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THE DOCTRINE OF ANNIHILATION (3)

Victor M. Eskew

 

            When studying any religious doctrine, it is essential to know why individuals believe the things they do.  Denominations claim to believe the Bible.  Therefore, they will go into the Word of God in order to “establish” their beliefs.  To answer false doctrine, we must understand their position and also know why their position falls short of the true teaching of God’s Word.  The Jehovah’s Witnesses are well-versed in the doctrine of Annihilation.  In this final article on the Jehovah’s Witnesses, we will examine some of the things they affirm.

            Before looking into the Scriptures, let’s consider an argument that comes from human reasoning.  The Jehovah’s Witnesses will tell us that God is a loving and just God.  This is plainly taught in God’s Word.  “God is love“ (I John 4:16).  “…just and right is he” (Deut. 32:4).  They will say that man only lives to be 70 to 80 years old.  This, too, is affirmed by the pen of Moses (Ps. 90:10).  Now, their human reasoning comes into play.  If man only lives a few years, they assert, God would not be loving and just to condemn an individual to eternal suffering throughout eternity.  They believe the punishment does not fit the crime.  In essence, they reduce God to the level of a man.  God, however, does not think like men do (Isa. 55:8-9).  In addition to being loving and just, God is absolutely holy (Rev. 4:8; 15:4).  God’s law is also holy (Ps. 119:140; Rom. 7:12).  When man sins, he breaks God’s holy law and sins against a holy God.  Is that a severe crime?  Absolutely!  It is so severe that man cannot comprehend it.  The best way to even attempt to comprehend it is to realize that the only way man could be cleansed from sin was for Jesus to shed His blood on Calvary.  God knows exactly how evil sin is.  With that knowledge, He has sentenced those who sin to eternal condemnation (Matt. 25:46).  Man is on extremely sandy soil when he tries to tell God what He should and should not do.  It is interesting that the Jehovah’s Witnesses do not make this same assertion when it comes to man’s eternal reward.  Brother Wayne Jackson addresses this issue with the following comment:  “Of course no one complains that eternal happiness is unjust in the case of those who have served God only briefly within earth” (www.chrisitancourier.com, “The Doctrine of Eternal Punishment”).

            Another argument made by the Jehovah’s Witnesses involves the various punishments God meted out on those who have violated His will in the past.  In every instance, they say, the disobedient merely passed out of existence.  Adam sinned against God.  Part of his punishment is described in Genesis 3:19.  “…for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.”  When man sinned in the days of Noah, God simply caused the disobedient to pass out of existence.  “And all flesh died that moved upon the earth, both of fowl, and of cattle, and of beast, and of every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth, and every man” (Gen. 7:21).  A long list of similar examples could be given.  Death, passing out of existence, is the ultimate punishment they affirm.  It is true that God often punished man with death.  However, these same individuals will still stand in judgment to give an account of their works (Rev. 20:11-15).  At that time, God will sentence them for eternity.  In addition, it should be noted that even judgments that are typical of eternal condemnation should not be pushed beyond the limits intended.  A type can never hold up to the ante-type in every respect.

            A third argument the Jehovah’s Witnesses use to establish the doctrine of annihilation revolves around eternal life.  They do not believe that man is given a soul that will live eternally at conception.  They believe that eternal life is only received by obeying the gospel.  They will use passages such as John 3:16 and John 5:24 to prove their position.  In John 5:24, Jesus says:  “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death to life.”  Since those outside of Christ do not have eternal life, they simply pass out of existence according to Jehovah’s Witnesses belief.  Here is an interesting thought.  The Bible tells us that all of the dead will come forth from the grave.  This includes the wicked dead.  “Marvel not at this:  for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, and shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation” (John 5:28-29).  How do the wicked dead live again, if they do not have some kind of life given to them?  What kind of life is this?  Temporary life?  Do they have to die twice?  What evils did they commit to cause them to die the second time?  The truth is that when the dead are raised, they are all given eternal life.  Where the dead will live, however, has to do with their relationship to God.  They that have done evil rise to the resurrection of damnation.  Another interesting study that could be done here involves the Jehovah’s Witnesses view that some will not be raised from the dead.  They believe that some are “so evil” that they pass directly to Gehenna, that is, they are annihilated immediately upon death.  In other words, they pass out of existence and are not raised on the Last Day to stand in Final Judgment.  In an article at www.jw.org, they write:  “Not everyone who dies goes to hell, though.  The Bible shows that some people become so steeped in wickedness that they are beyond repentance (Hebrews 10:26, 27).  When such one dies, they do not go to hell, but to Gehenna, which is the symbol of everlasting destruction (Matthew 5:29-30).  For example, Jesus indicated that some of the hypocritical religious leaders in his day would go to Gehenna – Matthew 23:27-33.”  How does this square with Jesus’ words, when He says:  “All that are in the grave shall hear his voice, and shall come forth”?

            Another interesting thing the Jehovah’s Witnesses do is to define all of the words that refer to eternal condemnation as annihilation.  The only sense in which it is eternal is that once annihilated the individual will never be brought back to life.  Perish (Ps. 1:6), destroy forever (Ps. 92:7), destroy body and soul (Matt. 10:28b), destruction (Phil. 3:19), everlasting destruction (II Thess. 1:9), perdition (Heb. 10:39), and second death (Rev. 20:14), only indicate annihilation to the Jehovah’s Witnesses.  If this is the case, what terror is there to motivate men to come out of sin?  Paul wrote:  “Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men…” (II Cor. 5:11).  Can you imagine a preacher trying to convince a person to come out of sin by saying:  “If you do not change your evil ways, you are going to pass out of existence”?  If that is the worst thing that will happen, why give up the pleasures of sin to live a disciplined Christian life?  The Bible also teaches that it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God (Heb. 10:31).  Why would any man fear God if the worst thing that will happen to him is annihilation? 

            The doctrine of annihilation did not originate in the mind of God.  It originated in the mind of finite man who cannot understand how a loving God could punish men eternally in a lake of fire and brimstone.  Rather than accepting the teaching by faith, they reasoned it away through the doctrine of annihilation.  They need to give heed to the words of the prophet in Isaiah 55:8-9.   “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord.  For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.”