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Annihilationism and Matthew 13:40-42, wicked are burned with fire

by | Oct 11, 2018 | Annihilationism, Minor Groups & Issues

“So just as the tares are gathered up and burned with fire, so shall it be at the end of the age. “The Son of Man will send forth His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all stumbling blocks, and those who commit lawlessness, 41and will throw them into the furnace of fire; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth,” (Matthew 13:40–42).

Jesus said that at the end of the age, the wicked will be thrown into the furnace of fire where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. The conditionalists will say that this furnace of fire results in their nonexistence. Of course, the text does not say that. Instead, it says that in the furnace of fire, there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. But, their rationale is that the fire will burn until the person is consumed and no longer exists. It’s a conditionalist cremation.

  • “The figure of “unquenchable” fire appears frequently throughout Scripture and signifies a fire that cannot be resisted or put out until it has done what fire is intended to do. Because this fire is “not quenched” or extinguished, it completely consumes what is put into it. Yet an “unquenchable” fire eventually goes out, when it has consumed its fuel. “Unquenchable” does not mean ever-burning, but irresistible.” (Fudge, Edward William. The Fire That Consumes: A Biblical and Historical Study of the Doctrine of Final Punishment, Third Edition (p. 77). Cascade Books, an imprint of Wipf and Stock Publishers. Kindle Edition, underline added)
  • “There are three passages that speak of unquenchable fire, two in the teaching of the Baptist (Matt 3: 12 = Luke 3: 17) and one from our Lord who speaks of going away “into Gehenna into the unquenchable fire,” (Mark 9: 43). The chaff, of course, is burnt up by the irresistible fire— there is nothing to suggest that the fire goes on burning after it has destroyed the rubbish.” (Rethinking Hell: Readings in Evangelical Conditionalism (Kindle Locations 2016-2019). Cascade Books, an Imprint of Wipf and Stock Publishers. Kindle Edition.)

So the conditionalist assumes that the fire of judgment means that once a person is consumed, the fire goes out. In the context of these verses, the weeping and gnashing of teeth would be, for those conditionalists who hold to suffering before annihilation, the consequence of their sin that leads to extinction. Some conditionalists say that the people are resurrected for judgment, after which their physical bodies will be burned. When their bodies are burned up, the soul ceases to exist. But, we are left with some problems if that view is examined.

Weeping and gnashing of teeth

If there are weeping and gnashing of teeth, it must be something that the wicked experience. This means that the wicked undergoes some terrifying ordeal. The conditionalist might say that this terrifying experience is to prospect of annihilation, but that’s just their opinion. Since it seems safer to say that it is more terrible to suffer eternally than not suffer eternally, it would make more sense to say that the terrifying experience that is described by the weeping and gnashing of teeth would be of eternal conscious torment, not the nothingness of annihilationism.

Suffering according to their sin

If the wicked are burned before they are annihilated, then they are being burned according to their sin. Since the Bible tells us there are different degrees of punishment (Matt. 11:22-24; Luke 12:47-48), it would seem that there will be degrees of burning and suffering from the conditionalist perspective – at least with those who don’t affirm direct annihilation after death. Nevertheless, the burning would be in relation to their sin, which is according to the Law of God. Therefore, some conditionalists would say that the wicked suffer their burning in proportion o their sin before they are annihilated. But, if they have finished the necessary amount of burning/suffering, which is in accordance with their sin, why then are they also annihilated? Haven’t they completed the requisite amount of suffering through burning that is according to the Law? How is this not a form of double judgment?

If the conditionalists says that the requirement of the Law is the punishment of nonexistence, which is accomplished via the burning of their bodies, then show that from Scripture. There are plenty of places in the Old Testament that talk about the wicked burning, but these figures of speech are meant to illustrate the terrifying prospect of judgment which best fits eternal conscious torment, not the nothingness of annihilation. Of course, the biblical writers knew that fires burned out, and worms died (Isaiah 66:24). But they used such imagery of eternal consequence that people experience, not being brought to nothingness. Furthermore, the New Testament interprets the Old Testament, and it clearly implies eternal conscious torment in many of its passages, i.e., Luke 16:19-31; Jude 6-7; Rev. 14:11.

Does scripture require the punishment of nonexistence?

Furthermore, if the conditionalists say that the punishment of the Law requires nonexistence, then that is just an opinion. But, Scripture is far from conclusive in support of the conditionalists perspective. If anything, it teaches eternal conscious torment. Jude 7, for example, clearly teaches that the wicked people of Sodom and Gomorrah are presently exhibited as undergoing the punishment of eternal fire. So, it would seem that the annihilationist position is an assumption read into Scripture, not a fact derived out of it. See Jude 6-7, angels and the wicked undergoing punishment of eternal fire.

Conclusion

Nothing in the text of Matthew 13:40-42 says that the wicked are annihilated. The assumption of conditionalists that it is speaking of nonexistence is just that, an assumption. It is just not there. If anything, the furnace of fire in which “there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth,” is far more descriptive of conscious punishment which supports the traditionalist view of eternal conscious torment. As horrible as that the prospect is, that is what the Scriptures teach as is found in Luke 16:19-31, Jude 6-7, and Rev. 14:9-11.

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