[Mr. Douglas]

I’m a member of a site called Rethinkinghell.com and the sister, rethinkinghell in facebook. For me, it all started with this thread that began my turn from ECT to CI:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2240648/posts

[Mr. Douglas]

I was Robroy back then. I posted quite a bit because I was “bench testing” the argument and was looking for anyone to successfully poke holes in it. Nobody ever did. It’s part of the reason I changed my view.

[angryoldfatman]

I’m not getting in the middle of a religious dogpile here. Just want to chime in that the Universal Reconciliation doctrine (number 3) is heretical at best, and is a favorite among liberal theology (or non-theology, in the case of Unitarian Universalist) churches.

[GOP_Party_Animal]

I find it fascinating that such a supposedly key doctrine is found nowhere in doctrinal statements that represent almost the entirety of the early Church even though these statements are not silent on the fact that an eschatological judgment is coming for the unsaved.

I don't find it fascinating because it's splitting hairs; whether you're tortured endlessly or utterly annihilated, Hell is a bad place and you don't want to go there. Who cares about the details? I don't think the Unsaved will meet demons with pitchforks, but those images still convey "Hell is bad" and that's enough information. Like georgiegirl says, keep your mind focused on Heaven, the details of Hell are all bad and don't need contemplation.

I do wonder one thing about this theory though: Why torture the Unsaved for even a finite period of time? There is a Hell, we know that. But what is served for the soul that is tortured and disappears?

[SoFloFreeper]

some reformed resources, for a biblical perspective:

http://www.ligonier.org/search/?q=Hell&object_type=Article

[boxlunch]

I began exploring these concepts because our church is ultra reformed and both my husband and myself had extreme issues with 5 point hypercalvinism once we finally understood what it was really teaching- it is just not Biblical and it logically leads to some very monstrous claims about the nature of God. We are both engineers so we have to sort through things that logically don't make sense, so we've been studying this for a couple of years. As we studied scripture and the writings of the early church fathers, I came across books and articles on Universal reconciliation.

One thing many do not know is that the word used for eternal when connected with punishment is aeonion, which means of an ag or duration of time. It can indicated something that lasts for a specific age and is usually in the context of related to God, or of a quality given by God.

Also the word for punishment is Kolasis which can have the meaning of a redemptive correction rather than the angry wrath. It is painful and severe but the purpose is to bring repentance.

I am leaning toward Universal Reconciliation - my husband has become a traditionalist or Arminian, but I found this article on Annialationism very interesting also, and I am going to study this further.

[DouglasKC]

Second, Revelation 20:10 appears to plainly describe the devil, antichrist, and false prophet undergoing eternal torment.

Good article. The fact that the earliest Christians believed in Conditionalism should be good enough. Here's how to reconcile Rev 20:10 with this.

Rev 20:10 And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.

The word "Are" is added to he greek text. This is show in the King James (and others) by the italics. However the word that makes the most sense in the context of the beast and false prophet being mortal and dying in the fire is "were". It's just as grammatically correct. So the beast and false prophet WERE thrown into the lake of fire and the devil, a spirit being NOT mortal, will be tormented day and night forever.

[DouglasKC]

also for reference: The Biblical Truth About the Immortal Soul"

[DouglasKC]

Malachi is listed in the article but it's worth it to present it:

Mal 4:1 "For behold, the day is coming, Burning like an oven, And all the proud, yes, all who do wickedly will be stubble. And the day which is coming shall burn them up," Says the LORD of hosts, "That will leave them neither root nor branch.
Mal 4:2 But to you who fear My name The Sun of Righteousness shall arise With healing in His wings; And you shall go out And grow fat like stall-fed calves.
Mal 4:3 You shall trample the wicked, For they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet On the day that I do this," Says the LORD of hosts.

The wicked are burnt up. Stubble. Ashes under the feet. This is what the scripture of the 1st century SAID would happen to the wicked.