To those of us who believe in the inspiration and authority of the Bible, it must surely be a concern to know what it says will happen to the millions around us, some of whom we love dearly, who die without repentance or faith. Does Scripture teach that at the last judgment those who remain unrepentant will be consigned to an unending existence of torment without hope? Is that truly what Jesus and his apostles believed and taught? This book presents basic evidence that what they really taught was that the final judgmental end for such people will be 'destruction, ’ taking its obvious meaning that they will cease to exist as conscious individuals. The arguments are not complex, because most of the New Testament writers make plain statements to this effect. The book also looks at those parables and Revelation passages sometimes taken to indicate unending torment. It links with academic works that in increasing numbers are making the same points, but the book is not a contribution to academic scholarship. Rather, it is a careful, readable, and accessible account to challenge pastors, church leaders, and Christians generally to consider what the Bible actually says rather than rely on tradition.
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Paul Marston is a Senior Lecturer at the University of Central Lancashire, and also a Lay Minister in the Free Methodist Church, having gone as a lay delegate to a General Conference in 1989 and acted on various committees. His qualifications include an M.A. in holiness theology from the Nazarene College affiliate of Manchester University, at which he later taught on a Christian Ethics course. He has been on the committee of the British Christians in Science, and has spoken at their conferences and joint conferences with the American Scientific Affiliation. He has had a lifelong interest in philosophy, theology, and apologetics.