Is Kirk Cameron a Heretic?
- Thomas Moller
- 7 minutes ago
- 4 min read
On a recent podcast, Kirk Cameron made serious waves over his changing view of the nature of hell. In discussing the future fate of the wicked with his son, Kirk said he believed that Conditional Immortality, or Annihilationism, “fits the character of God in my understanding.”[1] He earlier states that he thought there was a strong biblical case for this view of hell. This has caused an uproar across X and has resulted in numerous posts, blogs, and videos responding to his new view. Many of these responses have called him both a heretic and a false teacher for holding this view. We now must try to answer the question: Is Kirk Cameron a heretic?
Two Views of Hell
Before we can answer definitively, let’s look not only at Kirk’s supposed view of hell, Conditional Immortality (CI), but also the traditional view, Eternal Conscious Torment (ECT). ECT is typically described as eternal physical and mental torment in the lake of fire. According to this view, this is the final state for the wicked, that is, those who do not submit to Christ as Lord and have not received salvation from him. Hell, in essence, is eternal separation from God.
CI—or annihilationism—on the other hand, does not believe the torment is eternal. Rather, in this view, the wicked are ultimately destroyed. They are not eternally conscious and being tormented infinitely into the future. However, not all who believe in CI think the wicked are not punished. Some believe that the wicked, for a time, are tormented as part of their punishment. But eventually God destroys their soul as the final punishment. For CI, the destruction of the soul is the ultimate punishment for sin.
Though I do not personally hold to Kirk’s view—I believe in ECT—I think there are many unfair objections made against CI. The two main objections I have heard this past week are that people often change to CI for emotional reasons and that CI does not properly punish sin. I would recommend listening to Kirk’s podcast episode to hear his defense, which I have linked below. I also highly recommend going to Chris Date’s channel, Rethinking Hell.[2]
As for Kirk changing his mind for emotional reasons, I cannot say with any authority. However, he does argue in his episode that his mind was changed because of the strong biblical case for it. He spends much of the podcast discussing various passages of scripture as support for CI. Kirk also addresses the objection that CI does not properly deal with sin. I think he makes a fair point that the destruction of the soul is a proper punishment for sin. Afterall, that is an eternal punishment, that is, it is irreversible, and it is eternal separation from God.
Heresy?
So, is this a heretical view? Are we correct to call Kirk Cameron a false teacher? No. Not only do I think it is an incorrect label, but I think it is unwise and rash to call someone a heretic for their view on the nature of hell. This does not mean we should never point out false teachers or heresies, but we must be discerning. The nature of hell is not a core doctrine. I do not think it makes one an unbeliever or even outside the realm of orthodoxy. You might be able to argue that belief IN hell is a core doctrine, but we are not debating the existence of hell. Kirk is clear that he believes in hell, judgment, and punishment as the consequences of sin. His issue is with the exact nature of hell. As I noted above, he still believes that the wicked are separated from God for eternity and face an eternal punishment.
It must also be acknowledged that this view has been around for almost as long as Christianity! Some of the Church Fathers even argued for CI. Two are Irenaeus of Lyons and Athanasius the Great.[3] Again, I would recommend looking at Chris Date’s ministry, Rethinking Hell, for more information.
So, what is it we should take from this event? Kirk Cameron is not a heretic and seems to be well within the realm of orthodoxy. The nature of hell is not a core doctrine, but a tertiary issue. It does not define who is or is not a Christian. Finally, we need to be more careful when labeling someone a heretic or false teacher. That label has been misused throughout Church history and in our present time. But remember, though some may have been incorrect about Kirk Cameron, “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves.” (Matt 10:16)
Bibliography
[1] Are We Wrong About Hell?, The Kirk Cameron Show 36:15, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_RflbA8Vt_Y&t=1840s
[3]https://rethinkinghell.com/2014/10/11/hell-in-the-times-were-the-early-church-fathers-vague-in-their-support-of-conditional-immortality/