Kirk Cameron’s view of hell is controversial. But I think he’s right

The actor and evangelist Kirk Cameron has caused a stir in Christian circles this week, by announcing his changing views on the nature of hell.

In the latest episode of his podcast he explained he’s now leaning towards an annihilationist view of hell; that non-believers will cease to exist. This is very different to the traditional Christian teaching that the unrepentant will be eternally and consciously tormented.  

My story

When I first became a Christian I couldn’t get to grips with the idea of hell. I asked more experienced Christians if they could help me understand it, including a pastor, and a friend who was discipling me. But nothing anybody said gave me peace with the idea of God allowing people to be tormented forever and ever.

Meanwhile I was reading the Old Testament and I kept notiving references to the non-existence of the wicked after death. Figures of speech such as unbelievers being like the “chaff that the wind drives away” (Psalm 1:4, ESV) “snuffed out” (Job 18:5, NIV), and that ”the wicked will be no more.” (Psalm 37:10). This didn’t seem to logically match up with the concept of eternal conscious torment.  

I was in a state of cognitive dissonance, because as far as I knew only Jehovah’s Witnesses believed the unrepentant ceased to exist - so I couldn’t possibly believe that!

But I prayed for God to help me understand, and kept reading my Bible with an intention to notice each reference to hell in the hope that it might make sense.  

Then one day a friend posted on Facebook about ‘Conditional Immortality;’ (CI) the concept that immortality is only granted to believers. (It’s another name for annihilationism). I was amazed. There were other Christians who thought the same! She shared a podcast called Rethinking Hell which has lots of in-depth discussions from people looking at the scripture, and meaning of the words in key Bible verses in the Hebrew and Greek.  

I listened with joy, as those niggling thoughts in the back of my mind were validated. I fell in love with God all over again, as I got to understand his character more deeply - that while he is a God of justice, he is not one who requires infinite suffering to pay the price of a life of finite sin. Hell finally made sense.

What the Bible says  

There are some key verses from the New Testament that support conditional immortality. For example, John 3:16, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” The meaning of ‘perish’ is quite simply to die, implying that non-believers will die, not burn alive forever.

Then there is Matthew 10:28, “do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.” The word ‘destroy’ means to end the existence of something. So hell is a place where the soul and body of non-believers will be destroyed. This is backed up by Revelation 20:14-15, where the lake of fire is referred to as the “second death,” and that anyone whose “name was not found written in the book of life” was thrown into it.  

Another interesting verse to consider from a CI perspective is Daniel 2:2, “Many who are sleeping in the dusty ground will awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame, to everlasting contempt.” The contempt God will have for unbelievers will be “everlasting.” He’s not going to change his mind. But notice how the word “shame” is in a phrase separate to the word everlasting. The feeling of shame unbelievers feel will be temporary until their bodies are completely destroyed in hell.   

Scripture is clear that hell is real, and the death of the soul and body there is worse than the first physical death. It’s tragic to think that our loved ones will be resurrected to be face to face with their creator, and then to be destroyed in the second death. While it’s a devastating thought, I do have peace that it is a just punishment for unrepentant sin.  

I’m just as passionate about talking about Jesus with non-believers as I was before I learned about conditional immortality. Many people reject God because they can’t accept the idea of eternal conscious punishment, so I think speaking up about it as an important part of sharing the Gospel.   

Cameron has been heavily criticised for his beliefs, with many YouTube response pieces quickly being published online. Conditional Immortality or annihilationism remains a minority view among evangelicals. But it is a credible one, with plenty of biblical support.