12 Thes 1:9; Mk 9:43–44, 46, 48; Lk 16:24..

There was a time when the doctrine taught in this Q&A that unrepentant sinners will suffer eternal unremitting conscious punishment in hell which involves the torment of soul and body was accepted by all who call themselves Christians. Today this is no longer so. In fact, the doctrine is not only opposed by those who are professedly liberals, but even some who claim to be evangelical such as Clark Pinnock and John Stott oppose it at various points. The Doctrine Commission of the Church of England even issued a statement in 1996 declaring that:

The doctrine of eternal conscious punishment taught in our Catechism is, however, too deeply rooted in and firmly founded upon the Scriptures to be swept away by the wind of false doctrine (Eph 4:14).

Consider first of all that the punishment to come is everlasting or eternal. There are many today who charge that it is against God’s character to punish sinners eternally. These will either teach that the soul of the reprobate will be annihilated immediately upon death, or they will be annihilated after a period of conscious punishment. But the Scripture speaks of the punishment in hell as an "everlasting destruction" (2 Thes 1:9). Someone may counter that the Greek translated ‘everlasting’ (aijwvnio") may also be rendered "age long," and does not mean "never ending." This is a dubious assertion. But it were true, then the elect of Christ would also not enjoy everlasting life, for the Lord says: "And these [i.e. the goats or the wicked] shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal" (Mt 25:46). The words ‘everlasting’ and ‘eternal’ are the same word in the Greek (i.e. aijwvnio")

Secondly, consider that the punishment involves separation from the "comfortable presence of God." This is also taught in 2 Thessalonians 1:9,—"Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power" (2 Thes 1:9; emphasis mine). The apostle Paul must, of course, be referring to the comfortable presence of the Lord, for God is omnipresent: "If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there" (Ps 139:8). The fact is that the punishment in hell is not so much as being away from God’s presence, as it is facing His wrath rather than His favour forever (cf. Jn 3:36; Rom 2:5).

Thirdly, the punishment in hell involves a torment of the soul and body. This is clear from the Lord’s teaching that in hell the "worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched" (Mk 9:44, 48). Though many faithful commentators have spoken of the worms as referring to the gnawing of the conscience, the fire suggests a form of physical torment. This is especially since, we are told that at the last day, both the just and the unjust will be resurrected (Acts 24:15; Dan 12:2), and the unjust will be cast into the lake of fire (Rev 20:12-14). This makes it clear that the torment in hell will be spiritual and physical.

This doctrine, moreover, is confirmed by the Lord when He says: "And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell" (Mt 10:28; emphasis mine).

Fourthly, it is clear that the punishment in hell is a conscious punishment rather than a kind of soul sleep, for in the Lord’s parable or account of the rich man and Lazarus, we are told that the rich man cried unto Abraham saying: "Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame" (Lk 16:24). Though this verse may not provide a very strong case for bodily punishment in hell (because it is clearly set at a time before the Last Day, since Dive’s brothers were still in the world), it does clearly show that the sinner is conscious and remembers about his own past.

This doctrine of eternal conscious punishment of the reprobate is an important core verity of the Christian Faith. To deny it is to deny the urgency of the Gospel. If what will happen to sinners is that they will be annihilated, the sinner may rightly say: let me enjoy myself today in all ways I can, for tomorrow I will cease existence.

Although the fear of punishment in hell must not be the only way in which a sinner is persuaded to flee to the Lord, it is clearly one of the biblical ways (cf. Lk 3:7-10). And experience shows us that there is a point in every believer’s life, in which, the fear of damnation must have been a chief motivation in his pursuit of the Lord. Indeed, the contemplation of terror of punishment in hell is also a means of stirring our affection for the Lord Jesus Christ, for we know that as our substitute He suffered the equivalent (bodily and spiritual) torment that would be experienced by all the elect of God. Only as the God-Man was he able to sustain such a tremendous weight of God’s wrath.