If you know where these are from please let me know. The second one may be somewhere in the United States.
From Facebook:
I do the best I can in this life and with my study of evil, asking God for help, but philosophically very very important things to ponder on are what happened before I existed (a first cause and originator of material reality or other?) and what will happen after I physically die (complete non-existence?, judgment?, heaven?, hell?). Death should make one ponder on such. My take: Hebrews 9: 27-28
thekingpin68
I am swamped with revisions, but here are some very non-exhaustive thoughts. Comments much appreciated. I provide the reader with a break from the philosophy of religion articles I have been presenting.
2 Thessalonians 1:5-10 (NASB)
5This is a (A)plain indication of God's righteous judgment so that you will be (B)considered worthy of the kingdom of God, for which indeed you are suffering.
6For after all (C)it is only just for God to repay with affliction those who afflict you,
7and to give relief to you who are afflicted and to us as well (D)when the Lord Jesus will be revealed (E)from heaven (F)with His mighty angels (G)in flaming fire,
8dealing out retribution to those who (H)do not know God and to those who (I)do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.
9These will pay the penalty of (J)eternal destruction, (K)away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power,
10when He comes to be (L)glorified in His saints on that (M)day, and to be marveled at among all who have believed--for our (N)testimony to you was believed.
Revelation 20:10-15 (NASB)
10And (AF)the devil who (AG)deceived them was thrown into the (AH)lake of fire and brimstone, where the (AI)beast and the (AJ)false prophet are also; and they will be (AK)tormented day and night forever and ever.
11Then I saw a great white (AL)throne and Him who sat upon it, from whose presence (AM)earth and heaven fled away, and (AN)no place was found for them.
12And I saw the dead, the (AO)great and the small, standing before the throne, and (AP)books were opened; and another book was opened, which is (AQ)the book of life; and the dead (AR)were judged from the things which were written in the books, (AS)according to their deeds.
13And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and (AT)death and Hades (AU)gave up the dead which were in them; and they were judged, every one of them (AV)according to their deeds.
14Then (AW)death and Hades were thrown into (AX)the lake of fire This is the (AY)second death, the lake of fire.
15And if anyone's name was not found written in (AZ)the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.
Introduction
Celebrity death has been in the news lately. I reason death and hell are humanly distasteful, and on these points the Christian can often relate very well with the non-Christian. Death and the possibility of hell are very difficult to stomach especially when a deceased person really had a lot of valuable human qualities. However, Biblical Christianity states that there is an everlasting hell for those not in Christ. Many if not most Christian Biblical scholars and theologians appear to reason everlasting hell consists of conscious continual punishment. Other Christian scholars reason the figurative (not mythological!) hell type language allows for the Biblical possibility of annihilation of those outside of Christ, as does the Biblical concept of death meaning termination only. This in contrast to a concept of permanent banishment from God and everlasting life. For example, 'perish' from Strong (1986) page 16 can be interpreted in different ways depending on context. Strong provides the meanings as 'to destroy fully, to perish or lose, literally or figuratively, destroy, die, lose, mar, perish'.
From:
Perish
'Definition
1.to destroy
a.to put out of the way entirely, abolish, put an end to ruin
b.render useless
c.to kill
d.to declare that one must be put to death
e.metaph. to devote or give over to eternal misery in hell
f.to perish, to be lost, ruined, destroyed
2.to destroy
a.to lose'
Argument
I shall present an argument against the annihilation of unregenerate post-mortem persons. This is not exhaustive and is an argument, not the argument. This has been presented on satire and theology in the past and I add some material revised for this post from a hell lecture posted on this blog previously and from my MPhil posted here also. I have used Erickson as a source to support my premises and conclusion.
God is perfectly holy.
Erickson writes that God is totally separate from his creation. Erickson (1994: 284).
Erickson lists Exodus 15: 11, 1 Samuel 2: 2 and Isaiah 57: 15.
God is absolutely pure and good; God is not evil. Erickson (1994: 285).
Erickson lists Job 34: 12, Habakkuk 1: 13 and James 1: 13
Human beings are sinful.
Jeremiah 17: 9, Romans Chapter 1-3, Romans 3: 23, Romans 6: 23.
Sin must be atoned.
God is the administrator of justice and cannot justly simply forgive sins. Erickson (1994: 816). God is equally the God of love and justice. Justice is therefore not ignored for the sake of love, as a holy God must be just.
Christ as infinite God outlasted finite sin in the atonement.
As God, Christ’s death has infinite worth. Erickson (1994: 804). As God he can atone for all finite human sin.
Christ as a perfect man was sacrificed for imperfect persons in the atonement.
As a human, Christ could redeem other humans. Erickson (1994: 804). Christ redeemed all of human nature through the atonement. Erickson (1994: 804).
Conclusion
Therefore, those outside of Christ cannot justly be annihilated as their sins are never atoned. Biblically, all persons exist port-mortem (Revelation, Chapter 20). It could be reasoned that everlasting punishment exists as finite unregenerate persons continue to attempt to atone for their sins in hell, but can never fully cover their sins without Christ. Therefore they cannot justly be annihilated. Earthly sins are not covered, and post-mortem sins (rejecting God and related) in disembodied and resurrection states also remain uncovered.
C.S. Lewis:
Concerning the objection of the horrors of hell, and the intense punishment, Lewis rejected annihilationism because he stated that ". . . the destruction of one thing means the emergence of something else. . . . If souls can be destroyed, must there not be a state of having been a human soul?" Lewis (1940)(1996: 127). This could be the case, but I think it tenable to believe that God could completely destroy what he had created. To say he could not would be troubling in light of the Christian belief in God’s omnipotence (see my recent articles). It would not be contradiction for God to destruct what he had constructed, so I think Lewis has a logical point, but one that would not concern annihilationists, or critics of hell very much, since the God Christians believe in should possess the power to destroy his own creations.
It is quite possible that the level of hell one endures could very well be proportionate to their level of rebellion against God which takes place in their sin position. Jesus indicated there was greater sin for certain acts, as when he was handed over to the Romans by Judas and the Jews in John 19:11.
I think that annihilationism may be philosophically reasonable, and Biblically possible, although the argument from Scripture for everlasting punishment seems stronger. As well, if annihilationism is true, and a non-believer does not face God after death, or is simply annihilated after negative judgment, there seems to be a lack of justice. The sinner never is really faced with the trueness of his/her sin, and the foolishness of hating (Romans 5: 10 the unregenerate are enemies of God) and rejecting God (Romans 3) and not responding to the light one could have in life (Romans 1), although one cannot save self and is dependent on the regenerating work of God (John 3). If one is annihilated after judgment facing God, one must wonder how God can make one sinner's punishment worse than another person's? Everlasting death would seemingly be equal punishment for all.
With annihilation, the sins of the unregenerate are not atoned for by Christ and these people remain unrighteous (Romans 1, 4, 5). These people, although likely resurrected, are not fully sanctified with these resurrection bodies as are believers (1 Corinthians 15) and they are not suffering/punished for their sins in everlasting punishment. Is this just? In the name of divine justice, can some type of unlimited and universal atonement of Christ be applied to them for sin as they then face annihilation?
This seems problematic.
ERICKSON, MILLARD (1994) Christian Theology, Grand Rapids, Baker Book House.
LEWIS, C.S.(1940)(1996) The Problem of Pain, San Francisco, Harper-Collins.
STRONG, J. (1986) Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, Pickering, Ontario, Welch Publishing Company.
I fell through a lawn chair once and scratched my back up pretty good.
A friend from Los Angeles sent me this...
Scientology
I found there was only one way to look thin, hang out with fat people.
Rodney Dangerfield
Some dog I got too. We call him Egypt. Because in every room he leaves a pyramid. Rodney Dangerfield
A girl phoned me the other day and said... Come on over, there's nobody home. I went over. Nobody was home. Rodney Dangerfield
I went to the psychiatrist, and he says, "You're crazy. " I tell him I want a second opinion. He says, “Okay, you're ugly too!" Rodney Dangerfield
The other night a mugger took off his mask and made me wear it. Rodney Dangerfield
