Is A Person Destroyed In Hell? - Soul Choice Ministries

Some people use the following scripture verse to try to prove that unbelievers do not suffer in hell, but that they are instead annihilated, meaning they cease to exist.

Matthew 10:28: “Fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.”

Let us see what the word “destroy” means.

Vine’s Dictionary, page 164:
“Destroy” is the word “apolesai,” or “apollymi” (#622). Its definition is: “The idea is not extinction, but ruin or loss, not of being, but of well-being.”

Strong’s Concordance, page 300, “apollymi”:
“Not the casting in, but the doom which follows, namely, the destruction—not the loss of being, but of well-being—of both soul and body.”

“Destroy” does not mean annihilate.

The Greek word for “annihilate” is “ekmēdenizō,” which is not found in the New Testament.

The same word “destroy” is used in the following verses, which clearly show a continued existence rather than nonexistence:

Matthew 2:13: Herod will seek the young child to destroy Him (to kill, not to annihilate).
Matthew 27:20: That they should ask for Barabbas and destroy Jesus.
Mark 1:24: “Have You come to destroy us?” (An unclean spirit cannot be annihilated.)
Mark 9:22: The demon casts him into the fire and into the water to destroy him (to try to kill the boy).
Matthew 9:17: Neither do people put new wine into old wineskins; otherwise, the wineskins break, the wine runs out, and the wineskins perish. “Perish” is the word “destroy.” (The wineskins do not cease to exist.)

“Destroy” means ruined. So where does the annihilationist get their definition? There are those who seek to change God’s clear word. Hell is eternal, and that is one reason we are to fear God.

Luke 12:4–5: “And I say to you, My friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear Him who, after He has killed, has power to cast into hell; yes, I say to you, fear Him!”

Jesus said one important reason to fear God is that He has the power to cast into hell. If you cease to exist, why would He say that?

Jesus also said in Matthew 18:6: “But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to sin, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were drowned in the depth of the sea.” Why would having a large stone hung around your neck and being cast into the sea be better than simply ceasing to exist?

Matthew 26:24: “But woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been good for that man if he had not been born.” Why would Jesus say it would be better for Judas not to have been born if he simply ceased to exist?

We see that there is something far worse coming after death for those who reject Jesus as their Lord and Savior.