One of the complaints raised by conditionalists against the teaching of eternal conscious torment (ECT) is that it makes God immoral. They say that it is wrong for someone to suffer for eternity, in utter agony, for finite sins committed here on earth. Therefore, to accuse God of such a thing is to accuse God of immorality. But, such reasoning is flawed and I will show you why. Their argument goes something like this.
- Eternal conscious torment is immoral by nature
- To accuse God of enacting eternal conscious torment would make God immoral.
- Therefore, eternal conscious torment is not true, since God is not immoral.
The problem with this line of reasoning begins with the first premise. To say that eternal conscious torment is immoral by nature is an opinion. There is nothing in the Bible that states such a view is true. When a logical argument is based on a subjective opinion, its conclusion cannot be trusted. Furthermore, people who often present such opinions inadvertently assert that there is a moral standard that rests outside of God to which God must submit. In other words, the person would be saying that this action, this particular action of ECT is by nature immoral and God is obligated to submit to that moral truth. This is, of course, ridiculous.
As Christians, we must agree that the only source of absolute morals rests in God himself. Furthermore, God has revealed his will in the Bible and we must turn to the Bible in order to find out if eternal conscious torment is indeed true or not.
But, this is precisely the debate that we are having. Though some conditionalists claim that the Bible condemns eternal conscious torment as morally reprehensible, proving it from Scripture is another matter entirely. If anything, we find in Scripture many verses that certainly imply eternal conscious torment is true.
- Jude 7, “just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities around them, since they in the same way as these indulged in gross immorality and went after strange flesh, are exhibited as an example in undergoing the punishment of eternal fire.” (See Jude 6-7, angels undergoing punishment of eternal fire)
- Revelation 14:9–11, “Then another angel, a third one, followed them, saying with a loud voice, “If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, 10 he also will drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is mixed in full strength in the cup of His anger; and he will be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. 11 “And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever; they have no rest day and night, those who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name.” (Revelation 14:9-11, worshippers of the beast are tormented forever)
- Revelation 20:10, “And the devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are also; and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.” (See Revelation 20:10, the devil, the beast, and the false prophet, tormented day and night forever)
Finite sins don’t deserve eternal punishment
Some annihilationists argue that it would be wrong for God to punish someone eternally for sins that are finite. But this argument fails to understand that sinners are punished according to the severity of their sins. It is not simply an issue of a sin as a finite concept, but of who the sin is against. If I were to slap you in the face, you might slap me back or step back and ask why did that? But if I were to slap the President of the United States in the face, that would be a serious offense, and I would go to jail. Why the difference in result? This is because of who the action is against. When we go up the chain of command to the infinitely holy God, we should realize that to sin against God is to incur an infinite offense because of who is against. Therefore, to say that a sin is finite misses the point because it fails to properly understand who the sin is against. Since the sin is against God and he is infinite, therefore people’s sins require a judgment that is commensurate with the infinite nature of God.
Common sense
Those against eternal conscious torment sometimes, though not very often, appeal to the idea that common sense declares it to be false. But, of course, this is way too subjective. What is common sense to one person is not common sense to another. For anyone to appeal to common sense as a universal moral standard, is to offer a subjective preference as a universal norm. This is wrought with problems and cannot be the foundation upon which a valid criticism of eternal conscious torment can be constructed.
Conclusion
God is the standard of holiness and moral truth. He does not answer to anyone, and there is no moral standard outside of himself. Therefore, for anyone to cogently make his case that eternal conscious torment is immoral, he would have to do so based on the revelation of God himself found in the Bible. But the problem is that nothing in Scripture says it is immoral for someone to suffer eternally for the sins against God that they have committed here on earth. It just isn’t there. Therefore, the criticism that eternal conscious torment makes God immoral is nothing more than an unsubstantiated appeal to subjective opinion. It is, therefore, an invalid criticism.
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