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Being open minded about annihilationism

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

Before and during my examination of annihilationism, I went to God in prayer and asked that he guide me in my study. I did not want to approach His Word with a foregone conclusion and then miss the truth. But, I must admit that I had already assumed the validity of eternal conscious torment. So, I asked the Lord that if conditionalism (i.e., annihilationism) is true, that He would show it to me in the Bible – in spite of my beliefs. So, previous to the study and during the study, I did the best I could to remain open-minded. I was open to changing my perspective. After all, God holds us teachers to a stricter judgment

“Let not many of you become teachers, my brethren, knowing that as such we will incur a stricter judgment,” (James 3:1).

That verse concerns me. My Christian life should represent fidelity and consistency with Scripture. It becomes especially important when I teach others. I want my examination of annihilationism to genuinely reflect what God’s word says, not merely what my traditions incline me to believe, so I have taken this endeavor to study annihilationism very seriously (as is evident by a great many articles I produced.)

What about you?

I have spoken with many annihilationists. Some are polite and seek to be open-minded even while they affirm conditional immortality. Others are rude and judgmental and vent mild vitriol at anyone who disagrees with their position. Many of them would say that Eternal Conscious Torment makes God a monster. So, they react in a very negative, condemning, and even mocking way. Such emotional subjectivity is not convincing and only gets in the way of meaningful dialogue.

If you are an annihilationist, perhaps you think that I was never open-minded because if I were, I would have adopted your position. But, that would mean you’re not open-minded since you assume the validity of your position and would imply that any ‘honest’ study would result in adopting conditionalism. That is not necessarily so. The truth is I did ask God to show me in His word whether conditional immortality was true or false. I had to deal with my commitment to eternal conscious torment and set it aside, to the best of my ability, as I came to the word of God. I know that other people have done that same thing and arrived at a different conclusion. So, who’s right? Well, that’s the debate. Isn’t it? I hope the collection of articles I offer here will be useful to you in your own biblical examination of annihilationism.

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