Annihilationism is a
ChristianChristianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
belief that apart from
salvationWithin religion salvation is the phenomenon of being saved from the undesirable condition of bondage or suffering experienced by the psyche or soul that has arisen as a result of unskillful or immoral actions generically referred to as sins. Salvation may also be called "deliverance" or...
the death of human beings results in their total destruction (annihilation) rather than their everlasting torment. It is directly related to the doctrine of
conditional immortalityIn Christian theology, conditionalism or conditional immortality is a concept of special salvation in which the gift of immortality is attached to belief in Jesus Christ. This doctrine is based in part upon another theological argument, that if the human soul is naturally mortal, immortality is...
, the idea that a human soul is not immortal unless it is given
eternal lifeIn Christianity the term eternal life traditionally refers to continued life after death, rather than immortality. While scholars such as John H. Leith assert that...
. Annihilationism asserts that God will eventually destroy or annihilate the wicked, leaving only the righteous to live on in
immortalityImmortality is the ability to live forever. It is unknown whether human physical immortality is an achievable condition. Biological forms have inherent limitations which may or may not be able to be overcome through medical interventions or engineering...
. Some annihilationists believe the wicked will be punished for their sins in the lake of fire before being annihilated (e.g. Seventh-day Adventists), others that
hellIn many religious traditions, a hell is a place of suffering and punishment in the afterlife. Religions with a linear divine history often depict hells as endless. Religions with a cyclic history often depict a hell as an intermediary period between incarnations...
is a false doctrine of pagan origin (e.g. Jehovah's Witness). It stands in contrast to the traditional and long standing view of eternal torment, and the view that everyone will be saved (
universal reconciliationIn Christian theology, universal reconciliation is the doctrine that all sinful and alienated human souls—because of divine love and mercy—will ultimately be reconciled to God.Universal salvation may be related to the perception of a problem of Hell, standing opposed to ideas...
or simply "universalism").
The belief is a minority view, although it has appeared throughout
Christian historyThe history of Christianity concerns the Christian religion, its followers and the Church with its various denominations, from the first century to the present. Christianity was founded in the 1st century by the followers of Jesus of Nazareth who they believed to be the Christ or chosen one of God...
. Since 1800 the alternative interpretation of hell as annihilation seems to have prevailed even among many of the more conservative theologians.
It experienced a resurgence in the 1980s when several prominent theologians including
John StottJohn Robert Walmsley Stott CBE was an English Christian leader and Anglican cleric who was noted as a leader of the worldwide Evangelical movement. He was one of the principal authors of the Lausanne Covenant in 1974...
defended it publicly. Earlier in the 20th century, some theologians at the
University of CambridgeThe University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...
including
Basil AtkinsonDr. Basil Ferris Campbell Atkinson was the under-librarian of the University of Cambridge from 1925 to 1960, and a writer on theology.Atkinson was most notable for his advocacy of soul sleep and conditional immortality...
supported the belief. 20th century English theologians who favour annihilation include Bishop
Charles GoreCharles Gore was a British theologian and Anglican bishop.-Early life and education:Gore was the third son of the Honourable Charles Alexander Gore, and brother of the fourth Earl of Arran...
(1916), William Temple, 98th Archbishop of Canterbury (1924);
Oliver Chase QuickOliver Chase Quick was an English theologian and Anglican priest.Oliver Quick was educated at Harrow and Corpus Christi College, Oxford, and ordained priest in 1912. He was Canon successively of Newcastle , Carlisle , St Paul's , Durham , and Christ Church, 1939-44...
, Chaplain to the Archbishop of Canterbury (1933),
Ulrich Ernst SimonUlrich Ernst Simon was an Anglican theologian of German Jewish origin.Simon was sent to England by his non-practising Jewish parents in 1933. His father, the composer James Simon, later died in the Holocaust...
(1964),
G. B. CairdGeorge Bradford Caird , D.Phil., D.D., FBA, was a British churchman, theologian, humanitarian, and biblical scholar...
(1966),
John WenhamJohn W. Wenham was an Anglican Bible scholar. Born in 1913, he devoted his professional life to academic and pastoral work. He died February 13, 1996 at age 82 after a series of debilitating strokes....
(1974),
Clark PinnockClark H. Pinnock was a Christian theologian, apologist and author. He was Professor Emeritus of Systematic Theology at McMaster Divinity College.-Education and career:...
,
Michael GreenEdward Michael Bankes Green is a British theologian, Anglican priest, Christian apologist and author of more than 50 Christian books.- Early life, education and ministry :...
, and
Philip HughesPhilip Edgcumbe Hughes was an Anglican clergyman and New Testament scholar.Dr. Hughes was born in Australia and received his B.A., M.A., and D.L.H. from the University of Cape Town, B.D. from the University of London, and Th.D. from the Australian College of Theology. From 1947 to 1953 Hughes...
.
Christian denominations which are annihilationist were influenced by the Millerite/Adventist movement of the mid-19th century. These include the
Seventh-day AdventistsThe Seventh-day Adventist Church is a Protestant Christian denomination distinguished by its observance of Saturday, the original seventh day of the Judeo-Christian week, as the Sabbath, and by its emphasis on the imminent second coming of Jesus Christ...
,
Bible StudentsThe Bible Student movement is the name adopted by a Millennialist Restorationist Christian movement that emerged from the teachings and ministry of Charles Taze Russell, also known as Pastor Russell...
,
ChristadelphiansChristadelphians is a Christian group that developed in the United Kingdom and North America in the 19th century...
and the various
Advent ChristianThe Advent Christian Church is a "first-day" body of Adventist Christians founded on the teachings of William Miller.- William Miller :Though the first Advent Christian Association was founded in Salem, Massachusetts in 1860, the church's formation is rooted in the adventist teachings began by...
churches. Additionally, the
Church of EnglandThe Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...
's Doctrine Commission reported in 1995 that "[h]ell is not eternal torment", but "non-being". Some Protestant and Anglican writers have also proposed annihilationist doctrines.
Annihilationists base the doctrine on their
exegesisExegesis is a critical explanation or interpretation of a text, especially a religious text. Traditionally the term was used primarily for exegesis of the Bible; however, in contemporary usage it has broadened to mean a critical explanation of any text, and the term "Biblical exegesis" is used...
of Scripture, some early church writing, historical criticism of the doctrine of hell, and the concept of
God as too lovingLove of God are central notions in monotheistic and polytheistic religions, and are important in one's personal relationship with God and one's conception of God ....
to punish his creations forever. They claim that the popular conceptions of hell stem from Jewish speculation during the
intertestamental periodThe intertestamental period is a term used to refer to a period of time between the writings of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian New Testament texts. Traditionally, it is considered to be a roughly four hundred year period, spanning the ministry of Malachi The intertestamental period is a term...
, belief in an immortal soul which originated in
Greek philosophyAncient Greek philosophy arose in the 6th century BCE and continued through the Hellenistic period, at which point Ancient Greece was incorporated in the Roman Empire...
and influenced Christian theologians, and also graphic and imaginative
medievalThe Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
art and poetry.
Bible references
Those who support annihilationism generally refer to
New TestamentThe New Testament is the second major division of the Christian biblical canon, the first such division being the much longer Old Testament....
texts such as Matthew 10:28 where Christ speaks of the wicked being destroyed "both body and soul" in fiery hell and to
Old TestamentThe Old Testament, of which Christians hold different views, is a Christian term for the religious writings of ancient Israel held sacred and inspired by Christians which overlaps with the 24-book canon of the Masoretic Text of Judaism...
texts such as Ezekiel 18:4 saying that "the soul that sins shall die". Their view of the afterlife generally appeals to New Testament references such as John 11:11 "our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep" and 1Thessalonians 4:15 "we shall not precede those who have fallen asleep". In this view mankind is mortal and the soul is in a dormant state having no concept of the passing of time when the body dies. According to this view, the dead in Christ are awaiting the resurrection of the dead mentioned by Paul in 1 Corinthians 15. The ancient
HebrewsHebrews is an ethnonym used in the Hebrew Bible...
, according to some modern scholars, had no concept of the eternal soul. The afterlife was simply
sheolSheol |Hebrew]] Šʾôl) is the "grave", "pit", or "abyss" in Hebrew. She'ol is the earliest conception of the afterlife in the Jewish scriptures. It is a place of darkness to which all dead go, regardless of the moral choices made in life, and where they are "removed from the light of God"...
, the abode of the dead, a bleak end to existence akin to the Greek
hadesHades , Hadēs, originally , Haidēs or , Aidēs , meaning "the unseen") was the ancient Greek god of the underworld. The genitive , Haidou, was an elision to denote locality: "[the house/dominion] of Hades". Eventually, the nominative came to designate the abode of the dead.In Greek mythology, Hades...
.
Those who oppose annihilationism generally refer to the
New TestamentThe New Testament is the second major division of the Christian biblical canon, the first such division being the much longer Old Testament....
, especially the story of Rich man and Lazarus. By the time of
ChristChrist is the English term for the Greek meaning "the anointed one". It is a translation of the Hebrew , usually transliterated into English as Messiah or Mashiach...
, the Jews largely believed in a future
resurrection of the deadResurrection of the Dead is a belief found in a number of eschatologies, most commonly in Christian, Islamic, Jewish and Zoroastrian. In general, the phrase refers to a specific event in the future; multiple prophesies in the histories of these religions assert that the dead will be brought back to...
. They portrayed the wicked as suffering in sheol while awaiting the resurrection. Some annihilationists take these references to portray the temporary suffering of those who will be destroyed. The parable shows the rich man suffering in the fiery part of Hades (
en to hade), where however he could see Abraham and Lazarus and converse with Abraham. Although, the parable of Lazarus could also be interpreted in the sense that it states "being in hades he lifted up his eyes", meaning that the Rich Man was in hades and was then resurrected ("lifted up his eyes"), therefore stating that at the time of the torment described and conversing with Abraham, he was no-longer in hades, but facing the lake of fire.
Church fathers and later
A vast majority of Christian writers, from
TertullianQuintus Septimius Florens Tertullianus, anglicised as Tertullian , was a prolific early Christian author from Carthage in the Roman province of Africa. He is the first Christian author to produce an extensive corpus of Latin Christian literature. He also was a notable early Christian apologist and...
to
LutherMartin Luther was a German priest, professor of theology and iconic figure of the Protestant Reformation. He strongly disputed the claim that freedom from God's punishment for sin could be purchased with money. He confronted indulgence salesman Johann Tetzel with his Ninety-Five Theses in 1517...
, have held to traditional notions of hell. However, the annihilationist position is not without some historical warrant. Early forms of
conditional immortalityIn Christian theology, conditionalism or conditional immortality is a concept of special salvation in which the gift of immortality is attached to belief in Jesus Christ. This doctrine is based in part upon another theological argument, that if the human soul is naturally mortal, immortality is...
can be found in the writings of
Ignatius of AntiochIgnatius of Antioch was among the Apostolic Fathers, was the third Bishop of Antioch, and was a student of John the Apostle. En route to his martyrdom in Rome, Ignatius wrote a series of letters which have been preserved as an example of very early Christian theology...
(d. 108),
Justin MartyrJustin Martyr, also known as just Saint Justin , was an early Christian apologist. Most of his works are lost, but two apologies and a dialogue survive. He is considered a saint by the Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church....
(d. 165), and
IrenaeusSaint Irenaeus , was Bishop of Lugdunum in Gaul, then a part of the Roman Empire . He was an early church father and apologist, and his writings were formative in the early development of Christian theology...
(d. 202). However,
ArnobiusArnobius of Sicca was an Early Christian apologist, during the reign of Diocletian . According to Jerome's Chronicle, Arnobius, before his conversion, was a distinguished Numidian rhetorician at Sicca Veneria , a major Christian center in Proconsular Africa, and owed his conversion to a...
(d. 330) is often recognized as the first to defend annihilationism explicitly. One quote in particular stands out in Arnobius' second book of
Against the Heathen:
Your interests are in jeopardy,-the salvation, I mean, of your souls; and unless you give yourselves to seek to know the Supreme God, a cruel death awaits you when freed from the bonds of body, not bringing sudden annihilation, but destroying by the bitterness of its grievous and long-protracted punishment.
Additionally, at least one of
John WesleyJohn Wesley was a Church of England cleric and Christian theologian. Wesley is largely credited, along with his brother Charles Wesley, as founding the Methodist movement which began when he took to open-air preaching in a similar manner to George Whitefield...
's recorded sermons are often reluctantly understood as implying annihilationism. Contrarily, the denominations of
MethodismMethodism is a movement of Protestant Christianity represented by a number of denominations and organizations, claiming a total of approximately seventy million adherents worldwide. The movement traces its roots to John Wesley's evangelistic revival movement within Anglicanism. His younger brother...
which arose through his influence typically do not agree with annihilationism.
Millerite and Adventist movement
Recently the doctrine has been most often associated with groups descended from or with influences from the Millerite movement of the mid-19th century. These include the
Seventh-day Adventist ChurchThe Seventh-day Adventist Church is a Protestant Christian denomination distinguished by its observance of Saturday, the original seventh day of the Judeo-Christian week, as the Sabbath, and by its emphasis on the imminent second coming of Jesus Christ...
, the
Church of God (7th day) - Salem ConferenceThe Church of God – Salem Conference is a seventh-day Sabbath-keeping Christian denomination. The Church of God observes the seventh-day Sabbath, which is ) the Biblical Sabbath for the Judeo-Christian tradition.-History:...
, the
Bible StudentsThe Bible Student movement is the name adopted by a Millennialist Restorationist Christian movement that emerged from the teachings and ministry of Charles Taze Russell, also known as Pastor Russell...
,
Jehovah's WitnessesJehovah's Witnesses is a millenarian restorationist Christian denomination with nontrinitarian beliefs distinct from mainstream Christianity. The religion reports worldwide membership of over 7 million adherents involved in evangelism, convention attendance of over 12 million, and annual...
, the
ChristadelphiansChristadelphians is a Christian group that developed in the United Kingdom and North America in the 19th century...
, the followers of
Herbert ArmstrongHerbert W. Armstrong founded the Worldwide Church of God in the late 1930s, as well as Ambassador College in 1946, and was an early pioneer of radio and tele-evangelism, originally taking to the airwaves in the 1930s from Eugene, Oregon...
, and the various
Advent ChristianThe Advent Christian Church is a "first-day" body of Adventist Christians founded on the teachings of William Miller.- William Miller :Though the first Advent Christian Association was founded in Salem, Massachusetts in 1860, the church's formation is rooted in the adventist teachings began by...
churches. (The Millerite movement consisted of 50,000 to 100,000 people in the United States who eagerly expected the soon return of Jesus, and originated around
William MillerWilliam Miller was an American Baptist preacher who is credited with beginning the mid-nineteenth century North American religious movement now known as Adventism. Among his direct spiritual heirs are several major religious denominations, including Seventh-day Adventists and Advent Christians...
).
George StorrsGeorge Storrs was a Christian teacher and writer in the United States.- Biography :George Storrs was born in Lebanon, New Hampshire on December 13, 1796, son to Colonel Constant Storrs and the former Lucinda Howe...
introduced the belief to the Millerites. He had been a Methodist minister and antislavery advocate. He was introduced to the view when in 1837 he read a pamphlet by
Henry GrewHenry Grew was a Christian teacher and writer whose studies of the Bible led him to conclusions which were at odds with doctrines accepted by many of the mainstream churches of his time...
. He published tracts in 1841 and 1842 arguing for conditionalism and annihilation. He became a Millerite, and started the
Bible Examiner in 1843 to promote these views. However most leaders of the movement rejected these beliefs, other than
Charles FitchCharles Fitch was an American preacher in the early 19th century, who rose to prominence for his work with the Millerite movement.-Early years :...
who accepted conditionalism. Still, in 1844 the movement officially decided these issues were not essential points of belief.
The Millerites expected Jesus to return around 1843 or 1844, based on Bible texts including Daniel 8:14, and one
Hebrew CalendarThe Hebrew calendar , or Jewish calendar, is a lunisolar calendar used today predominantly for Jewish religious observances. It determines the dates for Jewish holidays and the appropriate public reading of Torah portions, yahrzeits , and daily Psalm reading, among many ceremonial uses...
. When the most expected date of Jesus' return (October 22, 1844) passed uneventfully, the "
Great DisappointmentThe Great Disappointment was a major event in the history of the Millerite movement, a 19th-century American Christian sect that formed out of the Second Great Awakening. Based on his interpretations of the prophecies in the book of Daniel The Great Disappointment was a major event in the history...
" resulted. Followers met in 1845 to discuss the future direction of the movement, and were henceforth known as "Adventists". However they split on the issues of conditionalism and annihilation. The dominant group, which published the
Advent Herald, adopted the traditional position of the immortal soul, and became the American Evangelical Adventist Conference. On the other hand, groups behind the
Bible Advocate and
Second Advent Watchman adopted conditionalism. Later, the main advocate of conditionalism became the
World's Crisis publication, which started in the early 1850s, and played a key part in the origin of the Advent Christian Church. Storrs came to believe the wicked would never be resurrected. He and like-minded others formed the Life and Advent Union in 1863.
Seventh-day Adventist Church
The
Seventh-day Adventist ChurchThe Seventh-day Adventist Church is a Protestant Christian denomination distinguished by its observance of Saturday, the original seventh day of the Judeo-Christian week, as the Sabbath, and by its emphasis on the imminent second coming of Jesus Christ...
formed from a small group of Millerite Adventists who kept the Seventh-day Sabbath, and today forms the most prominent "Adventist" group.
Ellen G. WhiteEllen Gould White was a prolific author and an American Christian pioneer. She, along with other Sabbatarian Adventist leaders, such as Joseph Bates and her husband James White, would form what is now known as the Seventh-day Adventist Church.Ellen White reported to her fellow believers her...
rejected the immortal soul concept in 1843. Her husband
James WhiteJames Springer White , also known as Elder White was a co-founder of the Seventh-day Adventist Church and husband of Ellen G. White...
, along with
Joseph BatesJoseph Bates was an American seaman and revivalist minister. He was the founder and developer of Sabbatarian Adventism, a strain of religious thinking that evolved into the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Bates is also credited with convincing James White and Ellen G...
, formerly belonged to the conditionalist
Christian ConnectionThe Christian Connection or Christian Connexion was a Christian movement which began in several places during the late 18th and early 19th centuries and were secessions from three different religious denominations. The Christian Connection claimed to have no creed, instead professing to rely...
, and hinted at this belief in early publications. Together, the three constitute the primary founders of the church.
Articles appeared in the primary magazine of the movement in the 1850s, and two books were published. The view was apparently established by the middle of that decade. (In the 1860s, the group adopted the name "Seventh-day Adventist" and organized more formally.)
D. M. CanrightDudley Marvin Canright was a pastor in the Seventh-day Adventist Church for 22 years, who later left the church and became one of its severest critics...
and
Uriah SmithUriah Smith was a Seventh-day Adventist author and editor who worked for the Review and Herald for 50 years....
produced later books.
A publication with noticeable impact in the wider Christian world was
The Conditionalist Faith of our Fathers (2 vols, 1965–1966) by Le Roy Froom. It has been described as "a classic defense of conditionalism" by Clark Pinnock. It is a lengthy historical work, documenting the supporters throughout history.
Robert BrinsmeadRobert Daniel "Bob" Brinsmead is a formerly controversial figure within the Seventh-day Adventist Church in the 1960s and 1970s, known for his diverse theological journey....
, an Australian and former Seventh-day Adventist best known for his
Present Truth MagazinePresent Truth Magazine is an evangelical Christian magazine, started by Robert Brinsmead, a former Seventh-day Adventist.- History :The magazine was started by Robert Brinsmead in 1972. It was a free monthly publication....
, originally sponsored Edward Fudge to write
The Fire that Consumes.
Samuele BacchiocchiSamuele R. Bacchiocchi was a Seventh-day Adventist author and theologian, best known for his work on the Sabbath in Christianity, particularly in the historical work From Sabbath to Sunday, based on his doctoral thesis from the Pontifical Gregorian University...
, best known for his study
From Sabbath to Sunday, has defended annihilation. Pinnock wrote the foreword.
The Seventh-day Adventist Church's official beliefs support annihilation.
Seventh-day Adventists believe that the wicked will be punished in the lake of fire, before ultimately being destroyed. Their reading of biblical texts that are used in support of the traditional doctrine of hell is that these texts can be harmonized with this particular annihilationist understanding of hell. The Seventh-day Adventist view is that these biblical texts refer to the destructive forces that are employed and the results of this punishment as being eternal, and not that the wicked specifically experience conscious torment throughout eternity.
Church of God (7th Day) – Salem Conference
According to the
Church of God (7th day) - Salem ConferenceThe Church of God – Salem Conference is a seventh-day Sabbath-keeping Christian denomination. The Church of God observes the seventh-day Sabbath, which is ) the Biblical Sabbath for the Judeo-Christian tradition.-History:...
, the dead are unconscious in their graves and immortality is conditional. when God formed Adam, out of the dust of the ground, and before Adam could live, God breathed the breath of life into his body: "And man became a living soul" (Genesis 2:7). See also Ezekiel 18:4, 20. Psalm 146:4 says, "His (man's) breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth (dust); in that very day his thoughts perish." No man has ascended to heaven except Jesus Christ (John 3:13).
Others
Other supporters have included Charles Frederic Hudson (1860),
Edward WhiteEdward White was a leading London Free Church minister. He was brother of George Frederick White .He was one of the several Free Church ministers to write in favour of Christian mortalism.-Works:...
(1878),
Emmanuel Petavel-OlliffDr. Emmanuel Pétavel-Olliff was a Swiss pastor and biblical scholar.He was son of Abram-François Pétavel , Neuchâtel pastor, pro-Jewish writer and author of the poem La fille de Sion; ou, le rétablissement d'Israël...
(1836–1910, in 1889) and others.
1900s onwards
Annihilationism seems to be gaining as a legitimate minority opinion within modern, conservative
Protestant theologyProtestantism is one of the three major groupings within Christianity. It is a movement that began in Germany in the early 16th century as a reaction against medieval Roman Catholic doctrines and practices, especially in regards to salvation, justification, and ecclesiology.The doctrines of the...
since the 1960s, and particularly since the 1980s. It has found support and acceptance among some British evangelicals, although viewed with greater suspicion by their American counterparts. Recently, a handful of evangelical theologians, including the prominent evangelical
AnglicanAnglicanism is a tradition within Christianity comprising churches with historical connections to the Church of England or similar beliefs, worship and church structures. The word Anglican originates in ecclesia anglicana, a medieval Latin phrase dating to at least 1246 that means the English...
author
John StottJohn Robert Walmsley Stott CBE was an English Christian leader and Anglican cleric who was noted as a leader of the worldwide Evangelical movement. He was one of the principal authors of the Lausanne Covenant in 1974...
, have offered at least tentative support for the doctrine, touching off a heated debate within mainstream
evangelical ChristianityEvangelicalism is a Protestant Christian movement which began in Great Britain in the 1730s and gained popularity in the United States during the series of Great Awakenings of the 18th and 19th century.Its key commitments are:...
.
The subject really gained attention in the late 1980s, from publications by two evangelical Anglicans,
John StottJohn Robert Walmsley Stott CBE was an English Christian leader and Anglican cleric who was noted as a leader of the worldwide Evangelical movement. He was one of the principal authors of the Lausanne Covenant in 1974...
and Philip Hughes. Stott advocated the view in the 1988 book
Essentials: A Liberal-Evangelical Dialogue with
liberalLiberal Christianity, sometimes called liberal theology, is an umbrella term covering diverse, philosophically and biblically informed religious movements and ideas within Christianity from the late 18th century and onward...
David EdwardsDavid Lawrence Edwards OBE is a retired Anglican priest. He was the Dean of Norwich, Provost of Southwark and has been a prolific author.-Education:...
, the first time he publicly did so. However 5 years later he said he had held this view for around fifty years. Stott wrote, "Well, emotionally, I find the concept intolerable and do not understand how people can live with it without either cauterising their feelings or cracking under the strain." Yet he considers emotions unreliable, and affords supreme authority to the Bible. Stott supports annihilation, yet cautions, "I do not dogmatise about the position to which I have come. I hold it tentatively... I believe that the ultimate annihilation of the wicked should at least be accepted as a legitimate, biblically founded alternative to their eternal conscious torment." Philip Hughes published
The True Image in 1989, which has been called "[o]ne of the most significant books" in the debate. A portion deals with this issue in particular.
John WenhamJohn W. Wenham was an Anglican Bible scholar. Born in 1913, he devoted his professional life to academic and pastoral work. He died February 13, 1996 at age 82 after a series of debilitating strokes....
's 1974 book
The Goodness of God contained a chapter which challenged the traditional view, and was the first book from an evangelical publishing house to do so. It was republished later as
The Enigma of Evil. He contributed a chapter on conditionalism in the 1992 book
Universalism and the Doctrine of Hell. He later published
Facing Hell: An Autobiography 1913–1996, which explores the doctrine through an autobiographical approach. His interest in the topic stemmed from the 1930s as a student at the
University of CambridgeThe University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...
, where he was influenced by
Basil AtkinsonDr. Basil Ferris Campbell Atkinson was the under-librarian of the University of Cambridge from 1925 to 1960, and a writer on theology.Atkinson was most notable for his advocacy of soul sleep and conditional immortality...
. (Wenham is best known for his
The Elements of New Testament Greek, which has been a standard textbook for students). He wrote:
- "I feel that the time has come when I must declare my mind honestly. I believe that endless torment is a hideous and unscriptural doctrine which has been a terrible burden on the mind of the church for many centuries and a terrible blot on her presentation of the gospel. I should indeed be happy if, before I die, I could help in sweeping it away. Most of all I should rejoice to see a number of theologians ... joining ... in researching this great topic with all its ramifications."
The Fire that Consumes was published in 1982 by Edward Fudge of the Churches of Christ. It was described as "the best book" by
Clark PinnockClark H. Pinnock was a Christian theologian, apologist and author. He was Professor Emeritus of Systematic Theology at McMaster Divinity College.-Education and career:...
, as of a decade later.
John GerstnerJohn H. Gerstner was a Professor of Church History at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary and Knox Theological Seminary and an authority on the life and theology of Jonathan Edwards....
called it "the ablest critique of hell by a believer in the inspiration of the Bible." Clark Pinnock of
McMaster Divinity CollegeMcMaster Divinity College, also known as MacDiv, is a Christian seminary in Hamilton, Ontario. It is affiliated with the Baptist Convention of Ontario and Quebec, although in practice it is interdenominational, and could be said to more closely align with the broader Evangelical tradition...
has defended annihilation. Earlier, Atkinson had self-published the book
Life and Immortality. Theologians from Cambridge have been influential in supporting the annihilationist position, particularly Atkinson.
The view is also held by some liberal Christians within mainstream denominations.
There have been individual supporters earlier. Pentecostal healing evangelist
William BranhamWilliam Marrion Branham was a Christian minister, usually credited with founding the post World War II faith healing movement...
promoted annihilationism in the last few years before his death in 1965.
The Church of England's Doctrine Commission reported in February 1995 that Hell is not eternal torment. The report, entitled "The Mystery of Salvation" states, "Christians have professed appalling theologies which made God into a sadistic monster. ... Hell is not eternal torment, but it is the final and irrevocable choosing of that which is opposed to God so completely and so absolutely that the only end is total non-being." The British
Evangelical AllianceThe Evangelical Alliance is a London-based charitable organization founded in 1846. It has a claimed representation of over 1,000,000 evangelical Christians in the United Kingdom and is the oldest alliance of evangelical Christians in the world....
ACUTE report (published in 2000) states the doctrine is a "significant minority
evangelicalEvangelicalism is a Protestant Christian movement which began in Great Britain in the 1730s and gained popularity in the United States during the series of Great Awakenings of the 18th and 19th century.Its key commitments are:...
view" that has "grown within evangelicalism in recent years". A 2011 study of British evangelicals showed 19% disagreed a little or a lot with eternal conscious torment, and 31% were unsure.
Several evangelical reactions to the view were published. Another critique was by Paul Helm in 1989. In 1990, J. I. Packer delivered several lectures supporting the traditional view. The reluctance of many evangelicals is illustrated by the fact that proponents have had trouble publishing their views with evangelical publishing houses, with Wenham's 1973 book being the first.
Some well respected authors have remained neutral.
F. F. BruceFrederick Fyvie Bruce was a Biblical scholar and one of the founders of the modern evangelical understanding of the Bible...
wrote, "annihilation is certainly an acceptable interpretation of the relevant New Testament passages ... For myself, I remain agnostic. Eternal conscious torment is incompatible with the revealed character of God." Comparatively,
C. S. LewisClive Staples Lewis , commonly referred to as C. S. Lewis and known to his friends and family as "Jack", was a novelist, academic, medievalist, literary critic, essayist, lay theologian and Christian apologist from Belfast, Ireland...
did not systematize his own views. He rejected traditional pictures of the "tortures" of hell, as in
The Great DivorceThe Great Divorce is a work of allegory by C. S. Lewis that is complementary to Lewis' earlier book The Screwtape Letters.The working title was Who Goes Home? but the real name was changed at the publisher's insistence. The title refers to William Blake's The Marriage of Heaven and Hell...
where he pictured it as a drab "grey town". Yet in
The Problem of PainThe Problem of Pain is a 1940 book by C. S. Lewis, in which he seeks to provide an intellectual Christian response to questions about suffering...
, "Lewis sounds much like an annihilationist." He wrote:
- "But I notice that Our Lord, while stressing the terror of hell with unsparing severity usually emphasises the idea not of duration but of finality. Consignment to the destroying fire is usually treated as the end of the story—not as the beginning of a new story. That the lost soul is eternally fixed in its diabolical attitude we cannot doubt: but whether this eternal fixity implies endless duration—or duration at all—we cannot say."
The 'Catechism of the Catholic Church' (1992) describes hell as 'eternal death' (para 1861) and elsewhere states that 'the chief punishment of hell is that of eternal separation from God' (para 1035). What does 'eternal' mean in this context? St Thomas Aquinas, following Boethius, states that 'eternity is the full, perfect and simultaneous possession of unending life' (Summa Theologica I, question 10), so apparently eternal separation from God is a 'negative eternity', a complete and permanent separation from God. In the Collect (opening prayer) for the eighth Sunday after Pentecost in the Tridentine missal, we find the words 'qui sine te esse non possumus', meaning 'we who without Thee cannot be (or exist)'. Putting these two citations together in a literal sense would seem to suggest annihilationism, which, however, contrary to Catholic teaching.
It is interesting to note that the Collect mentioned above found its way into the Anglican prayer-book, as the collect for the ninth Sunday after Trinity, but mistranslated so that it reads 'we who cannot do anything that is good without Thee'. Perhaps the Anglican translators (in the 16th century) feared that a correct translation of the Latin text might undermine the doctrine of everlasting torment in hell. In the modern ordinary form of the Mass of the Catholic Church, in the collect is included again, used on thursday in the first week of Lent.
Conditional immortality
The doctrine is often, although not always, bound up with the notion of "conditional immortality", a belief that the soul is not innately immortal. They are related yet distinct. At death, both the wicked and righteous will pass into non-existence, only to be
resurrectedResurrection of the Dead is a belief found in a number of eschatologies, most commonly in Christian, Islamic, Jewish and Zoroastrian. In general, the phrase refers to a specific event in the future; multiple prophesies in the histories of these religions assert that the dead will be brought back to...
at the
final judgmentThe Last Judgment, Final Judgment, Day of Judgment, Judgment Day, or The Day of the Lord in Christian theology, is the final and eternal judgment by God of every nation. The concept is found in all the Canonical gospels, particularly the Gospel of Matthew. It will purportedly take place after the...
. God, who alone is immortal, passes on the gift of immortality to the righteous, who will live forever in
heavenHeaven, the Heavens or Seven Heavens, is a common religious cosmological or metaphysical term for the physical or transcendent place from which heavenly beings originate, are enthroned or inhabit...
or on an idyllic earth or
World to ComeThe World to Come is an eschatological phrase reflecting the belief that the "current world" is flawed or cursed and will be replaced in the future by a better world or a paradise. The concept is similar to the concepts of Heaven and the afterlife, but Heaven is another place generally seen as...
, while the wicked will ultimately face a second death.
Those who describe and/or those who believe in this doctrine may not use "annihilationist" to define the belief, and the terms "mortalist" and "conditionalist" are often used. Edward Fudge (1982) uses "annihilationist" to refer to the both "mortalists" and "conditionalists" who believe in a
universal resurrectionUniversal resurrection is a doctrine held by most Christian denominations which posits that all of the dead who have ever lived will be resurrected from the dead, generally to stand for a Last Judgment.-Judaism:...
, as well as those groups which hold that not all the wicked will rise to face the New Testament's "resurrection of the dead, both of the just and unjust".
Different understanding of Scripture
Some Annihilationists ask the question— why would God choose the words like "destroy, destruction, perish, death" to signify something other than their plain meaning? While a denial of the existence of Hell is not necessary, in this view, the suffering of the souls that inhabit it is terminated by their eventual death. Adventists, and perhaps others, then understand the term "hell" to refer to the
process of destruction, not as a geographical location nor a permanently existing process.
- Psalm 92:7 ...................shall be "destroyed" forever....
- Psalm 1: 6 ....................be the way of the ungodly shall "perish"
- Matthew 10:28 ..............rather fear him which is able to "destroy" both soul and body in hell
- John 3:16 .....................whosoever believeth in him should not perish (Greek: destroyed)
- Romans 6:23 ................For the wages of sin is "death"…
- James 4:12 ....................There is one lawgiver, who is able to save and to "destroy"
- Philippians 3:19 .............Whose end is "destruction"
- 2 Thessalonians 1:9 ........Who shall be punished with everlasting "destruction"
- Hebrews 10:39 ...............But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition (Greek: destruction); but of them that believe to the saving of the soul
- Revelation 20:14 ..............This is the second death.
Annihilationists understand there will be suffering in the death process, but ultimately the wages of sin is death, not eternal existence. Many affirm that Jesus taught limited conscience physical sufferings upon the guilty:
- "That servant who knows his master's will and does not get ready or does not do what his master wants will be beaten with many blows. But the one who does not know and does things deserving punishment will be beaten with few blows. (Luke 12:47-48)
The adjectives "many" and "few" in Luke 12 could not be used if eternal conscious torment was what Jesus was teaching. He would have used "heavier" and "lighter" if the duration of conscience sufferings were eternal because when the "few" stripes were over there could be no more suffering. By very definition "few" and "many" declare not unlimited (or eternal) sufferings.
Annihilationists declare eternal existence and life is a gift gotten only from believing the gospel; (John 3:16) Paul calls this gift (immortality) an integral part of the gospel message. "...who hath abolished death, and hath brought life and 'immortality' to light through the gospel." (2 Timothy 1:10). If all souls are born immortal, then why is humanity encouraged to seek it by Paul? "To them who by patient continuance in well doing 'seek' for glory and honour and immortality, eternal life:" (Romans 2:7) And also, why would Jesus offer humanity an opportunity to "live forever", if all live forever? …"if any man eat of this bread, he shall live forever:" (John 6:51).
The foundation of the annihilationist view is based on passages that speak of the unsaved as perishing (
John 3:16) or being destroyed (
Matthew 10:28). Annihilationists believe that verses speaking of the second death refer to ceasing to exist. Opponents of this view argue that the second death is the spiritual death (separation from God) that occurs after physical death (separation of soul and body). Annihilationists are quick to point out that spiritual death happens the moment one sins and that it is illogical to believe further separation from God can take place. In addition, annihilationists claim that complete separation from God conflicts the doctrine of omnipresence in which God is present everywhere, including hell. Some annihilationists accept the position that hell is a separation from God by taking the position that God sustains the life of his creations: when separated from God, one simply ceases to exist.
Opponents of annihilationism often argue that ceasing to exist is not eternal punishment and therefore conflicts with passages such as
Matthew 25:46: "And these shall go away into everlasting punishment but the righteous into eternal life." This argument uses a definition of the word "punishment" that must include some form of suffering. However, in common usage,
punishmentPunishment is the authoritative imposition of something negative or unpleasant on a person or animal in response to behavior deemed wrong by an individual or group....
might be described as "an authorized imposition of deprivations -- of freedom or privacy or other goods to which the person otherwise has a right, or the imposition of special burdens -- because the person has been found guilty of some criminal violation, typically (though not invariably) involving harm to the innocent" (according to the
Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyThe Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy is a freely-accessible online encyclopedia of philosophy maintained by Stanford University. Each entry is written and maintained by an expert in the field, including professors from over 65 academic institutions worldwide...
). By this definition, annihilationism is a form of punishment in which deprivation of existence occurs, and the punishment is eternal.
We may note that the 'Catechism of the Catholic Church' (1992), para. 1472, states that 'grave sin deprives us of communion with God, and therefore makes us incapable of eternal life, the privation of which is called the 'eternal punishment' of sin.'
Cited texts
We came from dust and to dust we will return. Our thoughts/plans perish and spirit departs upon death. For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not any thing, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten. The soul who sins is the one who will die. Burning one's offspring in the Valley of Ben Hinnom (which is where concept of
GehennaGehenna , Gehinnom and Yiddish Gehinnam, are terms derived from a place outside ancient Jerusalem known in the Hebrew Bible as the Valley of the Son of Hinnom ; one of the two principal valleys surrounding the Old City.In the Hebrew Bible, the site was initially where apostate Israelites and...
or
HellIn many religious traditions, a hell is a place of suffering and punishment in the afterlife. Religions with a linear divine history often depict hells as endless. Religions with a cyclic history often depict a hell as an intermediary period between incarnations...
comes from) is NOT a commandment of God nor did it even enter His Mind. God will "burn up" the wicked at the judgment, and they will be ashes under the sole of the feet of the righteous. "For, behold, the day cometh, it burneth as a furnace; and all the proud, and all that work wickedness, shall be stubble; and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith Jehovah of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch...they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I make, saith Jehovah of hosts" Both body and soul are destroyed in hell. "And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell." People who don't believe in Jesus shall perish and not receive eternal life. Jesus offer... to "live forever" would make no sense apart from the fact that not all will live or exist forever. Everlasting destruction is having been destroyed and having no way to undo that. For the wages of sin is death. Only those who belong to Christ will be raised with imperishable, immortal bodies, all others perish as a man of dust. God made Sodom and Gomorrah an example of what is coming to the wicked, specifically by reducing Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes: "and turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes condemned them with an overthrow, having made them an example unto those that should live ungodly" The wicked will suffer a second death, the same fate that death itself suffers (and death will be abolished - 1 Corinthians 15:26): "And death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death, even the lake of fire. And if any was not found written in the book of life, he was cast into the lake of fire."
John Wenham has classified the New Testament texts on the fate of the lost:
- 10 texts (4%) "Gehenna"
- 26 (10%) to "burning up"
- 59 (22%) to "destruction, perdition, utter loss or ruin"
- 20 (8%) to "separation from God"
- 25 (10%) to "death in its finality" or "the second death"
- 108 (41%) to "unforgiven sin", where the precise consequence is not stated
- 15 (6%) to "anguish"
Wenham claims that just a single verse (Revelation 14:11) sounds like eternal torment. This is out of a total of 264 references. Ralph Bowles argues the word order of the verse was chosen to fit a
chiastic structureChiastic structure is a literary device for chiasmus applied to narrative motifs, turns of phrase, or whole passages. Various structures of chiasmus are commonly seen in ancient literature to emphasize, parallel, or contrast concepts or ideas...
, and does not support eternal punishment.
Opposing texts
Christians who hold to the traditional perspective of hell, such as
Millard EricksonMillard J. Erickson is a Christian theologian, professor of theology, and author. He has written the widely acclaimed systematics work Christian Theology as well as over 20 other books....
, identify the following biblical texts in support of this doctrine: "Surely God will bring you down to everlasting ruin: He will snatch you up and pluck you from your tent; he will uproot you from the land of the living." "He beat back his enemies; he put them to everlasting shame." "The sinners in Zion are terrified; trembling grips the godless: 'Who of us can dwell with the consuming fire? Who of us can dwell with everlasting burning?'" "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." "I will bring on you everlasting disgrace—everlasting shame that will not be forgotten." "...I will completely destroy them and make them an object of horror and scorn, and an everlasting ruin." "Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt." "...where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth." "... it will be more bearable for Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment.." "... it will be more bearable for Sodom on the day of judgment than for you" "...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." "...where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth." Same as Matt 8:12 "Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.'" "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, where 'the worms that eat them do not die, and the fire is not quenched.'" "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." "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."
These Christians point to biblical references to eternal punishment, as well as eternal elements of this punishment, such as the unquenchable fire, the everlasting shame, the "worm" that never dies, and the smoke that rises forever, as consistent with the traditional view of eternal, conscious torment of the wicked in hell.
Incompatibility with God's love
Inherent in the annihilationist stance are notions of divine justice and love. Some Annihilationists claim that the idea of an eternal place of torment is morally repugnant, and an unfair punishment for allegedly finite sins. How can this accurately reflect God's ultimate victory over suffering and
evilEvil is the violation of, or intent to violate, some moral code. Evil is usually seen as the dualistic opposite of good. Definitions of evil vary along with analysis of its root motive causes, however general actions commonly considered evil include: conscious and deliberate wrongdoing,...
, they argue, when it permanently installs a place of suffering in the final, eternal order? It also questioned how can the saved live in blissful joy knowing that some of their loved ones suffer forever in hell, in spite of the Bible showing what seems to be a joyful chorus of the saved because of the condemnation of the Devil, which takes place along with the non-saved Opponents of this view respond that only God is qualified to determine divine justice, and raise suspicions that Annihilationists may be succumbing to modern cultural pressures and worldliness. Also the Bible In response to the suggestion that unrepentant sinners aren't deserving of eternal punishment, advocates of the
sola scripturaSola scriptura is the doctrine that the Bible contains all knowledge necessary for salvation and holiness. Consequently, sola scriptura demands that only those doctrines are to be admitted or confessed that are found directly within or indirectly by using valid logical deduction or valid...
doctrine also believe in the concept of
graceIn Christian theology, grace is God’s gift of God’s self to humankind. It is understood by Christians to be a spontaneous gift from God to man - "generous, free and totally unexpected and undeserved" - that takes the form of divine favour, love and clemency. It is an attribute of God that is most...
, i.e. that the people who receive salvation receive it even though they don't deserve it.
The traditional doctrine of eternal torment in hell could seem to suggest that torment, or torture, is a legitimate form of punishment, since God Himself employs it, but it's clearly stated in Christian Scriptures that only God is liable to do this. Also, the 'Catechism of the Catholic Church' (paras 2297-8) states that 'torture, which uses physical or moral violence to extract confessions, punish the guilty, frighten opponents, or satisfy hatred is contrary to respect for the person and for human dignity'. Admitting and regretting that the Church did in the past sometimes tolerate the use of torture, the Catechism continues: 'it has become evident that these cruel practices were neither necessary for public order, nor in conformity with the legitimate rights of the human person...it is necessary to work for their abolition.' However, any punishment inflicts some sort of pain (or it would not be punishment), and the Catechism does not more than give the Church's stand about what punishments are to be inflicted by temporal powers, who do not punish sins as infinite offenses.
Besides, in argumenting against suicide St.
ThomasThomas Aquinas, O.P. , also Thomas of Aquin or Aquino, was an Italian Dominican priest of the Catholic Church, and an immensely influential philosopher and theologian in the tradition of scholasticism, known as Doctor Angelicus, Doctor Communis, or Doctor Universalis...
teaches that “everything naturally loves itself, the result being that everything naturally keeps itself in being, and resists corruptions so far as it can.” Thus it might seem that although the damned themselves may by bad judgment prefer their own non-existence, on the objective side annihilation be a far greater, not lesser punishment. If this is true, Divine Goodness and Mercy is no argument for, but against annihilationism; the
problem of hellThe "Problem of Hell" is a possible ethical problem related to religions in which portrayals of Hell are ostensibly cruel, and are thus inconsistent with the concepts of a just, moral and omnibenevolent God...
remains but is treated elsewhere.
Hellenic origins
Despite some kind of differentiation between material body and the mind being put forward in the Bible as early as Genesis' account of creation,
many annihilationists believe that the concept of an immortal soul separate from the body comes from
Greek philosophyAncient Greek philosophy arose in the 6th century BCE and continued through the Hellenistic period, at which point Ancient Greece was incorporated in the Roman Empire...
, particularly from
PlatoPlato , was a Classical Greek philosopher, mathematician, student of Socrates, writer of philosophical dialogues, and founder of the Academy in Athens, the first institution of higher learning in the Western world. Along with his mentor, Socrates, and his student, Aristotle, Plato helped to lay the...
. For example, Plato's
Myth of ErThe Myth of Er is an eschatological legend that concludes Plato's The Republic . The story includes an account of the cosmos and the afterlife that for many centuries greatly influenced religious, philosophical and scientific thought....
depicts disembodied souls being sent underground to be punished after death. Hellenistic culture had a significant influence on the early Christian church, see also
Hellenistic JudaismHellenistic Judaism was a movement which existed in the Jewish diaspora that sought to establish a Hebraic-Jewish religious tradition within the culture and language of Hellenism...
. By this scenario, the soul does not appear in the Bible and is seen there only by those taught to assume that the soul exists in the first place. However the incorruptibility of the soul is taught by the Bible explicitly (albeit referring to humanity before the fall) and implicitly in many other verses in books approved by all confessions.
Advocates
British:
- John Stott
John Robert Walmsley Stott CBE was an English Christian leader and Anglican cleric who was noted as a leader of the worldwide Evangelical movement. He was one of the principal authors of the Lausanne Covenant in 1974...
- John Wenham
John W. Wenham was an Anglican Bible scholar. Born in 1913, he devoted his professional life to academic and pastoral work. He died February 13, 1996 at age 82 after a series of debilitating strokes....
- Michael Green
Edward Michael Bankes Green is a British theologian, Anglican priest, Christian apologist and author of more than 50 Christian books.- Early life, education and ministry :...
- Philip Hughes
- Roger Forster
Roger Thomas Forster is the leader of Ichthus Christian Fellowship, a neocharismatic Evangelical Christian Church that forms part of the British New Church Movement. In 1965 he married Faith Forster and has three children.-Cambridge:...
North American:
- Clark Pinnock
Clark H. Pinnock was a Christian theologian, apologist and author. He was Professor Emeritus of Systematic Theology at McMaster Divinity College.-Education and career:...
- Edward Fudge
- Greg Boyd
- Harold Camping
Harold Egbert Camping is an American Christian radio broadcaster. He served as president of Family Radio, a California-based radio station group that broadcasts to more than 150 markets in the United States, since 1958. In 2011 he retired from active broadcasting following a stroke, but still...
- Homer Hailey
Homer Hailey was a preacher in the churches of Christ in the 20th century, as well as a teacher at Abilene Christian University and Florida College and the author of at least 15 religious books. He was well-known for his general biblical knowledge and especially his knowledge of the Old Testament...
- E. Earle Ellis
E. Earle Ellis was a North American Biblical scholar. Ellis served as Research Professor of Theology Emeritus at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas joining the institution in 1985.-Early life:...
- Ben Witherington III
Ben Witherington III is an American evangelical Biblical scholar, and professor of New Testament Studies.Witherington is Professor of New Testament Interpretation at Asbury Theological Seminary in Wilmore, Kentucky.-Education:...
(scholar/ theologian)
Agnostics
Others have remained "agnostic", not taking a stand on the issue of hell. The three listed are also British:
- F. F. Bruce
Frederick Fyvie Bruce was a Biblical scholar and one of the founders of the modern evangelical understanding of the Bible...
, who described himself as "agnostic" on this issue
- N. T. Wright rejects eternal torment, universalism, and apparently also annihilation; but believes those who reject God will become dehumanized, and no longer be in the image of God
Popular Culture
- In an autobiography named Just Don't Fall, written by Josh Sundquist
Joshua Sundquist is a Paralympian and a bestselling author and motivational speaker. He lost his left leg to cancer at age ten and later became a Paralympic ski racer...
the idea of annihilationism was mentioned during the time prior to the bone marrow extraction to test Josh's leg for cancer. It was mentioned by his father that Hell is simply a state of nothingness, or oblivionAn eternal state of oblivion, or lack of awareness, is believed by some to occur after death. This belief contradicts beliefs that there is an afterlife, such as a heaven or hell, after death. The belief in eternal oblivion stems from the idea that the brain creates the mind; therefore, when the...
, which scared Josh before undergoing anesthesia. Due to most patients undergoing anesthesia, they became unconscious and discomforted the idea to Josh misinterpreting a dreamless sleep a trip to hell (in which he always had dreams when asleep). The book is themed motivational though, neither advocating are objecting to annihilationism but outlines the idea's possible flaws during events of unconsciousness such as anesthesia.
- In a short film called the black button, the character on the table sends Mr. Button to hell after accepting a bid of seven million dollars with the cost of one human life on planet earth. The man recites hell as full of endless boundless nothingness. Though it may suit a form of annihilationism though the being is subjected to a dark abyss staying alive in boundless void, not even fire would be present.
- In the movie Dragonheart
Dragonheart is a 1996 fantasy adventure film directed by Rob Cohen. It stars Dennis Quaid, David Thewlis, Pete Postlethwaite, Dina Meyer, and the voice of Sean Connery. It was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects and various other awards in 1996 and 1997...
dragons souls are not immortal and they must earn their place in Heaven or cease to exist when they die.
- In song Christmas from the rock opera Tommy, the lyric is sung, "How can he be saved, from the eternal grave," in reference to the character Tommy. The implication seems that one who is not saved will be dead forever.
See also
- Problem of Hell
The "Problem of Hell" is a possible ethical problem related to religions in which portrayals of Hell are ostensibly cruel, and are thus inconsistent with the concepts of a just, moral and omnibenevolent God...
- Christian conditionalism (or "conditional immortality")
- Universal reconciliation
In Christian theology, universal reconciliation is the doctrine that all sinful and alienated human souls—because of divine love and mercy—will ultimately be reconciled to God.Universal salvation may be related to the perception of a problem of Hell, standing opposed to ideas...
("UniversalismUniversalism in its primary meaning refers to religious, theological, and philosophical concepts with universal application or applicability...
" in a Christian context)
- Oblivion (eternal)
An eternal state of oblivion, or lack of awareness, is believed by some to occur after death. This belief contradicts beliefs that there is an afterlife, such as a heaven or hell, after death. The belief in eternal oblivion stems from the idea that the brain creates the mind; therefore, when the...
Further reading
Varied perspectives:
- William Crockett, ed., Four Views on Hell
- Edward Fudge and Robert Peterson, Two Views of Hell: A Biblical & Theological Dialogue. Downers Grove, Illinois: InterVarsity Press, 2000
Advocates: An excellent place to begin a study on conditional immortality from a Seventh-Day-Adventist scholar.
- Clark Pinnock, "The Destruction of the Finally Impenitent". Criswell Theological Review 4:2 (1990), p243–259. Reprinted in A Journal from the Radical Reformation 2:1 (Fall 1992), p4–21
Critics:
- Stanley Grenz
Stanley James Grenz was an American Christian theologian and ethicist in the Baptist tradition.-Early years:...
, "Directions: Is Hell Forever?" Christianity TodayChristianity Today is an Evangelical Christian periodical based in Carol Stream, Illinois. It is the flagship publication of its parent company Christianity Today International, claiming circulation figures of 140,000 and readership of 290,000...
42:11 (October 5, 1998), p?
- Christopher W. Morgan and Robert A. Peterson, eds., Hell Under Fire: Modern Scholarship Reinvents Eternal Punishment. Zondervan, 2004; ISBN 0-310-24041-7, ISBN 978-0-310-24041-9
- Robert A. Peterson, Hell on Trial: The Case for Eternal Punishment. P&R Publishing, 1995; ISBN 0-87552-372-2, ISBN 978-0-87552-372-9
External links
Supportive
- Jewish not Greek
- The Wages of Sin by Charles Welch The Berean Expositor Vol. 1 pp. 64–66 (circa 1901-1915)
- "Hell Truth - Does Hell Burn Forever?" Comprehensive site covering the topic of hell and annihilationism, Amazing Facts
Amazing Facts is an American Christian ministry. Beginning as a single radio program in 1966 it has expanded into television programming, training, health, prophecy seminars and online Bible study ministries. Its theology is largely that of the Seventh-day Adventist Church.-History:Amazing Facts...
- Afterlife.co.nz The Conditional Immortality Association of New Zealand Inc. is a non-profit organization established to promote a Biblical understanding of human nature, life, death and eternity as taught throughout Scripture.
- The Destruction of the Finally Impenitent by Clark H. Pinnock of McMaster Divinity College
McMaster Divinity College, also known as MacDiv, is a Christian seminary in Hamilton, Ontario. It is affiliated with the Baptist Convention of Ontario and Quebec, although in practice it is interdenominational, and could be said to more closely align with the broader Evangelical tradition...
.
Critical
- Evangelicals and the Annihilation of Hell - Part 1, Part 2 by Alan W. Gomes. (Note the article incorrectly states Edward Fudge is from the Adventist
Adventism is a Christian movement which began in the 19th century, in the context of the Second Great Awakening revival in the United States. The name refers to belief in the imminent Second Coming of Jesus Christ. It was started by William Miller, whose followers became known as Millerites...
tradition)
- "Undying Worm, Unquenchable Fire" by Robert A. Peterson. Christianity Today 44:12 (October 23, 2000)