DOCSLIB.ORG

John Gerstner and the Renewal of Reformed Evangelicalism In

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
John Gerstner and the Renewal of Reformed Evangelicalism In John Gerstner and the Renewal of Reformed Evangelicalism in Modern America Jeffrey Stephen McDonald Department of History and Politics School of Arts and Humanities University of Stirling A thesis submitted for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Supervised by Professor David W Bebbington 30 June 2014 ii I, Jeffrey S. McDonald, declare that this thesis has been composed by me and that the work which it embodies is my work and has not been included in any other thesis. Jeffrey Stephen McDonald, 30 June 2014 iii Acknowledgements I would like to thank Bradley Longfield for his helpful advice and for his courses on religious biography and church history at the University of Dubuque Theological Seminary. Moreover, I express my gratitude to two Dubuque theologians who encouraged me along the way—Elmer Colyer and the late Donald Bloesch. Others scholars who have provided help through the years include: Mark Noll, Kermitt Staggers, Gary Hansen, Dennis Roark, Charles Herman, Dean Rapp, Charles Weber, Edith Blumhofer, Oliver B. Pollak, John Grigg, Bruce Garver, and Mary Lyons-Carmona. In addition, Darryl G. Hart and Ken Stewart have provided me with key insights into Presbyterian history. A warm thanks also goes to Jonathan Gerstner for answering so many questions and allowing me complete access to his father‘s papers and personal material. I also want to express my gratitude to Marlin Schiach for his conscientious comments on various drafts. I offer a special thank you to Professor A. Donald MacLeod of Brighton, Ontario, for his friendship, mentoring, and inspiring models of Christian biography. My supervisor, Professor David W. Bebbington, provided wise counsel, careful reading, and astute criticisms. It has been a real blessing to have the opportunity to work with such a caring person and skilled historian. I would also like to extend my appreciation to the members of Murray Presbyterian Church, Murray, Nebraska, and Covenant Presbyterian Church, Omaha, Nebraska. My sincere thanks also go out to my family: John and Sarah McDonald, Jimmy McDonald, Stan and Ramona Brinkley, and Jason and Sara Brinkley. My parents, Jan and Kevin McDonald, have been great encouragers throughout my life and I am appreciative of all they have done for me. I would also like to thank my two daughters, iv Katie and Meredith, for allowing their dad to devote so much time to this project. Perhaps someday they will find John Gerstner interesting as well. Lastly, I am grateful for the constant love, patience and support of my wife Krista. She is a terrific mother and a wonderful partner on life‘s journey. This work is dedicated to her. v Abstract John Gerstner (1914-1996) was a key figure in the renewal of Reformed evangelicalism in America in the second half of the twentieth century. Gerstner‘s work as a church historian sought to shape evangelicalism, but also northern mainline Presbyterianism. In order to promote evangelical thought he wrote, taught, lectured, debated and preached widely. In order to achieve his aims he promoted the work of the great colonial theologian Jonathan Edwards. He also defended and endorsed biblical inerrancy and the Old Princeton theology. Gerstner was a critic of theological modernism and had reservations about the theology of Karl Barth—the great Swiss Reformed theologian. Part of Gerstner‘s fame was his active participation in mainline Presbyterianism and in so many of the smaller Presbyterian denominations and in the wider evangelical movement. His renewal efforts within the United Presbyterian Church U.S.A. (later PCUSA) were largely a failure, but they did contribute to the surprising resurgence of Reformed evangelicalism. Evangelical marginalization in the mainline led Gerstner and other evangelicals to redirect their energy into new evangelical institutions, groups and denominations. Gerstner‘s evangelical United Presbyterian Church of North America (UPCNA) background influenced the young scholar and the legacy of the UPCNA‘s heritage can be detected in the popular forms of the Reformed evangelical movement that exist today. It is a central theme of this dissertation that Gerstner‘s significance, at least partially, can be observed in the number of Reformed evangelical scholars and leaders who studied with him and play leading roles in the movement today. vi Table of Contents Chapter One Introduction.....................................................................................................................................1 Chapter Two The Making of an Evangelical Scholar (1914-1949)................................................................27 Chapter Three The Emergence of a Reformed Professor (1950-1959)..........................................................70 Chapter Four An Evangelical Defender of the Faith (1960-1969)...............................................................110 Chapter Five The Shaping of Modern Evangelicalism (1970-1979)...........................................................149 Chapter Six Church Politics and a Reasoned Apologetic (1980-1989)....................................................201 Chapter Seven Reformed Resurgence (1990-1996)..........................................................................................242 Chapter Eight Conclusion....................................................................................................................................277 Bibliography.................................................................................................................................297 1 Chapter One Introduction John Henry Gerstner Jr was born in 1914 and raised primarily in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. As a young adult he became a member of the United Presbyterian Church of North America (UPCNA) and was actively engaged in Christian ministry, but he also pursued scholarship. He excelled in his academic studies. In 1945 he received a PhD from Harvard University and then began to devote energy to stimulating evangelical thinking in the church and in the academy. He published widely in various journals and periodicals; moreover, he authored numerous books. In his later years the lectures that Gerstner delivered for a para-church ministry were recorded and transmitted through new forms of multimedia. His specialty was Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758), the great colonial American theologian and philosopher. Today he is perhaps best remembered in academic circles for his voluminous writings on Edwards‘ theology. Yet Gerstner is also known for his work on Reformed apologetics, the cults and biblical inerrancy. In addition, he wrote on the history of Presbyterianism and evangelicalism. He was an active and well-known writer and churchman, but this study represents the first comprehensive analysis of his life and thought. During Gerstner‘s career he involved himself in various Presbyterian and evangelical events and controversies that shaped his reputation. The main impulse in Gerstner‘s career was injecting conservative evangelical Presbyterian modes of thought into the mainline northern Presbyterian church, but Gerstner also directed efforts more broadly and became a leader in the evangelical movement at large. This study will demonstrate just how much the Pittsburgh professor achieved in his career. He was a 2 strong advocate for his views. Expressions of Gerstner‘s resolution revealed both personal strengths and weaknesses and this thesis will identify the ways in which Gerstner‘s militancy both helped and hurt his career and scholarly reputation. Analysing the scholar‘s setbacks and disappointments yields particularly cogent insights into Gerstner‘s life experiences. Gerstner‘s tireless work was ended only by his death in 1996. In 1993, three years before John Gerstner died, a friend wrote a letter to him asking for a ‗status report from your perspective‘ on the future of classical Reformed ‗apologetics‘.1 Gerstner responded by saying that while he was ‗disappointed‘ with the progress, ‗[w]e dare never underestimate our sovereign God, or rely much on our own very limited vision‘.2 Gerstner‘s foresight may have had limits, but his large vision of the Reformed faith was realized in significant ways through his many years of energetic teaching, preaching and writing. Indeed, for over fifty years, he had laboured to revitalize and strengthen Reformed evangelicalism. Even though the influence of the movement had waned in the northern Presbyterian Church (USA) during the 1920s, Reformed evangelicalism remained within the mainline church and thrived in some older and newly founded Reformed denominations, ministries and schools. Gerstner played a leading role in propelling this Calvinist-orientated evangelicalism into the future. His efforts in this endeavour have been largely ignored, however, and his significance has not been realized. This study analyses Gerstner‘s life and thought in relation to the history of the mainline Northern Presbyterian church and the burgeoning evangelical movement and reveals his importance in pre- and post- World War II American religion. The church historian played a leading role in the post-World War II expansion of evangelicalism through his teaching in both mainline and non-mainline Protestant 1 Carl Bogue to John Gerstner, 6 December 1993, Carl Bogue Papers, Scottsdale, AZ. 2 John Gerstner to Carl Bogue, 13 December 1993, Carl Bogue Papers, Scottsdale, AZ. 3 schools. Unlike most other evangelical scholars who associated themselves with the neo- evangelical movement, Gerstner spent the majority of his career
Load more

Recommended publications
  • The Responsibility of the Church in Our New Age
    A"''''......... .-..,lIEa_..__ .Ar_·• ..-r.... Liberal Arts Education in the "'••' r1 Tradition of Historic Presbyterianism rinity Christian College is located Trinity is a young school. It opened Tin Palos Heights, Illinois, a suburb its doors seven years ago to thirty-five EM.nraIS ... of Chicago. Presently it is a two year students. Under our Lord's gracious college with plans to become a four blessing the school now numbers 205 year school by 1970. The freshman regular day students. There is also an class enrolling September, 1967 should interesting evening school progra1ll be the first class to graduate from which is attracting more and more at­ Trinity's four year program. The jun­ tention. Of special interest to the read­ ior year will be introduced, D.V., Sep­ ers of this journal is the fact that two tember, 1969 and the senior year, Sep­ tember, 1970. (continued on page 7) ..... 1 " A son's tribute to the Scrubgrass creek or the trailing arbutus patch. It was not his Scot na­ ture to verbalize but he saw the "ser­ mons in stone, books in running A Goodly Heritage brooks and God in everything," and so did we. Small wonder we always ROBERT L. ATWELL looked forward to the Sabbath. Would that we had more living illustrations t one a.m. the phone rang. From Word of God written, is the infallible that a properly strict Sabbath is also A 1,400 miles my brother's voice rule for both faith and practice. This an irresistibly joyous Sabbath. said, "Bob, get hold of yourself, I've is our confessional position.
    [Show full text]
  • Pat-Abendroth-Dissertation.Pdf
    A Pastoral Note About My Doctoral Project I am glad you are interested in reading my dissertation. Given that it took a fair amount of effort and my passion for the subject matter, I am happy to share it with church members and friends. Please allow me to introduce you to the project by saying just a few things. If you ask someone what Covenant Theology is and if it is a good or bad thing, you will likely hear lots of different answers. It is fairly common for evangelicals to respond by either saying they do not know what Covenant Theology is or by describing it as something unbiblical and relating to a particular view regarding millennialism, baptism, or Israel. There are three major problems with such responses. First, classic Covenant Theology is essentially concerned with matters of sin and salvation, not something else. Second, the biblical support for such things as the federal headship of Adam and Jesus is strong (federal being from the Latin foedus meaning covenant). Third, when Covenant Theology is rejected, justification by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone is at best in serious jeopardy. My dissertation is a promotion and defense of classic Covenant Theology. I have written out of a pastoral passion to help people understand human history federally/covenantally just as the Apostle Paul did as he wrote inspired Scripture (see Romans 5:12-21). Likewise, I have written in order to demonstrate the vital connection between Covenant Theology and justification by faith alone, the doctrine that is so commonly compromised by rejecters of the federal perspective.
    [Show full text]
  • PRESBYTERIANISM in AMERICA the 20 Century
    WRS Journal 13:2 (August 2006) 26-43 PRESBYTERIANISM IN AMERICA The 20th Century John A. Battle The final third century of Presbyterianism in America has witnessed the collapse of the mainline Presbyterian churches into liberalism and decline, the emergence of a number of smaller, conservative denominations and agencies, and a renewed interest in Reformed theology throughout the evangelical world. The history of Presbyterianism in the twentieth century is very complex, with certain themes running through the entire century along with new and radical developments. Looking back over the last hundred years from a biblical perspective, one can see three major periods, characterized by different stages of development or decline. The entire period begins with the Presbyterian Church being overwhelmingly conservative, and united theologically, and ends with the same church being largely liberal and fragmented, with several conservative defections. I have chosen two dates during the century as marking these watershed changes in the Presbyterian Church: (1) the issuing of the 1934 mandate requiring J. Gresham Machen and others to support the church’s official Board of Foreign Missions, and (2) the adoption of the Confession of 1967. The Presbyterian Church moves to a new gospel (1900-1934) At the beginning of the century When the twentieth century opened, the Presbyterians in America were largely contained in the Presbyterian Church U.S.A. (PCUSA, the Northern church) and the Presbyterian Church in the U.S. (PCUS, the Southern church). There were a few smaller Presbyterian denominations, such as the pro-Arminian Cumberland Presbyterian Church and several Scottish Presbyterian bodies, including the United Presbyterian Church of North America and various other branches of the older Associate and Reformed Presbyteries and Synods.
    [Show full text]
  • Annual Report
    Annual Report i • ATLA Annual Report www.atla.com Table of Contents Board of Directors ........................................................................................................................................................ 1 Strategic Plan ............................................................................................................................................................... 2 From the President ....................................................................................................................................................... 3 From the Executive Director ........................................................................................................................................ 4 Enhance Theological and Religious Studies Libraries and Librarianship 2015 ATLA Annual Conference .................................................................................................................................. 7 Committees of the Association ................................................................................................................................... 10 ATLA Publications ..................................................................................................................................................... 12 Reciprocal Borrowing .................................................................................................................................................. 14 Demographic Surveys .................................................................................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • The Nicene Creed
    THE NICENE CREED [TEXT] The Nicene Creed In the first three centuries, the church found itself in a hostile environment. On the one hand, it grappled with the challenge of relating the language of the gospel, developed in a Hebraic and Jewish-Christian context, to a Graeco-Roman world. On the other hand, it was threatened not only by persecution, but also by ideas that were in conflict with the biblical witness. In A.D. 312, Constantine won control of the Roman Empire in the battle of Milvian Bridge. Attributing his victory to the intervention of Jesus Christ, he elevated Christianity to favored status in the empire. “One God, one Lord, one faith, one church, one empire, one emperor” became his motto. The new emperor soon discovered that “one faith and one church” were fractured by theological disputes, especially conflicting understandings of the nature of Christ, long a point of controversy. Arius, a priest of the church in Alexandria, asserted that the divine Christ, the Word through whom all things have their existence, was created by God before the beginning of time. Therefore, the divinity of Christ was similar to the divinity of God, but not of the same essence. Arius was opposed by the bishop, Alexander, together with his associate and successor Athanasius. They affirmed that the divinity of Christ, the Son, is of the same substance as the divinity of God, the Father. To hold otherwise, they said, was to open the possibility of polytheism, and to imply that knowledge of God in Christ was not final knowledge of God.
    [Show full text]
  • Scottish Journal of Theology 23(1970): 129-156
    Scottish Journal of Theology 23(1970): 129-156. R E SPO N S I B L E M A N I N R E FO R M E D TH E O L OG Y: CA L V I N V E R SU S T H E WES T M I N S TE R C ON F ES S I O N by THE REV. PROFESSOR HOLM ES R O LSTON II I HE Confession of 1967 in the United Presbyterian Church marks the official end of the four-century Presbyterian venture into covenant theology. Now past that milestone, perhaps we have reached a vantage point where we can turn dispassion• ately to survey that curious but historic route. Seen from its concept of responsible man, we here argue, that route has been a prolonged detour away from the insights of the Reformers. The Westminster Confession remains, of course, the prime con• fessional document of Presbyterians outside the United Church, for instance in the Scots and British parent churches, or with southern cousins in the Presbyterian Church, U.S. Even in the United Church, the Westminster Confession remains in the show• room of creeds. But we have recently seen a breach in the federal scheme so long embraced in Presbyterian confessional statements, a breach that marks the scheme where it yet re• mains officially as a theological anachronism no longer re• garded seriously but to be suffered as historical background. With the hold of federal theology officially broken, we can challenge afresh the assumption that the Calvinism of the Westminster Confession is true to the Reformer himself.
    [Show full text]
  • Katy Mcilvaine – “An Exhortation To
    REFORMED THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY CHARLOTTE AN EXHORTATION TO φιλαδελφία WHILE SOJOURNING AS EXILES IN THE WORLD: AN EXEGESIS OF 1 PETER 1:22-25 PRESENTED TO DR. MIKE KRUGER IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF NT-522 HEBREWS TO REVELATION BY KATY MCILVAINE 17 MAY 2018 Translation: 1 Peter 1:22-25 22 -- Your souls1 having been purified2 by obedience3 to the truth,4 in sincere5 brotherly love6 from the heart7 love8 one another earnestly,9 23 -- Having been born again10 not of perishable11 seed12 but of imperishable, 1 LSJ, 798, defines ψυχή as “breath, as the sign of life,” signifying a living thing. It is “life, spirit,” or “the soul of a man,” even as “the seat of the will, desires, and passions.” See also Karl-Wolfgang Tröger, “ψυχή,” TDNT 9:608- twice ,לֵב in the LXX; it is also used 25 times for נֶפֶׁש Tröger observes that ψυχή is commonly used to translate .660 Ps 63[64]:2). In the NT it connotes both natural, physical life and) ח ִּיים Gen 41:8; Exod 35:21) and once for) רּוחַ for “true life in distinction from purely physical life… the God-given existence which survives death,” i.e., the eternal soul of a human being. 2 BAGD, 11. ἡγνικότες is the perfect participial form of ἁγνίζω, “to purify” (largely used within a cultic setting); here, used figuratively of “souls” (cf. Jas 4:8; 1 John 3:3). Cleon L. Rogers, Jr., and Cleon L. Rogers III, The New Linguistic and Exegetical Key to the Greek New Testament (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1998), 570, note that the perfect form here emphasizes the completed state or condition of τὰς ψυχὰς ὑμῶν.
    [Show full text]
  • Resurrection in Daniel 12 and Its Contribution to the Theology of the Book of Daniel
    Andrews University Digital Commons @ Andrews University Dissertations Graduate Research 1996 Resurrection in Daniel 12 and its Contribution to the Theology of the Book of Daniel Artur A. Stele Andrews University Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.andrews.edu/dissertations Part of the Biblical Studies Commons, and the Religious Thought, Theology and Philosophy of Religion Commons Recommended Citation Stele, Artur A., "Resurrection in Daniel 12 and its Contribution to the Theology of the Book of Daniel" (1996). Dissertations. 148. https://digitalcommons.andrews.edu/dissertations/148 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate Research at Digital Commons @ Andrews University. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ Andrews University. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Thank you for your interest in the Andrews University Digital Library of Dissertations and Theses. Please honor the copyright of this document by not duplicating or distributing additional copies in any form without the author’s express written permission. Thanks for your cooperation. INFORMATION TO USERS This manuscript has been reproduced from the microfilm master. UMI films the text directly from the original or copy submitted. Thus, some thesis and dissertation copies are in typewriter face, while others may be from any type of computer printer. The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. Broken or indistinct print, colored or poor quality illustrations and photographs, print bleedthrough, substandard margins, and improper alignment can adversely affect reproduction. In the unlikely event that the author did not send UMI a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted.
    [Show full text]
  • Eschatology: the Christian Hope THEO6304 in Association with the Centergize Conference August 2015 New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary
    Eschatology: The Christian Hope THEO6304 in association with the Centergize Conference August 2015 New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary Dr. Steve Lemke and Dr. Adam Harwood Contact Information Dr. Steve Lemke Office: Frost 202 Fax: 504-816-8428 Telephone: (504) 282-4455, ext. 3216 E-mail: [email protected] Dr. Adam Harwood Office: Dodd 213 Email: [email protected] Telephone: (504) 282-4455, ext. 8074 NOBTS Mission Statement The mission of New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary is to equip leaders to fulfill the Great Commission and the Great Commandments through the local church and its ministries. Core Values and Competencies Addressed New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary has five core values: Doctrinal Integrity, Spiritual Vitality, Mission Focus, Characteristic Excellence, and Servant Leadership. These values shape both the context and manner in which all curricula are taught, with Doctrinal Integrity and Mission Focus especially highlighted in this course. Each academic year, a core value is emphasized. This academic year, the core value is Spiritual Vitality, which is stated as follows: “We are a worshiping community emphasizing both personal spirituality and gathering together as a Seminary family for the praise and adoration of God and instruction in His Word.” The primary core values addressed by the course are Doctrinal Integrity and Characteristic Excellence. The primary ministerial competencies addressed by the course are Biblical Exposition and Theological Heritage. Course Description This course provides a biblical, historical, and theological examination of the doctrine of last things (eschatology). This study assists students to begin formation of a systematic, Christian perspective upon this issue. Students will develop an awareness of the issues and values in a Christian understanding of death, life after death, the resurrection, the second coming, and the eternal states.
    [Show full text]
  • Katapausis and Sabbatismos in Hebrews 4
    Andrews University Digital Commons @ Andrews University Dissertations Graduate Research 2011 Katapausis and Sabbatismos in Hebrews 4 Erhard Gallos Andrews University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.andrews.edu/dissertations Part of the Biblical Studies Commons, and the Religious Thought, Theology and Philosophy of Religion Commons Recommended Citation Gallos, Erhard, "Katapausis and Sabbatismos in Hebrews 4" (2011). Dissertations. 54. https://digitalcommons.andrews.edu/dissertations/54 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate Research at Digital Commons @ Andrews University. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ Andrews University. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Thank you for your interest in the Andrews University Digital Library of Dissertations and Theses. Please honor the copyright of this document by not duplicating or distributing additional copies in any form without the author’s express written permission. Thanks for your cooperation. ABSTRACT KATAPAUSIS AND SABBATISMOS IN HEBREWS 4 by Erhard H. Gallos Advisor: Robert M. Johnston ABSTRACT OF GRADUATE STUDENT RESEARCH Dissertation Andrews University Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary Title: KATAPAUSIS AND SABBATISMOS IN HEBREWS 4 Name of researcher: Erhard H. Gallos Name and degree of faculty adviser: Robert M. Johnston, Ph.D. Date completed: April 2011 Problem Enthusiasm for the subject has not
    [Show full text]
  • An International Journal for Students of Theological and Religious Studies Volume 36 Issue 2 July 2011
    An International Journal for Students of Theological and Religious Studies Volume 36 Issue 2 July 2011 EDITORIAL: Generational Conflict in Ministry 180 D. A. Carson MINORITY REPORT: A Word to the Conscience 183 Carl Trueman Is the Reformation Over? John Calvin, Roman Catholicism, 185 and Contemporary Ecumenical Conversations Scott M. Manetsch Intrinsic Canonicity and the Inadequacy of the 203 Community Approach to Canon-Determination John C. Peckham Canon as Tradition: The New Covenant and the 216 Hermeneutical Question Mark R. Saucy Not Ashamed! The Sufficiency of Scripture for 238 Public Theology Dan Strange A Preacher’s Decalogue 261 Sinclair B. Ferguson Book Reviews 269 DESCRIPTION Themelios is an international evangelical theological journal that expounds and defends the historic Christian faith. Its primary audience is theological students and pastors, though scholars read it as well. It was formerly a print journal operated by RTSF/UCCF in the UK, and it became a digital journal operated by The Gospel Coalition in 2008. The new editorial team seeks to preserve representation, in both essayists and reviewers, from both sides of the Atlantic. Themelios is published three times a year exclusively online at www.theGospelCoalition.org. It is presented in two formats: PDF (for citing pagination) and HTML (for greater accessibility, usability, and infiltration in search engines). Themelios is copyrighted by The Gospel Coalition. Readers are free to use it and circulate it in digital form without further permission (any print use requires further written permission), but they must acknowledge the source and, of course, not change the content. EDITORS BOOK ReVIEW EDITORS Systematic Theology and Bioethics Hans Madueme General Editor: D.
    [Show full text]
  • Hell: Never, Forever, Or Just for Awhile?
    TMSJ 9/2 (Fall 1998) 129-145 HELL: NEVER, FOREVER, OR JUST FOR AWHILE? Richard L. Mayhue Senior Vice President and Dean Professor of Theology and Pastoral Ministries The plethora of literature produced in the last two decades on the basic nature of hell indicates a growing debate in evangelicalism that has not been experienced since the latter half of the nineteenth century. This introductory article to the entire theme issue of TMSJ sets forth the context of the question of whether hell involves conscious torment forever in Gehenna for unbelievers or their annihilation after the final judgment. It discusses historical, philosophical, lexical, contextual, and theological issues that prove crucial to reaching a definitive biblical conclusion. In the end, hell is a conscious, personal torment forever; it is not “just for awhile” before annihilation after the final judgment (conditional immortality) nor is its final retribution “never” (universalism). * * * * * A few noted evangelicals such as Clark Pinnock,1 John Stott,2 and John Wenham3 have in recent years challenged the doctrine of eternal torment forever in hell as God’s final judgment on all unbelievers. James Hunter, in his landmark “sociological interpretation” of evangelicalism, notes that “. it is clear that there is a measurable degree of uneasiness within this generation of Evangelicals with the notion of an eternal damnation.”4 The 1989 evangelical doctrinal caucus “Evangelical Affirmations” surprisingly debated this issue. “Strong disagreements did surface over the position of annihilationism, a view that holds that unsaved souls 1Clark H. Pinnock, “The Conditional View,” in Four Views on Hell, ed. by William Crockett (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1996) 135-66.
    [Show full text]