'Hell' - Fact or Fiction? Explorations in Human Destiny

ISBN-13: 9781844016877 / Angielski / Miękka / 2006 / 108 str.

David Clayton

Opis

Soon as from earth I gowhat will become of me?Eternal happiness or woemust then my portion be.Charles Wesleys words from his moving hymn, Idumea, seem to encapsulate the traditional Evangelical standpoint on the afterlife. And it is in response to such a conservative sheep and goats eschatology, as found in the Evangelical Alliances Report on the Nature of Hell (2000), that the Reverend David Clayton has penned this sensitive yet carefully argued work.From a pastoral point of view, preaching hell today is a thankless task. Punishment is an alien concept to a whole generation. Criminals are simply unlucky to get caught. So the concepts of moral obloqy and enduring punishment are alien to our modern liberal minds.David Claytons approach is theological and scripture-based. Careful analysis of key terms - condemnation, judgment, eternity and hell itself - reveals a convincing counter-argument to the traditionalists. Positing an intermediate state after death, he uses sources as diverse as Dean Farrar and Jan Bonda to offer hope of a second chance to those who have lost sight of Gods kingdom, or who have never glimpsed it, here on earth.Yes, we were born to die in Wesleys words. No, we were not fashioned in Gods likeness in order to suffer eternally. And the proof is found in the message of love preached by His son, Jesus Christ.