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Punishment by Obliviation
Monday, April 15, 2019There is a 'new' idea floating around that after a non-christian dies, they simply cease to exist. For them, there will be no eternal hell; they will only be destroyed on the Day of Judgment because God is a compassionate God and wouldn't allow the lost to suffer eternally. I'm pretty sure I know the answer to this, but since it is floating around the churches, I just want to make sure I'm not missing something here.
Sincerely,
Oblivion Oblivious
Dear Oblivion Oblivious,
Hell is a real place that you really don’t want to go to. The whole idea of the wicked simply ceasing to exist is conjured not from the Scriptures - but from the mind of man. Consider these verses:
- The story of Lazarus and the rich man makes no sense without hell (Lk 16:20-24). Jesus would effectively be telling a scary myth in order to terrify people into going to heaven even though what happened to the rich man wasn’t true.
- The wicked go to a place where the fire burns, but the worm never dies (Mk 9:47-49)
- At the judgment the wicked shall go to where there is ‘everlasting punishment’ (Matt 25:46).
- There are various degrees of judgment in hell (Lk 12:46-48). This makes no sense if hell is nothing more than oblivion.
- A false teacher incurs a stricter judgment (Jas 3:1). Once again, what is ‘stricter judgment’ if hell doesn’t exist?
The false doctrine of ‘oblivion’ has cropped up amongst God’s people from time to time for many, many years. It never survives very long because it has no basis in Scriptural fact. SB