The Eternity of the Torments of Hell - Annihilationism Refuted

The Narrated Puritan

Scriptures are very express and abundant in this matter- that the eternal punishment of the wicked will consist in sensible misery and torment, and not in annihilation. - What is said of Judas is worthy to be observed here, -It had been good for that man if he had not been born-- Mat. 26-24. - This seems plainly to teach us, that the punishment of the wicked is such that their existence, upon the whole, is worse than non-existence. But if their punishment consists merely in annihilation, this is not true. - The wicked, in their punishment, are said to weep, and wail, and gnash their teeth- which implies not only real existence, but life, knowledge, and activity, and that they are in a very sensible and exquisite manner affected with their punishment, Isa. 33-14. Sinners in the state of their punishment are represented to dwell with everlasting burnings. But if they are only turned into nothing, where is the foundation for this representation-- It is absurd to say that sinners will dwell with annihilation, for there is no dwelling in the case. It is also absurd to call annihilation a burning, which implies a state of existence, sensibility, and extreme pain- whereas in annihilation there is neither.