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Rethinking Hell: Readings in Evangelical Conditionalism Kindle Edition

by Christopher M. Date (Author, Editor), Gregory G. Stump (Editor), Joshua W. Anderson (Editor), Format: Kindle Edition

4.6 86 ratings

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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

"As more and more people open their minds to rethink the doctrine of final punishment, this book will be a valuable resource and reference. I wish it had been available when I did my own research. This volume is extensive, inclusive, and impressive in scope and approach. I am delighted to endorse it! A book for our time, it should enjoy great success."
--Edward Fudge, author of The Fire That Consumes

"This volume is to be welcomed and recommended for its usefulness in gathering together some of the most significant contributions from leading scholars and preachers who question whether the eternal conscious punishment of the wicked is a correct interpretation of the biblical teaching."
--I. Howard Marshall, Professor Emeritus of New Testament, University of Aberdeen, Scotland

Christopher M. Date is the principal blogger and podcaster of the Rethinking Hell project and works as a software engineer in the Pacific Northwest. Gregory G. Stump is a graduate of Fuller Theological Seminary and serves as a pastor at a Baptist church in Southern California. Joshua W. Anderson earned an MA in Philosophy from Talbot School of Theology and an MA in Theology from Fuller Theological Seminary; he teaches apologetics and theology at Ecclesia College in Springdale, Arkansas.

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370 pages
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English
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Publication date

April 15, 2014
Grade level

12 and up
File size

2398 KB
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"As more and more people open their minds to rethink the doctrine of final punishment, this book will be a valuable resource and reference. I wish it had been available when I did my own research. This volume is extensive, inclusive, and impressive in scope and approach. I am delighted to endorse it! A book for our time, it should enjoy great success."
--Edward Fudge, author of The Fire That Consumes

"This volume is to be welcomed and recommended for its usefulness in gathering together some of the most significant contributions from leading scholars and preachers who question whether the eternal conscious punishment of the wicked is a correct interpretation of the biblical teaching."
--I. Howard Marshall, Professor Emeritus of New Testament, University of Aberdeen, Scotland

"Because the case for annihilationism is generally not well understood, this expertly chosen selection from often difficult to find writings, along with helpful introductory essays, will be immensely valuable to the church. Everyone, regardless of their current understanding, can welcome this historical and biblical resource that will make fruitful dialogue more possible than ever."
--Terrance Tiessen, Professor Emeritus of Systematic Theology and Ethics, Providence Theological Seminary, Manitoba, Canada.

"Those who read this book either will be challenged to reconsider their views about the traditional teachings of the church on hell or they will be convinced that the conditionalist view of hell is the right biblical teaching."
--Claude F. Mariottini, author of Rereading the Biblical Text

"Rethinking Hell is a much-needed compendium of classic and contemporary defenses of conditional immortalism--a view that offers a welcome alternative to universalism and the traditional concept of eternal conscious torment. Bringing together about twenty proponents of conditionalism--theologians, biblical scholars, and philosophers--Rethinking Hell is destined to be the definitive sourcebook on the topic for years to come. Highly recommended!"
--James S. Spiegel, author of The Benefits of Providence

About the Author

Joshua W. Anderson earned an MA in Philosophy from Talbot School of Theology and an MA in Theology from Fuller Theological Seminary; he teaches apologetics and theology at Ecclesia College in Springdale, Arkansas.

Gregory G. Stump is a graduate of Fuller Theological Seminary and serves as a pastor at a Baptist church in Southern California.

Christopher M. Date is the principal blogger and podcaster of the Rethinking Hell project and works as a software engineer in the Pacific Northwest.

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B00K6Y48L2
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Cascade Books, an Imprint of Wipf and Stock Publishers (April 15, 2014)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ April 15, 2014
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 2398 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
Print length ‏ : ‎ 370 pages

Best Sellers Rank: #565,770 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #234 in Soteriology Christian Theology
- #389 in Theological Eschatology
- #888 in Christian Salvation Theory (Books)

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4.6 86 ratings

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Joshua W. Anderson, a graduate of both Talbot School of Theology (M.A. Philosophy) and Fuller Theological Seminary (M.A. Theology), served as a church-planting missionary in Japan and professor of apologetics at Ecclesia College; he is currently a PhD student at South African Theological Seminary.
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POUUER

A Book Worth Thinking About

Reviewed in the United States on October 12, 2015

Verified Purchase

I myself am non-religious, but I decided to get this book about a minority Christian view because I’m interested in studying theology and how it impacts world cultures.

The book builds a rock solid case that the Old Testament teaches conditional immortality, and it builds a mostly solid case that the New Testament does so as well. There are a few verses, namely coming from Revelation, that some of the authors admit are a little difficult to reconcile with permanent destruction of some souls, but this isn’t at all surprising from my perspective considering that as the Jewish culture mingled with the Greco-Roman culture, so too did some of their philosophy and theology mingle.

However, a huge underlying theological issue relating to the different views of Hell that is not mentioned in this book is why the vast majority of Christians today believe in eternal conscious torment (ECT) if that’s a false doctrine. If God were wanting to communicate accurate beliefs to humanity, which from reading the Bible that appears to be one of his concerns, it would be a monumental mistake to allow a doctrine to go from “If you do not believe in God then you will not gain eternal life” to “If you do not believe in God then you will suffer for eternity.” This significant change in doctrine is easily explainable from my non-Christian perspective by non-Jewish cultures bringing in foreign philosophical ideas and incorporating them into Christianity, but the authors of Rethinking Hell offer no explanation as to why God would allow this radical change of theology to happen, resulting in most Christians being led astray about part of the nature of the afterlife and the nature of God himself, not to mention giving some people a potential reason to reject Christianity if they have a moral objection to the idea of ECT.

Regardless of that omission, this is a very well researched and written book and I would recommend it to Christians who simply believe in the traditional view of Hell (ECT) because they’ve never considered anything different. Remember, just because the majority of people hold a certain belief to be true, such as the idea of endless suffering for some people in the next life, doesn’t mean that belief is actually true, even if the majority claims to have the infallible word of God on their side.

12 people found this helpful

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Isaac Wierzbicki

Rethinking Hell: Review.

Reviewed in the United States on July 23, 2014

Verified Purchase

Robert A. Morey refers to the tenants of conditionalism as "Neo-Adventists", and John Walvoord impetuously asserts that the majority of conditionalists reject the inerrancy of scripture and/or biblical literalism. The view (conditionalism) espoused by the various writers in this book has often been unfairly misrepresented through a muddled lens of traditionalism.

Rethinking Hell: Readings In Evangelical Conditionalism illuminates the theological, philosophical and historical case of annihilationism in untainted yet explicit light. In this regard, this book is the mantelpiece of conditionalism and a gateway to a broader understanding of eschatological matters.

Glenn A. Peoples commences this work by familiarizing the reader with four central arguments which he believes summarizes the case for evangelical conditionalism. "[...] firstly the question of immortality, secondly the biblical vision of eternity, thirdly the theological explanation of the atoning death of Christ as a substitution, and finally the biblical description of the fate of the lost as destruction." Peoples is limited by space which hinders his ability to discuss these arguments exhaustively (however, the remainder of the book does so), but he does inform the reader of the scriptural defense of conditionalism.

In the subsequent chapter, Edward Fudge, a substantial influence in the modern schema of conditionalism, wastes little time in presenting a scriptural case against traditionalism. Fudge argues: "The question at stake is not, therefore, whether the wicked will suffer `eternal punishment.' It is rather of what that punishment consists." Fudge maintains that eternal punishment does not refer to endless conscious suffering, but rather "irreversible capital punishment" of body and soul.

Rethinking Hell: Readings In Evangelical Conditionalism embodies exceptional research and presentation; however, it is noteworthy to mention the writing and assessment of E. Earle Ellis (New Testament Teaching on Hell), Ralph G. Bowles (Does Revelation 14: 11 Teach Eternal Torment?) and Kim G. Papaioannou (The Development of Gehenna between the Old and New Testaments). These men, through excellent analysis, express the many advantages of conditionalism. Firstly, Ellis documents, in exhaustive detail, the language of final punishment in such a manner that the reader can observe the clear implications of destruction. After Ellis' concluding remarks, several helpful charts documenting the expressions and images of final punishment are presented. Secondly, when discussing Revelation 14, Robert Morey contends that eternal conscious torment is the "only grammatical interpretation possible". Ralph G. Bowles, however, quickly displays that conditionalism is not excluded by this apocalyptic passage but is derived from it. Finally, Papaioannou surveys Jewish literature written prior to the synoptic gospels to determine if we can find a general understanding amongst the Jews about the nature of Gehenna. Papaioannou concludes that no definite understanding can be located, and thus we must take lightly the historical evidence and assign primary emphasis to biblical precedence. Consequently, Kim believes Jesus used the image of Gehenna to teach the slaughter and termination of evil doers.

In summarization, this book challenges the Christian to be aware of other possible interpretations, to discuss the question of final punishment charitably, and to avoid polemic abuse and frequent accusations of heresy. In this respect, the work and research within the book is no less than exemplary.

Though one may disagree with the conclusions of the book, they must commend the meticulous effort of those who labored to unite these various pieces which capsulize the thoughts and research of notable scholars. In turn, this unique and original work provides its readers the ability to familiarize themselves with such a view without the need of amassing countless resources. This book, in my opinion, is an invaluable resource for both the conditionalist and non-conditionalist alike.

13 people found this helpful

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