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Eternal Fire and Sodom
John Gill in commenting on Jude 7, and the punishment of “πυρὸς αἰωνίου” (eternal fire) that came upon Sodom, mentioned Philo. Philo, in his work, “On Abraham,” comments on Sodom and its punishment, thus: XXVI(133) “The country of the Sodomites was a district of the land of Canaan, which the Syrians afterwards called Palestine, a…
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Affirmative Constructive Speech for Hell Debate with Eddie Crume
The orthodox doctrine of Hell is not fully captured by the Apostles’ Creed, which speaks of the the judgment of the living and the dead, but nevertheless makes the short list of important doctrines in Hebrews 6. Hebrew 6:1-3 Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not…
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Rebuttals to C. Jay Cox's Seven Arguments for Annihilationism
C. Jay Cox has seven arguments for annihilationism. In the following discussion, I respond to and rebut each of them, in advance of a debate he and I have planned. His points are listed as “CJ” and mine as “TF.” This is not an attempt to replace the debate, but rather, hopefully, to improve the…
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Where are all the ashes?
If Annihilationists were right, one might expect to see the end of the wicked more often equated with non-existence. Of course, not all Annhilationists say that man ceases to exist, sometimes they will say he is reduced to ashes. One nice thing about the ashes argument is that there is a Biblical “ashes” motif that…
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What about Olam (עוֹלָם), Ad (עַד), and Nesah (נֶצַח)?
If you are going to consider the subject of the eternal torments of hell, you cannot limit yourself to the New Testament. You also should not limit yourself to English, but should also consider the usual words translated as “eternal” or the like in the Old Testament text. Olam, Ad, and Nesah One fairly common…
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Gnashing (Brygmos βρυγμός) of Teeth
Amongst the various descriptions of suffering in hell, one notable description is the gnashing of teeth. In the New Testament, Matthew provides this description six times, and Luke just once. While we use a gerund, the Greek is usually a noun, Brygmos. Matthew 8:12 But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into…
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What about Apollymi?
Sometimes a person who is an annihilationist will argue as follows (Please note that I’m not endorsing any aspect of this representation except the spelling of the lexical form of the Greek word): 1) The most common description of the fate of the wicked is that are destroyed, using the verb, ἀπόλλυμι (apollumi or apollymi). 2)…
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The Lake of Fire and the Abyss
In any discussion on Hell, I would be remiss to omit discussion of the Abyss, sometimes translated the “deep” or the “bottomless pit.” In most places in the Scripture, the abyss seems to be watery place (for example, the Spirit of God moves over the watery abyss in Genesis 1). The main exceptions in the…
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Josephus on Pharisees on Compatibilism and Hell
Various Jewish sources of the Pharisaical (or related) stripe, provide us with useful background information on the subject of hell. Josephus, Jewish Wars, Book II, Chapter 8, Section 14: But then as to the two other orders at first mentioned, the Pharisees are those who are esteemed most skilful in the exact explication of their…
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Other Hell-Related Passages and Themes
In my previous post (link), we saw some of the passages and themes related to hell. This is a supplemental post that addresses some of the other themes related to hell that didn’t necessarily make it into the original post. Hell was Prepared for the Devil and His Angels and will be Eternal Matthew…