All You Want to Know About Hell: Three Christian Views of God?s Final Solution to the Problem of Sin

By Steve Gregg

All You Want to Know About Hell breaks down the three most popular views on hell and tells us what the Bible really says about this terrifying and mystifying place.

It is an undeniable fact that the very concept of hell is shrouded in mystery. We know what books and movies tell us hell is like, but we're left with so many questions. Is hell simply a place where sinners are sent to suffer for their sins, or is it more than that? How could a loving God send anyone to hell? Does the Bible give us a clear and consistent picture of hell? What does the existence of hell tell us about God's character?

Steve Gregg--author of Revelation: Four Views--will take you on a tour of the three most popular views on hell and walk you through a clear explanation of what Scripture really says. 

From the "traditional" view of hell as a place of eternal torment to the early Christian view that hell is a place of suffering intended to purge sin and to bring about repentance, no other book gives such in-depth biblical insight into the truths about hell that are hidden in all the hype. 

All You Want to Know About Hell is an accessible and interesting read for laypeople, pastors, and scholars alike.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Thomas Nelson
• Release date: Nov 12, 2013
• ISBN: 9781401678319

Book preview

Reviews for All You Want to Know About Hell

[Oluwasijibomi Onikoyi-Deckon · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Very good book. It’s concise and deals with the conversation about hell in way that anyone could understand. I do feel that the writers bias did interfere in his defence against traditional eternal torment conversation.

[hjvanderklis_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Some pastors preach every Sunday about pending punishment in hell, Meatloaf loved to sing about it, even came Back from Hell in 1993. Bobby Conway, in his reaction to Rob Bell‘s Love Wins, Hell, Rob Bell, and What Happens When People Die (2011) accused preachers of being closet universalists, stating everyone will go to heaven, believer or not. Many books were written on a single view of hell (without ever having been there). Steve Gregg dared to write a book that dives into the three most popular views on hell, while remaining undecided (yet) about which one is right. Though All You Want to Know About Hell has a pretentious title, it’s up to reader to delve in each position, do the cross-examinations and re-read the numerous Bible quotes in context. Unfortunately, that requires balancing, since many quotes are ambiguous, in favor to at least two paradigms. Surprisingly all three had their followers during the first centuries of Christianity, until the so-called traditional view became the one endorsed by the Roman Catholic Church. Until modern times however, all three have their defenders. In the Bible you will not find a specific chapter on the topic, Jesus Christ spent no sermon on it, neither did Paul. And so, it takes a lot of grabbing verses, (Greek) philosophy, pick and choose from possible translations of Hebrew and Greek words and interpretations, while one may loose sight of the consequences or the practical applications. Is the view man-centered or God-centered? How to explain ‘hell’ to your neighbor? Who will benefit from eternal punishment or a total destruction?traditional view: hell is a place of eternal torment, without repentance. You either choose Christ before you die, otherwise will be tormented eternally.annihilationist (or the conditionalist) view: the damned will simply be put out of existence forever, eventually after a period in hell.restorationist view: all human sinners will in the end be reconciled to God.I admired Gregg’s position in this: delivering in-depth research and challenging his readers. Too many presented their views as written in stone without any room to think, reflect and discuss. Let this book spark good conversations among believers and with non-believers.

[dubiousdisciple · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I really enjoyed this one. I asked for a review copy because I had previously devoured Steve Gregg’s Revelation: Four Views. This guy is an engrossing writer who gets right to the heart of the matter. While Gregg doesn’t entirely mask his own opinion, he does manage to fairly represent several alternative views with these books, and this time around he gives voice to the following opinions about hell: Traditionalists, who stick with the common view of everlasting conscious torment. Conditionalists, who argue for annihilation of the sinful. “The wages of sin is death.” Restorationalists, who insist that hell is a place of rehabilitation. Everyone will eventually find their way to heaven.Universalists, at least those who reason that for God to be victorious no one could find themselves in hell, are not strongly represented in the book. Hell is too real in scripture to dismiss.It’s important to emphasize that all three views are solidly founded in scripture. Lots and lots of scriptural references are provided for each view, and all views have thoughtful, scholarly supporters.We’d all like to know the ultimate truth about hell, but I just don’t think the scriptures are in total harmony in this matter. That’s where this study led me, though I doubt that’s where Gregg meant to lead. The more I study topics like this, the harder it is to believe in Biblical Inerrancy. I remain baffled as to why otherwise thoughtful Bible scholars rage against the obvious … that doctrinal differences in the Bible are a natural result of differing opinions among the Bible’s writers.Nevertheless, this is a book to make you think, and to make you appreciate the richness of the Bible even as it examines the most frightening topic known to man.