Recently, on Kirk Cameron’s Pod cast “The Kirk Cameron Show”, he had a discussion with his son, concerning the nature of eternal punishment. In this discussion both he his son, took issue with the biblical and traditional view point that the lost with suffer conscious eternal torment (theologically known as C.E.T.), after the resurrection of all th dead (Revelation 20:11-15).

It seems Kirk Cameron is experiencing growing pains in his theological understanding (pun intended). The problem is that his growing pains, given his age as a believer and time as an influencer, may cause the body of Christ spiritual angina.

The reason is simple. Cameron and his son have exchanged the biblical view point of eternal punishment, which is a revelation of the character of God, for Conditionalism.

Conditionalism or conditional immortality, is a belief that immortality is not inherent but is a gift from God, granted only to those who have saving faith in Jesus Christ; the unsaved, conversely, will face final destruction (annihilation) and cease to exist, rather than suffer eternal conscious torment in hell.

From Cameron’s conversation with his son, one could believe that conditional immortality is most in line with the mercy of God, because the person is resurrected to face judgment for their sin, and being guilty, God zaps them out of existence (annihilates them), rather than cook them in an eternal BBQ.

Cameron’s“eternal BBQ” is how he dfines what the Bible calls the “second death” and “the lake of fire”, is nothing to mock or joke about. To declare that annihilation reveals God’s merciful nature is to diminish the ultimate and forever manifestation of God’s justice, wrath and mercy, in the cross of Jesus Christ.

Furthermore, Cameron’s new pet doctrine is regurgitated Arianism, where Christ is seen as a creature, the arch angel Michael, rather than the creator of the angels, and conditional immortality is the fate of the lost; to be annihilated.

So far as we know, Kirk has not accepted the first tenant of Arianism, or what we know today as Jehovah’s Witness. Sadly, it seems he has fully embraced the heresy of conditional immortality, or the annihilation of the soul.

DEBUNKING THIS HORRIFIC DOTRINE

Let us first understand that all men and woman have been made with an eternal soul. The Bible speaks of this plainly.

Ecclesiastes 12:7 Then the dust will return to the earth as it was, and the spirit will return to God who gave it.

Genesis reveals when His Spirit, created in us the living soul, which is eternal.

Genesis 2:7 ⁷ And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.

The phrase “living being” is better translated “living soul”. This is important because it is our God breathed rational soul, which makes us unique as individuals before God. It is also that which is touched by Christ Himself, when we are conceived for “He is the light that lights ever man who comes into the world” (John 1:9; Hebrews 1:1-3).

Our God is so intimately involved in every human life, why would He eradicate it out of existence? He would not. and science and the Bible corroborates this truth. The first law of thermodynamics states that matter is eternal, it can not be destroyed, but changes form over time.

God, by His very nature cannot annihilate a human soul, as He created it. The soul, spirit and body, as matter, cannot be destroyed or annihilated (I Thessalonians 5:23).

Conditional immorality does not believe in the immortality of the soul, but what they believe concerning the process of annihilation is simply sad and lacking wisdom of God.

When a Christian dies, they immediately enter the presence of God, in a spiritual sense (II Corinthians 5:8). On the day of the ingathering (rapture), their natural body, which has been decaying, will be the beginning point of the new glorious body ready for eternity. For those alive at that time they will be changed in a moment, a twinkling of an eye, fitted with a new creation body (I Thessalonians 4:13-18; I Corinthians 15:50-58).

Following along the lines of the first law of thermodynamic, our new resurrection bodies, arise from our natural form, and take on immortality; not eradicated but changed.

The lost, upon dying, go to Hades which is the temporary place of the dead, in the heart of the earth. Our Lord lays this out in the parable of Lazarus and the rich man. In this parable, from Luke 16:19-31, we see two dead men, fully conscience in Hades.

One, Lazarus, was in Abrahams’s bosom, a paradise where they had cool water and what was need to comfort them. This place, adjacent to Hades in the heart of the earth, was for the faithful awaiting the resurrection of Messiah. When Jesus ascended into heaven, He emptied Abraham’s bosom, once and for all. In the New Testament period, all believers who die are immediately ushered into the presence of the Lord.

The other man we read of, the rich man, is in Hades, which is a place of torment and pain, where they await the final judgment. In this place, they are conscience and aware of their estate.

In Kirk Cameron’s view, which is conditional immortality, God takes those in Hades, who are conscious of where they are, He resurrects them only for the purpose of declaring “Your judged, now you don’t exist”.

This view point is silly, why not simply eradicate them at death? It also flies in the face of what the Lord Jesus declares in Matthew 25:41, concerning the final judgment.

Matthew 25:41 ⁴¹ “Then He will also say to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels:

Cameron’s Argument from the Old Testament

Without giving solid evidence from the Old Testament, Cameron declares that the Old Testament reveals the wicked perishing quickly in a move of annihilation from God. He then goes forward to cite Augustine, as one who believed in annihilation of the wicked dead, which is a tent pole of his argument, because Augustine was a church father.

Augustine was not a church father, as he was not alive until the late 4^th to early 5^th century. He is the father of the Roman Catholic apostacy, so what he wrote need be taken with a grain of salt, if not with great skepticism.

He cites various real church fathers of believing in conditional immortality. In reality, of those church fathers who were discipled by an original disciple of Jesus Christ or by a person discipled by a person who was discipled by an apostle, there is a consensus on preaching and belief in the conscious eternal punishment of the wicked (not conditional immortailty).

This includes church fathers such as Justin Martyr, Tertullian, Ignatius, and John Chrysostom. Despite their true ministry, and proclaimation of conscious eternal torment, let us remember that what they said was not divinely inspired; only the word of God is Divinly inspired.

In addition, let me say, it is poor theology and practice to build New Tesament doctrine and practice, from Old Testament passages.  We must remember that the New Testament scripture reveal the intended fullness of  Old Testament passages, which are germane to our practice and faith.

The book of Revelation is a wonderful example of this reality, for it is filed with passages that give greater clarity to Old Testament prophecies concerning the second coming of Messiah at the end of the world.

That said the Old Testament has several passages dealing with the eternal nature of the eternal conscious punishment of the wicked.

Psalms 1:4-6 ⁴ The ungodly are not so, but are like the chaff which the wind drives away. ⁵Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. ⁶ For the LORD knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the ungodly shall perish.

• First let us acknowledge that conscious eternal punishment is to be separated from God, like the wicked blown away as the chaff, not standing in the congregation of the righteous (II Thessalonians 1:1-10).
• “…but the way of the ungodly shall perish” to perish means to be in the process of dying forever, being undone”.

Isaiah 66:15-16 To render His anger with fury, and His rebuke with flames of fire. ¹⁶ For by fire and by His sword the LORD will judge all flesh; and the slain of the LORD shall be many.

Isaiah 66:24 forth and look upon the corpses of the men who have transgressed against Me. For their worm does not die, and their fire is not quenched. They shall be an abhorrence to all flesh.”

•  This very passage is quoted by the Lord Jesus Christ in Mark 9:44-48, more on that in a moment, but the idea is eternal punishment.

Daniel 12:1-2 ¹ “At that time Michael shall stand up, the great prince who stands watch over the sons of your people; and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation, even to that time. And at that time your people shall be delivered, very one who is found written in the book.  And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, some to shame and everlasting contempt.

• This passage is quoted by the Lord Jesus Christ in John 5:29. It must be noted that being resurrected to everlasting shame and contempt is a condition experienced by a real eternal soul.

The wicked, are not annihilated, but plucked up and taken away from God, His presence, love, provision and glory. In my next post we will dive into the deep end concerning what the New Testament teaches concerning the punishment of the lost in eternity. Until then ponder this question.

Is it possible that conversations which remove the teeth of God’s wrath on the sinner, make evangelsim even harder?