One of the most challenging issues Christians have to resolve in our systematic theology is to reconcile a loving God allowing billions of people to be born, living a long life yet never hearing the word God, much less accepting Jesus as Savior and Lord.
1 John 4:8 – Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.
John 3:3 – Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
John 14:6 – Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
Believers know that General Revelation (a belief there must be a Creator) is not sufficient to save anyone. Only Special Revelation, establishing a personal relationship with Jesus Christ (Romans 10:9), is salvific.
How can a loving God destine those who have never had the opportunity to make a decision for Christ to spend eternity in a real and literal Hell?
Is Annihilationism the Answer
There are Christians who answer the question posed above by seeing God as ushering believers into Heaven, while unbelievers cease to exist upon physical death. Based on verses such as Rev. 20:13 and Acts 24:15, this separation would become final at the resurrection of both the saved and the lost. These Christians look to verses that limit Hell’s inhabitance to Satan and his demons:
Revelation 20:10 – 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.
Matthew 25:41 – “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.
There is a false belief that the fires, burning, and destruction that take place after the final resurrection are an indication that unbelievers are burned up (annihilated) or are somehow not immortal as are those bound for the New Heaven on the New Earth referenced in verses such as Revelation 2 Peter 3:12-13. The term “eternal” used in the verse directly above is defined by Webster as, “having infinite duration” which is not compatible with an annihilationistic view of unbelievers.
Other verses offered in support of annihilationism include:
Romans 6:23 – For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
John 3:16 – “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
Ezekiel 18:20a – The soul who sins shall die.
Words like “death” and “perish” are considered to be an indication that those who don’t know Christ disappear from existence. Under this viewpoint, the “Lake of Fire” (Rev. 19:20) is assumed to be a place of burning lava where the resurrected who have rejected Christ will be instantly consumed (details here) yet Satan and his demons will exist in eternal punishment.
Clearly this theology would provide an escape for the Christian who is being challenged to defend a loving God sentencing those who reject Him and/or never even had the chance to hear about Him, from everlasting torment.
Annihilationism is not Supported by Scripture
It is important to note at the outset that a lack of a single verse presenting the total picture of a given theological position does not make other verses impotent in their importance at completing the picture God desires us to understand. More specifically, just because verses such as Revelation 20:10 and Matthew 25:41 (noted above) do not specifically call out other inhabitants of the Lake of Fire beyond Satan in the first verse, and Satan and his demons in the second, does not mean there are not other eternal inhabitants in Hell. The Bible needs to be viewed as a complete and integrated work. In the case of these two verses, the context surrounding them focus on the supernatural, not mankind.
Regarding the use of Romans 6:23, there is a clear counterpoint between eternal life and eternal death for humanity. Most Biblical Christian theologians of any note view the word “death” in this context as eternal punishment in a real and literal Hell.
Similarly, the concept of “burning” is typically encapsuled in an eternal burn not an annihilation burn, with the understanding that the subject is a resurrected spiritual body, not a physical one. Even if there was a physical aspect, we can see in Daniel 3:8-30, the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego and their survival of the “fiery furnace”, in this case, protected by God.
Verses that do reflect the traditional view of eternal punishment for the lost (some when looked at in isolation, and some looked at under a unified body of Scripture) would include the following…
Matthew 13:41-42 – The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all law-breakers, and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
I would offer the point that if one entered a “fiery furnace” that was intended for annihilation, there would be no time for “gnashing of teeth”, much less “weeping”.
Mark 9:43 – And if your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than with two hands to go to hell, to the unquenchable fire.
Webster’s definition of “unquenchable” is “not capable of being satisfied, quelled, or discouraged.” This would certainly suggest unending place or, Biblically, an “unquenchable fire.”
Mark 9:47-48 – And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into hell, ‘where their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched.’
The “worm” is unbelievers in the context of the verse. We do “not die” and the punishment “is not quenched.” This is a reference taken from Isaiah 66:24.
Matthew 25:46 – And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
This is often cited as one of the prooftext against annihilationism. It uses the very words, “eternal punishment”.
Matthew 3:12 – His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and gather his wheat into the barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”
Again the verse is directed to unbelievers and Webster’s definition of “unquenchable” has already been stated.
Revelation 20:14-15 – 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 into the lake of fire.
Matthew 25:41 – “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.
Again, the context is mankind and the statement is… “eternal” fire.
Daniel 12:2 – And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.
Webster defines the term “everlasting” as, “lasting or enduring through all time, continuing for a long time or indefinitely.”
Further Discussion on Eternal Punishment
As tempting as Annihilationism may be in explaining God’s actions, there are very few Biblical Christian theologians who would agree with the construct. The following are links to a deeper understanding of this topic.
Why is a Rejection of Annihilationism Important
Consider a born-again Christian with family and friends who do not accept his/her faith. There is a level of temporal comfort in believing that they will not experience eternal punishment, but simply cease to exist upon death. This false blessing pales in significance to the importance of actively sharing the gospel message to all who will listen (Matt. 28:19). Though the heart of evangelism stems from a love of God and mankind, believing one is annihilated, if an unbeliever, takes some of the incentive out of the Biblical Christian’s desire to be a part of God’s work of ensuring those in their circle have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
Let me end with a Medium commenter on a totally different topic who ended a long back-and-forth string of messages with the statement, “Not hedging anything, just being hopeful. Out of all possible, imagined, revealed and otherwise proposed outcomes, oblivion is the one I hope for. Continued existence means continued hassle, after all! I could really do without it.”
No hope other than ceasing to exit…. That is the sad state of mankind without the Holy Spirit today and the expectation of Heaven to follow. Please consider Jesus Christ and His saving love and grace.
POSTSCRIPT: One of our readers had a post that expanded the subject of annihilationism by adding “conditional immortality” into the mix.
POSTSCRIPT: From another reader who has written on annihilationism, universalism and reincarnation as being anti-Biblical offers… “One point I will make here is that biblical writers, under the direction of the Holy Spirit, view death like sleep, sometimes using the terms interchangeably. Sleep is a conduit that conducts a person from one realm (today) to another realm (tomorrow). In that vain, death can be seen as a conduit, conducting a person from one realm (this life) to another realm (the afterlife). When looked at in that biblical way, most of the annihilation arguments evaporate.”
Salvation – Eternal Life in Less Than 150 Words
Please Read/Respond to Comments – on Medium
