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128 reviews for:
Erasing Hell: What God Said about Eternity, and the Things We've Made Up
Francis Chan, Preston Sprinkle
3.67 AVERAGE
128 reviews for:
Erasing Hell: What God Said about Eternity, and the Things We've Made Up
Francis Chan, Preston Sprinkle
3.67 AVERAGE
challenging
hopeful
informative
reflective
fast-paced
solid read. not a lot of new information to me personally, but a really healthy reminder of the necessity and urgency of sharing the gospel. respect chan
As I'm studying about Hell, this book was incredibly important and grounding for me. It wasn't important because it shed brilliant new light on the doctrine that convinced me in either direction. In fact, I wish it would have spent more time examining eternal torment vs annihilationism. It was important to me because it grounded me in what hell means, what it points to, and why it is important.
It is so easy to get lost in the weeds of a doctrine. To get lost trying to intellectually understand something. This book re-grounded me in the idea that Hell is a real place. That real people can go to. It emphasized why the Biblical authors and Jesus were so concerned about this doctrine and why we should be too. Because people can actually go there. It showed how hell makes the cross shine brighter and forces us into dependence on the gospel.
It also was incredibly challenging, especially in the last two chapters. It confronted me with the idea that I'm not the potter and I have no right to say what the potter should do. It's easy to forget that when studying this doctrine because we all have ideas of what we would do if we were God and what is the fair thing to do. But we aren't the potter, we're the clay. It was far more convicting than I expected.
Because of the conviction of not reading my own sense of what I think God should do into this doctrine and the re-grounding of my study in why this doctrine is so important, this book was essential. I don't know if it will convince anyone of one view or the other, but I don't think it's any less important to read because of that.
It is so easy to get lost in the weeds of a doctrine. To get lost trying to intellectually understand something. This book re-grounded me in the idea that Hell is a real place. That real people can go to. It emphasized why the Biblical authors and Jesus were so concerned about this doctrine and why we should be too. Because people can actually go there. It showed how hell makes the cross shine brighter and forces us into dependence on the gospel.
It also was incredibly challenging, especially in the last two chapters. It confronted me with the idea that I'm not the potter and I have no right to say what the potter should do. It's easy to forget that when studying this doctrine because we all have ideas of what we would do if we were God and what is the fair thing to do. But we aren't the potter, we're the clay. It was far more convicting than I expected.
Because of the conviction of not reading my own sense of what I think God should do into this doctrine and the re-grounding of my study in why this doctrine is so important, this book was essential. I don't know if it will convince anyone of one view or the other, but I don't think it's any less important to read because of that.
Good reminder to take evangelizing seriously with all there is at risk.
Francis uses biblical truth to address a terrifying theology, tackling it with grace and hope. Not many other writers in Evangelical writing are as full of solid truth and God-centered grace. Thankful for the time I took to read this. It was a very short and quick read, easy and accessible.
I like how his whole premise is that you shouldn't just believe what your culture tells you is true or what you want to be true, instead you should study the Bible and see what it says. I like how he's completely unaware that the only reason he trusts the Bible is because it's part of his culture and he wants to believe it's true.
I also like how he goes back and forth between taking things literally and taking them as metaphors pretty much on a whim and each time it proves his point. And somehow each of these situations is also an example of how some other author that he's countering is wrong.
I also like how this was not really a book, but some kind of long book review of some other book and was more in the style of a self indulgent blog post than any kind of researched or scholarly work.
In his style, I will point out that I've used the word "like" 4 times, all for things that are clearly not likable, therefore for the rest of my life I only am allowed to use the word "like" to be a condescending expression of amused disdain.
I also like how he goes back and forth between taking things literally and taking them as metaphors pretty much on a whim and each time it proves his point. And somehow each of these situations is also an example of how some other author that he's countering is wrong.
I also like how this was not really a book, but some kind of long book review of some other book and was more in the style of a self indulgent blog post than any kind of researched or scholarly work.
In his style, I will point out that I've used the word "like" 4 times, all for things that are clearly not likable, therefore for the rest of my life I only am allowed to use the word "like" to be a condescending expression of amused disdain.
challenging
informative
reflective
tense
fast-paced
This was surprisingly disappointing. For such a weighty topic—whether there is a literal, eternal hell—the book was really, really “lite.” I haven’t read Rob Bell’s book, which Chan’s book is basically a response to. I don’t need to write more about this, because I see a number of 2-star and 3-star reviews here that already express everything that frustrated me with this book. If you can recommend a book on this topic, but with more depth of cultural and historical analysis, please let me know in the comments. Thanks!
I think this book is essentially a response to Rob Bell's book "Love WIns", which, if I am correct (but I am often not) eradicates hell based on the character of God and his goodness as Bell understands it. I could probably give a better review if I had read both books.
I read this book during my free trial of Amazon Prime--and I was pretty excited to find it as I have wanted to read it--great author, interesting topic, controversial... It did not take look to realize I don't like this subject--it is beyond my understanding. So I started to skim it and pray about it. There is no purpose behind a book like this if it does not change how I live in some way.
The last chapter "What if God..." with some of the big questions left dangling after reading all of the previous chapters on hell. Chan emphasizes that we are the clay, not the potter. Can I believe in a God who punishes eternally? Why am I embarrassed about some of the things GOd has done in his Word--clearly he is not embarrassed. Can I be okay with just not getting it--not understanding?
Sure, if I were God I wouldn't have flooded the earth, killing almost everyone. But I am human, not God. His ways are "inexplicable" and "incomprehensible." Chan says, "It is incredibly arrogant to pick and choose which incomprehensible truths we embrace. No one wants to ditch God's plan of redemption even though it doesn't make sense to us. Neither should we erase God's revealed plan of punishment because it doesn't sit well with us. As soon as we do this, we are putting God's actions in submission to our own reasoning, which is a ridiculous thing for clay to do." he goes on to say that we are still expected to wrestle with it.
That all said--it is not a subject I want to camp out on. I still feel really uncomfortable about it all, but glad I wrestled through the book.
I read this book during my free trial of Amazon Prime--and I was pretty excited to find it as I have wanted to read it--great author, interesting topic, controversial... It did not take look to realize I don't like this subject--it is beyond my understanding. So I started to skim it and pray about it. There is no purpose behind a book like this if it does not change how I live in some way.
The last chapter "What if God..." with some of the big questions left dangling after reading all of the previous chapters on hell. Chan emphasizes that we are the clay, not the potter. Can I believe in a God who punishes eternally? Why am I embarrassed about some of the things GOd has done in his Word--clearly he is not embarrassed. Can I be okay with just not getting it--not understanding?
Sure, if I were God I wouldn't have flooded the earth, killing almost everyone. But I am human, not God. His ways are "inexplicable" and "incomprehensible." Chan says, "It is incredibly arrogant to pick and choose which incomprehensible truths we embrace. No one wants to ditch God's plan of redemption even though it doesn't make sense to us. Neither should we erase God's revealed plan of punishment because it doesn't sit well with us. As soon as we do this, we are putting God's actions in submission to our own reasoning, which is a ridiculous thing for clay to do." he goes on to say that we are still expected to wrestle with it.
That all said--it is not a subject I want to camp out on. I still feel really uncomfortable about it all, but glad I wrestled through the book.