“If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire and they are burned,” (John 15:6).

Annihilationists frequently turn to John 15:6 in support of their view that when a nonbeliever is judged according to his sins on the Day of Judgment, it means that just as the branches dried up and are burned, so too the wicked will be completely destroyed and not exist anymore.

Is that what Jesus is teaching? Or, is he using the imagery of the day, the imagery that the people of the time would understand, and associate it with the final judgment of fire? Is Jesus saying that this fire will consume their bodies and that they will cease to exist once their bodies are burned up? Or, is Jesus using the imagery to suggest conscious torment? This is, of course, what the debate is about.

Literal and Figurative

One of the mistakes conditionalists sometimes make is to take a figurative passage of scripture, focus on a literal truth within it, and then interpret that figurative passage in light of that literal truth. Let me explain. In John 15:6, Jesus is using a figure of speech about how a person who does not abide in him will be as a branch that dries up and will be cast into the fire and burned. So, Jesus is comparing those who do not abide in him with branches. Furthermore, the branches are gathered and burned with fire. Now, the figure of speech is “thrown away as a branch and dries up” and are cast “into the fire and they are burned.” Within this figure of speech is the literalness of branches that dry up and are burned. In actuality, when they are burned, they are consumed and don’t exist anymore. Therefore within the figure of speech, there is a literal aspect of branches being burned up and the conditionalists extract it and then interpret the whole figure of speech in light of it. The result is the conditionalists interpretation that people are annihilated in the coming fire of judgment.

Is this a legitimate way of interpreting Scripture? No, it isn’t. Why not do the reverse and take the whole figure of speech and use it to interpret the perceived literal subpoint within it? Think about it. Jesus was illustrating the coming judgment by using familiar, everyday imagery. If anything, those hearing his message would associate the coming judgment with burning fire. Furthermore, nothing is said about the nature of the individual’s existence on the Day of Judgment. Nothing says the person continues or does not continue to exist. So, the conditionalists have to be careful when interpreting this verse. They should not read into it more than what it actually says; otherwise, they make Jesus say something he is not.

Conclusion

In John 15:6, Jesus used the familiar imagery of the day concerning branches that dry up, are gathered, and are burned as an illustration of the dire consequence of not abiding in him. But, it is a mistake to extract a part of the whole statement, focus on a literal aspect within it, and then interpret the overall figure of speech in light of that single literal aspect. In the case of John 15:6, Jesus uses the imagery of the branches that dry up (people dry up?), are gathered, cast in the fire, and are burned to illustrate the consequence of not abiding in Him. But the conditionalists focuses on the idea that branches are burned and don’t exist anymore. Is that Jesus’ intent? The conditionalist would say yes. But, what does Jesus mean by ‘people dry up’? Is that literal or figurative? It’s figurative. Why not take that particular aspect and use it to interpret the rest of the teaching. Conditionalists don’t do that because they only focus only on the part they think supports their position and are inconsistent when they do interpret. So, it is not proper to extract a literal subpoint within the figurative of speech and then interpret the entire figurative passage in light of that literal subpoint. It can lead to misrepresentation of the text.