Currently there seems to be three dominate views regarding
the Bible's revelation of Hell and Eternal Judgment. Those views are as
follows: Eternal Conscious Torment, Universal Reconciliation, and Ultimate
Annihilation. The traditional view for the past
several hundred years in the Church has been Eternal Conscious Torment which
goes as follows: After the Great White Throne Judgment those whose names are
not written in the Lamb's book of Life will be thrown into a lake (all-encompassing
geographical location) of literal fire which is often depicted as being
thousands of degrees hot (some theologians compare it to the temperature of the center of the earth). After being thrown into this lake of literal fire
unbelievers will experience the conscious torment of being encompassed by fire for all of eternity for the sins they committed
in life. Traditionalists usually use scriptures such as Revelation 14:11 to
justify this view.
The Universal Reconciliation view has only recently begun to
find traction in the Evangelical Christian world, influenced greatly through a
book by Rob Bell called "Love Wins." In this view, advocates will use
scriptures such as Colossians 1:20 to justify the idea that after a period of
time in a lake of "purifying fire" the wicked will then be allowed to
come and join the righteous to partake in eternal life with them all. The
problem I have with this view (among many things) is that the gospel is about
being saved by grace, not by a process of purification by hellfire which punishes
us into changing. Secondly, Revelation 21:27 states that anyone whose name was
not in the book of life cannot ever partake of the blessing given to the
righteous by grace (paraphrased). When the method of salvation by grace alone,
through faith alone, in Christ alone seems to change, I usually have a very
difficult time giving merit to the idea, which is why I reject Universal Reconciliation.
The Ultimate Annihilation view
has actually been around for centuries. It has usually taken a minority
position next to Eternal Conscious Torment (ECT) due to the seemingly clear
depiction of ECT in Verses like Revelation 14:11. Nevertheless, Annihilationists
have put forward quite a few good questions regarding the original usages of
words translated "forever and ever" in our
English Bibles, which are derived from Greek words that have often been used to
mean "age" or "eon" rather than "time without
end." The annihilationist view generally believes that the wicked will receive God's just punishment in proportion to their sins by a process of being totally destroyed by
literal fire in hell (the lake of fire). Many traditionalists argue that this would take away the fear of hell in people, but on the contrary most annihilationists believe that each man will certainly suffer a wrathful punishment by hellfire (in accordance with God's holiness and the particular person's sins) of which the timeframe is undetermined, this process will eventually lead to total destruction of soul and body. Annihilationists use quite a few
seemingly unambiguous scriptures in order to support their view, such as 2 Thessalonians 1:9- "They will
suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the
Lord and from the glory of his might," the Greek word here for "destruction" is "olethron" which means " ruination with its full, destructive results." They also use scripture like Isaiah 47:14, Matthew 10:28, Matthew 7:13-14, Matthew 13:40-42, 2 Peter 2:6 to communicate the idea that at some point the punishment of the wicked will become complete. It's important to note that annihilationists believe that the term "everlasting punishment" means a finite (yet severe) punishment that has everlasting results, not a continual "punishing" from God that lasts forever without end.
In light of the top two of these three views (Eternal
Conscious Torment & Annihilationism) we begin to see that the debate is
rested on two main ideas: 1. Is the soul naturally immortal or did the curse of death from Adam's sin only affect the body (if the soul is naturally immortal, it would mean
the soul of the wicked could be tormented forever, if not the fire "or the second death" would eventually destroy both soul and body, see Matt. 10:28)? 2. What is the duration of
time that the wicked will be tormented in the lake of literal fire, will they eventually burn up as the Bible seems to imply, (2 Thessalonians 1:9, Isaiah 47:14, Matthew 10:28, Matthew 7:13-14, Matthew 13:40-42, 2 Peter 2:6) or will they eternally experience the conscience torment of being encompassed by fire (Rev. 14:11)? I believe that the
honest person after evaluating the original manuscript evidence, no matter which view they concede to, will have to admit that the
answer to these two questions is almost impossible to completely know from a Greek word meaning standpoint. Both sides present fairly persuasive scripture and Greek word meaning evaluations (based on my
current observations) to support what they believe regarding the nature of
hell. To me this begs the question, "What key components regarding hell do
we need to be careful not to compromise no matter which view we concede
to?"
I think the basic relationship between hermeneutics (proper
interpretation of scripture) and sound doctrine gives us the answer that we are
looking for. The fundamental principle of hermeneutics is to use what God makes
clear in His word to interpret certain concepts or verses that tend to be
unclear. In light of this, I will list a series of scriptures that clearly
portray what eternal judgment in Hell will be like for the wicked:
-It will be extremely unpleasant:
Romans 2:9- "There will be trouble and distress for
all who do evil."
-It will exclude the wicked completely from the Presence
of God forever:
2 Thessalonians 1:19- "They will suffer the
punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from
the glory of his might."
-Each man will be repaid in exact accordance with the
sins he committed:
Romans 2:6- God "will repay each person according to
what they have done." (Considering the depth of mankind's sin, this is
a terrifying thought that must not be taken lightly)
- It will be a terrible day for the wicked when God
executes His justice on them:
Malachi 4:5- "See, I will send the prophet Elijah to
you before that great and terrible day of the LORD comes."
Revelation 20:11-"Then I saw a great white throne
and him who was seated on it. The earth and the heavens fled from his presence,
and there was no place for them."
- It will be extremely painful:
Luke 13:28- "There will be weeping and gnashing of
teeth."
-Every word we have ever spoken will be judged:
Matthew 12:36- "But I tell you that everyone will
have to give account on the Day of Judgment for every empty word they have
spoken."
-Every hidden thing will be brought into the light:
Romans 2:16- "on that day when, according to my
gospel, God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus."
Ecclesiastes 12:14- "For God will bring every deed
into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil."
-None of the wicked will ever partake of the
eternal blessings given to the righteous:
Revelation 21:27-"Nothing impure will ever enter it,
nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose
names are written in the Lamb's book of life.
The wicked will be punished in a permanent way:
Revelation 20:15-"Anyone whose name was not found
written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire." (see also Matthew 25:45-46)
The wicked will be punished with fire:
Revelation 20:15-"Anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire." (see also Matthew 25:45-46)The wicked will be punished with fire:
So, as you can see there are certain clear statements in the
word of God regarding Hell and Eternal Judgment that we can be absolutely sure
about. As I mentioned earlier in this blog two major elements of the
implications of hell that are currently in debate between Eternal Conscious
Torment and Ultimate Annihilation advocates are: 1. Is the soul naturally immortal or did the curse of death from Adam's sin only affect the body (if the soul is naturally immortal, it would mean the soul of the wicked could be tormented forever, if not the fire "or the second death" would eventually destroy both soul and body, see Matt. 10:28)? 2. What is the duration of time that the wicked will be tormented in the lake of literal fire, will they eventually burn up as the Bible seems to imply, (2 Thessalonians 1:9, Isaiah 47:14, Matthew 10:28, Matthew 7:13-14, Matthew 13:40-42, 2 Peter 2:6) or will they eternally experience the conscience torment of being encompassed by fire (Rev. 14:11)? Whether or not we ever get a clear answer to these two questions doesn't negate the
fact that hell is MOST CERTAINLY depicted as a place where perfect justice will
be rendered to the wicked. We can be sure that Hell is the most terrifying
place that anyone could ever go to. We can be sure that the enemies of God will
regret having ever set themselves up against Him. We can be sure that sin,
Satan, death, and evil will never again have a part in the land of the living.
Below is a list of the major scriptures regarding hell that are
in debate between Eternal Conscious Torment and Annihilationist advocates as
to what their correct exegetical meaning really is. You
will also find a link to a website that makes an argument for eternal conscious
torment and a link to a website that makes an argument for annihilationism. I
will plan to make another post in the future if God gives me direction as to
which view should be accepted over the other. The Bible gives us enough clear teaching on final jugdment to accept the fact that hell is a place that you wouldn't wish upon your worst enemy.
Ecclesiastes 3:11
Daniel 12:2
Matthew 3:12 (cf. Luke 3:17)
Matthew 5:25-26 (cf. Luke 12:58-59)
Matthew 8:12 (cf. 22:13, 25:30; Luke 13:28
Matthew 10:15 (cf. 11:24; 16:27; Luke 12:47-48; Revelation 20:12)Matthew 18:8, Matthew 18:34
Matthew 25:41, Matthew 25:46, Matthew 26:24
Mark 9:49
Luke 16:19-31
John 5:28-29
Jude 6, Jude 7, Jude 13
Revelation 14:9-11, Revelation 20:10-15
Revelation 22:11, Revelation 22:15
Eternal Conscious Torment Website: http://carm.org/hell
Annihilationism Website: http://rethinkinghell.com/
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