Annihilationism, do the Wicked Perish?

[electedbyhim]

You know what's interesting about this? The same people who write the translations write the dictionaries. So of course they're going to agree. If you want to know what the words really mean get a concordance and look up every single instance of a word and look at the context of the passage. That'll show you how the Bible uses the word rather than what some theologians thinks.

I will trust men that are established by God that have a very lengthy track record.

So, basically everyone here should trust what you are teaching rather than some theologians who is trained in classical greek and the like.

@Consecrated Life said it perfectly in post #172

 

[for_his_glory]

Christians should not be following anything Pagan.

You got that right, plus all Christians need to believe in the Trinity/Deity of Christ, but Judaism does not believe in the writings of the NT and are not followers of Christ.

 

[CherubRam]

You got that right, plus all Christians need to believe in the Trinity/Deity of Christ, but Judaism does not believe in the writings of the NT and are not followers of Christ.

Christ is a (god / elohiym / god of The Living One,) and trinitarianism was introduced by the Catholics.
For the first three centuries Christians did not believe God is triune. The scriptures were altered to make it appear as a biblical truth.

The Jews were expecting a elohiym from heaven, not God.

 

[for_his_glory]

Christ is a (god / elohiym / god of The Living One,) and trinitarianism was introduced by the Catholics.
For the first three centuries Christians did not believe God is triune. The scriptures were altered to make it appear as a biblical truth.

The Jews were expecting a elohiym from heaven, not God.

thank you for proving my point. Have a good night.

 

[Butch5]

I will trust men that are established by God that have a very lengthy track record.

So, basically everyone here should trust what you are teaching rather than some theologians who is trained in classical greek and the like.

@Consecrated Life said it perfectly in post #172

Or you could believe Jesus and the apostles.

40 Therefore as the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of this age.

They'll be gathered at the end of this eternity.

49 So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come forth, separate the wicked from among the just,

The angels are going to separate them at the end of the eternity.

3 Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age

The disciples want to know about the end of eternity

20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

Jesus will be with them until the end of eternity.

30 who shall not receive a hundredfold now in this time—houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions—and in the age to come, eternal life.

They'll receive eternal life in the next eternity.


34 Jesus answered and said to them, “The sons of this age marry and are given in marriage. .
35 But those who are counted worthy to attain that age, and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry nor are given in marriage;

The sons of this eternity marry, but the sons of that eternity won't marry.

7 But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the ages for our glory

The wisdom God ordained before the eternities, all of them.

11 Now all these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come

The end of the eternities has come upon these.

21 far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come.

Not only in this eternity, but also in the eternity that is come after this one.

7 that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.

In the eternities to come, all of them.

5 which in other ages was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to His holy apostles and prophets

It wasn't made known in the other eternities, but it's been made know in this eternity.

9 and to make all see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the ages has been hidden in God who created all things through Jesus Christ

The fellowship of the mystery was hidden from the beginning of the eternities, all of them.

26 the mystery which has been hidden from ages and from generations, but now has been revealed to His saints

The mystery has been hidden from eternities, all of them.

5 and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come,

Some have tasted of the eternity to come.

26 He then would have had to suffer often since the foundation of the world; but now, once at the end of the ages, He has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself.

Jesus appeared at the end of the eternities, all of them.

But hey, these are just Jesus and the apostles. They're not long-established men of God, right? We've got to listen to the long-established men of God.

This people honors Me with their lips, But their heart is far from Me. 7 And in vain they worship Me,
Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’

 

[Consecrated Life]

Have you surveyed the majority of humans? It's not sleep it's death. It's loss of life

You believe people will be conscious of their existence after they have been Annihilated ?
How long will this post-Annihilation consciousness last ?
This post-Annihilation consciousness is a new twist I have not heard before .
Please explain ?

 

[Butch5]

You believe people will be conscious of their existence after they have been Annihilated ?
How long will this post-Annihilation consciousness last ?
This post-Annihilation consciousness is a new twist I have not heard before .
Please explain ?

Look, if you can't be serious don't bother.

 

[Butch5]

I will trust men that are established by God that have a very lengthy track record.

So, basically everyone here should trust what you are teaching rather than some theologians who is trained in classical greek and the like.

@Consecrated Life said it perfectly in post #172

That's not what I said, is it? But you just disregarded that. I didn't suggest that you believe me. I suggested that you derive the definition of words from Scripture rather than some guy's opinion. This is what I said.

"You know what's interesting about this? The same people who write the translations write the dictionaries. So of course they're going to agree. If you want to know what the words really mean get a concordance and look up every single instance of a word and look at the context of the passage. That'll show you how the Bible uses the word rather than what some theologians thinks."

 

[electedbyhim]

That's not what I said, is it? But you just disregarded that. I didn't suggest that you believe me. I suggested that you derive the definition of words from Scripture rather than some guy's opinion. This is what I said.

"You know what's interesting about this? The same people who write the translations write the dictionaries. So of course they're going to agree. If you want to know what the words really mean get a concordance and look up every single instance of a word and look at the context of the passage. That'll show you how the Bible uses the word rather than what some theologians thinks."

Do you think that those Theologians taught conscious eternal damnation just for fear?

 

[Consecrated Life]

You believe people will be conscious of their existence after they have been Annihilated ?
How long will this post-Annihilation consciousness last ?
This post-Annihilation consciousness is a new twist I have not heard before .
Please explain ?

Look, if you can't be serious don't bother.

Your inability to muster a straight answer duly noted ,

 

[electedbyhim]

Matthew 10:28 “And do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.

Macarthur
It should be made clear that destroy does not here mean annihilation. The lost will not cease to exist, but in their resurrected bodies “will go away into eternal punishment,” just as the saved in their resurrected bodies will go into “eternal life” (Mat_25:46). The word behind destroy (appolumi) does not convey the notion of extinction but of great loss or ruin. Paul uses the same term in 2Th_1:9, where he speaks of “eternal destruction”—a phrase that would not make sense if “destruction” meant annihilation, which by definition cannot be eternal. That which is annihilated ceases to exist.

Destroy (622)(apollumi from apo = away from or wholly + olethros = state of utter ruin <> ollumi = to destroy <> root of apollyon [Re 9:11] = destroyer) means to destroy utterly but not to cause one to cease to exist. Apollumi as it relates to men, is not the loss of being per se, but is more the loss of well-being. It means to ruin so that the person ruined can no longer serve the use for which he or she was designed. The gospel promises everlasting life for the one who believes. The failure to possess this life will result in utter ruin and eternal uselessness (but not a cessation of existence) In summary, apollumi then has the basic meaning of describing that which is ruined and is no longer usable for its intended purpose. Woe!

RWP
Destroy both soul and body in hell (kai psuchēn kai sōma apolesai en geennēi). Note “soul” here of the eternal spirit, not just life in the body. “Destroy” here is not annihilation, but eternal punishment in Gehenna (the real hell) for which see note on Mat_5:22. Bruce thinks that the devil as the tempter is here meant, not God as the judge, but surely he is wrong. There is no more needed lesson today than the fear of God.

Perish (622) (apollumi from apo = away from or wholly + olethros = state of utter ruin <> ollumi = to destroy <> root of apollyon [Re 9:11] = destroyer) means to destroy utterly but not to caused to cease to exist. Apollumi as it relates to men, is not the loss of being per se, but is more the loss of well-being. It means to ruin so that the person (or thing) ruined can no longer serve the use for which he (it) was designed. To render useless. The gospel promises everlasting life for the one who believes. The failure to possess this life will result in utter ruin and eternal uselessness (but not a cessation of existence). Apollumi then has the basic meaning of describing that which is ruined and is no longer usable for its intended purpose.

John MacArthur writes that "Apollumi (destroy) refers to utter devastation. But as the noted Greek scholar W. E. Vine explains, “The idea is not extinction but ruin, loss, not of being, but of well-being” (An Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words [Westwood, N.J.: Revel, 1940]). The term is often used in the New Testament to indicate eternal damnation (see, e.g., Mt 10:28; Lk 13:3; Jn 3:16; Ro. 2:12), which applies to unbelievers. But even with that meaning the word does not connote extinction, as annihilationists claim, but rather spiritual calamity that will continue forever. (MacArthur, J: Romans 9-16. Chicago: Moody Press)

Thayer’s Greek-English Lexicon defines apollumi as “to be delivered up to eternal misery” (p. 36). Since Thayer himself was a Unitarian who did not believe in eternal punishment, his definition could only be the result of his knowledge of the meaning of this Greek word. There is no lexicographical evidence for the annihilationist’s position that apollumi means “to annihilate” or “to pass into nonexistence.”


Jesus used apollumi to remind His disciples what happened when men "put new wine into old wineskins" for they knew that this would make "the wineskins burst… and the wineskins are ruined (apollumi)". (Mt 9:17). The point is that these wineskins did not cease to exist but they did cease to fulfill the function for which they were created. In short they were rendered useless. In a similar way, the noun form, apoleia, is used to describe the reaction of the disciples when they saw the woman anointing Jesus' head with "costly perfume" (Mt 26:8). They became "indignant when they saw this and said "Why this waste (noun form = apoleia)" In essence they were asking Jesus why are You letting the precious oil perish and be rendered useless? The ointment did not go out of existence, but was used for what they judged to be a useless purpose (were they ever wrong!). In a similar way all men and women are created by God for fellowship with Him and for His glory (cf Isa 43:7), but when they individually refuse to come to Him for salvation they lose their opportunity for redemption and for becoming what God originally created them for. Their lives are wasted and useless (eternally)! They are fit only for everlasting condemnation and destruction away from the presence and the glory of the Father. This is the awful picture of what it means to "perish". This is not the desire of God for as Peter writes "The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance." (2Pe 3:9-note)

 

[Carry_Your_Name]

Why do you suppose there will be no celestial bodies

I don't, the bible says so. Rev. 21:23, Rev. 21:25, Rev. 22:5.

 

[Butch5]

Do you think that those Theologians taught conscious eternal damnation just for fear?

No, I think they were indoctrinated. The idea of eternal conscious torment entered Christianity fairly early in history from Greek philosophy. It got embedded in the faith and has been taught ever since.

 

[Carry_Your_Name]

No, I think they were indoctrinated. The idea of eternal conscious torment entered Christianity fairly early in history from Greek philosophy. It got embedded in the faith and has been taught ever since.

Really? I thought in Greek philosophy it should be disembodied, wandering ghost on earth, this is a common philosophy till this day. Ghost is usually the result of an untimely demise, they have unfinished businesses on earth, and their conscious torment is that they must communicate with the living through dreams or visions to end these unfinished businesses, then they can rest in peace forever. And by "forever", it means no perception of time. Remember the ghost of Hamlet's murdered father? Paul responded to this philosophy and pointed out that it's unbiblical. According to the Apostle's Creed, we believe in resurrection of the body, not eternality of the soul.

 

[electedbyhim]

No, I think they were indoctrinated. The idea of eternal conscious torment entered Christianity fairly early in history from Greek philosophy. It got embedded in the faith and has been taught ever since.

Thank you for your response.

 

[reddogs]

You can be forgiven the blasphemy as I don't do signs and wonders (like Christ did) proving it is the Holy Spirit doing the work.

And, I don't claim to be inspired, I claim my mind has been opened to understand enigma, and parable. I still make mistakes and correct them when they are shown to me.

Two enigmas I have shed light on by the Holy Spirit's enabling:

Jesus’ Janus Parallelism on PETROS in Matthew 16:18 | End Time News, Today - Rapture Ready News

In Matthew 16 18 Simon Peter's name in Greek is Petros. According to Oscar Cullmann, Dalman, Billerbeck[1] to name a few, in Jesus' day there was in Aramaic a Jewish proper name[2] meaning "firstborn" that when transliterated into Greek is spelled petros. . According to Markus Bockmuehl its...

endtimenews.net

Adonikam is the Name of the Beast having 666 meaning | End Time News, Today - Rapture Ready News

Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six (Rev. 13:18 KJV) Many insist we use Gematria (substituting letters for numbers) to solve the riddle of 666 meaning, although they cannot...

endtimenews.net

As you can see there is a lot of 'according to so and so man in there. We have to let God be true and set aside man's ideas as Satan can use them to lie and deceive. God's Word gives us His Truth and we have to go by that...

 

[reddogs]

Matthew 10:28 “And do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.

Macarthur
It should be made clear that destroy does not here mean annihilation. The lost will not cease to exist, but in their resurrected bodies “will go away into eternal punishment,” just as the saved in their resurrected bodies will go into “eternal life” (Mat_25:46). The word behind destroy (appolumi) does not convey the notion of extinction but of great loss or ruin. Paul uses the same term in 2Th_1:9, where he speaks of “eternal destruction”—a phrase that would not make sense if “destruction” meant annihilation, which by definition cannot be eternal. That which is annihilated ceases to exist.

Destroy (622)(apollumi from apo = away from or wholly + olethros = state of utter ruin <> ollumi = to destroy <> root of apollyon [Re 9:11] = destroyer) means to destroy utterly but not to cause one to cease to exist. Apollumi as it relates to men, is not the loss of being per se, but is more the loss of well-being. It means to ruin so that the person ruined can no longer serve the use for which he or she was designed. The gospel promises everlasting life for the one who believes. The failure to possess this life will result in utter ruin and eternal uselessness (but not a cessation of existence) In summary, apollumi then has the basic meaning of describing that which is ruined and is no longer usable for its intended purpose. Woe!

RWP
Destroy both soul and body in hell (kai psuchēn kai sōma apolesai en geennēi). Note “soul” here of the eternal spirit, not just life in the body. “Destroy” here is not annihilation, but eternal punishment in Gehenna (the real hell) for which see note on Mat_5:22. Bruce thinks that the devil as the tempter is here meant, not God as the judge, but surely he is wrong. There is no more needed lesson today than the fear of God.

Perish (622) (apollumi from apo = away from or wholly + olethros = state of utter ruin <> ollumi = to destroy <> root of apollyon [Re 9:11] = destroyer) means to destroy utterly but not to caused to cease to exist. Apollumi as it relates to men, is not the loss of being per se, but is more the loss of well-being. It means to ruin so that the person (or thing) ruined can no longer serve the use for which he (it) was designed. To render useless. The gospel promises everlasting life for the one who believes. The failure to possess this life will result in utter ruin and eternal uselessness (but not a cessation of existence). Apollumi then has the basic meaning of describing that which is ruined and is no longer usable for its intended purpose.

John MacArthur writes that "Apollumi (destroy) refers to utter devastation. But as the noted Greek scholar W. E. Vine explains, “The idea is not extinction but ruin, loss, not of being, but of well-being” (An Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words [Westwood, N.J.: Revel, 1940]). The term is often used in the New Testament to indicate eternal damnation (see, e.g., Mt 10:28; Lk 13:3; Jn 3:16; Ro. 2:12), which applies to unbelievers. But even with that meaning the word does not connote extinction, as annihilationists claim, but rather spiritual calamity that will continue forever. (MacArthur, J: Romans 9-16. Chicago: Moody Press)

Thayer’s Greek-English Lexicon defines apollumi as “to be delivered up to eternal misery” (p. 36). Since Thayer himself was a Unitarian who did not believe in eternal punishment, his definition could only be the result of his knowledge of the meaning of this Greek word. There is no lexicographical evidence for the annihilationist’s position that apollumi means “to annihilate” or “to pass into nonexistence.”


Jesus used apollumi to remind His disciples what happened when men "put new wine into old wineskins" for they knew that this would make "the wineskins burst… and the wineskins are ruined (apollumi)". (Mt 9:17). The point is that these wineskins did not cease to exist but they did cease to fulfill the function for which they were created. In short they were rendered useless. In a similar way, the noun form, apoleia, is used to describe the reaction of the disciples when they saw the woman anointing Jesus' head with "costly perfume" (Mt 26:8). They became "indignant when they saw this and said "Why this waste (noun form = apoleia)" In essence they were asking Jesus why are You letting the precious oil perish and be rendered useless? The ointment did not go out of existence, but was used for what they judged to be a useless purpose (were they ever wrong!). In a similar way all men and women are created by God for fellowship with Him and for His glory (cf Isa 43:7), but when they individually refuse to come to Him for salvation they lose their opportunity for redemption and for becoming what God originally created them for. Their lives are wasted and useless (eternally)! They are fit only for everlasting condemnation and destruction away from the presence and the glory of the Father. This is the awful picture of what it means to "perish". This is not the desire of God for as Peter writes "The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance." (2Pe 3:9-note)

This John McArthur seems to a pretty intelligent guy and yet twists the clear meaning into a lie. Christ was telling the truth, the soul that sinneth will die and be destroyed. The choice is eternal life or perish....

 

[Carry_Your_Name]

This John McArthur seems to a pretty intelligent guy and yet twists the clear meaning into a lie. Christ was telling the truth, the soul that sinneth will die and be destroyed. The choice is eternal life or perish....

Annihilationism is against elementary science, that no matter or energy can be created or destroyed, in other words, come into existence out of nothing or cease to exist - in a closed system. That's the first law of thermodynamics, which proves that universe cannot have created itself, and it demands the necessity of a creator outside of the universe.

Also, please keep in mind that a lot of contents in the Bible are polemics that aim to debunk pagan beliefs, and when it comes to the big question, "what happens after we die", there were three major philosophical camps: a) you're released from your dead bodily vessel as a ghost; b) you're REincarnated - not resurrected - in a new earthly body; and c) you're decomposed into worm food and your being ceases to exist, which is the topic of this thread. Jesus rebuked all three with the teaching of eternal punishment, he talked about hell more often than heaven - not the millennial kingdom, but heaven, and the fate of the wicked is revealed in these few simple verses in Revelation:

I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and of Death. (Rev. 1:18)
These things says He who is holy, He who is true, “He who has the key of David, He who opens and no one shuts, and shuts and no one opens". (Rev. 3:7)
The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works. Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. (Rev. 20:14-15)

A more graphic picture is painted in the teaching of the beggar and the rich man in Luke 16:22-26, and the clear message is eternal separation. Both the righteous and the wicked will go down to Hades, but Abraham's side will be opened, the rich man's side will be closed. The righteous on Abraham's side will interit the kingdom, the wicked on the rich man's side will be judged and tormented, and nothing can change that. If the wicked just simply perish as in "cease to exist", then none of this conversation would be possible, none of it would make any sense.

“The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried. In Hades, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. So he called to him, ‘Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.’ “But Abraham replied, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony. And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been set in place, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.’ (Lk. 16:22-26)

 

[Alfred Persson]

As you can see there is a lot of 'according to so and so man in there. We have to let God be true and set aside man's ideas as Satan can use them to lie and deceive. God's Word gives us His Truth and we have to go by that...

Nope, don't see that at all. Moreover, who exempted your opinion from being "a lot of 'according to so and so man...?"

So, I'll let God be true and set aside your ideas

Well lets take a look at what the Bible says will happen to the Wicked...

Job 21:30 King James Version (KJV)
"30 That the wicked is reserved to the day of destruction? they shall be brought forth to the day of wrath."

Psalm 37:10 King James Version (KJV)
"10 For yet a little while, and the wicked shall not be: yea, thou shalt diligently consider his place, and it shall not be."

Psalm 37:20 King James Version (KJV)
"20 But the wicked shall perish, and the enemies of the Lord shall be as the fat of lambs: they shall consume; into smoke shall they consume away."

Psalm 37:28 King James Version (KJV)
"28 For the Lord loveth judgment, and forsaketh not his saints; they are preserved for ever: but the seed of the wicked shall be cut off."

Psalm 37:38 King James Version (KJV)
"38 But the transgressors shall be destroyed together: the end of the wicked shall be cut off."

Psalm 73:17-18 King James Version (KJV)
"17 Until I went into the sanctuary of God; then understood I their end.18 Surely thou didst set them in slippery places: thou castedst them down into destruction."

Psalm 92:7 King James Version (KJV)
"7 When the wicked spring as the grass, and when all the workers of iniquity do flourish; it is that they shall be destroyed for ever:"

Psalm 104:35 King James Version (KJV)
"35 Let the sinners be consumed out of the earth, and let the wicked be no more. Bless thou the Lord, O my soul. Praise ye the Lord."

Psalm 145:20 King James Version (KJV)
"20 The Lord preserveth all them that love him: but all the wicked will he destroy."

Proverbs 2:22 King James Version (KJV)
"22 But the wicked shall be cut off from the earth, and the transgressors shall be rooted out of it."

Nahum 1:9-10 King James Version (KJV)
"9 What do ye imagine against the Lord? he will make an utter end: affliction shall not rise up the second time.10 For while they be folden together as thorns, and while they are drunken as drunkards, they shall be devoured as stubble fully dry."

Malachi 4:1King James Version (KJV)
"4 For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch."

2 Thessalonians 1:8-9 King James Version (KJV)
"8 In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ:9 Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power;"

2 Peter 2:6 King James Version (KJV)
"6 And turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrha into ashes condemned them with an overthrow, making them an ensample unto those that after should live ungodly;"

2 Peter 2:9-12 King James Version (KJV)
9 The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished:10 But chiefly them that walk after the flesh in the lust of uncleanness, and despise government. Presumptuous are they, selfwilled, they are not afraid to speak evil of dignities.11 Whereas angels, which are greater in power and might, bring not railing accusation against them before the Lord.12 But these, as natural brute beasts, made to be taken and destroyed, speak evil of the things that they understand not; and shall utterly perish in their own corruption;

2 Peter 3:7 King James Version (KJV)
"7 But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men."

2 Peter 3:9-10 King James Version (KJV)
"9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up. "

Revelation 20:9 King James Version (KJV)
"9 And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them."

Revelation 21:8 King James Version (KJV)
"8 But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death."

I misunderstood your position. I too believe God will annihilate many of the wicked. But not all:

The devil, who deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are. And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever. (Rev. 20:10 NKJ)

 

[reddogs]

Annihilationism is against elementary science, that no matter or energy can be created or destroyed, in other words, come into existence out of nothing or cease to exist - in a closed system. That's the first law of thermodynamics, which proves that universe cannot have created itself, and it demands the necessity of a creator outside of the universe.

Also, please keep in mind that a lot of contents in the Bible are polemics that aim to debunk pagan beliefs, and when it comes to the big question, "what happens after we die", there were three major philosophical camps: a) you're released from your dead bodily vessel as a ghost; b) you're REincarnated - not resurrected - in a new earthly body; and c) you're decomposed into worm food and your being ceases to exist, which is the topic of this thread. Jesus rebuked all three with the teaching of eternal punishment, he talked about hell more often than heaven - not the millennial kingdom, but heaven, and the fate of the wicked is revealed in these few simple verses in Revelation:

I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and of Death. (Rev. 1:18)
These things says He who is holy, He who is true, “He who has the key of David, He who opens and no one shuts, and shuts and no one opens". (Rev. 3:7)
The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works. Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. (Rev. 20:14-15)

A more graphic picture is painted in the teaching of the beggar and the rich man in Luke 16:22-26, and the clear message is eternal separation. Both the righteous and the wicked will go down to Hades, but Abraham's side will be opened, the rich man's side will be closed. The righteous on Abraham's side will interit the kingdom, the wicked on the rich man's side will be judged and tormented, and nothing can change that. If the wicked just simply perish as in "cease to exist", then none of this conversation would be possible, none of it would make any sense.

“The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried. In Hades, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. So he called to him, ‘Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.’ “But Abraham replied, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony. And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been set in place, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.’ (Lk. 16:22-26)

So God could not create from nothing, nor could He destroy? You need to reevaluate your 'faith' in scientist over God. He did and He can...