Following is an attempt to illustrate the teachings of conditionalism by putting the conditionalist slant into Scripture. Of course, they do not have their own Bible. The “Conditionalist Bible” is merely an illustrative device here. But, if we insert their interpretations into Scripture, we might find something like the following in the table below.
As you go through the Conditionalist Bible verses note that the documentation for those interpretations are after the table.
Enjoy…. or not.
| Verse | NASB | Conditionalist Bible |
| Matt. 3:12 | “His winnowing fork is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clear His threshing floor, and He will gather His wheat into the barn, but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.” | “His winnowing fork is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clear His threshing floor, and He will gather His wheat into the barn, but He will burn up the chaff with fire that will burn until the fuel source runs out and they don’t exist anymore.” |
| Matt. 5:29 |
“If your right eye makes you stumble, tear it out and throw it from you; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. | “If your right eye makes you stumble, tear it out and throw it from you; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to be thrown into outer darkness and eternal non-existence. |
| Matt. 8:12 |
but the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” | but the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and anger and rage.” |
| Matt. 9:18 |
“While He was saying these things to them, a synagogue official came and bowed down before Him, and said, “My daughter has just died, but come and lay Your hand on her, and she will live.”” | “While He was saying these things to them, a synagogue official came and bowed down before Him, and said, “My daughter has just entered into a state of total unconsciousness and does not exist, but come and lay Your hand on her, and she will live.” |
| Matt. 10:28 |
“Do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul, but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” | “Do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to make the soul not exist; but rather fear Him who is able to make both soul and body not exist in eternal non-existence.” |
| Matt. 25:41 | Matthew 25:41, “Then He will also say to those on His left, ‘Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels;” | Matthew 25:41, “Then He will also say to those on His left, ‘Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the fire that burns until after the corpses are consumed which has been prepared for the devil and his angels;” |
| Matt. 25:46 | “These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”. | “These will go away into eternal non-existence, but the righteous into eternal existence with God.” |
| Mark 9:43 | “If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life crippled, than, having your two hands, to go into hell, into the unquenchable fire.” | “If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life crippled, than, having your two hands, to go into hell, into the fire that will burn until the fuel source runs out.” |
| Luke 12:47 | “And that slave who knew his master’s will and did not get ready or act in accord with his will, will receive many lashes, | “And that slave who knew his master’s will and did not get ready or act in accord with his will, will receive not grades of punishment, but divine impartiality. |
| Rom. 6:23 | For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. | For the wages of sin is lack of relationship with God, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. |
| Heb. 2:6 | “But one has testified somewhere, saying, “WHAT IS MAN, THAT YOU REMEMBER HIM? OR THE SON OF MAN, THAT YOU ARE CONCERNED ABOUT HIM?” | “But one has testified somewhere, saying, “WHAT IS THE INDIVISIBLE ENTITY OF FLESH AND SPIRIT, THAT YOU REMEMBER HIM? OR THE SON OF MAN, THAT YOU ARE CONCERNED ABOUT HIM?” |
| Jude 7 | just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities around them, since they in the same way as these indulged in gross immorality and went after strange flesh, are exhibited as an example in undergoing the punishment of eternal fire. | just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities around them, since they in the same way as these indulged in gross immorality and went after strange flesh, are exhibited as an example in undergoing the punishment of fire that will burn until the fuel source runs out and they don’t exist anymore.” |
| Rev. 14:11 | “And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever; they have no rest day and night, those who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name.” | “And the conscious suffering has ended, but “its smoke will rise forever” because the extinction is perpetual.; they have no rest day and night, those who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name.” |
Documentation for “Conditionalist Bible” reinterpretations:
- Death: “Death is lack of relationship with God.” (Fudge, Edward William. The Fire That Consumes: A Biblical and Historical Study of the Doctrine of Final Punishment, Third Edition (p. 48). Cascade Books, an imprint of Wipf and Stock Publishers. Kindle Edition)
- Eternal Fire, Unquenchable fire: “Trito-Isaiah was not referring to an eternal fire, because eventually that fire would stop burning after the corpses were completely consumed.”(A Consuming Passion: Essays on Hell and Immortality in Honor of Edward Fudge (Kindle Locations 4252-4253). Pickwick Publications, an Imprint of Wipf and Stock Publishers. Kindle Edition)
- Eternal Punishment: “This is a punishment which is eternal, but not because the lost themselves will live forever. Instead the punishment is eternal insofar as what the lost will miss out on is eternal.” (Rethinking Hell: Readings in Evangelical Conditionalism (Kindle Locations 567-568). Cascade Books, an Imprint of Wipf and Stock Publishers. Kindle Edition)
- Grinding of teeth: “The phrase “grinding of teeth” appears many times in the OT (see Job 16: 9; Pss 35: 16; 37: 12; Lam 2: 16), and it always pictures someone so angry at another that he grinds his teeth in rage, like a mad animal straining at the leash. We see the same usage in the NT, where Stephen’s enemies “gnashed their teeth at him” (Acts 7: 54). Traditionalist interpretation has ignored the biblical usage of this phrase and has homiletized instead on souls grinding their teeth eternally in excruciating pain. In the Bible, however, the teeth grind in rage, not particularly in pain— though there may well be time for that along the way. Psalm 112: 10 is instructive concerning the wicked’s end in this regard.” (Rethinking Hell: Readings in Evangelical Conditionalism (Kindle Locations 1035-1041). Cascade Books, an Imprint of Wipf and Stock Publishers. Kindle Edition, Edward Fudge)
- Hell: “Hell is in ‘outer darkness’ (Matt 8: 12). It is everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, not torment in his presence (2 Thess 1: 9).”(Rethinking Hell: Readings in Evangelical Conditionalism (Kindle Locations 2652-2653). Cascade Books, an Imprint of Wipf and Stock Publishers. Kindle Edition.)
- Man is an indivisible entity. John [the apostle] has a distinctly monist view of human existence; in other words, man is one indivisible entity, not a combination of two, body and soul.”(Ed., Date, Christopher M. and Highfiled, Ron. A Consuming Passion: Essays on Hell and Immortality in Honor of Edward Fudge, Pickwick Publications, an Imprint of Wipf and Stock Publishers. Kindle Edition, Locations 4500-4501, underline added)
- Many Lashes: “…these sayings [lesser and greater beatings] are intended to underscore divine impartiality; God will take into account the opportunity and circumstances of people in determining judgment. This is not the same as teaching “grades of punishment.” The reference in Luke 12:47– 48 is part of the scenery of the parable and teaches, if anything, the principle that responsibility is commensurate with endowment and opportunity. Moreover, can one meaningfully speak of degrees of unending pain? Does not the endless duration of the pain render any relative measures of severity both arbitrary and meaningless?” (Rethinking Hell: Readings in Evangelical Conditionalism (Kindle Locations 5583-5587). Cascade Books, an Imprint of Wipf and Stock Publishers. Kindle Edition.)
- Smoke ascends forever: “The “smoke” that “rises for ever and ever” (Rev 14: 11) also deserves defining by prior biblical usage. This picture comes from the destruction of Sodom. The Lord “rained down burning sulfur on Sodom and Gomorrah” (Gen 19: 24) until not even vegetation survived…All is quiet. The sinners are all destroyed. The rising smoke testifies to their complete extinction….Isaiah says “its smoke will rise forever,” telling us that Edom’s destruction is not only certain (not quenched) and complete (smoke rising) but also irreversible. The desolation will be unending…Conscious pain has ended there, but “its smoke will rise forever”— the extinction is perpetual.” (Rethinking Hell: Readings in Evangelical Conditionalism (Kindle Locations 1046-1061). Cascade Books, an Imprint of Wipf and Stock Publishers. Kindle Edition)
- Soul Sleep: “soul sleep,” the view that death is a state of total unconsciousness, rather than survival in heaven, hell, or purgatory.” (Rethinking Hell: Readings in Evangelical Conditionalism (Kindle Locations 503-504). Cascade Books, an Imprint of Wipf and Stock Publishers. Kindle Edition.)
- Spirit does not exist upon death: “The first man was created when the dust of the earth and the breath of God were brought together (Gen 2: 7), and just as surely as the man did not exist prior to creation, he does not exist when the spirit returns to God who gave it and the dust returns to the earth (Eccl 12:7).” (Peoples, Glen, A., Rethinking Hell: Readings in Evangelical Conditionalism (Kindle Locations 583-586). Cascade Books, an Imprint of Wipf and Stock Publishers. Kindle Edition.)
