ANNIHILATIONISM: THE GOSPELS

Matthew 7:21-23 Blomberg: “Judgment for those masquerading as disciples leads to eternal separation from Christ.”

Matthew 10:28 New Bible Commentary: “The soul in biblical thought is not immortal, except when new life is conferred upon it through Christ.” (I Timothy 6:16-- “It is he alone who has immortality.” 2 Timothy 1:10-- “Christ abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.”)

France: “On the basis of this text alone it would therefore be better to speak of true life (the 'soul') not as eternal but as 'potentially eternal' since it can be destroyed in hell.”

Blomberg: “Scripture consistently teaches that the two [body and soul] are separated at death. 'Kill' like 'destroy' does not imply annihilation but eternal suffering, as the qualification 'in hell' makes clear.”

Hendricksen: “The word 'destroy' is used here in the sense not of annihilation but of the infliction of everlasting punishment upon a person.”

Hoekema: “The Scriptures do not teach the continued existence of the soul by virtue of its inherent indestructibility...Since, according to the Scriptures, man has been created by God and continues to be dependent on God for his existence, we cannot point to any inherent quality in man or in any aspect of man which makes him indestructible.” “The words of Jesus recorded in Matt. 10:28 substantiate a point made in connection with Matt. 5:29-30, namely, that the sufferings of hell involve both body and soul, and therefore presuppose the resurrection of the body.”

Matthew 13:41-42 furnace of fire: “there men will weep, etc.” (also in Matthew 25:30)

Dictionary of NT Theology, Vol. 2: “The figure of torment that accompanies the term in Matt. 13:42-50 seems to indicate that the gnashing of the teeth is not an indication of rage but of extreme suffering and remorse.”

Hendricksen: “The passages in which the doctrine of everlasting punishment is taught are so numerous that one stands aghast that there are people who affirm that they accept Scripture, but who nevertheless reject this doctrine.”

Matthew 18:34-35

France: “his destiny is not detention but painful punishment.” See eternal punishment of 25:46. For torture language in relation to the fate of the wicked after death, see Luke 16:23,28; Rev. 14:10-11; 20:10.

Blomberg: “The subordinate details of the parable should not be pressed. Verse 34 does not promulgate any doctrine of purgatory. Even when one allegorizes the prison, torturers and repayment, one winds up with a picture of hell, not purgatory, since this man could almost certainly never repay his debt or escape.”

Hendricksen: The words “until he should pay the entire debt” definitely imply, “which he will never be able to accomplish.”

Trench, Parables: “...since man could never acquit the slightest portion of the debt which he owes to God, the putting of such a condition was the strongest possible way of expressing the eternal duration of his punishment.”

Matthew 22:13

 Blomberg: “Only imprisonment and punishment—eternal judgment—remain in store for such people. At this point Jesus abandons any attempt to retain a meaningful story line at the literal level and speaks purely allegorically.”

Matthew 25:41-48

In regard to this passage, Bowles states that the nature of the eternal punishment is not described. However, it is an opposite, not a parallel destiny' to eternal life, i.e., death. He also notes that fire elsewhere in Matthew is used for a destroying fire, not a tormenting one.

DNTT “punishment”: “It may be questioned whether it implies more than the finality of judgment. The term eternal has both qualitative and quantitative overtones...If the metaphor of fire is to be pressed at all, it would imply that the fire of righteousness continues to burn, but that what is consumed is consumed for good.”

Young, “Fire”: tree or tares are burned up three times in Matthew [DNTT “asbestos”: unquenchable, ceaseless, inextinguishable. Used in Matt. 3:12 for chaff burned up—see above]. Baptize with fire (“purification, not destruction”—NRSV notes) in Matt. 3:11. The epileptic suffers but does not die in the fire (Matt. 17:15). The other four appearances in Matthew refer to the final judgment and are parallel to Matt. 25 usage. Of these, one also uses “eternal” and two state that there will be suffering in the furnace of fire (13:42,50).

NRSV: I Enoch 13 refers to an “abyss of fire” in which evil ones will be shut up “for all eternity.”

R.E. Nixon: “Eternal punishment and eternal life are not necessarily the same in duration. Eternal simply refers to the age to come.”

Payne: “Jesus reveals that the eternal fire of the condemned is that which has been prepared for the devil and his angels.”

Blomberg: The word eternal means that which is characteristic of the age to come; the emphasis on temporal lastingness is secondary.”

France: “Fire has been a repeated image for ultimate judgment in Matthew (nine passages cited).” Eternal is related to the concept of the two ages. The term does not in itself favor one side or the other in the annihilationist debate. Insofar as the metaphor of fire may be pressed, however, it suggests destruction rather than punishment...the fire of Gehenna goes on burning not because the rubbish is not destroyed by it, but because more is continually added.” See Matt. 13:42 “where the weeds are destroyed, not kept burning forever...These pointers suggest that an annihilationist theology does more justice to Matthew's language in general.”

Blomberg: “The parallel between eternal punishment and eternal life makes it difficult to see in the former any kind of annihilationism, even if the word 'eternal' can refer to a qualitative rather than quantitative attribute of life, and attractive as doctrines of conditional immortality ought to be to anyone with a sensitive heart.”

Hendricksen: On verse 41, “First of all hell means separation...They will 'go away' into everlasting punishment...Secondly, hell means association...The wicked will dwell forever with the devil and his angels...Thirdly, hell is the place of fire. This fire is unquenchable. It devours forever and ever. Fourthly, hell is the abode of darkness, the place where evil spirits are kept. For the impenitent the gloom of darkness has been preserved forever (Jude 13)...On verse 46, “Common to the concept 'everlasting' in both of these cases is the idea 'without end.' There is going to be enduring separation. Punishment and Life are everlasting There will be no change (quoting Grosheide). Punishment for the wicked and life for the righteous are the same in this one respect, namely, that they last on and on and on, without ever coming to an end.”

Hendricksen: On verses 45-51: “This weeping is that of inconsolable, never-ending wretchedness and utter, everlasting hopelessness. The accompanying grinding or gnashing of teeth denotes excruciating pain and frenzied anger.”

Luke 16:23, 25

NBC: “It is a moot point whether the parable is intended to give literal information about the next world, and, if so, whether it refers to an intermediate state before the final judgment or to a lasting state...But, although the language is surely symbolical, it speaks of real destinies for men.”

Trench: Hell is the place of painful restraint, where the souls of the wicked are reserved to the judgment of the great day.”

Kistemaker, Parables: “Thirst and pain are the lot of those condemned to die separated from God. See II Esdras 8:59; II Enoch 10:1-2...Hell (Gehenna not Hades) as described by Jesus is a place of punishment [ten Matthew passages cited]. Oesterley, who “regards the doctrine of eternal damnation as anti-Christian” feels that verse 26 is probably a later interpolation (without any textual evidence).

Marshall: “Since the reference is to the state of the man immediately after his death, it is most likely that the intermediate abode of the dead before the final judgment is meant....The rich man's fate is pain, which can refer to physical pain but...in this verse it is the spiritual torture of remorse.”

Ellis: This story “presupposes, in part, a Greek view in which 'souls' go at death into the underworld for punishment...The picture of judgment and reward immediately at death is contrary to the usual NT understanding.”

DNTT “punishment”: “It has to be decided whether the parable is intended to teach the conscious ongoing torment of the righteous or [another main point[.”

Beale and Carson, Commentary on the NT Use of the OT: “Several OT passages refer to thirst as an image of divine punishment.”

The Judgment Parables of Jesus   Images of physical death or other forms of annihilation are always found within the details of the parables themselves (Matt. 13:30, Matt. 21:41, Luke 19:11-27) while images of everlasting punishment are found when (a) Jesus departs from the literal story to give an eschatological perspective, accompanied by language that denotes continuing suffering for the offender (Matt. 22:13, Matt. 24:45-51, Matt. 3:1-12) or (b) given in Jesus' explanation after the end of the parable (Matt. 13:41-42, Matt. 25:30, Matt. 25:31-33). Those parables in which the punishment is separation from the blessed seem to imply coterminous existence of the two groups of people (Matt. 24:41-42, Matt. 25:1-13, Matt. 7:21-23).

John 3:36

Liddell and Scott: meno—to be lasting, continue, to be unchanged, permanent.

Morris: wrath of God rests (or remains) on him. “We should not expect it to fade away with the passage of time. If a man continues in unbelief and disobedience he can look for nothing other than the persisting wrath of God”

R. Brown: Literally “God's wrath remains on him”; the present tense indicates that punishment has begun and will continue. Two basic meanings of apoletai: to be lost or to suffer destruction.

Borchert: “the unbeliever ...has in the future only the prospect of a resurrection to condemnation (John 5:29).”

International Bible Commentary: “Duration is not the main idea, though that is present.” Apoletai “is used intransitively in the middle voice to mean “to be lost” or “to suffer destruction” “This is the only alternative to life eternal, for it is separation from Christ and God.”

New Bible Dictionary: In the phrase “rests upon him” the verb suggests it is present and continuously abiding.”

Hoekema: “If the wrath of God rests (menei) upon such a person, to what other conclusion can we come than the punishment involved is everlasting.”