Saving Hell From Oblivion (Part 3): The Dangers of Losing Hell
In the last two posts, I’ve laid out a right definition of the goodness of God, based on how the Bible defines it. I’ve also attempted to set forth a theological understanding of God’s goodness and the implications of that on the subject of the reality of eternal torment. In this last post on the subject, I’d like to examine the dangers present in a rejection of the traditional view of Hell.
To set up this final post, I’d like to give my own personal witness. I have come to write about this topic because I have witnessed a downgrading of the Gospel message and compromises on the nature of God due in large part to an ambivalence over the perceived “meanness” of God due to the traditional view of Hell. I have witnessed no small amount of theological and hermeneutical gymnastics performed by Christian leaders in an effort to make God more palatable, whether by explaining away the Old Testament or by modifying the traditional Christian position on Hell and judgment. This has all come as a result of the judgment of secular Western culture that the God of the Bible cannot be good because of these horrible things. But, no matter how much we may wish to appeal to our unbelieving friends and neighbors, we cannot afford to compromise on the truth of who God has revealed himself to be in exchange for greater acceptance. There have certainly been times where believers have intentionally made the Gospel more offensive than it really is, but the truth is that the Gospel is by nature offensive. We should not eliminate a long-held belief of the Christian faith simply because modern ears find it offensive. We may find that in the process of elimination, we have also lost the Gospel.
Playing With Fire
Is there any real danger in entertaining an Oblivionist or Annihilationist position towards Hell? While it is possible to hold to a view of Hell as passive separation from God and remain orthodox on all other counts, as shown previously, the reasons behind such a position can raise serious concerns. There are three dangers brought on by errant views of God’s goodness and the goodness of Hell.
First, an errant view of God’s goodness can lead to a division of the Godhead. This, after all, was the fatal flaw of Marcionism. That ancient heresy could not abide the perceived cruelty of the Old Testament God and His seeming contradiction with the God of the New Testament. The question of Marcion was a question of the goodness of the Old Testament God. Those who would question the goodness of God in the eternal torment of Hell are at risk of falling into this same trap. In so doing, they risk denying the Old Testament, which represents the foundation for all Christian doctrine.
Second, an errant view of God’s goodness may lead to bad soteriology. It is a common phrase heard at revivals and evangelistic rallies: “God is a gentleman, and he would never force himself on you.” Or, as the hymn “Softly and Tenderly Jesus Is Calling” says, “Softly and tenderly Jesus is calling — Calling for you and for me; Patiently Jesus is waiting and watching — Watching for you and for me!” These ideas of God waiting for people to respond to him stem in part from an errant view of God’s goodness. As was previously stated, the modern Christian’s view of goodness is often influenced more by Greek philosophy than Biblical witness, and so one might think that God must abide by the same sense of decorum that guides our conversations. God must plead his case, and then wait for a response. In fact, Clark Pinnock makes this argument in his discussion on Hell, saying, “Love cannot be forced; it has to be freely given and hell represents the possibility of even saying ‘no’ to God finally. Hell is not God’s choice so much as it is ours. It is not something that God wants for us.” (Pinnock, “The Nature of Hell”) But to say that Hell is the choice of those who resist the soft plea of the Gentleman God is to fail to recognize our deep need for the God who rescues. The picture painted by the Bible is not that humans are free, able to consider all possible outcomes and indeterminately choose Hell or Heaven. No, instead, in Scripture is found that, since the Fall of Adam, men and women are “dead in a trespasses and sins” (Eph. 2:1). Were men left to their own devices, with nothing but the gentle call of God to woo us, we would all choose Hell.
Finally, an errant view of the goodness of God in the active punishment of Hell leads to a reshaping of Christianity so that it denies the central nature of the Gospel message. For better or worse, the threat of Hell has been the starting point for many a sinner’s conversion. As the Proverbs say, “The fear of the Lord is be the beginning of knowledge” (Prov. 1:7) and knowledge is the foundation of faith. At a very basic level, if the fear induced by the impending, eternal judgment of Hell is removed, what shall motivate the compassion of the Church? Colin Sedgwick points out that it is “impossible radically to modify a major strand of Christian thought without altering the character of the whole thing: Christianity simply becomes a different religion… What used to be known as the ‘social gospel’ would seem to have won the field, not least among evangelicals, with an increasing emphasis on the betterment of society as against the salvation of the individual. Rightly or wrongly, this trend can only be abetted by annihilationism, with its implied view that what happens after death is not actually all that important.” (Sedgwick, “Confessions of a Would-Be Annihilationist”) With no urgency for the destiny of the lost, no severity of their final judgment, the Church will (or has) inevitably turn to other concerns, concerns that are less than eternal.
The traditional view of Hell as active, eternal punishment of the lost is a stench to the world and modern sensibilities. But, God is not defined by Western culture and he will not be made in its image. Society and even the Church may desire for God to be good in the way they want him to be, but it is God who gets to define the terms. God is good in his creative work. God is good in his saving work. And, in both of those works, he has included Hell. May the Church see good the way God sees it.
