December 16, 2025 • 19 mins
Annihilationism is the view that no one suffers for eternity in hell--because according to annihilationism there is no hell. Rather, those who persist until death in their rejection of God’s gracious gift of salvation are snuffed out of existence entirely. Just as universalism is the rage in liberal Christianity, so too annihilationism has gained momentum in conservative Christian circles, with the concept once again entering into the cultural consciousness due to comments made by Kirk Cameron. Hank saw those comments and decided to weigh in on the matter in order to address whether or not annihilationism has any Biblical basis. For further study: Afterlife: What You Need to Know about Heaven, the Hereafter & Near-Death Experiences https://www.equip.org/product/cri-resource-afterlife/
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:23):
And welcome to an impromptu edition of the handcom Plug Podcast. Remember,
on this podcast, we are committed to equipping people to
always be ready to give an answer or reason for
the hope that lies within them with gentleness and with respect. Today,
I want to talk about a subject that has enormous
(00:45):
import It really involves what happens to us when we die,
what happens to us when Christ returns a second time,
That happens in eternity. The subject that I'm addressing today
(01:08):
is a subject that is now being referenced by influencers
and celebrities, but in a very bad fashion. I want
to talk about annihilationism and answer the question as to
whether or not it is taught in the Bible or
(01:31):
countenanced by the mind of the Church. Now, I know
that annihilationism is a large word, but it's a very
simple view. In the annihilationist view, no one suffers for
(01:51):
eternity in hell. In fact, according to annihilationism, there is
no hell. Instead, those who persist until death in rejecting
God's gracious gift of salvation, they are snuffed out of
(02:13):
existence entirely. So, just as universalism is the rage and
liberal Christianity, so to annihilationism is gaining huge momentum in
conservative Christian circles, and that is particularly among influencers and celebrities,
(02:36):
many of whom correctly cite John Stott as an apologist
for annihilationism, but then gratuitously throw in such venerable church
fathers as Saint Athanasius or even Irenaeus in order to
bolster their case. Now, it is true that John Stodd
(03:02):
did defend annihilationism. I talked to him about it before
he died, but Athenacious most certainly did not. In fact,
it was Athenacious who memorably retorted that for the good
(03:24):
there is laid up the heavenly kingdom, but for those
who practice evil, he said, outer darkness and eternal fire.
There's no way, shape or form in which you can
implicate Athenacious with the concept of annihilationism. But the real
(03:50):
question is whether or not annihilationism is taught in the
scriptures or again, as I mentioned earlier, countenance by the
mind of the Church, and the answer is absolutely not.
Let me begin by saying that common sense dictates dictates
(04:14):
that a God of love and justice does not arbitrarily
annihilate the crowning jewels of his creation. Far from rubbing
us out, God graciously provides us with the freedom to
choose between redemption and rebellion. It would be a horrific
(04:36):
evil to think that God would create people with freedom
of choice and then annihilate them because of their choices.
But there's a further point, and that has to do
with common sense, which inevitably leads to the conclusion that
(05:00):
non existence is not better than existence. Why because nonexistence
is nothing at all. Moreover, biblically speaking, not all existence
in Hell is equal. We remember the ominous four warnings
(05:22):
of our Lord. They ring back through the ages. Remember
where he said, woe to you Chorizon, woe to you.
But say it, if the miracles that were performed in
you had been performed and Tire and siden they would
(05:43):
have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. But I
tell you, said Jesus, it will be more tolerable, more
bearable for tire and Sidon on the day of judgment
than for you. And then Jesus, well, he gave the
(06:07):
self same sentiment with respect to Capernaum. Remember when he said,
I tell you, it will be more bearable for Sodom
on the day of judgment, than for you caprinum, if
annihilationism were true, Christ's words would be reduced to an absurdity.
(06:31):
Let me put this plainly, there are no degrees of annihilationism.
Hitler will continue to exist. His torment will greatly exceed
the torment of a garden variety pagan Why because God
is perfectly just, and each person who spurns his grace
(06:56):
will suffer exactly what he or she deserves. Let me
add one more point. Human beings are fashioned in the
very image of God, and thus to eliminate them would
do violence to the nature of God. And when understood
(07:19):
in light of the rest of Scripture, the language of
destruction and perishing hardly support annihilationism. In point of fact,
it affirms eternal conscious existence. When Saint Paul informs us
that those who do not love God or live according
to his precepts will be punished with everlasting destruction and
(07:41):
shut out from the presence of the Lord and from
the majesty of His power, he is hardly suggesting annihilationism.
To experience everlasting destruction is to experience everlasting separation from
the love and grace of God, and Paul leaves no
(08:02):
doubt he equates everlasting destruction with being shut out from
the presence of the Lord. And of course, as I've
already noted, Jesus is the ultimate authority, and he explicitly
informs us that the wicked will go away to eternal punishment,
(08:26):
but the righteous to eternal life. Eternal life is eternal,
eternal punishment is everlasting. Jesus contrasts the ghastly eternal punishment
of the wicked with the glorious eternal life of the righteous,
(08:48):
And as I say so often, contrast is the conduit
to clarity. And Christ could not have been more clear.
Why in fact would God, why would our maker raise
the unrepentant from the dead, if only to snuff them
(09:09):
out in the end? I mean, the alternative to annihilationism
is ever lasting quarantine, and that is precisely what hell is.
Help me, also, at least parenthetically, note that the glorious
(09:31):
reality the amago day respundently restored and the redeemed stands
in super contrast. Again, contrast is the conduit to clarity.
In super contrast to the ghastly reality of the image
of God removed from the reprobate, the image that was
splintered in the fall will be shattered in the forever.
(09:57):
And while the redeemed are daily being transformed into the
likeness of God with ever increasing glory, the imago day
is daily fading in those destined for darkness. The language
here is important. The language of everlasting destruction evokes the horror,
(10:24):
the terror of what it will be for the impenitent
to ever lastingly experience the eraser. I mean to have
erased the image of God, to be as it were. Well,
Saint Peter says this. He says, brute beasts, creatures of instinct,
(10:50):
born only to be caught and destroyed. You can read
that in second Peter two twelve. Kind of easy to
remember too. Peter two twelve. It goes on to say,
to be springs without water, misdriven by the storm, to
those for whom blackest darkness is reserved. Why does he
(11:13):
say this, Because when the image of God is diminished,
all that remains is wickedness, evil, greed. When you think
about all of the vices depravity, we consider, for example,
(11:35):
the beastly Nero, or the murderous Maw, or even the
despotic Stalin. And when we think of those men we
think that we have plumbed the depth of human depravity
and debasement. Yet these men are but a glimpse of
(11:57):
what will be when the flickering flame of the image
of God is diminished and then inexorable darkness ensues. Let
me sum it up this way. It would be a
horrific evil to think that God creates people with freedom
(12:19):
of choice and then annihilates them because of their choices. Secondly,
common sense dictates from a common sense perspective that non
existence is not better than existence. Why is that well,
(12:43):
because non existence is nothing at all, And then we
should ever remember that non all existence in Hell is equal,
and therefore we may rightly conclude that the torment of
the despotic Stalin will greatly exceed, as I mentioned before,
(13:08):
the torment experienced by garden variety pagan. We should never
forget that God is perfectly just, and that each person
who spurns his grace will serve exactly what he or
she deserves. One final point, I think we would do
(13:32):
well to remember that humans are fashioned in the image
and likeness of God, and therefore to annihilate human beings
would do violence to the very one who spoke and
the limitless galaxies leapt into existence. Well, maybe one more thought.
(13:54):
I think I should also say that, in light of
my comments in the episode of the handcum Plug podcast,
we should be cognizant of the fact that it is
not the absence of truth that ultimately damns. I've said
(14:15):
this many times before, but it bears repeating in this context.
It is the despising of truth that damns. God loves us.
He wants an eternal relationship with us, but he will
(14:35):
never force us against our will. If God forced us
into his loving presence for all eternity against our will,
love would not be loved. Love requires volition, It requires choice.
(14:58):
So we can choose to forever be in the loving
presence of God, or we can reject his love and
his grace and his mercy. And Jesus Christ, who assent
in the flesh, we can accept or we can reject.
(15:21):
Heaven is a glorious eternal reality we called eternal life.
Hell is also a reality. It is the absence of
the love and light and grace of the one who
spoke and the universe leapt into existence of the one
(15:42):
who knit us together in our mother's womb. Again, this
impromptu session on the handcun plug podcast came into my
mind an hour or so ago because I saw that
social influencers people like Kurt Cameron. And this is not
a dig on Kirk Cameron. I like him as a person.
(16:05):
I remember one day when he came to my office
in southern California. I've had him on the Bible answer
Man broadcast. So I like him very much as a person.
But he has a responsibility to speak truth, and when
he cast doubts in the minds of many about the
(16:29):
verity of eternal conscious suffering, I think I would be
remiss if I did not weigh in on this subject,
not on the basis of my own opinion, but on
the basis of the mind of the church, and on
(16:51):
the basis of what God's eternal Word communicates with power
and clarity. I've been memorizing Scripture my whole ministry. I
continue to do it every single day. It's part of
my routine. So the Bible is very precious to me,
and so I'm not here pontificating on the basis of
(17:14):
what I think, but rather I am trying in a
memorable fashion or as clearly and concisely as I'm able
to communicate to you what scripture very clearly teaches and
what has been held Contrary to those who say Athanasius
(17:39):
or Irenaeus or others Church fathers, I mean, the mind
of the Church is consistent on this point. We're not
going to be annihilated. God does not annihilate the crowning
jewels of his creation. Thanks for tuning in to this
edition of the Hand Unplugged podcast. Remember if you like
(17:59):
the podcast, asked rate review, subscribe. It helps a lot.
For more information. I've written about this in various forums
and books. I think there's an entry in the Bible
answer Book on this as well, so you can get
a very succinct answer to this question of annihilationism. Those
materials are comments as the Christian Research Institute has preserved
(18:24):
on the web. Just go to the webit equipped dot
org equip dot org. The information is available there. You
can also write me at Post Office box eighty five hundred, Charlotte,
North Carolina, zip code two eight two seven one. Thanks
for tuning in. Look forward to seeing you next time
with more of Hank Unplugged
And welcome to an impromptu edition of the handcom Plug Podcast. Remember,
on this podcast, we are committed to equipping people to
always be ready to give an answer or reason for
the hope that lies within them with gentleness and with respect. Today,
I want to talk about a subject that has enormous
(00:45):
import It really involves what happens to us when we die,
what happens to us when Christ returns a second time,
That happens in eternity. The subject that I'm addressing today
(01:08):
is a subject that is now being referenced by influencers
and celebrities, but in a very bad fashion. I want
to talk about annihilationism and answer the question as to
whether or not it is taught in the Bible or
(01:31):
countenanced by the mind of the Church. Now, I know
that annihilationism is a large word, but it's a very
simple view. In the annihilationist view, no one suffers for
(01:51):
eternity in hell. In fact, according to annihilationism, there is
no hell. Instead, those who persist until death in rejecting
God's gracious gift of salvation, they are snuffed out of
(02:13):
existence entirely. So, just as universalism is the rage and
liberal Christianity, so to annihilationism is gaining huge momentum in
conservative Christian circles, and that is particularly among influencers and celebrities,
(02:36):
many of whom correctly cite John Stott as an apologist
for annihilationism, but then gratuitously throw in such venerable church
fathers as Saint Athanasius or even Irenaeus in order to
bolster their case. Now, it is true that John Stodd
(03:02):
did defend annihilationism. I talked to him about it before
he died, but Athenacious most certainly did not. In fact,
it was Athenacious who memorably retorted that for the good
(03:24):
there is laid up the heavenly kingdom, but for those
who practice evil, he said, outer darkness and eternal fire.
There's no way, shape or form in which you can
implicate Athenacious with the concept of annihilationism. But the real
(03:50):
question is whether or not annihilationism is taught in the
scriptures or again, as I mentioned earlier, countenance by the
mind of the Church, and the answer is absolutely not.
Let me begin by saying that common sense dictates dictates
(04:14):
that a God of love and justice does not arbitrarily
annihilate the crowning jewels of his creation. Far from rubbing
us out, God graciously provides us with the freedom to
choose between redemption and rebellion. It would be a horrific
(04:36):
evil to think that God would create people with freedom
of choice and then annihilate them because of their choices.
But there's a further point, and that has to do
with common sense, which inevitably leads to the conclusion that
(05:00):
non existence is not better than existence. Why because nonexistence
is nothing at all. Moreover, biblically speaking, not all existence
in Hell is equal. We remember the ominous four warnings
(05:22):
of our Lord. They ring back through the ages. Remember
where he said, woe to you Chorizon, woe to you.
But say it, if the miracles that were performed in
you had been performed and Tire and siden they would
(05:43):
have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. But I
tell you, said Jesus, it will be more tolerable, more
bearable for tire and Sidon on the day of judgment
than for you. And then Jesus, well, he gave the
(06:07):
self same sentiment with respect to Capernaum. Remember when he said,
I tell you, it will be more bearable for Sodom
on the day of judgment, than for you caprinum, if
annihilationism were true, Christ's words would be reduced to an absurdity.
(06:31):
Let me put this plainly, there are no degrees of annihilationism.
Hitler will continue to exist. His torment will greatly exceed
the torment of a garden variety pagan Why because God
is perfectly just, and each person who spurns his grace
(06:56):
will suffer exactly what he or she deserves. Let me
add one more point. Human beings are fashioned in the
very image of God, and thus to eliminate them would
do violence to the nature of God. And when understood
(07:19):
in light of the rest of Scripture, the language of
destruction and perishing hardly support annihilationism. In point of fact,
it affirms eternal conscious existence. When Saint Paul informs us
that those who do not love God or live according
to his precepts will be punished with everlasting destruction and
(07:41):
shut out from the presence of the Lord and from
the majesty of His power, he is hardly suggesting annihilationism.
To experience everlasting destruction is to experience everlasting separation from
the love and grace of God, and Paul leaves no
(08:02):
doubt he equates everlasting destruction with being shut out from
the presence of the Lord. And of course, as I've
already noted, Jesus is the ultimate authority, and he explicitly
informs us that the wicked will go away to eternal punishment,
(08:26):
but the righteous to eternal life. Eternal life is eternal,
eternal punishment is everlasting. Jesus contrasts the ghastly eternal punishment
of the wicked with the glorious eternal life of the righteous,
(08:48):
And as I say so often, contrast is the conduit
to clarity. And Christ could not have been more clear.
Why in fact would God, why would our maker raise
the unrepentant from the dead, if only to snuff them
(09:09):
out in the end? I mean, the alternative to annihilationism
is ever lasting quarantine, and that is precisely what hell is.
Help me, also, at least parenthetically, note that the glorious
(09:31):
reality the amago day respundently restored and the redeemed stands
in super contrast. Again, contrast is the conduit to clarity.
In super contrast to the ghastly reality of the image
of God removed from the reprobate, the image that was
splintered in the fall will be shattered in the forever.
(09:57):
And while the redeemed are daily being transformed into the
likeness of God with ever increasing glory, the imago day
is daily fading in those destined for darkness. The language
here is important. The language of everlasting destruction evokes the horror,
(10:24):
the terror of what it will be for the impenitent
to ever lastingly experience the eraser. I mean to have
erased the image of God, to be as it were. Well,
Saint Peter says this. He says, brute beasts, creatures of instinct,
(10:50):
born only to be caught and destroyed. You can read
that in second Peter two twelve. Kind of easy to
remember too. Peter two twelve. It goes on to say,
to be springs without water, misdriven by the storm, to
those for whom blackest darkness is reserved. Why does he
(11:13):
say this, Because when the image of God is diminished,
all that remains is wickedness, evil, greed. When you think
about all of the vices depravity, we consider, for example,
(11:35):
the beastly Nero, or the murderous Maw, or even the
despotic Stalin. And when we think of those men we
think that we have plumbed the depth of human depravity
and debasement. Yet these men are but a glimpse of
(11:57):
what will be when the flickering flame of the image
of God is diminished and then inexorable darkness ensues. Let
me sum it up this way. It would be a
horrific evil to think that God creates people with freedom
(12:19):
of choice and then annihilates them because of their choices. Secondly,
common sense dictates from a common sense perspective that non
existence is not better than existence. Why is that well,
(12:43):
because non existence is nothing at all, And then we
should ever remember that non all existence in Hell is equal,
and therefore we may rightly conclude that the torment of
the despotic Stalin will greatly exceed, as I mentioned before,
(13:08):
the torment experienced by garden variety pagan. We should never
forget that God is perfectly just, and that each person
who spurns his grace will serve exactly what he or
she deserves. One final point, I think we would do
(13:32):
well to remember that humans are fashioned in the image
and likeness of God, and therefore to annihilate human beings
would do violence to the very one who spoke and
the limitless galaxies leapt into existence. Well, maybe one more thought.
(13:54):
I think I should also say that, in light of
my comments in the episode of the handcum Plug podcast,
we should be cognizant of the fact that it is
not the absence of truth that ultimately damns. I've said
(14:15):
this many times before, but it bears repeating in this context.
It is the despising of truth that damns. God loves us.
He wants an eternal relationship with us, but he will
(14:35):
never force us against our will. If God forced us
into his loving presence for all eternity against our will,
love would not be loved. Love requires volition, It requires choice.
(14:58):
So we can choose to forever be in the loving
presence of God, or we can reject his love and
his grace and his mercy. And Jesus Christ, who assent
in the flesh, we can accept or we can reject.
(15:21):
Heaven is a glorious eternal reality we called eternal life.
Hell is also a reality. It is the absence of
the love and light and grace of the one who
spoke and the universe leapt into existence of the one
(15:42):
who knit us together in our mother's womb. Again, this
impromptu session on the handcun plug podcast came into my
mind an hour or so ago because I saw that
social influencers people like Kurt Cameron. And this is not
a dig on Kirk Cameron. I like him as a person.
(16:05):
I remember one day when he came to my office
in southern California. I've had him on the Bible answer
Man broadcast. So I like him very much as a person.
But he has a responsibility to speak truth, and when
he cast doubts in the minds of many about the
(16:29):
verity of eternal conscious suffering, I think I would be
remiss if I did not weigh in on this subject,
not on the basis of my own opinion, but on
the basis of the mind of the church, and on
(16:51):
the basis of what God's eternal Word communicates with power
and clarity. I've been memorizing Scripture my whole ministry. I
continue to do it every single day. It's part of
my routine. So the Bible is very precious to me,
and so I'm not here pontificating on the basis of
(17:14):
what I think, but rather I am trying in a
memorable fashion or as clearly and concisely as I'm able
to communicate to you what scripture very clearly teaches and
what has been held Contrary to those who say Athanasius
(17:39):
or Irenaeus or others Church fathers, I mean, the mind
of the Church is consistent on this point. We're not
going to be annihilated. God does not annihilate the crowning
jewels of his creation. Thanks for tuning in to this
edition of the Hand Unplugged podcast. Remember if you like
(17:59):
the podcast, asked rate review, subscribe. It helps a lot.
For more information. I've written about this in various forums
and books. I think there's an entry in the Bible
answer Book on this as well, so you can get
a very succinct answer to this question of annihilationism. Those
materials are comments as the Christian Research Institute has preserved
(18:24):
on the web. Just go to the webit equipped dot
org equip dot org. The information is available there. You
can also write me at Post Office box eighty five hundred, Charlotte,
North Carolina, zip code two eight two seven one. Thanks
for tuning in. Look forward to seeing you next time
with more of Hank Unplugged
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
My Favorite Murder with Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark
My Favorite Murder is a true crime comedy podcast hosted by Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark. Each week, Karen and Georgia share compelling true crimes and hometown stories from friends and listeners. Since MFM launched in January of 2016, Karen and Georgia have shared their lifelong interest in true crime and have covered stories of infamous serial killers like the Night Stalker, mysterious cold cases, captivating cults, incredible survivor stories and important events from history like the Tulsa race massacre of 1921. My Favorite Murder is part of the Exactly Right podcast network that provides a platform for bold, creative voices to bring to life provocative, entertaining and relatable stories for audiences everywhere. The Exactly Right roster of podcasts covers a variety of topics including historic true crime, comedic interviews and news, science, pop culture and more. Podcasts on the network include Buried Bones with Kate Winkler Dawson and Paul Holes, That's Messed Up: An SVU Podcast, This Podcast Will Kill You, Bananas and more.