Conditional immortality
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Annihilationism. (Discuss)
Conditional immortality, or conditionalism, is the Christian doctrine
that the human soul is naturally mortal, and that immortality is
granted by God as a gift. Immortality, therefore, is conditional;
this
viewpoint stands in contrast to the more popular doctrine of the
natural immortality of the soul. The British Evangelical Alliance
ACUTE report states the doctrine is a "significant minority
evangelical view" that has "grown within evangelicalism in recent
years".[1] During the last six decades, conditional immortality has
been widely accepted among the theologians of the Eastern Orthodox
Church.[2]
Proponents of conditional immortality ("conditionalists") point to
Genesis 2 and Revelation 22, where the Tree of Life is mentioned. It
is argued that these passages, along with Genesis 3:22-24 teach that
human beings will naturally die without continued access to God's
life-
giving power.
As a general rule, conditionalism goes hand in hand with
annihilationism; that is, the belief that the souls of the wicked
will
be destroyed in Gehenna (often translated "hell", especially by non-
conditionalists) fire rather than suffering eternal torment. The two
ideas are not exactly equivalent, however, because in principle God
may annihilate a soul which was previously created immortal. While
annihilationism places emphasis on the active destruction of a
person,
conditionalism places emphasis on a person's dependence upon God for
life; the extinction of the person is thus a passive consequence of
separation from God.
In secular historical analysis, the doctrine of conditional
immortality reconciles the ancient Hebrew view that humans are mortal
with the Christian view that the saved will live forever.
Contents [hide]
1 Arguments against natural immortality
2 Eastern Orthodox view
3 Literature
4 Secular outlook
5 See also
6 References
7 Bibliography
[edit]
Arguments against natural immortality
Conditionalists commonly argue that the doctrine of natural (or
innate) immortality stems not from Hebrew thought, as presented in
the
Bible, but rather from Greek philosophy and the teachings of Plato in
particular.
It is further noted that St. Paul teaches in 1 Timothy 6:15-16 that
"God ... alone is immortal," while in 2 Timothy 1:10 he writes that
immortality only comes to human beings as a gift through the gospel.
[edit]
Eastern Orthodox view
For many centuries inherent immortality, supported with the Platonic
arguments about the simplicity of the soul, was accepted among many
famous Fathers of the Eastern Church, as Athanasius, Gregory of Nyssa
or John of Damascus. But current Eastern Orthodox theologians, who
hold that the Incarnation united the Divine and human natures, and
hold that each man is a hypostasis comprising spirit and body, deny
inherent immortality and profess "immortality by grace" (=CE=BA=CE=B1=CF=84=
=E1=BD=B0 =CF=87=CE=AC=CF=81=CE=B9=CE=BD
=E1=BC=80=CE=B8=CE=B1=CE=BD=CE=B1=CF=83=CE=AF=CE=B1 kata charin athanasia). =
Beyond using Biblical verses that
present immortality as a result of Christ's victory over death and
His
resurrection, they also stress the witness of the Patristic writings
of the 2nd century, when Christian Apologists highlighted the
contrast
between their view and the Platonists' view. A classic example is the
statement of Tatian, who said: "The soul is not in itself immortal, O
Greeks, but mortal. Yet it is possible for it not to die" (Oratio ad
Graecos, 13).
Nevertheless, in Orthodox theology there is no place for
annihilationism, since it holds that, by means of Christ's
Incarnation
and resurrection, immortality is bestowed on all men, inasmuch as
they
participate in the nature of man; the uncreated Divine Light (=E1=BC=84=CE=
=BA=CF=84=CE=B9=CF=83=CF=84=CE=BF
=CF=86=E1=BF=B6=CF=82 aktisto fos) bringing eternal blessings of joy and ful=
fillment;
these are offered to all, but to those who reject God's love, the
light will be experienced as fire.
[edit]
Literature
Biblical Scholar Edward W. Fudge has written an authoritative
treatise
on conditional immortality entitled The Fire That Consumes.
[edit]
Secular outlook
In secular historical analysis, the doctrine of conditional
immortality reconciles two seemingly conflicting traditions in the
Bible: the ancient Hebrew concept that the human being is mortal with
no meaningful existence after death (see =D7=A9=D7=90=D7=95=D7=9C, sheol and=
Ecclesiastes), and the later Jewish and Christian belief in the
resurrection of the dead and personal immortality after Judgment Day.
[edit]
See also
Annihilationism
[edit]
References
^ http://www.eauk.org/theology/key_papers/upload/THE%20NATURE%20OF%20HE...
^ Imortality of the Soul by George Florovsky.
[edit]
Bibliography
The Nature of Hell. A report by the Evangelical Alliance Commission
on
Unity and Truth among Evangelicals (ACUTE), copyright 2000
Evangelical
Alliance. The "Conclusions and Recommendations" (pages 130-135) are
.
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