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Hell Under Fire. Edited by Christopher W. Morgan and Robert A. Peterson.

Grand Rapids:
Zondervan, 2004. 256 pages. Reviewed by Jason M. Fletcher

Christopher W. Morgan is associate professor of theology at California Baptist University

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

books on the subject of hell (jacket).

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

universalism and annihilationism (12).

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

and an embarrassment to many who consider themselves to be Christians” (37). In softening

hell to be more palatable to the culture, however, Mohler argues that our “concepts of God and

the gospel are at stake. What could be more important?” (40).

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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

resurrection for both the righteous and the wicked” (65).

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

understanding of the eternal punishment of hell is based on Platonic teaching of the

immortality of the soul (83).


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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

respond to God’s grace revealed in the gospel of Jesus Christ” (92).

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

Achilles’ heel of the annihilationist perspective” (134).

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

stand in contrast to the idea of the kingdom of heaven (149-50).

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).

In chapter eight, J.I. Packer addresses universalism. He begins by defining a universalist

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

seems to discount universalism or annihilationism outright. He argues that the danger to

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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popular form of annihilationism within evangelical circles, called “conditionalism” or

“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

objections to conditionalism: “Can’t the Bible be interpreted to teach annihilationism?”, “Isn’t

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

have never heard the gospel (234-6).

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

exchange with David Edwards.

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

bibliography for further research.

In conclusion, this volume is a much needed contribution to a segment of theology that

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.

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