I think I’ve made it pretty clear elsewhere here on Miscellaneous Ramblings how I feel about the cyber-bullying and other antisocial-media behaviors exhibited by many so-called Christians. In this installment, I’m reporting my observations on yet another such event I witnessed on Farcebook back in January of this year where the comment count topped over 150,000 (and perhaps is still counting!).
As it turns out, that event was triggered by the Christian actor and evangelist Kirk Cameron publicly posing a hypothetical question in his podcast. The question was posed by a fictitious child to his/her father which questioned the inclusion of “eternal” in the term “eternal torment” for the wicked. His idea was to open a dialogue on how to handle such a discussion with a real-life child asking such important questions.
It is indeed an honest question whenever posed by a questioning child or teen and certainly deserves a thoughtfully reasoned answer. Why? One constant in the recent spate of public “deconversions” by various church leaders has been their evangelical Christian parents’ refusal to engage in answering such questions by assuming the child is being rebellious or demon-possessed. Most of them felt like failures because such a question even arose.
I personally don’t think this particular question needed to be discussed in antisocial media, thus causing all the hue and cry, but our brother Kirk answers to the same King we do — certainly not to me! — so my opinion on his choices here is eternally irrelevant.
The Question
Kirk posed the following question:
Can people refusing repentance of their self-lordship and surrendering to Jesus as Lord eventually receive “sufficient punishment” in Revelation 20’s lake of fire later be released after some unspecified period to enter God’s heaven?
This launched one of the longest and most vociferous doctrinal feeding frenzies ever I’ve ever witnessed. Many folks knee-jerked, immediately started accusing him of embracing the borderline-heretical false doctrine of annihilationism. Others rallied to his defense by actually espousing annihilationism or related variants. Yet others said, “It’s only a childish question! No harm, no foul!”
One thing I’m absolutely certain of: in all the hullabaloo which followed, his original statements became distorted, embellished, and otherwise twisted into something he never said or intended by all those commenters hell-bent on “being right.”
All that being said, some of the opinions expressed in the discussion merit some serious scriptural analysis and thoughtful discussion. I’ll try to accomplish that here.
In the first half of this article, we’ll explore the doctrinal issues themselves. Then in the second half I’ll share some conclusions I’ve drawn concerning the debate itself.
What’s Annihilationism?
For the sake of brevity, I’ll quote Wikipedia’s definition of the word (which, I might add, turned out to be remarkably accurate):
In Christianity, annihilationism is the belief that after the Last Judgment, all damned humans and fallen angels including Satan will be totally destroyed and their consciousness extinguished. Annihilationism stands in contrast to both the belief in eternal torment and to the universalist belief that everyone will be saved. Partial annihilationism holds that unsaved humans are obliterated but demonic beings suffer forever.
Wikipedia
This false doctrine has been a key ideological component of several cult systems and borderline-heretical denominations, most notably the Jehovah’s Witnesses, Christadelphians, Armstrongists, and Seventh-Day Adventists, as well as several flavors of the Church of God.
However, the question Brother Cameron posed is not whether the wicked truly suffer, but whether that suffering lasts forever. Put another way, is something redemptive happening behind the scenes? Could those condemned to the Lake of Fire — and, according to some, even Satan and his demons — eventually be transformed through their suffering and allowed into God’s presence in Heaven? There is no succinct label for this, but can summarized as “purgatorial universalism with post-mortem repentance.” By the way, though the word “purgatorial” appears in that term, we must not confuse it with the Roman Catholic heresy of purgatory (purgatory there is for Catholic believers, not the unsaved).
All flavors of annihilationism fly in the face of numerous passages found in both Testaments, primarily the New. I’ve listed them all below, if you care to read them (I urge you to do that — there aren’t many of them).
What the Scriptures Say…
So we can clearly see from the passages I’ve just cited that annihilationism and all its variants are completely unscriptural.
What the Early Church Fathers Believed…
If all that wasn’t sufficient in and of itself, now let’s take a look at what some of the early church fathers had to say on this topic:
So we can safely conclude the doctrine of eternal torment for the wicked has been the historical position of the Christian faith. I could go on and cite the leaders of the Protestant Reformation, but I don’t feel like I need to beat that dead horse any further. 😇
So is Annihilationism Truly a Heresy?
Even though my initial response was to automatically label annihilationism as totally heretical, in truth I’ve had to adjust/refine that categorization by adding the qualifier “borderline” to that term.
Here’s my reasoning: while both the Apostles’ and Nicene creeds both clearly mention Jesus and the Last Judgment as being woven into the very fabric of our faith, nowhere do either of them specify the sort of punishment(s) destined for the wicked/unsaved. Only the Athanasian Creed mentions the topic at all, clearly stating “And they that have done good shall go into life everlasting; and they that have done evil, into everlasting fire.” The problem with that particular statement is it appears to support salvation by good works, rather than grace, which is also clearly unscriptural (see Paul’s letters to the Romans, Galatians, Ephesians, and Colossians, just for starters.)
It seems to me eternal torment falls into a gray area on the border between what are called “essential doctrines” (those determining who is or isn’t a Christ-follower thus impacting the eternal destiny of the soul) and “peripheral doctrines” (i.e., ones found in the Scriptures, but whose acceptance or denial does not define who is or isn’t going to heaven).
I am sure there are many who would disagree with my opinion on this. That’s OK; I don’t hold my position tightly and I’m open to any correction the Holy Spirit might bring or discussion from those more scholarly than myself would care to share in the comments below (respectfully, please! 😎).
Purgatorial Universalism with Post-Mortem Repentance
Now on to the question Brother Cameron raised.
Any theological position containing the word “universalism” is heretical on its face and is a clear-cut violation of essential Christian doctrine. Anyone espousing such nonsense deserves zero credibility and, in fact, should be avoided at all costs.
Should we condemn these clearly erroneous doctrinal positions? Absolutely!
Should we regard those who embrace it as heretics, rejecting them as false prophets? Absolutely!
Should we spurn those who honestly ask the question? Not so much!
We are instead called to lovingly instruct them, if we have such access, then intercede for them before God’s throne, asking our gracious and merciful Heavenly Father to lead them back to sound doctrine by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Since Brother Cameron is asking questions posed by a hypothetical child for thoughtful discussion rather than making a doctrinal stand, he deserves our prayerful engagement and support rather than condemnation.
We also can safely conclude all those who actually embrace any and espouse patently false doctrine have disqualified themselves from any spiritual leadership role within the Body of Christ. Why? Because they have proven themselves to be untrustworthy when handling the Word of God — until/unless they publicly recant, that is.
Which now leads us to the second half of this article…
Discerning Good & Evil
Tragically, many folks participating in the feeding frenzy surrounding Kirk Cameron’s podcast actually espoused annihilationism or purgatorial universalism with post-mortem repentance. Let’s explore the implications of their behavior for a bit.
Meanwhile, Back in the Garden…
Wherever that garden may have been and whatever form it may have taken, God created Eden and placed Adam and his wife Eve inside it. From the get-go, they were created in His likeness and image (imago dei) and were given His delegated authority to be client rulers over this planet, little-g gods, if you will.
Their job assignment? Using the authority given them by God Himself, to expand His solution to “formless and void” (Hebrew: tohuw va bohuw, a “wild wilderness”) beyond the borders of that garden to the rest of the planet. On top of this, God had already provided them with a divine standard by which to discern good from evil: His verbally expressed will.
So when the satan enticed them with the lie they could be like God because they would then possess the ability to discern good from evil, it was a double-deception: he actually hoodwinked them into thinking they didn’t already possess both attributes.
Selah!
Jesus in the Wilderness
Fast-forward to the Gospel accounts, where Jesus was tested by the satan in the wilderness after fasting for 40 days. Adam 2.0 faced the same lies which defeated Adam 1.0, but this time responded very differently. Jesus passed the test!
Please note a contrasting story element within each account. Adam and Eve failed while living in a perfect environment and lacking for nothing. Every possible external factor was operating in their favor when they made that tragically bad choice which doomed humanity to our current state. On the other hand, Jesus succeeded in an actively hostile environment (the desert) while entering into starvation (after 40 days or so lacking food, the body starts consuming itself to keep itself alive). All of that makes Jesus’s accomplishment all the more momentous!
Ongoing Deception
As we can see, the devil’s primary deceptions wielded against the human race have remained unchanged:
- Call into question God’s goodness, and;
- Cause us to question our identity.
His goal? He wants those he deceives to exercise personal autonomy (self-lordship), all in the name of “freedom.”
The Old Testament consistently calls it: “doing what was right in their own eyes.” Rinse and repeat. On every such occasion, both then and since, it has not ended well for anyone! We only need to look at the 20th century, the bloodiest century in human history, and the current state of affairs on our national and world stages to see this is absolutely true.
It’s truly tragic those entrapped by the world system have bought into that deception, hook, line, and sinker. The far greater tragedy are those Christ-followers who have, for various reasons, turned away from God’s Truth to embrace those lies, as well.
Applying All That to the Topic at Hand
The lies of annihilationism and “purgatorial universalism with post-mortem repentance” are part and parcel of the satan’s schtick. Those embracing those errors have arrogantly taken it upon themselves to pass judgment on Almighty God. They are, in fact, discerning good and evil apart from the sole Person in the universe Who defines “goodness” by His very Being (see Psalm 118:1 and many other places throughout the Old Testament).
Thus, they elevate themselves above the throne of God, proclaiming His clearly and oft-stated will to eternally punish the satan, his demons, and their human followers as somehow inherently “wrong.” This is completely ludicrous because the selfsame God they are rejecting is Who imparted to them the very concept of right and wrong itself.
“By whose standards is He wrong?” we might ask. The answer is simple: by the standards of those who reject God’s clearly stated Word. They have been deceived into questioning both God’s goodness and their own identity as His worshipers.
Are you seeing the same pattern I’m seeing here? Isn’t this merely a 21st-century theatrical revival of Eden albeit with different cast members?
Such folks go on to compound their arrogant rebellion by making such stupid pronouncements as, “I won’t serve a God Who eternally torments evil-doers!” — is if they actually have a say in the matter. What hubris!
Jesus Paid the Cost
Our Lord Jesus suffered the most excruciating tortures (point-of-fact: we derive that very term from the word “crucifixion”) to take upon Himself the heinous sins of the entire human race (including yours and mine, I might add!). He also included the heinous sins of all those who steadfastly refuse to accept His gift by surrendering to Him. He is not sending anyone to the lake of fire; they are choosing to go there. Check out my article entitled Donuts on the Desk for an awesome illustration of this.
While the world continues rushing headlong toward the cliff of eternal damnation, Father God has both provided a means of rescue (salvation through surrender to Jesus’ lordship) and a bunch of folks (Christ-followers) to warn them the cliff is there.
The bottom line? Someone has to pay for our personal sins against God and others. We are left with only 2 options:
- Ourselves
- Jesus
If the unsaved choose to figuratively spit in Jesus’ face through their perpetual refusal to repent and submit to His Lordship — despite His constantly and mercifully loving them and wooing them to His throne of grace — who do we think we are to rear up on our hind legs and take Him to task for it?
In Conclusion
This is one of those situations where I begin a-thinkin’ I need to move away from where lightning is about to strike. 😇
Yet neither are we permitted to point the finger at those folks and shout, “Sinners!!!!!” Doing so would lump us in with the other Pharisees from whom Jesus distanced Himself with such exquisite care.
That being said, if you embrace either the false doctrines of annihilationism or “purgatorial universalism with post-mortem repentance,” this is me, a watchman on the wall shouting, “The sword is coming upon the land! Repent!”
He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.
Revelation 3:6
Thanks for reading!
