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Facing Hell
Book by Wenham, J.W.
224 pages, Paperback
First published March 1, 1998
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August 5, 2024
A WELL-KNOWN EVANGELICAL THEOLOGIAN LOOKS OVER HIS LIFE
John William Wenham (1913-1996) was an Anglican Bible scholar, who wrote books such as 'The Enigma of Evil: Can We Believe in the Goodness of God?,' 'Easter Enigma: Are the Resurrection Accounts in Conflict?,' 'Christ and the Bible,' etc.
He wrote in the Preface to this 1998 book, "'I believe that endless torment is a hideous and unscriptural doctrine which has been a terrible burden on the mind of the church for many centuries and a terrible blot on her presentation of the gospel. I should indeed be happy if, before I die, I could help in sweeping it away.' So I wrote at the end of a paper which I ... [wrote] in 1991. I was therefore inclined to take seriously the urgent request of a publisher that I should expand that paper into a book... The thought came... Could not the progression of thought that has brought me to my present position be sketched out in an interesting way without going into theological detail?" (Pg. vii-viii)
He suggests, "it is usually wrong to see any Christian movement in terms of black and white. The good is always mixed with the bad and we are all different shades of grey." (Pg. 51) When as a young man he first heard of "conditional immortality" from Basil Atkinson, he thought, "it seemed most plausible. I felt deflated; it removed some of my motivation for evangelism and some of my motive for prayer. But... I realized that rescue from torment was not a primary motive for evangelism... From this point onwards I found a new freedom ... without having to represent [God] as the everlasting torturer." (Pg. 69)
He regards the thesis of the book The Genesis Flood: The Biblical Record and Its Scientific Implications as "a load of dangerous nonsense---dangerous because naive students embarking on a study of geology would be told that they must choose between believing the Bible or believing this science. This would create an intolerable tension... leading many to reject the Bible... we need better exegesis than they are giving us and better science. Without it creation-science will continue to be an embarrassment to conservative Christianity." (Pg. 165-166)
He states plainly, "To me the greatest moral difficulty in the Bible is Hell. That God should create beings capable of knowing and loving him and should then finally dismiss them from his presence for ever seemed to me more shocking than any of his temporal judgments... I had come to question the immortality of man, seeing immortality as something which is acquired when we receive eternal life and become partakers of the divine nature." (Pg. 178) He adds, "Unending torment speaks to me of sadism, not justice." (Pg. 254) (His entire 1991 paper is reproduced in the book; pg. 179, ff.)
He concludes, "I have a feeling that my whole life has been a preparation for the writing of this book. The purpose of the book is twofold: (1) to reaffirm ... coming back to trust in and to obey the revelation which God has given us in Holy Scripture; and (2) to attempt to set right the interpretation of one important feature in that revelation." (Pg. 265)
This is a heartfelt and thought-provoking book---whether one agrees with all of his positions or not. Evangelicals and theologians will find it of great interest.
John William Wenham (1913-1996) was an Anglican Bible scholar, who wrote books such as 'The Enigma of Evil: Can We Believe in the Goodness of God?,' 'Easter Enigma: Are the Resurrection Accounts in Conflict?,' 'Christ and the Bible,' etc.
He wrote in the Preface to this 1998 book, "'I believe that endless torment is a hideous and unscriptural doctrine which has been a terrible burden on the mind of the church for many centuries and a terrible blot on her presentation of the gospel. I should indeed be happy if, before I die, I could help in sweeping it away.' So I wrote at the end of a paper which I ... [wrote] in 1991. I was therefore inclined to take seriously the urgent request of a publisher that I should expand that paper into a book... The thought came... Could not the progression of thought that has brought me to my present position be sketched out in an interesting way without going into theological detail?" (Pg. vii-viii)
He suggests, "it is usually wrong to see any Christian movement in terms of black and white. The good is always mixed with the bad and we are all different shades of grey." (Pg. 51) When as a young man he first heard of "conditional immortality" from Basil Atkinson, he thought, "it seemed most plausible. I felt deflated; it removed some of my motivation for evangelism and some of my motive for prayer. But... I realized that rescue from torment was not a primary motive for evangelism... From this point onwards I found a new freedom ... without having to represent [God] as the everlasting torturer." (Pg. 69)
He regards the thesis of the book The Genesis Flood: The Biblical Record and Its Scientific Implications as "a load of dangerous nonsense---dangerous because naive students embarking on a study of geology would be told that they must choose between believing the Bible or believing this science. This would create an intolerable tension... leading many to reject the Bible... we need better exegesis than they are giving us and better science. Without it creation-science will continue to be an embarrassment to conservative Christianity." (Pg. 165-166)
He states plainly, "To me the greatest moral difficulty in the Bible is Hell. That God should create beings capable of knowing and loving him and should then finally dismiss them from his presence for ever seemed to me more shocking than any of his temporal judgments... I had come to question the immortality of man, seeing immortality as something which is acquired when we receive eternal life and become partakers of the divine nature." (Pg. 178) He adds, "Unending torment speaks to me of sadism, not justice." (Pg. 254) (His entire 1991 paper is reproduced in the book; pg. 179, ff.)
He concludes, "I have a feeling that my whole life has been a preparation for the writing of this book. The purpose of the book is twofold: (1) to reaffirm ... coming back to trust in and to obey the revelation which God has given us in Holy Scripture; and (2) to attempt to set right the interpretation of one important feature in that revelation." (Pg. 265)
This is a heartfelt and thought-provoking book---whether one agrees with all of his positions or not. Evangelicals and theologians will find it of great interest.
Displaying 1 of 1 review