I encourage you to watch the movie, Hell and Mr. Fudge (it’s on Amazon Prime). Our Bible house group saw it at a small Athens, Al movie theater when it first came out. It’s the true story of Edward Fudge’s life and his journey of studying doctrines that were controversial in his church. He mainly focused on two main doctrines: 1) Do the wicked burn forever in torment in hell? 2) Does God’s grace cover all believers in all denominations? Fudge, after much, much indepth study, concluded that the wicked do not burn forever in hell but are annihilated or destroyed at death. He also concluded that there were Christians saved by the grace of God in all denominations and that we should not let our views on non essential issues separate us from fellowship with other denominations. Carl Ketcherside influenced him a lot on the second doctrine while Fudge was attending a Bible college. I remember when I was a teen hearing from the pulpit that Ketcherside was a liberal b/c. of his teaching.

I don’t know where you stand on these two issues, but this article is not about debating the issues. I mainly just want to encourage you to watch the movie. It has many warm stories of Edward meeting and marrying his wife and having children, his relationship with his father, his enouragement in tough times from a very close friend, the support of his father, mother, and wife. It has some sad stories of the death of his father, the death of a teen friend whom Edward was told would burn in hell forever, getting fired from a church. It is a study of the character of a man who studied the Bible and went wherever his study led him even it got him ostracized by church leaders and preachers.

It is a study of sectarian legalism. What is that? This is my definition: it is when beliefs that are not heaven or hell issues are made tests of fellowship with other believers. It leads to judging and condemning those who disagree with you. It leads to splits within churches over issues like instrumental music, kitchens and eating in the church building, using church contributions to support orphan homes, using only one cup in the Lord’s Supper, having Bible classes, frequency of taking the Lord’s Supper, and many, many more. All doctrines are important but very few are heaen/hell doctrines. Some say we must draw the line on any doctrine. My stance is that we should never make an issue or doctrine a test of fellowship unless the Bible clearly makes it a test of fellowship. There are only a few doctines that are clearly heaven/hell doctrines. 1 John lists 3: 1) Belief that Jesus is the Son of God who died for our sins. 2) Love one another, love God with all your heart, and love all mankind. 3) Obedience to God’s moral commands as defined by the Bible. There are black and white moral commands that must be obeyed. For example, the Bible clearly condemns the LGBQT teachings. All other issues than these 3 are not heaven/hell issues in my opinion.

The movie shows the dark side of sectarian legalism in the way Fudge was treated by many preachers and church leaders. He said that he was ostracized by the churches in Limestone County, Al which is where Athens is located. He went on to have a successful career as an attorney in Texas and continued his preaching ministry. There is a sad part toward the end of the movie. His wife took the kids and left him fo a while b/c he was so obsessed with endless studying to get the answer to the eternal fate of the wicked that he was hard to live with. In his own words, he became obsessed with defending his beliefs to the neglect of his family. In 1 Timothy 1:4, Paul cautioned against focusing on “fables and endless genealogies” as they lead to questions and disputes rather than godly edification through faith. So Fudge is not without fault in this movie and that’s a good lesson for us.

How did the movie end? He finally felt that he found the “missing piece” in the doctrine of the “immortal soul”, i.e. the doctrine that every person born has an eternal, immortal soul that must live forever somewhere, heaven or hell, after one dies. He concluded that the Bible doesn’t teach that, but that this docrine came in from outside influences like Plato. He read Matthew 10:28 And do not be afraid of 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” and concluded that meant the annihilation of body and soul of the wicked. He noted that Jesus said that those who do not believe in him would “perish” not burn forever in agony (John 3:16). Romans 6:23 “the wages of sin is death but the free gift of God is eternal life”. Paul promised immortality to believers: 1 Corinthians 15:⁵³ For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality.” Fudge finally concluded that immortality was only promised to believers, not to the wicked. He felt the pressure of going against 2,000 years of church teaching on hell. He based his beliefs on the study of the Bible and not emotion, but he did beieve that the eternal suffering of the wicked in hell went against the loving character of God. He wrote a book “The Fire That Consumes” in 1982. All of his research is in that book and he deals with objections to his conclusions. He was reunited with his wife and children once he ended his research.

Does it even matter whether the wicked just cease to exist at death or do they suffer torment in heall forever? Well of course if the Bible clearly teaches that the wicked suffer forever in hell, then we should be teaching that. Fudge doesn’t believe it teaches that but you will have to decide for yourself if he got it right. To some, it isn’t enough punishment for the wicked if they just cease to exist. Some feel that the wicked deserve to suffer forever. Fudge would say that goes against the loving character of God. The wicked made their choices in life and they die, are annihilated, and eternally separated from the presence of God. Is that enough “punishment”? Some feel that we need the doctrine of burnig in hell forever to scare people into becoming Christians. I know I got baptized at 14 mainly to keep from burning in hell forever. Would a wicked person be less likely to become a Christian if he thought that the consequences of his unbelief was simply ceasing to exist at death instead of burning forever in hell? I don’t know. Maybe some would say, “Well, I think I will just enjoy my lusts without any moral restraints, refuse to obey God, and then just die and cease to exist.” But eternal life is for those who want to live forever with Jesus, the Father, and the saints. The love of God in sending Jesus to die for our sins should be sufficient motivation for us becoming Christians and not the threat of hell. The Catholic church used the threat of purgatory and hell for 1,000 years to coerce people into obeying the rules of the church and paying indulgences! Evangelicals have used the same threat to get people to accept Jesus.

So what about universalism, the doctrine that eventually God will save everyone including the wicked in heaven eternally? Would an appeal to the loving character of God take us one step further than just denying the eternal suffering of the wicked in hell? Would that lead us to conclude that God will eventually save everyone and not allow the wicked to suffer forever or even to cease to exist and therefore not be able to enjoy eternity in heaven? Many have adopted universalism today. Fudge may have even adopted some form of universalism later: I’m not sure about that. I am not a universalist. Immortality is promised to believers. One’s opportunity to believe is in this life. There is no promise of a future opportunity after death to believe. Hebrews 9:²⁷ And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment.” To me, one’s eternal fate is sealed at death. I will not be disappointed if God decides to give the wicked a 2nd chance some day and save them in heaven eventually. I feel for people raised in Hindu or atheistic countries where it is so hard to leave the religion you are raised in. I feel for the many tribes in Africa that mabye don’t have the opportunity to hear the gospel fo Jesus like we do. I will allow God to decide the fate of all people. But I don’t find where the Bible teaches that He will just save everyone eventually. Is the character of God so loving that He will not allow the wicked to not live in heaven forever with Him? Or is that just wishful thinking? I’m going to make sure of my eternal life and immortality after death by believing in Jesus while here on earth. What about you?