User Terri Green noted, “Just because Kirk Cameron says it, doesn’t make it true.” She provided a link to Bible teacher John MacArthur warning about the concept of annihilationism, or “soul sleep.” The idea gained popularity “because it feels comfortable and it feels fair,” MacArthur said, but “you cannot make that case from Scripture.”
Green also linked to a 2015 article by theologian Gavin Ortlund titled “J. I. Packer on Why Annihilationism Is Wrong.” Ortlund summarized Packer’s response to four arguments for annihilationism. Hell shouldn’t be abstracted from the gospel, Packer explained, and views on hell shouldn’t be determined by considerations of comfort.
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Although the doctrine of hell is difficult and might make us sad, Ortlund wrote, “To be a Christian is—at the very least—to confess Christ the Son of God, and to confess Christ the Son of God is—at the very least—to submit to his teaching. And this includes his teaching on hell (which was quite copious and colorful).”
