Hell: A Final Word by Edward W. Fudge, is a very exciting book to review since the movie Hell and Mr. Fudge could be so great with potential to ignite real Scriptural investigation. Hell and Mr. Fudge, A Little Story About a Big Lie is a full length movie predicated on this book and his previous ones. Please see the trailer of the movie at hellandmrfudge.com. The aim of the producers (and of the book’s author) is to enlarge the conversation; to cause people to stop and consider why we believe what we do and to alert them to the abysmal lack of support for commonly held beliefs. This movie will provide a most excellent talking point for speaking to neighbors and friends. (“Have you seen/read the new movie/book about hell?”) What a gift that the subject is so boldly on the table now. I was a guest at an Ethics class at the University of Southern Indiana recently and spoke to an atheist who had given a presentation against Christianity the previous evening. One of his severest criticisms of the Christian faith is its doctrine of everlasting torment. He was relieved to hear that there are Christians who do not believe in that eternal torture. Hell and Mr. Fudge was recently shown in Nashville and a viewer had this to say:
Regardless of one’s views, the movie is very much worth seeing. It is well done both in terms of writing, acting and filming (which was on location in Alabama). The movie is both informative and entertaining. Interestingly enough, it is stimulating beyond the subject of “hell.” The greater underlying story of the movie is the life of Edward Fudge himself. His is a life spent in the pursuit of truth. Fudge perused a better understanding, and stood for that understanding even when it cost him dearly in terms of relationships and his place as a minister. That is a life which ought to be carefully considered by every Christian.
Mr. Fudge tells us that when he began his study, the subject of hell would have gone in his “things-we-know-for-sure” box. He embarked on a year-long study to “discover the origin of the doctrine of everlasting conscious torment. As it happened, I found that origin to be in Greek philosophy and not in Holy Scripture…I will tell you this—with no desire to exaggerate or to be controversial—that no one before or after could have been more astounded at the things I found throughout the Bible during the course of my study.”1 (Is this not something you would want to share with everyone you know?)
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Author: Barbara Buzzard
Keywords: Gehinnom, Valley of the Son of Hinnom, Moloch, Hinnom, valley of Ben-Hinnom, Valley of Hinnom, Ge Hinnom, Sons of Hinnom, Heavenly reward, Reward in heaven, Going home to heaven, Heavenly home, Loved ones in heaven, Die and go to heaven, Heaven, Do we go to heaven when we die, Where do we go when we die, Going to heaven, Heaven bound, Heavenbound, After death, After life, Afterlife, Annihilationism, Annihilation, Cast to hell, Cast down to hell, Chains of darkness, Damned go to hell, Death, Death state, Demon hell, Departing soul, Departing spirit, Destroyed in hell, destructionism, Devil hell, Dieing, Dominion of the grave, Do the wicked go to hell, Eternal fire, Eternal judgment, Eternal judgement, Eternal punishment, Eternal torment, Eternal hell, Eternal pit, Everlasting fire, Everlasting judgment, Everlasting judgement, Everlasting hell, Everlasting hellfire, Everlasting hell fire, Everlasting pit, Everlasting punishment, Everlasting torment, Everlasting torture, Ever lasting fire, Ever lasting judgment, Ever lasting judgement, Ever lasting hell, Ever lasting hellfire, Ever lasting hell fire, Ever lasting pit, Ever lasting punishment, Ever lasting torment, Ever lasting torture, Eternal hellfire, Eternal hell fire, Eternal torture, Eternal soul, extinctionism, Fable hell, Fabled hell, Fiery hell, Fire not quenched, Fire unquenched, Gehenna, Gehena, Gehenna fire, Gehena fire, Go to hell, Grave, Gravedom, Hell, Hele, Hellfire, Hell fire, Hell forever, Hell real, Hades, Immortal spirit, Immortal soul, Immortality of the soul, Immortality of the spirit, Kill the soul, Lake of fire, Life in hell, Lost souls in hell, Never ending fire, Never ending hell, Placed in hell, Punished in hell, Punished for eternity, Punished in hell for eternity, Reserved in hell, Rich man Lazarus, Rich man Lazaras, Roasting in hell, Satan hell, Send to hell, Sent to hell, Sheol, Sleeping in hell, Soul's immortality, Soul in hell, Soul punished in hell, Soul sleep, Soulsleep, Spirit in hell, Tartarus, There is no hell, Torment in hell, Tormented in hell, Underworld, Under world, Undieing worm, Undying worm, Unquenchable, Unquenchable fire, Waiting in hell, Wicked punished in hell, What happens when I die, What happens when we die, When the roll is called up yonder, Where do the lost go when they die, Where do the wicked go when they die, Wicked hell, Worm does not die, Worm won't die, Worm will not die, Worm dieth not, Worm do not die, eternal reward, in the hands of an angry God, purgatory, limbo
Bible reference(s): Deuteronomy 32:22, 2 Samuel 22:6, Job 7:9, Job 11:8, Job 14:13, Job 17:13, Job 21:13, Job 24:19, Job 26:6, Psalms 9:17, Psalms 16:10, Psalms 18:5, Psalms 30:3, Psa 31:17, Psa 49:14-15, Psalms 55:15, Psalms 86:13, Psa 88:3, Psalms 116:3, Psalms 139:8, Pro 1:12, Proverbs 5:5, Proverbs 7:27, Proverbs 9:18, Proverbs 15:11, Proverbs 15:24, Proverbs 23:14, Proverbs 27:20, Isaiah 5:14, Isaiah 14:9, Isaiah 14:15, Isaiah 28:15, Isaiah 28:18, Isaiah 57:9, Ezekiel 31:16, Ezekiel 31:17, Ezekiel 32:21, Ezekiel 32:27, Amos 9:2, Jonah 2:2, Habakkuk 2:5, Matthew 5:22, Matthew 5:29, Matthew 5:30, Matthew 10:28, Matthew 11:23, Matthew 16:18, Matthew 18:9, Matthew 23:15, Matthew 23:33, Mark 9:43, Mark 9:45, Mark 9:47, Luke 10:15, Luke 12:5, Luke 16:22-23, Acts 2:27, Acts 2:31, James 3:6, 2 Peter 2:4, Revelation 1:18, Revelation 6:8, Revelation 20:13, Revelation 20:14
Source: “Hell: A Final Word,” Journal of Biblical Unitarianism, Vol. 1, No. 1, Spring 2014, pp. 75-82.
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