Revelation 20:10-15And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever. And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. (KJV)Will those that are cast into the lake of fire die or will they be tormented day and night for ever and ever as well?
Impressions
I was under the impression that once sinners were cast in to the lake of fire they would no longer exist.
Glad I don’t have to worry about it.
The "Second Death" means something….
If you are alive and burning…then you’re not dead. If that is the Second Death, it is a sort of false advertising, isn’t it? I mean, if a person is going to live forever and ever and be tortured endlessly, then that is eternal life in its more horrendous form.
I guess every thought has to get a label. No room for personal beliefs?
ok, Aaron, make that 3 of them. Wow, sure this isn’t WWCOG ??
that people who are cast in the lake of fire will no longer exist and some of them looked at me like I was wrong. I have several who used to be catholic and baptist.
They do not believe in annihilation. In fact most groups that do are considered to be cultic. It is not orthodox. And it is not backed up by scripture. You have to use arguments like those given above to defend the position. Again, I won’t say its a heaven or (not) hell issue, but it is not an orthodox position.
Matt 10:28Do 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.This is an interesting scripture for a couple of reasons. Why would one who is in torment forever and ever fear having their soul destroyed? Wouldn’t it be welcome at that point? And, it shows that the soul can/will be destroyed in hell. BTW, among those of us who are conditionalists, there are differing beliefs. There are some who believe that when you die the first time, you’re annihilated. I believe in a place called hell where people are punished. I just believe when it is tossed into the lake of fire, it is destroyed at that point.
The fire that destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah was also an eternal fire. I don’t think it is still burning. The challenge in the Bible is figuring out what is literal.
If you die of old age and buried, are you annihilated?If you were blown into atoms by a nuclear blast and killed, are you annihilated?Very simply, DYING is not annihilation in certain senses. So the Second Death may not be considered annihilation, if the point needs to be debated (though I acknowledge that that is almost certainly what our church’s founders meant!).I, personally, have come to believe, as did some of the earliest Church Fathers, that God is not so unbearably cruel as to torture people FOREVER. Consider that this is not a case of being locked in jail for a thousand years. This is a case of ACTIVE BURNING, of REAL-TIME TORTURE…and it last not a month, not year, not a century, not even a million years…it lasts for a billion, billion, billion, billion, billion, billion, billion, billion, billion, billion, billion, billion, billion, billion, billion, billion, billion, billion, billion, billion, billion, billion, billion, billion, billion, billion, billion, billion, billion, billion, billion, billion, billion, billion, billion, billion, billion, billion, billion, billion, billion, billion, billion, billion, billion, billion, billion, billion, billion, billion, billion, billion, billion, billion, billion, billion, billion, billion, billion, billion, billion, billion, billion, billion, billion, billion, billion, billion, billion, billion, billion, billion, billion, billion, billion, billion, billion, billion, billion, billion, billion, billion, billion, billion, billion, billion, billion, billion, billion, billion, billion, billion, billion, billion, billion, billion, billion, billion, billion, billion, billion, billion, billion, billion, billion, billion, billion, billion, billion, billion, billion, billion, billion, billion, billion, billion, billion, billion, billion, billion, billion, billion, billion, billion, billion, billion, billion, billion, billion, billion, billion, billion, billion, billion, billion, billion, billion, billion, billion, billion, billion, billion, billion, billion, billion, billion, billion, billion, billion, billion, billion, billion, billion, billion, billion, billion, billion, billion, billion, billion, billion, billion, billion, billion, billion, billion, billion, billion, billion, billion, billion, billion, billion, billion, billion, billion, billion, billion, billion, billion, billion, billion, billion, billion, billion, billion, billion, billion, billion, billion, billion, billion…years.Do we think that the Muslim version of Allah is evil? Oh, my goodness, he doesn’t compare with OUR GOD! Our God will burn you alive for a trillion centuries!I’m not saying that’s not the case. But it sure is hard for me to believe that our God would do the most merciless thing in the universe…when His Son, as He was dying, asked that those around Him be forgiven for they knew not what they did.
The Church of God Doctrinal Commitments affirm belief in:Eternal punishment for the wicked. No liberation nor annihilation. Matthew 25:41-46; Mark 3:29; 2 Thessalonians 1:8, 9; Revelation 20:10-15; 21:8www.churchofgod.org/beliefs/doctrinal-commitments
Robertson’s Word Pictures on 2 Thes. 1: 9Shall suffer punishment (dikên tisousin). Future active of old verb tinô, to pay penalty (dikên, right, justice), here only in N.T., but apotinô once also to repay Phm 1:19. In the papyri dikê is used for a case or process in law. This is the regular phrase in classic writers for paying the penalty. Eternal destruction (olethron aiônion). Accusative case in apposition with dikên (penalty). This phrase does not appear elsewhere in the N.T., but is in IV Macc. 10:15 ton aiônion tou turannou olethron the eternal destruction of the tyrant (Antiochus Epiphanes). Destruction (cf. 1Th 5:3) does not mean here annihilation, but, as Paul proceeds to show, separation from the face of the Lord (apo prosôpou tou kuriou) and from the glory of his might (kai apo tês doxês tês ischuos autou), an eternity of woe such as befell Antiochus Epiphanes. Aiônios in itself only means age-long and papyri and inscriptions give it in the weakened sense of a Caesar’s life (Milligan), but Paul means by age-long the coming age in contrast with this age, as eternal as the New Testament knows how to make it. See on Mt 25:46 for use of aiônios both with zôên, life, and kolasin, punishment________________