As a minister, predictably, some of my favorite books to read are theological or doctrinal in nature. And, most of the time, I particularly enjoy those that seem to be controversial in nature, reading them to help define and clarify what I believe, in support of what the biblical texts state themselves.

And the topic of hell has been very controversial of late, with such authors as Rob Bell and others rejecting the traditional concepts and unveiling new and unorthodox views.

In that regard, an updated version of a volume dedicated to examining several of these views seems appropriate. An older edition of this book exists, but this new, updated version is clearly in need with the flavor of evangelicalism changing over the years.

This book, Four Views On Hell, is a part of the Counterpoints series, and provides, as expected, four differing views of hell by four different authors. Each author presents an essay promoting his view, promoting and defending it, and is followed by a brief rebuttal by the other three authors. This occurs four times, with a final summary by the editor to wrap it all up.

Coming from a conservative, traditional church background, my studies have primarily been along only one trajectory of the four listed here. So it was refreshing and enlightening for me to be able to see alternative views presented and explained. I have not changed my position, and still land firmly in the traditional camp, because I feel that the Bible bears this out specifically. But I did find it quite interesting to follow the thought process of some of these other viewpoints.

Here is a brief description of the four views presented in this volume:

The Traditional View or Eternal Conscious Torment

This is the view that has been held by the large majority of believers down through the centuries. This view states that just as eternal life lasts forever, so does hell. The Bible gives several specific and descriptive passages about the punishment for sin and rejection of the Savior requiring an everlasting torment.

Annihilationism or Terminal Punishment

This view states that, once the punishment that any person deserves for their sin has been paid, they cease to exist completely. This view capitalizes upon such words as “destruction” and “ruin” to show that the results of the punishment are not eternal, but have a distinct ending point.

Universalism

This view holds that, eventually, everyone will come to repentance, and once they do so, hell will be emptied of all people. Passages that use phrases such as “all” and “everyone” are favorites of this position.

Purgatory

This is the unexpected view in this debate, since it is not primarily a protestant view. The author of this essay presents his view as one that we could do well to reconsider, and believes that our sanctification will require longer time than our life can provide, and thus a place where this can continue is needed to purify us and make us ready for heaven. This view focuses more on the readying of souls for heaven than it does of sending souls to hell, at least in this essay. And, of the four, he relies least on scripture, and predominantly on a few selected books by C. S. Lewis.

Overall, this book was quite interesting, at least from the perspective of shedding light on some views that I wasn’t as familiar with. All of these authors resorted to prooftexting, picking passages that seemed to promote their views, while ignoring those texts that didn’t. Naturally, this kind of book leaves space limited, and they simply couldn’t address everything.

In my opinion, the Traditional view held the strongest arguments, and the view of Purgatory was weakest. The other two fell somewhere in the middle, but still lacked what is needed to present their cases strongly.

All in all, it was a very interesting book, and was worth the time it took to read it, simply because it helps the reader understand several viewpoint he may not be all that familiar with.

Ratings & Details For Four Views On Hell:

• Genre/Style: Theological
• Purpose/Premise: 8 of 10 stars
• Spiritual Content: 10 of 10 stars
• Readability/Flow: 7 of 10 stars
• Cover: 4 of 10 stars
• Overall Rating: 8 of 10 stars

Question: Have you ever really thought about the reality of hell? Or has it just been something you have never really considered deeply? What would it take to get you to study it further? You can leave a comment by clicking here.

I received this book free from Harper Collins Christian Publishing as part of their BookLook Bloggers review program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.