The problem with this line of reasoning begins with the first premise. for rebellious humans, 3.) I recently listened to a debate between rethinkinghell.com contributor Chris Date and apologist Phil Fernandes (philfernandes.org). But Scripture says much more about the punishment of sin than these texts alone. Words must be defined by Scripture not given assumed meanings by us. It’s the ONLY verse in the entire Bible where we find the word “eternal” beside the word “punishment”. views concerning hell is eternal punishment, annihilationism, and universalism. The biblical eternal fire … lake of fire is fire operating at a higher vibratory rate. Eternal punishment and eternal life are parallel to each other in this passage. Grace Chapel affirms that Scripture teaches the reality of a place of conscious , eternal torment away from the presence of God called variously, hell, eternal punishment, eternal fire, outer darkness, the place of weeping and gnashing of teeth, etc. Eternal punishment, the historic view of the church, holds that hell is a place of eternal, conscious, and final punishment, banishment, and death.” The punishment of hell is depicted as conscious and eternal. It is as real and as eternal as the place called Heaven. However an increasing number of theologians and biblical scholars reject the traditional premise that the Bible teaches that those who reject God suffer eternally. Keep in mind the five elements needed to support the traditional view of hell: 1.) 25:46 without assuming it means “eternal conscious torment”? (1) Can you define “eternal punishment” for me in the context of Matt. 2nd Sermon of the "Heaven and Hell" Series Originally Preached on January 22, 2017 Pastor Russell Roberts Calvary Baptist Church, Seymour TX. The first person to write about “eternal hell” was the Latin (West) North African Tertullian (160–220 A.D.), who is considered the Father of the Latin Church. There are some Christian groups and many cults that deny the idea that hell, in the general sense, means eternal, conscious punishment. To say that eternal conscious torment is immoral by nature is an opinion. The punishment of God’s wrath of being consciously thrown into the lake of fire is also seen in the gospel accounts. So, in regards to eternal conscious torment, degrees of punishment are a mathematical impossibility. This view is known as annihilationism. Therefore, eternal conscious torment is not true, since God is not immoral. 2) Even if Eternal conscious punishment was a worse punishment it does not mean that that automatically makes it the final punishment. Given that eternal conscious punishment is explicitly included in CMI’s statement of faith, it is appropriate to take a moment to consider these charges. Pharisees weren't being warned of Eternal Conscious Torment. Matthew 25:46 is the poster child verse for those who believe in eternal conscious torment in hell. Matthew 25:46 says, “These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.” Annihilationism is eternal death, but Jesus doesn’t say the unsaved will go to eternal death as opposed to eternal life. When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Such a view believes that for the lost there is no eternal punishment and a person’s soul is ‘extinguished’. After all, a sin is a sin is a sin. Burk’s selection of texts is a far cry from being ‘the relevant texts of Scripture on hell’, but is rather 10 passages that may teach eternal conscious torment (or at least elements of it). If life eternal is a life that never ends, death eternal is a death that never comes back to life. So back to Hell. Consciousness does not cease in the one case but go on in the other. Eternal Punishment/Eternal Life. Eternal punishment is deserved and therefore just. He defends eternal punishment against the claim that "it's unfair for a punishment to last longer than the sin". Furthermore, it is unwise to suppose that one or two passages from Revelation satisfactorily upholds the notion of the eternal conscious torment of unredeemed humanity, when many more verses simply state that death is the consequence and punishment for disobeying God and rejecting Jesus as Saviour (e.g., Rom. From the historical perspective, there was (1) first invented the teaching about the immortal soul, and then (2) eternal … See John MacArthur's related sermon Matthew 11:16-24 Treating Christ with Criticism and Indifference That seemed like a fair question. Hell most certainly exists within the biblical texts there is absolutely no denying that, the Bible mentions Hell. Others say it is temporal, and that eventually all will be saved out of hell. 12 The Dark Side of Eternity: Hell as Eternal Conscious Punishment by Robert A. Peterson Doctrinal Discernment: Traditionalism holds that the wicked will suffer eternal conscious punishment in hell forever; annihilationism (or conditionalism) holds that the final punishment of the wicked is their extinction of being. It’s often said that the Bible is extremely clear on eternal conscious punishment–as though this is just read of the pages of Scripture and delivered as a whole doctrine to us. In this post, I want to summarize the best arguments for eternal conscious torment (ECT)—the traditional view of hell where the wicked will experience never-ending punishment. forever. Let me begin with some of the weaker, though common, arguments that are often given for ECT. Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. The scriptural teaching of degrees of punishment is a solid argument for eternal, conscious torment, According to Christ, some sinners will receive greater torment than others. October 11, 2013 Cody Leave a comment. Is Hell Eternal Conscious Torment? Hello, I've read in another thread that this community is split between two primary views on hell, one being eternal conscious everlasting punishment misery and suffering, and another view. The reason … Scripture says that the punishment of sin is death. They have to say that “eternal life” includes an ongoing conscious experience for the righteous, but “eternal punishment” is not an ongoing conscious experience for the wicked. Physical plane fire offers many benefits: it purifies, it renders malleable, it warms. These differ as to the nature of hell. and suffering, 5.) The eternal fire is the Purple Transmuting Flame. It does not say that the punishment of sin is torment. Another thing, if the eternal conscious punishment of the lost is not the biblical teaching and is worthy of the earnest denunciation that Restorationists give it, then the fact that our Lord and the apostles did not clearly denounce such teaching ought to convince them of the truth of it. “the punishment doesn’t fit the crime” The view of Hell as eternal conscious torment is not Biblical, but is imported from outside philosophies. Debate. Rejecting Rob Bell’s view on hell, Southern Baptists affirmed the historical biblical teaching on hell as an “eternal conscious punishment” in a resolution that was passed on the last day of the denomination’s annual meeting. This phrase, “eternal conscious punishment,” occurs in the longer statement that addresses the eternal destiny of believers and unbelievers. First, Augustine. A small degree of punishment times infinity is the same as a large degree of punishment times infinity. Eternal conscious torment is immoral by nature; To accuse God of enacting eternal conscious torment would make God immoral. His argument is this: Just as today, someone can commit a crime in one second and be jailed for life (isolated from the city), someone can also be judged by God in the same way (isolated eternally from the city of God) This leaves one other option: everyone suffers the same amount of punishment in an eternal conscious Hell. This creates a problem for the annihilationist view. a place in the afterlife, 2.) Hell, as a place of eternal punishment, is not biblical. An eternity of punishment for sins committed in a finite lifetime seems unfair, i.e. The traditional view that hell is eternal, conscious suffering is by far the most predominant view. The Bible has a lot to say about the final end of both the redeemed and the lost. John Stott admitted that eternal conscious punishment would be much more sensible to him if “perhaps (as has been argued) the impenitence of the lost also continues … Second, sins of the damned can be eternal in that sinners continue to sin throughout eternity. Matthew 25:31-46. John 3:16 says that whoever believes in Christ “shall not perish but have everlasting life.” As I mentioned in my previous post, I am working through two chapters of Zondervan’s Four Views on Hell: Eternal Conscious Torment (Denny Burk) and Terminal Punishment (John Stackhouse).See my previous post on Burk’s chapter.. John Stackhouse: Terminal Punishment Stackhouse articulates and defends the view often known as annihilationism or conditional immorality, … 5:12; 6:16b, 23; 7:5; Jas 1:15). There is no explicit statement of eternal conscious punishment for condemned human beings in Scripture. Some maintain that God's eternal punishment is annihilation or non-existence. Eternal conscious punishment The devil and his angels: Rev 20:10 And the devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are also; and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever . This phrase, “eternal conscious punishment,” occurs in the longer statement that addresses the eternal destiny of believers and unbelievers. And “punishment” and “life” are two continuing states having to do with conscious individuals. Convince me of the alternative. III. Many Christians believe in a conscious eternal torture because eternal punishment in hell goes hand to hand with the belief in the immortality of the soul. who will be conscious, 4.) The Inconsistency of Arguments for Eternal Conscious Punishment. In my previous post, I summarized some of the strongest biblical arguments in favor of terminal punishment. The doctrine of eternal conscious punishment vs the alternative. The Scriptures make clear that even the most seemingly minor infractions of God’s commands are taken with inestimable seriousness. Hell is not eternal conscious torment because the Bible consistently states that the punishment for sin is to perish or to be destroyed or to experience death. 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