Annihilationism

Annihilationism is the Christian doctrine that sinners are destroyed rather than tormented forever in "hell" or the lake of fire. It is directly related to the doctrine of conditional immortality, the idea that a human soul is not immortal unless it is given eternal life. Annihilationism asserts that God will eventually destroy or annihilate the wicked, leaving only the righteous to live on in immortality. Some annihilationists believe the wicked will be punished for their sins in the lake of fire before being annihilated, others that hell is a false doctrine of pagan origin.

Annihilationist denominations include the Seventh-day Adventists, Bible Students, Jehovah's Witnesses, Christadelphians and the various Advent Christian churches. Some Protestant and Anglican^[1] writers have also proposed annihilationist doctrines. Annihilationists base the doctrine on their exegesis of scripture, some early church writing, historical criticism of the doctrine of hell, and the concept of God as too loving to punish his creations forever. Therefore Hell is not eternal punishing; rather it is eternal punishment (Matt 25:46): eternal separation from God through death.

History

Bible references

Those who support annihilationism generally refer to the Old Testament and the New Testament, specifically Revelation and the Lake of Fire. The ancient Hebrews, according to some modern scholars, had no concept of the eternal soul. The afterlife was simply sheol, the abode of the dead, a bleak end to existence akin to the Greek hades.

Those who oppose annihilationism generally refer to the New Testament, especially the story of Lazarus and Dives. By the time of Christ, the Jews largely believed in a future resurrection. They portrayed the wicked as suffering in sheol while awaiting the resurrection. Some annihilationists take these references to portray the temporary suffering of those who will be destroyed.

Historical Support

The vast majority of Christian writers, from Tertullian to Luther, have held to traditional notions of hell. However, the annihilationist position is not without some historical warrant. Early forms of conditional immortality can be found in the writing of Justin Martyr^[2] (d. 165), although Arnobius (d. 330) was the first to defend annihilationism explicitly. One quote in particular stands out in Arnobius' second book of Against the Heathen:

Your interests are in jeopardy,-the salvation, I mean, of your souls; and unless you give yourselves to seek to know the Supreme God, a cruel death awaits you when freed from the bonds of body, not bringing sudden annihilation, but destroying by the bitterness of its grievous and long-protracted punishment.^[3]

Additionally, at least one of John Wesley's recorded sermons is understood as implying annihilationism. Contrarily, the denominations of Methodism which arose through his influence typically do not agree with annihilationism.^[4]

Recent Views

Since the 1960s, Annihilationism seems to be gaining as a legitimate opinion within modern, conservative Protestant theology. It has found support and acceptance among some British evangelicals, although viewed with greater suspicion by their American counterparts. Pentecostal healing evangelist William Branham promoted annihilationism in the last few years before his death in 1965.^[5]

Recently the doctrine has been most often associated with groups descended from William Miller and the Adventist movement of the mid-1800s (see Millerites), including Seventh-day Adventists, Bible Students, Jehovah's Witnesses, Christadelphians, followers of Herbert Armstrong, and the various Advent Christian churches. Le Roy Froom's 1965 work The Conditionalist Faith of our Fathers is considered a classic. It is also held by some liberal Christians within mainstream denominations. Basil Atkinson and others from the University of Cambridge have been influential in supporting the annihilationist position. He led John Wenham to this view.^[6] C. S. Lewis rejected traditional pictures of the "tortures" of hell. Recently, a handful of evangelical theologians, including the prominent evangelical Anglican author John Stott, have offered at least tentative support for the doctrine, touching off a heated debate within mainstream evangelical Christianity.^[7] John Wenham's book Facing Hell, An Autobiography 1913-1996 explores the doctrine through an autobiographical approach.

Stott first publicly commented on the issue of whether hell is eternal in the 1988 book Essentials: A liberal-evangelical dialogue with liberal David Edwards.^[8] However in 1993 he said he had held this view for around fifty years.^[9] Stott wrote, "Well, emotionally, I find the concept intolerable and do not understand how people can live with it without either cauterising their feelings or cracking under the strain."^[10] Yet he considers emotions unreliable, and affords supreme authority to the Bible.^[11] Stott supports annihilation, yet cautions, "I do not dogmatise about the position to which I have come. I hold it tentatively... I believe that the ultimate annihilation of the wicked should at least be accepted as a legitimate, biblically founded alternative to their eternal conscious torment."^[12]

F. F. Bruce wrote, "annihilation is certainly an acceptable interpretation of the relevant New Testament passages ... For myself, I remain agnostic. Eternal conscious torment is incompatible with the revealed character of God."^[13]

The Church of England's Doctrine Commission reported in February 1995 that Hell is not eternal torment. The report, entitled "The Mystery of Salvation" states, "Christians have professed appalling theologies which made God into a sadistic monster. ... Hell is not eternal torment, but it is the final and irrevocable choosing of that which is opposed to God so completely and so absolutely that the only end is total non-being." (pg 199)^[14]

Conditional Immortality

The doctrine is often, although not always, bound up with the notion of "conditional immortality", a belief that the soul is not innately immortal. They are related yet distinct.^[15] At death, both the wicked and righteous will pass into non-existence, only to be resurrected (or more precisely re-created) at the final judgment. God, who alone is immortal, passes on the gift of immortality to the righteous, who will live forever in heaven or on an idyllic earth, while the wicked will ultimately face a second death.

Those who believe in this doctrine may not like to use "annihilationist" to define themselves. In his book The Fire that Consumes, Edward Fudge coined the term "conditionalist." Moreover, he limits "annihilationism" to refer to that subset of people who believe that the wicked do not rise to face the final judgment. In this sense, the term would refer to Jehovah's Witnesses, but not to Seventh-day Adventists and other conditionalist Evangelicals.

Justifications of the doctrine

Different Understanding of Scripture

Annihilationists defend their beliefs by stating that those who believe in the eternal torture theory have misunderstood particular verses of the Bible. They claim the verses in Revelation only refer to the eternal suffering of the devil, the beast and the false prophet (Rev. 20:10), as well as those who received the mark of the beast or worshiped his name (Rev. 14:9-11) and not all sinners. One view is that the ones who are tormented for taking the mark of the beast is a mention of the torment they would receive on earth during the fourth bowl judgment and not in the lake of fire^[16][17]. They continue to say that descriptive terms like "eternal fire" (Matt. 18:8, 25:41) and "unquenchable fire" (Matt. 3:12, Luke 3:17) do not necessary imply that all sinners are eternally present in the fire; rather, sinners are thrown into the same fire which is eternally burning because of the devil and his followers. Some annihilationists take it a step further by believing the torment of these is limited in duration or metaphorical in meaning, as shown Jude 1:7 in reference to the eternal fire and burning of Sodom and Gomorrah as well as in many other texts. Annihilationists believe that Jesus was also quoting the old testament (Isaiah 66:24) by the phrase "where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched" (Mark 9:43-38) as figurative to their total destruction in Gehenna.

The foundation of the annihilationist view is based on passages that speak of the unsaved as perishing (John 3:16) or being destroyed (Matthew 10:28). Annihilationists believe that verses speaking of the second death refer to ceasing to exist. Opponents of this view argue that the second death is the spiritual death (separation from God) that occurs after physical death (separation of soul and body). Annihilationists are quick to point out that spiritual death happens the moment one sins and that it is illogical to believe further separation from God can take place. In addition, annihilationists claim that complete separation from God conflicts the doctrine of omnipresence in which God is present everywhere, including hell. Some annihilationists accept the position that hell is a separation from God by taking the position that God sustains the life of his creations: when separated from God, one simply ceases to exist.

Opponents of annihilationism often argue that ceasing to exist is not eternal punishment and therefore conflicts with passages such as Matthew 25:46: "And these shall go away into everlasting punishment but the righteous into eternal life." This argument uses a definition of the word "punishment" that must include some form of suffering. In common usage, punishment might be described as "an authorized imposition of deprivations -- of freedom or privacy or other goods to which the person otherwise has a right, or the imposition of special burdens -- because the person has been found guilty of some criminal violation, typically (though not invariably) involving harm to the innocent" (according to the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy). By this definition, annihilationism is a form of punishment in which deprivation of existence occurs, and the punishment is eternal.

Scriptural Texts Cited to Defend Annihilationism

• Genesis  3:19 We came from dust and to dust we will return.
• Psalms  146:4 Our thoughts/plans perish and spirit departs upon death.
• Ezekiel  18:20 The soul who sins is the one who will die.
• Ecclesiastes  9:5 Ecclesiastes  9:10 In the grave, the dead "know nothing," neither pleasure nor pain, and there is neither working nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom.
• Jeremiah  19:5 Jeremiah  32:35 Burning one's offspring in the Valley of Ben Hinnom (which is where concept of Gehenna or Hell comes from) is not a commandment of God nor did it even enter His Mind.
• Matthew  10:28 Both body and soul are destroyed in hell. "And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell."
• John  3:16 People who don't believe in Jesus shall perish and not receive eternal life.
• 2Thessalonians  1:9 Everlasting destruction is having been destroyed and having no way to undo that.
• Revelation  21:8 The wicked will suffer a second death, the death of the soul.
• Romans  6:23 For the wages of sin is death.

John Wenham has classified the New Testament texts on the fate of the lost:

• 10 texts (4%) "Gehenna"
• 26 (10%) to "burning up"
• 59 (22%) to "destruction, perdition, utter loss or ruin"
• 20 (8%) to "separation from God"
• 25 (10%) to "death in its finality" or "the second death"
• 108 (41%) to "unforgiven sin", where the precise consequence is not stated
• 15 (6%) to "anguish"

Wenham states that just a single verse, Revelation 14:11 sounds like eternal torment. This is a total of 264 references.^[18]

Joe Crews, Seventh-day Adventist and founder of AmazingFacts.org, published a book entitled Answers to Difficult Bible Texts, and includes the following explanations to commonly misunderstood Biblical passages on Hell:

Angels cast into Hell - 2nd Peter 2:4:

"For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them unto chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment."

The word "hell" in this text is very unique because it is translated from a word that is used nowhere else in the Bible. The Greek word "Tartaroo" is certainly not the same as the "Gehenna" hell, which is referred to 12 times in the New Testament — always as a place of burning. There is no burning where the angles are confined, because it is described as a place of "darkness". In Jude verse 6 also, the fallen angels are said to be "... reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day." Please notice that these evil spirit beings are not now being punished, but are kept in darkness, reserved until the day of judgment. Both Peter and Jude speak of chains of darkness and future judgment. Since evil angels are obviously still functioning in deceiving people, we can only conclude that these chains of darkness are the spiritual restraints placed upon their actives until their final judgment and punishment at the end of the world.

Destruction of the Wicked / Unquenchable Fire — Isaiah 66:24:

"And they shall go forth, and look upon the carcases of the men that have transgressed against me: for their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched; and they shall be an abhorring unto all flesh."

This description of the final destruction of the wicked assures us that they finally are lifeless "carcases" (dead bodies). Their bodies burn in the lake of fire. (See my comments on Mark 9:43, 44 for an explanation of the undying worm and unquenchable fire.) Since the walls of the holy city will be "clear as crystal" (Revelation 21:11, 18), the redeemed might easily go forth from their heavenly homes, look through the crystal-clear walls, and "see the reward of the wicked" (Psalm 91:9). This certainly will not be a very pleasant spectacle. Zechariah 14:12 says: "Their flesh shall consume away ..." But the wicked soon are burned up (Malachi 4:1, 3) and shall be as through they had not been (Obadiah 16). Then the earth is recreated as the eternal home of the righteous, all tears are wiped away, and there shall be no more pain (Revelation 21:1, 4).

Destruction of the Wicked / Unquenchable Fire — Mark 9:43, 44

"And if thy hand offend thee, cut if off: it is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than having two hands to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched: Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched."

In this verse the word "hell" is translated from the Greek word "gehenna," which is another name for the valley of Hinnom located just outside the walls of Jerusalem. There the refuse and bodies of animals were cast into an ever-smoldering fire to be consumed. What might escape the flames was constantly being destroyed by maggots which fed on the dead bodies. Gehenna symbolized a place of total destruction. Jesus taught in this verse that the fires of hell could not be quenched or put out by anyone. Isaiah said, "They shall not deliver themselves from the power of the flame" (Isaiah 47:14). Yet he hastened to say in the same verse that "there shall not be a coal to warm at, nor fire to sit before it." So the unquenchable fire will go out after it has consumed the wicked as stubble. Jerusalem burned with unquenchable fire according to Jeremiah 17:27 when it was totally destroyed (2 Chronicles 36:19). The flames and worms of "gehenna" represented the total annihilation and obliteration of sin and sinners. Earlier apostasy and idol worship in the valley of Hinnom (Jeremiah 32:35), and God's judgments on Israel as a consequence, marked it as a symbol of punishment and judgment. God warned in Jeremiah 7:31-33 that it would become the "valley of slaughter" where the "carcases of this people shall be meat for the fowls of the heaven." With the fires of "gehenna" burning before their eyes, Jesus could not have spoken a more graphic word to the Pharisees to describe the final, total destruction of sinners. Those who cite this text to support their doctrine of the natural immortality of the soul are thrown into a real dilemma. Why? Because the fire and worms are working not upon disembodied souls, but bodies! According to Jesus, those who are cast into the lake of fire will go in bodily form, and this text confirms that truth. The verses before and after this text speak of the hands, feet, and bodies of those who suffer the Gehenna fire. In Matthew 5:30 Christ said, "the whole body" would be cast into hell. In Isaiah 66:24, the same "gehenna" picture of hell is presented with the unquenchable flame and the destroying worms. But in this case the word "carcases" is used, revealing the fact that the fire consumes dead bodies, not disembodied souls. Speaking of the enemies of the Lord, Isaiah 51:8 says that "the worm shall eat them like wool" - a picture of being put out of existence.

Destruction of the Wicked / Unquenchable Fire — Matthew 3:10-12:

"And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh afler me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear. He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire: Whose fan is in his hand, and he will thoroughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner; but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire."

Please notice that "fire" is mentioned in all three verses. In verse 10, the reference is unmistakably to the punishment of the wicked in the fires of destruction. In verse 12 there is even less question: the fire refers to the "unquenchable" fire of hell. Then what about verse 11, the verse in between? It certainly would not switch the line of thought. Christ is pictured as One who will reward the righteous with the mighty power of the Spirit, and punish the wicked with the consuming fire described in the verses before and after. Both the Old and New Testaments speak of God as a "consuming fire" (Deuteronomy 4:24; Hebrews 12:29). Just as convincing also is the fact that all three of the verses clearly portray two classes — the good and the bad, the saved and the lost. In verse 10 it's the good tree and the bad, with the bad being "cast into the fire." In verse 12 it is the wheat and the chaff, and the chaff "will burn up." The verse in between — verse 11 - describes the two groups as those who are baptized with the Holy host and those who are baptized with fire. Sin will either be burned out now by the Holy Spirit or burned up then by His consuming presence. "He is like a refiner's fire... and he shall purify the sons of Levi" (Malachi 3:2, 3). Those who refuse to be purified from sin now will be burned up, with the sin, in the unquenchable fire.

Everlasting Punishment — Matthew 25:46:

"And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal."

It is well to notice that Jesus did not say that the wicked would suffer "everlasting punishing." He said "everlasting punishment." What is the punishment for sin? "Them that know not God ... shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord" (2 Thessalonians 1:9). There it is — plainly spelled out. The punishment is destruction, and it is of eternal duration. In other words, it is a destruction which never ends because there will be no resurrection from that destruction. Paul says, "The wages of sin is death" (Romans 6:23). John described that death as "the second death" in Revelation 21:8. That death, or destruction, will be eternal.

Everlasting Punishment / Place of Torment — Revelation 14:10, 11:

"The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb: And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name."

The words "for ever" do not necessarily mean "without end." In fact, the Bible uses this term 56 times in connection with things which have already ended. In Exodus 21:1-6, the Hebrew servant was to serve his master "for ever," but it was obviously only as long as he lived. Hannah took her son Samuel to God's house to abide "for ever" (1 Samuel 1:22), but she plainly limited that time to "as long as he liveth" (verse 28). The term is clearly defined in Pslam 48:14: "For this God is our God for ever and ever: he will be our guide even unto death." The desolation of Edom was to continue "for ever and ever" (Isaiah 34:10). Christ is called "a priest for ever" in Hebrews 5:6; yet after sin is blotted out, Christ's work as a priest will end. According to these definitions of the term "for ever," the wicked will suffer as long as they continue to live in the fire. Then, as the Bible states, "The wicked ... shall be destroyed for ever" (Psalm 92:7, See also Malachi 4:1-3).

Place of Torment — Luke 16:22, 23:

"And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried; And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off and Lazarus in his bosom."

Either this story about the rich man and Lazarus is literally true or it is a parable. Here are four reasons why it could not possible by literalistic: 1.The beggar died and was taken by the angels to Abraham's bosom. No one believes that Abraham's literal bosom is the abode of the righteous dead. It is a figurative or parabolic expression. Incidentally, the angels will gather the saints, but according to Matthew 24:30, 31, this will take place at the coming of Jesus, not at a person's death. 2.Heaven and hell were separated by a gulf, and yet the persons in each could converse with each other. There are probably few individuals in the world who believes that this will be literally true of the saved and the lost (Luke 16:26). 3.The rich man was in hell with a body. He had eyes, a tongue, etc. (Luke 16:24). How did his body get into hellfire instead of into the grave? I know of no one who teaches that the bodies of the wicked go into hell as soon as they die. This story could not be literal. 4.The request for Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and come through the flames to cool the rich man's tongue is obviously not literal. How much moisture would be left and how much relief would it give? The whole story is unrealistic and parabolic. The rich man undoubtedly represented the Jews in the parable because only a Jew would pray to "father Abraham." The beggar symbolized the Gentiles, who were counted unworthy to receive the truth. In Matthew 15:27, the Canaanite woman acknowledged that her people were beggars at the table of the Jews. Christ probably chose the name of Lazarus to use in the parable because later he would actually raise Lazarus from the dead. And the climactic point of the entire parable is found in verse 31: "If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, through one rose from the dead." Sure enough, they didn't believe even when one named Lazarus was raised before them.

In this story Jesus tells us that the rich man was "in hades, where he was in torment". According to the book of Revelation, Hades will give up the dead in it (Revelation 20:13). This indicates that the dead will not remain in Hades forever but will instead be raised from Hades on judgement day. There is, therefore, good reason to believe that the torment that the rich man is experincing in Hades is not eternal but will end.

Soul and Body Destroyed in Hell — Matthew 10:28:

"And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell."

Jesus clearly teaches in this text that the soul is not naturally immortal. It can and will be destroyed in hell. But what does He mean about killing the body, but not the soul? Is it possible for the soul to exist apart from the body? Some say it is, but the Bible indicates otherwise. The Greek word "psuche" has been translated "soul" in this text, but in 40 other texts it has been translated "life." For example, Jesus said, "Whosoever will lose his life (psuche) for my sake shall find it" (Matthew 16:25). But what of Matthew 10:28? Put in the word "life" instead of "soul" and the text makes perfect sense in its consistency with the rest of the Bible. The contrast is between one who can take the physical life and Him who can take away eternal life. Proof lies in the words of Jesus: "And I say unto you my friends, Be not afraid of them that kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. But I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear: Fear him, which after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell" (Luke 12:4, 5). In other words, the word "soul" here means not only life, but eternal life. Notice that Luke says everything just like Matthew except that he does not say "kills the soul." Instead he says "cast into hell." They mean the same thing. Men can only kill the body and take away the physical life. God will cast into hell and take away eternal life. Not only will their bodies be destroyed in that fire, but their lives will be snuffed out for all eternity.

Incompatibility with God's Love

Inherent in the annihilationist stance are notions of divine justice and love (1 John 4:16). Some Annihilationists claim that the idea of an eternal place of torment is morally repugnant, and an unfair punishment for finite sins. How can this accurately reflect God’s ultimate victory over suffering and evil, they argue, when it permanently installs a place of suffering in the final, eternal order? Likewise, how can the saved live in blissful joy knowing that some of their loved ones suffer forever in hell? Opponents of this view respond that only God is qualified to determine divine justice, and raise suspicions that Annihilationists may be succumbing to modern cultural pressures.

Hellenic Origins

Many annihilationists believe that the concept of an immortal soul separate from the body comes from Greek philosophy, particularly from Plato. For example, in Plato's Myth of Er depicts disembodied souls being sent underground to be punished after death. Hellenic culture had a significant influence on the early Christian church. By this scenario, the soul does not appear in the Bible and is seen there only by those taught to assume that the soul exists in the first place.^{[citation needed]}

Popular advocates

• John Stott
• Clark Pinnock
• Roger Forster
• John Wenham, who wrote,

"I believe that endless torment is a hideous and unscriptural doctrine which as been a terrible burden on the mind of the church for many centuries and a terrible blot on her presentation of the Gospel. I should indeed be happy, if before I die, I could help in sweeping it away."^[19]

• Edward Fudge (personal website) of the Churches of Christ, whose book The Fire That Consumes was described as "the best book" by Pinnock in 1992.^[20]
• Philip E. Hughes
• Dale Moody
• E. Earle Ellis
• Homer Hailey
• Michael Green
• Greg Boyd

Also N. T. Wright displays an openness to the issue.

Agnostics

Others have remained "agnostic", not taking a stand on the issue of hell:

• F. F. Bruce

"annihilation is certainly an acceptable interpretation of the relevant New Testament passages ... For myself, I remain agnostic. Eternal conscious torment is incompatible with the revealed character of God."^[13]

See also

• The problem of hell
• Conditional Immortality
• Universal reconciliation ("Universalism" in a Christian context)

References

External links

• "Directions: Is Hell Forever?" Christianity Today

Positive

• Are you an annihilationist, and if so why? by Greg Boyd
• The Final End of the Wicked by Edward Fudge

• The Destruction of the Finally Impenitent by Clark H. Pinnock of McMaster Divinity College.

• The Resurrection and ImmortalityAn exhaustive study into the biblical definition of immortality and proof of conditional immortality.

• Jewish not GreekShows how Biblical hermeneutics proves conditional immortality and not the Greek philosophical view of innate immortality.
• Immortality Or Resurrection? Chapter VI Hell: Eternal Torment or Annihilation? by Samuele Bacchiocchi, Ph. D., Andrews University

• Hell-KnowBiblically shows how hell is destruction and not eternal torment.

Critical

• The Destruction of Hell: Annihilationism Examined by Jeff Spencer
• Evangelicals and the Annihilation of Hell - Part 1, Part 2 by Alan W. Gomes. Note that the article incorrectly states that Edward Fudge is from the Adventist tradition^[1]
  1. ^ CRI Journal - CRJ0085A
• Flaws in the Arguments for Annihilationism by Stephen E. Alexander