Annihilationism

Definition and Meaning

Annihilationism (Korean yeonghon myeoljeolseol, 靈魂滅絶說) is a view concerning the final destiny of the unsaved. According to this view, such people do not suffer eternal conscious torment after the Last Judgment; rather, after undergoing punishment, they cease to exist entirely. "Annihilation" means complete extinction. The view is often held together with conditional immortality, the idea that human beings do not possess an inherently immortal soul and that God grants eternal life only to the saved. The opposing traditional view is the doctrine of eternal punishment, which holds that the wicked undergo eternal conscious punishment in hell.

Biblical and Historical Background

Proponents of annihilationism argue that Scripture describes the final end of the wicked as "destruction" and "death." They cite the following passages:

• Matthew 10:28: "him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell"
• 2 Thessalonians 1:9: "everlasting destruction"
• 1 Timothy 6:16: the passage stating that God "only hath immortality"

Proponents of eternal punishment point out that in Matthew 25:46 "everlasting punishment" and "life eternal" are set side by side using the same word for "eternal." They also appeal to Revelation 14:9–11 and Revelation 20:7–15, which describe the suffering of the wicked as continuing "for ever and ever."

Historically, eternal punishment became the majority view of the Western church after Augustine defended it in The City of God. The Reformation confessions inherited this position; among them, the Westminster Confession of Faith states in chapter 33 that the wicked shall be cast into eternal torments. From the nineteenth century onward, groups such as the Seventh-day Adventist Church and Jehovah's Witnesses adopted annihilationism as doctrine. In the late twentieth century, debate arose within British and American evangelicalism as well. Edward Fudge defended the view in The Fire That Consumes (1982), and John Stott stated in a 1988 book of dialogues that he tentatively leaned toward it.

Practice in Korean Churches

The major Protestant denominations in Korea generally teach eternal punishment. Presbyterian denominations that adopt the Westminster Confession of Faith as their doctrinal standard teach it as part of their confession. Eternal punishment is also the prevailing understanding in Methodist, Holiness, Baptist, and Full Gospel denominations.

The Seventh-day Adventist Church in Korea teaches that the wicked will be consumed by fire after the Last Judgment. Jehovah's Witnesses likewise maintain that the wicked face extinction rather than eternal torment. In Korean Protestant heresy counseling materials, annihilationism is frequently discussed alongside the denial of the soul's immortality in critiques of these groups. The groups themselves argue that the doctrine results from reading Scripture's language of "destruction" at face value and that it is more consistent with God's justice and love.

Meanwhile, the introduction in Korea of the view's acceptance by some evangelicals, as in Stott's case, has divided opinion. Some regard annihilationism solely as a heretical doctrine, while others consider it a minority position within evangelicalism.