2010 AUG Clothesline

Greetings to all on 10 AUG 2010

Word for the Day
Purgatory - A place of spiritual suffering and discipline for those who are not wicked enough to be consigned to hell but aren’t quite ready for heaven. [1]

Quote for the Day
Hell was not made for men. It is in no sense parallel to heaven: It is “the darkness outside,” the outer rim where being fades away into nonentity.
C.S. Lewis, The Problem of Pain

Website for the Day
http://www.edwardfudge.com/hellquiz1.html
Try this short quiz on your knowledge of Gehenna.

Thought for the Day
In the last issue, we touched on our desire for immortality. Today, let’s take a closer look at what scripture reveals. I will be plowing some new ground, so hang on.

Several years ago I read After Life by F. LaGard Smith. Based on extensive research, he made the case that eternal punishment is actually not eternal, as in on-going. There were other afterlife issues discussed, like purgatory, but I will focus on what is referred to as an annihilationist viewpoint. More recently, I’ve read from Edward Fudge and others and have concluded that we have been wrong on much of our teaching about what happens after death. [2] For instance, when the preacher says at the funeral that the departed one is “looking down from heaven on us,” that may be comforting but is incorrect. See 1Thessalonian 4.13-18 where Paul talks about those who are asleep prior to the resurrection.

Remember in the last issue that people would ask Jesus, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” It occurred to me that no one asked, “How do I avoid eternal punishment?” That idea actually surfaced several centuries later. [3] The notion of an eternal soul may be the beginning of our misunderstanding. In 1Timothy 6.16 Paul writes that, “[God] alone has immortality ...” Probably the most informative text is 1Corinthians 15. Paul says, “But it is not the spiritual which is first but the physical, and then the spiritual.” [v.46] He continues, “For this perishable nature must put on the imperishable, and this mortal nature must put on immortality.” [v.53] I’ll grant that it’s hard to know if Paul was saying the same thing twice or if he used perishable to refer to the physical and mortal to refer to the soul.

Another insightful passage is Matthew 10.28 where Jesus says, “And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in Gehenna (hell).” And when does that final punishment come? “And the dead were judged by what was written in the books ... and all were judged by what they had done ... This is the second death, the lake of fire; and if any one’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.” [REV 20.12-15] This is not an argument against punishment but only against the doctrine of never-ending punishment. How long will the punishment last? No one knows, but we do know that each will be judged by what they have done. There is a second death or annihilation of the soul.

The first objection will be, “What about all those verses that refer to eternal punishment?” Brevity prevents me from much explaining except to say that the effect of the judgment is eternal, not the punishment itself. Are there some difficult verses or problems with this view? Yes, but I contend that they are fewer than with the traditional view. If you would like to delve more deeply into this topic, I highly recommend the sources listed in the footnotes.

This view also alleviates the nagging question from skeptics - how can a loving God be so cruel as to condone eternal suffering? Now, let me be clear; I see this as a serendipitous by-product, not the goal of this study. We may disagree, and that’s alright, but I believe this alternative view of hell is based on able and honest scholarship.

One final thought. I’d like for you to consider that despite our traditional teaching and probable protestations to a new interpretation, we really don’t believe the traditional view anyway. Why? If we really believed that most of the world was headed to everlasting suffering, we would quit our jobs, sell our possessions, take a vow of poverty and focus solely on evangelizing the lost. Either that or we believe that only the really bad people are destined for hell. But when was the last time you heard that message from the pulpit?

And so, the question remains, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” for without Jesus there is no immortality. “The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” [ROM 6.23]

May God Bless
Mike Toole
Lori Moores, ed.

1. F. LaGard Smith, After Life - A Glimpse of Eternity Beyond Death’s Door, Cotswold Publ. Nashville TN, 2003, p.218

2. Edward Fudge, Two Views of Hell, found on www.edwardfudge.com

3. found on www.deathreference.com/Gi-Ho/Hell.html