Posted on 02/16/2014 8:20:17 AM PST by SoFloFreeper
Annihilationism is the view that lost people in hell will be exterminated after they have paid the penalty for their sins. Its proponents offer six main arguments.
First is an argument based on the Bible’s use of fire imagery to describe hell. We are told that fire consumes what is thrown into it, and so it will be for the lake of fire (Rev. 19:20; 20:10, 14, 15; 21:8)—it will burn up the wicked so that they no longer exist.
Second is an argument based on texts that speak of the lost perishing or being destroyed. Examples include unbelievers perishing (John 3:16) and suffering “the punishment of eternal destruction” (2 Thess. 1:8).
Third is an argument based on the meaning of the word eternal. In hell passages, it is claimed, eternal means only pertaining to “the age to come” and not “everlasting.”
Fourth is an argument based on a distinction between time and eternity. Annihilationists ask: how is it just of God to punish sinners for eternity when their crimes were committed in time?
Fifth is an emotional argument that God Himself and His saints would never enjoy heaven if they knew some human beings (let alone loved ones and friends) were perpetually in hell.
Sixth is an argument that an eternal hell would tarnish God’s victory over evil. Scripture declares that God will be victorious in the end; He will “be all in all” (1 Cor. 15:28). We are told that this idea seems hard to reconcile with human beings suffering endlessly in hell.
I will answer each of these arguments in turn. First is the argument from hellfire. Many passages use this language without interpreting it. It is possible, therefore, to read various views into such passages, including annihilationism. However, we do not want to read our ideas into the Bible, but to get our ideas from the Bible. And when we do, we find that some passages preclude an annihilationist understanding of hellfire. These include Jesus’s description of hell in the parable of the rich man and Lazarus as a “place of torment” (Luke 16:28) involving “anguish in this flame” (v. 24).
When the last book of the Bible describes the flames of hell, it does not speak of consumption but says the lost “will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever, and they have no rest, day or night” (Rev. 14:10–11).
Second is the argument from passages that speak of destruction or perishing. Once again, when Scripture merely uses these words without interpreting them, many views may be read into them. But once again, we want to read out of Scripture its meaning. And some passages are impossible to reconcile with annihilationism. Paul describes the fate of the lost as suffering “the punishment of eternal destruction” (2 Thess. 1:8). Also telling is the fate of the Beast in Revelation. “Destruction” is prophesied for him in 17:8, 11. The Beast (along with the False Prophet) is cast into “the lake of fire that burns with sulfur” (19:20). Scripture is unambiguous when it describes the fate of the devil, Beast, and False Prophet in the lake of fire: “They will be tormented day and night forever and ever” (20:10). So, the Beast’s “destruction” is everlasting torment in the lake of fire.
Third is the argument from the word eternal. In hell passages, it is claimed, eternal means only pertaining to “the age to come” and not “everlasting.” It is true that in the New Testament, eternal means “agelong,” with the context defining the age. And in texts treating eternal destinies, eternal does refer to the age to come. But the age to come lasts as long as the life of the eternal God Himself. Because He is eternal—He “lives forever and ever” (Rev. 4:9, 10; 10:6; 15:7)—so is the age to come. Jesus plainly sets this forth in His message on the sheep and goats: “And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life” (Matt. 25:46; italics added). The punishment of the lost in hell is coextensive to the bliss of the righteous in heaven—both are everlasting.
Fourth is the argument that it is unjust of God to punish sinners eternally for temporal sins. It strikes me as presumptuous for human beings to tell God what is just and unjust. We would do better to determine from His Holy Word what He deems just and unjust.
Jesus leaves no doubt. He will say to the saved, “Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world” (Matt. 25:34). He will say to the lost, “Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels” (v. 41). We have already seen John define that fire as eternal conscious punishment in the lake of fire for the devil (Rev. 20:10). A few verses later, we read that unsaved human beings share the same fate (vv. 14–15). Evidently, God thinks it just to punish human beings who rebel against Him and His holiness with everlasting hell. Is it really our place to call this unjust?
I will treat the fifth and sixth arguments together. The fifth is the emotional argument that God and His saints would never enjoy heaven if they knew loved ones and friends were forever in hell. The sixth is the argument that an eternal hell would tarnish God’s victory over evil. It is noteworthy that universalists use these same two arguments to insist that God will finally save every human being. God and His people would not enjoy the bliss of heaven if even one soul remained in hell, they argue. In the end, everyone will be saved. And God would suffer defeat if any creatures made in His image were to perish forever.
I regard these arguments for annihilationism and universalism—from emotion and from God’s victory—as rewriting the biblical story, something we have no right to do. I say this because the Bible’s final three chapters present the eternal state of affairs. The resurrected saints will be blessed with God’s eternal presence on the new earth (Rev. 21:1–4). And, interestingly for our present discussion, each of Scripture’s final three chapters presents the fate of the unsaved:
And the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever. (20:10)
Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown in to the lake of fire. (vv. 14–15)
But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death. (21:8)
Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of life and that they may enter the city by the gates. Outside are the dogs and sorcerers and the sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood. (22:14–15)
The Bible’s story does not end by saying, “And the unrighteous were destroyed and exist no more.” Neither does it say, “And in the end all persons will be gathered into the love of God and be saved.” Rather, when God brings His story to a close, His people rejoice in endless bliss with Him on the new earth. But the wicked will endure never-ending torment in the lake of fire and be shut out of the Holy City, the New Jerusalem, which is the joyous dwelling place of God and His people forever.
We have no right to rewrite the biblical story. Rather, we must leave it to God to define what is just and unjust and what is commensurate with His being “all in all.” He does not leave us in doubt about hell because He loves sinners and wants them to believe the gospel in this life.
How kind and merciful of Him to include this invitation at the end of His story: “The Spirit and the Bride say, ‘Come.’ And let the one who hears say, ‘Come.’ And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price” (Rev. 22:17). All who trust Jesus in His death and resurrection to rescue them from hell will have a part in the Tree of Life and the Holy City of God. All who do so with all the saints can say now and will say forever:
Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God, for his judgments are true and just. (19:1–2)
Really?
And the smoke of their torment ascends forever and ever; and they have no rest day or night (Rev. 14:11)
So the Word of God does says that unless you name is written in the “book of life” you are thrown into the lake of fire. It is silent on whether God will write anyone’s name into the book of life during the judgment based on what they did. When the Word of God is silent on a subject it means that that subject is not our concern, but His.
There are many examples of people both before and after Jesus’ first coming who, obviously, have been saved. We know for sure that if we accept Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord we will be saved and have our names written in the book of life. We know that we only come to the Father through Jesus, but there are no “magic words” that make this happen. Throughout His earthly ministry, Jesus was quite harsh to those who practiced a legalistic, formulaic, religion.
So do not worry about other people's fate. Accepting Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord means that you accept God's Plan, as written. We don't get to copy edit it, or second guess it. That is what Eve did in the Garden, and that is what started this whole mess in the first place.
In the end, God is going to separate all the evil and put it into the eternal lake of fire. All that is good, and only that which is good will be present in the new heaven and the new earth. Now is the time to chose where you want to spend eternity.
God has a line in the sand. IT IS FINAL. It is the first death. The second you die, a physical death, your fate is sealed. Saved go to heaven, unsaved go to hell, both for ETERNITY. PERIOD.
All have had their whole lives to repent and accept Him as their savior. Either you accept Him or you have rejected Him, there is no middle ground or gray area. It’s black and white, an “absolute”. All are without excuse.
I stole this.
Born once, die twice
Born twice, die once
Question: “Are you one of those “born again” Christians?”
Answer: “Is there any other kind?”
The Jews “rejected” Jesus as the messiah. What a HUGH mistake. They are still waiting for Him. When He comes, they will be surprised to find out that this is His SECOND coming. It is not too late for the living, they can still repent and accept Him.
Please don’t blame God. Scripture says it’s His will that no one perish. Anyone who ends up in Hell has chosen to do so.
The text of the article addresses the arguments fairly well, I believe.
For all our culture’s self-assured sophistication, the Scripture is pretty clear that hell exists, the inhabitants thereof are conscious, and it isn’t a place where annihilation is the end goal.
Mercy and justice are two irrevocable attributes of God. Some receive mercy, some receive justice. No one receives injustice.
No one said you need to follow. I simply shared what theologians and historians studied in the bible to come up with what they wrote in the catechism
The author shared what he found, I shared what was studied by past historians.
That’s all
I really appreciate people who strongly believe either option based on the bible as opposed to heathens who believe neither.
Where do we submit our nominations (for either Hellish outcome)?
Not a mistake at all...part of the plan.
In the words of Romans 11, the Jews' blindness was so that Jesus would be adopted by the Gentile world first. Thanks eternally to the Jews for their initial blindness, so that we Gentiles can be grafted onto the "olive tree" as Paul puts it.
Here's the actual Scripture from Romans 11:24-27...
Rom 11:24
For if thou [a Gentile] wert cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature, and wert graffed contrary to nature into a good olive tree: how much more shall these, which be the natural branches [the Jews], be graffed into their own olive tree?Rom 11:25
For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in.Rom 11:26
And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob:Rom 11:27
For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins.
OK, fine, let’s do this.
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The text of the article addresses the arguments fairly well, I believe.
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Not really. Some of its points are made simply by ignoring the annihilationist view.
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For all our culture’s self-assured sophistication, the Scripture is pretty clear that hell exists, the inhabitants thereof are conscious, and it isn’t a place where annihilation is the end goal.
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It’s not clear at all. A simple once-over of the Bible verse list in the Wikipedia article on annihilitionism proves that.
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Mercy and justice are two irrevocable attributes of God. Some receive mercy, some receive justice. No one receives injustice.
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There is no mercy in being annihilated. To be shown on Judgment Day the very thing you decided to throw away - eternal life - is justice. To be shown on Judgment Day that you can’t be trusted with immortality and its implications - and then to have it taken away - is justice.
The only reasons I can think of for more punishment than that are
1) They believe the soul is immortal (to which I reply Matthew 10:28),
2) They take comfort somehow in thought of others suffering forever with horrific pain.
Now, if you want to go further with me, I have some questions to ask after your next insistence that all who don’t believe as you believe will burn in anguish and pain forever in Hell.
SDA?
Mat 10:28 is not a statement that there is no life after death.
No one who has truly accepted Salvation would hold such a thought.
Excellent response. When I looked deeply into this issue, the two big things which changed my view from the unsaved being eternally tortured to the unsaved being annihilated in the Lake of Fire was what does “immortality” and “second death” mean.
1 Corinthians 15:53 talks about this mortal putting on immortality. When do we become immortal? The moment we accept Jesus’s immortality which is when we are saved. Immortality means to live forever. Without Jesus no one can exist forever.
Revelation talks about the second death. This is the death, ending, of the soul. The first death is the death of the earthly body, which all (but those in the rapture) will experience. The second death is experienced by the unsaved.
It is a falsehood or a ruse by some to try to claim that people who believe the Bible supports annihilation also say there is no Hell. There is a Hell and people are there no suffering today, but one day they will face the Great White Throne judgement and then be destroyed in the Lake of Fire along with Hell and Death.
“So how is it that billions of Indians, Chinese and Japanese who have already lived and died chose to burn forever?
The percentage of (former) Asians in Heaven must be exceedingly small. Is it Justice in your opinion, that having made that choice, they suffer forever? “
The Almighty will save some who have never heard of Him, but have served Him nonetheless. The Lord will condemn those who deserve it, and reward those who deserve it. That is His to decide (or has already decided, if one believes Calvin....).
yes, it is pretty clear. not necessarily comprehensive since it had to fit publication constraints. but the source site, run by those educated in the languages of the original text and in theology, are a wee bit more trustworthy than those who cite wikipedia as a fount of knowledge.
bye.
Revelation is a complex book and should be studied. Revelations has a lot of symbology so analyzing verses is required. With that being said, Revelation 14 is talking about the tribulation of people on Earth. It is not talking about people in Hell or in the Lake of Fire. Also, descriptions like “the SMOKE of their torment assends up for ever and ever...” are not literal unless you think this smoke will break through the atmosphere and go on forever into the universe. It simply means that people’s torment during the tribulation time will be big, painful, and long lasting.
I once did something very sinful (I feel in love with another woman while married).
I can absolutely promise that I had no rest day or night, until I stopped this sin and rushed to God for forgiveness.
And, frankly, even after He forgave me, I was heartsick over my sin for years to come.
It is so incredibly easy to see that there is a hell and that there is only ONE way out of it. I know, I was there.
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