Messianic Evangelicals stand in the unique position of neither endorsing the traditional orthodox (Catholic, Protestant, Eastern Orthodox) doctrine of Eternal Hell nor the Annihilationist doctrine of the Jehovah's Witnesses, Seventh-Day Adventists, Christadelphians, Armstrongite Churches of God and many Messianic groups, all of whom teach that human consciousness ceases completely at death (the soul-sleeping doctrine). They also teach that the spirits of the dead are re-created (metaphorically 'awakened' after 'sleep') at the judgment and then the wicked and unbelievers are judged to permanent extinction. And though it should be pointed out that a tiny minority of annihilationists do not believe in soul-sleeping, they still believe the unsaved and wicked are are lined up, as it were, before a 'Heavenly Firing Squad' and are annihilated after the Final Judgment, leaving only a tiny few to live forever on the earth.

These two doctrines - soul-sleeping and annihilationism - lie at the heart of these groups' false teachings that frequently include a denial of the Personhood of the Ruach haQodesh (Holy Spirit), denial of the existence of a literal hell, with some going even further and denying that Satan and demons exist too using exactly the same arguments. In dealing with one doctrine like Annihilationism, we are therefore often forced to simultaneously address a whole cluster of teachings, each of which is used to prop the others up.

Today we are addressing part of one of three theories about the three key questions about existence:

• 1. Where did I come from?
• 2. Why am I here? and
• 3. Where am I going?

'Where am I going' will depend on one of two possible outcomes depending on the choices made in life leading to two further questions with several alternative answers:

• 1. Where do I go if I am saved?
  • Theory A. To Heaven/Paradise (a world of disembodied spirits) followed by Eternity on Earth with Yah'shua (Jesus) as a physically resurrected person;
  • Theory B. To the grave (where I cease to exist) followed by resurrection of spirit and body on Earth to be with Elohim (God) forever.
• 2. Where do I go if I am not saved?
  • Theory A. To Hell as a disembodied spirit where I await the physical Resurrection and Judgment whence:
    • Theory i. I will be tortured forever (Eternal Torment);
    • Theory ii. I will be punished until I am finally saved (Universal Salvation); or
    • Theory iii. I will be tortured for a while and then annihilated or I will be annihilated immediately (Annihilationism).
  • Theory B. To the grave (where I cease to exist) whence I will be spiritually and physically resurrected and face the Judgment whence:
    • Theory i. I will be tortured forever (Eternal Torment);
    • Theory ii. I will be punished until I am finally saved (Universal Salvation); or
    • Theory iii. I will be tortured for a while and then annihilated or I will be annihilated immediately (Annihilationism).

Our interest today is in the various theories and aspects of the doctrine of hell called ANNIHILATIONISM which we will be contrasting with both the doctrines of Eternal Torment and Universal Salvation.

Before we undertake an examination of this subject it is necessary that we explain what we mean by the Doctrine of Biblical Clarity and that means looking at the assumptions we maken in our exegesis or exposition of Scripture. Two questions we must first ask ourselves are:

• 1. Is the Bible record inerrant? and
• 2. Can we rely solely on the Bible text 'in our hand' alone or do we also need to consider outside information supplied by experts such as linguists, theologians and historians?

The assumptions that Messianic Evangelicals make are as follows:

• 1. That the Bible text is inerrant in its original autographs and is therefore wholly reliable in all matters pertaining to doctrine, practice and history. The reasons for this position are supplied by other studies on the website but it is essentially the conservative Protestant one; and

• 2. That when we give the Bible words their normal meaning in their normal context - just as we do for any other piece of literature - we take for granted that Yahweh clearly communicates His thoughts in a plain language which anyone can understand.

A legitimate concern of serious Christians/Messianics is that we do not wish to insert an interpretive filter between the Bible and its readers. The Bible must be allowed to interpret itself with the interpetive tools which it itself provides. Accordingly we do not wish an ecclesiastical élite - priestly or scholastic - with their several agendas, to interpose its own interpretation or tradition and in so doing distort the true meaning of the text. Thus we do not want to control people by telling them what the Bible means and thus preventing them from learning it for themselves.

But does this mean that we need no assistance from experts of any kind? There are those who believe that certain English Bible translations are flawless (like the King James Version or Halleluyah Scriptures) and therefore require no further commentaries by men. This is not a position Messianic Evangelicals take. We recognise the need for experts in the field of linguistics to explain the meaning of words and expressions, of historians to give cultural context, and - critically - on occasion, "intepreters" of prophecy, visions and revelation.

Though the biblical ideal is that every man be his own teacher (Jer.31:34; Heb.8:11) and navi (prophet) (Num.11:29) because of the gift of the Ruach haQodesh (Holy Spirit), in reality this is something that has to be grown into for which reason the Messianic Community (Church) is required to have multiple gifts and offices until maturity is attained. There is therefore a considerable mutual dependency between believers in coming to a perfect understanding of the Davar (Word). Nevertheless the ideal is what is sought. Therefore Elohim (God) has appointed,

"...some to be apostles, some to be nevi'im (prophets), some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare Elohim's (God's) people for works of service, so that the body of Messiah t may be built up until we all reach unity in the emunah (faith) and in the knowledge of the Son of Elohim (God) and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Messiah" (Eph.4:11-13, NIV).

Therefore believers need:

• 1. The gift of the Ruach haQodesh (Holy Spirit) for discernment;
• 2. Accurate translations of the Bible provided by experts in their field; and
• 2. The giftings of others in the Body of Messiah so that all may be brought together in unity.

"Now what I am commanding you today is not too difficult for you or beyond your reach. It is not up in heaven, so that you have to ask, 'Who will ascend into heaven to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?' Nor is it beyond the sea, so that you have to ask, 'Who will cross the sea to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?' No, the Davar (Word) is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart so you may obey it" (Deut.30:11-14, NIV).

Having "the Davar (Word) ... in your heart" teaches that understanding preceeds action and Yah'shua (Jesus) taught that the Ruach haQodesh (Holy Spirit) would personally lead believers into understanding the emet (truth), not usually or always instantaneously but through a gradual process of maturation, a reason maturer spiritual fathers and mothers are often needed. Freedom comes from knowing that an indispensible clerical order isn't needed to tell the laity what the Bible means (Jn.16:12-14). You will appreciate the importance of this as we delve into issue like hell, heaven and time which are central to this study.

The orthodox doctrine of eternal hell, largely originated by Augustine in the 4th century AD and developed further by the French Refornmer, John Calvin, a millennium later in its modern form, is held by the overwhelming majority in the Christian world (from Reformed Baptists to Anglicans) even though the early Christians overwhelmingly held to universal salvation in the first 500 years of the Messianic Community, as is conclusively demonstrated elsewhere on this website. These early universalists believed that the wicked and unbelievers would be punished remedially for a fixed duration in hell and eventually be released. The third doctrine of hell, annihilationism, is held by a relatively small proportion of believers, the majority of whom are cultists (like the Jehovah's Witnesses). For both of them, there is no fiery hell, Sheol being merely the grave, and definitely no universal salvation. Both, though never saying so directly, believe that the Besorah (Gospel) is for the vast majority of human beings a complete failure and simply differ on how Elohim (God) deals with the rejects - eternal torture or obliteration.

The really good news that Messianic Evangelicals present to unbelievers and believers alike is that you do not need to to be forced to choose the logical fallacy of a false dilemma. You are not limited to only two choices - between eternal torture and annihilation. There is at the very least one other valid option to be considered, the option we prove on this website to be the biblical emet (truth), the one which vindicates the character of our Heavenly Father which the other two smear.

The Messianic Evangelical doctrine, which is also held by a number of others not of this ministry, is a form of Universal Salvation called Universal Graded (or Differentiated) Salvation. We believe in Aeonian, Age-Long or Fixed-Duration Hell which results in all humans, or mostly all, being released at the Cosmic Jubilee into a twilight zone far beyond the Kingdom of the Just. This twilight zone is likened by Paul in dimness to the distant stars in the night sky, a place where there is no longer any torment of soul but where the traditionally understood blessings of the saved are not to be found either. Therefore here is to be found a different kind of 'salvation' or 'deliverance' - it is a salvation from hell rather than a salvation to heaven.

Here, then, is a representation of the three main views of hell which you will encounter in different Christian and Messianic groups:

Annihilationism is the the belief that the unsaved wicked (or unjust) are annihilated - exterminated, put up, as it were, before a 'cosmic firing sqad' - following the resurrection of the wicked (which takes place alongside the resurrection of the disobedient saved at the second recurrection) and the White Throne Judgment. The apostle Paul testified:

"I have hope in Elohim (God), which [the Judeans] themselves also accept, that there will be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just (justified, righteous) AND the unjust (unjustified, unrighteous)" (Acts 24:15, NKJV - also KJV, HRV, ESV).

Thus everyone is resurrected, without exception. Other Bible versions translate "the just and unjust" as "the righteous and the unrighteous" (NRSV), "the righteous and ungodly" (NLT), "the righteous and the wicked" (NASB, NIV), "the tzadakim (righteous) and the unjust" (RSTNE 2004). In other words, all men and women - both the saved and the unsaved, the just and the unjust, the righteous and the wicked - all receive immortal physical bodies though you will typically find annihilationists denying the physical resurrection because of the quandry this puts them in.

This alone should give annhilationists pause for thought and indeed the different denominations of annihilationist arrive at different 'solutions'. Irrespective of whether you believe the spirits of the dead are conscious ('orthodoxy') or unconscious after death ('soul-sleeping'), it cannot be denied (save by the cultists) that Yahweh brings all back to physical life and gives them immortal, indestructable bodies. Why would He go to all that trouble if directly afterwards He is going to exterminate or annihilate them? Do you need a physical body in order to be judged? Can't spirits hear? Obviously they can, since Yah'shua (Jesus), during His period in the grave, went to the spirits in prison and preached to them (1 Pet.3:19), proving that they were sentient and conscious after losing their physical bodies in death.

What survives death is more than some impersonal 'breath of Elohim (God)' - it is a conscious, awake, personal spiritual being. At this stage it is not important to know whether this 'spirit' is mortal or immortal, wrongly known as a 'soul' or an 'immortal soul' by Catholics and Protestants, since a soul, in its simplest biblical expression, is the body plus its spirit.

When a soul dies, its spirit is separated from the physical elements it inhabits, the two being likened in Scripture to a man ('spirit') living in a tent ('physical body') (e.g. 2 Pet.1:13; 2 Cor.5:1,4):

What's important is that after death the personal, non-physical being is very much still 'alive' and conscious, even without a physical body, as it proven by Yah'shua (Jesus) preaching to the spirits in prison (1 Pet.3:19), the unresurrected spirits of Moses and Elijah appearing together on the Mount of Transfiguration together with the Messiah bathed in glory, with whom they were conversing (Mt.17:3-4; Mk.9:4-5; Lk.9:30-33). And though it could be argued that Elijah was a translated physical being who had not died, the same is not true of Moses, who definitely "died" (Dt.34:5,7) irrespective of what some non-canonical pseudepigraphical books may claim.

The other clear example refuting soul-sleeping concerns the the spirit of Samuel which was summonsed by the witch of Endor (1 Sam.28:4ff.). And though such activity was expressly forbidden, it is clear that Yahweh permitted this to happen so that Saul could receive his final condemnation. The advocates of soul-sleeping deny the plain sense of these scriptures and twist them in various devious ways, claiming they were 'visions' or 'dreams' only. So, yes, the spirits can and do hear without resurrected physical bodies, obviously. Yah'shua (Jesus) spoke to Moses and Elijah and they spoke back to Him, just as Samuel spoke to Saul and he spoke back to Samuel.

From an annihilationist's perspecive, physical resurrection before extermination makes no sense whatsoever, and is hardly in the divine economy of heaven. Worse, it is a mockery of the atonement. Yah'shua (Jesus) died so that death might be conquered and the dead arise in immortal physical bodies, never to die or suffer again. You cannot separate that which is inseparably connected, or destroy that which has been welded together by the power of the resurrection. What Yahweh has decreed as immortal cannot be overturned even by Himself, because His Davar (Word) never returns to Him empty or void (Is.55:11).

Why would Yahweh give to those about to be wiped out for ever, the fruit of His Son's atonement (a reason He died on the cross) only to then strip them of the same (assuming that were even possible)? To mock and torture them perhaps? Do you believe in such a divine entity? And if you do not believe in soul-sleeping, but that the dead are conscious spirits, why not judge them as spirits and then wipe them out after sentencing them? If spirits are not immortal, then why not just withdraw all chayim (life) from them and allow them to spontaneously disintegrate? Why clothe them in physical immortality, the fruit and glory of the work of the cross? There is no rational theological answer to this absurd scenario.

And how can those who may be Calvinists, who believe in limited atonement (for those who are alone predestined to salvation in their scheme, and not for all humanity as scripture teaches), explain how a fruit of the atonement could be applied to the wicked to enable them to be physically resurrected, only to subsequently negate that atonement in order to obliterate them afterwards (were that even possible)? There are so many logical inconsistences in false doctrinal systems like Calvinism.

Indeed, I mention this contradiction early on to make an important point: annihilationism contradicts the Davar Elohim (Word of God) in the matter of the purpose of the physical resurrection, which is to make that which is mortal into that which is immortal. As we have seen, both the just and the unjust are resurrected! The only way annihilationists can get around this is by reinventing the atonement and denying the p'shat or plain sense of what Scripture teaches about the subject.

True, Plato and various pagan Greek philosophers believed in the unconditional immortality of the 'soul' (the life essence within), as do the neo-Platonist orthodox Christians, and certainly Annihilationists can - and do - point fingers at Catholics and Protestants for this reason. Messianic Evangelicals are not, in any case neo-Platonists, and whilst we do believe there is a spiritual essence within (the essential' person' or 'spirit') we believe it is more than impersonal divine 'breath' as the (Jehovah's Witesses teach) and that it possesses 'aeonian life', which is a kind of 'conditional immortality', meaning that though we are thoroughly mortal as created beings, Yahweh extinguishes no one at death or at the Final Judgment. He maintains the aeonian life of our spirits always. In other words, we are not capable of existing without Him but neither do we have to fear that He will kill us off spiritually in the same way that He allows us to die physically in this particular aeon called Mortality when our time is up.

We must therefore be at pains to avoid what the Jehovah's Witnesses and others do - deny the Scriptures - for which they have deservedly earned themselves notoriety in religious circles. They deny the fundamental doctrines of the "emunah (faith) which was once for all delivered to the qodeshim (saints, set-apart ones)" (Jude 3, NKJV). Using the same kind of false teaching about the 'spirit', the Jehovah's Witnesses go so far as to also deny that Yah'shua (Jesus) was physically resurrected (only putting on a 'show' of physicality so as not to spook the talmidim/disciples out) and the Christadelphians go even further and deny that Satan and the demons exist at all.

Not all annihilationists go that far, to be fair, and some absolutely adhere to a physical resurrection like the Adventists...at least for Christ and for themselves. Additionally, Witnesses and Adventists differ concerning the fate of humanity. Witnesses believe faithful members of their Organisation will live on Paradise Earth forever as physical entities with the exception of the faithful 144,000 who will reign with their Christ in the heavenlies. Adventists believe the earth will become a demon-inhabited wasteland and that all the faithful Adventists will live as spirits in Heaven. Both agree, though, that the wicked are vapourised...or never raised at all. And both agree that hell does not in fact exist at all. To the Witnesses, at least, Sheol is simply 'gravedom' - the grave, where human beings cease to exist after they have physically died because the essence of a human being is his physical existence ... his 'spirit' is simply the animating 'Breath of God' which returns to Elohim (God) after he dies, containing none of his original personality. The Armstrongite denominations believe the same thing.

Because the resurrection doctrine of the Bible causes theological dilemmas for annihilationists, they have had to reinvent and twist a number of key scriptures and doctrines to try and make everything harmonise. According to the Witnesses, the resurrection of Yah'shua (Jesus) does not mean that the physical body which was crucified and buried came back to life again:

"Jehovah God raised him from the dead, not as a human Son, but as a mighty immortal spirit Son 'He being put to death in the flesh, but [being] made alive in the spirit' (1 Pet.3:18, NWT - New World Translation)" (Let God Be True, WBTS: 1946, p.40).

Before becoming a man, the WBTS says, He was a spirit-being. But after the human Jesus died 'on the stake' (cross), the spirit-being 'Jesus' came into existence again. Charles Taze Russel, the founder of the Jehovah's Witnesses, plainly stated that "the man Jesus is dead, forever dead" (Studies in the Scriptures, Vol.5, pp.454). So what happened to the physical body of the Witnesses' 'Jesus'? Russel replies:

"Our Lord's human body was ... supernaturally removed from the tomb; because had it remained there it would have been an insurmountable obstacle to the faith of the disciples ... We know nothing about what became of it, except that it did not decay or corrupt (Acts 2:27,31). Whether it was dissolved into gases or whether it is still preserved somewhere as the grand memorial of God's love ... no one knows" (Studies, op.cit,. p.129).

This teaching is, of course, in direct opposition to the doctrine of the Incarnation without which the atonement is meaningless. This is one of the many reasons that, in common with orthodox Christians, we view the Jehovah's Witnesses as heretics and unsaved. Their 'christ' is not the Messiah we know.

The Adventists, like the Witnesses, do not believe that man has a spiritual essence or identity that consciously survives physical death. Thus, "the condition of man in death is one of unconsciousness ... all men, good and evil alike, remain in the grave from death to the resurrection" (Article 10, Fundamental Beliefs). Thus to all intents and purpose, the man who is 'dead' is 'asleep', spiritually and physically extinct save in the mind of Elohim (God). He is non-existent in any sphere.

Can the reader therefore understand how this belief would lead to aberrant ideas about the resurrection? And how they might confuse the spiritual with the physical?

The big question I ask myself is still: why would Yahweh bring back the wicked to life (from a state of 'sleeping' or 'non-existence') to then incinerate them afterwards? Why not just leave them non-existent? Why go to all the trouble of tormenting them like a cat playing with a captured mouse before killing it? And what would be the point? What would that say about the character of their Elohim (God)?

Indeed, some annihilationists, like the Adventists, believe Yahweh resurrects the wicked to torture them a while at the time of the 'Investigative Judgment' during the Millennium and only then annihilates them at the end of the Millennium. This is indeed a strange kind of god to Messianic Evangelicals and if we have been made in His image, what kind of behaviour might that lead us to that we might otherwise, in our right minds, find repugnant?

Messianic Evangelicals do agree with Seventh-Day Adentists in a number of areas as far as eschatology is concerned. We both reject the pre-tribulation rapture and we both agree that the establishment of the Republic of Israel on 14 May 1948 has no particular prophetic sigificance. But there the eschatological similarities end. The faithful Adventists do not, in their scheme, return to the earth as physical beings until the creation of the "New Earth" (Rev.21:1) after the Millennium by which time the rest of humanity is entirely extinct - annihilated.

To all of this theological gerrymandering, Messianic Evangelicals say a resounding NO. Let's keep it simple and let's allow all the Scriptures speak together - the whole Counsel of Yahweh. Applying the 13th/14th century scholastic philosopher and theologian William Ockam's principle of Occam's Razor or the Law of Parsimony will serve us well for the simplest theological solutions tend to most often be the right ones. So long as we stick to Divine Tavnith - the recurring theological pattern throughout Yahweh's Revelation - we will not easily go wrong. The importance of doing this will become readily apparent in a moment.

Annihilationists in general, like the Witnesses, Adventists and Armstrongites in particular, are fond of using the argument that if you burn some paper, it is eternally destroyed and that, they say, is how we should view hell. Well, that is an over-simplification. Hell is a giant crematorium to them, a spirit and/or resurrected body incinerator, leaving no trace behind, as far as they are concerned. Amazingly, this supernatural incinerator apparently even has the power to render mortal that which Yahweh has decreed immortal, thus making Yahweh out to be a liar. Annihilationism is self-contradictory. The illustrations given thus far bear this out.

Though the observations made about the resurrection thus far ought to be the end of the argument, for this is largely a matter of common sense, there will always be those who religiously cling onto false doctrines because other things that are precious to them are at stake if they deny them. This is particularly true for those who belong to cults claiming to be 'God's one-and-only' church or organisation, like the Witnesses and Mormons. That's why it is so hard to reason with Jehovah's Witnesses - they simply won't listen because they are in bondage to religious spirits. Their's is a false messiah.

For their sakes, we need to take a close look at as many of the anihilationists' proof-text scriptures on the subject as possible so as to leave no stone unturned and the annihilationists no excuse. See the article on the main Anihilationist website for many of these. Most importantly, these scriptures must be read in context with a proper understanding of the literary devices employed by the writers from their own historical periods of time. This means understanding the complexities of the language belonging to their timeframe so as not to preclude the commonly made mistake of, for example, reading one genre of literature (like poetry) literally.

Thus when the Psalmist says that Yahweh will cover the faithful "with His feathers, and under His wings you will find refuge" (Ps.91:4, NIV), He is not obviously saying that Yahweh has literal wings and feathers. This is a metaphor for protectiveness and is a poetic device commonly understood by the Israelites of the time. And yet there are literalists like the late Pentecostal evangelist Percy Collett, who insisted he visited Heaven and that he saw with his own eyes that 'God' had literal wings and feathers. So as we look at the passages of Scripture selected by Annihilationists is it important to remember some of the important questions raised above such as the immortal nature of the resurrection.

I mentioned that the cults depend on a cluster of interconnected doctrines, each of which props the other up. Because this is such a vast and potentially complex subject, we do need to have a solid grounding in a number of theologial areas first. As I have already pointed out, nearly all Annihilationists believe in soul-sleeping and a number of other false doctrines all of which are important to the cohesion of their theological world view. This is sometimes called Domino Theology, which what we call a system of doctrine that consists of several component parts. All the parts are required to maintain the system. Further, the individual parts are interdependent, even symbiotic in nature, and because they are based on lies, they are supernaturally guarded by the demonic, which is why those caught up in these deceptions are hard to reason with because the dark forces render them blind and hostile. Religious spirits are amongst the most difficult to break because the agency of the one who believes these doctrines cannot be circumvented. Nevertheless, by refuting one single part of the system, the entire system must eventually collapse, rather like playing with domino bricks. Much prayer is required to help those caught in these deceptions. The dark side supernatural got them into the lies and the Light Side of the Supernatural has to get them out, once they make the decision to be honest and seek help.

Calvinism is a perfect example of what I mean when I talk about inter-connected doctrines propping one another up. Calvinism (the full variety...there are many forms of Calvinism) rests on the five TULIP doctrines:

• 1. Total Hereditary Depravity;
• 2. Unconditional Election;
• 3. Limited Atonement;
• 4. Irresistable Grace; and
• 5. The Perseverence of the Saints

• 1. Why I am Not a Calvinist
  
• 2. Spurgeon's Heresy
  
• 3. Calvinist Excuses
  

The third of these is rather important because it illustrates the scriptural gymnastics that those who adhere to false teachings are willing to do in order to defend these demonic doctrinal cluster bombs. These become their religious pets which they will defend with their lives. That is why systematic theology is so important.

It is impossible to put all Annihilationists into one theological basket because there are numerous doctrinal variations but common among the Annihilationist cults are a number of interwoven doctrines:

• 1. Man has no personal spirit, being monochotomous in nature, i.e. he consists only of a physical body and Yahweh's 'living breath' which returns to Him at death, leaving only decomposing molecules in the grave, i.e. they believe that dead people are literally in the grave and nowhere else;
• 2. There is therefore no consciousness after death in their theological universe - they believe in 'soul-sleeping', a biblical metaphor for physical death and therefore absence from earth life;
• 3. Hell to them is annihilation rather than eternal conscious torment (the orthodox view) or conscious torment for a fixed period of time (the Messianic Evangelical view);
• 4. They are often Arian, denying the Ruach haQodesh (Holy Spirit) is a separate Person to Yahweh the Father and Yah'shua (Jesus) the Son (the Adventists held to this view until 1930 when they changed and became Trinitarian); therefore, in their minds,
• 5. The Ruach haQodesh (Holy Spirit) does not exist but is merely a personification of Elohim's (God's) power. (The Jehovah's witnesses refer to the Spirit as 'spirit' with a small 's', as do many Messianics and liken 'it' to 'electricity' or a 'force');
  Jehovah's Witness NWT (2013), 1 Peter 1:2 showing the
  demotion of the Ruach (Spirit) to an impersonal 'spirit'

• 6. The devil does not exist but is the personification of Sin (a Christadelphian belief);
• 7. Demons don't exist, but are personifications of disease (Christadelphian); and
• 8. Yah'shua (Jesus), being created by Elohim (God), ceased to exist for 3 days in the tomb and did not have a pre-existence - the Jehovah's Witnesses deny He was physically resurrected, and since they believe in soul-sleeping, they claim the Transfiguration experience, when Moses and Elijah appeared with the glorfied Messiah, was just a 'dream'.

The Messianic Scriptures (New Tewstament) are quite clear about the personhood of the Ruach (Spirit). The Ruach (Spirit) possesses all the attributes of personality, having a "mind" (Rom.8:27), knowledge (1 Cor.2:10-11) and a will (1 Cor.12:11). The Ruach (Spirit) acts and forms relationships only possible with a person but quite impossible of an 'impersonal force'. The Ruach (Spirit), as a Person:

• 1. Speaks (Ac.1:16);
• 2. Prays (Rom.8:26-27);
• 3. Teaches (Jn.14:26);
• 4. Works miracles (Ac.2:4; 8:39);
• 5. Can be resisted (Ac.7:51);
• 6. Commands (Act.8:29; 11:12; 13:2); and
• 7. Forbids (Ac.16:6-7).

• 1. An Administrator by setting ministers over congregations (Ac.20:28); and
• 2. A Dispenser, distributing various gifts and ministries to individual members of the Messianic Community (1 Cor.12:8-11; Eph.4:7-13), etc.

As I said earlier, you will find a wide variety of Annihilationist beliefs. For instance, they believe either that the wicked will be:

• 1. Annihilated right after the Final Judgment; or
• 2. After a period of torturing in hell, they will be tortured for a while, the length of the torture being determined by how wicked they were on earth.

To my way of thinking, this is even more cruel and unjust than the orthodox doctrine of eternal torment in hell. It is also contradicted by the spirit of Yahweh's Torah, which reflects His character, which nowhere mandates the torture of a criminal liable to capital punishment before he is executed. Such would indeed be cruel and barbaric. In the Torah physical punishment (such as flogging) is always followed by release. Punishments either consist of immediate execution, flogging, indentured service or a fine. That is the divine way. That is the divine heart and view of punishment. Anything outside of this sacred tavnith (pattern) is false and debases the character of Elohim (God).

Before we go into a deeper study of this subject, I think it would be helpful if first I make a summary of the Messianic Evangelical position because we are not here (obviously) to defend the Eternal Hell doctrine of Protestants, Catholics and others. Since a picture can say a thousand words, I have created a diagram to summarise the overall vision we have gleaned from 40 years of Scripture study and revelation. If you would like to print out a copy to have next to you while you work through the studies we shall be presenting, you can click here.

This is, as I said, very simplified, but contains the most important elements with some key scripture references. More detailed exegeses and diagrams may be found elsewhere - for instance, on the Hell website. One thing you will notice at once is that Messianic Evangelicals take great pains to consider all the scriptures on a particular subject. We don't cherry-pick.

You will see, then, that the diagram above highlights 1 Corinthians 15:35-44, a passage almost universally ignored because it contradicts the orthodox position that there is only one heaven in one location with only one glory, with its opposite consisting of only one final destination of the wicked which, like the first, is 'eternal' (more about the word 'eternal' in a minute).

Because this passage must be integrated into the overall biblical view of the heaven, hell and the resurrection, we shall publish it here and insist that it not be side-stepped:

"But someone will ask, 'How are the dead raised? With what kind of body do they come?' Fool! What you sow does not come to life until it dies. And as for what you sow, you do not sow the body that is to be, but a bare seed, perhaps of wheat or some other grain. But Elohim (God) gives it a body as he has chosen, and to each kind of seed its own body. Not all flesh is alike, but there is one flesh for human beings, another for animals, another for birds, and another for fish.

"There are both heavenly bodies and earthly bodies (human, animals, birds fish, etc.), but the glory of the heavenly is one thing, and that of the earthly is another. There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; indeed, star differs from star in glory.

"So it is with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable. It is sown in dishonour, it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power" (1 Cor.15:35-43. NRSV).

There are therefore, quite plainly, three categories of "glory", with the third category including multiple sub-glories because "star differs from star in glory". There are therefore three qualitative, 'glory' categories of resurrection (and two temporal categories), with the third category having multiple sub-categories of resurrection:

• 1. Highest glory/resurrection body (like the brightness of the sun);
• 2. Middle glory/resurrection body (like the brightness of the moon); and
• 3. Lowest glory/resurrection body (like the brightness of the stars); with
  • 3∞. A potentially limitless number of sub-glories/resurrection bodies

Since those in the first or 'sun' resurrection category all share the same glory, it must mean that they all share the same fellowship: they are 'one' or echad in a particular degree and type of Light which is the fullness, as there is no brighter heavenly object visible from earth than the sun. Likewise the second or 'moon' resurrection category, it must be that they too share a common echad or oneness fellowship based on the same Light but which is dimmer because it is reflected, and yet they are very much separate, just as the first and second resurrections are separated by time (the first occurring at the beginning of the Millennium, and the second at the end of it). The difference in brightness between sun and moon indicates a substantially large gulf, yet, as I said, it is the same kind of light, only the latter is diminished in brightness. The only difference is that the latter is reflected light rather than direct.

The first category of souls are in the presence of the Elohimhead (Godhead), the second are not, and are rather like people receiving light indirectly from a divinely-appointed and -illuminated human intermediary, as Israel did from Moses after rejecting direct contact with Yahweh.

The third category is entirely different from the other two. The light they have is acquired differently - it is neither the light of Elohim (God) nor is it reflected light from Elohim (God). And, as anyone who has looked into the night sky knows, there is a whole spectrum of star brightnesses. Each star, as viewed on earth by humans unaided by telescopes and or other aids, has its own apparent magnitude. Astronomers have since assigned nine values or categories of brightness to these (-1.0 to 6.5):

Remember also that stars in Scripture are a common symbol for people or powers. There cannot therefore be the kind of unity or echad (oneness) relationship between the resurrected beings as obtains in the twinkling twilight zone - they cannot be remotely like those bathing in the direct or reflected Light of Messiah. Yet they do have light, finally. They constitute a very different order of person to the other two, and the reason is, they were never saved in mortality, which was the chief testing ground of humanity. And though they come to know Yah'shua (Jesus) finally, in some way, and are set free from hell at the Cosmic Jubilee, it is clearly not to the same degree. This is a very different kind of existence to the other two.

We don't obviously know a lot about those in this state or 'glory', nor do we need to. There are some Messianic Evangelicals who believe that the three glories are not permanently set, and speculate that in eons beyond the Cosmic Jubilee that there is yet further advancement in knowing more about Elohim (God). We make no final dogmatic pronouncement in what we know next to nothing about. One thing is certain, though: the torment these people go through, remedial though it is, is not anything that anyone would ever wish to go through. As one preacher remarked, those being punished in hell go through more suffering in one day than those carrying their crosses in a lifetime. Nobody in their right mind would wish to postpone his repentence in order to live a sinful life on earth because of the assurance that all are one day saved. You do not elect to be burned in this extremely long and painful way. As universalists believing in graded salvation, it is our responsibility to make sure this is taught clearly, as there are other kinds of (false, unbiblcial) universalist teaching that maintain all receive the same reward or suffer minimally, if at all.

This threefold division is undeniably how Paul wishes us to view the resurrection, otherwise what is it doing there in Scripture in the first place? He starts, in the passage cited, by asking the question, "How are the dead raised? With what kind of body do they come?" Obviously some Corinthians had asked him these questions either during one of his earlier visits or in a letter. The answer to these questions is so easy that he considers the question itself foolish: "You foolish one!" (v.36, ESV) he writes castigatingly. Then he uses an everyday example to explain the answer.

The seeds that we plant look very different from the plant that grows out of the soil, and this he uses to contrast the huge difference between mortal earthly bodies and immortal resurrected ones. Yahweh mysteriously gives a different body to each kind of seed (vv.37-38). And it's not just plants that have different kinds of bodies. Humans, animals, fish and birds do too (v.39) and even heavenly objects such as the sun, moon and stars (v.40). Both heavenly and earthly bodies have glory or splendour, but not the same glory or splendour (v.41). Our resurrection bodies will not be identical either, but will fall into the categories and sub-categories that are listed above, though you'll not find Bible commentaries discussing that to any great depth, if at all.

Why not? Because, as I said, it requires traditionalists to rethink their traditions. One thing is perfectly clear: neither the eternal-torment-in-hell doctrine nor the annihilationist doctrine fits into the pattern remotely. They are disjunctive with the divine tavnith (pattern) Paul is teaching.

What you, the reader, have got to do, is collect together all the biblical teachings on the resurrection, heaven and hell and make them fit into this revelatory template that the apostle Paul has given us in plainness, to the point of calling the Corinthians who din't get it "foolish" or "imprudent" (CLNT). And he only ever called the Galatians "foolish", telling them that they were "bewitched" because they were trying to save themselves through Torah-obedience instead of emunah (faith) in Messiah (Gal.3:1-5ff.). The resurrection narrative is apparently just as simple to understand if we will just take Paul at his word. You can fill in the blanks yourself by asking such questions as:

• 1. Who?
• 2. Why?
• 3. When?
• 4. Where?
• 5. For how long?
• 6. With whom else?

Messianic Evangelicals believe that we have the answer to nearly all these questions. That is not to say that we won't have to tweek our model as more light and emet (truth) come our way in the future but this is where we currently stand today in our understanding, for all the reasons given in literally hundreds of articles:

You'll find other charts and diagrams on our hell website to help you see the bigger picture more clearly.

So to remind you once again, in most discussions of annihilationism, the false contrast is made between accepting annihilationism or the doctrine of eternal torture in hell. Good luck in trying to fit either into Fig.3! This is a bit like choosing between 'good cop' and 'bad cop', a false dichotomy. There are a number of other important theological issues you are going to have to resolve before we move on for all these doctrines fit together like a jigsaw puzzle. So let's get started: if you are not familiar with the issues surrounding the resurrection, soul-sleeping and the nature of hell, then it is extremely important that you first make a thorough study of these three topics first by going to the three websites listed below which contain many important articles. Start with the introductory articles which are summaries:

1. Resurrection (see introductory article especially) 2. Soul-Sleeping 3. Hell (see introductory article especially)

What follows now is a summary of the material in a new website with its covering article and register of further studies which you should return to if you are not satisfied with the summary that follows:

4. Website on biblical concepts of TIME

There are many very important articles in the Hell and Time registers and one study which is essential therein is an article on the Hebrew understanding, and reckoning, of long periods of TIME. Since both annhilationists and eternal tormentists appeal to the same time language in their prooftext scriptures, it is essential to know exactly what these words mean. It is therefore vitally important that you carefully study the following articles before going any further - do not skip these as you will absolutely need their content in order to properly understand the reasoning that I will be presenting later for the Messianic Evangelical position:

SIMPLIFIED STUDIES 4a. The Fire of Yah I: Refinement, Hellfire & the Jubilee 4b. The Fire of Yah II: Olam, Aeons & Eternity 4c. The Fire of Yah III: Thrones, Kingdoms & Mountains IN-DEPTH STUDIES 4d. Eternal or Eonian? Untangling a False Western Teaching

There are two essential words that we need to understand. As the scriptures on the doctrine of hell are mostly in the Messianic Scriptures (New Testament), and since most adherents of annihilationism and eternal-hellism are Greek-primacists, we shall limit ourselves to the Greek version, even though the original Hebrew concepts are identical. The two words are:

• 1. Aion (which in English we transliterate to 'Eon' (or Æon) and which means an 'age'; and
• 2. Aionioan (which in English we transliterate to 'Eonian' (or Æonian) and which means 'age-long'.

An eon (or olam in Hebrew, alam in Aramaic, meaning literally a 'world') is the longest segment of time known in the Scriptures. Seven distinct divisions are found:

• I. Pre-eonian time (2 Tim.1:9);
• II. Five eons, of which
  • Two are future, called "the eons of the eons" (Rev.1:6); and
• III. Time after the conclusion of the eons (Heb.9:26).

Until you have these clearly resolved in your mind, you will not be able to put the doctrine of annihilationism (or the doctrine of eternal hell, for that matter) into proper context and see whether they fit the overall pattern or not. The conclusion reached by Messianic Evangelicals concerning these three matters is, briefly, that:

• 1. The resurrection is physical, leading to body and spirit becoming permanenly united into an immortal state (i.e. the parts can never be torn asunder because they have been integrated by resurrection power which is a fruit of Messiah's universdal atonement, and therefore no part can ever be destroyed, or the whole);

• 2. Soul-sleeping is a false doctrine - we are very much conscious after death, just as Elijah and Moses were when they appeared with Yah'shua (Jesus) on the Mount of Transfiguration; and

• 3. Hell is indeed a place of torment for the wicked and to those 'serving time' in it it will seem like an eternity. There they will remain until they are released at the end of the Cosmic Jubilee.

To the last point, it is vitally important that we add a caveat: when the wicked are released it is not (as shown in the diagrams above) to inhabit the Kingdom of Heaven (or 'Kingdom of Elohim/God' - the two terms are interchangeable), where the qadoshim (saints, set-apart ones) dwell in the presence of Elohim (God). They are eternally separated from them by a vast chasm still, and whilst they enjoy some small measure of light, their torments will be over and they will rest content with the justice meeted out to them. In the eternities, according to my present understanding, those from higher categories of resurrection world may visit those of lower categories, but not vice versa.

I must emphatically add that Messianic Evangelicals do not believe in Universal Salvation (we are not traditional universalists), which means we do not believe that at some distant time in eternity everyone - the good and wicked of all categories - will all live in the same place in the presence of Yahweh. Such would make a mockery of divine justice. We have been falsely accused of this in the past, which is why I must add this disclaimer. Rather, we teach and preach the doctrine of Universal Graded Salvation following the Pauline model already discussed. Please therefore carefully study the six-part series:

5. Universal Graded Salvation

Finally, it must be understood that we are not Calvinists but Arminians, meaning that we believe in genuine free agency. (We don't accept every principle taught by Arminius). Calvinists believe that all those who go to hell are predestined to go there and have no choice in the matter. Please read the materials in our Agency website:

6. Agency: Free Will vs. Predestintion

In order to do justice to our study on annihilationism, it is important that the reader does his or her homework thoroughly, as these five topics are closely tied into the subject matter. As already noted, virtually all annihilationists have usually been taken in by the doctrine of soul-sleeping. The different groups are not united on the fate of Satan and the fallen malakim (angels, demons), mind you, and thus whilst some of them maintain that they will be annhilated, others, like the Armstrongite groups, maintain that only wicked humans will be forever destroyed, Satan and his angels being tormented forever. Jehovah's Witnesses and Seventh-Day Adventists, by contrast, believe Satan and the demons will be annihilated too. So there is no unity over these points.

I do not propose to get too much into the philosophical, subjective, emotional or moral arguments about annihilationism (as these are covered in the materials on hell) other than to point out an obvious fallacy of the annhilationist position: if, as some annihilationists claim, the Messianic Evangelical doctrine of Universal Graded Salvation is false because it allegedy offers the wicked an excuse for not repenting and getting saved (since they will all be 'saved' anyway at the end of the Cosmic Jubilee...we don't actually teach this, but are thus misrepresented sometimes), then is not annihilationism just another form of escapism too, disincentivising the wicked from repentance since they don't have to worry about torment in hell? I have listened to many atheists over the years, like the late Christopher Hitchens, approach the subject of death nonchalently. Since they do not fear hell, to them death is simply annihilation or extinction. And whilst many do fear death, there are just as many who do not precisely because they have no belief that any torment awaits them. So the fear that our teaching universal graded salvation will damn souls because they won't feel motivated to repent does not hold water. However you present the gospel, people will find excuses not to repent. Our theology cannot be formed around our fears but only around the emet (truth), and that is what we, as Messianic Evangelicals, endeavour to do, no matter where it may lead us. Anything else is, in our view, cowardice.

I repeat, Messianic Evangelicals absolutely believe in a literal hell where the resurrected wicked are tormeted for goodness knows how many millennia, not in any Catholic Dantean sense, but by their own seared conscience and the realisation that they must atone for their own sins - since they have rejected the atonement of Messiah - and since that is obviously impossible, they will have no hope. I very much doubt that any of them will be clinging on to any 'hope of the Cosmic Jubilee' in such circumstances, and certainly not after considerable time has already passed. To them it will seem as though hell is forever, and that is what we teach people who wonder about such things. They will experience all that orthodox Christians have warned about (minus the pitch forks and other embellishments invented by the fantasiesd and terrors of mediaeval Catholicis), and who continue to warn about in their evangelism. Our message is not very much different.

Those who pit eternal damnation against annhilation (a false dichotomy if ever there was one) usually arrive at the following argument: We may not understand the justice of Elohim (God) by eternally punishing the wicked, yet we also do not understand the grace of Elohim (God) by rewarding the saved with eternal life. In human terms, we cannot understand either the "kindness and severity of God" (Rom.11:22, NRSV).

I beg to differ. True, we cannot understand on a cosmic scale but we most certainly can on the human level because as fathers and mothers, we have children, and understand, if we have applied Torah correctly in our parenting, the relationship between justice and mercy - between punishment and grace. As spiritually regenerated believers we can certainly understand, and rejoice in, grace - Yahweh's undeserved loving kindness - to sich a degree that it causes us to be more generous and show grace (the older you get, the more you tend to because life has matured you somewhat); and because of that, we can understand - again to a degree - the mitzvah (commandment) of Yah'shua (Jesus) to forgive those who do us wrong "seventy times seven" (Mt.18:22, NKJV).

What is difficult (if not impossible) to translate is Yahweh's requirement that we forgive all evil done against us into the notion that Yahweh Himself cannot, or will never, forgive the wicked at some point but rather torture them for eternity. The two do not match. As Messianic Evangelicals we understand the principle of the necessity of divine divine justice but we also understand that love must, at some point, utterly forgive. This does not mean, as traditional universalists would have us believe, that the wicked should then receive the same reward as the righteous by being admitted into the Kingdom of Heaven which would indeed be a travesty of justice too. We believe we have found the correct, divine ballance that accords with the general principles of divine tavnith. We have done our best to consider the whole counsel of Scripture (Ac.20:27).

The sense of urgency that Messianic Evangelicals feel in the need to evangelise lost souls is no less than that of those who subscribe to the eternal hell-and-damnation doctrine, but we do not feel the need to terrify souls into the Kingdom, which we do not believe leads to a true conversion based on ahavah (love). The god of Calvinism and related systems is not the Elohim (God) that we worship. Indeed, since we neither believe that Elohim (God) has only predestined a select few to salvation, nor that Messiah has only atoned for that small select few, we feel an even greater motivation to witness. For us it's an open field and we go into it gladly to harvest. That is why this webpage exists.

Some of the key scriptures used by the adherents of Annihilationism are to be found in the Book of Revelation which goes into more detail than any other book in the Bible. Let's cite the two main ones which, if we can understand properly, will resolve most of the questions asked by people aboutb the fate of the wicked - these are extremely important to the Eternal Hell position:

"When the thousand years (Millennium) are over, Satan will be released from his prison and will go out to deceive the nations in the four corners of the earth - Gog and Magog - to gather them for battle. In number they are like the sand on the seashore. They marched across the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of Elohim's (God's) people, the city he loves. But fire came down from heaven and devoured them. And the devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulphur, where the beast and the false navi (prophet) had been thrown. They will be tormented day and night for ever and ever.

"Then I saw a great white throne and Him who was seated on it. Earth and sky fled from his presence, and there was no place for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of chayim (life). The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades (Sheol) gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what he had done. Then death and Hades (Sheol) were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. If anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire" (Rev.20:7-15, NIV).

• 1. Why are "death and Hades (Sheol)" thrown into the "Lake of Fire?" and
• 2. What does the Lake of Fire do and what purpose does it serve thereafter - why retain it at all?

The second key passage of the Annihilationists and Eternal Hellers alike is this:

"A third malak (angel) followed them and said in a loud voice: 'If anyone worships the beast and his image and receives his mark on the forehead or on the hand, he, too, will drink of the wine of Elohim's (God's) fury, which has been poured full strength into the cup of his wrath. He will be tormented with burning sulphur in the presence of the qadosh (holy, set-apart) malakim (angels) and of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment rises for ever and ever. There is no rest day or night for those who worship the beast and his image, or for anyone who receives the mark of his name.' This calls for patient endurance on the part of the qodeshim (saints, set-apart ones) who obey Elohim's (God's) mitzvot (commandments) and remain faithful to Yah'shua (Jesus)" (Rev.14:9-12, NIV).

Clearly, Satan, the demons, and the wicked occupy the same location and all suffer. But what exactly is going on here? At face value, based on the traditional translations of these passages, it appears that the Eternal Hell folks have won the argument. Which brings us back to the two questions I asked earlier:

• 1. Why are "death and Hades (Sheol)" thrown into the "Lake of Fire?" and
• 2. What does the Lake of Fire do and what purpose does it serve thereafter - why retain it at all?

7. The Fire of Yahweh

Annihilationistss are quick to point to parables Yah'shua (Jesus) spoke about slaughter but forget that in other parables He speaks of those in prison not being released until they have served their term:

"Truly I tell you, you will never get out of [prison = Sheol = hell] until you have paid the last penny [of your debt {= of sin})" (Mt.5:26, NRSV).

In the parable that follows, Yah'shua (Jesus) goes on to speak of unrepentant adulterers and other sinners whose fate is hell (v.30). His words carry with them the sense of the preceeding parable of there being no release until the sin-debt is paid in full. Since a man cannot pay for his own sin, then it follows that Yahweh must somehow show grace after a certain point when He decides that the wicked one has suffered enough - paid the price of his folly. We may be talking thousands of years here, who can say: about the only thing we can be certain of is sinners will be required to "pay the last penny" of what they have. After that, only the atonement can cover the rest, since, we are also told, Yah'shua (Jesus) "died for all" (2 Cor.5:15, NIV) which in one stroken annihilates both the Calvinist and Annihilationist positions. He died for all, yes, but the righteous, who repented of their sins and accepted the free gift of salvation, do not have to suffer for their sins, coughing up their "last penny" of mental, emotional, physical and spiritual resources (remembering they are resurrected beings, so this will all be experienced as an integrated process), plus they receive rewards which the wicked cannot ever receive because they were never 'saved' in the sense that we commonly understand that term.

Yah'shua's (Jesus') teachings also convey the sense of apportioned punishment in terms of beatings - both literal and spiritual (if you extend this into the eternal) - some receiving "many stripes" and others just a "few" (Lk.12:47-48, NKJV). The parable clearly points to the judgment at the Second Coming (v.43).

In all of Yah'shua's (Jesus') teachings the justice and mercy of Elohim (God) are taught. The language is sometimes harsh or severe, sometimes conciliatory and gentle, because Yahweh's nature is dual. The relationship between the two is key to both divine-human relationships as well as inter-human ones. Men and women typically stumble over the balance of these two, typically erring in being too strict or too lenient. And these two errors manifest themselves in various extreme man-made doctrines such as eternal damnation and annihilationism.

The Fire of Yahweh is shown to be for either purification or annihilation. The only two things that are marked for annihilation are death and Hades (Sheol, Hell). The assumption that Sheol is full of prisoners when they are cast into the lake of fire is just that - an assumption. Sheol is no longer needed because holding stations for the righteous and wicked are no longer needed - everything has been resolved, everything settled, as far as man and Elohim (God) are concerned. Death has gone, along with every symptom of it, including separation from Yahweh. The torments are over. And those suffering their torments have, finally, paid their "last penny". All debts are paid in full.

What, then, is the "second death"? It is separation from Elohim (God) followed by cleansing and, after a very long period of time, the Cosmic Jubilee. The tormenting ends but the separation remains in a twilight zone likened by Paul to be, in brilliance, equivalent to the twinkling stars at night which we are asked to contrast with the sun representing the glory of those who are in the Kingdom of Heaven in the presence of the Almighty. Then there are the disobedient believers, sandwiched in the middle in their 'moonlight', enjoying a much greater light than the wicked in their starlight but still not in the Divine Presence.

A lot of people are baffled by Paul's illustration for it does not fit the salvation models of either the Eternal Damnationists or the Annihilationists. The latter would have you believe that the glory of the stars does not exist and the former that there is no glory at all - just a fiery torment worlds without end. Neither traditional Christians not Annihilationists know what to do with the glory of the moon either, and simply incorporate it with the glory of the sun...somehow, or just plain ignore it.

As Messianic Evangelicals, we cannot ignore or shelve scriptures that are disjunctive with our doctries. All Torah must speak and harmonise - we cannot pick and choose between the bits we like and the bits we don't.

To my way of thinking, annihilationism is just a way to escape the horrible thought of the wicked being tormented forever. It certainly solves that problem but is does not solve another, and that is, the statement that Yahweh will be satisfied with the final outcome. We cannot, of course, as mortals easily put ourselves in Yahweh's position but, since we are made in His image, we most certainly can place ourselves in the equivalent human situation. As parents who love our children, we then have to ask ourselves two questions:

• 1. Could we ever be satisfied knowing that one or more of our children was being tormented in eternity?
• 2. Could we ever be satisfied after one or more of our children had been completely annihilated?

Sooner or later we all have to come to grips with the awfulness of death of our loved ones and the hearts of all decent men and women everywhere long to be reunited one day with them. It's built into us because it is a reflection of Elohim's (God's) heart. As we long for our own, so He longs for His own too.

I have loved ones who have died, some of them a very long time ago. I don't doubt some of them are in heaven and some in hell. But I still long to be reunited with all of them some day, somehow, somewhere.

At face value, this passage seems to be supporting the Annhilationist and Eternal Hell position at the same time! On the one hand the devil, the demons, and the wicked will be tormented eternally but, because *****

We all DESERVE eternal punishment so if we GET it we should not be surprised or complain ************ Soul-sleeping is a kind of annihilationism that posts that Yahweh can recreate the annihilated soul who has been judged worthy of eternal life. Therefore He could technically recreate a wicked soul who has been annihilated in the same way. Or the annihilated soul remains annihilated. **********

Annihilationists like the Jehovah's Witnesses and Seventh Day Adventists tackle this problem differently. Thus the Jehovah's Witnesses teach that:

"Christ himself when on earth performed resurrections (Lu.7:11-15; 8:49-56; Joh.11:38-44)" (Insight on the Scriptures, Vol.2, WTBTS: 1998, p.784)

Acknowledgements