I hope this review of the most commonly used verses to maintain the traditional view has been helpful.  There are a couple other verses other than the 10 we’ve looked at in this section, which traditionalists believe imply or teach eternal conscious suffering.  And if you ever run into one that troubles you, feel free to contact me and we’ll discuss it.  I focused on these 10 though because they’re the ones which traditionalist writer Robert Peterson maintains are the “footings to the foundation” of the “house of traditionalism”.  To me, if these are the footings for that, then the foundation is doomed, and then whatever house you build on top of that….well, I’m scared to go inside because it’s coming down at some point – hopefully some point soon, because it’s offensive to the Lord, and it turns away many people who are seeking the Lord.  It also serves to confuse the believer about the merciful nature and character of God.

I think it’s important for those of us who have had the traditional view of eternal conscious suffering drilled into us almost from birth, to step back and realize something.  If it’s true, it should be easily verifiable in Scripture, not something that has to be painfully, and against all good biblical hermeneutics, strained out.  This is so important for us “lifers” to step back and realize: It’s not as if there’s some extra-biblical eternal hell reality out there, and thankfully we have Scripture to give us a few “descriptions of hell” (as I’ve heard many call these passages). No, it’s the other way around.  If it’s a legitimate doctrine-if there is an eternal conscious hell reality out there, then these verses which are claimed to prove and demonstrate it should do so beyond any reasonable doubt.  I hope that I’ve shown that they do no such thing, and that many of them actually lend more weight to the view of final judgment that I’ve landed on than they do to the traditional position.  I also believe I’ve shown ample evidence of the misuse of the Garden of Eden concepts which have been mistakenly used to teach that being a “living soul” means already possessing immortality.  Nothing could be further from the truth, and if you haven’t already, please click on the “Garden of Eden” tab above and read through the evidence there.  Our bodies are an object lesson for what’s going on at the soul level.  Just as our flesh is alive, but also headed for a date with death, so is our soul.  We are living souls, but we are dying souls, as well, headed for a date with destruction if we do not take the hand of salvation that God is reaching out to us.  I pray that if you’re reading this and have not yet accepted Christ as your Savior, that you’ll do that right now.  “Today is the day of salvation”.  God Bless!