{"id":17315,"date":"2015-06-05T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2015-06-05T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/leithart.level2d.com\/?p=2140"},"modified":"2015-06-05T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2015-06-05T00:00:00","slug":"prooftext-for-hell","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/leithart\/2015\/06\/prooftext-for-hell\/","title":{"rendered":"Prooftext for Hell?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n<\/head>

In a 2001 article in Evangelical Quarterly<\/em>, Ralph Bowles argues that Revelation 14:10-11 does not teach that the wicked are eternally punished in hell, as many have thought. The text says that beast-worshipers will be tormented in fire and brimstone and \u201cthe smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever\u201d and they \u201chave no rest day and night.\u201d Bowles offers several arguments for thinking that this is not a prooftext for eternal torment. I address only one of those arguments here.<\/p>\n

He points to parallels between this passage and Isaiah 34\u2019s prophecy against Edom. Both include judgment by fire and sulphur, endless punishment, and smoke arising forever. The order is different in the two passages, however. In Isaiah 34, it is fire-punishment-eternal smoke, which Bowles says is \u201ca natural order for a depiction of destruction \u2013 the judgement descends in fiery force, unremitting and quenchless while it destroys Edom, and then all that is left is the sign of the destruction \u2013 the smoke, a memorial of God\u2019s wrath executed against his enemy\u201d (26). This is a symbol of \u201cperpetual desolation\u201d but not an image of \u201cendless life in pain\u201d (26).<\/p>\n

Revelation 14 puts the sequence in a different order: fire\/sulphur-smoke-torment. That, Bowles suggests, is a sign that the passage is structured literarily, chiastically (p. 27):<\/p>\n

(A) If anyone worships the beast and its image, and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, (9)\u00a0<\/p>\n

(B) he also shall drink the wine of God\u2019s wrath, poured unmixed into the cup of his anger, (10a)\u00a0<\/p>\n

(C) he shall be tormented with fire and sulphur in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. (10b)\u00a0<\/p>\n

(Ci) And the smoke of their torment goes up for ever and ever, (11a)\u00a0<\/p>\n

(Bi) and they have no rest, day or night, (11b)\u00a0<\/p>\n

(Ai) these worshippers of the beast and its image, and whoever receives the mark of its name. (11c).<\/p>\n

From this he concludes that \u201cthe final <\/em>element in the depiction of judgment is the smoke rising after the judgment has been completed, as is the case in Isaiah 34:9, 10.\u201d On the other hand, the \u201cclimactic<\/em>\u00a0element is the central position in this structure \u2013 the tormenting judgement that destroys utterly.\u201d The other descriptions indicate the intensity of pain during the course of the judgment \u2013 no rest, wrath poured. God\u2019s wrath is poured out in full strength, leaving no escape or rest, \u201cwhen the judgment is operating\u201d; it is a \u201cquenchless, unremitting and overwhelming assault,\u201d like the London Blitz<\/em>. Unremitting until <\/em>it ends (27-8).<\/p>\n

To this there are a couple of objections. One is that Bowles confusingly reads the chiasm as both chiastic and linear. Structurally, the fire and brimstone are parallel to the smoke; one might take that to mean that they occur together, or at least are being thematically linked without any indication of their temporal relation. Bowles reads the text linearly, and so distinguishes the eternal smoke from the temporary fire and brimstone and torment.<\/p>\n

Second, and more damaging: this structural analysis doesn\u2019t take sufficient note of the repetition of \u201ctorment\u201d (noun and verb). A slight modification of the chiasm brings this out:<\/p>\n

C. he will be tormented\u00a0<\/p>\n

D. with fire and brimstone<\/p>\n

E. in the presence of the Lamb<\/p>\n

D\u2019. and the smoke\u00a0<\/p>\n

C\u2019. of their torment goes up forever and ever.<\/p>\n

On this reading, \u201ctorment\u201dencloses \u201cfire, brimstone . . . smoke.\u201d The smoke is as much related to torment as the fire and brimstone; it is the smoke of their torment<\/em>. To be sure, the only indication of the duration of the punishment is in connection with the smoke; the fire and brimstone are not said to go on \u201cforever and ever.\u201d But since the torment is by fire and brimstone, and the smoke is the smoke of torment, it seems best to take the \u201cforever and ever\u201d phrase with all three. And that also means that we can\u2019t distinguish as readily as Bowles would like to do between the outpouring of wrath and the restlessness of the idolaters on the one hand, and the forever-and-ever smoke on the other. If the smoke is the smoke of their torment<\/em>, and the smoke keeps going forever, then it seems that their torment goes on forever as well \u2013 the torment that involves drinking the wrath of God and suffering restlessly day and night.<\/p>\n

All that said, the immediate context doesn\u2019t support the notion that this is a straightforward prooftext of eternal punishment. Not all the wicked, but only beast-worshipers and mark-bearers are tormented. This judgment pertains specifically to the first-century situation, and that fits the allusions to Isaiah 34. The text may still contribute to a theology of eternal punishment taught in other passages, but it isn\u2019t a knock-down prooftext for that doctrine.<\/p>\n

(Ralph G. Bowles, \u201cDoes Revelation 14:11 Teach Eternal Torment? Examining a Proof-text on Hell,\u201d Evangelical Quarterly<\/em> 73:1 [2001]: 21-36.)<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In a 2001 article in Evangelical Quarterly, Ralph Bowles argues that Revelation 14:10-11 does not teach that the wicked are eternally punished in hell, as many have thought. The text says that beast-worshipers will be tormented in fire and brimstone and \u201cthe smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever\u201d and they \u201chave no […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3021,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[65,1212],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17315","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bible-nt-revelation","category-hell"],"yoast_head":"\nProoftext for Hell?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"In a 2001 article in Evangelical Quarterly, Ralph Bowles argues that Revelation 14:10-11 does not teach that the wicked are eternally punished in hell, as\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/leithart\/2015\/06\/prooftext-for-hell\/\" 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