Introduction:
I believe in “Dualistic Conditional Immortality,” and not “Traditional Conditional Immortality.” I used to believe in “Eternal Torment” (i.e. Eternal Conscious Torment) and even defended it at one time, but I have come to find this belief to be both unbiblical and immoral.
Conditional Immortality
(i.e. Traditional Conditional Immortality):
Lake of Fire:
This is the view that after the Judgement, the wicked are either annihilated (erased from existence), or they are eventually destroyed or eliminated (after they are punished for a certain set amount of time in the Lake of Fire). I believe this view of the Lake of Fire is biblical. So when I refer to “Conditional Immortality” in a positive way, or when I refer to “Conditional Immortality verses” in support of my view of God’s punishment of the wicked, I am referring only to the Lake of Fire teaching portion only. For I do not hold to the Conditional Immortality Proponent’s viewpoint on hell.
Hell:
Traditional Conditional Immortality Proponents believe that hell is just a metaphor, and they believe in a teaching called “soul sleep” (i.e. that the wicked will not know anything and sleep or not be aware of anything until the Judgment). I do not find their view on soul sleep to be biblical. Traditional Conditional Immortality Proponents also believe the story of Lazarus and the Richman is just a fictional story used to teach a spiritual truth or lesson. However, I do not believe this view of hell is biblical.
Dualistic Conditional Immortality:
Lake of Fire:
This is the view that after the Judgement, the wicked are either annihilated (erased from existence), or they are eventually destroyed or eliminated (after they are punished for a certain set amount of time in the Lake of Fire). I believe this view of the Lake of Fire is biblical.
Hell:
Dualistic Conditional Immortality Proponents believe hell is a very real and literal place. There are differing views among these types of believers on how hell is portrayed, but they all believe hell is literally real, and it is a place that no person would desire to be. It is a place of torments (Just as Scripture says). Some who hold to this view believe that hell is similar to that of the view portrayed in the Eternal Torment. They believe it is a place where the wicked are being burned in flames (tortured), and they are screaming from the pain of the flames, etc.; Others (like myself) believe that the rich man was not tormented by an intense earthly flame (that would cause great pain), but he was tormented by the heat of the flame near him, or he was tormented by an otherworldly flame that did not cause him to scream uncontrollably (like an earthly flame would do).
Eternal Conscious Torment:
Lake of Fire:
This is the view that after the Judgement, the wicked will burn alive and be tortured in the flames of the Lake of Fire for all eternity. Many have refused to come to the faith because they had a hard time accepting that God would torture people alive in flames for all eternity. It may surprise the reader that there is actually a very small number of verses that support the Eternal Torment view of the Lake of Fire (5 major ones to be exact, and there are a ton of verses in support of the wicked being annihilated as their final fate). With the exception of the Greek philosopher Epicureans, Greek philosophers (Such as Plato) generally taught of the soul's natural immortality-without God.
Hell:
The Eternal Conscious Torment View appears to teach that hell is a place of extreme torture where the wicked scream uncontrollably from the pain of being burned by the flames of hell. This appears to be the popular view in both churches and in secular movies in Hollywood. Churches have even reenacted this fictitious terrifying version of hell in this manner on Halloween calling them, “hell houses.” (satisfying people’s cravings to be afraid on Halloween with haunted houses; In my opinion, hell houses are a reenactment or imitation of pure evil that simply attempts to copy haunted houses which attempt to cater to the same wrong desires of this world).