What about hell?

The trouble with terminology and tradition

Scripture uses a number of different terms that have been translated as ‘hell’

Sheol world of the dead; the grave [31]Hades the nether world; grave [10]Gehenna place of future punishment [11]Tartaros deepest part of the nether world [1]

The trouble with terminology and tradition

We tend to read our conception of ‘hell’ into every use of these terms

We assume scripture has a lot to say about ‘hell’

The trouble with terminology and tradition

But, we should acknowledge that much of our understanding of hell is based on constructions not explicit teaching

The danger of double dogmatism

On the one hand, some think they KNOW exactly who is and who isn’t ‘going to hell’ and precisely what hell is like

On the other hand, some are CERTAIN that no such place exists, or if it does, it will eventually be empty

The danger of double dogmatism

These positions go beyond the evidence of scripture

These positions appear eager to tell God what he must do

The debate about duration

Is hell eternal, temporary, or non-existent?

The debate about duration

Traditional view: Hell is eternal, conscious suffering

The debate about duration

Traditional view: Support for this view is alleged in

references to, e.g., eternal fire/punishment (cf. Matt 25:41, 46); eternal destruction (1 Thes 1:9)

The debate about duration

Universalist view(s): 1. Hell does not exist because

God accepts everyone without exception

2. Hell is temporary because God eventually accepts everyone (Universal Reconciliation)

The debate about duration

Universalist view(s): Support is alleged in, e.g., Romans 5:18 (justification and life for all men)Eph 1:9-10 (to unite all things; cf. Col 1:20)Phil 2:10-11 (every knee…every tongue confess)

The debate about duration

Universalist view(s): Support is alleged in, e.g., 1 Tim 2:4 ([God] desires all men to be saved)Titus 2:11 (bringing salvation for all people)2 Peter 3:9 (God desires that all should come to repentance)

The debate about duration

Annihilationist view: Hell does not exist (or is not eternal) because the ‘wicked’ cease to exist at death (or eventually)

The debate about duration

Annihilationist view: Support is alleged in texts likeMatt 10:28 (be afraid of the one who can

destroy both soul and body in hell)Phil 3:19 (their destiny is destruction)2 Peter 3:7 (the destruction of the ungodly)

A suggested solution

“Judgment—the sovereign declaration that this is good and to be upheld and vindicated, and that is evil and to be condemned—is the only alternative to chaos….But Judgment is necessary—unless we are to conclude, absurdly, that nothing much is wrong or, blasphemously, that God doesn’t mind very much.

A suggested solution

In the justly famous phrase of Miroslav Volf, there must be ‘exclusion’ before there can be ‘embrace’: evil must be identified, named and dealt with before there can be reconciliation….And—this of course is the crunch— where those who have acted wickedly refuse to see the point there can be no reconciliation, no embrace.”

(N. T. Wright, Surprised by Hope, 178-79)

A suggested solution

We have suggested that: Heaven involves the full and proper

development and experience of our complete humanness; the full realization of our created design

A suggested solution

Perhaps ‘hell’ involves: The frustration of one’s humanness

The increasingly degrading experience of one who chooses to live as less-than-

human

A suggested solution

Perhaps ‘hell’ involves: The continuous experience of alienation

and anxiety; isolation rather than community; anger rather than forgiveness; envy rather than compassion; hatred rather than love

A suggested solution

Perhaps ‘hell’ involves: The full and crushing weight of idolatrous and rebellious choices

God honoring their request to “Go away and leave me alone” (cf. Lewis,The Problemof Pain, 127-28)

A concluding caution

We must be careful not to offer false hope

Judgment, whatever form it ultimately takes, is serious business and

cannot be ignored