I have a good bit of Seventh Day Adventist in my family background so I have a familiarity with the Doctrines of their Church. One thing among many that set them apart from many Christians was that the souls that did not get to heaven would be destroyed.
I have never head that many other Christian communities in the Protestant world held this view. That might be changing. See from Rachel Evans Ask a conditionalist (annihilationist)….
This is of course not a doctrine that the Catholic Church teaches. I often think though a good many people in the pews perhaps hope this happens or perhaps are hoping God has that option I suppose .
Thursday, June 27, 2013
Is Soul Death ( Extinction ) Gaining Ground In Protestant and Evangelical Circles
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3 comments:
Its perfectly in line with Psalm 37:20 "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." Which in turn is compatible with "fear Him who can Destroy both body and soul in hell" and with the fact that Paul never mentions hell but only constantly "death."
On biblical grounds alone I might lean toward "annihilationism". C S Lewis hints at it in the final judgment scene in The Last Battle but side-by-side with the understanding of "hell" I find most persuasive.
But Orthodox Christian theology - with its emphasis on the person as unique, infinite, and indivisible/indestructible(?) - seems to reject "soul death". One could argue that damnation as "soul death" means God actually gives Satan/death ultimate victory.
The idea that Satan is in control of death is foreign to the OT. Not only that, but I would argue that if God keeps evil around in the basement to torment it forever, then his victory over evil is never complete because evil is still hanging around in His universe. Annihilating it brings about complete victory.
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