And you can find scripture to support both positions: 1) whether sinners are punished for a while, then destroyed utterly or 2) sinners burn in hellfire for eternity.
The bible in its entirety exposes a great deal about the personality of God. The more you know about Him, the more you know Him. Just like a person you know well, when two witnesses who claim to know the person better than you say the person will do a certain thing based on a certain thing, when one “seems to say” he will do “a” and the other “seems to say” he will do “b”, you have the right to reach into the well of your own knowledge about the persons personality and past actions to make your choice to believe “a” or “b”.
Using that logic, it is VERY easy to believe the lost are annihilated and virtually impossible to accept that God even allows the lost to be tortured for “linear time never ending”. It simply doesn’t match His personality as presented in the entirety of the bible.
Using that logic, it is VERY easy to believe the lost are annihilated and virtually impossible to accept that God even allows the lost to be tortured for “linear time never ending”. It simply doesn’t match His personality as presented in the entirety of the bible.
The Holy Bible, and Christianity in general, offers a spectrum of belief on the matter of life after death.
I do see your point of view.
From my point of view, it is not a good thing to ascribe human characteristics or human logic or thinking to God.
His Ways are not our ways. He is truly ineffable.
The best clues I have to His wishes are what his Son told us in scripture. To me, the red ink offers the clearest path. And next to that is what the Apostles gave us.
Whether or not sinners are annihilated or burn for eternity is up to God.
Neither option is very appealing.