Month: marzo 2025

In Australian apologetics circles, John Dickson is widely respected as a historian, author, and public advocate for the Christian faith. Though he steadfastly rejects conditionalism, the generally irenic tone of his responses to our comments has led many Australian conditionalists to maintain their deep respect for him. Just as Dickson maintains an irenic tone while not pulling his punches when critiquing conditionalism, I want to offer my own critique of his exegesis in a respectful way.

Dickson has co-authored a book with Greg Clarke called 666 and All That: The Truth About the Future in which they argue the following in support of the doctrine of degrees of punishment in hell.¹John Dickson and Greg Clarke, 666 And All That – The Truth About The Future, Kindle ed., (Aquila Press: 2007).

God will judge the world on the basis of human behavior, in other words, ‘according to deeds.’ As Paul says in his letter to the Romans: Romans 2:5–6.

But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God’s wrath, when his righteous judgment will be revealed. God “will give to each person according to what he has done” [a quotation from Psalm 62:12].

This statement is fascinating because it contradicts the common misconception that God’s punishment of sinners will be applied equally to all, as if a Hitler-figure, to use an admittedly clichéd example, will receive the same judgment as a non-Christian humanitarian worker. We venture to say that this is not what the Scriptures teach….

In the above passage Paul quotes Psalm 62:12 saying that God’s judgment is “according to what each has done”. This does not mean ‘because of’ what each has done; it means ‘commensurate with’ or ‘in proportion to’ what each has done. The Apostle emphasizes the point by talking about “storing up wrath against yourself”. ‘Storing up’ (thēsaurizō) is a financial term, meaning to amass or accumulate. In other words, God’s wrath against an individual can be lesser or greater depending on what s/he has done in life.²Dickson and Clarke, 666 And All That, Kindle loc., 1072-1094. (emphasis Dickson and Clarke’s)

My response to this will be in two parts, with part 1 focusing on the meaning of Romans 2:5 while part 2 will discuss Romans 2:6.

Dickson and Clarke base their argument from ‘storing up wrath against yourself’ solely on a basic lexical definition of θησαυρίζω (thēsaurizō, ‘to store up’). Dickson and Clarke are correct that θησαυρίζω can refer to accumulating something (e.g., LXX 4 Kingdoms 20:17; Luke 12:13-21) or even piling up dirt to construct fortifications (LXX Zecharia 9:3).³Since there are textual variants in the LXX I will use either the LES (Lexham English Septuagint) or NETS (New English Translation of the Septuagint). Unless otherwise indicated I will use the ESV when quoting the Bible in English. To the untrained exegetical, eye this looks compelling. There is much more that needs to be taken into account when exegeting Romans 2:5.

For instance, there is a more general sense of θησαυρίζω that need not imply adding things together. Citing BDAG,⁴William Arndt et al., A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000), 456. John Harvey thinks the verb ‘carries the idea of doing something that will bring about a future condition.'⁵John D. Harvey, Romans, B&H Publishing Group: 2017), 56. There is a good reason to think this more general sense of θησαυρίζω is what Paul had in mind in Romans 2:5. In the context of Romans 2:5, Paul had already spoken of a multitude of sins deserving the penalty of death. Romans 1:18-32 speaks of all who are unrighteous and ungodly as those who deserve to die for their sins. The list of sins includes murder alongside relatively ‘minor’ sins like a child’s disobedience of his or her parents, envy, foolishness, and gossip. In fact, murder is the only sin that we might consider to be serious enough to warrant the death penalty. Yet Paul refrains from making a distinction between the seriousness of these sins, instead saying, ‘those who do such things deserve death.’ This is evidence that Paul did not have in mind the idea that variegation in sin warrants degrees of punishment as he was writing Romans.

In Romans 2:1-5, Paul addresses a hypocritical interlocutor who presumes that he is safe from divine judgment because he had apparently experienced God’s kindness and blessing (Rom 2:4). Paul pulls no punches, telling the interlocutor that he has no excuse (Rom 2:1) because he commits the same sins as those addressed at the end of chapter 1 (or otherwise contained in some source of law). This means Paul’s ‘you are storing up wrath against yourself’ should be read in light of his previous statement that those committing a range of sins all deserved the same penalty of death.

Additionally, James Dunn (along with other commentators on Romans) thinks Paul’s ‘you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God’s wrath may be echoing the Greek of LXX Tobit and hints the same with LXX Psalms of Solomon.⁶James D. G. Dunn, Romans 1-8, (Word Books: 1988), 84.

LXX Tobit 4:8 According to the abundance you have, give alms from them in proportion to the abundance. If you possess a little, do not be afraid to give alms in proportion to the little, 9 for a good treasure you store up for yourself against a day of necessity. 10 For giving alms delivers one from death and will not allow that one to go into darkness. (LES)

LXX Psalms of Solomon 9:5 The one who practices righteousness stores up life for himself with the Lord, and the one who practices injustice is responsible for the destruction of his own soul, for the judgments of the Lord are in righteousness for each man and household. (NETS)

It is unclear whether Paul had a Hebrew, Aramaic, or Greek version of Tobit in mind when he wrote Romans 2:5. Nevertheless, David deSilva discusses how Tobit had influenced the NT with respect to its theme of almsgiving. He discusses a range of NT passages to demonstrate this, noting Paul’s development of this theme in 1 Timothy 6.⁷David A. deSilva, Introducing the Apocrypha: Message, Context, and Significance, 2nd ed., (Baker Publishing Group: 2018), 79-82. The NT authors had also developed Tobit’s ‘day of necessity’ for the ‘day of wrath’ theme (deSilva mentions Mat 25:31-45). It is reasonable to conclude that where there is evidence that Paul echoes Tobit, he was to some extent influenced by the older work in the way he expressed his own thoughts.

Most commentators think Paul uses irony at this point.⁸e.g. See Thomas Schriener, Romans, 2nd ed. (Baker Academic: 2018), 118-119, accessed at https://www.perlego.com/book/2051130, 8 February 2025. Where Tobit 4:9 has a good treasure being stored up and the Psalms of Solomon has life being stored up, Paul turns this on its head so that it is wrath. Interestingly, the author of Tobit has already prayed for his own death due to his many sins.

LXX Tobit 3:4-6 You gave us over to plunder, captivity, and death, and made us a proverb of disgrace to all the nations among which we were dispersed. And now your many judgments dealing with me are true because of my sins and those of my fathers; for neither have we observed your commandments, nor have we walked in faithfulness before you. So now deal with me as you see fit. Command to take up my spirit that I may be released and may become dirt, since it is more profitable for me to die than live. For I have heard untrue reproaches, and much grief is within me. Command that I be released of the distress immediately into the eternal place. Do not turn your face away from me.” (LES)

Notice the language: ‘You gave us over to plunder, captivity, and death’, ‘Command to take up my spirit that I may be released and may become dirt’, and ‘it is more profitable for me to die than live.’ Death here is the loss of life. The connection of plunder and captivity with death makes this clear enough. Moreover, the notion of the spirit being released so the person becomes dirt echoes the account of the creation of Adam (Gen 2:7). OT authors sometimes used this language from Genesis to speak of the ‘decreation’ of a person so death is spoken of as the reversal of a person’s creation (c.f., Gen 3:19; Ps 104:29, Eccl 3:20; 12:7). Carey A. Moore regards ‘my spirit’ as meaning ‘my life’ precisely because of this connection with the breath of life (Gen 2:7).⁹Carey A. Moore, Tobit, (Yale University Press: 1996), 140. See also, Robert J. Littman, Tobit The Book Of Tobit In Codex Sinaiticus, (Brill: 2008), 74. This is followed by Tobit 3:7-15, where a character named Sarah prays for her own death because a demon kept killing her husbands on her wedding day. The much-debated verb ἀπόλλυμι (apollumi) is used alongside the conventional verb for ‘to kill’ (ἀποκτείνω, apokteinó).

LXX Tobit 3:15 … Seven of mine are already dead (ἀπόλλυμι)! So then why should I live? Now if it does not seem right for you to kill (ἀποκτείνω) me, command that regard be had on me and show mercy to me that no longer may I hear a reproach.” (LES)

Like Tobit, Sarah is talking about ordinary death (a phrase herein used to refer to the most common sense of the word, ‘the end of life’, as opposed to any spiritual death or fine distinctions like ‘first death’). This is context for the statement that ‘giving alms delivers one from death’ in Tobit 4:10. Though Paul applies Tobit’s ‘you store up for yourself against a day of necessity’ ironically, reversing so those who sin store up wrath against themselves, his ‘those who practice such things deserve to die’ (Rom 1:32) shows that he continued to have Tobit’s emphasis on ordinary death.

The Psalms of Solomon is a collection of Jewish poems written by several authors. These poems were originally written in Hebrew in the first century BC and were translated into Greek by the end of the first century AD. It is impossible to say whether Paul interacted directly with Psalms of Solomon, but it should be noted that the language used throughout these Psalms show how the subject of punishment on the basis of works could be perceived around the time Paul wrote Romans.

The Psalms of Solomon evince an ordinary view of death. That is, when ‘Solomon’ talks about death, it is the loss of life and cessation of vital functions that is in view (e.g., 2:35–38; 3:11–16; 13:9–10; 14:1–6; 15:1–15; 17:25–26). R. B. Wright says that in the Psalms of Solomon,

Life after death is concentrated entirely in the hope for bodily resurrection (viz. 2:31; 3:12) and betrays no certain trace of a belief in an immortal soul. The life of the righteous “goes on forever” (13:11), but this is in the kingdom, after the “day of mercy” (14:9). Thus the psalmist conceives of man as essentially embodied and the occasional use of the term “soul” corresponds to its use in the psalter to mean “person.” He posits no body/ soul dualism and is not in the least “otherworldly” in his thinking.¹⁰R. B. Wright, “Psalms of Solomon: A New Translation and Introduction,” in The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha, vol. 2 (New Haven; London: Yale University Press, 1985), 645.

As a whole, the various Psalms of Solomon teach the righteous will live forever while sinners will be killed. God is portrayed as one who ‘puts the arrogant to sleep for eternal destruction in dishonor’ (2:35). Sinners ‘will perish in the day of the judgment of the Lord for eternity’ (15:13), and ‘will perish for the eternal time (15:15) since ‘all the substance of sinner’ will be destroyed (15:7) and so ‘will be removed into destruction’ (13:10). This is set in contrast to what will happen to the righteous. They ‘will arise into eternal life’ so ‘their life will never come to an end’ (3:16). ‘Famine and sword and death are far from the righteous’ (15:8). ‘The holy ones of the Lord will live in it for eternity (14:2) as their ‘planting is rooted for eternity (14:3).¹¹The references above are from LEH. The emphasis on ordinary life and death in both Tobit and the Psalms of Solomon means that statements about storing up life or being repaid according to one’s works cannot be statements conveying the notion of degrees of punishment.

Some scholars even doubt that LXX Psalms of Solomon 9:5 are about the ‘mechanics’ of divine justice at all, instead insisting the point is no one can hide from God.¹²Paul R. Williamson, Death and the Afterlife: Biblical Perspectives On Ultimate Questions, Kindle Edition, (InterVarsity Press: 2017), Kindle loc., 1881-1896; David Falk, ‘Psalms and Prayers’ in Justification and Variegated Nomism. Volume I: The Complexities of Second Temple Judaism, ed. by D. A. Carson, Peter T. O’Brien, and Paul Seifrid, (J. C. B. Mohr: 2001), 42. The same approach is often taken by commentators on Romans 2:5-6, since they are reluctant to think Paul was teaching eternal life could be obtained by doing good works.¹³e.g. See Schriener, ‘How does judgment according to works fit with Paul’s theology? The most interesting question relates to the implications of these verses. Did Paul believe that some could obtain eternal life by doing good works? How does this fit with his claim that no one can be righteous before God by the works of the law (Rom. 3:20)? The main reason Paul introduced the issue of repayment according to works is to show the Jews that God is impartial,10 that there will be no special favoritism for them.’ Thomas R. Schreiner, Romans, 2nd ed., (Baker Academic: 2018), 122. In any case, it is clear that around the time that Paul wrote Romans, statements about storing up something or being judged by one’s works were not necessarily ways of talking about degrees of reward or punishment. If one comes to Romans 2:5-6 assuming otherwise—as Dickson and Clarke appear to—then one will be in danger of assuming he was talking about degrees of punishment when he was not.

Another way we can know Paul was not talking about degrees of punishment is to note his reference to the day of wrath (Rom 2:5). It has long been recognized that in biblical scholarship the NT authors took up the OT theme of a day of God’s wrath and applied it to the day when Christ returns.

In the Old Testament, the day of God’s wrath not only dawns for gentiles (Isa 13:9, 13; Ezek 38:18–19, 23; Zeph 3:8) but also, in an ironic way, for Israel because of Israel’s wickedness (Zeph 1:15, 18; 2:2–3). This is exactly Paul’s point here.¹⁴Frank Thielman, Romans, (Zondervan: 2018), accessed at https://www.perlego.com/book/581251, 1 March 2025, no page given.

Zephaniah is particularly illuminating for our purposes. Bear in mind, Zephaniah is talking about what would happen to sinful Israel on the day of wrath.

Zeph 1:15 A day of wrath is that day, a day of distress and anguish, a day of ruin and devastation, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and thick darkness (ESV)

Maria Eszenyei Szeles describes the picture created by this verse as a scene akin to

the devastation caused by a hurricane, the ravaging of a tornado, the evidence of total conflagration and havoc at the hands of a cruel enemy—material destruction, homes in ruins, human beings butchered.¹⁵Maria Eszenyei Szeles, Habakkuk and Zephaniah, (Eerdmans: 1987), 87

The Hebrew word behind ‘devastation’ (mešôʾâ) is translated in the LXX by ἀφανισμός (afanismos), which can mean ‘ruin’, ‘destruction’, or ‘annihilation.'¹⁶T. Muraoka, A Greek-English Lexicon of the Septuagint, (Peeters: 2009), 106. The word is translated in the following way in prominent translations of the LXX.

LXX Zeph 1:15 That day will be a day of anger, a day of affliction and torture, a day of darkness and extermination (ἀφανισμός), a day of gloom and darkness, a day of cloud and fog. (LES)

LXX Zeph 1:15 That day will be a day of wrath, a day of affliction and anguish, a day of untimely fate and annihilation (ἀφανισμός), a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and fog (NETS)

Any doubt that the prophecy includes an emphasis on the wicked being killed is dispelled by further statements that God ‘will pour out their blood like dust, and their flesh like cow dung’ (v17),¹⁷The LES and NETS are identical. and bring a swift end to them (v18). Paul is expanding on Zephaniah with new revelation or typology, even though Paul uses all of the same ideas of ‘die’ (1:32) and ‘perish’ (2:12).

This fits with what Paul wrote in 2 Thessalonians 1:5-10, where he alludes to Isaiah 66 in more than one way. In his commentary on discussing whether Paul employed Isaiah 66 in this in 2 Thessalonians 1:5-10, Jeffrey Weima notes that LXX Isaiah 66:6 and 15 use ἀνταποδίδωμι (antapodidómi, ‘to repay’), which Paul picks up in 2 Thessalonians 1:6.¹⁸Jeffrey A. D. Weima, ‘1– 2 Thessalonians’, in Commentary on the New Testament Use of the Old Testament, eds G. K. Beale and D. A. Carson, (Baker Publishing Group: 2007), 883. Isaiah also uses a cognate of the word, ἀποδίδωμι (apodidómi, ‘to give back’) in LXX Isaiah 66:15. Paul uses δίδωμι (didómi, ‘to give’) in 2 Thessalonians 1:8. Paul’s εν φλογι πυρος (en pyri phlogos, ‘in flaming fire’) in 2 Thessalonians 1:8a is drawn from Isaiah 66:15.¹⁹Weima discusses a relevant textual variant of 2 Thessalonians 1:8 but concludes that εν φλογι πυρος was Paul’s. Weima, ‘1– 2 Thessalonians’, 883-884). In the same verse, Paul also echoes Isaiah’s αποδουναι … εκδικησιν (apodounai … ekdikēsin, ‘render vengeance’) with διδοντος εκδικησιν (didōmi ekdikēsin, ‘inflicting vengeance’). Beale notes that 2 Thessalonians 1:8 is ‘the only place in the Old Testament where this combination of terms is found.'²⁰G. K. Beale, 1–2 Thessalonians, (InterVarsity Press, 2003), 189. Fee points out that part of 2 Thessalonians 1:8 uses some of the language from Isaiah 66:4.²¹Gordon D. Fee, The First and Second Letters to the Thessalonians, (Eerdmans: 2009), 256-257. Weima also thinks there is some verbal similarity between 2 Thessalonians 1:12 and LXX Isaiah 55:5.²²c.f., Paul’s οπως ενδοξασθη το ονομα του κυριου ημων Ιησου, hopōs endoxasthē to onoma tou kyriou hēmōn Iēsou en hymin, ‘so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified’ with Isaiah’s ινα το ονομα κυριου δοξασθη, hina to onoma kyriou doxasthē, ‘so that the name of the Lord may be glorified.’ Weima, ‘1– 2 Thessalonians’, 886. There is sufficient evidence to conclude that 2 Thessalonians 2:5-10 ‘is the result of a conscious reflection of Isa. 66, supplemented by a few other OT texts.²³Weima, ‘1– 2 Thessalonians’, 883.

In Isaiah 66, God slays his enemies (Is 66:16), leaving their rotting corpses open to the elements to be abhorred by the still living righteous (Is 66:24). Though the Hebrew word ḥālāl and the Greek word τραυματίας (traumatías) can refer to being wounded, they also often are used with reference to the fatal wounding or slaying of a person. This is worth mentioning here since some LXX translations render τραυματίας as ‘wounded’ in LXX Isaiah 66:15. Shalom M. Paul translates the Hebrew to “And many shall be the slain of the Lord”,²⁴Shalom M. Paul, Isaiah 40–66: Translation and Commentary, (Eerdmans: 2012), 624. while Ottely notes that the Hebrew ‘regularly rendered ‘slain.'²⁵Richard R. Ottley, ed., The Book of Isaiah according to the Septuagint (Codex Alexandrinus), vol. 2, (Cambridge University Press, 1906), 386. One Greek lexicon I own says τραυματίας can be understood as referring to a wounded man (2 Mac 4:42), casualties of war (wounded or dead, 1 Mac 1:18), the corpse of one slain (1 Kgs 11:15), or one fatally wounded (Deut 21:1).²⁶Johan Lust, Erik Eynikel, and Katrin Hauspie, A Greek-English Lexicon of the Septuagint : Revised Edition (Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft: Stuttgart, 2003). In any case, verse 24 clearly depicts these enemies of God as having been killed.

Since this is a primary OT source text Paul had in mind when penning 2 Thessalonians 1:5-10, then it stands to reason that he had in mind the death of those who had afflicted the Thessalonian church on the day of Christ’s return (v10) when they ‘will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction’ (v9). The word for ‘destruction’ is ὄλεθρος (olethros). While traditionalist commentators regard ὄλεθρος in a way that fits with the doctrine of eternal torment, it should be noted in the LXX this noun was used ‘always with the general sense “destruction,” though often death is at least implied as well.’²⁷ὄλεθρος, in New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology and Exegesis, 2nd ed., edited by Moisés Silva, Olive tree ed., (Zondervan: 2014), no page given. Beale points to several instances in the LXX where ὄλεθρος is used with reference to death.²⁸Beale cites LXX 1 Kings 13:34; Ezek 14:16–18; 3 Macc 6:30, 34. G. K. Beale, 1–2 Thessalonians, (InterVarsity Press, 2003), 188. Others think Paul used ὄλεθρος with reference to physical death in 1 Thessalonians 5:3, 1 Corinthians 5:5, and 1 Timothy 6:9.²⁹For instance, see D. Michael Martin, 1, 2 Thessalonians, (Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1995), 213; Charles A. Wanamaker. The Epistle to the Thessalonians, Kindle ed., (Eerdmans: 1990), Kindle Locations 3874-3876; Jeffrey A. D. Weima, 1-2 Thessalonians, Kindle ed., (Baker Publishing Group: 2014). Kindle loc., 11681-11696; Ernest Best, The First and Second Epistles to the Thessalonians, (A. & C. Black: 2003), 261. The point is ὄλεθρος is the kind of word that afforded Paul the ability to talk about the permanent death of the wicked. Since Isaiah 66 was an OT source text for 2 Thessalonians 1:5-10, it follows that he had in mind Isaiah 66:24 when he wrote about the eternal destruction of those who had persecuted the Thessalonian church. After all is said and done, this context shows that Paul was talking about the death of the wicked when he wrote ὄλεθρον αἰώνιον (eternal destruction).³⁰For more on this argument, please see our 2-part series on this passage.

Paul’s emphasis on the death of the person on the day of judgment in 2 Thessalonians 1:9 helps us to understand what he meant by storing up wrath and being judged by works in Romans 2. The notion of storing up wrath is the idea that people have acted in such a way that God’s full wrath will be poured out on them, thus ending their lives. Being judged by one’s works is just a way of saying God’s judgment for sin is not arbitrary.

A significant problem for Dickson and Clarke’s reading of Romans 2:5 as a statement of degrees of punishment in hell is Paul’s explicit reference to the day of judgment. Paul is talking about what happens to the wicked on that day when they are judged by God. Even if ‘you are storing up wrath for yourself’ implies some kind of variation in the intensity of wrath being poured onto each sinner, Dickson and Clarke have yet to explain why this should be read as a statement about the punishment people receive once they are in hell, as opposed to “on the day of wrath.” Their logic turns directly against them, as even if they are correct, it would actually prove that all that added-up wrath is repaid on a day — that is, over a finite amount of time.

All in all, Dickson and Clarke have failed to account for the breadth of evidence that needs to be considered to properly understand Romans 2:5. By basing their conclusion on a particular gloss of a single word in the verse, they have presented a case that rests on a single data point. This is a text-book example of cherry-picking evidence. An unfortunate result of this they have indeed misunderstood Romans 2:5.