*Editor’s Note: The following is Part 5 in a five-part series on the Nicene Creed authored by Dr. Brandon Rhea. To read the other installments in this series, click on the following numbers: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5.
Recently, I read the introduction to Dr. Sam Waldron’s new book, The Doctrine of Last Things.[1] He asked, “Is eschatology necessary?” Usually when people think about the end times, the discussion centers on a person’s view of the millennium. Are you pre, post, or amillennial? Some people claim to be panmillennial—it will pan out in the end. Yet Dr. Waldron makes an astute observation. No matter a person’s view on the millennium, there are three things a Christian must believe to be orthodox. First, Jesus will return bodily from heaven. Second, there will be a resurrection of the dead. Third, there will be a Great Judgment where the lost will be sent to hell and the saved will enjoy eternity with God.
Both Reformed Baptists and the Catholic Church confesses the Nicene Creed which says, “He will come again with glory to judge the living and the dead. His kingdom will never end.” As we will discover in this article, the Catholic Church official holds to 1) Jesus’ bodily return, 2) the resurrection of the dead, and 3) the lost will spend eternity in hell. However, some of their leaders including recent Popes have doubted that anyone will be sent to hell. They teach potential universalism—it is possible everyone will be saved in the end. This final installment in our series on the Nicene Creed will cover this topic.[2]
To begin, let’s examine Revelation 20:14-15. “Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. 15 And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.”[3] After the Judgment, God will cast Death and Hades into the lake of fire. Both represent death which is the last enemy. 1 Corinthians 15:26 says, “The last enemy that will be destroyed is death.” Since it is not a material reality, God is communicating that death has ceased. No one will die again, and there will not be a place for the dead since no one will die.
What is the lake of fire? Typically, we refer to it as hell. In reality, we use the term “hell” for two different things. First, when an unbeliever dies, his soul goes to a place of temporal punishment. In the same way, when a person is arrested and awaits trial, he is housed at the county jail. Then if a jury convicts him, he will be sentenced to a prison for a longer duration. Similarly, the lake of fire which many people also call “hell” is like prison. Having served time in jail awaiting the trial, at the Judgment Day, every unbeliever will be condemned and sentenced to the lake of fire for eternity. Matthew 25:46 says, “And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.” Eternal punishment does not end. The sinners will not be annihilated after many years, and there will not be a second chance to repent and believe the gospel.
What is the purpose of the lake of fire? It is a place of punishment for lawbreakers. Jesus described it in Mark 9:46, “where ‘Their worm does not die And the fire is not quenched.’” The condemned will forever feel the pain of fire without being consumed by that fire. After the angels gather the lost, God will condemn them and “will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth.” The pain and misery will never end. Their rebellion against the King requires justice.
Who is condemned to the lake of fire? First, Satan and the demons will be there according to Revelation 20:10. They do not govern or preside over it, but they are there to suffer for their sin. Second, everyone whose names are not found in the book of life. Does that mean that salvation is by works since Jesus judges our works on that great day? Absolutely not! To understand that salvation is by faith alone in Christ alone, we must read the full title of that book. For short, it goes by the Book of Life. Yet it has a fuller title. Revelation 13:8 says, “All who dwell on the earth will worship him, whose names have not been written in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.” Those who worship idols do not have their names written in the Book of Life of the Lamb. Furthermore, Revelation 21:27 states, “But there shall by no means enter it anything that defiles, or causes an abomination or a lie, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.” The Book of Life belongs to the Lamb who is Jesus. He possesses it.
The Lamb, therefore, saves sinners through paying the penalty for our sin on the cross. He bore the wrath that we deserve for breaking God’s law. Then by faith in Jesus, we are united to Him. On the Judgment Day, we are judged not by our lawless deeds, but by the perfect work of Christ. Jesus’ good works are imputed to us, and on the basis of His perfect deeds, God justifies us. To the contrary, the lost are judged by their works which requires justice of eternal punishment. Hence, this passage states that there will be people in the lake of fire forever and ever.
Does the Roman Catholic Church teach that God will send people to hell? Yes and no. Yes, because their catechism affirms this teaching.[4] No, however, because in the last century, Popes and theologians in the church have taught a potential universalism. They do not say everyone will be saved, but they say that there is hope for all to be saved. God may keep hell empty and send everyone to heaven.
How do they support such a hope? Their leaders think everyone is a Christian and brother in Christ. Pope Pius XII said, “Although owing to Adam’s fall, human nature is tainted with original sin, yet it has in itself something that is naturally Christian…”[5], Karl Rahner taught the concept of anonymous Christians. He said, “the others who oppose [the Church] are merely those who have not yet recognized what they nevertheless really already are (or can be) even when, on the surface of existence, they are in opposition; they are already anonymous Christians.”[6] How can a person be a Christian if he does not confess Christ and persecutes the church?
Pope Paul VI extended salvation to Muslims, Hindus, and other religions. Speaking of Muslims, he wrote, “But the plan of salvation also includes those who acknowledge the Creator. In the first place amongst these there are the Muslims,…Nor is God far distant from those who in shadows and images seek the unknown God, for it is He who gives to all men life and breath and all things, and as Saviour wills that all men be saved.”[7] This explains why the Vatican has provided a room for Muslim scholars to pray while they do research at the Vatican library.[8] Even though Muslims believe Jesus was a prophet and not God, Catholic leaders think they can be saved without confessing Jesus to be God.
Francis, the previous Pope, made such inclusive statements too. He referred to humanity as “all brothers.” Not brothers in the sense of being created by God, but being brothers in Christ. Moreover, he told a boy that his father was in heaven, even though the man was an atheist. In another conversation, he expressed his hope that hell would be empty.
How do these Catholic leaders argue for potential universalism? First, they appeal to God’s love and grace. How can a loving God send people to hell? They, therefore, pit God’s love against His justice. There is no tension, however, since God is love, He loves holiness. Thus, He must condemn unrepentant sinners to hell, or he would not love what is pure. Moreover, to respond to this heresy, I call out their hypocrisy. These men would cry out “Injustice!” if the prisons were empty. Even they demand for murderers and dictators to be sentenced and imprisoned. Many of them would call upon the rich to be placed in prisons due to embracing social justice. Yet they want God’s prison—hell—to be empty. It would be like building prisons without intending to use them. Did God create the lake of fire to keep it empty? No! Hell is real, and real people go there.
Even though Roman Catholic leaders confess the Nicene Creed, they do not affirm this fact: there will be people in hell. The biblical witness is at stake. Is Revelation 20 correct or is it wrong? Does God’s honor as King and Lord require sinners to be condemned to hell? Absolutely!
Due to the Roman Catholic leaders’ equivocation regarding hell being populated by the lost, Reformed Baptists cannot affirm, partner, nor worship in or with members of the Roman Catholic Church. We may both profess the Nicene Creed, but we do not hold to the same meaning. Even though Rome claims to be Catholic, it has ceased “to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints.”
[1] Sam Waldron, The Doctrine of Last Things: An Optimistic Amillennial View (Conway, AR: Free Grace Press, 2025).
[2] The idea for this blog series came after reading this insightful book, Mark Gilbert and Leonardo De Chirico, ed., The Nicene Creed (Sydney: Matthias Media, 2024).
[3] All Scripture references are from the New King James Version.
[4] The Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1033-1041.
[5] Pope Pius XII, Evangelii praecones, as quoted in Mark Gilbert and Leonardo De Chirico, ed., The Nicene Creed (Sydney: Matthias Media, 2024).
[6] Karl Rahner, as quoted in Robert Letham, Systematic Theology (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2019), 876-877.
[7] Pope Paul VI, Lumen Gentium, https://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vat-ii_const_19641121_lumen-gentium_en.html
[8] “Vatican Library Grants Muslim Scholars a Prayer Room.” Accessed December 19, 2025. https://thecatholicherald.com/article/vatican-library-grants-muslim-scholars-a-prayer-room
Brandon Rhea (Ph.D. Historical Theology at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary) is a pastor and an ACBC certified Biblical counselor. He met his wife, Karise, while doing pulpit supply in 2013-14. In April 2016, he accepted the call to pastor at Faith Baptist Church in Kirksville, Missouri. He loves history and has a heart for street preaching and evangelism. He is the author of “Spurgeon’s Forgotten Sabbatarianism” and teaches “Spurgeon on the Law & Sabbath” for Covenant Baptist Theological Seminary.
