Hell and Immortality

By Steve Copland

Is the human soul naturally immortal? Does the Bible teach that unbelievers souls will suffer a fiery torment for all eternity, or eventually be annihilated?
The doctrines of hell and immortality are often controversial and divisive. Some views seem to contradict the character of God, whilst others make Him powerless to exercise justice. In this six-part Bible Study Series we explore in depth the main doctrines of hell, Traditionalist, Conditionalist and Universalist.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Steve Copland
• Release date: Jun 30, 2015
• ISBN: 9781310511011

Steve Copland

Steve Copland is a self-supported missionary from New Zealand, serving The Lord in Ukraine since 2003. He is member of the pastoral team at New Life evangelical church in Kiev. He lectures on Systematic Theology and Church History at the Ukraine Evangelical Seminary, and also Biblical Studies, Apologetics and Church History at the International Christian University in Kiev.

Book preview

Hell and Immortality

Living in Christ Bible Study Series

Steve Copland

Hell and Immortality

Living in Christ: Bible Study Series

Published by Steve Copland at Smashwords

Copyright 2015 by Steve Copland

All rights reserved solely by the author.

The author guarantees all contents are original and do not infringe upon the legal rights of any other person or work. This book may be reproduced in any form without the permission of the author, providing it is unchanged and being used for the purpose of making disciples.

Steve Copland is a self-supported missionary from New Zealand, serving The Lord in Ukraine since 2003. He is a member of the pastoral team at New Life evangelical church in Kiev and former lecturer at the Ukraine Evangelical Seminary and International Christian University.

Contents

Introduction: Hell by Degrees

Chapter One: Immortality

Chapter Two: Sheol and Hades

Chapter Three: The Lake of Fire, Gehenna and Tatarus

Chapter Four: Eternal and Forever

Chapter Five: Objections and Universalism

Chapter Six: Conclusions

Introduction

Throughout human history people have pondered the question of what happens to us after we die. In almost all cultures and religions there is the idea that for those who live honorable and good lives there will be a reward in Valhalla (Vikings), the Afterlife (Romans), Nirvana, Paradise and Heaven. On the other side of the coin, almost all religions also have an idea of punishment for the wicked in a form of hell, or, in the case of Buddhism and Hinduism, a lifetime of suffering through being reincarnated as a lower life form in order to live out one's bad karma. Many religions claim that a demonic king or death god rules the kingdoms of hell, metes out punishment for eternity, and many have stories extremely similar to the Bible.

For example, in Egyptian mythology, disobedient souls are punished in a lake of fire, and there is even a story called the Tale of Khaemwese which describes the fate of an uncaring rich man with the fate of a poor beggar, not unlike Jesus' parable of two similar characters in the gospel of Luke.

When we come to Christian theology about hell, often, the many passages of Scripture which speak on the subject sometimes raise more questions than they answer. There are verses which seem to state clearly that there will be a continual never-ending torment in a fiery furnace, and yet others which seem to state just as clearly that those who have rejected the gospel will be utterly annihilated, albeit perhaps after a time of suffering. And there are also those who believe that every person will eventually be saved, and that we have been misinterpreting the Bible's teachings on hell for centuries.

In these studies I am not going to tell anyone what they must believe. My intention is to get Christians to take a deeper look, especially to humbly examine views which they do not hold, rather than to stand arrogantly in one camp or other demanding that their view is the only correct one. Ultimately, Christians, and especially Christian teachers and scholars, are charged with 'rightly dividing' God's Word and representing Him and His character correctly, with wisdom, and in humility, recognizing that, as Paul said:

'Now we see but a poor reflection; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known'.(1st Corinthians 13:12)

The Bible's teaching on hell is not a simple topic to be dismissed as if we have it all figured out. For example, the Bible repeatedly teaches that God 'will give to every person according to what they have done' (Romans 2:6, Revelation 20:12-13). Some take this to mean that there will be varying degrees of punishment for the wicked, depending on the depth of their wickedness. Others teach that there are no degrees of wickedness for 'all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God', and therefore, all deserve eternal punishment. Still others teach that ignorance is no excuse, quoting from Romans 1:20.

Recently I watched a video of a well-known Christian apologist debating with students in an American University. After several atheists had posed questions, a young Christian woman came to the microphone and asked about the fate of a hypothetical African child who had never heard the gospel. The speaker used an analogy of God as a consuming fire and the child as a dry leaf; if the child wasn't 'born again' it was going to be tormented in hell forever.

His answer was that Christians send missionaries to such children to save them from eternal hell-fire. If the speaker was correct in his very black and white theology, this means that a poor and starving child, who never had the opportunity to hear the gospel, is punished in exactly the same way as some hypothetical Western adult who has committed the most terrible atrocities and walked past churches on his way home. Many of us would find it extremely difficult to see any form of real justice in such a scenario and, apart from that criticism, this apologist's answer