Seeing Conditional Immortality in Scripture
Before diving into the Apostolic Fathers and their words on final judgment, it would be good to give a little context to the doctrine of Conditional Immortality. This blog will look over a few examples in Scripture that discuss final judgment and eternal punishment, and see how Conditional Immortality interprets such passages.
Please keep in mind, this is NOT an exhaustive case for Conditional Immortality. Scholars far more qualified than me have written books and articles on this subject in great length. This blog is meant to just give an idea to those unfamiliar with the doctrine how certain passages are understood. My hope is not to persuade you to embrace Conditional Immortality, but rather understand this doctrine isn’t throwing away the Bible or ignoring warnings Jesus gives to those who don’t follow Him.
1. The Biblical Narrative of Life and Death
A good starting point in understanding CI is examining the narrative of life and death seen throughout the whole Bible. The consequence of the Fall in Genesis 3 is death and exclusion from eternal life. (Genesis 2:16-17; 3:17-19; 3:22) The promise of faithfully abiding in God’s covenant is a long, flourishing life. (Exodus 20:12; Deuteronomy 5:33; 6:1-3; 30:15-20; 1 Samuel 2:6; 1 Kings 3:14; Psalm 21:1-7; 22:20; 23:6; 27:4; 30:5; 56:12-13; 61:5-7; 91:16; 94:20-22; 138:7-8; Proverbs 3:1-3, 16; 4:10, 21-23; 8:34-36; 9:11; 10:27-28; 11:19; Isaiah 39:8; Jeremiah 21:8-9; Ezekiel 18:4, 26-28; Malachi 2:5)
While the Old Testament isn’t totally explicit, it also gives hints in different passages that the righteous will live with God after death. This is obviously given direct confirmation in the New Testament through the Gospel of Jesus.
On the flip side, the majority of passages in Scripture that condemn the wicked and godless warn of death and annihilation. There are some passages (which we’ll get to) that warn of judgment after death and eternal consequences, but the majority speak of life ceasing. (Genesis 6:7, 17; 19:29; 38:7, 10; Leviticus 26:38; Deuteronomy 28:61; 30:15; 32:39; Joshua 1:18; 11:20; Judges 5:31; 1 Samuel 2:9; 5:11; Psalm 2:12; 6:5; 9:5-6, 13; 13:3; 30:9; 34:21; 37:9, 20-22, 28; 49:14, 17-19; 68:2; 71:13; 92:6-8; Proverbs 2:18; 5:4-6, 10-12; 8:35-36; 10:27-28; 11:19; 16:25; Isaiah 1:28; 26:14-15; 28:18; 31:3; 38:18-19; 41:11; Jeremiah 10:15; 15:1-3; 21:8-9; Ezekiel 18:26-28, 32; 28:7-9; Obadiah 1:9-10; Micah 5:9)
I’d also encourage readers to check out my blog on the Two Ways theology, which is in the Bible, ancient Jewish tradition, and early Christianity.
With all of this set up in the Old Testament, it brings incredible conviction when Jesus and the Apostles promise eternal life to those who receive salvation. There is hope, healing, justice, and peace after death. This is truly good news!
John 3:16- For God loved the world in this way: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.
John 10:28- I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No will snatch them out of my hand.
Romans 6:23- For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
1st Corinthians 15:22- For just as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive.
2nd Peter 3:9- The Lord does not delay his promise, as some understand delay, but is patient with you, not wanting any to perish but all to come to repentance.
On a side note, this is not to say the wicked will not be resurrected when Christ returns. They will be along with the righteous. (Acts 24:15) But in this resurrection, those who are not saved by Christ will then receive a proper judgment and sentencing to death by Christ. (Constable, 1875, Pg. 99-100)
2. Eternal Fire
With the promise of life and death set, how does Conditional Immortality understand warnings of eternal fire? Let’s look at a popular example.
Isaiah 66:24- As they leave, they will see the dead bodies of those who have rebelled against me; for their worm will never die, their fire will never go out, and they will be a horror to all humanity.
One of the most well known defenders of Conditional Immortality is the late Edward Fudge. Regarding this famous prophecy from Isaiah, he states:
“This text is one of the most quoted biblical passages related to the topic of final punishment. It is also one of the most neglected. Verse 24 is particularly interesting because it does not describe the actual execution of divine judgment. Instead it provides a visual postscript, a victorious afterword that underscores God’s universal triumph and reaffirms the safety of his people.
(Fudge then breaks down chapter 66, showing what leads to verse 24)… The language is typical prophetic symbolism. God executes judgment against his enemies with fire and with sword; their casualties are “many” (v. 15-17). No wicked people remain alive. Only the righteous have survived, and they will endure forever (v. 22).
…The figure of “unquenchable” fire appears frequently throughout Scripture and signifies a fire that cannot be resisted or put out until it has done what fire is intended to do. Because this fire is “not quenched” or extinguished, it completely consumes what is put into it.”
What Fudge dissects here in regards to unquenchable fire is crucial to understand the Biblical case for Conditional Immortality. When eternal and unquenchable fire is mentioned as punishment for the wicked, it is the fire itself that is described as never ending, not the wicked experiencing endless torture.
It is true that Revelation 20:10 prophecies that the Devil, the Beast, and the False Prophet will be tormented forever in the lake of fire, but it doesn’t give the exact same description of judgment to humans who are not saved. Verses 13-15 state that those whose names are not in the Book of Life will be thrown into the fire along with Hades and Death. This is called the Second Death. So from the interpretation of Conditional Immortality, Satan and his partners may suffer eternally, but humans who don’t follow Jesus will suffer a gruesome death, with no hope to be brought back.
“The biblical image of judgment by fire and sulfur is a picture of decisive destruction and obliteration—not a picture of enduring torment.”
3. Eternal Punishment
In my opinion, this phrase is one of the stronger cases against the doctrine of Conditional Immortality. In Matthew 25, Jesus warns of a day of judgment where He will separate true Christians from the wicked. “And they (the wicked) will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.” (Matthew 25:45-46)
It seems pretty straightforward in promising eternal torment for the lost, especially when Jesus says this back-to-back with eternal life for those saved. So how does Conditional Immortality answer to this?
“Many have relied on this phrase to support the idea of everlasting conscious suffering of the wicked, reading it as if it said, “everlasting punishment”. This is not the meaning of the word. When the adjective aionios meaning “everlasting” is used in Greek with nouns of action it has reference to the result of the action, not the process. Thus the phrase “everlasting punishment” is comparable to “everlasting redemption” and “everlasting salvation”, both Scriptural phrases. No one supposes we are being redeemed or saved forever. We were redeemed once and for all by Christ with eternal results. In the same way the lost will not be passing through a process of punishment forever but will be punished once and for all with eternal results. On the other hand, the noun “life” is not a noun of action, but a noun expressing a state. Thus the life itself is eternal.”
With this in mind, it is commonly argued by Conditionalists that the description of eternal punishment Jesus gives is one of quality.
“Of the seventy occurrences of the adjective “eternal” in the NT, six times the word qualifies nouns signifying acts or processes rather than persons or things. The six “eternal” acts or events are salvation (Heb. 5:9), judgment (6:2), redemption (9:12), sin (Mark 3:29), punishment (Matt. 25:46), and destruction (2 Thess 1:9).
In four of the six, “eternal” refers to the results of the outcome of the action and not the action itself. “Eternal judgment” does not mean that the judging will last forever, but that its outcome will. “Eternal redemption” does not mean that the process goes on without end—for the redemptive work was done once and for all—but that its issue will have no end forever. ”
Conclusion
There are other passages like Revelation 14:11 that deserve special attention, but again, this blog is not meant to explain every passage. I hope this just gives some context to the doctrine of Conditional Immortality, and as we move into Apostolic Fathers, recognize both CI and ECT are on the table. If you would like to understand other passages in the Bible such as Revelation 14 from a Conditionalist perspective, I’d recommend checking out Rethinking Hell or going on their website as a starting point.
Bibliography
Constable, H. (1875). The Duration and Nature of Future Punishment. London. Kellaway & Company.
Fudge, E. (2011). The Fire that Consumes: A Biblical and Historical Study of the Doctrine of Final Punishment (3rd ed.). Eugene, OR. Wipf and Stock Publishers.
Bowles, R.G. (2014). Does Revelation 14:11 Teach Eternal Torment? In C.M. Date, Rethinking Hell: Readings in Evangelical Conditionalism. Eugene, OR. Wipf and Stock Publishers.
Atkingson, B.F.C. (2014) The Doom of the Lost. In C.M. Date, Rethinking Hell: Readings in Evangelical Conditionalism. Eugene, OR. Wipf and Stock Publishers.
Fudge, E. (2014). The Final End of the Wicked. In C.M. Date, Rethinking Hell: Readings in Evangelical Conditionalism. Eugene, OR. Wipf and Stock Publishers.
Scripture quotations marked CSB have been taken from the Christian Standard Bible®, Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard Bible® and CSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers.