Kirk Cameron, who many may remember as Mike Seaver in the sitcom “Growing Pains” several years ago or more recently from the movie, “Fireproof,” and now is known for his work in apologetics and evangelism, has just caused a bit of a stir in indicating that he is entertaining the idea of “annihilationism.” This is the belief that an unbeliever’s soul and body are completely destroyed in hell after which they will cease from existence rather than them continuing there for all eternity in a state of conscious everlasting torment without any relief. Such is not a new teaching as there have been prominent evangelicals who have held to it in the past like John Stott whom you have heard me quote from time to time. And, perhaps even more concerning, are the number of cults which promote this kind of teaching such as the Jehovah’s Witnesses, Seventh-Day Adventists, Christadelphians, and Armstrongism with the Worldwide Church of God (though some modern groups of such thankfully no longer hold to this view). That itself should really give anyone pause before accepting this view. But what ultimately matters is not what our favorite entertainer, podcaster, social media influencer, or even preacher says about hell. It is what God’s Word says. And when we turn to the Bible on this issue, we find that God does not stutter or whisper about the harsh reality of hell.
In all of the various passages of Scripture which reference or speak of hell, we find a pretty consistent picture of a horrifying place where unrepentant unbelievers will endure unbearable torment forever. At the end of the book of Isaiah, probably the first place in the Bible to explicitly provide us with a description of the topic, we read, “Then they will go forth and look on the corpses of the men who have transgressed against Me. For their worm will not die and their fire will not be quenched; and they will be an object of contempt to all mankind” (66:24). The idea of their specific worm not dying and the fire for them not being quenched clearly seem to indicate that this judgment will be eternal and unending. If the maggots which feed on their bodies are not going to be annihilated at this time what does that say about their bodies itself? Also, the fact of the fire not being quenched by their presence must mean that they are not burning up where the fire would be put out because it has nothing else to burn. Later, the prophet Daniel will lay out the two opposite destinies of humanity. One for believers who have been declared righteous in Christ and the other for nonbelievers who refuse to repent. He says, “And many of those who sleep in the dust of the ground will awake, these to everlasting life, but the others to reproach and everlasting contempt.” Notice that both are described as experiencing something everlasting. For the believer, it is “everlasting life” and the unbeliever “everlasting contempt.” Nothing about there being a ceasing from this contempt. It will continue just as long as the life the believer is promised to receive. Revelation 14:9-11 tells us, “Then another angel, a third one, followed them, saying with a loud voice, ‘if anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, and he also will drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is mixed in full strength in the cup of His rage, and he will be TORMENTED with fire and brimstone 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; THEY HAVE NO REST DAY AND NIGHT, those who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name.” Seems pretty clear to me that there is no end to the conscious torment those who choose to worship the beast and are marked as belonging to him will endure. They very well may wish to be annihilated in order to have such a rest that this place will not afford them. That’s how terrible this punishment is going to be! Likewise, we are told that all who will be thrown into the lake of fire “will be tormented day and night forever and ever” (Revelation 20:10, 15).
We can also look at what the premier preacher of hell Himself has said about the topic. Jesus spoke more about hell than He did heaven. And as with any other of His teachings, He did not mince words about it. He likewise described it as a place of everlasting torment in fire. “But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court; and whoever says to his brother, ‘Raca,’ shall be guilty before the Sanhedrin; and whoever says, ‘You fool,’ shall be guilty enough to go into the FIERY hell” (Matthew 5:22). “And if your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life crippled, than, having your two hands, to go into hell, into THE UNQUENCHABLE FIRE” (Mark 9:43). He even quotes Isaiah 66:24 referenced earlier about how the worm of the wicked will not die and the fire they are in will not be quenched (Mark 9:48). In the picture of hell in Jesus’ parable of the talents, the place is portrayed as being in “outer darkness” where “there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matthew 25:30). A clear image of those who reside there being fully conscious and aware of the pain and agony experienced by hell’s fiery flames. They would not be weeping and gnashing their teeth otherwise. This is seen as well in the story Jesus told of the rich man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19-31). While we certainly want to be careful not to develop any major doctrine solely from a parable, it says something that Jesus had the rich man in the place representing hell to cry out to Abraham “being in torment” “in agony in this flame” for just a drop of water to provide him some relief (vv. 23-24). And when Jesus returns and separates the sheep (His true followers demonstrating their faith in how they treated His other followers who were in need) from the goats (those who did not belong to Him through faith and their neglect of His people demonstrated such), He will say to the goats, “Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the ETERNAL lake of fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels” (Matthew 25:41). They will go into “eternal punishment” while believers (the righteous in Christ) into “eternal life” (v. 46). Once again, we see the parallel contrast between the punishment and life. The duration of such being the same. If life is eternal without end for the righteous, so must the punishment be for the unrighteous. The word for “punishment” here as well was used elsewhere for the great physical suffering or torture that Christians experienced under persecution. Something they clearly felt and were aware of. Those in hell will both feel and be aware of a far greater punishment there without end.
Even the very word Jesus often used to refer to hell communicates all this. He would call it “gehenna” which was an actual trash dump outside of Jerusalem that was constantly burning. It is said that dead bodies of criminals and animals were burned there. Jesus certainly could have chosen any other word to paint a picture of hell but thought that the best to illustrate it.
Now, what about all those places where it speaks of unbelievers “perishing” or being “destroyed” in hell? We all know John 3:16 and many of us have it memorized. “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that all who believe in Him shall not PERISH, but have everlasting life.” Then we have Jesus’ words in Matthew 10:28, “And do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to DESTROY both soul and body in hell.” Don’t these indicate some sort of annihilation or end to their punishment? Taking by themselves, it certainly seems to. And those who hold to such a position like to point to verses like these to prove their point. However, we have to read these in light of the clear passages speaking of the eternal torment of the judgment we have just looked at. Somehow they must be reconciled with them and there can’t be any contradiction since all of them are God’s Word and He cannot contradict Himself. It helps to recognize that the Greek word used for “destroy”, “apollumi,” does not necessarily, or even in most of its contexts, indicate annihilation or a complete cessation from existence. Often it is used in the sense of death. And death does not mean a ceasing of existence but more so a separation. A separation physically of the spirit from the body as seen with the description of Rachel’s soul departing at her death (Genesis 35:18) and spiritually of a separation or alienation from God (Ephesians 2:1-3; 4:18). The last of which can certainly continue for all eternity in hell. The word also is used in other contexts to describe something that is lost such as a sheep, a coin, or a son (Luke 15:4, 6, 8, 9, 24) and the necessity of losing one’s life in order to find eternal life (Matthew 10:39; Luke 17:33; John 12:25). The word is used as well in the sense of the ruining of an old wineskin when new wine has been poured into it (Mark 2:22). So, the talk of “perishing” or being “destroyed” in hell could just as much be speaking of one being ruined, lost, and dying for all eternity. As the Puritan Thomas Watson put it, “The wicked shall be always dying-but never dead.”
Though different words for “destruction” are used in Philippians 3:9; 1 Thessalonians 5:3; 2 Thessalonians 1:9; and 2 Peter 3:7 to speak of the final destiny of the wicked, none of them have the absolute meaning of annihilation either. In fact, there are occurrences of them which clearly do not. For instance, the Greek word, “apoleia,” in Philippians 3:19 and 2 Peter 3:7 is also used by the disciples in Matthew 26:8 to speak of the “waste” they saw of the ointment which had been just poured upon Jesus’ head. That ointment did not cease to exist at that moment. It would have still been running down Jesus’ face and clothes. But it had been “destroyed” in the sense that it could no longer be used for any other purpose. Furthermore, the Greek word in 1 Thessalonians 5:3 and 2 Thessalonians 1:9, “olethros,” likewise does not refer to a ceasing of something no longer to exist as Paul uses the same term in 1 Corinthians 5:5 of the unrepentant sinner he called for the congregation to kick out of the church for his gross and heinous sexual immorality. He says that the man was to be delivered over to Satan “for the destruction of his flesh.” Whether “flesh” refers to his physical body or sinful nature, neither one were annihilated or ceased to exist after being excommunicated. Again, the idea is that of no longer being of value or use or “existing in their original, intended state” as New Testament scholar Douglas Moo points out. Those who refuse Christ and continue in their sin can expect an eternity of ruin and waste, not life and fulfilment.
Some will say that an eternal unending punishment of torment in hell would not be fitting for the crime of our finite sins. That such would be rather extreme for our limited number of sins committed in this life. Some may even go so far to claim that this would be a cruel and unjust punishment for sin. However, that kind of reasoning fails to realize the serious nature of our sin against our holy God who has been nothing but good to us. Our sins are not just against anyone but against the sovereign Lord of the universe who has given us everything that we have. That makes even the smallest infraction against His holy law worthy of the worst form of punishment ever can be imagined. This is illustrated by a conversation a man had in another country with his taxi driver. The man who was a Christian, found out that the driver believed he would only suffer in hell for a little while to pay for his sins and then go to heaven after that. In his own estimation, he hadn’t done that many bad things after all. To get his point across, the man asked the taxi driver what he would do if he slapped him right there and then. The taxi driver said he would throw him out of the taxi. He then asked what would happen if it were some random guy on the street he slapped. The taxi driver told him that he would be probably be beat up by the guy and his friends. Next, he asked about the case if it was a police officer. The taxi driver said he would be thrown into jail. Finally, the man inquired about what the situation would be like if it was the king of that country he had slapped. The taxi driver nervously laughed and exclaimed, “you would die.” The same crime in each case but the status, value, and worth of the person he was committing it against carried with it a greater penalty. There is no one greater we can sin against than God. Therefore, there is no less of a punishment those who remain in their sins could expect to receive than the maximum possible which would be an eternity of such.
Furthermore, there is a sense that the sinners in hell never stop sinning for their punishment ever to end. Since they have never repented of their sins, they continue to bear the guilt of every one of them. Also, while in hell, they still will have their sinful rebellious thoughts and attitudes towards God. None of that will ever stop. In fact, it very well might be even worse as any restraints they had on this earth will not be present there. Keep in mind that the wicked spoken of in the book of Revelation who have the terrible plagues of God’s judgment poured down upon them keep refusing to repent and still blaspheme God (Revelation 16:9, 11, 21). If their sinning doesn’t stop, neither should the punishment.
We can certainly understand why some people may want to soften this harsh reality of hell by making it seem a little less severe by having the punishment come to an end. But we can’t go against or contradict what Scripture has to say about hell. It is meant to be a hard pill to swallow and gut-wrenching every time we read or hear about it. Such is the seriousness of our sins and what we all justly deserve from our holy God. And it should make us run to Christ and the cross for our salvation from it, glorifying His great love, grace and mercy to rescue us from it. It also should move us even more to share the gospel with our unsaved loved ones, knowing that this is what will await them if they do not repent and turn to Christ now. It is not a punishment that they will ever get any relief from and one which will not end. We certainly don’t want any of them to ever experience that. So, let’s make sure none of them go there without having to step over us and our many warnings.
Love in Christ,
Pastor Lee
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