Contra Conditionalism, Purgatory and Universalism
In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit! Glory to Jesus Christ! Glory forever!
(← click) When you click on this thumbnail photo, you'll see the three basic views regarding punishment (or not) in eternity: the Traditional or Biblical view, the Conditional view and the Universal view.
* Traditionalism teaches that everyone lives forever, the saved experience eternal bliss and the unsaved suffer eternal torment.
* Universalism teaches that everyone lives forever, the unsaved are refined and are ultimately saved to experience eternal bliss.
* Conditionalism teaches that the saved experience eternal bliss and the unsaved may suffer torment for a while and then are annihilated.
Universalism is based on a mistranslation of Acts 3:21 that would state - "whom heaven must receive until the times of universal restoration, which God spoke long ago by the mouth of his holy prophets" instead of "the restoration of all things" as in traditional translations, from the Greek words "apokatastaseos panton". The New RSV Translation (1989) contains the words "universal restoration." The Roman Catholic Church and many mainline denominations accept this translation, but it is rejected by some traditional Christian confessions including Eastern Orthodoxy. Universalism is thus also linked to the idea of Purgatory, that some people must undergo a temporary period of "purging" or "refining by fire" before they go to heaven and experience eternal bliss.
Conditionalism is based on the idea that man's soul is by nature mortal and dies when the body dies, but the gift of God is eternal life (Ephesians 2:9), the condition on which one receives it is by faith in Christ. Martin Luther rejected the doctrine of eternal punishment because it was linked to the Roman Catholic Church's sale of indulgences to escape purgatory: see https://www.truthaccordingtoscripture.com/documents/death/froom/luther-conditionalism.php.
Now I would like to set forth the traditional view, which has been the main teaching of Eastern Orthodoxy since the first century although it has been disputed. Origen, one of the Early Church Fathers, taught "apokatastaseos panton" or universalism, but after his death, later Church Councils found this idea to be contrary to the main teaching of Scripture and declared it to be heretical. Origen himself, however, is not considered to be a heretic because he was never confronted with the error of this teaching and thus did not have an opportunity to reconsider and repent.
Let us also take into consideration the plain fact that we mortals are bound by time and space, so it is outside of our experience to understand fully teachings about what is "beyond" time and space. Is eternity simply a very, very long time, or is it outside of time? Are heaven and hell places, locations in the cosmos somewhere? Or is the idea of "place" simply not fit to describe something "beyond" time and space? Indeed, "beyond" is not fit to describe non-space!
So now let's consider some of the main Scripture texts that tell of the afterlife. In Daniel 12:2-3 & 10b we read - "Many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. Those who are wise shall shine as the brightness of the expanse; and those who turn many to righteousness as the stars forever and ever. ...Many shall purify themselves, and make themselves white, and be refined; but the wicked shall do wickedly; and none of the wicked shall understand; but those who are wise shall understand." This is one passage where the universalists might take the words "purify" and "refined" to imply a time of purging after death, but they deliberately disregard the words "everlasting contempt" which clearly state that punishment of the wicked will be everlasting. Also, this passage does not say that the purifying and refining occur for the wicked after death: the purifying and refining is for the saints and must begin in this life.
We could find more on this topic in the Old Testament, but now let's turn to the New Testament: in Matthew 22:13-14 we read - "Then the king said to the servants, 'Bind him hand and foot, take him away, and throw him into the outer darkness; there is where the weeping and grinding of teeth will be.' For many are called, but few chosen." God's call may refer to election, but those called may choose to not answer the call. As for how long they will be thrown into outer darkness, we read in Matthew 25:41 & 46 - "Then he will say also to those on the left hand, 'Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire which is prepared for the devil and his angels. ...These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life." which clearly says that the punishment by fire will be eternal.
In the Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus we read - "Besides all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed, that those who want to pass from here to you are not able, and that none may cross over from there to us" (Luke 16:26). Here we see that there is no going from Hades to Paradise, thus no Purgatory; the gulf between them is fixed and unpassable. This parable also teaches that those in Hades are conscious, not in some sort of "deep sleep" or simply dead and gone, annihilated.
Concerning Christ's teaching about when the Kingdom of God will come (Luke 17:20), He said -
"As it happened in the days of Noah, even so will it be also in the days of the Son of Man. They ate, they drank, they married, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all. Likewise, even as it happened in the days of Lot: they ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they built; but in the day that Lot went out from Sodom, it rained fire and sulfur from the sky, and destroyed them all. It will be the same way in the day that the Son of Man is revealed" (Luke 17:26-30).
Here we see the analogy of flood and fire that "destroys them all." When compared with Christ's teaching about the Last Days in Matthew 25:41 & 46 above, we see that "destroy" does not mean "annihilate" but rather refers to the eternality of the fire and punishment.
In John 5:28-29 we read - "Don't marvel at this, for the hour comes, in which all that are in the tombs will hear His voice, and will come out; those who have done good, to the resurrection of life; and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of judgment." Here we see that the evil people are not simply dead and gone, annihilated; rather, they will be resurrected for judgment. But the purpose of His teachings are not just to "scare the hell out of us"; instead, "I say these things that you may be saved" (v. 39b).
A key passage about human sinfulness is Romans 3:23 - "for all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God." Luther's translation of the Bible is beautiful: he puts it this way - "...fall short of the glory that we ought to have with God." God's eternal plan is for us to partake of His glory, to be transformed into the likeness of Christ starting in this life and on into eternity: "being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus" (v. 24).
But we read in Romans 5:12 - "Therefore, as sin entered into the world through one man, and death through sin; and so death passed to all men, in that all sinned." This verse has caused much confusion because of Jerome's mistranslation in the Latin Vulgate - "...for in him [Adam] all sinned. St. Augustine took this verse and ran with it to develop his doctrine of all humanity's total depravity, the inheritance not only of Adam's sinful nature but of our being guilty of Adam's sin.
In the original Greek text, this idea is impossible because it uses the neutral pronoun "in that" - not the masculine "in him [Adam]" - death passed to all because we have sinned, not because Adam sinned. But even though newer Roman Catholic translations of this verse have been corrected, their doctrines of total depravity and all being guilty of Adam's sin have held fast. These doctrines led Augustine to teach that God sovereignly predestined before all creation that some will be saved (the "elect") and others will be damned (the "unelect"), and from this sprang the teaching of Purgatory and selling indulgences to escape Purgatory.
The Fall resulted in universal death, not in universal guilt; however, let's not focus on the negative: "But the free gift isn't like the trespass. For if by the trespass of the one the many died, much more did the grace of God, and the gift by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, abound to the many" (Romans 5:15). God is merciful and has provided in Christ the Way for "the many" of mankind to avoid eternal death.
We read in 2 Peter 3:7 & 9 - "But the heavens that now are, and the earth, by the same Word have been stored up for fire, being reserved against the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men. ...The Lord is not slow concerning his promise, as some count slowness; but is patient with us, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance." The material universe will be destroyed and replaced with a spiritual universe. Ungodly mankind will exist as spirits that are conscious of their rejection of God's love and mercy. God does not wish for any to perish, but some will reject His call and not come to repentance. God is willing to save all humanity, but not all humans are willing to answer His call.
As society around us becomes more neo-pagan, rejecting traditional Christian teachings about morality, eternal life and eternal punishment, we must hold fast to the true traditions that have been passed down to us: "For we have become partakers of Christ, if we hold fast the beginning of our confidence firm to the end" (Hebrews 3:14). Notice the interesting verb tenses - "we have become" (past tense) "if we hold fast... to the end" (implied future tense). We have received the heavenly gift of eternal life, we have become partakers of the divine nature (2 Peter 1:4), referring to God's electing us from eternity past to save us by His grace ...but we must hold fast, our response to His calling us is not just a one-time event in the past, it is a life-long commitment to follow Christ and be gradually transformed into His likeness.
Hebrews 3:18 asks - "To whom did he swear that they wouldn't enter into his rest, but to those who were disobedient?" And the answer is in the next verse - "We see that they were not able to enter in because of unbelief." So disobedience = unbelief; therefore, belief = obedience. If you believe, you will obey His commandments. And this thought continues in the next chapter - "For we who have believed do enter into that rest, even as he has said, 'As I swore in my wrath, they will not enter into my rest;' although the works were finished from the foundation of the world. ...Let us therefore give diligence to enter into that rest, lest anyone fall after the same example of disobedience" (verses 2 & 11).
St. Paul continues his teaching on the need for the saints to hold fast and persevere in their faith - "For concerning those who were once enlightened and tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Spirit, and tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the age to come, and then fell away, it is impossible to renew them again to repentance; seeing they crucify the Son of God for themselves again, and put him to open shame" (Hebrews 6:4-6). This destroys the notion of "once saved, always saved" - that once you "say the sinner's prayer" and believe in Jesus as your Savior, you're saved for all eternity. The idea of eternal security flows from Augustine's doctrine of eternal predestination, that God predestines the elect and nothing they do or don't do can change that. To the contrary, we must follow Christ's commands to love God and our neighbor, to not commit fornication, to not lie and steal, etc., and to repent of our sins daily.
In Revelation 14:9-12 we read - "If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives a mark on his forehead, or on his hand, he also will drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is prepared unmixed in the cup of his anger. He will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb. The smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever. They have no rest day and night, those who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name. Here is the patience of the saints, those who keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus." There's no annihilation of the sinners here, no Purgatory here, only eternal punishment of the wicked and eternal bliss of the saints who obey and hold to the faith.
In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit! Christ is among us! He is and ever shall be!
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