I’ve heard a number of people say that once
they saw that the Bible teaches annihilationism (also called conditional immortality) they could not unsee it. This was true even if annihilationism
was unpopular in their church setting. With this post, I hope to help more
people see it.
The evidence for annihilationism in the Bible
is wide and deep. From this wide and
deep evidence, for me one of the most powerful types of evidence consists of
the words chosen by biblical authors to describe the final fate of the
unrighteous.
How do we know if a given word, used in the
context of the final fate of humans, refers to complete and permanent
annihilation of a person rather than referring to some other fate, like eternal
torment? One of the main ways to determine the meaning of a word is to look at sample
sentences where the word was used in a context where the rest of the sentence
and broader context make the meaning very clear.
This is where two Greek philosophers help. Plato
was a Greek philosopher who lived about four hundred years before Christ. His
works were widely read in the centuries before, during, and after the period
when Paul and Peter wrote portions of the New Testament. Plutarch was born
around the time that Paul was beginning to write his epistles. Plutarch was a
Greek philosopher-historian-biographer. Both Plato and Plutarch wrote specifically
about what they thought happened to human souls after the death of our bodies.
One of the possibilities they wrote about, but did not agree with, was the possibility
that at some point the soul would permanently cease to exist.
Plato and Plutarch don’t help us on this issue
because of the value of their philosophy, which is not based on biblical truth
and thus not valuable at all. Rather, they help us by providing very clear and
explicit examples of words in Greek that are a good choice for referring to
annihilationism. Just as we could think of many ways to say that one sports
team defeated (beat, clobbered, thrashed, trounced, etc.) another team, there
are multiple words, phrases, and images that can be used (and are used!) to refer
to the annihilation of people after their death. In this post I will focus on
three such Greek words/word groups: (1) apollumi/apōleia, (2) phthora, and (3) olethros.
Apollumi and apōleia are grouped together because they are the verb and noun
formed from the same root, similar to destroy and destruction in English.
In the graphic below are examples of Plato and
Plutarch using these words in a context where they unambiguously refer to
annihilationism and then Paul and Peter using the same words to describe the
final fate of the unrighteous (to those viewing this on small screens, I
apologize for the unavoidably large size of this graphic):
Below is a chart summarizing
more examples I found of Plato and Plutarch using these words when discussing
the fate of humans after death, and of bible verses where Paul and Peter use
the same words to describe the fate of people after judgment:
At the bottom of this post I’ve included an
appendix that includes all the quotes from Plato and Plutarch in the chart
above. Along with the quotes, I give links to a site where you can read the
quotes and their larger context in both English and, for those able to do so,
in the original Greek. I’ve included a second appendix that lists all the Bible
verses in the chart plus similar verses written by Matthew, Mark, Luke, the
author of Hebrews, and James.
An
Alien-Linguist-Sports Analogy
Imagine that two alien linguists, named Joe
and Bob, came to earth to learn English and American culture. Joe read that the Ravens had “defeated,
beaten, and clobbered” the Cowboys. He told Bob that he thought this meant that
the Ravens had won in a sports game against the Cowboys. Bob was not sure that Joe
was interpreting that sentence correctly. Bob explained that he had found the
word “defeated” used to refer to a feeling of hopelessness, while “beaten” and “clobbered”
were both sometimes used to refer to causing someone physical injury. Bob
suggested that perhaps the Ravens had physically injured the Cowboys and made
them feel sad and hopeless. That wouldn’t necessarily mean the Ravens won the
game.
Since Bob and Joe are both linguists, they knew
that they needed to find sample sentences where the words “defeated, beaten,
and clobbered” were used in the context of sports and where the rest of the sentence made the
meaning unambiguous. They found these sentences:
Duke clobbered State by a 30-point margin.
ECU beat Carolina by scoring late in the
fourth quarter.
The Panthers were defeated by the Patriots, 24
to 10.
At this point the meaning is clear. Bob agrees
that Joe’s interpretation was correct. The Ravens won the game.
I hope you will see that the example sentences
from Plato and Plutarch make it equally clear that when discussing the final
fate of people apollumi, phthora, and olethros mean that the people they describe are permanently
annihilated in such a way that no person remains who is capable of feeling or
thinking anything.
Do
we need Plato and Plutarch?
You might wonder if we really need sentences from
Plato and Plutarch to determine the meaning of words used by Paul and Peter? The
answer is no. Plato and Plutarch merely provide additional evidence.
Here are a few examples of evidence from the
Bible itself:
1. Sometimes the meaning of a word is clarified
by what it is contrasted with. In John 3:16 the word perish (apollumi) is contrasted “eternal life.” Whatever
perish means, it does not include living forever. You can’t be in torment
forever if you don’t live forever.
2. A
study of the use of apollumi in the
Bible when referring to what happens to people in this life shows that it
consistently means they die or are killed. You may read more about this in an article on apollumi at the Rethinking Hell website. Some defenders of
eternal torment point out that apollumi can refer to something that is ruined
(like a wineskin, Matthew 9:17) or lost (like a coin, Luke 15:8). That’s true,
but words often change their precise meaning depending on what they are referring
to. It is best to look at examples that refer to people. Further, the lost are
already lost before they are cast into hell, so it doesn’t make sense to
interpret Matthew 10:28 as saying that God loses people in hell. As far as the
ruined wineskins go, they are ruined because they burst open and what’s inside gushes
out. If that happened to you, you would be dead, not just ruined in some lesser
way!
3. Paul
uses apollumi when he is discussing a
terrible hypothetical situation where Jesus did not rise from the dead (1
Corinthians 15:18). Paul says that in that case, Christians who have died will
have perished (apollumi). He also
says that if there was no resurrection then it would make sense to just enjoy
this life as much as we can (1 Corinthians 15:32). Those who believe in any
type of existence after death consistently believe that the quality of that
existence is related to how we lived in our present life here. It makes sense
to live only for this life if there is no type of afterlife at all. So, when
Paul says that Christians will have perished (apollumi) if Christ is not raised, he is basically saying that
those who believe this world is all that there is would be proved correct. In
this context, apollumi means
basically the same thing as is meant by annihilation. This is a subtle but
strong argument. Reread it and look at what Paul wrote for yourself. Paul uses
the same word (apollumi) to describe
a hypothetical situation where there is nothing at all after death as he uses
to describe the final fate of the unrighteous after judgment. Think about that.
4. Peter helps us understand the meaning of phthora in 2 Peter 2:12 by using the
same word to describe what happens to an animal that is caught and killed:
But these, like irrational
animals, creatures of instinct, born to be caught and destroyed (phthora),
blaspheming about matters of which they are ignorant, will also be destroyed in
their destruction (phthora), (2 Peter 2:12, ESV)
Animals are not caught and then tormented.
They are caught and then killed. After they are killed, they cannot feel or
think anything. The meaning is the same as annihilation.
5. Other words and images in the Bible also fit
will with annihilationism. The Bible tells us that the unrighteous will be
burned to ashes, completely burned up, and that their fate is death. That all
sounds more like annihilation than eternal torment. But what about the verses
that speak of weeping and gnashing of teeth? Weeping and gnashing of teeth
actually are very predictable reactions to finding out you are going to be
burned to ashes at the final judgment. Annihilationism does not deny that there
will be some conscious suffering before or during the process of being finally and
completely destroyed.
6. And much more! You may find my own
collection of articles giving evidence for the view of conditional immortality
here: Mark’s Resources on Hell. There are also many helpful articles on this topic on
the Rethinking Hell website.
I’m
not the first to see this
In 1875 Edward White, a minister in London,
published a book on conditional immortality with the title: Life in
Christ: A Study of the Scriptural Doctrine On the Nature of Man, the Object of
the Divine Incarnation, and the Conditions of Human Immortality (you may
read this book online for free here).
In that book, on pages 358-365, White discusses the same words which I discuss in
this article and he uses many of the same quotes from Plato. He came to the
same conclusion. These words teach the annihilation of the unrighteous and cannot
reasonably be interpreted as referring to their eternal torment. In expressing
how he feels about interpreting these words to mean eternal torment, White
quotes from a letter on this same topic from the Greek scholar and Bible
translator Richard Weymouth. Weymouth wrote:
My mind fails to
conceive a grosser misinterpretation of language than when the five or six
strongest words which the Greek tongue possesses, signifying ‘destroy,’ or ‘destruction,’
are explained to mean maintaining an everlasting but wretched existence. To translate
black as white is nothing to this. (White, p. 365).
The above quote I first found in Edward Fudge’s
excellent work, The Fire that Consumes.
I’m far from the first to study the Greek
words used to describe the final fate of the unrighteous and to conclude that
the evidence overwhelmingly supports the doctrine of conditional immortality
rather than eternal torment. I pray that this post will help others to see this
truth as well.
Appendix
#1: Quotes from Plato and Plutarch
Helpful note: After each quote, I include a reference
that you can click on. It will take you to the appropriate page on the online
Perseus Digital Library. The English translation will be on the left side of
the page. On the right side of the page, if you click the “load” button in the
section labeled “Greek,” the accompanying Greek text will appear.
Plato’s
use of apollumi/apōleia, phthora, and olethros to refer to the annihilation of human souls:
They fear that when the soul leaves the body
it no longer exists anywhere, and that on the day when the man dies it is
destroyed and perishes (apollumi), and when it leaves the
body and departs from it, straightway it flies away and is no longer anywhere,
scattering like a breath or smoke.
“But the soul, the invisible, which departs
into another place which is, like itself, noble and pure and invisible, to the
realm of the god of the other world in truth, to the good and wise god,
whither, if God will, my soul is soon to go,—is this soul, which has such qualities
and such a nature, straightway scattered and destroyed (apollumi) when
it departs from the body, as most men say?
Now what shall we say to this argument, if
anyone claims that the soul, being a mixture of the elements of the body, is
the first to perish (apollumi) in what is called death?
But he might say that no one knows beforehand
the particular death and the particular dissolution of the body which brings destruction (olethros) to the soul,
for none of us can perceive that.
And, Cebes, I believe, granted that the soul
is more lasting than the body, but said that no one could know that the soul,
after wearing out many bodies, did not at last perish (apollumi) itself
upon leaving the body; and that this was death—the destruction (olethros) of
the soul, since the body is continually being destroyed. Are those the points,
Simmias and Cebes, which we must consider?”
. . . but its [the soul’s] very entrance into
the human body was the beginning of its dissolution
(olethros), a disease, as it
were; and it lives in toil through this life and finally perishes (apollumi) in
what we call death.
If the immortal is also imperishable, it is
impossible for the soul to perish (apollumi) when death comes against
it.
“But,” he said, “it is not needed, so far as
that is concerned; for surely nothing would escape destruction (phthoron),
if the immortal, which is everlasting, is perishable
(phthoron).”
“All, I think,” said Socrates, “would agree
that God and the Principle of life, and anything else that is immortal, can
never perish (apollumi).”
“Have you never perceived,” said I, “that our
soul is immortal and never perishes (apollumi)?”
Plutarch’s
use of apollumi/apōleia and phthora to refer to the annihilation of
human souls:
And they are pleased when they hear it said of
a dying person, that he goes away or departs, and such other words as intimate
death to be the soul's remove and not destruction
(phthora).
And they are discomposed when they hear it
said of any one, he is perished (apollumi), or he is gone, or he is
no more;
also from NonPosse, 26
Appendix
#2: The use of apollumi/apōleia, phthora,
and olethros by biblical authors to
refer to the final fate of the unrighteous
Matthew:
"Enter by the narrow
gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction (apōleia), and those who enter by it are many” - Jesus (Matthew
7:13 ESV)
And do not fear those who
kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy (apollumi) both soul and body in hell. – Jesus (Matthew 10:28
ESV)
Whoever finds his life
will lose (apollumi) it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find
it. – Jesus (Matthew 10:39 ESV)
For whoever would save
his life will lose (apollumi) it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find
it. – Jesus (Matthew 16:25 ESV)
They said to him,
"He will put those wretches to a miserable death and let out the vineyard
to other tenants who will give him the fruits in their seasons." - Jesus
(Matthew 21:41 ESV)
They said to him,
"He will put those wretches to a miserable death (apollumi) and let
out the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the fruits in their
seasons." - Jesus (Matt. 21:41 ESV)
The king was angry, and
he sent his troops and destroyed (apollumi) those murderers and burned
their city. - Jesus (Matthew 22:7 ESV)
Mark:
For whoever would save
his life will lose (apollumi) it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the
gospel's will save it. – Jesus (Mark 8:35 ESV)
What will the owner of
the vineyard do? He will come and destroy
(apollumi) the tenants and give
the vineyard to others. – Jesus (Mark 12:9 ESV)
Luke:
For whoever would save
his life will lose (apollumi) it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save
it. For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses (apollumi)
or forfeits himself? – Jesus (Luke 9:24-25 ESV)
No, I tell you; but
unless you repent, you will all likewise perish
(apollumi). – Jesus (Luke 13:3
ESV)
No, I tell you; but
unless you repent, you will all likewise perish
(apollumi). – Jesus (Lk. 13:5
ESV)
Just as it was in the days of Noah, so will it be in the days of the Son of
Man. They were eating and drinking and marrying and being given in marriage,
until the day when Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed (apollumi) them all. - Jesus (Luke 17:26-27 ESV)
Likewise, just as it was in the days of Lot-- they were eating and
drinking, buying and selling, planting and building, but on the day when Lot
went out from Sodom, fire and sulfur rained from heaven and destroyed (apollumi) them all-- so will it be on the day when the Son of
Man is revealed. – Jesus (Luke 17:28-30
ESV)
He will come and destroy (apollumi) those tenants and give the
vineyard to others." When they heard this, they said, "Surely
not!" – Jesus (Luke 20:16 ESV)
John:
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever
believes in him should not perish (apollumi) but have eternal life. –
Jesus (John 3:16 ESV)
I give them eternal life, and they will never perish (apollumi), and no
one will snatch them out of my hand. - Jesus (John 10:28 ESV)
Whoever loves his life loses (apollumi) it, and whoever hates his
life in this world will keep it for eternal life. - Jesus (John 12:25 ESV)
Paul:
For all who have sinned without the law will also perish (apollumi) without
the law, and all who have sinned under the law will be judged by the law. (Romans
2:12 ESV)
What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has
endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction (apōleia)
(Romans 9:22 ESV)
For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing (apollumi),
but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. (1 Corinthians 1:18 ESV)
For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and
among those who are perishing (apollumi) (2 Corinthians 2:15 ESV)
And even if our gospel is
veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing
(apollumi). (2 Corinthians 4:3
ESV)
For the one who sows to
his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption
(phthora), but the one who sows
to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. (Galatians 6:8 ESV)
This is a clear sign to
them of their destruction (apōleia), but of your salvation, and
that from God. (Philippians 1:28b ESV)
Their end is destruction (apōleia) (Phil. 3:19a ESV)
They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction (olethros),
away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might, (2 Thess.
1:9 ESV)
The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power
and false signs and wonders,
and with all wicked
deception for those who are perishing (apollumi), because they refused to
love the truth and so be saved. (2 Thessalonians 2:9-10 ESV)
The author of Hebrews
But we are not of those
who shrink back and are destroyed (apollumi), but of those who have
faith and preserve their souls. (Heb. 10:39 ESV)
James
There is only one
lawgiver and judge, he who is able to save and to destroy (apollumi).
But who are you to judge your neighbor? (Jas. 4:12 ESV)
Peter
But false prophets also
arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who
will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought
them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction
(apōleia). (2 Pet. 2:1 ESV)
And in their greed they
will exploit you with false words. Their condemnation from long ago is not
idle, and their destruction (apōleia) is not asleep. (2 Peter 2:3
ESV)
But these, like
irrational animals, creatures of instinct, born to be caught and destroyed (phthora), blaspheming about matters of which they are ignorant,
will also be destroyed in their destruction
(phthora), (2 Pet. 2:12 ESV)
But by the same word the
heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the
day of judgment and destruction (apōleia) of the ungodly. (2 Peter
3:7 ESV)
The Lord is not slow to
fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not
wishing that any should perish (apollumi), but that all should reach
repentance. (2 Peter 3:9 ESV)
There are some things in
them that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to
their own destruction (apōleia), as they do the other
Scriptures. (2 Peter 3:16 ESV)
Photo
credits
The four photographs of statues/busts of Plato,
Plutarch, Peter, and Paul in the opening graphic are all taken from Wikipedia and
used according to their guidelines. The links are here:
1.
Plutarch By
Odysses -https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=29341420
2.
Plato, public domain photo
3. Paul, cropped from: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5d/Paulus_San_Giovanni_in_Laterano_2006-09-07.jpg
4.Peter
cropped from: By
Jastrow - Own work, CC BY 2.5,
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=2845774
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