Why Annihilationism is Wrong
I do not think that Annihilationism has a Biblical basis.
I don't think most verses used for Annihilationism or ECT are decisive, except for Rev 20:10-15
10 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. 11 Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. From his presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them. 12 And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done. 13 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. 14 Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. 15 And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.
Four facts we can glean from this:
1) The devil was thrown into the lake of fire along with the beast and the false prophet, [vs 10]
2) where they will be tormented day and night forever and ever [vs 10]
3) The lake of fire is the second death. [vs 14]
4) Anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was also thrown into the lake of fire. [vs 15]
What can we infer:
Other 2nd death passages:
Revelation 21:8: “The cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars – their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.”
This seems to indicate that all unbelievers with suffer the 2nd death
Revelation 2:11: “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. He who overcomes will not be hurt at all by the *second death**.”
Confer overcomers here with 1 John 5:4 - For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.
Revelation 20:6 “Blessed and holy are those who have part in the first resurrection. The second death has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with him for a thousand years.”
Words/Verses/Passages Typically Used For Annihilationism
Isaiah 66:24 - “And they shall go out and look on the dead bodies of the men who have rebelled against me. For their worm shall not die, their fire shall not be quenched, and they shall be an abhorrence to all flesh.”
Isaiah 66:24 is a snapshot of hell, meaning the second death; a symbol, illustrating what final judgement is like. If it's not that, then it can't be the final state of the wicked, which is what we're discussing. So what does that snapshot show? Ruin devastation destruction, not "ceasing to exist"; the corpses have not ceased to exist. As a counterpoint, corpses feel not pain, thus this isn't teaching ECT.
Additionally, the last part of Isaiah 66:24 "and they will be a horror to all mankind". How is the non-existence of the wicked a horror to all mankind? If Isaiah is a snapshot of the final state of the wicked, and you think that is annihilationism, why is it a portrait of dead bodies, worms, fire?
And look at the beginning of Isaiah 66:24 "And they shall go out and look on the dead bodies"; how does one look at that which has "ceased to exist"?
wicked compared to ground up powder or cut to pieces (Matt 21:41, 44; 24:51).
Ground up powder or cut to pieces does not equal cease to exist
**Not one verse above says "cease to exist".**
Another defense: A plain reading of those texts suggest finality, or annihilation
There are two crucial problems with a literalist or "plain sense" approach to the text.
.
The first problem is that in a plain sense approach, we most often assume our own frame of reference for the text and assume that what makes sense to us from our own cultural, social, religious, or emotional context is what the text itself means to say.
The second problem is that a "plain sense" reading often does not or cannot see features of the text like irony, word play, metaphorical writing, multilevel symbols, or other much more subtle features of communication that go far beyond, or sometimes in direct contrast to, what seems to be the "plain" meaning.
Related posts:
Seven Arguments that show that Universalism is a false doctrine
Degrees of Punishment in Hell
Jesus Said More about Hell Than Anyone in the Bible
The key verse -
Four facts we can glean from this:
1) The devil was thrown into the lake of fire along with the beast and the false prophet, [vs 10]
2) where they will be tormented day and night forever and ever [vs 10]
3) The lake of fire is the second death. [vs 14]
4) Anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was also thrown into the lake of fire. [vs 15]
What can we infer:
First, John calls "suffering day and night forever" in the lake of fire, "second death". That’s where those in verse 14 go; implying they suffer the same fate.
Secondly, after differentiating between 1st and 2nd death, John makes no distinction between 2nd death and this any other "alternate death" for the wicked in the lake of fire. Since he does not, then this is good evidence that the all wicked suffer the second death, ECT
Secondly, after differentiating between 1st and 2nd death, John makes no distinction between 2nd death and this any other "alternate death" for the wicked in the lake of fire. Since he does not, then this is good evidence that the all wicked suffer the second death, ECT
Other 2nd death passages:
Revelation 21:8: “The cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars – their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.”
This seems to indicate that all unbelievers with suffer the 2nd death
Revelation 2:11: “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. He who overcomes will not be hurt at all by the *second death**.”
Confer overcomers here with 1 John 5:4 - For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.
Revelation 20:6 “Blessed and holy are those who have part in the first resurrection. The second death has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with him for a thousand years.”
Words/Verses/Passages Typically Used For Annihilationism
Isaiah 66:24 - “And they shall go out and look on the dead bodies of the men who have rebelled against me. For their worm shall not die, their fire shall not be quenched, and they shall be an abhorrence to all flesh.”
Isaiah 66:24 is a snapshot of hell, meaning the second death; a symbol, illustrating what final judgement is like. If it's not that, then it can't be the final state of the wicked, which is what we're discussing. So what does that snapshot show? Ruin devastation destruction, not "ceasing to exist"; the corpses have not ceased to exist. As a counterpoint, corpses feel not pain, thus this isn't teaching ECT.
Additionally, the last part of Isaiah 66:24 "and they will be a horror to all mankind". How is the non-existence of the wicked a horror to all mankind? If Isaiah is a snapshot of the final state of the wicked, and you think that is annihilationism, why is it a portrait of dead bodies, worms, fire?
And look at the beginning of Isaiah 66:24 "And they shall go out and look on the dead bodies"; how does one look at that which has "ceased to exist"?
“Destruction” or “perish” (Greek: apoleia or olethros Matt 7:13; John 3:16; 17:12; Acts 8:20; Rom 9:22-23; Phil 1:28; 3:19; 2 Thess 2:3; 1 Tim 6:9; Heb 10:39; 2 Pet 2:1; 1 Thess 5:3; 2 Thess 1:9; 1 Tim 6:9).
apóleia from Strong's apóleia: destruction, loss Definition: destruction, loss Usage: destruction, ruin, loss, perishing; eternal ruin. 684 apṓleia (from 622 /apóllymi, "cut off") – destruction, causing someone (something) to be completely severed – cut off (entirely) from what could or should have been. (Note the force of the prefix, apo.) See 622 (apollymi).
apóleia from Strong's apóleia: destruction, loss Definition: destruction, loss Usage: destruction, ruin, loss, perishing; eternal ruin. 684 apṓleia (from 622 /apóllymi, "cut off") – destruction, causing someone (something) to be completely severed – cut off (entirely) from what could or should have been. (Note the force of the prefix, apo.) See 622 (apollymi).
/apṓleia ("perdition") does not imply "annihilation" (see the meaning of the root-verb, 622 /apóllymi, "cut off") but instead "loss of well-being" rather than being (Vine's Expository Dictionary, 165; cf. Jn 11:50; Ac 5:37; 1 Cor 10:9-10; Jude 11).\
olethros from Strong's olethros: destruction, death Definition: destruction, death Usage: ruin, doom, destruction, death. 3639 ólethros (from ollymi/"destroy") – properly, ruination with its full, destructive results (LS). 3639 /ólethros ("ruination") however does not imply "extinction" (annihilation). Rather it emphasizes the consequent loss that goes with the complete "undoing."
olethros from Strong's olethros: destruction, death Definition: destruction, death Usage: ruin, doom, destruction, death. 3639 ólethros (from ollymi/"destroy") – properly, ruination with its full, destructive results (LS). 3639 /ólethros ("ruination") however does not imply "extinction" (annihilation). Rather it emphasizes the consequent loss that goes with the complete "undoing."
“Death” (Greek: thanatos or apothnesko Rom 1:32; 6:21; 7:5; 8:6; 1 Cor 15:21-22; 15:56; 2 Cor 2:16; 7:10; James 1:15; 5:20; 1 John 5:16; Rev 2:11; 20:6, 14; 21:8)
thanatos from Strong's Definition: to put to death Usage: I put to death, subdue; pass: I am in danger of death, am dead to, am rid of, am parted from.
apothnesko from Strong's Definition: to die Usage: I am dying, am about to die, wither, decay.
“End” (Greek: telos Rom 6:21-22; 2 Cor 11:15; Phil 3:19; 1 Pet 4:17)
telos from Strong's Definition: having reached its end, complete, perfect Usage: perfect, (a) complete in all its parts, (b) full grown, of full age, (c) specially of the completeness of Christian character.
“Disintegration/corruption” (phthora) (Gal 6:8; 2 Pet 1:4; 2:12).
phthora from Strong's Definition: destruction, corruption Usage: corruption, destruction, decay, rottenness, decomposition.
burned up chaff, trees, weeds, branches (Matt 3:12; 7:19; 13:40; John 15:6).
Strong's: 2618 Transliterated: katakausei Root: κατακαίω 1) to burn up, consume by fire
thanatos from Strong's Definition: to put to death Usage: I put to death, subdue; pass: I am in danger of death, am dead to, am rid of, am parted from.
apothnesko from Strong's Definition: to die Usage: I am dying, am about to die, wither, decay.
“End” (Greek: telos Rom 6:21-22; 2 Cor 11:15; Phil 3:19; 1 Pet 4:17)
telos from Strong's Definition: having reached its end, complete, perfect Usage: perfect, (a) complete in all its parts, (b) full grown, of full age, (c) specially of the completeness of Christian character.
“Disintegration/corruption” (phthora) (Gal 6:8; 2 Pet 1:4; 2:12).
phthora from Strong's Definition: destruction, corruption Usage: corruption, destruction, decay, rottenness, decomposition.
burned up chaff, trees, weeds, branches (Matt 3:12; 7:19; 13:40; John 15:6).
Strong's: 2618 Transliterated: katakausei Root: κατακαίω 1) to burn up, consume by fire
a destroyed house, discarded fish, uprooted plant, chopped down tree (Matt 7:27; 13:48; 15:13; Luke 13:7)
None of these equal cease to existthe Day of Judgment is compared to OT examples of the flood, destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, Lot’s wife turned into salt (Luke 17:27, 29, 32).
None of these equal "cease to exist"
None of these equal cease to existthe Day of Judgment is compared to OT examples of the flood, destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, Lot’s wife turned into salt (Luke 17:27, 29, 32).
None of these equal "cease to exist"
wicked compared to ground up powder or cut to pieces (Matt 21:41, 44; 24:51).
Ground up powder or cut to pieces does not equal cease to exist
**Not one verse above says "cease to exist".**
Another defense: A plain reading of those texts suggest finality, or annihilation
There are two crucial problems with a literalist or "plain sense" approach to the text.
.
The first problem is that in a plain sense approach, we most often assume our own frame of reference for the text and assume that what makes sense to us from our own cultural, social, religious, or emotional context is what the text itself means to say.
The second problem is that a "plain sense" reading often does not or cannot see features of the text like irony, word play, metaphorical writing, multilevel symbols, or other much more subtle features of communication that go far beyond, or sometimes in direct contrast to, what seems to be the "plain" meaning.
Related posts:
Seven Arguments that show that Universalism is a false doctrine
Degrees of Punishment in Hell
Jesus Said More about Hell Than Anyone in the Bible
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