The Fire That Consumes: A Biblical and Historical Study of the Doctrine of Final Punishment, 3rd ed.

by Edward William Fudge

Publisher:

Cascade Books

, 2011

Overview

Evangelical Christians affirm together that a dreadful destiny awaits those who reject God's grace throughout life. According to the traditional view, that destiny will involve unending conscious torment in hell. However, believers are increasingly questioning that understanding, as both unbiblical and inconsistent with the character of God revealed in the Scriptures and in the man Jesus Christ.

This internationally acclaimed book—now fully updated, revised, and expanded—carefully examines the complete teaching of Scripture on the subject of final punishment. It concludes that hell is a place of total annihilation, everlasting destruction, although the destructive process encompasses conscious torment of whatever sort, intensity, and duration God might require in each individual case.

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Key Features

• Addresses conflicting views on hell
• Examines hell from a Scriptural basis
• Includes a bibliography and indexes of authors, Scriptures, and other ancient documents

Contents

• Rethinking Hell: Apostasy or New Reformation?
• Back to the Bible: The Protestant Principle
• Souls: Immortal or Otherwise
• Aionios: Duration, Quality, or Both?
• Sheol/Hades: Gravedom?
• Divine Justice: When?
• Divine Justice: Historical Examples
• Divine Justice: Messiah and the End
• Diversity: Apocrypha and Dead Sea Scrolls
• Diversity: Pseudepigrapha
• Jesus: Fire (Gehenna)
• Jesus: Fire (Gehenna Not Named)
• Jesus: Fire (Parable of the Sheep and the Goats)
• Jesus: Fire (Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus)
• Jesus: Non-Fire Images
• Golgotha: Judgment Revealed (1)
• Golgotha: Judgment Revealed (2)
• Thessalonians
• Galatians and Corinthians
• Romans, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians
• Hebrews, James, Acts
• 1–2 Peter, 1–3 John, Jude
• Revelation
• Apostolic Fathers and Their Successors
• The Apologists: A Fire That Torments
• Apokatastasis: A Fire That Purifies
• Arnobius to Augustine
• Augustine's Case for Unending Torment
• Middle Ages to Reformation
• John Calvin: Psychopannychia
• An Old Tradition Questioned
• Roots of the Current Recovery
• The Evangelical Recovery Continues
• A Kinder and Gentler Traditionalism
• Refreshing the Memory
• Afterword

Top Highlights

“‘One issue alone divides traditionalists and conditionalists: Does Scripture teach that God will make the wicked immortal, to suffer unending conscious torment in hell? Or does the Bible teach that the wicked will finally and truly die, perish, and become extinct forever, through a destructive process that encompasses whatever degree and duration of conscious torment God might sovereignly and justly impose in each individual case?’” (Pages ix–x)

“And although the doctrine that every soul is immortal is still the majority view, it is increasingly regarded as a post-apostolic innovation—not only unnecessary but positively harmful to proper biblical interpretation and understanding.²⁷ Critics patiently explain that the traditional view of immortal souls is without support either from Scripture²⁸ or even from human wisdom.²⁹ These critics often quote the passages of Scripture that speak of human immortality, noting that in every instance immortality is associated with the glorified resurrection body still future, never to the soul or spirit at present. And, they also observe, the Bible always speaks of human immortality as God’s gift to the saved, never as an inherent quality or birthright of every person born into the world.” (Pages 23–24)

“God will not forever be destroying, but when the destroying is over, the destruction will endure forever.” (Page 41)

“The immortality of the soul became a subject of intense controversy during the Reformation, but the convergence of Calvin’s vehemence, Luther’s reticence, and the antipathy of both men toward the Anabaptists, resulted in the inclusion of Catholic traditionalism into the new Protestant creeds and eventually into unquestioned Protestant ‘orthodoxy.’ Despite the traditionalists’ nuanced definition of immortality, some major theologians have built their doctrine of unending conscious torment directly on the foundation of immortal souls.” (Page 22)

Praise for the Print Edition

I commend this book warmly. It is likely to remain a standard work to which everyone engaged with this issue will constantly return.

—Richard Bauckham, Emeritus Professor of New Testament Studies, University of Saint Andrews

The Fire That Consumes has long been recognized as one of the most thorough and compelling statements available of the view that the destiny of the unsaved will be final destruction rather than eternal torment. In this new edition, Edward Fudge provides extended engagement with traditionalist critics and an overview of developments in the last thirty years ensuring that it will remain a definitive work on the issue for years to come.

—John R. Franke, Theologian in Residence, First Presbyterian Church, Allentown, PA

Product Details

• Title: The Fire That Consumes: A Biblical and Historical Study of the Doctrine of Final Punishment
• Author: Edward William Fudge
• Edition: Third
• Publisher: Wipf & Stock
• Publication Date: 2011
• Pages: 420

About Edward William Fudge

Edward William Fudge is a Christian theologian, Bible teacher, author, and, for more than twenty years, a practicing attorney. He maintains an international internet ministry, Edward Fudge Ministries.