Because it is human reasoning. Of course no one will ever admit it aloud, but the whole "sins against an infinite God demand therefore infinite conscious punishment" argument is them saying what they think God should do about unbelievers, not what the Bible says He will actually do. The closest thing to infinite conscious punishment - which of course inevitably equates to torture, like it or not - mentioned in Scripture is the verse about the righteous going on to eternal life, but the unrighteous to eternal punishment, in Matthew 25:46. And people somehow weigh this one verse in as undoubtedly meaning eternal conscious torment even in lieu of battalions of verses elsewhere using terms such as "dead", "destroy", "perish", "consumed", "burned UP" (not just burned infinitely somehow without ever actually being killed by the fire so that the victim is alive to feel the pain of being burned by fire forever, but burned UP).
Sorry SarahsKnight, there is much more to it than what you speak of above.
These are notes I have, so yes they are copied and pasted.
First let's understand the term Hell a bit from the Bible.
Gehenna
In the OT the word for hell is 'ge-hinnom,' meaning "Valley of Hinnom." It was a place to the southwest of Jerusalem. This place was once "called 'Topheth' and derived from an Aramaic word meaning 'fireplace.' It was here that some pagan kings practiced human sacrifice by fire (
2 Chron. 28:3;
33:6;
Jer. 7:31;
32:35).
1 This is probably why in the NT the word came to be associated with destruction by fire. The word 'gehenna' is found in the NT 12 times and every instance is spoken of by
Jesus. In the NT, "gehenna" is used of a condition and never of a place.
Hades
This word only occurs in the NT ten times and corresponds to the OT word "sheol." Jesus uses the word four times:
Matt. 11:23;
16:18;
Luke 10:15;
16:23. The other six occur in
Acts 2:27,
31;
Rev. 1:18;
6:8;
20:13,
14.
It was probably the "subterranean abode of all the dead until the judgment. It was divided into two departments, paradise or Abraham's bosom for the good, and Gehenna or hell for the bad."
2 In particular, in the account of Lazarus and the Rich man of (
Luke 16:19-31), it is the place of the conscious dead who are wicked.
Sheol
"The Hebrew word Sheol is probably derived from a root "to make hollow," and was seen as the common receptacle of the dead and in the great many places the word appears in the OT, it is referring to the grave.
3 It is a place and is mentioned in
Gen. 37:35;
Num. 16:30,
33;
Psalm 16:10, etc. Sheol has many meanings in
scripture: the grave, the underworld, the state of the dead. It was supposed to be below the surface of the earth (
Ezek. 31:15,
17;
Psalm 86:13).
God punishes the evildoer (
Isaiah 11:13), and this punishment will be eternal. But the question remains, is this eternal punishment conscious or not?
There are verses that can be interpreted to support the idea that the dead are not conscious after death: (
Ecc. 9:5--the dead know nothing
4 and
Psalm 146:4--their thoughts perish--are good examples.) Other verses compare the dead to sleep:
Acts 13:36;
1 Cor. 15:1-6;
1 Thess. 4:13, etc. But these latter verses are merely comparing the similarity between the appearance of the dead and the appearance of someone sleeping.
But there are many more that support that the dead are conscious after death
The wicked descend alive into Sheol-
Num. 16:30
Cast to outer darkness with weeping and gnashing of teeth-
Matt. 8:12 See also
Matt. 13:50.
Cast into a tormenting fire-
Rev. 14:9-11
Thrown into the lake of Fire-
Rev. 20:10
Hell is a place of unquenchable fire
Unquenchable Fire-
Matt. 3:12
Fiery Hell-
Matt. 5:22 See also,
Matt. 5:29,
30.
Fiery Hell-
Matt. 18:8-9
Eternal Fire-
Matt. 25:41
Eternal Punishment-
Matt. 25:46
The word "eternal" in both places is "aionios" which means 1) without beginning and end, that which always has been and always will be; 2) without beginning; 3) without end, never to cease, everlasting. The word "punishment" is the word "kolasis" and it means "to punish, with the implication of resulting severe suffering--'to punish, punishment.'"
_________
And then I always hear this argument from those who want so badly for eternal conscious torment to be the Biblical truth: "So, what, you annihilationist guys are saying unbelievers get off scott-free by just blinking out of existence instead? Well, that's no punishment! No pain or suffering, nothing? Everyone would just want to live in sin forever instead of believing in Christ if they thought all that awaited for them at the end was non-existence!" And I have all too many rebuttals to that:
First of all, that isn't what most people who take the conditional immortality stance like me even necessarily believe: that it is a painless, just "blinking out of existence". Your life, your soul being blotted out forever, most likely destroyed in literal fire to burn up all last traces of your soul such that even "the memory of you will perish" (sorry, do not remember the verse that quote is found in), doesn't sound like a fun ride to me where it is totally worth it to reject God and Christ in this life in order to so-called live it up in sin, instead.
The scripture you are trying to remember is from Job 18:17. And it's not about annihilation.
Job 18:17 His remembrance shall perish from the earth, and he shall have no name in the street.
It is one of retributive calamities that pursue and overtake the sinner.
1. Desolation. "The light of the wicked shall be put out." Light, by the Orientals, was ever used as the emblem of prosperity. The extinction of the light therefore is an image of utter desolation. Sin evermore makes desolate.
Job 18:5 Yea, the light of the wicked shall be put out, and the spark of his fire shall not shine.
2. Embarrassment. "The steps of his strength shall be straitened, and his own council shall cast him down," etc. In every step of the sinner's path it may be said "the snare is laid for him in the ground, and a trap for him by the way." Truly the wicked is snared by the work of his own hands.
Job 18:7 The steps of his strength shall be straitened, and his own counsel shall cast him down.
3. Alarms. "Terrors shall make him afraid on every side, and shall drive him to his feet," etc. (vers. 11-14). Fear is at once the offspring and avenger of sin. The guilty conscience peoples the whole sphere of life with the grim emissaries of retribution. Fear is one of hell's most tormenting fiends.
Job 18:11 Terrors shall make him afraid on every side, and shall drive him to his feet.
4. Destruction. "It shall dwell in his tabernacle because it is none of his," etc. (vers. 15-21). His home will be gone; his tabernacle will be "none of his" any longer. His memory will be gone. "His remembrance shall perish from the earth." Once his name was heard in the street, pronounced perhaps often in the day by merchant, manufacturer, clerk, etc., but it has passed away from all tongues. His presence will be gone. "He shall be driven from light into darkness, and chased out of the world." His progeny will be gone. He shall neither have son nor nephew among his people. His nearest relations will soon follow him to the grave, and none will appear to make mention of his name. Suffering must follow sin, as certain as season follows season. Hell is bound by chains stronger than those that bind the planets to the sun.
So, living it up in sin, is what you want to do. That is your choice. God allows you to make that choice. But you have no choice on the consequences. Those are the results of your choices.
Second of all, what if it even was just a painless disappearing from existence? What if the punishment for unbelief wasn't as painful as you personally believe it should be? Who would you be to tell God that His enemies deserve to suffer more than that? How God's method of justice should go? The way I have heard some people so stubbornly advocate eternal conscious torment (not saying you are one of them, mind you, Greg), even to the point of condemning me to that very hell of infinite torments for not believing it is the Biblically correct view of what happens to unbelievers, all I can say is thank God He is the ultimate Judge and not you (again, not you specifically Greg, the hypothetical you).
I thank God also that we are not the judge as God will be doing that. For every time you sin as you stated above, you might as well. But when you do. It goes directly against Him. You see, He hates sin, more so than you can imagine. Because of sin we have been separated from our Creator and the blessings He wants to bless us with. But He made a way.
Bible warns us, how dangerous it will be to be in the hands of an Angry God. When you sin, you do so with the knowledge that it is morally wrong to do so. And you do so against the Moral Lawgiver, God.
But He made a way, so you wouldn't have to take on His wrath, yourself.
Thirdly, it is practically ridiculous to believe that the view of Hell as eternal torment or literal everlasting destruction will be the make-or-break factor in the situation of an unbeliever coming to Christ. I doubt that most of the people who reject Christ even believe there is a God, Heaven, or Hell in the first place to have the mindset that it is not worth coming to Christ if they could instead just "live in sin" and have fun with that all their lives and the only consequence for it be a literal death, the extinguishing of one's life. They aren't going to believe in any kind of Hell or consequence for sin in the first place, anyway, or that they even have something called sin in their hearts that needs to be forgiven by a God. A Calvinist would tell you that unbelievers are completely unregenerate and reprobate before the moment they believe in Christ, anyway; why would such a person, if not called to believe in Christ, even have the capacity of mind to weigh in on any possible consequence of their sin and unbelief, anyway? So how then could someone who does not yet believe actually look at conditional immortality (less appropriately called "annihilationism") versus eternal conscious torment in hell, and go, hmmm, well, there's no point in accepting this Jesus Christ and being saved, then, because I can go off and have fun living my own life and not receive any real consequence for it in the end.
No man woman or child should come to Christ in fear of Hell. They should come to Him, because He first loved us. There are much more out there than you think who do believe in Heaven and Hell. They may not live it. But they don't want to go to Hell, anymore than you do.
Well you see, we all have sinned. And yes, if you have not repented of your sins and placed your trust in Christ. Then you are a sinner. If you have lied, your a liar. If you have stolen, then your a thief, If you have look at someone with lust, you've committed adultery in your heart. God not only sees what you do, he sees your intent also. The reason many people don't know about their sins, is because they haven't been told they have them or they know and don't want to pay the price for them, so they ignore the consequences, usually until it's way to late.
The thing is, there isn't that many people who brings up annihilation when you bring up the moral law. A few do, yes, but once they realize they have sinned against God. And no matter what you believe, what matter is what you believe to be true.
Fourth, should eternal torment be the motivator for believing in Christ in the first place? What kind of loving relationship with God is that, when you only do so because of fear of Him throwing you into an eternal torture chamber otherwise? Since when is fear the heart of true love?
Fear isn't the heart of true love. Matter fact, Love drives away fear. And your right, No True Born Again person, should ever preach or teach anyone into Hell. My prayer is for as many people to just repent of their sins, place there trust in Christ. Live for Him, to be with Him. Don't want to see anyone go to Hell.
Fifth and perhaps most importantly, I can give you a specific example of a friend of mine who once gave me the above quoted argument (about how unbelievers are getting off too easy for their sin if all that awaits them as punishment is annihilation) when she tried to convince me away from the conditional immortality stance in favor of taking the traditional eternal torment belief again. She actually said this: "The God I know wouldn't let sinners off so easily." This was coming from someone who had divulged some details of her sordid past before becoming a believer (and I do not doubt her veracity as a believer either despite my disagreeing with her strongly on this one Biblical subject, mind you) to me, which I had absolutely no qualms about still being friends with her in spite of that. They did not shock me one bit to where I would look down on her in any way for them. And yet here she is, now saved and no longer an enemy of God, advocating for a harsher punishment for those who will not be saved and believe, when she was once one of them. How convenient if you ask me. Would she be willing to extend the sinners she spoke of as getting off the hook so easily the same (very little) amount of grace if she were still considered one of them by God? I sincerely doubt it. But apparently Christ-believers who talk like this have no problem saying how eternal conscious torment is the only fitting punishment for unbelievers after the fact; they seem to have forgotten how they themselves were once one of those unbelieving sinners who deserve the "justice" of an eternal hell. But hey, it's okay to say in so many ways how God needs to get those evil little sinners once you have converted and are safely on the other side, right?
Did you ever stop and think that her telling you her testimony and what God has done for her by saving her. He didn't just save her from her sins...He saved her from taking the wrath of God, that she and all of us justly deserve. God's grace is amazing. That He has given us something we don't deserve, Life eternal with Him. That's the way out, I was speaking of earlier. God sent His Son here, yet as we sin, He paid the price for those sins for us. He paid the fine we owe for breaking God's laws and that was her way to say to you. I don't want to see you go to Hell?
One good thing about my finally rejecting this traditional view of hell is how, in the so doing, I find myself just naturally treating other people who do not yet believe with a little more grace. Just like God did - and still does - with me.
Denying the truth, doesn't make it go away. You want the best of both worlds...live In sin and have God be with you.. Doesn't work that way. If you live in sin, your his enemy.
I'm not. Christ does truly Love ya. Hell is very real. If it weren't Christ would have never had to die for us, nor would he ever mention it. He did, quite frequently.
