Does Annihilationism Make the Threat of Hell Meaningless?

I used to believe the Bible teaches that the unrighteous will suffer eternal conscious torment.  I now believe the Bible teaches that the unrighteous will be raised to face judgment, experience some limited amount of conscious suffering, and then God will destroy their bodies and souls (Matthew 10:28), they will perish (John 3:16), and they will be burned to ashes (2 Peter 2:6). This view is called Conditional Immortality, or Annihilationism.

I often discuss Conditional Immortality with other Christians who still believe in eternal torment.  One objection they raise is that it seems to them that Annihilationism removes the threat of Hell as a motive to seek salvation and avoid sin.  Here’s an example from a discussion forum:

As I have said elsewhere, "annihilation" reduces all the warnings and threats by God, to nothing more than a farce, as it matters not really what God threatens the wicked with, because He will actually not do anything, as they will "cease to exist"! (You may see the comment here.)

This accusation is fairly common, so I want to take time to address it.  It is wrong for many reasons:

1.  Annihilationism allows for a period of conscious suffering.  The Bible does not give any detail as to how long this suffering might last.  It is likely that suffering will be proportional to a person’s sins, also taking into account how much of God’s will they knew (see Luke 12:47-48, also see the following relevant blog posts:  An Eye for An Eye, Hell is Payback). We can trust God that any conscious suffering prior to an unsaved person perishing will be enough to repay them for their sins.

2.  Annihilation itself is an extremely weighty and serious punishment.  Imagine if a family with four children was going on a long expected vacation to a wonderful destination for two weeks.  One of the children committed a sin which was serious in the eyes of his parents.  As a result, he is not allowed to go on the vacation.  Even if there was no physical pain inflicted, this could be seen as a fairly serious punishment.  But the unrighteous are not missing out merely on a two week vacation.  They are missing out on an eternity of joy in the presence of our Lord. They are missing out on living in a perfect world full of redeemed people who have been transformed so that we are as loving, good, pure, kind, trustworthy, and honest as Jesus.  This is a massively huge punishment.  It is in fact an “eternal punishment” because they miss out on the joys of eternal life forever!  How can anyone think that missing out on spending eternity in the presence of our Lord with His love and blessing is “nothing more than a farce” of a punishment? Do we value eternal life with Christ so little that it is no big deal to miss it unless the alternative is eternal torment?

3. The objection that the punishment is not severe just does not pass the reality test.  Imagine you had a friend who you knew was about to be captured by North Korea, imprisoned and tortured for an unknown length of time, and then executed.  Would you say, “Oh, that’s no big deal!”?  And yet the annihilation of the wicked is much more severe because it will last forever!

4. The fear of death is common and widespread among the unredeemed. Everyday experience confirms this.  The Bible itself teaches this:

NIV Hebrews 2:14-15 Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might break the power of him who holds the power of death-- that is, the devil--and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.

In describing how the God-given conscience warns even unbelievers of the results of sin, the Bible does not mention eternal torment, but death, as what they know they deserve:

NIV Romans 1:32 Although they know God's righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.

5.  The threat of eternal torment can actually backfire.  It seems so extremely unjust to torture people forever for sins they commit in a short lifetime. Many people feel it makes God look cruel.  In fact, some atheists have mentioned the doctrine of eternal conscious punishment as an important reason for rejecting God and the Bible. If eternal torment were true, then of course we should teach it.  But if it is not true (and I’m convinced it is not), then by teaching eternal torment we are hurting God’s reputation and actually driving some people away from Him.

Far from being a farce, the threat of punishment in the form of perishing forever is a Biblical and powerful motivation for people to seek eternal life in Christ Jesus. John 3:16 is a Bible passage often used in evangelism, and for good reason.  The alternatives Jesus presents are “eternal life” for those who believe and perishing for those who do not. We would do well to follow this example.

Hebrews 13:16 And do not forget to do good and to share with others . . .