A Consuming Passion

This diverse collection of essays in honor of Edward William Fudge explores the topics of hell and immortality, for which Fudge has been widely known through his magnum opus, The Fire That Consumes. Most Christians believe people will live and suffer in hell forever, but Fudge defends a view known historically as ""conditional immortality."" He and a growing minority of Christians believe God will grant immortality only to those who meet the condition of being united with Christ on the Last Day, while those who do not will perish forever. Although Christians sharing Fudge's view have defended it both before and after him, conditionalists today still point to The Fire That Consumes as the seminal treatment of the topic. In July 2014, Christians from around the world gathered at the inaugural Rethinking Hell conference, to celebrate Fudge's life and work and to discuss the nature of hell in an open and respectful forum. This volume contains most of the essays presented at that conference, and several others volunteered by conditionalists since then, as a gift to Fudge for the tremendous impact he has had on them, and for the continued work he does for God's kingdom. ""This new set of essays on the topic of hell's duration is a valuable contribution to the ongoing discussion on this important topic . . . What we have here is not a bunch of hobbyhorse theologians sitting around agreeing with each other, but a group of astute pastors and scholars wrestling with what God's inspired word says about hell. I commend this book to anyone who is wrestling with the topic of God's future judgment."" --Preston Sprinkle, Vice President for Eternity Bible College's Boise extension, coauthor of Erasing Hell and People to Be Loved: Why Homosexuality Is Not Just an Issue ""This excellent collection of compelling essays is not only a fitting tribute to the lifelong passion and work of a great scholar; it's a superb opportunity for readers to be relieved of the onerous weight of believing our loving Creator vengefully consigns people to an unending nightmare from which they will never awake. If you share this traditional view of hell, please do yourself a favor and devour this work!"" --Gregory A. Boyd, President of Reknew.org and author of Benefit of the Doubt: Breaking the Idol of Certainty ""This is a dangerous book. These eminently readable essays--by turns personal, exegetical, theological, and historical--have the potential to change the minds and hearts of the contemporary church on the question of final judgment. Read at your own risk!"" --J. Richard Middleton, Professor of Biblical Worldview and Exegesis, Northeastern Seminary at Roberts Wesleyan College and author of A New Heaven and a New Earth: Reclaiming Biblical Eschatology Christopher M. Date is the editor of Rethinking Hell: Readings in Evangelical Conditionalism (2014), and blogs and podcasts for the Rethinking Hell project. He works as a software engineer in the Pacific Northwest. Ron Highfield is Professor of Religion at Pepperdine University in Malibu, California. He is the author of The Faithful Creator: Affirming Creation and Providence in an Age of Anxiety (2015).