Knevel raises questions about hell

Originally posted on June 01, 2008 – by Andre Piet

On the front page of the monthly magazine Uitdaging (in the June issue), Andries Knevel of the EO places a number of serious question marks in his column regarding the doctrine of hell.

Does hell exist? And if so, is it eternal? Or are its inhabitants eternal? What a question. But also a question that is increasingly being asked in Christian Netherlands. And that I can well understand.
The idea that your children, or grandchildren, or brother, or close friend, or that sweet, gentle, helpful neighbor woman will be tortured forever is literally maddening. And since not all Christians are foolish, I wonder what is still believed. It is striking that leading evangelical theologians worldwide are increasingly placing question marks at hell, or at the eternity of hell, or at its definitive character. A second chance perhaps? Or the annihilation of unbelievers so that they will not weep and gnash their teeth forever? For many, the existence of hell has been a reason to disengage (Darwin, Den Uyl). Therefore careful exegesis is needed. Lest we be mistaken: forever.

A remarkable move by Andries Knevel. Some ten years ago he once let me know in writing that he saw absolutely no room for the thought that God would ultimately save all people. Now he implicitly indicates (for Knevel is not foolish) that he no longer believes in an endless hell. OK, that is then a gain!

Yet I am skeptical. For what motivates Knevel to this column? He mentions two reasons. Reason one is that the concept of an endless hell drives a person mad (entirely true, by the way!). And as reason two Knevel mentions that leading evangelical theologians increasingly express their doubts about this doctrine. Nothing in this column indicates that Knevel has come to other thoughts through the study of Scripture. And that makes me skeptical. Knevel’s move is apparently driven by emotion and changing opinions among theologians. Not by what “is written.” While it is precisely there that the answers are to be found. If Knevel were to consult Scripture, he would not find a ‘hell,’ but Gehenna (= the valley of Hinnom), the waste incineration of Jerusalem. He would also soon see that the concept ‘eternal’ goes back to the word ‘aion’ (> age), which denotes a world age with a beginning and an end. He would discover that God precisely through ages (aeons) carries out His purpose successfully and will find all that is lost. And so on.

My sincere wish is, for Andries Knevel and all who share his struggle, not to wait for the “careful exegesis” of the gentlemen and ladies theologians. Let Scripture itself cause the question marks to change into exclamation points!

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