Friday, January 10, 2014

All You Want to Know About Hell by Steve Gregg

While this book is misnamed, it is an excellent work. If you expect to read a description of hell, its structure, activities, and so forth, you will be sorely disappointed. The subtitle more accurately describes the book: “Three Christian Views of God’s Final Solution to the Problem of Sin,” presenting the cases for traditionalism, conditionalism, and restorationism. Having never heard of Steve Gregg or the school where he taught, The Great Commission School, my expectations were low. His book, however, is a gem, as it very carefully and articulately parses the three views, with a goal of being even-handed. I actually cannot imagine a more well-researched and well-reasoned work on the topic of hell. It expertly weaves together both biblical support and scholarly research. It was a pleasure to read this book and have my horizons broadened. You will come away with a better understanding of both the view you hold and those you don’t, realizing that no one view truly has a “corner on the market.” An intriguing insight on which the author expands both at the beginning and the end of the book is that “our view of hell is inseparably joined to our view of God.” That alone is reason enough to read this wonderful book. I received this book for free in exchange for my unbiased review through the Thomas Nelson BookSneeze Program.