In Christianity, annihilationism (also known as extinctionism or destructionism) is the belief that after the Last Judgment, all damned humans and fallen angels (demons) including Satan will be totally destroyed and their consciousness extinguished. Annihilationism stands in contrast to both the belief in eternal torment and to the universalist belief that everyone will be saved. Partial annihilationism holds that unsaved humans are obliterated but demonic beings suffer forever.
Annihilationism is directly related to Christian conditionalism, the idea that a human soul is not immortal unless given eternal life. Annihilationism asserts that God will destroy and cremate the wicked, leaving only the righteous to live on in immortality. Thus those who do not repent of their sins are eventually destroyed because of the incompatibility of sin with God's holy character. Jehovah's Witnesses believe that there can be no punishment after death because the dead cease to exist.David A. Reed, Answering Jehovah's Witnesses: Subject by Subject, electronic ed. (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Book House, 1997).
Annihilationism has appeared throughout Christian history and was defended by several Church Fathers,Arnobius of Sicca (d. 330), frequently considered the first to explicitly defend it, along with Justin Martyr, Irenaeus of Lyons, and Ignatius of Antioch. but it has often been in the minority.L. E. Froom, The Condionalist Faith of our Fathers (Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald, 1965–1966). PART IV. It experienced a resurgence in the 1980s when several prominent theologians including John StottEdwards, D. L. & Stott, J. Essentials: A Liberal–Evangelical Dialogue London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1988, pp. 313–320. argued that it could be held as a legitimate interpretation of biblical texts by those who give supreme authority to scripture. Earlier in the 20th century, some theologians at the University of Cambridge including Basil Atkinson supported the belief. Twentieth-century English theologians who favor annihilation include Bishop Charles Gore (1916),Gore, The Religion of the Church Oxford: Mowbray, 1916, pp. 91f. William Temple, 98th Archbishop of Canterbury (1924);Temple, W., Christus Veritas London: Macmillan, 1924, p. 209 Oliver Chase Quick, Chaplain to the Archbishop of Canterbury (1933),Quick, O. C., Doctrines of the Creed London: Nisbet, 1933, pp. 257f. Ulrich Ernst Simon (1964),Simon, Ulrich, The End is Not Yet Welwyn: Nisbet, 1964, pp. 206f. and G. B. Caird (1966).Caird, G. B., The Revelation of St John the Divine London: A. and C. Black., 1966, pp. 186f., 260
Some annihilationist Christian denominations were influenced by the Millerite/Adventist movement of the mid-19th century. These include the Seventh-day Adventists, Bible Students, Christadelphians and various Advent Christian churches. Additionally, some Protestant and Anglican writers have also proposed annihilationist doctrines. The Church of England's Doctrine Commission reported in 1995 that Hell may be a state of "total non-being", not eternal torment.
Annihilationists base their belief on their exegesis of scripture, some early church writings, historical criticism of the doctrine of eternal conscious torment, and eternal conscious torment as being inconsistent with God's character. The main Biblical arguments for annihilationism rest in the mortality of man and the just punishment for sin (1 Timothy 6:15-16; 1 Corinthians 15:53-55; Romans 6:23). They claim that the popular conceptions of Hell stem from Jewish speculation during the intertestamental period,Crockett, Four Views on Hell, pp. 52–53 (he accepts the traditional view) belief in an immortal soul which originated in Greek philosophy and influenced Christian theologians, literal interpretation of symbols in Revelation, and also graphic and imaginative medieval art and poetry.
History
Old Testament Proponents of annihilationism believe that the Bible teaches that the wicked are punished eternally; they believe that punishment is complete destruction for eternity. Appealed to here are references to an "unquenchable fire" and "undying worm" in the Old Testament (Isaiah 66:24; cf. 2 Kings 22:17; Isaiah 17:2–7; 51:8; Jeremiah 4:4; 7:20; 21:12; Ezekiel 20:47–48; Malachi 4:1-3), which refer to the finality of judgement (and not its duration).Gregory A. Boyd and Paul R. Eddy, Across the Spectrum: Understanding Issues in Evangelical Theology, 2nd ed. (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Academic, 2009), pp. 286–287. Similarly, the New Testament teaches that the wicked will be punished with destruction for their sins (cf. Matthew 10:28; Acts 3:23; Philippians 3:19; 1 Thessalonians 5:3; 2 Thessalonians 1:9; 2 Peter 2:6; 2 Peter 3:7; Jude 1:7).
Church Fathers and later
Christian writers from Tertullian to Luther have held to traditional notions of Hell. However, the annihilationist position is not without some historical precedent. Early forms of annihilationism or conditional immortality are claimed to be found in the writings of Ignatius of Antioch Chapter 10: "For were He to reward us according to our works, we should cease to be." (d. 108/140), Justin Martyr Chapter V: "some which have appeared worthy of God never die, but others are punished so long as God wills them to exist and to be punished." Chapter VI: "Now the soul partakes of life since God wills it to live. Thus, then, it will not even partake [of life] when God does not will it to live. For to live is not its attribute, as it is God's; but as a man does not live always, and the soul is not forever conjoined with the body, since, whenever this harmony must be broken up, the soul leaves the body, and the man exists no longer; even so, whenever the soul must cease to exist, the spirit of life is removed from it, and there is no more soul, but it goes back to the place from whence it was taken." (d. 165), and Irenaeus 3. paragraph: "he who shall preserve the life bestowed upon him, and give thanks to Him who imparted it, shall receive also the length of days forever and ever. But he who shall reject it, and prove himself ungrateful to his Maker, inasmuch as he has been created, and has not recognized Him who bestowed [the gift upon him], deprives himself of [the privilege of] continuance forever and ever. And, for this reason, the Lord declared to those who showed themselves ungrateful towards Him: If you have not been faithful in that which is little, who will give you that which is great? indicating that those who, in this brief temporal life, have shown themselves ungrateful to Him who bestowed it, shall justly not receive from Him length of days forever and ever." (d. 202), among others. However, the teachings of Arnobius (d. 330) are often interpreted as the first to defend annihilationism explicitly. One quote, in particular, stands out in Arnobius' second book Against the Heathen:
Dr. Graham Keith of Scotland, in his article "Patristic Views on Hell", notes the following: "Indeed, a century or so after Constantine [i.e. the 4th–5th centuries] we have a surprising amount of evidence indicating widespread denial of eternal punishment within the church."
Eternal torment has been "the semiofficial position of the church since approximately the sixth century", according to Pinnock.Pinnock, "Fire then Nothing", p. 40.
Additionally, at least one of John Wesley's recorded sermons is often reluctantly understood as implying annihilationism. Contrarily, the denominations of Methodism which arose through his influence typically do not agree with annihilationism.This comment was made in regard to Calvinism and their insistence that some were pre-destined to receive Christ, and others to be eternally punished. How much weight this statement of Wesley's should be placed on his idea of eternal condemnation remains debated. Actually, the terminology "being destroyed body and soul in hell" is from the lips of Jesus. Matthew 10:28 "And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell." SERMON 128, Preached at Bristol, in the year 1740 –
An example of a more modern annihilationist is Kirk Cameron.
Roman Catholicism As much as certain Church Fathers and Catholic theologians have advocated qualified forms of universalism, some Catholic theologians have advocated qualified forms of annihilationism as being in line with Catholic teaching.
Anglicanism The doctrine of annihilation of the "wicked" following a judgment day at a literal return of Christ has had a following in the Anglican Communion. In 1945 a report by the Archbishops' Commission on Evangelism, Towards the conversion of England, caused controversy with statements including that "Judgment is the ultimate separation of the evil from the good, with the consequent destruction of all that opposes itself to God's will."Towards the conversion of England Church of England Commission on evangelism – 1946 "... but gives the idea that 'everyone goes to heaven when he dies'. 198 During their earlier years children have to learn how to discriminate between the world of experience and the world of imagination."
Millerite and Adventist movement Recently the doctrine has been most often associated with groups descended from or with influences from the Millerite movement of the mid-19th century. These include the Seventh-day Adventist Church, the Church of God (7th day) – Salem Conference, the Bible Students, Jehovah's Witnesses, the Christadelphians, the followers of Herbert Armstrong, and the various Advent Christian churches. (The Millerite movement consisted of 50,000 to 100,000 people in the United States who eagerly expected the soon return of Jesus, and originated around William Miller.)
George Storrs introduced the belief to the Millerites. He had been a Methodist minister and antislavery advocate. He was introduced to annihilationism when in 1837 he read a pamphlet by Henry Grew. He published tracts in 1841 and 1842 arguing for conditionalism and annihilation. He became a Millerite, and started the Bible Examiner in 1843 to promote these doctrines.It had the motto "No immortality, or endless life except through Jesus Christ alone." Sources: Lest We Forget 1:4 (1991). "George Storrs: 1796–1879: A Biographical Sketch ". HarvestHerald.com. Retrieved June 2010. However most leaders of the movement rejected these beliefs, other than Charles Fitch who accepted conditionalism.Letter from Fitch to Storrs, January 25, 1844 Still, in 1844 the movement officially decided these issues were not essential points of belief.Gary Land, "Conditional Immortality" entry in Historical Dictionary of the Seventh-day Adventists. Scarecrow, 2005, pp. 68–69
The Millerites expected Jesus to return around 1843 or 1844, based on Bible texts including Daniel 8:14, and one Hebrew calendar. When the most expected date of Jesus' return (October 22, 1844) passed uneventfully, the "Great Disappointment" resulted. Followers met in 1845 to discuss the future direction of the movement, and were henceforth known as "Adventists". However, they split on the issues of conditionalism and annihilation. The dominant group, which published the Advent Herald, adopted the traditional position of the immortal soul, and became the American Evangelical Adventist Conference. On the other hand, groups behind the Bible Advocate and Second Advent Watchman adopted conditionalism. Later, the main advocate of conditionalism became the World's Crisis publication, which started in the early 1850s, and played a key part in the origin of the Advent Christian Church. Storrs came to believe the wicked would never be resurrected. He and like-minded others formed the Life and Advent Union in 1863.
Seventh-day Adventist Church