Zondervan published a second edition of their four views of hell book and added universalism for evangelicals to consider. Denny Burk holds the eternal conscious torment view, John Stackhouse the terminal punishment view, Robin Perry a universalist view, and Jerry Walls a hell and purgatory view. Robin Perry's new voice to the conversation is unique because he raises a host of issues like the Bible supports various texts on everlasting punishment, annihilation, and universal restoration. How one deals with this diversity and the divergent imagery of hell in Scripture will tell where people end up in their conclusions.
Perry tries to do justice to the full scope of the biblical witness which means he acknowledges both hell as conscious and punishment and as purification and restorative. He understands the destruction imagery as part of God's purging process and not just as punishment. One could say for Perry that there are three main views, the tormenters (traditional), the terminators (annihilationists) and transformers (universalists). Where Perry tries to harmonize the biblical witness, it seems many others either proof-text, or silence or ignore various texts. One may disagree with Perry conclusions but he does a wonderful job showing the depth and richness of Scripture.
The only way to reconcile divine love with divine victory is universalism for Perry. One wonders if this has to be a dogmatic conclusion or deductive logic from scripture or maybe simply a blessed hope for the future since Perry freely acknowledges that Scripture does not directly teach full blown universalism. "So if universalism is not true, it seems to me that the pressure is on to surrender either the claim that God is love or the claim that God completely wins" (p.90, Four Views on Hell).
No comments:
Post a Comment