Crucial Thoughts about Annihilationism & Universalism
by
Walt Hibbard
I am neither an annihilationist nor a universalist. Nor am I a comprehensive grace (the term Tim King uses for universalism) proponent
either. I do not think there is biblical justification for either view. In fact,
I think both of these ideas are contrary to and militate against the Gospel.
The first term, annihilationism has the effect of toning
down the importance of accepting the Gospel message. “If I reject the Gospel, surely I'll be punished for doing so,
but this punishment won't last too long or not at all and then I'm zapped, with no more consciousness of anything, no never!
I guess I'll take my chances,” people will say.
Rev. 14:11 says, "And the smoke of their torment goes
up forever and ever. And those worshiping the beast and its image have no rest night and day...." (Also refer to Rev. 19:3)
Just suppose the Lord really DID mean everlasting (that
lasts forever), how could he in words have said it any more plain than what he did say in this Revelation passage?
Take the words of Jesus in Mt 8:12; 13:42, 50; 22:13;
24:51; 25:30 or Lk 13:28. This is described with horror and is something to be
dreaded and turned away from at any cost!
The writer to the Hebrews tells his readers that "It is
a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God (10:31).
Certainly the language that Jesus uses to express the
certainty and horror of the punishment meted out to the unsaved is language of unimaginable judgment and terror. To attempt to resort to a philosophical meaning of such words as mortal or immortal, or to argue whether
man has immortality or not and whether this applies to his body and soul or both, seems to me to be just an exercise in hermeneutic
gymnastics calculated to lessen the reality that God would punish anyone forever for just committing sins. It waters down the heinousness of sin and how God hates anything that violates His holiness.
No, I think it is a mistake to think like an annihilationist.
If there are any arguments that would seem at first glance to support this view, I still want to stay away from it as it can
do me no good, and believing it should not be an excuse for denying that God has every holy right to punish His creatures
for ever and ever. After all, eternal life is forever and ever, is it not? Well, if annihilationism is true, then I will have to say that the saved people of
God will also one day arrive at the place in time when God will say to them, "That's all the glory in heaven you are going
to get -- NO MORE -- since when I said 'everlasting' I didn't really mean that at all.
It was meant to be just for a limited time only. Sorry, Bud!"
Both annihilationism and universalism deny the biblical
doctrine of “eternal conscious punishment” for the unbeliever and are therefore very dangerous because of that
denial. Yet the two views are very different in several ways, even contradictory. Let’s now talk about universalism.
Universalism strikes at the very heart of the whole Christian
revelation and the need for a saving Gospel message! Why seek to obey God's Law? Why bow to Jesus Christ? Why try to do
good to my fellow men? Why thank God for His grace? Why have the mind of Christ in you? It doesn't matter, for
the very same people who spurn all of the above, are going to be saved anyway. And
what is there to actually be saved FROM? Likely nothing at all. The whole Bible is a farce and a myth with no substance in it of any value.
Jesus Christ is a fraud! God is pulling a cruel joke on mankind when He
gave them the Bible and just wanted to see how many suckers would be naive enough to believe it. God stinks! So do Christians!
All that stuff about suffering torment forever is just a bunch of hogwash!
Those students of Scripture, who have problems with passages
where it says that in Adam ALL DIE, but in Christ ALL SHALL BE MADE ALIVE, miss completely the context and how the Bible uses
words to convey meaning. They try to tell us that since all of us were at one
time in Adam (the all, you know), now that Christ has come, the same ALL word is used, so this means that EVERYONE is now
in Christ and is therefore saved. Don't believe it! It is really very plain and simple to understand. Those people WHO NOW ARE IN CHRIST (this doesn't mean
everybody but just those who ARE believers) shall be made alive. The "universal
sounding passages" can not honestly be used to teach the eventual salvation of all men.
It would be abhorrent to the holiness and justice of God. Why in the world
would Christ be sent by the Father to "die for the sins of His people" if He really died not only for His people but for everyone
on the face of the earth? Changed lives influenced by the Gospel message and
Holy Spirit don't matter. Look at Hitler, Stalin and Mao -- no holiness there! Yet they made it to heaven same as us believers.
Wow! Imagine
just how ridiculous something called the Gospel message really is after all -- after we all have been enlightened to reject
all of that outmoded Christianity stuff. Live it up now! Do anything that feels good! And do it now! Why wait? Just gratify the flesh! The name of the
game is indulge...and do it BIG! Why not? When it is all over, we all go to HEAVEN!!
Tim King may call it "comprehensive grace" (because he
wants to suck in people who would be shocked if he used the "u" word) but don't be fooled.
Don't turn away from God's message of hope that He has given to a sinful and needy people! There is surely a heaven
to be yearned for and there is a hell to be shunned. Why? Because God said so!
Well, John, I sincerely believe that both of the ideas
that you mentioned in your email are out of sync with God and the Bible. I urge
you to reject both of these views.
I hope this short article has helped you in some way.
There is so much more to say than just the bare outline above, but this is the gist of it, I think.
May the Lord bless your richly in your studies. Thanks for writing; I remember just a bit of the correspondence that we had some time back. Praise God for His love!
~~Walt Hibbard
