Hell in Christian Doctrine and Imagination

This is a paper I found from Jonathan Gibson concerning hell. I post it here because of the recent debate concerning Rob Bell's new book "Love Wins".

Justice That Transforms: Restorative Justice – "Not Enough!" , 2024

The doctrine of hell necessarily arises in the context of a Christian consideration of violence. For a theological discussion of violence inevitably brings one to the most extreme instance of violence in God, if the traditional, most dominant, Western doctrine of hell is indeed “biblical” — namely, eternal conscious punishment of the unbeliever. This paper, inclusion of which also is in large part is in Volume Three of this series: "WAR AND HELL – and Exception-Clause Footnote Theology."

A Theological Critique Submitted to Liberty Theological Seminary in partial fulfillment of the requirements for completion of the course, THEO 525 SYSTEMATIC THEOLOGY I

Heaven and hell are not, and have never been static concepts. Just like the doctrine of the Trinity and the nature of Christ were not revealed in their final form, but developed over hundreds of years in response to theological challenges, the concepts of heaven and hell have changed over the centuries and have differed between various Christian traditions in order that they adapt to particular social, historical and spiritual circumstances. An illustration of this can be seen in the Catholic concept of purgatory, where the dead are purified of their sins before entering heaven. This concept can be seen as a development within Catholicism which did not make the transition to Protestantism where it was rejected as unnecessary for the salvation of souls. Frithjof Schuon observes that in eschatological logic, “the Catholic dogma of purgatory results from the idea of justification through works whereas the Protestant denial of purgatory results from the idea of justification through faith.” From this point of view, heaven and hell are ends whereas the means vary according to theological emphasis. The use of the term purgatory and the concept which it represents, far from being found within the New Testament, did not come into use until much later than the concept of hell, and as Keck points out, these words – heaven and hell - do not simply appear but are part of “larger complexes of ideas that have important histories.” This essay will explore some of those histories and developments.

Polonia Sacra, 2021

Among the differing Christian denominations there are various viewpoints regarding hell. This article presents differing viewpoints of the theological questions concerning hell that have been debated over the last ten years (2010-2020) in the United States in the theological arena as well as the popular press. The positions of annihilationism, universalism, and the traditional viewpoint are to be surveyed. The differing philosophical, theological and biblical viewpoints are presented for each general category. The article strives to give a general overview of the various theologies and to show that such theological investigation is of urgent importance for Christians today.

2021

The traditional view of hell as everlasting punishment for sinners remains a significant element of classical Pentecostal proclamation. However, the issue of hell has become contentious in contemporary times, for several ethical reasons, leading to the development of alternative ways in which hell is interpreted. On the one hand some argue for terminal punishment or conditional immortality, on the other hand for a universalism where all are saved. It is argued that to end the stalemate when “proof-texts” are used to justify one position, Pentecostals should utilise their distinctive hermeneutic to reconsider the view of hell because of the ethical challenges of their traditional view. In encountering the Spirit in the biblical text, the reader learns to reflect Christ’s interest in and concern for non-believers.

2016

The doctrines of hell and the existence of God seem to pose a formidable paradox for both Christianity and Islam. The paradox can be stated as follows: Given that God is perfect in every sense, how can he allow any of his creatures to suffer eternal perdition? In this paper, I undertake a critical examination of the arguments for and against the doctrine of hell and conclude that on balance, arguments against the existence of hell heavily outweigh those for its existence. This calls for a radical revision of the traditional doctrine of hell. I contend that what is needed is a gentler and more sinner-friendly theology of hell that recognizes God’s mercy and infinite patience. Nevertheless, belief in hell can serve the social function of deterring potential sinners from sinning.

2013

The singular construct of afterlife within the Hebrew Bible is Sheol, a desolate place where, to the lament of many, the souls of both the righteous and the wicked reside. Yet there are striking developments within the periods of Second Temple Judaism, the New Testament and the post-apostolic Christian era. Within Second Temple Judaism, Sheol is transformed into a place of differentiation: the souls of the righteous depart to a place of blessing, the wicked to a place of torment. For the New Testament writers, this concept remains, but the soul is now conjoined to the physical body, and in the later post-apostolic period there is accentuated terror for the wicked in vivid descriptions of the eternal ires of hell. The modern understanding of a tortuous afterlife is drawn from the imagery of the church fathers, which was further accentuated within mediaeval Christendom. Yet the polemical and apologetic context of this development needs to be recognized. Within Judaism, changes were ma...

2015

This problem of hell is a specific form of the problem of evil. The possibility that perhaps a great number of people will end up in an eternal hell is a problem for the Christian who also confesses faith in an omnipotent, omniscient, and omnibenevolent God. In this paper, I shall introduce issuantist views of hell and show that the basic formulations of this perspective do not provide an adequate answer to the problem of hell. Issuantist scholars themselves, however, recognize this weakness and add a wide range of possible supplements to their basic perspective. Some of these supplemented versions succeed in presenting reasonable answers to the problem of hell. One of the key reasons for the shift in interpretations of hell is a perceived failure on the part of other interpretations of hell to give adequate answers to the problem of hell. It is my conclusion, however, that with the addition of some of the same supplements, versions of annihilationism/ conditionalism and hell as ete...

2003

It is the conviction of the writer of this paper that the evidence presented from both the New Testament and its conservative scholar’s exhibits that the doctrine of the eternal conscious punishment of the wicked held by orthodox Christians for over 2000 years is the only option for a conservative Bible-believing Christian. Some may mock at the idea that humans often need contrasts to learn and to be grateful for the blessing they have received. Nevertheless, often it is only when one sees that someone else did not receive a blessing which he has received is he able to view things from a perspective of thankfulness. When Scripture has its proper place as the final authority for faith and practice, many issues can be resolved. Likewise, how the Holy Spirit assisted orthodox exegetes to interpret texts over the last 2,000 years can also assist Bible students in not wandering into the error of many American based cults.

The Bible Hell - John Wesley Hanson , 1888

Does the Bible teach the idea commonly held among Christians concerning Hell? Does the Hell of the Bible denote a place of torment, or a condition of suffering without end, to begin at death? What is the Hell of the Bible? Manifestly the only way to arrive at the correct answer is to trace the words translated Hell from the beginning to the end of the Bible, and by their connections ascertain exactly what the divine Word teaches on this important subject. It seems incredible that a wise and benevolent God should have created or permitted any kind of an endless hell in his universe. Has he done so? Do the Scripture teachings concerning Hell stain the character of God and clothe human destiny with an impenetrable pall of darkness, by revealing a state or place of endless torment? Or do they explain its existence, and relieve God's character, and dispel all the darkness of misbelief, by teaching that it exists as a means to a good end? ................................. The brief excursus on the word "Hell" contained in this volume, aims to treat the subject in a popular style, and at the same time to present all the important facts, so fully and comprehensively that any reader can obtain in a few pages a birds-eye-view of "The Bible Hell." The author ventures to hope that any one who will read candidly, not permitting the bias of an erroneous education to warp his judgment, will not fail to agree with the conclusions of this book,----that the doctrine of unending sin and woe finds no support in the Bible teachings concerning Hell.

(from the Introduction) Intending only to research medieval conceptions of hell, author Alan Bernstein wanted to investigate postmortem retribution in the ancient world for historical context. This investigation turned into an entire book of its own. In The Formation of Hell, Bernstein seeks to explain how the idea of hell achieved a prominent place in people’s minds. He explicitly states that he intends to accomplish this without any prior concern for whether hell actually exists or any preceding judgement as to the nature or value of hell. In the end, Bernstein provides a superb example of historical investigation and rigorous scholarship. Though there are certain theological and metaphysical implications omitted from the book, the author successfully demonstrates that the notion of hell originally arose late in Judaism out of a need to explain the injustices in the world and became a rhetorical device designed to elicit conformity to religious and cultural mores.

Themelios, 2021

Christian universalism (the view that all people are eventually saved) is largely predicated upon a negative reaction to the traditional doctrine of hell. It is therefore a "second option" to those who see hell as illogical, unnecessary, and/or cruel. In this article, I will argue that hell is not only logical and just but that it is also conceivably necessary. I will do this by way of a theological examination of those who occupy hell's harrowing halls. This is essential because the loss of the traditional doctrine of hell can mean the loss of souls along with it. Doubting hell is playing with eternal fire.

Numen, 2009

A number of currents of thought gradually coalesced into the Judaeo-Christian conception of "hell." Th is article attempts to relate them. Th e earliest traceable ideas involve a disembodied, subterranean existence of the common dead, or in exceptional cases total annihilation. Deceased kings were deifi ed and continued to be involved in the aff airs of the living, as in the Ugaritic funeral and kispum text KTU 1.161. Th is was parodied in Isaiah 14, which also indicates that such a belief was current, if criticised, in Israel-Judah. Th e theme of cosmic rebellion, wrongly traced to text KTU 1.6 i 43-67, actually emerged in such passages as Isaiah 14, Ezekiel 28 and post-biblical derivative texts. Th e arrogant royal fi gure of such passages merged with the developing fi gure of Satan. Th e tradition of child sacrifi ce in Israel-Judah, performed at the tophet in the Valley of Hinnom, also contributed to the geography of hell in its Greek form Gehenna.