What does the Bible actually say happens to the lost? Chris Date of Rethinking Hell joins the show to lay out the biblical case for annihilationism / conditional immortality, the view that the unsaved are resurrected, judged, and then die a second death rather than suffering consciously forever.

ABOUT THE EPISODE:
Chris spent his first years as a believer firmly convinced of eternal conscious torment, until an interview with the late Edward Fudge sent him back to the text. What followed was months spent trying to defend the traditional view and failing to find a version of it that held up exegetically. In this conversation, he walks through why.

A lot of believers are quietly wrestling with the doctrine of hell right now, caught between a traditional view that many find hard to square with the character of God and a universalism that abandons judgment altogether. Chris argues conditionalism is neither of those things: it takes judgment seriously while insisting the Bible describes that judgment as death, not endless suffering.

Wherever you land on after watching, Chris's closing word is worth sitting with: this is a debate the creeds leave open, and how we treat brothers and sisters who land differently matters as much as the conclusion we reach.

0:00 – Introduction
0:54 – Chris Date's Testimony
6:49 – Defining Conditional Immortality
14:50 – Tree Of Life Motif
19:37 – Why Hell Debate Now
35:37 – Daniel & Matthew 25
42:22 – Matthew 10:28 Apollumi
49:47 – 2 Thessalonians 1:9
57:21 – Revelation 20 Lake Fire
1:13:35 – Partial Conditionalism Debate
1:20:46 – Rethinking Hell Resources
1:30:52 – Closing Thoughts: Atonement

ABOUT THE GUEST:
Rethinking Hell: https://rethinkinghell.com/
Chris Date's website: https://www.chrisdate.info/
Chris Date's journal articles: https://www.chrisdate.info/journal-articles

RESOURCES MENTIONED:
Edward Fudge, The Fire That Consumes: https://www.amazon.com/Fire-That-Consumes-Historical-Punishment/dp/1608999300
Edward Fudge, Hell: A Final Word: https://www.amazon.com/Hell-Final-Edward-W-Fudge/dp/0891121498
Edward Fudge & Robert Peterson, Two Views of Hell: https://www.ivpress.com/two-views-of-hell
Rethinking Hell: Readings in Evangelical Conditionalism: https://rethinkinghell.com/rethinkinghell-book/
A Consuming Passion: Essays on Hell and Immortality in Honor of Edward Fudge: https://rethinkinghell.com/aconsumingpassion-book/
Concerning Hell (Copan, Date & Huff, IVP Academic): https://www.amazon.com/Concerning-Hell-Theological-Philosophical-Historical/dp/1514004976

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