Life with Christ and final judgment
The Augsburg Confession XVII, Westminster Confession XXXIII, and Southern Baptist Faith and Message X distinguish eternal life from everlasting punishment. They affirm Christ's return, resurrection, and judgment. This historic confessional overview represents these named sources, not every Protestant church. The dropdown also offers focused Anglican (Church of England historic formularies), Wesleyan (The Wesleyan Church), Pentecostal (Assemblies of God USA), and evangelical conditionalist (Rethinking Hell) accounts. Each option identifies its sources and scope; a shared final-outcome label does not erase differences over grace, the intermediate state, or the millennium.
Scripture
- John 3:16-21 — God gives His Son; the passage connects faith, eternal life, and judgment.
- Matthew 25:31-46 — Christ distinguishes eternal punishment and eternal life.
Primary sources
One named Lutheran witness, referring to ungodly people and devils, states:
Augsburg XVII expressly affirms punishment without end in its account of Christ’s judgment.
He will condemn to be tormented without end.
Passage context and translation
The clause refers to ungodly people and devils in the Lutheran confession's account of Christ's return. It is one named confessional witness, not a claim about all Protestants.
Before the excerpt
Context summary: Paragraphs 1–2 describe Christ's return, resurrection, and eternal life for the godly.
After the excerpt
Context summary: Paragraph 4 rejects an end to these punishments.
Sources and further reading
- Assemblies of God · Fundamental Truths 5 and 13–16
- Assemblies of God · The Final Judgment · 2024 position paper
- Augsburg Confession IV · Justification · Concordia Publishing House
- Augsburg Confession XVII · Christ's Return for Judgment · Concordia Publishing House
- Church of England · Book of Common Prayer · Athanasian Creed
- Church of England · Thirty-nine Articles IV, X–XII, XXII
- Lutheran · Augsburg Confession IV · Justification
- Lutheran · Augsburg Confession XVII · Christ's Return to Judgment
- OPC doctrinal standards · Westminster Confession and catechisms
- Reformed · Westminster Confession XXXIII · OPC
- Rethinking Hell · Explore Evangelical Conditionalism
- Rethinking Hell · Statement on Evangelical Conditionalism
- Seventh-day Adventist · Fundamental Belief 26 · Death and Resurrection
- Seventh-day Adventist · Fundamental Belief 27 · The End of Sin
- Southern Baptist · Baptist Faith and Message X
- The Wesleyan Church · Articles of Religion 8, 11–13, 20–22
- The Wesleyan Church · Our Story · Methodist roots
- Westminster Confession with Scripture proofs · OPC · XXXII pp. 147–149