The Conditionalist Faith of Our Fathers, vol. 2

IV. Von Allmen and Associates-Conditionalist Terms Defined

Special mention must be made of the unique 479-page A Companion to the Bible (1958), ⁵⁷ a composite volume written by thirty-six well-known French and Swiss Protestant scholars, with DR. JEAN-JACQUES VON ALLMEN, ⁵⁸ of Neuchatel, as general editor, he himself writing on twelve major subjects. It is a “reference work in which the major theological terms and ideas are defined and explained.” ⁵⁹ The Introduction is by Dr. H. H. Rowley, of the University of Manchester. CFF2 947.3

1. “SECOND DEATH” AND THIEF ON CROSS

Under the topics “Man,” “Sin,” “Death,” “Judgment,” “Life,” and “Gehenna,” appear key statements of particular interest to those concerned with Conditional Immortality. First, under “Death,” Dr. Von Allmen says: “What Christians fear is the ‘second death’ which will shut out not only from temporal life, but from eternal life (Revelation 2:11; Revelation 20:6, 14 f.; Revelation 21:8).” ⁶⁰ CFF2 947.4

Recognizing that the resurrection occurs at the “return of Christ,” Von Allmen discusses “where the dead are to be found until that moment arrives.” ⁶¹ He says concerning Luke 23:43 (Christ’s promise to the thief on the cross): CFF2 947.5

“It is often thought that the paradise of which Luke 23:43 speaks is the same as ‘Abraham’s bosom’ or, what comes to the same thing, the ‘eternal habitations’ (Luke 16:9). But one may ask whether it is not preferable to translate as follows: ‘Truly, I say to you, to-day—that is to say, on this cross where I seem to have been deprived of all power—you will be with me in paradise’—that means, I still have power over eternal life and eternal death, and I promise you life-paradise having here its eschatological connotation as in Revelation 2:7.” ⁶² CFF2 948.1

2. DEATH A “SLEEP”; NO INNATE IMMORTALITY

Discussing death as “compared to a sleep”—and noting Mark 5:39; John 11:11 ff.; 1 Corinthians 15:18; 1 Thessalonians 4:13 ff.; 1 Thessalonians 5:10; cf. Matthew 25:5— Von Allmen says: CFF2 948.2

“This sleep is only temporary and will be followed by an awakening; and, secondly, in the sense that sleep does not destroy the identity of the sleeper: while he is unconscious, he remains himself. The absence of the idea of the immortality of the soul in the N.T. does not therefore point to the view that in death there is a final] suppression of human existence, for he who is to be raised is the same as he who has died (cf. Luke 24:39 f.; John 20:26 ff.).” ⁶³ CFF2 948.3

He then states:
“Despite the Judaism of the diaspora, which taught this, the N.T. does not allow the infiltration in any way of the Greek idea of the immortality of the soul. Why? In the first place because man has not the guarantee of his existence in himself (God alone is immortal, 1 Timothy 6:16); and also because, believing that salvation does not suppress but transforms the creation of God, the N.T. does not envisage an eternal existence other than on a new earth (2 Peter 3:13) and in a new body (1 Corinthians 15:35 ff.).” ⁶⁴ CFF2 948.4

Von Allmen concludes this section with:
“Biblical teaching does not countenance the idea of a dualism of incompatibility between that which is ‘material’ and that which is ‘spiritual’: on the contrary, it affirms the incarnation (John 1:14). To reject the realism of the resurrection in favour of the spiritualism of the immortality of the soul implies either that God is not the Creator or that He can save only a portion of His work.” ⁶⁵ CFF2 948.5

3. ETERNAL DESTRUCTION NOT ETERNAL TORMENT

Under “Judgment, N. T.” Dr. J. BURNIER states that the judgment would “ensure the triumph of the divine will through the overthrow of every resistance which it encounters.” Then he adds:
“This present world will itself be convulsed (Matthew 24:29) and destroyed (Matthew 24:35; 2 Peter 3:7-12); this will be the ‘end of the world’ (Matthew 13:29; Matthew 24:3). A new world will replace the present one (2 Peter 3:13; Revelation 21:1).” ⁶⁶ CFF2 948.6

Coming to the “irremediable condemnation” and the contrasting life eternal, immortality, et cetera, Burnier says significantly:
“The adjective eternal which is used with some of these terms does not indicate, as in our language, an infinite duration, but denotes that we are dealing with matters resulting from the final intervention of God, when He will establish the new world. If life in the Kingdom is without end and participates in the perpetuity of God, it does not follow that the suffering of the reprobate must be prolonged indefinitely.” ⁶⁷ CFF2 949.1

4. ETERNAL LIFE “WHOLLY NEW LIFE.”

Under “Life, O. T.,” F. MICHAELI speaks of the “deep, unshakeable unity of the living being.” Thus:
“Life in the first place implies the idea of a deep unshakeable unity of the living being. Our own distinctions between physical, intellectual and spiritual life do not exist at all. Man is a whole, completely unified. His body and his mind, his breathing and his soul are so closely linked together that one of the parts can without difficulty denote the totality.” ⁶⁸ CFF2 949.2

Michaeli adds, “Life and death are a question of obedience and disobedience to the will of God.” Also, “Life is a gift of God, a grace which He bestows freely and generously on those who love and obey Him.” ⁶⁹ And speaking of eternal life he says: CFF2 949.3

“This eternal life will not consist in the survival of the spiritual aspect of man’s being, for the whole man passes through the experience of death. It will be a wholly new life dating from the resurrection at the last day and eternal in character.” ⁷⁰ CFF2 949.4

5. MAN MORTAL; GOD IMMORTAL

Under “Man, O. T.,” ED. JACOB states at the outset: CFF2 949.5

“At the root of the O.T. teaching on the subject of man lies the assertion that he is a creature. As such he is characterized by weakness and mortality, while God enjoys strength and eternal life (Job 14:1 f.; Psalm 103:15 f.). Man was created mortal, and the fall of the first man resulted in no change in this state beyond that of making final a condition which God had possibly reserved the right to alter, had man persevered in obedience (Genesis 3:22). To look to man for salvation and life, therefore, is to delude oneself (Isaiah 31:3; Jeremiah 17:5). This condition of creatureliness man shares with the animals: the fate of each is the same (Ecclesiastes 3:19; Psalm 49:12).” ⁷¹ CFF2 950.1

6. HUMAN LIFE IS DERIVED LIFE

Coming to creation and the formation of man, Jacob says:
“This text [Genesis 2:7] clearly asserts that life is the exclusive possession of God, and that man exists only in so far as he receives the breath of life, which God gives him by an act of His sovereign grace (cf. Psalm 104:29 f.). The body and the breath of life, both coming, as they do, from God, are not two elements that may be isolated and treated separately.” ⁷² CFF2 950.2

So he adds:
“The Hebrew term (nephesh) translated ‘soul’ in the modern versions denotes a psycho-physical totality, corresponding to that which we mean when we talk of a living being and its different modes of expression.” ⁷³ CFF2 950.3

So man, made in the “‘image of God,’” is a “psychophysical totality.” ⁷⁴ CFF2 950.4

7. DOES NOT POSSESS INDEPENDENT EXISTENCE

Dr. H. MEHL-KOEHNLEIN, dealing with “Man” in the New Testament, and “the make-up of the human being,” states that man is “a complex organism, a whole, a unity.” ⁷⁵ Again, “There is no human existence which is not bodily existence.” ⁷⁶ Then she says: CFF2 950.5

“But, in contrast to Greek thought, the ‘body’ connotes a reality much more extensive than the biological unity that is a man, his visible, tangible, sensible body. It denotes man, the human person in his entirety. Thus the apostle Paul cannot conceive of a future human existence, beyond both death and resurrection, without a body.” ⁷⁷ CFF2 950.6

And as to “soul,” she says:
“Nor does the soul, any more than the body, denote a part of man, but the whole man in one particular aspect. To be more precise, it is as in the O.T.—man in his character of a living being.” ⁷⁸ CFF2 951.1

Then comes this important statement:
“The ‘soul’ is human life regarded as the life of an individual being with consciousness and will (Matthew 10:28; Matthew 16:26; Luke 9:56; Luke 12:19 f.; John 12:27; 2 Corinthians 1:23; 2 Corinthians 12:15; Philippians 1:27; 1 Thessalonians 2:8). But living man does not possess the source of life and the possibility of continued existence in himself. Adam became a living soul, when God breathed into his nostrils the breath of life. It is God who determines the extent of each man’s life (Matthew 6:26-30; 1 Corinthians 15:45).” ⁷⁹ CFF2 951.2

And as to “soul,” she says:
“Man, being a creature, is dependent on God (Matthew 6:26-30; Matthew 10:28; Acts 17:25-28). He possesses a body and a soul and God alone sustains him in being. Moreover, he is a person, self-conscious, free, and selfdetermining solely because, in one way or another, he is answerable to God; because he is, by God’s act, a responsible being in God’s sight.” ⁸⁰ CFF2 951.3

8. MAN “NOT CREATED IMMORTAL.”

G. PIDOUX, in discussing “Sin” in the Old Testament, after stating that “the sin of man consisted, then, in his desire to become God’s equal,” says concerning the nature of man: CFF2 951.4

“What, then, are we to think of life and death? Was the first man mortal or immortal by nature? The sin resulted in denying man access to the tree of life whose fruits would allow him to nourish the life force. Man was not created immortal. He had to return to the earth whence he had been drawn, but his earthly condition was suspended during the period when he was able to live near to the tree of life.” ⁸¹ CFF2 951.5

9. “GEHENNA” CONNOTES THE “SECOND DEATH.”

Under “Gehenna,” Dr. F. BAUDRAZ states that the original Old Testament gehenna was a place “for the burning of refuse and the disposal of corpses.” ⁸² And “in the N.T. Gehenna designates eternal punishment.” He next states that “Gehenna has numerous synonyms”—eternal fire, unquenchable fire, or fire and brimstone, the fire and the worm, furnace of fire, lake of fire, and eternal punishment-like the punishment of Sodom and Gomorrah—each term with its supporting texts. ⁸³ Baudraz then says: CFF2 951.6

“We must distinguish between ‘Gehenna’ and ‘the abode of the dead’ [hadés], also called ‘hell’... : to the latter go all souls after death to await the resurrection, whereas Gehenna is the place to which the wicked are delivered after the last judgment to undergo their punishment; it is ‘the second death’ (Revelation 20:6, 14).” ⁸⁴ CFF2 952.1

Baudraz then adds: “Jesus Christ confronts every man with a life or death decision; each must decide for himself what his eternal portion is to be.” ⁸⁵ CFF2 952.2

Such is the composite testimony of Von Allmen and his associates. CFF2 952.3