What will happen to your kind and generous but unredeemed grandmother after she is judged? Will she burn in hell-fires in eternal conscious torment bobbing up and down in the lake of fire next to Hitler, Stalin, and Mao? Terminalists or conditionalists or annihilationists (all three terms mean the same doctrine) and universalists say no. There are better Scriptural options, they say. I offer my opinion at the very end.
This post is about the unredeemed, not the saved. When someone genuinely puts his full faith and trust in Christ and surrenders to his Lordship and remains in union with him, hell becomes a nonissue, after final judgment. He is going to heaven and then to the eternal kingdom.
I. Introduction
A. An abbreviation:
ECT = Eternal, Conscious Torment (the traditional view).
B. Annihilationism and universalism
Each of the other two theories, fully taught, says hell exists and people will be punished in it. The questions are—how long does it last, what are its punishments? In short, what is the nature and duration of the punishment? I trust that no one will use these three theories of hell and punishment as tests for orthodoxy and heterodoxy. I believe that the doctrine of punishment in the afterlife is tertiary in Scripture.
C. Wise statement
Therefore, in essentials, unity; in nonessentials, liberty, in all things, charity (love).
As usual, I write to learn, so let’s see what I learn.
II. Eternal Conscious Torment
A. The problem
The problem can be stated thus: We misunderstand God’s justice and his love when we conclude that your kindhearted grandmother, who was charitable and generous, but who never proclaimed Christ as Lord in her heart and with her words, will forever bob up and down in the lake of fire, next to Hitler, Stalin, or Mao (and many others). This scenario is unjust, even if a lesser degree of punishment applies to her, because she feels less pain than they do (is there a “jacuzzi section” in the lake? Hardly). It is still eternal and never ending and out of proportion to her crime of unbelief in her brief life on earth. God is the just Judge, yes, but he is also the loving Father.
Are there other options besides ECT in the fires of hell?
ECT says no. Accept the problem to the glory of God. It may not pump up our emotions, but we don’t go by them, but by the word of God.
But does the word fully support ECT? That is an open question we now explore.
B. Key Scriptures
So, let’s review a sample of Scriptural support for the doctrine (see Denny Burk in Four Views on Hell, for detailed analyses. I present them in highly abridged form). Prof. Burk says that the ten following passages are the strongest ones that teach ECT.
However, since ECT is so dominant in Christian circles, I also add alternative interpretations of these verses from the viewpoint of terminal punishment. Readers need to know that there are biblical options and other interpretations.
If readers would like to see the following verses in many translations and in their contexts, they may go to biblegateway.com, and type in the references.
1.. Isaiah 66:22-24:
22 “As the new heavens and the new earth that I make will endure before me,” declares the Lord, “so will your name and descendants endure. 23 From one New Moon to another and from one Sabbath to another, all mankind will come and bow down before me,” says the Lord. 24 “And they will go out and look on the dead bodies of those who rebelled against me; the worms that eat them will not die, the fire that burns them will not be quenched, and they will be loathsome to all mankind.” (Is. 66:22-24)
These verses mention the undying worms and unquenchable fire, which will eat and burn dead bodies. This refers to the Valley of Hinnom outside Jerusalem, where garbage was thrown. Jesus alludes to these worms and fire in his own description of the Valley of Hinnom outside Jerusalem (see Mark 9:48, below). Undying worms and unquenchable fire clearly teach the ECT of the dead.
Alternative interpretation: This is not a description of hell at the final judgment. The undying worms and unquenchable fire are not consuming zombies, but corpses, and corpses are dead. They do not feel conscious punishment, so the “C” in ECT is denied. Eventually worms and fire consume their victims and finish their grim job, so the “E” is also denied (see Mark 9:42-48, below, for a fuller alternative interpretation).
2. Daniel 12:2-3:
2 Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt. 3 Those who are wise will shine like the brightness of the heavens, and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars for ever and ever. (Dan. 12:2-3)
Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake; those whose names are written in a book will rise to everlasting life; many will rise to shame and everlasting contempt. ECT says this is conscious, eternal punishment in hell. The Hebrew word for “everlasting” is ‘olam, which corresponds to the Greek word aiōn (noun) or aiōnios (adjective); that is, they mean the same thing in this case.
Alternative interpretation: “Everlasting contempt” is what the living feel towards the wicked, not what the wicked feel. Further, the final punishment of them is unclear here. In comparison, in Jeremiah 23:40, the “perpetual [‘olam] shame” is upon Israel for the conquest of Judah by the Babylonians, and this shame shall not be forgotten. In that sense the contempt and shame are “everlasting”—but only in the minds of the living. The same may be said of Daniel 12:2-3. Also, the “many” who will rise to suffer contempt is not the same as “everyone,” so the passage does not match John 5:28-29, which talks about the final resurrection, when everyone will rise. Therefore, there is no thought of ECT in hell in Daniel 12:2-3 (or in Jer. 23:40).
See my post and a look at Hebrew and Greek lexicons:
What Do Words ‘Eternity,’ ‘Eternal’ Fully Mean in the Bible?
3. Matthew 18:6-9 (and 5:29-30):
6 “If anyone causes one of these little ones—those who believe in me—to stumble, it would be better for them to have a large millstone hung around their neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea. 7 Woe to the world because of the things that cause people to stumble! Such things must come, but woe to the person through whom they come! 8 If your hand or your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life maimed or crippled than to have two hands or two feet and be thrown into eternal fire. 9 And if your eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into the fire of hell. (Matt. 18:6-9)
If an eye or hand or foot causes you to stumble, cut it off or gouge it out, for it is better to enter life maimed or crippled than have two hands or two feet or two eyes and “be thrown into the ‘eternal fire of hell’” (vv. 8 and 9, combined). The hell here comes from gehenna or the Valley of Hinnom, and the hell is “everlasting,” which translates the Greek word aiōnios. Therefore, ECT is supported.
Alternative interpretation: The word Greek word aiōnios does not always mean “eternal” or “everlasting” or “endless” in every context in Scripture. Its basic meaning is “without a determinate horizon” that one can see, “enduring” (without eternality necessarily), “a long age,” “age to come,” “pertaining to an age,” or “of divine origin and character.” So one can translate the Greek more expansively in this way: “be thrown into the hellish garbage pit for punishment in the coming age.” There is no decisive clarity on the kind or the duration of the punishment. Advocates of terminal punishment can claim these verses, just as easily as ECT advocates do.
Again, see my post and a look at a summary of Hebrew and Greek lexicons:
What Do Words ‘Eternity,’ ‘Eternal’ Fully Mean in the Bible?
4. Matthew 25:31-46:
This passage is too long to quote. You can read it by clicking on this link:
In the Parable of the Sheep and Goats, some people helped the needy, while others did not. They are turned into metaphors: the sheep (the helpers) and the goats (the callous). The sheep go into eternal life, while the goats go to eternal fire (v. 41) and eternal punishment (v. 46). It is here that Jesus revealed that hell was prepared for the devil and his angels (v. 41). In v. 46, this parallel but opposite fate shows that punishment is eternal, just like life is eternal. And “everlasting” is the same word aiōnios both for eternal life and eternal punishment; the two things are parallel. Symmetry.
Alternative interpretation: This passage is eschatological (end of the age). So aiōnios could just as easily be translated “life in the age to come” and “punishment in the age to come.” There is no word on the duration of the fire. For in the duration of life in the age to come, immortality depends on God, and those who depend on him have immortality, while those who do not depend on him do not have it; their life will eventually end in death, that is, nonexistence. Death could mean unconsciousness (i.e. extinction) after the second death in the afterlife (Rev. 20:14-15), not ECT. Immortality is not automatic, just because a person has a soul (an idea that comes from Plato and other Greek philosophers). Immortality depends only on God. Only God’s kingdom life is indeed eternal because he alone is eternal. Satan’s kingdom and his own punishment may not be eternal, but may last for a terminal age. Asymmetry, and that’s okay
Now what does “punishment” mean? It could be translated the result of punishment, not the process of punishing, which is alleged to go on endlessly, as ECT believers say. On the other hand, advocates of terminal punishment (annihilationists) could claim that this punishment is endless in the sense that the unrighteous are terminated forever. But it is not clear that the act of punishing is endless in the first place. As for the devil and his angels, imagine throwing a stone or paper into a fire. The stone would be scorched, while the paper would be consumed. And so it is true, possibly, with the devil and his angels, in contrast to humans. Demonic beings and humans are made of different stuff (Gregg, p. 172). Or some advocates of terminal punishment say that the devil and crew will also be extinguished. Therefore, advocates of terminal punishment can claim this passage because their interpretation is better—closer to the eschatological context and the key Greek words.
5. Mark 9:42-48:
42 “If anyone causes one of these little ones—those who believe in me—to stumble, it would be better for them if a large millstone were hung around their neck and they were thrown into the sea. 43 If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life maimed than with two hands to go into hell, where the fire never goes out. [44] 45 And if your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than to have two feet and be thrown into hell. 47 And if your eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell, 48 where
“‘the worms that eat them do not die,
and the fire is not quenched.’
49 Everyone will be salted with fire.
This is a parallel passage to Matt. 18:6-9 (above). It adds the reference to Is. 66:22-24, which, recall, mentioned the undying worms and unquenchable fire. And they signify ECT.
Alternative interpretation: “Unquenchable” simply means that humans cannot—are not able—to put it out. Jeremiah 4:4 talks of the wrath of God that destroyed Jerusalem with a fire that no one could quench, but the fire indeed ended. “Unquenchable fire” is a common phrase in the Old Testament for earthly and temporal judgment (Is. 1:31; 34:40; 43:17; Jer. 4:4; 7:20; 17:27; 21:12; Ezek. 20:47-46; Amos 5:6). Anyone experiencing the fire can expect pain and punishment, but the duration of the fire is not known. Both life and punishment may be long-lasting, but they are not equally so. Punishment can be instantaneous, and the effect everlasting. The process of punishing does not have to be endless. See the alternative interpretation of Matthew 18:6-9 for more information about aiōnios or “the age to come” or “long-lasting.” This passage does not support ECT thoroughly.
6. Second Thessalonians 1:6-10:
6 God is just: He will pay back trouble to those who trouble you 7 and give relief to you who are troubled, and to us as well. This will happen when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven in blazing fire with his powerful angels. 8 He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. 9 They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might 10 on the day he comes to be glorified in his holy people and to be marveled at among all those who have believed. This includes you, because you believed our testimony to you. (2 Thess. 1:6-10, NIV)
The lawless one will work how Satan works, with signs and wonders in front of those who are perishing because they who perish do not love the truth. But the lawless one is being held back. Paul does not tell us who the lawless one is and who or what is holding him back. But no matter, because the lawless one will be revealed, and Jesus will overthrow him with the breath of his mouth and destroy him by the splendor of his coming. He will suffer judgment and everlasting destruction. They will be excluded from the Lord’s presence forever, which implies they are alive and suffer.
Alternative interpretation: Advocates of each theory say that this passage may equate the last judgment with Revelation 20:10-15, so let’s proceed as if that is true. The one judged here undergoes everlasting destruction because they are snuffed out, and the result is everlasting, not that the process of destroying goes on forever. And the word “everlasting” is aiōnios, and it could also be translated “destruction in the age to come.” Finally, the very word “destruction” (or “ruin”) supports terminal punishment (annihilationism).
Still one more time, see my post here and what the Hebrew and Greek lexicons say:
What Do Words ‘Eternity,’ ‘Eternal’ Fully Mean in the Bible?
7. Jude 7:
In a similar way, Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding towns gave themselves up to sexual immorality and perversion. They serve as an example of those who suffer the punishment of eternal fire. (Jude 7, NIV)
Sodom and Gomorrah and surrounding towns gave themselves up to sexual immorality and perversion. “They serve as an example of those who suffer punishment of eternal fire.” Again “eternal” is the best translation of the Greek adjective aiōnios. Therefore, this verse clearly supports ECT.
Alternative interpretation: Sodom and Gomorrah did not burn eternally, but the Greek word aiōnios in this context just means the intensity of the fire of judgement, and the effects of the punishment were everlasting, not the process of punishing. Every generation should look on Sodom and Gomorrah and shudder, forever. Recall that the term aiōnios can mean “eternal” in some contexts (e.g. the eternal God), but not in other contexts. It could be translated as “the punishment of fire in the age to come” or “the punishment of new-age fire” or “the punishment of age-long fire.”
One last mention (thankfully!): see my post and a look at a summary of Hebrew and Greek lexicons:
What Do Words ‘Eternity,’ ‘Eternal’ Fully Mean in the Bible?
8. Jude 13:
13 They are wild waves of the sea, foaming up their shame; wandering stars, for whom blackest darkness has been reserved forever. (Jude 13, NIV)
Certain false believers penetrated the church to whom Jude was writing. Blackest darkness is reserved for them forever. The Greek adjective for “forever” is aiōnios.
Alternative interpretation: Once again, the Greek word could be translated blackest darkness in “the age to come” or “age-long darkness” but the duration of the darkness is not clear. Also, darkness can speak of nonexistence, which can last forever from God’s and our point of view. This concept of darkness is parallel to Jesus’s description of the afterlife for the wicked as “outer darkness” (Matt. 8:12; 22:13; 25:30; cf. 2 Pet. 2:17). But if ECT proponents claim that this interpretation of aiōnios is farfetched (the age to come or age-long), then one thing is certain: they teach that hell is a fire, and this verse talks about blackest darkness. So all three theories can have problems with it. Every doctrine runs into at least one problem text, but the general import of all the other verses discussed in this section significantly weakens the ECT interpretation.
9. Revelation 14:9-11:
9 A third angel followed them and said in a loud voice: “If anyone worships the beast and its image and receives its mark on their forehead or on their hand, 10 they, too, will drink the wine of God’s fury, which has been poured full strength into the cup of his wrath. They will be tormented with burning sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and of the Lamb. 11 And the smoke of their torment will rise for ever and ever. There will be no rest day or night for those who worship the beast and its image, or for anyone who receives the mark of its name.” (Rev. 14:9-11)
Anyone who worships the beast will be tormented with burning sulfur in the presence of God’s holy angels and of the Lamb. Smoke of their torment will rise forever and ever, and there will be no rest day or night for anyone who worships the beast and its image. “Forever and ever” is the word aiōnios used twice, which emphasizes the eternality of the punishment. Therefore ECT is sustained.
Alternative interpretation: The entire book of the Revelation is apocalyptic. So caution is needed. First, there is no mention here about hell or final punishment. It is just a judgment on anyone who worships the beast and its image. Revelation 9:17-18 uses the wording “fire and brimstone” in connection with temporal judgment with no association to the lake of fire (Rev. 20:7-15). This passage instead has the background of the fire and brimstone of Sodom and Gomorrah (Gen. 19:24; Ps. 11:6); the land of Israel under judgment (Deut. 29:23); Isaiah’s prediction of the Valley of Hinnom at the destruction of Assyria (Is. 30:33); his prediction of the destruction of Edom (Is. 34:9); and Ezekiel’s prediction of the destruction of Gog, the chief prince of Magog (Ezek. 28:22). None of the fire and judgment lasted forever (Gregg, pp. 178-83).
Back to Revelation 14:9-11, interpreters could say that this destruction happened when Jerusalem was conquered by the Romans in A.D. 70. But let’s say that Jerusalem is not in view in Revelation 14:9-11. The ECT advocates remind us that hell is eternal separation from God’s presence, yet the punishment in Revelation 14:9-11 is right in the presence of the holy angels and the Lamb. So the passage really is not about ECT in hell, or hell at all.
As for the smoke that rises day and night, these are symbols of the effects of punishment, which can last forever, particularly since it is not about hell. Wherever this judgment happens, literal smoke does not last forever, but the social and emotional impact does, particularly when it refers to those Old Testament passages about judgment. In the most symbolic book in the bible, everlasting smoke is a metaphor for the effects of judgment and destruction. .
Finally, the idiom that says those who worshipped the beast and its image will find “no rest day and night” merely speaks of continuity, not necessarily ECT. Such is the nature of apocalyptic literature—symbols abound. As just noted, the book of the Revelation is the most symbolic book in the Bible, so caution is needed in interpreting it.
10. Revelation 20:10, 14-15:
10 And the devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown. They will be tormented day and night for ever and ever. […] 14 Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. 15 Anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire. (Rev. 20:10, 14-15)
The devil will be thrown into the lake of burning sulfur, where the beast and false prophet will also be thrown. They will be tormented for ever and ever (v. 10). Then death and hades were thrown into the lake of fire, which is the second death, and so was anyone else thrown there, if his or her name was not found in the book of life (vv. 14-15). In v. 10, “forever and ever” is the word aiōnios used twice, which emphasizes the everlasting nature of the punishment.
Alternative interpretation: The devil and beast and false prophet are tormented forever and ever (v. 10), but nowhere does it say that people generally are consciously tormented forever. All vv. 14-15 say is that the lake of fire is the second death—and this death could mean final unconsciousness (i.e. extinction) here in the afterlife, not consciousness. So the C in ECT is denied.
Further, these verses can just as easily support terminal punishment (annihilationism) because of the meaning of second death. After all, how can death and hades, which are also thrown into the lake of fire, be tormented endlessly? Paul says death will be destroyed (1 Cor. 15:26), and destruction speaks of annihilation or termination—terminal punishment. “It would be hard to imagine a concept more confusing than that of death which means existing endlessly without the power of dying” (Philip E. Hughes, qtd. in Gregg, p. 207). So the E in ECT is also denied, and so is the C, again.
In any case, advocates of terminal punishment can claim this passage, and it does not support ECT as strongly or as clearly as its proponents believe.
C. Quick objections and replies
1.. Advocates of ECT could object that 1 Timothy 6:16 says God is immortal, and so is the human soul. It can never be destroyed or annihilated, but must go somewhere, and there’s nothing more effective than everlasting hell for the unredeemed, everlasting soul.
Reply: it is true that God is immortal, but the verse says that he alone is such. The only people who are also immortal are the believers in Jesus, and he gives them eternal life. They derive their immortality from God, not by merely being a soul. The eternality of the soul by virtue of being a soul is found in Plato and Greek philosophy, not in the Bible.
2. ECT proponents claim that God is infinite in majesty and holiness, and any sin against him must have an infinite punishment.
Reply: the only problem with this claim is that it is supported nowhere in Scripture, Rather, what is supported is God grace and love and goodness and willingness to forgive. He is willing to forgive our sins more than his wrath against them lasting an eternity. Ancient Israel spent centuries sinning against an infinitely holy God, and he did punish them, but eventually the punishment ended. He even restored the remnant.
3. ECT proponents could say that it is wrong to translate aiōnios always as “the age to come” or “age-long” or some such parallel. It really means “eternal” or “everlasting.”
Reply: Yes, it can mean those latter terms in some contexts, like his name is everlasting (2 Chron. 7:3-6; Ps. 136:1-26), or in this verse: “But the Lord is the true God; he is the living God, the eternal King” (Jer. 10:10). This verse too: “Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen” (1 Tim 1:17). God is the only being who is eternal.
However, those verses are not about hell, but about God’s nature and name. He transcends ages. In contrast, the verses about final judgment and hell are eschatological or about the new age, by definition. It is simply begging the question to equate hell and punishment with God’s eternality and import this notion into those verses, above, when this is the issue under dispute. God alone is eternal; hell may not be. And in an eschatological context, aiōnios is best translated as “new age” or “age to come” or “age-long” (and such like).
4. ECT advocates can ask, “Is it wise to overturn a doctrine that has dominated Evangelical thought for so long and been believed by so many?”
Reply: Caution must be observed, true, but 500 years ago the Reformers were asked the same thing, and they answered yes. Long-standing traditions sometimes have to be challenged, but not done so lightly. It should be noted that the two alternative doctrines have strong Scriptural support, as the two other articles in the series will hopefully demonstrate.
D. Further Scriptural evidence
Though gehenna is used 11 times from Jesus’s lips, most of them occur in parallel passages. So he used it probably only on four occasions:
The Sermon on the Mount (Matt. 5:22, 29, 30)
In warning the disciples not to fear men (Matt. 10:28; Luke 12:3)
In the discourse on relationships (Matt. 18:9; Mark 9:43, 45, 47)
In his denunciations of the scribes and Pharisees (Matt. 23:15, 33) (Gregg, p. 88)
In other words, gehenna was not a frequent or major topic in his teachings. So we need to stop giving the impression that he spoke of it often.
As for aiōnios fire, the NT references it only three times. Gregg says:
In Matthew 18:8 Jesus described the fires of Gehenna by this term, and he later spoke of aiōnios fire that was “prepared for the devil and his angels” (Matt. 25:41). If it be conceded that both passages speak of the final judgment of the lost in hell, this nonetheless tells us nothing of eternal torment there. In fact, the only other occurrence of the term “aiōnios fire” is in Jude 7, which uses the term to describe the fire that came from heaven and destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah. In that case, such a description neither conveys the notion of unendingness (since that fire is still not burning Sodom), nor of lasting torment—since there is no reason to assume that the fires of Sodom did not quickly kill the inhabitants, ending their torment.
The expressions “unquenchable” and “eternal,” therefore, when added to the generic image of fire, do not add to our knowledge of the subjective experience of those suffering its violence. For all we know, eternal and unquenchable fires burn up their victims as readily as do other fires (pp. 206-07)
Further, the apostolic preaching in the book of Acts never mentions the fires of hell, though Paul talked about the judgment to come to Felix and Drusilla (Acts 24:25). But fires of hell and endless torment? Silence.
The epistles hardly mention hell, let alone hell fire (but see Jude 7).
Nowhere does the Old Testament clearly teach ECT in the fires of hell.
In the same chapter in Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus uses two metaphors for separation from God: fire and darkness (Matt. 25). Peter, evidently, taking his cue from Jesus, says that thoroughly corrupt people will be punished with gloomy darkness.
17 These people are springs without water and mists driven by a storm. Blackest darkness is reserved for them. (2 Peter 2:17)
He does not mention fire in his two epistles as the abode of the condemned. So there is some ambiguity about the final doom of unrepentant sinners. I say we should also show some caution in our presentation of the final sentencing of those who reject God.
E. Summary
And so ECT is not as strongly supported in Scripture, as ECT proponents have told us. Those linchpin verses analyzed in the Key Scriptures section do not always and clearly teach it.
III. Annihilationism
A. Brief intro
This theory assumes that hell is real. It questions, rather, that punishment in hell will last forever with conscious, eternal torment. Time in hell will come to an end.
So please note from the outset: this theory, properly taught, does not deny that hell exists or that people will be punished there. Instead, the theory says their punishment will be terminated at the time when God sees they have been punished enough, corresponding to their sins.
Let’s look at this theory calmly, without calling it heretical or making it a test for orthodoxy. Personally, I believe that the doctrine of punishment in the afterlife is secondary in Scripture. This is clear from the fact that all three theories have some strong Scriptural support and sincere and intelligent believers hold to one or the others.
B. The problem
The problem can be stated in this expanded version: We misunderstand God’s justice and his love when we conclude that your kindhearted grandmother, who was charitable and generous, but who never proclaimed Christ as Lord in her heart and with her words, is bobbing up and down in the lake of fire, next to Hitler, Stalin, or Mao. This scenario is unjust, even if the lesser degree of punishment applies to her, because she feels less pain than they do (is there a “jacuzzi section” in the lake? Hardly.). It is still eternal and never ending and out of proportion to her crime of unbelief in her brief life on earth. God is the just Judge, yes, but he is also the loving Father.
Are there other options besides punishment that adds up to eternally conscious torment and torture in the fires of hell?
Terminalism says yes.
C. Definition
This term says that immortality (living forever) is conditioned only on Christ (hence its other name conditionalism). Apart from him there is no unconditional immortality. The wages of sin is death (Rom. 6:23), not endless life of misery in hell. Outside of Christ, there is no eternal life, either now or in the hereafter. The notion that the soul itself is eternal by virtue of being a soul comes from Plato and Greek philosophy, not the Bible. Therefore the unredeemed will not live forever, but will snuffed out when God acts.
As Steve Gregg wrote in his balanced and thorough treatment of all three theories. “Therefore, conditional immortality is the view that all who fail to obtain the gift of eternal life will eventually cease to exist” (p. 195; see John G. Stackhouse in Four Views on Hell, too).
Other terms: conditionalism, annihilationism, extinctionism, conditional immortality.
Terminalists say that after a time of punishment in hell fire or in some other state (outer darkness?), proportionate to the unredeemed human’s good and bad works, he will be annihilated or extinguished. So eternal, conscious punishment in hell fire for finite sins committed during a finite life no longer poses a personal or philosophical problem. And it has plenty of Scriptural support (below).
D. Brief overview of church history
Terminalism gained wide acceptance in the first five centuries of the church.
Barnabas (c. 70-130) wrote about eternal death preceded by punishment, which is the view of modern terminalists (Epistle of Barnabas, ch. 20).
The Letter of Mathetes to Diognetus (c. 125-200) speaks of eternal fire, but it will end (ch. 10).
Hermas (90-150) says sinners will be punished in hell but then extinguished because the fire will consume them, unlike the burning bush which burned and was no consumed (Exod. 3:2). He also wrote that death is eternal but only after punishment: “They who have not known God and have seen His mighty works and still continue in evil shall be chastised doubly and shall die forever” (Shepherd of Hermas, Book 3, Similitude 4, qtd. in Gregg, p. 115).
Irenaeus (flourished c. 175-c. 195), claimed by traditionalist and terminalists, said postmortem punishment consisted in being deprived of “length of days” (Against Heresies, Book 4, ch. 4.3). Damnation means God cuts the unredeemed off from life (Book 4, ch. 11.4). The wicked are like chaff, being consumed (Book 4. Ch. 4.3). He also said that sinners will be burned up as Nadab and Abihu were by the fire of the Lord (Lev. 10:1-2). Souls will be punished by everlasting death; people will “pass away” and the wicked will be “deprived of existence forever and ever” (qtd. in Gregg, p. 116).
Justin Martyr (c. 100-165) wrote that sinners will have sensation during eternal punishment, and so will the devil and his angels (First Apology, ch. 18), but he also wrote that wicked angels and demons shall cease to exist (First Apology, ch. 28).
The main point in this quick survey of church history is that many people believed in terminalism (or universalism) in the first few centuries of the church. And at that time those who disagreed did not call them heretics, and neither should anyone call them this today.
Modern adherents: John R. W. Stott, Clark Pinnock, Greg Boyd, Roger Forster, John Wenham, Michael Green, Edward William Fudge, Glenn Peoples, Ben Witherington III, F. F. Bruce (?).
E. Key ideas
Here are some basic ideas, with Scriptural support summarized in the next section:
1.. Only God is immortal
2.. Humankind must seek for it and does not have it by nature. The soul by itself is not eternal or immortal.
3.. God gives eternal life only to those who believe in Christ, so eternal life is conditional.
4.. The unredeemed are never declared immortal, but their life will end by passing into nonexistence. The key words are these: destroyed, consumed, perish and death. They speak of an end to life, not eternal punishment.
5.. Some Scriptures say that there is no conscious life in the grave.
6.. The wicked will be punished proportionately to their guilt, but not all will suffer equally, but they will not be punished eternally or infinitely.
See my posts:
Are There Degrees of Punishment, Rewards after Final Judgment?
7.. The punishment of the unredeemed is irrevocable and everlasting, but the process of punishing them is not. Annihilation is eternal punishment, in a sense, because their existence is no more, eternally no more.
8.. God respects human freedom of choice, so when people refuse him, he suffers loss of part of his creation. But at least terminalism brings a just end and solution to the problem of sin and evil in the universe.
9.. We the living do not have to worry that millions of the unredeemed will suffer endless torment in the next life. Nonexistence, though not a happy ending, will at least be more tolerable to us than eternal, conscious punishment.
10.. The unredeemed will be resurrected along with the redeemed in order to face judgment. When they are condemned, they will either be immediately consumed in the lake of fire and cease to exist, the same condition they were in before they were born, as if they never existed …
11.. Or they will undergo punishment in proportion to their sin. Then they will be allowed to pass into nonexistence, the same condition they were in before they were born, as if they never existed.
12.. This is not as happy an ending as Evangelical universalism, but it agrees with Scriptures that talks about punishment for those who rebel against God and so forfeit eternal life with him, but not endlessly in conscious torment in the fires of hell for finite sins committed during a finite life.
13.. God will make everything new, which necessarily includes purging out or completely destroying hell, people punished there, and the devil. Only then will there be a new creation, without a small corner reserved for the lake of fire.
(Gregg, pp. 10-12).
F. Key Scriptures
Now let’s review a sample of Scriptural support for the doctrine. Look for the words “destruction” and “perish” and their cognates and synonyms. If readers would like to see the following verses in many translations and in their contexts, they may go to biblegateway.com, and type in the references.
Psalm 37:2, 9-10, 20, 38: the wicked will perish and vanish like smoke and will be completely destroyed.
Isaiah 1:28, 30-31: The transgressors and sinners will be destroyed together.
Ezekiel 18:23, 32: God does not take pleasure in the death of the wicked. He wants them to turn from their wicked ways and live (cf. Ezek. 33:11).
Obadiah 16: The wicked will be destroyed, as though they never were.
Malachi 4:1-4: All the arrogant and every evildoer will be like stubble and the day of the Lord will be like a consuming fire. Not a branch or root will be left.
Those above verses, even if about this-worldly destruction, set the stage for the New Testament.
Matthew 3:10, 12: John the Baptist said the wicked are like dry wood to be thrown into the fire, and chaff to be burned.
Matthew 10:28: God can destroy the soul.
Matthew 13:30, 42, 49-50: The wicked would be like weeds thrown into the fire, and weeds don’t burn forever.
Matthew 23:37-38: The people of Jerusalem have rejected their Messiah because they were unwilling (cf. Luke 19:41-44), so the city will be destroyed.
Matthew 25:46: The unredeemed doers of bad deeds will go to eternal punishment (which does not exclude nonexistence after burning).
John 3:16: If people do not believe in Christ, they will perish.
John 10:28: Those who have eternal life will never perish, implying that those who do not have eternal life will perish (see John 3:16).
Romans 2:7: Humankind must seek for immortality (he does not have it automatically, but potentially and are dependent on God for it).
Romans 2:12: Those outside the law will perish without the law.
Romans 9:22: People who are objects of God’s wrath are prepared for destruction.
Romans 6:23: The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life, implying that those without eternal life experience death (and by extension not eternal misery).
First Corinthians 15:28 and 55-58: In the end, God is going to be all in all and even death will be conquered.
Philippians 1:28: Opponents of the gospel will be destroyed.
Philippians 3:19: Those who oppose the cross have the destiny to destruction ahead of them.
First Thessalonians 5:3: Destruction will come upon those teaching bad doctrines.
Second Thessalonians 1:9: People who do not obey Paul’s gospel “will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and the glory of his might.” It is the destruction that is everlasting, not the process of punishing.
Second Thessalonians 2:8: At Christ’s second coming, he will destroy the lawless one.
First Timothy 6:16: God alone is immortal.
Hebrews 10:39: Those who shrink back will be destroyed.
James 4:12: God the Lord and Judge is able to save and destroy.
Second Peter 2:3: Destruction has not been sleeping but is about to come upon those who follow depraved conduct.
Second Peter 2:6: God burned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah by burning them to ashes, not eternally burning those two cities.
First Peter 3:7, 9: The day of judgment and destruction is coming, but he does not want any to perish.
First John 3:8: Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil.
First John 5:11-12: God has given us eternal life in his Son; those who do not have his Son do not have (eternal) life, implying conditionalism or cessation of life.
Revelation 20:14: the lake of fire is the second death, and the people there will die and therefore not live eternally in the lake.
Revelation 21:5: God will make everything new.
Those verses vary in clarity and strength and relevance to the doctrine of terminal punishment in the afterlife, but they all point to the possibility—probability—that unredeemed humankind’s final destiny is finite and ends in destruction or annihilation, not eternal torment.
Even though those verses are summaries without analyses (or minimal analyses), readers can judge their effectiveness. If readers would like closer analyses of them, they can go to Steve Gregg’s book about hell (see Sources, below).
Also they can go to biblegateway.com and type in the references.
G. Additional key points
The word Greek word aiōnios does not always mean “eternal” or “everlasting” or “endless” in every context in Scripture. Its basic meaning is “without a determinate horizon” or “enduring” (without eternality necessarily) or “a long age” or “age to come,” “pertaining to an age,” or “of divine origin and character.” Even the destruction of Sodom was accomplished by aiōnios fire (Jude 7), which was actually completed in a short time. Rather, Jude 7 speaks of the intensity and everlasting results of judgment fires (Sodom and Gomorrah are no more, not forever), not that the fire itself lasts forever (see 2 Pet. 2:6). It was of divine origin and character.
So hell may not be eternal—only God is and so are the redeemed who derive eternity or immortality from him. Unbelievers are not eternal or immortal, so they can be extinguished after final judgment and just punishment in hell.
See my post and a look at a summary of Hebrew and Greek lexicons:
What Do Words ‘Eternity,’ ‘Eternal’ Fully Mean in the Bible?
As noted under ECT, in Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus uses two metaphors for separation from God: fire and darkness (Matt. 25). Peter, evidently, taking his cue from Jesus, says that thoroughly corrupt people will be punished with gloomy darkness.
17 These people are springs without water and mists driven by a storm. Blackest darkness is reserved for them. (2 Peter 2:17, NIV)
He does not mention fire in his two epistles as the abode of the condemned. So there is some ambiguity about the final doom of unrepentant sinners. I say we should also show some caution in our presentation of the final sentencing of those who reject God.
However, let’s say that the imagery of fire is real. Terminalists claim that it is an acceptable method of punishment, but they believe that fire and punishment will not be eternal or everlasting, but they will last an age or as long as the unredeemed need to undergo a just punishment, before they are annihilated or extinguished.
This doctrine denies the immortality of the soul (not necessarily the existence of hell). As noted, the soul is immortal only in Christ, as God’s gift. God can destroy the soul when it depends on him and only has potential immortality in and through him. Unbelievers don’t have immortality, but will eventually perish or be destroyed.
H. Objections and replies
1.. This is nothing more than soul sleep.
Reply: No. The doctrine of soul sleep is about the intermediate state between our deaths and the final resurrection. Terminalism says the unredeemed will be in hell, suffering for what they did and rejecting Christ and his generous offer of salvation, and at the final resurrection and final judgment, they will be snuffed out. No soul sleep. The redeemed, in contrast, will go immediately into heaven after they die, by God’s grace and their continued union in Christ.
2. Annihilationism denies God’s justice and wrath and holiness.
Reply: No, the doctrine says that people will be punished, but it denies that those three attributes lead to eternal torment. Finite humans with finite lifespans are punished justly because they are not punished infinitely. Their punishment is finite. Terminalism is just; eternal conscious torment is unjust.
3. Annihilationism is no punishment.
Reply: Yes, it is. It does not rule out suffering through hell, but it is not eternal punishment and torment, for sins committed during a finite lifespan.
4. Why would God raise the dead to annihilate them?
Reply: terminalism teaches that he raises the dead to judge and sentence them, just like ECT proponents say. ECT is worse because it teaches that God will raise the dead in order to torment them for all eternity.
5. Doesn’t terminalism “demotivate” Christians to share the gospel and people to receive it?
Reply: No, because scaring people with hell is not the best preaching method, either. People need salvation because God is good and wants a relationship with them and to fill them with his cleansing, renewing Spirit. They need deliverance from Satan and their destructive sins, right now. And in Christ, they can be assured of escaping any form of painful punishment after judgment, whatever it entails, so a brief mention of hellish punishment may indeed be in order when preaching to the unredeemed. However, nowadays, with the worldwide web, it is difficult to imagine that numerous people will get saved with fire-and-brimstone preaching. They simply need a new life, and Christ can offer it.
6. Terminalism is one step away from liberal universal reconciliation.
Reply: No, it is the opposite. It teaches that lives will be extinguished after a just punishment, not redeemed in the end.
7. Terminalism looks like what Jehovah Witnesses and Seventh Day Adventists teach.
Reply: This is guilt by association. Some of the Reformers held doctrines that look like Catholicism, like baptism of infants or the Real Presence in and around the elements of communion. Let’s look at Scriptures, instead, and stop using guilt by association as our guide.
I. Summary
If all sins deserve infinite punishment, then no sin is greater or worse, because infinite punishment denies degrees of punishment, because all sins are equally bad—infinitely bad. As Robin Parry says in Four Views on Hell, if an employee steals a sheet of paper from work, then does he deserve infinite punishment, just like the man who tortures and kills children (p. 53)? No. God makes distinctions about sins. So there is a problem with the view of eternal, conscious punishment.
If punishment in hell-fire is endless, it is far out of proportion to a just Judge and loving Father.
Again, see my posts:
Are There Degrees of Punishment, Rewards after Final Judgment?
Terminalism solves this extreme view of God because he puts an end to suffering, like killing an animal that has an incurable, contagious, deadly disease. Putting it down is the only option to end its suffering. One does not impose lifelong torture on the poor beast. Unjust. Similarly, unredeemed people are executed (so to speak) or extinguished, after a just punishment in proportion to each individual’s sins; they are not tormented forever.
The nation of Israel spent centuries sinning against an infinitely holy God, and God did indeed punish them, but eventually the punishment ended. He even restored a remnant.
IV. Universalism
A. Brief intro
This theory of universalism, fully and accurately taught, does not deny the existence of hell or people’s punishment there. Instead, the theory says that after people’s just punishment, they will be restored and reconciled to God because their punishment in hell will have been sufficient to teach them a lesson and purge them.
Let’s look at this theory calmly, without calling it heretical or making it a test for orthodoxy. Personally, I consider the doctrine of punishment in the afterlife to be a secondary issue in Scripture, compared to the proclamation of the gospel and to the whole range of other biblical doctrines.
Therefore,
In essentials, unity; in nonessentials, liberty, in all things, charity (love).
As usual, I write to learn, so let’s see what I learn. Don’t take this post as my final word on the issue.
B. The problem
As noted with the previous two theories, the problem can be stated in this expanded version: We misunderstand God’s justice and his love when we conclude that your kindhearted grandmother, who was charitable and generous, but who never proclaimed Christ as Lord in her heart and with her words, will bob up and down forever in the lake of fire, next to Hitler, Stalin, or Mao (and others like them). This scenario is unjust, even if the lesser degree of punishment applies to her, because she feels less pain than they do (is there a “jacuzzi section” in the lake of fire?). It is still eternal and never ending and out of proportion to her crime of unbelief in her brief life on earth. God is the just Judge, yes, but he is also the loving Father.
Are there other options than punishment that adds up to eternally conscious torment and torture in the fires of hell?
Yes, say the universalists.
C. Definition
Universalists, when they properly teach their doctrine, say that after a time of punishment in hell fire or in some other state (outer darkness?), proportionate to the unredeemed human’s good and bad works, God will eventually restore the person to have fellowship with him.
It is also known as Christian universalism, Evangelical universalism, restorationism, or universal reconciliation.
As Steve Gregg wrote in his balanced and thorough treatment of all three theories: “Evangelical universalism … is the view that God intends to save every person, whom He originally made in His image and for His glory, and that no opposing power can prevent God from fulfilling His sovereign purpose” (p. 238; also see Robin A. Parry in Four Views on Hell).
Other terms: universal reconciliation
D. Brief overview of church history
Contrary to the opinions of its critics, this theory was held not only by Origen, (c. 185-c. 254), whom many today consider heterodox (Gregg), but by others. A sample follows.
Clement of Alexandria (c. 195), predecessor to Origen, has several key passages advocating this option.
Even Irenaeus (flourished c. 175-c. 195), claimed by traditionalist and terminalists, in his book Against Heresies, did not say it was a heresy. In a fragment ascribed to him, even he seemed to teach universalism.
In the Council at Constantinople, Gregory of Nazianzus (330-389), a universalist, was appointed to lead the council.
Gregory of Nyssa (330-c. 395) participated in the Council, and he was an advocate of extreme universalism.
Hippolytus, a contemporary of Origen, wrote a treatise against thirty-two heresies, but did not include universal reconciliation. (Gregg, pp. 117-20).
However, then it was anathematized by the Roman Catholic Church in the sixth century at the Council of Constantinople (553), under the earlier theological influence of Augustine (354-430). But even he wrote in his Handbook that many who believed in Scripture also believed in universalism or terminalism, yet he did not anathematize them or call them heretical. They simply needed correction.
According to Robin A. Parry, a recent defender of universalism, here are additional premodern church theologians who held this view:
Bardaisn of Edessa (154-222),
Theognostus (c. 210-c. 270),
Pierius (d. 309), Gregory the Wonderworker (c. 213-c. 270),
Pamphilus (d. 309),
Methodius of Olympus (d. c. 311),
Eusebius (c. 260-c. 340), Athanasius (296-373),
Didymus the Blind (d. c. 398),
Evagrius Pontocus (345-99),
Diodore of Tarsus (d. c. 390),
Theodore of Mopsuestia (c. 350-428),
Jerome the younger (c. 347-420), Rufinus (c. 340-410),
Dionysius the Areopagite (sixth century),
Maximus the Confessor (c. 580-662),
Isaac of Nineveh (d. 700), John Scotus Eriugena (c. 815-c. 877),
Augustine in his younger days, though he rejected it later (Parry, p. 102).
Prominent modern adherents: William Law, George MacDonald, Hannah Whitehall Smith, F. W. Farrar, William Barclay, Jacques Ellul, Thomas Talbot, Rob Bell (?), and of course Robin A. Parry!
The main point in this quick survey of church history is that many people believed in universalism (and terminalism) in the first few centuries of the church. And at that time traditionalists (those who believed in eternal hell-fire and conscious torment there) did not call them heretics until after the church condemned the doctrine. However, despite the Council’s condemnation, no one today should call a universalist a heretic.
E. Key ideas
Here are some basic ideas, with the supporting Scriptures coming in the next section:
1.. God desires all people to be saved, and Christ died to save the whole world.
2.. If Christ does not redeem the whole world, he will be a “cosmic Loser,” and the devil will have won.
3.. The Bible proclaims universal salvation and restoration (see below).
4.. After people die, they will be punished in proportion to their guilt or until they repent. They don’t just get accepted immediately to heaven. See my posts on the degrees of punishment:
Are There Degrees of Punishment, Rewards after Final Judgment?
5.. Why would God declare death to be the cut-off point for repentance and forgiveness? It seems arbitrary in light of his love and justice. Everywhere in Scripture judgment served a purpose or redemption.
6.. This teaching does not contradict other cardinal doctrines of the evangelical faith, particularly those which state that God calls everyone to be saved, even when they refuse in this life.
7.. Death and the devil and hell fire will not win in the end. God will win.
(Gregg, pp. 12-13).
F. Key Scriptures
Now let’s review a sample of Scriptural support for the doctrine. If readers would like to see the following verses in many translations and in their contexts, they may go to biblegateway.com, and type in the references.
Second Samuel 14:14: All humans die, but God does not desire this. He worked out a way that all banished persons do not remain banished forever.
Psalm 103:8: God is merciful and gracious, abounding in mercy and slow to anger (cf. Ps. 145:8-9; Jonah 4:2; Mic. 7:18-19).
Psalm 136:1: His mercy endures forever (repeated 26 times in the psalm).
Isaiah 42:1-4: The Messiah (or Servant) calls all the nations to God.
Isaiah 45:22: all the ends of the earth will be saved.
Isaiah 53:11: It speaks of universal salvation and justification.
Ezekiel 18:23, 32: God does not take pleasure in the death of the wicked. He wants them to turn from their wicked ways and live (cf. Ezek. 33:11).
John 1:29: John calls Jesus the lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.
John 3:16: God so loved the world ….
John 12:32: When Jesus is lifted up on the cross, he will draw all people to himself.
John 12:47: Jesus came to save the world.
Romans 5:18: transgression was brought to everyone through one man (Adam), so righteousness will be brought to everyone through one man (Christ).
Romans 11:32: “For God has bound everyone over to disobedience so that he may have mercy on them all.”
First Corinthians 13:4-8: Love never fails.
First Corinthians15:24: God will destroy every enemy, even death itself. Those in hell who experience the second death will no longer be subject to it.
First Corinthians 15:54-55: As noted, in the end, death will be defeated and our victory over it is in Christ.
Second Corinthians 5:19: God in Christ reconciled the world to himself.
Ephesians 1:9-10: God purposed that in the fullness of time he would gather in unity all things in Christ.
Colossians 1:19-20: The fulness of deity dwells in Jesus and through him God is pleased to reconcile all things through Christ, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood.
Colossians 2:15: Christ triumphed over the enemy through the cross, so he is not the cosmic loser.
Philippians 2:10-11: At the name of Jesus every knee shall bow and every tongue acknowledge that he is Lord.
First Timothy 2:3-6: God desires all people to be saved, and Christ Jesus gave himself a ransom for all.
First Timothy 4:10: God is the Savior of all people, especially among those who believe.
Titus 2:11: The grace of God appeared and is bringing salvation to all people.
Hebrews 2:14: Jesus triumphed over death and the devil that held it.
First John 2:2: Jesus is the atoning sacrifice for the church and for the sins of the whole world.
First John 3:8: Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil.
Second Peter 3:9 God desires that all should come to repentance.
Even though those verses are summaries without analyses, the reader can judge their effectiveness. If readers would like closer analyses of them, they can go to Steve Gregg’s book about hell (see Sources, below).
Or they may click on this Bible website and read them biblegateway.com.
G. Additional key points
The word Greek adjective aiōnios (pronounced eye-oh-nee-oss) does not always mean “eternal” or “everlasting” or “endless” in every context in Scripture. Its basic meaning is “without a determinate horizon” that one can see, or “enduring” (without eternity necessarily) or “a long age,” “pertaining to an age,” or “divine origin and character.” Even the destruction of Sodom was accomplished by aiōnios fire (Jude 7), which was actually completed in a short time. Rather, aiōnios in Jude 7 speaks of intensity and the everlasting results of judgment fires, not that the fire itself lasts forever. It was of divine origin and character.
So hell may not be eternal—only God is and so are the redeemed who derive eternity from him. Having a soul does not add up to being immortal, automatically. That’s an idea borrowed from Plato and Greek philosophy, but not Scripture. Unbelievers are not eternal or immortal, until they repent and receive eternal life from God.
See my related post:
What Do Words ‘Eternity,’ ‘Eternal’ Fully Mean in the Bible?
Next, the image of fire in the context of hell could be metaphorical, but let’s say that it is real. Universalists claim that it is an acceptable method of punishment, but they believe that fire and punishment will not be eternal or everlasting; instead they will last an age or as long as the unredeemed need to undergo a just punishment, before repenting and being saved.
As I noted in the previous two theories, in the same chapter in Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus uses two metaphors for separation from God: fire and darkness (Matt. 25). Peter, evidently, taking his cue from Jesus, says that thoroughly corrupt people will be punished with gloomy darkness.
17 These people are springs without water and mists driven by a storm. Blackest darkness is reserved for them. (2 Peter 2:17, NIV)
He does not mention fire in his two epistles as the abode of the condemned. So there is some ambiguity about the final doom of unrepentant sinners. I say we should also show some caution in our presentation of the final sentencing of those who reject God.
Scriptures repeat the theme that God’s judgment on earth is a function of his love and mercy and serves a purpose of teaching and restoring, while there are no Scriptures that say his judgments are only and merely retributive and have no merciful end or goal in view. Throughout Scripture, all of his judgments have a positive purpose of redemption (e.g. Lev. 26:23-24; Job 5:17-18; Is. 4:4; Is. 26:9; Jer. 9:6-7; Hab. 1:12; Zeph. 3:8-9; 1 Cor. 5:5; 1 Tim. 1:19-20). Therefore, it is out of sync and unsuitable to claim that the few Scriptures about hell teach that it is endless and retributive without an ultimate, divine and redemptive purpose, which is best described in Scripture as repentance and salvation (Gregg pp. 250-54).
H. Objections and replies
1.. Heb. 9:27 teaches that all men die, and afterwards the judgment. This refutes universal reconciliation, doesn’t it?
Reply: No. Universalists discuss what happens after judgment.
2. One major drawback to this theory is that horrendously evil men like Hitler, Stalin, and Mao (and many others) will eventually get to spend eternity in heaven with the rest of us. Wide-scale murders of the twentieth century on an industrial scale makes universalism less acceptable. I told one Christian academic who believed in universalism, “Can you at least put those three men in hell-fire one year for every life they snuffed out?”
Reply: He didn’t answer, but he could have said yes. The unredeemed get punished, but their punishments fit the crime. Some get lighter sentences; others get heavier ones. Only then will they experience restoration.
I also wonder if we can combine terminalism and universalism. Men like Hitler and Stalin and Mao get snuffed out into nonexistence after a suitable time in hell, while people like the kind and generous but unredeemed grandmother eventually get reconciled to God. This would solve the issue of people who are so reprobate that they still refuse to spend eternity with God, even after a long time in hell, and those who are soft hearted after their punishment in hell. The first group passes into nonexistence, while the second one experiences redemption. Now the seemingly contrary sets of Scriptures supporting the three theories can be reconciled.
Further study is needed here.
3. Doesn’t universalism “demotivate” Christians to share the gospel and people to receive it?
Reply: No, because scaring people with hell is not the best preaching method, either. People need salvation because God is good and wants a relationship with them and to fill them with his cleansing, renewing Spirit. They need deliverance from Satan and their destructive sins, right now. And in Christ, they can be assured of escaping any form of painful punishment after judgment, whatever it entails, so a brief mention of punishment in hell may indeed be in order for the unredeemed. Nowadays, with the worldwide web, it is difficult to imagine that numerous people will get saved with fire-and-brimstone preaching. They simply need a new life, and Christ can offer it.
I. Summary
If all sins deserve infinite punishment, then no sin is greater or worse, because infinite punishment denies degrees of punishment, because all sins are equally bad—infinitely bad. As Robin Parry says in Four Views on Hell, if an employee steals a sheet of paper from work, then does he deserve infinite punishment, just like the man who tortures and kills children (p. 53)? No. God makes distinctions about sins. So there is a problem with the view of eternal, conscious punishment.
Again, see my posts:
Are There Degrees of Punishment, Rewards after Final Judgment?
If punishment in hell-fire is endless, then there is no redemptive purpose or closure to the judgment, and it is far out of proportion to the just Judge and the loving Father.
Universalism solves this extreme view of God because in the end the condemned are redeemed, after a just punishment in proportion to each individual’s sins.
Ancient Israel spent centuries sinning against an infinitely holy God, and he did indeed judge them, but their punishment was not endless; he restored a remnant, while the others simply died. So punishment in the OT does not go on forever.
V. Application
A. Overview
Let’s look at the issue of hell and punishment at 30,000 feet. Maybe God in his providence did not clarify the details about them as clearly as many Evangelicals have believed. Therefore, maybe we should learn that since the details are now undergoing discussion, we should not be dogmatic about it or bludgeon dissidents from ECT with the cries of “Heterodoxy! Heresy!” Maybe we should not make ECT a test for orthodoxy but discuss it and the other two theories with calm, reasonable minds.
B. Metaphors for eternal separation
Charismatic theologian J. Rodman Williams (d. 2008), a devout and Bible-respecting Presbyterian minister, says fire and darkness are just metaphors for separation from God and punishment. They cannot be taken literally. He writes:
These two terms, “darkness” and “fire,” that point to the final state of the lost might seem to be opposites, because darkness, even black darkness, suggests nothing like fire or the light of a blazing fire. Thus again we must guard against identifying the particular terms with literal reality, such as a place of black darkness or of blazing fire. Rather, darkness and fire are metaphors that express the profound truth, on the one hand, of terrible estrangement and isolation from God, and on the other, the pain and misery of unrelieved punishment. It is significant that Jesus in His portrayals of darkness and fire often adds the statement “There men will weep and gnash their teeth.” This weeping and gnashing … vividly suggests both suffering and despair. So whether the metaphor is darkness or fire, the picture is indeed a grim one, even beyond the ability of any figure of speech to express.
One further word: both darkness and fire refer to the basic situation of the lost after Last Judgment. However, we have already observed that there will be degrees of punishment; hence in some sense the darkness and fire will not be wholly the same. Some punishment will be more tolerable than other punishment: some people will receive a greater condemnation, while some (to change the figure) will be “beaten with few blows” [Luke 12:48]. Thus we should not understand the overall picture of the state of the lost to exclude differences in degree of punishment. Even as for the righteous in the world to come, there will be varying rewards, so for the unrighteous, the punishment will not be the same. (Williams, Renewal Theology, vol. 3, 470-71).
For the record, Williams did not believe in annihilationism (or terminalism) or universal reconciliation (or restorationism).
C. Counsel from an author
Let’s allow Steve Gregg, whose book on the three versions of hell and punishment is superb, to counsel us. He writes:
The fact that the Bible actually exhibits sufficient ambiguity on the subject of hell as to allow three very disparate viewpoints to be maintained by Christians of equal intelligence and sincerity raises the question whether God even thinks it is important that we reach final conclusions on the matter. It may be that God, in His wisdom, has chosen not to satisfy our curiosity about the fate of others, so that we might redirect our energies to fulfilling our own assigned tasks. When Peter, wondering about John’s destiny, asked Jesus, “But Lord, what about this man?” Jesus said to him, “What is that to you? You follow me” (John 21:21-22). (p. 301)
Therefore let stop making the three theories a test for orthodoxy.
D. Wise statement
Therefore, once again:
In essentials, unity; in nonessentials, liberty; in all things, charity (love).
And therefore, let’s stop making this debatable doctrine of punishment in the afterlife a test for orthodoxy.
E. Heretical version
However, if a universalist teaches that evil men like Hitler, Stalin, or Mao get instantly forgive if they repent after judgement, then I consider this to be heretical. No support in Scripture.
F. Meeting an objector
Now you can tell the concerned objector that there are options about hell. Yes, Jesus is the way to heaven, and you can’t change that, but his grandmother’s suffering will not be eternal. Another theory, universal reconciliation, says that in the end redemption is possible, but only after punishment in hell. These two theories are gaining in momentum among careful Bible readers. They may even be the most popular ones in the next two or three decades, especially after careful exegesis of the passages that traditionalists use (their interpretations are not strong enough to be dispositive or decisive). It seems (to me at least) that since Bible teachers don’t agree on what exactly happens in and around hell and punishment, we should not be dogmatic about it.
You can quote for the concerned skeptic from Genesis 18:25, which, fittingly, comes in the context of the judgment on Sodom and Gomorrah, destroyed by fire and brimstone: “Will not the Judge of all the earth do right?” The Judge is God and the answer is yes.
G. Illustration from human law courts
The human law courts teach him that punishment is proportional—a first degree murderer is treated humanely before he is executed; he is not tortured for twenty years while he is waiting on death row. The believer will not accept the claim that sinning against an infinitely majestic and just God requires an infinite punishment for a finite human with a finite lifespan. He will tell you that God is also infinite in love and mercy and forgiveness.
H. Best solution
The best news is that the objector can come to know Jesus and have new life in him. When that happens, hell is a nonissue for him personally.
The main thing is what we do here and now about Jesus. This is more important than questions about the afterlife. He is the resurrected Lord and wants everyone who will listen and believe in him to be saved for eternal life in him, right now, and to be saved from hell—whatever it turns out to be. Faith in Jesus will free them from these questions about the afterlife that cannot be answered with perfect clarity on this side of the grave and judgment. Right now, Jesus will give them a life free from the dominion of sin in their lives, sin that destroys. And best of all, they can know God personally, as a loving Father.
I. My opinion
The better option is ECT and annihilationism. Each one has my support. Universalism, though not heretical when taught properly, is the weakest one of all. I don’t support it.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
I depended on J. Rodman Williams, vol. 3, 470-71, and Steve Gregg.
Dr. Jim's Essential Bible Teaching 