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Eternal Conscious Torment is too horrible and monstrous to be true
Some conditionalists present an argument that the idea of eternal conscious torment is too horrible to be true. Unfortunately, such an argument is based on subjective emotion. Let me [Clark Pinnock] say at the outset that I consider the concept of hell as endless...
Eternal Conscious Torment makes God unloving
Though it is not a very common argument, some annihilationists state God would be unloving to torment someone forever. They say that since God is love (1 John 4:8), it cannot be that God would allow such a horrible thing. First, this argument is a subjective appeal to...
Eternal conscious torment does not benefit God nor the one being punished.
The problem with the idea that eternal conscious torment does not benefit God or the one that God punishes is that it mistakenly assumes there must be a benefit to God and to those punished. Furthermore, I have not yet heard what the conditionalist means by benefit. ...
Eternal Conscious Torment makes God immoral
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...
Examining soul sleep and its problems
Among conditionalists, soul sleep is the position that upon death the human soul enters a state of unconsciousness “soul sleep,” the view that death is a state of total unconsciousness, rather than survival in heaven, hell, or purgatory."[fn]Rethinking Hell: Readings...
God receiving Jesus’ spirit proves continued conscious existence after death
The person of Jesus is critical to the issue of conditional immortality. In all my research, I have not yet seen where a conditionalist addresses the issue that I'm raising here. Perhaps it has been addressed, but I haven't found it. Now, before I present it, I need...
Word Study on death, apothnesko, sorted by verse
The Greek word ἀποθνήσκω, apothnesko occurs 111 times in the New Testament. Basically, it means death, to die. It has both literal and figurative meanings depending on usage. Verses that deal specifically with physical death would be (Matt. 8:32; Mark 5:35; Luke...
Problems with anthropological physicalism/materialism
"Evangelical conditionalists also differ in terms of what we believe the Bible says about the constitution of human beings, and also about whether people are conscious in the intermediate state between death and resurrection. Some are anthropological physicalists or...
In conditionalism, there is a logical problem with the soul ceasing to exist then being resurrected
Some conditionalists believe that when a person dies, he ceases to exist and is then later resurrected to be judged. But this is a problem. Please consider these quotes from conditionalists, also known as annihilationists. "The first man was created when the dust of...
Fire burns the wicked until they are consumed, then they are annihilated
One of the arguments raised by conditionalists is that when the Scriptures speaks weeping and gnashing of teeth, it is referring to one of two things. The first is where conditionalists have told me that the weeping and gnashing of teeth is what the wicked will...
Eternal fire is not eternal. Instead, God as the source is eternal
One of the weaker arguments proposed by those who hold to annihilation/conditionalism deals with the phrase "eternal fire." Since Jesus speaks of eternal fire, as does Jude, and since people are cast into eternal fire, how does the annihilationist interpret this?...
Edward Fudge’s teaching that when death occurs the soul is deprived of life, leads to heresy
The late Edward William Fudge (d. 2017) was a strong proponent of conditionalism, the idea that upon final judgment, the wicked cease to exist. But he also taught that when the human person dies physically, his soul is deprived of life. This necessarily leads to...
Edward Fudge and eternal salvation, redemption, judgment, destruction, and punishment
This is a quote from Edward Fudge, one of the best-known annihilationists. "We have seen this in regard to eternal salvation (not an eternal act of saving), eternal redemption (not an eternal process of redeeming), eternal judgment (not an eternal act of judging),...
Fudge’s doctrine of punishment then annihilation has a problem
The late Edward Fudge (d. 2017), who many proponents of conditionalism appeal to for support of their position, taught that a person is annihilated after he has suffered for his sins for an appropriate amount of time. But this has a problem. "...when God destroys both...
Edward Fudge says “apollumi’ mostly refers to death. That is misleading
Edward William Fudge is one of the best-known conditionalists. He wrote a book called The Fire That Consumes: A Biblical and Historical Study of the Doctrine of Final Punishment. It is an in-depth support of annihilationism. Following is a quote from Mr. Fudge that...