What does the Bible really say about the afterlife?
The “Christian internet” was set ablaze when Kirk Cameron questioned eternal conscious torment. There is so much more to the topic than I could address in my first essay, so this is a deeper dive into the topic.
What does the Old Testament say about the afterlife?
Let’s start from the Garden of Eden
“…. but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.”
Adam and Eve were warned by God that they would die if they ate from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. It is understood that this was a reference to spiritual, not physical death, but the statement says nothing about eternal conscious torment (ECT).
Based on what I’ve learned from multiple sources, I’ve come to understand that the Old Testament has little to say about the afterlife and there was no concept of eternal torment at the time. The word translated as “hell” in the OT referred to “sheol,” which was simply thought of as the place where all dead people go.
I recently came across a video where a proponent of ECT said “we don’t go to the Old Testament for eschatology.” But, one has to ask, considering the high stakes involved, why wouldn’t God have revealed it to his prophets at the time?
What does the New Testament say about the afterlife?
Many people believe that Jesus spoke about hell more than he did about heaven, and that he spoke more about hell than anyone else.
We can argue about whether these statements are true or not, but we also need to remember that the Bible wasn’t written in English, which brings us to the issue of translation.
Several words in the New Testament have been translated “hell” and they have different meanings. The word Jesus used was “Gehenna.”
Gehenna
“Gehenna,” translated as “hell,” is a Greek word for the “Valley of Hinnom,” a physical place southwest of Jerusalem. Various scholars describe it as a place where refuse was burnt, and some say that it was associated with idolatrous practices, including child sacrifice.
In a video titled “The Historical Problem with Hell” – A YouTuber who goes by “David with The Harvest Herald,” discusses how the term “Gehenna” progressed from referring to a physical location on earth to meaning a place of eschatological punishment.
Jesus used “Gehenna” to represent eschatological punishment, but his language and imagery were consistent with those of the OT prophets who did not teach eternal torment.
Worms that don’t die and unquenchable fire
“And if your eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell, where the worms that eat them do not die, and the fire is not quenched.”
The phrase about worms that don’t die and fire that is not quenched is a reference to a passage in Isaiah.
“And they shall go forth and look
Upon the corpses of the men
Who have transgressed against Me.
For their worm does not die,
And their fire is not quenched.
They shall be an abhorrence to all flesh.”
As we read in this verse from Isaiah, it was the worms that didn’t die – the human bodies were dead, not in a state of conscious torment. The fire and worms were devouring dead bodies.
Are there Bible verses that support annihilation?
The argument for eternal conscious torment stems, in part from the belief that the soul is immortal, so cannot be destroyed. However, Matthew 10:28 provides biblical support for the possibility of the destruction of the soul.
“Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.”
Matthew 10:28 (NIV)
Ironically, some of the verses that are used to support eternal torment appear to make a stronger case for annihilation. Let’s start with one of the most popular verses:
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
John 3:16 (NIV)
The options presented here are eternal life versus perishing.
Proponents of eternal torment believe that since parallel comparisons are being made, both conditions have to be eternal – if life is “eternal” or “everlasting,” then the alternative state must also last forever. However, to “perish” would seem to be more consistent with ceasing to exist.
Let’s take a look at another popular verse:
“For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Romans 6:23 (NIV)
Here again, the options are eternal life versus death.
“Death” would appear to be consistent with ceasing to exist, not eternal conscious torment.
What many of us were taught was that “death” and “perish” in such contexts were references to spiritual death, and that this is equivalent to eternal conscious torment. However, a plain reading of these verses seems to be more consistent with annihilation.
Lost in translation – does “eternal” mean “forever”?
“He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’ “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”
Matthew 25:45-46 (NIV)
Some would argue that since the “life” referred to in this passage is “eternal,” it must mean that the punishment is also “eternal.” Since the Bible wasn’t written in English, we need to address translation issues. Let’s examine the words translated to “eternal” and “everlasting.”
The Hebrew word “olam” and the Greek word “aionios” have been translated into “eternal” or “everlasting” in our English Bibles. However, these words don’t necessarily mean lasting forever. The Greek word “aionios” is the same word from which the English word “eon” is derived, and can mean “age-long,” or “pertaining to an age.”
Is belief in annihilation just a “cop- out?”
The late John MacArthur accused people of “lapsing” into accepting the idea of annihilation because it feels more comfortable and fair. He even said it was “popular.” Like other proponents of eternal conscious torment, he taught that sinning against “an infinite God” requires an infinite punishment, and that is why hell must be eternal.
Translation issues aside, another way to interpret “eternal” from the perspective of those who believe in annihilation, is that the consequence is eternal in the sense of being permanent, rather than on-going.
Physical or psychological torment?
While many proponents of ECT believe in a physical fire that never goes out, some believe that the “fire” and torment are not physical, but rather a state of emotional agony, resulting from being eternally separated from God. This perspective does seem “softer” than a state of permanent physical suffering, but it is hard to figure out what exactly emotional agony would entail. One could also ask why people would be bothered about the thought of being separated from a God that they don’t believe in in the first place?
The book of Revelation – metaphorical versus literal?
The book of Revelation is perhaps the most difficult book in the Bible. In interpreting the scriptures, it’s important to understand the genre of each book, the intended audience and cultural context. Unfortunately, we have been conditioned to read the Bible through a modern lens, often ignoring the original context and the intent of the writers. This can have profound consequences. Even when people understand that much of the book of Revelation is metaphorical, they will often insist on interpreting specific aspects literally, especially when this fits their preconceptions.
“And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever; they have no rest day and night, those who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name.”
Revelation 14:11
Various scholars note that if statements like this about smoke going up “forever and ever” are to be taken literally, then Sodom and Gomorrah should still be burning, and Jonah should still be in the belly of the fish.
“Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death.”
Revelation 20:14
Once again, despite the references to “hell” and the “lake of fire,” this appears to be consistent with a final “death,” not indefinite conscious torment.
Other Bible passages seem to support universalism (the belief that everyone will eventually be saved), but that discussion will require a separate essay.
How did the doctrine of eternal torment become so prominent in Christianity?
St. Augustine is quoted as saying that when a serious crime is punished by an execution that only takes a minute, no one measures the severity of the punishment by the amount of time it took, but rather by the fact that society has gotten rid of the criminal.
Despite this, Augustine also believed that sin against an infinite God required infinite punishment, which appears to contradict the earlier statement.
According to Edward Fudge, author of “The Fire that Consumes” and co-author of “Two Views of Hell,” the origin of the doctrine of ECT can be attributed to Socrates, Plato and other Greek philosophers who taught that the human soul was immortal, a belief that was later brought into the church. St. Augustine adopted the doctrine of an immortal soul and eternal conscious torment, which eventually became Catholic doctrine, was passed on to Protestantism and eventually became part of American Fundamentalism. Fudge believes that if the doctrine of immortality of the soul had not been adopted, the concept of ECT would probably never have developed.
Does belief in eternal torment make people more likely to believe in God or become Christians?
Some people believe that without the threat of ECT, people won’t have any reason to repent or live godly lives, but is this really true? What would it say about God if His only way of motivating us to obey Him was by threatening us with eternal torment? If anything, there appears to be evidence to the contrary – the idea of a God that burns people forever is the reason many people give for not believing in the Christian God.
The fear of hell may result in a person saying the “Sinner’s Prayer” and “accepting Jesus” as a form of “fire insurance,” but that does that equate a true conversion? Does it guarantee anything, much less an eternity in heaven?
A fear-based theology doesn’t drive people to authentic relationships with God, but it does keep people in fear. Proof of this lies in the fact that many people who no longer believe – and have left the faith altogether — will admit that the fear of hell stayed with them – long after they left the faith. They left the belief system and the fear stayed with them, yet it wasn’t enough to drive them back to the faith.
Our beliefs have an impact on our mental health
What we believe about God affects the way we behave, the way we treat other people and our own mental health. There are countless stories of people experiencing untold anxiety and nightmares due to the fear of hell. Take for example, a grieving mother who is told by a priest that her stillborn infant is burning in hell. Some people believe there is an “age of accountability,” and that children who die prior to that age will automatically go to heaven. Some say the “age of accountability” is seven. This seems totally arbitrary and has no biblical basis. Regardless of what a person believes about the afterlife for adults, I don’t understand how anyone can believe that innocent children who haven’t even had a chance to live would end up in hell. What did Jesus say about children?
“But Jesus said, “Leave the children alone, and do not forbid them to come to Me; for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.”
Matthew 19:14 (NASB)
The doctrine of hell and moral skepticism
Even the most ardent proponents of eternal conscious torment find it disturbing, as they should. There is something about our own moral intuition that says eternal torment isn’t consistent with the nature of a loving God.
Randall Rauser (the “Tentative Apologist” on YouTube) explains how the doctrine of hell leads to moral skepticism in this video.
He shares a quote from J.I. Packer, a conservative Anglican who was an advocate for eternal torment during his lifetime. Packer acknowledged that he didn’t think any evangelical would hesitate to admit that they wanted universalism to be true, since no one should take pleasure in the prospect of people being eternally lost. Packer rightfully stated that there is something wrong with people who want to see others damned. But where the logic breaks down is that Packer goes on to say that people in heaven will be so much like God that they will rejoice in other people’s torture. According to him, our current state is not a reflection of what it means to be fully like God in Christ. He is essentially saying that our current moral intuitions aren’t consistent with God’s nature. Rauser concludes that this line of reasoning implies that we can’t even trust our own basic moral intuitions in this life – a profound skepticism that lies at the heart of this doctrine.
I believe that our moral intuition is a gift from God, and while our intuition may not always be right, at least the cognitive dissonance we experience when discussing certain issues should give us permission to question long-held beliefs. I believe that people like J.I. Packer come up with explanations like the one described above as a means of dealing with the cognitive dissonance they experience as a result of beliefs they aren’t willing to reexamine.
The early church fathers had different views on the afterlife. They were human beings, and subject to error and changes of opinion, like we are. There appear to be some internal inconsistencies in the views expressed by St. Augustine, whose views were largely responsible for what became the predominant view of the afterlife for Catholics and Protestants alike.
Whatever you believe, it’s okay to ask questions. The fear of hell makes some people too scared to even ask questions, as if they are afraid they may go to hell for not believing in hell. I am not a theologian, but I can guarantee one thing – believing in hell isn’t a requirement for getting into heaven. Of that, I am sure.
This essay is already longer than I had intended, so I will be sharing some more of my own personal reflections in a separate essay.
Additional Resources (others are linked in the essay)
A bad doctrine of hell corrupts the soul – Randall Rauser
HELL: Is Kirk Cameron WRONG About Conditional Immortality? Chris Date on Questioning Christianity
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