Seventh-Day Adventism cultists believe that there is no such thing as an eternal hell. They claim that you simply perish and cease to exist. They argue that an eternal hell is unreasonable and claim that "the punishment must fit the crime committed." So let us examine their argument and see if it holds any water. Here are two examples:
Further, they commit the error of assuming that the story of the rich man and Lazarus in Luke 16 is a parable. It is not a parable! A parable is a figure of speech using "like," "as," or "than" for comparison. This story uses an actual person's name, which Jesus' parables also never did. The story clearly says, "And in Hades he lifted up his eyes, being in torment" (v.23). The SDA have a serious expositional problem on their hands. If the Greek word "hades" (αδου) merely refers to the grave, how can an individual have consciousness, as is clearly demonstrated here, and also be "in torment"? If it is merely a grave, how does torment tie in with it?
For argument's sake, let us assume that this is a parable. A parable uses an illustration in order to convey a truth of reality. Examine Matthew 13. See how Jesus interprets His own parable regarding the wheat and the tares? If this is a parable, what truth of reality is it conveying for us? The SDA will stumble and trip all over this trying to explain it away because they have no answer.
Furthermore, the following passages are pretty self-explanatory in regard to hell. Remember, Jesus spoke twice as much about hell than He did about heaven.
"Hades never denotes the physical grave nor is it the permanent region of the lost. It is the intermediate state between death and the ultimate hell, Gehenna. Christ declares that he has the keys of Hades (Rev. 1:18). In Rev. 6:8 it is personified with the meaning of the temporary destiny of the doomed; it is to give up those who are in it (Rev. 20:13), and is to be cast into the lake of fire (Rev. 20:14)." (The Complete Word Study Dictionary New Testament, p.82)
"Gehenna is conceived of as a fire (Matt. 5:22; 18:9); an unquenchable fire (Mark 9:45); a place where "their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched" (Mark 9:48); a "furnace of fire" (Matt. 13:42, 50); "the outer darkness" (Matt. 8:12; 2:13; 25:30); a "lake of fire" (Rev. 19:20; 20:20, 14-15; 21:8)." (Ibid., p.361)
- If you step on a bug, nothing will happen to you. If you shoot some homeless bum on the street, you'll do some time in prison. If you fly to Washington and assassinate the President, you'll be going away for life, if not sentenced to death immediately. What changed? Same crime, different punishment. The thing that changed is against whom the crime was committed.
- If you lie to your child, there's nothing he/she can do about it. If you lie to your spouse, you'll be sleeping on the couch. If you lie to your boss, you'll be fired. If you lie to the government, that's called treason and you'll be imprisoned for it. What changed? Same crime, different punishment. The thing that changed is against whom the crime was committed.
Further, they commit the error of assuming that the story of the rich man and Lazarus in Luke 16 is a parable. It is not a parable! A parable is a figure of speech using "like," "as," or "than" for comparison. This story uses an actual person's name, which Jesus' parables also never did. The story clearly says, "And in Hades he lifted up his eyes, being in torment" (v.23). The SDA have a serious expositional problem on their hands. If the Greek word "hades" (αδου) merely refers to the grave, how can an individual have consciousness, as is clearly demonstrated here, and also be "in torment"? If it is merely a grave, how does torment tie in with it?
For argument's sake, let us assume that this is a parable. A parable uses an illustration in order to convey a truth of reality. Examine Matthew 13. See how Jesus interprets His own parable regarding the wheat and the tares? If this is a parable, what truth of reality is it conveying for us? The SDA will stumble and trip all over this trying to explain it away because they have no answer.
Furthermore, the following passages are pretty self-explanatory in regard to hell. Remember, Jesus spoke twice as much about hell than He did about heaven.
"And if your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life crippled, than having your two hands, to go into hell (γεενναν), into the unquenchable fire" (Mark 9:43)Finally, if hell is not eternal, and the punishment of the wicked, then how do the SDA explain away this verse, which sets an iron-clad case against their heretical false teachings?
"where THEIR WORM DOES NOT DIE, AND THE FIRE IS NOT QUENCHED" (Mark 9:44, cf. Isaiah 66:16)
"And if your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life lame, than having your two feet, to be cast into hell (γεενναν)" (Mark 9:45)
"where THEIR WORM DOES NOT DIE, AND THE FIRE IS NOT QUENCHED" (Mark 9:46, cf. Isaiah 66:16)
"And if your eye causes you to stumble, cast it out; it is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye, than having two eyes, to be cast into hell (γεενναν)" (Mark 9:47)
"where THEIR WORM DOES NOT DIE, AND THE FIRE IS NOT QUENCHED" (Mark 9:48, cf. Isaiah 66:16)
"but the sons of the kingdom shall be cast out into the outer darkness; in that place there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth" (Matthew 8:12)
"and will cast them into the furnace of fire; in that place there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth" (Matthew 13:42)
"Then the king said to the servants, 'Bind him hand and foot, and cast him into the outer darkness; in that place there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth" (Matthew 22:13)
"and shall cut him in pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites; weeping shall be there and the gnashing of teeth" (Matthew 24:51)
"And cast out the worthless slave into the outer darkness; in that place there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth" (Matthew 25:30)
"There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth there when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but yourselves being cast out" (Luke 13:28)
"And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life" (Matthew 25:46)
"And these will pay the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power" (2 Thessalonians 1:9)
"of instruction about washings, and laying on of hands, and the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment" (Hebrews 6:2)
"These are springs without water, and mists driven by a storm, for whom the black darkness has been reserved" (2 Peter 2:17)
"wild waves of the sea, casting up their own shame like foam; wandering stars, for whom the black darkness has been reserved forever" (Jude 1:13)
"And the beast was seized, and with him the false prophet who performed the signs in his presence, by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image; these two were thrown alive into the lake of fire which burns with brimstone" (Revelation 19:20)
"And the devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are also; and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever" (Revelation 20:10)
"But for the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death" (Revelation 21:8)
"And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever; and they have no rest day and night, those who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name" (Revelation 14:11)As you can see, the cultic Seventh-Day Adventist's theory does not hold any water. It leaks like a colander. Their lies are no match for good exegetical and expository study of the truth. Seventh-Day Adventists are no different than Catholics, Mormons, Jehovah's Witnesses, or Dispensationists. With the exception of Catholicism, all these cults have their beginning in the 19th century. But like Catholicism does with traditions, the SDA elevate a false prophet (Ellen White) to be equal to or greater than Scripture. They worship a false god and a false Jesus.
| Hades (αδης) | Gehenna (γεεννα) |
| Matt. 11:23 Matt. 16:18 Luke 10:15 Luke 16:23 Acts 2:27, 31 1 Cor. 15:55 Rev. 1:18 Rev. 6:8 Rev. 20:13-14 | Matt. 5:22, 29-30 Matt. 10:28 Matt. 18:9 Matt. 23:15, 33 Mark 9:43, 45 Luke 12:5 James 3:6 |
"Hades never denotes the physical grave nor is it the permanent region of the lost. It is the intermediate state between death and the ultimate hell, Gehenna. Christ declares that he has the keys of Hades (Rev. 1:18). In Rev. 6:8 it is personified with the meaning of the temporary destiny of the doomed; it is to give up those who are in it (Rev. 20:13), and is to be cast into the lake of fire (Rev. 20:14)." (The Complete Word Study Dictionary New Testament, p.82)
"Gehenna is conceived of as a fire (Matt. 5:22; 18:9); an unquenchable fire (Mark 9:45); a place where "their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched" (Mark 9:48); a "furnace of fire" (Matt. 13:42, 50); "the outer darkness" (Matt. 8:12; 2:13; 25:30); a "lake of fire" (Rev. 19:20; 20:20, 14-15; 21:8)." (Ibid., p.361)
Seventh-Day Adventists claim that the terms "eternal," "everlasting," and "forever" do not mean what they say. With regard to "forever," they claim that it means "until the end of the age," for a limited time. However, that is not what Revelation 14:11 states. It uses the Greek word aion (αιων), and literally means "for ages and ages." In other words, for all eternity.
"And if your hand or your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it from you; it is better for you to enter life crippled or lame, than having two hands or two feet, to be cast into the eternal fire" (Matthew 18:8).
"Then He will also say to those on His left, 'Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels'" (Matthew 25:41).
"And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life" (Matthew 25:46).
"And these will pay the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power" (2 Thessalonians 1:9).
"of instruction about washings, and laying on of hands, and the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment" (Hebrews 6:2).
"Eternal" and "everlasting" come from the Greek word aionios (αιωνιος), which means perpetual, eternal, forever, everlasting. But the SDA deny this. They claim that these words refer to a specific period of limited time, and that they speak of eternal "consequences" and eternal "ramifications." If there is nothing eternal about the punishment of the wicked, then clearly and logically, via common sense, there is no such thing as eternal consequences or ramifications. If this word, in relation to punishment, has nothing to do with endless time throughout eternity, then neither does it in relation to life. How they argue it in regard to punishment must by necessity be similarly argued in regard to life. When the Bible speaks of eternal life, it uses the same Greek word. So if "eternal punishment" is merely a limited period of time, so then is "eternal life." But the SDA fail to apply simple logic in this argument of theirs.
Further, they claim that "punishment" is not a verb, and therefore is not an ongoing thing. However, anyone who understands the English language knows that there are words that are both nouns and verbs, and words that as nouns refer to the act of the verb. In this case, it is the later. Any dictionary will inform you of such. "Punishment" refers to "the act of punishing." The modifier determines what kind of punishment it is. Therefore, "eternal punishment" refers to the act of eternally punishing. The word "rule" is both a noun and a verb. The term "eternal rule" would refer to the act of ruling eternally. It is pretty simple to figure out. However, the SDA like to make up foolish arguments in favour of their false teachings, but fail to follow them through logically to their full conclusion.
The SDA will often quote foolish statements made by others in an attempt to use them as prooftexts to support their agenda. In this case, they quote a quotation from John Stott as if it is the Gospel truth on the matter, simply because Stott makes an assumption that perhaps annihilationism is true. Because they have a quote for it, they make a big deal out of it as if it is the end-all be-all of biblical truth. They do the same thing in regard to their false teaching that Sunday is the mark of the beast. They quote the Catholic Record from 1923, which says, "Sunday is our mark of authority..... The church is above the Bible, and this transference of sabbath observance is proof of that fact," and run with it as if it is the Gospel truth. They even try quoting from Constantine, and do so erroneously. Constantine did not institute Sunday worship, he legalized it. What the SDA fail to realize or understand is that Sunday worship was in effect long before the Catholic church ever came on the scene in the 500's A.D. Sunday worship was in effect before and after 70 A.D. Acts 20:1-7 is proof positive (see Seventh-Day Adventism) for Sunday worship. Communion, preaching (Acts 20:7) and tithing (1 Corinthians 16:2) all took place on the first day of the week, which is Sunday. Just because the Catholic church claims to have initiated it does not make that claim true. The SDA's authority is not the Bible, as they claim, but every other source that agrees in some pretense with what they already believe (such as the above examples).
Hell is a real, literal, and eternal reality. Those who deny it will find out soon enough just how real it is. Jesus spoke about hell twice as much as He spoke about heaven.