Re: The Bible Teaches Conscious Eternal Torment or Comfort, Not Annihilation

On 06/08/2026 1:17 am, Christ Rose wrote:
>       • Jesus said, “Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot
>         kill the soul” (Matthew 10:28, ESV). This shows the soul
>         continues beyond the death of the body.
> 
>       • Jesus said it will be more tolerable on the day of judgment for
>         Sodom and Gomorrah than for the cities that rejected Him
>         (Matthew 10:15; 11:22-24). Degrees of tolerability require
>         conscious awareness. Nonexistence does not vary by degree.
> 
>       • Jesus also said of Judas, “It would have been better for that
>         man if he had not been born” (Mark 14:21, ESV). That cannot be
>         true if Judas simply ceased to exist. Nonexistence is not worse
>         than existence unless post-death punishment consciously occurs.
> 
>       • Paul said, “We would rather be away from the body and at home
>         with the Lord” (2 Corinthians 5:8, ESV). This means the
>         believer’s soul goes to be with Christ after death.
> 
>       • Jesus told of Lazarus who, after death, was comforted, while
>         the rich man was in torment and fully conscious to speak,
>         remember, reason, and feel regret and pain (Luke 16:22–25).
>         This clearly teaches that after a person dies, they remain
>         conscious in either a place of comfort or torment. Nowhere does
>         the Bible say this account in Luke is a "parable", or that
>         Jesus was speaking to them in "parables" when He taught about
>         it, as is the case when He spoke in parables (e.g. Mark 4).
>         Further, parables and symbols do not mean the exact opposite of
>         what they state. They convey truth that is consistent with the
>         meaning of the words they use. A parable that teaches people's
>         souls exist consciously in comfort or torment after physical
>         death cannot be construed to actually mean that after physical
>         death, the person "ceases to exist" and does "not experience
>         comfort or torment". Satan's Witnesses promote the lie that
>         "anything goes" if something is a parable or symbol, meaning
>         they can claim it means whatever they want it to. This is a LIE
>         and false, dangerous hermeneutic.
> 
>       • John wrote, “The smoke of their torment goes up forever and
>         ever, and they have no rest, day or night” (Revelation 14:11,
>         ESV). This cannot describe unconscious nonexistence.
> 
>       • Jesus said, “It is better for you to enter life crippled than
>         with two hands to go to hell, to the unquenchable fire” (Mark
>         9:43, ESV). The fire is unquenchable, not momentary. An eternal
>         fire serves no purpose unless what it burns endures.
> 
>       • Revelation 20:10 says the devil, the beast, and the false
>         prophet “will be tormented day and night forever and ever.” It
>         does not say they will cease to exist.
> 
>       • Jesus said God is “not God of the dead, but of the living,”
>         referring to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (Matthew 22:32, ESV),
>         affirming their conscious existence after death.
> 
>       • The thief on the cross was told, “Today you will be with me in
>         Paradise” (Luke 23:43, ESV). Jesus did not say “after
>         resurrection,” but “today,” showing conscious life after death.
> 
> These passages all affirm conscious existence and consequences, either of comfort or judgment after physical death. The Bible nowhere teaches annihilation after physical death.
> 

If you land in hell, you're forever screwed.