c

LIBERTY UNIVERSITY

FOUR VIEWS ON HELL

A BOOK REVIEW SUBMITTED TO DR. SAMUEL HOYT

IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE CLASS

SYSTEMATIC THEOLOGY II ± THEO 530

LIBERTY BAPTIST THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY

BY

DAVID W. RHODES

FLORENCE, SC

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2010

 
  c
 

Crockett, William V. (General Editor). à
 

. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1996.

Ô c 

William Crockett serves dual roles as general editor as well as being one of the four

contributing authors in the à
 

. He is currently professor of New Testament at

Alliance Theological Seminary in Nyack, NY. The other three contributing authors are John

Walvoord, who was the president of Dallas Theological Seminary for 34 years and is a prolific

dispensational writer, Friar Zachary Hayes who studied under Pope Benedict XVI and currently

teaches at Catholic Theological in Chicago and Clark Pinnock who is a noted evangelical author

supporting open theism and is Professor Emeritus of Systematic Theology at McMaster Divinity

College.1

á  c 

As the title of the book suggests, à
  

 presents four independent

viewpoints on Hell: the literal view, the metaphorical view, the purgatorial view and finally the

conditional view. à
  

 is a ³Counterpoint´ series book with each of the four

writers representing four different views on Hell. Each contributing author writes a chapter

explaining and defending their individual viewpoint. At the end of each chapter the other three

authors present their responses. Each of these viewpoints is written by recognized scholars in

their field of research.

1
Zondervan , ³Authors Information´, Zondervan Online. Home page on-line. Available from www.zondervan.com
 The first viewpoint to be addressed is the literal view, sometimes referred to as the

³Orthodox´ view.2 In this view, Walvoord presents and defends the position that Hell is a literal

place where eternal punishment is placed upon the wicked. This eternal punishment and

judgment is carried out in a fiery and dark place just as described in the Bible in the book of

Matthew.3 Walvoord is dogmatic in his view with descriptions of the horrors of Hell that are

found in the Gospel of Matthew and the rest of the Bible is ³literally´ true. Everlasting and

terrible levels of torture are required by " 
      

  

"4 In this chapter he makes a strong argument for his literal view by explaining the

concept of hell in the Old and New Testament and in the intertestamental period as well. These

arguments are based on various accounts of Scriptures. Walvoord explains to the reader that

Jesus himself spoke more about eternal punishment than any other prophet in the New

Testament.5

The second view of a ³metaphorical´ Hell is presented by Crockett. He defends the

position that a metaphorical view does not imply any reduction in the inerrancy and trust of the

Bible, but merely positions the interpretation of the Scriptures in a manner that is more

responsible. Crockett contends the images presented in the Bible were written in such a manner

to allow the reader to better understand the possible abstract concepts of Hell. One of the

strongest arguments made for the metaphorical view is that it is almost impossible to take the

descriptions of Hell completely literally in the first place, since it seems contradictory that Hell

should simultaneously be a place of fire and of darkness6, and since Satan and other demons are

2
William Crockett, à
 
, (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1996), 12.
3
Matt. 8:12, Matt. 22:13, Matt. 25:30
4
Crockett,
, 12.
5
Ibid., 19.
6
Ibid., 59.
said to suffer the fire in Hell, even though they lack material bodies which give physical pain

significance.7

Hayes presents the Roman Catholic viewpoint of purgatory in the third chapter.

Purgatory is presented as a place of cleansing and purification for those that are not ready to

meet with an eternal and holy God. He establishes this point by using Biblical reference to

explain that there is a place in between death and heaven. Hayes readily admits this ³in between"

is not direct Scripture, but rather is implied in the verses that he references (Matt. 12:31-32, 1

Cor. 13:15).8 He goes on to make the point that it is not sufficient to create dogma on the basis

of Scripture alone and that divine revelation should be a part of the overall process.

In the fourth and final chapter, Pinnock argues the conditional viewpoint which states that

the punishment and judgment will not be eternal and everlasting. Instead, he positions that the

lost and wicked will be totally destroyed or annihilated by the fiery Hell and there will be no sin

or evil in eternity. Pinnock acknowledges this controversial viewpoint was very rare among

early Christians, but argues that tradition is not infallible and the arguments for this position must

be considered on their own rights. The basis for his argument in favor of a conditional viewpoint

stems from a philosophy and dissatisfaction that exists with the tension between God¶s love and

mercy with eternal pain and suffering. These arguments are largely based on Scriptures that

speak about a permanent death and final destruction of the wicked (2 Peter 3:7; 2 Thess. 1:9;

1Cor. 3:17; Rom. 1:32; 6:23).9

7
Ibid., 61.
8
Ibid., 104-106.
9
Ibid., 146.

  c

When reading à
  

 from a purely objective perspective it is amazing to

see how the different authors, who all see the Bible as the absolute authoritative Word of God,

present the same Scriptural data in such contrasting fashion. By presenting the four views in this

manner and not offering commentary on which one is correct or most biblical, this book

accomplishes its overall objective. These different approaches make the book as much a study in

theological method as in eschatology.10 Of course, with this style and format there are inherent

weaknesses as well. This book would have greatly benefited by giving each author the last word

to respond to the critical response from the other three authors.

Of the four views, Walvoord¶s literal view presents the most comprehensive and specific

use of biblical text. The consistent use of Scripture is the foundation of his argument for the

literal view and convincingly provides the reader with an easy path to follow by simply reading

along. While thorough explanation of the text is indeed given as they relate to the topic, he does

not go into great depth to support the viewpoint. Hayes is quick to break up this easy path by

stating that the use of biblical text can be used to prove just about anything a person wants to

prove.11 Another major weakness of his literal view position is, as Crockett presents, the use of

many metaphorical images throughout the Bible.

Crockett¶s presentation is well balanced and well researched, thus providing the reader

with a reasonable understanding of the metaphorical viewpoint. Perhaps one of the strongest

points made by Crockett is that his metaphorical view in no way compromises one¶s trust in the

Bible. He is also the only author of the four to include the perspective of how Jesus¶ sayings

should be interpreted within a framework of the biblical world and not today¶s modern world.

10
Pyne, Robert A. "Four views on hell."     150, no. 600 (October 1, 1993): 500
11
Crockett,
, 32-33.
Crockett effectively uses appropriate Scriptural references in such a manner that the reader has

no choice but to agree with his position that certain biblical passages must be viewed in a

symbolic or metaphorical manner, otherwise they simply do not make sense. He is very

effective in communicating his belief that while there is a Hell, it is not one of fire and darkness

and is a place reserved only for the wicked. He concludes by leaving the reader with the clear

understanding that Hell will be an eternal punishment and separation from God for the unsaved,

yet does not provide the imagery of what Hell will be like for these people.

It is fair to say there are many Christians in this world that automatically associate

purgatory as a just another name for Hell and do not understand the Roman Catholic Church¶s

position. Hayes¶ presentation of the purgatory viewpoint seems to skate around the fundamental

issue of Hell itself. While the reading is interesting from an educational perspective, when the

author readily admits the concept of purgatory does not exist in the Bible, he loses a great deal of

credibility. As pointed out by the other authors in the critique section, the purgatory concept

ultimately depends on the works of a person and not the grace of God. Overall, the viewpoint of

purgatory misses the mark by a wide margin.

In the final view, Pinnock provides an understandable overview of texts and thematic

arguments in support of his conditional view that the duration of one¶s sins is determined by the

seriousness and will ultimately cease to exist in any form. His passion against a literal

conscience suffering for eternity in Hell can clearly be felt. While he openly admits his view is

controversial and rare, he also conveys a condescending attitude towards the other viewpoints.

Despite this attitude, his reference to Scripture is valid and he makes a very strong argument for

his view built around how a God of love and mercy could ever allow eternal suffering of His

own creation. This position is largely built upon emotional and philosophical claims, rather than
factual truth and opens the door for much scholarly debate. Additionally, there is no biblical

support for his position of any rejoicing for the suffering of the wicked.

Overall, à
 
 is a solid book that should be read by all Christians. While I

personally do not agree with some of the views and arguments presented, I was able to remain

engaged through the entire book, follow the author¶s line of reasoning and develop an

understanding of their viewpoints. Furthermore, those alternative positions I did not agree with

did cause me to think about what was being presented. This was accomplished by the fact that

all of the authors were grounded by using Scripture.

This book is one that should have been longer, with more interaction and debate among

the authors to provide the reader with more thought provoking information. As today¶s pastors

generally steer clear of the topic of Hell altogether, we need more insightful education to equip

God¶s army. à
  

 is a good start, but we need much more deeply rooted

theological books on this subject to be properly equipped.