Fudging Hell

I have not read the book by Edward Fudge called Hell: A Final Word, but according to reviewers, he sees “destruction” as the ruling image in the texts about hell. Death is the outcome, and the absence of life is the outcome for the wicked. For Fudge the emphasis in the Bible is a fire that consumes or destroys, not a fire that purges or that torments. He rejects the popular idea of Eternal Conscious Torment (ECT).

I agree with Fudge. When I did a detailed study of all the biblical reference to the afterlife several years ago, I was surprised at how many clear textual descriptions there are and how clear they are about “destruction”. Even the favourite verse John 3:16 refers to “perishing”.

Jesus and John both used powerful images like Gehenna and fire, to enhance their communication. These images are capable of various interpretations, eg fire can represent pain, purifications or destruction. The problem is that Christians have used the images without considering the clearer textual descriptions. We should work the other way round, and use the textual descriptions to interpret the emotive images. I discuss this more fully in hell.