Four Views on Hell (Counterpoints: Bible and Theology) by Zondervan (PDF)

Description

Most contemporary Christians acknowledge the doctrine of hell, but they’d rather not think about how God punishes the wicked. The authors of Four Views on Hell meet this subject head-on with different views on what the Scriptures say. Is hell to be understood literally as a place of eternal smoke and flames? Or are such images simply metaphors for a real but different form of punishment? Is there such a thing as “conditional immortality,” in which God annihilates the souls of the wicked rather than punishing them endlessly? Is there a Purgatory, and if so, how does it fit into the picture? The interactive Counterpoints forum allows the reader to see the four views on hell—literal, metaphorical, conditional, and purgatorial—in interaction with each other. Each view in turn is presented, critiqued, and defended. This evenhanded approach is ideal for comparing and contrasting views in order to form a personal conclusion about one of Christianity’s key doctrines. The Counterpoints series provides a forum for comparison and critique of different views on issues important to Christians. Counterpoints books address two categories: Church Life and Bible and Theology. Complete your library with other books in the Counterpoints series.

User’s Reviews

Reviews from Amazon users which were colected at the time this book was published on the website:

⭐I picked up this volume on one of my international trips from South Africa. I got this book on a trip to Euless, Texas, (Dallas area) in 2007, while there for an international conference related to my cultural research work.This book is a volume in the series Counterpoints: Exploring Theology. Crockett is the Series Editor. The historical background provided by each of these authors in their articles is very helpful to provide a perspective on the variety of views of afterlife, judgement and punishment in the history of the Christian tradition.Catholic and ProtestantThis book is notable in that it includes one noted Roman Catholic scholar, Zachary Hayes, among the expected Protestant scholars. I found Hayes’ essay very helpful in understanding the Catholic concept of Purgatory. His historical analysis and theological construction of the doctrine from that historical base were helpful to understand how this doctrine developed.Hayes is very well-read in Protestant theology and terminology and adds a refreshing dimension to this dialogue. Each author gives a response to each of the other authors’ essay.DialogueThis dialogue format has been used in other recent topic series by publishers and is a very effective way for the reader to see the differences and similarities of views and easily understand some of the major options seen by various thinkers or schools of thought.In this set of ideas, I found the most creative and thoughtful to be Pinnock and Hayes. Walvoord is more cautious and stays close to his Reformed roots, while Pinnock enjoys the adventure of exploration. I was not familiar with Crockett before reading this, but was impressed with his thinking. I will leave the details for you to discover, so won’t detail the specifics of their views here.Pinnock is a thoughtful writer, who has an incisive awareness of the contents of scripture. I have read other works by Pinnock, and find his style and openness to discovery refreshing and encouraging. Pinnock is more of a theologian, cautious of the way we use reason and aware of the role of assumptions.ScriptureThere are some differences between the authors on how they treat scripture or how they understand it to be authoritative. The discussion takes into account the historical perspectives, which will help the less initiated reader see the cultural aspects of this question.This is not your stock Sunday School rehash of medieval syncretism of Celtic or Germanic cultural myths that is so commonly passed off as Christian and even biblical in popular Christianity. In considering possibilities about punishment or accountability for moral decisions, these thinkers likewise do not simply toss around simplistic rule-breaking concepts of sin and punishment.I was glad to see how seriously they took the questions of moral responsibility and justice or fairness in considering the reasonableness of possibilities. You will find this stimulating.

⭐I was surprised to find a chapter devoted to Purgatory within this book, but it’s a pleasant surprise. Fr Hayes’s chapter is one of the most thoughtful popular presentations on Purgatory one will come across, reflecting the best in contemporary Catholic scholarship. It almost makes the book worth the price of admission. Particularly helpful, I think, is the way Hayes distinguishes between a Catholic understanding of salvation as process and the Reformation understanding of salvation as a one-time justifying event. It is this difference, and not biblical exegesis alone, that explains the Reformation rejection of Purgatory. Both Crockett and Pinnock seem to understand this. Pinnock also recognizes that the Catholic doctrine of Pinnock may in fact be compatible with his Arminianism.Walvoord’s chapter is wooden and lacking in nuance. Pinnock’s defense of annihilationism is vigorously argued, but I think he takes a couple of cheap shots at predestination. It is not correct to assert that say, as Pinnock does, that according to predestinarianism, God “compels” people to believe. That may score a rhetorical point or two, but it’s unfair to Augustine, Aquinas, and Calvin.Crockett spends most of his time arguing for the legitimacy of non-literal reading of Scripture and passes-over the harder moral and theological questions. Where is C. S. Lewis when you need him? For a more serious presentation of the metaphorical position, I would recommend Jerry Walls’s book *Hell: The Logic of Damnation*. But Walls is a Wesleyan and thus more sympathetic to Catholic understandings of justification and purgatory.

⭐Four Views on Hell is a great tool for those looking to get acquainted with the most prominent views on hell. Each exposition has its strength and weaknesses, but the overall goal of providing a survey of the major views on hell was achieved. The critiques by the authors on each other’s presentation added depth to the book and a unique level of interaction that ultimately helps the reader understand the strengths and weaknesses of each view. Walvoord was thorough and exegetical but somber in his delivery and did not address some of the major oppositions to the literal view. Crockett’s presentation was perhaps the strongest and most convincing. He did not spend as much time with minutiae, but touched on all aspects of the metaphorical view. Hayes portion simply seemed out of place, even though it was well presented. Pinnock took time to delve in theological methods but left out important objections to the annihilationist view. After coming into this book with a blend of sorts between the literal and metaphorical views, I leave leaning more towards the metaphorical view while still holding to eternal punishment.

⭐Clark Pinnock’s contribution (annihilationism/conditional immortality) is worth the price alone. This book was put together in the mid-1990’s, and the annihilationist position has since become far more widely accepted among evangelicals. The flak that Clark Pinnock, John Stott, and others have taken regarding this biblically-viable and conservative position is disgraceful. Many pastors today are closet annihilationists and even universalists, but still can’t come out for fear of their congregations. It always takes a while longer for people in the pews to come away from their cherished traditions.John Walvoord, while no doubt holding to a high view of Scripture, strikes me as somewhat naive and in his literalistic approach to the subject. This was simply not the way the Bible was meant to be read. William Crockett’s metaphorical view is an improvement, but there’s the worrying hint that the reality of hell – of which the symbols point to – may be even more sadistic than Walvoord’s version. Whatever happened to prophetic hyperbole? Zachary Hayes writes about purgatory rather than hell from a Roman Catholic perspective – and Pinnock is right to comment positively on his essay, embracing the possibility of purgatory as an opportunity for maturation and growth. When you think about it, those who have a problem with purgatory have a problem with sanctification itself.Significantly, when Jesus warned his disciples about Gehenna (hell), he immediately went on to say that everyone will be salted with fire (Mark 9:49). This verse passes under the radar of most evangelicals when it comes to their understanding of hell. If the book were written today, the universal reconciliation view would also be included.

⭐Excellent discussion on the subject. This is how good books should be. Perspectives from every direction so that the intelligent reader can critically think and then make up their mind.

⭐Thank you 🙂

⭐I would recommend this book to all thinking Christians. Most of us have never realised that there are more than one view. Read it with an open mind. Prepared to be considered a heretic !

⭐This is a difficult topic which must be handled with great sensitivity. While I have no great beef with the approach taken, I did find it limited.Essentially Walvoord’s Literal View and Crockett’s Metaphorical View are really just 2 sides of the same view: ‘Eternal damnation’. Hayes defends Purgatory approach but that still reduces back to ‘Eternal damnation’ for those who fail to make it into Purgatory. Finally Annihilationism favoured by Pinnock. Again what we have here is ‘Temporary damnation’ ie it’s OK because ‘they’ only suffer for a bit.I did not find the discussions trying to explain what the point of ‘hell’ might be or how a good God ‘copes’ when much of His creation ends up in eternal torment.There was minimal discussion of “Conditional Universalism” (p.141-2) which might deal with some of the issues: “I do not know what befell Mother Teresa of Calcutta when she died, nor what has become of Joseph Stalin. But the same thing cannot have come upon them both. If there is any moral rhyme or reason in the Universe, all human beings cannot be equally well off as soon as they breathe their last and wake again.” Dale C. Allison, 2005, ‘The Problem of Gehenna’, p.99 in Resurrecting Jesus, t&t clark.No discussion of the position made most famous by CS Lewis: people are in hell because they choose to be there. A very brief mention only of Lewis’s comments about ‘poena damni’ (p.61-2).Perhaps the book should be called ‘Variations on a single theme’:* 3 said “if you’re in Hell you’re there forever”;* while the 4th said “if you’re in Hell you’re there for a while and then you cease to exist”.They may not be wrong but it would be a much better book if it covered more of the options and tried to explain why hell exists at all.

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