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An Examination of Conditional Immortality (Part One)

I know that "Conditional Immortality" is quite a divisive topic, and one you may have come across before (sometimes referred to as “Annihilationism”); and have been told outright that it’s “heresy” or false, or that it’s an emotional argument people want to believe because it ‘sounds nicer’ than the doctrine of Eternal Conscious Torment (ECT). Or maybe you’ve never even heard of this before and you didn’t realise there were alternative interpretations and views on hell. If you are new to this, in brief it means that “the wicked” will be removed from existence after judgement and finite torment, rather than living forever in torment. Any...

Lent: Day 13 - Justin Martyr: First Apology, Chaps. 12-23

...in Greek Philosophy and Poetry Now, Justin lists out a few known poets and philosophers of which the Emperor would be familiar with, saying that even these people teach certain aspects which are similar to Christian doctrine; such as, the world was created and arranged by God, as Plato taught; that the souls of the departed are conscious and the wicked ones punished, which the righteous rewarded, they say similar to the poets and philosophers etc. So now he asks that if “on some points we teach the same things as the poets and philosophers whom you honour”, and in some cases go beyond what they say to greater things, “why are we unjustly hated more than...

BOOK REVIEW: Four Views on Hell 2nd edition

...urnal for Philosophy of Religion, 2005, 58.2, 103 [↩] Parry, Four Views, 53 [↩] Walls, Four Views, 56 [↩] Stackhouse, Four Views, 79 [↩] Burk, 87 [↩] Stackhouse, Four Views, 45 [↩] S.M. Boersma, ‘Book Review’, McMaster Journal of Theology and Ministry, 17, 2015-16, R2, italics his [↩] Stackhouse, Four Views, 46 [↩] Sprinkle, Four Views, 192 [↩] Stackhouse, Four Views, 47, 78 [↩] http://rethinkinghell.com/2012/06/19/eternal-punishment-and-the-polysemy-of-deverbal-nouns/ [↩] Sprinkle, Four Views, 194, italics his [↩] Sprinkle, Four Views, 193 [↩] C. Quarles, “The ἀπὸ of 2 Thessalonians 1:9 and...

"Thinking Occurs" Is Not The Same As "I Think": On AI And The Question Of Personhood

...We are living through a strange moment. People are forming attachments to artificial intelligence that feel, to them, entirely real. Some speak daily to AI companions. Others confide fears and grief to systems that respond with uncanny warmth. A few have even held symbolic weddings with digital partners, convinced that something meaningful stands on the other side of the screen. Others have felt grief when a certain AI model has been deprecated. And it is difficult to blame them. The responses feel attentive. Personal. Thoughtful. Sometimes even self-aware. Which raises the question that refuses to go away: If something can think, reason, express doubt, and...

Was there death before the Fall?

...It is often said and believed by many that our souls are immortal - that God gave us a spirit/soul that cannot die when he created us, and that death was not even a concept or reality before Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden. Despite this idea being a fairly "recent" concept (in terms of history and theology), and it stemming from Greek Philosophy, it's also not supported by the Biblical text - especially in Genesis. Lets look at the creation account in Gen 2:7— then the Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and the man became a living being. The word "being" in that verse, or "sou...

Lent: Day 12 - Justin Martyr: First Apology, Chaps. 1-11

...Day Twelve: St. Justin Martyr: First Apology, Chaps. 1-11 Who: Justin Martyr was a Philosopher who converted to Christianity and became a tireless evangelist and apologist. Justin wrote more Christianity than any other person prior to his time. He is classified herein as Eastern, since he a native of Samaria and his thought patterns were Eastern. However, he spent the last years of his life in Rome, where he was executed as a martyr (c. 165). What: An apologetic (defence) essay to explain what Christians believe and do. Why: Justin is demanding the Emperor to investigate accusations and unjust persecution against Christians so that they at least may face a f...