Andy Naselli

Thoughts on Theology

hell

Six Videos and Related Resources

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When Alex Crain asked me some questions about Four Views on the Spectrum of Evangelicalism back in April, he also asked six other questions:

1. What is the gospel? How can God save me?

Related:

  1. “The Definition of the Gospel” (a talk I gave at a conference on April 8, 2011). Outline (3-page PDF).
  2. D. A. Carson. “The Biblical Gospel.” Pages 75–85 in For Such a Time as This: Perspectives on Evangelicalism, Past, Present and Future. Edited by Steve Brady and Harold Rowdon. London: Evangelical Alliance, 1996.
  3. ———. “The Gospel of Jesus Christ (1 Cor 15:1–19).” May 23, 2007. Text, audio, and video available. (A lightly edited manuscript of a sermon preached at The Gospel Coalition’s conference in Deerfield, IL.)
  4. ———.  “What Is the Gospel?—Revisited.” Pages 147–70 in For the Fame of God’s Name: Essays in Honor of John Piper. Edited by Sam Storms and Justin Taylor. Wheaton: Crossway, 2010.
  5. Greg Gilbert. What Is the Gospel? IX Marks. Wheaton: Crossway, 2010.  (Foreword by D. A. Carson. Small, short (127 pp.), clear.)
  6. Milton Vincent. A Gospel Primer for Christians: Learning to See the Glories of God’s Love. Bemidji, MN: Focus, 2008.  (Cf. my review.)

2. Are Mormons Christian?

Related:

  1. Ron Rhodes, “The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormonism),” in The ESV Study Bible (Wheaton: Crossway Bibles, 2008), 2631–32.
  2. The Southern Baptist Journal of Theology 9:2 (Summer 2005) [Read more…] about Six Videos and Related Resources

A Sonnet on Hell

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D. A. Carson, Holy Sonnets of the Twentieth Century (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1994), 117 (reflecting on Rev 14:9–11; 21:8):

There are no friends in hell: the residents
With zeal display self-love’s destructive art
In narcissistic rage. The better part,
The milk of human kindness, no defense
Against a graceless world, robbed of pretense,
Decays and burns away. To have a heart
Whose every beat demands that God depart—
This is both final curse and gross offense.

Say not that metaphor’s inadequate,
A fearful mask that hides a lake less grim:
Relentless, pain-streaked language seeks to cut
A swath to bleak despair, devoid of him.

This second death’s a wretched, endless thing,
Eternal winter with no hope of spring.

How Should We Interpret the New Testament’s Graphic Descriptions of Hell?

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I attempt to answer that question in the latest 9Marks eJournal: Hell: Remembering the Awful Reality [PDF | HTML].

“Hellfire and Brimstone: Interpreting the New Testament’s Descriptions of Hell.” 9Marks eJournal 7:4 (September–October 2010): 16–19. [PDF | HTML]

Introduction:

The New Testament graphically and horrifically describes hell. And that raises a thorny question: How should we interpret those dreadful images? May we simply label them “metaphors” to soften their bite?

Outline:

  1. How does the New Testament describe hell? [five ways]
  2. How do people interpret the New Testament’s horrific descriptions of hell? [three ways]
  3. How should we interpret the New Testament’s horrific descriptions of hell? [two of the three ways are plausible]

Conclusion:

We may disagree about some finer nuances of our literal and metaphorical interpretations of hell’s darkness, fire, and suffering, but we should agree that, at the very least, the New Testament teaches that hell is eternally miserable, terrifying, and painful. It’s certainly no better than being cast into literal “outer darkness” or being tormented with literal “fire and sulfur.”

More.

What Is Hell?

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I’ve been studying the doctrine of hell recently to prepare to write a short article on the topic, and this is the finest overview of this difficult doctrine that I’ve read:

Christopher W. Morgan and Robert A. Peterson. What Is Hell? Basics of the Faith Series. Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing, 2010. 36 pp. [Amazon | WTS Books]

Here’s an outline of this little book:

1. Would a loving God really send good people to hell?

Answer: That’s “the wrong question, and it leads people to wrong answers. The right question, the one that Paul answers in Romans, is, ‘How can a loving and just God declare the guilty to be right with him?’ Or, ‘How can those who deserve hell go to heaven?'” (p. 10).

2. What does the Bible teach about hell?