Randal Rauser

Home of progressively evangelical, generously orthodox, rigorously analytic, revolutionary Christian thinking (that's what I'm aiming for anyway)

eternal conscious torment

Eternal Conscious Torment and Modern Sentimentalism

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Christians who defend the doctrine of hell as eternal conscious torment often accuse critics of the doctrine of “modern sentimentalism”. What, like the “sentimental” ideas that slavery and torture are wrong? That animal suffering is morally significant? That armies in military conflicts shouldn’t target non-combatants? That prisons should seek to reform and not merely to […]

Depersonalizing the Damned: Hell and the humanity of those who go there

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Let’s return to a discussion of the doctrine of hell and in particular, the concept of hell as eternal conscious torment. According to this concept, to end up in hell is to end up in a state of eternal alienation from God, one which results in unimaginable physical and spiritual/psychological torment. And that torment never ends. […]

N.T. Wright and the Universalist Strawman

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Christian universalism is the doctrine that eventually all creatures will be reconciled to God and each other through the reconciling work of Jesus Christ. While universalism has been a minority report throughout the history of the church it has often been misunderstood and even caricatured by non-universalist Christians. This trend continues unabated into our own […]

TWU Today Archives Part 2: A Defense of Annihilationism

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This article, published in the TWU Today Newspaper on January 23, 1996, represents one of my first forays into theological writing. Provocatively titled “Who in hell lives forever?”, the article provides a succinct summary and defense of the case for annihilationism, the doctrine that the reprobate cease to exist in hell.

The Problem with Hell in One Cartoon

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I’m a long time fan of Gary Larson’s comic strip The Far Side and this cartoon is one of my favorites. Not only does it capture the bizarre, off-beat humor for which The Far Side is justly famous, but it also succinctly summarizes a problem with the conception of God punishing people eternally in hell. How so? Well, let’s start with […]

Sin Junkies: addiction, punishment, and the new problem of hell

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In December, 2015 America’s new drug czar, Michael Botticelli, gave a revealing interview with 60 Minutes’ Scott Pelley. The interview included this exchange: Scott Pelley: Are you saying that the way we have waged the war on drugs for more than 40 years has been all wrong? Michael Botticelli: It has been all wrong. Blunt force didn’t […]

Hell and Holiness

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Last year I wrote an article titled “Hell, right doctrine, and right character” in which I explored the link between the formulation of right doctrine and the process of sanctification. The idea, in short, is this: correct doctrine ought to encourage the process of sanctification (aka becoming Christlike). Thus, if acceptance of a particular doctrine tends to undermine the process […]

Debriefing Calvinism and an article on hell

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Yesterday I posted an article posing the question: “If the God of Calvinism exists, would you worship him?” My answer is, yes, of course! Why? Because within Calvinism (as within Christian orthodoxy generally) God is understood to be morally perfect, and it is right and proper to worship a morally perfect being. Of course, I […]

Damning the disordered? An argument against eternal conscious torment

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Paul Bernardo is one of Canada’s most infamous rapists and serial killers. While his litany of crimes is too extensive to list here, the court evidence against the man was absolutely overwhelming and included video tapes of the crimes he filmed with the help of his equally psychopathic wife. Suffice it to say, anybody with a […]

Hell and the so-called liberal mind

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In his essay “Where are we going?” Ted Peters describes the modern skepticism about the traditional doctrine of hell as eternal conscious torment. He writes: “Over the last two centuries, liberal minds have been bitten by a moral conscience that finds such threat-discourse undignified and revolting. We modern people with more gentle standards of morality […]