Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Grand Rapids:
Zondervan, 2004. 256 pages. Reviewed by Jason M. Fletcher
as well as senior pastor of First Baptist Church in Barstow, California. Robert A. Peterson is
professor of systematic theology at Covenant Theological Seminary and has authored several
The editors have put forth a defense of the historic belief in a literal eternal place of
punishment called hell by assembling nine of the brightest evangelical scholars to author each
chapter. Specifically, this book was written in order to counter the positions of both
Albert Mohler opens the first chapter. In it he traces the development of opposing
positions on the reality of hell through church history. In an example of how cultural issues can
affect ones position, Mohler points to the Victorian image of fatherhood. In 19 th century
Victorian thought, a father would discipline his children, but never to the extreme. At some
point he would bring punishment to an end. “When this vision of fatherhood was extended to
God, hell as eternal torment became unthinkable” (24). He also chronicles the errant views of
three evangelicals in the late 20th century: John Wenham, John R. W. Stott, and Clark Pinnock.
He writes that in our time the traditional doctrine of hell “is offensive to modern sensibilities
hell to be more palatable to the culture, however, Mohler argues that our “concepts of God and
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The second chapter examines the Old Testament’s teaching on hell and is written by
Daniel I. Block. For someone who admits in his opening paragraph that the Old Testament does
not teach much about hell, Bock does an excellent job of surveying the relevant material. He
begins with a word study of seven Hebrew words related to hell. He makes six statements
summarizing Israelite understandings of death in his conclusion. Several of his statements are
most important to the discussion of this topic. First, he states that the Israelites “perceived the
universe as a three-tiered structure: heaven, the residence of God. . . earth, the residence of
humankind. . .*and+ Sheol, the residence of the deceased” (64). His fourth summarizing point is
that “the residents of Sheol were fully conscious, aware that their conduct on earth had
determined their station in Sheol” (65). Fifth, “in Daniel 12:2, we find the first notice of general
Robert Yarbrough writes the third chapter on Jesus’ teaching concerning hell. The first
half of his chapter is devoted the pertinent texts from the New Testament that establish Jesus’
teaching. He concludes that Jesus teaches that hell is a literal place of eternal punishment. In
emphasizing the logical necessity of the eternality of hell, he quotes Moses Stuart who said,
“We must either admit the endless misery of hell, or give up the endless happiness of heaven”
(76). The second half of his chapter is spent directly refuting the claims of Edward W. Fudge.
First he refutes Fudge’s interpretation of five key texts that he uses to support annihilationism
(Matthew 5:22; 29-30; 18:8-9; Mark 9:47-48). Second, he refutes Fudge’s claims that the
The fourth chapter, written by Douglas Moo is devoted to Pauline thought on hell. He
organizes his material around the reality, eternality, and nature of hell. He examines several
passages commonly cited to support universalism and shows the inconsistencies within the
context of Pauline thought (1 Cor. 15:20-28; Rom. 5:18; 11:26, 32; Col. 1:20; 1 Tim. 2:4). He
also shows that “annihilationism finds no clear support in the teaching of Paul” (109). He
concludes that Paul teaches “that God will visit eternal punishment on people who do not
Continuing the study of the New Testament’s teaching on hell, Gregory Beale examines
the book of Revelation. He focuses in on three passages: Revelation 14:9-12; 20:10, 14. With
exegetical acumen, he explains each passage, all the while noting that he goes into more depth
in his commentary (112, note 1). His conclusion is that these passages in Revelation “are the
In chapter six, Christopher Morgan attempts to bring all of the New Testament teaching
on hell together and summarize his conclusions. He states that the teaching on hell is “woven
into the whole fabric of New Testament teaching. In fact, future punishment is addressed in
some way by every New Testament author” (142). He summarizes the New Testament teaching
on hell by using three images: punishment, destruction, and banishment (142). In his
discussion of the image of destruction, Morgan admits that the historic view of hell has often
over-emphasized the image of punishment and minimized the image of destruction (154). He
does, however, counter the annihilationist in the definition of destruction. He cites Douglas
Moo’s chapter of Paul that “destruction” could “refer to the situation of a person or object that
has lost the essence of its nature or function” (146). In his conclusion, he admits that these
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three images are “not easily integrated into a simplified whole” (149). He does believe,
however, that they are coherent with the nature of God, the doctrine of the atonement, and
Robert A. Peterson takes an approach in his chapter that examines the doctrine of hell
and its relationship to other aspects of systematic theology. He limits his discussion to three
points: the Trinity, divine sovereignty and human freedom, and the “already” and the “not yet”
(154). In his discussion of the Trinity, he shows how the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are all
active agents of judgment. In treating the tension between divine sovereignty and human
freedom he argues for three reasons for which people are condemned: “actual sin, original sin,
and reprobation.” He defines reprobation as “Gods passing over those whom he allows to pay
the penalty for their sins.” This occurs, he says, “before the creation of the world” (164).
as “someone who believes that every human being whom God has created or will create will
finally come to the everlasting salvation in which Christians enter here and now” (170). Packer
is helpful in showing the motivation, variety, and importance of universalism before he even
begins making arguments against it. His analysis of some of the same New Testament texts
universalism is that it redefines salvation and God’s love, and thus should be “actively opposed”
(194).
Christopher Morgan writes his second chapter, this one dealing with annihilationism.
He defines annihilationism as “ the belief that those who die apart from saving faith in Jesus
Christ will be ultimately destroyed” (196). He is helpful in discussing what he calls the most
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“conditional immortality.” This is defined as “the belief that God has created all human beings
only potentially immortal. . . unbelievers never receive this capacity to live forever and
ultimately cease to exist” (196). The bulk of this chapter answers five of the most common
an endless hell based on a Greek view of the should?”, “Wouldn’t an endless hell be unjust?”,
“unloving?”, and “Wouldn’t an endless hell diminish God’s victory over evil?” (201).
The final chapter, written by Sinclair B. Ferguson, is titled, “Pastoral Theology: the
Preacher and Hell” (219). He gives practical pastoral advice on how to handle the topic of hell.
He advises pastors to teach that hell is real, that it is vividly described in the New Testament,
that it is inhabited by real people, and most importantly, that there is a way of salvation (227-
28). The last section in this chapter deals with questions commonly raised such as the fairness
of hell, what pastors should say at the funerals’ of unbelievers, and what happens to those who
The editors purpose to present a defense of the historic view concerning hell and to
counter universalism and annihilationism was well received. After the introduction by Mohler,
the next five chapters dealt with the biblical text. The momentum of starting in a systematic
way with understanding the Bible’s teaching on hell caused the later chapters that focused in
on universalism and annihilationism to be much more persuasive. Finally, the closing chapter
by Ferguson addressed practical pastoral issues, making this more than just an academic
exercise.
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Although they were few, I did find weaknesses to this book. While the list of
contributors is diverse, was there no representative Arminian who could contribute to the
historic position of hell? Peterson’s Calvinistic bias comes out more strongly than any of the
other contributors when speaking about reprobation occurring before the foundation of the
world (164) and that just as believers already stand justified, sinners are already condemned
(168). Also, there were parts that were repetitive, notably, the discussion of John Stott’s
This book was definitely written for pastors or those in Christian leadership. Though the
most difficult chapter to work through was Beale’s treatment of Revelation, the rest of the
book is written in a accessible style. It is well researched, foot-noted, and includes a generous
is often ignored or assumed. I personally learned that even within evangelical circles, this
doctrine can no longer be assumed, and our position on hell affects many more essential
theological positions.