. But does that mean only those in Christ will be resurrected? I think not. Continue reading →

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Surprised by Hell: The Patristics

Posted on August 16, 2008 by Jay F Guin

When we come to the Patristics, we find that the earliest writers go in three directions. Origen taught a form of universalism. Tertullian taught everlasting torment. But perhaps the earliest of the preserved, uninspired writings teaches annihilation. The Didache 16:13-17 says —

Then shall the creation of men come into the fire of trial, and many shall be made to stumble and shall perish; but those who endure in their faith shall be saved from under the curse itself. And then shall appear the signs of the truth: first, the sign of an outspreading in heaven, then the sign of the sound of the trumpet. And third, the resurrection of the dead — yet not of all, but as it is said: “The Lord shall come and all His saints with Him.” Then shall the world see the Lord coming upon the clouds of heaven. Continue reading →

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