Episode 98: Eternal Torment or Annihilationism? What Does the Bible Teach?

Eternal Torment or Annihilationism? What Does the Bible Teach? Let's take a step-by step Biblical journey on what the Word teaches on Eternal Torment and Annihilationism The Bible’s Primary Language for the Fate of the Wicked Is “Death,” “Destruction,” and “Perish”More than 200+ verses describe the end of sinners using terms that plainly imply ending, not endless suffering.Key Words: “Perish,” “Destroy,” “Death,” “Consumed,” “Burned Up”John 3:16“...whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life.”The contrast is clear: everlasting life vs. perishing (not everlasting torment).Matthew 10:28“Fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.”“Destroy” (Greek apollymi) means to kill, ruin, bring to an end.Jesus does not say God will preserve the soul forever in torment.Romans 6:23“The wage of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life…”Again, the contrast is death vs. eternal life—not “eternal life in torment.”2 Thessalonians 1:9“These will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction…”Eternal destruction describes a result, not an ongoing process.As “eternal salvation” is a final permanent result, so is “eternal destruction.”Psalms 37 (repeated theme)“...the wicked will be no more… like smoke they vanish away” (v. 10, 20).They “vanish,” not “exist forever.” Hellfire Is Described as Consuming and Burning UpThe Old and New Testaments consistently depict divine judgment as a fire that destroys, not one that keeps its victims alive.Malachi 4:1–3“The day is coming... all the arrogant and every evildoer will be stubble… the day that comes shall burn them up, leaving them neither root nor branch… they will be ashes under the soles of your feet.”This is:totalconsumingirreversible destruction.Not eternal suffering—but ashes.Hebrews 10:27“...a raging fire that will consume the enemies of God.”To consume means to destroy, devour entirely.Matthew 3:12“The chaff He will burn with unquenchable fire.”“Unquenchable” means no one can put it out—not that it never goes out.It burns until nothing remains (just like the “unquenchable fires” that destroyed Jerusalem in Jer. 17:27). The Old Testament Pattern of God’s Judgment Is Destruction, Not Eternal TortureWhen God judges in the OT—with Sodom, the Flood, the Canaanites, Korah’s rebellion—the outcome is always death, not ongoing conscious torment.The NT explicitly says:2 Peter 2:6“...turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes, He condemned them to extinction, making them an example…”Extinction is the pattern and “example” of final judgment. The Soul Is Not Described as Naturally ImmortalEternal torment requires the wicked to liSend us your questions to be featured on the next podcast!Thank you for being part of the AskGod365 podcast community. We value you and appreciate greatly the time you are spending with us today. Please share your comments and questions at AskGod365.com Listen. Learn. Think. Grow. Together. AskGod365. Answers to life’s difficult questions.

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