Problem of Hell
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The problem of Hell is an ethical problem in the Abrahamic religions of Christianity, Islam and Judaism, in which the existence of Hell (Jahannam) for the punishment of souls in the Afterlife is regarded as inconsistent with the notion of a just, moral, and omnipotent, omnibenevolent, omniscient supreme being. Also regarded as inconsistent with such a just being is the combination of human free will (on which the justification for eternal damnation for sinners is predicated), and the divine qualities of omniscience (being all knowing) and omnipotence (being all powerful), as this would mean God (not humans) would determine everything that has happened and will happen in the universe—including sinful human behavior.
C. P. Ragland of Saint Louis University writes on the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy that the problem of hell is "a version of" the problem of evil. He defines the problem of hell: "if there is an omniperfect God—one that necessarily has the perfection of Goodness—then no one will be damned."[1]
The problem of hell derives from four key propositions: Hell exists; it is for the punishment of people whose lives on Earth are judged to have been sinful; some people go there; and there is no escape.[2]
Issues and criticisms
There are several major issues within the problem of Hell.
- The definition of Hell.
- Whether the existence of Hell is compatible with the existence of a just God.
- Whether Hell is compatible with God's mercy, especially as articulated in Christianity.
- Whether free will is compatible with God's omnipotence and omniscience.
Traditionally Hell is defined in Christianity and Islam as one of two abodes of Afterlife for human beings (the other being Heaven or
The question of compatibility of free will on the one hand, and God's omnipotence and omniscience on the other, can be framed as:
... "Does God know or does He not know that a certain individual will be good or bad? If thou sayest 'He knows', then it necessarily follows that the man is compelled to act as God knew beforehand how he would act; otherwise, God's knowledge would be imperfect...." (Jewish philosopher
Moses Maimonides)[6]
An early Islamic school of thought known as
In some respects, the problem of Hell is similar to the problem of evil, with the suffering in Hell equivalent to the suffering of victims of evil in the temporal world. Framed this way, the suffering of Hell is caused by free will and something God could not have prevented; or worse still is caused by the lack of free will, as God's omniscience—His knowing/determining all that will ever happen in His creation, including human acts of good and evil—makes free will impossible and souls predestined, but God still decrees punishment in hell. The problem of Hell could be viewed as the worst and most intractable instance of the problem of evil.[9]
If one believes in the idea of eternal Hell, unending suffering, or the idea that some souls will perish (whether destroyed by God or otherwise), author Thomas Talbott says that one has to either let go of the idea that God wishes to save all beings (suggesting that God is not omnibenevolent), or accept the idea that God wants to save all, but will not "successfully accomplish his will and satisfy his own desire in this matter" (suggesting that He is not omnipotent and omniscient).[10]
Judaism
Judaism teaches that the soul continues to exist after death, and that it is subject to both reward and punishment after death.[11] However, this punishment is held to be temporary, normally only lasting up to 12 months after death.[12] After this period, the soul is able to enjoy the light of God in the afterlife. Because the punishment is temporary, the problem of Hell in the Christian sense is less applicable to Judaism.
Both Non-Jews and Jews have a share in the World to Come, if they are righteous.[13]
Christianity
In Christianity, Hell has traditionally been regarded as a place or state of
The
In some ancient Eastern Christian traditions, (such as 7th century
I also maintain that those who are punished in Gehenna, are scourged by the scourge of love. Nay, what is so bitter and vehement as the torment of love?...It would be improper for a man to think that sinners in Gehenna are deprived of the love of God...it torments sinners...Thus I say that this is the torment of Gehenna: bitter regret.
— St.Isaac of Syria, Ascetical Homilies 28, Page 141[14]
In terms of the Bible itself, issues of salvation and access to heaven or to hell are mentioned frequently. [opinion] [discuss] Examples include John 3:16 "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." which tends to show the wicked perish and the saints have everlasting life or John 3:36 (NIV), "Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God's wrath remains on them",[23] and 2 Thessalonians 1:8–9 (NIV), "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 glory of his might."[24]
The minority Christian doctrine that sinners perish and are destroyed rather than punished eternally such as is found in John 3:16 "That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.", is referred to as
Justice
Some opponents of the traditional doctrine of Hell claim that the punishment is disproportionate to any crimes that could be committed. Because human beings have a finite lifespan, they can commit only a finite number of sins, yet Hell is an infinite punishment. In this vein, Jorge Luis Borges suggests in his essay La duración del Infierno[27] that no transgression can warrant an infinite punishment on the grounds that there is no such thing as an "infinite transgression". Philosopher Immanuel Kant argued in 1793 in Religion within the Bounds of Bare Reason that since morality lies ultimately in a person's disposition, and as disposition is concerned with the adoption of universal principles, or as he called them: "maxims", every human being is guilty of, in one sense, an infinite amount of violations of the law, and so consequently an infinite punishment is not unjustified.[28]
Divine mercy
Another issue is the problem of harmonizing the existence of Hell with God's infinite mercy or omnibenevolence which is found in scripture.
Some modern critics of the doctrine of Hell (such as Marilyn McCord Adams) claim that, even if Hell is seen as a choice rather than as punishment, it would be unreasonable for God to give such flawed and ignorant creatures as ourselves the responsibility of our eternal destinies.[29] Jonathan Kvanvig, in The Problem of Hell (1993), agrees that God would not allow one to be eternally damned by a decision made under the wrong circumstances.[30] One should not always honor the choices of human beings, even when they are full adults, if, for instance, the choice is made while depressed or careless. On Kvanvig's view, God will abandon no person until they have made a settled, final decision, under favorable circumstances, to reject God, but God will respect a choice made under the right circumstances. Once a person finally and competently chooses to reject God, out of respect for the person's autonomy, God allows them to be annihilated.
Islam
In Islam, Jahannam (hell) is the final destiny and place of punishment in Afterlife for those guilty of disbelief and (according to some interpretations) evil doing in their lives on earth.[31] Hell is regarded as necessary for
The inhabitants of Hell
Muslims and Islamic scholars disagree over who will be consigned to Jahannam. A common concern is the fate of non-Muslims and if they will be punished for not belonging to the right religion. An often-recited Quranic verse implies that righteous non-Muslims will be saved on Judgement Day:
- Indeed, those who believed and those who were Jews or Christians or Sabians—those who believed in Allah and the Last Day and did righteousness—will have their reward with their Lord, and no fear will there be concerning them, nor will they grieve. 2:62
However some scholars hold this verse may be set aside as only applying before the arrival of Muhammad,[34] as there "exists a strong exegetical tradition" that claims that verse and others suggesting non-Muslims may be saved, were abrogated by a later verse indicating a much less pleasant hereafter:
- "... .whoever desires a religion other than Islam, it shall not be accepted from him, and in the hereafter he shall be one of the losers." (Q.3:85)[35][36]
Some non-pluralist scholars like Ibn Arabi state that every human will receive a proper message and will not be doomed for ignorance, while others claim non-Muslims are judged by their own moral standards, because of God's all-embracing mercy.[37]
Another criterion to determine the justice of Hell's punishment derives from its duration, on which Islamic scholars disagree. The orthodox view holds that Hell is eternal, others hold that Hell exists to purify rather than inflict pain,[38] and may even cease to exist after a while.
With the increasing urgency of pluralism, modern writers such as Edip Yüksel and Mouhanad Khorchide hold Hell to be finite rather than eternal: Yüksel argues that evildoers will be punished in Hell for an appropriate period then cease to exist, so that their suffering (which is described in the Quran and is balanced with descriptions of heaven) will be only a just amount.[39]
Concerning predestination
Approximately 87-90% of Muslims are Sunni, and one of
Proposed answers
Annihilationism
As with other Jewish writings of the
The Greek words used for those Bibles written in Greek, came loaded with ideas not in line with the original Hebrew, but since at the time, Greek was used as basically English is used today to communicate between people across the world, it was translated into these Greek words, and giving an incorrect understanding of the penalty of sin. In the Hebrew text when people died they went to Sheol, the grave and the wicked ultimately went to Gehenna which is the consuming by fire. So when the grave or the eternal oblivion of the wicked was translated into Greek, the word Hades was sometimes used, which is a Greek term for the realm of the dead. Nevertheless, the meaning depending on context was the grave, death, or the end of the wicked in which they are ultimately destroyed or perish. So we see where the grave or death or eventual destruction of the wicked, was translated using Greek words that since they had no exact ones to use, became a mix of mistranslation, pagan influence, and Greek myth associated with the word, but its original meaning was simple death or the destruction of the wicked at the end.[citation needed]
- "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." John 3:16 (KJV).
- "For the day of the Lord is near upon all the heathen: as thou hast done, it shall be done unto thee: thy reward shall return upon thine own head. For as ye have drunk upon my holy mountain, so shall all the heathen drink continually, yea, they shall drink, and they shall swallow down, and they shall be as though they had not been." Obadiah 1:15–16 (KJV).
Annihilationism asserts that God will eventually destroy or annihilate the wicked when they are consumed in the Lake of Fire at the end, leaving only the righteous to live on in immortality. Conditional immortality asserts that souls are naturally mortal, and those who reject Christ are separated from the sustaining power of God, thus dying off on their own.
This is seen in the texts making clear the alternatives at the end are to perish or to have eternal, everlasting life:
- "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." Romans 6:23 (KJV)
And that the consequence for sin at the day of judgment when God will judge both the living and the dead when He appears is death, not burning forever. God's gift is eternal life, very different from the penalty of sin:
- "The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished." 2 Peter 2:9. (KJV).
- "As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world." Matthew 13:40 (KJV).
- "So shall it be at the end of the world: the angels shall come forth, and sever the wicked from among the just, And shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth." Matthew 13:49–50 (KJV).
The mortality of the soul has been held throughout the history of both Judaism and Christianity,
Free will
Some apologists argue that Hell exists because of free will, and that Hell is a choice rather than an imposed punishment. Jonathan L. Kvanvig writes:[47]
[C.S.] Lewisbelieves that the doors of hell are locked from the inside rather than from the outside. Thus, according to Lewis, if escape from hell never happens, it is not because God is not willing that it should happen. Instead, residence in hell is eternal because that is just what persons in hell have chosen for themselves.
Similarly, Dave Hunt (1996) writes:
We may rest assured that no one will suffer in hell who could by any means have been won to Christ in this life. God leaves no stone unturned to rescue all who would respond to the convicting and wooing of the Holy Spirit.[48]
An example from popular culture can be found in the
Universal reconciliation
This article includes a improve this article by introducing more precise citations. (October 2022) ) |
Universal reconciliation is the doctrine or belief of some Christians that all will eventually receive salvation because of the love and mercy of God. Universal reconciliation does not commit one to the position that one can be saved apart from Christ. It only commits one to the position that all will eventually be saved through Christ. Neither does universal reconciliation commit one to the position that there is no Hell or damnation—Hell can well be the consuming fire through which Christ refines those who turn from him (Matthew 3:11). Universal reconciliation only claims that one day Death and Hades themselves will be destroyed and all immortal souls will be reconciled to Him.
It was traditionally claimed by some western scholars such as the Universalist historian George T. Knight (1911) and Pierre Batiffol (English translation 1914) that a form of universal salvation could be found among some theologians in early Christianity.[50] Origen interpreted the New Testament's reference (Acts 3:21) to a "restoration of all things", (Greek: apocatastasis of all things), as meaning that sinners might be restored to God and released from Hell, returning the universe to a state identical to its pure beginnings.[51] This theory of apocatastasis could be easily interpreted[who?] to imply that even devils would be saved, as was the case during the later Origenist controversies.[citation needed] Some Greek Orthodox scholars do not count Gregory of Nyssa (AD 331–395) as a believer in Universal Salvation,[52] although many do,[53] given that multiple passages in his writings appear to explicitly affirm apocatastasis.[54]
In the 17th century, a belief in Christian universalism appeared in England and traveled over to what has become the present-day US Christian Universalists such as Hosea Ballou argued that Jesus taught Universalist principles including universal reconciliation and the divine origin and destiny of all souls. Ballou also argued that some Universalist principles were taught or foreshadowed in the Old Testament. Critics of universalism maintain that the Bible does not teach universal salvation,[55] while proponents insist that it does.
Recent examples of advocates for the position are
Theodicy
With regards to the problem of hell, as one that can be traced to the more fundamental theological dilemma of God and the existence of good and evil, theodicy offers its own answers. The main issue holds that if God is all good, powerful, and perfect, then how can he allow evil and, by extension, hell to exist? For some thinkers, the existence of evil and hell could mean that God is not perfectly good and powerful or that there is no God at all.[59] Theodicy tries to address this dilemma by reconciling an all-knowing, all-powerful, and omnibenevolent God with the existence of evil and suffering, outlining the possibility that God and evil can coexist. There are several thoughts or theodicies such as biblical theodicy, the theodicy attributed to Gottfried Leibniz, Plotinian, Irenean, and Augustinian, among others. These differ in their respective arguments but, overall, these theodicies—as opposed to a defense that demonstrates the existence of God and evil or hell—seek to demonstrate a framework where God's existence is plausible. It is, therefore, a logical instead of evidential answer to the problem. A theodicy explains God's reason for allowing evil, that there is a greater good that justifies such permission.[60]
Empty Hell theory
Some Catholic theologians such as Karl Rahner, Gisbert Greshake, and Cardinal Hans Urs von Balthasar[61] have at length discussed the possibility that any man may be led by a final grace to freely willed repentance if necessary at least at some point in the process of dying. This possible process is described thus by the late Munich dogmatic Prof. Michael Schmaus:[62]
If in terms of theology death is a meeting of a man with God in so far as God calls man and he answers obedience, readiness and love, it would be surprising if in the moment of dying the chances of taking position never were given, even contrary to the outward look. ... One cannot apply to experience as counter-argument, because ... what happens then in the interior and behind the physiological processes is only known by someone who experiences dying itself, and this unto its very end. We may assume that in the dissolving process of the earthly union of body and soul and with the progressing breakaway from earthly entanglements, a special awakeness accrues to man ... in which he can say yea or nay to God.
Balthasar was careful to describe his opinion that Hell might be empty as merely a hope, but even this claim was rejected by most conservative Catholics, including Cardinal Avery Dulles.[63][failed verification] The Syllabus says in no. 17 that we may not (even) hope for the salvation of all non-Catholics;[citation needed] this seems to mean conversely that there is at least one non-Catholic in all history who will not be saved. Matthew 7:21–23 seems to say that "many" will be reproved, which may imply hell (not some lesser purgatory). On the other hand, error no. 17 in question only speaks of those "in the true Church of Christ", which need not imply the visible Church.[64] Roman Catholicism not only allows for the possibility that non-Catholics can be saved, and even rejected the view known as Feeneyism, which held that only people in visible communion with the Catholic Church could be saved.[65]
See also
References
- ^ "Hell | Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy".
- ISBN 0-19-508487-X.
- ^ Smith & Haddad, Islamic Understanding, 1981: p. 93
- OCLC 6666779.
- ISBN 978-1136099540p. 92
- ^ The Eight Chapters of Maimonides on Ethics (Semonah Perakhim), edited, annotated, and translated with an Introduction by Joseph I. Gorfinkle, pp. 99–100. (New York: AMS Press), 1966.
- ^ a b Guillaume, Islam, 1978: p. 132
- ^ Guillaume, Islam, 1978: p. 133
- ISBN 0-19-508487-X.
- ^ Talbott, Thomas, "Heaven and Hell in Christian Thought", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Spring 2017 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.), forthcoming <https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/spr2017/entries/heaven-hell/> "Theists who accept the traditional idea of everlasting punishment, or even the idea of an everlasting separation from God, must either reject the idea that God wills or desires to save all humans and thus desires to reconcile them all to himself (see proposition (1) in section 1 above) or reject the idea that God will successfully accomplish his will and satisfy his own desire in this matter "
- ^ R' Bachya ben Yosef ibn Paquda. Duties of the Heart, Gate 4, sec. 4. 10th century.
Trusting in G-d regarding the reward in this world and in the next, which He promised to the righteous man for his service, namely, that He will pay reward to one who is fitting for it, and mete out punishment to one who deserves it, is incumbent on the believer, and is an essential part of perfect faith in G-d...
- ^ "Mi Yodea, 2014". Retrieved June 8, 2020.
- ^ "Death – Non-Jews (Gentiles) in Olam Haba (Jewish Afterlife)?". Mi Yodeya. Retrieved 2021-07-23.
- ^ a b "Orthodox Christian Homepage". Home.it.net.au. Archived from the original on 2002-09-01. Retrieved 2013-10-24.
- ISBN 0-89243-565-8, 1994 – the revised version issued 1997 has no changes in this section
- ISBN 0-89243-565-8, 1994
- ^ "Catechism of the Catholic Church 1037".
- ^ "Catechism of the Catholic Church 1861".
- ^ "Catechism of the Catholic Church 1037".
- ^ "Catechism of the Catholic Church 1257".
- ^ "Catechism of the Catholic Church 1033".
- ^ "Catechism of the Catholic Church 1057".
- ^ "Bible Gateway passage: John 3:36 – New International Version".
- ^ "Bible Gateway passage: 2 Thessalonians 1:7–9 – New International Version".
- ^ "What is Conditional Immortality?". Afterlife. 2013-10-03. Retrieved 2013-10-24.
- ^ Richard Bauckham "Universalism: a historical survey" (@ theologicalstudies.org.uk), Themelios 4.2 (September 1978): 47–54. "Here and there, outside the theological mainstream, were some who believed that the wicked would be finally annihilated (in its commonest form. this is the doctrine of 'conditional immortality')." "Since 1800 this situation has entirely changed, and no traditional Christian doctrine has been so widely abandoned as that of eternal punishment.3 Its advocates among theologians today must be fewer than ever before. The alternative interpretation of hell as annihilation seems to have prevailed even among many of the more conservative theologians."
- ISBN 84-206-3331-3.
- ISBN 978-0-521-59964-1. Retrieved 23 December 2012.
- ^ Richard Beck. "Christ and Horrors, Part 3: Horror Defeat, Universalism, and God's Reputation". Experimental Theology. March 19, 2007.
- ISBN 978-0-19-508487-0, 1993
- ^ a b Thomassen, "Islamic Hell", Numen, 56, 2009: p.401
- ^ De Cillis, Maria (22 April 2022). "ISLAM. Muslims and Free Will". Oasis. 6. Retrieved 16 June 2022.
- ^ Parrott, Justin (31 July 2017). "Reconciling the Divine Decree and Free Will in Islam". Yaqeen Institute. Retrieved 16 June 2022.
- ISBN 978-1-589-01803-7p. 8
- ^ Acar, Ismail. 2008. "Theological Foundations of Religious Tolerance in Ismal: A Quranic Perspective." In J. Neusner and B. Chilton (eds.), Religious Tolerance in World Religions, West Conschocken, PA: Templeton Foundation Press, 297–313, esp. 299–304
- ^ Thomassen, "Islamic Hell", Numen, 56, 2009: p. 414
- ISBN 978-1-315-43883-2p. 58
- ISBN 978-1-316-41205-3p. 170
- ^ Eternal Hell and a Merciful God Edip Yüksel, 2003
- ISBN 978-0-887-06679-5p. 110
- ISBN 978-1-499-77984-4p. 292
- ^ McConnell (1901), The Evolution of Immortality, p. 84,
In the first place, there have not been a few, both in ancient and modern times, who have maintained the truth of a 'Conditional Immortality'.
- ^ Streeter (1917), Immortality: An Essay in Discovery, Co-Ordinating Scientific, Psychical, and Biblical Research, et al, p. 204,
At the same time there have always been isolated voices raised in support of other views. There are hints of a belief in repentance after death, as well as conditional immortality and annihilationism.
- ^ Knight (1999), A brief history of Seventh-Day Adventists, p. 42,
Many biblical scholars down throughout history, looking at the issue through Hebrew rather than Greek eyes, have denied the teaching of innate immortality.
- ^ Pool 1998, p. 133'Various concepts of conditional immortality or annihilationism have appeared earlier in Baptist history as well. Several examples illustrate this claim. General as well as particular Baptists developed versions of annihilationism or conditional immortality.'
- ^ Stephen A. State Thomas Hobbes and the Debate Over Natural Law and Religion 2013 "The natural immortality of the soul is in fact a pagan presumption: "For men being generally possessed before the time of our Saviour, by contagion of the Daemonology of the Greeks, of an opinion, that the Souls of men were substances distinct from their Bodies, and therefore that when the Body was dead"
- ISBN 0-19-508487-X.
- ^ Dave Hunt In Defense of Faith Harvest House Publishers, 1996
- ^ Gaiman, Neil Season of Mists DC Comics/Vertigo, 1990 p. 18
- ^ Knight claims that in the first five or six centuries of Christianity, there were six known theological schools, of which four (Alexandria, Antioch, Cesarea, and Edessa or Nisibis) were Universalist, one (Ephesus) accepted conditional immortality, and one (Carthage or Rome) taught the endless punishment of the lost. The Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge, 1953, vol. 12, p. 96; retrieved 30/04/09
- ^ Westminster Origen Handbook
- ^ "We know well that all evil that happens admits of being annihilated by its opposite (Against Eunomius, Book I). Then he affirms apocatastasis stating that "The Son has accomplished the Father's will, and this, in the language of the Apostle, is 'that all men should be saved, '" (Against Eunomius, Book XII).
- Kallistos Ware, John Behr, et al.
- ^ Catechetical Discourse, 26.8-9; Life of Moses, 2.82, etc.
- ^ Robin A. Parry Universal salvation?: the current debate p. 55
- ^ Fisher, David A. (December 2011). "The Question of Universal Salvation: Will All Be Saved?" (PDF). The Maronite Voice, Volume VII, Issue No. XI. Archived from the original (PDF) on May 8, 2013. Retrieved July 2, 2014.
- ^ "Bible Gateway passage: Lamentations 3:31–33 – New International Version".
- ^ "Bible Gateway passage: 1 Timothy 4:10 – New International Version".
- ^ "The Problem of Evil | Plato – Philosophy Learning and Teaching Organization". PLATO. Retrieved 2018-05-26.
- ISBN 978-1-4982-8476-9.
- ^ Hans Urs von Balthasar «Hoffnung auf das Heil aller?». Dare we hope: "that all men be saved"?; with, A short discourse on hell
- ^ Michael Schmaus, Der Glaube der Kirche ("The Faith of the Church") VI/II p. 84
- ^ David L. Schindler Hans Urs von Balthasar: his life and work "Until then he had not published very much about obedience and marriage in paradise. The controversy about Hell was left entirely to the final years of von Balthasar's life. At the time no one could have known how much these themes owed to the inspiration of Adrienne von Speyr".
- ^ Pope Pius IX. "The Syllabus".
- ^ Shea, Mark. "Can Non-Catholics Be Saved?".
Further reading
- Guillaume, Alfred (1978) [1954]. Islam. Penguin. pp. 131–134.
- Marilyn McCord Adams: "The Problem of Hell: A Problem of Evil for Christians," in William Rowe (ed.): God and the Problem of Evil, ISBN 0-631-22220-0
- Jonathan L. Kvanvig: The Problem of Hell Archived 2017-08-10 at the ISBN 0-19-508487-X
- Charles Seymour: A Theodicy of Hell, ISBN 0-7923-6364-7
- Jerry Walls: Hell: The Logic of Damnation, ISBN 0-268-01095-1
- C.S. Lewis: The Problem of Pain, ISBN 0-06-065296-9
- Ted Sider. Hell and Vagueness, Faith and Philosophy 19 (2002): 58–68.
- Jonathan Edwards,The Justice of God in the Damnation of Sinners, Diggory Press, ISBN 978-1-84685-672-3
External links
- Can The Existence and Nature of Hell Be Defended? by J. Warner Wallace
- The Penalty of Death for Disobedience by Leroy Edwin Froom, The Conditionalist Faith of Our Fathers
- The Final End of the Wicked by Edward Fudge, The Fire that Consumes
- Jewish not Greek Shows how Biblical hermeneutics proves "annihilation", thus removing the problem of Hell.
- Immortality Or Resurrection? Chapter VI Hell: Eternal Torment or Annihilation? Archived 2015-02-16 at the Wayback Machine by Samuele Bacchiocchi, Ph. D., Andrews University
- The Wages of Sin by Charles Welch, The Berean Expositor Vol. 1 pp. 64–66 circa 1901–1915
- "Directions: Is Hell Forever?" Christianity Today
- Afterlife.co.nz The Conditional Immortality Association of New Zealand Inc. is a non-profit organization established to promote a Biblical understanding of human nature, life, death and eternity as taught throughout Scripture.