Tag Archives: annihilation

When Hell Becomes Dogma: Damning to Nothingness

Posted on 15 February 2021 by Fr Aidan Kimel

My working principle: once eternal damnation is accepted by an ecclesial community as dogmatically binding, three things happen: Holy Scripture and the patristic tradition will be read through the dogma. Preaching and theological speculation will be governed by the dogma, … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Reviews, David B. Hart, Eschatology, Paul Griffiths | Tagged , , , , , | 27 Comments

Despairing into Gehenna: Manis, Kierkegaard, and the Choice Model

Posted on 21 July 2019 by Fr Aidan Kimel

For over fifteen hundred years, the dominant Christian understanding of hell has been one of everlasting punishment. Zachary Manis summarizes the traditional position (particu­larly as taught in the Western Church): “The purpose of hell is retribution: one’s consign­ment to hell … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Reviews, Eschatology | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 108 Comments

Hell and the Solidarity of Love

Posted on 14 January 2019 by Fr Aidan Kimel

Can you imagine yourself enjoying perfect happiness and bliss in heaven if you knew that a beloved spouse, child, or friend was suffering everlasting torment in hell? In his wonderful parable The Great Divorce, C. S. Lewis presents an interaction … Continue reading →

Posted in Eschatology | Tagged , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

Annihilating Angels

Posted on 10 November 2018 by Fr Aidan Kimel

Catholic theologian Paul J. Griffiths has proposed a controversial thesis: annihilation is a novissimal possibility for angels and human beings; they may find their last thing in a decreative return to the nothingness. One point needs to be clarified, though. … Continue reading →

Posted in Eschatology, Paul Griffiths | Tagged , , , , , , , | 23 Comments

The Novissimum of Annihilation

Posted on 4 November 2018 by Fr Aidan Kimel

Novissima, the last things—there was a time when Western pastors would systematically preach on the last things under four topics: death, judgment, heaven, and hell. During my thirty years of active ministry, I preached on the last things during Advent … Continue reading →

Posted in Eschatology, Paul Griffiths | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments