Heads spin as Kirk Cameron gives up eternal conscious torment

This article originally appeared at Baptist News Global on December 11, 2025.

“It’s one of the doctrines of the Bible that atheists love to point out as one of the reasons why they could never believe in the God of the Bible,” Kirk Cameron said on his podcast last week. “It’s the God who creates the eternal barbecue for sinners.”

In a rather shocking revelation, Cameron and his son James admitted to the world that they don’t find the eternal conscious torment view of hell to be convincing. Instead, they said the more biblical and logical end for non-evangelicals would seem to be what is often referred to as annihilationism or conditionalism, which is the belief that eternal life is conditional based on one’s relationship to God through Jesus, and that all who aren’t truly Christian will one day be punished through the death of an irreversible annihilation rather than being kept alive to burn forever.

Kirk Cameron

It’s a stunning admission given who Cameron is. For many years, he’s been one of the poster boys for white evangelicalism, including his role in Christian movies like the Left Behind series, his partnership with evangelist Ray Comfort in trying to convince people on the streets that they are lawbreakers who deserve to go to hell, his mocking of evolution through memes like the “crockoduck,” and with his Christian nationalist war with “woke libraries.”

Even his episode announcing his belief in annihilationism was filled with language about the authority of the Bible and justice as punishment, along with American flags in the background and sponsorships from organizations like “Red Truck Men” and “Brave Books.”

But despite his street cred with the right, he’s suddenly finding himself the target of the very conservative conniption fits he’s helped fuel for years.

Farewell, Kirk Cameron

“Let this be a lesson to you fellas who think, ‘I’m gonna leave the SBC or PCA or any other denomination or any other Christian institution, and start something new,’” Southern Baptist Theological Seminary graduate Jared Moore responded on X. “Because, within 5 years, you’ll be fighting some biblical error. And within 10 years, you’ll be fighting heresy.”

“To explain away hell leads to the explaining away of the gospel,” proclaimed Baptist Network director Timothy Pigg. “This is not good from Kirk Cameron.”

“To explain away hell leads to the explaining away of the gospel.”

“If we lose the doctrine of eternal conscious torment of the wicked, we end up losing everything of value about God, his character and the atoning work of Christ,” author Paul Dirks declared.

Megan Basham asked, “How can the punishment be eternal if the sinner is annihilated?”

“Grieved to see this from Kirk Cameron,” Owen Strachan lamented. “Scripture is abundantly clear: Hell is the place ‘where the fire is not quenched.’”

Southern Seminary President Al Mohler used his platform at World magazine to write a piece headlined, “The Danger of Remodeling Hell.” In it, he asserted: “The New Testament evidence for hell as eternal conscious punishment is clear, as Jesus declared in Matthew 25:46 … . Eternal punishment and eternal life are presented as parallel destinies — both are eternal and both are final. The wicked, without Christ, go to eternal conscious torment, described in the Bible with graphic intensity. The redeemed, bearing the imputed righteousness of Christ himself, enter into eternal life.”

Annihilation is not part of the picture. Hell is not a passage into non-existence, but the torment of the wicked. The truth is horrible, so the warnings are stark.

Others chimed in calling him soft, sentimental and a heretic, while Reformed Baptist pastor Steve Camp said Kirk is guilty of blasphemy.

James Cameron

Then given all the noise on social media, Living Waters CEO Ray Comfort released a video response to Cameron, saying, “Kirk Cameron has been a dear friend of mine for decades.” Comfort said when he called Cameron on the phone to discuss his views, Cameron told him he still wasn’t “settled on the matter” and “asked for further discussion.” And although he affirmed his belief that Cameron is “the real deal,” he ultimately reiterated that “the Bible’s clear teaching on hell is known as eternal conscious torment.” He stated, “We firmly believe that this is the only correct biblical view.” Comfort said Living Waters plans to release a “thorough defense of the doctrine on an upcoming Living Waters podcast episode.”

Desiring justice and goodness

“I really don’t enjoy thinking about hell,” Kirk’s son James began as the two men released the tension with laughter. “But I think it’s also equally important as the good, feel-good stories in the Bible and good messages of love and peace and forgiveness and joy and those things, to understand the personhood of God and the reality of the world that we live in and understanding the truth about the future of where we’re going.”

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