Annihilationism is the unbiblical belief that non-Christians will be extinguished or exterminated upon entering the Lake of Fire after judgment rather than eternally suffering in it. It asserts that Bible passages describing eternal punishment for the wicked represent complete and literal destruction rather than conscious, endless torment. In other words, unbelievers will cease to exist forever instead of suffering forever. However, the Bible does not teach that unbelievers are annihilated in the Lake of Fire.
Scripture consistently describes eternal and conscious suffering, torment, and anguish in outer darkness and unquenchable fire for unbelievers after judgment. This devastating reality results from them rejecting the only means available for their salvation—Jesus Christ and His shed blood.
There are many Bible passages that contradict the notion that unbelievers are annihilated. For example, Revelation 19:20 identifies two unbelievers who are cast alive into the Lake of Fire before the 1,000-year reign of Christ. These men are the false prophet and the beast—the Antichrist. These two men are still alive at the end of the 1,000-year reign of Christ when Satan is "thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are also" (Revelation 20:10).
Notice that John did not say Satan was cast into the Lake of Fire where the beast and false prophet "once were" or "used to be," but describes them as present and accounted for when Satan joins their demise. Revelation 20:10 concludes by announcing, "They will be tormented day and night forever and ever," as in all three of them. Therefore, these passages do not support annihilation but eternal condemnation and suffering in the Lake of Fire. Another portion of Scripture that contradicts annihilation is Revelation 14:9-11. These verses describe the eternal torment awaiting unbelievers who take the mark of the beast during the Tribulation. Verse ten declares that they will "drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is mixed in full strength in the cup of His anger; and he will be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb." Verse 11 details this punishment as eternal, stating, "The smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever; they have no rest day and night, those who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name." These chilling statements do not describe extermination or extinction but conscious and everlasting suffering in the Lake of Fire.
A third Bible passage that contradicts annihilation is Matthew 25:46. This verse describes the punishment for unbelievers as eternal, not temporary or ceasing due to extermination. Jesus said, "These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life." The same Greek word (aionios) was used to describe the everlasting duration of both groups' destinies—eternal punishment and eternal life—and it means "without end, never to cease, and everlasting."
It is problematic to claim the eternal duration of unbelievers' punishment is temporary and ends with annihilation, but the eternal duration of life for believers is everlasting in this context. If eternal life in Heaven is unending for believers, as this and other passages confirm, then eternal punishment in the Lake of Fire for unbelievers is equally endless, as the text states. Furthermore, everlasting punishment cannot be suffered by those who no longer exist, and "no longer existing" fails to qualify as the eternal punishment depicted in this and other verses.
A fourth section of Scripture that contradicts annihilation is Matthew 13:40(b)-42. In these passages, Jesus revealed that unbelievers would suffer agonizing torment in the Lake of Fire after judgment. He said, "At the end of the age, the Son of Man will send forth His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all stumbling blocks, and those who commit lawlessness, and will throw them into the furnace of fire; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth."
It is an impossibility for unbelievers to weep and gnash their teeth in agony if the fiery furnace (Lake of Fire) annihilated them and they no longer existed. Furthermore, Jesus' description does not convey a momentary, short-lived weeping and gnashing of teeth but an ongoing response to the perpetual agony and torment they suffer.
A fifth passage that contradicts annihilation is Jude 1:7. This text reveals that the unbelievers who sinned in Sodom and Gomorrah (and were physically destroyed by fire on Earth) are currently and consciously suffering the vengeance of eternal fire in Hell, along with certain demons. Jude also says that their present condition of torment is given as an example of what "undergoing the punishment of eternal fire" will be like in the Lake of Fire. Therefore, this verse illustrates how God can destroy unbelievers yet preserve their souls for punishment, unlike annihilationism’s claim that "destruction" or "destroyed" means they cease to exist.
In closing, there is one additional element worth mentioning on this topic, which is the Lake of Fire itself. This fiery furnace is consistently described in Scripture as a place of unquenchable and everlasting fire (Matthew 3:12, 25:41) where disgrace and everlasting contempt are experienced (Daniel 12:2). As such, the souls of unbelievers cannot undergo eternal disgrace, shame, and contempt if they no longer exist. Furthermore, there is no purpose for the Lake of Fire's eternality, unquenchable flames, and everlasting smoke if everyone cast into it is immediately exterminated.
(See the Scripture References link at the top of the page.)
