Universalism vs. Annihilationism: What's the Difference?

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily match my own. - Dr. Bart D. Ehrman

What happens to people after death? While many Christians assume the Bible clearly teaches that the wicked will suffer eternal conscious torment in hell, there have always been different interpretations. Throughout Jewish and Christian history, theologians have proposed different understandings of God's final judgment, justice, and mercy. Two of the most important alternatives to the traditional doctrine of eternal conscious torment are annihilationism and universalism.

In this article, I'll explain the origins of the traditional doctrine of hell before exploring the annihilationism meaning and how it compares to universalism. We'll look at the biblical passages each view emphasizes, the early Christian writers who defended them, and how these ideas developed throughout history. I’ll help you understand the historical and theological differences between these two major views of humanity's final destiny.

Traditional Christian View of Hell: Eternal Conscious Torment

The most common historical belief about hell among Christians, both Catholic and Protestant, is known as Eternal Conscious Torment theory. It says that unlike human bodies, human souls are immortal, and that therefore those who unrepentantly commit wicked acts will suffer never-ending, conscious pain in hell after the death of their bodies. There are a couple of different likely sources for this idea, beginning with Greek philosophy.

While several ancient Greek philosophers argued that the soul is immortal, the most influential of these was Plato, who also argued that the soul was separate from the body. Because the soul could not die, Plato argued that it must go to a separate abode, such as Hades or Tartarus, forever after the physical body dies.

Accordingly, while earlier Greek myths featured mythical places like Hades as rather neutral repositories for all the souls of the dead (or as a physical dungeon for monsters), Plato believed that one’s experience of the afterlife would be based on one’s earthly behavior. He thus believed that Tartarus was a temporary place of purification for curable evildoers and a permanent fiery pit for the hopelessly wicked (for these ideas, see Plato’s dialogues Phaedo, Gorgias, Republic).

This notion of a punitive afterlife eventually merged with Jewish ideas during the period between the writing of the Old and New Testaments, and Jewish apocalyptic writings adopted some of these Greek ideas. These included Jewish texts before Christianity, such as  the canonical Daniel, and the apocryphal books Wisdom of Solomon, 1 Enoch, and 4 Ezra already developing complex afterlife ideas. In addition, the Pharisees began teaching about a very Platonic-sounding afterlife. According to 1st-century Jewish historian Josephus:

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The New Testament authors also referred to Greek concepts of the afterlife, including Hades (Matt. 16:18, Acts 2:31) and Tartarus (2 Peter 2:4), along with the Jewish Gehenna (Matt. 5:22, Mk 9:43), to describe the results of the final judgment. However, not everyone in the first centuries of Christianity accepted this bleak view of the afterlife.

To be sure, well-known Christian authors, such as Tertullian, seemed to look forward to watching sinners suffer:

Similarly, albeit with less delight, Augustine of Hippo wrote that because God gave the soul an immortal nature, it could never cease to exist. Therefore, a wicked soul would never be able to die again or escape the physical and spiritual torments of hell. But there were other ideas about the afterlife among Christians.

What Is Annihilationism, and Is It Biblical?

Christian annihilationism (a.k.a. conditional immortality) is the belief that the souls of unrepentant sinners will be completely destroyed and utterly cease to exist after physical death and the judgment, rather than suffering eternally in hell, a drastic contrast with the traditional doctrines of eternal conscious torment. In this case, the meaning of “annihilation” is the total extinction of the individual soul.

Unlike Plato, annihilationists argued that the human soul is not intrinsically immortal. Instead, eternal life is an exclusive, conditional gift granted by God only to those who repent and are saved. Advocates of this view interpret the biblical punishment for sin as a literal extinction of being rather than perpetual, torture. The fires of hell, therefore, are viewed as destructive and irreversible, consuming the soul until the wicked no longer exist.

Is annihilationism biblical? As proof texts, advocates of this view often point to verses like Romans 6:23: “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Note that in this verse, Paul contrasts “eternal life” not with eternal torment but with death. But there are other biblical texts whose interpretation can lead to annihilationism as well.

For instance, there are multiple verses that speak of the wicked "perishing" or being "destroyed":

Indeed, these verses also seem to contrast eternal life not with endless torment but with extinction. Annihilationists also point out that total cessation of being is “eternal” in that the destroyed soul will never exist again.

Moreover, we see this idea in the writings of some important church fathers, such as the 2nd-century Christian philosopher Justin Martyr. He believed that, unlike the eternal God, anything created, including the soul, could cease to exist:

In other words, rather than an eternal torture chamber, Justin appears to allow that souls can cease to exist, leading some scholars to see him as a precursor to annihilationism.

Another early apologist for annihilationism was the apologist Arnobius of Sicca (c. 255–330 AD), who wrote

Annihilationism continues to have proponents today. They say that it better aligns with the notion of divine justice and mercy and ask how a loving God could punish a finite number of earthly sins with an infinite amount of conscious torture. Ceasing to exist certainly seems more compassionate than forced, endless suffering.

How Does Universalism Differ From Annihilationism?

While annihilationism posits the end of existence for those not reconciled with God, Christian universalism argues that all human beings will ultimately be saved, regardless of their moral status at death. There are various theological permutations concerning the process or state of salvation, but all universalists hold the view that salvation history will end with the reconciliation of the entire human race to God. But is universalism biblical?

There are, in fact, a variety of verses that, depending on how they are interpreted, may support such  views of the end of all things, although universalism is a distinct minority within mainstream Christianity. Let’s examine some of these verses.

One verse universalists often point to is Colossians 1:17–20:

Does the author of Colossians actually believe that Christ’s salvific death will save all people? Based on the verse’s wording, It is at least possible. 

Perhaps Paul is saying this as well in Philippians 2:9–11, where he says of Jesus that

Similarly, Paul also writes in 1 Corinthians 15:20–22

Notice, though, that we see no clear inference in these verses that hell does not exist in some form. Instead, hell, for universalists, is often conceived of as a temporary corrective measure so that even the worst sinners can be made better and thus be saved. While not many church fathers were explicit about believing this, we can see how popular the idea must have been among 4th-century Christians in the writing of the well-known bishop and theologian Augustine of Hippo, who strongly disagreed with universalism, by the way:

However, it is Origen of Alexandria (c. 185–c. 253) who became most famous among early church fathers for espousing universalism as a gradual process of purification after death, especially in his book On First Principles:

Since we looked earlier at how the notion of eternal conscious torment came into being and noted that it remains the most common view among Christians, let’s now examine how the ideas of annihilationism and universalism have fared through the centuries up to our own time.

Development of Doctrines Throughout Jewish/Christian History

As Christianity was developing, early Rabbinic Judaism was also being established. The early Rabbis generally did not believe in an eternal, fiery hell. Instead, sages in the Talmud taught about Gehinnom (or Gehenna). Unlike the notion of Gehenna in the New Testament, which was either eternal punishment or annihilation, the rabbis believed it was a temporary place of repentance for the soul, a place for cleansing and renewal, not eternal punishment. In fact, some Rabbinic texts said that wicked souls only had to stay there for a limited time. We can see this in Mishnah Eduyot 2:10, which says “The judgment of the wicked in Gehinnom [continues] twelve months.”

However, even the unrepentant sinners who deliberately caused others to sin were not tortured forever. Rabbis taught that their souls were simply annihilated. There seems to have been a mix, then, among rabbinic Jewish thought. Most people would be saved and the unremorseful would be annihilated. This idea continues among some Jews today, although these days there is a wide variety of Jewish beliefs about the afterlife.

But what about modern Christian denominations? Are there any annihilationists or universalist examples today?

Actually, there are a couple of denominations whose official theology of the afterlife are annihilationist. Seventh-day Adventists, for instance, reject the traditional concept of an eternal, burning hell, but they still say that those who reject Christ will not be saved. They therefore believe that the souls of those who do not accept Christ before dying will cease to exist after the death of their bodies.

Jehovah's Witnesses also believe that the souls of the wicked will cease to exist after death and therefore that “hell” merely refers to a state of non-existence.

While individual believers in other denominations might be annihilationists, no other church takes an official position of annihilationism.

In terms of universalism, you might have heard of the Unitarian Universalists. It turns out, though, that these churches long ago abandoned any historical reference to the theological position known as universalism, although it may have started that way.

Early Unitarians, Protestants originating in Eastern Europe in the 16th century, rejected the notion of the Trinity. Like Jews and Muslims, they believed in the unity of God. That is, God is one entity rather than three parts.

Early Universalists, meanwhile, another Protestant denomination developing in the 18th century in the United States, rejected the idea of hell. They believed in universal salvation, that a loving God would eventually save all human beings, although some believed that there was a purgatorial state to pass through on the way to heaven.

In 1961, these two groups combined into one denomination. Since then, they have evolved into a broadminded and diverse movement. Modern members include Christians, Humanists, Pagans, and Atheists. Their position on universalism, therefore, depends on which faith tradition they’re coming from. There is no official position on the afterlife in the contemporary Unitarian Universalist Church.

In Mormon theology, meanwhile, "hell" is rarely spoken of as an eternal place of fire and brimstone. Instead, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints describes hell in two ways.

According to the Book of Mormon, most souls who go to hell between the death of the body and the last judgment will only be there temporarily to repent and learn if they never accepted the Gospel. Those souls will eventually have the chance to accept Christ's teachings and go to heaven after the resurrection.

However, there is another hell as well, called "Outer Darkness." This is reserved for the Devil, his angels, and those who rebel against God even after receiving knowledge of Christ’s truth. This is a true eternal punishment, but Latter-day Saints believe that very few people will end up there. Instead, they believe that after the final judgment, most human beings will be resurrected and inherit one of three degrees of heaven.

Recent Christian Attention to Universalism and Annihilationism

Among Christians, the topics of annihilationism and universalism have been widely discussed in recent years.

Universalism

In his popular 2011 book  Love Wins: A Book About Heaven, Hell, and the Fate of Every Person Who Ever Lived, pastor Rob Bell argues for and perhaps even leans toward universalism. This is not an academic book and is easy to read.

Meanwhile, scholar Ilaria Ramelli addresses universalism in the Bible and the writings of the early church fathers in her book A Larger Hope?, Volume 1: Universal Salvation from Christian Beginnings to Julian of Norwich. The book contains a wealth of quotations from the early church advocating universal salvation.

Finally, in his very scholarly book That All Shall Be Saved: Heaven, Hell, and Universal Salvation, controversial scholar David Bentley Hart argues convincingly that “if God is the good creator of all, he is the savior of all, without fail.” This is not an easy read, but presents a cogent argument for universalism.

Annihilationism

When it comes to annihilationism, the most famous book on the topic is The Fire That Consumes: A Biblical and Historical Study of the Doctrine of Final Punishment by Edward William Fudge, who argues that annihilationism is the correct interpretation of biblical passages about the last judgment.

Finally, Evangelical media star Kirk Cameron has recently accepted the annihilationist position as well, surprising and even shocking some Evangelicals. He hasn’t written a book on this, but there is an article where you can read his side of the story.

Conclusion

What happens after death has never been as settled within Judaism and Christianity as many people assume. Although the doctrine of eternal conscious torment eventually became the dominant teaching in most Christian traditions, it was never the only way believers understood the Bible's language about judgment, justice, and salvation. From the earliest centuries of the church, respected theologians argued instead that the wicked would ultimately be destroyed, while others believed that God's redemptive purposes would eventually embrace every human being.

Each of these views—eternal conscious torment, annihilationism, and universalism—appeals to biblical texts and has advocates among influential Jewish and Christian thinkers. Each also reflects different assumptions about the nature of the soul, the meaning of divine justice, and the scope of God's mercy.

For that reason, debates about hell are ultimately debates about the character of God as much as they are about the fate of humanity. Is God's justice best expressed through endless punishment, through the final destruction of evil, or through the eventual restoration of every person? Christians have answered that question in different ways for nearly two thousand years, and the conversation continues today.