Perspicacity and Ignorance

/ RazorsKiss / 4 Comments

If I assert that there is a black cat in the closet, and you assert that nobody knows what is in the closet, you have virtually told me that I am wrong in my hypothesis. So when I tell Mr. Black that God exists, and he responds very graciously by saying that perhaps I am right since nobody knows what is in the “Beyond,” he is virtually saying that I am wrong in my hypothesis. He is obviously thinking of such a god as could comfortably live in the realm of chance. But the God of Scripture cannot live in

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The Second Paragraph of The Fire That Consumes

/ RazorsKiss / 0 Comments

“In the public square, fire and brimstone are definitely out of vogue. Hell shows up in conversation often enough, but generally as an expletive rather than as a serious subject. Hell is not unique in this regard – the same can be said of Jesus Christ. More troubling than hell’s absence from secular society is its general disappearance from many Christian pulpits. Interestingly, although nearly all evangelical pastors and teachers firmly believe that Jesus will ‘come to judge the living and the dead,’ a considerable number of them cannot remember when they last preached or taught on the subject. Might

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Gill on Sheol

/ RazorsKiss / 0 Comments

Another name or word by which it is expressed, is Sheol, which is often rendered the “grave”; as in Genesis 42:38 and 44:31 and should be where it is sometimes translated “hell,” as in Psalm 16:10 yet in some places it seems as if it could not be understood of that, but of the state or place of punishment of the wicked; as in Psalm 9:17. “The wicked shall be turned into hell”: now to be turned into the earth, or to be laid in the grave, is not peculiar to wicked men; it is the common lot of all,

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Debate Update

/ RazorsKiss / 0 Comments

Chris Date and I have agreed that the debate will be held on June 16, 11:30 AM PST.

That’s it 🙂…

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Annihilationism: Universalism and The Reality of Eternal Punishment: The Biblical Basis of the Doctrine of Eternal Punishment by Sinclair Ferguson

/ C. L. Bolt

http://www.desiringgod.org/resource-library/conference-messages/universalism-and-the-reality-of-eternal-punishment-the-biblical-basis-of-the-doctrine-of-eternal-punishment

Now you see the point that is being made: if you believe in the immortality of the soul, then it’s necessary for you to do something in your theology with that immortal soul that rejects God.

In contrast, it is claimed, the New Testament’s teaching is different. We are to fear him who is able to “destroy” body and soul in hell, and this is what he will do. And it’s vital that we have a biblical response to that.

And it seems to me that the biblical response to that is this: that the immortality of man—which of

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Annihilationism: ἀπόλλυμι word study by Anthony A. Hoekema

/ C. L. Bolt

(1)    Sometimes apollumi  simply means to be lost. It is so used in the three “lost” parables in Luke 15, to designate the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the lost son. In the case of the sin, his being lost meant that he was lost to the fellowship of his father since he went against his father’s purpose.

(2)    The word apollumi may be applied in a somewhat related way to mean become useless. So in Matthew 9:17 it is used to show what happens to old wineskins when you pour new wine into them: the skins

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The central verses for the doctrine of Hell.

/ RazorsKiss / 2 Comments

Under the systematic heading of eschatology, there are topics more controversial, but none more hated than the doctrine of Hell. The doctrine of Hell is more repulsive to the natural man than any other doctrine save that of the holiness and sovereignty of God. In fact, the two are tied together with unbreakable bonds. All of Theology proper is bound up with the doctrines of Eschatology, as are all of the doctrines of Christology, Soteriology, Anthropology, and even Ecclesiology similarly bound. What affects one, affects the others unalterably. Christianity is a cohesive, coherent unit, therefore the modification of one doctrine …

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Chris Date Receives Bad Advice

/ C. L. Bolt / 23 Comments

Chris Date (not to be confused with Chris Bolt!) is an annihilationist who will be debating Choosing Hats contributor RazorsKiss on the following resolution: “The final punishment of the risen wicked will be annihilation, the permanent end to the conscious existence of the entire person.”

See for example:

https://choosinghats.org/2012/04/debate-annihilationism-with-chris-date

https://choosinghats.org/2012/04/initial-thoughts-on-the-upcoming-debate

https://choosinghats.org/2012/04/against-heresies

When I came home tonight I saw a trackback to a post where Date quotes what is in his words some of the “best advice” he has received concerning the upcoming debate:

http://www.theopologetics.com/2012/04/10/some-of-the-best-advice-ive-received

I am not familiar with Date. I do not intend to be rude. However, Date …

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Initial Thoughts on the Upcoming Debate

/ RazorsKiss / 5 Comments

I’m finding lots of commentary by folks who want to somehow separate the doctrine of the soul’s immortality from the doctrine of eternal punishment. Since, after all, we believe in Sola Scriptura, that necessarily includes “Tota Scriptura”, and the necessary relation of every doctrine to the others. This is a fundamental point of Reformed theology. No doctrine exists in isolation. The denial, or modification of one doctrine will quite necessarily have an effect on a host of others, due to the nature of Scripture, and the theology we affirm from it. In the introduction to Van Til’s Christian Theistic Evidences…

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Debate: Annihilationism, with Chris Date

/ RazorsKiss / 30 Comments

Chris Date is the host of the Theopologetics podcast, and says that he has been convinced over the past year of the truth of annihilationism, sought out the best arguments he could find, and found them lacking. He will be defending the following:

Resolution: “The final punishment of the risen wicked will be annihilation, the permanent end to the conscious existence of the entire person.”

The debate is tentatively scheduled for June, with a fairly standard debate format, to include Q&A from questions submitted beforehand.

Format:

  • 20-minute opening affirmative
  • 20-minute opening negative
  • 10-minute rebuttal affirmative
  • 10-minute rebuttal negative
    • … Read more