Editing Problem of Hell (section)

===Annihilationism===
{{Main|Annihilationism}}
As with other Jewish writings of the [[Second Temple]] period, the New Testament text distinguishes two words, both translated "Hell" in older English Bibles: ''[[Hades]]'', "the grave", and ''[[Gehenna]]'' where God "can destroy both body and soul". A minority of Christians read this to mean that neither Hades nor Gehenna are eternal but refer to the ultimate destruction of the wicked in the [[Lake of fire|Lake of Fire]] in a consuming fire, but which because of the Greek words used in translating from the Hebrew text has become confused with Greek myths and ideas. From the sixth century BC onward, the Greeks developed pagan ideas for the dead, and of reincarnation and even transmigration of souls. Christians picked up these pagan beliefs inferred by the Greek of immortality of the soul, or spirit being of a mortal individual, which survives the death of the body of this world and this lifetime, which is at odds and in contrast to the scriptural teaching that the dead go to the grave and know nothing and then at the end, an eternal oblivion of the wicked and an eternal life for the saints. Scripture makes clear that the dead are awaiting resurrection at the last judgment, when Christ comes and also when each person will receive his reward or are part of those lost with the wicked.

The Greek words used for those Bibles written in Greek, came loaded with ideas not in line with the original Hebrew, but since at the time, Greek was used as basically English is used today to communicate between people across the world, it was translated into these Greek words, and giving an incorrect understanding of the penalty of sin. In the Hebrew text when people died they went to [[Sheol]], the grave and the wicked ultimately went to Gehenna which is the consuming by fire. So when the grave or the eternal oblivion of the wicked was translated into Greek, the word Hades was sometimes used, which is a Greek term for the realm of the dead. Nevertheless, the meaning depending on context was the grave, death, or the end of the wicked in which they are ultimately destroyed or perish. So we see where the grave or death or eventual destruction of the wicked, was translated using Greek words that since they had no exact ones to use, became a mix of mistranslation, pagan influence, and Greek myth associated with the word, but its original meaning was simple death or the destruction of the wicked at the end.{{Citation needed|date=December 2020}}

[[Christian mortalism]] is the doctrine that all men and women, including Christians, must die, and do not continue and are not conscious after death. Therefore, [[annihilationism]] includes the doctrine that "the wicked" are also destroyed rather than [[tortured|tormented]] [[eternity|forever]] in traditional "Hell" or the lake of fire. Christian mortalism and annihilationism are directly related to the doctrine of [[Christian conditionalism|conditional immortality]], the idea that a human [[soul]] is not immortal unless it is given eternal life at the [[Second Coming]] of Christ and the [[resurrection of the dead]]. Such a belief is based on the many texts which state that the wicked perish:
:"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." {{bibleverse|John|3:16|KJV}} (KJV).
:"For the day of the Lord is near upon all the heathen: as thou hast done, it shall be done unto thee: thy reward shall return upon thine own head. For as ye have drunk upon my holy mountain, so shall all the heathen drink continually, yea, they shall drink, and they shall swallow down, and they shall be as though they had not been." {{Bibleverse|Obadiah|15–16|KJV|Obadiah 1:15–16}} (KJV).

Annihilationism asserts that God will eventually destroy or annihilate the wicked when they are consumed in the Lake of Fire at the end, leaving only the righteous to live on in [[immortality]].
Conditional immortality asserts that souls are naturally mortal, and those who reject Christ are separated from the sustaining power of God, thus dying off on their own.

This is seen in the texts making clear the alternatives at the end are to perish or to have eternal, everlasting life:
:"For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." {{Bibleverse|Romans|6:23|KJV}} (KJV)

And that the consequence for sin at the day of judgment when God will judge both the living and the dead when He appears is death, not burning forever. God's gift is eternal life, different from the penalty of sin:
:"The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished." {{bibleverse|2 Peter|2:9|KJV}}. (KJV).
:"As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world." {{Bibleverse|Matthew|13:40|KJV}} (KJV).
:"So shall it be at the end of the world: the angels shall come forth, and sever the wicked from among the just, And shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth." {{Bibleverse|Matthew|13:49–50|KJV}} (KJV).

The mortality of the soul has been held throughout the history of both Judaism and Christianity,<ref>{{Citation |quote= In the first place, there have not been a few, both in ancient and modern times, who have maintained the truth of a 'Conditional Immortality'. |last= McConnell |title= The Evolution of Immortality |page= 84 |year= 1901}}</ref><ref>{{Citation |quote= At the same time there have always been isolated voices raised in support of other views. There are hints of a belief in repentance after death, as well as conditional immortality and annihilationism. |last= Streeter |others= et al |title= Immortality: An Essay in Discovery, Co-Ordinating Scientific, Psychical, and Biblical Research |page= 204 |year= 1917}}</ref> with multiple biblical scholars looking at the issue through the Hebrew text, have denied the teaching of innate immortality.<ref>{{Citation |quote= Many biblical scholars down throughout history, looking at the issue through Hebrew rather than Greek eyes, have denied the teaching of innate immortality. |last= Knight |title= A brief history of Seventh-Day Adventists |page= 42 |year= 1999}}</ref>{{Sfn |Pool |1998 |p= 133 |ps= 'Various concepts of conditional immortality or annihilationism have appeared earlier in Baptist history as well. Several examples illustrate this claim. General as well as particular Baptists developed versions of annihilationism or conditional immortality.'}} Rejection of the [[immortality of the soul]], and advocacy of Christian mortalism, was a feature of Protestantism since the early days of the [[Reformation]] with [[Martin Luther]] himself rejecting the traditional idea, though his view did not carry into orthodox [[Lutheranism]]. One of the most notable English opponents of the immortality of the soul was [[Thomas Hobbes]] who describes the idea as a Greek "contagion" in Christian doctrine.<ref>Stephen A. State ''Thomas Hobbes and the Debate Over Natural Law and Religion'' 2013 "The natural immortality of the soul is in fact a pagan presumption: "For men being generally possessed before the time of our Saviour, by contagion of the Daemonology of the Greeks, of an opinion, that the Souls of men were substances distinct from their Bodies, and therefore that when the Body was dead"</ref> Modern proponents of conditional immortality include as denominations the [[Seventh-day Adventist Church|Seventh-day Adventists]], [[Bible Student movement|Bible Students]], [[Jehovah's Witnesses]], [[Christadelphians]], and some other [[Protestant]] [[Christians]].