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Edward W. Fudge and Robert A. Peterson. Two Views of Hell: A Biblical and Theological Debate. Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity, 2000. 228 pages; $12.99; ISBN 0-8308-2255-0; www.ivpress.com.

Most agree about this unhappy truth: Hell is the fate of those who reject God. Yet on some questions about hell not all agree. Some believe the wicked will experience perpetual, conscious torment after death. Others argue they will experience a limited period of conscious punishment and then they will cease to exist.

Peterson, a professor of systematic theology at Covenant Theological Seminary, St. Louis, Mo., defends the traditional view that the lost will suffer eternally in hell. Fudge, a member of the Bering Drive church, Houston, Texas, advocates the perspective that after a period of suffering, the unfaithful will experience a complete extinguishing of existence. Each author also presents a rebuttal to the viewpoint of the other.