The Highway Forums General Discussion Theology Discussion Forum Eternal Conscious Torment vs Conditionalism

Just a brief note and a few of references that address the matter of "immortality" and the end of the wicked:

1. A necessary reminder concerning biblical hermeneutics (interpretation of Scripture); a) the Bible and the Bible alone determines how it is to be interpreted. God gave us the written word and also the means to understand how it is to be read and to provide wisdom. b) The didactic (teaching and propositional statements ALWAYS interpret the symbolic).

2. The statements concerning the end of man; the judgment, heaven, hell, new heave and new earth have proposition facts of each that should be the basis upon which we can learn and conclude questions concerning "immortality", punishment, objects of who will be affected, etc. (note: like the word "eternal" and "everlasting" which can mean without beginning or end, e.g., pertaining to God's nature, or man which has a beginning but no end, immortal also has a beginning but no end. Only God has no beginning, but man, covenants, etc. always have a beginning but may have an end or no end. CONTEXT must determine the definition.

Okay, just a few references that are relevant to the discussion:

- Do the Flames Ever Stop in Hell? by John Zens

- The Morality of Everlasting Punishment by Mark R. Talbot

- The Positive and Explicit Nature of Christ’s Teaching Concerning Eternal Punishment

Immorality by Loraine Boettner
- Physical Death
- Immortality
- The Intermediate State

-The Rationale of Hell by John H. Gerstner