book review: four views on hell 3

May 7, 2008

The essay that elicited the most persuasion was by William Crockett, who highlighted the metophorical view of hell. As he points out, this view does not involve a reduced reliance in the Bible, but simply endeavors to deduce verses sensibly.

Crockett considers the significant question of what Christ’s contemporaries would have contemplated of the verses, given cultural dynamics. Christ’s sayings should be interpreted within the context of the Biblical world, not purely analyzed through the contemporary Western ethos.

Likewise, Crockett contends that it is almost unattainable to take the images of hell entirely literally, since it seems incongruous that Hell should concurrently be a place of fire and of darkness, and since Satan and other imps are said to endure the fire in Hell, even though they lack material bodies, which give physical pain importance. Therefore, Crockett capably supports the metaphorical view.

Walvoord’s essay essentially concerns itself with the issue of whether or not hell implies eternal conscious reality. Although he provides a respectable rationale for the eternality of hell, his arguments are actually coherent with the metaphorical view. Peculiarly, he criticizes Crockett’s analysis for undermining Biblical authority but since it is a subject of interpretation and not of dependability, his comments are lost. Walvoord was not at his best in imparting the literal view. He does better in critiquing the views of his theological opponents.

For Hayes, he spent the majority of his essay justifying the idea that the Bible teaches the prospect of atonement made for the dead that they might be freed from sin. Matthew 12:31-32 speaks of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit as a sin that will not be forgiven, “either in this age or in the age to come.” This entails some sins might be pardoned in the age to come, disputes Hayes. Another chief text, 1 Corinthians 3:11-15, addresses the likelihood of being saved “as one escaping through the flames”.

The dilemma with Hayes’ view is that the belief of a purgatory is outlandish to Protestant thinking. The Protestant doctrine of justification by faith alone will not permit it. The Protestant doctrine of “Sola Scriptura” makes Protestants distrustful of any dogma that is has progressively developed through the ages, only later receiving certified recognition and theological embellishment.

I can’t help but concur with Pinnock’s contention that the uncritical approval of the doctrine of the immortality of the soul has led many to disregard the palpable meaning of many Scriptures. Thus we do well not to detach the doctrine of hell from other critical doctrines concerning the nature of man and the intermediate state.

All the authors recognize a multiplicity of opinion among Jewish and early Christian writers on the theme of hell. This diversity means it is not sincere to maintain to interpret Scripture against the milieu of any supposed standardized view of hell in Jesus day, nor to declare any view as proper because “tradition” stands behind it.

While the manifold perspectives arrangement of Four Views on Hell offers an opportune occasion for readers to become familiar with a range of perspectives, the book would have benefited significantly if the individual authors were given a chance to counter back to their critic’s responses.

Stay tuned for the conclusion, coming soon…
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