Yes, but what you don't understand is Annihilation is not only much more preferable to the eternal Hell concept, but it is also a much less darker and less tragic outcome for unredeemed souls.
No, I completely understand. Annihilationism is more preferable than eternal punishment. I just don't think that makes it more credible of an alternative to eternal punishment.
Not only will the wicked be eternally put out of their misery, but the entire universe which God has made will be as it was and should've been before: cleansed of all impurities and unrighteousness.
All impurities and unrighteousness will be abolished too even given eternal punishment.
Every corner and trace of the universe will be forever rid of evil and we will not only live in peace and harmony with God and our loved ones, but we will also have no memory of the evil that was once on Earth.
Is there any Biblical support for this? Where in the Bible does it say we will have no memory of the evil on earth? I know it says something like God will wipe every tear, which I don't think equates to no memory of evil, rather no mental affect from the idea. It's there, it just doesn't affect us the same way or at all.
No recollection of the evil that once was and it no longer exists within the cosmos. God won't have to worry about sin getting into His kingdom ever again and the condemned souls will be no more.
Neither will God worry about sin entering His kingdom assuming an eternal punishment.
So yes, it may not be realistic, but it is a much better outcome, rather than just live in a universe where our unsaved loved ones just go to Hell to be eternally separated from Almighty God and then having to go to the Lord for comfort or consolation, only to have to deal with that harsh fact.
Who cares if it's a more preferable situation than Hell? If it is unrealistic it's irrelevant. What matters is only realistic.
The thing is God can do anything--He can destroy and annihilate souls forever if He wanted to and He can cleanse this universe of all evil if He wanted to. If God hates sin so much and loves us so much, then He would destroy us if and if we didn't want to be reconciled to Him for whatever reason. The way people talk on the internet.......they make it sound like God is helpless in doing anything for damned souls. But let's not forget something--God is omnipotent. He can do anything--which means there isn't a single thing He can't do, with the exception of acting contrary to His character: good.
God can do anything? Do you think He can be contradicting, as in creating a square circle? If so, the way you define omnipotence is illogical, and if not, then the claim "God can do anything" is false. God can do anything logically possible. God cannot lie. God cannot change His mind. Those are two things off bat that God cannot do, so yes, there are things God cannot do, however, lying or changing one's mind is no display of 'power,' rather it would be the attribute of not lying that seems 'powerful.'
I think part of the problem is that you think God can do literally anything, even the intrinsically impossible. Though, an everlasting soul, by it's very nature and definition, cannot cease to exist. You continue to ignore this simple truth.
Also, Hell is separation from God, which is destruction from the soul's original purpose: to eternally fellowship with God. Likewise, the human soul was made to last forever, so annihilation would be destruction from that original purpose.
What is in the bold seems to be arguing
against annihilationism...
If He can allow Hell to be what it is, then by sovereign will He can allow someone back into nonexistence if they so desired. If they don't want to live forever and be reconciled to God but at the same time do not want to be separated from Him more than anything in Hell forever, then why force them to live on in the afterlife? If they didn't want to live on after they died while they were alive on Earth, why would they want to when they died? Annihilation may not be what's in our best interest but neither is Hell, but yet and still God allows people to go there by their own choice.
"Allowing someone back into nonexistence" doesn't make sense under an absolute everlasting soul. You must not think the soul is everlasting, or perhaps that only some souls are, which doesn't seem Biblical. God knows all. Perhaps He knows you will eventually want to live forever and be reconciled to Him. You wouldn't know this, so you question it over and over. Yet God, knowing all, would know this, and so in all actuality there is no question or issue.
One my biggest issues with annihilationism is this: in some cases there is no justice, and so judgement is arbitrary. Take for example the tragedy I mentioned earlier. We can only assume he didn't want to live on after he died, yet committed an atrocious sin. If he wants to cease to exist and is so, there is no justice or anything accountable for the sin. In that case, sin goes unpunished. That is basically what annihilationism promotes. Unpunished sin, that is, following your own logic.
Also, there is Biblical evidence for an eternal punishment, one without end.
Matthew 18:8: "And if your hand or your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it from you; it is better for you to enter life crippled or lame, than having two hands or two feet, to be cast into the
eternal fire."
Matthew 25:46: "These will go away into
eternal punishment, but the righteous into
eternal life."
2 Thessalonians 1:9: "These will pay the penalty of
eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power."
A) The position seems contrary to Scripture. B) It seems contrary theologically and philosophically speaking. Both A and B have been given reasons for in the above.
Would He rather let us suffer in Hell forever harboring bitter hatred for Him, for their fellow man and for themselves because of the horror they will forever endure?
Oh contraire, does sin go unpunished? God does not want one to suffer in Hell, and the suffering is not His fault. It is not caused by God, and nor is it inflicted by Him.
