Christ is All!: Annihilationism Is False Teaching (Josh Barzon)

Josh Barzon makes these excellent points against annihilationism:

Everyone online is suddenly talking about annihilationism. But does Scripture teach that the wicked simply cease to exist? Scripture says no, and for 2,000 years the church has said no.

Here’s a thread unpacking the key reasons why:

What is Annihilationism?

Annihilationism teaches that the wicked will not experience eternal conscious punishment but will ultimately be destroyed or cease to exist. Some place this at death, others after temporary judgment, but the claim is the same: the unsaved do not continue forever.

It is held by groups like Seventh-day Adventists, Christadelphians, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and some mainline Protestants. A few evangelicals, such as John Stott (later in life) and Edward Fudge, have shown sympathy for it.

This view contrasts with the historic Christian consensus, which has consistently affirmed eternal conscious punishment across all major branches of the church.

Below are the key issues with Annihilationism from biblical, hermeneutical, and contextual angles:

Problem #1 – The Bible Speaks Clearly of Eternal Punishment, Not Extinction

Scripture uses explicit language that directly contradicts Annihilationism:

✴️ Matthew 25:46 – “These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
👉🏼 You can’t have eternal life vs. temporary punishment. The contrast collapses if the wicked cease to exist.

✴️ Revelation 14:11 – “The smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever, and they have no rest, day or night.”
👉🏼 This describes ongoing experience, not extinction.

✴️ Revelation 20:10 – The devil, beast, and false prophet are tormented forever and ever.
👉🏼 Their conscious, continual torment is explicitly affirmed.

✴️ Daniel 12:2 – “Some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.”
👉🏼 Both groups have ongoing, everlasting destinies.

✴️ Mark 9:48 – “Where their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched.”
👉🏼 Unending imagery that assumes continued existence.

✴️ Jude 7 – Sodom and Gomorrah serve as an example of “eternal fire.”
👉🏼 The judgment’s effect is eternal, pointing to ongoing consequences, not disappearance.

Together these passages present a consistent biblical pattern: eternal, conscious punishment. Not annihilation.

Problem #2 – The Hermeneutical Problem with Annihilationism

Annihilationists often:

✴️ emphasize “destroy,” “perish,” “consume”
✴️ downplay clear texts about “torment,” “no rest,” “forever”

They frequently appeal to 2 Thessalonians 1:9 (“eternal destruction”) as if it means the wicked cease to exist. But the Greek word olethros refers to ruin, not nonexistence.

Scripture also uses “destruction” metaphorically for:

✴️ the lost sheep of Israel (not annihilated)
✴️ ruined wineskins (still present)
✴️ lost money (still exists)
✴️ destroyed cities (still standing in ruins)

A ruined thing still exists; its condition is what is destroyed. The “destruction” is eternal in its outcome, not in the moment of its act. Reading “destroy” as “cease to exist” breaks the Bible’s own usage and creates a hermeneutical inconsistency.

Problem #3 – The Case Study of the Rich Man and Lazarus

Jesus’ account of the rich man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19–31) is one of the clearest narrative arguments against annihilationism. The rich man is fully conscious after death, aware of his surroundings, able to feel torment, remember his life, reason, and speak. Nothing in the passage suggests fading away, soul-sleep, or eventual extinction.

✴️ He “lifted up his eyes” in torment
✴️ He begged for relief
✴️ He remembered his brothers
✴️ He carried ongoing guilt and fear

Every detail assumes continued personal existence.

Even if viewed as a parable, Jesus never builds parables on false theological realities. The story’s force depends on the reality it depicts: conscious, self-aware existence under judgment. As a case study, it stands as a direct contradiction to the idea that the wicked will one day cease to exist.

Problem #4 - The Philosophical and Ontological Problems with Annihilationism

Annihilationists often assumes that immortality is conditional and that humans are not naturally immortal, so God must sustain the wicked eternally if they are to continue existing.

But this contradicts core biblical anthropology:

✴️ Humans are made in God’s image and created for ongoing existence (Ecclesiastes 3:11).

✴️ Souls exist after death in conscious awareness (Luke 16:19–31; Matt. 10:28; Rev. 6:9–10).

For annihilationism, hell requires a change in the nature of humans: the imago Dei is ultimately erased. That raises MASSIVE theological problems.

Problem #5 - The Gravity of Sin and God’s Holiness

Annihilationism often assumes punishment must be proportionate in a way that finite beings cannot incur infinite punishment.

But biblically:

✴️The severity of the crime is measured by the dignity of the One offended. That’s why any sin is infinite in seriousness. It is against an infinitely holy God.

✴️ Eternal punishment reflects the ongoing rebellion of the wicked, not a one-time sin. Jonathan Edwards, CS Lewis and many other theologians argue that the damned continue in hatred of God forever.

A finite creature can commit an offense of infinite weight if the offended party is infinite.

Problem #6 - The Resurrection Problem

Scripture teaches that both believers and unbelievers are raised bodily:

✴️ John 5:28–29 – resurrection of life and resurrection of judgment

✴️ Acts 24:15 – resurrection of both the just and unjust

What is the point of a bodily resurrection for the wicked if they are immediately snuffed out?

The entire point of resurrection is embodied existence. A physical resurrection followed by instantaneous extinction does not align with biblical resurrection theology.

Problem #7 - The Cross Itself Testifies Against Annihilationism

If the punishment for sin is annihilation, then:

✴️ Jesus should have been annihilated.
✴️ The cross becomes a non-parallel substitution.
✴️ The atonement collapses.

But Christ suffered the wrath of God…. not annihilation.

Substitutionary atonement assumes the punishment due to sinners is conscious suffering, not nonexistence.

Annihilationism breaks penal substitution.

Problem #8 - Church History… A Consensus Against Annihilationism

From the early church onward, the doctrine of eternal conscious punishment is nearly unanimous:

✴️ Justin Martyr
✴️ Irenaeus
✴️ Tertullian
✴️ Augustine
✴️ Aquinas
✴️ Reformers (Luther, Calvin)
✴️ Puritans
✴️Confessions (Apostles’, Nicene, Westminster, 1689 LBC)

The only outliers were unorthodox fringe sects, and even groups like the Seventh-day Adventists only adopted annihilationism in modern times.

The burden of proof rests overwhelmingly on the innovators of Annihilationism …. not the continuous witness of the church.

Problem #9 - The Slippery Slope Into Wider Doctrinal Error

Annihilationism rarely stays isolated. Once eternal judgment is softened, other doctrines begin to shift. Below are the 5 main dangerous doctrinal drifts that Annihilationism leads to…

✴️ It reshapes God’s character.
If endless punishment feels “too severe,” God’s holiness and justice are adjusted to match human intuition, which weakens the seriousness of sin and divine wrath.

✴️ It alters the doctrine of man.
To defend annihilationism, many deny the soul’s ongoing consciousness, opening the door to soul sleep or conditional immortality. Positions that are outside historic orthodoxy.

✴️ It strains the atonement.
If the penalty for sin is nonexistence, Christ did not bear the same judgment, pushing people toward alternative (and weaker) views of the cross.

✴️ It creates a selective hermeneutic. Clear “forever and ever” texts must be minimized, which often spreads into other areas and erodes confidence in Scripture’s plain reading.

✴️ And it commonly leads toward universalism. Denying eternal punishment is frequently the first step toward denying punishment altogether.

The danger is not only the doctrine itself, but the theological direction it inevitably sets.

Conclusion