Theological Growing Pains

You have to be a fan of eighties television to appreciate this title. Kirk Cameron was one of the child stars on “Growing Pains,” a widely popular sitcom back in the day. Many people know him better for his outspoken Christian witness as an adult. I shared on social media that I appreciated his wrestling with the doctrine of Hell in a recent podcast episode he filmed with his son in which they put forward the view known as annihilationism (also called “contingent immortality” or “conditionalism”) as their preferred model for making sense of the biblical date about the future state of those who reject Christ.

I wasn’t surprised to get some passionate responses. Agree, disagree, just think through why you believe what you do. But since I put this out there, and have heard from several folks who are interested in looking into this more, I thought I would outline a few resources for you to check out.

The first post is video below is the podcast I referenced with Kirk and James Cameron. The second resource is a link to an audio debate in which Dr. Albert Mohler, president of Southern Seminary, argues for the Eternal Conscious Torment position against annihilation. The next two videos are by former Cedarville University professor, Preston Sprinkle, outlining three different views and then further unpacking the view of annihilationism.

As I mentioned several times on social media, my encouragement is for believers to think deeply about why you believe what you do. Open your Bible, think through the related passages. But I would also say three more things.

First, move slowly enough to understand the different views on the biblical topic. Second, be kind enough to describe those views you don’t hold accurately so that someone who does hold those views would agree with your description. Finally, be faithful enough to hold to the position you find most in line with Scripture regardless of who might disagree with you.

You can listen to the Dr. Albert Mohler debating Chris Date on the doctrine of annihilationsim on Premier Radio  here. You may need to set up a free registration sign in to listen. I had to. But it would be worth your time to listen and consider which side provides the better arguments.

The final thing I want to include is a video response from Ray Comfort regarding Kirk’s video, in which Ray expresses support, even with disagreement, for his brother in the faith. The two men have in the past worked closely together on different projects. I appreciate Ray’s tone here and commend it to others as a great example of how to disagree. However, if you watch it to the end of his brief response, I find that Ray’s statements about things he wants to affirm for his donor base presumably, are not at odds with Kirk’s view in any way, though it seems implied they are.

For example, he says that his ministry remains fully committed to the Great Commission and will continue to warn every person of eternal judgement and the offer of mercy. He then includes several video clips of him sharing the gospel as a sort of reminder or proof of this commitment. To the extent that he is doing this to reassure his donors, I would completely understand.

But to the extent that it could be implying that Kirk is not equally committed to those things, or that anyone who holds to the contingent immortality (annihilation) view does not value those things, I would strongly disagree. If you watch the videos I’ve outlined above, even if you disagree with the contingent immortality view, you will see their affirmation of eternal judgement (death) and the offer of grace through Christ to anyone who would believe. So, believers might differ on this topic, they are working towards the same goals of evangelism and discipleship that Jesus commanded, and offering to all who believe the promise of life forever more with the Lord.