Re: Loquat...

You said, "The problem you have is that you're equating words like 'death' & 'perish' with annihilation, extinction, or complete destruction, etc. There is no philological basis for drawing such a conclusion, but I'm not so settled in my views that I'm unwilling to consider contrary evidence."

But there is. Consider just these few passages alone:

Psalm 37:20 20But the wicked will perish;
the enemies of the LORD are like the glory of the pastures;
they vanish—like smoke they vanish
away.

Malachi 4:
1For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the LORD of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch. 2But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall. 3And ye shall tread down the wicked; for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I shall do this, saith the LORD of hosts.

2 Peter 3:10
But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.

My grandmother, who held to the Conditional Immortality view also, was asked one time at church by the pastor, "So you don't believe in hell?" And she said, "Oh no, I most certainly believe in hell, I just believe that it's hot enough to actually burn you up!" :)

Consider also this quote by R. F. Weymouth, a greek scholar and new testament translator:
"My mind fails to conceive a grosser misinterpretation of language than when the five or six strongest words which the greek tongue possesses signifying "destroy" or "destruction" are explained to mean an everlasting but wretched existence. To translate black as white is nothing to this."

You said, "My mind is always open to such possibilities as these, but last time I checked in on this topic, it seemed to me that the evidence for conscious and eternal suffering was pretty conclusive. That it offends our sensilbilities is unfortunately insufficient grounds for rejecting it, and certainly not the most reliable guide against which to judge its morality."

Well there is so much more than just an offense to the sensibilities. So check again, and then start looking up people like Chris Date, who helps run the "Rethinking Hell" website. Chris Date really digs deep into the fine details of all this and he is a Finalist, and super intellectual, so I think you will like him. He is a little over my head at times, but probably would not be for you. Then there is Edward Fudge who has written many extremely detailed books on the subject. And there are many others, but those two are who I'm most familiar with.

This is just a simple article, which furthers my point above on John 3:16, from the Rethinking Hell website, where you can find a lot more information too:

http://www.rethinkinghell.com/2017/02/fixing-john-316-500-years-after-the-reformation

I put this on the Christianity Debate forum about four years ago, so it's been that long since I've watched it. But I remember it was good and so you might want to take a listen to it sometime when you get a chance:



You said, "I would dearly love to believe in conditional immortality"

Well keep researching all this and taking a fresh look at what the bible says about it. You might just get your desire. :)

One more thing I'll say quickly since this is getting too long: the bible does not teach immortality of the soul for unbelievers. It's just not in there. Immortality is a gift, given only to believers. And it is that misconception I believe that got the traditional view of hell off on the wrong track.









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