Modern Mainstream Theology Developing Similar Beliefs
Over the last 100 years some mainstream Christian theologians and Biblical scholars have gradually been developing beliefs which the Christadelphian community has historically held. Example areas are satan and demons; the atonement; justification; heaven and hell; the state of the dead.
- The state of the dead: The majority of standard scholarly Jewish and Christian sources today describe the state of the dead in terms identical or very close to the Christadelphian view.
- The future hope for humankind and the world: An increasing number of scholars are also affirming resurrection and a renewed and transformed earth (not going to heaven) as the ultimate hope for humankind and the world.
- The final state of the wicked: Scholars who have questioned the traditional idea of hell, or reject it in favour of annihilationism, include F. F. Bruce, John Stott, Michael Green, E. Earle Ellis, Philip Edgecumbe Hughes, Thomas H. Olbricht, John McRay, John Stackhouse, Dale Moody, John Franke, Homer Hailey, Thomas L. Robinson, Clark Pinnock, John Wenham, Richard Bauckham, N. T. Wright, Edward Fudge. The majority of these hold similar beliefs to Christadelphians regarding the final state of the wicked.
- The atonement: The majority Christian interpretation of the Anselmian-Calvinist doctrine of the atonement as penal substitution has been criticized in mainstream Christianity since the 19th century, resulting in increasing rejection of traditional penal substitution. The Christadelphian distinction between representation and substitution has been noted in the relevant scholarly literature, and representative participation (an interpretation long held by Christadelphians) is widely considered the original Biblical teaching on the atonement.
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