Series on Conditionalism, Part 2
Following up on my previous post about conditionalism, let's move further.
In that post, I was commending all of us to think through the implications of a sinner experiencing judgmental torment at God's hands before a final event that eliminates their consciousness and existence. I compared this pre-annihilation experience to flogging, an ongoing unpleasant experience, and then considered that anyone undergoing an ongoing unpleasant experience would consider the cessation of that unpleasant experience to be relief. I also poked justified fun at those who would claim that such sleep (ie, cessation of torment) would also be punishment, because the claim is laughable.
I then went on to explore how that relates to the idea of atonement. You see, the conditionalist is caught in a dilemma, wanting for some reason to consider that surely God isn't THAT mean and nasty as to consign people to eternal conscious torment. Yet at the same time, the prospect that your kindly (pagan) grandma might experience literally the exact same "punishment" (ie, immediate cessation of existence) as Mengele experiences rubs people the wrong way who want to take God's justice seriously. So they stretch for this apparent middle ground - Mengele will temporarily suffer a more intense and/or longer-lasting unpleasant experience than kindly grandma before they both end up entirely eliminated, annihilated, totally unconscious and non-existent. And why do Mengele and grandma eventually end up released from their unpleasant experience into sweet, sweet oblivion? Because their relative amount of sin has received what appears to be its due and corresponding penalty. Their sin has been taken care of, and now their unpleasant experiences are done with. They are released, no longer to suffer anymore. (Or, God just ignores their sin, which is its own heresy. You might find Islam more to your liking.)
A direct and striking parallel exists to the Roman Catholic distinctive dogma known as Purgatory. You see, in RC theology, an individual who has been baptised and confirmed into the RCC lives in a state of grace unless and until they commit a so-called mortal sin. If they die in a state of mortal sin, to hell they go. If they perform appropriate penances, they are restored to a state of grace.
If they do not commit a mortal sin, most people are committing lesser sins, known as venial sins, which build up a negative balance on their 'account'. These sins can be removed from their 'account' via sacraments and other means of grace. If an individual dies in a state of grace, with only a balance of venial sins on their 'account', they are not holy enough to enter into Heaven. Thus they are sent to Purgatory first.
The Catechism of the Roman Harlot says this in section 1030:
"All who die in God's grace and friendship, but still imperfectly purified, are indeed assured of their eternal salvation; but after death they undergo purification, so as to achieve the holiness necessary to enter the joy of heaven."
And in 1031:
"The Church gives the name Purgatory to this final purification of the elect, which is entirely different from the punishment of the damned... The tradition of the Church, by reference to certain texts of Scripture, speaks of a cleansing fire: 'As for certain lesser faults, we must believe that, before the Final Judgment, there is a purifying fire…'"
Put simply, the sinner undergoes a temporary unpleasant experience of duration and/or intensity appropriate to the lack of holiness in them. This is to "achieve the holiness necessary to enter the joy of heaven." Two important elements of this idea:
- The work of overcoming the sin in the sinner's life is accomplished by the sinner, NOT BY CHRIST'S SACRIFICE.
- After the sinner has completed his passive suffering, he is RELEASED FROM THE SUFFERING into a less unpleasant status.
This is virtually indistinguishable from how, on conditionalism, the sinner suffering prior to annihilation achieves the holiness/lack of unholiness necessary to enter the relief of eternal unconsciousness. Obviously entire annihilation/elimination is not heaven. The mechanism is the same. The sinner discharges his sin debt before he becomes eligible for an improvement in his situation, and that discharge of debt is brought about apart from Christ's sacrifice.
Conditionalism results in atonement for sin being discharged by something other than the work of Christ on the cross. That's some ugly stuff, friends.