Free Ch. 6 Download: Woe to Those Who Harm
Chapter 6, “Woe to Those Who Harm,” is now available as a free download. The chapter argues that given evil, a full defence of the image of God in man, especially of the vulnerable, requires an eternal hell.
The chapter begins,
Amazon.ca Best-Seller
It’s a wonderful blessing to see Is There Anything Good About Hell? selling so well in Canada. Recently it hit #1 in its category (Systematic Theology) on Amazon in Canada, and #4 in Christian theology overall with the release of the Kindle E-book. Thanks everyone.
Article at The Light Magazine
Thanks you to The Light Magazine for publishing an introduction I wrote to Is There Anything Good About Hell? The article begins, “I wish there was no such thing as hell.” It was a statement written by one of my favorite bloggers, a theologically-oriented brother with whom I usually agree. The rest of the article was helpful, but this one sentence didn’t sit right in my soul. Could we simply do away with the doctrine of hell? Is the only reason we hold to the eternal punishment of the wicked – of those who fully and finally reject God in their sin – the fact that it is there in the Bible? What would we lose if we lost the doctrine of hell? See more below
Hell and Revival: A Presentation at Westwood
It was a great privilege and blessing to present the thesis of my book to Westwood Community Church where my dear friend and fellow soldier Pastor Giulio Gabelli is the Pastor. I had the opportunity in 30 minutes to present the thesis of my book with a brief overview of each of the chapters on the “good” aspects of hell, and then also to make a particular application to revival and evangelism. There are strong reasons to think that when revival comes it will be by the means of Christians speaking the truth boldly of the fruits of evil in eternal punishment. Click below to see the Facebook post and video.
With permission from and thanks to Westwood!
Reformation21 Review of “Crux, Mors, Inferi” by Renihan
Reformation21 has published my review of Samuel Renihan’s “Crux, Mors, Inferi”. It begins
Please check out the review: https://www.reformation21.org/blog/crux-mors-inferi and consider purchasing the book.
Eternal Love and Hate; Can I Have Confidence?
A believing friend recently wrote with a serious question about his own election and the question of trust in a God who eternally loves some and hates others. The following is my attempt at an answer. Chapter 9 of Is There Anything Good About Hell? contains some of these thoughts. Continue reading
Sermon: The Joy of Judgment
It was a joy preaching at Westlynne Baptist in North Vancouver, where my good friends Sam and Esther Chua minister. The text was Isaiah 30:27-33 and the title was “The Joy of Judgment.”
Degrees of Punishment in Hell
In chapter 7 of Is There Anything Good About Hell?, I argue briefly that there are degrees of punishment in hell precisely because there are degrees of sin.
Recently, I stumbled across an excellent and concise essay at The Gospel Coalition by Albert Martin and Fred Zaspel that does an excellent job of explaining the rationality of hell’s degrees of punishment. It probably doesn’t warrant an entry into the literature database, but it is worth a bit of your time. Some excerpts are selected below.
“Peerless”: Review of Hartman’s Divine Penology
Decretum Books will soon be re-publishing L. B. Hartman’s phenomenal book on justice and hell, Divine Penology (public domain), which will include a biographical introduction. This has been a fascinating project, as no significant biography of Hartman exists at present. Appendix B in the new publication is a glowing review from Christian Work: Illustrated Family Newspaper, Vol. 67, in 1899, which captures many of my own thoughts about the work, idiosyncratic as it is. It is printed here in hopes it will whet your appetite for this “peerless” treatise.
C. S. Lewis and Three Biblical Images of Hell
Along with G. K. Chesterton and John Piper, C. S. Lewis is among my very favourite authors. Combining English wit with a deep understanding of the Bible’s themes and story, there is a good reason Lewis is among the 20th Century’s most beloved figures. Above all, however, Lewis has a knack for making deep insights plain to the everyman. In the case of his doctrine of everlasting punishment, this fact may explain his widespread influence on the topic in spite of the fact he never wrote a major work on hell. In spite of my deep appreciation for Lewis, I explain in chapters 5 and 9 of Is There Anything Good About Hell? that his teaching on hell has contributed to some very negative trends in evangelicalism since.
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David Powys’ Misreading of Irenaeus
Eisegesis isn’t just a problem for reading the Scriptures, it can also be a problem in reading the early church fathers. While I am by no means an early church scholar, I have read widely enough now on a few topics in the fathers to come across some troubling misreadings. I’m not sure I have encountered any, however, as problematic as David Powys’ characterization of Irenaeus’ views of eternity and hell.
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