Eternal Torment or Destruction? Interpreting Final Judgment Texts
While drawing on much common knowledge in biblical studies, this article distinctively first explains how the popular final-judgment position of eternal torment mistakenly arises from four factors: 1) not weighting the type of biblical literature from which doctrine is being drawn, 2) forgetting the...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Brill
2016
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| In: |
The Evangelical quarterly
Year: 2016, Volume: 88, Issue: 3, Pages: 237-258 |
| IxTheo Classification: | HC New Testament NBE Anthropology NBQ Eschatology |
| Further subjects: | B
eternal torment
B Destruction B ANNIHILATIONISM (Christianity) B Anthropology B Jesus Christ B Palestine B Annihilation B final judgment- Gehenna B gnashing teeth B Second Death B Death B Theological Anthropology B Hades B Hell |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | While drawing on much common knowledge in biblical studies, this article distinctively first explains how the popular final-judgment position of eternal torment mistakenly arises from four factors: 1) not weighting the type of biblical literature from which doctrine is being drawn, 2) forgetting the NT concept of awaiting a general resurrection of the dead prior to final judgment, 3) not recognizing the biblical anthropology that presents humans holistically as mortals, and 4) wrongly conflating terms and symbols of different states of judgment (e.g. pre-resurrection vs. post-resurrection, and Gehenna vs. Hades) into an umbrella concept of'hell'. Second, this paper clarifies some frequently misunderstood 'final judgment' texts while demonstrating a commonsense method of biblical interpretation that draws on the cultural symbols of the first-century setting. The results lead to the better conclusion that in the final judgment those who are alienated from God suffer the 'second death' of destruction. |
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| ISSN: | 2772-5472 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: The Evangelical quarterly
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1163/27725472-08803004 |