The lake of fire in John’s apocalypse is the misunderstood angst-y teenager who everyone gossips about but few actually take the time to get know beyond the stories commonly shared over school lunches and microwaveable hot pockets. To the gossipers’ credit, the lake of fire is shrouded in mystery and takes a little bit of … More Annihilationism in Revelation — The Lake of Fire
Does John’s apocalypse support the eternal conscious torment of those who reject God? Perhaps, but perhaps not. Here are the words in question: 9 Then another angel, a third, followed them, crying with a loud voice, “Those who worship the beast and its image, and receive a mark on their foreheads or on their hands, 10 they … More Annihilationism in Revelation — Rev. 14:9-11
As a 90s kid, I grew up in the era of “Left Behind” books and discussions about the Rapture drawing ever nearer, as the rapid fulfillment of “end-times prophecies” clearly indicated. Though I never read the books, the descriptions of believers being taken from Earth at the sound of trumpets and the tales of coming … More Annihilationism in Revelation — Intro to Apocalyptic Literature
If you are one of the few people who continue to read what I write (and the stats page on my wordpress dashboard indicates that you guys continue to diminish in number with every post), then I want to say thank you for giving this amateur theologian a fair hearing. I hope that what I … More “Hell” in the “Other” Epistles
Paul. Missionary, preacher, apostle to the gentiles, teacher of all things deemed “orthodox” by the doctrinally pure American evangelical church (sarcasm) including a hell filled with the screams of the damned for all eternity. Paul was a solid, A+ Christian, never compromising on those harsh, uncomfortable teachings found in the Bible. Though this may be … More The Case for Annhilationism from the Teachings of Paul
Unquenchable fire and undying worms. Both of these symbols on a surface level seem to imply a punishment in hell that lasts forever. Most of this “implying” emerges not from the text but from our own assumptions about hell. Even many of the most popular pastors over the years have gotten this wrong. Now, there … More Unquenchable Fire and Undying Worms
Like many of you, I grew up with the heaven/hell gospel being taught to me by various preachers. These two concepts were simply assumed, and it only took a couple bible-verse bombs to confirm this assumption. Besides being over simplistic, this understanding of Christianity is just plain wrong, which is why I want to focus … More Jesus and Gehenna (Or Jesus and Hell)
Jesus is often credited with speaking the most on hell out of the pool of biblical characters. This is partially true. Besides the direct references to a valley called “Gehenna” (which translators pull out of its context by translating it “hell”), Jesus spoke a lot on the topic of judgment. Jesus’s particular method for communicating … More The Teachings of Jesus Concerning Divine Judgement
