Since
I
was
able
to
question
my
Christian
faith
for
the
first
time
once
I
believed
in
Conditional
Immortality
or
Annihilationism
as
the
best
Biblical
description
of
hell,
see
here,
I
thought
I'd
offer
a
few
brief
notes
on
that
view,
from
a
Biblical
perspective.
I
know
there
is
a
debate
about
this
going
on
among
Christian
circles,
but
here
are
some
of
the
things
that
those
who
dispute
it
must
deal
with:
We
should
not
confuse
the
reality
of
hell
with
its
images.
The
images
of
hell
are
of:
1)
“everlasting
punishment”
(Matt.
25:46);
2)
“eternal
destruction”
(Matt.
10:28);
and
3)
banishment
into
the
“darkness”
(Matt.
22:13;
25:30).
How
we
interpret
these
images
depends
on
other
Bible
verses.
In
the
O.T.
the
wicked
will
cease
to
exist
(Psalm
37,
Mal.4:
1-2).
Jesus
in
the
N.T.
shows
us
that
the
purpose
of
fire
in
punishment
is
to
destroy
or
burn
up
the
wicked
(Matt.3:10-12;
13:30,42,49-50).
According
to
John
R.W.
Stott:
“The
main
function
of
fire
is
not
to
cause
pain,
but
to
secure
destruction.”
[Evangelical
Essentials,
(p.
316)].
Paul
likewise
emphasized
destruction
(2
Thess
1:
9;
I
Cor.
3:17;
Phil.
1:28;
3:19).
Peter
likewise
stressed
the
sinners’
fate
as
that
of
destruction
(2
Pet.
2:1,3,
6;
3:6-7).
Even
in
John’s
book
of
Revelation,
the
lake
of
fire
will
consume
the
wicked
(Rev.
20:14-15).
G.B.
Caird:
“John
believed
that,
if
at
the
end
there
should
be
any
who
remained
impervious
to
the
grace
and
love
of
God,
they
should
be
thrown,
with
Death
and
Hades,
into
the
lake
of
fire
which
is
the
second
death,
i.e.,
extinction
and
total
oblivion.”
[Commentary
on
Revelation,
(p.
186)].
“The
Bible
uses
language
of
death
and
destruction,
of
ruin
and
perishing,
when
it
speaks
of
the
fate
of
the
impenitent
wicked.
It
uses
the
imagery
of
fire
that
consumes
whatever
is
thrown
into
it.”
But
“linking
together
images
of
fire
and
destruction
suggests
annihilation.
One
receives
the
impression
that
‘eternal
punishment’
refers
to
a
divine
judgment
whose
results
cannot
be
reversed
rather
than
to
the
experience
of
endless
torment
(i.e.
eternal
punishing).”
[Pinnock,
Four
Views
of
Hell,
p.
144].
L.E.
Froom
claims
that
conditional
immortality
was
generally
accepted
in
the
early
church
until
its
thinkers
tried
to
wed
Plato’s
doctrine
of
the
immortality
of
the
soul
to
the
teaching
of
the
Bible.”
[The
Conditionalist
Faith
of
Our
Fathers,
Herald
Pub.,
1966].
Biblically
speaking,
human
beings
are
not
immortal.
God
alone
has
immortality
(I
Tim.
6:16);
well
doers
seek
immortality
(Rom.
2:7);
immortality
is
brought
to
light
through
the
gospel
(2
Tim.
1:10);
those
in
Christ
will
put
on
immortality
(I
Cor.
15:54),
so
that
they
now
partake
of
the
divine
nature
(2
Pet.
1:4).
If
human
beings
don't
have
immortality
until
they
die
in
Christ
when
God
grants
it
to
them,
then
according
to
the
Bible
we
cease
to
exist
after
we
die.
We
are
annihilated,
and
that's
our
punishment.
And
since
according
to
the
Bible
God
is
judging
us
all
along
the
way,
there's
no
need
to
believe
that
the
figurative
pictures
of
a
great
white
throne
judgement
are
literal
events
one
can
expect
to
experience,
either.
