I received an email from another beloved brother
overseas who made the following comments:
Another
thing that I have concern with is a doctrine that is
going around our brotherhood that there is no such place as
hell…that is no
“eternal punishment” …but that rather
hell is knowing the beauties of heaven
but being annihilated. One preacher said to me that a loving God would
not
allow a person to suffer eternally.
Have
you personally come across this false teaching? I read an
article by Legard Smith who obviously believes that those who do not go
to
heaven will be non-existent. It is difficult for me to understand why
some of
these learned brethren cannot accept the Word as we have it. If you
have any
material on this I would appreciate it very much. God bless.
In the religious world as a whole, the subject of hell
is an almost totally overlooked subject. While a large percentage of
Americans,
according to polls, believe there is a heaven, a comparatively small
group
holds a firm conviction that hell exists (Lyons,
June 2007). As is alluded to in the email, there are some in the
Lord’s church
who are denying the concept of eternal, everlasting hell. In 1982,
Edward Fudge
published a book entitled The Fire That
Consumes in which he denied the existence of an eternal hell,
and offered
instead a version of the concept of annihilation being hell. Later,
Homer
Hailey penned a book that he called God’s
Judgments and Punishments in which he took basically the same
position. F.
LaGard Smith wrote the introduction to Hailey’s book, and
wrote one of his own,
After Life, again taking basically
the same position.
At the conclusion of this article I am going to list a
number of articles from the website of Apologetics Press. Over the
years, it
has done a marvelous job on this subject. I am not going to try to
recapitulate
everything that those articles say. I am simply going to draw some
conclusions
based on the study of this subject, including those articles. I am not
going to
enumerate the long list of verses that tell of eternal hell. I do note,
as is
stated in one of the articles I will recommend, that the plainest and
most
powerful teachings about eternal punishment come from the mouth of
Jesus
himself.
There are several misconceptions that underlie the
false positions concerning hell. First among them is a misconception of
the
nature of God. Secondly, is a misunderstanding of certain words and
phrases.
Thirdly, is a tendency to make some figures “walk on all
fours,” in other words
to fail to recognize that a figure used to illustrate something is not
like it
in every way. While other things are also involved, we will note these
three
very briefly.
1. The
Misconception of the Nature of God. As was stated in the
email, some will
say, “A loving God will not allow a person to suffer
eternally.” This comes, I
believe, from the unbalanced view of God that has become so prevalent
today,
even in the Lord’s church. The grace of God is marvelous, and
must be preached.
His grace is absolutely necessary for those who are sinners to be
saved, and
without it there is no salvation. However, it must be understood that
sin to
God is exceedingly horrible, and intolerable. He by His nature cannot
tolerate
sin. We have all too often left behind the biblical concept of how
terrible sin
is, and if left, unforgiven, then sin must be punished. God has always
punished
evildoers in the most severe of ways. His justice demands punishment.
When one
does not take advantage of the grace of God by obedience to the Gospel,
God
will take vengeance on him/her “in flaming fire” as
he or she faces the
unrestrained wrath of a just God. A balanced and accurate view of God
recognizes that eternal punishment is fair, equitable and necessary to
fulfill
God’s justice and wrath.
2. The
Misunderstanding of Certain Words and Phrases. The word
“death” is viewed
by our human minds as the ending of life. As Christians, we understand
that
death is not the end for the righteous, but rather the step that we
take into
eternity. Most will not deny this. The question really becomes,
“Does eternal
death mean annihilation.” It is always best if we can let the
Bible answer any
question we may have about it. Note this from the pen of James:
James 2:26 (KJV)
“For as the body without the spirit
is dead, so faith without works is dead also.”
James 2:26 (ASV)
“For
as the body apart from the spirit is dead, even so faith apart from
works is
dead.”
James 2:26 (ESV)
“For
as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from
works is
dead.”
The inspired writer says that death is a separation.
Physical death is separation of the body from the spirit. Spiritual
death is
the separation of man from God. In the Garden of Eden, God told Adam
and Eve
that they would surely “die” in the day that they
ate of the forbidden fruit.
They began the process of physical death that day, as they would be
cast out of
the Garden and away from the Tree of Life. Hence, physical death would
come
upon mankind. However, they actually did die that very day, a spiritual
death,
as their sins separated between them and their God (See Isaiah 59:1-2). Eternal
“death” is not
annihilation, but is rather the eternal separation of the condemned
from God.
Another misunderstood concept is “eternal.” Again,
I
defer to the articles that I am recommending at the close of this
article for
very specific and solid arguments. For this point, let it simply be
said that
eternal punishment is of the same duration as eternal life. The same
word is
used to describe both in passages such as Matthew 25:31-35. The
righteous and the wicked will be raised in
the same hour (John 5:28-29). Those who are alive will be changed from
corruptible bodies to incorruptible (1 Corinthians 15). This applies to
both
the saved and the lost. Both will exist forever, one in the
resurrection of
life, and the other to the resurrection of
“damnation” (KJV),
“condemnation” (NKJV),
“judgment” (ASV, NASB, ESV). The
eternalness of the death does not mean that the person is annihilated,
but it
means that the separation from God in a severe punishment will never
end.
Among other terms, the term “destroy” as used by
Jesus
in Matthew 10:28
is
misunderstood. Again, this is dealt with thoroughly in referenced
materials.
Basically, it should be noted that the word translated
“destroy” is used almost
100 times in the New Testament, and that it does not mean annihilation,
but
rather “the loss of well-being and the loss of being
blessed” (Lyons, Butts “The
Eternality of Hell” [Part II]. There are, of course, other
words that are
misunderstood, misinterpreted, and misapplied.
3. The Tendency
to Make Some Figures “Walk on All Fours.”
When I was a student at Freed-Hardeman University
(College back then), I took
several short courses with Brother William Woodson. I believe that he
was the
first that I heard use the expression stating that we should not make
figures
or parables and such like “walk on all fours.” In
other words, failing to
recognize that a figure used to illustrate something is not like it in
every
way. Some simple examples would include Adam as a type of Christ, Moses
as a
type of Christ, Noah’s Ark
as a type of the church, (or as Peter uses it, as a type of baptism),
the
temple as a type of the church, etc. There is something about each of
these
types that foreshadows the antitypes found in the New Testament. They
are not
like them in every way, but rather illustrate something about what was
to come.
By the same token, the illustrations found in Scripture, such as the
parables
of Jesus, are taught to provide a specific teaching. They are not in
every
point the same, but simply illustrate the major Scripture.
Relevant to this study is the illustration of eternal
punishment using Sodom
and Gomorrah.
Those who would claim that
punishment is not everlasting argue that these two cities were totally
destroyed,
and that if the punishment of the wicked is like that then the wicked
will be
annihilated. Interestingly, it is clearly stated in Scripture that the
people
of Sodom and Gomorrah
still are living at the time of
Jesus’ teaching, because he compares what they will face in
judgment with what
those who reject his hearing will face. Hence, the fact is that while
the
cities were destroyed with fire from heaven, the people were not
annihilated.
Why use this illustration, if not to teach annihilation? 1. To
show the certainty of the fact that God
will punish. 2. To show the severity of the punishment that God will
bring upon
those who reject right. 3. To illustrate that those exceedingly wicked
people
will not suffer as greatly eternally as will those who actually heard
Jesus
speak, and rejected Him.
The Apologetics
Press Articles
We could go on and on but I want to recommend to the
reader the following articles from Apologetics Press in Montgomery,
AL.
I highly recommend these materials, for they are biblically sound, and
very
well researched. They include very thorough discussions of the short
information I have given.
<http://www.apologeticspress.org/pdfs/e-books_pdf/onds.pdf>
A pamphlet The Origin, Nature, & Destiny of the Soul; Chapter 5
is
especially helpful on this question.
<http://www.apologeticspress.com/articles/3364>
A
short article about the attitudes concerning hell in the religious world
<http://www.apologeticspress.org/articles/2669>
The
Eternality of Hell, Part 1 of an excellent study of the subject of the
eternal
nature of hell.
<http://www.apologeticspress.org/articles/2688>
The
Eternality of Hell, Part 2 of an excellent study of the subject of the
eternal
nature of hell.
<http://www.apologeticspress.org/articles/1629>
Another
shorter article on The Reality of Eternal Hell.
<http://www.apologeticspress.org/articles/2186>
Another
fine article dealing with the subject: The Goodness of God and an
Eternal Hell.
The
Eternalness of Hell