Growing up we’re taught that the “wages of sin is hell” but nope– it’s perishing, dying, being destroyed.. the opposite of eternal life in hell. 2 Thessalonians 1:9 “who shall be punished with everlasting destruction …”. It is these who have not defiled themselves with women, for they are virgins. And of instruction about washings, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. It is His nature; there is no anger or fury in love; fury is not in me, Isa. Romans 6:23: “For the wages of sin is death..“. ‣ What if some were unfaithful? ... Now take a look at more verses and you find that the wicked will be burned up not burning forever in an eternal … It is better for you to enter life crippled than with two hands to go to hell, to the unquenchable fire. Psalm 1:6 “But the way of the ungodly shall, If one believes in eternal conscious hell, they don’t believe the wicked will be “consumed.” Instead, they believe the wicked and tortured andÂ, Isa. If life eternal is a life that never ends, death eternal is a death that never comes back to life. ‣ This is the testimony of the whole of scripture. While this might not be exhaustive, I’ve put together 25 verses that strongly illustrate what the Bible teaches on the issue. Y For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. But after the Lord led me in a prolonged period of studying this topic (mainly from the Bible, but also by reading the best arguments I could find from evangelicals with each view) I became thoroughly convinced that the Bible teaches something else. We have already seen John define that fire as eternal conscious punishment in the lake of fire for the devil (Rev. 1:28, 30–31 “rebels and sinners shall be, Mal 4:1 “All the arrogant and every evildoer will be stubble, and the day that is coming will set them on fire,” says the LORD Almighty. The eternal, never-ending nature of the sinner’s punishment is directly related to the infinite and eternal nature of God. 34:16, 21 “evil brings death to the wicked.”, Of course, if one believes in eternal hell, one doesn’t believe that evil brings death at all, but brings life– in hell.Â, Psalm 92:7 “… shall be destroyed forever.”. The rich man also died and was buried, and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side. For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing, and they have no more reward, for the memory of them is forgotten. But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire. Why? For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell. It’s the ONLY verse in the entire Bible where we find the word “eternal” beside the word “punishment”. OpenBible.info That Judith XVI:17 also teaches conscious torment is clear. Here’s the list: Psalm 1:6 “But the way of the ungodly shall perish”. In this post, I want to summarize the best arguments for eternal conscious torment (ECT)—the traditional view of hell where the wicked will experience never-ending punishment. And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out. ‣ Publication date: Dec 20, 2020. Follower of Jesus Christ the Son of God. Just as the weeds are gathered and burned with fire, so will it be at the close of the age. Blessed and holy is the one who shares in the first resurrection! As one will see, to believe in the traditional hell, one will have to directly argue against the language the Bible uses in these 25 passages which unanimously describe the fate of the unjust as being annihilation– not eternity in a conscious hell. If you read it without those lenses to distort what you see, you’ll find that eternal hell isn’t what the Bible warns us about– it warns us about a second death. And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out. The problem with this line of reasoning begins with the first premise. Verses against eternal conscious torment in Hell. 27:4. Posted by. Scripture says that the punishment of sin is death. L Cite this page: Editor: Stephen Smith. M It does not say that the punishment of sin is torment. Eternal torment view. And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. In 2 Thessalonians 1:9, the Apostle Paul describes Hell in this way: For their worm shall not die, their fire shall not be quenched, and they shall be an abhorrence to all flesh.”. And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. Eternal torment does not correspond with the nature of God. The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham's side. “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. “Socialism,” big-government solutions, safety nets, and financial handouts, feel a lot different when you’re the one desperately struggling and the check is made out to you. For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to chains of gloomy darkness to be kept until the judgment; But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction. And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. In flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Q To him be honor and eternal dominion. His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and gather his wheat into the barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”. This continues the theme of totally destroyed– there’s not a trace of the wicked. But rebels and sinners shall be broken together, and those who forsake the Lord shall be consumed. Mark 9:48 is another verse sometimes used to support the idea of eternal conscious torment for unrepentant sinners. C However, the Bible is too clear in its assertion that conscious eternal torment is the fate of those who reject Christ. Pharisees weren't being warned of Eternal Conscious Torment. And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire. When you sin against an infinite God —and all sin is primarily oriented toward God —you accrue an infinite debt. Again, if Paul meant hell, he should have said it– seems like everyone talks about perishing, being destroyed– but doesn’t talk about hell. Wild waves of the sea, casting up the foam of their own shame; wandering stars, for whom the gloom of utter darkness has been reserved forever. ‣ ‣ And I heard a voice from heaven like the roar of many waters and like the sound of loud thunder. If one believes in eternal conscious hell, they don’t believe those who are lost are “destroyed” but again, that they live forever. In the traditional hell it will not be “as if they had never been” because they’ll live eternally and still “be.”, Mal 4:1 “All the arrogant and every evildoer will be stubble, and the day that is coming will set them on fire,” says the LORD Almighty. The moral intuition God has implanted within our consciences cannot justify the insatiable cruelty of a God who subjects sinners to unending torments. So there you go folks– the testimony of the whole of scripture does not testify to hell as a place where you are alive and tortured for all eternity. And the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. He is the author of Undiluted: Rediscovering the Radical Message of Jesus, and Unafraid: Moving Beyond Fear-Based Faith. This verse quotes from Isaiah 66:24 and mentions both unquenchable fire and worms that never die. However, if that is one of the strongest reasons you prefer Eternal Conscious Torment.... it doesn't work. There’s that pesky word “destroyed” again. This continues the consistency of scripture which tells us the wicked die– not that they are eternally living in a conscious hell. Here God is quoted directly– the evildoers are destroyed like straw thrown into the fire, and nothing is left. To presume that this is a picture or warning of eternal, conscious torment seems to be the consequence of a predetermined perspective, a savage imagination and established diegesis. “And they shall go out and look on the dead bodies of the men who have rebelled against me. ‣ Therefore, the wicked will be annihilated. Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil. The reason the bible doesn’t speak in such a ludicrous way is simply because this doctrine of eternal conscious torment in not a biblical teaching. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell. I would encourage you to just read the Bible– and read it without the lens of hell that you grew up with. It is better for you to enter life lame than with two feet to be thrown into hell. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades. But as for these enemies of mine, who did not want me to reign over them, bring them here and slaughter them before me.’”, And he said to the vinedresser, ‘Look, for three years now I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and I find none. B 0. The one who conquers will not be hurt by the second death.’. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’. He also will drink the wine of God's wrath, poured full strength into the cup of his anger, and he will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever, and they have no rest, day or night, these worshipers of the beast and its image, and whoever receives the mark of its name.”. “Enter by the narrow gate. To those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life; I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. Eternal torment is contrary to the revealed nature of God Himself. It is quoted by Jesus in Mark 9:43-49.] In Gehenna, the wicked are "destroyed" (Matt. ‣ Then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature. But for you who fear my name, the sun of righteousness shall rise with healing in its wings. Seems like the Bible is getting pretty clear that the consequence of rejecting God is, James 4:12a “There is one lawgiver, who is able to save and to, Their condemnation from long ago is not idle, and their, The Biblical Alternative to Hell (That God Show EP17), 10 Ways To Be A Better Peacemaker Online (And Make The Internet A Better Place), What Franklin Graham is Wrong About Today, Banning Hateful Symbols & Removing Monuments: A Better Way of Remembering History. The son shall not suffer for the iniquity of the father, nor the father suffer for the iniquity of the son. That leaves conditionalism (annihilationism) as the only remaining viable view. God’s Eternal Holiness Demands That Hell Be Eternal, Conscious Torment. 10:28). “Not a root or a branch will be left to them.”. Instead, from the beginning to the end of scripture we are warned that refusing to be reconciled to God– the author and sustainer of life– results in a natural outcome: the finality of death which is the ultimate destruction. 100 Bible Verses about Eternal Torment. Then I saw thrones, and seated on them were those to whom the authority to judge was committed. One historic Protestant view of hell is expressed in the Westminster Confession (1646): "but the wicked, who know not God, and obey not the gospel of Jesus Christ, shall be cast into eternal torments, and punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power." Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! Neither does it withstand scrutiny in systematic theology. And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. Over such the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and they will reign with him for a thousand years. Jesus in his warnings continues with the repetitive testimony of scripture: the consequence of rejecting reconciliation with God is destruction– not everlasting life in torment. Each of the other two theories, fully taught, says hell exists and people will be punished in it. ‣ 5:29,30). Allowing group-panic to drive our actions will have far more destructive consequences than the Corona virus itself. Again, as I said on That God Show, hell is NOT in the Old Testament. And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done. Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! When someone genuinely receives Christ and remains in union with him, hell becomes a nonissue. They came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. Biblical Arguments for Eternal Conscious Torment February 4, 2015 Preston Sprinkle. They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might. For the first 500 years of Christianity, the idea of eternal conscious torment was a view, but it was the minority view. And it shall be that every soul who does not listen to that prophet shall be destroyed from the people.’. You serpents, you brood of vipers, how are you to escape being sentenced to hell? 1:28, 30–31 “rebels and sinners shall be destroyed together, and those who forsake the Lord shall be consumed.”, Obadiah 1:16 It will be as if the evil “had never been.“, This speaks to ceasing to exist– not eternal life in hell. And another angel, a third, followed them, saying with a loud voice, “If anyone worships the beast and its image and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, he also will drink the wine of God's wrath, poured full strength into the cup of his anger, and he will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. BLC is an author, speaker, scholar, and global traveler, who holds graduate degrees in Theology & Intercultural Studies from Gordon-Conwell, and earned his doctorate in Intercultural Studies from Fuller. In just a little while, the wicked will be no more; though you look carefully at his place, he will not be there. Of David. To me, you cannot explain away those two verses that teach Annihilation. The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself. Who alone has immortality, who dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen or can see. [This passage, for many, is the most compelling reason to believe in eternal conscious torment. And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever, and they have no rest, day or night, these worshipers of the beast and its image, and whoever receives the mark of its name.”. Jesus on a variety of occasions uses the metaphor of fire that consumes not tortures: Matt. The key phrase is, “the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever.” This conclusion is confirmed by the rest of the Bible. It is better for you to enter life crippled or lame than with two hands or two feet to be thrown into the eternal fire. ‣ It is better for you to enter life lame than with two feet to be thrown into hell. O Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. 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