The One Purpose of God: An Answer to the Doctrine of Eternal Punishment

by Jan Bonda

Overview

This is a print on demand book and is therefore non- returnable.

Throughout the centuries the church has taught that the vast majority of humankind will suffer eternal punishment. But is this teaching truly biblical? In this provocative book Jan Bonda scrutinizes church tradition and Scripture — especially Paul's letter to the Romans — and concludes that neither Paul nor the prophets to whom he appeals show any trace of supporting the doctrine of eternal damnation. On the contrary, they tell us that God wants to save all people and that he will not rest until that goal has been achieved.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780802841865
Publisher:	Eerdmans, William B. Publishing Company
Publication date:	03/04/1998
Pages:	303
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.69(d)

About the Author

Jan Bonda (1918–1997) was a Dutch Reformed pastor who served several churchs in the Netherlands. His other books include Het Heil van de Velen (The Salvation of the Many), published in 1989.

Table of Contents

Foreword by Sierd Woudstra
Preface

I. A Tradition of Acquiescence

1. An Inescapable Question—What Is God Like?

"I Had a Brother"
"He Wants It Even More Than You Do"
A Farewell Letter
Must We Remain Silent?
Despair and Hope in Our Tradition

2. Election

Tradition and Scripture
No Calvinistic Invention—Augustine

3. A Horrifying Image of God

Eternal Punishment, the Teaching of the Church
A Defense for Endlessness
The Image of God: The Dual Purpose of God
Original Sin
The Image of God: Does God Want Evil? The Contrast
Do We Do Justice to Augustine?

4. A Tradition of Acquiescence and Anxiety

Unquestioning Acceptance
The Wish That God Were Different
Blasphemy?
A Letter from 1630, Dirk Rafaëlsz. Camphuysen

5. Was Eternal Punishment Taught from the Beginning?

A Pagan Intrusion? An Early Church Father
What Did the Church Teach in the First Centuries?
In the Back of the Latin Bible: 2 Esdras
2 Esdras and Our Tradition

II. Called Not to Acquiesce

1. Abraham Prays for Sodom

Why Does God Tell Abraham?
Abraham Remains Standing before the Lord
In God's Heart
The Salvation of Sister Sodom (Ezek. 16)
Translators Change the Text
A People Called to "Stand before God"

2. Moses Prays for Israel

"Now, Leave Me Alone!"
Moses Refuses God's Offer
"But If Not, Then Blot Me out of the Book That You Have Written"
"As a Man Speaks with His Friend"
"I Hereby Make a Covenant"
Acquiescence, the Opposite of What God Wants

3. The Compassion of the Father

The Parable of What Was Lost (Luke 15)
The Father and His Lost Son
The Attitude of the Elder Son
The Elder Son and the Church
The Laborers and the Harvest
But Does the Father Also Show Another Face?
Two Sets of Statements?
Did Jesus Teach a Never-ending Punishment?
Why Was It Not Mentioned? Paul as Teacher

III. God Wants All to Be Saved (Romans 1-5)

1. Rebellion and Judgment

A Journey through Romans
Righteousness, the Saving God
Rebellion against God's Coming to Man
The Judgment and Its Dual Result

2. The Privilege of the Jews

No Difference in the Judgment
"Then What Advantage Has the Jew?"
God's Purpose with Israel Not Achieved through the Law

3. The Power of the Death of Christ

God Saves the World in the Death of Christ
The Death of Jesus, a Mystery
Whom God Put Forward—The Place of Atonement
The Power of the Cross Is Revealed

4. Through Faith—A Limitation?

The Message of Unlimited Salvation
The Limitation We Have Been Taught
Abraham Believed—The Temptation of the Long Wait (Gen. 15:1-6)
Abraham and the History of Israel
Following in the Steps of Abraham's Faith

5. Adam, the Abiding Unity of the Human Race

Adam and Christ
The Other Law
The "Reckoning" Not a Fate—Hereditary Sin
A Unity from Which No One Can Be Excluded
More Than Compensated

6. All the Living and All the Dead

Church Tradition Clashes with Scripture
The Present of the Church and the Future of Humanity
The Dead Will Believe
Kingship over the Dead and the Living
A Misguided Hope

IV. The Salvation of the Church and of the World (Romans 8)

1. The Deliverance of the World Lost in Sin

The Deliverance of Creation in Scripture
Once Again: The Limitation We Have Been Taught
Jesus and the Suffering of Humanity
A Meaningless Existence
"Cursed Is the Ground Because of You"
The Deliverance

2. Each in His Own Order

The Order of 1 Corinthians 15
Once Again: At Odds with Our Tradition
The Destruction of Death
"That God May Be All in All"
Resurrected for Service in the Kingdom

3. Salvation: First for the Church, Then for the World

"Do You Not Know That the Saints Will Judge the World?"
Kingship and Discipleship
Two Salvations
Why This Gulf between Paul and Us?

V. Great Sorrow and Unceasing Anguish (Romans 9 and 10)

1. Paul's Sense of Loss and the History of the Church

The Catastrophe and the Exegesis of Romans
Paul in the Breach for Israel
Mere Words?
A Voice from the Early Church about Paul's Sorrow
Origen: All Israel Will Be Saved

2. All Israel Must Become Israel

A Source of Despair
Why This Interpretation Is Impossible
Jacob and Esau: What It Means to Be "Israel"
Israel, the People of God
Only God's Faithfulness—No Hidden Election
Is God Unjust?
Pharaoh, the Hardening
God "Hardens" Israel

3. The Parable of the Potter

Two Kinds of Objects
Has He No Right . . . ?
Why Does He "Carry" Them?
"A Far-reaching Modification of the Original Intention"
The Absolute Mystery of God's Ways
Wrathful Jealousy and the Hands of the Father

VI. And So All Israel Shall Be Saved (Romans 11)

1. To Incite Them to Jealousy

Disobedient Israel Is Not Rejected
God's Purpose with Hardened Israel
The "Much More" of the Prophets: Riches for the Nations
The "Much More" of the Prophets: Life from the Dead
Cannot God Do without the Jews?

2. The Olive Tree and Its Branches

It Must Have Started in Rome
Grafted as a Wild Olive Shoot
Are We Branches That Are Cut Off?
The Jews, Cut Off and Still Part of It
Following Human Wisdom: In Rome and Later
The Doctrine of Substitution: No More Hope for the World

3. The Fullness of the Gentiles, a Mystery

The Promised Salvation of the Nations?
The Fullness of Those Who Have Been Called from the Gentiles
"Fullness"—Emphasis on the Qualitative Aspect
The First and the Last
The Mystery: Gentiles Become Partners with Israel
Ephesians 2 and Romans 11
The Israel of the Messiah

4. All Israel

The Denial by the Church
All Israel Is Not Part of Israel
In Sight of the Harbor
Also the Israelites Who Have Died?
Still the Harbor Paul Intends
Ezekiel's Vision
The Role of the Church in Israel's Salvation

5. God's Calling Is Irrevocable

What Are the Jews for Us?
The Jews, Messengers of the Gospel
The Calling of the Church—Also Irrevocable
The Gospel: Mercy for All Who Are Disobedient
The Road to Mercy Leads through the Judgment
The Song of Praise and God's One Purpose

VII. The Prophets Speak about Judgment and Hope (Romans 14:11 and the Prophets)

1. The Judgment and the Song of Praise

The Judgment of the Church
Judgment and Salvation in Isaiah 45
Again the Denial
All Idol Worshipers, without Distinction

2. The Judgment and the Shame

The Nations Are Ashamed
Ezekiel's Description of God's Judgment of Israel: Retribution
Shame and Atonement in Ezekiel
Shame and the New Covenant in Jeremiah
The Content of the New Covenant
Salvation after the Judgment: All Israel

3. What the Prophets Say about Eternal Punishment

The Old Testament—Jesus' Bible
Jeremiah: Eternal Fire Followed by Restoration
Wrath, Until the Purpose Has Been Achieved
Eternal Destruction, Until the Spirit Is Poured Out (Isa. 32:14-15)
Jeremiah: Eternal Shame
Two Disturbing Texts: Isaiah 66:24; Daniel 12:2
What Jesus Did with Eternal Punishment (Matt. 25:46; 16:1-2)
The Term "Eternal" and God's Purpose

4. Every Tongue Shall Praise God! Forced Worship?

The Hymn of Praise of Philippians 2
Forced Recognition?
The Annotations in the Dutch States-General Bible and Calvin
Herman Bavinck: Brought to the Threshold
A Few Later Examples
Final Remorse?
The Gospel—No Tragedy!

5. Does Scripture Also Teach Another End?

Praise in the Book of Revelation
The New Jerusalem, the Inviting City (Rev. 21 and 22)
The Multitude That No One Could Count (Rev. 7)

VIII. The Hope and the Jews (Romans 14 and 15)

1. Steadfast in Hope—Difficulties in Rome

The Hope: All Peoples together with His People
Endangered Hope, Jews and Gentiles
The Strong and the Weak
Kosher Food and the Sabbath
What Does Paul Advocate?
The Beachhead to God's Future

2. The Hope and the Church without Jews

Not Accepted
I Do Here and Now Renounce . . .
Does God Still Want a Church of Jews and Gentiles?
What Does This Mean: A Church of Jews and Gentiles?
The Lonely Ones—Da Costa
Messianic Congregations
Rejoice, O Gentiles, with His People

IX. Looking Back and Looking Forward

1. Looking Back

Called Not to Acquiesce
God's One Purpose and the Power of the Cross
A Kingdom of Salvation
The Purpose of God's Punishment
Not without Israel

2. Looking Forward

The Elder Brother Comes Home
The Church, a Sparkling Gem

Bibliography
Index of Scripture References

Editorial Reviews

Isaac C. Rottenberb in Perspectives
"A remarkable book in several respects. It can be described as a scholarly work in that it incorporates an impressive body of exegetical and historical materials, but it is also a pastoral book written in a style that makes it accessible to laypeople. . . . It should be of interest to the growing number of Christians involved in 'Israel theology' as well as to those who have never been wholly convinced about the doctrine of eternal damnation."

Michael Bauman
—Hillsdale College
"What Charles Chauncy did for Romans 5 more than 200 years ago, Bonda's volume does for the entire epistle. If Bonda is correct, the Good News is very good indeed — better even than we ever dared to hope. In light of his formidable effort, the exegetical and theological ball is now clearly in the court of the traditionalists."

John Hick
—Claremont Graduate School
"The traditional doctrine of eternal punishment shatters the Christian conception of a limitlessly loving God. Many of us have rejected the doctrine for that reason. Now Bonda shows that the biblical basis of the idea of eternal hell is open to very serious doubt. This book will come as a relief to many."

John Sanders
—Oak Hills Bible College
"Bonda has written an extremely clear and accessible response to the Reformed tradition's rejection of universal salvation. Rather than putting forth speculative arguments, he marshals his case from Scripture — especially from Romans — claiming that the church has misunderstood certain texts. Easily the most biblically grounded case for universalism to appear in quite some time."

From the Publisher

The book will reward both pastors and students.... It is written in a style that makes its argument accessible to the serious layperson.

Religious Studies Review