Question on refuting annihilationism

[clawrence9008]

I had a student this week ask me some questions regarding annihilationism/conditional immortality vs. the doctrine of eternal conscious torment as it pertains to hell. He said that while he was not necessarily convinced of the annihilationist view, he found some of their objections compelling (as he also found some other things about hell emotionally taxing, even though he still believed them to be true). The main objection he found compelling was that when the Bible speaks of hell as eternal “destruction” or as “perishing/death,” it implies a ceasing of existence / destruction of being (after some indefinite duration of punishment), as only those who are united to Christ are said to live for eternity. I think he also struggles a little bit with why sins must be punished for eternity.

While I think the arguments from annihilationists are not only quite weak but are also not grounded at all in the historic beliefs of the church, I am not sure how to respond to these objections exegetically (primarily the first one). Mainly of how to respond to claims that Matt. 10:28 (“destroy both body and soul in hell”) and 2 Thess. 1:9 support the annihilationist view.

 

[MW]

The problem is that we import a 20th or 21st century idea of destruction into the text, and because of our recoil against eternal suffering we are psychologically open to entertain the possibility that hell is not eternal consciousness. But we can disqualify this idea at the starting line because nobody would have understood destruction in the sense of something that ceases to exist or an end of being.

The Greek words for "destroy" and "destruction" usually mean ruin, loss, or devastation of purpose, not extinction of being. Matt. 9:17, wineskins are "ruined" -- they are not annihilated; they become useless for their intended purpose. In Luke 15, the prodigal son was "lost." He was not annihilated; he was in a state of ruin and separation from his father.

So when we read Matt. 10:28 and hear of the the soul and body being destroyed in hell, it is naturally understood as the irreversible ruin of a person, the utter and everlasting loss of all good, life, fellowship, and purpose. The contrast is between men who can only end physical life and God who can sentence the whole person to "Gehenna." If destruction here meant simple cessation, the warning would lose its force. Why fear ceasing to exist more than being murdered? The terrifying contrast is that God can consign the entire person to a state of everlasting ruin and punishment. This fits the bioblical understanding of Gehenna as a place of enduring punishment, where the fire is not quenched and the worm dieth not.

Again, 2 Thess. 1:9. If "destruction" meant a one-time event of annihilation, it couldn't be "eternal." An annihilated person doesn't experience eternity. Therefore, "eternal" must describe the permanent, ongoing state of ruin and separation. And this is what the verse literally says, "from the presence of the Lord."

Once we have disqualified the naive understanding of "destruction," we can move to a positive reinfrcement of the truth, which is usually found in Matt. 25:46. The identical adjective modifies both "punishment" and "life." No one argues that "eternal life" for the righteous is a temporary experience. It is unending life in communion with God. For the parallelism to hold, "eternal punishment" must share the same quality of unending experience.

But then we can turn to theological reasons to reinforce biblical teaching and help us in overcoming our natural recoil at the doctrine. The Bible teaches that sin is infinite in quality. The punishment fits the dignity of the One offended. Sin is rebellion against an eternal God. The guilt incurred, to be equitable, must be of an eternal nature. What is the purpose of punishment in the Bible. It has a telos -- to make the offender feel and acknowledge the true weight of their wrongdoing, thereby setting the moral order right. For a finite creature to begin to comprehend the infinite heinousness of sin requires an infinite duration.