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Briefing 384
September 2010
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Stuff that didn't quite make it into The Briefing

Hell part 4: Pastoral reflections on hell

Jonathan Gibson / June 2010

This is the fourth and final part of a series on hell. (Read parts 1, 2 [which incorporates 1] and 3.)

More than most theological subjects, the doctrine of hell raises a high number of pastoral concerns. If hell is a real place, ruled by God, where all who are found outside of Christ at death or at his return experience the eternal conscious pain of punishment, banishment and destruction, then a number of issues present themselves to us immediately. This article discusses these in no particular order.

1. How we speak about hell

Firstly, ...

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Hell part 3: Theological reflections on hell

Jonathan Gibson / June 2010

This is the third part of a series on hell. (Read parts 1, 2 [which incorporates 1] and 4.)

The Christian doctrine of hell may be summarized as a real place ruled by God where all who are found outside of Christ at death or at his return experience the eternal conscious pain of punishment, banishment and destruction. It is impossible to write such a frank and sober statement without a number of theological and pastoral issues coming to the fore. The aim of this article is to begin to respond to two of the main theological objections.

1. ...

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Hell part 1: Is the church still serious about it?

Jonathan Gibson / June 2010

This is the first part of a series on hell. An edited version of this appeared in an article in Briefing #381 (Read parts 2, 3 and 4.)

For over 2000 years, the mainstream Christian church has affirmed the biblical doctrine of eternal punishment in hell. In the last 50 years, however, a significant shift in belief has occurred among Christians—even evangelicals. The influence has come both from within and without. Outside the church, philosophers like Bertrand Russell claimed that any person who was profoundly humane could not believe in ...

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Brave new world: Scott Rae talks to Peter Hastie

Peter Hastie / May 2010

Recently, Peter Hastie spoke with Dr Scott Rae, Professor of Philosophy of Religion and Ethics at Talbot Theological Seminary, Biola University, Los Angeles, on the subject of bioethics. Dr Rae holds an MA and PhD in Social Ethics from the University of Southern California, and a ThM from Dallas Theological Seminary. His major interest is in how Scripture applies to current social issues. He specializes in the subjects of medical and bioethics and business ethics.

He is the author of a number of books: The Ethics of Commercial Surrogate ...

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Christless Christianity: An interview with Michael Horton

Peter Hastie / April 2010

Has the Church become captive to the spirit of the age? Many believe that Martin Luther's fears, which led him to write The Babylonian Captivity of the Church, certainly apply to the modern Protestant church. Michael Horton, professor of systematic theology and apologetics at Westminster Theological Seminary in California, believes that the church has been taken captive by American culture and its ideals of consumerism, pragmatism, self-sufficiency, individualism and positive thinking. He claims that while the church still invokes the name of ...

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