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Hell on Trial: Objections, Alternatives, and Scripture

Week 5

The Lie of a Kinder Judgment

Changing Their Minds

Of late one respected voice in Christianity has changed his views on Hell and when called out on it decided to double-down on a teaching called conditional immortality and can also be labeled as conditionalism or annihilationism. Overall, it teaches that those who die as an unbeliever are not given the ability to live eternally as do the believers and therefore won’t exist to endure the torment of the lake of fire. When they die that’s it. I usually don’t name names, but in this case I will with the caveat that to be wrong on one view isn’t cause to invalidate their other teachings nor is it a license to also be critical of their relationship with Christ. Of course, if you’ve been paying any attention at all you know I’m referring to Kirk Cameron. Ironically, he’s well known for his evangelism efforts with Ray Comfort and they told people they would go to hell for even one sin. That technique loses its effectiveness if a sinner is not going to suffer in eternal torment. So, you can see how many of his supporters are not happy about this change of heart.

A Few More Details

All this denying the sinner will spend eternity in the lake of fire warrants some deeper explanation and we have one from an article from gotquestions.org. as they give us an explanation of conditionalism:

Conditional immortality or conditionalism, for short, is the idea that not everyone will be raised immortal—only the saved will live forever. Conditional immortality as a label became popular in the nineteenth century for its ability to more holistically describe a view many Christians know as annihilationism.
As you can see, this teaching is pretty recent. The vast majority of history taught a literal hell:
Traditionally, most Christians have believed that those who die in unbelief will ultimately be raised immortal and live forever in hell to suffer mental and physical torment for eternity as punishment for their sins. Conditionalists, however, believe that God will grant immortality and eternal life only to those who meet the condition of saving faith in Christ. Everyone else—the unsaved—will suffer a second, irreversible death, perishing forever and ceasing to consciously exist.
Eternal Life Isn’t For Everyone

According to the conditionalist only the righteous get this option:
Conditionalists believe the Bible teaches that human beings have been mortal ever since the Fall. In his fallen condition, man is incapable of living forever and doomed to die unless the Lord intervenes by giving him immortality. In Genesis 3:22–23, God evicts Adam and Eve from the garden so that they could not “take also of the tree of life and eat, and live forever.” But in Revelation 22:2 access to the tree of life is restored—but only for the inhabitants of New Jerusalem. Proponents of conditional immortality believe the lost will indeed be resurrected, but to judgment, not to life (John 5:29). Only those covered by the blood of Christ will be raised immortal, unable to die any more (Luke 20:35–36); only those who are being made fit to “inherit the kingdom of God” will be made imperishable and immortal (1 Corinthians 15:50, 53). Thus, immortality and enduring life are conditioned upon salvation. The lost will not live forever, according to conditionalists.
As you can see, these folk want to sound loving and caring. They believe that eternal life is only for the saved and that the price for that eternal existence with Jesus was only meant for those who accept His death on the cross. There is no life after death to anyone else:
Integral to all orthodox views of the atonement is the idea of substitution. In atoning for our sins, Jesus took our place, suffering what we would have otherwise suffered. Conditionalists argue that it stands to reason, then, that what Christ bore on our behalf is the fate that awaits those who refuse His gift. The biblical testimony is that Christ’s substitutionary atoning work consisted in His death. Paul says that “Christ died for the ungodly” (Romans 5:6) and that His death is “of first importance” (1 Corinthians 15:3). The fact of Christ’s substitutionary, bodily death is also taught by Peter (1 Peter 3:18) and the author of Hebrews (Hebrews 10:10). Conditionalists argue that therefore the risen lost must literally die a second time: if in dying Jesus took our place, how can it be said that the penalty for unbelief is eternal life in hell? If Jesus died in the place of sinners, then the fate that awaits those who reject Him is death, not life.
Eternal Death

These people make their case by citing many passages that talk about eternal death, not life for the unsaved:
Conditionalists point further to the many passages in the Bible that promise death and destruction to the wicked. God “gave His only Son” not so that believers should escape eternal torment but so that they “should not perish” (John 3:16). Paul says, “The wages of sin is death”—not living forever in torment (Romans 6:23). Jesus tells us in Matthew 10:28 to fear God who “can destroy both soul and body in hell.” He says in Matthew 7:13—14 that the narrow and difficult path leads to “life,” while the wide and easy path leads to “destruction.” In Jesus’ parable of the wheat and the tares, the weeds are “burned up” or “consumed” (Matthew 13:30) by fire, which Jesus interprets as meaning that the unrighteous will be thrown into a fiery furnace (verses 40–42). This is an allusion to Malachi 4:1–3, which promises that the wicked will be reduced by fire to ashes beneath the feet of the righteous. Peter says that, in condemning Sodom and Gomorrah to destruction by burning them to ashes, He “made them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly” (2 Peter 2:6). The residents of Sodom and Gomorrah were incinerated. Therefore, the ungodly will not live forever in ruin; they will be utterly destroyed.
They appear to have a point and they see even verses that seem to support the eternal punishment as proof for their view:

There are other texts that are often cited as challenges to conditional immortality, but which conditionalists contend are better support for their view. For example, Isaiah 66:24 speaks of unquenchable fire and undying worms that consume “corpses.” Proponents of conditional immortality point out that corpses are dead, not living, and that elsewhere in Scripture inextinguishable fire and unstoppable scavengers completely consume (Ezekiel 20:47–48; Jeremiah 17:27; Amos 5:6; Deuteronomy 28:26; Jeremiah 7:33). Further, Isaiah says these corpses will be “abhorrent” (NET) to the living righteous, the same word used of the wicked in Daniel 12:2, which promises that only the righteous will be granted eternal life. The same promise is made in Matthew 25:46, where “eternal punishment” must therefore be eternal capital punishment. Conditionalists believe this conclusion is confirmed by Paul in 2 Thessalonians 1:9, which says that the punishment of the wicked will be “eternal destruction.” They argue that “eternal punishment” and “eternal destruction” do not imply ongoing activity any more than “eternal salvation” and “eternal redemption” imply ongoing saving or redeeming in Hebrews 5:9 and 9:12. Conditionalists also contend that the eternal torment in the lake of fire in Revelation 20:10 is not literal but imagery that John and God interpret as a symbol for the “second death” (Revelation 20:14; 21:8).

For the most part, gotquestions.org doesn’t see the need to quibble over either view and they state that clearly. I think they are wrong for a variety of reasons, but now you know the view Cameron is supporting now. These views leave out the Scripture references that don’t make their case, though.

Sinners Will Live Forever

Like I said, gotquestions.org is a good source and they make the case for Hell being real and a place that the sinner would do well to avoid:

The reality of hell was taught by Jesus. His warnings about hell are unambiguous in passages such as Matthew 5:22, Mark 9:47–48, and Luke 12:5. Pastor Alistair Begg draws this conclusion: “Is Jesus Christ true in what He says? And if we start from that premise, then we simply can’t excise the hard parts out of it. We’ve got to take him at his word. So that the most loving person who has ever lived spoke so straightforwardly about the awfulness of hell” (https://youtu.be/ycrg9Q8x8dc, accessed 6/14/25).
The Bible is extremely clear on the existence of hell and how long the ungodly live there:
The punishment of the wicked dead in hell is described in Scripture as “eternal fire” (Matthew 25:41), “unquenchable fire” (Matthew 3:12), “shame and everlasting contempt” (Daniel 12:2), a place where “the fire is not quenched” (Mark 9:48), a place of “torment” and “fire” (Luke 16:23–24), “everlasting destruction” (2 Thessalonians 1:9), a place of “burning sulfur” where “the smoke of . . . torment will rise forever and ever” (Revelation 14:10–11), and a “lake of burning sulfur” where the wicked are “tormented day and night forever and ever” (Revelation 20:10). The punishment of the wicked in hell is as never-ending as the bliss of the righteous in heaven. Jesus Himself indicates that punishment in hell is just as everlasting as life in heaven (Matthew 25:46). The wicked are forever subject to the fury and the wrath of God. Those in hell will acknowledge the perfect justice of God and the lordship of Jesus Christ, the Savior they rejected (Psalm 76:10; Philippians 2:10–11). Yes, hell is real. Yes, hell is a place of torment and punishment that lasts forever and ever, with no end.

As for me, I intend to avoid living there and so should you!

There’s Coming A Time

In an article about Paul’s admonition from gotquestions.org we’re warned about times like this

Paul warns Timothy, an elder of the church in Ephesus, that there will come a time when people “will not endure sound doctrine” (2 Timothy 4:3, NKJV); instead, “they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.” The idea of “enduring” sound teaching has to do with “tolerating” it or putting up with it. In other words, people will refuse to listen to what is good and right. They will be intolerant of the truth.
Context is king so reading the previous verses is in order:
Prior to the warning, Paul establishes the source and utility of the Scriptures. The Scriptures are from the mouth of God, or God-breathed, and are beneficial for teaching, among other things, which leads to the maturing and equipping of the Christian (2 Timothy 3:16–17). This maturing and equipping has the purpose of allowing the believer to complete every good work that God has ordained.
Paul then tells Timothy to prepare for these errors and those who teach them and be ready to use the Bible to counter them:
Paul exhorts Timothy to be ready to proclaim the Scriptures at all times (2 Timothy 4:1–2), exhorting and correcting others by using the Word of God. Timothy is to study, practice, and then teach the Scriptures (cf. Ezra 7:10).

A Time Of Urgency

I think with all the availability of incorrect teaching we are living in the days Paul talks about more than at any previous time:

In 2 Timothy 4:3, Paul provides the reason for urgency in such a task: “For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine.”
The Greek word translated “doctrine” is simply referring to “teaching” or “instruction.” Often, teaching and instruction systematized is understood as doctrine. The Greek word translated as “sound” can also be understood as “healthy” or “free from error.” Paul is warning Timothy that there will come a time when people will not desire to hear true or correct teaching—teaching that accords with reality. Instead, “they will follow their own desires and will look for teachers who will tell them whatever their itching ears want to hear” (2 Timothy 4:3, NLT).

Trust me when you peruse the comments for their videos, you’ll see those who have itching ears. All people, teachers and hearers need to heed these admonitions to stay on the right path:
It is important that we, as teachers and learners, heed the words of Paul in 2 Timothy 4:3. As teachers, we must teach sound doctrine, holding to the truths of Scripture regardless of the consequences. As learners, we must seek sound doctrine and receive it, if we are to live according to the truth. The learner’s desires must take a back seat to the truths of Scripture. Prayerfully, as the learner matures and is transformed by the renewing of the mind, his or her desires align more and more with the sound doctrine of Scripture.
We need to make certain that our desires don’t lead us. We need to control our desires so that they conform to wanting the truth:
It is beneficial for the learner to desire sound doctrine. It is also important for the learner to test what is being taught. During Paul’s second missionary journey, he travelled across Greece, proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ to all. Many believed in the gospel (Acts 17:4). Paul eventually reached the town of Berea where he also presented the gospel. The Bereans notably received Paul with eagerness, and they “examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true” (verse 11). The Bereans are a perfect example of how the learner ought to desire sound doctrine and examine the Bible to test whether an unfamiliar doctrine is truly sound.

Pardon me when I tell you that we need to get testy. As in testing the words these leaders are now putting out against what the Bible teaches. So, the final verdict on Hell is it is very real, eternal and a place to avoid at all costs.