Traditionalism as the Best View on the Doctrine of Hell

Traditionalism as the Best View on the Doctrine of Hell

Introduction

It is hard to explain what exact function the doctrine of hell fulfills in faith of people, but there is no doubt that this function is an important one. We need to understand the doctrine of hell in order to gauge its effect but that is not so unambiguous since there are at least three major views of hell – traditionalism, universalism and annihilationism which represent totally different scenarios of the sinners. This issue concerns me personally mainly because I see eternal punishment as a very important doctrine and I believe that theologians should agree on one theory so that believers were not misled and lost in a wide choice of alternatives. My personal goal for this paper is to find out the differences of the three views and effectively defend the one of my choice. In this paper I will try to defend my view that traditionalism is the best position regarding the doctrine of hell.

Other major views: Universalism and Annihilationism

Universalists believe that in the end God will take every person into his fellowship for the eternal life. Waclaw Hryniewicz explains that in the end the final reconciliation between victims and perpetrators, all the people and between people and God will take place. This belief is based mainly on the idea of God’s love and grace to His own creation. Universalists also point out that God desires all to be saved and Christ’s death has already redeemed everybody’s sins. Universalists may base their view on some Bible passages such as I Cor.15:20-26 or Col. 1:15-20 but it seems that there is not enough proof in the Scripture that would confirm this view and there are many more verses that support annihilationism or traditionalism. It also may be said that bold choices of our physical life on Earth should not determine our eternal lives. Although God’s intent might be universal, salvation requires personal contribution and obedience. Therefore it looks that...