In this episode, I briefly discuss why I used to hold to the eternal conscious torment view of hell but have come to believe that the annihilation view of hell is the most biblical. You don’t need to agree with me! But, if you claim to be a Christian, you do need to make sure your view of hell is based on Scripture and not just your church’s doctrinal statement or your tradition.

Most people assume that “hell” means “eternal conscious torment forever and ever.” But the doctrine of hell has actually been widely disputed throughout church history. There are actually three quite different understandings of hell that have been believed and taught in the historic, orthodox Christian church: eternal conscious torment, annihilation, and ultimate reconciliation.

Preston continues his conversation about the annihilation view hell. In this podcast, he goes through the Old Testament, Early Judaism, and the New Testament, showing that there is a good deal of biblical support for annihilation. Preston then addresses some of the common pushbacks for this view.

Preston explains his journey with the doctrine of hell, from thinking that annihilation was heresy and that John Stott must have lost his faith for believing it, to writing Erasing Hell and still leaning toward the traditional view, to continuing to rethink the biblical legitimacy of the annihilation view.