Annihilationism is the doctrine of the final extinction of all the wicked. The believers in this doctrine are called Annihilationists. There are three grades of them. One is characterized by the belief that extinction takes place at death. Another class holds that it takes place at the judgment at the end of time. The third group maintain that after the judgment there will be a period of suffering, which will be terminated after a due amount of suffering has been borne, the suffering to be ended by extinction. The final extinction of the wicked thus characterizes all of them. Whatever the differences as to the time when it will take place, they agree in believing that extinction of being is the ultimate end of the wicked.

Is this doctrine, in any of the forms in which it is held, the doctrine of the word of God ? Do the Scriptures teach that wicked men become extinct, either at death, the judgment at the end of time, or at the end of a period of suffering beyond the judgment ?

We shall first consider the inquiry, Is it the doctrine of the word of God that when wicked men die, they become extinct ? One class of Annihilationists answer this question with an affirmative. They say unhesitatingly they do. Mr. Constable, in his book on '' Hades," says :

" If death reigns until the period of the resurrection, and if death during this period is exactly the same thing to the just and to the unjust, it follows, beyond any question, that both just and unjust are then wholly and altogether dead " (page 79).

What he means by " wholly and altogether dead " he makes perfectly clear, for he goes on to say :

"For no one contends that during this period the just are in a condition of misery; neither does any one contend that the unjust are in a condition of bliss:but that condition which is neither one of bliss nor of misery must be a condition of death or of non-existence."

Here it is plain that Mr. Constable, and of course all who hold with him, considers death to be the extinction of being. That he applies it to the just as well as the unjust will not concern us here. Our subject just now is, The extinction of the wicked at death :is it scriptural ? If the Scriptures do not teach that death means extinction for the wicked, it will be hard to convince people that it means that for the righteous.

Now we find the question of whether death means extinction was presented to our Lord. We must certainly accept what He taught about it. His teaching must be authoritative. He could tell Nicodemus with the most solemn affirmation, "We speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen " (John 3:ii). Surely He knew whether death means extinction of being or not. What then does He say about it ? We will turn to the answer He made the Sadducees when they asked Him about the woman who had been successively the wife of seven brethren, saying, " In the resurrection whose wife of them is she ? " His answer, as recorded by Luke, is, "The children of this world marry, and are given in marriage :but they which shall be accounted worthy to obtain that world, and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry, nor are given in marriage:neither can they die any more:for they are equal unto the angels; and are the children of God, being the children of the resurrection " (chap. 20:34-36). Now if it is said the Lord is only speaking of the righteous, not of the wicked, I reply that is true thus far. As yet He has spoken only of those who are counted worthy to rise out from among the dead. But we have not quoted the whole of His answer. He goes on to say, '' Now that the dead are raised even Moses showed at the bush, when he calleth the Lord the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob" (ver. 37)." It may be asked, when He says, "Now that the dead are raised," does He intend us to consider that He is embracing the wicked dead as well as the righteous dead ? The only possible answer is, He does. In the next verse (38) He goes on to say, "For He is not a God of the dead, but of the living:for all live unto Him." Men die, both righteous and wicked. They are no more alive to us, but to God they are living. All the dead, both the good and the evil, are living to Him. They are not, then, extinct. Plainly our Lord does not teach that death is the extinction of being. It is impossible to appeal to Him as teaching the doctrine of the extinction of the wicked at death. His words clearly deny such a thought.

Another scripture may also be quoted:"And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment" (Heb. 9:27). Now here we are taught to believe that the judgment will be after death. As long as men continue in the death condition they will not be judged. We must then believe there will be the resurrection of the dead before the judgment. Men do not receive their judgment in this life, and in this world. They do not receive it in the death condition; yet, while they are in the death condition they are not extinct, they are in being still-living beings for God.

Some may say the death state is one of insensibility, or unconsciousness. The discussion of this must be reserved for a subsequent paper. We only refer to it now to reply that even if it can be shown that the dead are unconscious, that is not the same thing as extinction of being. It will not avail to appeal to sleep as an argument for the extinction of the wicked at death. A man asleep is not extinct. A man in insensibility or unconsciousness, from whatever cause, is not extinct. He is still a living man.

We must pass on to consider the view of those who hold that the judgment of the wicked at the end of time is extinction of being. One quotation must suffice. Mr. Minton, in his "Way Everlasting," page 58, speaks of the casting into the lake of fire, of the beast, the false prophet, the devil, death and hell (hades), and those whose names are not found in the book of life. He goes on to say:" If these things be intended to predict the final doom of wicked men and wicked spirits, then their doom is set forth under images which point to nothing less than extinction of being."

All those who believe that when the wicked are judged at the great white throne and sent into the lake of fire, they become extinct, or cease to be, accept as the truth this statement of Mr. Minton. But is it the truth ? Is it said that they become extinct ? No such statement can be found. On the contrary, we read of two men who are cast into the lake of fire and exist there for a thousand years (Rev. 20:10). They are there all- this time, before Satan even is cast there. There are, then, two men who will be cast into the lake of fire, and it will not be extinction of being for them. Does it not at least suggest that their doom is a sample, or pattern, of the doom of all who will be sent there ? If it is shown, as Scripture does show, that in their case the lake of fire is not extinction, how then can it be shown in any case ? The plain, indisputable fact of two men existing for a thousand years in the lake of fire is a strong and terrible witness against the doctrine that the lake of fire is extinction of being.

But the testimony of Scripture is even stronger than this. We read that after Satan is cast there, they will continue to exist. It has been attempted to substitute "were cast" in the place of the word "are"in italics in our own common version. But even so, it does not alter the fact that they are still in existence; and this is made certain by the further fact that they, as well as Satan, are going to continue to exist, and that, too, forever. We read, "And they shall be tormented day and night for the ages " (new version). At all events, then, Satan and these two men do not become extinct in the lake of fire. But if this is so, what proof is there that anybody who goes there becomes extinct ? There is absolutely none.

And still it is claimed by some that while Scripture shows clearly that the wicked do not become extinct at the time of their being sent into the lake of fire, yet they will ultimately cease to be after a period of suffering. The advocates of this view are, it is true, comparatively few. They would seem to belong to a school that teaches that punishment is corrective and remedial, and allow that there is punishment after the resurrection of the wicked, just as one class of the Universalists do, but, like them, denying that punishment is everlasting, have invented the theory of ultimate annihilation for the small number that may be supposed to remain obdurate to the last. The ungovernable and uncontrollable will be finally destroyed. They will become extinct.

But Scripture says nothing of any such class. And besides, it never speaks of the lake of fire as corrective or remedial. It is always a final doom. It is the final disposition of the wicked. It is the place where Satan is finally sent. It is the place where the wicked, after their resurrection and judgment at the white throne, are finally banished. It is a banishment from which there will be no recall. It will be for ever. It will be everlasting torture, too. Unceasing and perpetual torment will be the doom of the wicked, for they have their part in the doom of Satan-the lake of fire, the everlasting fire that is prepared for the devil and his angels (Matt. 25:41 and Rev. 21:8).

An attempt has been made to escape the force of the terms "everlasting" and "for ever" by giving them the meaning of "age-lasting." Now, while I am willing to admit that these terms may have this sense when they are used in connection with temporal or human ages, it is impossible to allow that therefore, when applied to the time, or age, of the duration of the doom of the wicked, they limit that duration. It is the last age, and it is an everlasting age-an age without an end.

No examination of the way Annihilationists use and explain various scriptures is necessary here. We have found three things clearly stated in the word of God:First, there is a final doom for the wicked; second, what that doom is-torture in the lake of fire; and third, the duration of it-for ever. No use of Scripture or explanation of it in conflict with this plain teaching, can be correct or of the Spirit of God.

Scripture, then, does not teach the doctrine of Annihilationism-that the wicked will ultimately be-come extinct. It is a doctrine diametrically opposed to the doctrine of the Bible. But if the wicked are to suffer torture for ever in the lake of fire, how blessed to know that God sent His Son into the world, and to the cross, that those deserving the eternal doom He has revealed as to be the portion of the wicked might be delivered from the need of suffering it!

Beloved reader, the same Judge who will by and by banish the wicked to the lake of fire has authority to forgive sins and give everlasting life now. He welcomes all men to come to Him. He will deny none that come. "Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved " (Rom. 10:13). C. Crain