REASON #14
When we add up all Biblical texts about Hell, fire or judgment, annihilation, rather than conscious eternal torment in Hell fits the scriptures.
The Old Testament saints and prophets never mentioned Hell or knew anything about Hell as a fiery place of conscious eternal torment. Why? It is because men made it up.
It is sheer make believe. Follow the money and you may find out why they did so. Fear makes people do dumb things like listen to lies and pay people to tell them.
That is stupid and we should get over this as we mature and learn to trust only God and his word.
Paul wrote 12 of the New Testament books without a single mention of Hell. Why?
If it was real and we would assume Paul knew about it, why in the world wouldn’t he have mentioned it? Would he not have wanted to teach his listeners about this?
Of course he would, had it been real.
Jesus never said the punishment for unrepentant sinners was conscious eternal torment or torture at all. Instead, he taught annihilation… that he was the Rock that would 'grind him (the wicked) to powder'.
Notice what he says in Matthew 21:44 and then Luke 20:18:
Matthew 21:41 They say unto him, He will miserably destroy those wicked men, and will let out his vineyard unto other husbandmen, which shall render him the fruits in their seasons.
42 Jesus said unto them, ‘Did you never read in the scriptures, ‘The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner: this is the Lord's doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes’?
43 Therefore say I unto you: The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof.
44 And whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken: but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder.’
45 And when the chief priests and Pharisees had heard his parables, they perceived that he spoke of them.
Luke 20:17-18 17 And he beheld them, and said, What is this then that is written, ‘The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner’?
18 Whosoever shall fall upon that stone shall be broken; but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder.’
The ‘stone’ referred to here is none other than Jesus himself.
Note: 1 Corinthians 10:1-4: ‘Moreover, brethren, I would not that you should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea;
2 And were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea;
3 And did all eat the same spiritual meat;
4 And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ.
God has committed all judgment to the Son. He will be the One to ‘grind him to powder’. Powder is like ashes; ashes under the soles of the righteous (Malachi 4:3). That sounds a lot more like annihilation than eternal conscious torment.