But this type of thinking is not Biblical, though. We are told in Scripture that we can understand God's Judgment and every good path of His.
As for God's ways not being our ways: This saying in Scripture is actually in reference to those who do not keep God's Word (Compare Isaiah 55:7 with Isaiah 55:8-9).
Anyways, there are more verses in defense of Conditional Immortality compared to Eternal Concious Torment.
"I found 264 references to the fate of the lost. Ten (that is 4%) call it Gehenna, which conjures up the imagery of the Valley of Hinnom outside Jerusalem, notorious for the hideous rites of Moloch worship, in which children were thrown alive into the red-hot arms of the god – an abomination in the eyes of the Lord (
Lv. 18:21;
20:2-5;
2 Ki. 23:10;
2 Ch. 28:3;
33:6;
Je. 7:31;
32:35). It is often said to have been the site of the city's rubbish tip in the days of Christ, where bodies of criminals and animals were thrown, but evidence for this is late and unreliable. It is in any case an evil place in which are pictured corpses being consumed by fire and maggots as in Isaiah 66 (
Mt. 5:22,
29,
30;
10:28;
18:9;
23:33;
Mk. 9:43,
45,
47;
Lk. 12:5). Two of these call it the Gehenna of fire.
There are twenty-six other references (that is 10%) to burning up, three of which concern the lake of fire of the Apocalypse. Fire naturally suggests destruction and is much used for the destruction of what is worthless or evil.
It is only by a pedantic use of the modern concept of the conservation of mass and energy that it is possible to say that fire destroys nothing. It has a secondary use as a cause of pain, as in the case of the rich man of the Lazarus story.
Fifty-none (22%) speak of destruction, perdition, utter loss or ruin. Our Lord himself in the Sermon on the Mount uses destruction, which he contrasts with life, as the destination of those who choose the broad road (
Mt. 7:13). Paul uses it of 'the objects of his wrath – prepared for destruction' (
Rom. 9:22); of 'those who oppose you' who 'will be destroyed' (
Phil. 1:28); of the enemies of the cross of Christ whose 'destiny is destruction' (
Phil. 3:19). 'The man of lawlessness is . . . doomed to destruction' (
2 Thes. 2:3); harmful desires 'plunge men into ruin and destruction' (
1 Tim. 6:9).
Hebrews 10:39 says 'we are not of those who shrink back to destruction, but of those who believe and are saved.' 2 Peter speaks of 'destructive heresies . . . bringing swift destruction . . . their destruction has not been sleeping' (2:1-3). 'The present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men' (3:7). The old order will disappear and 'the elements will be destroyed by fire' (3:10-12). The beast will 'go to his destruction' (
Rev. 17:8,
11).
The very common word
apollumi is frequently used of eternal ruin, destruction and loss, as in
John 3:16: 'should not perish', but it is also used of the lost sheep, the lost coin and the lost son, who, though metaphorically dead and whose life was in total ruin, was restored (
Lk. 15).
Twenty cases (8%) speak of separation from God, which carries no connotation of endlessness unless one presupposes immortality: 'depart from me' (
Mt. 7:23); 'cast him into the outer darkness' (
Mt. 22:13); he 'shall not enter' the kingdom (
Mk. 10:15); 'one will be taken and the other left (
Lk. 17:34); 'he is cast forth as a branch' (
Jn. 15:6); 'outside are the dogs', etc. (
Rev. 22:15). This concept of banishment from God is a terrifying one. It does not mean escaping from God, since God is everywhere in his creation, every particle of which owes its continuing existence to his sustaining. It means, surely, being utterly cut off from the source and sustainer of life. It is another way of describing destruction.
Twenty-five cases (10%) refer to death in its finality, sometimes called 'the second death'. Without resurrection even 'those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished' (
1 Cor. 15:18). This has been brought out with great force by a number of modern theologians like Oscar Cullmann, Helmut Thielicke and Murray Harris. They show that the teaching of the New Testament is to be sharply contrasted with the Greek notion of the immortality of the soul, which sees death as the release of the soul from the prison of the body. What the Christian looks forward to is not a bodiless entrance 'into the highest heavens' at death but a glorious transformation at the Parousia when he is raised from death. Life is contrasted with death, which is a cessation of life, rather than with a continuance of life in misery.
One hundred and eight cases (41%) refer to what I have called unforgiven sin: adverse judgment, in which the penalty is not specified (e.g. 'they will receive greater condemnation' (
Mk. 12:40)); life forfeited, with the wrath of God resting on the unbeliever (
Jn. 3:36); being unsaved, without specifying what the saved are delivered from (
Mt. 24:13). Other passages show salvation contrasted with lostness (
Mt. 16:25), perishing (
1 Cor. 1:18), destruction (
Jas. 4:12), condemnation (
Mk. 16:16), judgment (
Jn. 3:17), death (
2 Cor. 7:10), never with everlasting misery or pain.
Fifteen cases (6%) refer to anguish – this includes tribulation and distress (
Rom. 2:9), deliverance to tormentors (
Mt. 18:34), outer darkness (
Mt. 22:13), wailing and grinding of teeth (
Mt. 25:30), the undying worm (
Mk. 9:48), beaten with many stripes (
Lk. 12:47), the birth-pains of death (
Acts 2:24), sorer punishment (
Heb. 10:29).
There is one verse (
Rev. 14:11) – this represents less than a half of 1% – which refers to human beings who have no rest, day or night, the smoke of whose torment goes up for ever and ever, which we shall come back to in a moment.
It is a terrible catalogue, giving most solemn warning, yet in all but one of the 264 references there is not a word about unending torment and very many of them in their natural sense clearly refer to destruction."
Now, in my opinion, there are certain verses or passages that suggest ECT, but they do not make it a slam dunk in my opinion (Nor are there that many of these kinds of verses, either). Matthew 25:46 appears at first glance to teach eternal torment, but if we were to read the TYPE of punishment that is eternal here, by lookng at 2 Thessalonians 1:9, things become a little clearer. Then there is Luke 16:19-31. Sure sounds like the rich-man is being tortured. But is he? Does the story describe him screaming and that his flesh is sizzling? No. The rich-man is simply tormented by the heat of the flame in front of him in the great gulf between him and Abraham. What about Revelation 14:11 and Revelation 20:10? Well, the word "forever" does not always mean "forever" in the Bible. For we see the word "forever" clearly used in a temporal sense in
. The word "forever" is also translated from the word "age", too. Revelation 14:11 is talking about those who worship the beast as not having rest while on the Earth. While Revelation 20:10 is talking about how the devil, and his two demonic minions will be tormented day and night (a set time) for the purpose of the ages of ages (i.e. they are tormented day and night because they tormented mankind for ages and ages). But even if you wanted to make Revelation 20:10 defend eternal torment, it still does not work because these are demons being tormented here and not humans.
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