A Consuming Passion

Essays on Hell and Immortality in Honor of Edward Fudge

Edited by Christopher M. Date and Ron Highfield

Foreword by Stephen Travis

A Consuming Passion

Essays on Hell and Immortality in Honor of Edward Fudge

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ISBN 13: 978-1-4982-2305-8

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Cataloguing-in-Publication Data

A consuming passion : essays on hell and immortality in honor of Edward Fudge / edited by Christopher M. Date and Ron Highfield, with a foreword by Stephen Travis

xxiv + 430 p. ; 23 cm. Includes bibliographical references.

ISBN 13: 978-1-4982-2305-8

1. Hell—Biblical teaching. 2. Future punishment—Biblical teaching. 3. Immortality—Biblical teaching. 4. Resurrection—Biblical teaching. 5. Fudge, Edward. I. Date, Christopher M., editor. II. Highfield, Ron, editor. III. Travis, Stephen. IV. Title.

BS680.H43 D182 2015

Manufactured in the U.S.A.01/14/2016

Table of Contents

Title Page

Foreword

Preface

Acknowledgments

Abbreviations

Introduction

Part One: The Legacy of Edward Fudge

Chapter 1: The Legacy of Edward Fudge

Chapter 2: My Long Journey to Annihilationism

Chapter 3: “Are You Going to Heaven?”

Chapter 4: Moses, Jesus, and Fudge

Chapter 5: “Dear Edward”

Part Two: Theology and Philosophy

Chapter 6: The Extinction of Evil

Chapter 7: Making the Philosophical Case for Conditionalism

Chapter 8: Paul and the Annihilation of Death

Chapter 9: Tempest Theophany, Cosmic Conflagration, and the Vanished Vanquished

Chapter 10: Divine Sovereignty in the Punishment of the Wicked

Part Three: Biblical Exegesis

Chapter 11: The Punishment of the Wicked in Isaiah 66:24

Chapter 12: Death, Eternal Life, and Judgment in the Gospel and Epistles of John

Chapter 13: Hades in Revelation

Part Four: History and Polemics

Chapter 14: Eternal Punishment in First-Century Jewish Thought

Chapter 15: Important Forgotten History

Chapter 16: Sic et Non

Part Five: The Road Ahead

Chapter 17: The Future of Hell

Chapter 18: Doctrinal, Biblical, and Psychological Obstacles to Accepting Conditionalism

Chapter 19: The Offer of Life

Chapter 20: How to Talk about the Afterlife (If You Must)

Chapter 21: Taking Conditionalism to the People

Chapter 22: Articulating and Promoting Conditionalism in the Twenty-First Century

Bibliography

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About A Consuming Passion: Essays on Hell and Immortality in Honor of Edward Fudge

This diverse collection of essays in honor of Edward William Fudge explores the topics of hell and immortality, for which Fudge has been widely known through his magnum opus, The Fire That Consumes. Most Christians believe people will live and suffer in hell forever, but Fudge defends a view known historically as "conditional immortality." He and a growing minority of Christians believe God will grant immortality only to those who meet the condition of being united with Christ on the Last Day, while those who do not will perish forever. Although Christians sharing Fudge's view have defended it both before and after him, conditionalists today still point to The Fire That Consumes as the seminal treatment of the topic.
In July 2014, Christians from around the world gathered at the inaugural Rethinking Hell conference, to celebrate Fudge's life and work and to discuss the nature of hell in an open and respectful forum. This volume contains most of the essays presented at that conference, and several others volunteered by conditionalists since then, as a gift to Fudge for the tremendous impact he has had on them, and for the continued work he does for God's kingdom.

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Table of Contents