“Four Views on Hell” is a book that consist of four different views on hell, as obviously stated by the title. The four views are: eternal conscious torment, terminal punishment, universalist view, and hell and purgatory. Four different authors contributed to the book: Denny Burk, John G. Stackhouse Jr., Robin A. Parry, and Jerry L. Walls. Denny Burk is an associates pastor at Kenwood Baptist Church and a Professor of Biblical Studies at Boyce College. John Stackhouse Jr. is a public communicator and award-winning scholar. Robin Parry is a Christian Theologian. Jerry L. Walls is a Professor of Philosophy at Houston Baptist University. This essay will summarize all four views of hell from the book and I will explain which two positions I believe are the best. “Eternal Conscious Torment” is the first position of hell in “Four Views on Hell” and was written by Denny Burk. In the chapter, Burk explains how hell is the final state of the damned and is made up of three parts: final separation, unending experience, and just retribution. Final separation is when the people who choose not to follow Jesus are forever removed from the presence of God’s
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wrote the second position in “Four Views on Hell” about terminal judgement. In the chapter John talks about how he believes in terminal judgement, which he defines as “the view that hell is the situation in which those who do not avail themselves of the atonement made by Jesus in his suffering and death must make their own atonement by suffering and then death, separated from the sustaining life of God and thus disappearing from the Cosmos” (Stackhouse Jr. 61). Stackhouse claims that terminal punishment is the view of hell most warranted by scripture. In the chapter it states that Christians view hell as eternal, but what does the bible mean by eternal. “In the old testament there are ordinances, rituals, and institutions described as eternal, but they clearly do not last forever” (Stackhouse Jr.
wrote the second position in “Four Views on Hell” about terminal judgement. In the chapter John talks about how he believes in terminal judgement, which he defines as “the view that hell is the situation in which those who do not avail themselves of the atonement made by Jesus in his suffering and death must make their own atonement by suffering and then death, separated from the sustaining life of God and thus disappearing from the Cosmos” (Stackhouse Jr. 61). Stackhouse claims that terminal punishment is the view of hell most warranted by scripture. In the chapter it states that Christians view hell as eternal, but what does the bible mean by eternal. “In the old testament there are ordinances, rituals, and institutions described as eternal, but they clearly do not last forever” (Stackhouse Jr.