Chapter 7: The Millennium and Last Judgment

IN THIS CHAPTER, you will discover:

· Postmillennialism and premillennialism.

· Amillennialism, or “present millennialism.”

· The nature of the Last Judgment.

· The state of the lost.


AS A RESULT, you will be able to:

· Differentiate between postmillennialism and premillenialism.

· Describe the amillennial perspective.

· Live to receive the maximum reward in the Last Judgment.

· Connect God’s love with the existence of hell.

Reading: Renewal Theology 3, pp. 434-42.

Key Scripture: “I saw thrones on which were seated those who had been given authority to judge. . . . They had not worshipped the beast or his image and had not received his mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years” (Rev. 20:4).

Key Words: Reconstructionism, Theocratic Republic.

The issue of millennialism has provoked considerable theological controversy. Because of this, it should be stressed that we may hold any of the views outlined here and remain within the boundaries of orthodox Christianity. There is no formal dogma regarding the Millennium as there is, for example, about the Incarnation or the Trinity. Nevertheless, our view of the nature and timing of the Second Coming has important implications that affect our attitudes toward issues such as evangelization, social activism, and the relationship between Christianity and culture. It is, therefore, a topic that demands careful consideration.

In this first teaching Dr. Williams describes the views of postmillennialism and premillennialism. Read the material in RT3 with great care as you follow the discussion. The Study Guide will present an overview of the basic tenets, the history, and the strengths and weaknesses of these two views. In the next lesson the tenets of amillennialism (or, as Dr. Williams prefers, “present millennialism”) will be explored.

Postmillennialism

A millennium is, of course, a thousand years. In Christian theology the Millennium refers to the thousand-year reign of Christ with His saints described in Revelation 20:1-6. Postmillennialism posits that Christ will return after (“post”) a long period of global prosperity during which the gospel will spread, permeating and transforming world culture. Consistent with the usage of numbers in Revelation, this thousand-year period may be symbolic rather than literal (see RT3, p. 429 fn. 44). Thus, according to postmillennialists, the Millennium is best defined as an extended period of prosperity and spiritual renewal before Christ’s return.

Basic tenets of postmillennialism.

· The kingdom of God is a present reality; it is the domain produced by the rule of God in the hearts of men. It is not an event that enters history apocalyptically at the end of time.

· The gospel will successfully spread throughout the world, and every nation (though not necessarily every person) will accept it. The world will be Christianized, resulting in a global blossoming of peace and spirituality. War will cease, racial conflicts will disappear, and the world will experience unprecedented accord and harmony.

· The postmillennial concept of the kingdom focuses on the dynamic of growth: the kingdom will arrive gradually, by degrees rather than in a sudden, dramatic fashion (Matt. 13:31-33). Mundane time will blend into the Millennial age. While the premillennialist sees the Millennium as a qualitatively different type of existence, the postmillennialist sees it primarily as quantitatively different from the present age.

· As the Millennium draws to a close, an outbreak of apostasy and evil will occur at the coming of the Antichrist. The Millennium will end with the personal, bodily return of Christ. A general resurrection will be followed by the Last Judgment. The “first resurrection” spoken of in Revelation 20:5 is a spiritual resurrection — either the “resurrection” that occurs in regeneration, or the life of the believer in the intermediate state.

History of postmillennialism. The church was largely millenarian for its first two or three centuries. It looked forward to the imminent, eschatological return of Christ. Afterward, Tyconius and later Augustine began to speak and write about Christ’s reign as a present, rather than a future, reality. The establishment of Christianity as a state religion under Constantine in a.d. 312, the fall of the Roman Empire, and the rapid growth and consolidation of the Catholic church suggested that, barring any major setbacks, Christianity would achieve worldwide dominance. In this way the foundation of the kingdom of God would be established on earth.

Postmillennial thinking was incorporated into the creeds of many Protestant denominations during the Middle Ages. In the early twentieth century, postmillennialism was the basis for the “Social Gospel,” a theology that focused on establishing the kingdom through political and social action. More recently a form of postmillennialism called Reconstructionism has gained adherents. This optimistic, aggressive movement envisions Christians taking dominion over the structures of society and altering existing law and government to conform more closely with biblical law. Their aim is to institute a theocratic republic modeled upon Old Testament Israel.

Postmillennialism has declined in popularity over the past several decades. The atrocities performed during World War II by Germany — a highly educated, scientifically advanced, Christian nation — dealt a deathblow to the utopian optimism of the nineteenth century. Today we live in a world where peace is still a fleetingly fragile commodity. Postmillennialism may become popular again, but probably only if world conditions improve considerably.

Strengths and weaknesses of postmillennialism. Positively, postmillennialism takes seriously Christ’s command for kingdom living in the present. Its emphasis on social activism and its confidence that the kingdom will triumph by degrees foster patience, practicality, compassion, and endurance in Christians. Pretribulationism, as we shall see, sometimes inspires a world-denying fatalism in its adherents. This leads to moral, spiritual, and social paralysis for the church. By affirming that the kingdom is present wherever and whenever anyone does God’s will, postmillennialism calls us toward high standards of behavior socially and ethically.

Negatively, postmillennialism may be criticized for its unrealistic attitude concerning the “Christianization” of the world and the attainment of global peace. Several important scripture passages suggest that spiritual, moral, and political conditions will worsen in the end times, and that the gospel, while being universally preached, will not be universally accepted. Two further criticisms of postmillennialism are that its view of a single general resurrection may be insupportable scripturally, and that the postmillennial focus on the social arena has sometimes degenerated into an anti-supernaturalistic secularism.

Texts appealed to by postmillennialists. Isaiah 2:2, 4; Daniel 2:31, 34-35; Matthew 13:31-33; 28:19-20; John 5:25; 1 Corinthians 15:22-26; Ephesians 2:6.

Premillennialism

The primary feature of premillennialism is its insistence that Christ will return before (“pre”) the Millennium. The Millennium may or may not be a literal thousand-year period, but it will be a time when Christ’s presence and government are a literal actuality. This differs from postmillennialism, in which Christ’s presence during the Millennium is spiritual only.

Basic tenets of premillennialism.

· The Millennium will not come into being gradually, but be initiated suddenly by the crisis of the Second Coming. The peace of the Millennium will not be an extension of conditions already present on earth, but a state wholly in opposition to the depraved and faithless society that will be the norm at Christ’s return. Christ will rule the earth along with the saints. Peace will come as all nations submit to His overwhelming power. Nature will be healed; and storms, volcanoes, and earthquakes will lose their destructive power.

· A time of “great tribulation” will precede the Second Coming and the Millennium. Posttribulational premillennialists believe that the church will be present on earth during this ordeal; pretribulational premillennialists believe that they are taken from the earth in a “secret rapture” and do not go through the tribulation period. They posit two “Second Comings” — a coming for the church in which believers are caught up and taken to heaven, and a coming with the church in judgment. At Christ’s final coming, Satan will be bound for the extent of the Millennium, then released and destroyed at its end.

· The two resurrections of Revelation 20:4-6 are distinguished according to their participants, not their natures. Both are physical, rather than spiritual, resurrections. The first resurrection involves believers who will reign with Christ during the Millennium. The second is of nonbelievers, who then face the Last Judgment.

While all premillennialists tend toward a futurist rather than a preterist, historical, or idealist interpretation of Revelation, dispensational premillennialists are almost exclusively futurist in orientation. The Millennium is envisioned as a time when Old Testament promises of a restored Davidic kingdom, a new temple, and the reinstitution of sacrifices will be literally fulfilled.

History of premillenialism. Premillennialism was the dominant view in the early church as long as expectation of the imminent return of Christ remained strong. Early theologians tended to depict the Millennium in a literal and sensuous way (a view called “chiliasm”). Soon thinkers from the Alexandrian school, like Origen, began to interpret Scripture more allegorically and “spiritually,” rejecting literalistic views about the Millennium as too “Jewish.” Finally, Augustine’s interpretation of the Millennium as a present reality became normative for the church, except for fringe groups who would occasionally predict that the coming of Christ was at hand.

During the twentieth century the dispensational premillennialism of J. N. Darby has been popularized and widely accepted in some conservative circles through the Scofield Reference Bible. The openness of conservatives toward dispensational premillennialism may be traced, in part, to their rejection of the postmillennialism of the liberal church.

Strengths and weaknesses of premillennialism. Positively, premillennialists have focused attention on the nature of the age to come. The prevailing influence of “Social Gospel” postmillennial theologians had been to discount the eschatological dimensions of Christianity. Also, premillennialists take scriptural exegesis seriously. If we consider Scripture to be authoritative, this is an undertaking worthy of respect.

Negatively, the theological edifice constructed by premillennialists is somewhat suspect because of the lack of biblical information on the subject. (It is mentioned only in six verses of Revelation 20.) Neither Jesus nor Paul spoke about it. Many theologians would argue that the concept of an earthly Millennium is superfluous. Would Christ come to rule an unbelieving world for a thousand years as a virtual dictator?

Finally, the exegesis of premillennialists, especially of pretribulational ones, is questionable in many areas. Take, for example, the interpretation of prophecy. According to the New Testament, the Old Testament prediction that Elijah would precede the coming of the Messiah was fulfilled by John the Baptist, not by the literal Old Testament Elijah. Peter argued that the Old Testament promise to David that the Messiah would sit upon His throne was fulfilled by the resurrection and exaltation of Jesus (Acts 2:29-36; cf. 2:14-21; 4:21-28; 15:13-18; Matt. 2:16-18; and Gal. 4:27). In particular, the dispensational tendency to “Zionize” the Millennium by interpreting it as a literal reestablishment of national Israel is dubious, for it threatens to nullify the basic assumption of progressive revelation in Scripture. (See RT3, pp. 439-42 for a detailed, six-point critique of premillennial exegesis.)

Texts appealed to by premillennialists. Matthew 24:37, 40-41; 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17; Revelation 3:10.

Key Concepts:

1. A common theme for both postmillenialism and premillennialism is that the Millennium is a (present, future) period on earth. [435]

2. True or False. The figure one thousand may be viewed symbolically or literally by postmillennialists and premillenialists. [435]

3. True or False. Premillenialism holds that Christ will return following the Millennium. [435]

4. World Wars I and II signaled for many the demise of (postmillennialsm, premillennialism). [435]

5. The (postmillennial, premillennial) viewpoint was common on the American scene in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. [435 fn. 66]

6. postmillennialism envisions Christians taking dominion over the structures of society. [436]

7. Premillenialism in the ancient world was a continuation of Jewish thinking that expected an earthly messianic kingdom. [438]

8. In The City of God, affirmed a nonfuturist view of the Millennium that later prevailed in Christian thinking. [438]

9. Separate programs for the church and Israel and a secret rapture are characteristic doctrines of premillenialism. [438]

10. True or False. All dispensationalists are premillennialists, but not all premillennialists are dispensationalists. [439]

Further Study: Review “Kingdom of God,” pp. 568-69 and “Revelation, Book of the; V. Methods of Interpretation,” p. 860 in the NIDB.

Life Application: As we have seen, each millennial viewpoint emphasizes a different aspect of biblical truth. Postmillennialism motivates us to apply the gospel to every aspect of society and to initiate cultural reforms. Premillennialism encourages us to live holy lives as we watch eagerly for the Lord’s return. How can you apply these admonitions in your life and community to heighten the sense of God’s kingdom being present there?

Reading: Renewal Theology 3, pp. 421-34; 442-44.

Key Scripture: “Now is the time for judgment on this world; now the prince of this world will be driven out. But I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself” (John 12:31-32).

Untangling the theological riddle of the Millennium is complicated by the fact that the Millennium is only mentioned in Revelation 20:1-6. Elsewhere in the Bible, Jesus and Paul seemed to suggest that history is divided into two principal sections: the present age and the age to come. The transition between these two periods is effected by the Second Coming, at which time the dead are resurrected, evil is destroyed, the Last Judgment occurs, and the new heaven and earth is inaugurated.

If we interpret the reference to the Millennium in Revelation 20 as referring to a future, literal, thousand-year reign of Christ over the mundane world, many conceptual difficulties arise. History is then divided into three periods. To accommodate this scenario, theories are spawned that postulate two (or even three) physical resurrections, additional “secret” second comings of Christ, and a second destruction of evil at the close of the Millennium, where the rebellious have, unaccountably, become “in number . . . like the sand on the seashore” (v. 8).

Many biblical scholars see this approach as unnecessarily convoluted. Examining the book of Revelation, they note that it is composed of seven sections that recapitulate events already described. Each section deals with the same era — the period between Christ’s first and second coming. In interpreting Revelation 20 the words “And I saw” should therefore be seen to suggest “a succeeding vision, not necessarily a succeeding event or series of events” (RT3, p. 422). Since the events described occur during the Christian era, the Millennium is best understood as a present reality, not a future one. Bible interpreters who feel that this approach yields a more accurate and coherent understanding of the book of Revelation — and of biblical eschatology as a whole — often adopt the theological stance of amillennialism.

Despite the apparent meaning of term, “a” (“no”) millennialists do not believe that there is no Millennium. They maintain that the Millennium is not a future event, but a present eschatological truth. Because of the possible confusion surrounding the term, Dr. Williams states that he prefers the designation “present millennial” to amillennial. He disagrees with amillennialists who teach that the Millennium is not being fulfilled on earth by the church, but by believers reigning with Christ in heaven. Dr. Williams supports the view of a present, historical Millennium comprised of living believers reigning with Christ on earth: thus the title “present millennialism” (RT3, pp. 443-44).

Amillennialism

Basic tenets of amillennialism.

· According to amillennialism, the Millennium is the period between the two comings of Christ. More specifically, in terms of Revelation 20, it is the period between Christ’s “binding” of Satan during his earthly ministry and the “loosing” of Satan just before the Second Coming and the Last Judgment (see RT3, pp. 422-25). As with postmillennialism, the Second Coming is to be followed immediately by the general resurrection, the destruction of the wicked, and the Last Judgment, with no appreciable period of time intervening.

· Like postmillennialists, amillennialists do not consider the Millennium to be a literal thousand-year period. Also, they agree that at least one of the two resurrections is spiritual in nature (see RT3, pp. 426-27). Like premillennialists, amillennialists are pessimists about the gradual Christianizing of the world and the inception of a “secular” kingdom of God. The kingdom will be inaugurated in its fullness only when Christ returns.

· Amillennialists affirm that the millennial reign of the saints with Christ described in Revelation 20 is a present fact (recall Dodd’s “realized eschatology”). Satan is “bound” in that his spiritual authority and rule was broken by Christ. The authority resident in the church through the Holy Spirit further fetters Satan, so that he is unable to destroy the gospel witness.

History of amillennialism. The Epistle of Barnabas, one of the earliest Christian writings outside the Bible, expresses elements of amillennial eschatology. Though amillennialism may not have existed in the early church in a systematic form, elements of amillennial thinking were present from its earliest stages. In establishing the opinion that the Millennium is not primarily a temporal or chronological reality, Augustine established this primary tenet of amillennialism permanently in Christian theology. Today many postmillennialists have become amillennialists, making premillennialism and amillennialism the two dominant eschatological theories.

Strengths and weaknesses of amillennialism. Positively, amillennialists pay close attention to the symbolism inherent in biblical eschatology and interpret it sensitively. Their detail-oriented exegesis is among the best in biblical scholarship. They also have a realistic philosophy of history, neither optimistically insisting that the whole world will be converted to Christ, nor pessimistically maintaining that all human culture is destined to deteriorate inevitably.

Negatively, amillennialism, like premillenialism and postmillennialism, is open to certain exegetical criticisms. We might question, for example, whether Revelation 20:5 can be reconciled with the belief that the first resurrection is spiritual in nature. Perhaps the main criticism leveled against amillennialists by premillennialists and postmillennialists is that the present world does not appear to be the terrestrial paradise usually associated with the idea of the Millennium.

Texts appealed to by amillennialists. Matthew 12:29; 24:3, 21, 29-30; 25:32; 28:18-19; Mark 3:26-27; Luke 11:21-22; John 5:28-29; 12:31-32; 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17; 1 John 3:14.

Key Concepts:

1. The opening words of Revelation 20 — “And I saw” — suggest a succeeding (vision, event). [422]

2. True or False. The binding of Satan began in the wilderness of temptation at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry. [422]

3. Because of Jesus’ victory, Satan’s powers are (inactive, critically limited). [423]

4. Satan’s inability to deceive the nations relates essentially to the proclamation of the . [424]

5. The “two witnesses” of Revelation refer to the testimony of the in the tumultuous days before the end of the age. [424 fn. 20]

6. Believers “reign” with Christ in (life, heaven after death). [426; also fn. 30]

7. According to Jesus’ words in the gospel of John, the “first resurrection” is a resurrection from (physical, spiritual) death. [427]

8. The period “a thousand years” is a (literal calendar, complete but indeterminate) period of time. [429]

9. Scripture portrays (two, three) principal ages or demarcations in history. [430]

10. According to Dr. Williams, the Millennium is a (present, future) historical period. [434]

Further Study: Read “Abyss,” p. 10 and “Satan,” pp. 899-900 in the NIDB; also review the scriptures under “Satan; C. Victory over Satan; 2. Christ has disarmed him,” NIVTSB Topical Index, p. 150.

Life Application: Amillennialism takes seriously Paul’s declaration that we “reign in life” (Rom. 5:17). Think about those who have affected you deeply by the quality of their courage and righteousness. As Dr. Williams puts it, they “have sat on thrones — hence reigned — and by their lives the world has been judged” (RT3, p. 430). Can your life be seen as “judgment” — as a source of encouragement or conviction — to those around you? Think of an acquaintance whom you might affect in this way and resolve to express Christ’s nature more fully in your relationships.

Reading: Renewal Theology 3, pp. 445-68.

Key Scripture: “Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. Earth and sky fled from his presence, and there was no place for them” (Rev. 20:11).

In 1977 after murder threats, years of abuse, and countless unanswered appeals to the authorities for help, Francine Hughes set fire to her house, killing her husband. This was the basis for the book and TV film The Burning Bed. Francine was found not guilty by reason of temporary insanity. In 1985 the father of a Baton Rouge boy who was sexually assaulted shot his son’s kidnapper. He got five years — on probation. And in 1990 a New York grand jury refused to indict a teenager who stabbed someone who had molested and robbed his mother.

We are experiencing a resurgence of vigilante justice in the United States. Americans are frustrated with the way their overburdened legal system fails to cope with the escalating violence in our nation. They demand that justice be done. But few realize that their passion for justice — even when misguided — reveals much about the rationality of religious faith. For it is evidence of the moral law God has placed within us.

We have many questions about the Last Judgment. What are the criteria by which we will be judged? What will be the fate of those who have not heard the gospel? How do we know that God will be fair? But behind our questions, believer and nonbeliever alike share the unspoken hope that there will be a time of reckoning. Anyone who thirsts for justice would agree that if God exists, there must be a day of judgment. Even as we shrink from judgment personally, we long for a day when justice will prevail universally and wrongs will be righted. Without this moral closure, history — the universe itself — is flawed and incomplete. Thus theologian Emil Brunner wrote: “Just as the resurrection puts an end to death, so judgment terminates the state of confusion and anxiety, of inconclusiveness . . . if there is no judgment, it means that God does not take his own will seriously” (RT3, p. 466 fn. 85).

The Inner Law

According to Scripture, God’s judgment “is based on truth” (Rom. 2:2). God makes the knowledge of moral truth inescapably available to every human being “so that men are without excuse” (1:20). The Judeo-Christian theological premise that human beings are created in the image of God means, primarily, that they are endowed with the capacity for moral reasoning and decision making. The law given to Moses at Mount Sinai, which Jesus deepened and clarified in His Sermon on the Mount, was an externalization of the law written on our hearts (2:15). We should understand that our moral awareness is actually a type of revelation, and that divine judgment is even now occurring as our consciences bear witness to us, accusing and defending our actions (vv. 14-16).

The Judge and Judgment

The degree to which we have obeyed this inner revelation of God’s law will be revealed “on the day when God will judge men’s secrets through Jesus Christ” (v. 16). Scripture declares that both God and Christ will be the final judge; a mystery further illuminating the intimate trinitarian unity of the Father and Son. The New Testament makes it clear that “God’s judgment seat” (14:10) is also the “judgment seat of Christ” (2 Cor. 5:10). Christ, the God-man, will pronounce God’s judgment on all humankind.

This judgment will be rendered upon both angels who have sinned and upon all humans, living and dead. The totality of humanity will be present before the throne of judgment; believers and unbelievers will stand together at the Great Assize (RT3, p. 450). But we must understand that the Last Judgment does not consist of determining whether individuals are righteous or unrighteous; saved or damned. It is, rather, a revelation of the inner truth about each individual. The Last Judgment is not a time at which our eternal destinies are determined. We have already made that determination in the course of living. It is a time in which the reality of our decision — as expressed in our thoughts, words, and deeds — is manifested before every eye.

The truth of this position is affirmed by the fact that the righteous and unrighteous dead experience blessedness or condemnation already in the intermediate state before the judgment. According to Jesus’ parable of the rich man (Luke 16:19-31), the unrighteous are in a “place of torment” (v. 28) after death, while the righteous are comforted in “Abraham’s bosom” (v. 22 kjv). Judging by 2 Peter 2:9-10, souls will experience different intensities of suffering in the intermediate state depending on their sins.

At the Last Judgment every deed, every careless word, and each secret intention and motivation of the heart will be revealed. To repeat, however: the purpose of this revelation will be judgment, not condemnation or justification. The names of the saved will have been already entered into the book of life (Rev. 20:12). The sins of believers will not be counted against them as they are revealed; they will be disclosed as forgiven. The resurrected and the translated righteous will have been already changed, made like Christ, and cleansed of the pollution of sin and death.

Nevertheless, God’s judgment in Christ upon the righteous will be “ ‘according to’ and in consonance with” their actions in life (RT3, p. 451). The rewards of heaven and the pains of hell will vary according to a person’s deeds. Our most helpful biblical analogy in understanding this is given in 1 Corinthians 3:10-15, where Paul described how the works of believers will be tested by fire. Comparing such works to gold, silver, precious stone, wood, hay, and straw, he warned that the fire of God’s judgment will test our works. “If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames” (v. 15). Jesus’ parable of the talents (Matt. 25:14-30) reinforces the perspective that the saved will receive different degrees of eschatological reward depending on the faithfulness of their stewardship.

What it means from a heavenly perspective to suffer loss or gain reward is, of course, difficult for us to surmise. Doubtless there will be different degrees of glory among immortal humans, just as there are different degrees of glory among the angelic hosts. It is probably wrong to fear that we will be eternally “crippled” because of a moral failure in this life. God is a healing God, and eternal life is unlikely to be a static condition. Probably it will be a place where growth continues in presently unforeseeable ways.

It is doubly wrong to strive to attain renown in righteousness out of some sense of pride or ambition. All glory is, after all, God’s glory finally. It is what we do for His glory that will adorn our heavenly crown. We should look toward judgment with sober fear, mindful that we and the world are being judged on a daily basis. Even more pointedly, we should forget ourselves and focus on glorifying God simply because of who He is. For it is through this act that we attain the highest joy we can know as creatures — both in this life and in the life to come.

Key Concepts:

1. At the Last Judgment the judge will be God in the person of . [445]

2. Christ the judge, as the Son of Man, has inner knowledge of the condition — the weaknesses of the flesh. [446]

3. The judgment will be both of and humans. [447]

4. True or False. Believers will be judged before unbelievers. [448 fn. 20]

5. True or False. The unrighteous dead already experience condemnation before the Last Judgment. [450]

6. The purpose of the Last Judgment is to (show forth, decide) the destiny of those judged. [451]

7. Believers’ sins will be disclosed at the judgment as . [453]

8. True or False. At the judgment both believers and unbelievers will be requited according to their works. [454]

9. True or False. Different degrees of punishment are meted out to the unrighteous. [457]

10. True or False. All people who have ever lived have an internal criterion of right and wrong. [458]

11. Works are the measure of (judgment, justification). [460 fn. 63]

12. The world is judged (at the last day, continually). [465]

Further Study: Review “Eschatology; III. The Last Judgment,” NIDB, pp. 322-23; also review the scriptures under “Judge, Judgment; C. Judgment done by God; 3. The final judgment,” NIVTSB Topical Index, p. 93.
Life Application: Scripture declares: “But if we judged ourselves, we would not come under judgment” (1 Cor. 11:31). Scripture also gives us the key to curing a guilty conscience: “Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth. This then is . . . how we set our hearts at rest in His presence whenever our hearts condemn us” (1 John 3:18-20). Does your heart condemn you? Seek the way in which love can free you from this condemnation.

Reading: Renewal Theology 3, pp. 468-77.

Key Scripture: “He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the majesty of his power” (2 Thess. 1:8-9).

Key Words: Hades, Gehenna, Annihilationism, Universalism, Conditional Immortality.

In discussing hell and damnation we take up a topic that has sparked even more theological controversy over the centuries than the question of the Millennium. For the mystery of hell is tied directly to that most baffling of theological conundrums: the existence of evil.

Numerous questions ring in our minds if we consider the subject of damnation seriously. How can a God of love create or condone the existence of an eternal hell? If God “wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth” (1 Tim. 2:4), why doesn’t He woo them until they accept the truth — even if takes an eternity? If in the consummation God is to become “all in all” (see 1 Cor. 15:28; cf. vv. 24-29), what place is there for hell in such universal harmony? What becomes of the limitless peace of heaven if it is bounded by the cries of the damned? Can there be unbroken jubilation in the celestial city if, figuratively speaking, there is a torture chamber in the basement? And what crime could possibly warrant eternal punishment with no possibility of reprieve?

In Jesus we see the love of God incarnate; a love that willingly takes upon itself the pain of death and hell; a love that searches out the lost sheep — the lost sinner — and carries them tenderly to safety. Jesus tells us: “In the same way your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should be lost” (Matt. 18:14). Would the omnipotent Good Shepherd — Abba God — consent to be the architect of eternal misery?

We may want to avoid the awkward theological enigma of hell. But we must face squarely the words of Jesus Himself if we are to evaluate the solemn New Testament pronouncements about hell. For no one spoke more bluntly about God’s judgment than Jesus. He vividly described hell as a place of eternal torment where “their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched” (Mark 9:48). He cautioned His followers: “Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One [God] who can destroy both soul and body in hell” (Matt. 10:28). Let us, then, look closely both at Jesus’ words concerning hell and at the general New Testament language about hell. Then we may consider the classic objections raised against the existence of an eternal hell.

The Greek term Hades is generally equivalent to the Hebrew Sheol, meaning death, the grave, or the abode of the dead. In Jesus’ parable of the rich man (Luke 16:19-31) Lazarus is in Hades. According to Peter (Acts 2:25-31), Jesus rose from Hades (cf. Ps. 68:8-11) and also descended into Hades to preach to the spirits there (1 Peter 3:18-20). Hades is thus used biblically to refer to the intermediate state, not to the postjudgment condition of hell.

Gehenna, on the other hand, refers to the ultimate place or condition of torment and is more accurately translated “hell.” It is a transliteration of the Aramaic name of a deep ravine south of Jerusalem, the “Valley of (the Sons of) Hinnom.” Child sacrifices to the god Molech were performed there during the reign of Ahaz and Manasseh. Dark prophecies were connected with the place. Over time it became both a perpetually burning refuse heap for the city and a metaphor for the place where the accursed were punished for eternity.

The eternal nature of Gehenna is apparent in Matthew 25:46 and elsewhere. As we have noted, the Bible divides time into two stages: the present age and the age to come. The Greek word aionion, translated “eternal” in verse 46, means “age-long.” In this verse Jesus says that the punishment of the unrighteous is as endless as the blessedness of the righteous (cf. the Key Scripture and Rev. 14:9-11).

Annihilationism, Conditional Immortality, and Universalism

Even in light of the strong language we have noted, there are many who argue that hell is not a place where the unrighteous are tormented in perpetuity. Annihilationism contends that after death, or after the judgment, those who have rejected Christ cease to exist. Those who hold this theory base their argument on all or some of these assumptions: (1) that God desires all to be saved; indeed His very nature precludes the horror of eternal punishment; (2) that eschatological imagery is pictorial language, not to be taken literally; (3) that the immortality of the soul is a nonbiblical Greek doctrine; (4) that imagery of “fire” and “destruction” suggests annihilation rather than eternal punishment.

Let us examine each of these theories more closely.

1. This is an argument that can hardly fail to touch the heart of anyone who personally knows the love of Christ. A subquestion here concerns the fate of those who have never heard the gospel. Will they be condemned to hell by default?

Christians must be quick to answer no to this question. God makes hell necessary for no person (RT3, p. 475). Damnation is posited only on the basis that a person actively and willfully rejects Christ, the source of all truth, “The true light that gives light to every man . . .” (John 1:9). There is no damnation except where there is rejected revelation; and where there is revelation there is the hope of redemption. As Dr. Williams expresses it, “there are those whose deeds have already ‘been wrought in God’ [John 3:21] prior to their coming to the light” (RT3, p. 476; cf. Acts 10:2). As C. S. Lewis put it: “We do know that no man can be saved except through Christ; we do not know that only those who know Him [by that name] can be saved through Him” (Mere Christianity, p. 65).

Universalism — “annihilationism in reverse” (RT3, p. 474) — is the belief that God will eventually bring all people to salvation. Universalists appeal to scriptures like those listed by Dr. Williams on page 473. The teaching that Christ descended into Hades and preached to the souls of the dead in the intermediate state (see 1 Peter 4:6) is taken to mean that all souls hear — and are finally persuaded to accept — Christ. Hades is considered to be a realm outside time; what was actual there once is actual always. Thus there are no souls to which Christ has not or will not preach the gospel.

2. That eschatological language is symbolical is clearly true; the two primary analogues of hell — darkness and fire — clearly are mutually exclusive and therefore not literal. The annihilationist would argue that language suggesting the eternal duration of damnation signifies the permanence of the result of judgment rather than the continuation of the act of punishment.

3. Those who take the view of conditional immortality argue that the intrinsic immortality of the soul is not a biblical doctrine, but was coopted from Greek thinking. Eternal life is a reward given to those saved; all others simply lapse into nonbeing at death.

4. The core of the argument of annihilationism is the presumption that references to “destruction” of the soul in hell mean that the unrighteous are obliterated, not eternally punished. Dr. Williams addresses the linguistic side of this question in the footnotes on page 472. A more sophisticated form of annihilationism reasons that just as to enter heaven means to become more fully human than was possible on earth, to enter hell is to enter a realm of hatred and unreality that destroys a person’s humanity. Hell is not an environment made for human beings (Matt. 25:41). What survives in hell is only an “echo”; only the remains of the human personality.

In the final analysis what is clearest and most important about the doctrine of hell is that judgment is a reality. God calls us into fellowship with Him, but we are free to refuse that invitation — to love darkness instead of light so that we may remain unmolested in our wickedness (John 3:18-20). Hell is manifestly about being out of relationship with God. It is to choose to dwell in outer darkness (Matt. 22:13) rather than to be “at home” with the Lord (2 Cor. 5:8). God is the source of all truth, goodness, and beauty; He is reality. To be separated from Him is to be cast into unreality, and to walk away from His love is to step into an abyss of lovelessness.

From the human side, the mystery of evil and of hell is that we willingly choose to “suppress the truth” (Rom. 1:18) and blind ourselves to the very light that would heal us. But it is undeniable that we do. In that sense, there is a darkness within us that is already the seed of hell. Unless it is eradicated by God’s grace, it will enlarge and swallow us completely, becoming a black hole into which we fall forever, sundered from truth and joy. Those who “attain” hell are successful rebels against love whom God finally lets have their way. They are self-judged, and the door to their private sanctuary is locked from the inside.

Key Concepts:

1. True or False. The unrighteous are already lost before the day of judgment and will thereafter continue in that condition. [468]

2. Two figures of speech are used to describe the state of the lost: and fire. [468]

3. The condition of man already is darkness. [468]

4. signifies the intermediate condition of the unrighteous, whereas Gehenna points to the final state. [470 fn. 97]

5. The view of immortality holds that immortality will be granted only to those who believe in Christ. [472 fn. 110]

6. The view of affirms natural immortality but declares that God will obliterate the unrighteous. [472 fn. 110]

7. is the view that ultimately all people will attain salvation. [473]

8. The continuing state of the lost is the result of both God’s character and human . [474]

9. True or False. Demons and the lost will acknowledge Christ as Lord. [474 fn. 117]

10. True or False. God’s grace may extend to persons outside the perimeter of overt gospel proclamation. [476]

Further Study: Read “Gehenna,” pp. 377-78; “Hades,” p. 409; and “Hell,” pp. 431-32 in the NIDB; also review the scriptures under “Hell,” NIVTSB Topical Index, p. 72.

Life Application: We have spoken of hell as nonrelationship with God, and as characterized by the choice of illusion over truth, egotism over empathy, pride over intelligence. Are there areas of your life from which you have shut God out? Bring yourself into deeper relationship with Him by allowing Him to reign there.