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In Christian theology, conditionalism or conditional immortality is a concept in which the gift of immortality is attached to (conditional upon) belief in Jesus Christ. This concept is based in part upon another biblical argument, that the human soul is naturally mortal, immortality ("eternal life") is therefore granted by God as a gift. This viewpoint stands in contrast to the more popular concept of the "natural immortality" of the soul. Conditionalism is practically synonymous with annihilationism, the belief that the unsaved will be ultimately destroyed, rather than suffer unending physical torment, in hell.
Protestantism
The British Evangelical Alliance ACUTE report states that conditionalism is a "significant minority evangelical view" that has "grown within evangelicalism in recent years". In the 20th century, conditional immortality was considered by certain theologians in the Eastern Orthodox Church.
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 and non-universalists) 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.
Belief in forms of conditionalism became a current in Protestantism beginning with the Reformation, but it was only adopted as a formal teaching tenet by denominations such as early Unitarians, the churches of the English Dissenting Academies, then Seventh-day Adventists, Christadelphians, the Bible Students and Jehovah's Witnesses.
Moralist writers, such as Thomas Hobbes in Leviathan, have often argued that the doctrine of natural (or innate) immortality stems not from Hebrew thought as presented in the Bible, but rather from pagan influence, particularly Greek philosophy and the teachings of Plato, or Christian tradition. Bishop of Durham N.T. Wright noted that 1 Timothy 6:15–16 teaches "God… alone is immortal," while in 2 Timothy 1:10 it says that immortality only comes to human beings as a gift through the gospel. Immortality is something to be sought after (Romans 2:7) therefore it is not inherent to all humanity.
References
- Evangelical Alliance; Alliance Commission on Unity and Truth among Evangelicals (2000). "Conclusions and Recommendations". In Hilborn, David (ed.). The Nature of Hell. London: Paternoster Publishing. pp. 130–135. ISBN 978-0-9532992-2-5. Archived from the original on 2012-02-22. Retrieved 2021-07-11.
- Florovsky, Georges (February 13, 2004). "The 'Immortality' of the Soul". Holy Trinity Orthodox Mission.
- Evangelical Alliance; Alliance Commission on Unity and Truth among Evangelicals (2000). Hilborn, David (ed.). The Nature of Hell. London: Paternoster Publishing. p. 74. ISBN 978-0-9532992-2-5.
- Springborg The Cambridge Companion to Hobbes's Leviathan, p. 380, "It is Plato, not Moses, who taught the existence of an immortal soul."
- N. T. Wright Paul for Everyone: The Pastoral Letters: 1 and 2 Timothy, 2004, p. 74 "But he never states this in terms of people having an immortal soul, for the very good reason that he doesn't believe it. Only God possesses immortality (verse 16)."
- Pearce, F. After Death What?
External links
- Conditionalimmortality.org Introductory articles on why Conditionalism is correct. Includes "Answering the critics" section.
- Defining Conditionalism Christian conditionalism is essentially an anthropological terms. It describes the nature of humanity as the Bible represents it. The article defines the term.
- The Logic of Conditionalism Discusses the implications of Christian conditionalism for other branches of Christian theology.
- Jewish not Greek Shows how Biblical hermeneutics proves "conditional immortality" and not the Greek philosophical view of innate immortality.
- The Resurrection and Immortality An exhaustive study into the biblical definition of immortality and proof of conditional immortality.
- Fudge, Edward William; Cousins, Peter (1994). The Fire That Consumes: The Biblical Case for Conditional Immortality. Carlisle: Paternoster. ISBN 978-0-85364-587-0. OCLC 31168600.
- Froom, Le Roy Edwin (1966) . Conditionalist Faith of our Fathers. Vol. 1. Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald. LCCN 64017664. Archived from the original on 2010-06-10. Retrieved 2010-06-04.
- Froom, Le Roy Edwin (1965) . Conditionalist Faith of our Fathers. Vol. 2. Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald. LCCN 64017664. Archived from the original on 2010-06-10. Retrieved 2010-06-04.
- Pinnock, Clark H. (2008). "The Destruction of the Finally Impenitent". Truth According to Scripture.
- Welch, Charles (c. 1910). "The Immortality of the Soul and The doctrine of demons". The Berean Expositor. 1: 64–66.
- Freedom From Fear: What happens when you die?
- Truth About Death Comprehensive site covering questions and answers regarding Christian conditionalism
- Fudge, Edward William; Cousins, Peter (1994). The Fire That Consumes: The Biblical Case for Conditional Immortality. Carlisle: Paternoster. ISBN 978-0-85364-587-0. OCLC 31168600.
- Ball, Bryan W. (2008). The Soul Sleepers: Christian Mortalism from Wycliffe to Priestley. James Clarke Company. ISBN 978-0-227-17260-5.
- Petavel, Emmanuel (1892). The Problem of Immortality. E. Stock.
petavel immortality.
A Tour de Force for conditional immortality by a Frenchman. - Petavel, Emmanuel (1889). The Extinction of Evil: Three Theological Essays. C. H. Woodman.
Emmanuel Pétavel-Olliff.
Three early essays from one of the classical advocates of conditional immortality. See especially "Appendix 1: Answers to Objections Urged Against the Doctrine of the Gradual Extinction of Obdurate Sinners," beginning on page 147 of the book. - Hudson, Charles Frederic (1857). Debt and Grace as Related to a Doctrine of the Future Life. Perhaps the best and most sophisticated demonstration of conditional immortality, both rationally and biblically. See Hudson's book Christ Our Life listed immediately below for an expanded biblical defense.
- Hudson, Charles Frederic (1860). Christ Our Life: The Scriptural Argument for Immortality Through Christ Alone. J. P. Jewett.
charles frederic hudson debt.
A thorough, sophisticated argument from the Bible for conditional immortality. - White, Edward (1878). Life in Christ: A Study of the Scripture Doctrine On the Nature of Man, the Object of the Divine Incarnation, and the Conditions of Human Immortality. E. Stock.
edward white life in christ.
. Exceptional biblical argument for conditional immortality, though White posits an intermediate conscious state of the soul pace the standard conditional immortality belief that the dead are unconscious. - Bacchiocchi, Samuele (1997). Immortality or Resurrection? A Biblical Study on Human Nature and Destiny (PDF). Berrien Springs, Michigan: Biblical Perspectives. ISBN 1-930987-12-9. OCLC 38849060. An excellent place to begin a study on conditional immortality from a Seventh-Day-Adventist scholar.
- Rethinking Hell Exploring Evangelical Conditionalism.
- Afterlife.co.nz The Conditional Immortality Association of New Zealand Inc. is a non-profit organization established to promote a Biblical understanding of human nature, life, death and eternity as taught throughout Scripture.
- Burch, Helaine (1999). Asleep in Christ. Open Bible Trust & Bible Search Publications. ISBN 1880573539. US ISBN 1 880573 53 9, GB ISBN 0 947778 99 3. This book deals with the fundamentals of being human; living and dying, life and death. It answers such questions as... What is death? Why does man die? What is the key to eternal life? What is resurrection?