Quote:
Originally Posted by TakingDominion
so no eternal damnation? no lake of fire? no weeping and gnashing of teeth?
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Annihilationism is the view that whoever and whatever cannot be redeemed by God is ultimately put out of existence. Sentient beings do not suffer eternally, as the traditional view of hell teaches. While I am not completely convinced of this position, I think it is worthy of serious consideration. In this essay I will present biblical arguments in its defense and then conclude with several other supporting arguments.
While the Hellenistic philosophical tradition generally viewed the human soul as inherently immortal, Scripture sees immortality as something that belongs to God alone (
I Tim 6:16). God graciously offers immortality as a gift to people who align themselves with his will (e.g.
John 3:15–16 10:28; 17:2;
Rom 2:7; 6:23;
1 Cor. 15:42; 50, 54;
Gal 6:8;
1 John 5:11). Those who choose to reject God’s will are denied this gift, following the pattern of Adam and Eve when God denied them access to “the tree of life” (
Gen 3:22-24). Unfortunately, some (but not all) early Church fathers accepted the Hellenistic view and consequently read into Scripture the view that the wicked suffer unending torment. This became the dominant view of hell throughout Church history. If we read Scripture without this Hellenistic assumption, however, we see that it teaches that God justly, and mercifully, annihilates the wicked. He doesn’t subject them to eternal torment.
Now, Scripture certainly teaches that the wicked are punished eternally, but not that the wicked endure eternal punishment. The wicked suffer “eternal punishment”(Mt 25:46), “eternal judgment” (
Heb 6:2) and “eternal destruction” (
2 Thess 1:9) the same way the elect experience “eternal redemption” (
Heb 5:9, 9:12). The elect do not undergo an eternal process of redemption. Their redemption is “eternal” in the sense that once the elect are redeemed, it is forever. So too, the damned do not undergo an eternal process of punishment or destruction. But once they are punished and destroyed, it is forever. Hell is eternal in consequence, not duration. The wicked are “destroyed forever” (
Ps 92:7), but they are not forever being destroyed.
Along the same lines, Scripture’s references to an “unquenchable fire” and “undying worm” refer to the finality of judgment, not its duration (
Isa. 66:24, cf.
2 Kings 22:17; 1:31; 51:8;
Jer. 4:4; 7:20; 21:12; Ezek. 20:47–48). If these passages are read in context, it becomes clear that the fire is unquenchable in the sense that it cannot be put out before it consumes those thrown into it. And the worm is undying in the sense that there is no hope for the condemned that it will be prevented from devouring their corpses. These passages teach that the wicked will justly suffer for their sins, but the end result will be their destruction (cf.
Lk. 16:19–31;
Rom. 2:8;
2 Thess. 1:6).
http://reknew.org/2008/01/the-case-for-annihilationism/
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