Dr Paul Allen

This article is about two views of punishment in Hell.  ANNIHILATIONISM (CONDITIONAL IMMORTALITY) VS UNENDING CONSCIOUS TORMENT IN HELL (TRADITIONALIST DOCTRINE) Pinnock argues his case below:  The principles of justice also pose a serious problem for the traditional doctrine of the nature of hell because it depicts God acting unjustly. Like morality, it raises questions about God’s character and offends our sense of natural justice.  Hell as annihilation, on the other hand, does not.   W hat lifestyle, what set of actions, would deserve the ultimate of penalties—everlasting conscious punishment? It is easy to accept that annihilation might be deserved by those whose lives turned in a definitive No to God, but it is hard to accept hell as everlasting conscious torment with no hope of escape or remittance as a just punishment for anything.  It is too heavy a sentence and cannot be successfully defended as a just action on God’s part. Sending the wic...

The doctrine of “ reprobation ” is the teaching that God is sovereign not only over those who will come to eternal life, but also over those that will resurrect to eternal death (John  5:29 ). The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church defines  reprobation  as “The act by which God condemns sinners to eternal punishment .” The concept of reprobation is biblical, and the actual word is used in a few places (Psalm 15:4, 1 Cor  9:27 , 2 Cor 13:5-7).   T he doctrine of reprobation is best understood in contrast with the doctrine of election .  Thus the discussion of the nature of reprobation is usually had by those who already believe in election—that God chose which individuals he will save before the foundation of time. And any consideration of reprobation leads to this question: “Does God predestine people to hell?” In other words: is reprobation like election in every way except the destination? If God chooses some for heaven befo...