Abstract
Fudge’s recently published third edition of The Fire that Consumes stands alone as the most comprehensive discussion of hell and the debate about whether life in the world to come for the unsaved entails eternal torment or final destruction.
Fudge devotes approximately the first half of the book to hell as discussed in the Bible. Following this Fudge explores the theme of hell in church history from the apostolic Fathers to contemporary times. The argument runs throughout that the most logical and biblically substantiated view is that of ‘conditional immortality’ which is that the ‘saved’ will live forever with God and the ‘damned’ will, in the eschaton, be completely destroyed.
The Fire that Consumes covers wide territory and, as such, it will no doubt continue to serve students of theology in a variety of contexts hoping to gain an introduction to this vast topic. Furthermore, Fudge’s work is rooted in a plethora of secondary sources such as biblical commentaries, patrological works, and systematic theologies, which will no doubt serve researchers who wish for a place to begin.
There are, however, a plethora of problems with this work that can only be mentioned briefly in a short book review. The problems all stem from gross oversimplifications on the part of Fudge, which are perhaps due to the breadth of the book. First, Fudge would like his readers to see his view as the only biblically and logically supported viewpoint; other views, he wants his readers to think, are simply not found in the Bible and do not make logical sense. For him, though there may be particular verses that could point to the ‘traditionalist view’ of eternal torment in hell, these must not be read literally. The tone of his argument throughout is ‘if only people would read their Bible and use their brains they would see that Fudge is right!’ Unfortunately, it is clear throughout that Fudge read the Bible through the lens of his assumptions about hell. Secondly, Fudge’s discussion is neither dogmatic nor theological. In chapters 16 and 17 Fudge discusses how God’s justice is best seen in Christ yet the theologically astute reader is disappointed when, despite these two hopeful chapters, Fudge neglects to discuss hell with reference to Christology and soteriology. Thirdly, Fudge’s un-theological reading causes him to misunderstand the theology of many of the figures he discusses. For example, in chapter 30 he accuses Calvin of assuming a Platonic notion of the natural immortality of souls, when, in fact, if Fudge had read Calvin’s rejection of the notion that, upon death, the soul sleeps and re-awakens in the eschaton within the greater context of Calvin’s theology, he would have seen that Calvin’s view was rooted in his strong theological affirmation of humanity’s union with Christ in heaven. Fourthly, Fudge’s use of historical figures, particularly patristic, is oversimplified and highly selective. He accuses many of the church Fathers of being more indebted to Greek philosophy than the bible and hence their ‘traditionalist view’ of the natural immortality of the soul. However, he uses proof-texts from them and other historical figures to prove his points without looking at their view of hell in the context of their Christology, soteriology, and greater theology. The accusation of the Fathers as too Hellenistic is not new. No doubt some Fathers were more philosophically oriented than others. Indeed, Fudge chose many of the more philosophical Fathers such as Origen, Augustine, and Gregory of Nyssa to critique, not always unfairly. However, had Fudge wished to present the full spectrum of patristic understanding in this area he may have turned to more classical figures such as Athanasius and Cyril of Alexandria and explored their soteriology, particularly their notions of humanity’s union with Christ and the life Christ lived and lives in place of humankind and what this means for the eternality of human persons in the eschaton.
Yet there are many good aspects to this book: Fudge’s argument is clear, his reading of biblical texts and his argument is convincing in many regards, and wide territory is covered in one volume.