Matthew 10:28
And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.
https://biblehub.com/matthew/10-28.htm
Here are 7 Christian Universalist arguments that debunk the Eternal Conscious Torment and Annihilationist interpretations of this verse.
1) The word "Hell" here is not Biblically accurate. The correct term is γεέννῃ (geennē)
https://biblehub.com/matthew/10-28.htm
Strong's 1067: Of Hebrew origin; valley of Hinnom; ge-henna, a valley of Jerusalem, used as a name for the place of everlasting punishment.
Everlasting = aion = age = temporary
Was the physical fire in Gehenna burning forever? No. Risk of busk fires, toxic fumes going from side of Jerusalem, heavy rainfall, used for burning corpses of enemies like Assyrian army when it takes too long to bury.
So, since Gehenna is merely a physical temporary location, it's punishment is temporary (and, of course, only relevant to the people who were there in that particular time period when it was active). So, it's impossible for Gehenna to torture someone forever or destroy someone forever.
2) God being capable of destroying both soul and body does not mean that He will do it. Especially since He desires to save all people.
1 Timothy 2:3-6: "This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.
It was God's choice to create us. He had the ability to not create us in the first place, yet He chose to anyways. God has the ability to not create soul and body, but since He desires life, He creates soul and body.
3) What exactly is destroyed in the soul and body? When God destroys the soul and body, does He destroy it fully? Or does he destroy only the part which has sin and saves the rest?
Psalm 145:20 The Lord preserves all who love him, but all the wicked he will destroy.
Is one passage which can describe destruction. Here's the problem though. All humans are wicked! I'm wicked, you are wicked. Wicked means having sin, disobedience to God's law, we're all sinners! Romans 3:23 Hey, so by that logic, literally none of us should be saved. All of our souls and bodies should be destroyed!
But hey, wait a minute. The Bible says that certainly, there are guaranteed at least some people save. I think that's something both Christian Universalist and Christian Infernalists can agree on... hopefully lol.
But, what are we saved by? Is it by our own works. No! It is by grace through faith. But the grace of God is given to all people Titus 2:11. The problem with Eternal Concious Torment and Annihlationism is it makes the grace of God flawed by saying He's only biased to give grace to some people. But grace is grace! We're all sinners, thus we will all be reconciled with God, all will become believers in Christ!
4) Even if God fully destroys something, what exactly is "fully" destroyed anyways, literally or figuratively?
So once a person has faith alone in Christ, the Holy Spirit dwells inside us, who is God. God is a consuming fire Hebrews 12:29 Deuteronomy 4:24, so He will burn away all of our sins, because that's in His nature.
I Peter 1:3-6 That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ: (KJV)
How is pure gold formed? By having the impurities fully destroyed. Yes, gold must be fully destroyed in order for it to become pure gold! But wait a minute! How come this gold is still gold even though it's been FULLY destroyed!? Because only the bad parts are fully destroyed. Thus, the sin of a person's soul and body are FULLY destroyed! What does that leave behind? The pure and refined parts of a person's soul!
So, here's the truth my friends. We will all be fully destroyed into gold! Yep! This destruction is "full" because, God, like one who examines gold, goes through every aspect of us, and makes sure that not even a single smallest percentage of sin remains, as white as snow! Isaiah 1:18
perishes
ἀπολλυμένου (apollymenou)
Verb - Present Participle Middle - Genitive Neuter Singular
Strong's 622: From apo and the base of olethros; to destroy fully, literally or figuratively.
What perishes? Our sin, of course. Naturally, the wages of sin is death, so it's natural that sin will physically die. And all sin must be spiritually destroyed as well. What does that leave behind? Well, we are sinners, and our disease is sin, so once all our sins are fully destroyed, we're left with a completely cured patient.
4) (Bonus Argument) English and Greek have different definitions for the word "destroy"
In our Modern English, we may think of destroy as "completely 100% destruction". And certainly, sin will be 100% destroyed, yet we will live, because all the death has been 100% destroyed. In the Greek of the New Testament, there's also the meaning of destroy where it means "to refine into something"
622. ἀπόλλυμι (apollumi)
Looking through the list... hey wait a minute. Apoll, isn't that an interesting etymological word root? Does that not sound like the demon Apollyon?
Revelation 9:11 and they have over them a king -- the messenger of the abyss -- a name is to him in Hebrew, Abaddon, and in the Greek he hath a name, Apollyon. (YLT)
Apollyon.
Ἀπολλύων (Apollyōn)
Noun - Nominative Masculine Singular
Strong's 623: Apollyon, The Destroying One, a Greek translation of the Hebrew: Abaddon. Active participle of apollumi; a destroyer.
Hey, Strong's literally says that Apollyon is "The Destroying One". But, how can a mere demon, a creation of God, have any authority to completely 100% utterly destroy something? Well, in the English sense, a demon cannot annilhate, like reduce something to absoluttely nothing. But in the Greek sense, the demons can be used to refine people, through the struggles they experience which could lead them to realize their sins (repentence) to realize their need of a savior to have faith alone in Him, Christ to be saved. Demons are also useful adversaries in training Christians who are already permanently saved, to refine their skills, in a sense.
5) Apollumi, destroy, is related to the term "ruin"
https://biblehub.com/greek/strongs_623.htm
And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.
https://biblehub.com/matthew/10-28.htm
Here are 7 Christian Universalist arguments that debunk the Eternal Conscious Torment and Annihilationist interpretations of this verse.
1) The word "Hell" here is not Biblically accurate. The correct term is γεέννῃ (geennē)
https://biblehub.com/matthew/10-28.htm
Strong's 1067: Of Hebrew origin; valley of Hinnom; ge-henna, a valley of Jerusalem, used as a name for the place of everlasting punishment.
Everlasting = aion = age = temporary
Was the physical fire in Gehenna burning forever? No. Risk of busk fires, toxic fumes going from side of Jerusalem, heavy rainfall, used for burning corpses of enemies like Assyrian army when it takes too long to bury.
So, since Gehenna is merely a physical temporary location, it's punishment is temporary (and, of course, only relevant to the people who were there in that particular time period when it was active). So, it's impossible for Gehenna to torture someone forever or destroy someone forever.
2) God being capable of destroying both soul and body does not mean that He will do it. Especially since He desires to save all people.
1 Timothy 2:3-6: "This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.
It was God's choice to create us. He had the ability to not create us in the first place, yet He chose to anyways. God has the ability to not create soul and body, but since He desires life, He creates soul and body.
3) What exactly is destroyed in the soul and body? When God destroys the soul and body, does He destroy it fully? Or does he destroy only the part which has sin and saves the rest?
Psalm 145:20 The Lord preserves all who love him, but all the wicked he will destroy.
Is one passage which can describe destruction. Here's the problem though. All humans are wicked! I'm wicked, you are wicked. Wicked means having sin, disobedience to God's law, we're all sinners! Romans 3:23 Hey, so by that logic, literally none of us should be saved. All of our souls and bodies should be destroyed!
But hey, wait a minute. The Bible says that certainly, there are guaranteed at least some people save. I think that's something both Christian Universalist and Christian Infernalists can agree on... hopefully lol.
But, what are we saved by? Is it by our own works. No! It is by grace through faith. But the grace of God is given to all people Titus 2:11. The problem with Eternal Concious Torment and Annihlationism is it makes the grace of God flawed by saying He's only biased to give grace to some people. But grace is grace! We're all sinners, thus we will all be reconciled with God, all will become believers in Christ!
4) Even if God fully destroys something, what exactly is "fully" destroyed anyways, literally or figuratively?
So once a person has faith alone in Christ, the Holy Spirit dwells inside us, who is God. God is a consuming fire Hebrews 12:29 Deuteronomy 4:24, so He will burn away all of our sins, because that's in His nature.
I Peter 1:3-6 That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ: (KJV)
How is pure gold formed? By having the impurities fully destroyed. Yes, gold must be fully destroyed in order for it to become pure gold! But wait a minute! How come this gold is still gold even though it's been FULLY destroyed!? Because only the bad parts are fully destroyed. Thus, the sin of a person's soul and body are FULLY destroyed! What does that leave behind? The pure and refined parts of a person's soul!
So, here's the truth my friends. We will all be fully destroyed into gold! Yep! This destruction is "full" because, God, like one who examines gold, goes through every aspect of us, and makes sure that not even a single smallest percentage of sin remains, as white as snow! Isaiah 1:18
1 Peter 1:7 - A Living Hope
so that the proven character of your faith--more precious than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire--may result in praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
www.biblehub.com
ἀπολλυμένου (apollymenou)
Verb - Present Participle Middle - Genitive Neuter Singular
Strong's 622: From apo and the base of olethros; to destroy fully, literally or figuratively.
What perishes? Our sin, of course. Naturally, the wages of sin is death, so it's natural that sin will physically die. And all sin must be spiritually destroyed as well. What does that leave behind? Well, we are sinners, and our disease is sin, so once all our sins are fully destroyed, we're left with a completely cured patient.
4) (Bonus Argument) English and Greek have different definitions for the word "destroy"
In our Modern English, we may think of destroy as "completely 100% destruction". And certainly, sin will be 100% destroyed, yet we will live, because all the death has been 100% destroyed. In the Greek of the New Testament, there's also the meaning of destroy where it means "to refine into something"
622. ἀπόλλυμι (apollumi)
Looking through the list... hey wait a minute. Apoll, isn't that an interesting etymological word root? Does that not sound like the demon Apollyon?
Revelation 9:11 and they have over them a king -- the messenger of the abyss -- a name is to him in Hebrew, Abaddon, and in the Greek he hath a name, Apollyon. (YLT)
Apollyon.
Ἀπολλύων (Apollyōn)
Noun - Nominative Masculine Singular
Strong's 623: Apollyon, The Destroying One, a Greek translation of the Hebrew: Abaddon. Active participle of apollumi; a destroyer.
Hey, Strong's literally says that Apollyon is "The Destroying One". But, how can a mere demon, a creation of God, have any authority to completely 100% utterly destroy something? Well, in the English sense, a demon cannot annilhate, like reduce something to absoluttely nothing. But in the Greek sense, the demons can be used to refine people, through the struggles they experience which could lead them to realize their sins (repentence) to realize their need of a savior to have faith alone in Him, Christ to be saved. Demons are also useful adversaries in training Christians who are already permanently saved, to refine their skills, in a sense.
5) Apollumi, destroy, is related to the term "ruin"
https://biblehub.com/greek/strongs_623.htm
