This is a guest article, which is fundamental to correctly studying other topics in the Bible.
A Personal, Brief, Biblical Defense of Conditional Immortality
Mark Campbell, January 2020
Conditional Immortality (CI) is the belief that immortality is not innate to the human soul, but rather that it is a gift only to believers in Jesus Christ, or “conditional” upon their acceptance of Christ (2 Timothy 1:10). Proponents of CI believe that most who hold to the traditional view of hell, or Eternal Conscious Punishment (ECP), approach Scripture through the mistaken belief that the human soul is immortal, which results in a skewed exegesis of Scriptures pertaining to the final judgment of the wicked. We have probably all heard a preacher say something like this – “You will live forever, the question is whether that will be in heaven or hell.” Viewed through this lens of belief that the human soul is innately immortal, any form of the word “hell” in Scripture is automatically seen in the traditional sense, as Eternal Conscious Punishment.
A corollary to Conditional Immortality is the belief known as Annihilationism. Annihilationism is the belief that the unsaved are punished for sin according to the severity of one’s sin (Luke 12:47-48), but that at some point on or following the Day of Judgment, they are completely destroyed - body and soul. Annihilationism holds that the fire of hell is fire that consumes, or annihilates.
I invite the reader to check all thoughts against Scripture, asking the Holy Spirit to lead you into truth (John 16:13). I hold as conviction that whatever the Bible clearly teaches we are obligated to hold as truth! The case for conditional immortality (CI) should be made from Scripture alone, and not from human sentiment. Whereas “tradition” espouses the view of “eternal conscious punishment,” tradition has been wrong on many issues in the past. Two important principles emanating from the Reformation should be considered before we proceed:
1. “Sola scriptura,” which is Latin for “by scripture alone.” This doctrine maintains that the Bible contains all knowledge necessary for salvation and holiness. Consequently, only those doctrines are to be admitted or confessed that are found directly within or indirectly by using valid logical deduction or valid deductive reasoning from scripture.
2. “Ecclesia semper reformanda est,” which is Latin for “the church is always to be reformed.”
Speaking to the issue of tradition, J.I. Packer, who espouses ECP, nevertheless comments on the importance of testing and reforming our beliefs through the use of Scripture alone:
“We do not start our Christian lives by working out our faith for ourselves; it is mediated to us by Christian tradition, in the form of sermons, books, and established patterns of church life and fellowship. We read our Bibles in the light of what we have learned from these sources; we approach Scripture with minds already formed by the mass of accepted opinions and viewpoints with which we have come into contact, in both the Church and the world. It is easy to be unaware that it has happened; it is hard even to begin to realize how profoundly tradition in this sense had molded us. But we are forbidden to become enslaved to human tradition, either secular or Christian, whether it be “catholic” tradition, or “critical” tradition, or “ecumenical” tradition. We may never assume the complete rightness or our own established ways of thought and practice and excuse ourselves the duty of testing and reforming them by Scriptures.”
Fundamentalism and the Word of God
Many who know me well understand that my primary spiritual gift is that of mercy, and therefore might make the mistake of presuming that it was this gift of mercy that drove me to study the topic of hell. In reality, this had nothing to do with why I undertook a serious study on hell. In 2013, while I was serving as the Executive Director for Ministries of Jesus, a ministry of Henderson Hills Baptist Church, two board members brought to my attention that one of my staff members belonged to a Seventh Day Adventist Church, and that this was highly problematic. I quickly found out that one of their key beliefs, and the one that I believe to be most different than that of other evangelical churches, was this belief in Conditional Immortality or Annihilationism. Before I had a conversation with this staff member I knew that I needed to do some research, yet my thought was “this is going to be so easy….everyone knows that suffering in hell is for “eternity.” In fact, I had never even heard of the position of “Annihilationism.” However, very soon in my study I saw that the annihilationists definitely come to their view based only on biblical exegesis – in other words, their view was very well founded on the Bible alone. In fact, I honestly became shocked to find verses whose plain, literal meaning seemed to strongly communicate that the fire of hell is a fire which consumes, rather than a fire which endlessly torments. As I studied further I became more and more convinced that the Bible teaches CI, and yet many times I put the issue away, knowing that to be a supporter of CI, one would incur much criticism, perhaps even to the point of being labeled a “heretic.” One of the things that I don’t like about myself is that I tend to be overly sensitive to criticism, which greatly mitigates against one coming out with a belief such as Annihilationism. However, as I have read my Bible daily each morning over the years, passages which support this belief kept coming up, such that I have not been able to put the issue aside, and I have finally come to the point which I certainly should not hide my view on the subject. Whatever the Bible teaches we are obligated to believe and to obey! And while the Bible contains some teaching that is to be taken metaphorically or allegorically, our default position should be to take its teaching literally. I find that the position of Conditional Immortality allows me to take the Bible much more literally – words like “perish” really mean perish, and “death” really means death.
I therefore invite the reader to test his or her belief about the nature of hell by examining relevant Bible passages. Let’s begin with a brief review of scriptures pertaining to the mortality/immortality of the soul. In Genesis 2:17,God tells Adam not to eat from the tree of good and evil, “for in the day that you eat from it you shall surely die.” Admittedly there is difficulty in understanding in what respect Adam and Eve would “die” in that day, but as John G. Stackhouse points out in Four Views of Hell, “what precisely no one can conclude is that God was threatening that ‘in the day you eat of it you shall die – by which I mean, you will actually live forever, if very unpleasantly.” And in Genesis 3:22 we see that after Adam and Eve ate from this tree, God subsequently prevented them from eating from the tree of life, “lest he stretch out his hand, and take also from the tree of life, and eat, and live forever.” God did not want sinful man to live forever in a state of rebellion against Him, so He denied him the immortality he would have otherwise enjoyed had he not sinned. In any event, Genesis 3:22 makes it rather plain that man, at least after the Fall, would not be inherently immortal. In Romans 2:5-8 the Apostle Paul speaks about immortality as something that must be sought:
“But because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, who will render to every man according to his deeds: to those who by perseverance in doing good seek for glory and honor and immortality, eternal life; but to those who are selfishly ambitious and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, wrath and indignation.”
So immortality must be sought, it is not innate, at least not after the Fall. In 2 Timothy 1:10, Paul says that immortality can only be enjoyed and gained from believing in Jesus Christ, who “abolished death, and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.”
Furthermore Paul speaks to believers when he says:
“Now I say this, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable………For this perishable must put on the imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality.”
(1 Corinthians 15:50 & 53)
Hence the immortality lost in the Fall must be “put on” only as a gift to the believer through the gospel. Moreover, Ezekiel 18:4 says “The soul that sins will die.” Indeed, the first lie in the Bible occurred when Satan told Eve, “You surely shall not die.” Nowhere does the Bible say that the human soul is innately immortal. As Paul wrote in 1 Timothy 6:16, God “…alone possesses immortality.”
Martin Luther, regarded as the progenitor of the Reformation, had problems with the notion that the human soul is immortal, expressing his views with not a small amount of sarcasm:
“However, I permit the Pope to establish articles of faith for himself and for his own faithful — such are: That the bread and wine are transubstantiated in the sacrament; that the essence of God neither generates nor is generated; that the soul is the substantial form of the human body, that he (the Pope) is emperor of the world and king of heaven, and earthly god; that the soul is immortal; and all these endless monstrosities in the Roman dung hill of decretals…..”
While Luther chose his battles well and thus focused on the issue of salvation by faith, he nevertheless had problems with this view that the human soul is innately immortal. Of course, Luther is not to be regarded as faultless, yet he joins William Tyndall and John Stott as prominent theologians supportive of conditional immortality.
Now let’s look at some specific New Testament Scriptures, starting with John 3:16, the most quoted verse in the Bible:
“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life.”
Christ speaks of two options here - (1) Believe in Him and have “eternal life”, or (2) choose not to believe in Him and “perish.” If Christ were supporting the notion of unbelievers being tormented throughout eternity, He most certainly would not use the word “perish” to describe those who would indeed never perish.
This duality of options is echoed in the Apostle Paul’s words found in Romans 6:23, a verse frequently used in sharing the Gospel (Roman Road):
“For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
I think we may all agree that the one thing “death” does not mean is “never dying.” Once again we find this duality of choice and consequence in Christ’s words in Matthew 7:13-14:
“Enter by the narrow gate; for the gate is wide, and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and many are those who enter by it. For the gate is small, and the way is narrow that leads to life, and few are those who find it.”
Speaking of this “destruction,” Christ spoke very clearly 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.”
How much clearer could Jesus be on the matter? And lest one think that the word “destroy” here only means to “render inoperable,” take note that this word used here for “destroy,” or “apolummi,” is the same word rendered as “kill” when Matthew 12:14 speaks of how “the Pharisees went out and plotted how they might kill Jesus.”
Christ also says that this destruction is to be accomplished through the consuming nature of fire:
“Allow both to grow together until harvest; and in the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers, ‘First gather up the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them up; but gather the wheat into my barn.” (Matthew 13:30)
Indeed, the New Testament opens early with John the Baptist using similar terminology about the consuming nature of hell’s fire:
“…He will gather His wheat into the barn, but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.” (Matthew 3:12)
When Jesus used the word “hell” He was using the Greek word “gehenna.” Gehenna was formed from the phrase “valley (of the sons) of Hinnom.” This was a valley just south of Jerusalem, known as the site of idol worship involving the burning to death of infants, as well as the site where garbage was burned up with fire, the leftovers being consumed by maggots (worms). So is the fire of hell that which torments endlessly, or is it fire which totally consumes, resulting in the destruction of “body and soul” as Jesus said? The consuming fire of hell, resulting in the complete destruction of life, body and soul, is what the writer of Revelation refers to as the “second death”:
“But for the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.” Rev. 21:8
Although numerous New Testament scriptures support CI, two more merit particular mention. In these passages we find the writer giving the reader an “example” of the final fate of the unsaved:
“For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell (tarturas) and committed them to pits of darkness, reserved for judgment; and did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a preacher of righteousness, with seven others, when He brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly; and if He condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to destruction by reducing them to ashes, having made them an example to those who would live ungodly thereafter………then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from temptation, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment for the day of judgment.” (2 Peter 2:4-9). In Jude 1:7, Sodom and Gomorrah are said to be “exhibited as an example, in undergoing the punishment of eternal fire.” So in two different Scriptures we have Sodom and Gomorrah given as examples of what happens to the wicked. Are Sodom and Gomorrah still burning with “eternal fire?” No, they were burned up, reduced to ashes by eternal fire – the fire not burning for eternity, but the effect of the fire lasting for eternity.
Now let’s turn to the Old Testament and consider the oft-quoted Psalm 37:
“Yet a little while and the wicked man will be no more; and you will look for his place, and he will not be there.” (v. 10)
“But the wicked will perish; and the enemies of the Lord will be like the glory of the pastures, They vanish – like smoke they vanish away.” (v. 20)
“But transgressors will be altogether destroyed.” (v. 38)
In the closing verses of the last book written in the Old Testament, Malachi says this about the fate of wicked on the day of judgment:
“For behold, the day is coming, burning like a furnace; and all the arrogant and every evildoer will be chaff; and the day that is coming will set them ablaze,’ says the Lord of hosts, ‘so that it will leave them neither root nor branch……And you will tread down the wicked, for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day which I am preparing,’ says the Lord of hosts.” (Malachi 4:1 & 3)
In the opening pages of the Old Testament we see the penalty for sin announced – death (Genesis 2:17), and in the closing pages of the Old Testament we see that the day of judgment is coming when the wicked will be “ashes” under the soles of the righteous (Malachi 4:1-3). In the opening pages of the New Testament we saw John the Baptist describing the fate of the wicked as “chaff” to be “burned up.” Jesus described the wicked as “tares” which would be burned up (Matthew 13:30), and concerning the wicked that He would “destroy both body and soul in hell.” (Matthew 10:28). In John 3:16 Jesus states that we either believe in Him and have “eternal life,” or we don’t believe in Him and hence “perish.” In the closing pages of the New Testament, we see the wicked being destroyed by the “second death” in Revelation 20:14 & 21:8.
So how does one get to the position of “eternal conscious punishment” for the wicked? This view did not solidify within the church until St. Augustine, who lived from 354-430 AD, made it normative. Augustine was known to have studied Plato rather extensively before coming to Christ, and Platonism held as prominent the view that the human soul is innately immortal. While I would argue that tradition, and that despoiled by Greek philosophy, holds great sway, let’s look at a few passages appealed to by those holding the traditional view.
In Luke 16:19-31 we read of the story/parable of Lazarus and the “rich man.” The first point to be made is that this passage does not say how long the rich man has been in “Hades,” nor does it say how long he will yet be in “Hades.” However, the greater point to be made is that this passage does not even contain the right “address” to deal with the topic of Hell. “Hades” is noted by scholars such as Charles Ryrie to be “the abode of the unsaved dead between death and judgment at the great white throne.” So a story set in the time period before the Day of Judgment cannot possibly be used to teach what happens after the Day of Judgment. This point is acknowledged even by many who yet espouse ECP. However, this story is in perfect harmony with the teaching of CI, which holds that the wicked are punished for their sins for an indeterminate length of time before finally being annihilated in the lake of fire, or the “second death” spoken of in Revelation 21:8.
In Matthew 25:46 Jesus contrasts the sheep (righteous) with the goats (wicked), saying “And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.” Just as the life lasts for eternity, the punishment lasts for eternity – the wicked are extinguished with no hope for another resurrection as on the day of judgment. A parallel for understanding this is the biblical term “eternal redemption” (Hebrews 9:12) The act of redemption (the death of Jesus on the cross) does not go on for eternity, but the effect of the redemption does go on for eternity. Likewise, the “eternal judgment” spoken of in Hebrews 6:2 involves a one-time judgment which lasts for eternity rather than judging which is done repeatedly throughout eternity. Again, eternal punishment results in death that lasts forever, with no hope of further resurrection – it is the “second death,” and the death foretold in Genesis 2:17.
Revelation 14:6-11 would seem to offer the best support for ECP, and yet we must look very closely at this passage to understand its true meaning. Specifically, we must consider the location and duration of the torment depicted in verses 10 & 11. Owing to the use of the word “forever” in verse 11, it is widely believed that the torment is to continue throughout eternity. However, there are several instances in Scripture where the word “forever” means something different than “throughout eternity.” For example, if we look at the “sister” passage of Isaiah 34:9-10, Edom is described as having smoke which “shall go up forever,” and yet Edom no longer exists. We also see this alternative meaning in Deuteronomy 15:17, where a slave was to have his ear pierced as a sign that “he shall be your servant forever,” that “forever” means “as long as general conditions allow.” Certainly this slave would not be serving this earthly master throughout eternity, but rather only so long as both the master and his slave should live on earth. So “forever” as used in verse 11 could be interpreted to mean the torment would last as long as that person is alive on earth.
Regarding the location of the torment, note that the three angels in this passage are preaching “to those who live on the earth.” Secondly, following the preaching of the three angels and the description of the punishment of those who received the mark of the Beast, the people of God are called to patiently endure this tempestuous time on earth – “Here is the perseverance of the saints who keep the commandments of God and their faith in Jesus.” The things which believers are encouraged to do here are things which believers need encouragement to do while on the earth, but certainly would not need such encouragement to do so while in heaven. Therefore the description of what happens to those who worship the beast could reasonably be interpreted to mean that the torment begins on earth and lasts only so long as that person worshipping the beast is alive on earth. We must not take lightly the interpretation of words used in Scripture to mean something differently than their “plain meaning,” and yet we do know that often this is prudent, particularly in a book such as Revelation, where so much is indeed to be taken allegorically or metaphorically.
A casual reading of this passage would seem to yield support for the doctrine of eternal conscious punishment, yet upon closer inspection, not without considerable ambiguity. Is it prudent to allow a single passage from a highly symbolic book, the last book of the Bible, to outweigh a plethora of other Bible passages which clearly teach that the wicked will “die,” “perish,” be “destroyed,” and “burn up” like chaff in the fires of hell? Does the Bible wait until the last of 66 books to announce what penalty awaits those who have rejected Christ? No, the penalty was announced to Adam & Eve, symbolized through the sacrificial system (death of animals), spoken of by Jesus and the apostles, then described as the “Second Death” in Revelation. And then consider the argument to be made from “silence” – even proponents of ECP acknowledge that the Old Testament has little if anything to say in support of ECP.
The substitutionary atonement of Christ is a precious doctrine that we sing of in the hymn “Jesus Paid It All.” I love this hymn and it speaks a wonderful truth – that because Christ died the death I deserved, I get to have eternal life in Paradise with Him. So if the “wages of sin” is not death, but eternal conscious punishment, how can we then say that Jesus has “paid it all?” Is Jesus currently being tortured in hell? Of course not – “He has now reconciled you in His fleshly body through death, in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach…” (Colossians 1:22) Christ died in the flesh, but His Spirit did not die – “For Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, in order that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit “ (1 Peter 4:18).
The wicked, because they have not been born again, are merely flesh (John 3:6), they do not have spiritual lives, and when they are resurrected to face judgment on the Day of Judgment, they have only fleshly bodies (as opposed to spiritual bodies) which are ultimately destroyed in the “Second Death.” As Paul said in 1 Corinthians 15:50, “Now I say this, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.”
I often hear opponents of CI say something like “if annihilation is the final fate of the wicked, what is the ‘punishment’ for sins, and why should they repent and turn to Christ if they can just cease to exist?” As a reminder, CI does hold that the wicked are punished according to the degree of their sins (Luke 12:46-47). How and for how long they are punished before annihilation is not specified. Moreover, consider that in our society the death penalty is viewed as more severe than life in prison because the penalty is the loss of life otherwise enjoyed, so consider the infinite penalty paid through the forfeiture of eternal life with the Almighty, majestic, loving Creator of the Universe! The loss of Paradise for eternity is not to be taken lightly! And when we look at the book of Acts, the greatest account of the spread of the Gospel in the early church, we find no mention whatsoever of ECP to motivate sinners to turn to Christ. What we do see in Acts is a focus on eternal life, to be found only in Christ. Saying that sinners will only turn to Christ to avoid torture throughout eternity is akin to the prince saying to his “intended bride,” “I love you so very much and want to spend the rest of my life with you, but if you reject me I will hand you over to the King’s guard who will torture you the rest of your life.”
God’s Final Victory
Paul writes eschatologically about the “end” in 1 Corinthians 15:20-28:
“But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep. For since by a man came death, by a man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all shall be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, after that those who are Christ’s at His coming, then comes the end, when He delivers up the kingdom to the God and Father, when He has abolished all rule and all authority and power. For He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet. The last enemy that will be abolished is death. For He has put all things in subjection under His feet. But when He says, ‘All things are put in subjection,’ it is evident that He is excepted who put all things in subjection to Him. And when all things are subjected to Him, then the Son Himself also will be subjected to the One who subjected all things to Him, that God may be all in all.”
And now consider the imagery of the total victory of Christ as reported in 2 Peter 3:7-13:
“But the present heavens and earth by His word are being reserved for fire, kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men. But do not let this one fact escape your notice, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up. Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, on account of which the heavens will be destroyed by burning, and the elements will melt with intense heat! But according to His promise we are looking for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells.”
Dear reader, can’t you see that Christ has His final and complete victory, because everything and everyone not of Him is ultimately destroyed, such that the only thing remaining is “new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells.” In this scenario we can certainly see God’s total victory where He is “all in all!”
Now consider how things “end” under the scenario of ECP, for Jesus said “Enter by the narrow gate; for the gate is wide, and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and many are those who enter by it. For the gate is small, and the way is narrow that leads to life, and few are those who find it.” (Matthew 7:13-14). If only “few” find eternal life in Christ, and the majority are tortured in hell for eternity, then how does that give Christ victory over Satan, and how do the words “God may be all in all” (1 Corinthians 15:28) ring true?
To summarize, the Bible speaks greatly about the fate of the wicked as that of death in the consuming fire of hell – the “second death.” As early as Genesis chapter two we see that the penalty for sin was death, and at the close of the Old Testament we see the wicked described as “ashes” under the soles of the righteous. The New Testament opens with John the Baptist describing the fate of the wicked as chaff which is “burned up,” and Jesus repeats this thought in Matthew 13:30, saying that the wicked are as tares to be burned up. He also says, concerning the wicked, that He will “destroy both soul and body in hell.” (Matthew 10:28) In John 3:16 Jesus states that we either believe in Him and have “eternal life,” or we don’t believe in Him and hence “perish.” And in 2 Peter 3:7-13 we see God’s final victory, where “the present heavens and earth are being reserved for fire, kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men,” and furthermore we see God’s promise that we shall dwell with Him in “new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells.” Finally, in Revelation we see the fate of the wicked described as the “second death.” Jesus spoke about hell in the most abject terms possible! Hell is to be avoided at all costs!
Let us follow the pattern of the noble Bereans, who “received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily, to see whether these things were so.” ( Acts 17:10-11) Whatever your position may ultimately be on this subject, I encourage us all to pursue a passion for the Gospel and a fervent heart for God’s presence and in our lives, and dedication to His Word! And I will be quick to say that I am thankful we do not have to have “all the answers” to obtain eternal life, we only have to have Him!
“For God so loved the world, He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have eternal life.” John 3:16
Suggested Readings:
1. The Holy Bible
2. The Fire That Consumes, Edward William Fudge
3. Hell: A Final Word, Edward William Fudge
4. Four Views on Hell, William Crockett (General Editor), Contributors: John F. Walvoord, Zachary J. Hayes, Clark H. Pinnock
5. Facing Hell, John Wenham
6. Erasing Hell, Francis Chan & Preston Sprinkle
7. Rethinking Hell, Editors: Christopher M. Date, Gregory G. Stump, Joshua W. Anderson. Forward by John G. Stackhouse
8. Four Views on Hell, Preston Sprinkle (General Editor), Contributors: Denny Burk, John G. Stackhouse Jr., Jerry L. Wallis
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