Friday, December 18, 2020

Hell - Refuting The Watchtower Teaching Of Annihilationism

 

(Watchtower Tract)




The Jehovah's Witnesses deny the teaching of eternal punishment in Hellfire for the unsaved dead, and teach that death is a termination of existence and Hell is the common grave of mankind and a state of unconsciousness. What does the Bible teach?

In the Bible the word soul is used to denote mere animal or physical life, as Watchtower literature points out, but it usually means the internal, immaterial aspect or ego of man, and the Bible makes a distinction between the body and the soul. Also, while the Bible does say that animals have souls, it does not say or indicate that they are immortal. Need proof? Simply look up occurrences of the word soul in the NWT and pay attention to wording, grammar, and context.

"Look! All the souls—to me they belong. As the soul of the father so also the soul of the son—to me they belong. The soul who sins is the one who will die." (Ezekiel 18:4 NWT) Ezekiel 18:4 is a favorite JW proof text. The soul does die in the same sense that Adam and Eve died the very day they ate the forbidden fruit. (Genesis 2:17; 5:3-5) Death means separation: Physical death is the separation of the soul and body. (Genesis 35:18) Spiritual death is separation from God. (Romans 5:12, 17; Ephesians 2:1; Colossians 2:13; I Peter 4:6)

Watchtower literature also says that the spirit is merely one's breath. In Acts 7:59 was Stephen asking Jesus to take away his bad breath?

"For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing at all, nor do they have any more reward, because all memory of them is forgotten." (Ecclesiastes 9:5 NWT) "Whatever your hand finds to do, do with all your might, for there is no work nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom in the Grave, where you are going." (Ecclesiastes 9:10 NWT) Ecclesiastes 9:5 & 10 are two more favorite JW proof texts. Hell is a place of unconsciousness and inactivity when it comes to bodily senses and the affairs of this world. (Isaiah 63:16; John 9:4; Revelation 14:13) While Ecclesiastes 9:5 & 10 may not prove there is conscious existence after death, do these passages prove that there is no conscious existence after death? Will all receive the same fate or destiny, whether they are faithful or wicked? "All have the very same outcome, the righteous and the wicked, the good and the clean and the unclean, those sacrificing and those not sacrificing. The good one is the same as the sinner; the one who swears an oath is the same as the one who is cautious about swearing an oath." (Ecclesiastes 9:2 NWT) Does the phrase “the remembrance of them has been forgotten” in Ecclesiastes 9:5 mean there will be no resurrection after this life for anyone? Ecclesiastes 9:5 & 10 and their context deal with the inevitability of physical death.

The word rendered destruction in II Thessalonians 1:9 is the Greek word olethros. Olethros means a ruin of one's state of being, and is used in I Timothy 6:9. Olethros does not mean a termination of existence.

The word rendered destruction in Matthew 10:28 is the Greek word apollumi, which means ruin or loss of well-being. This word is used in Luke 5:37 regarding the destruction of wineskins, and does not mean a termination of existence.

The word rendered everlasting in II Thessalonians 1:9 and Matthew 25:41 & 46 is the Greek word aioonios, which means never ceasing.

Watchtower publications say Hell is the common grave of mankind, and this was true in the Old Testament. The word Hell is the rendering of the Hebrew word Sheol, and the Greek words Hades, Gehenna, and Tartaroo. The verb Tartaroo means cast down to Tartarus; Tartarus means the deepest or lowest places. (II Peter 2:4 NWT) Sheol is the unseen state or world of the dead, whether lost or saved. (Genesis 37:35; Psalm 31:17; Isaiah 38:10) Hades is the unseen world of the dead, usually of the lost, and corresponds to Sheol. (Luke 16:23; Revelation 20:13-14) Hades is a place of disembodied souls of the dead. (Acts 2:31; Psalm 16:10) Paradise refers to a division of Hades (Sheol) reserved for the saved dead. (Job 3:13-19; Luke 23:43) At the time of the resurrection of Christ, Paradise was changed from beneath into heaven. (Isaiah 42:6-7; II Corinthians 12:2-4; Ephesians 4:8-9)

Watchtower publications claim that the account of the Rich Man and Lazarus is a parable and does not relate an actual occurrence. (Luke 16:19-31) If this account is a parable (even though the context gives no indication of this), keep in mind that a parable is an example or picture which verifies something, and a symbol is a small representation of a greater reality. Watchtower literature says the Rich Man represents false religious leaders and Lazarus represents true Christians. If this is the case, then who are the Rich Man's five brothers and why did he want Lazarus to witness to them? (Luke 16:27-31)

Gehenna (Valley of Hinnom) is a valley near Jerusalem where Solomon and others built high places and sacrificed children to Moloch and Chemosh by burning them alive. (I Kings 11:7; II Chronicles 28:3; 33:6; Jeremiah 32:35) Gehenna eventually became a city dump and incinerator. (II Kings 23:10) Gehenna was considered an abomination and came to signify Hell in the modern sense of the word, and is used in the Bible to mean Hell. Were the Scribes and Pharisees thrown into the literal Valley of Hinnom? (Matthew 23:15, 33) Who is referred to in Luke 12:4-5, and why should anyone fear someone who can do more to him after the body is killed if death is a termination of existence? Is there still fire burning in the literal Valley of Hinnom? (Mark 9:47-48) Are there worms that never die in the literal Valley of Hinnom? (Mark 9:44, 46, 48) The Old Testament refers to the lost in Hell as worms or maggots, so we can assume that this is what Christ was meant. It is obvious that Gehenna is the Lake of fire and brimstone. (Mark 9:43-48; Revelation 21:8) The Lake of fire is called the second death because it is the final judgment of the unsaved dead after they have been physically resurrected. It is the conclusive and permanent separation from God. (Matthew 7:23; Hebrews 6:2; II Peter 2:4-9; Revelation 20:11-15)

Why fire? Fire is purifying. (Numbers 31:23; I Peter 1:7; Revelation 3:18) Everything contaminated by sin must be purified, and those not washed in the blood of the Lamb must be purified by fire. But fire will not atone for sin or remove the sins of the lost, which is why the fire is eternal. (Matthew 3:12; 25:41, 46; II Thessalonians 1:7-9)

 


Further reading:

WITNESSING TO JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES

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