Christian YouTubers are hurling accusations of “heresy” and “apostasy” at evangelist Kirk Cameron after his recent video, “Are We Wrong About Hell?” Cameron and his son, James, both shared what they believe to be biblical support for the doctrines of conditionalism and annihilationism on an episode of The Kirk Cameron Show.
Conditionalism posits that only the righteous receive immortality; annihilationism asserts that the wicked will be destroyed in hell. These ideas fly in the face of the traditional view of hell known as eternal conscious torment (ECT). The term is self-explanatory.
Kirk Cameron became a household name in the 1980s as a teen star on the popular sitcom Growing Pains. Yet after becoming a Christian, he distanced himself from Hollywood and later starred in widely successful Christian films Left Behind (2000) and Fireproof (2008). Additionally, in the early 2000s, Cameron partnered with well-known evangelist Ray Comfort and his ministry Living Waters.
The point is this—Cameron is highly influential in the Christian world, and his recent thoughts on hell caused concern among proponents of everlasting torment.
Has Mr. Cameron gone off the theological deep end?
Should we be worried too?
Let’s find out.
What Was Said
In the controversial video, Cameron expresses how eternal conscious torment doesn’t seem to mesh well with God’s character of mercy and love as revealed in Scripture. He said that if we get the doctrine of hell wrong, “We give ammunition to the enemies of God.”
According to Scripture, he’s right! Our behavior and teachings about God are on display before the world (1 Corinthians 4:9). We should be careful not to give reason for God’s name to be “blasphemed among the Gentiles” (Romans 2:24).
Sadly, ECT has done just that.
Agnostic Robert G. Ingersoll said, “Eternal punishment can be inflicted upon man only by an eternal fiend” (The Works of Robert G. Ingersoll, Vol. 1, 1901). Atheist Bertrand Russell said, “I do not myself feel that any person who is really profoundly humane can believe in everlasting punishment” (Why I Am Not a Christian, 1927). And more recently, atheist Richard Dawkins compared teaching children to believe in eternal hell to “child abuse” (The God Delusion, 2006).
Cameron’s prior ministry partner and friend, Ray Comfort, responded to Cameron’s video with one of his own. He wanted supporters of Living Waters to know that Cameron has not worked with them for over a decade and that they do not share Cameron’s views on hell. He stated, “We’re releasing this video because we want to reaffirm that Living Waters does indeed hold to the biblical and historic orthodox view of conscious eternal torment.” Comfort promised to release a video with a “thorough defense” of ECT soon.
The wicked shall perish. … Into smoke they shall vanish away.
Looking at the Evidence
Comfort referred to eternal conscious torment as the “biblical and historic orthodox view” of hell. While the view is historic and orthodox (that is, commonly accepted within Christianity), it is not biblical.
Cameron and his son, James, did not appeal to tradition, but to the Bible. They discussed Jesus’ unambiguous statements that we should “fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell” (Matthew 10:28) and “He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire” (Matthew 3:12).
These were supported with Psalm 37:20, which says, “The wicked shall perish. … Into smoke they shall vanish away” (Psalm 37:20). Don’t be thrown off by the word “unquenchable.” The same terminology is used to describe the fires that destroyed the nation of Edom and even the city of Jerusalem, yet neither is burning today, and Jerusalem has been rebuilt (Isaiah 34:10; Jeremiah 17:27; Ezekiel 20:47). An unquenchable fire is one that cannot be stopped. However, it will go out after its fuel is consumed.
Matthew 25:46, a text used to support eternal torment, was also discussed. It says, “These will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life” (Matthew 25:46). In light of dozens of texts that speak of the destruction of the wicked, there are no grounds to view this punishment as unending agony. It is simply permanent. And what is this permanent punishment? “The wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23).
A lot more could be said, but we don’t have the space here. Visit helltruth.com to explore the overwhelming evidence for conditionalism and annihilationism.
A Reluctant Destroyer
Supporters of ECT often say that annihilationism portrays God as “easy on sin” and doesn’t motivate the wicked to turn to Him. However, Cameron pointed out that “within the annihilationist view, there is also room for judgment. It doesn’t just mean that Hitler and sweet little grandma, who sinned a couple of times, are both just snuffed out like this candle flame.”
Jesus’ own words support Cameron’s view, saying that some “shall be beaten with many stripes,” while others “shall be beaten with few” (Luke 12:47, 48).
And when it comes to God motivating sinners to turn to Him, He does this with love, not the scare tactic of threatening eternal conscious torment. His love was put on display at the cross. Jesus said, “And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself” (John 12:32).
Nevertheless, the Bible does speak of a “lake of fire” where there will be “wailing and gnashing of teeth” (Revelation 20:14; Matthew 13:42). That’s something we shouldn’t wish on anyone. Neither does God, who is “not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9).
At the end of his video, Cameron admitted, “I used to hold the position of conscious eternal torment because that’s just what I was taught by people that I love and trust. I’ve learned that there are other positions, and a very robust argument can be made for conditionalism or annihilationism, as Edward Fudge posits here. [Cameron shared a lecture on hell by Dr. Edward Fudge that is worth watching.] And it fits the character of God in my understanding more than the conscious eternal torment position because it brings in the mercy of God together with the justice of God.”
It’s encouraging to see Cameron embrace the biblical view of hell and point his substantial audience in that direction. Let’s pray that he stands firm. He’s taking a lot of heat right now.
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