Session 18 – Eschatology

Traditional Evangelical View of Hell & Main Alternative View

Main Alternative Views of Hell
 The Purgatorial View
o There is a place of divine cleansing from which some, at least, will eventually emerge as redeemed
and be among the blessed of God
 It is the traditional Roman Catholic View – Protestant doesn’t believe this
 Not heaven and not hell – being cleansed there spiritually
o The rationale here is that since here’s no coming back to this life and getting another chance, then
sort of ‘purging’ or cleansing process is believed to be the case between death and the entrance into
heaven
 In order to be properly fit for heaven – we need additional purification
 To be fully ready to enter heaven
o This purifying condition comes to an end for the individual when that person’s guilt has been justly
purged away
o As an eschatological ‘place’ purgatory is understood to continue in existence until the last
judgement, at which time there will be only heaven and hell
 Eschatological place: final judgement
 Purgatory is the place until final judgement – after it people don’t need to be purified
 The Annihilationist View
o The nature of hell to be the destruction, rather than everlasting torment of the wicked
o On this view, Paul makes it clear that hell would mean termination
 Their destiny is destruction (Phil 3:19)
o They don’t believe in everlasting torment
 They understand hell as destruction – the result of rejecting God
o As such the ultimate result of rejecting God is self-destruction, and absolute death in body, soul, and
spirit.
 Rejecting call by God to receive salvation – bring self-destruction, cease to exist
o For them, eternal torment serves no purpose and exhibits a vindictiveness totally out of keeping
with the love of God revealed in the Gospel
 A vengeance, revenge – not consistent with the love of God
o God is morally justified in destroying the wicked because he respects their human choices
o God is not wishing that any should perish, but he will fail to save some on account of their human
freedom
 You pick to reject him – you no longer be with him – you no longer be in existence
  Christian Universalist View
o Through the redemptive work of Christ, all human beings throughout history will be saved whether
they come to recognize it in this life or not
 Nobody ends up in hell
o It denies belief of a final separation of human beings into eternally fixed categories of redeemed and
lost.
 In the end, there is not heaven and hell – just new heaven, new age to come
 All good, nothing bad,
o Universalist
 Everybody, universally got saved
o These people accord something like a purgatorial significance to hell, seeing it not as an end, but as
a means to the end of the ultimate redemption
 Purgatory is needed to purify people to make them ready
 It is just a means to an end – everybody gets out of there
o Others affirm an existential reality to both judgement and hell as the inevitable outcomes of
rejection of the gospel, but believe that all will finally embrace Christ and be saved
 Even if we don’t believe in Christ – after death we will be saved, we will have a change of mind
and heart in our next life
 Post-mortem salvation – a chance to be saved after death
 In this view – you will be saved
o In the end – everyone is with God
 Nobody is condemned

Traditional Evangelical View

 The traditional view is commonly interpreted as the belief that punishment for non-believers, classified
simply as the wicked, is everlasting and that it is punitive, not redemptive
o Wicked: not redeemed and saved – not forgiven and justified by God
o Punitive: not for the purpose of purifying but for justice
 The basic purpose of hell is therefore about retribution (deserved punishment), not restoration
o When we die – we know whether we belong to Him or condemned by Him
o God doesn’t purify and make us fit for heaven later on – it is already decided, we will know later on
whether we are saved or not.
 God’s final disposition toward the wicked is consistently describes as one of judicial wrath
o God hates sin – because He is perfect, beautiful and holy
o Sin is unacceptable
 Christian sin – but our sin is covered because we are depending on Christ for our salvation
 He covers for us
  We should ask God to help us so we don’t sin
 God’s judicial wrath is executed on the wicked in hell as a place of eternal, conscious torment
o Eternal: forever – the age to come
o Conscious: we experience it consciously
o Torment: metaphorical language – it is not about eternal body being roasted – this is imagery
 What it meant – they will experience something most undesirable – something people would
never want to experience under God’s justice
o Without His mercy – we would experience this because we are not under His safe keeping
 We would be under His judgement
 Three predominant pictured of hell that the NT puts forward are hell as
o Punishment
o Destruction
o Banishment
 NT describe it as very negative and bad
o It is a place of no enjoyment – under God’s condemnation
o It is a place of paying the penalty of sinning against God
 Sin have kept them alienated against God
 All three pictures of hell are each characterized as eternal
o Matt 25:46 – eternal punishment
o 2 Thess 1:9 – eternal destruction
o John 5:29 – resurrection of judgement
 The Bible talks about death as the second death
o We will die in this life – the second death is eternal death
 Redemption: eternal life – life of positive thing
 Hell: eternal death
 Not vanish – remain alive but under the separation from God
o In biblical sense – death is not physically die
 It is separation from God – eternal separation
 God’s child – eternally with God, separated but in His loving presence
 Experiencing His loving presence
 The expression matches perfectly Jesus’ teaching about hell as the death not only of the body but the
death of both body and soul
 Eternal is used to describe both the life and the punishment
o Eternal life and eternal punishment
 If we expect a conscious life with Christ for believer then we should expect conscious punishment for
unbelievers
o Believers – both in intermediate and when He return, we will consciously experience eternal life
 o Non-believers – not safe, experience consciously separation from God
 Matt 13:42 – they will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of
teeth
o Very horrible language
o It is metaphorical of something anyone would never want
o Basic idea: being separated from God is torment
 Luke 16:19-31 – the repentant poor man rest as ‘Abraham’s side’
o Repentant: he come to God for salvation
 Abraham side: represent heaven
o Unrepentant rich man – torment of hell
 Rev 14: 10-11 – John describes a deeply disturbing picture of one who rejects God
o He will be tormented with burning sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and of the Lamb
 Burning sulfur: another metaphor – representing torment
 Revelation has many images and symbols that should not be taken literally – but the intention of this
passage is clear: the damned will suffer eternally and consciously
o Damned: not saved – at the end your will be damned
 Damned – to be under damnation, technical term that refers to final judgement of
condemnation
 Separated from God – under his judgement, not love and goodness
 They will have no rest, day or night – As God lives for ever and ever – so the damned will suffer for ever
and ever

Conclusion:
 When God condemned people forever – never to be restored to Him
o If we don’t receive His salvation – it is at stake
 Hell is real – it is the receiving end of those who doesn’t belong to Christ
 Our rescue if we belong to God will lead to eternal life